The Rivals Nicholas and Absalon Essays

The Rivals Nicholas and Absalon Essays The Rivals Nicholas and Absalon Essay The Rivals Nicholas and Absalon Essay With reference to lines 91-112 and 163-290, how are the rivals Nicholas and Absalon presented to us by Chaucer in this section? Focus on Chaucers use of language and detail to present this contrast? Nicholas and Absalon become rivals in the Millers parody of the Knights tale, fighting for the love of the wife of the carpenter, Alison. The contrast between Absalons vivacious character and appearance with Nicholas cunning and quick- wittedness create two opposing characters to represent the aspects of courtly love, yet adapt it to create a comical parody.Chaucer makes clever use of language and diction through the presentation of his characters actions and behaviour. He also uses the aid of his own opinion of his characters laid subtlety behind the Millers views of the two rivals in his tale. The initial detail the reader receives about Absalon is his appearance, whereas in Nicholas case it is the details of his room portraying his lifestyle, which revolves around the seduction of women.The only information we are given about Nicholas appearance is lyk a maiden meek for to see suggesting his girlish attractive looks, freshness and youth. In contrast, Absalons looks and clothes are described in great detail to portray his vanity and flamboyancy. His Poules window corven on his shoes draws focus to the intricate details of his appearance so that the reader is required to take into account Absalons intense care for his looks.His curly blonde hair is fashioned into an extravagant fan shape; strouted as a fanne large and brode that displays his desire to keep up with the fashion, and the blonde curls create a sense of childlike innocence. His clothing also supports his flamboyancy, Ycald he was ful smal and proprely with red stocking, a blue tunic which was lavishly fastened. His behaviour is presented as jolif was and gay. He sings with a high-pitched voice in a quinible, which is usually associated with female voices expressing his femininity.Much of his behaviour is suggested to be feminine in his vanity and his actions. His squeamishness of rude language and body gases, squeamous of farting and of speche daungerous portrays his dainty and fastidious attitude. Absalon is presented as a child-like character, and is patronised by the Miller. This is suggested through his high-spirited attitude as he dances to his rubible as well as his merry appearance. His fiddle contrasts to Nicholas elegant harp, which he plays to women to seduce them.Nicholas character is first presented through his bedroom, which has one particular purpose. His objects that are displayed within it build up and introduce the character of Nicholas through his interests and learned skills. His collection of specialist books and astrelabie equipment suggest his intelligence and scholarly abilities. His elegant harp contrasts with Absalons low-grade inferior fiddle. Nicholas skills from university education also contrast with Absalons practical skills in operations, legal conveyances and cutting hair as a barber.

The Brief History of Transportation

The Brief History of Transportation Whether on land or at sea, humans early on successfully sought to go forth more efficiently by taking advantage of transport systems mother nature already had in place. The earliest examples of such resourcefulness are boats. Those who colonized Australia roughly 60,000 to 40,000 years ago have been credited as the first people to cross the sea, though there is some evidence that early man carried out seafaring trips as far back as 900,000 years ago. Early Boats and Horses In any case, the earliest known boats were simple logboats, also referred to as dugouts. Evidence for these floating vehicles come from excavations of artifacts that date back to around 7,000 to 10,000 years ago. The Pesse canoe is the oldest boat unearthed and dates as far back as 7600 BCE. Rafts have been around nearly as long, with artifacts showing them in use for at least 8,000 years.  Ã‚   Next, came horses. While it’s difficult to pinpoint when humans first began domesticating them as a means of getting around or to transport goods, experts generally go by the emergence of certain biological and cultural markers that indicate when such practices started to take place. Based on changes in teeth records, butchering activities, shifts in settlement patterns, historic depictions and many other factors, experts believe that domestication took place around 4000 BCE. Roughly around that period, someone invented the wheel finally. The archaeological record shows that the first wheeled vehicles were in use around 3500 BC, with evidence of the existence of such contraptions found in Mesopotamia, the Northern Caucuses and Central Europe. The earliest well-dated artifact from that time period is the Bronocice pot, a ceramic vase that depicts a four-wheeled wagon that featured two axles. It was unearthed in southern Poland. Steam Machines: Steamboats, Automobiles, and Locomotives The Watt steam engine, invented in 1769, changed everything. Boats were among the first to take advantage of steam-generated power. In 1783, a French inventor by the name of Claude de Jouffroy built the Pyroscaphe, the world’s first steamship. But despite successfully making trips up and down the river and carrying passengers as part of a demonstration, there wasn’t enough interest to fund further development. While other inventors tried to make steamships that were practical enough for mass transport, it was American Robert Fulton who furthered the technology to where it was commercially viable. In 1807, the Clermont completed a 150-mile trip from New York City to Albany that took 32 hours, with the average speed clocking in at about five miles per hour. Within a few years, Fulton and company would offer regular and freight service between New Orleans, Louisiana, and Natchez, Mississippi. In 1769, another Frenchman named Nicolas Joseph Cugnot attempted to adapt steam engine technology to a road vehicle and the result was the invention of the first automobile. The heavy engine added so much weight to the vehicle that it was ultimately too impractical for something that had a top speed of two and  ½ miles an hour. Another effort to repurpose the steam engine for a different means of personal transport resulted in the Roper Steam Velocipede. Developed in 1867, the two-wheeled steam-powered bicycle is considered by many historians to be the world’s first motorcycle.   It wasn’t until 1858 that Jean Joseph Étienne Lenoir of Belgium invented the internal combustion engine. Even though his subsequent invention, the first gasoline-powered automobile, technically did work, credit for the first â€Å"practical† gasoline-powered car goes to Karl Benz for the patent he filed in 1886. Still, up until the 20th century, cars were not a widely adopted means of transport. One mode of land transport powered by a steam engine that did go mainstream is the locomotive. In 1801, British inventor Richard Trevithick unveiled the world’s first road locomotive, called the â€Å"Puffing Devil,† and used it to give six passengers a ride to a nearby village. It was in 1804 though that Trevithick demonstrated for the first time a locomotive that ran on rails when another one he built hauled 10 tons of iron to the community of Penydarren in Wales to a small village called Abercynon. It took another fellow Brit, a civil and mechanical engineer named George Stephenson, to turn locomotives into a form of mass transport. In 1812, Matthew Murray of Holbeck had designed and built the first commercially successful steam locomotive â€Å"The Salamanca† and Stephenson wanted to take the technology a step further. So in 1814, Stephenson designed the Blà ¼cher, an eight wagon locomotive capable of hauling 30 tons of coal uphill at a speed of four miles per hour. By 1824, Stephenson improved the efficiency on his locomotive designs to where he was commissioned by the Stockton and Darlington Railway to build the first steam locomotive to carry passengers on a public rail line, the aptly named Locomotion No. 1. Six years later, he opened the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the first public inter-city railway line serviced by steam locomotives. His notable accomplishments also include establishing the standard for rail spacing for most of the railways in use today. No wonder he’s been hailed as Father of Railways. Modern Machines: submarines, aircraft, and spacecraft Technically speaking, the first navigable submarine was invented in 1620 by Dutchman Cornelis Drebbel. Built for the English Royal Navy, Drebbel’s submarine could stay submerged for up to three hours and was propelled by oars. However, the submarine was never used in combat and it wasn’t until toward the turn of the 20th century that designs leading to practical and widely-used submersible vehicles were realized. Along the way, there were important milestones such as the launching of the hand-powered, egg-shaped Turtle in 1776, the first military submarine used in combat as well as the launching of the French Navy submarine Plongeur, the first mechanically powered submarine. Finally, in 1888, the Spanish navy launched the Peral submarine, the first electric battery-powered submarine, which also so happened to be the first fully capable military submarine. Built by Spanish engineer and sailor named Isaac Peral, it was equipped with a torpedo tube, two torpedoes, an air regeneration system, the first fully reliable underwater navigation system and posted an underwater speed of 3.5 mph. The start of the twentieth century was truly the dawn of a new era as two American brothers, Orville and Wilbur Wright, pulled off the first official powered flight in 1903. In essence, they had invented the world’s first airplane. Transport via aircraft took off from there with airplanes being put into service within a few short years during World War I. In 1919, British aviators John Alcock and Arthur Brown completed the first transatlantic flight, crossing from Canada to Ireland. The same year, passengers were able to fly internationally for the first time. Around the same time that the Wright brothers were taking flight, French inventor Paul Cornu started developing a rotorcraft. And on November 13, 1907, his Cornu helicopter, made of little more than some tubing, an engine, and rotary wings, achieved a lift height of about one foot while staying airborne for about 20 seconds. With that, Cornu would lay claim to having piloted the first helicopter flight. It didn’t take long after air travel took off for humans to start seriously considering the possibility of going further up and toward the heavens. The Soviet Union surprised much of the western world in 1957 with its successful launch of sputnik, the first satellite to reach outer space. Four years later, the Russians followed that up by sending the first human, pilot Yuri Gagaran, into outer space aboard the Vostok 1. The achievements would spark a â€Å"space race† between the Soviet Union and the United States that culminated in the Americans taking what’s perhaps the biggest victory lap among national rivals. On July 20, 1969, the Lunar module of the Apollo spacecraft, carrying astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, touched down on the surface of the moon. The event, which was broadcast on live TV to the rest of the world, allowed millions to witness the moment Armstrong became the first man to ever step foot on the moon, a moment he heralded as â€Å"one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.†

The UK Food Retail Sector Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The UK Food Retail Sector - Essay Example Narver, J.C. & Slater, S.F. (1990) The effect of a market orientation on business profitability, Journal of Marketing 54(5) pp.20-35. A substantive journal resource that also describes the methodology behind delivering superior value to customers by attaining a market orientation. The article has strengths to support the changes occurring in the UK food sector as it describes how to disseminate information relating to customers and competition and what actions to take to ensure manifestation of total customer value. The authors link knowledge with business processes to describe market orientation and their potential effects on industry profitability with the customer always the focus of business changes. Smith, N. (2009) Vertical focus food retail: delivering the goods, New Media Age London. 28 May, p.17. A substantive and popular media source that focuses specifically on food retailing and the competitive activities of Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda as they operate in this oligo poly. The article maintains strengths to support knowledge regarding the food sector by describing the unique differentiation strategies of the supermarkets that either build or remove market share against competition. There is a specific focus on pricing strategies for the major food retailers related to consumer sentiment and the current economic recession in the UK. Whitelock, N. (2003) Tesco’s new recruits see the big picture, Training & Management Development Methods 17(1) pp.801-804. This scholarly resource focuses specifically on Tesco in order to understand how it develops internal management and employee talent to assist in creating a market orientation. The article... In the end, the author sums up with findings and analysis. Based on the research findings, the supplier and consumer controls in the external market drive the majority of the business innovations and competitive marketing that occurs with each major UK food retailer. Where these businesses once used face-to-face concepts for customer service and satisfaction, they are now turning toward technology as part of the changing social demographic in this country. Social media has become more mainstream and so has subscribership to Internet services and consumers are demanding more convenience related to their food purchases. This change in social attitude has significant impact on how the business structures its capital investments and also how they provide goods and services through technology. The recession also shapes the market-orientation of major food retailers in the UK, which has led to more value-conscious and price-sensitive buyers. Since companies in the oligopoly must mimic many of the competitive actions, there are always pricing wars that occur on products that continue to increase and then subsequently decrease market share with major competitors such as Asda and Tesco. Price will shape the future of UK retailing until the recessionary environment has changed and become more stable. The demands of customers and their significant buying power and willingness to defect based on price or perceptions of quality will also determine the shape of the food retailing environment over the next three years.

Resume Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Resume - Research Paper Example Employers do not enjoy reading resumes that are more than two pages long. In fact, information over one page is oftentimes ignored (How to write a resume 2011). To keep your interviewer’s interest, a short, sharp and direct-to-the point resume is best recommended. Such is why the Chronological Resume is considered to be the most popular type of resume (Resume-Writing-Tips.com 2011). In a Chronological Resume, the applicant lists down his job experience and educational background in reverse chronological order, with the most recent being on top of the list. Employers are typically interested in what latest venture an applicant was into. In a study, this format was found to be preferred by 80-85% among surveyed Corporate Human Resources professionals (Resume-Writing-Tips.com 2011). The Chronological resume is best used when presenting an organized career history, with no gaps or indication of a major career change. Employers often need exact employment data for reference, and this format is best suited for this purpose. Another type of resume is the Functional Resume, which highlights ones skills more than his list of accomplishments. The aim of a Functional Resume is to group ones skills and experiences by types of functions (Resume-Writing-Tips.com 2011). This type is not commonly used as it works best for individuals with a poor career history, but has a good set of noteworthy skills. This type can effectively obscure ones work history as it highlights what you can do, without really elaborating on how the skills were acquired. As a result, this type is less favored by employers and was in fact cited to be among employer’s top 10 pet peeves according to Monster.com (Recruiters’ Top 10 resume pet peeves 2011). Employers prefer looking at Chronological Resumes for better evaluation of skills and potentials of its applicants. Interviewers tend to believe that applicants are actually â€Å"hiding† information on

Human Performance Enhancement Technology :: Science Engineering Essays

Human Performance Enhancement Technology One of the funniest things about human nature is that nothing is ever good enough. No matter how good we are at something, there will always be someone in those 6 billion plus who can do it better. My mom told me that when I was a kid playing soccer in the back yard. They don't sound like the words of encouragement you might expect from a nurturing mother to an aspiring child but it was true. No matter how long I practiced, how many goals I scored, games I won, trophies I put on the shelf of my bedroom, there would always be someone, somewhere who could do me one up. When faced with this thought, we have a choice to make. Give up and accept life for what it is, try to enjoy every moment and yield to share the glory with the word, or try harder. Obsess over the prospect of achieving perfection and stop at nothing: all for that that one moment, that one instant when we ARE the best. People are like technology, they may be the newest hottest thing on the market but lined up for years behind them are thousands of advancements and improvements, maybe still in the works, but chomping at the bit to break out on the world and push even farther. So what's the point? What's the moral we are supposed to derive from all this? No moral. No point. Just a thought I think is pertinent to the changing tides out there in the battle we all face to be the best we can be. How far will we take it? What is advancement and what is too much? We live in an interesting time. Information technology is growing rapidly, new products and ideas popping up every day in relation to every field. By the same token biology and chemistry are as strong as they have every been, discoveries in medicine and health care are booming. So what happens when these potent ingredients are thrown together? What happens when we apply IT to biology? Well we already are, we ¡Ã‚ ¦ve been doing it for years. Doctors and Scientists couldn't accomplish anything without their computers. The human Genome project could never have even existed if not for computers and the special software used.

NCR Corporation Essay

NCR Corporation, known as a world leader in ATMs, point-of-sale (POS) retail checkout scanners, and check- in kiosks at airports, announced in June 2009 that it would move its world headquarters from Dayton (OH) to Duluth (GA), a suburb of Atlanta, after more than 125 years. An employer of 1,200 mostly high-salaried, profes- sional workers in Dayton, NCR was enticed to move by Georgia’s offer of more than $56.9 million in tax credits; its fast-growing, educated 25- to 34-year-old population cohort; international offices for 10 European state govern- ments; and the busiest international airport (Atlanta) in the world. aWhat qualitative research might NCR have done to reach this decision? b NCR will use its move to Georgia to downsize its world headquarters workforce. What qualitative research could help NCR determine which of its 1,200 employees will be offered positions in Duluth? Qualitative research is the type of research people use to gain insight into a problem, issue or theory. Qualitative research is an in-depth exploration of what people think, feel or do and, crucially, why. If you want to know identify human behavior and what barriers there may be to their changing that behavior, you would use qualitative research to explore those issues. Qualitative research does not give statistically robust findings. In the case of NCR and their decision to move, focus groups I think would have been utilized to form this decision. This method would have reduced the risk of researcher’s bias. A focus group is basically research that organizations do to gather information about person’s perspectives and opinions about new ideas. Focus group participants are asked questions in an interactive setting and are encouraged to discuss thoughts freely with other participants. The open and free discussions typically generate ideas and can provide a wealth of information for the business or organization. Questions asked of group participants should be based on the objectives of the project. For the decision of which employees to take in the move, one  on one interviews would be a useful qualitative research method. When qualitative research takes the form of an interview, the interviewer asks open-ended questions and simply records what the participant says. The more intimate environment allows participants to talk openly and is particularly appropriate where participants are competitors who would not agree to come together in a focus group. The individual interview is a valuable method of gaining insight into people’s perceptions, understandings and experiences of a given phenomenon and can contribute to in-depth data collection. However, the interview is more than a conversational interaction between two people and requires considerable knowledge and skill on behalf of the interviewer. (Ryan;Coughlan;Cronin,2009) 7.10 Pepsi launched a new global branding campaign based on the concept of live in the moment called â€Å"Live For Now.† It did extensive research prior to the campaign’s launch. What research should be done to determine if the campaign is resonating with worldwide audiences? Qualitative research would be the method that would be uses. Qualitative research follows a semi-structured discussion guide to ensure that all topics under consideration are covered and that the discussion stays relevant. However, the questioning is open and participants are encouraged to explore the reasons for their responses. The discussion process can reveal underlying views and motivations, behavioral triggers and barriers. It can explore reactions to messages, printed material, design features and new products, test understanding of terminology, help generate new concepts and much more. Qualitative research is usually audio-recorded and transcribed. The transcriptions form the data which is then analysed by the moderator. Groups can also be video-recorded and can also be observed in real-time at venues specially designed for that purpose. You can expect a report or a presentation of the findings supported by verbatim quotes from the participants. References Cooper, D. R., & Schindler, P. S. (2014). Business Research Methods. (12th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Frances, R., Coughlin, M., & Cronin, P. (2009). Interviewing in qualitative research: The one-to-one interview. International Journal of Therapy and Rehabilitation, 16(6), 309-309.

Persepolis and Courage Essay - 653 Words

Persepolis and Courage Marjane Satrapi’s memoir Persepolis is considered a â€Å"coming of age† story based on her experiences growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. This graphic novel explores the life she lead in Tehran which encompassed the overthrow of the Shah’s regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. Undergoing life with such a chaotic environment, it took Satrapi courage to act and live as her â€Å"authentic self† and explore what it meant to her to be authentic. Similar to Aristotle, May and Medinas Persepolis examines the concept of courage, through the view of innocence; through Satrapi’s childhood. Firstly, Aristotle discusses the idea of the courage of the†¦show more content†¦Her courage to dress the way that she does and go out in public is a significant moment in which she progresses towards her authentic self. This scenario coincides with May’s statement that â€Å"we are left the responsibility to choose mindfully and have the courage to remain constantly embroiled in the struggle between daring to amplify our inner thoughts or being directed by the external cacophony of seemingly solid imperatives in the world of others† (Medina 289). Satrapi has a choice, and so do we, every day. We make the choice to amplify our thoughts and we must strive to do so otherwise we’ll be drawn into this ambient noise. Furthermore, May discusses three conceptual branches of courage: physical courage, social courage and moral courage. These concepts are evident throughout the graphic novel as Satrapi’s childhood curiosity delves her further into the understanding of the situation she is around. Yet, her child naivetà © blocks her ability to fully comprehend the decisions others are making around her. Her social courage comes from her audacious responses towards her teachers and her moral courage comes from her curiosity and guilt she has as she grows up when she speaks to â€Å"god† In conclusion, the graphic novel Persepolis is a bildungsroman, which develops the character of Marjane Satrapi through the vehicle of courage in developing the conflict of individual vs. society. This relates to the readings of May,Show MoreRelated##jane Satrapis Persepolis And Letter From Birmingham Jail : Character Analysis871 Words   |  4 Pagesa disadvantage even if it endangers yourself is the most admirable thing to do. This argument is demonstrated in both Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis and in Martin Luther King Jr.’s â€Å"Letter From Birmingham Jail†. King and Satrapi both honored their people by fighting for the oppressed, and working towards a government that recognizes rights for all. 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Starting with â€Å"The Complete Persepolis† the book is about Satrapi’s experience as she transitions from a young woman into adulthood in Rasht, Iran and Vienna, Australia during and after the Islamic and culture revolution between the periods of 1979-1995. The first publishedRead MoreThe Women Behind The Veil2291 Words   |  10 PagesIran’s contemporary culture. For this purpose, the veil, which is worn by Iran women, is often identified as a symbol of obedience, respect or modesty which is otherwise an example of an oppressed patriarchal society. Author Marjane Satrapi’s novel Persepolis, exposes the regime behind this oppression of the Iran woman and compares western cultural expectations to that of Iranian culture. Yet, even behind the confinements of the veil many women are finding ways to rebel against the Iranian society’sRead MoreThe Women Behind The Veil2301 Words   |  10 PagesIran’s contemporary culture. For this purpose, the veil, which is worn by Iran women, is often identified as a symbol of obedience, respect or modesty which is otherwise an example of an oppressed patriarchal society. Author Marjane Satrapi’s novel Persepolis, exposes the regime behind this oppression of the Iran woman and compares western cultural expectations to that of Iranian culture. Yet, even behind the confinements of the veil many women are finding ways to rebel against the Iranian society oppressionRead MorePersepolis : Marjane Satrapi s Persepolis1756 Words   |  8 PagesPersepolis is a graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi, this graphic novel was based on the eyes of a Ten year old that experiences all types of emotions before and after the Islamic revolution, the oppression from the leaders. This novel gives us a brief on the history of Iran and their leaders, to the Embassy being taken over, via how they weren’t allowed to party . They also experience prohibition just like the United States in the 1920-1933 and like many countries they didn’t have any freedom. In the