Constantine at the Battle of Milvian Bridge

Constantine at the Battle of Milvian Bridge The Battle of Milvian Bridge was part of the Wars of Constantine. Date Constantine defeated Maxentius on October 28, 312. Armies Commanders Constantine Emperor Constantine Iapproximately 100,000 men Maxentius Emperor Maxentiusapproximately 75,000-120,000 men Battle Summary In the power struggle that began following the collapse of the Tetrarchy around 309, Constantine consolidated his position in Britain, Gaul, the Germanic provinces, and Spain. Believing himself to be the rightful emperor of the Western Roman Empire, he assembled his army and prepared for an invasion of Italy in 312. To the south, Maxentius, who occupied Rome, sought to advance his own claim to the title. To support his efforts, he was able to draw upon the resources of Italy, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, and the African provinces. Advancing south, Constantine conquered northern Italy after crushing Maxentian armies at Turin and Verona. Showing compassion to the citizens of the region, they soon began to support his cause and his army swelled to near 100,000 (90,000 infantry, 8,000 cavalry). As he neared Rome, it was expected that Maxentius would stay within the city walls and force him to lay siege. This strategy had worked in the past for Maxentius when he faced invasion from the forces of Severus (307) and Galerius (308). In fact, siege preparations had already been made, with large amounts of food already brought into the city. Instead, Maxentius opted to give battle and advanced his army to the Tiber River near the Milvian Bridge outside of Rome. This decision is largely believed to have been based on favorable omens and the fact that the battle would occur on the anniversary of his ascension to the throne. On October 27, the night before the battle, Constantine claimed to have had a vision which instructed him fight under the protection of the Christian God. In this vision a cross appeared in the sky and he heard in Latin, in this sign, you will conquer. The author Lactantius states that following the visions instructions, Constantine ordered his men to paint the Christians symbol (either a Latin cross or the Labarum) upon their shields. Advancing over the Milvian Bridge, Maxentius ordered it destroyed so that it could not be used by the enemy. He then ordered a pontoon bridge constructed for his own armys use. On October 28, Constantines forces arrived on the battlefield. Attacking, his troops slowly pushed back Maxentius men until their backs were at the river. Seeing that the day was lost, Maxentius decided to retreat and renew the battle closer to Rome. As his army withdrew, it clogged the pontoon bridge, its only avenue of retreat, ultimately causing it to collapse. Those trapped on the north bank were either captured or slaughtered by Constantines men. With Maxentius army split and decimated, the battle came to a close. Maxentius body was found in the river, where he had drowned in an attempt to swim across. Aftermath While casualties for the Battle of the Milvian Bridge are not known, it is believed that Maxentius army suffered badly. With his rival dead, Constantine was free to consolidate his hold over the Western Roman Empire. He expanded his reign to include the entire Roman Empire after defeating Licinius during the civil war of 324. Constantines vision prior to the battle is believed to have inspired his ultimate conversion to Christianity. Selected Sources Constantine the GreatLactantius Account of the BattleEusebius Life of Constantine

Feudalism - Worldwide Political and Social System

Feudalism - Worldwide Political and Social System Feudalism is defined by different scholars in different ways, but in general, the term refers to a sharply hierarchical relationship between different levels of landowning classes. Key Takeaways: Feudalism Feudalism is a form of political organization with three distinct social classes: king, nobles, and peasants.In a feudal society, status is based on land ownership.In Europe, the practice of feudalism ended after the Black Plague decimated the population. A feudal society has three distinct social classes: a king, a noble class (which could include nobles, priests, and princes) and a peasant class. Historically, the king owned all the available land, and he portioned out that land to his nobles for their use. The nobles, in turn, rented out their land to peasants. The peasants paid the nobles in produce and military service; the nobles, in turn, paid the king. Everyone was, at least nominally, in thrall to the king, and the peasants labor paid for everything. A Worldwide Phenomenon The social and legal system called feudalism arose in Europe during the Middle Ages, but it has been identified in many other societies and times including the imperial governments of Rome and Japan. American founding father Thomas Jefferson was convinced that the new United States was practicing a form of feudalism in the 18th century. He argued that indentured servants and slavery were both forms of yeoman farming, in that access to land was provided by the aristocracy and paid for by the tenant in a variety of ways. Throughout history and today, feudalism arises in places where there is an absence of organized government and the presence of violence. Under those circumstances, a contractual relationship is formed between ruler and ruled: the ruler provides access to the required land, and the rest of the people provide support to the ruler. The entire system allows the creation of a military force that protects everyone from violence within and without. In England, feudalism was formalized into a legal system, written into the laws of the country, and codifying a tripartite relationship between political allegiance, military service, and property ownership. Roots English feudalism is thought to have arisen in the 11th century CE under William the Conquerer, when he had the common law altered after the Norman Conquest in 1066. William took possession of all of England and then parcelled it out among his leading supporters as tenancies (fiefs) to be held in return for services to the king. Those supporters granted access to their land to their own tenants who paid for that access by a percentage of the crops they produced and by their own military service. The king and nobles provided aid, relief, wardship and marriage and inheritance rights for the peasant classes. That situation could arise because Normanized common law had already established a secular and ecclesiastical aristocracy, an aristocracy that relied heavily on the royal prerogative to function. A Harsh Reality The upshot of the takeover of the land by the Norman aristocracy was that peasant families who had for generations owned small farmsteads became renters, indentured servants who owed the landlords their allegiance, their military service and part of their crops. Arguably, the balance of power did allow for long-term technological progress in agricultural development  and kept some order in an otherwise chaotic period. Just before the rise of the black plague in the 14th century, feudalism was firmly established and working across Europe. This was a near-universality of family-farm tenure by conditionally hereditary leases under noble, ecclesiastical or princely lordships who collected cash and in-kind payments from their subject villages. The king essentially delegated the collection of his needs- military, political and economic- to the nobles. By that time, the kings justice- or rather, his ability to administer that justice- was largely theoretical. The lords dispensed the law with little or no kingly oversight, and as a class supported each others hegemony. Peasants lived and died under the control of the noble classes. The Deadly End Plague Victims Blessed by a Priest (14th Century Illuminated Manuscript). http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/medieval_globe/1/. Quibik An ideal-typical medieval village was comprised of farms of about 25–50 acres (10–20 hectares) of arable land managed as open-field mixed farming and pasturage. But, in reality, the European landscape was a patchwork of small, medium, and large peasant holdings, which changed hands with the fortunes of the families. That situation became untenable with the arrival of the Black Death. The late-medieval plague created catastrophic population collapse among rulers and ruled alike. An estimated number of between 30–50 percent of all Europeans died between 1347 and 1351. Eventually, the surviving peasants in most of Europe achieved new access to larger land parcels  and gained enough power to shed the legal shackles of medieval servility. Sources Clinkman, Daniel E. The Jeffersonian Moment: Feudalism and Reform in Virginia, 1754–1786. University of Edinburg, 2013. Print.Hagen, William W. European Yeomanries: A Non-Immiseration Model of Agrarian Social History, 1350–1800. Agricultural History Review 59.2 (2011): 259–65. Print.Hicks, Michael A. Bastard Feudalism. Taylor and Francis, 1995. Print.Pagnotti, John, and William B. Russell. Exploring Medieval European Society with Chess: An Engaging Activity for the World History Classroom. The History Teacher 46.1 (2012): 29–43. Print.Preston, Cheryl B., and Eli McCann. Llewellyn Slept Here: A Short History of Sticky Contracts and Feudalism. Oregon Law Review 91 (2013): 129–75. Print.Salmenkari, Taru. Using Feudalism for Political Studia Orientalia 112 (2012): 127–46. Print.Criticsm and for Promoting Systemic Change in China.

Vertical Boundaries Of the firm - Vertical Chain and Vertical Essay - 1

Vertical Boundaries Of the firm - Vertical Chain and Vertical Integration - Essay Example The main operational uniqueness of this brand is that it follows a production after order placement module. In this mode of operation, the customer chooses the product and the design and the workers develop the product according to the choice, delivering the finished furniture in a couple of weeks time. The company has a production unit in Birmingham from where furniture orders placed in its twelve showrooms throughout Britain are produced and shipped. This arrangement gets excellent response from customers who do not mind the waiting time, since they know that the piece going to be delivered is going to be unique and customized for their needs. The great rush of orders and the company’s plan to move to new markets brought out different challenges in vertical chain and production management. To begin with, the firm has decided to open new stores or showrooms in five different cities that they have not been in before. And this would bring in orders that the Birmingham production unit cannot handle. In this scenario, the 30 employee production unit will either need to be doubled in capacity, which might affect the quality of the products or the firm has to think of traditional vertical chain management techniques. The company has operated using the Neoclassical Economics model till date since due to its small size and promising performance, a good number of shareholders and venture capitalists are interested and influential in its growth. However, when they move into real vertical chain system, they will have to ensure that they follow the Quasi Marris economic model which is more fit for the 21st Century, and ensure that behavioral factors are taken into consideration every time. The economy of scale here will be determined by the number of households, offices and complexes which use teak wood furniture or are open to

Critique of Selected Epidemiological Research Article Paper

Critique of Selected Epidemiological Article - Research Paper Example trated by what the authors did, which was to evaluate whether there was an association between older age and going back to a clinic in the Cardiovascular Health Study. The authors also sought to find the extent to which age and other factors measured and differed by the type of visits. The study reports two hypotheses, which were stated candidly. The authors theorized that the type of visit would have an association with key demographics namely lifestyle, health and function characteristics. The second hypothesis was that the oldest participants would have the worst retention for in-person clinic visits. The design of the research study conducted by Strotmeyer et al. (2011) is a longitudinal epidemiological study. There was no intervention in the study because such investigations entail the following up of subjects over a protracted period, which is characterized by constant observation of various risk factors as well as health outcomes. Conducting a longitudinal epidemiological study is a vital step in investigating the relationships between exposure to recognized or supposed causes of disease and the ensuing morbidity or mortality. This is the most appropriate research deign for the objectives in this study because it enables the tracing of same people for a long period (Jewel & Hubbard, 2006). Consequently, the variations aspects observed in the people are less likely to have the interference of cultural disparities over different age group. Due to these reasons, longitudinal studies obtain accurate results. The power analysis procedure was neither used to estimate the sample size requirements prior to undertaking the study nor to find the likelihood of committing a Type II error. The presence of a power analysis enables the determination of the sample size required for the study based on information from previous research. It also used to verify whether the non-significant outcomes are due to the lack of association in the samples or the lack of statistical

Time and Professionalism Essay Example for Free

Time and Professionalism Essay What is professionalism? There are many different forms of professionalism depending on whose opinion of professionalism it is. I will go with my opinion of professionalism. For the thirty years of my life I must say, I have learned a lot about my experiences in life. I’ve learned from myself, I have learned from my friends, and I have learned from mere strangers. I have seen people succeed in their goals. I have seen people fail in their goals. Failing doesn’t mean that you can’t try again. I believe we learn from our mistakes or if you possibly can, learn from others before you commit the same mistake. Well, I have come to a great conclusion. Professionalism plays a major, a very important role in succeeding in life despite of what goal you are trying to reach. To become a doctor there comes a need for a great amount of professionalism. To become a stockbroker, there is a need for people with nothing but a great mind and professionalism. Even to become a professional football player, despite of the great skills you may have to catch a 60 yard pass for a touchdown, there is still a great amount of professionalism expected from that professional wide receiver. Professionalism comes in many different aspects. The first most important aspect of being professional is the mere first image that you present yourself with. I say professionalism starts with your dress code and hygiene. The first detail you will put out to a person meeting you the first thing is that of how you are dressed. You should be dressed up for the occasion you are presenting yourself for. In an interview for example, a man should be dressed with a dark suit with a plain matching tie and decent shoes, also with his hair groomed. The second most important aspect of being professional is how you present yourself! Yes, you may be well groomed, with a perfect elegant suit but, if you do not have the perfect elegant professional attitude, the attire well, does not mean a thing. Professionalism plays a part in every characteristic of any person. So that being said, when being professional make sure you have the proper aura present. Make sure when you meet that important person that will decide your fate that you have a welcoming smile on your face. Make sure you present enough eye contact that you seem very much interested in what that person is trying to offer you and at the same time, not too much eye contact that it may come across to the other person that you are being maybe too cocky. Greet that person with a firm but not too firm handshake. Make sure that interviewer knows that you are comfortable and also make him or her feel just as comfortable. That is a big plus. Although I emphasized that the first impression you make to anyone will determine to the other person on what level your professionalism is to them. Do not forget that consistency is key to life. Yes, your first impression is big and will have a great impact on anyone. Anyone can have a great impression for one day. Can you do it on a daily basis? Can you maintain your characteristics of professionalism? Can you leave a great impression on people every day? This leads me to my third most important aspect of professionalism. Consistency! Although I put it at third most important does not mean that it is not as important as the first two. They play a role together as one. Consistency is big on every part of your personality, characteristic, and statistically. Are you prepared to be dressed professional at all times despite of whatever affair you may have? Are you willing to dress to the occasion? Are you prepared to have a great attitude and personality at all times, despite of what personal issues you may have? Can you keep that smile on your face and a positive attitude? Are you able to keep your good grades at all times? Are you able to have a 100% attendance? Can you show me 100% effort every day? Yes you have to have a great attitude and be dressed accordingly at all times but, can you do this 99. 9 percent of the time. This is what people look for in a professional. Someone they can rely on. There is one thing people tend to forget when talking about professionalism. Everyone has free personal time to enjoy their lively hood. There is no objecting to that. But do not forget that although you are on your own free personal time that there is not anyone watching you. As a famous musician once said, â€Å"the streets is watching†. There are always eyes on you if you are in a public place. You cannot everyday go to work and display a personality of professionalism, then go out to a club and be the worst most obnoxious person ever. Well you can. But I bet you didn’t see your assistant manager on the other side of that club watching you with astonishment! That one mistake may have cost you your whole chance of becoming the next person to being promoted in that company. That is why I say consistency is key. You cannot be professional in places where you think may only matter. Once you take a career that involves you being professional, you must always display that same amount of professionalism at all times. When you are at work, when you’re out at the park, when you’re at the movies, at a bar, anywhere you go you must be professional at all times. This does not mean you cannot have fun. You can have fun and be professional. Just as long as you present yourself in a respectable fashion. I personally will display all these aspects to my experiences in my future for my externship. I have learned a lot about myself and my experiences. I must admit. Most times I have not lived in a professional manner. I am now seeing things in different light. I am seeking the respect of a different group of people than in my past. I know that with all being said above. Without me living up to my knowledge and words I cannot succeed in my field of study so now it comes to that point that I will have to have a great output in my personality, my dress code, and I have to be consistent at all times. I have not been perfect, and I know no one is but I can only try! So after this report I will sit back and evaluate my little theory in professionalism and understand. I can’t only talk about it. I will be about it!!!!!

Its Time to Stop the Commerce in Death :: Euthanasia Physician Assisted Suicide

It's Time to Stop the Commerce in Death    One of the symptoms of a society in the grips of moral crisis is a tendency to refer to reprehensible acts by soft-sounding euphemisms, by names that do not directly excite human qualms or agitate scruples and that evade precise reflection on the reality of certain situations. For example, in our modern lexicon, abortion is called "freedom of choice," sexual libertinage is dubbed "alternative lifestyles," and certain forms of genocide-in-slow-motion can be made to seem more acceptable under the name "family planning."    Such are the mental tricks and the "word magic" employed to quiet the normal functioning of our consciences. Sadly, they work on a great many people for long periods of time. Like certain narcotics, they dull the moral senses and can eventually blot out such feelings completely.    This being so, let us examine a concept that is very old, that disappeared from civilized life for almost two millennia, and that has now begun its return, lifting itself ever higher on the distant horizon, like a huge, menacing, black cloud. That concept is known as euthanasia.    "Good Death"    The English word euthanasia is derived from the Greek and means, literally, "good death." According to its oldest meaning, it signifies merely the relatively painless, gentle passage of someone from this life to the next, without necessarily any human inference or intervention.   Even in the Christian tradition, we sometimes hear the term "good death" used in the sense that the departed person died at peace with himself, with his family, and with God.    However, an alternative definition, more in accord with contemporary usages, generally suggests something quite different: It indicates the bringing about of the death of a human being, either by suicide or killing, ostensibly to prevent extreme physical pain or mental anguish. Euthanasia, according to the teaching of every traditional Christian group, is looked upon as suicide or murder, plain and simple, and, until recently, was universally condemned in all societies whose roots grew out of Christianity. This teaching holds that a supposedly worthy end, in this case the termination of pain and suffering, never, according to traditional moral norms, justifies immoral or unethical means.    With the rise of revolutionary ideologies in the late 18th century, Darwinistic philosophies in the following century, and the concomitant decline in fidelity to Christian teaching, especially among educated

South Korean Pest

Moreover, President Lee is a strong devotee of free trade agreements (Fats) between foreign countries, and South Korea now has Fats with the European Union, the united States of America, and the SEAN countries. The current president Implemented new legislation to make South Korea more attractive for foreign investors. It will, for example, lower corporate tax rates and reduce administrative restrictions on business operations and investment. Furthermore, South Korea has a number of incentives to make foreign investment more at-attractive. These incentives are: Tax support, Cash grant, Site location support, and other sup-port. A.Tax support When foreign companies meet certain requirements, Income and corporate tax from earned Income, business Income, dividend Income, technology payments and custom du-titles on capital goods can be either reduced or be subject to dispensation In accordance with the Restriction of Special Taxation Act. B. Cash grant When a foreign investor meets certai n criteria, local and/or national government can offer a cash grant when the investor wants to build a new plant for example. These criteria are e. G. The creation of jobs, the location of the new plant, if the investment intervenes with lo-cal investment etc. C. Site locationSouth Korea provides so called Free Investment Zones (Fizz). These are to attract foreign Investors/companies. There are two types of Fizz: Complex and Individual. The complex type Is for small and medium sized firm wear as the individual type Is for large corpora-tools with large Investments. The requirements are to be found In the appendices. When a foreign company purchases or leases a piece of land or real-estate owned by the gob-ornament of South Korea, the company can apply for reduction or dispensation of the rental payment. However, the company must meet certain criteria. These are also to be found in the appendices.

Challenges Essay

Challenges When I was 12 years old, I started my second language training in English at a cram school. I was the oldest one in the class which was very embarrassing. At the beginning, it seemed easy. As I progressed to a higher level things became harder and more confusing. My English teacher at junior high school was awesome and was the one who made me start to love the language. Because of her communication skills, excellent teaching ability and passion it made me desperately want to get more involved in learning English.It became my favorite subject. For me, grammar, communicating with people and writing essays are my challenges in learning English. With the most challenging part about developing my English skills was learning the grammar. In English, one word can have several meanings and/or different pronunciations which make it more difficult to understand and learn. For example, the word â€Å"record† has several meanings, including to set in writing or an actual hard c opy of music. Everyone has their own unique accent which makes it difficult to understand.For instance, some people with Middle Eastern accents may pronounce certain words differently to their traditional English pronunciation. One major thing that was different from my native language, Mandarin Chinese, is the order of sentences and the way I write them. When I had a conversation with someone I would think in my native language, then translate into English, and then rearrange the words to make it sound correct. When I was seven years old I started to play tennis. Later I traveled from country to country to play tournaments and I had to speak English in order to communicate with people.If I was playing doubles I would need to communicate with my partner so we were playing correctly. I could not be successful just because of my ability; I had to know English because it is the worst thing in tennis to not be able to communicate. Learning English is very important for me because of thi s. In professional tennis, English is the only language that is used during matches, so I want to study abroad and to get an education in English. Writing a formal essay is a very challenging endeavor, the strategies that I used were comma slices, syntax differentiation and grammar and punctuations.For example, read more English books, magazines, and newspapers to improve my vocabulary skills and comprehension. Since the order of sentences is different from my native language. The tenses, grammar, punctuations and the order of the essay are very easy to make mistakes on. Making the sentences too wordy is the biggest problem for me. As I said, the more practice I do, the more likely I will have a better essay. Some people have better learning skills than others allowing them to catch up more easily than I do but I continue to work every day to improve my writing skills. A large portion of an essay includes vocabulary and its proper use.This is the weakest part for most international students and has been challenging for me, so I carry my electronic dictionary everywhere and it has helped me to write this paper. In the end, it is important for me to learn English for many reasons. Even though it is difficult learning English gives many benefits and opens opportunities for my future. The more practice I have, the less afraid to make mistakes I become and it ultimately will help me to learn new things. English is an international language used to communicate all over the world. Learning to speak other languages, especially English, helps when I apply for a job.It helps my resume allowing me to have a better chance to be hired. My strategies to learn English were and still are to force myself to speak to native English speakers. Talking to native speakers helps me tremendously and it made me start thinking in English when I talked to someone instead of Chinese and then translating in my head. This made my speech better and my responses much quicker. The more I talk , the more I can learn. Learning for me is getting involved with it, not just reading a textbook; we should try to use it in everyday life. I would say you use it or you lose it.

10 Facts About Acids and Bases

10 Facts About Acids and Bases 1:13 Watch Now: What are the Differences Between Acids and Bases? Here are 10 facts about acids and bases to help you learn about acids, bases, and pHÂ  along with a chart for comparison. Any aqueous (water-based) liquid can be classified as an acid, base, or neutral. Oils and other non-aqueous liquids are not acids or bases.There are different definitions of acids and bases, but acids can accept an electron pair or donate a hydrogen ion or a proton in a chemical reaction, while bases can donate an electron pair or accept hydrogen or a proton.Acids and bases are characterized as strong or weak. A strong acid or strong base completely dissociates into its ions in water. If the compound does not completely dissociate, its a weak acid or base. How corrosive an acid or a base is does not relate to its strength.The pH scale is a measure of the acidity or alkalinity (basicity) or a solution. The scale runs from 0 to 14, with acids having a pH less than 7, 7 being neutral, and bases having a pH higher than 7.Acids and bases react with each other in what is called a neutralization reaction. The reaction produces salt and water and leaves the solution closer to a neutral pH th an before. One common test of whether an unknown is an acid or a base is to wet litmus paper with it. Litmus paper is a paper treated with an extract from a certain lichen that changes color according to pH. Acids turn litmus paper red, while bases turn litmus paper blue. A neutral chemical wont change the papers color.Because they separate into ions in water, both acids and bases conduct electricity.While you cant tell whether a solution is an acid or a base by looking at it, taste and touch may be used to tell them apart. However, since both acids and bases can be corrosive, you shouldnt test chemicals by tasting or touching them! You can get a chemical burn from both acids and bases. Acids tend to taste sour and feel drying or astringent, while bases taste bitter and feel slippery or soapy. Examples of household acids and bases you can test are vinegar (weak acetic acid) and baking soda solution (diluted sodium bicarbonate a base).Acids and bases are important in the human body. For example , the stomach secretes hydrochloric acid, HCl, to digest food. The pancreas secretes a fluid rich in the base bicarbonate to neutralize stomach acid before it reaches the small intestine. Acids and bases react with metals. Acids release hydrogen gas when reacted with metals. Sometimes hydrogen gas is released when a base reacts with a metal, such as reacting sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and zinc. Another typical reaction between a base and a metal is a double displacement reaction, which may produce a precipitate metal hydroxide. Characteristic Acids Bases reactivity accept electron pairs or donate hydrogen ions or protons donate electron pairs or donate hydroxide ions or electrons pH less than 7 greater than 7 taste (don't test unknowns this way) sour soapy or bitter corrosivity may be corrosive may be corrosive touch (don't test unknowns) astringent slippery litmus test red blue conductivity in solution conduct electricity conduct electricity common examples vinegar, lemon juice, sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, nitric acid bleach, soap, ammonia, sodium hydroxide, detergent Chart Comparing Acids and Bases

Is Gatsby Great Analyzing the Title of The Great Gatsby

Is Gatsby Great Analyzing the Title of The Great Gatsby SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Most often, your first sense of a book is your reaction to its title. The best titles make novels sound mysterious, exciting, or interesting, attracting readers. Well-chosen titles also give readers a sense of what they can expect to find within the pages of the book. At the same time, a title is usually an author’s way of declaring what is and isn’t important in the book. A title can reflect a work’s theme or focus, pointing out the right frame of mind for reading. So how does the title of The Great Gatsby work? What is it showing us about the book that we are about to read - and how does our understanding of the title shift as we make our way through the story? Is Gatsby really great? In this article, I’ll dissect the different meanings of this title and explain the other titles that Fitzgerald was considering when he was writing the book. What Can We Learn From The Title of The Great Gatsby? In order to really explore the ways that this title reflects the novel, let’s first cut it into its parts, and then consider them back to front. The Title Features the Name of a Character Usually, when a novel is titled with the name of one of the characters, that either means that we’re about to read a biography or that the named personis the main character (for instance, Jane Austen’s Emma or J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter). So, here, the fact that â€Å"Gatsby† is in the title shows us that the focus of the story will be on him. In this case, this focus goes both ways. The novel is biographical, meaning, the novel is the story of Gatsby’s life. But also, Gatsby is, in fact, the protagonist of the story. It’s helpful for the title to show us this, since in this book the first-person narrator turns out not to be the main character. Great? Great! Great. Now let’s investigate four possible readings of the second part of the title, which all depend on the meaning of the word â€Å"great.† 1. Shallow and Straight-Faced This version takes â€Å"great† as a straightforward compliment, meaning â€Å"wonderful.† In this version, Gatsby is great because he is the richest, coolest, handsomest dude, who drives the best car and throws the most banging parties. In this take, the title means total admiration: Gatsby is nothing but greatness. This reading of the title applies best in the beginning of the novel, when Gatsby is all mysterious rumors, swirling success, and unimaginable luxury, and when Nick is in his thrall. 2. Mocking and Ironic On the other hand, we could be dealing with the â€Å"oh, that’s just great.† version of this word. As we - and the novel’s characters - learn more about Gatsby, the initial fascination with him turns into disappointment. In this reading, the â€Å"great† turns bitter. In reality, Gatsby’s money comes from crime. His parties, house, and material wealth don’t make him happy. He’s a moral bankrupt who is chasing after a married woman. And he hates his real self and has created a whole new fake persona to live out a teenage fantasy. This reading of the title works when Gatsby seems like a sad, shallow shell of â€Å"greatness† – he’s like a celebrity brand with no there there. 3. Deep and Soulful Another possibility is that â€Å"great† here means â€Å"intense and grand.† After all, even though Gatsby is a hollow shell of a man who’s propped up by laundered money, Nick firmly believes that he stands head and shoulders above theold money set because everything Gatsby does, he does for the truest of true love. Nick, who starts out being on the fence about Gatsby, comes to think of his love for Daisy as something that elevates Gatsby. For Nick, this love marks Gatsbyas the only one who matters of all the people he met during that summer ("They're a rotten crowd....You're worth the whole damn bunch put together" (8.45)). 4. Theatrical The final possibility is that this â€Å"great† sounds like the stage name of a magician (like â€Å"The Great Cardini,† master card illusionist). This version of Gatsby is also completely fitting: after all, he literally transforms into a totally different man during the course of his life. And, it wouldn’t be the last time that the novel was interested in the way Gatsby is able to create a spectacle, or the way he seems to be acting on a stage rather than actually living. For example, Nick says Gatsby reminds him of a â€Å"turbaned ‘character’ leaking sawdust at every pore† (4.31), while one of Gatsby’s guests compares him to David Belasco, a famous theater producer (3.50). The Title Is a Timeline So which of these versions is the correct one? All of them. One of the interesting things about this novel is that the title’s meaning shifts depending on how far we’ve read, or how much time we’ve spent reflecting on what we’ve read, or what we ultimately choose to believe about Gatsby’s motivationsand driving ambition. Which version of the â€Å"great† Gatsby appeals to you? Gatsby: always a little larger than life. Famous Alternate Titles Did you know that Fitzgerald actually was not a huge fan of the title The Great Gatsby? It was pushed on him by Max Perkins, his editor, who was facing a deadline (and probably by his wife Zelda as well). Fitzgerald had a list of titles he actually preferred to this one, and each of them reveals something about the novel, or at least about Fitzgerald’s sense of what the novel he wrote was all about. Unlike the actual title the novel ended up with, the alternate titles vary in how zoomed in they are onto Gatsby. Let’s go through them to see what they reveal about Fitzgerald’s conception of his work. Trimalchio, or Trimalchio in West Egg This was Fitzgerald’s favorite title - it’s what he would have named his book if Max Perkins hadn’t interfered to say that no one would get the reference. Perkins may have been right. Trimalchio is a character in The Satyricon, a book by the Ancient Roman writer Petronius. Only fragments of this work survive, but basically, it’s a satire that mocks Trimalchio for being a nouveau riche social climber who throws wildly elaborate and conspicuously expensive dinner parties (sound familiar?). Trimalchio is arrogant and vulgar and very into displaying his wealth in tacky ways. In the fragment we have, Petronius describes one party at length. It ends with the guests acting out Trimalchio’s funeral as an ego-boost. It’s important to note that in The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald does refer to Gatsby directly as Trimalchio at one point: "...as obscurely as it had begun, his career as Trimalchio was over" (7.1). Since The Satyricon is a satire, this alternate title suggests Fitzgerald originally wanted to present Gatsby as a figure to be mocked rather than to appear more grand/mysterious. This attitude towards the novel’s main seeker of the American Dreampaints Gatsby’s ambition to join elite society in an even darker and less flattering light than the noveldoes now. Among The Ash Heaps and Millionaires, or On The Road To West Egg These titles pan out, away from Gatsby and toward the geographic, social, and economic environment of the book. Both of these titles do this by giving us a sense of being between things, primarily the places with money and those without. Character-wise, these titles seem more Nick-focused, since he is the one who shows us the differences between these two worlds. Also, by referring to the physical space that separates Manhattan and the Long Island towns where the wealthy live, both of these titles directly reference the book’s climactic death, which takes place on the road back to West Egg, right at the place where the richly symbolicvalley of ashes is. Gold-Hatted Gatsby, or The High Bouncing Lover These rejected titles are both references to the epigraph that opens the book: Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her; If you can bounce high, bounce for her too, Till she cry â€Å"Lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover, I must have you!† by THOMAS PARKE D'INVILLIERS. Thomas Parke D'Invilliers is a secondary character in Fitzgerald’s semi-autobiographical first novel, This Side Of Paradise. In the novel, D’Invilliers is a poet who befriends the main character and whose poetry seems never to reflect the darker realities of life. The poem gives advice to a lover who is willing to go to desperate lengths to get the woman he is interested in to return the feeling (again, sound familiar?). A title based on this poem would place the novel’s emphasis squarely on Gatsby’s longingforDaisy, reorienting our sense of Gatsby as a striver to his function as a love interest. Under The Red, White, and Blue Rather than referencing any part of the book - a character, a place, or even an idea - this title instead broadens the reader’s perspective to a patriotic or nationalistic view of the United States. The effect is that we could easily be looking at a war story, or some political tract - there is simply nothing in this title that gives us any sense of what the underlying novel might be about. If Fitzgerald had gone with this title, we would read this novel much more squarely as a more direct indictment of America, or at least the myth of the American Dream. This is certainly one of the enduring themes of the novel, but since Nick ends up contrasting the midwest and the east coast’s totally different ideas about success and the American Dream, this title would actually dilute Fitzgerald’s disapproval by making all of the U.S. complicit. The symbolism of that lasttitle may have just been a bit too heavy-handed. The Bottom Line: Is Gatsby Great? The title is the reader’s first encounter with abook, which means it usually declares the focus or theme of that book. The Great Gatsby is a title that can be read Straightforwardly, as a declaration of Gatsby as a man who actually achieved the American Dream Ironically, since Gatsby’s greatness is a hollow sham and he is an amoral striver As a measure of the depth of his inner life As a stage name of sorts for Gatsby’s great performance of â€Å"upper-class WASP† Fitzgerald wasn’t particularly happy with the name and instead was considering An allusion to Trimalchio, which would link Gatsby to another famously vulgar new-money guy Titles that focused more on the geography of the novel’s climactic scene A broad American flag reference that calls into question the American Dream What’s Next? Learnwhy The Great Gatsbybegins the way it does-with a poem written by Fitzgerald himself, but disguised asthe work of someone else. Analyze the character traits of Jay Gatsbyto see which meaning of the word â€Å"great† really applies. Investigate the key themes pointed to by the various alternate titles: the American Dream, social status, and unrequited love. Read our summary ofThe Great Gatsby, and find links to our many otherGreat Gatsbyanalysis articles. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

To What Extent Festivals and Special Events Impact upon the Social Term Paper

To What Extent Festivals and Special Events Impact upon the Social Fabric of a Community - Term Paper Example Festivals are now considered to contribute extensively to the cultural and economic growth of a country. They have major economic, socio-cultural, and political impacts on the tourism industry of the destination area of the host group. Whilst scholars worldwide are working on developing suitable models to decide the various economic effects of festivals on host communities, there are also a few studies reported which center on the cultural, social, and political impacts of festivals and special events. The studies are to determine the extent to which festival attendance eases the growth of social capital/fabric by depending upon the literature from a variety of disciplines so as to commemorate the connection between festivals and social capital. There are many important festivals that occur in the world annually or seasonally. Every culture or religion has its own specific festivals which are attended by a large number of local or foreign people. Hindu Festivals are very famous and a re celebrated with their gods and goddesses (idols) in whom they commemorate their birth, lives, and incidents. Some famous festivals are Ganesh Chaturthi, Holi, Deepavali, and Krishna Janmashtami. Similarly, Muslim Festivals Muslim festivals are famous for their feasts and religious fasts. At the time of Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha, the local markets are filled with glittering jewelry and clothes, sweets and delicacies for everyone. Muslims believe that the family gets together for such festivals.Sikh Festivals are usually associated with the life of their Guru. Likewise, Buddhism Festivals are commemorated throughout the world on remembering the birth of Mahavira Buddha, the founder of Buddha. Here we will discuss specifically Christian Festivals. Important Christian festivals are Christmas and Easter.