Christmas and Women Essay

â€Å"It was not the hard work which he hated, nor the punishment and injustice. He was used to that before he ever saw either of them. He expected no less, and so he was neither outraged nor surprised. It was the woman: that soft kindness which he believed himself doomed to be forever victim of and which he hated worse than he did the hard and ruthless justice of men. † (Faulkner 158) In William Faulkner’s Light in August, Joe Christmas’s misogynistic view towards women has reason behind it, based on his negative past with significant female characters. The above quote emphasizes his feelings towards women, describing how Joe is able to handle the harshness of a man, but cannot stand the weak and nurturing nature of a woman. Moreover, he believes women are only out to make him cry, as we see with his attitude towards the dietitian and Mrs. McEachern. Over the course of his life, beginning with the absence of a mother, Joe has been impacted by several female influences, from a brief stint with an orphan girl, Alice, up to his lack of a relationship with his mother, Millie. These women have led to Joe’s distrust and pure hate of femininity. Alice, a twelve year-old girl from the orphanage, is his first encounter with a maternal figure. Joe relies on Alice as a supportive comfort, as he does not have a mother or any adult figure to turn to, for that matter. â€Å"He had liked her, enough to let her mother him a little; perhaps because of it. And so to him she was as mature, almost as large in size, as the adult women who ordered his eating and washing and sleeping, with the difference she was not and never would be his enemy. One night she waked him. She was telling him goodbye but he did not know it. He was sleepy and a little annoyed, never full awake, suffering her because she had always tried to be good to him. He didn’t know that she was crying because he did not know that grown people cried, and by the time he learned that, memory had forgotten her. He went back into sleep while still suffering her, and the next morning she was gone. Vanished, no trace of her left, not even a garment, the very bed in which she had slept already occupied by a new boy. He never did know where she went to. † (Faulkner 127-8) When Alice leaves, Joe is confused and feels lost. He then has no one to rely on, learn from, or be close to, in such a setting. With this experience, he feels as if women are unpredictable and will leave at any given point. There is not consistency in relationships with them and, therefore, they cannot be trusted. â€Å"The incident speaks volumes of what the child at the orphanage had lacked, the lack that was to warp him away from womankind† (Brooks xxiii). It is understandable that this â€Å"abandonment† could have such an impression on a young mind with no real stability in his life. The Freudian theory applies here, with the idea that childhood experiences mold an individual most significantly and they determine the attitudes and perceptions of said individuals in their futures. (Hamblin and Peek 303) Also at the orphanage is the dietitian, who is another female influence, contributing to Christmas’s misogynistic attitude. After Joe has been caught consuming pink toothpaste, he expects punishment. However, she does not reprimand him immediately and he agonizes over the anticipation. â€Å"It never occurred to her that he believed that he was the one who had been taken in sin and was being tortured with punishment deferred and that he was putting himself in her way in order to get it over with, get his whipping and strike the balance and write it off† (Faulkner 115). This is when he first gets the idea that women are only out to make him cry. He believes that the dietitian is intentionally torturing him by not immediately carrying through with a punishment for his wrongdoings. The action which â€Å"adds salt to the wound† is when the dietitian, believing that the boy will convey his knowledge of her amorous actions to an orphanage authority, tries to bribe him with money. Therefore, Joe becomes confused and unsure of what to do. This only emphasizes the notion that women are unpredictable and hard to read, and that they possibly represent temptation. When Joe leaves the orphanage, he moves into the country with Mr. and Mrs. McEachern. It is possible that he would have responded positively to Mrs.  McEachern’s nurturing manner had he not dealt with those negative incidents with female figures at the orphanage. However, whenever Mrs. McEachern tries to show kindness towards Joe, he retaliates with acts of cruelty, such as when she offers him food and he dumps it on the floor angrily. Later, Joe says to himself: â€Å"‘She is trying to make me cry,’ he thought, lying cold and rigid in his bed, his hands beneath his head and the moonlight falling across his body, hearing the steady murmur of the man’s voice as it mounted the stairway on its first heavenward stage; ‘She was trying to make me cry. Then she thinks that they would have had me’† (Faulkner 158). By relying on her, Joe thinks that he would show weakness. He can handle McEachern’s harsh ways, but the weakness of Mrs. McEachern disgusts him. He fears displaying weakness, perhaps because he is weak in not knowing his past and not understanding who he is through his adolescence. Because he does not know his parentage, he struggles not only with his racial identity, but his personal identity as well. And, â€Å"the more Mrs. McEachern attempts to mother Christmas, the further her pushes her away† (Schisler 2008). Throughout Joe’s young adult years, he has relationships with several women, namely prostitutes (or â€Å"waitresses†). He routinely tells them of his racial status, either to shock or disgust them or to test their feelings toward him. With these reactions, he travels from woman to woman to find his identity. However, his first real love is with the waitress, Bobbie Allen. Joe’s initial attraction is to her manly features, such as her masculine hands. He tells her that he is part Negro to test her love for him. He sincerely opens up to her often, but when she ultimately rejects him, he is crushed. She could have been the one to â€Å"save† him from his hatred of women and his hateful past. A contribution to their relationship is Joe’s distance from nature. He is far from nature, the natural representation of femininity (Brooks xvii), and he does not accept the natural processes of life. Thus, he gets frightened and frustrated and runs away. â€Å"In the notseeing and hardknowing as though in a cave he seemed to see a diminishing row of suavely shaped urns in moonlight, blanched. And not one was perfect. Each one was cracked and from each crack there issued some liquid, death-colored, and foul. He touched a tree, leaning his propped arms against it, seeing the ranked and moonlight urns. He vomited† (Faulkner 208-9). These urns are a metaphor for women and femininity, in relation to Greek literature and the Bible (Bleikasten 286). Their cracked state and oozing liquid represents that Bobbie is no longer alluring and it shows Joe’s perception of women and how he expects them to be perfect, when he subconsciously knows that they are not. The feminine atmosphere has caused him to vomit, as he is disgusted by Bobbie and the natural processes of life. Furthermore, there is probably the most influential female role in the novel, Miss Joanna Burden. Miss Burden is Joe’s strongest lover emotionally. Again, he is attracted to her masculine qualities, not only physically, but personality-wise. During her first encounter with Joe, she takes her rape â€Å"like a man† and does not struggle or put emotion into it. She is predictable and follows a routine, much like a man, which Joe admires. Burden’s struggling betrays â€Å"no feminine vacillation, no coyness of obvious desire and intention to succumb at last. It was as if he struggled physically with another man for an object of no actual value to either, and for which they struggled on principle alone. † Also, she is a social outcast and is a pariah from the community, sharing a man’s alienation, much like Joe Christmas (Brooks xvi). In Burden, Joe could have stability to support his shaky lifestyle and troublesome past. However, their relationship is ruined because they both believe the only way it can end is in murder. Hence, Joe must kill Joanna in self-defense, fear, and love. This is the end of Joe’s amorous relationships for the rest of his life. Furthermore, Joe has been impacted by a woman who was not even there throughout the course of his life. His mother, Millie, influenced his heritage by having relations with his father. This determines his entire struggle for identity and the issues with his race in the novel and his complete lifetime. In addition, her absence as he grows up gives him no maternal love or comfort as a young child. Perhaps if she had shown him that he could have healthy relationships with women, he could see that many females can be beautiful and trustworthy people. Overall, Joe’s misogynistic attitude has been shaped by years of emotional abuse and love lost. His absence of a maternal figure when he was young and the abandonment of Alice, the only person he ever truly trusted and went to for comfort, taught him that women were unpredictable. His amorous relationships with Bobbie and Joanna taught him that, while a woman may appear attractive with masculine and predictable qualities, she is ultimately still a woman, and, therefore, untrustworthy and weak. All of these elements combine Joe and who he is, his outlooks of life, and the course his life takes.

Cellphones and Digital Networks

Cell phones have been around for nearly 15 years and are now everywhere you look. Over a quarter of Americans and a half of Europeans own cell phones and the numbers have been increasing exponentially. With the continuing increase in technology cell phones have become smaller, cheaper, and thanks to the move from analog to digital the calls are much clearer. They offer a great amount of convenience, and can be very economically for the busy businessman on the go. Advancements in cell phones are always being made, giving a clearer sound and lighter feel, as well as a longer life. The cell phone industry has been one of the fastest growing in the world. The electronics are fairly simple, but they are so small that they are truly and engineering marvel. This paper will discuss in depth the many different components of the average cell phone, and talk about how it converts your voice into something that can be sent through a digital network. The paper will also look at how the inner workings allow for a phone to act as a microcomputer, with Internet access, address books, and even games. Finally, it will review the many exciting ideas for this growing market and look to the future of the industry, and how the industry plans on overcoming various limiting factors. Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876, 18 years later Guglielmo Marconi created the first radio. It was only natural that these two great technologies would eventually be combined to create the cellular craze. In the 80's few people used radiophones, these phones were the precursor to cellular, but they had several limiting factors preventing them from every becoming a major part of everyday society. In the radio telephone system, there was one central antenna tower per major city, and no more than 25 channels available on that tower. Each phone needed a powerful transmitter, big enough to transmit 40 or 50 miles. It also meant that not many people could use radiotelephones due to the lack of channels. With the current cellular system any none adjacent cell can use the same frequency, so the amount of phones that can be used are nearly limitless. These cells also mean that each phone does not need a strong transmitter, so the phone can be a lot smaller. With the innovation of digital phones, many great features are now available, such as caller id, Internet access, and several other new features. It also meant that the phone would need a microprocessor to convert from analog to digital, this complicated the circuitry, but left it with new technology available the industry was able to make the phone as small as possible. The only restriction in size became the user-input devices, and the screen size. Usefulness of the Digital Cell Phone The digital cellular phone offers many advantages to today†s society. The conveniences that it offers over simply not having one are obvious and they vary from person to person. But there are many advantages over other types of phones as well. The cellular phone not only allows people to communicate with others while they are on the go, but it also offers many other features to help people. With the services that digital provides, people can access email and find information almost anywhere in the world for a reasonable fee. In the future, as the integration of phones and computers grow, people will be able to access tutorials in the field, and use them to communicate with specialists saving a great amount of time for many researchers. Today digital cell phones, such as the one shown in Appendix C figure 1, can process millions of calculations per second in order to compress and decompress the voice stream. In order to do this each phone is equipped with a circuit board that contains many different chips. The circuit board of a common phone is shown in Appendix C figure 2. Two chips described earlier are the Analog-to-Digital and Digital-to-Analog conversion chips that translate the outgoing audio signal from analog to digital and the incoming signal from digital back to analog. There is also a Digital Signal Processor that is highly customized processor designed to perform signal manipulation calculations at high speed. The microprocessor controls the keyboard and display and deals with command and control signaling with the base station, it also coordinates the rest of the functions on the board. This microprocessor is as powerful as the super computer of the 70's that took up whole rooms, but is now the size of a finger. By using its arithmetic/logic unit or ALU it can perform all mathematical operation that run many of today features in phones. It is also responsible for the transfer of data throughout the phone. It will also make decisions and then run a new set of instructions. In Appendix C figure 3 a very simple microprocessor is shown. Cell phones use microprocessors that are much more complex, but the use the same idea. The ROM and flash memory chips provide storage for the phone's operating system and customizable features, such as the directory and various simple games. (Appendix C figure 4) The RF and power section handles power management and recharging, and also deals with the hundreds of FM channels. Finally, the Radio Frequency amplifiers handle signals in and out of the antenna. The Radio Frequency amplifier is the same device as you would find in your car's radio. The display has grown considerably in size as the number of features offered by cell phones has increased. Most phones currently available offer built-in phone directories, calculators and even games. It some new products that will be discussed later, cell phone counter as PDA's offering very large screen and offer all of the benefit you would find in today's hand held computers. The display is a liquid crystal display (LCD). It is made of thousands of tiny crystals with two possible colors. They have recently announced that they will be offering color screens on some new phones that work like the display of a laptop computer. Very small speakers and microphones, about the size of a dime, amplify the analog waves. These devices are just like that of a portable radio and the microphones used on television talk shows. They are both wired to the microprocessor. In order for digital cell phones to take advantage of the added capacity and clearer quality, they must convert your voice into binary information. This means that it must break it down to 1's and 0's. The reason that this is so advantageous is that unlike analog, digital is either on or off, 1 or 0, instead of oscillating between the two. For the conversion, the device must first record an analog wave, such as the one in Appendix B figure 1. To create the highest fidelity possible, it records number to represent the wave, instead of the wave itself as represented in Appendix B figure 2. The cell phones analog-to-digital converter, a device that is also found in a CD player, does this process. On the other end a separate digital-to-analog converter is used for playback. The quality of transfer depends on the sampling rate, that controls how many samples are taken per second, and the sampling precision. The precision controls how many different levels are possible in the sample. The better these two are the clearer the sound, but it takes a higher speed processor and requires a greater amount of data transfer. In Appendix B the benefits are shown in figure 3. Most common digital cellular systems use Frequency Shift Keying to send data back and forth. This system uses one frequency for 1's and another for 0's and rapidly switching between the two. This requires optimal modulation and encoding schemes for recording, compressing, sending, and then decoding without loss of quality. Because of this digital phones contain an amazing amount of processing power. The cellular network is web of towers covering areas, generally thought of as hexagonal cells as shown in APPENDIX A Figure 1. The genius of the cellular system is because cell phones and base stations use low-power transmitters, so the same frequencies can be reused in non-adjacent cells. Each cell is about 10 square miles and has a base station that consists of a tower and a small building containing the radio equipment. As more people join the cellular world, companies are quickly adding more towers to accommodate them. Every digital carrier is assigned different frequencies, an average carrier may get about 2400 frequencies per city, and this number is about three times the amount as analog. The reason that more channels are available is because digital data can be compressed and manipulated much easier than analog. Each tower uses one seventh of the available frequencies, so none of the surrounding 6 towers interfere. The cell phone uses two frequencies per call, called a duplex channel. The duplex channel allows one channel to be used for listening and the other for talking, so unlike a CB or walkie-talkie, both people can talk at the same time. This system currently allows for about 168 people to talk in each cell, for each system. The cellular approach requires a large number of base stations in a city of any size, but because so many people are using cell phones, costs remain low per user. Every cell phone has a special code associated with it, called an electronic serial number (ESN). It is a unique 32-bit number programmed into the phone when it is manufactured. When the phone is activated another five digit code called a system identification code (SID), a unique 5 digit number that is assigned to each carrier by the FCC, is imprinted in the phones memory. When you first power up a cell phone, it checks a control channel to find the SID. If the phone cannot find any control channels to listen to, it knows it is out of range, and displays a no service message. After finding the SID, the phones check to see if it matches the SID programmed in the phone, and if it does not match it knows that the phone is roaming. The central location that the cell phone is registered to keeps track of the cell that your phone is in, so that it can find you when someone calls the phone. When the phone is turned on it sends its ESN to the control channel. If the phone goes out of range, it will take a short while to locate your phone when it enters back into service. This can cause loss of calls, even though the phone is in service, but this problem is very temporary. When someone does call your phone it is sent to the central tower called the Mobile Telephone Switching Office (MTSO). This office is continually communicating with the cell phone. It sends and receives the calls, as well as telling it what frequencies to use. This is all done through the control channel, so it does not impair any calls. As you move toward the edge of your cell, the cell's tower will see that your signal strength is diminishing. At the same time, the base station in the cell you are moving toward, which is listening and measuring signal strength on all frequencies, will be able to see your phone's signal strength increasing. The two base stations coordinate themselves through the MTSO, and at some point, your phone gets a signal on a control channel telling it to change frequencies. There are three common technologies used by cell phone providers. These are Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). In FDMA every call is done on a separate frequency. FDMA separates the spectrum into distinct voice channels by splitting it into uniform chunks of bandwidth. This is very similar to the way that radio stations operate. Each station is assigned a signal at a different frequency within the available band. FDMA is used mainly for analog transmission, so it is slowly being phased out. It is capable of carrying digital information, but it is not considered an efficient method for digital transmission. Time Division Multiple Access gives each call a certain amount of time on a frequency. The Electronics Industry Alliance and the Telecommunications Industry Association use TDMA. In TDMA, a narrow bandwidth that is 30 kHz wide and 6. 7 milliseconds long is split time-wise into three time slots. (Appendix D, figure 1) Each conversation gets the radio frequency for one-third of the time. This is possible because voice data that has been converted to digital information is compressed so that it takes up significantly less transmission space. Therefore, TDMA has three times the capacity of an analog system using the same number of channels. TDMA systems operate in either the 800 MHz or 1900 MHz frequency bands. Some phones have the ability to switch between bands. This function is called simply Dual-Band, and is important when traveling between different band frequencies. TDMA is also the access technology for Global System for Mobile communications. The Global system uses different frequencies in different areas of the world and is not compatible with other TDMA systems. GSM operates in the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands in Europe and Asia and in the 1900 MHz band in the United States. GSM systems use encryption to make phone calls more secure. GSM is the international standard in Europe, Australia and much of Asia and Africa. In covered areas, cell-phone-users can buy one phone that will work anywhere else the standard is supported. To connect to the specific service providers in these different countries, GSM-users simply switch SIM cards. SIM cards are small removable disks that slip in and out of GSM cell phones. They store all the connection data and identification numbers you need to access a particular wireless service provider. Unfortunately, the 1900 MHz GSM phones used in the United States are not compatible with the international system.

Analysis paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 8

Analysis paper - Essay Example The whole objective was to encourage a mass consumption drive so that the national economy could sustain and boost a high production drive. The suitable federal programs like Employment Act of 1446 and G.I. Bill of Rights allowed the returning veterans to buy new homes and the consumer goods required to furnish them. This also aided the nation’s Cold War claims that the US was a more equality driven nation in which everybody had the access to a better quality of life. The nation cherished the newfound democratization of consumption that was boosted by the democratization of credit and employment opportunities. However, this new consumer haven based on capitalist democracy and free choice did tend to support many old entrenched gender and class biases. It conveniently sidelined the working class women who had come out in large numbers during the War to aid and strengthen the war efforts. Now that there services were no more required, the system once again intended to give in to the patriarchal notions of American family which upheld the male domination. It again intended to make women dependent on the male choices and decision making capacity. This bias was systematically supported by the gendering of consumption, credit and opportunities for employment. The post World War system also promised to enhance the status of the working class. However, it intended to do so by increasing the purchasing power and consumption capacity of the working class. It no way desired to extend a say and role to the working class in the larger decision making process. Steps were taken to suppress the working c lass say by ensuing measures like the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 that discouraged labor organization and unionization. The post War scenario in a way upheld and encouraged the deep seated social biases and prejudices by supporting the privileged

Creativity for busniess Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Creativity for busniess - Essay Example The toy operates with a button on its left foot which lead it to ‘dance’. This is made possible through an internal computerised memory which connects to a sensor placed at the foot and the combination of a force to move its head, arms and legs. The product is aesthetically pleasing to children as it represents a character from the popular television program named â€Å"In the Night Garden†. The character wears an extremely bright red blanket and a two-tone blue coat contrasting to each other and its red ‘hair’ and big eyes features especially draw attention from the toddlers. Health and Safety is an essential consideration for children’s toys thus the product is made durable so that it would not break apart or loose bits. However, caution is necessary for toddlers age below 18 months as there are three small red cotton ‘hairs’ which prompt hazards to toddlers who started teething and possibility of choking themselves by placing th e blanket into their mouth. Educational Value:  The toy is educational in relation to the child’s development. It helps in the child’s social and emotional development as the child can imagine the toy ‘talking’ and ‘dancing’ with her and being entertained at the same time. Product 2: Construction Train Set Purpose and Function of the product: This product allows the user to organize role-plays using the train, wooden train tracks and props. The user can build the track themselves and set up the props according to their wish and push the train around the track. The age range the product is suitable for The Early Learning Centre suggests that this product is suitable for children age between 3 to 8 years old as there are small parts which pose choking risk to younger children. Design, quality, durability, usability, visual appeal, health and safety The toy is of top quality ensuring the wooden tracks fit to each other and in perfect shape. The toy operates while the child put the wooden tracks together, set up the props and pushes the toy train on the track. The product is aesthetically pleasing to children as children generally place great interest on transports. The toy has light wood tracks and props with brightly coloured train which bring joy and attention to the children. Health and Safety is critical and the product is designed to be durable so that it would not snap or deform easily. The props are not suitable for children below the recommended age range as younger kids have the tendency of swallowing things. The sharp edges also pose a danger to the kids. Educational Value The educational value associated with this product is that it assists older children to develop their imagination during the role-play. It also enhances the child’s fine motor skills as the child pushes the toy train and having to assemble the tracks themselves. ________________________________________________________________ Our advert isements believe: A strong branding is vital to differentiate the products illustrated above and motivates consumer to purchase the product. In order to establish a robust position of the products in the challenging environment and industry, extensive marketing activities have to be conducted aimed to increase the familiarity of children to the idols related to the product. Kids’ club would be an effective way to get the children involved. Kids clubs organized by retailers, producers and media outlets have been

Comparative Analysis of A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner and Luck Essay

Comparative Analysis of A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner and Luck by Mark Twain - Essay Example The presence of a universal characteristic in literary works also means that there are also texts that provide scenarios, feelings, thoughts, or experiences that are unique and not experienced by the majority. In this paper, a comparison of two short stories is provided as an illustration of Johnson's point in elucidating the meaning of "just representations of general nature. The literary texts included in the comparative analysis are "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner and "Luck" by Mark Twain. The choice for these texts is motivated mainly by the 'level of representativeness of each.' That is, Faulkner's short story is identified as more universal in its theme, while Twain's equally entertaining short story differs from Faulkner's because of its unique quality. The discussion and analysis posits, then, that "A Rose" is an example of a literary work that possesses the "representativeness" quality that Johnson talks about because of its utilization of society's hostility of an individual because Emily chose to deviate from the norms of her community. Meanwhile, Twain's "Luck" lacks the universality that Faulkner's work has because luck is an uncommon phenomenon, not universally experienced by people throughout their life, as opposed to what was illustrated in the life of the story's primary subject, Lt. Gen. Arthur Scoresby. Emily Grierson is depicted as a social outcast in the community that she lived in, setting the mood early on in Faulkner's short story. The relationship between the community and Emily was one that bordered between hostility and indifference: while most of the people in the community had considered Emily as an individual who lived in the past (i.e., trying to live the affluent life that she had when she was young), and thus they became indifferent, even uninterested, in her, there were some members of the community who reveled on the fact that there lived a woman in their place that does not 'fit' the image of a 'pleasant' community member. This relationship is effectively illustrated by the narrator's description of people's behavior during her funeral: "our whole town went to her funeral: the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity" The fact that Emily managed to survive on her own and with the help of her servant, Tobe, is not the only mystery that intrigued her community. Despite her denial to admit that she lives in poverty at the time of her death, another mystery that remained was the fate of Emily's relationship with Homer Barron, her supposed fianc who had suddenly disappeared from the community and Emily's life. Emily's deviant behavior was indeed confirmed when it was revealed later in the story that she was both poor and a murderer, having killed Homer when he denied her of her love for him. Though deviant in nature, the community's treatment of Emily as a deviant is a universal experience among us. At some point in our lives, we had experienced fair or unfair persecution by our society and community, and Faulkner's effective and sensitive portrayal of this theme through Emily and her community makes the short story truly representative of humanity's behavior and nature. The reason for "Luck"'s lack of representativeness or universality to humanity's general experience in life is because the story focused on the phenomenon of luck, which is not only uncommon, but an unpopular phenomenon in a human society that is currently dominated by the ideology of rationality, logic, and science. Embodied by the character of Scoresby, luck

Study case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words - 1

Study case - Essay Example For the information strategy to work effectively the only requirement is that information should not be biased and should be obtained using utmost care and analysis. In the case at hand, the information will be obtained from the employees and the board members of the company. The IT development team will conduct user surveys and review user requirements individually (Hansen et all, 1999). They will strive to find out the roles played by each employee and will design a system that enables each individual to perform his or her role effectively. Similarly, the IT consultants will have to analyze the different use cases and the user scenarios which will affect the end product. The information needs will then be derived from the use cases. From the case the business requirements are to provide an online marketplace for buyers and customers to interact, place orders, enter details and feedback and receive goods through a logistics channel. Hence, Aalsmeer has to function in a manner where it not only keeps record of the financial transactions of the company but also the financial transactions that take place over their marketplace. Similarly, for their success they will have to market their offering to the customers which can be flower growers and flower merchants as well as the private buyers who want flowers and plants to be delivered to them for a non business purpose. In addition to this the Flower Auction will have to incorporate the feedback from the clients to the vendors so that the growers know what is being demanded in the marketplace and grow the same flowers and plants. Therefore, it will provide the growers the analysis of the demand in the market for the various types of plants and flowers. The information requirements for the proposed system can be divided into different entities. There would be different information stored for individual entities, i.e. growers and sellers would have their profile while the customers will have one

Leadership in the Field of Criminal Justice Term Paper

Leadership in the Field of Criminal Justice - Term Paper Example The following questions will be asked, discussed, and analyzed: What does it take to become an authentic leader who people want to follow, does every manager need to be a leader, why is leadership portrayed in terms of how managers manage people, why is leadership portrayed in terms of how managers manage people, how can you be said to lead people when you have the authority to tell them what to do, and what does it take to become an authentic leader who people want to follow?   Although the answers to each of these questions vary with relation to the individual, form of management, particular leadership style, and setting in which it is put into practice, broad and overarching implications can be drawn from the applications of the answers to the above questions as will be demonstrated in this brief analysis.  As the report declares the terms have clear connotation and denotation in written and spoken language, when they are put into practice and a firm definition of which one le ads to another can be a bit troublesome.   For this purpose, this brief analysis will work to scrutinize leadership and management as they relate to the field of criminal justice.   It is additionally important to note that each of the questions that this analysis will work to scrutinize have strong interconnected dependence and relationships between one another whereby by answering and analyzing one of the questions parallels and strong inference as well as development can be drawn on the other questions which are analyzed.

Communication ethics policy and law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Communication ethics policy and law - Essay Example Pornography is a controversial issue in many spheres, be it of law or morality. As the world became more globlized with the development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), the reach of pornography too has increased. Pornographic materials, at present, are freely available in both developed and developing countries. Along with the world wide spread of pornography, the debate on the legal validity and social acceptability of pornography has intensified. The present study aims to assess the arguments and concerns on the phenomenon of pornography. It would examine the strengths, weaknesses and influences of liberalism, feminism and moral perspectives on the discourses on pornography. Many a theorist has come up with compelling arguments supporting the ban of pornography from varying and often antagonistic standpoints. The paper would examine the merits and demerits of the arguments in favor of banning pornography from the standpoint of its internal theoretical validity. The pornography debate itself is started with the invention of mass production, distribution and consumption of pornography. As the effects of pornography spread across the social sections, it was natural for such a debate on pornography to materialize. There were strange combinations and alliances on both side of the spectrum. Curiously, most of the feminists in 1960s even were ready to align with ultra conservatives for the cause of banning pornography. On the other hand, liberals aligned with the new leftists to support the spread of pornography in the name of freedom of expression. The pornography debate is enriched by various currents of liberalism, feminism and conservatism. However, neither liberalism nor feminism or conservatism has a single standpoint on the issue of banning pornography. The liberal and feminist positions concerning the legitimacy of pornography are essentially heterogeneous and articulated from multiple standpoints. The liberal idea of feminism is

Public Budgeting Essay Example for Free

Public Budgeting Essay Public budgeting touches every sector of the economy and it thus demands clear and accurate contribution of all the parties involved which include policymakers, financial institutions and the public at large. A national budget is a document which once approved by the legislature gives the government the mandate to collect revenue, incur debts on behalf of the public and come up with means of expenditure for the country to achieve certain goals (Cargill and Garcia, 2005). A budget outlines the origin and the application of public resources and for this reason, it plays a central role in the government processes, economic, political, legal and administrative functions of a country. Budgeting is responsible for shaping the macroeconomic status of a country, reflect the political power of the actors who are involved in different stages of the budgeting process, determine which projects get funded with how much and at what level and come up with proper budgetary reforms of both the technical and political budgeting. In this case, monetary control is necessary for a country to achieve the desired level of growth and stability of its economy. It is the responsibility of central banks to conduct monetary policies for the purposes of monetary control. A monetary policy can be defined as a deliberate effort by the Central Bank to influence the economic activities of a country through variation of the money supply, limited control of the amount of credit available and the use of interest rates which are consistent with political objectives of the country. Some of the objectives achieved by the monetary policy include stabilization of the prices of goods and services, stability of exchange rates, availability of employment and maximization of the outputs as well as high rates of economic growth. Most monetary authorities employ operations in the open markets, bank rate regulation policies and credit control policies to control monetary values and achieve the above named objectives. The federal reserve Banks in U. S for instance uses credit control policies to increase or decrease the amount of money and credit present in the U.  S economy at any given financial year. If the monetary value increases, the credit control is said to be on the loose end and to control this, the interests rates for the financial institutions tend to drop, the amount of money spent by businesses and individual consumers increase and the employment opportunities also increase as well. However, if too much money is located to any one sector of the economy when budgeting, it might lead to inflation and a decline in the monetary value of the dollar might result. On the other hand, if too little money is available in the economy, levels of unemployment in the country might increase. An example of how monetary policy and credit controls are applied in public budgeting was seen back in the early 1970s where the Federal Reserve Banks in the U. S facilitated rapid credit expansion to combat unemployment in the country. However, this move led to inflation of the economy forcing the Central Bank to implement a monetary policy in 1979 to slow down the high inflation rates and regulate its public budget plan (Carrigan, 2004). From a different perspective, money can be used to estimate the amount of credit in a country. For instance, some contemporary research findings indicate that the U. S GDP in the year 2006 was around 12. 98 trillion dollars and such values are very important in the process of public budgeting to ensure that money is available to every one in the community. Apart from being affected by monetary and credit control policies, public budgeting is an inherently political process. Political governance and politics related to budgeting affect the operations and reforms of public financial budgeting systems. Several studies carried out on the Ghanaians, Mozambique and Malawian political systems show a significant gap between the formal and informal systems budgeting systems with practices such as clientelism, rent seeking and patronage which lead to dysfunctions and distortions leading to an interference with the public budgeting procedures (Donald, 2002). Many research findings have indicated that the budget making process is more of a political process than a technical one. In this case, it is not possible to separate any reforms made on a technical budget from the political environment on which they are embedded. Therefore, for any reforms on a public budget to be effective, they have to be technically viable, administratively sound and politically feasible. Power politics in budgeting are responsible for shaping the rules of the game including ownership, time schedules, sequence of reforms and a review of the governments commitment to such reforms. Budget politics offer as many challenges as the opportunities since power politics in itself is not only a mitigation of risks but is also an opportunity to seize up the economy of a country. Understanding the politics of budgets thus facilitates effective implementation of reforms and it also helps to identify and support change in the public financial management. According to the Journal of Association Budgeting and Financial Management, understanding the relationship between power politics and budgeting helps a nation to understand and appreciate the institutional factors which affect the proper functioning of budgetary reforms. In addition, good fiscal governance helps to identify factors which might trigger pro-poor changes, streamline the checks and balances and aid proper budgetary reforms. Political governance of a country affects the functioning of all the financial systems and the sustainability of the budget reforms (Cargill and Garcia, 2005). For instance, studies of the power politics in the U. S have shown that the political economic factors have a significant effect on the trajectory change as well as the credibility of its federal government commitment to budgetary reforms. These studies also suggest that the demand for better political governance and financial accountability is a major driver for budgetary reforms in the public budgeting systems. In addition, the political power of a state influences public budgeting in the redistribution of wealth and allocation of resources depending on the priorities. Public budgeting as a political process reflects a public consensus, a relative power and financial accountability of the whole process. Conclusion.  From the discussion above, it is clear that public budgeting is very important for the proper functioning of all the sectors of the economy in a country. As indicated above, most budgeting processes have shown a political inclination rather than a technical one. The political stability of a country affects its economic stability, the monetary value of its currency and the availability of credit facilities both in its local financial institutions as well as the international financial institutions. The monetary policies and the credit controls by the central banks influence the amount of money available for public budgeting. On the other hand, the political power of a state affects the implementation of budgetary reforms which are important for budgeting in any country. It can thus be concluded that, there is a very close relationship between monetary and credit controls, budgeting and power politics in the process of public budgeting.

Women and feminism raised in The Handmaids Tale Essay Example for Free

Women and feminism raised in The Handmaids Tale Essay Margaret Atwoods novel The Handmaids Tale was written in 1986 when the feminist movement was happening, the word feminism is hard to really define into one term but it is usually recognised as meaning equal rights for women. The first wave of feminism happened in the 19th century and this was about sexual division in the workplace then the second wave of feminism started in 1960s and this was known as the Womens Liberation Movement this aimed to create a women centred world by making their voices heard through the demonstrations such as burning pornography (which Offreds mother was a part of. ) In this essay I will be concentrating on the women and the issues of feminism in the handmaids tale. In the society of Gilead the women are grouped into categories concerning their age, fertility and their marital status. Although these women do have their own separate roles in the regime they all share the same theme which involves staying within the household. Such as the Marthas who are responsible for the domestic side who keep the house clean and tend to the cooking where as the handmaids have only one specific role and that is to reproduce they are known as only womb on legs to give birth to children for the commanders wives who are unable to have children and their role is to raise these children after they are born. We can see that handmaids are like shadows amongst the house quiet and replaceable as Rita claims about the last handmaid She didnt work out showing that they are treated as products that can be easily replaced if they dont work out for the purchaser the handmaids are just like property and this is shown in their names such as OF-FRED they belong to the commander of the household although their role is one of the most important in this patriarchal system they are however not treated this way, they are treated as one of the lowest class. Even the roles of the commanders wives have little importance they are given trivial meaningless tasks such as tending to the gardens as this is their domain which they can control and care for maybe a replacement for the children, they also knit scarves for the Angels upfront however Offred claims that Maybe its something to keep the wives busy, to give them a sense of purpose. There is also the role of the aunts which could also be seen as very important as well because it is these older women who brainwash these teachings into the handmaids to let them fulfil their duties. The womens roles are also represented in the colour of the clothes they wear for the Marthas it is green for the commanders wife it is blue and lastly the handmaids wear a red nun-like uniform where the red represents their function suggesting the blood of the menstrual cycle and giving birth to a child, the colour can also represent their imprisonment in the Gilead society the colour of blood, which defines us. The roles of the women are very dependent on their relationship with the men in the regime and their ability to have children which effectively steals the womens individual identity being categorised gives the society much more control over them. The colour of their clothing makes the women easy to recognise which group they belong to, dehumanising them completely treating them more like machines than human beings. It could be seen as some kind of sisterhood with the different roles that the women play and how they co-operate with each other because this could be seen as a feminist world with women appreciating their roles and helping the other women however the use of the roles of women just creates more power for the regime as having a hierarchy of women just creates conflict amongst them so they dont really see the true enemy which are the men. Womens status before Gilead was completely different, women were allowed to have education Psychology, English, Economics. We studied things like that, then. Giving them a chance to have a career of their own, which earn them their own money allowing them to have choice of what they wanted to buy. Women had much more independence allowing them to think for themselves and make the choices they wanted which I will elaborate on later. There were women who were feminists in the time before, fighting for their rights and having a voice to rebel against the treating of women because in them days they were seen as sex objects but in a different light through pornography magazines or by seeing them in certain outfits which screamed out sexuality, Offred remembers this because when she walks away from the guard at his post she purposely sways her hips knowing that the guards are staring after her in a sexual sense. However now the status of women in Gilead is defined by their ability to reproduce, they are treated as objects, all their rights have been stripped away from them they are denied an education, not allowed to have a job, they cannot vote and they are banished from writing or reading. What I put into them: my own clothes, my own soap, my own money, money I had earned myself. They have no family or possessions they dont even have their own identity as they are mentioned only with their male owner even the wives are only known through their title as the commanders wife. Rebellion and independence is not in the question, the women should never undermine the men or act against the system of the society the only thing that a woman is worth is for the use of her reproductive system and their only job they have is the function they must perform. The body that women once used to express their sexuality, the body they used to feel comfortable in which defined who they were as a person has now become the thing they are now afraid and ashamed of My nakedness is strange to me already. My body seems outdated. They are ashamed of their body because it is now what defines them and keeps them trapped in this wretched society. Although it is the Aunts that have achieved high status as it is up to them to show the handmaids their new way of life and the rules they must abide by, it could be seen that these women have some power of the handmaids but they are not permitted guns like the men do which shows that although the Aunts do have a powerful role with authority it is still men that obtain the ultimate power because women cannot be trusted with guns.

World Production Of Rum English Literature Essay

World Production Of Rum English Literature Essay The oldest and the most varied distilled spirit are known as rum. Rum is distilled from the extracts of the sugar cane plant or the by-product of sugar cane known as molasses. Rum is an aged spirit which is usually aged in charred oak casks for a period of 30 years which is in cases of a few authentic brands but is usually aged for a period of 15 years and below. Rum that is aged in charred oak casks get a golden to dark brown colour because of the oak casks. Rums which are aged in stainless steel tanks remain colourless. Rums vary from place to place depending on the tradition that they followed. Rum thats originate from Puerto rico have a golden colour are light bodied and are aged for minimum 3 years while on the other side rums that originate from Jamaica are dark rum which are naturally fermented for a period of 3 weeks and are distilled twice in pot stills and are aged minimum for 5 years in oak casks. The majority of the world production of rum takes place in the Caribbean and Latin America which also include a few other countries. Rum is also produced by Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji islands, Mexico, India and Canada. The federal law states that rum should be distilled from the fermented products of sugar cane like sugar cane juice, sugar cane syrup or the by product or sugar cane which is molasses at less than 190 proof. Dark rums are usually consumed neat or with a mixed while light rums are used to make cocktails. 2.2 billion dollars were generated in 2009 in the United States because of the sales of rum. HISTORY OF RUM The origin of rum dates back to the ancient times. Fermented sugar cane juice is believed to be first developed in ancient India or china. It is believed that rum originated in the island of Barbados. Brazil also started rum production in 1620s. It was discovered by the people who planted sugar cane that the by-product of sugar cane which is molasses can be fermented into alcohol. The distillation process changed later in order to make the alcohol more concentrated and remove the impurities that were present. The Spanish and English have played an important role in distilling sugar cane throughout the West Indies. HISTORY OF RUM IN JAMAICA In Jamaica sugar cane and the distilling process dates back to the 15th century. Jamaica has the perfect climate, fertile soil, spring water which is filtered by limestone. Jamaica became the producer of one of the finest rums because of their climatic conditions. The English use to transport rum back to England in barrels and they discovered that the amount of time the rum spent in the barrel along with the rocking of the ship gave a finer and smoother tasting rum. HOW RUM GOT ITS NAME The first recorded name of this alcohol was kill devil hills because of its alcohol properties. Island of Barbados used the name kill devil hills till the nineteenth century. Early 1650s a new name emerged called rumbullion which was later shortened to rum. Rumbustion was another term that was used for rum during the 17th century. A similar word to rum was rummage. Rummage was the place in ships where rum was stored in the ship for long journeys across the Atlantic. Number of theories suggests that rum got its name from the latin word of sugarcane which was saccharum officinarum. PROCESSES OF RUM RUM BASED ON RAW MATERIALS USED Sugarcane juice: French rums are usually made of 100% sugarcane juice which is fermented and then aged. Rums which are made with 100% sugarcane contain high level of herbal aromas and are totally different from molasses based rums. Molasses: When sugarcane is processed to make sugar the sugar cane juice is boiled until it starts to form crystals leaving behind a liquid known as molasses. The molasses depends upon how much time the juice is boiled for and how much sugar is extracted from that. The more sugar the better grade of molasses and in turn the best quality rum is produced. RUM BASED ON FERMENTATION METHOD Natural fermentation: natural fermentation is when the distilleries depend on yeast that naturally occurs in the air and also in the sugar cane juice to convert the sugar into alcohol. Natural fermentation takes place in big open containers to expose it to the air and takes about 1 or 2 weeks to ferment. Controlled fermentation (continuous): The most advance method of fermenting is the continuous fermentation process. The continuous fermentation process consists of a fermentation tank that continuously receives diluted molasses because of which the yeast keep converting the sugar into alcohol and it all gets collected which is further distilled. RUM BASED ON DISTILATION METHOD POT STILL Pot still process was the earliest ways of distilling alcohol. A pot still consist of three parts which are the kettle in which the liquid is boiled, the condenser in which the vapours are cooled and the gooseneck that connects the condenser and the kettle. The pot still produces single distillate as the liquid is processed through the pot still just once. The liquid is once again put through the pot still and is known as double distillate. The drawback of the pot still process was the liquid needed to be distilled in batches which was a labour intensive job. The liquid is distilled twice thrice or even four times in order to produce a clearer and stronger spirit. COLUMN STILL Unlike the pot still the column still could process higher amount of alcohol. Column still made the distillation process a lot more consistent. Distillation columns are built in a vertical manner with a number of horizontal trays placed at different levels inside the column. The liquid is introduced from the top of the column while steam is introduced at the lowest level. As the liquid flows down from the column it is heated by the steam that is being produced and the alcohol gets vaporized while the liquid that flows down is called wash and contains no alcohol. The steam is collected from the top of the column which is then allowed to cool down which in turn is spirit. Several column stills can operate one feeding the next in order to produce a cleaner, stronger and rectified spirit. APPLETON ESTATE HISTORY OF THE APPLETON ESTATE The rum production at the Appleton estate dates back to 1749 while the origin of the estate dates back to the 1655 when the British captured Jamaica from the Spaniards. Frances Dickson served in the British conquest and it was believed that the land was rewarded to Frances for his services. Frances grandsons were the very first owners of the Appleton estate. The year 1845 was when the ownership changed from the Dickson family to William hill. William hill owned the estate for a short period of time and the ownership changed from William hill to A.McDowell Nathan. McDowell Nathan was the most successful merchant in Jamaica. He died in the massive earthquake which occurred in 1907 and the Appleton estate was acquired by J.Wray and Nephew ltd. J.Wray and Nephew ltd continue to own the Appleton estate and produce the finest rums in the country. The Appleton estate is an 11000 acre estate situated in the Nassau valley. The Nassau valley is a part of Jamaicas cockpit country. The valley has a special limestone formation which is known as the cockpit karst which was formed many years ago. The estate is the only estate in the world that has a cockpit karst and shares the same soil and climatic conditions as the Nassau valley. UNIQUE APPROACH OF APPLETON RUM The Appleton estate that produces rum has been producing exceptional quality rum since the past 260 years. Till today the team of experts that are present at the Appleton estate follow the same tradition of handcrafting their Jamaican rum. The climate of Jamaica is ideal for the cultivation of sugar cane. The Appleton estate grows sugar cane on their 11000 acre plot back in Jamaica. The natural resources add to the taste and character of the rum. During the fermentation process the estate uses spring water which originates from the estate itself. The spring water is filtered through the limestone hill of the cockpit country. The estate uses special natural yeast in the fermenting process which has been handed down from the origin of the rum estate; the natural yeast which is used in the fermentation process contributes to the exclusive taste and aroma of the Appleton estate rum Appleton estate rums follow a small batch pot distillation method which is being followed since the estate started producing rum. Jamaican rum differs from other rums because of the blend of rum is done in a unique copper pot stills and column stills. The distillation process is slow in order to give the rum flavour and the character. After the fermentation process and the distillation comes the ageing of the rum which is done in a unique manner at the Appleton estate. The rums are aged in oak barrels, as the rums mature the rum transforms into a smooth mellow spirit which has unique flavours of vanilla, cocoa, coffee and hazelnut. The maturing process gives the rum a golden colour. A number of oak barrels are kept in the ageing warehouse and the rum can only be bottled on the selection of the master blender. Appleton estate rums contain a unique blend of aged rums which are handpicked by the master blender Joy Spence. The rums produced in the estate have an age printed on the label which is a certified genuine minimum aged which is that the rum have been aged in oak barrels for at least those many years which is printed on the label. Rums that is produced at the Appleton estate has a unique blend which makes the rum unique and finest in the world. Every rum produced in the Appleton estate is hand blended to create a special flavour and aroma. After the unique blending process the rum is allowed to rest in order to let the various components to mix with each other to produce a unique blend. DIFFERENT BLENDS OF RUM PRODUCED AT THE APPLETON ESTATE Appleton estate produces a variety of blends which are as follows Appleton Estate V/X Appleton Estate Reserve Appleton Estate 12 Year Old Master Blenders Legacy Appleton Estate 21 Year Old Appleton Estate Exclusive Appleton Estate 30 Year Old Appleton Estate 50 Year Old Jamaica Independence Reserve Appleton Estate V/X The very first blend of the Appleton estate was the Appleton Estate V/X. The Appleton Estate V/X is a multi-award winning blend of 15 choice aged rums. The rum has unique flavour profile and is the best choice for cocktail mixing around the world. The Appleton estate V/X is a gold/honey colour which a clear liquid because of its distillation process. This rum has subtle scents of orange peel, dried apricot, dried fruits, and fresh peach and has got a hint of molasses. The Appleton estate rum tastes sweet, honeyed with taste of marzipan, caramel and brown sugar. Appleton Estate Reserve The Appleton estate reserve is one another very old blend of the Appleton estate in Jamaica. The reserve stock of rum is allowed to mature in oak barrels very carefully and when the rum matured perfectly the master blender hand blends the rum with 20 other aged rums to create unique rum. The Appleton estate reserve was the very first blend which was created by the master blender joy Spence. The Appleton reserve was introduced in 2000 to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Appleton Estate. The appearance is topaz or honey colour with a gold rim with immaculate purity. The reserve has an aroma of brown sugar, honey with a tinge of orange peel and vanilla. The reserve rum leaves a taste of toasted honey, wheat bread and refined sugar on the palate. Appleton Estate 12 Year Old As the name suggests the appleton estate 12 year old is aged minimum for 12 years in oak cask barrels. The estate 12 year old is rum that shouldnt be added with mixers but consumed straight on the rocks is what is believed by the master blender. The 12 year old rum has a dazzling bright rich bronze colour. The 12 year old rum has an aroma of walnut, nutmeg, orange peel and vanilla that leaves a buttery creamy brown sugar taste on the palate. MASTER BLENDERS LEGACY The special master blenders legacy celebrates three generation of blenders. This particular blend is 30 year old rum which means it has spent 30 years maturing in the oak barrels. The master blender Joy Spence suggests that the special master blender is just the perfect drink with a splash of water and club soda. The master blender rum has a shiny bright topaz or bronze colour with an aroma of baked pear, maple, orange peels with the tinge of ginger and vanilla. The blender legacy rum leave a taste of honey, vanilla and creamy butter on the palate. Appleton Estate 21 Year Old This unique blend is exceptional and has been aged for a minimum period of 21 years in oak barrels. The blend matures over time and only a limited number of bottles are released each year. The Appleton estate 21 year old has a coppery colour with the aroma of vanilla, orange, nutmeg and cocoa. The the 21 year old rum leaves a taste of baked nuts and the taste of molasses with oak on the palate. Appleton Estate Exclusive The Appleton estate exclusive is a unique blend of rums which is distilled at the estate. This particular rum is blended in order to reflect the terroir and the micro climate present at the estate in Jamaica. The perfect blend of the Appleton exclusive assures that every sip of rum has an essence of the rich fertile soil and the spring water which is used to create this exclusive blend. the estate has warm temperatures during the day along with afternoon showers and cool nights which is perfect for the aging of the rum. The uniqueness of the appleton estate is that it grows sugar cane in the estate of appleton along with the slow pot still distillation which imparts a very distinctive flavour to the rum. The appleton estate exclusive looks rich and earthy which reflects the soil on which the sugar cane is grown. The exclusive rum has an aroma of oak, vanilla with some sublle spices and a tinge of orange. The rum leaves behind a taste of fruity sweetness of the sugar cane with the woodiness which is acquired through ageing. Appleton Estate 30 Year Old The Appleton estate 30 year old is limited edition rum. This special edition is a very rare blend of several types of aged rums which are hand selected by the master blender more than 30 years ago. The 30 year old rum is individually aged for 8 years and then re blended and placed in oak barrels once again for another 22 years. Because of the unique process of dual ageing and exceptional spirit is formed which is known world over for its taste character and smoothness. The very rare 30 year old rum are hand crafted by the master blender and only 1440 bottles were released in the year 2009. The rum has a bright and shiny colour of copper. The 30 year old rum has an aroma of baked pear, maple, spices, orange and a tinge of ginger and vanilla. The rum leaves a taste of delicate spices and vanilla on the palate. Appleton Estate 50 Year Old The Appleton estate 50 year old is a very rare limited edition. The 50 year old rum is aged for a period of 50 years in hand selected oak barrels. The Appleton estate 50 year old is believed to be the oldest rum available for sale in the world. In the year 1962 the Appleton estate set down barrels of rum to age so that they could create a very special blend that could be bottled to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Jamaicas independence. The rums were very carefully treated for the 50 years that they were aged. The rum was taken care by the first master blender Owen Tulloch and then by the current master blender Joy Spence to create the exceptional Appleton Estate 50 Year Old Jamaican Rum. The Appleton Estate 50 Year Old Jamaican Rum was launched on June 7, 2012 and was made available in Jamaica just after the launch. Currently the rum is being sold in key markets around the world and in selected duty free shops. Only 800 bottles of this very exclusive blend have been created and only a limited number of bottles are for sale. The bottle approximately costs $5000 USD per 750ml bottle. Appearance: Dark mahogany colour with rich coppery reflection and a very pronounced green ring of aging. Bouquet: Powerful oak infused with rich vanilla and layered with cinnamon, maple and orange peel. ELEMENTS OF DISTINCTION OF THE APPLETON ESTATE The Appleton estate has 7 elements of distinction compared to the other brands. The 7 elements of distinction are: Heritage of the Appleton Estate: The Appleton estate origin dates back to 1749 and has been making the finest rums since its inception. Terroir: the Appleton estate in Jamaica is situated in the Nassau valley. This valley was formed 12 million years ago when Jamaica emerged from the sea because of which the estate has unique weather, climate and soil which influence the taste and aroma of the rum. The valley has a perfect condition for growing sugar cane because of its microclimate that has warm morning and afternoon showers and cool nights. The estate during the fermentation process uses water that originates from the spring in the estate and is filtered through the limestone hills which exists only in the Appleton estate. Pot still: Appleton holds a tradition of handcrafted rum since the past 260 years. The rums are distilled in small batches in copper pots. The pot stills are unique in the estate that gives a very distinctive character to the rum. Exceptional Taste: Spirit competition panels and spirit experts constantly choose rums from the apple estate because of their exceptional taste and smooth finish. The rums produced at the Appleton estate continuously receive awards from international spirit competitions and spirit experts. Great blends and great rums: Appleton estate V/X, Appleton Estate Reserve and the master blenders legacy are made up of several aged blends in order to add to its richness and smoothness. Aging process: Appleton estate 8 year old, 12 year old, and 30 year old and the 5o year old have age statements on their labels. All the age statements are certified genuine which means the rum has been aged in oak barrels for a minimum period of time mentioned on the label. History of the Appleton estate: the Appleton estates origin dates back in the year 1655 when the British captured Jamaica from the Spaniards. The ownership of the estate changed several times but the quality of the rum remained the same. Legacy of blending: the rum produced in the estate is distinctive because of its unique climatic condition. The rums are blended by the master blender joy Spence. Joy Spence has over 25 year of experience in creating and blending the finest rums in the world. Including a term of 16 years studying under the previous master blender Owen Tulloch. Joy Spence and her team possess vast knowledge and skill in the art of creating and blending and maintaining the consistency and quality which is produced out of the Appleton estate. THE MAKERS OF THE APPLETON RUMS Master Blender Joy Spence The master blender at the Appleton estate rum is Joy Spence. Joy Spence is the first woman to hold such a position in the spirit industry. AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS The Appleton estate rum tour is a major tourist destination in the island of Jamaica. All the rums that have been produced at the Appleton estate in Jamaica are award winning and have performed well at international spirit competitions. The Appleton estate 12 year old was awarded 96/100 rating at the 2008 wine enthusiast competition. Appleton rum and Wray and nephew White Over Proof Rum have been awarded a Grand Gold Award at the 2011 world quality selections. Wray Nephew White Over Proof Rum has been honoured the International High Quality Trophy for consistently turning in gold and Grand Gold Award. CONCLUSION

Women in Chaucers Canterbury Tales Essay -- The Canterbury Tales Essay

The only two women most significant and described in great detail in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer who provide the greatest insight into contemporary medieval society are the Wife of Bath and the Prioress. These two women appear similar in the General Prologue of the poem but, as we see through their tales, they are quite unique women and most importantly very different from one another. By examining both the Wife of Bath and the Prioress's tales, we are able to see the stark contrast between their social standards and behavior. However, in spite of the fact that these two ladies belong to two different social spheres, they surprisingly share some common characteristics. The initial similarity between these two women lies in their appearance but as the poem continues on we see that their life experience and their manner and personality are different from one to another. Chaucer's description of the two characters clearly describes the Prioress as a better nun. The Wife of Bath is the only woman, beside the Prioress and her companion Nun, on this pilgrimage. Chaucer discussed each of the two generally in all aspects beginning with their outer physical look, behavior, beliefs etc. Despite the first impression that Chaucer's description makes the Wife of Bath and the Prioress contradicting as day and night, a deeper look to it makes one observe their intersecting minor characteristics. As weird it may sounds as true it is to some extend. The first thing we come across is their physical look. The Wife of Bath even gap-toothed or a bit deaf she is pictured to have a rich tasteful dressing with her gorgeous distinct gown and fine scarlet red stockings and soft, fresh, brand new leather shoes. This description tells us ... ...rench of Paris was unknown to her. All of these characteristics show how the nun Prioress was focused on things that should not be important for a nun. Among her minor things, the nun in the tale actions was cautious and splendid. Her manners were unique, and practiced with perfection. Her table manners were admirable: she never let a morsel fall from her lips, nor wet her fingers too deeply in the sauce: daintily she carried a morsel to her lips, taking care that no drop should fall on her breast: she took much pleasure in proper etiquette. Her manners and being educated gave her joy, something that is wrong for a nun. Having manners for her was like giving a candy to a little boy. Also the author describes with a lot of details her manners to show us how important her behavior was for herself, an a nun's behavior should be reflected on other people not on herself.

Clothing Impact on Social Interactions Essay -- essays research papers

Does Clothing Have an Impact on Social Interactions: An Observational Study in the Classroom   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many reasons why we choose to wear a particular article or style of clothing. Many of us consider our choice in clothing as an extension of our identity. While many others pick items from their wardrobe that reflect their current mood. There are also many times when we choose to dress a certain way in anticipation of being in a particular social setting. Even people who don’t seem to bother with matching clothes or wearing a designer label or walk around wearing clothes that are torn and dirty, are making a statement. What remains to be examined is whether or not there is a clear relationship between the clothing we wear and our social interactions.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The implications of such a relationship could lend itself to a variety of benefits. Imagine knowing that if you are dressed a particular way; you are more likely to get better service in a restaurant. We already know that when showing up for a job interview, there is certain dress attire that will make you more likely to get the job. Why do you think that when you’re single and going out, you tend to spend more time getting ready and dressed up? The answer is because we associate first impressions and attraction to our physical appearances.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A variety of studies using empirical reasoning in many different settings, have tried to establish a relationship between the two. Pamela Regan of California State University, Los Angeles was cited in the Washington Post as saying â€Å"First, people need to dress appropriately – if you want to be treated well, then dress the part,† after she concluded an observational study of shoppers, the service they received and the way they were dressed. Published in the Psychological Reports, 2002 her study titled â€Å"Customer Service As A Function of Shopper’s Attire’† revealed that upon entering a store, it took more than 20 seconds longer for an employee to approach a shopper dressed in gym clothes, as opposed to one dressed as if she were on her way to work. She concluded, â€Å"Clothing, like other aspects of appearance, seems to exert at least some influence on how we are perceived and treated by others,† (204).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For our particular study, we w... ...larger group and perhaps in more diverse settings. It is clear that clothing does have an impact on social interactions however if I were to redo this study with a similar set-up I would also want to add a survey element to the treatment. Perhaps self-perceptions on dress have more of an impact on whether or not a student participates. This survey would examine how the student feels about their dress. It is possible that a student wearing $200 designer jeans and a shirt would consider themselves dressed up and participate more. However, because according to my own definitions this student would be dressed down it would hinder my results.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Establishing a significant relationship between dress and participation in class could be useful to many people. Pamela Regan’s study has convinced me that if I want better service, I should dress up when I go shopping. If this study were to reveal a significant enough relationship, then students can reconsider how they dress for class as it may help their participation grade. References Regan, P. C., & Llamas V. (2002). Customer service as a function of shopper’s attire. Psychological Reports, 90, 203-204.

Jack London

ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes, and Reviews, Vol. 23, No. 3, 172–178, 2010 Copyright  © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 0895-769X DOI: 10. 1080/08957691003712363 R USSELL M. H ILLIER Providence College Crystal Beards and Dantean In? uence in Jack London’s â€Å"To Build a Fire (II)† James I. McClintock has described Jack London’s classic short story â€Å"To Build a Fire (II)† as the â€Å"most mature expression of his pessimism† (116).In what follows, I wish to explore the possibility that there is a substantial element of spiritual allegory operative in London’s narrative. London originally conceived his tale as a moral fable and a cautionary narrative to American youth never to travel alone. To this end, London published the story in Youth’s Companion. In its ? nal version, though, the tale assumed decidedly darker and more sinister tones.In capturing the menace of the inclement northland, London was dr awing upon his own travels in the Klondike, but I would argue that his narrative was also inspired by a fusion of his experience of the harsh and bleak environment of Dawson City with his encounter with the literature he read while he was sheltering in a winter cabin beside the Stewart River, in circumstances London’s biographer Andrew Sinclair characterizes as â€Å"a trap of cold and boredom, short rations and scurvy† (48). Sinclair describes the modest library with which London weathered that cramped and piercingly cold spell of ? e months and writes how, â€Å"In the tedious con? nes of the winter cabins, [London] settled down to absorb the books that became the bedrock of his thought and writing, underlying even the socialism which was his faith. These were the works of Darwin, Huxley, Herbert Spencer, and Kipling, Milton’s Paradise Lost and Dante’s Inferno† (48). The last two works Sinclair accounts for are of particular consequence. Between the pages of Milton and Dante’s epics London would have encountered fallen angels and unrepentant sinners who had been immured in Hell for committing crimes of hubris.Indeed, London transferred his fascination for the hubris of Milton’s Satan to his antihero Wolf Larsen in the novel The Sea-Wolf . 1 Most importantly, though, London would have discovered, at the outer reaches of Milton’s Hell, â€Å"a frozen Continent [ . . . ] dark and wilde, beat with perpetual storms / Of Whirlwind 172 Jack London’s â€Å"To Build a Fire (II)† 173 and dire Hail, [ . . . ] all else deep snow and ice† (PL 2. 587–89, 591); and, within the innermost circle of Dante’s pit of Hell, he would have found a frozen subterranean lake blasted by biting winds.Neither infernal vision would have been so very far removed from London’s own experience of the subzero temperatures and appalling conditions of the Klondike. Indeed, the inhuman cold that defe ats London’s protagonist was as much an attribute of the traditional medieval idea of Hell as its notorious qualities of ? re and brimstone. The landscape of London’s revised tale is conspicuously preternatural— â€Å"the mysterious, far-reaching hair-line trail, the absence of sun from the sky, the tremendous cold, and the strangeness and weirdness of it all† (1302).Where Milton’s Hell is characterized by the paradoxical quality of â€Å"darkness visible† (PL 1. 63), London’s comfortless northern world has â€Å"an intangible pall over the face of things, a subtle gloom that made the day dark† (1301). London’s protagonist is an anonymous â€Å"man,† a gold prospector who not only lacks the imagination to survive in the Yukon wasteland, but who is also oblivious to any metaphysical possibilities and unmindful of â€Å"the conjectural ? eld of immortality and man’s place in the universe† (1302).Incapa ble of companionability, the man always travels alone, except for his husky, an animal he treats with contempt and even with hostility. His disdain for the wise counsel that â€Å"the old-timer on Sulphur Creek† (1309) gives him to travel into the northland with a partner is a recurrent reminder to London’s reader of the man’s improvidence, unsociability, and willful self-alienation. London’s own brutal ordeal in the Klondike had taught him the importance of having a trail-mate: when wintering by the Stewart River, London and Fred Thompson, journeying for supplies through the wilderness, had â€Å"backpacked all the way or they pulled heir own sled, for they owned no team of huskies† (Sinclair 48). In the case of the man in London’s narrative, the idea of working alongside or depending upon other creatures means no more to him than the enjoyment of the commodities he associates with them: â€Å"the boys† at the camp, for example, whom the man always keeps in mind throughout the tale, are, to the man, indistinguishable from the material comforts he hopes to gain from â€Å"a ? re† and â€Å"a hot supper† (1302).The marked in? uence of Dante in London’s narrative, a crucial factor in one’s appreciation of the tale which, to the best of my knowledge, has hitherto escaped critical attention, helps to con? rm London’s infernal rendering of the unforgiving Yukon wasteland. In structural terms the story has a repetitive, nightmarish quality as â€Å"the man† makes three desperate ventures to build a ? re that are each time frustrated—? rst, by having the ? e â€Å"blotted out† by an â€Å"avalanche† of snow (1309); second, by having his book of sulphur matches extinguished in one fell swoop (1310–11); and, third, by having â€Å"the nucleus of the little ? re† snuffed out by a â€Å"large piece of green moss† (1311). Lee Clark Mitchell has drawn attention 174 ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes, and Reviews to the ominous, reiterative quality of the tale and to how â€Å"events [ . . . ] repeat themselves into an eerie signi? cance, as the man attempts over and over to enact the story’s titular in? nitive† (78).The man’s predicament recalls the unrelenting fates of transgressors in the classical underworld—of Sisyphus, who pushes a boulder up a hill, only for it to roll down the hill’s other side, or of Tantalus, who fruitlessly reaches out to eat from a branch that is always eluding his grasp. But the man’s thwarted actions also mimic the commitment of Dante’s sinners to both the unending nature of the punishment they must suffer and the experience of their particular sin’s interminable round in each of the nine vicious circles built into the funnel of Dante’s Hell.London underlines the infernal atmosphere of his tale. He is careful, for instance, to identify the old-timer on Sulphur Creek, who warns the man that a traveler should never venture alone into the Klondike in treacherous weather, with that essential feature of Hell, namely Hell’s sulphurate fumes. London further emphasizes this theme by having his antihero build a ? re with â€Å"his bunch of sulphur matches† (1310) that, when lit, emits an evil smell of â€Å"burning brimstone† (1311). On bungling his second desperate attempt to build a ? re, the man not only blunders and sets a? me all of his remaining seventy matches, he also sets alight his own hand, so that the burning of his ? esh by ? re becomes associated with the freezing cold that burns into the core of his being at the story’s climax. The freezing cold that literally chills the man to the bone is as apt a fate as a case of Dantean contrapasso, where the punishment of the sinner is appropriate to the nature of their sin. The man’s ethical insentience, his lac k of a moral and metaphysical compass to direct his choices and regulate his attitude toward others and toward the universe of which he is a part, is re? cted in the deadening numbness that torments and ultimately destroys him. London includes in his narrative one small but revealing detail from Dante’s Inferno that gives the reader a key to unlock the moral of his fable. Because of the intense cold, the beard of London’s nameless protagonist, like the coat of the husky that reluctantly accompanies the man, sports an icy â€Å"appendage† (1303): The frozen moisture of [the husky’s] breathing had settled on its fur in a ? ne powder of frost, and especially were its jowls, muzzle, and eyelashes whitened by its crystalled breath.The man’s red beard and mustache were likewise frosted, but more solidly, the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm, moist breath he exhaled. Also, the man was chewing tobacco, and the muzzle of ice hel d his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice. The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin. If he fell down Jack London’s â€Å"To Build a Fire (II)† 175 it would shatter itself, like glass, into brittle fragments. But he did not mind the appendage. 1303) This curious â€Å"ice-muzzle on his mouth† (1304) elongates as the man progresses on his journey, so that â€Å"he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard† (1304); later still, the â€Å"ice-muzzle† (1306) obstructs his mouth when he attempts to eat his meal. The â€Å"amber beard,† a vivid if admittedly bizarre feature of London’s tale, gathers in signi? cance if we recollect events in the ninth and ? nal circle of Dante’s Inferno. When Dante the pilgrim arrives at Hell’s bottom, he discovers a frozen Lake Cocytus that i s swept by bitter, freezing winds.As Dante ventures toward the heart of Lake Cocytus, where the ? gure of Lucifer weeps, gnashes his teeth, and beats his wings, he eventually arrives at the region of Ptolomea (Inf. 33. 124). In this place he ? nds wretched sinners buried up to their waists in ice: We went farther on, where the frost roughly swathes another people, not bent downwards, but with faces all upturned. The very weeping there prevents their weeping, and the grief, which ? nds a barrier upon their eyes, turns inward to increase the agony, for the ? rst tears form a knot and, like a crystal visor, ? l all the cup beneath the eyebrow. (Inf . 33. 91–99) The â€Å"crystal visor [visiere di cristallo]† (Inf . 33. 98) or â€Å"the hard veils [i duri veli]† (Inf . 33. 112) that form and clamp about the faces of these sinners offer an attractive source for the â€Å"crystal beard† or â€Å"muzzle of ice† that torments the countenance of London†™s antihero. Just as the tears around the faces of Dante’s sinners solidify and accumulate to form visors or veils, so the tobacco spit in the beard of London’s protagonist encrusts, clusters, and builds to form an icemuzzle.London’s ice-muzzle that shatters, â€Å"like glass, into brittle fragments† (1303), also seems to recall Dante’s frozen Lake Cocytus, which has the durability â€Å"of glass [di vetro]† (Inf . 32. 24). In his depiction of the Yukon London gestures further to Dante’s sinners, who are embedded in Lake Cocytus. Just as Dante’s Lake Cocytus is one solid block of ice, so the creek that surrounds the man â€Å"was frozen clear to the bottom, — no creek could contain water in that arctic winter† (1304).Equally, just as Dante’s sinners are trapped in the ice, so various ice pools, covered with â€Å"a snow-hidden ice-skin† (1305), present â€Å"traps† (1304) that are concealed around the surface of the creek. It is through the ice-skin of one of these same traps that the man falls and, like Dante’s â€Å"wretches of the cold crust [tristi de la fredda crosta]† (Inf . 33. 109), the man â€Å"wet[s] himself halfway to the knees before he ? oundered out to the ?rm crust† (1307). 176 ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes, and ReviewsLondon’s allusion to Dante is all the more pertinent when we consider the nature of the sin for which Dante’s transgressors in Ptolomea are being punished. The inhabitants of Ptolomea are those offenders who have transgressed against their guests, hosts, or companions. London’s critics have acknowledged the man’s hubris as â€Å"an overweening con? dence in the ef? cacy of his own rational faculties and a corresponding blindness to the dark, nonrational powers of nature, chance, and fate† (Labor 63–64). Yet, as with Dante’s sinners con? ed in Ptolome a, the fatal ? aw of London’s antihero is as much his inability to understand the value of companionship or community. In this way the nameless man’s husky acts as a foil to its master. London characterizes the relationship between the man and his dog as that existing between a â€Å"? re-provider† (1309) and a â€Å"toil-slave† (1306), and, as such, he reveals that their union is based upon a ruthless pact of convenience and functionality rather than an accord of mutual love, respect, and sympathy.The â€Å"menacing throat-sounds† (1307) of the man are, to the perceptions of the dog, as â€Å"the sound of whip-lashes† (1307), and the narrative con? rms the dog’s apprehensions in his master’s futile, last ditch effort to destroy man’s best friend and use its very lifeblood and vital warmth in order to save his own skin. London’s account of his protagonist’s failure to be companionate with his dog is a cruci al index to the man’s inability to â€Å"meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature, and upon man’s frailty in general† (1302).His cruel treatment of his dog furnishes yet another example of his refusal to perceive his fellow human beings and the natural world surrounding him as more than â€Å"things† stripped bare of their â€Å"signi? cances† (1302). His aversion to companionability, which is equivalent to Dante’s sin of Ptolomea, is further re? ected in his refusal to heed the old-timer’s advice to foster human community and trust to a â€Å"trail-mate† (1309). London’s allusion to both the frozen wastes of Dante’s Ptolomea and the crystal beards of the sinners who reside in that nhospitable climate provides a convincing literary analogue for London’s haunting and gloomy depiction of the Klondike; the intertext also serves to highlight the nature of the tragic ? aw of London’s protago nist in placing his trust in a misguided individualism where â€Å"any man who was a man could travel alone† (1308). It may be the case that in the parallels between Jack London’s severe experience of being buried in the Klondike and Dante’s unforgettable vision of his cardinal sinners, buried in Lake Cocytus, London found a subject that he could not resist treating imaginatively, irrespective of his religious and political standpoint.However, if, as I believe, London’s â€Å"To Build a Fire (II)† can be read as a moral fable of transgression and punishment that is heavily invested in the stuff of spiritual allegory and, in particular, relies upon the design of Dante’s Commedia, then our tidy, traditional understanding of London as a long-standing, dedicated Socialist who was condescending toward, if not scornful of, spiritual and religious matters becomes problematic or, at the very least, open to reassessment. Jack London’s â€Å"T o Build a Fire (II)† 177So that there can be no mistaking the tale’s literary debt to the Florentine master, London’s coda to his narrative contains a strong, though unsettling, allusion to the close of each of Dante’s three canticles. The allusion unsettles, because it bears London’s signature pessimism regarding an unresponsive universe. As, in turn, each canticle ends, Dante the pilgrim gains an increasingly clari? ed and luminous perspective upon the starry universe that proclaims God’s abundant love and His concern for Creation: in Inferno, while emerging from Hell’s pit onto the surface of the Earth, Dante is able to contemplate the ? mament and â€Å"see again the stars [riveder le stelle]† (Inf . 34. 139); in Purgatorio, from the peak of Mount Purgatory Dante is â€Å"pure and ready to rise to the stars [puro e disposto a salire a le stelle]† (Purg. 33. 145); and, in Paradiso, Dante is at long last granted a beati ? c vision of his Maker and is ? lled with wonder â€Å"by the Love which moves the sun and the other stars [l’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle]† (Parad. 33. 145).In contrast, London’s powerful closing image of the husky, now masterless and â€Å"howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky† (1315), indicates a more indifferent and uncaring naturalistic universe than the ordered Dantean cosmos where God’s embosoming love moves the sun and the other stars. Perhaps, then, in London’s closing reversion to the bright, dancing stars and the cold sky of an unfeeling universe, James McClintock is correct in his critical judgment that, ultimately, London never truly abandoned his essentially pessimistic worldview in â€Å"To Build a Fire (II)†.Notes I wish to thank my freshman class from the fall semester of 2009 for being a receptive audience to the ideas presented in this paper. Above all, I am grateful to Marek Ignatowicz, a poet and a true man of letters. Without his facility for illuminating discussion on all things literary, and without our memorable conversation on the subject of beards in fact and in ? ction, it is highly probable that the topic of this paper would never have occurred to me. 1 Milton’s Paradise Lost, and in particular the character of Milton’s Satan, is an inspiration to Wolf Larsen in The Sea-Wolf .Larsen remarks of Milton’s fallen archangel: â€Å"But Lucifer was a free spirit. To serve was to suffocate. He preferred suffering in freedom to all the happiness of a comfortable servility. He did not care to serve God. He cared to serve nothing. He was no ? gurehead. He stood on his own legs. He was an individual† (249). Works Cited Dante Alighieri. The Divine Comedy: Inferno. Trans. Charles S. Singleton. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1970. Print. ———. The Divine Comedy: Paradiso. Trans. Cha rles S. Singleton.Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1975. Print. 178 ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes, and Reviews ———. The Divine Comedy: Purgatorio. Trans. Charles S. Singleton. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1973. Print. Labor, Earle. Jack London. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1974. Print. London, Jack. The Complete Short Stories of Jack London. Ed. Earle Labor, Robert C. Leitz, III, and I. Milo Shepard. 3 vols. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1993. Print. ———. The Sea-Wolf . New York: MacMillan, 1967. Print. McClintock, James I.White Logic: Jack London’s Short Stories. Cedar Springs: Wolf House Books, 1976. Print. Milton, John. The Poetical Works of John Milton. Ed. Helen Darbishire. London: Oxford University Press,1958. Print. Mitchell, Lee Clark. â€Å"‘Keeping His Head’: Repetition and Responsibility in London’s ‘To Build a Fire. †Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Journal of Modern Lite rature 13. 1 (1986): 76–96. Print. Sinclair, Andrew. Jack: A Biography of Jack London. London: Harper and Row, 1977. Print. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Jack London ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes, and Reviews, Vol. 23, No. 3, 172–178, 2010 Copyright  © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 0895-769X DOI: 10. 1080/08957691003712363 R USSELL M. H ILLIER Providence College Crystal Beards and Dantean In? uence in Jack London’s â€Å"To Build a Fire (II)† James I. McClintock has described Jack London’s classic short story â€Å"To Build a Fire (II)† as the â€Å"most mature expression of his pessimism† (116).In what follows, I wish to explore the possibility that there is a substantial element of spiritual allegory operative in London’s narrative. London originally conceived his tale as a moral fable and a cautionary narrative to American youth never to travel alone. To this end, London published the story in Youth’s Companion. In its ? nal version, though, the tale assumed decidedly darker and more sinister tones.In capturing the menace of the inclement northland, London was dr awing upon his own travels in the Klondike, but I would argue that his narrative was also inspired by a fusion of his experience of the harsh and bleak environment of Dawson City with his encounter with the literature he read while he was sheltering in a winter cabin beside the Stewart River, in circumstances London’s biographer Andrew Sinclair characterizes as â€Å"a trap of cold and boredom, short rations and scurvy† (48). Sinclair describes the modest library with which London weathered that cramped and piercingly cold spell of ? e months and writes how, â€Å"In the tedious con? nes of the winter cabins, [London] settled down to absorb the books that became the bedrock of his thought and writing, underlying even the socialism which was his faith. These were the works of Darwin, Huxley, Herbert Spencer, and Kipling, Milton’s Paradise Lost and Dante’s Inferno† (48). The last two works Sinclair accounts for are of particular consequence. Between the pages of Milton and Dante’s epics London would have encountered fallen angels and unrepentant sinners who had been immured in Hell for committing crimes of hubris.Indeed, London transferred his fascination for the hubris of Milton’s Satan to his antihero Wolf Larsen in the novel The Sea-Wolf . 1 Most importantly, though, London would have discovered, at the outer reaches of Milton’s Hell, â€Å"a frozen Continent [ . . . ] dark and wilde, beat with perpetual storms / Of Whirlwind 172 Jack London’s â€Å"To Build a Fire (II)† 173 and dire Hail, [ . . . ] all else deep snow and ice† (PL 2. 587–89, 591); and, within the innermost circle of Dante’s pit of Hell, he would have found a frozen subterranean lake blasted by biting winds.Neither infernal vision would have been so very far removed from London’s own experience of the subzero temperatures and appalling conditions of the Klondike. Indeed, the inhuman cold that defe ats London’s protagonist was as much an attribute of the traditional medieval idea of Hell as its notorious qualities of ? re and brimstone. The landscape of London’s revised tale is conspicuously preternatural— â€Å"the mysterious, far-reaching hair-line trail, the absence of sun from the sky, the tremendous cold, and the strangeness and weirdness of it all† (1302).Where Milton’s Hell is characterized by the paradoxical quality of â€Å"darkness visible† (PL 1. 63), London’s comfortless northern world has â€Å"an intangible pall over the face of things, a subtle gloom that made the day dark† (1301). London’s protagonist is an anonymous â€Å"man,† a gold prospector who not only lacks the imagination to survive in the Yukon wasteland, but who is also oblivious to any metaphysical possibilities and unmindful of â€Å"the conjectural ? eld of immortality and man’s place in the universe† (1302).Incapa ble of companionability, the man always travels alone, except for his husky, an animal he treats with contempt and even with hostility. His disdain for the wise counsel that â€Å"the old-timer on Sulphur Creek† (1309) gives him to travel into the northland with a partner is a recurrent reminder to London’s reader of the man’s improvidence, unsociability, and willful self-alienation. London’s own brutal ordeal in the Klondike had taught him the importance of having a trail-mate: when wintering by the Stewart River, London and Fred Thompson, journeying for supplies through the wilderness, had â€Å"backpacked all the way or they pulled heir own sled, for they owned no team of huskies† (Sinclair 48). In the case of the man in London’s narrative, the idea of working alongside or depending upon other creatures means no more to him than the enjoyment of the commodities he associates with them: â€Å"the boys† at the camp, for example, whom the man always keeps in mind throughout the tale, are, to the man, indistinguishable from the material comforts he hopes to gain from â€Å"a ? re† and â€Å"a hot supper† (1302).The marked in? uence of Dante in London’s narrative, a crucial factor in one’s appreciation of the tale which, to the best of my knowledge, has hitherto escaped critical attention, helps to con? rm London’s infernal rendering of the unforgiving Yukon wasteland. In structural terms the story has a repetitive, nightmarish quality as â€Å"the man† makes three desperate ventures to build a ? re that are each time frustrated—? rst, by having the ? e â€Å"blotted out† by an â€Å"avalanche† of snow (1309); second, by having his book of sulphur matches extinguished in one fell swoop (1310–11); and, third, by having â€Å"the nucleus of the little ? re† snuffed out by a â€Å"large piece of green moss† (1311). Lee Clark Mitchell has drawn attention 174 ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes, and Reviews to the ominous, reiterative quality of the tale and to how â€Å"events [ . . . ] repeat themselves into an eerie signi? cance, as the man attempts over and over to enact the story’s titular in? nitive† (78).The man’s predicament recalls the unrelenting fates of transgressors in the classical underworld—of Sisyphus, who pushes a boulder up a hill, only for it to roll down the hill’s other side, or of Tantalus, who fruitlessly reaches out to eat from a branch that is always eluding his grasp. But the man’s thwarted actions also mimic the commitment of Dante’s sinners to both the unending nature of the punishment they must suffer and the experience of their particular sin’s interminable round in each of the nine vicious circles built into the funnel of Dante’s Hell.London underlines the infernal atmosphere of his tale. He is careful, for instance, to identify the old-timer on Sulphur Creek, who warns the man that a traveler should never venture alone into the Klondike in treacherous weather, with that essential feature of Hell, namely Hell’s sulphurate fumes. London further emphasizes this theme by having his antihero build a ? re with â€Å"his bunch of sulphur matches† (1310) that, when lit, emits an evil smell of â€Å"burning brimstone† (1311). On bungling his second desperate attempt to build a ? re, the man not only blunders and sets a? me all of his remaining seventy matches, he also sets alight his own hand, so that the burning of his ? esh by ? re becomes associated with the freezing cold that burns into the core of his being at the story’s climax. The freezing cold that literally chills the man to the bone is as apt a fate as a case of Dantean contrapasso, where the punishment of the sinner is appropriate to the nature of their sin. The man’s ethical insentience, his lac k of a moral and metaphysical compass to direct his choices and regulate his attitude toward others and toward the universe of which he is a part, is re? cted in the deadening numbness that torments and ultimately destroys him. London includes in his narrative one small but revealing detail from Dante’s Inferno that gives the reader a key to unlock the moral of his fable. Because of the intense cold, the beard of London’s nameless protagonist, like the coat of the husky that reluctantly accompanies the man, sports an icy â€Å"appendage† (1303): The frozen moisture of [the husky’s] breathing had settled on its fur in a ? ne powder of frost, and especially were its jowls, muzzle, and eyelashes whitened by its crystalled breath.The man’s red beard and mustache were likewise frosted, but more solidly, the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm, moist breath he exhaled. Also, the man was chewing tobacco, and the muzzle of ice hel d his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice. The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin. If he fell down Jack London’s â€Å"To Build a Fire (II)† 175 it would shatter itself, like glass, into brittle fragments. But he did not mind the appendage. 1303) This curious â€Å"ice-muzzle on his mouth† (1304) elongates as the man progresses on his journey, so that â€Å"he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard† (1304); later still, the â€Å"ice-muzzle† (1306) obstructs his mouth when he attempts to eat his meal. The â€Å"amber beard,† a vivid if admittedly bizarre feature of London’s tale, gathers in signi? cance if we recollect events in the ninth and ? nal circle of Dante’s Inferno. When Dante the pilgrim arrives at Hell’s bottom, he discovers a frozen Lake Cocytus that i s swept by bitter, freezing winds.As Dante ventures toward the heart of Lake Cocytus, where the ? gure of Lucifer weeps, gnashes his teeth, and beats his wings, he eventually arrives at the region of Ptolomea (Inf. 33. 124). In this place he ? nds wretched sinners buried up to their waists in ice: We went farther on, where the frost roughly swathes another people, not bent downwards, but with faces all upturned. The very weeping there prevents their weeping, and the grief, which ? nds a barrier upon their eyes, turns inward to increase the agony, for the ? rst tears form a knot and, like a crystal visor, ? l all the cup beneath the eyebrow. (Inf . 33. 91–99) The â€Å"crystal visor [visiere di cristallo]† (Inf . 33. 98) or â€Å"the hard veils [i duri veli]† (Inf . 33. 112) that form and clamp about the faces of these sinners offer an attractive source for the â€Å"crystal beard† or â€Å"muzzle of ice† that torments the countenance of London†™s antihero. Just as the tears around the faces of Dante’s sinners solidify and accumulate to form visors or veils, so the tobacco spit in the beard of London’s protagonist encrusts, clusters, and builds to form an icemuzzle.London’s ice-muzzle that shatters, â€Å"like glass, into brittle fragments† (1303), also seems to recall Dante’s frozen Lake Cocytus, which has the durability â€Å"of glass [di vetro]† (Inf . 32. 24). In his depiction of the Yukon London gestures further to Dante’s sinners, who are embedded in Lake Cocytus. Just as Dante’s Lake Cocytus is one solid block of ice, so the creek that surrounds the man â€Å"was frozen clear to the bottom, — no creek could contain water in that arctic winter† (1304).Equally, just as Dante’s sinners are trapped in the ice, so various ice pools, covered with â€Å"a snow-hidden ice-skin† (1305), present â€Å"traps† (1304) that are concealed around the surface of the creek. It is through the ice-skin of one of these same traps that the man falls and, like Dante’s â€Å"wretches of the cold crust [tristi de la fredda crosta]† (Inf . 33. 109), the man â€Å"wet[s] himself halfway to the knees before he ? oundered out to the ?rm crust† (1307). 176 ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes, and ReviewsLondon’s allusion to Dante is all the more pertinent when we consider the nature of the sin for which Dante’s transgressors in Ptolomea are being punished. The inhabitants of Ptolomea are those offenders who have transgressed against their guests, hosts, or companions. London’s critics have acknowledged the man’s hubris as â€Å"an overweening con? dence in the ef? cacy of his own rational faculties and a corresponding blindness to the dark, nonrational powers of nature, chance, and fate† (Labor 63–64). Yet, as with Dante’s sinners con? ed in Ptolome a, the fatal ? aw of London’s antihero is as much his inability to understand the value of companionship or community. In this way the nameless man’s husky acts as a foil to its master. London characterizes the relationship between the man and his dog as that existing between a â€Å"? re-provider† (1309) and a â€Å"toil-slave† (1306), and, as such, he reveals that their union is based upon a ruthless pact of convenience and functionality rather than an accord of mutual love, respect, and sympathy.The â€Å"menacing throat-sounds† (1307) of the man are, to the perceptions of the dog, as â€Å"the sound of whip-lashes† (1307), and the narrative con? rms the dog’s apprehensions in his master’s futile, last ditch effort to destroy man’s best friend and use its very lifeblood and vital warmth in order to save his own skin. London’s account of his protagonist’s failure to be companionate with his dog is a cruci al index to the man’s inability to â€Å"meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature, and upon man’s frailty in general† (1302).His cruel treatment of his dog furnishes yet another example of his refusal to perceive his fellow human beings and the natural world surrounding him as more than â€Å"things† stripped bare of their â€Å"signi? cances† (1302). His aversion to companionability, which is equivalent to Dante’s sin of Ptolomea, is further re? ected in his refusal to heed the old-timer’s advice to foster human community and trust to a â€Å"trail-mate† (1309). London’s allusion to both the frozen wastes of Dante’s Ptolomea and the crystal beards of the sinners who reside in that nhospitable climate provides a convincing literary analogue for London’s haunting and gloomy depiction of the Klondike; the intertext also serves to highlight the nature of the tragic ? aw of London’s protago nist in placing his trust in a misguided individualism where â€Å"any man who was a man could travel alone† (1308). It may be the case that in the parallels between Jack London’s severe experience of being buried in the Klondike and Dante’s unforgettable vision of his cardinal sinners, buried in Lake Cocytus, London found a subject that he could not resist treating imaginatively, irrespective of his religious and political standpoint.However, if, as I believe, London’s â€Å"To Build a Fire (II)† can be read as a moral fable of transgression and punishment that is heavily invested in the stuff of spiritual allegory and, in particular, relies upon the design of Dante’s Commedia, then our tidy, traditional understanding of London as a long-standing, dedicated Socialist who was condescending toward, if not scornful of, spiritual and religious matters becomes problematic or, at the very least, open to reassessment. Jack London’s â€Å"T o Build a Fire (II)† 177So that there can be no mistaking the tale’s literary debt to the Florentine master, London’s coda to his narrative contains a strong, though unsettling, allusion to the close of each of Dante’s three canticles. The allusion unsettles, because it bears London’s signature pessimism regarding an unresponsive universe. As, in turn, each canticle ends, Dante the pilgrim gains an increasingly clari? ed and luminous perspective upon the starry universe that proclaims God’s abundant love and His concern for Creation: in Inferno, while emerging from Hell’s pit onto the surface of the Earth, Dante is able to contemplate the ? mament and â€Å"see again the stars [riveder le stelle]† (Inf . 34. 139); in Purgatorio, from the peak of Mount Purgatory Dante is â€Å"pure and ready to rise to the stars [puro e disposto a salire a le stelle]† (Purg. 33. 145); and, in Paradiso, Dante is at long last granted a beati ? c vision of his Maker and is ? lled with wonder â€Å"by the Love which moves the sun and the other stars [l’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle]† (Parad. 33. 145).In contrast, London’s powerful closing image of the husky, now masterless and â€Å"howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky† (1315), indicates a more indifferent and uncaring naturalistic universe than the ordered Dantean cosmos where God’s embosoming love moves the sun and the other stars. Perhaps, then, in London’s closing reversion to the bright, dancing stars and the cold sky of an unfeeling universe, James McClintock is correct in his critical judgment that, ultimately, London never truly abandoned his essentially pessimistic worldview in â€Å"To Build a Fire (II)†.Notes I wish to thank my freshman class from the fall semester of 2009 for being a receptive audience to the ideas presented in this paper. Above all, I am grateful to Marek Ignatowicz, a poet and a true man of letters. Without his facility for illuminating discussion on all things literary, and without our memorable conversation on the subject of beards in fact and in ? ction, it is highly probable that the topic of this paper would never have occurred to me. 1 Milton’s Paradise Lost, and in particular the character of Milton’s Satan, is an inspiration to Wolf Larsen in The Sea-Wolf .Larsen remarks of Milton’s fallen archangel: â€Å"But Lucifer was a free spirit. To serve was to suffocate. He preferred suffering in freedom to all the happiness of a comfortable servility. He did not care to serve God. He cared to serve nothing. He was no ? gurehead. He stood on his own legs. He was an individual† (249). Works Cited Dante Alighieri. The Divine Comedy: Inferno. Trans. Charles S. Singleton. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1970. Print. ———. The Divine Comedy: Paradiso. Trans. Cha rles S. Singleton.Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1975. Print. 178 ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes, and Reviews ———. The Divine Comedy: Purgatorio. Trans. Charles S. Singleton. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1973. Print. Labor, Earle. Jack London. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1974. Print. London, Jack. The Complete Short Stories of Jack London. Ed. Earle Labor, Robert C. Leitz, III, and I. Milo Shepard. 3 vols. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1993. Print. ———. The Sea-Wolf . New York: MacMillan, 1967. Print. McClintock, James I.White Logic: Jack London’s Short Stories. Cedar Springs: Wolf House Books, 1976. Print. Milton, John. The Poetical Works of John Milton. Ed. Helen Darbishire. London: Oxford University Press,1958. Print. Mitchell, Lee Clark. â€Å"‘Keeping His Head’: Repetition and Responsibility in London’s ‘To Build a Fire. †Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Journal of Modern Lite rature 13. 1 (1986): 76–96. Print. Sinclair, Andrew. Jack: A Biography of Jack London. London: Harper and Row, 1977. Print. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.