John Whites drawing and Theodore De Bry engravings

Introduction In 1585, John White led the third Raleigh-financed voyage to Roanoke Island; in a venture planned by Sir Walter Raleigh known as the failed colony of Roanoke. The city of Raleigh located in Central North Carolina, is named after Sir Walter Raleigh, who actually never set his foot there. He however â€Å"encouraged the settlement of North Carolina, and played a great role in popularizing the New World’s potatoes and tobacco in England and Ireland† (Bry 1).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on John White’s drawing and Theodore De Bry engravings specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More John White documented his trip with watercolor images of the native people he encountered and some of the scenes and material goods of their lives so that when he returned to England he could show what he had seen. A publisher by the name Theodore De Bry later on made engravings of some of White’s pictures to be included in Harriot’s book. This paper will analyze the changes made on White’s work by Bry, underlying reasons and recommendations for the changes. Village Of Pomeiooc Description John white painted a â€Å"bird’s eye view of an Algonkian village, located between the present Lake Landing and Wyesocking Bay, on his 1585 visit to the Carolina coast,† (Hulton and Quinn 1964) however, Theodore De Bry, engraved a plate known as ‘The arrival of the Englishmen in Virginia’ which represents the map of North Carolina oriented to the west. Indeed, according to Hulton and Quinn (1964) the map shows â€Å"part of Pamlico Sound, Roanoke Island, the mouth of Albemarle Sound and the Alligator River, and part of Currituck Sound with the Carolina Outer Banks, divided into six islands.† Variations between Theodore De Bry Engraving and Drawing by John White The following are the important variations between Theodore de Bry engraving and drawing by john white. Primarily, work of Bry has some significant changes to what White had made, with the rear entrance to the palisade being omitted, enlarged poles and a hexagonal ground plan for the house that had cupola. In addition, although he did not quite make significant variations on occupation capacity, Bry found it proper to draw a trees background as well as drawing cornfield, and sunflower and a small pond to the left and right of the picture respectively. Moreover, the drawing of the Indians differ as Bry decided to present two of them drawing water â€Å"using hemispherical vessels with loop handles,† while the engravement also includes a ridge in the foreground with plants growing on it (Hulton and Quinn 1964) The Reasons De Bry Might Have Had for Making those Changes De Bry wanted to relate his engraving more closely to the lost variant from which White made his drawing. At the publishing time, De Bry could have made some changes by comparing B. Sloane copy plate 81 with that of John White. Before publication, De Bry could have read the history of Algonkian village, which may have influenced his choice of variations.Advertising Looking for essay on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More According to the descriptions given by most of the people who wrote about Carolina Algonkians, the poles drawn by White were approximately correct but they were too widely spaced. According to a reference house at Roanoak with five rooms, white shows nothing comparable (Deak and Birmingham Public Library 1992). Indian Woman and Young Girl Description John White drew a picture of a woman standing to the front facing half right, and on her left there is a child facing half left. She is in an apron skirt of fringed skin, long hair caught at the nape of her neck, a headband, a bead necklace on her neck and on her waist where her right hand is thrust, some painted or tattooed decorations on her forehead, chi ck, chin, and upper arms, and a large bottle-guard shaped vessel on her left hand. Her height just at the woman’s waist, the girl dons a necklace, â€Å"a tongue like pendant on her right hand, a thong and a doll on her left hand† (Hulton and Quinn 1964). Variations between Theodore De Bry Engraving and Drawing by John White In De Bry engraving, certain variations made include presenting the woman with her right foot just in front of her left foot while the girl is running towards the left holding a doll on her left hand. The difference with White’s drawing is that the girl is stationary at the left side of the woman – not running (Hulton and Quinn 1964). Moreover, Bry made other changes by removing the headband from the woman and changing the location of tattoo marks from the chin to the calves in addition to adding an extra string to the girl’s necklace and removing a pendant from the same. The Reasons De Bry Might Have Had for Making those Chang es During his time of publishing, Theodore De Bry had at his exposure the narrative by Thomas Harriot and the drawing by John White thus he made some changes from the narrative through comparison. He might have made some changes from the history of the place from other sources or from its museums and archives. Implication of the Modifications The modifications made by De Bry in his engravings gives the reader a broader view of the history of Algonkian village in North Carolina. One tends to assume that De Bry had done enough research before he published Harriot’s book meaning that he was trying to perfect White’s drawings.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on John White’s drawing and Theodore De Bry engravings specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Works Cited Bry, Theodore D. John White’s attempt to rescue the Roanoke colonists. N.d. 16 October 2010. http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amer begin/exploration/text6/white.pdf Deak, Gloria-Gilda and Birmingham Public Library. Discovering America’s Southeast: a sixteenth century view based on the mannerist engravings of Theodore de Bry. Birmingham, Birmingham Public Library Press. 1992 Hulton, Paul and Quinn, David B. American Drawings of John White.1964.16 October 2010. http://www.virtualjamestown.org/images/white_debry_html/white.html#s34 This essay on John White’s drawing and Theodore De Bry engravings was written and submitted by user Lee Ellison to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

italian job review essays

italian job review essays Ok face the facts. Sir Michael Caines 60s the Italian job really isnt as good as people say it is. Great fun, yes! Great film, no! But it doesnt really matter-taking on the remake with better imagination with similarities such as the title, and then it ending with a trio or minis. Lets start with the beginning, as with all modern films, they take the James bond approach and start with a huge action scene setting up for the rest of the story. It starts with the heist; and a brilliant heist it is too, I cool selection of soft stepping, loud bangs, speedboats and down right devious trickery. They get their hands on $35 million in gold bars from a safe house in the center of Venice, they think they are on the road to riches when the get sent off by a murderous double crosser who takes the gold. After he kills Bridger the rest of the crew head off to L.A. to create a scheme thatll snatch there gold back and get revenge. So whos in the team? Well theres the leader and master planner Charlie Crocker (mark Wahlberg), the man with the plan. Handsome Rob (Jason Statham-ex Olympic racer turned actor), is the wheelman. Theres Lyle (Seth Green), a tech whiz who swears he invented Napster. Theres Left-ear (Mos Def-A rapper), the explosives expert. Bridgers daughter Stella (Charlie Theron), an expert safe cracker and the back stabber Steve Frezelli (Edward Norton- who did not want to do the movie but was forced to by contract), weasely back stabber whose only talent is being sneaky and devious. With an all-star cast this film is a blend between 2 fast 2 furious and Oceans 11. Unlike the first film, this one has a much better set up and has better twists, the original didnt seem to have any preparation at all (well apart from blowing up a van and smashing up a few minis-which I loved) this is more modern and has the mor ...

Analysis of the asia pacific airline industry

Analysis of the asia pacific airline industry There are many industries that the world has come to heavily rely on as globalization has become more widespread. The idea of national and continental boundaries being a limitation has gradually been overtaken by the innovations of mankind over the past few decades. The inventor of the airplane; Orville Wright is quoted as saying in 1908; â€Å"No airship will ever fly from New York to Paris.  That seems to me to be impossibleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the airship will always be a special messenger, never a load-carrier† (Smithsonian Education, 2010). What he could not have imagined was that a century later his invention would be at the centre of the globalisation movement taking place and that the airplanes would be the core of an industry which directly facilitates economic growth, world trade, international investment and tourism (Doganis, 2000). The International Air Transport Association (IATA) forecasts international air travel to grow by an average of 6.6% a year to the end of t he decade and over 5% a year from 2000 to 2010 (Stanford University; 2010). These rates correlate with the levels of profitability that have been noted over the past five years as illustrated in Figure-1, showing that the level of profitability in the industry has been steadily growing over the past 5 years. Figure-1: IATA, 2010 The Asia Pacific Airline Industry The most dynamic growth is centred on the Asia Pacific region, where fast-growing trade and investment are coupled with rising domestic prosperity. Home to more than 4 billion people and driven by two of the largest dynamic economies; India and China, the Asia-Pacific region carries more than 25% of global passenger traffic annually (IATA Annual Report, 2010). According to IATA CEO Giovanni Bisignani, as of April 2010 the Asia Pacific region was deemed to be the world’s largest aviation market (IATA Annual Report 2010). High rates of economic growth in the emerging markets within the Asia Pacific have led to the rapid expansion of aviation industries serving Asia and The Pacific (Sumner et al. 1995). The Asia Pacific airline industry witnessed a boom in the 1990’s that can only be termed as remarkable especially when compared to the performance of other airline markets such as the USA and Europe (Sumner et al. 1995). The dynamic nature of this region places it as an area of economic interest and analysis. This paper will give an economic analysis which will present arguments of how the airline industry functions and the plausible economic justifications for the massive growth that has been seen in the Asia Pacific airline industry. To present a concise analysis we will focus on three major commercial airlines in the region namely; Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines and All Nippon Airways as well as three market leaders in the Low Cost Carriers Sector (LCCs) namely; Cebu Pacific Air, Tiger Airways and Air Asia. 2. Asia Pacific Airline Industry: A Competitive Analysis Airline services categ orized as low cost carriers or LCC’s emerged in the airline industry in the South-East Asia region following deregulation in the early 2000’s and Air Asia pioneered low cost travelling (Arifin et al. 2010). Arifin et al. (2010) further highlight that as the number of LCC’s has grown; these airlines have begun to compete with one another in addition to the full service airlines. A competitive analysis of the Asia Pacific airline industry is therefore two-fold; firstly analysis on the basis of the competition between LCC’s themselves and secondly between LCC’s and full service airlines.

Essay Response Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Response - Essay Example rely affect the people who earn less money, the US government will save a lot of money by taking this step, instead of giving the money to poor families the government will keep that money intact using it for other purposes. There has been a lot of hue and cry about the same and it is unfair to withdraw support, the poor people must not be left all on their own the government must help them in every possible way. â€Å"It is also believed that more than one million higher income earners will also be worse off as a result of the Governments changes to the private health insurance rebate, announced in last nights Budget. Under changes to family tax benefit A, from July low-income families earning less than $42,000 a year will lose 35c per week - $18 a year - for each child aged under 12, and $26 a year for each child aged 13 to 15.† (Changes to Family Tax) The Budget delivered to the congress is expected to be somewhere around $ 3.6 Trillion. It is also expected that by 2013 the deficit of the US is expected to fall to as low as $ 533 Billion, the current deficit is much higher than what it is going to be in 2013. A very good step has been taken by the government; the government has set aside a whopping amount of $250 Billion to rescue the current recession crisis. This money will mainly be used to bailout several big banks in order to keep the economy functioning the way it used to prior to recession. This money is expected to bring things right back on track. The congress has already set aside an amount of $ 700 Billion for the same and the increase in amount only goes to show the desperation to put an end to the current crisis. Education funding has also been a sector that has hogged the limelight in this Federal Budget; the President has promised to fund the education sector much better than ever. He has promised to strengthen the education sector and this will only help the country rise to unprecedented heights. The president is a very ambitious man and he

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 191

Summary - Essay Example Most reviewers have given positive comments about the film and commended it as a classic production. The plot is cast deep in the Chechen Mountains in a war environment. While on war duty, Russian soldiers get ambushed by a group of rebels. A fight ensues between the two groups which ends in the death of all the Russian soldiers save for two; Sasha and Vanya. The two of them get taken captive by the rebels who subject them to a situation where they have to cope with cross cultural and civilization differences. Notably, Sasha is and old soldier while Vanya is merely a new recruit. Perhaps it is this difference that makes them bear differences in preferences and characteristic traits. While the former works on a plan of escaping, the latter instead develops an approach of attempting to please his captors in one way or the other. While Sasha remains extremely cynical, Vanya gets portrayed as gawky and Naà ¯ve. In the Caucasus where they are captured, Islam is the main religion. As a result, they both have to cope with Islamic tendencies. They get chained together and have to live as one almost all through. This forces the two into developing a comradely bond and the warmth of support for one another. Specifically, the young soldier begins to develop emotions and feelings for their captor’s daughter which makes him warmer to the family as opposed to his counterpart. Apparently, the daughter of their captor also gets touched by Vanya’s kindness and warmth; a point that makes her risk the wrath of her father by extending a warm and helping hand to the former. The reason for keeping the soldiers captive is the hope of a possible swap between the rebels and the Russian Soldiers. Apparently, the Russian soldiers also hold the son of the chief captor hostage. The major themes portrayed in the film include pessimism, disillusionment, war, despair, and extreme cases

Incarceration Essay Example for Free

Incarceration Essay There has been a lot of discussion regarding the prison population in the United States but little efforts have been engaged in regard to the transformations observed in the composition of the jail population. The law enforcement agents are under obligation by the federal, state, and local authorities to arrest and confine individuals who are criminal suspects. It is the duty of our judicial system to imprison individuals who are crime convicts. The confinement that is imposed on individuals whether prior to or after conviction is what is referred to as incarceration. Any person irrespective of race, color, sex, and age is subject to incarceration at least in theory according to the constitution. Studies have however continued to show increasing imbalance in our penal institutions as more African Americans and Hispanics continue to account to a slightly larger percentage in comparison to the whites. This paper shall present an analysis of the structural inequality as observed in the judicial system within the United States. Structural Inequality: Structural inequality is something that is affecting virtually all societies around the world. This phenomenon however does not stem from the variations amongst individuals as generally thought, but it can be attributed to the meanings and values that individuals hold in regard to these variations. These values and meanings become systemized and thus the foundation of inequality in our society. The society becomes stratified based on differences between the individuals. This leads to a hierarchical society where prejudicial values and attitudes are developed which affects the views held by the different categories of individuals (Bartels-Ellis, 2010). The US is among the world’s most leading jailers with a rating of 750 imprisonments in every 100,000 individuals (Williams, 2009). The prison population is however disproportional with African Americans and the Hispanics and other minority groups accounting for a larger percentage compared to the majority whites. It is estimated that over 60% of the prison population is from the minority groups. The imbalance in the incarcerated population has been attributed to the war against drugs that has gained momentum in the recent past. This has had a toll on the minority groups though studies have continued to indicate that drug use is also a significant phenomenon amongst the whites. The judicial system has therefore been accused of racist discrimination when it comes to matters of fair and effective judgment (Williams, 2009). Racial Bias in the Judicial System: Racial inequalities have been observed when it comes to judicial matters in the United States. There are great variations in the incarceration of different racial groups that make up the population of the US (Martel, 2008). Studies have continued to reveal the unending trend of disparities in the criminal justice system as revealed by the United States Census Bureau in 2000. According to the Bureau, there is un-proportional representation in the incarceration within the US penal institutions which happens to favor the whites. As of the year 2000, out of close to 2 million adult prisoners, 63% were from the minority groups including the African Americans and Latinos. Such disparities are in contravention of the general population as it has been established that the minority groups account for only 25% of the general population (Human Rights Watch, 2002). Statistics: According to Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM), in every twenty blacks aged over 18, one is likely to be in prison whereas for the whites, the imprisonment rate is put at one in every 180 individuals. The African Americans and the Hispanics comprise of about 2/3 of the prison population. As of the year 2001, African American males and Hispanic males had a higher chance of being imprisoned compared to the whites. The blacks had a 32. 2% chance; Hispanics 17. 2% chance; whereas the whites had a 6% chance. In the year 2003, African American prisoners accounted for a larger portion of those serving a term of more than one year at 44% of the prison population followed by the whites at 35% whereas the Hispanics accounted for the remaining 19% (Families Against Mandatory Minimums Foundation, 2010).

Soliloquy Essay - Theatre and Language in the Soliloquies of Shakespear

Theatre and Language in the Soliloquies of Hamlet  Ã‚      The first Folio is prefaced with an address to the reader to "Read him again and again". In terms of words and action, Hamlet is the most self conscious play about its own theatricality. Words and actions throughout the play are inextricably linked, as is the notion of "playing" a part. From the outset of the play we see evidence of the external show compared with the underlying reality. In Act One, Hamlet's speech to Gertrude (Nay seems...etc) shows us the Prince talking about actions that a man "might play" and also about what is "inside" him which "passes show". (NB "Action" in Elizabethan definition meant "acting") Throughout the play we see inner reality beneath the surface performances of not only Hamlet, but other characters, too. Hamlet has only "one-liners" at the beginning of the play until we hear his first soliloquy, which is an attempt to look at "that within, which passes show". The soliloquies create a bond between the character and the audience and were a dramatic convention inherited from Greek drama. By the time of Shakespeare they had moved away from commentaries on the plot and events of the play and had become illustrative of the inner thoughts of the character. In the soliloquy the character tells the truth as he perceives it, although "truth" is subjective and can have different meanings for different characters. In Hamlet we have seven soliloquies, five major and two smaller ones, and Hamlet's character is revealed through them as the play progresses.    Hazlitt - "This is that Hamlet the Dane...whom we remember...but all whose thoughts we know as well as we know our own..Reality is in the reader's mind..It is we who are Ham... ...so to the grave. Hamlet describes himself as "Crawling between earth and heaven". Shakespeare's audience would have had a physical picture of this before them, which added great weight to the imagery of his text, as of course would the scuffle over Ophelia's corpse. At the end of the play Hamlet stops musing and the language becomes very direct and simple, "there is a divinity.." "the readiness is all". In the final scene Hamlet "acts" in all senses of the word, and "theatre" takes over. The final speeches are terse and contain references to the theatricality of the occasion. he refers to the "mutes" (extras on stage) and the "audience to this act". Fortinbras commands him to be "carried to the stage", perhaps a last comment on a play which is characterised so much as actors playing to actors in a kind of Chinese box puzzle of outward show and inner secrets.   

Facebook Versus Friendster and Myspace

Stealing Success & Leaving the Unsuccessful Behind: Facebook Facebook, one of the most successful social networking sites up to date, has 500,000,000-users. Facebook found phenomenal success through the mistakes and downfall of fellow competitors, Friendster and MySpace. However, was Facebook’s success due to the downfall of its predecessors? In this paper, we will discuss what makes a social networking website successful, and reveal what Facebook did and what other social networking websites such as Friendster and MySpace, did not do.There are certain properties that will be highlighted later on in the paper that will distinguish the successful social networking websites such as Facebook from the unsuccessful, such as Friendster and MySpace. Social networking websites have five main characteristics. First, social networking websites are user-based where they are built and directed by users themselves. Second, social networking websites are interactive, meaning that they are n ot just a collection of chat rooms and forums anymore. Such websites are filled with network-based gaming applications, allowing individuals to play with one another online.Third, social networking websites are community-driven allowing members to join a group where they all hold common beliefs or hobbies. People are able to find sub-communities of people who share commonalities, such as alumni of a particular high school, or part of a charity organization, or who are just interested in the same things. Fourth, unlike other websites, social networks thrive on relationships. It allows people to build connections, links to one another and allows people to establish themselves toward the center of a network.These websites are also another way for individuals to discover new friends, but it also allows them to reconnect with old friends lost along the way, allowing them access to possible friendships out there. The last characteristic of social networks is the emotional factor. While we bsites are usually designed with the primary function of providing information to the visitor, social networks â€Å"provide users with emotional security and a sense that no matter what happens, their friends are within reach. †To start off, let’s beg the question of what exactly went wrong with Friendster? There isn’t a single reason that explains why Friendster failed, but merely actions Friendster did not take to secure their position as the number one social networking website. First, the more popular Friendster became, the longer it took to load the webpage, sometimes taking as long as 40 seconds. Such technical problems were not issues that could not be solved; however, they felt that such â€Å"technical difficulties proved too pedestrian† for them.Instead of spending hours fixing such problems, the team of Friendster devoted most of its time talking about future investors, potential competitors and new features that would give Friendster a distin ct look. They focused more on the future or rather than the problems of the present; they wanted to run before they could even walk. Secondly, Friendster was a closed system that allowed users to only view the profiles of those on a relatively short chain of acquaintances.As a dating website, it was imperative to be able to find people whom may be suitable for you, but if the viewing of their profile was limited, then the possibility of finding a possible date would be much lower than if Friendster took on a open system approach. As mentioned, most of the problems Friendster faced were technical, but it was their decision to only focus on the next big thing, rather than the simple mechanics that made Friendster possible in the first place.If the team had solved these minor problems, Friendster today could still be a leading social networking website, and possibly have prevented MySpace and/or Facebook from emerging. On these accounts, Friendster is an example of an unsuccessful soci al networking website. Next, MySpace saw phenomenal traffics growth starting in early 2004 and it continued all the way to 2007 even as Facebook entered the scene, but what happened along the way? Similar to Friendster, MySpace faced several technical problems.Firstly, MySpace pages are designed mostly by individuals with little HTML experience causing HTML code to be rarely met leading to accessibility problems for users and freezing up web browsers. Secondly, security is another major problems. There are advertisements that provide links to fake login screens tricking users into entering their information, allowing people access to their page. Another security issue would be of our personal information. There is no privacy setting; therefore f anyone wants to know more about an individual, there are no restrictions on the amount of information they could attain on the individual via MySpace. Lastly, MySpace lost to Facebook simply because there is no sense of privacy with MySpace. MySpace took an opposite approach from Friendster, allowing everyone and anyone to see their profile. Any individual keen on viewing a certain page would be given access whether or not the owner approved or not, rendering owners of MySpace account vulnerable to outside criticism and viewing.The open system caused a lot of security and personal issues creating stalking incidents, violent fights, and gate crashing of parties. These problems were due to the fact that anyone had access to people’s MySpace page, and nothing could be done to prevent limited viewership. Unlike Friendster, MySpace was able to see more success, however, that success was short-lived. And similarly to Friendster, MySpace did not respond to requests to fix their problems, causing them to fall into the category of an unsuccessful social networking website.First Friendster, second MySpace, and lastly Facebook? What makes Facebook a fad, and why has it survived longer than its predecessors? A normal routin e for a majority of the population would be, wake up, check facebook, go to school/work, check facebook again, do work/listen to lecture while checking facebook, and then go home and check facebook once again. On average, it’s been found that people check their Facebook an average of 4 to 5 times a day. There are many reasons why Facebook is so successful, and why Friendster and MySpace failed to see the kind of success Facebook is seeing today.In the next part of the paper, we will see how Facebook overcame the problems Friendster and MySpace encountered, turning what could have been unsuccessful into something immensely successful. As mentioned previously, Friendster and Myspace encountered issues such as technical problems such as the webpage taking up to 40 seconds to load or where it would sometime just fail to load altogether, and additionally, that Friendster was a closed system. Facebook knew these reasons and made sure these were not to be problems.Mark Zuckerberg st ates, â€Å"if the website is even down for a few minutes, people will leave. † As such, till this day, users around the world have not seen Facebook down. Admittedly, there still are a few small technical problems, but users never had to wait more than 10 seconds for a page to load, and if there were problems, they were fixed shortly after. Having downtime would mean that the rate of infection for social networking sites would decrease causing less people to firstly know about the website, and secondly, to be able to spread the ‘infection’ even further.This was a problem that caused the rapid reduction usage rate for Friendster because not only did the rate of infection die down, but also people just simply got annoyed causing the susceptibility of new individuals rather low. Therefore, Facebook made sure there was no downtime and in doing so not only made the rate of infection high, but satisfied million users worldwide causing many to be susceptible to the ide a of being part of the new fad, Facebook. Next, Facebook did not enforce a closed or open system policy.Instead, they allowed users to choose whether they wanted their page visible to people, and allowed users to adjust their security settings. It gave people an option to reveal as much or as little information about themselves, and allowed people to choose who to allow access to their information. This system not only solved Friendster’s closed system, but at the same time, MySpace’s open system and privacy problems. Security was never a real issue for Facebook until they started allowing more applications to be a part of the system.Inevitably, people created software that stole users’ sensitive information. However, shortly after, Facebook reacted by introducing new technology to limit the security breach. Facebook developer Mike Vernal stated, â€Å"We take user privacy seriously. We are dedicated to protecting private user data. † Shortly after the in cident, Facebook rendered all applications that broke such security inactive. Lastly, as with all companies, talent is a major issue.We can talk about how user friendly, or how the technical bits are better in Facebook when compared to Friendster or MySpace, but the truth is that it all boils down to who is in charge. Facebook brought in better viral experts, more efficient programmers, stronger usability coders, more influential public relations teams and faster HR Personal. For instance, Facebook recruited Sheryl Sandberg, the head of sales at Google, Jonathan Helliger, the former engineering head at Walmart, for former CFO and VP of Genetech and Elliot Schrage, the former PR head at Google.After talking about the properties that made Facebook successful, I’d like to talk about the receptivity of Facebook and how it responded to the population because a population can only go crazy for a fad if people are receptive of it. First, we will look at Friendster and how the popula tion responded to it and what made Friendster successful at times. In 2002, Friendster was originally created as a dating website, four years later, Friendster was changed to cater to young teenagers. In 2006, Friendster became very popular in the Philippines because of their games and fun applications that were marketed.Along with that, Friendster started incorporating advertisements on their websites, but more importantly, advertisements that had to do with games. Second, MySpace became popular because it was a means to hear about what was happening to others, keep track of the whereabouts of friends and celebrities and to create and attend parties, all on one page. MySpace was not just a blog, but it was an area for friends to congregate and communicate with one another. Next we will see how Facebook made use of Friendster and MySpace’s strengths, turning it into their success.Facebook made use of the successes of both Friendster and MySpace, and combined everything that w as successful into one platform. Friendster and MySpace were both marketed differently to different kinds of people, and because of this, Facebook knew how to make people more receptive to this new social networking site. Facebook did not just want to target people who wanted to find new friends or dates, or people who wanted to communicate with friends and keep in contact, or simply play games- Facebook wanted it all.And that was exactly what Facebook did, ensuring that people who joined would get the benefits from both Friendster and MySpace altogether. In doing this, Facebook made their website more appealing to a larger population, allowing two things to happen. First, by increasing the number of things an individual can do on the website would make more people susceptible to wanting to be a part of it. Second, a larger population being susceptible would eventually mean a faster rate of infection causing more people to join and be a part of the increasing fad. Facebook was the n ew generation social etworking website that incorporated all the successful elements of its predecessors, and neglected all the unsuccessful elements. In conclusion, we have established that Facebook has attained a successful status due to its 500,000,000 users worldwide. Facebook is successful because of two main reasons. First, the failures of Friendster and MySpace gave Facebook an opening into the market and the opportunity to fix those mistakes caused by the two. Second, Facebook fed off the successes of both Friendster and MySpace, incorporating all the ideas into one website.Therefore, to be successful one must remember to firstly attend to the problems at hand, secondly, find out what makes things work, and lastly, make sure the population is receptive. With this, Facebook not only overtook its predecessors, but conquered their failures, and fed off their successes, becoming the number one social networking website of all time. Citations: Chung, J. (2010) How Facebook won th e battle of the social networks. Innoblog. Retrieved from http://www. innosight. com/blog/564-how-facebook-won-the-battle-of-the-social-networks. tml Dykes, B. (2010) Another day, another instance of Facebook breaching user privacy. Yahoo News. Retrieved from http://news. yahoo. com/s/yblog_upshot/20101018/tc_yblog_upshot/another-day-another-instance-of-facebook-breaching-user-privacy Gary, R. (2006). Wall Flower at the Web Party. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www. nytimes. com/2006/10/15/business/yourmoney/15friend. html? pagewanted=all Rdube. (2010). Characteristics of Social Networks. Retrieved from http://socialnetworking. lovetoknow. com/Characteristics_of_Social_Networks

The Da Vinci Code Chapter 4-6

CHAPTER 4 Captain Bezu Fache carried himself like an angry ox, with his wide shoulders thrown back and his chin tucked hard into his chest. His dark hair was slicked back with oil, accentuating an arrow-like widow's peak that divided his jutting brow and preceded him like the prow of a battleship. As he advanced, his dark eyes seemed to scorch the earth before him, radiating a fiery clarity that forecast his reputation for unblinking severity in all matters. Langdon followed the captain down the famous marble staircase into the sunken atrium beneath the glass pyramid. As they descended, they passed between two armed Judicial Police guards with machine guns. The message was clear: Nobody goes in or out tonight without the blessing of Captain Fache. Descending below ground level, Langdon fought a rising trepidation. Fache's presence was anything but welcoming, and the Louvre itself had an almost sepulchral aura at this hour. The staircase, like the aisle of a dark movie theater, was illuminated by subtle tread-lighting embedded in each step. Langdon could hear his own footsteps reverberating off the glass overhead. As he glanced up, he could see the faint illuminated wisps of mist from the fountains fading away outside the transparent roof. â€Å"Do you approve?† Fache asked, nodding upward with his broad chin. Langdon sighed, too tired to play games. â€Å"Yes, your pyramid is magnificent.† Fache grunted. â€Å"A scar on the face of Paris.† Strike one.Langdon sensed his host was a hard man to please. He wondered if Fache had any idea that this pyramid, at President Mitterrand's explicit demand, had been constructed of exactly 666 panes of glass – a bizarre request that had always been a hot topic among conspiracy buffs who claimed 666 was the number of Satan. Langdon decided not to bring it up. As they dropped farther into the subterranean foyer, the yawning space slowly emerged from the shadows. Built fifty-seven feet beneath ground level, the Louvre's newly constructed 70, 000-square-foot lobby spread out like an endless grotto. Constructed in warm ocher marble to be compatible with the honey-colored stone of the Louvre facade above, the subterranean hall was usually vibrant with sunlight and tourists. Tonight, however, the lobby was barren and dark, giving the entire space a cold and crypt-like atmosphere. â€Å"And the museum's regular security staff?† Langdon asked. â€Å"En quarantaine,†Fache replied, sounding as if Langdon were questioning the integrity of Fache's team. â€Å"Obviously, someone gained entry tonight who should not have. All Louvre night wardens are in the Sully Wing being questioned. My own agents have taken over museum security for the evening.† Langdon nodded, moving quickly to keep pace with Fache. â€Å"How well did you know Jacques Sauniere?† the captain asked. â€Å"Actually, not at all. We'd never met.† Fache looked surprised. â€Å"Your first meeting was to be tonight?† â€Å"Yes. We'd planned to meet at the American University reception following my lecture, but he never showed up.† Fache scribbled some notes in a little book. As they walked, Langdon caught a glimpse of the Louvre's lesser-known pyramid – La Pyramide Inversee – a huge inverted skylight that hung from the ceiling like a stalactite in an adjoining section of the entresol. Fache guided Langdon up a short set of stairs to the mouth of an arched tunnel, over which a sign read: DENON. The Denon Wing was the most famous of the Louvre's three main sections. â€Å"Who requested tonight's meeting?† Fache asked suddenly. â€Å"You or he?† The question seemed odd. â€Å"Mr. Sauniere did,† Langdon replied as they entered the tunnel. â€Å"His secretary contacted me a few weeks ago via e-mail. She said the curator had heard I would be lecturing in Paris this month and wanted to discuss something with me while I was here.† â€Å"Discuss what?† â€Å"I don't know. Art, I imagine. We share similar interests.† Fache looked skeptical. â€Å"You have no idea what your meeting was about?† Langdon did not. He'd been curious at the time but had not felt comfortable demanding specifics. The venerated Jacques Sauniere had a renowned penchant for privacy and granted very few meetings; Langdon was grateful simply for the opportunity to meet him. â€Å"Mr. Langdon, can you at least guess what our murder victim might have wanted to discuss with you on the night he was killed? It might be helpful.† The pointedness of the question made Langdon uncomfortable. â€Å"I really can't imagine. I didn't ask. I felt honored to have been contacted at all. I'm an admirer of Mr. Sauniere's work. I use his texts often in my classes.† Fache made note of that fact in his book. The two men were now halfway up the Denon Wing's entry tunnel, and Langdon could see the twin ascending escalators at the far end, both motionless. â€Å"So you shared interests with him?† Fache asked. â€Å"Yes. In fact, I've spent much of the last year writing the draft for a book that deals with Mr. Sauniere's primary area of expertise. I was looking forward to picking his brain.† Fache glanced up. â€Å"Pardon?† The idiom apparently didn't translate. â€Å"I was looking forward to learning his thoughts on the topic.† â€Å"I see. And what is the topic?† Langdon hesitated, uncertain exactly how to put it. â€Å"Essentially, the manuscript is about the iconography of goddess worship – the concept of female sanctity and the art and symbols associated with it.† Fache ran a meaty hand across his hair. â€Å"And Sauniere was knowledgeable about this?† â€Å"Nobody more so.† â€Å"I see.† Langdon sensed Fache did not see at all. Jacques Sauniere was considered the premiere goddess iconographer on earth. Not only did Sauniere have a personal passion for relics relating to fertility, goddess cults, Wicca, and the sacred feminine, but during his twenty-year tenure as curator, Sauniere had helped the Louvre amass the largest collection of goddess art on earth – labrys axes from the priestesses' oldest Greek shrine in Delphi, gold caducei wands, hundreds of Tjetankhs resembling small standing angels, sistrum rattles used in ancient Egypt to dispel evil spirits, and an astonishing array of statues depicting Horus being nursed by the goddess Isis. â€Å"Perhaps Jacques Sauniere knew of your manuscript?† Fache offered. â€Å"And he called the meeting to offer his help on your book.† Langdon shook his head. â€Å"Actually, nobody yet knows about my manuscript. It's still in draft form, and I haven't shown it to anyone except my editor.† Fache fell silent. Langdon did not add the reason he hadn't yet shown the manuscript to anyone else. The three- hundred-page draft – tentatively titled Symbols of the Lost Sacred Feminine – proposed some very unconventional interpretations of established religious iconography which would certainly be controversial. Now, as Langdon approached the stationary escalators, he paused, realizing Fache was no longer beside him. Turning, Langdon saw Fache standing several yards back at a service elevator. â€Å"We'll take the elevator,† Fache said as the lift doors opened. â€Å"As I'm sure you're aware, the gallery is quite a distance on foot.† Although Langdon knew the elevator would expedite the long, two-story climb to the Denon Wing, he remained motionless. â€Å"Is something wrong?† Fache was holding the door, looking impatient. Langdon exhaled, turning a longing glance back up the open-air escalator. Nothing's wrong at all, he lied to himself, trudging back toward the elevator. As a boy, Langdon had fallen down an abandoned well shaft and almost died treading water in the narrow space for hours before being rescued. Since then, he'd suffered a haunting phobia of enclosed spaces – elevators, subways, squash courts. The elevator is a perfectly safe machine, Langdon continually told himself, never believing it. It's a tiny metal box hanging in an enclosed shaft! Holding his breath, he stepped into the lift, feeling the familiar tingle of adrenaline as the doors slid shut. Two floors.Ten seconds. â€Å"You and Mr. Sauniere,† Fache said as the lift began to move,† you never spoke at all? Never corresponded? Never sent each other anything in the mail?† Another odd question. Langdon shook his head. â€Å"No. Never.† Fache cocked his head, as if making a mental note of that fact. Saying nothing, he stared dead ahead at the chrome doors. As they ascended, Langdon tried to focus on anything other than the four walls around him. In the reflection of the shiny elevator door, he saw the captain's tie clip – a silver crucifix with thirteen embedded pieces of black onyx. Langdon found it vaguely surprising. The symbol was known as a crux gemmata – a cross bearing thirteen gems – a Christian ideogram for Christ and His twelve apostles. Somehow Langdon had not expected the captain of the French police to broadcast his religion so openly. Then again, this was France; Christianity was not a religion here so much as a birthright. â€Å"It's a crux gemmata† Fache said suddenly. Startled, Langdon glanced up to find Fache's eyes on him in the reflection. The elevator jolted to a stop, and the doors opened. Langdon stepped quickly out into the hallway, eager for the wide-open space afforded by the famous high ceilings of the Louvre galleries. The world into which he stepped, however, was nothing like he expected. Surprised, Langdon stopped short. Fache glanced over. â€Å"I gather, Mr. Langdon, you have never seen the Louvre after hours?† I guess not, Langdon thought, trying to get his bearings. Usually impeccably illuminated, the Louvre galleries were startlingly dark tonight. Instead of the customary flat-white light flowing down from above, a muted red glow seemed to emanate upward from the baseboards – intermittent patches of red light spilling out onto the tile floors. As Langdon gazed down the murky corridor, he realized he should have anticipated this scene. Virtually all major galleries employed red service lighting at night – strategically placed, low-level, noninvasive lights that enabled staff members to navigate hallways and yet kept the paintings inrelative darkness to slow the fading effects of overexposure to light. Tonight, the museum possessed an almost oppressive quality. Long shadows encroached everywhere, and the usually soaring vaulted ceilings appeared as a low, black void. â€Å"This way,† Fache said, turning sharply right and setting out through a series of interconnected galleries. Langdon followed, his vision slowly adjusting to the dark. All around, large-format oils began to materialize like photos developing before him in an enormous darkroom†¦ their eyes following as he moved through the rooms. He could taste the familiar tang of museum air – an arid, deionized essence that carried a faint hint of carbon – the product of industrial, coal-filter dehumidifiers that ran around the clock to counteract the corrosive carbon dioxide exhaled by visitors. Mounted high on the walls, the visible security cameras sent a clear message to visitors: We see you.Do not touch anything. â€Å"Any of them real?† Langdon asked, motioning to the cameras. Fache shook his head. â€Å"Of course not.† Langdon was not surprised. Video surveillance in museums this size was cost-prohibitive and ineffective. With acres of galleries to watch over, the Louvre would require several hundred technicians simply to monitor the feeds. Most large museums now used† containment security.† Forget keeping thieves out.Keep them in.Containment was activated after hours, and if an intruder removed a piece of artwork, compartmentalized exits would seal around that gallery, and the thief would find himself behind bars even before the police arrived. The sound of voices echoed down the marble corridor up ahead. The noise seemed to be coming from a large recessed alcove that lay ahead on the right. A bright light spilled out into the hallway. â€Å"Office of the curator,† the captain said. As he and Fache drew nearer the alcove, Langdon peered down a short hallway, into Sauniere's luxurious study – warm wood, Old Master paintings, and an enormous antique desk on which stood a two-foot-tall model of a knight in full armor. A handful of police agents bustled about the room, talking on phones and taking notes. One of them was seated at Sauniere's desk, typing into a laptop. Apparently, the curator's private office had become DCPJ's makeshift command post for the evening. â€Å"Messieurs,† Fache called out, and the men turned. â€Å"Ne nous derangez pas sous aucun pretexte. Entendu?† Everyone inside the office nodded their understanding. Langdon had hung enough NE PAS DERANGER signs on hotel room doors to catch the gist of the captain's orders. Fache and Langdon were not to be disturbed under any circumstances. Leaving the small congregation of agents behind, Fache led Langdon farther down the darkened hallway. Thirty yards ahead loomed the gateway to the Louvre's most popular section – la Grande Galerie – a seemingly endless corridor that housed the Louvre's most valuable Italian masterpieces. Langdon had already discerned that this was where Sauniere's body lay; the Grand Gallery's famous parquet floor had been unmistakable in the Polaroid. As they approached, Langdon saw the entrance was blocked by an enormous steel grate that looked like something used by medieval castles to keep out marauding armies. â€Å"Containment security,†Fache said, as they neared the grate. Even in the darkness, the barricade looked like it could have restrained a tank. Arriving outside, Langdon peered through the bars into the dimly lit caverns of the Grand Gallery. â€Å"After you, Mr. Langdon,† Fache said. Langdon turned. After me, where?Fache motioned toward the floor at the base of the grate. Langdon looked down. In the darkness, he hadn't noticed. The barricade was raised about two feet, providing an awkward clearance underneath. â€Å"This area is still off limits to Louvre security,† Fache said. â€Å"My team from Police Technique etScientifique has just finished their investigation.† He motioned to the opening. â€Å"Please slide under.† Langdon stared at the narrow crawl space at his feet and then up at the massive iron grate. He's kidding, right? The barricade looked like a guillotine waiting to crush intruders. Fache grumbled something in French and checked his watch. Then he dropped to his knees and slithered his bulky frame underneath the grate. On the other side, he stood up and looked back through the bars at Langdon. Langdon sighed. Placing his palms flat on the polished parquet, he lay on his stomach and pulled himself forward. As he slid underneath, the nape of his Harris tweed snagged on the bottom of the grate, and he cracked the back of his head on the iron. Very suave, Robert, he thought, fumbling and then finally pulling himself through. As he stood up, Langdon was beginning to suspect it was going to be a very long night. CHAPTER 5 Murray Hill Place – the new Opus Dei World Headquarters and conference center – is located at 243 Lexington Avenue in New York City. With a price tag of just over $47 million, the 133, 000- square-foot tower is clad in red brick and Indiana limestone. Designed by May & Pinska, the building contains over one hundred bedrooms, six dining rooms, libraries, living rooms, meeting rooms, and offices. The second, eighth, and sixteenth floors contain chapels, ornamented with mill- work and marble. The seventeenth floor is entirely residential. Men enter the building through the main doors on Lexington Avenue. Women enter through a side street and are ‘acoustically and visually separated' from the men at all times within the building. Earlier this evening, within the sanctuary of his penthouse apartment, Bishop Manuel Aringarosa had packed a small travel bag and dressed in a traditional black cassock. Normally, he would have wrapped a purple cincture around his waist, but tonight he would be traveling among the public, and he preferred not to draw attention to his high office. Only those with a keen eye would notice his 14-karat gold bishop's ring with purple amethyst, large diamonds, and hand-tooled mitre-crozier applique. Throwing the travel bag over his shoulder, he said a silent prayer and left his apartment, descending to the lobby where his driver was waiting to take him to the airport. Now, sitting aboard a commercial airliner bound for Rome, Aringarosa gazed out the window at the dark Atlantic. The sun had already set, but Aringarosa knew his own star was on the rise. Tonight the battle will be won, he thought, amazed that only months ago he had felt powerless against the hands that threatened to destroy his empire. As president-general of Opus Dei, Bishop Aringarosa had spent the last decade of his life spreading the message of â€Å"God's Work† – literally, Opus Dei.The congregation, founded in 1928 by the Spanish priest Josemaria Escriva, promoted a return to conservative Catholic values and encouraged its members to make sweeping sacrifices in their own lives in order to do the Work of God. Opus Dei's traditionalist philosophy initially had taken root in Spain before Franco's regime, but with the 1934 publication of Josemaria Escriva's spiritual book The Way – 999 points of meditation for doing God's Work in one's own life – Escriva's message exploded across the world. Now, with over four million copies of The Way in circulation in forty-two languages, Opus Dei was a global force. Its residence halls, teaching centers, and even universities could be found in almost every major metropolis on earth. Opus Dei was the fastest-growing and most financially secure Catholic organization in the world. Unfortunately, Aringarosa had learned, in an age of religious cynicism, cults, and televangelists, Opus Dei's escalating wealth and power was a magnet for suspicion. â€Å"Many call Opus Dei a brainwashing cult,† reporters often challenged. â€Å"Others call you an ultraconservative Christian secret society. Which are you?† â€Å"Opus Dei is neither,† the bishop would patiently reply. â€Å"We are a Catholic Church. We are a congregation of Catholics who have chosen as our priority to follow Catholic doctrine as rigorously as we can in our own daily lives.† â€Å"Does God's Work necessarily include vows of chastity, tithing, and atonement for sins through self-flagellation and the cilice?† â€Å"You are describing only a small portion of the Opus Dei population,† Aringarosa said. â€Å"There are many levels of involvement. Thousands of Opus Dei members are married, have families, and do God's Work in their own communities. Others choose lives of asceticism within our cloistered residence halls. These choices are personal, but everyone in Opus Dei shares the goal of bettering the world by doing the Work of God. Surely this is an admirable quest.† Reason seldom worked, though. The media always gravitated toward scandal, and Opus Dei, like most large organizations, had within its membership a few misguided souls who cast a shadow over the entire group. Two months ago, an Opus Dei group at a mid-western university had been caught drugging new recruits with mescaline in an effort to induce a euphoric state that neophytes would perceive as a religious experience. Another university student had used his barbed cilice belt more often than the recommended two hours a day and had given himself a near lethal infection. In Boston not long ago, a disillusioned young investment banker had signed over his entire life savings to Opus Dei before attempting suicide. Misguided sheep, Aringarosa thought, his heart going out to them. Of course the ultimate embarrassment had been the widely publicized trial of FBI spy Robert Hanssen, who, in addition to being a prominent member of Opus Dei, had turned out to be a sexual deviant, his trial uncovering evidence that he had rigged hidden video cameras in his own bedroom so his friends could watch him having sex with his wife. â€Å"Hardly the pastime of a devout Catholic,† the judge had noted. Sadly, all of these events had helped spawn the new watch group known as the Opus Dei Awareness Network (ODAN). The group's popular website – www odan.org – relayed frightening stories from former Opus Dei members who warned of the dangers of joining. The media was now referring to Opus Dei as† God's Mafia† and† the Cult of Christ.† We fear what we do not understand, Aringarosa thought, wondering if these critics had any idea how many lives Opus Dei had enriched. The group enjoyed the full endorsement and blessing of the Vatican. Opus Dei is a personal prelature of the Pope himself. Recently, however, Opus Dei had found itself threatened by a force infinitely more powerful than the media†¦ an unexpected foe from which Aringarosa could not possibly hide. Five months ago, the kaleidoscope of power had been shaken, and Aringarosa was still reeling from the blow. â€Å"They know not the war they have begun,† Aringarosa whispered to himself, staring out the plane's window at the darkness of the ocean below. For an instant, his eyes refocused, lingering on the reflection of his awkward face – dark and oblong, dominated by a flat, crooked nose that had been shattered by a fist in Spain when he was a young missionary. The physical flaw barely registered now. Aringarosa's was a world of the soul, not of the flesh. As the jet passed over the coast of Portugal, the cell phone in Aringarosa's cassock began vibrating in silent ring mode. Despite airline regulations prohibiting the use of cell phones during flights, Aringarosa knew this was a call he could not miss. Only one man possessed this number, the man who had mailed Aringarosa the phone. Excited, the bishop answered quietly. â€Å"Yes?† â€Å"Silas has located the keystone,† the caller said. â€Å"It is in Paris. Within the Church of Saint-Sulpice.† Bishop Aringarosa smiled. â€Å"Then we are close.† â€Å"We can obtain it immediately. But we need your influence.† â€Å"Of course. Tell me what to do.† When Aringarosa switched off the phone, his heart was pounding. He gazed once again into the void of night, feeling dwarfed by the events he had put into motion. Five hundred miles away, the albino named Silas stood over a small basin of water and dabbed the blood from his back, watching the patterns of red spinning in the water. Purge me with hyssop andI shall be clean, he prayed, quoting Psalms. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Silas was feeling an aroused anticipation that he had not felt since his previous life. It both surprised and electrified him. For the last decade, he had been following The Way, cleansing himself of sins†¦ rebuilding his life†¦ erasing the violence in his past. Tonight, however, it had all come rushing back. The hatred he had fought so hard to bury had been summoned. He had been startled how quickly his past had resurfaced. And with it, of course, had come his skills. Rusty but serviceable. Jesus' message is one of peace†¦of nonviolence†¦of love.This was the message Silas had been taught from the beginning, and the message he held in his heart. And yet this was the message the enemies of Christ now threatened to destroy. Those who threaten God with force will be met with force.Immovable and steadfast. For two millennia, Christian soldiers had defended their faith against those who tried to displace it. Tonight, Silas had been called to battle. Drying his wounds, he donned his ankle-length, hooded robe. It was plain, made of dark wool, accentuating the whiteness of his skin and hair. Tightening the rope-tie around his waist, he raised the hood over his head and allowed his red eyes to admire his reflection in the mirror. The wheels are in motion. CHAPTER 6 Having squeezed beneath the security gate, Robert Langdon now stood just inside the entrance to the Grand Gallery. He was staring into the mouth of a long, deep canyon. On either side of the gallery, stark walls rose thirty feet, evaporating into the darkness above. The reddish glow of the service lighting sifted upward, casting an unnatural smolder across a staggering collection of Da Vincis, Titians, and Caravaggios that hung suspended from ceiling cables. Still lifes, religious scenes, and landscapes accompanied portraits of nobility and politicians. Although the Grand Gallery housed the Louvre's most famous Italian art, many visitors felt the wing's most stunning offering was actually its famous parquet floor. Laid out in a dazzling geometric design of diagonal oak slats, the floor produced an ephemeral optical illusion – a multi- dimensional network that gave visitors the sense they were floating through the gallery on a surface that changed with every step. As Langdon's gaze began to trace the inlay, his eyes stopped short on an unexpected object lying on the floor just a few yards to his left, surrounded by police tape. He spun toward Fache. â€Å"Is that†¦ a Caravaggio on the floor?† Fache nodded without even looking. The painting, Langdon guessed, was worth upward of two million dollars, and yet it was lying on the floor like a discarded poster. â€Å"What the devil is it doing on the floor!† Fache glowered, clearly unmoved. â€Å"This is a crime scene, Mr. Langdon. We have touched nothing. That canvas was pulled from the wall by the curator. It was how he activated the security system.† Langdon looked back at the gate, trying to picture what had happened. â€Å"The curator was attacked in his office, fled into the Grand Gallery, and activated the security gate by pulling that painting from the wall. The gate fell immediately, sealing off all access. This is the only door in or out of this gallery.† Langdon felt confused. â€Å"So the curator actually captured his attacker inside the Grand Gallery?† Fache shook his head. â€Å"The security gate separated Sauniere from his attacker. The killer waslocked out there in the hallway and shot Sauniere through this gate.† Fache pointed toward anorange tag hanging from one of the bars on the gate under which they had just passed. â€Å"The PT Steam found flashback residue from a gun. He fired through the bars. Sauniere died in here alone.† Langdon pictured the photograph of Sauniere's body. They said he did that to himself.Langdon looked out at the enormous corridor before them. â€Å"So where is his body?† Fache straightened his cruciform tie clip and began to walk. â€Å"As you probably know, the Grand Gallery is quite long.† The exact length, if Langdon recalled correctly, was around fifteen hundred feet, the length of three Washington Monuments laid end to end. Equally breathtaking was the corridor's width, which easily could have accommodated a pair of side-by-side passenger trains. The center of the hallway was dotted by the occasional statue or colossal porcelain urn, which served as a tasteful divider and kept the flow of traffic moving down one wall and up the other. Fache was silent now, striding briskly up the right side of the corridor with his gaze dead ahead. Langdon felt almost disrespectful to be racing past so many masterpieces without pausing for so much as a glance. Not that I could see anything in this lighting, he thought. The muted crimson lighting unfortunately conjured memories of Langdon's last experience in noninvasive lighting in the Vatican Secret Archives. This was tonight's second unsettling parallel with his near-death in Rome. He flashed on Vittoria again. She had been absent from his dreams for months. Langdon could not believe Rome had been only a year ago; it felt like decades. Another life.His last correspondence from Vittoria had been in December – a postcard saying she was headed to the Java Sea to continue her research in entanglement physics†¦ something about using satellites to track manta ray migrations. Langdon had never harbored delusions that a woman like Vittoria Vetra could have been happy living with him on a college campus, but their encounter in Rome had unlocked in him a longing he never imagined he could feel. His lifelong affinity for bachelorhood and the simple freedoms it allowed had been shaken somehow†¦ replaced by an unexpected emptiness that seemed to have grown over the past year. They continued walking briskly, yet Langdon still saw no corpse. â€Å"Jacques Sauniere went this far?† â€Å"Mr. Sauniere suffered a bullet wound to his stomach. He died very slowly. Perhaps over fifteen or twenty minutes. He was obviously a man of great personal strength.† Langdon turned, appalled. â€Å"Security took fifteen minutes to get here?† â€Å"Of course not. Louvre security responded immediately to the alarm and found the Grand Gallery sealed. Through the gate, they could hear someone moving around at the far end of the corridor, but they could not see who it was. They shouted, but they got no answer. Assuming it could only be a criminal, they followed protocol and called in the Judicial Police. We took up positions within fifteen minutes. When we arrived, we raised the barricade enough to slip underneath, and I sent a dozen armed agents inside. They swept the length of the gallery to corner the intruder.† â€Å"And?† â€Å"They found no one inside. Except†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He pointed farther down the hall. â€Å"Him.† Langdon lifted his gaze and followed Fache's outstretched finger. At first he thought Fache was pointing to a large marble statue in the middle of the hallway. As they continued, though, Langdon began to see past the statue. Thirty yards down the hall, a single spotlight on a portable pole stand shone down on the floor, creating a stark island of white light in the dark crimson gallery. In the center of the light, like an insect under a microscope, the corpse of the curator lay naked on the parquet floor. â€Å"You saw the photograph,† Fache said,† so this should be of no surprise.† Langdon felt a deep chill as they approached the body. Before him was one of the strangest image she had ever seen. The pallid corpse of Jacques Sauniere lay on the parquet floor exactly as it appeared in the photograph. As Langdon stood over the body and squinted in the harsh light, he reminded himself to his amazement that Sauniere had spent his last minutes of life arranging his own body in this strange fashion. Sauniere looked remarkably fit for a man of his years†¦ and all of his musculature was in plain view. He had stripped off every shred of clothing, placed it neatly on the floor, and laid down on his back in the center of the wide corridor, perfectly aligned with the long axis of the room. His arms and legs were sprawled outward in a wide spread eagle, like those of a child making a snow angel†¦ or, perhaps more appropriately, like a man being drawn and quartered by some invisible force. Just below Sauniere's breastbone, a bloody smear marked the spot where the bullet had pierced his flesh. The wound had bled surprisingly little, leaving only a small pool of blackened blood. Sauniere's left index finger was also bloody, apparently having been dipped into the wound to create the most unsettling aspect of his own macabre deathbed; using his own blood as ink, and employing his own naked abdomen as a canvas, Sauniere had drawn a simple symbol on his flesh – five straight lines that intersected to form a five-pointed star. The pentacle. The bloody star, centered on Sauniere's navel, gave his corpse a distinctly ghoulish aura. The photo Langdon had seen was chilling enough, but now, witnessing the scene in person, Langdon felt a deepening uneasiness. He did this to himself. â€Å"Mr. Langdon?† Fache's dark eyes settled on him again. â€Å"It's a pentacle,† Langdon offered, his voice feeling hollow in the huge space. â€Å"One of the oldest symbols on earth. Used over four thousand years before Christ.† â€Å"And what does it mean?† Langdon always hesitated when he got this question. Telling someone what a symbol† meant† was like telling them how a song should make them feel – it was different for all people. A white Ku Klux Klan headpiece conjured images of hatred and racism in the United States, and yet the same costume carried a meaning of religious faith in Spain. â€Å"Symbols carry different meanings in different settings,† Langdon said. â€Å"Primarily, the pentacle is a pagan religious symbol.† Fache nodded. â€Å"Devil worship.† â€Å"No,† Langdon corrected, immediately realizing his choice of vocabulary should have been clearer. Nowadays, the term pagan had become almost synonymous with devil worship – a gross misconception. The word's roots actually reached back to the Latin paganus, meaning country-dwellers. â€Å"Pagans† were literally unindoctrinated country-folk who clung to the old, rural religions of Nature worship. In fact, so strong was the Church's fear of those who lived in the rural villes that the once innocuous word for† villager† – villain – came to mean a wicked soul. â€Å"The pentacle,† Langdon clarified,† is a pre-Christian symbol that relates to Nature worship. The ancients envisioned their world in two halves – masculine and feminine. Their gods and goddesses worked to keep a balance of power. Yin and yang. When male and female were balanced, there was harmony in the world. When they were unbalanced, there was chaos.† Langdon motioned to Sauniere's stomach. â€Å"This pentacle is representative of the female half of all things – a concept religious historians call the ‘sacred feminine' or the ‘divine goddess. ‘ Sauniere, of all people, would know this.† â€Å"Sauniere drew a goddess symbol on his stomach?† Langdon had to admit, it seemed odd. â€Å"In its most specific interpretation, the pentacle symbolizes Venus – the goddess of female sexual love and beauty.† Fache eyed the naked man, and grunted. â€Å"Early religion was based on the divine order of Nature. The goddess Venus and the planet Venus were one and the same. The goddess had a place in the nighttime sky and was known by many names – Venus, the Eastern Star, Ishtar, Astarte – all of them powerful female concepts with ties to Nature and Mother Earth.† Fache looked more troubled now, as if he somehow preferred the idea of devil worship. Langdon decided not to share the pentacle's most astonishing property – the graphic origin of its ties to Venus. As a young astronomy student, Langdon had been stunned to learn the planet Venus traced a perfect pentacle across the ecliptic sky every four years. So astonished were the ancients to observe this phenomenon, that Venus and her pentacle became symbols of perfection, beauty, and the cyclic qualities of sexual love. As a tribute to the magic of Venus, the Greeks used her four-year cycle to organize their Olympiads. Nowadays, few people realized that the four-year schedule of modern Olympic Games still followed the cycles of Venus. Even fewer people knew that the five-pointed star had almost become the official Olympic seal but was modified at the last moment – its five points exchanged for five intersecting rings to better reflect the games' spirit of inclusion and harmony. â€Å"Mr. Langdon,† Fache said abruptly. â€Å"Obviously, the pentacle must also relate to the devil. Your American horror movies make that point clearly.† Langdon frowned. Thank you, Hollywood.The five-pointed star was now a virtual cliche in Satanic serial killer movies, usually scrawled on the wall of some Satanist's apartment along with other alleged demonic symbology. Langdon was always frustrated when he saw the symbol in this context; the pentacle's true origins were actually quite godly. â€Å"I assure you,† Langdon said,† despite what you see in the movies, the pentacle's demonic interpretation is historically inaccurate. The original feminine meaning is correct, but the symbolism of the pentacle has been distorted over the millennia. In this case, through bloodshed.† â€Å"I'm not sure I follow.† Langdon glanced at Fache's crucifix, uncertain how to phrase his next point. â€Å"The Church, sir. Symbols are very resilient, but the pentacle was altered by the early Roman Catholic Church. As part of the Vatican's campaign to eradicate pagan religions and convert the masses to Christianity, the Church launched a smear campaign against the pagan gods and goddesses, recasting their divine symbols as evil.† â€Å"Go on.† â€Å"This is very common in times of turmoil,† Langdon continued. â€Å"A newly emerging power will take over the existing symbols and degrade them over time in an attempt to erase their meaning. In the battle between the pagan symbols and Christian symbols, the pagans lost; Poseidon's trident became the devil's pitchfork, the wise crone's pointed hat became the symbol of a witch, and Venus's pentacle became a sign of the devil.† Langdon paused. â€Å"Unfortunately, the United States military has also perverted the pentacle; it's now our foremost symbol of war. We paint it on all our fighter jets and hang it on the shoulders of all our generals.† So much for the goddess of love and beauty. â€Å"Interesting.† Fache nodded toward the spread-eagle corpse. â€Å"And the positioning of the body? What do you make of that?† Langdon shrugged. â€Å"The position simply reinforces the reference to the pentacle and sacred feminine.† Fache's expression clouded. â€Å"I beg your pardon?† â€Å"Replication. Repeating a symbol is the simplest way to strengthen its meaning. Jacques Sauniere positioned himself in the shape of a five-pointed star.† If one pentacle is good, two is better. Fache's eyes followed the five points of Sauniere's arms, legs, and head as he again ran a hand across his slick hair. â€Å"Interesting analysis.† He paused. â€Å"And the nudity?† He grumbled as he spoke the word, sounding repulsed by the sight of an aging male body. â€Å"Why did he remove his clothing?† Damned good question, Langdon thought. He'd been wondering the same thing ever since he first saw the Polaroid. His best guess was that a naked human form was yet another endorsement of Venus – the goddess of human sexuality. Although modern culture had erased much of Venus's association with the male/female physical union, a sharp etymological eye could still spot a vestige of Venus's original meaning in the word† venereal.† Langdon decided not to go there. â€Å"Mr. Fache, I obviously can't tell you why Mr. Sauniere drew that symbol on himself or placed himself in this way, but I can tell you that a man like Jacques Sauniere would consider the pentacle a sign of the female deity. The correlation between this symbol and the sacred feminine is widely known by art historians and symbologists.† â€Å"Fine. And the use of his own blood as ink?† â€Å"Obviously he had nothing else to write with.† Fache was silent a moment. â€Å"Actually, I believe he used blood such that the police would follow certain forensic procedures.† â€Å"I'm sorry?† â€Å"Look at his left hand.† Langdon's eyes traced the length of the curator's pale arm to his left hand but saw nothing. Uncertain, he circled the corpse and crouched down, now noting with surprise that the curator was clutching a large, felt-tipped marker. â€Å"Sauniere was holding it when we found him,† Fache said, leaving Langdon and moving several yards to a portable table covered with investigation tools, cables, and assorted electronic gear. â€Å"As I told you,† he said, rummaging around the table,† we have touched nothing. Are you familiar with this kind of pen?† Langdon knelt down farther to see the pen's label. STYLO DE LUMIERE NOIRE. He glanced up in surprise. The black-light pen or watermark stylus was a specialized felt-tipped marker originally designed by museums, restorers, and forgery police to place invisible marks on items. The stylus wrote in a noncorrosive, alcohol-based fluorescent ink that was visible only under black light. Nowadays, museum maintenance staffs carried these markers on their daily rounds to place invisible† tick marks† on the frames of paintings that needed restoration. As Langdon stood up, Fache walked over to the spotlight and turned it off. The gallery plunged into sudden darkness. Momentarily blinded, Langdon felt a rising uncertainty. Fache's silhouette appeared, illuminated in bright purple. He approached carrying a portable light source, which shrouded him in a violet haze. â€Å"As you may know,† Fache said, his eyes luminescing in the violet glow,† police use black-light illumination to search crime scenes for blood and other forensic evidence. So you can imagine our surprise†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Abruptly, he pointed the light down at the corpse. Langdon looked down and jumped back in shock. His heart pounded as he took in the bizarre sight now glowing before him on the parquet floor. Scrawled in luminescent handwriting, the curator's final words glowed purple beside his corpse. As Langdon stared at the shimmering text, he felt the fog that had surrounded this entire night growing thicker. Langdon read the message again and looked up at Fache. â€Å"What the hell does this mean!† Fache's eyes shone white. â€Å"That, monsieur, is precisely the question you are here to answer.† Not far away, inside Sauniere's office, Lieutenant Collet had returned to the Louvre and was huddled over an audio console set up on the curator's enormous desk. With the exception of the eerie, robot-like doll of a medieval knight that seemed to be staring at him from the corner of Sauniere's desk, Collet was comfortable. He adjusted his AKG headphones and checked the input levels on the hard-disk recording system. All systems were go. The microphones were functioning flawlessly, and the audio feed was crystal clear. Le moment de verite, he mused. Smiling, he closed his eyes and settled in to enjoy the rest of the conversation now being taped inside the Grand Gallery.

Nature and nurture on development Essay Essays

Nature and nurture on development Essay Essays Nature and nurture on development Essay Essay Nature and nurture on development Essay Essay In the survey of development. nature refers to the inherited ( familial ) features and inclinations that influence development. Some familial features appear in virtually everyone. For case. about all kids have the capacity to larn to walk. understand linguistic communication. imitate others. utilize simple tools. and draw illations about how other people view the universe. Thus all kids have a set of cosmopolitan human cistrons that. when coupled with a sensible environment. allow them to develop as moderately capable members of the human species. Other sorts of cistrons create differences among people. Children’s stature. oculus colour. and facial visual aspect are mostly determined by cistrons. Children’s temperament- their characteristic ways of reacting to emotional events. fresh stimulation. and their ain impulses- seems to be in portion affected by their single familial make-up ( Rothbart. Ahadi. A ; Evans. 2000 ; D. C. Rowe. Almeida. A ; Jacobson. 1999 ) . Similarly. being slow or speedy to larn from direction and mundane experiences has some familial footing ( Petrill A ; Wilkerson. 2000 ; Plomin. 1989 ) . Inherited features and inclinations are non ever apparent at birth. Many physical characteristics emerge bit by bit through the procedure of ripening. the genetically guided alterations that occur over the class of development. Environmental support. such as nutrient. moderately safe and toxin-free milieus. and antiphonal attention from others. is necessary for ripening to take topographic point ; nature neer works entirely. Thus nature’s spouse is nurture. the environmental conditions that influence development. Children’s experiences in the environment affect all facets of their being. from the wellness of their organic structures to the wonder of their heads. Raising affects children’s development through multiple channels: physically through nutrition. activity. and emphasis ; intellectually through informal experiences and formal direction ; and socially through grownup function theoretical accounts and peer relationships. With good environmental support. kids thrive. Unfortunately. the conditions of raising are non ever fostering. For illustration. kids who grow up in an opprobrious household must look outside the household for stable. fond attention. Historically. many theoreticians saw nature and raising as separate and rival factors. Some theoreticians believed that biological factors are finally responsible for growing. Other theoreticians assumed that kids become whatever the environment shapes them to be. Increasingly. developmental theoreticians have come to recognize that nature and raising are both of import and that they intermesh dynamically in the lives of kids. See these rules of how nature and nurture exert separate and combined effects: The comparative effects of heredity and environment vary for different countries of development. Some abilities are strongly influenced by genetically controlled systems in the encephalon. For illustration. the ability to separate among speech sounds develops without developing and under a broad scope of environmental conditions ( Flavell. 1994 ; Gallistel. Brown. Carey. Gelman. A ; Keil. 1991 ) . In contrast. abilities in traditional school capable countries ( e. g. . reading. geographics ) and advanced artistic and physical accomplishments ( e. g. . playing the piano. playing competitory association football ) rest to a great extent on direction and pattern ( Gardner. Torff. A ; Hatch. 1996 ; Olson. 1994 ; R. Watson. 1996 ) . Inherited inclinations make kids more or less antiphonal to peculiar environmental influences. Because of their familial make-up. some kids are easy affected by certain conditions in the environment. whereas others are less affected ( Rutter. 1997 ) . For illustration. kids who are. by nature. inhibited may be rather diffident around other people if they have few societal contacts. If their parents and instructors encourage them to do friends. nevertheless. they may go more socially surpassing ( Arcus. 1991 ; J. Kagan. 1998 ) . In contrast. kids who have more extrospective dispositions may be sociable regardless of the environment in which they grow up: They will persistently seek for equals with whom they can speak. laugh. and spend clip. Environment may play a greater function in development when environmental conditions are utmost instead than chair. When childs have experiences typical for their civilization and age-group. heredity frequently plays a strong function in their single features. Therefore. when kids grow up with equal nutrition. a warm and stable place environment. and appropriate educational experiences. heredity affects how rapidly and exhaustively they get new accomplishments. But when they have experiences that are rather unusual- for case. when they experience utmost deprivation- the influence of environment outweighs that of heredity ( D. C. Rowe. Almeida. A ; Jacobson. 1999 ) . For illustration. when kids grow up deprived of equal nutrition and stimulation. they may neglect to develop advanced rational accomplishments. even though they had the possible for such development when they were born ( Plomin A ; Petrill. 1997 ; D. C. Rowe. Jacobson. A ; Van lair Oord. 1999 ) . Similarly. when malnourished. kids tend to stay short in stature regardless of their familial potency to be tall ( J. S. Kagan. 1969 ) . Timing of environmental exposure affairs. When kids are altering quickly in any country. they are particularly prone to act upon by the environment. For illustration. early in a mother’s gestation. her usage of certain drugs may damage the rapidly turning variety meats and limbs of the developing foetus. Merely prior to birth. exposure to the same drugs may adversely impact the baby’s encephalon. which at that point is organizing the connexions that will allow endurance and the ability to larn in the outside universe. In a few instances environmental stimulation must happen during a peculiar period for an emerging ability to go functional ( Blakemore. 1976 ; Hubel A ; Wiesel. 1965 ) . In such instances there is a critical period for stimulation. For illustration. at birth. certain countries of the encephalon are tentatively reserved for treating ocular patterns- lines. forms. contours. deepness. and so forth. In virtually all instances. babies do encounter adequate stimulation to continue these encephalon circuits. However. when cataracts are present at birth and non removed for a few old ages. a child’s vision is obstructed. and countries of the encephalon that otherwise would be devoted to vision lose some of this capacity ( Bruer. 1999 ) . In many and likely most other developmental countries. nevertheless. kids may be most receptive to a certain type of stimulation at one point in their lives but be able to profit from it to some grade subsequently every bit good. Tonya. in the introductory instance survey. may hold encountered merely limited exposure to linguistic communication as a consequence of her mother’s weakened status. Immersed subsequently in a rich verbal environment. Tonya would hold a 2nd opportunity to spread out her verbal endowments. Thus educational experiences at a ulterior clip can frequently do up for experiences missed at an earlier period ( Bruer. 1999 ) . Many theoreticians use the term sensitive period ( instead than critical period ) when mentioning to such a long clip frame of heightened sensitiveness to peculiar environmental experiences. Children’s natural inclinations affect their environment. In add-on to being affected by nature and raising. children’s ain behaviours influence their growing. Childs make many picks. seek out information. and. over clip. polish their thoughts ( Flavell. 1994 ; Piaget. 1985 ) . For illustration. kids frequently request information ( â€Å"What cooperate mean. Mommy? † ) and experiences ( â€Å"Uncle Kevin. can I play on your computing machine? † ) . Children even help make environments that exacerbate their familial inclinations. For illustration. kids with cranky temperaments might pick battles and provoke others to flog back at them. making a more aggressive clime in which to turn. As kids get older. they become progressively able to seek stimulation that suits their inclinations. For illustration. conceive of that Marissa has an familial endowment for verbal skills- learning vocabulary. groking narratives. and so on. As a babe. she relies on her parents to speak to her. As a yearling. she asks her parents for peculiar sorts of stimulation ( â€Å"Read book. Daddy! † ) . In simple school she reads to herself from books supplied by her instructors. As a adolescent. she takes the coach to the library and selects her ain books. Marissa’s experience would propose that familial inclinations become more powerful as kids grow older- an outlook that is in fact consistent with familial research ( Scarr A ; McCartney. 1983 ) .

Euthanasia Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Euthanasia - Term Paper Example But the wider implications of euthanasia are important considerations for near and dear ones of the sick person. I believe that every person should be empowered to make his or her own decisions about his or her welfare and therefore, euthanasia needs to be accepted as legally and medically correct practice under certain conditions. The traditional approach like medical, behavioral and socio-economic approach to health are popular. The knowledge gained through religious ideologies and guidelines is complemented and supplemented by our inherent tendency to explore and widen its area of influence through all available means. Brandt (1975) states that ‘killing a person is not something that is just prima facie wrong in itself; it is wrong roughly only if and because it is an injury of someone, or if and because it is contrary to the known preferences of someone’. Whatever we do, it is based on reasoning or motivating forces that influence our thinking process and the way we think. The principles of patient’s autonomy and the right of the patient to decide about his welfare are vital considerations that should be respected. Hence, patient’s request for dignified death or euthanasia becomes highly relevant. Euthanasia is highly relevant for people who are in constant pain and may not even be in a conscious state to acknowledge the people around them. Terminally ill patients who are capable of living a full life or even assisted life and are not continuously suffering unbearable physical pain have the option and right to the natural death. Philippa Foot (1977) says that ‘encourage patients to make their own contracts with a doctor by making it known whether they wish him to prolong their life in case of painful terminal illness or of incapacity’. Indeed, it is inhuman to make people live through artificial means like medication when they are undergoing huge mental and physical agony when they know that they will

Meaning behind a Speech Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Meaning behind a Speech - Essay Example As many Americans are faced with the responsibility of electing a President every four years, one of the highlights of the process would be the Inaugural speech given by the newly sworn in chief executive on their inauguration day. From George Washington, all the way to the present day with Barack Obama, each individual who has resided in the chair of the President has found themselves with the opportunity to creatively craft their message through interviews given to members of the mainstream press, as well as speeches given to an even wider audience. Going farther than the words written within the pages of their statements, the power of these deliveries, are further enabled by the presence of the passion within the person saying the words. Taking the time to effectively present essential points of whatever case may need to be made, through increases in tone to emphasis crucial aspects, all the way to something as day-to-day, as the choice of clothing that would be worn. One of the most relevant speech examples in recent memory would be the inaugural speech delivered by John F. Kennedy in January 1961. Being a man who sought to introduce youthful vigor and passion into the role of the nation's chief executive, President Kennedy's speech would convey the inherent desire he would possess for the powerful role of both the American government and its citizens, as well as the power of the rest of the world. Through the strength in his delivery by means of the elevation and passion of his voice, Kennedy would enhance the meaning of his message for the nation. In speaking of the presence of power held by man but also the presence of a higher being, President Kennedy states, "The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe--the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God," (Kennedy, 1961). With his delivery, the new President would convey to his audience that, within all humans, they do hold the potential to enact great change around them. All the while remembering that, to stay true to history and the revolutionary forefathers of the nation, would be to remember the significance given to the influence of God. The more an individual may believe and feel passionate about what they are saying, the evidence will show in the choice of words to be spoken and the elevation of their voice, to better illustrate those very same words. For example, "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty,' (Kennedy, 1961). To assess the greater intended meaning of this, Kennedy would seek to further underline the strength of the American conviction for that which we believe in. With the delivery of this speech occurring in less than two decades since the end of World War II and just before the start of the Vietnam war, which would begin only a few short years later, the meaning behind the following portion of the President's speech, would be amplified through his eloquent delivery. "In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted