The Labours of Mendevolin Essay Example For Students

The Labours of Mendevolin Essay THE LABOURS OF MENDEVOLINACT I SCENE I(HIGH PRIEST on stage right. Enter MENDEVOLIN stage left. HIGH PRIESTcrosses to centre stage to meet MENDEVOLIN there.)MENDEVOLIN: High Priest Marchand!HIGH PRIEST: Ahh Mendevolin, it is such a pleasure to see you again. MENDEVOLIN: Lets disperse with the pleasantries. Take me to my father. HIGH PRIEST: There are things you must know Mendevolin. Your father has not beenwell. He has been slowly passing away for the last few months. This is why we have sentfor you. We will write a custom essay on The Labours of Mendevolin specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now MENDEVOLIN: He hinted at that in his letter. I came as soon as I could. How long dowe have?HIGH PRIEST: Not long, hes on his death bed. Ive been using my healing powers tokeep him alive for the last week and a half. We have been waiting for your arrival. MENDEVOLIN: Why didnt he say anything before I left?HIGH PRIEST: Hes a proud man, it took him months to even ask for my assistance. Imsure that he wouldnt want his only son to have felt obligated to care for him. He respectsyou a great deal and is proud to see you out working magic as he once did. MENDEVOLIN: As much work as it may have been, it wouldnt have seemed a burden,because it would have been spent with my father. Now its too late. Please take me tohim now so that I might spend these last few moments of his life with him. HIGH PRIEST: Come with me. Hes resting in the basement of the church, youll have tomake it quick, he doesnt have much longer. (HIGH PRIEST and MENDEVOLIN exit stage right.)ACT I SCENE II(MENDEVOLINS father lies on bed center stage. MENDEVOLIN enters stage left andapproaches his father.)MENDEVOLIN: I came as soon as I heard. Im sorry it took soFATHER: Dont worry, whats important is that youre here now. I have some news thatis going to shock you. It concerns your lineage and a burden which has been placed uponthis family. In regards to your lineage, I should tell you that.ahhhhh..oh yes,lineageYour great-great-great.well he was a great guy. A thousand years ago, an elven mageof whom you are a descendant, cast-MENDEVOLIN: What!!!! Were of elven descent, why did you never tell me? In54 years, I wouldve thought that you couldve mentioned it once!FATHER: (Coughs) quiet, do you want to hear this or not? (silence) OK, good. AsI was saying..what was I saying..oh yes. Elven ancestryan elven member of ourfamily gathered together a contingent of powerful mages from across the land nearly athousand years ago in an effor t to repress the ultimate evil which threatened to sweepover the land. That terrible beast known as Terresquay once rampaged across the land,but with the help of his fellow mages, Thraltes of the Brook.did I mention hes anancestor of ours?MENDEVOLIN: Yes you did, please..?FATHER: Right, right.Well, Thraltes of the Brook and his band of mages collaboratedon what has proven to be the most powerful spell cast in millenia. Using the wax from theContusion beesMENDEVOLIN: Contusion Bees!?FATHER: Yes, I didnt tell you about those either?MENDEVOLIN: No, no you didnt. FATHER: Well then.the Contusion bees are located on the Contusion Islands, their waxwas used to create the candleMENDEVOLIN: Father, it would help if I had some specifics. (father coughs) tell memore about the Contusion bees. How big are they, why is their wax so special and whereare the Contusion IslandsFATHER: All in good time my son. As I was saying before I was so rudelyinterrupted.. (pause) the wax of the Contusion bees was used in making the candlewhich serves as the focal point for the spell which has forced Terresquay from our realm. The legendary Contusion bees were selected as the source for the wax due to its incrediblelongevity. Once you have gathered the wax, forge a candle from it, take it to the diamondmountain range and place it on the pedestal between the twin volcanoes.The contusionbees are incredibly small, but dont doubt their deadliness for a second. They produce waxonly once every 1000 years and the time for gathering the wax is at hand. I was hoping todo it myself, but (coughing fit)..look in the chest (gestures towards chest at head of bed)take what is in there, it will help you in your journey. You must also find Leon ofSylvanus, his companion Spruce and Pardudious. MENDEVOLIN: (looking up from the chest holding the flyswatters) Who are thosepeople and what are these..thingies? (pause) Father? (pause, checks for life signs, findingnone bows his head in solemnity closes his fathers eyes and turns to leave)(exit stage left)ACT I SCENE IIINARRATOR: After leaving his fathers side and notifying the High Priest of his fatherspassing, Mendevolin set forth in search of the adventurers his father had spoken of. Hisfirst stop, The Tavern, because everyone knows that all good adventurers eventually go toThe Tavern. (enter LEON and SPRUCE stage right, sit at table downstage right-center, they adlibconversation until the entrance of MENDEVOLIN stage right who approaches them)MENDEVOLIN: Excuse me sir, madam. I noticed you sitting here and I wondered if Icould join you for a moment?LEON: Why certainly (motions towards empty chair) theres always room for one more. Can I offer you a glass of wine?MENDEVOLIN: No thank-you, thats quite alright. Actually, Im presently embarking onan important journey, Im afraid I dont really have time to drink right now. In fact, what Ireally was wondering, was if you may have any information that you would be willing toshare with me in regards to either Leon of Sylvanus, Spruce of Elfheim or Pardudiouswhose title, Im not familiar with. SPRUCE: Yeah, Im Spruce (LEON shoots SPRUCE a menacing glare) and this is LeonLEON: (yelling) What are you thinking telling a perfect stranger asking for informationon us that we are those whom he seeks!? Do you not know anything of the parels of anadventuring life!? (draws his pistol, points it at MENDEVOLINs head) Who knows whatthis man wants us for, he could be an assassain sent by either an enemy of your fathers orsomeone who wants my head!SPRUCE: (turning to MENDEVOLIN, faking whisper) Theres more than a couple afterhis head, Im sure. (snickers)MENDEVOLIN: (looking uncomfortable, appearing to chose his words carefully) Imsure there cant be that many people who want your head(speeding up) and if thereare Im sorry to hear it. In any case, Im not an assassain. LEON: Well then who are you, and what do you want with us?MENDEVOLIN: I am Mendevolin, a powerful wild mage. I have been entrusted withthe task of renewing a millenia old spell used to repress the ultimate evil, Terresquay. Myquest involves a journey to the Contusion Islands where I must procure the wax of theContusion bees which is only produced every 1000 years. From that wax I must form acandle and place it on a pedestal in the diamond mountain range. SPRUCE: (aside to LEON) And you talk about me giving away too much information. MEDEVOLIN: (looks at the pair then continues) My father, on his death bed, told methat you may be of some help, will you join me?LEON: A dangerous quest, involving Islands that only told of in legend, bees that areprobably larger than I am, not to mention this ultimate evil thing. Why should I go withyou, what am I going to get out of this? Look old man, Im perfectly happy here, mindingmy own business and drinking my wine. MENDEVOLIN: (Stands) First of all, the bees are not larger than you, in fact, theyrenot even as large as normal bees. Secondly, I have faith in my father, he wouldnt havesent me on this quest if it couldnt be completed. Therefore, the Contusion Islands mustexist. Thirdly, youre mistaken in believing that this is a choice Im presenting you with. You must come, if youre not with me then the spell Im trying to renew will fizzle and theworld will be thrown into darkness and chaos. (LEON leans back comfortably in chair and places feet on table, folding hands behind headand glares at MENDEVOLIN)SPRUCE: Dont me such a stick in the mud, its an adventure, were at The Tavern, dontyou know what comes next? First, we make friends with him. Then, we agree to joinhim, pay the barkeep, sign this (pulls out contract), and we go merrily on our way. MENDEVOLIN: Ok. Spruce, will you be my friend?SPRUCE: Yeah, will you be mine?MENDEVOLIN: Sure. Will you join me?SPRUCE: You bet! (snaps fingers, BARKEEP enters stage left, SPRUCE paysBARKEEP, exit BARKEEP stage left) Barkeeps paid, now all thats left is this. .u22c3168cd8db71524e287b64f97b5b8d , .u22c3168cd8db71524e287b64f97b5b8d .postImageUrl , .u22c3168cd8db71524e287b64f97b5b8d .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u22c3168cd8db71524e287b64f97b5b8d , .u22c3168cd8db71524e287b64f97b5b8d:hover , .u22c3168cd8db71524e287b64f97b5b8d:visited , .u22c3168cd8db71524e287b64f97b5b8d:active { border:0!important; } .u22c3168cd8db71524e287b64f97b5b8d .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u22c3168cd8db71524e287b64f97b5b8d { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u22c3168cd8db71524e287b64f97b5b8d:active , .u22c3168cd8db71524e287b64f97b5b8d:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u22c3168cd8db71524e287b64f97b5b8d .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u22c3168cd8db71524e287b64f97b5b8d .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u22c3168cd8db71524e287b64f97b5b8d .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u22c3168cd8db71524e287b64f97b5b8d .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u22c3168cd8db71524e287b64f97b5b8d:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u22c3168cd8db71524e287b64f97b5b8d .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u22c3168cd8db71524e287b64f97b5b8d .u22c3168cd8db71524e287b64f97b5b8d-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u22c3168cd8db71524e287b64f97b5b8d:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Family History And Its Effects On Children EssayMENDEVOLIN: (signs contract, SPRUCE signs contract) Leon?LEON: Alright fine, Ill sign your stupid contract,(signs contract) heck Ill even pretend tobe your friend, I will even join your stupid quest but only on one condition. I takeorders from nobody especialy washed-up old has-beens like you. Ill do what I wantwhen I want and if you dont like it tough!MENDEVOLIN: I dont care what you do on your own time but youre on contract nowand until this adventure is done youre working for me and do as I say, understand?LEON: Yeah, I understand, (angrily gritting his teeth)(aside) I understand perfectly. (Exit ALL stage right)ACT II SCENE I(Enter LOWELL stage left, obviously lost)LOWELL: Where in the name of chaos am I? I shouldve been there a long time ago. (LOWELL continues his searching)DEREK: (offstage) BORK!!!!!!!!!(as DEREK yells bork, LOWELL drops to the ground, throws map offstage left. DEREKcharges onto the stage, jumps over LOWELL, sumersaults, sits up and takes in hissurroundings)LOWELL: (yelling) What do you think youre doing man! What are you doing attackingme? I didnt do nothin! (whiny) Leave me alone! Why does everyone always pick onme? Is it because Im different, is it because I smell (checks himself). Look, Im sorry if Ioffended you in any way, in any event, it was purely accidental. Please, dont hurt me, justlet me be on my way. DEREK: (stares)(looking for the right words) Im..ummm..sorry..ahh..I didntsee you there. You havent offended me, you dont need to worry about that. As forattacking you, that would involve control over my body, which moments ago I didnt have. LOWELL: Then you didnt want to fight me?DEREK: (appears confused) No. Im not sure what I wanted to do. LOWELL: What do you mean?DEREK: Well, I dont know who you are, or where I am. One second, Im performingroutinescouting operations for the king in the village of Verge, next thing I know, Im inthe middle of these woods, flying through the air and when I sit up, I see you. By theway, who are you?LOWELL: Well, my mother always told me not to tell my name to strange people, theymight be trying to kidnap me. So Im not telling DEREK: (shocked) Well, since you appear as lost as I am, it might be to our advantageto join together. Besides, its always better to travel with company. LOWELL: Ah ha, thats where youre wrong, Im not lost, Ive got my map (holds upempty hand). (sad look, looks at DEREK) My name is Lowell. DEREK: I am Derek Arcane. Now that were aquainted, Im sure that with a little luck,well be able to reach our destinations. Will you join me then?LOWELL: (sobbing) my map, my beautiful map, gone. (LOWELL continues muttering ashe leaves offstage right, DEREK follows, attempting to console him.)ACT II SCENE II(Enter SPRUCE followed by MEDEVOLIN and LEON stage right)MENDEVOLIN: (while entering) Spruce, are you sure that you know where youregoing?SPRUCE: Trust me (gives MENDEVOLIN big smile) Ive lived my whole life in foests. LEON: I cant believe you conned me into this. Some fun this is turning out to be, Immarching through a forest, I am soaked, there are bugs crawling in places I cant mentionto the children (points to audience), and to top it all off, youve probably never been in thisforest have you?! That would just be the icing on the cake. Cmon Spruce (sarcasm) haveyou ever been in this forest?! May as well tell me, my day cant get any worse. SPRUCE: Well no, actually Ive never been in this forest. But, theyre all the same arentthey? Once youve been in one, youve been in them all. All you have to know, is how toread what the forest is telling you. You have to look for things like animal trails, mossgrowth, and listen for the songs of the birds. Theyll tell you all you need to know. MENDEVOLIN: Do you know how to find these things and interpret what they say?SPRUCE: No, but if I did, I know those things would help.(big smile at MENDEVOLIN)MENDEVOLIN: Do you at least know roughly where we are?SPRUCE: Yes. Were about a half days walk east from Elfheim. Theres bound to besomeone there who knows this Pardudious character. If hes any kind of adventurer, hellbe known at The Tavern. MENDEVOLIN: Well then, lets pick up the pace, its going to be a long journey, 3months to go as far south as you can, and then as far north as you possibly can, is reallypushing it. LEON: Yes, I agree. Weve been wandering through this forest for a day and half, Iwould kill for the chance to be back in civilization. I bet the reason youve never been inthis forest before is because youve never found anyone stupid enough to come with youbefore. Lets go, my feet are starting to hurt. (crosses upstage left towards offstage)(enter LOWELL and DEREK stage left, running into LEON)LEON: Geez Spruce, its too bad you didnt run into these two dunderheads before youdragged us into this forest, seems they wouldve been willing to come with you. LOWELL: Oh, excuse me. (LOWELL walks past LEON and continues walking towardsstage right)DEREK: Lowell, where are you going?LOWELL: Well, weve got to find some other people to help us get out ofoh.. (approaches MENDEVOLIN, shakes his hand) my name is Lowell. DEREK: Dont mind my friend, hes a little (makes crazy sign). My name is DerekArcane, Ive just recently found myself in these woods and Im trying to make it back tocivilization, if you could point us in the direction of the nearest town, it would be greatlyappreciated. MENDEVOLIN: We are headed there ourselves in fact. Youre welcome to join us ifyou wish. My name is Mendevolin, this is Spruce (points) and this is Leon (points). Weare presently searching for someone named Pardudious so that we may begin our journeytowards the contusion islands. You wouldnt happen to know where we might find himwould you? The things my father gave me said that he may live behind a waterfall. DEREK: You mean find IT dont you?ALL: IT?DEREK: Yes, Pardudious is a boat, a magical flying ship. LEON: (skepticism) A magic flying ship? Why should we believe you? Were on a questinvolving some ultimate evil. Whos to say you arent.one of his minions? (LEON drawshis pistol and aims at DEREK)LOWELL: My friend is in trouble, oh lord of chaos, show us now the power ofrandomness, and cause the next shot from that boomstick to go awry and miss its intendedtarget. Honour your humble servants plea. LOWELL: (aside) And on the off chance that the lord of chaos is unavailable for a smallmiracle, at this time I will proceed to beat both combantants senseless with whateverheavy, blunt objects that may be at hand, in your mercy. DEREK: (pulls out cross from under tunic) If I was a minion of evil, would I be wearingthis?LEON: No, I suppose not. SPRUCE: Cmon Leon, put the gun away. We cant be fighting with each other, we havea ship to find and a mission to complete. LOWELL: Yeah, thisll be cool! A flying ship, wow! Well be flying above everything,Ill be able to see all my friends, and wave hi to th-LEON: Just shut up will you? I want to get going before its already too late. LOWELL: Sorry, Ill just be over here (walks away from group and sits down on stage,head down)MENDEVOLIN: Well if it can help us get to the Contusion Islands quickly, Im all for it. Were on a very tight timeline and every little bit will help. (turns to LEON) Now, infuture Leon, you can take some of your own advice and keep your mouth shut unless youhave something important to say. We have to work together. Everyone has the right tomake suggestions, we just cant tell people to shut up all the time. Youre not the only onewith ideas worth listening to. In fact, Im not sure that youve had one good idea yet, andstill you shoot down everyone else. Keep your ego under control and your mouth shut. LEON: (aside) I cant wait for an opportunity to shoot you down. LOWELL: (Jumps up) Wait a minute!..I mean, ummm, excuse me. We cant leave yet. LEON: (sighs) Why cant we go now?LOWELL: We havent signed a contract yet. Does anyone have one?MENDEVOLIN: Yes, right here (pulls out contract, LOWELL and DEREK sign it)SPRUCE: Ok, well if everythings in order, we can be on our way. .uf9cc34c74117098a390b35d5ebed62bf , .uf9cc34c74117098a390b35d5ebed62bf .postImageUrl , .uf9cc34c74117098a390b35d5ebed62bf .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uf9cc34c74117098a390b35d5ebed62bf , .uf9cc34c74117098a390b35d5ebed62bf:hover , .uf9cc34c74117098a390b35d5ebed62bf:visited , .uf9cc34c74117098a390b35d5ebed62bf:active { border:0!important; } .uf9cc34c74117098a390b35d5ebed62bf .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uf9cc34c74117098a390b35d5ebed62bf { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uf9cc34c74117098a390b35d5ebed62bf:active , .uf9cc34c74117098a390b35d5ebed62bf:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uf9cc34c74117098a390b35d5ebed62bf .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uf9cc34c74117098a390b35d5ebed62bf .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uf9cc34c74117098a390b35d5ebed62bf .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uf9cc34c74117098a390b35d5ebed62bf .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uf9cc34c74117098a390b35d5ebed62bf:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uf9cc34c74117098a390b35d5ebed62bf .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uf9cc34c74117098a390b35d5ebed62bf .uf9cc34c74117098a390b35d5ebed62bf-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uf9cc34c74117098a390b35d5ebed62bf:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Ectasy Essay(everyone leaves down the stairs stage left and out the side door except LEON. LEONlingers on stage, pulls out pistol, admires it and shoots blank towards stage door.)NOTE: Mendevolin must leave last (before Leon)ACT II SCENE III(ALL enter stage right side door)MENDEVOLIN: Lives behind the waterfall, Lives behind the waterfall. That doesnteven make sense anymore. SPRUCE: Whatcha got? (Smile at MENDEVOLIN)MENDEVOLIN: Just something my father gave me before he passed away. He told meabout this quest, said I should find Pardudious and gave me this (holds up scroll), whatswritten cant be accurate though. Since Pardudious is not a person, he cant possibly livebehind a waterfall. LEON: Let me see that. (MENDEVOLIN hands scroll LEON. LEON looks at it) Justlooks like gibberish to me. LOWELL: People said that we were crazy to build a castle on a swamp, but we did, andit sunk into a swamp. So, we built a second castle, and it sunk too. So we built a thirdcastle, it was burned, pillaged and fell to the ground, and then it sunk into the swamp. Sowe built a fourth castle and its standing, its the strongest castle in all the lands. Butfather, I dont want the castle, I want, I want..No no no, therell be no singing while Imstill here, stop the music, stop it right now, I wontoh excuse me (sits on stairs stageright). (ALL are staring at LOWELL by the end of the speech)SPRUCE: No Leon, that was gibberish. DEREK: (DEREK comes down stairs stage left, walks towards group) Well, its therealright. Now all we have to do is find a way to get it past the flow of the water, anysuggestions?MENDEVOLIN: Derek, my good friend, how did you know to look there?DEREK: Easy, just take a look at the scrollMENDEVOLIN: (MENDEVOLIN looks at scroll again) Ok, perhaps it would help if Iknew what I was looking for. DEREK: Not that side, turn it over. (MENDEVOLIN turns scroll over) See, there it is. LEON: Hmmmm, you wouldve thought that a powerful mage like yourself would haveknown to check both sides of a scroll. Im just glad it wasnt a spell scroll you werereading from, that would have certainly been disasterous. Though it wouldnt surprise meto find out youve done it once or twice. (this catches MENDEVOLINs attention)LOWELL: (snaps to attention) Check for fine print, check for fine print!ALL: What!?LEON: For the love of god, somebody slap a muzzle on the boy!(MENDEVOLIN takes offence and marches angrily towards LEON. LEON forces thescroll on SPRUCE who steps aside and looks at it. LEON takes a defensive stance)LOWELL: (aside) My god is bound to look favourably upon me! It seems everywhere Igo, I cause chaos! They say theyre powerful mages, but they have no idea of the powerthat is weilded by the followers of chaos! If they start something, were really going to seea show. (LOWELL begins preparing for a battle)SPRUCE: Well, would ya look at this! Fine Print!ALL: Shut Up!SPRUCE: No, Im serious. Listen: If through the water your path does lay, just quoteFat Albert, say Hey, Hey, Hey'(As words are spoken, curtains open to reveal boat behind. ALL are unaware of whathappened, adlibbing conversation about words)MENDEVOLIN: (turning around) Thats Pardudious (everyone stops talking, turnsaround) Not very impressive is it? Ive known orcs to ride around in better. DEREK: It may not look like much, but its powers are beyond your comprehension andmy imagination. LEON: Beyond their comprehension maybe. Beyond mine, I beg to differ. Now, showme the way to the controls and Ill have us out of here in no time. (ALL head towards ship except LOWELL who lingers for a moment)LOWELL: I just want everyone to know that I get airsick. ACT III SCENE I(enter ALL from stage left)MENDEVOLIN: Well, were here. DEREK: Short trip, youd think that itd be a lot harder to get to an Island that mostpeople dont even think exists. LEON: (checking his wrist hourglass) Yeah, weve only been travelling an hour. MENDEVOLIN: Now, I have a few things here that my father told me would help us. Irealize you may wonder of the usefulness of the items I am about to give you but I haveconfidence, my father would not have given them to me were they not going to be helpful. (MENDEVOLIN pulls forth the flyswatters from his sack)LOWELL: Wow! Youve got some of those..Thingies!LEON: What manner of insuperior weapon are those? I bet you couldnt even kill a flywith them!MENDEVOLIN: Well.ummm.. LOWELL: You mean you never heard the legend?SPRUCE: LegendLOWELL: Yeah, the legend of the tailor that killed seven giants with one of these!(LOWELL then proceeds to sword fight with flyswatter. ALL stare at him).sorry. (LOWELL sits down like before)SPRUCE: Well, if you can kill giants with one of these things, youll have no problemkilling a few little bees right? (murmurs of consent)MENDEVOLIN: Right then. Has everyone been armed with a(looks at LOWELL)LOWELL: Thingy. MENDEVOLIN: Right! With a THINGY! (everyone awkwardly holds up flyswattersexcept for LOWELL and MENDEVOLIN)OK! To the Bees!ALL: TO THE BEES!(exit ALL stage right)ACT III SCENE II(enter ALL stage left)MENDEVOLIN: Where is the hive..its supposed to be here. AHEM. Im sure, itsright around here somewhere.(hive pops out behind front curtain stage right on stick)thankyou. DEREK: Look, I see it, over there (points at hive)LOWELL: Hit it with your shovel Leon!LEON: My what?LOWELL: Your shovel. (shovel flies in from offstage right. LEON catches shoveland looks at it, and unimpressed, hands it to LOWELL, he turns from others, tellingstory in aside like state) I remember my mom used to go out and find hives just so thatshe could whack them with her shovel.(LOWELL turns back to group) I thoughteveryone whacked hives with shovels?SRPUCE: Shovel, you dont use a shovel, you use a pitchfork. (Pitchfork comes fromoffstage right, SPRUCE catches it)LOWELL: What do you mean! Pitchfork, are you nuts? Shovel!SPRUCE: Pitchfork!LOWELL: Shovel!(LOWELL and SPRUCE repeat several times. Spruce wins by pointing the pitchfork atLOWELL)LOWELL: Ok, ok, pitchfork.(LOWELL sits down with shovel across lap)LEON: Oh, enough of this. This tomfoolery has gone on long enough. (LEON pulls outpistol and aims at hive. Changes his mind and aims at person holding hive offstage. LEON shoots, hive falls, sound of person offstage falling down dead)(after hive falls, ALL pull out their thingies. They fight valiantly while flight of thebumblebee plays in the backround. Fight lasts for about 15-20 seconds. It appearshopeless)MENDEVOLIN: Run Away!!!!!! (everyone repeating run away as they move upstageleft)(when all arive, SPRUCE pulls out sandwhich from bag and begins to eat it)MENDEVOLIN: (astonished) Spruce, what are you doing? This is no time for a picnic. Put that away we need to come up with a strategy. LOWELL: (sniffing) Is that peanut butter and honey?SPRUCE: Yeah, want some?LOWELL: Sure, Id love some, I havent eaten anything since we started this adventure. SPRUCE: Weve only been adventuring together for an hour and a half. DEREK: Wait a minute. Thats it! Give me that (grabbing sandwhich from LOWELL. LOWELL whimpers and sits down) Ill be back in a sec. (DEREK move towardshive and places sandwhich near hive then retreats. Once bees have taken bait about 15sec. DEREK moves back to hive and retrieves wax.) Got it! (looks over shoulder, beeschase flight of the bumblebee plays again)(exit ALL stage left)ACT III SCENEIIINARRATOR: Mendevolin and his party set forth for the twin volcanoes hidden deepwithin the diamond mountain range. With the candle now formed, our heroes are nowready to face the terrible evil that lies ahead. (enter ALL , MENDEVOLIN first, stageright. MENDEVOLIN noticing the candle stops suddenly, rest of the party runs him over. everyone falls on MENDEVOLIN and candle breaks.) Well, almost ready. MENDEVOLIN: (realizing the candle is broken) Oh this is just perfect. Everything I haveever done, I have screwed up somehow.(MENDEVOLIN is in his own little world) Ifailed as a tailor, (enter EVIL MAGE stage left) I cant cast magic worth a damn, (ALLbut MENDEVOLIN see EVIL MAGE and creep away in fear) and now this! (gestures atbroken candle and breaks down crying)EVIL MAGE: (approaches MENDEVOLIN, places hand on shoulder) There, there. Itwill all be over very soon. (EVIL MAGE licks fingers and puts out candle) There, wasthat really so bad. (EVIL MAGE laughter)THE ENDCategory: English

The Egyptian Economy

Economic history of Egypt This essay seek to look at the history of economic thought in Egypt. It seeks to answer the following questions, the economic history of Egypt, the economic philosophies followed by Egyptian majority, and the major economists who have influenced economic philosophies in Egypt. There is also the major economic events that took place in the history of Egypt, economic policy of Egypt as well as the changes that can be implemented, and finally, how history has shaped the economy of Egypt.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Egyptian Economy specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Egypt is a well-placed nation connecting Africa with the Middle East. Its economy has stagnated for years due to lack of arable land as well as the skyrocketing growth in population. As such, the economy of Egypt is greatly hinged to its historic philosophies and policies. The economy of Egypt was highly centralized under the reign of President Gamal Abdel Nasser. A number of factors that resulted in 1990s such as IMF arrangements as well as external debt relief due to its participation in Gulf war helped the country to boost its macroeconomic performance. In addition, from the year 2000, the country has put in place structural reforms such as monetary, fiscal policies, new business legislations, and privatizations, which have seen the economy shift to a market-oriented economy, coupled with increased foreign direct investment. The policies and reforms have strengthened the annual economic growth rate to an average of 5% per year, though the gain from economic growth has failed to trickle down. As such, the population is faced with high rates of underemployment and unemployment. As a result, early this year youths went to the streets protesting for political freedoms, a zero-tolerance to corruption, and improved standards of living. This forced President Husni Mubarak to forego the presidencyi. The a ncient economy of Egypt was termed as a command economy; however such a definition worked less as expected. The economy experienced a hallmark of bureaucracy that resulted in a certain class controlling or monitoring a considerable amount of activity. State officials performed tasks such as reassigning and redistribution of land, assessment of expected crops, collection of taxes, as well as storage and redistribution of the produce. The redistribution and storage were done locally, and during periods of shortfall, regional facilities supplied produce. The Egyptian economy has been stable averaging between 4-5% annually. The continuous growth is attributed to certain developments that the economy embarked on, allowing the private and public sector participation. In the period, 1952- 1966, the major development was import substitution and nationalization.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Le arn More During this period, there was the establishment of an industrialization program, and it resulted in the creation of heavy public industries such as steel, chemical, and iron industries. However, the presence of nationalization erodes the importance of private sector. Additionally, the presence of inter-war, during 1967- 1973 affected the economic performance adversely, thus limiting the public sector import substitution role. During the openness Euphoria period of 1974 to 1982, the economy introduced policies that encourage Arab together with foreign investment through liberalization of trade as well as payment coupled with a number of incentives. As such, the economy recorded good performance, but it proved unsustainable and the growth accordingly scaled back. The economy faced an external debt crisis during the period, 1982- 1990, which affected economic performance adversely. Furthermore, the period, 1991 – 2007, is regarded as reform era, and the economy was fo rced to introduce reform policies to meet lenders and donors as well as international institutions terms. The reforms also focused on improvement of the private sector role on all economic sectors. Under the comprehensive reform era initiated in 1991, the economy of Egypt has reduced subsidies, cut taxes, reduced inflation, and relaxed a number of price controls, as well as liberating trade and investment partially. The public sector has limited dominance over heavy manufacturing industries; this has enhanced private sector opportunities. The private sector dominates agriculture, non-financial services, retail trades, domestic wholesale and construction. As such, the economy has recorded a steady growth in GDP, as well as the growth rate. In addition, the economy has managed to tame inflation from a double digit figure to a single digit figure. Economic philosophies in Egypt Most Egyptians embrace an economic system that ensures fair distribution of resources, free from corruption a s well as encourage participation of the private and public enterprises. Major economists in Egypt The major economists that have influenced the economic philosophies in Egypt include Professor Galal Amin, Samir Amin, Dr. Ahmed Elhaggar, and Omar Samra.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Egyptian Economy specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Important economic event The major economic event in the Egyptian history is economic liberalization reforms. Since the occurrence of this event, has seen an improvement in economic performance for the country. As such, the economy shifted its concentration from import substitution policies to export oriented policies, this yield an economy that is the private sector reliant. Additionally, the rooted transformation has resulting to a modern economy that is well-known as the fastest growing among the emerging markets. As such, there has been growth in all sectors of the economy c oupled with large inflows of Foreign Direct Investment. The reforms have had a positive effect on the economic performance of the economy, with a proved sustain growth in the futureii. Economic policy in Egypt An economic system that serves the interest of all the interest groups is applauded. In this case, a hybrid system will serve this purpose best. The components of such a system are that it provides the private sector and public (government) with the opportunity to equally control part of the natural resources. These will ensure that the different opinions in the society are well balanced. In addition, the system should be one, which the government plays an important role in providing the necessary solutions and strategies of solving the problems facing the society. The system, as well, will ensure an integration of both the private sector and government units in the production of various goods and services to amicably solve the issues prevailing in a society. The government ca nnot solely provide quality and affordable goods and services that are equitably distributed among the members of the society. For instance, the government cannot provide quality health and education facilities to all members of the societyiii. When the resources and production is shared between the government and the private sector, the government will have surplus resources that can be used in providing services such as health, education, infrastructure, legal, and military defense to the society. The system should also have components such as, the government ability to take precedence in any decisions that move around quantity of goods to be produced. The government is responsible in making final decisions whenever there is an issue that brings contention, and the two parties are not in a position to strike a balance. The private sector contribution in the economy should be geared towards the achievement of objectives that adds to equitable and fair distribution of available reso urces. The resources should be utilized in a manner that will consider those of future generation. The utilization of the resources should be socially oriented.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Reason for the economic policy The overall pattern of economic system has changed due to a change in some trends in the economy. Some of these trends include; democratization, significant shift to market economies as well as the revival of cultural and ethnic politics. Democracy is taking the center stage in political arena of the Egyptian economy, with economies engaging in free, regular and fair elections. Democracy has nurtured civil liberties like freedom of speech, assembly and belief, neutrality in legal aspects, civilian control of the military, presence of civil societies that provides individuals with opportunities to own and operate their property as well as a rule of law that ensure equal opportunities for all the citizens in an economy. The resulting competition that arise when an economy facilitates the commitment of the private and public sectors of the economy has influenced the shift by the Egyptian economy to a market system. The economy of Egypt has moved to system s that foster success and recently a term known as marketization has been adopted by the current economy. Marketization describes a re-creation in the economy where labour, goods, services and property are all allowed to function in a market that is competitive environment to determine their price. The move has seen privatization of state owned property, where the government decides to sell some property they own to private individualsiv. Fragmentations that exist among the members of the society play an important role in determining and shaping politics in the world. Nationalism is on its diving mode due to the increasing globalization. The revival of cultural and ethical conflicts can hamper the system prevailing in an economy. This is because nations that have varying ideologies and socioeconomic differences may lead to a shift in economic system from a market economy to a command economy. How history shaped Egyptian economy and factors influencing it When an economy embraces a p articular economic system, there is some degree of success. The success of an economy is measured in what is termed as economic progress. The main indicators of economic progress include; equal distribution of resources, low levels of poverty, low levels of illiteracy, life expectancy rate improvement, improved agriculture, as well as equitable access of opportunities. As such, the Egyptian economy was influenced by the following internal factors during the recent revolution. A transitional government has necessitated a shift to an economy that is changing from a command economy to a free enterprise. This kind of economies went through economic liberation, in this sense the economy prices are set by the market forces as opposed to the central planning authority setting prices. In addition, there are no trade barriers; a financial sector is created as well as privatization of resources and enterprises that are owned by government. Transition process exhibits some of the following fea tures creation of institutions that are privately owned, the role of the government changes among others. For transition to occur there must be a complete restructuring of institutions that are state-owned from being providers, but enablers of growth with the private sector playing the part of an engine to realize that growthv. The other factor that has had weight on the Egyptian economy is reform on, it mean to change or put something into a better condition or form. Therefore, reforms facilitate and enhance transition to take place in an economy. The radicals will use their need for reforms to seek for an improved system in the economy. Reforms can be in different sectors of the economy and there main focus is to promote better living standards for the members of the society. In conclusion, Egyptian economy has traversed through difficult circumstances in the past; however, its economic performance is currently doing well, as indicated by the economy ability to meet its macroecono mic objectives. Footnotes i Hinnebusch, R 2000, Liberalization without Democratization in Post-Populist  Authoritarian States, Syracuse: Syracuse University Press. ii Shaw, I 2003, The Oxford history of ancient Egypt, Oxford: Oxford University Press. iii Scheidel, W, Morris, I Saller, R, 2007, The Cambridge economic history of  the Roman world, New York: Cambridge University Press. iv Johnson, E 2000, Egypt Economic history, The Journal of economic history, 60 (1-2). v Goldschmidt, A 2008, A brief history of Egypt, London: Infobase Publishing. Bibliography Goldschmidt, A 2008, A brief history of Egypt, London: Infobase Publishing. Hinnebusch, R 2000, Liberalization without Democratization in Post-Populist  Authoritarian States, Syracuse: Syracuse University Press. Johnson, E 2000, Egypt Economic history, The Journal of economic history, 60 (1-2). Shaw, I 2003, The Oxford history of ancient Egypt, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Scheidel, W, Morris, I Saller, R, 2007, The Ca mbridge economic history of  the Roman world, New York: Cambridge University Press. This essay on The Egyptian Economy was written and submitted by user Xavi A. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Information Technology (IT) Team

Purpose of the Team The team I will be writing on is Information Technology (IT) Team. The purpose of the team is to build a formidable group spirit among the members so that all the set goals and objectives can be achieved with much ease. It is imperative to mention that it takes immense effort, commitment and competence to create and maintain an effective team (McShane Glinow, 2009).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Information Technology (IT) Team specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This team has also been formed to assist members gain the much needed knowledge and skills when handling various IT related tasks. It is an ongoing team which members are supposed to stay and work together in a particular department. A good example is a manager in IT department and the accompanying staff members. The department may decide to bring efficiency in work place by improving individual performance. Team Dynamics My role in t he team was to help the rest of team members to evaluate as well as value individual differences and thinking. The team members seemed not to have been relating well because they experienced communication barriers. It is worth noting that team dynamics and the way a given team operates may be duly affected if there is lack of smooth flow and exchange in communication. If members are able to identify and understand as well as appreciate individual differences and unique thinking patterns, then a team will improve its productivity in any given department (Choi, Lee Yoo, 2010). This is an integral opportunity for me to help every member towards accepting one another so that there will be individual and team improvement in performance. My role affected the team’s dynamics by changing their individual perspective towards each other. So far, tea members have been able to improve on communication skills especially when communicating with each other. In addition, there is more value attached to individual differences in terms of gender, age and other unique attributes. This level of growth within the tea has been instrumental towards the success of the group. After initiating cohesion in the team, the IT department has experienced tremendous growth. Strategies One of the most important strategies that the team has devised is that which deals with how best communication can be enhanced among members. In order to attain cordial communication, promotion of good relationship among the members has been a key strategy in place. When individuals among the team resort into conflict, their performance is equally interfered with on a regular basis (Goldman, 2005).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It is important to re-group in order to tackle problems which are related to communication and relationship. The aforementioned strategy has been instrumental managing t he team. Other strategies include holding common meetings, setting the priorities of the team issues according to importance, seeking prompt solutions, setting up action plans on what is to be achieved within a given time. These strategies have been used in the team because IT department handles a lot of diversity. Processes and Standards The processes and standards followed by my team in order to perform well were set to accomplish group goals. They included encouraging team members through rewards, initiating learning processes for every individual, setting high standards of personal integrity, faithfulness, sincerity and trust. These are uncompromising standards that are fundamental in any team work. The team cannot accomplish its goals and have effective performance without these standards. For example, rewarding the best performers in the team can create positive competition among the members. Timely and effective recognition system has also assisted the team to understand that teamwork is real and also a rewarding undertaking (Cordery et al., 2010). As a matter of fact, successful IT teamwork depends on dedicated individuals. Therefore, recognizing and rewarding dedicated and committed members are important processes in managing teams (Wyman, 1998). Team Performance If I could reformulate the team from scratch, I would make some drastic and yet effective changes. I will create a competitive atmosphere in order ignite slow and less motivated workers. I will also change the usual time of group meetings. In addition, it will also be important to organize retreats and camps for the team in order to have ample time to discuss serious matters. The purpose of team retreats is to come up with the best strategies for developing efficient performance in the team. This involves incorporating the members in decision making instead of giving my opinions as the ultimate guide.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Information Technology (IT) Team spec ifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Furthermore, every member has to contribute in order to make final findings. These camps and retreat will help a manager to have the right strategies that overcome challenges in communication processes and decision making. Finally, another drastic change which I will make concerns time management. Each hour will be utilized fruitfully. The workers will no longer waste time discussing unworthy matters. I will encourage my team to discuss matters that create cohesion and not those that promote hatred among them. The above strategic changes will finally help to improve performance especially at individual. It is also imperative that improving on the process of time utilization will also come in handy towards boosting the efficiency and effectiveness of the entire IT department. References Burgess, S. et al. (2010). Smarter Task Assignment or Greater Effort: The Impact of Incentives on Team Performance. The ec onomic Journal 120(547): 968-989. Choi, Y.S., Lee, H. Yoo, Y. (2010). The impact of information technology and transactive memory systems on knowledge sharing, application, and team Performance: a field study. Journal MIS Quarterly 34(4): 76-89 Cordery, L.J. et al (2010). The impact of autonomy and task uncertainty on team performance: A longitudinal field study. Journal of organizational Behavior 31(2-3): 240-258. Goldman, M. (2005). Surviving the Storm. Hamilton: CMA Management: 79 (19): 28-44.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More McShane, S. Glinow, M. (2009). Organizational Behavior (5th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Wyman, S. (1998). Reaching New Heights. North York: Computer World Canada: 14(6): 19-32. This essay on Information Technology (IT) Team was written and submitted by user Emelia P. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

The Secret River Shows Essay Example

The Secret River Shows Essay the Secret River shows that even people who are essentially good can do bad deeds. Discuss. The Secret River by Kate Greenville is a novel set in the 19th century, where William Thrill who is from the slums of London, is convicted to New South Wales, Australia for the term of his natural life. With his wife and children he experiences a harsh land and want for more than he ever thought he would be capable of having. However this land comes with the trouble of the unknown Aboriginals. Through this novel we are continually presented with the issue that good people can perhaps do ad deeds. But what defines the good people and the deeds to be wrong? Who are the characters that portray this? And are there any who rise above from this condemning sentence? Good people can do bad deeds is more of a fact to humanity then a question. We see this occur each day, with the presidents, prime ministers, supposedly good celebrities turning to things that are considered in our lives as wrong. Therefore it is only logical that it be incorporated in novels, which mimic life. However we must first ask ourselves what is good? And what are evil deeds? Such broad questions, and yet hen given scenarios, people quickly identify for themselves the difference between good and evil. Yet, the context of novel changes the readers views. Despite the fact that the main character, William Thrill, is a continuous stealer, Greenville presents his act of stealing as a physical necessity, and therefore he earns the sympathy of the reader. We will write a custom essay sample on The Secret River Shows specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Secret River Shows specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Secret River Shows specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Later on when in Australia and he is once again picking up the bad habit of stealing, which our society would Judge as terrible, the reader is able to easily brush it off, and not see it as a horrid deed at all. Our views of the good people are manipulated and shaped by the author throughout the entire novel, and we find ourselves putting the view of society bad deeds being brushed off when our author presents them in good light. The minor characters were explored by the author, and then further by the reader in this area. Sarah Thrill, known as Sal for most of the novel, is Williams wife who is portrayed throughout the novel as a strong, great women. However because we only see the novel from the eyes of William Thrill, we do not know her as anything so terrible, for William dollied Sal from the beginning of the novel. However although she is so beautifully presented by the author, even when she steals for the first time, we see her commit an ugly deed whilst in Australia. This deed is committed through fear. We see her clip her child Johnny on the ear, and what occurred was that fear could slip unnoticed into anger, as if they were one and the same. (IPPP) This is one of the only incidents where we see Sal do something out of her good character that is a bad deed. The Aboriginals are a different case altogether. For although the main character does not always shed them in good light, they are reasonably good people o. We see that William begins to understand this after they burn some of the land, which later the grass grows up and the kangaroos approach. A very clever method to obtain meat. We read how they look after the land they call theirs, even though they dont have any buildings or fences, and that they are generally peaceful people. However because they have spears to protect them , may I remind you that the civilians had guns, and they resort to violence when they are not understood clearly enough by the civilians, they are yet another example of good people, doing bad deeds. However it is their bad deeds that are outweighed as worse than seems by the racial prejudice of characters in the novel. Yet it is because of the people that try to understand the aboriginals in this novel that how we are also able to sympathize over them. Another interesting character who shows this theme of good and evil is Willie Thrill, the first son of Sal and Will. As a child he is of course seen as innocent, or because he lacks understanding, neither good nor bad. However when the novel develops we see this rough boy who holds a racial prejudice towards the aboriginals, a boy who says that they should get the guns and shoot them now. A boy who we begin to be unsure of because of these cruel words coming from this mouth of a child. Despite that he isnt a very developed character through the book, he is yet another diverse example of the good doing bad, and perhaps even becoming bad. For we are our actions, are we not? The most observable character of this theme if of course, William Thrill. As previously mentioned he commits acts that would be considered bad, however he is continuously painted as a good character. The reader likes the way he finds the research in London unjust. The reader enjoys learning of his dream to become a respectable man, like Mr. Middleton, Gals father. Most of all, he utterly contradicts any convict stereotype; of these terrible men that did terrible deeds. When brought to Australia we still see him in good light, he continually reminds himself that he does not want to kill the aboriginals, or harm them at all. He begins to understand their ways and sees that they are not terrible as primarily presumed. However despite all of this, he commits deeds that are seen as corrupt. His character is also changed and developed. His complete and utter desire for the land, takes over him. His need to climb up the ladder of society, where each man [was] higher than one, lower than another (pop) leads him to commits deeds he never wanted to commit. Although he understands that he is in fact taking a land that is not empty, and belongs to the Aboriginals, he continues to be greedy. When he is given a small amount of power, such as when he is given two convicts to rule over, he treats them the way he would never want to be treated. He acts different around the blacks, with more superiority. When the blacks invade his hard worked corn patch, he turns to lenience, hitting the women and children that are stealing his corn. All this anger towards the blacks; for being in the land he desperately needed to call his own, for stealing the things he had worked so hard on, for making Sal want to leave the place even faster, is what pushes him to do the worst act in the whole novel. The massacre. In which Thrill is mostly bewildered, yet he still murders Whisker Harry, an elder aboriginal. After this incident we must evaluate whether we still see Thrill as good or not. Because if he is Just a bad person doing bad deeds, then there is

a U.S Intervention essays

a U.S Intervention essays As early as the 1500s, the idea of constructing a ship canal between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans occurred to navigators and explorers, as the geographical form of the Central American Isthmus was becoming known. Many Isthmus surveys were made over the years. Opinion remained divided between a route through Panama and a longer route through Nicaragua. This divided opinion continued until the building of the Panama Canal was begun by the U.S. in 1904. By the end of the century the U.S. government would find themselves in an unnerving situation; concerned with the Panama Canal and other economic interests would unfortunately demonstrate unequaled force and damage to an innocent people with their focus on something other than what was in the sights of their rifles. Panama was originally created by the US in 1903 so that they could build a canal between the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean. Noriega, Panamas defacto leader, was in league with the US, the CIA, and the Drug Enforcement Agency until 1986. In June 1987 violent popular demonstrations erupted in the streets, due to reports of election fraud and Noriegas involvement in major human rights abuses. In February 1988, Noriega was charged by the US courts with aiding in the trafficking of drugs between Columbia and the US. The president of Panama subsequently fired Noriega from commander of the Panamanian Defense Force. The National Assembly replaced the president with a supporter of Noriega. Noriega himself although still sustained most of the power within the Panama Defense Force. The U.S. refused to recognize the new president and placed massive economic pressure on Panama by cutting off U.S. aid, freezing all Panamanian corporations. Noriega was a corrupt dictator heading an efficient narco-militaristic regime in Panama. He was involved in drug trafficking, arms smuggling, money laundering, and the ruthless oppression of his people. He also syste...

Everything You Need to Know About The Great Gatsby Setting

Everything You Need to Know About The Great Gatsby Setting SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips One reason that The Great Gatsby has now become a byword for the East Coast of the Roaring 20s - the decadently extravagant post-WWI era - is that Fitzgerald was amazing at creating memorable settings. Whether it's the sprawling luxury of Gatsby's mansion, the drunken chaos of Myrtle's apartment, or the suffocating airlessness of a suite at the Plaza Hotel, The Great Gatsbyfeatures settings that perfectly encapsulate character, mood, atmosphere, and emotions. In this article, I'll go through all of the Great Gatsby settings, explain what role settings play in a novel, show how these settings compare with one another, and explore what symbolic meaning they have. Article Roadmap Why Is Setting Important All the Settings in The Great Gatsby Great Gatsby Time Period Setting 1922 Summertime Comparing and Contrasting PairedGreat GatsbyLocations Midwest versus East Coast Manhattan versus Long Island East Egg versus West Egg Gatsby's mansion versus Daisy and Tom's mansion The Valley of Ashes: Setting and Symbol How to Write About Setting Why Is Setting Important? The literary term "setting" means the time and place of anovel's events. If the characters are the "who," then the setting is the "where" and "when." This "where and when" can be very general - for example, "20th century Earth." Alternately, the setting can beeach of the manydifferent places where any of the novel’s actions occur, no matter how small. For instance, you could a imagine a domestic drama where different rooms in the same house work as different settings. Usually, novels feature several different settings, and authors use descriptive language to explain what these times and places look, smell, sound, and maybe even feel like. Using these descriptions, we can learn a lot! Settings help readers fully understand characters. Character backgrounds, motivations, and the pressures they feel from their environment and surrounding society, are often coded into the places where they are.For example, a 20-year-old woman in a novel set in Victorian England would be under enormous pressure to get married and have kids (this desperation isthe plot of Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth). Meanwhile, the same woman in a novel set in today’s NYC is going to be more worried about getting a job (the main drama in The Devil Wears Prada). Settings develop or affect plot. Actions that are commonplacein one setting would be impossible in another. Often this has to do with what is and isn't considered acceptable behavior. Other times, it has to do with the technology, transportation, or means of communication that are available in a particular time. Many bad decisions in G. R. R. Martin'sSong of Ice and Fire happen because it takes weeks or monthsto get a piece of information from one castle to another - the quasi-medieval setting dictates this part of the plot. Settings contribute to mood,tone, and atmosphere. Many novels use setting as a way of developing a particular mood. For instance, the magical yet desolate and creepy setting of the moors inWuthering Heights creates the prevailing air of menace, imprisonment, and terror that infects that novel. Contrast this with the cozy setting ofLittle Women, where the March house represents the loving, close-knit, family atmosphere of the novel as a whole. Settings are used for symbolic or thematic purposes. Sometimes a particular setting is linked to one of the novel's themes, functions as a symbol, or if used to make moral, ethical, or aesthetic judgments. For example, in The Great Gatsby, the Valley of Ashes – an industrial neighborhood in Queens – symbolizes the desperate circumstances of those who are victims of the capitalist system the novel describes. There's a reason horror movies aren't typically set in sunny green meadows. All the Settings In The Great Gatsby Before analyzing theGreat Gatsby settings, I'm going to briefly explain and describe all the different settings that the novel uses. Time Setting The Great Gatsby takes place during the summer of 1922. The 1920s are a period that is sometimes called the Roaring 20s or the Jazz Age. Location Settings The Great Gatsby takes place in the United States. Most of the characters come from the Midwest to the East Coast. In the novel, the East Coast setting is divided into three distinct places: Manhattan, Long Island, and an industrial part of Queens that the novel calls either the Valley of Ashes or just the ashheaps. In Manhattan, we see two main settings: Tom and Myrtle's apartment uptown in Harlem, and asuite in the very posh Plaza Hotel next to Central Park. Gatsby's Long Island is broken down into two incredibly wealthy towns that face each other across a bay: West Egg, less fashionable and home to new money people,and East Egg, where older and more established families live. We see two WestEgg settings: Jay Gatsby's sprawling, extravagant mansion, and Nick Carraway's small rented house next door. In East Egg lies Tom and Daisy Buchanan's red and white Georgian mansion. In the novel's version of Queens, the main setting is George Wilson's garage and the road that runs next to it, connecting Long Island and Manhattan. Oheka Castle, one of the real life mansions that aresaid to have inspired Fitzgerald. Quick Note on Our Citations Our citation format in this guide is (chapter.paragraph). We're using this system since there are many editions of Gatsby, so using page numbers would only work for students with our copy of the book. To find a quotation we cite via chapter and paragraph in your book, you can either eyeball it (Paragraph 1-50: beginning of chapter; 50-100: middle of chapter; 100-on: end of chapter), or use the search function if you're using an online or eReader version of the text. Great Gatsby Time Period Setting What makes the Roaring 20’s different from other periods in history, and why does all the action take place in the summer time? 1922 The novel takes place during a period of enormous change and transition for the U.S. 1919 brought the end of World War I, a war marked byits massive death toll and the horrors of trench warfare which countered the image of soldiering as glorious and heroic. The young men who fought inthe war were dubbed The Lost Generation: the devastated and aimless survivors and the needlessly slaughtered dead. The post-war period in Americawas later dubbed theRoaring 20s because ofthecountry's rapidly growing economy and the greater influence abroad that came as a result of American involvement in the war. Many of the things this time period is famous forconnect with eventsin the novel. Prohibition went into effect in 1920, making almost all recreation alcohol illegal. This means thatany time you see people drinking alcohol in the novel, they are breaking the law. Moreover,Gatsby’s enormous wealth comes from him being a bootlegger - someone who illegally sells alcohol Women got the right to vote in 1919, and the Equal Rights Amendment wasfirst introduced in Congress in 1923. InThe Great Gatsby, the power and agency of women come up often. The three women in the novel make choices about their independence; Daisy and Myrtle find it hard to escape dysfunctional marriages, though they try through affairs; Jordan is able to lead a more independent life. The production and ownership of cars skyrocketedafter Ford popularized the efficient mass production of cars by assembly line. In the 1920, 1 out of 4 Americans owned a car. In the novel, cars are associated with danger and recklessness, as people are constantly either talking about car accidents or getting into them.And of course, the climax of the novel is when Daisy runs over and kills Myrtle. Summer The Great Gatsby pointedly takes place during the summer,as opposed to any other season. I say pointedly because the novel goes out of its way to assign meaning to summertime and to contrast it with the rest of the year - and often even with itself. For example, summer is somehow both healthfully airy and horribly suffocating. Nick initially relishes the Long Island summer, shirking his work because there is "so much fine health to be pulled down out of the young breath-giving air" (1.12). But in the tense confrontation in the Plaza Hotel, where Tom, Gatsby, and Daisy have a life-changing fight, the oppressive and unbearable summer heat means the room has basically no breathable air at all: The room was large and stifling, and, though it was already four o'clock, opening the windows admitted only a gust of hot shrubbery from the Park... "Open another window," commanded Daisy, without turning around. "There aren't any more." "Well, we'd better telephone for an axe- - " "The thing to do is to forget about the heat," said Tom impatiently. "You make it ten times worse by crabbing about it." ...the compressed heat exploded into sound and we were listening to the portentous chords of Mendelssohn's Wedding March from the ballroom below. "Imagine marrying anybody in this heat!" cried Jordan dismally. (7.174-190) Similarly, it's up for debate whether the summer brings with it life - the way we typically associate new foliage with a sense of rebirth - or not. On the one hand, Nick starts out with a traditional view of the summertime: And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees-just as things grow in fast movies-I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer. (1.) But soon, Jordan compares summer unfavorably to the potentially positive change that fall brings when she says. Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall. (7.75) This desire to have life start over again is crucial, since this novel is so interested in how the wish for forward momentum fights against the way the past anchors us and pulls us back. Despite his initial positive feelings about the summer on the East Coast, Nick eventually reverts to his roots in the Midwest. He contrasts the disappointing summer he spends on Long Island withthe season he associates with Midwestern wholesomeness and goodness - winter: That's my middle west- not the wheat or the prairies or the lost Swede towns but the thrilling, returning trains of my youth and the street lamps and sleigh bells in the frosty dark and the shadows of holly wreaths thrown by lighted windows on the snow. I am part of that, a little solemn with the feel of those long winters, a little complacent from growing up in the Carraway house in a city where dwellings are still called through decades by a family's name. I see now that this has been a story of the West, after all- Tom and Gatsby, Daisy and Jordan and I, were all Westerners, and perhaps we possessed some deficiency in common which made us subtly unadaptable to Eastern life. (9.125) I don't know about you, but I'll take this version of summer any day. Comparing and Contrasting PairedGreat GatsbyLocations Now let'stackle theGreat Gatsby settingsthatfunction as foils to one another. We can analyze them by comparing and contrasting them to each other. Midwest vs. East Coast Considering Nick eventually decides that whathe has written is really the story of Midwesterners failing to make it on the East Coast, these might be the two most significant settings in the novel. Still, before we dive in, it's important to remember that this Midwest is Nick's version of the Midwest, which is often undercut (for instance,a lot of Gatsby's criminal business comesas phone calls frombig Midwestern cities like Detroit). Nick describesthe Midwest as the center of all things moral and wholesome.It's a place where everyone is friendly, happy, innocent, and so much "in it together," that when he is describing his memories of the Midwest, Nick doesn't use the pronoun "I," but instead starts writing in the first floors person plural "we": One of my most vivid memories is of coming back west from prep school and later from college at Christmas time...I remember the fur coats of the girls returning from Miss This or That's and the chatter of frozen breath and the hands waving overhead as we caught sight of old acquaintances and the matchings of invitations: "Are you going to the Ordways'? the Herseys'? the Schultzes'?" and the long green tickets clasped tight in our gloved hands. And last the murky yellow cars of the Chicago Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad looking cheerful as Christmas itself on the tracks beside the gate. When we pulled out into the winter night and the real snow, our snow, began to stretch out beside us and twinkle against the windows, and the dim lights of small Wisconsin stations moved by, a sharp wild brace came suddenly into the air. We drew in deep breaths of it as we walked back from dinner through the cold vestibules, unutterably aware of our identity with this country for one strange hour before we melted indistinguishably into it again. (9.123-124) In contrast, the East Coast is a place where everyone is so out for themselves, that after Gatsby dies none of the people whom he spent an entire summer entertaining can even be bothered enough to come to his funeral. In the beginning, this Midwestern quality of goodness strikes Nickas boring, which is why he decides to go East to New York: Instead of being the warm center of the world the middle-west now seemed like the ragged edge of the universe- so I decided to go east and learn the bond business. (1.6) But after his experiences during the summer, Nick comes to see the East as a kind of nightmare of debauchery, violence, and a disregard for human life: Even when the East excited me most, even when I was most keenly aware of its superiority to the bored, sprawling, swollen towns beyond the Ohio, with their interminable inquisitions which spared only the children and the very old- even then it had always for me a quality of distortion. West Egg especially still figures in my more fantastic dreams. I see it as a night scene by El Greco: a hundred houses, at once conventional and grotesque, crouching under a sullen, overhanging sky and a lustreless moon. In the foreground four solemn men in dress suits are walking along the sidewalk with a stretcher on which lies a drunken woman in a white evening dress. Her hand, which dangles over the side, sparkles cold with jewels. Gravely the men turn in at a house- the wrong house. But no one knows the woman's name, and no one cares. After Gatsby's death the East was haunted for me like that, distorted beyond my eyes' power of correction. (9.126-127) Manhattan vs. Long Island The action in The Great Gatsby is about evenly split between Manhattan and Long Island. Overall, Manhattan is the place where characters go to show off their disregard for society’s rules and lawful behavior. It's the easiest place to accommodate sexual indiscretions and shady business dealings: In Chapter 2, Tom takes Nick there to meet his mistress, Myrtle, and go to a party at their apartment, where Tom has sex with her while Nick waits, and where Tom ends the evening by punching Myrtle in the face. Gatsby takes Nick to Manhattan in Chapter 4 to have lunch with Meyer Wolfshiem, the gangster who fixed the World Series and who is Gatsby’s business partner. Finally,Gatsby, Nick, Daisy, Jordan, and Tom to go Manhattan in the explosive Chapter 7 showdown where Daisy chooses Tom over Gatsby. Partly this is because Manhattan is portrayed as a melting pot where a diversity of social classes, races, and backgrounds is par for the course, and where unusual people don't really stand out. For example, check out this passage where Nick and Gatsby are driving into the city: The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world. A dead man passed us in a hearse heaped with blooms, followed by two carriages with drawn blinds and by more cheerful carriages for friends. The friends looked out at us with the tragic eyes and short upper lips of south-eastern Europe, and I was glad that the sight of Gatsby's splendid car was included in their somber holiday. As we crossed Blackwell's Island a limousine passed us, driven by a white chauffeur, in which sat three modish Negroes, two bucks and a girl. I laughed aloud as the yolks of their eyeballs rolled toward us in haughty rivalry. "Anything can happen now that we've slid over this bridge," I thought; "anything at all. . . ." Even Gatsby could happen, without any particular wonder. (4.55-58) There are wealthy African-Americans, European immigrants, the living and the dead, all mixed together without a problem. The city is awash in possibility, the "wild promise" that anything could happen there - "even Gatsby." Also, misdeeds are easy to get away with in Manhattan because its size affords everyone enormous anonymity, which Nick loves: I began to like New York, the racy, adventurous feel of it at night and the satisfaction that the constant flicker of men and women and machines gives to the restless eye. I liked to walk up Fifth Avenue and pick out romantic women from the crowd and imagine that in a few minutes I was going to enter into their lives, and no one would ever know or disapprove. (3.157) On the other hand,Long Island is a much smaller, more insular community. Instead of shrugging off anonymous misbehavior, the people on Long Island care deeply about who their neighbors are and what theyare doing. It's harder to conduct affairs, shady business, or whatever else there without incurring the moral opprobrium of everyone else. While Gatsby is unremarkable in Manhattan, in West Egg he becomes the focal point of unending rumors. People say he is related to Kaiser Willhelm (the ruler of Germany during WWI, and thus America's main enemy), that he is a German spy, and any number of other things: Gatsby's notoriety, spread about by the hundreds who had accepted his hospitality and so become authorities on his past, had increased all summer until he fell just short of being news. Contemporary legends such as the "underground pipe-line to Canada" attached themselves to him, and there was one persistent story that he didn't live in a house at all, but in a boat that looked like a house and was moved secretly up and down the Long Island shore. (6.5) Similarly, Tom's affair with Myrtle benefits from its city setting, asTomfeels free to cheat on his wife in public: "he turned up in popular restaurants with her and, leaving her at a table, sauntered about, chatting with whomsoever he knew" (2.4). Meanwhile, when Daisy and Gatsby start their affair, Gatsby has to fire his entire household staff because he is worried that his servants will tell everyone what they've seen: Gatsby had dismissed every servant in his house a week ago and replaced them with half a dozen others, who never went into West Egg Village to be bribed by the tradesmen... The grocery boy reported that the kitchen looked like a pigsty, and the general opinion in the village was that the new people weren't servants at all. Next day Gatsby called me on the phone. "Going away?" I inquired. "No, old sport." "I hear you fired all your servants." "I wanted somebody who wouldn't gossip. (7. 9-14) You can see how rumor immediately spreads and is uncontainable in the close circles of Long Island. Even despite all of Gatsby's precautions, Nick has already "heard" from someone else that Gatsby has fired all his servants. This minute observation of one's neighbors really differentiates the towns in Long Island from the big city of Manhattan. The rumor mill even brings a reporter out to interview Gatsby in Chapter 6. West Egg vs. East Egg While very rich people live in both East Egg and West Egg, the difference is the kind of rich people live in each town. East Egg is for the old money crowd - people whose wealth is inherited, and who have been the upper crust of society for generations. In contrast,West Egg is for the nouveau riche - self-made people who have become rich recently and who were originally born into working or middle-class families. This means that in generaleveryone from East Egg looks down on everyone from West Egg in order to demonstrate their superiority.(Nick is one of the exceptions: he lives in West Egg despite having the family background necessary to fit in in East Egg).At one of Gatsby’s parties, Nick hangs out with an East Egg group who don’t socialize with anyone else and who are clearly there to mock and be appalled by the other party guests: Jordan invited me to join her own party who were spread around a table on the other side of the garden...Instead of rambling this party had preserved a dignified homogeneity, and assumed to itself the function of representing the staid nobility of the countryside- East Egg condescending to West Egg, and carefully on guard against its spectroscopic gayety. (3.37) This also means that since they can’t distinguish themselves through their wealth, East Egg residents rely on their better understanding of the nuances and minutiae of manners and behavior to signal that they are so very far above their West Egg neighbors. We get the sense that every East Egg person is forever sending knowing looks at every other East Egg person every time they encounter someone from West Egg. For example, check out Gatsby’s encounter with Tom’s horseback riding friend Sloane and his woman friend, when Gatsby repeatedly puts his foot in his mouth: Mr. Sloane didn't enter into the conversation but lounged back haughtily in his chair; the woman said nothing either-until unexpectedly, after two highballs, she became cordial. "We'll all come over to your next party, Mr. Gatsby," she suggested. "What do you say?" "Certainly. I'd be delighted to have you."... "You come to supper with me," said the lady enthusiastically. "Both of you."... Gatsby looked at me questioningly. He wanted to go and he didn't see that Mr. Sloane had determined he shouldn't... "My God, I believe the man's coming," said Tom. "Doesn't he know she doesn't want him?" "She says she does want him."... Suddenly Mr. Sloane and the lady walked down the steps and mounted their horses. "Come on," said Mr. Sloane to Tom, "we're late. We've got to go." And then to me: "Tell him we couldn't wait, will you?" Tom and I shook hands, the rest of us exchanged a cool nod and they trotted quickly down the drive, disappearing under the August foliage just as Gatsby with hat and light overcoat in hand came out the front door. (6.38-59) Gatsby, the quintessential West Egg-er, can’t tell that the woman doesn’t want him to come to her party. He is even less able to see that Sloane really doesn’t want him to come. And he doesn’t seem to sense how rude they are being to him - something which Tom and Nick pickup on immediately. This social cluelessness and lack of social adroitness translate into the style with which Gatsby lives his life. He spends enormous sums of money, but with every purchase, he is always showing that he is new to the moneyed scene. Let’s see how this plays out in his house. Gatsby’s Mansion vs. Daisy and Tom’s Mansion The differences between old money and new money are reflected primarily bydifferences in style, aesthetics, and taste. Gatsby typifies the ostentatious, over-the-top conspicuous consumption of those whose wealth is new and so must be always on display: I lived at West Egg, the- well, the less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them. My house was at the very tip of the egg, only fifty yards from the Sound, and squeezed between two huge places that rented for twelve or fifteen thousand a season. The one on my right was a colossal affair by any standard- it was a factual imitation of some Hà ´tel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool and more than forty acres of lawn and garden. It was Gatsby's mansion. (1.14) His house is a reproduction of French chateau. This is ridiculous both because this French design is out of place in America, and also because it is a visibly brand new building trying to replicate something that would be centuries old. It’s completely ludicrous, and it is telling that the only person who has the desiredresponse to this mansion is Gatsby’s father: It was a photograph of the house, cracked in the corners and dirty with many hands. He pointed out every detail to me eagerly. "Look there!" and then sought admiration from my eyes. (9.102) Gatsby’s father has the same taste as Gatsby - the appreciation of a poor person for the trappings of wealth. Meanwhile, Daisy and Tom live in a house that is also extravagant, but one that has its luxury somewhat concealed: Their house was even more elaborate than I expected, a cheerful red and white Georgian Colonial mansion overlooking the bay. The lawn started at the beach and ran toward the front door for a quarter of a mile, jumping over sun-dials and brick walks and burning gardens- finally when it reached the house drifting up the side in bright vines as though from the momentum of its run. The front was broken by a line of French windows, glowing now with reflected gold, and wide open to the warm windy afternoon (1.18) The windows were ajar and gleaming white against the fresh grass outside that seemed to grow a little way into the house. A breeze blew through the room, blew curtains in at one end and out the other like pale flags, twisting them up toward the frosted wedding cake of the ceiling- and then rippled over the wine-colored rug (1.26) The house is much more fit for its location - Georgian Colonial is an architectural style that is appropriate toAmerica (as its name suggests, it came from England during the colonial period). The description also confirms the permanenceof the Buchanans' mansion. Gatsby’s house is fighting with its surroundings (it’s off both in time period, and it seems to be having a problem with the â€Å"raw† ivy). In contrast, Daisy and Tom’s house is so much a part of the environment that the grass â€Å"seemed to grow a little way into the house,† blurring outside and inside just like the open windows that let the breeze blow through. It may not be too much to read some foreshadowing into these contrasting descriptions: Gatsby’s house is too new and not rooted enough. Meanwhile, the place where Daisy and Tom live is deeply embedded and seems unbreakable. No one's pulling this thing out of the ground anytime soon. The Valley of Ashes: Setting and Symbol The Valley of Ashesin The Great Gatsby functions both as a literal place where the climactic event of the novel happens, and is also a powerful symbol – in other words, a concrete object that stands for an abstract idea connected to the novel's themes. The Valley of Ashes is the name that Nick gives to an industrial neighborhood in Queens that the rich have to drive through on their way from the Eggs to Manhattan. This is where George Wilson has his gas station, and where Myrtle Wilson is run over and killed by Daisy. Suitably, it is a horribly bleak and drab place: About half way between West Egg and New York the motor-road hastily joins the railroad and runs beside it for a quarter of a mile, so as to shrink away from a certain desolate area of land. This is a valley of ashes- a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air. Occasionally a line of grey cars crawls along an invisible track, gives out a ghastly creak and comes to rest, and immediately the ash-grey men swarm up with leaden spades and stir up an impenetrable cloud which screens their obscure operations from your sight. (2.1) This is the place where those who cannot make it in the cutthroat world of East Coast capitalism end up. It is also the place propping up much of that wealth through the production coming from the factories that are polluting the spot. But the description that transforms the ash that covers everything from simply being dust to a scary substance capable of creating otherworldly plans and people signals that this Valley of Ashes has rich symbolic meaning. For a detailed analysis of how this symbol functions within the great Gatsby, check out our articles on how to approach symbols in general and on the Valley of Ashes as a symbol in particular. How to Write About The Great GatsbySetting So how do you use setting to create a compelling essay? Pick a Topic There are severalways to go about findingyour topic when tackling this kind of assignment. Here are some possibilities: Close reading. You can focus on settings themselves, digging really deeply into the description of one, two, or more places or times in the novel to explore how word choice, similes, metaphors, and any other literary devices help the reader visualize location. For example, you could trace the way the word "ash" appears in the novel, at first defining The Valley of Ashes itself is a kind of fantastical alternate reality, and then spreading outtoward the places of the privileged. You could focus on a literary device called metonymy, using a part to stand in for the whole, and explore why the novel chooses to focus on Dustin Ash as the representative aspect of this neighborhood. Connection to character. Often, setting is away to define character. If you write about this, your essay will tease out the common qualities of a character and of the place most closely associated with that character. These will either be synergistic, with one amplifying the other, or else theywill play as a contrast, undercutting the character. In our case, for instance, Gatsby's mansion speaks volumes about how he sees himself andhis money, and also about the vast gulf that separates him from the upper elite that he really wants to be part of. Conversely, Nick's pokey little house seems humble and unassuming, much like Nick wants to project himself to be. But in reality, by being located next to obscenely luxurious mansions, the house is only falsely modest, and shows off some of Nick's poorly disguised snobbery. (Read more about all the novel's characters in our overview article.) Connection to theme. Similarly, setting can help clarify a novel's theme by providing a concrete example of an abstract idea. In the great Gatsby, you could focus on the way one or more of the settings play into the failure of the American Dream, one of this novel's most salient themes. One way to do this would be to focus on the Valley of Ashes, the place where dreams come to die, both literally and figuratively. If the idea of the American dream is that through hard work anyone can become successful, then George Wilson's tragic fate, as exemplified through his garage and circumstances, serves to completely debunk this myth. Create an Argument It’s not enough to just describe one of the novel'ssettingsand explain its possible connections to either character or theme - or to compare and contrast it to another setting. Instead, you have to make sure that you’re making some kind of point about why/how the settingfunctions in the novel as a whole. How do you know if you’re making an argument and not just saying the obvious? If you can imagine someone arguing the opposite of what you’re saying, then you’ve got an argument on your hands. Once you've figured out what you want to argue, startsmall by analyzing chunks of the text where the symbol pops up, and then broadening your points out to the rest of the book. This way, your argument will be strengthened by textual evidence. What’s Next? Learn how to write about the themesthat settingsare usually linked to. Get help on other assignments by reading our guide on analyzingor comparing and contrasting characters. Brush up on the context of these settingsin our summary of The Great Gatsby. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Intergovernmental Exercise Example

Intergovernmental Exercise Example Intergovernmental Exercise – Essay Example Intergovernmental Finance Exercise Type A grant The origin of the tax is identified as personal income taxes, corporate income taxes, generalsales taxes and taxes on alcoholic beverages. The allocation of the specified share is identified as the population and the effort undertaken towards paying of the tax. 2. Type G grant This is because the decision is to assist provincial governments hence making it an ad hoc decision without a clear strategy. The cost put towards the â€Å"assistance† has no specified origin or clarity in the amount that is sent out. However, it is significant to tell between it from type H grant since this assistance is done annually. 3. Type H grant The situation falls under type H grant since the response to the situation at hand is ad hoc and the means of assistance are also unplanned. The duration through which this assistance will be carried out is undetermined too. It is also unknown what amount of assistance will be required. 4. Type F grant This is a type F grant because the decision to assist is based on the formula/determination of areas with highest poverty and infant mortality rates and substandard housing. It is differentiated from grant B because the method of assistance is not specified. 5. Type F grant The amount of assistance is not specified (only referred to as a portion of the tax revenue)and the assistance is partial based on the expenditure needs. The method used to determine the assistance is formula based since the distribution is determined by how extra ordinary the needs in expenditure are and on an equal per capita basis grant basis. The decision to give this assistance is also ad hoc. 6. Type B grant The origin of the tax is VAT and the tax distributed is specific. The tax is distributed on a formula based method that is 75% of it is given on the basis of an equal per capita perspective. The rest is given to states that have a below average tax capacity. The fact that it is accounted for tax and distributed by formula makes it a type B grant. 7. Type G grant The government provides reimbursement that is unspecified through an unplanned means. This makes this situation a type G grant. 8. Type H grant The provision of the income tax is annual though the share allocated is not specified (Ad hoc) and the method used to allocate these funds is also unclear (Ad hoc). This makes the situation a type H grant. 9. Type G grant The government repays the local government that is affected by the loss incurred in paying its fiscal need. This is an unplanned decision which pays for approved expenditures which are indispensable public requirements such as learning, public protection and transportation. That gives the basis of the formula used in the assistance hence making it a type G grant. 10. Type K grant The assistance is made as a reimbursement of an approved government project. This automatically qualifies it to be a type K grant. Bibliography Bahl, Roy and Johannes F. Linn. Intergovernmental Finance. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.