Robin Hoods Band as an Example of Financial Control and Authority in Assignment

Robin Hoods Band as an Example of Financial Control and Authority in Resolving Disputes between People - Assignment Example Imposing a fixed tax on the route through the forest would make Robin unpopular with the band which in turn could lead to a revolt against Robin and his supporters (Burke, Lake and Paine). It is also important to mention here that a fixed transit tax would have Robin lose the support of the villagers. Expanding into new territory would allow Robin and his band to generate greater revenue than they are currently generating. This would not only solve financial problems of the band but would also make it harder for Prince John and the Sheriff to track down members of the band and interrogate them regarding the whereabouts of the entire band. Expanding into new territory would also provide the opportunity to hide their loot in different more secure places. Killing the Sheriff would not yield the result of Robin’s financial problems and there is a good chance that killing the Sheriff would create more troubles for him than it would solve. Killing off the Sheriff might help Robin get the authorities off his back temporarily but Prince John and the Sheriff’s political allies would be even more determined to apprehend Robin. Furthermore murdering the Sheriff would not be an easy task. The Sheriff would probably be guarded by his men at all times and getting close to him would not be an easy task. The Barons’ proposal has a lot of advantages but there are also a large number of disadvantages to the acceptance of their proposal. The greatest advantage of helping the barons ensure the return of King Richard would not only get rid of Prince John and the Sheriff but it would also put Robin and his band in King Richard’s good books. However, there is a chance that a plan this big would grab the attention of Prince John before it can be carried out. The participation of Robin in such a plan could increase the determination of Prince John to capture Robin and his band of men. The best course of action for Robin would be to opt to expand into new territories.     

Analysis Of A Book By Ray Bradbury

Analysis Of A Book By Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, is a novel which invokes much thought about the way we live in society today. Through the protagonist, Guy Montag, Bradbury makes a wider point about the dangers that a divided society can present. In the novel, Bradbury creates a society in which all books and free thought are forbidden. It is clear to us that books are seen to be the source of all unhappiness and should therefore be prohibited. As a fireman, it is Montags job, not to put out fires, as is the case in todays society but instead to create fires in order to dispose of all unwanted books. This creates an idea of dystopia by the government trying to please everyone by using censorship to limit peoples independence and free thinking. As the novel progresses we see Montag move through a series of vital changes, seeing him transform from a mindless drone, happy to do whatever anyone tells him to, into a free-thinking member of society, forming a resistance against a government set to destroy all free thought. In order to determine the effectiveness of Bradburys portrayal of the changes in Montag, it is necessary to examine the points in the novel which are, in my opinion, the most significant in Montags transformation. At the start of the novel, we are introduced to the protagonist, Guy Montag, who is characterised by Bradbury as a Fireman with no purpose in life. Montag is one of the destructive forces in society who destroys books and also independence. Montag seems to take happiness in what he does and he seems to have no purpose in life apart from burning books. Montag seems completely content with his position in life, with no want to alter himself as a person and happy with what he does for society. Throughout the novel, Bradbury describes the fire as beautiful. His hands were the hands of some great conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning Bradbury is using the motif of Montags hands to show us that Montag sees fire,his creation, to be a thing of great beauty, in the same sense that a conductor sees the music as a work of art. Montag sees himself as an artist creating a thing of pure magnificence in the fire. Bradbury further stresses Montags opinion of fire by using a key metaphor. He strode in a swarm of fireflies In using this metaphor, Bradbury creates the image of the fragments of past books being fireflies. Fireflies are creatures that bring light to darkness. This acts as an effective link to Montags view of fire as a thing of beauty. Fireflies also possess a certain aura of magic and mystery creating an almost serene beauty. To Montag, things that are alight become beautiful and so the sparks of the fire are seen as beautiful. This helps to emphasise the satisfaction Montag takes in his work. The following stages of the novel reveal an unusual feeling. At this point we are introduced to Clarisse, an innocent teenage girl with a boundless curiosity who does not follow the trend and who acts as a catalyst, speeding up Montags change. The world that she lives in has not ruined her and therefore she seems to possess a sense of purity. She seems to be at the opposite end of the spectrum to Montag. The world Montag lives in has transformed him into an incurious human being with no notion to question anything. His lack of independence only seems to add to this characterisation by Bradbury. Clarisse plays an essential part in Montags change. She plants a seed of realisation in Montags mind, speeding up what would only have been a very gradual process. She asks him questions that are meant to make him think on a deeper level, something that he is unaccustomed to. Are you happy Montag is taken-aback by this question and reacts by saying Yeah Sure. However, as I mentioned before, this question was meant to make him think on a deeper, more personal level. What Clarisse is in actual fact asking Montag is whether his life is fulfilled and has a purpose or a meaning. The events that follow this conversation between the two reveal to us that Montag is not in fact happy. The suicide of a book lover is used by Bradbury to bring to light Montags curiosity surrounding the world of books. The book lover refuses to be separated from her way of life and her culture. She feels that she would rather die than leave her culture behind. We shall this day light a candle as I trust shall never be put out This statement is intended to promote a revolution. By adopting the role of a martyr, the book lover dying for that which she believes in, ultimately in the hope that others will follow and a revolution shall be sparked. Bradbury is alluding to the 16th century witch trials at this point in the novel. This allusion is relevant as those thought to have been witches were burnt. They died in unity with their love of their crafts. Those who burnt them did so in an attempt to discourage further acts. This is relevant to the book lover as she was burnt for her love of reading, something that they were trying very hard to discourage. The ownership of books has been made illegal by the government in this novel as has free thinking behaviour. Bradburys allusion to the witch trials at this stage reflects back to a period in our history in which we too criminalised people who, in our eyes, seemed different. His mention of such a horrific example of injustice merely makes stronger the idea of the sheer scale of the persecution that this book lover and many others face. As Montag is burning the books which he has been sent to destroy, the reader is given an insight into the nature of his act. A book alighted, almost obediently, like a white pigeon, in his hands, wings fluttering Bradburys use of the idea of Montags hands acting for themselves charts the different stages in Montags transformation. At first, his hands are used to create things of beauty, whereas at this stage they seem to possess a life of their own, seemingly reaching out for books sub-consciously. This clearly reveals his curiosity for books that his outer self doesnt wish him to read. When Montag meets Faber, further change begins to occur. Faber is an old man whose passion for books has been extinguished. In his opinion, it is those who did not speak up against the movement of book burning who are to blame for the current situation. If he had acted when the change was occurring, he believes that , as before, others would have followed his act up by doing the same. Faber encourages Montags individuality and reveals to him the fact that he must learn to think for himself and not let himself be ruled by anyone else. It is his intention to show Montag that the answer is not always obvious and that he must always be acting on his own ideas. Remember Caesar, thou art mortal Bradbury makes this intertextual reference to Julius Caesar to illustrate Fabers warning against Montags overconfidence. Caesar was a Roman emperor and tyrant who put himself above his country in the same way as the government does in this novel. This comparison between the government and Caesar strongly shows how Bradbury feels about the governments actions. In this novel, the idea of censorship is used to convey how through restriction of free-thought, whole societies can implode. At this point in the novel, Montag seems not to be fully changed and therefore he begins to take on Fabers personality as well as his own. Say Yes' His mouth moved like Fabers Yes Bradbury clearly reveals that Montag is not capable of fully acting for himself. Montag finds himself at a moral crossroads; following Faber or following Beatty (his captain). By following Beatty, he would continue to pursue the ignorance is bliss approach. It would be an easy life to follow Beatty but his life would never be properly fulfilled and he would have no sense of individuality or purpose. If he chooses to unite with Faber and pursue a common goal, the dream of a fulfilled life, then he would become one of a similarly directed minority, fighting against the majority for what they believe in. After choosing to unite with Faber, Montag burns his own house while Beatty watches. By doing this, he seems to be burning away a part of his life that he wants to forget. In his view, the house represents this period of his life that he does not want to be part of any more. By burning it all, it is made clear to the reader that he has moved on with his life. The sheer ferocity with which he acts illustrates that he wants to burn everything, right down to the minutest thing that reminds him of his previous self. Bradburys language in this stage in the novel is similar to that at the start of the novel. However, here Bradbury is illustrating that Montag has changed. His pleasure is now drawn from burning those items that he hates the most. Once again it was a pleasure to burn Here, Bradbury is telling us that Montag is again taking pleasure from burning things but, rather than being the mindless drone that he was at the start of the novel, he takes this pleasure as is he realises that burning the things that he hates the most, he can burn away his life preceeding this and start a new life. Bradburys use of symbolism to represent the river merely emphasises Montags change. As Montag passes through the water we are led to believe that he is being baptised, being reborn and separated from his past life. Montag has a sudden realisation that time is always passing and that the sun will always rise and set. This brings him to the conclusion that life is limited and that if he burns things, this combines with the suns burning to destroy everything good in life leaving only a shell behind. He was not empty. There was more than enough here to fill him. There would always be more than enough At this point Montags change is illustrated. He was previously empty and yet now his curiosity of the world around him and the world of books has filled him with a constant flow of thought, enough to fill him for an eternity. Upon leaving the river he realises the promise of a fulfilled life. This commits Montag to finding that which makes him truly happy. He meets Grainger, a fellow outcast, who is part of a group of men who memorise books in order to read extracts to the others in time of need. You are the book of Ecclesiastes Montag has memorised the Book of Ecclesiastes before it is burnt and therefore becomes the book, ready to be called upon whenever he is needed. This gives his life a meaning and purpose showing that he has finally found his own self-importance. In the closing stages of Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury compares society to the phoenix, a bird that can be reborn from its own ashes. Montag is also similar to the phoenix in this way as he has risen from the depths of his own destruction. Society does likewise as it creates wars which destroy things, but out of the ashes it rebuilds itself. Human society can be superior to the phoenix as it can learn from its mistakes and avoid destruction. In this novel, society seems to be so badly damaged that ironically the only way that it can rebuild itself is to be destroyed. By doing this Bradbury tells us that if we learn from our mistakes before it is too late, there need be no more destruction. To conclude, Montag is successfully portrayed by Bradbury through his clever use of imagery, symbolism and characterisaton. Bradbury refers to fire to convey Montags initial feelings toward it in the opening stages of the novel. This shows Montags lack of change. However, following his meeting with Clarisse, Montag begins to question his own life and kick-start his own change through Bradburys word choice. After the suicide of a book lover, Bradburys references to earlier periods illustrate the importance of books in todays society. Within the rebirth stage, the river is used as a symbol to convey Montags total change. This only has the effect of emphasising the fact that the society in the novel is a utilitarian one. He follows to tell how bringing happiness to the greatest number of people does not always mean that they have the right idea. In this novel, Bradbury acts as the voice of the minority. He tells us that our individuality sets us apart from anyone else and that our diffe rences should be acted upon and not suppressed.

Defining the Victorian Woman Essay -- Expository Definition Essays

Defining the Victorian Woman      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the Victorian Age, there existed a certain ideology of what constituted the perfect Victorian woman. In the beginning of the eighteenth century, young girls began attending schools that offered basic skills such as reading, writing, and math. Manuals of etiquette and conduct instructed young girls in manners of society and the home (Basch 3). All of this prepared a young woman for marriage, which, in the nineteenth century, was "put forward as being the culminating point of a woman's life" (Basch 16). Thus, the perfect woman was also the perfect wife, an active part of the family, with specific regard to the children (Vicinus ix). Yet, although the perfect woman was a married woman, not all marriages were perfect. Victorian society set strict standards for the roles of women, specifically middle class women, as wives and mothers. Women often did not benefit from being married in many respects, such as their personal rights. In addition, the census of 1850 "revealed a significant imbalance between the sexes," creating a surplus of single women (Lerner 176). Many of these single women joined the ranks of spinsters and old maids due to this imbalance in the population. However, society did not give unmarried women the same roles as married women. Society challenged these women because it believed that a woman without a husband was worthless. Society did not respect the position of these unmarried women, often making them outcasts. Yet, there esd a small sect of unmarried women that did not allow society's rules to interfere with their idea of what life should be like. Th... ... or said. Instead, old maids flung themselves at life, unattached and uninhibited, in the best possible way so as to get as much out of it as possible. Supported historically by the likes of great Victorian female authors, these old maids laughed at life, and themselves, showing the perfect Victorian wives there could be more to life than fitting society's mold. Works Cited    Auerbach, Nina. Woman and the Demon: The Life of a Victorian Myth. London: Harvard UP, 1982.    Basch, Francoise. Relative Creatures: Victorian Women in Society and the Novel. New York: Schocken, 1974.    Lerner, Laurence. The Victorians. New York: Homes and Meier, 1978.    Vicinus, Martha. Introduction.The Perfect Victorian Lady. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1972. Vii - xv.         Ã‚  

Effects of Cyberbullying Essay

Examples of Cyberbullying Cyberbullying examples  is referred to as a form of bullying  that is known to take place through the use of electronics such as mobile phones and over the internet. Furthermore, social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter among many others, chat, text messages as well as websites are avenues through which cyber bullying can take place. It is to be noted that cyber bullying often is between kids, teens or even pre-teens and it will involve emails, text messages as well as rumors that are spread or posted on a social site over the internet or through the phone. Picture messages that are embarrassing, websites and even videos in addition to fake profiles are some of the means through which cyber bullying can take place. It has become quite a common social menace among young people and often those that have been victims of cyber bullying have been at one time bullied in person. Cyber bullying has great negative impacts on the life of the victims and therefore, should be dealt wi th accordingly by the relevant stakeholders who include parents, teachers as well as the government. Causes of Cyberbullying Characteristics Cyber bullying can take place at any time of the day, that is, 24/7. The kids that are targeted can be reached at any time when they are with the parents or guardians as well as when they are alone (Hoff, & Mitchell, 2009). This means that cyber bullying can take place either during the day or during the night. This trait of cyber bullying makes it quite difficult for parents or even guardians to monitor their children and even become aware of them being bullied. The second characteristic that is associated with cyber bullying is that the messages and the pictures being sent to the targeted kid can be done anonymously and can easily be distributed within a short time to a large number of people using the same sites(Hoff, & Mitchell, 2009). This is a big problem when it comes to dealing with the issue of cyber bullying because it becomes difficult to trace where the message or even picture have originated from so that the culprit can be brought to book. Finally, it is important to note that cyber bullying has quite a long lasting impact on the targeted victims. This is based on the reason that after the harassing messages, pictures or even the texts have been posted on the sites; it becomes quite difficult to erase or even delete those messages(Mishna, Khoury-Kassabri, Gadalla, & Daciuk2012). This means that every time the kid being bullied will view them and this will keep tormenting them and therefore, there is need to address such kind of issue by the relevant stakeholders. Negative effects of cyber bullying Any form of vice in the society often has its negative effects on those people that it is directed towards. In this case, cyber bullying has some of the greatest harmful effects on the lives of the kids who are victims(Mishna, Khoury-Kassabri, Gadalla, & Daciuk2012). Some of the negative impacts of cyber bullying on kids include the indulgence in drugs or even alcohol. When a kid is a victim of cyber bullying, they become frustrated. This results in the use of drugs as well as alcohol. The other negative effects of cyber bullying include the kids skipping school hence their education life becomes ruined since they tend to avoid their bullies (Campbell, 2005). The performance of the bullied kid will tend to drop as they will lack interest in their studies. Furthermore, the bullied kid will be affected in terms of their personality. The bullied kid will experience lower self-esteem since they will become afraid of facing their tormentor or even interact with other kids as they used to since they will be ridiculed (Mishna, Khoury-Kassabri, Gadalla, & Daciuk2012). Finally, it is to be noted that children or kids that experience cyber bullying will tend to experiences health complications and problems such as stress which may lead to other serious health problems. Causes of Cyber bullying There are several causes which have been identified that result in cyber bullying among kids. One of the causes is the motivation for revenge. Some of the cases of cyber bullying are as a result of kids who have been bullied in the past and therefore want to do the same to others. The second cause of cyber bullying is the belief by other kids that the victims often deserve to be bullied(Mishna, Khoury-Kassabri, Gadalla, & Daciuk2012). For example, if a certain kid is thought to be mean to others, they may decide to bully the kid to make them change or in retaliation to their meanness. Thirdly, some kids bully others because of boredom. They are looking for fun and therefore, they think that bullying others will help cheer them up. The other causes which have been identified include peer pressure from others that have been involved in cyber bullying, the perception that everyone else is involved in cyber bullying, and the beliefs that they will not be caught due to the anonymity invol ved(Mishna, Khoury-Kassabri, Gadalla, & Daciuk2012). Finally, hunger for power especially for kids from well-off families towards poor kids is also a cause in addition to lack of empathy for other kids. According to National Center for Education Statistics and Bureau of Justice Statisticsin the year 2010-2011 about 9% among the students that are in the 6–12 grades have at one time had an experience of cyberbullying. In the year 2013, according to Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Surveyabout 15% of the 9-12 grade students in high school to have experienced cyber bullying over the past year 2012. In conclusion, cyber bullying has become one of the most committed criminal acts among the young people and kids. However, due to the continued technological developments, it has become quite a challenge to handle the issue of cyber bullying. It is also quite difficult to determine the exact number of cases of cyber bullying considering that some of them are not reported to parents or even authorities in the schools. References Campbell, M. A. (2005). Cyber Bullying: An Old Problem in a New Guise?.Australian journal of Guidance and Counselling, 15(01), 68-76. Hoff, D. L., & Mitchell, S. N. (2009). Cyberbullying: Causes, effects, and remedies. Journal of Educational Administration, 47(5), 652-665. Mishna, F., Khoury-Kassabri, M., Gadalla, T., &Daciuk, J. (2012). Risk factors for involvement in cyber bullying: Victims, bullies and bully–victims. Children and Youth Services Review, 34(1), 63-70. Source document

Audience Analysis Essay Essay

Audience Analysis The target audience for this rhetorical analysis is my classmates. The audience can not be grouped by age, as there are those who just finished high school as well as people in their forties. The gender of the audience is composed of both men and women of all ages according to the information I found in our introduction to the class. To prepare this rhetoric analysis we will have to read the story and do some research about the author. This information will be presented in our analysis and it will be interesting to see what others have found and how they presented in their analysis. What the audience has in common is that we are all studying the same class, and therefore, we have all read, â€Å"I’m O.K., but You’re Not† by Robert Zoellner. Although the audience is diverse in age, gender, and background, we can all have an opinion of the reading material. Some of my classmates will be able to agree with my analysis/opinions and others will disagree. But that is the beauty of having an audience so different. Not only I will be able to express freely what I think, but I can also hear the point of view and opinions of my classmates. Two Sets of Rules Robert Zoellner is an American writer born in 1926 in Denver, Colorado. Among Zoellner’s interests we found that he likes hiking, backpacking, skiing, ecology, and preservation of environment. He was also a member of the Modern Language Association in America. He is the author of â€Å"I’m O.K., but You’re Not† where he talks about â€Å"The Floating Opera† by John Barth. In this novel Barth tells us how ordinary things that happen to people on a daily basis. Which was Zoellner’s inspiration to write â€Å"I’m O.K., and You’re Not.† This is short and personal story about Zoellner’s experience with an elderly snobbish couple in the restaurant. This story begins with the author is trying to have a happy and normal breakfast in a restaurant. He is a heavy-smoker so he requests the hostess to be seated in the smoker’s section of the restaurant, in order to be polite with other customers. The hostess gave him a t able â€Å"on the dividing line between the smoking and nonsmoking sections† (28). The author uses a very descriptive way to refer to an elderly couple, well dressed and kind of snobbish, who sat down five feet away from the author’s table, in the non-smoking area. The author was smoking and the gentleman with his magisterial white hair, as Zoellner described the old men, asked him to please stop smoking. The problem here was the way and the tone of how this old man asked Zoellner to stop smoking, it was â€Å"self-righteous and peremptory† (28). The old man requested him to stop smoking in a very imperative way that is why Zoellner’s response was that he was not going to stop smoking because he was in the non-smoking area of the restaurant. The author is aware that cigarette smoke is annoying for people who do not smoke, and even more if they are in a restaurant. In other circumstances he would have stop smoking out of simple courtesy. Robert Zoellner has a very exquisite selection of words that makes easy to the reader to see a perfect picture of what is happening in the story. The author uses just a few words to describe in details a scene like: â€Å"having breakfast in a lawn-bordered restaurant on College avenue† (Zoellner 28) or â€Å"at a little two-person table on the dividing line between the smoking and non-smoking section†(28). The author gives a specific geographic idea of where he is at. So far, the author has described how he started his day at the restaurant in time for breakfast. Briefly described where he was sitting, and also described the old couple sitting next to him.. After Zoellner’s negative response, the old couple â€Å"ate their eggs-over easy in hurried and sullen silence†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ they got up, paid their bill, and stalked out in an ambiance of affronted righteousness and affluent propriety† (29). At the time that the old couple came out of the restaurant, they went to their automobile, a white Mercedes Benz, where two â€Å"splendid matched pair of pedigreed poodles† (29) were waiting for them. When they opened the door of the car, the dogs went directly to the restaurant’s lawn to make their needs. After this scene, â€Å"the four of them marshalled their collective dignity and drove off in a dense cloud of blue smoke- that lovely white Mercedes was urgently in need of a valve-and-ring job† (29). The author, once again, described in detail what is happening at the moment. The authors’ intention is to take the reader to the scene of the incident to be part of the story and be able to make an opinion about what have just happened. So far, everything the author has narrated, makes the reader feel sympathy for him. The author achieves this reaction in the readers by using a sarcastic tone to avoid showing frustration or anger. The old man requested the author, in a very authoritarian way, to put out his cigarette, which was reason enough for Zoellner to deny his request. And after the old couple finished their breakfast in a rush, they went to their car, took the dogs out and allowed them to do their business right in lawn of the restaurant. So, for the old couple it is terrible to smoke in the restaurant’s smoking section, but it is not terrible at all not to clean after your dogs poop. Which is a clear example of double standards. Robert Zoellner, also goes further and lets his imagination fly. Wondering if the old man polluting the atmosphere by setting his fireplace with moss rock and also fertilizing his impeccable garden, but as the author stated this â€Å"is pure and unkindly speculation† (29). And not only that, Zoellner also described the way their old white Mercedes Benz polluted the air. The author also stated â€Å"as a chronic smokestack. I normally comply, out of simple courtesy, with such a request† (29), but in this case the old man manners made his request be rejected. The way the author give a lot of simple details, helps the reader to make a visual idea, giving the reader the sensation of watching a movie instead of reading a book. The author’s intention was not to judge the old couple he just gave us the facts of what happened that day at the restaurant. He uses a sarcastic tone and humor to gain the readers understanding and empathy. And in this ordinary day, with this not out of the ordinary story, he makes the reader think about double standards that everybody face in a daily basis. Works Cited â€Å"Robert Zoellner.† Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 12 Feb. 2012. Robert Zoellner. â€Å"I’m O.K., You’re Not.† The Prentice Hall Guide for College Writers. Ed. Stephen Reid. 9th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson, 2011: 28-29. Print.