Pregnancy and Juno Essay Example for Free

Pregnancy and Juno Essay The protagonist of the film is 16-year-old, Juno MacGuff. Juno has to face the dilemmas of an unexpected pregnancy. She finds what seems to be the perfect adoption couple, but when her adoption plans take a turn for disaster, Juno must dig herself out of her sticky situation and do what’s best for her baby. At the start of the film, Juno decides to have unprotected sex with her close friend, Paulie Bleeker. Her choice to have un-protected sex is a choice she hasn’t taken into a whole lot of consideration, consequently leading Juno to becoming pregnant. The mise-en-scene at the start of the film shows us how Juno now feels about her pregnancy. Juno stands across from the armchair Bleeker and she had sex on, while a voice over says, ‘It started with a chair. ’ The armchair seems much larger than Juno even though they are about the same size. The chair represents Juno’s sudden pregnancy, something dominant, something overwhelming her. Juno looks small in comparison to the chair, showing us that she feels small, insignificant and weak. New Zealand has a shocking teen pregnancy rate, with 3,800 babies born to teens throughout the country every year. Teenagers who have sex without using protection may not expect to end up with a pregnancy, because they naively believe that the chances of a pregnancy are too slim for it to happen to them. When a teen becomes pregnant they can be left in a position of helplessness because they were never prepared to deal with a baby. This is the consequence of not being careful enough and not protecting yourself when aving sex, something that Juno has to deal with. Juno plans to quickly get rid of the baby by arranging an abortion. Juno goes to the clinic where she meets a Soo-Chin, fellow classmate, who is holding an anti abortion sign in the clinic car park. Soo-Chin tells Juno that her baby is well alive inside of her, and has even grown fingernails. Juno finds this interesting, but continues into the clinic. She waits for her appointment inside, but as she is waiting, the reality t hat her baby is in-fact alive inside her scares Juno into canceling her abortion. This is shown by the added foley sound effect of people’s fingernails inside the clinic. As Juno waits she hears the sounds of people’s fingernails drumming, filing and scratching reminding her that her own baby already has fingernails. The sound of the fingernails starts to resemble a pulse, making Juno feel uncomfortable and nervous, causing her to run out of the clinic. Juno later arranges a closed adoption instead of an abortion. Many pregnant teens who choose not to abort do so because they do not want to cause pain to the baby living inside of them. This choice means that they have to carry on with the pregnancy at their tender age. They later keep the baby or adopt out likewise to Juno. Juno chooses a couple, Mark and Vanessa, who seem like the perfect parents for Juno’s child, and so Juno arranges a closed adoption. But nearing the end of Juno’s pregnancy, she discovers that Mark plans on leaving Vanessa, throwing all of Juno’s adoption plans away. Juno becomes distraught; but even without Mark in the picture, Juno realizes that Vanessa is dedicated enough to love and care for the baby. This is shown to us by the technique of the bird’s-eye view, when Juno and her friend are at the mall, and spot Vanessa. Juno looks down at her from above, almost as if she was assessing her, and sees that Vanessa naturally has a way with children. Juno writes a note to Vanessa saying that she is still up for the adoption if Vanessa is too. We see that the carefully thought out choice that Juno makes turns out positively, as Vanessa gets the child that she’s always wanted, and Juno’s life settles again. The use of set shows us that the dilemma has concluded, as we see a rocking chair, with a voiceover that says ‘It ended with a chair. ’ Vanessa’s room is cluttered and her clothing is very casual, showing that she has finally let go of her proper, uptight self. The mise-en-scene of the very final scene also shows us that Juno’s choice resulted well, as Juno and Bleeker are seated opposite each other. They are in complete symmetry and are of equal size, showing us that they are both in harmony and all is well. Adoption is a process growing in popularity in today’s society. It can be very convenient for both sides of the adoption. People who desperately want their own children and cannot have any can adopt someone else’s child, giving the child a nurturing home that the child probably wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. The biological parent of the adopted child is probably unable to provide a nurturing home for the child, or not at an age where parenting is an option. So the choice of adoption becomes convenient for them, knowing that their child will go to someone else who will love them and will be able to take very good care of them. Many techniques help build up the important idea that all of our actions will have consequences. We see that sometimes, spontaneous choices can lead to unexpected, negative results, such as Juno’s pregnancy. We see that sometimes, our gut feeling or instinct can change our choices, like when Juno decides not to abort her baby. Juno also shows us that choices that are thought out will usually turn out for the better, an example we see from the ending of the film. Because the teen pregnancy rate in New Zealand is one of the highest in the world, Juno is an easily relatable film for teenagers in our country, who may even learn a thing or two from watching Juno’s situation play out before us. This is why the film Juno is such a successful and charming watch. Great – apart from a couple of inaccuracies and a suggestion or two that I have made in-text, this is definitely working towards Excellence level.

Domestication of Maize in Mesoamerica

Domestication of Maize in Mesoamerica One of the most basic needs of a human being is that of food. We most eat and drink to survive. Subsistence is a natural thought which consumes every modern humans day. What will I eat for breakfast? What will I take for lunch or will I eat out? Should I take something out for dinner or pick something up on the way home? All of these questions seem at times quite complicated, however are without a doubt, much simpler than what may have crossed the minds of prehistoric humans. Just as it is today subsistence was the center of each cultures world. Whether you were nomadic or sedentary each group of hunter-gatherers had to eat. It is the survival of these societies which allows us as archaeologists a peak into the past. The process of gathering enough food in which to obtain a sufficient amount of calories was first and foremost in everyday life. The process of domestication of certain plants eventually led to more nucleated settlements. Let us keep in mind Morgans theory of culture, if this is correct, that cultural progression is lineal; than it is safe to assume that the only natural progression for prehistoric humans was to transition from the hunter gather stage of obtaining subsistence to a more agricultural life style. One cultigen in particular was maize, now referred to as corn. In this paper an attempt will made to properly explain what maize is, how maize became a major staple in prehistoric peoples diet, and lastly how has maize been detected in Mesoamerica through evidence in the archaeological record. What is maize? It is a large species of American grass of the genus Zea (Z. Mays) widely cultivated as a forage and food plant; known as Indian corn (http://archaeology.about.com). Maize is a cultigen; this is a crop that cannot propagate in the wild without human intervention. Plant domestication can be defined as the human creation of a new form of plant, dependent on human intervention, harvesting and planting for survival. Maize has a distinct planting season, growing season, and harvesting season. There is a worldwide importance placed on corn. In the Western Hemisphere it is by far the most important human food crop (Beadle, 615). It is still the most important crop in all of Latin America. On a worldwide basis it is the third most important human food crop, with an annual production of some two hundred metric tons (Beadle, 615). When Columbus arrived from the Old World and stumbled upon this strange crop on the island of Cuba, essentially all major races of maize-some two to three hundred- were already in cultivation and had been disseminated from its place of origin, probably southern Mexico (which will be explained further in the paper), to mid-Chile in the south and to the mouth of the St. Lawrence River in the north. The passage below from a science magazine will further help explain the definition of maize. Corn, also known as maize (from the Spanish maiz) was first domesticated nearly 10,000 years ago from teosinte, a wild grass that looked quite different from our modern crop. Teosinte grew in Mexico and Central America as a bushy plant with many spikes, the precursor to our familiar ear of corn. The small teosinte spikes had only two rows of nearly inedible kernels, or seeds, each enclosed by a hard covering. These seeds separated individually at maturity and were dispersed widely. In probably less than a thousand years, the tiny spikes of ancestral teosinte transformed into larger ears with edible kernels that remained on the cob for easy harvest. How these dramatic changes occurred has been a puzzle for over a century. Geneticists are now convinced that humans living in the Balsas River region of Mexico were foraging teosinte seeds when they noticed rare aberrations-likely caused by random mutations-that increased spike size dramatically. Seeds were propagated from these bigger spi kes, and thus the remarkable events of domestication began. By studying the maize genome, researchers have now confirmed that mutations in single genes, such as Teosinte glume architectural (Tgal). Alter kernel and plant structure and that changes in many genes influence complex developmental traits, such as the time to flowering. As human populations migrated throughout the Americas, new varieties of maize were selected to grow in local environments. Some varieties were maintained as so-called landraces, each growing in ecological niches in Mexico and South America. Now, these varieties and landraces hold a wealth of genetic diversity, which is being tapped for both basic research and as traits for crop breeding(http://www.sciencemag.org/products/posters/maize_poster) How did maize become a major staple in prehistoric peoples diet? Where there other uses or maize other than subsistence? New research shows that there is unequivocally four major independent centers of plant domestication; the Near East, China, Eastern North America and Mesoamerica. (Smith 1989: 1566) The Americas is believed to provide the clearest record there is of agriculture origins anywhere in the world, providing new understanding of the process involved in this key transformation in human history. However, the process is believed to have started in Mesoamerica. Maize has many uses; food, feed for live stock and energy for industries. As a food, the whole grain, either mature or immature, may be used; or the maize may be processed by dry milling techniques to give a relatively large number of intermediary products, such as maize grits of different particle size, maize meal, maize flour and flaking grits. (http://fao.org) These materials have a significant number of applications in a large variety of foods. Maize grown in subsistence agriculture continues to be used as a basic food crop. In developed countries more than 60 percent of the production is used in compounded feeds for poultry, pigs and ruminant animals. In recent years, even in developing countries in which maize is a staple food, more of it has been used as an animal feed ingredient. High moisture maize has been paid much attention recently as an animal feed because of its lower cost and its capacity to improve efficiency in feed conversion. The by-products of dry milling include the germ and the seed-coat. The former is used as a source of edible oil of high quality. The seed-coat or pericarp is used mainly as a feed, although in recent years interest has developed in it as a source of dietary fiber (Earl et al., 1988; Burge and Duensing, 1989). Wet milling is a process applicable mainly in the industrial use of maize, although the alkaline cooking process used in manufacturing tortillas (the thin, flat bread of Mexico and other Central American countries) is also a wet milling operation that removes only the pericarp (Bressani, 1972). Wet milling yields maize starch and by-products such as maize gluten, used as a feed ingredient. It is this flat bread or tortilla that is speculated to have been used in pre-historic times. This is not the tortilla that we think of today, however, the basic concept is rudimentary and could have been used even 10,000 years ago. George W. Beadles research shows that the probability of maize being similarly used as what we refer to as popcorn is high. This high probability points to the use of teosinte, which has been argued among scholars as an un-usable product, therefore not an ancestor of maize. Beadles research has proven that even the triangular kernel of teosinte could have been heated on heated sand, hot rock or fire and would have popped. There is speculation that in prehistoric time, maize had a religious and ceremonial purpose. It is written that in the height of the Incan empire maize was used in ritual and ceremonial gatherings in the form of beer. (Fernandez-Arnesto; 243) There isnt anything to indicate any different anywhere else that maize has turned up within the archaeological record. With a better understanding of maize and its possible functions, lets address where maize originated. Blake, Clark, Chisholm, and Mudar consider the transition to agriculture in the Formative period of coastal Mesoamerica (from approximately 1500 B.C. to the birth of Christ), specifically along the Pacific coast of Chiapas, Mexico. These scholars review the evidence from this area in terms of two competing hypotheses: the competitive feasting model of Hayden (1990) and the interaction of plants and humans as described by Rindos (1984) and Flannery (1986). MacNeishs work in the Tehuacan Valley has shown that the origins of maize and its integration into a system of agricultural production that included a variety of plants began as early as 7000 B.C. The earliest people to use and domesticate these plants were not sedentary, instead, they were nomadic foragers who incorporated these domesticates into a complex seasonal pattern of hunting and collecting (MacNeish 1967, 1972; Flannery 1968; Flannery 1986). It has been believed that from Formative times forward that maize is typically seen as the main staple crop in Mesoamerican prehistory. Agricultural advancement has long been thought of as the cornerstone of early sedentary village life and one of necessary conditions for the development of complex society (MacNeish 1972). Maize yields a high amount of caloric intake which is necessary in the process of sustaining the level of activity that prehistoric people in Mesoamerica needed to survive. A recent re-analysis by Farnsworth et al (1985) of archaeological data from the Tehuacan Valley, including a stable carbon and nitrogen analysis of the human skeletal remains, suggests that a heavy dependence on grains, including maize began as early as the Coxcatlan phase (ca. 5000-3000 B.C.). In Oaxaca, excavated macrobotanical remains show that domesticates, including maize, beans, squash, and avocados, were in use and consumed both before and after the appearance of the first sedentary villages (Flannery 1976, 1986). Kirkbys (1973) study of agricultural production suggests that the main staple, maize, was cultivated and relied upon from the Early Formative Tierras Largas phase (1400-1150 B.C.) onwards. She suggests, however, that maize did not reach a threshold of productivity, until about 100B.C. when larger varieties allowed greater yields per cultivated hectares of land. The assumption is that as maize cob size grew, and the plant became more productive, then early villagers c ame increasingly to rely on it as a subsistence staple. Both the Tehuacan and the Oaxaca data suggest that after agricultural products, particularly maize, became important in the subsistence system by the Late Archaic period, the trend towards increasing reliance on these plants continued through time. The movement of a relatively small amount of maize from established agro-ecology over long distances into a new environment is equivalent to an evolutionary bottleneck or a founder event (King, 1987; Mayr, 1963). Because only a small portion of the population is represented after one of these events, sampling error will result in, among other things, changed gene frequencies, breakdown of co-adapted gene complexes, and sometimes increased additive genetic variability (Cheverud and Routman, 1996). The above mentioned on page 2 and 3 of this paper attempted to explain the process of genetics when involved in the process of advancement of a plant. We can refer to this as agricultural evolution. Farming in modern day seems to be, from an outsider looking in; hard work, dirty work, and monotonous work. If with modern equipment farming is difficult what would it have been like in prehistoric Mesoamerica? Why farm at all? We look at hunting game now in present day society as romantic and sportsman like. There is a challenge to the game. There is fancy equipment purchased and well kept. Hunters tell stories that are passed on from generation to generation, hunting stories in prehistory had to be just as exciting and the stuff of which myths were made. So, again why farm at all? Many scholars have argued that without agriculture societies would not have existed. Only agriculture, with its pattern of population growth, urbanization, and economic surpluses has produced civilizations (Reed, 5). Thus helping to explain why agriculture led to complex societies. Varying conditions such as altitude, rainfall, soil, and seasonal temperature rand and latitudinal differences in the length of day during growing seasons led to the eventual diffusion of maize northward into North America, however for the sake of this paper the focus will remain on Mesoamerica. The research indicates that the evidence in the archaeological record states that the coastal areas show maize before any other area. Coe and Flannery until the 1980s were the only two researchers to report domesticates at Early Formative cities along the Pacific Coast of either Chiapas or Guatemala. Other than these few incidences relatively few sites have produced macrobotanical evidence of cultigens among their subsistence remains. Richard Scotty MacNeish conducts what he called the great corn hunt in 1958. MacNeish believed by tracking pre-ceramic caves in the southern part of Mesoamerica, namely, in the caves of Copan and the Comeagua Valley of Honduras he would have a better chance of tracking the corn (MacNeish 1962). His search extended to Zacapa Valley of Guatemala in 1959, as well having brief visits in Oaxaca and the Rio Balsas Valley of Guerrero. In 1961 MacNeish and his team started the Tehuacan project which yielded to be a great unbelievable success. Among many question with this project MacNeish and his colleagues were able to solve the problem of the origins of corn and were able to attack the how and the why of many other domesticated plants in highland Mesoamerica. According to MacNeish the amount of artifacts (50,000 lithics, more than 100,000 plant remains, over 10,000 bones and some 250 human feces) found in the 454 sites gave the team a time span that roughly stretched from 20,000 to 2000 B. C. Since MacNieshs research and excavations there have been over 1000 sites found and more archaeological evidence to support his original findings. In conclusion, the topic of maize is one that has intrigued and puzzled archaeologists for many years. The domestication and evolution of maize in and of itself causes much debate. It is because of great archaeologists like MacNeish and his unwavering curiosity of the great corn hunt as to why we have the information that we have today. The mere evidence of 454 sites becoming 1000 in a matter of years speaks for itself. The fact remains that there are 4 major independent centers of plant domestication, the Near East, China, North America, and Mesoamerica. It is the intent of this paper to have clearly introduced even the novice of persons to what exactly is the definition of maize, how maize became a major staple in prehistoric peoples diet, and how maize has been detected in Mesoamerica through evidence in the archaeological record.

The Great Gatsby :: essays research papers

The novel opens with a description of artillery-laden troops marching slowly through the rains of late summer and autumn. One of these men is the American Frederic Henry, an ambulance driver. Henry is currently in the Italian army, at the Italian front during World War I. The main action of these first few chapters begins when Henry returns from winter leave in early spring. His roommate, Rinaldi, is enamored of a British nurse, Catherine Barkley, at a nearby British hospital. Rinaldi convinces Henry to visit the hospital with him and Henry finds himself attracted to Catherine. A few days later, Henry comes back to see Catherine and the two kiss The relationship between Henry and Catharine becomes more defined as Henry begins to pay her regular visits. However, the relationship is one devoid of love-to Henry, it is as if they are playing a game. Catherine recognizes this as well, and finally declares that it is a "rotten game we play," putting an end to the false lovemaking. Meanwhile, the offensive is about to resume, and Fredrick Henry is dispatched to the front to drive the wounded back to hospitals. At the front, Henry and his fellow ambulance drivers sit in a dugout, eating pasta and waiting for the offensive to begin. One of the drivers, Passini, speaks out against the war, saying that "War is not won by victory. . . . One side must stop fighting. Why don't we stop fighting?" As they talk, shells shatter over their heads until finally a trench mortar shell blasts open the dugout. Passini's leg is blown off and he dies; both of Henry's legs are severely wounded. At a field hospital, Henry is visited first by Rinaldi, then by the priest. Rinaldi tells Henry that he will get a medal of bravery from the Italians, and jokes about developments. The priest, on the other hand, has more serious matters to talk about. He tries to explain to Henry how "There are people who would make war . . . [and] there are other people who would not make war," and how the latter are at the mercy of the former. The priest also tells Henry that love is a willingness to serve someone else, and that true happiness can be achieved through love. After a few days at the field hospital, Henry is moved away from the front to an American hospital in Milan.

The Beast In the Cave Essay -- Literary Analysis, H.P. Lovecraft

â€Å"You’ve just crossed over into The Twilight Zone† says Rod Serling before every episode of The Twilight Zone. A show that leaves it’s viewers in a macabre state. Instead of drawing a conclusion like most shows, the show usually ends mysteriously. It utilizes similar elements as other short half-hour shows, but goes about it in a different way. This outlandish style is seen in literature, more specifically short stories, as well. Even though other short stories employ the same literary devices, â€Å"The Beast In The Cave† by H.P. Lovecraft is uniquely mysterious because of the story’s suspenseful plot, compelling diction, and, most important, overshadowing theme. In â€Å"The Beast In The Cave†, H.P. Lovecraft develops a suspenseful plot in order to build tension throughout the story that inevitably leaves the reader feeling disturbed and the story hanging. The plot itself is seems simple, but is complicated at the same time. Victoria Nelson talks about how Lovecraft’s stories tease the reader â€Å"with the tantalizing prospect of utter loss of control, of possession or engulfment, while remaining at the same time safely contained within the girdle of a formalized, almost ritualized narrative†. With â€Å"The Beast In The Cave†, the protagonist faces only one conflict throughout the story making it a simple plot line; however, the predicament he is in provides the complexity and tension that Lovecraft creates in other stories as well. The complexity of the plot starts when the reader is introduced to a man lost in a cave and his source of light goes out and continues when the man realizes that â€Å"starving would prove [his] ultimate fate† (1). Readers get a sense of hopelessness the man is feeling, and this is where the tensions begins to build. Alt... ...s. Design215 Inc., 2005-2011. Web. 10 Dec. 2011. . Fahy, Thomas Richard. The Philosophy of Horror. Lexington, KY: University of Kentucky, 2010. Print. King, Stephen. â€Å"Gramma.† Skeleton Crew. New York: Signet, 1986. 464-494. Lovecraft, H.P.. â€Å"The Beast in the Cave.† The Transition of H.P. Lovecraft: The Road to Madness. New York: Ballantine Books, 1996. 1-6. Nelson, Victoria. The Secret Life of Puppets. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2001. WNC Database. Web. 7 Dec. 2011. Tibbetts, John C. The Gothic Imagination: Conversations on Fantasy, Horror, and Science Fiction in the Media. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. Print. "The Use of Force--William Carlos Williams (1883-1963)." Classic Short Stories. B&L Associates, Bangor, Maine, U.S.A., 1995-2007. Web. 10 Dec. 2011. .

My Personal Philosophy of Education Essay -- teaching, educational phi

Abstract The main goal of education is to prepare individuals to be contributing citizens of our society and to help them reach their true potential. Education provides the foundation that enables students to be successful lifelong learners that thrive in society. While schools are the catalyst for the dissemination of education, it is a successful partnership between schools, government family and community that ensures the ultimate success of education. A clear focus on educating all students despite their diverse needs and differentiated instruction are essential. Teachers serve as facilitators who guide students in the learning process. Students are active participants in their education, who expand their horizons through hands-on learning experiences. â€Æ' The most essential purpose of education is to prepare individuals to become productive, contributing members of society. Education needs to prepare individuals for the demands of the work force and lay the foundation for them to become engaged, lifelong learners who continuously update their skills to remain competitive in a changing society. The goal of education is to open the world to individuals by providing them with the skills and the motivation to reach their true potential. Education should spark interests, goals and ambitions. Schools are the catalysts for the dissemination of education. It is the role of schools to prepare children to successfully function within society. Schools need to provide opportunities for students to explore their interests and also teach essential skills in all academic content areas. Providing a safe, nurturing learning environment for all learners that encourages creativity and innovation is also fundamental. It is crucial that schoo... ...ressed. The main goal of education is for students to acquire the necessary foundational skills and develop into critical thinkers and analytical problem solvers that make active contributions to our society. Education provides the foundation that enables students to be successful lifelong learners that thrive in society. â€Æ' References Cohen, L. M. (1999). Philosophical Perspectives in Education. Oregon State University. Retrieved from http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/ed416/PP3.html Constructivism as a Paradigm for Teaching and Learning. (2004). Thirteen. Retrieved from http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/constructivism/explor_sub5.html Mason, R., Rennie, F. (2008). The e-Learning Handbook: Designing Distributed Learning. New York: Routledge. Shaffer, D. R. (2008). Social and Personality Development (5 ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing.

Does Malvolio deserve his fate?

Malvolio's character and the misfortunes he encounters though out Twelfth Night provide a lot of the play's comedy scenes. His haughty and pretentious demeanour makes him easy to dislike, yet the treatment he receives is at times a little undeserved and leads to the issue of whether or not Malvolio deserves his fate. In Act 1 of Twelfth Night the audience is immediately presented with Malvolio as a pompous and arrogant man who is ‘sick of self-love.' He is shown as selfish and disillusioned with self-importance when unwilling to carry out menial tasks like delivering a ring; ‘you might have saved me pains' even though it is part of his job. Blindly, he simultaneously criticises Feste's lack of funniness and Olivia for laughing at it; ‘your ladyship takes delight in such a barren rascal,' he arrogantly lectures his superiors showing that he thinks he is above them. This negative representation of Malvolio is continued into Act 2 where the audience gets a glimpse of Malvolio as a puritanical killjoy. Before Malvolio even enters to bring an end to Sir Toby's fun, Maria comments on her surprise that Olivia hasn't already ‘called up her steward Malvolio' to do so. This shows how other characters also think Malvolio is a curmudgeon. Our contempt for Malvolio increases further when he enters and begins to tell the knights off, even though they are his social superiors. He accuses them of being ‘mad' of acting like ‘tinkers' who have ‘no wit, manners, nor honesty'. His remarks indicate that he believes they are acting like commoners and that he would never stoop to such a level, he believes he is above them. He is rude to them and also to Maria, who is his social equal, although he clearly doesn't think so; ‘if you prized my lady's favour†¦you would not give means for this uncivil rule.' Malvolio's relationships with the other characters in the play are on the whole not very good. He does not respect them and they dislike and ridicule him. Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, Feste and Maria do not share Malvolio's patronising, high opinion of himself and they mimic him by singing at him and reminding him that he is no more ‘than a steward.' The audience's dislike for Malvolio is deepened when he leaves threatening to tell Olivia of their behaviour ‘by his hand,' because of course, nobody likes a telltale. Later, Maria directly calls Malvolio a ‘puritan' this word is used to describe him as a religious killjoy who wishes to inflict his strong, opinionated views on everybody else. Maria also calls Malvolio an ‘affectioned ass' showing that he is so deluded with such a high opinion of himself he believes everybody else should share it. This directly relates to Malvolio being vain about his committed Christian values and portrays him as an outsider among more f un loving people. The language and imagery used to present Malvolio in the early stages of the play enforce a negative image of a rude, pompous and irritating man but he never actually does anything harmful or nasty. He genuinely respects his ‘ladyship' Olivia and is a loyal servant shown by his dismay at Sir Toby's behaviour, ‘Is there no respect for place, persons, nor time in you?' His loyalty shows he understands the value of trust. He is clearly learned and articulate in speech, ‘mitigation in voice' and he is an efficient steward who, after all, is only doing his job. Prior to Malvolio receiving the false letter declaring Olivia's love for him, he makes matters worse for himself by arrogantly imagining his marriage to Olivia, ‘to be Count Malvolio.' This antagonising behaviour shows that Malvolio is very shallow and simply imagines the trappings of wealth; ‘sitting in my state,' ‘my officers around me' and ‘my branched velvet gown,' his ideas are far above his station, he his developing his enjoyment of appearing important. When he picks the letter up and reads it, Malvolio almost instantly relates Olivia's love to himself, ‘M – why, that begins my name.' This shows that his vanity lets him believe, with out question, he is the sort of man Olivia would fall in love with. He falls so easily into such a palpable trap that it is difficult not to believe that he deserves what is coming to him. He convinces himself, on the basis of very thin evidence, that this is confirmation of Olivia's love for him, ‘I will be point-device the very man.' Unfortunately this means that Malvolio's pomposity gets virtually out of control, ‘I will wash off gross acquaintance' and he becomes completely carried away with his dreams. Malvolio falls for the trick so entirely that he induces a little sympathy from the audience because he is so gullible and easily deceived. He is a naturally ambitious person, a social climber who only wishes to fulfil his personal potential. Perhaps his imagination is a little over active but he isn't harming anybody with thoughts. Despite Malvolio's self-delusion the actions of the conspirators begin to appear a little spiteful and excessive, especially as they are already sowing the seeds for further misunderstandings within the play by forewarning Olivia of Malvolio's ‘madness.' Ironically Olivia calls for Malvolio because his seriousness suits her mood but his transformation to her ‘requests' surprises her, ‘Smil'st thou?' Naively, Malvolio has meticulously ‘executed' the ridiculous requests including the ‘trick of singularity' and ‘yellow stockings.' He clearly believes that by doing this he will ‘achieve greatness' and nothing can come between him and the ‘full prospects' of his hopes. His soaring high opinion of himself allows him to believe what he wants to, because of this he misunderstands everything Olivia says. When she instructs him to ‘go to bed' to sleep off his madness he believes she means to go to bed with her, ‘I'll come to thee.' Olivia shows concern for her loyal servant and asks for ‘special care' of her ‘fellow.' He also takes these words the wrong way and launches into a great speech about how she recognises him as her social equal and ‘fellow.' The scheme has succee ded to make Malvolio look completely foolish but the tricksters then begin to take things a little too far when they accuse him of being ‘possessed.' When Olivia departs the trick is rendered a success as Malvolio ‘hath taken the infection of the device' and fallen for it. The audience is reminded of Malvolio's snobbishness, ‘go off, I discard you.' This only encourages the kinsmen and servants pretend they believe he is a lunatic, possessed by the devil, ‘bewitched' and attempt to convince Malvolio himself that he is mad, ‘defy the devil.' They wind him up and pretend to be concerned by calling him childishly affectionate names like ‘chuck' and ‘biddy.' Malvolio senses that they are ridiculing him, and getting annoyed he almost stoops to their ‘element' by telling them to ‘go, hang yourselves all.' The jest now goes one step further out of proportion when the conspirators decide they will imprison Malvolio. This, added to his evident confusion causes the audience to now feel sympathetic towards Malvolio. Maria and the others are still treating the joke as a bit of fun but the audience is able to see how it is getting out of control by the change in Malvolio's personality. They have begun to mess with his mind; ‘make him believe' and they trick him into thinking he is talking to a priest but it is really Feste. This is probably in revenge to Malvolio's remarks regarding Feste's ‘barren' humour. Yet this deception increases sympathy for Malvolio because he doesn't deserve such mistreatment. Feste ridicules Malvolio with his disguise and mocks the steward's earlier behaviour by adopting a pompous voice; ‘that that is, is.' Malvolio's desperation is highlighted by words like ‘never was man thus wronged' but Feste continues to try and make Malvolio believe he is a ‘lunatic' and a ‘hyperbolical fiend' who is speaking the words of ‘Satan.' The teasing and accusations are the key to the audience's pity for Malvolio. The treatment of their prisoner even becomes a little sinister when the conspirators try to manipulate Malvolio into thinking he is insane, ‘windows transparent as barricadoes.' Malvolio ceaselessly denies madness, ‘I am not mad,' and his language becomes simple, direct and honest showing that he is in control of what he is saying and steadfastly refuses all of Feste's accusations, ‘I am no more mad then you are.' This is a complete change from his earlier pompous, lecturing tone of speech. He remains faithful to his Christian beliefs, an admirable quality, even when contradicting them would free him, ‘no way approve his opinion.' Even when Malvolio's dignity is taken away, he insists on his sanity ‘well is my wits as any man' but is not willing to sell his soul, however, Feste's suggestion of this would increase sympathy for Malvolio, who is clearly not remotely mad. His change in personality is evident when he speaks to the real Feste as an equal, ‘live to be thankful.' Malvolio's honesty and devotion to his faith highlights the other characters worse flaws than merely being pompous. Maria's actions and words show her to be shallow and malicious, ‘make him believe thou art Sir Topas.' Feste's teasing and deception is unwarranted and cruel, ‘madman, thou errest.' Sir Toby just wants to put an end to the ‘sport' for selfish reasons of not wanting to agitate Olivia further, not for the humanity of Malvolio. These characters do not understand the importance of trust or friendship, at least Malvolio respects the value of loyalty. In the final scene of the play, Malvolio's letter to Olivia reveals how he has suffered, ‘put me into darkness.' He leaves his ‘duty' to Olivia in order to speak honestly of his ‘injury.' It is clear how much his dignity and feelings have been hurt without just reason and the treatment he has received has been appalling. Olivia sympathises with him, ‘this practice has most shrewdly passed upon thee' and considers his fate to be excessive. It is difficult not to feel pity for Malvolio when he discovers he is the last to find out about the wicked trick that has been played upon him, ‘poor fool†¦they baffled thee.' Malvolio's last words lack his usual dignity; ‘I'll be revenged on the whole pack of you,' these words show his anger and resentment towards people he believed he knew, his motive for revenge being the immense humiliation he has suffered. Malvolio is a loyal servant to Olivia and does far more to help her than the likes of Sir Toby or Feste. His personality flaws are not nearly as destructive as some other characters yet he is excessively punished for them. The joke would have been acceptable if it had only gone as far as to make him look a little foolish and remind him of his position but unfortunately it was taken too far. Throughout Twelfth Night the audience is reminded of Malvolio's pompous and occasionally arrogant attitude, but despite his faults he still does not deserve his unkind fate.

The Battle of Shiloh

The American Civil War began on April 9, 1861, with the Battle of Fort Sumter, between the Northern United States of America and the Southern Confederate States of America. It was never too clear until the Battle of Shiloh, won by the Union, as to who had the upper hand, in the war between the states. The Battle of Shiloh could easily be termed the turning point for the Union. It was at Shiloh – the place of peace, that history witnessed one of the bloodiest battles of the American Civil war.It was also one of the most controversial battles, with General Ulysses Grant taking the hit for inadequate planning, which resulted in a carnage, that killed over 10,000 soldiers on either side. The Battle of Shiloh, otherwise called the Battle of Pittsburgh Landing, took place on April 6th and 7th, 1862, at Hardin County, Tennessee. Commander Ulysses S Grant and Don Carlos Buell led the Union, while Albert Sidney Johnston and P G T Beauregard led the Confederates.The death of Johnston, i n the course of the battle, is said to be a major factor behind the Union victory. The Union had the Army of West Tennessee and Ohio with nearly 65,000 soldiers, while the Confederates were backed by the Army of the Mississippi with around 45,000 soldiers. After the bloody and brutal battle, the Union realized that the war was not going to be easy. The essay will walk down the historical lane and trace the events which shaped the Battle of Shiloh. The commandersAbraham Lincon once said, â€Å"I cannot spare the man. He fights. † That about sums up Commander Ulysses S Grants character. He was the son of a hard-working frontier family. Grant fought his first battle, an indecisive action against the Confederates at Belmont, Missouri, in November 1861. Three months later, he captured Fort Donelson and Fort Henry. Grant was made a national figure almost overnight, and he was nicknamed â€Å"Unconditional Surrender† Grant. He brought the same enthusiasm to the Battle of Shil oh, but did not fare so well there.The high number of casualties was deemed unnecessary and Grant’s decision-making powers were questioned. However he managed to defend himself and went on to become the 18th president of the USA (MSN Encarta, 2006). Everybody thought Albert Johnston the best soldier in the country; that was before the war. He had a gaudy career in the army after West Point (1826). After some peacetime soldiering he quit to care for his dying wife, then moved to Texas to start over.When Texas decided on independence he enlisted as a soldier and in a year he was commanding the whole Texan forces. He was the second most senior officer in the Confederate forces. His immediate appointment was to secure and organize the western theater. He took the initiative against the Union forces that had stopped to reorganize and resupply. Johnston led from the front but was shot in the process. It was his concern for the other wounded soldiers and a disregard for his own woun ds, which caused him to bleed to death (ehistory, 2007).The weapons and methods Neither side fought the Battle of Shiloh with its soldiers armed with the most modern weapons available. In one of the few times during the American Civil War, the Union did not enjoy an advantage of superior infantry weapons. There was no formal artillery command and control function for either side. The infantry commanders controlled their own artillery or left its employment up to the battery officers. This made massing artillery fires difficult.Massed fires of more than 25 cannon only occurred three times during the battle. Two of the massed artillery firings proved decisive: Ruggles’ bombardment at the Hornet’s Nest and Grant’s last line at Pittsburg Landing. The artillery officers for each side were inexperienced and attempted to use antiquated Napoleonic tactics. The commmaders were aware that half their soldiers were ‘green,’ that their weapons were obsolete and that there was hardly any planning involved.The battle hinged on the element of surprise. Both the commanders felt they had a good chance of winning and if Grant’s army was not fortified overnight, the results of the battle could have been different (Gudmens, 1960). The doctrine used by this particular battle and that of the marine corps today is similar. Both use speed, surprise, and concentrated force to achieve maximum impact with minimal expenditure of resources. (Santamaria, 2003) The battle reportThe foundation for the Battle of Shiloh was laid in February 1862, when a Union army-navy offensive succeeded in capturing Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, located respectively on the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers, near the Tennessee-Kentucky border. The fall of the two forts initiated a series of Union triumphs that left the Confederacy struggling for life. The Confederate defensive line across southern Kentucky immediately collapsed, and the southern forces retreated from nort hern Tennessee to Alabama and Mississippi.The capture of Fort Henry opened the Tennessee River to Federal penetration to the Alabama and Mississippi state lines. Forces under Major General Ulysses S Grant advanced south to Pittsburg Landing, located on the west bank of the Tennessee River, about twenty miles north of Corinth, Mississippi. That put Union forces dangerously close to the Confederacy's most important east-west railroad, the Memphis and Charleston line, which made a junction at Corinth with the north-south Mobile and Ohio.If the Union army, designated the Army of the Tennessee, captured Corinth, not only would the Federals control the railroad, but Memphis would likely fall and open several hundred miles of the Mississippi River to Union forces. By late March, Major General Henry W Halleck ordered Buell and his Army of the Ohio to join Grant for an offensive against Corinth. Meanwhile, the Confederates concentrated their forces at Corinth in order to stop the Union advan ce before Buell could reinforce Grant.Their effort culminated in the battle of Shiloh, named for the Shiloh Methodist Church, located near the Union encampment (McDonough, 2002). After the fall of Forts – Henry and Donelson, Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston, was forced to fall back, giving up Kentucky and much of West and Middle Tennessee. He chose Corinth, Mississippi, a major transportation center, as the staging area for an offensive against Major General Ulysses S Grant and his Army of the Tennessee, before the Army of the Ohio, under Major General Don Carlos Buell, could join it.The Confederate retrenchment was a surprise, although a pleasant one, to the Union forces, and it took Grant, with about 40,000 men, some time to mount a southern offensive, along the Tennessee River, toward Pittsburg Landing. Grant received orders to await Buell’s Army of the Ohio at Pittsburg Landing. Grant did not choose to fortify his position; rather, he set about drilling h is men many of whom were raw recruits. Johnston originally planned to attack Grant on April 4, but delays postponed it until the 6th.Johnston had been mortally wounded earlier and his second-in-command, General P G T Beauregard, took over (Battle of Shiloh, 2006). The Confederates, after being forced back from their first line, established a second along the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, where they concentrated their armies. It was their intention to attack Grant before he was joined by Buell. The Confederates, after making a very brilliant attack, were compelled to retreat.The Memphis and Charleston Railroad was severed by Sherman and by Mitchell, the campaign closing successfully on the national part by the capture of Corinth (Draper, 1868, p 281). On the 8th, Grant sent Brigadier General William T Sherman, with two brigades, and Brigadier General Thomas J Wood, with his division, in pursuit of Beauregard. They ran into the Rebel rearguard, commanded by Colonel Nathan Bedford F orrest, at Fallen Timbers. Forrest’s aggressive tactics, although eventually contained, influenced the Union troops to return to Pittsburg Landing.Grant’s mastery of the Confederate forces continued; he had beaten them once again. (Battle of Shiloh, 2006). Conclusion Measured in physical devastation and human lives, the American Civil War was the costliest war for the Americans. When the war ended, 620,000 men (in a nation of 35 million people) had been killed and at least that many more had been wounded. The North lost a total of 364,000, almost one of five Union soldiers and the South lost 258,000, nearly one of four Confederate soldiers (History Channel, 2007).In a way, the brutal and bloody Battle of Shiloh set the tone for the battles that followed. Though the union won the war, there were too many casualties from either side for it to be a clear victory. Both sides paid heavily in both human life and expenses. The losses reverberated for a long time in the consci ousness of the people of America. Reference Civil War, American. (2007). The History Channel website. Retrieved 12:57, Jan 25, 2007, from http://www. history. com/encyclopedia. do? articleId=205794.Draper, John William (1868). History of the American Civil War. Volume: 2. New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers. Gudmens, Jeffery J (1960). Staff Ride Handbook for the Battle of Shiloh. Combat Studies Institute PressFort Leavenworth, Kansas, Retrieved February 1, 2007, from http://www-cgsc. army. mil/carl/download/csipubs/gudmens. pdf McDonough, James L (2002). Battle of Shiloh. In Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture [Web]. Tennessee : University of Tennessee Press. Retrieved 01, 21, 2006, from http://tennesseeencyclopedia. net/imagegallery. php? EntryID=S034Santamaria, Jason A, Martino, Vincent, & Clemons, Eric K (2003). The Marine Corp Way. Mcgraw-Hill Companies. Ohio State University, (2007). Albert S Johnston. Retrieved Febraury 1, 2007, from eHistory Web site: http://ehis tory. osu. edu/uscw/features/people/bio. cfm? PID=45 Ulysses S Grant. (2006). In MSN Encarta [Web]. MSN. Retrieved February, 1, 2007, from http://encarta. msn. com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle. aspx? refid=761555289 US Department of the Interior, National Park Service. (2006, 04, 13). Battle of Shiloh. Retrieved January 20, 2007, from Web site: http://www. cr. nps. gov/hps/abpp/battles/tn003. htm