RG LeTourneau Essays

RG LeTourneau Essays RG LeTourneau Paper RG LeTourneau Paper Impact on this earth. R. G. Literature was born in Rockford, Vermont during the winter of 1 888, the son of Caleb and Elizabeth Literature. At the age of 14, he decided that a traditional education was not for him. At the disappointment of his parents, R. G. Literature dropped out of school, and quickly moved in to the working world. His first Job, working as an apprentice molder for East Portland Iron Works, proved to be a stepping stone to what would one day produce an inventor of grand proportions. He is most famously known for his innovative earth moving equipment that evolutionist the Industry In more ways than one, but Is also known as one of the few businessmen that gave credit to the Lord for all that he was given. And although there were many ups and downs, Literature continuously strives to keep his partnership with God at the forefront of every venture he approached. Literature was an innovator without realizing that he was innovative. In fact, when described as being a man whose visions were years ahead of his time, he would often scratch his head in dismay. He felt that his invention were very much in he present, coming up with most of his ideas In his bath tub or on the seat of a tractor, and creating what he needed at the time to get him past one problem or another. The items that he invented are too numerous to list, but the most widely known for his development and invention of earthmoving machines. One of the most recognizable creations was the runner tire bulldozer. By adding runner tires, this machine could now work through terrain in which it was not previously capable. He also made numerous improvements to scrapers, even creating a two wheeled tracker named the Turnaround, which would allow scrapers to be more efficiently maneuvered. Approximately 80 inventions were patented while working on government contracts. Literature factories were responsible for supplying seventy percent of heavy equipment used during WI. Also, while working on projects In Liberia and Peru, he invented what became known as the Jungle Crusher, a machine that could push through and destroy massive trees of the Jungle. In later years, Literature invented the first known mobile drilling platform used for offshore drilling. These platforms ere first created for Capita Oil, Inc. , then owned by George H. W. Bush. In 1937, he married Evelyn Peterson of Minnesota. Their family would eventually grow in size with the addition of seven children. Unfortunately, his first born passed away at a very young age from a flu epidemic, and another son passed away later in life in a plane crash. His living children are his only surviving daughter, Louis, and four sons Richard, Ray, Ted and Ben. All of his children were raised knowing that God comes first and everything else comes after. Each of them lived to work with heir father, helping to develop projects in Liberia in Peru and by managing and overseeing the company, the foundation, and the college. Not only did Literature instill Christian values in his home, but also in his business. He was one of the only businessmen to insist that a chaplain be available to all of his employees. He also helped develop and publish a monthly newsletter about faith and Christianity that was distributed to all of his employees and multiple fellow businessmen. This publication is named NOW, and is still in publication as Now Magazine, distributed ND maintained at Literature University. Literature was always loyal and appreciative of his employees. When working through a serious problem on one particular Job, he wasnt sure how he would meet a deadline that was required in order to keep the Job. He turned to his employees, and asked for their guidance and support. Although they werent sure that they could achieve the goal in front of them, they promised to do whatever means necessary to try. Literature (1972) commented on this in his auto biography saying, l had a mighty loyal bunch of men. If all Christians could unite like that in their loyalty of the Lord, this world wouldnt be in the mess its in. (Literature, 1972, p. 180). Whether they thought of as crazy or inspiring, there was never a doubt in his peers minds that R. G. Literature was a man of faith that built his business on the grounds of Christianity. To him, working with God as a partner was essential in order to be successful in this earthly life. He was known to say, Not how much of my money I give to God, but how much of His money I keep for myself. (Literature, 1972, p. 90). This quote seems to epitomize the doctrine in which Literature stood. He believed that R. G. Literature His Faith Share information in this section describing his Christian Faith Share his life scripture verse Share information in this section on any specific quotes mentioned as it relates to his faith Conclusion Share your thoughts on learning about the founder of Literature University and how this impacts earning your degree at Literature University Share information in this section on any specific quotes mentioned that has impacted your life References Cliffs, N. J. : Prentice-Hall.

Human Resources Vocabulary for English Learners

Human Resources Vocabulary for English Learners English teachers are often not equipped to go into depth in the terminology required in specific trade sectors. For this reason, supplementary core vocabulary sheets go a long way in helping teachers provide adequate materials for students needing an intensive study of vocabulary in very targeted areas. This core vocabulary reference sheet provides keywords and phrases used by a business human resources department. This list can be used as a starting point for  vocabulary study relating to employment and working. Knowledge of these terms can help people get a job and understand employee handbooks of policies that they are required to follow upon employment at a company. The list contains British and American spellings of terms and phrases, as noted by the use of (UK) and British spellings such as labour, which is spelled labor in the United States. Human Resources Vocabulary absentee absenteeism absenteeism rate accident at work/industrial injury applicant/candidate application form apprenticeship aptitude test assessment of applicants assistant back pay bargaining power basic salary blue-collar worker business  hours/office  hours Christmas bonus clerical  work/office  work company  bargaining/company  negotiation compensation for permanent disability contractual situation cost-of-living allowance credentials day shift direct  labour  (UK) disability pension disciplinary measure/disciplinary sanction discrimination dismissal dismissal for cause dismissal without notice early retirement employer employment agency employment  card/working  papers employment contract/labour contract (UK) employment for a trial period employment  office employment  rate executive cadres executive personnel exit permit experienced person family allowances family leave federal holiday/national holiday (US)/public holiday (UK) freelance full employment full time full-time employment general  strike gross wages and salaries harassment have an accident at work healthcare higher education/advanced education human relations (US)/human relationships (UK) independent unions index-linked wages indirect  labour (UK) industrial  tribunal (UK)/labour  court (UK) internal regulations irregular work/discontinuous work job/employment job application job description job evaluation job satisfaction job security job sharing junior  clerk/junior  employee labor costs labor disputes labor force/manpower labor market labor mobility labor relations (US) /industrial relations (UK)   labor relations/trade-union relations labor retraining labor supply labor union (US)/trade union (UK)   layoff learning by doing leave letter of appointment lock-out management training managing director maternity leave middle management minimum rate of pay minimum wage moonlighting motivation night shift occupation/employment office hours office manager office staff/office personnel on-the-job training outsourcing overtime pay overtime work part time part-time job partial disability pay pay envelope (US)/wage packet (UK) pay  formula/retribution  diagram pay increase for merit paycheck/payslip payroll/payroll ledger pension pension fund period of notice permanent disability permanent job/steady job permanent staff personnel/staff personnel department personnel requirements planner pretax prevention production bonus professional qualifications professional training programmer purchasing manager re-employment redundancy payment refresher course relationship management remuneration resign (chairperson)/to give notice (employee) resignation (chairperson)/notice (employee) retirement retirement age right to strike salaried  workers/employees salary salary  range/wage  band seasonal employment seasonal workers second shift secondary job senior clerk / senior employee severance  pay / dismissal  pay short-term employment sick leave / sick day skilled labor (US) / skilled  labour (UK) skilled work skilled workers social costs social insurance / national insurance Social Security (US) sole  director staff costs / personnel costs striker temporary disability temporary staff temporary worker / temp the job is still vacant third shift time card time clock to apply for a job to appoint a person to ask for a raise to be dismissed / to be fired to be laid off to be on probation / to be on trial to be on strike to be out of work / to be unemployed to dismiss / to fire to fill a vacancy to go on strike to hold a position to interview to retire to risk indemnity to secure employment to select candidates to strike to take measures to take ones vacation  days (US) / to take ones  holidays (UK)   to train to work at home / to telecommute top manager total disability trade training training period trial period under contract underemployed unemployment unemployment benefits union dues / union subscription union officer / trade unionist unjustified dismissal unpaid leave unskilled labor (US) / unskilled labour (UK) unskilled worker vacancy / vacant position vacation (US) / holiday (UK) wage  bargaining / pay  negotiations wage ceiling wage claims wage dynamics wage freeze wage pressures wage-cost spiral wage-earning workers welfare contributions white-collar worker work overtime work shift workday (US) / working day (UK) worker working hour workload workplace

Children and hand-washing and Diaper changing Research Paper

Children and hand-washing and Diaper changing - Research Paper Example Work up a good lather for at least one minute. I actually felt confident about my hand washing and diaper changing techniques because I have helped take care of baby nieces and nephews in the past so this task was not really alien to me. I just had to make a few adjustments to my technique in order to come up to the required methods for this class. Like I mentioned earlier, I needed to make a few adjustments in terms of where to lay the clean diaper and how to transfer the child to that clean diaper. My hand washing technique, however, does not require any changes. I have learned that properly positioning the diaper under the child and making sure that the diaper is properly spread out could spell the difference in a childs comfort. The more spread out the diaper, the more comfortable the child will be. I also learned the importance of having clean hands while changing a

The media are a very powerful source of socialization today Essay

The media are a very powerful source of socialization today - Essay Example While people may have initially been livid with the way the case was handled, and the severity of the spill on human and plant health, the way that the newspaper presents the news about the settlement may change the discernment and actions of people towards BP. The newspaper presents information on the number of claimants who deserve compensation, a factor that BP had not integrated into its compensation plans. Through the major forms of media, television, and newspapers, people are able to get information on recent events such as the BP oil spill and socialize. Without such information, it may be indeed hard for people to fulfil socialization because of insufficient or impassable information. Through the socialization aspect, it is possible to provide an opinionated thought on an event. However, religious and educational institutions remain to be the main source of long-lived socialization aspects, unlike the media that may present sporadic and short-lived presentations that may fluctuate in the future or be prejudiced by external powers guided by egocentric

Meaning of life Essay Example for Free

Meaning of life Essay â€Å"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. † –Nelson Mandela The importance of learning is to enable the individual to put his potentials to optimal use. Education makes man a right thinker and a correct decision-maker. It achieves this by bringing him knowledge from the external world, teaching him to reason and acquainting him with past history, so that he can be a better judge of the present. With education, he finds himself in a room with all its windows open to the outside world. A well educated man is a more dependable worker, a better citizen, a centre of wholesome influence, pride to his community and honour to his country. A nation is great only in proportion of its advancement in education. Education is Self Empowerment. Receiving a good education makes a person strong enough to look after himself in any given situation. It keeps him aware of the given surrounding as well as the rules and regulations of the society. Its only through knowledge that one can question authority for its negligence or discrepancies and only then that can a person avail his rights as a citizen and seek improvement in the structural functioning of governance and economy. As a whole, people can bring about development only when they know where improvement is necessary for the greater good of mankind. Education gives a better understanding to the person, it helps realize potential and qualities one possesses as a human being. It helps tap into latent talent, so that people can sharpen their skills. Education teaches what man lives and struggles for. It cultivates an integrated life. By so doing, it gives significance of life. It helps restores financial stability and dignity of life. It is the essential basis of a good life. Education enlightens and lifts a nation to heights of progress. The problem in India is that it has adopted democracy without preparing the ground for it by educating population. But its never too late to undertake mass programmes of Adult education or Social education. Adult education is the education of grown up men and women. In the complex modern times, people must be knowledgeable and be aware of what they are doing and what is being done to them. To create such sentience every responsible citizen should take up this social cause and educate the knowledge deprived people. Teaching a daily worker for just an hour daily can change their lives in propitious ways as it was rightly quoted by Neil Armstrong, ‘One small step is a giant leap for mankind’. In recent history our country has taken up good measures to ensure a high educated population by taking up several social causes and concentrating on the rural areas, since they comprise a majority but the system has been laid back due the restraints imposed by old cultural ethics. For the past few centuries in India, the girl has been completely neglected even as a human being, her sole purpose of life has been to feed the family and bear a child. Good education has been denied to women. It is argued that women have their domestic duties to perform and that, if they were educated, they would bury themselves in their books and have little time for attending to the management of their households. But what people fail to understand is education involves knowledge of the means by which health may be preserved and enable a mother to consult such modern books as will tell her how to rear up her children into healthy men and women and skilfully nurse them and her husband, when disease attacks her household. The purpose of education is not just earning a livelihood but education makes an individual into a good human being, which is passed on to the next the kith and kin. It is true that, the education of girls has lately taken a slight leap but this is only in a very small segment of Indian society. Unless the motion is fast and continuous, and includes more of poor urban and rural girls in the field of education, there can be no hope of having a developed and first world country status for India. â€Å"When a man is educated, only he is educated but, when a woman is educated, a family is educated. † – Indira Gandhi â€Å"Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farworkers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another. † – Nelson Mandela.

Discussing The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Essay

Frederick Douglass In the preface of The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, written by himself, William Lloyd Garrison, Abolitionist and member of the Anti-Slavery Society, said of Frederick Douglass, after hearing him speak, â€Å"Patrick Henry, of revolutionary fame, never made a speech more eloquent in the cause of liberty than the one I had just listened to from the lips of that hunted fugitive.† Garrison and other abolitionist convinced Fredrick Douglass to continue to tell his story of slavery, but Douglass was not a free man and warily told, â€Å"only fragments of his life story, guarding always the details of names, places and means of escape which might have identified him to his master and exposed friends and accomplices who had helped him in his way.† The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass was Douglass’ first autobiography. In it he revealed all the details of his childhood that he could remember, which he had never spoken to anyone prior to writing the narrative because a slave with any knowledge of anything besides obeying his master was often punished by death. From listening intently to conversations of both his negro family and his white masters, he knew he was born in Tuckahoe, near Easton, in Talbot country, Maryland. Years later, when he thought he was about seventeen years old, he heard his master say it was 1835, so he at that time, set a near estimate of his own birth to be around 1818. Frederick was raised until the age of seven by his grandmother, Harriet Bailey, in a cabin with many of his other cousins, who were taken from their parents. It was the white master’s intent to separate slave families so the slaves would remain ignorant of who they were. Frederick knew his mother, Betsey B... ... Frederick change his last name from â€Å"Bailey† to â€Å"Douglass† to protect him from being identified. Frederick said in his narrative, â€Å"From my earliest recollection, I date the entertainment of a deep conviction that slavery would not always be able to hold me within its foul embrace, and in the darkest hours of my career in slavery, this living word of faith and spirit of hope departed not from me, but remained like ministering angles to cheer me through the gloom. This good spirit was from God, and to him I offer thanksgiving and praise.† Frederick Douglass became a vital aspect of the anti-slavery movement from 1841 until his death in 1895. Freedom for Frederick was bittersweet in that his freedom was precious to him, yet illusive in the bondage that he carried in his heart and mind for the daily terrors that continued to be suffered by his fellow slaves.

ACC 290 Financial Statements Essay

Financial statements are a means of communicating numbers within a business. Without proper numbers your business could be a success or a big failure. â€Å"You will rely on them to make decisions, and managers will use them to evaluate your performance. That is true whether your job involves marketing, production, management, or information systems† (Kimmel, 2009). The financial statements shows the business financial standpoint at a given time period, and it also helps the business to understand what they need to do to improve. A company’s livelihood depends greatly on their financial statement because it determines if the business is successful, can it hire new employees, or can it receive any more additional loans. A financial standpoint of the company is monitored by its financial statements. The four basic financial statements are retained earnings statement, balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flow. During a certain time period presenting a snapshot of what your business owns (its assets) and what it owes (its liabilities), you prepare a balance sheet. â€Å"To show how successfully your business performed during a period of time, you report its revenues and expenses in an income statement† (Kimmel, 2009). Specifying how much of prior income was dispersed to you and the other owners of your business in the form of dividends and how much was reserved in the business to allow for future growth a retained earnings statement is presented. Showing where your business obtained cash during period of time you would prompt a statement of cash flow. The purpose of balance sheet it to show the amount of assets a company has obtained by evaluating the claims of creditors and the claims of owners. This type of relationship can be shown in an equation assets equal liabilities plus stockholders equity. A company success or failure is monitored by its income statement because it shows a company’s revenue monitored by its expenses. The net income is obtained through the income statement by deducting its expenses from its revenues. The retained earnings statements are different because retained earnings are the net income retained in the corporation. Dividend payment practices are assessed because the amount of the retained earnings statements is deducted or added by the company’s dividends. The statement of cash flow shows the company operating, investing, and financing doings. It shows the company cash position and what is happening to its most important source. Managers use financial statements for several purposes. If a company needs to meet labor demands and need to hire new employees the financial statements helps in knowing how many employees they can afford to hire. On the income statement, management compares sales and expenses of a period of time with recent events to notice if there is a big change. They can identify likely problems and investigate the cause; however, they can regulate if they can afford new equipment, merchandise, and other operating expenses. Using the balance sheet managers can determine if a change applied helped the company or delayed it. Employees look at financial statements to know if the company is managing their money well and can meet payroll obligations. Employees also can gain knowledge of potential bonuses or layoffs based of the net income that is reported on the income statement. Financial statements are useful to investors and creditors because it shows the company’s financial position and allows them to make better decisions concerning the company. For the investors and creditors financial statements helps to evaluate the risks related to the possible investment or loans issued as well as estimate returns from the money invested. Investors and creditors analyzes company’s financial position, operational results, cash generated by different activities before making investment decisions. If the company owes more than it owns than creditors may not allow that company to receive additional loans. To investors it shows if the company is operating profitably. Financial statements are vital to the success of a business. They can be used as a roadmap to direct you in the correct direction and help you avoid costly failures. Maintaining financial statements for a company can only help a company. Improper financial statements put a company in jeopardy. The different statements show if a company can afford to hire new employees or if they need to do some lay-offs. To determine if a company can be approved for additional loans or if it is expected to fail you must rely on the financial statements. In general financial shows the financial standpoint of a company and decisions a company has to make cannot be made if there are no financial statements.

A Separate Peace Essay

In the novel, A Separate Peace, by John Knowles the question is presented â€Å"what is a true friend?† The author challenges the question by manifesting two main characters, Finny and Gene, to have a type of rivalry relationship. Finny is a self-confident, outgoing, and athletic person. Awhile on the other hand Gene is quiet, competitive, and intelligent person. Gene gains jealous thoughts which in the end lead their friendship too gradually to fall apart. The author creates a challenge that frustrates both Finny and Gene to test both side of their relationship. As an example the author shows Finny’s fall in the climax of the book is due to Gene being jealous of him which then leads to Finny’s tragic injury.†I was not of the same quality as he. I couldn’t stand this†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Knowles 52). Gene was surrounded with depression and major guilt. I feel that, with friendship there is always going to be envious feelings towards the other party no matt er what, but not to a point of possibly injuring them or hurting them really bad. Another incident is when Gene wears Finny’s clothes while he is recovering from his injury. This brings out the thought that Gene missed Finny and he had a feeling of loneness, but however he is also replacing him in his athletics.†Listen, pal, if I can’t play sports, you’re going to play for me† (Knowles 76). Due the past altercations, Gene will play for Finny, not only because he was the second best player but Finny was injured. So I guess you can say he qualifies for his replacement. This shows that in a friendship or relationship, when two friends have had an argument in the past that has lead to loneliness, an empty feeling, and non communication, but in the end this is the factors that makes a friendship stronger when they finally talk again for the first time in a long period of time and they both feel the love and welcoming type of feeling. The last incident that occurs shows the true feelings of friendship illustrated by the author is, this is when Finny falls down the stairs and  he breaks his leg for the second time. But sadly in the end e eventually dies in surgery when the doctor begins his procedure on Finny’s leg to try to fix it. The doctor then explains that the marrow of the bone escaped and went throughout his bloodstream leading to his heart killing him. Gene didn’t cry for one reason, when he was at Finny’s funeral, he felt as if this was his own.†I could not escape a feeling that this was my own funeral, and you do not cry in that case†(Knowles 184). Gene is mad at himself for endangering Finny’s life by bouncing and unbalancing the tree branch as Finny leaped out towards the water and in the end unintentionally ending his Finney’s life. John Knowles wrote the sad story of when friends obtain the feelings of envy or jealousy, on their journey to discover the true meaning of what they thought was a true friend. Their jealous cravings lead them to their tragedy and this is the major factor that brought their friendship to a end. The question â€Å"What is a true friend?† can only be answered in your opinion for there is no true definition of true friends because everyone is different and therefore think differently and has a different opinion on the subject. A Separate Peace Essay The book, A Separate Peace was written by John Knowles. It was first published in 1959. It tells the story Gene Forrester, a former student at a prep school in New Hampshire, who returns to the school after he graduates. While he is there, He remembers the summer of 1942. When he walks up to a tree by the river, he remembers his friend and roommate Phineas. Phineas was the best athlete in the entire school. From then on the story moves back to 1942 at the school named Devon. Phineas’ athleticism inspires Gene to become one of the smartest kids in the school. He starts to do well in school until he failed a test because of a trip to the beach with Phineas. When this happens, he blames Phineas for him failing. He begins to get angry with Phineas and tries to stay focused until one day when Phineas persuades Gene to go and jump from a tree into the river. Gene thinks this is just another attempt to pull him from his studies so when he and Phineas are standing on the tree limb, Gene Jounces the limb to cause Phineas to lose his balance and fall to the river bank. Phineas shatters his leg and this accident cost him his athletic career. Gene felt guilty about the incident and tries to confess to Phineas. Phineas refused to believe what happened and continued to think that it was just an accident. Once Phineas returns to the school, he convinced Gene to train for the 1944 Olympics. Gene tried to explain that this would be impossible with World War II going on so Phineas persuaded him to believe that the war is fake. Gene accepted his explanation and began to train for the Olympics. Then one day, Brinker Hadley brings the boys and some of their friends together for a mock trial to accuse Gene for being responsible for the accident. When another boy shares his view of the story saying that he saw Gene Jounce the limb, Phineas leaves the room in anger. While walking down the stairs, he fell and broke his leg again. While talking to Phineas in the hospital, Gene insists that he didn’t mean to hurt him. Phineas accepts his apology and they remain friends. The next day in surgery, marrow from Phineas’ leg leaked into his blood stream making its way to his heart and killing him. Gene looked back after the war and realized that his real enemy was his own jealousy of Phineas. A Separate Peace Essay In chapter four the doppelganger is starting to form. Gene is starting to believe that there is a deadly rivalry between Finny and him. Gene is striving to win the valedictorian which means he has to study hard. Gene thinks that when he wins valedictorian that Finny and him will finally be even. Gene asks Finny if he minds that Gene is trying to win valedictorian, Finny replies, â€Å"I’d kill myself out of jealous envy† (52). Gene believes this. Gene has a lot of bitterness towards Finny since Finny is a star athlete and can talk his way out of any trouble he gets in to. To help deal with the bitterness Gene starts to tell himself that Finny is also jealous of Gene’s academic abilities. This bitterness towards Finny helps Gene advance in classes to bother Finny. Gene starts to think that Finny purposely tries to ruin his study times. Gene is starting to realize that Finny was never trying to compete with Gene with him. Gene then goes into deeper bitterness than he was in before, Gene believes that Finny is superior. This foreshadows when Gene shakes the tree limb. When Finny falls off the tree, this is the climax of the story since Gene and Finny are doppelgangers and only one of them can exist, and the one that is trying to hurt the other Gene. Finny was never trying to hurt Gene in any way but it was all in Gene’s mind. The doppelganger is a conflict that goes on through out the whole book, Gene is always trying to get rid of Finny and compete with him meanwhile, Finny never means to harm anyone. When Finny dies, Gene shed no tears because Finny and him were one, and he couldn’t cry at his own funeral. A Separate Peace Essay It is important to confront reality, no matter how harsh it is. People will always face difficult situations, but avoiding them is often more dangerous than the situation itself. In his novel, A Separate Peace, Knowles explores what can happen when a person or even an institution tries to avoid painful circumstances. In the story, Gene, the protagonist, and his friends are students at the Devon boarding school; and the troubling issues they face are wars, the external, World War II, and the intimate conflicts that often arise between close friends. Knowles uses the motif of the transformation of Devon, Finny, and Gene to show the importance of confronting head-on the wars within and around them. Devon boarding school shields Gene and his classmates from the hardships of World War II. Gene’s class, the â€Å"Upper Middlers,† are too young for the draft. This causes the teachers at Devon to see them as the last evidence of â€Å"the life the war was being fought to preserve† (29). The teachers are afraid to expose the boys to the terror of war and so they hide it from them. While throughout the country, others participate in the war effort, Gene and his classmates remain apart and spend their time â€Å"calmly reading Virgil† (24). Because of this separation, the war becomes â€Å"completely unreal† (24) to the Upper Middlers. The entire world appears to be churning in the upheaval of the war, but Devon tries to remain the same, shielding the boys from its hardships. Unfortunately, when the effects of the war inevitably come to Devon, its attempts at avoidance result in a negative transformation with bitter and unintended consequences. In its efforts to deny the war’s existence, Devon changes from idyllic and relaxed in the Summer Session to rigid and uncompromising in the Winter Session. In the summer at Devon, the boys play games on the â€Å"healthy green turf brushed with dew† to the calming sounds of â€Å"cricket noises and the bird cries of dusk† (24). Such imagery makes Devon seem like a peaceful oasis for the Upper Middlers. However, this relaxed atmosphere of the Summer Session ends with Finny’s fall from the tree at Devon River. Jumping from the tree was an activity originally designed to prepare soldiers for war and Finny’s injury from it represents the boys’ first experience with the pain that war brings. To Devon, Finny’s fall proves that the relaxed atmosphere of the Summer Session could not protect the boys from the reality of war. As a result, Devon rejects the carefree environment of the Summer Session and changes into a strict school where â€Å"continuity is stressed† (73) in the Winter Session. This transformation proves negative as evidenced by Knowles stark change in his description of the Winter Session. For example, while in the Summer Session the boys freely roamed the â€Å"healthy green turf† of Devon’s fields, they crowd into the dark â€Å"Butt Room† a smoking room that Gene compares to a â€Å"dirty dungeon†¦ in the bowels of the dormitory† (88). Where once the boys played in beautiful fields, they are now confined in close, dark rooms. Gene further classifies the transformation as negative by immediately remarking that â€Å"peace [has] deserted Devon† (72) when he returns for the Winter Session. In attempting to avoid the effects of the war, Devon sacrifices its status as a haven for the boys. When the reality that the world is at war inevitably strikes Devon, its transformation makes it less able to deal with the effects of the war. Gene compares the inexorable arrival of the war to the snow that blankets the school grounds. He calls the snowflakes â€Å"invaders† that cover the â€Å"carefully pruned shrubbery bordering the crosswalks† and likens them to the â€Å"invasion of the war on the school† (93). In making this comparison, Gene seems to show that just as Devon’s â€Å"carefully pruned shrubbery† cannot escape the snowfall, its structured atmosphere cannot escape the war. In fact, it is that structured atmosphere that makes the war seem all the more attractive to the very boys Devon tried so desperately to protect. Representing this is the Upper Middlers’ decision to clear snow from train tracks designed to transport troops. This is their first serious contribution to the war effort and requires that they travel away from Devon, symbolizing their desire to leave their school and participate in the war effort. As they work, the boys see a train car of soldiers whom they view as â€Å"elite† in comparison to their â€Å"drab ranks† (101). Directly after seeing the troops, all they boys can discuss is the â€Å"futility of Devon and how [they] would never have war stories to tell [their] grandchildren† (102). The boys see Devon’s strict unchanging atmosphere as inadequate amidst the upheaval of the war. As a result, the Upper Middlers slowly reject Devon, resigning from clubs, leaving the school to enlist in the war, and losing their academic vigor. They resent Devon for keeping them from the war and remain forever distant from it. Gene exhibits this distance when he describes Devon after graduating. Gene calls Devon a â€Å"hard and shiny† (11) museum; he feels no connection to it. He finally concludes that â€Å"The more things stay the same, the more they change after all† (14). In trying to remain untouched by the war, Devon changed to a school that pushed its students to the very war it tried to avoid. Like Devon, Finny does not accept the hardships or existence of war in his life. Throughout the story, Finny embraces the glorified aspects of war, but refuses to accept its atrocities. For example, Finny wears his pink shirt to celebrate the Americans bombing of Central Europe. However, when he realizes that the bombing killed women and children, he tells Gene that he doesn’t think the bombing took place. He does not want to believe that innocent people are often casualties of war. Eventually, Finny decides that the war cannot exist because it causes too much suffering. Similarly, Finny calls Gene his â€Å"best pal† (48) and openly displays his affection for him. However, when Gene confesses to deliberately jouncing him from the limb out of jealousy, Finny refuses to listen. He cannot accept that a friend could become an enemy. Eventually, Finny’s denial of the conflicts in his life lead to a negative transformation. In trying to retain his rejection of the war, Finny changes from a confident, athletic leader into an embittered invalid. In the summer, Finny excels, becoming a natural leader of the boys and easily winning over teachers. Finny is also physically impressive as evidenced by Gene’s description of him playing in the Devon River. Gene says that Finny is in â€Å"exaltation,† with glowing skin and muscles â€Å"aligned in perfection† (34). In this description, Finny seems like an ideal, almost God like figure, completely in control and confident. Finny’s injury at the end of Summer Session, however, signals a dark transformation. Gene shakes the limb Finny is standing on while about to jump off the tree at Devon River and Finny falls and breaks his leg. Because Gene deliberately jounced Finny out of a tree used to prepare the seniors for war, Finny’s fall and subsequent injury symbolizes a forced confrontation with the potential pain of World War II and the war between Gene and himself. Rather than working through the hardship and pain, Finny rejects his former status as an athlete and leader and lets his injury define him as an isolated invalid. Instead of using his athletic abilities to overcome his injury, Finny seems to remain permanently maimed. Although his leg heals and his cast becomes so small that an â€Å"ordinary person could have managed it with hardly a limp noticeable† (157), Finny’s gait is permanantely changed. His inability to heal completely from his injury symbolizes his inability to confront and move on from the conflicts that caused it. Similarly, Finny loses his place as a leader among the Upper Middlers. When Finny returns to Devon for the Winter Session, he finds that the war dominates the Upper Middlers’ conversations. Finny does not believe the war exists and so he isolates himself and stops spending as much time with his peers. Where once he was a natural leader, he becomes an outcast to preserve his disbelief in the war. Finny’s negative transformation makes him more vulnerable to the wars in his life. At the end of the Winter Session, Brinker conducts a mock trial and convicts Gene of his role in Finny’s injury. Finny is again forced to face the reality of Gene’s jealousy. Furthermore, during the trial, Finny speaks to Leper for the first time after his return from the army. Leper’s insanity, induced by the war, forces Finny to confront its painful implications. Because of Finny’s transformation, he is even more susceptible to these implications. Symbolizing this are the events following the mock trial. After Brinker convicts Gene, Finny falls while trying to run away. He re-breaks his leg, reopening the wound of the summer and revisiting the pain of the wars in his life. Where before the injury only crippled Finny, this time, Finny eventually dies from it. Just as his invalid state made him more vulnerable to re-injuring his leg, Finny’s transformation in response to the war made him more vulnerable to it. Unlike Devon and Finny, Gene faces the reality of the war around him and his inner struggle with Finny. While Gene enjoys the peaceful atmosphere of Devon in the Summer Session, he recognizes its inadequacies. Gene explains, â€Å"Perhaps I alone knew†¦ Devon had slipped through their [the professors’] fingers during the warm over looked months† (73). Gene realizes that the Summer Session, and the realities it avoided, would be the undoing of Devon. Furthermore, while the other Upper Middlers deny the existence of the war, Gene understands it at a deep level. Gene explicitly says, â€Å"The war was and is reality for me† (32). He embraces the war instead of masking it. Similarly, Gene recognizes the inner war with Finny. Gene knows that he deliberately jounced the limb of the tree so that Finny would fall. He repeatedly tries to confess this to Finny, openly and inwardly confronting his jealousy. Finally, when Leper goes to war and is discharged for mental instability, Gene is the only student who visits him in his home and sees him in his worst state. Gene is able to witness the shock and horror of the war. Because of his ability to face the wars around and within him, Gene undergoes a positive transformation. Gene confronts the conflicts in his life and uses them to mature from a fearful, insecure boy to a balanced and strong man. Initially, Gene identifies the presence of fear in his life. As an adult reflecting on his childhood, Gene can see â€Å"with great clarity the fear [he] had lived in† (10). Gene is also initially in-athletic. While Finny garners many athletic awards, Gene does not often participate in sports and focuses on his studies. This makes Gene feel inferior to Finny and so he often succumbs to Finny’s desires, often at the expense of his own academic success. Gene feels inadequate and insecure in the Summer Session, but the Winter Session signals a change within him. Before returning to Devon for the Winter Session, Gene visits Finny and confesses his guilt. After confronting his jealousy and confessing to Finny, Gene returns to Devon and becomes increasingly independent and secure. Symbolizing this is Gene’s experience in the Naguamsett River. On his first day back to Devon, Gene falls into the â€Å"ugly, saline,† (79) waters of the Nagaumasett. Incidentally, Gene calls this encounter with the filthy waters a â€Å"baptism.. on the first day of this winter session† (79). This use of the word baptism, a term associated with initiation or rebirth, seems to convey that Gene is beginning a new life. Just as he emerges renewed from the gritty disgusting waters of the Nagaumasett, he emerges renewed from his painful, uncomfortable confrontation of his inner war with Finny. Directly following Gene’s â€Å"baptism,† Finny returns to Devon as an invalid and he and Gene’s roles reverse. Now, It is Finny who needs Gene, both physically and emotionally, to help him deal with his injury and his functioning at Devon. Gene’s sudden athletic prowess represents this role reversal. Since Finny cannot participate in sports, he trains Gene. As he excels in his training, Gene notices that Finny seems â€Å"older†¦. nd smaller too† (121). He then realizes that he is actually bigger and Finny is only smaller by comparison. Gene has used the conflict in his life to leave behind his insecurities and become a strong, independent man. Gene’s transformation proves positive as it enables him to grow from the conflicts in his life. The results of the mock trial do no break Gene like the do Finny. He has already confronted his jealousy and guilt, and is secure enough to withstand the pain. Likewise, when Gene finally graduates from Devon and enlists in the army, he endures the war without losing his sanity like Leper. Gene is able to do this because he â€Å"already fought [his] war† (204) at Devon. He learned to confront harsh realities, and therefore can overcome them. As an adult, Gene is able to return to Devon content and secure, having made his â€Å"escape from† (10) the fear that plagued his childhood. His ability to confront his wars enable him to mature through them. Devon, Finny, and Gene all transform throughout the story. However, Devon and Finny changed to avoid the war, but Gene changed to grow from it. These transformations and stark difference in their outcomes powerfully convey the importance of unflinchingly confronting wars without and within. A Separate Peace Essay One of the main focuses in the novel A Separate Peace is the friendship of Gene Forrester and Phineas. One would assume that two completely opposite people wouldn’t have such a strong relationship. They both have different views of the world. Where one would find strength the other finds weakness. With having two opposing personalities as the main characters, it’s easy for the reader to identify with one more than the other. It also gives the reader a chance to admire, as well as pity, both Gene and Phineas. One of the most important differences between Gene and Finny is their views of the world. Gene has a more cynical world view. On the other hand, Finny’s view of the world is very pure and naive. Finny truly believes that everyone is good in the world. Another thing that sets Gene apart from Finny is their strengths and weaknesses. Gene is one of the top students of his class, while Finny just gets by with below average grades. But what Finny lacks in academic achievements, he makes up for in athletics. Read more:  Write about a person you admire essay Finny also has the natural ability to lead others and has a non conforming attitude, whereas Gene is follower and has a more conforming attitude. As well as many other novels, A Separate Peace includes easily relatable characters. While reading the novel, I discovered that there are certain qualities of both Gene and Finny that I can identify with. After careful consideration, I realized that I most identify with Gene rather than Finny. He and I both are drawn to people with larger than life personalities. I can also relate to his insecure feelings that come with having friendships with those types of personalities. His strength in academics is another trait of his that I can identify with. Even though I identify more with Gene, I also pity him. I pity that his jealousy pushed him to do something so harmful to his supposed best friend. I also pity that fact that he doesn’t have enough self confidence to tell Finny the truth. That being said, the person I admire would be Finny. He has this natural ability for being a leader, and it’s said several times that he can get away with anything. I also admire that instead of him moping about his leg, he twisted his own reality just to be happy. In conclusion, the main relationship in A Separate Peace involves two people with opposing personalities. They both view the world differently. Gene has more of a pessimistic view of the world, while Phineas’s view of the world is very innocent. Where Phineas finds strength, Gene finds weakness. While I indentify more with the character Gene, I also pity him for the outcome of his poor decisions. Instead, I admire Phineas. I admire his self confidence and attitude towards life. A Separate Peace Essay In the book, A Separate Peace, the author, John Knowles, writes to us a novel about war, but happens to focus more on the war within the human heart. This novel tells a story of two boys’ co-dependency during World War Two, and explores the difficulties with understanding the self during adolescence. Identity is complicated enough as the narrator, Gene Forrester, enters adulthood in a time of war, but a difficult friendship with a fellow student and rival leads to a further confusion of identity. Early in the book, the boys’ relationship is charged by Gene’s jealousy and hate of Phineas’ leadership. However, after Phineas falls from the tree, Gene ejects his darker feelings from himself and turns their relationship in a new direction where co-dependency, instead of envy, drives it. The central relationship between Gene and Finny, involves a troublesome search to authorize identity outside of co-dependency. Gene Forrester is a boy with many conflicts that he must face throughout his high school year. The most significant of these troubles is, without a doubt, Gene’s struggle with his own identity. At first Gene is displeased with his personality, or lack thereof. He envies his best friend, Phineas’ (Finny’s), wit, charm, and leadership. Throughout the book, Gene repeatedly finds himself acting like his friend, a transformation occurring that Gene is unaware of. There are a number of significant transformations within this story. Phineas is transformed from an active athlete into a cripple after his accident and then sets out to transform Gene in his place. This change is the beginning process by which Gene’s identity begins to blur into Finny’s, a transformation symbolized by Gene’s putting on Finny’s clothes one evening soon after the accident. â€Å"I washed the traces off me and then put on a pair of chocolate brown slacks, a pair in which Phineas had been particularly critical of when he wasn’t wearing them, and a blue flannel shirt† (78). This is the first time in the book that we notice just how much Gene is codependent on Phineas, even when he is gone. From this point on, Gene and Phineas come to depend on each other for psychological support. Gene playing sports because Phineas cannot, â€Å"Listen, pal, if I can’t play sports, you’re going to play them for me†¦Ã¢â‚¬  this allows Finny to train Gene to be the athlete that Finny himself cannot be. This training seems to be a path for Phineas simply to live vicariously through Gene. But Gene actively welcomes his attempt, for just as Finny acquires inner strength through Gene, Gene also finds happiness in losing the person he dislikes, himself, into the person he truly likes, Phineas. †¦and I lost part of myself to him then, and a soaring sense of freedom revealed that this must have been my purpose from the first: to become part of Phineas. † (77) In this way, the boys’ relationship becomes a perfect illustration of co-dependency, with each feeling off of and becoming fulfilled by, the other. This newfound co-dependency begins the evolution of the boys’ individual identities. Finny knows himself throughout the book, and is comfortable in his own skin, at least at first. After his fall, he becomes more withdrawn and tends to hide his true feelings. He seems to lose himself as the book progresses. The innocence and general good nature that defined him early on is lost in later chapters, as he continually deludes himself as to Gene’s true intentions. Gene, on the other hand, hides his true identity from Phineas and the others through most of the novel. Yet Gene truly reveals himself at several key points such as pushing Finny from the tree. The boys are living in their own secret illusions that World War Two is a mere conspiracy created by old men and continuing to believe that Gene, Finny through him, will go to the Olympics and that the world can’t change their dreams. The boys are refusing to develop their own goals and responsibilities without each other. Not even Finny’s death, though it separates them physically, can truly disentangle Gene’s identity from Phineas’. Gene feels as though Finny’s funeral is his own. In a way, the funeral is indeed Gene’s own. So much of Gene is intermixed with Phineas that it is difficult to imagine one boy existing without the other. The entire novel becomes Gene’s recollection of building his own identity, culminating in his return to Devon years later, where he is finally able to come to terms with what he’s done. During the time I was with him, Phineas created an atmosphere in which I continued now to live, a way of sizing up the world with erratic and entirely personal reservations, letting it’s rocklike facts sift through and be accepted only a little at a time, only as much as he could assimilate without a sense of chaos and loss† (194). It is perhaps only his understanding that Phineas alone has no enemy that allows the older Gene to reestablish a separate identity. One that is inferior to Phineas’. A Separate Peace Essay One of the most asked questions for A Separate Peace is: who exactly is the protagonist and antagonist? Most would agree that Gene is the protagonist, however is it Gene or Phineas that is the enemy? I believe that the real ‘bad guy’ in this book is Gene. He envied Phineas from the very beginning but didn’t admit it until a little later on. Whether it was getting away from trouble, having a natural athletic ability, or simply being modest and humble about things, Phineas seemed to have been better at almost everything. In this novel, many events occur between Gene and Finny that foreshadow the inner conflict Gene faces. For example, Gene and Finny are rebellious and often end up in trouble with the teachers. However, because of Finny’s smooth words, he is able to get the both of them away from punishment almost every single time. After getting out of trouble multiple times, Gene admits that he couldn’t help but envy Finny â€Å"just a little bit.† Small events like those happened often, and the reader can sense a feeling of jealousy growing inside of Gene. As Finny continued to be absolutely great at everything, Gene began to envy him more. Due to Gene’s inner conflict, their friendship dramatically changes. Gene plays the main character also known as the protagonist. He’s the narrator and brings the readers back fifteen years before as he tells his story of his life at Devon School. His actions and discoveries are what create the plot. For example, because Gene becomes a bitter and jealous person, he ends up creating a theory that Phineas is his rivalry (discovery). The darkness inside himself subconsciously forces him to jounce the limb, making Phineas fall (plot). Although Gene is the protagonist, I believe he is also the antagonist. In the book, Gene and Phineas have a good friendship; there were no arguments and they got along just fine. Gene, however, begins to envy Finny with things as simple as smooth words and athletic ability. As time progressed, the darkness inside of Gene grew and eventually it was full on competition. An antagonist is someone who opposes the main character, and oddly enough Gene opposes himself. He creates this fake assumption that Phineas is trying to be the better person. Unfortunately he got his theory mixed up with reality causing his friendship with Finny to fall down hill. â€Å"I found a single sustaining thought; you and Phineas were even. You are both coldly driving ahead for yourselves alone.† When it all comes down, Phineas is both the protagonist and antagonist. He is the main character yet he is his own enemy. His inner conflicts and insecure thoughts caused him to ruin his best friend along with their friendship. This book can teach the readers a great lesson about friendship and consequences when you start losing yourself to jealousy and envy; it certainly taught me something! A Separate Peace Essay In John Knowles’ novel A Separate Peace, it begins with the protagonist, Gene Forrester coming back to his alma mater the Devon School in New Hampshire. Wandering through the campus, Gene makes his way to a tall tree by the river; the reason for his return. From here he takes the reader back to the year 1942 during World War II when he was in high school. During the summer session of 1942, he becomes close friends with his daredevil roommate Finny. Finny is able to convince Gene into making a dangerous jump out of a tree into a river, and the two start a secret society based on this ritual. Gene slowly begins to envy Finny’s athletic capabilities and his innocence, and thinks that Finny envies him in return. Gene finally realizes that there was never any rivalry between them when, one day, Finny expresses a genuine desire to see Gene succeed. While still in shock, he goes with Finny to the tree for their jumping ritual. When Finny reaches the edge of the branch, Gene’s knees bend, shaking the branch and causing Finny to fall to the bank and shatter his leg. He goes to see Finny and begins to admit what happened, but the doctor interrupts him, and Finny is sent home before Gene gets another chance to confess. On his way back to school from vacation, he stops by Finny’s house and tries to tell him the truth about what happened. Finny refuses to listen to him, and Gene rescinds his confession and continues on to school. World War II is in full swing and the boys at Devon are all eager to enlist in the military. Brinker Hadley, a prominent class politician, tells Gene that they enlist together, and Gene agrees. But later that night, he finds Finny has returned to school. Both Gene and Brinker decide not to enlist. Brinker organizes a meeting with their classmates and has Gene and Finny come without notice. The boys question the two about the fall. Finny does not say much because he cannot remember clearly, and Gene claims that he doesn’t remember the details of it. The boys now bring in Leper, who was sighted earlier in the day skulking about the bushes, and Leper begins to implicate Gene. Finny declares that he does not care about the facts and rushes out of the room. Hurrying on the stairs, he falls and breaks his leg again. Gene sneaks over to the school’s infirmary that night to see Finny, who angrily sends him away. The next morning, he goes to see Finny again, takes full blame for the tragedy and apologizes. Finny accepts these statements and the two are reconciled. Later, during an operation on Finny’s leg, something goes wrong, killing him. Gene receives the news with  relative calmness; he feels that he has become a part of Finny and will always be with him. At the end of the novel Gene reflects on the constant enmity that plagues the human heart—a curse from which he believes that only Finny was immune. I believe that John Knowles titled his novel A Separate Peace because Gene gains a separate peace with himself. Even though he hurt Finny and had lots of conflict with him and troubling finding himself, at the end he is able to feel at peace. It was a different peace than he was expecting. The novel focused on the inner wars we wage with ourselves. Even in the midst of a world war, Gene battles his inner demons and defeats his worst enemy inside himself and thus creates a different, a separate peace for himself. The four main characters in A Separate Peace are the protagonist, Gene Forrester, the antagonist, Brinker Hadley, and two of their classmates Finny and Elwin â€Å"Leper† Lepellier. If I were to describe Gene in five words, I would say that he is insecure, envious, loyal, competitive, and honest. I would describe Brinker as authoritative, demanding, intelligent, responsible, and mature. Finny is outgoing, free-spirited, mischievous, vulnerable, and charismatic. And Leper is gentle, contemplative, quiet, bright, and bold. My first impression of the protagonist, Gene was that he very much a follower and not a leader. Right from the start he â€Å"let Finny talk [him] into stupid things† (17) and felt that â€Å"he was getting some kind of hold over [him]† (17). But he still jumped from the tree anyway. Another time I was able to see this was when Finny suggested that they go to the beach and Gene had thought of all the risks such as â€Å"expulsion, destroyed . . . studying [he] was going to do for an important test the next morning, blasted the reasonable amount of order [he] wanted to maintain in [his] life, and . . . the kind of long, labored bicycle ride [he] hated† (46). But his response was still â€Å"’ [a]all right’† (46). These actions of continuing to follow what others do, specifically Phineas is on Phineas’ first day back after his fall. Finny tells Gene for the first time that he was working towards the 1944 Olympics, but with his broken leg, he can no longer achieve that goal, which gives him the idea to train Gene for them instead. â€Å"And not believing him, not forgetting that troops were being shuttled toward battlefields all over the world, [he] went along, as [he] always did† (117). Gene does not only show this willingness to go along with just Finny, but Brinker as well. My first impression of  the antagonist, Brinker Hadley was that he is very authoritative and that he is definitely a leader. The first time I was able to see this was after their long day of service to the war effort when a group of boys including Brinker and Gene were in the butt room, and Brinker had told everyone that â€Å"[he was] giving it up† (100) and that he would enlist the next day. I saw it as him taking advantage of his leadership position among the boys and to lead the way into serving in the war. A more obvious way of seeing his leadership is the way that he is described as â€Å"the hub of the class† (87). Hub is a synonym for the center of something, or the heart and core. If someone is described as the hub of the class, then it means that they are the person that keeps the class together. The final way I was able to see Brinker’s leadership was towards t he end of the book. Even though he had transformed to a more rebellious way, there was still a sign of his authority when he had arranged the trial in the Assembly Hall. His wanting to know the truth that was hidden from him drove him to hold the meeting in order to find it. Gene is definitely a dynamic and round character unlike Brinker who is a static and flat character. Gene changes very significantly in the story. He struggled a lot with finding himself and his identity, so much that he believes that he is a part of Phineas. Oddly enough, this sort of makes sense. One way to think about it is the guilt – Gene was so disgusted with himself for having caused Finny’s accident that he can’t bear to be himself, so he becomes someone else: Phineas. Another explanation is that because the struggle to define him is so difficult, he’s simply borrowed someone else’s identity instead of creating one for himself. But once Finny is gone, Gene has to rely on himself to make decisions and make up his own rules. At the end of the novel as Gene is reflecting fifteen years later, he says that â€Å"[his war ended before [he] ever put on a uniform . . . [because he] killed [his] enemy there† (204). I believe that the enemy he defeated was the part of Phineas that was in him, and by doing that he was able to gain peace. Brinker really does not transform much throughout th e story. His main change is when he steps down from his position in the Golden Fleece Debating Society and his behavior at the winter festival, but his strong and authoritative personality remains. â€Å"It wasn’t the cider which made me surpass myself, it was this liberation we had torn from the gray encroachments of 1943, the escape we had concocted, this  afternoon of momentary, illusory, special and separate peace.† (136,137) This passage stood out to me because in the midst of a raging war, these schoolboys were able to find their own peace with each other by having fun and seeing that the little things in life like a winter carnival could create such an escape for them. It was their idea of freedom that gave them such peace within themselves, and it was as if the war was not even going on. There were many themes in this novel, but the one that stood out the most to me was the difference between creating your own identity and dependence on someone else to â€Å"borrow† theirs. When Phineas told Gene that he would be participating in sports in his place, Gene had a realization that what he had been longing for was to be a part of Finny. This is very different than the end of the novel where Gene is looking back to that time and realizing that the part of Phineas that was in him had died when Phineas died. And because of that death, he had to rely on himself in order to craft his own identity and to finally gain peace. I think that one of the biggest decisions Gene had to make was to tell Finny the truth on his way back to school after the summer session. Even though Finny did not listen to him, the courage that it took Gene to do that was immense. I think that it was wise because it showed that he cared enough about Finny to tell him the truth. I also think that it helped him get rid of some of the guilt by just having Finny know what actually happened, whether he believed it or not. If I were in Gene’s position I probably would do the same thing just because I know from previous experience that if you lie, it can really hurt you in the end, and it is a pain to have it harboring over you all the time. Iâ€⠄¢ve learned two life lessons from this novel. One is to enjoy life, and not be so worried about what is going to happen next. I should not be completely apathetic to the future, but to live to the fullest and have fun. Another more serious lesson is the importance of forgiveness and love. If someone has wronged me, I should not keep a grudge against them or make them feel terrible about it, but instead I should do what Christ calls us to do which is to love one another as yourself, and to forgive. A Separate Peace has really reminded me how important these lessons, especially the latter are as I continue to mature. There really was not anything that I disliked about this book except for one quote. Gene is telling the reader one of Finny’s most important rules, and one of them was â€Å"[a]lways say your prayers  at night because it might turn out that there is a God† (35). I did not like this quote just because of what I believe in and what I know as truth. I believe that there is a God and that I should always pray no matter what. But other than this one quote, there was nothing I really disliked about it.

South Koreas Capital City of Seoul

South Korea's Capital City of Seoul Seoul is the capital and largest city in  South Korea. Its considered a megacity because it has a population of over ten million people, with nearly half of its 10,208,302 people residing in the National Capital Area (which also includes Incheon and Gyeonggi). Seoul, South Korea The Seoul National Capital Area is the second-largest in the world at 233.7 square miles and an average elevation of just above sea level at 282 feet. Because of its very large population, Seoul is considered a global city and it is the center of South Koreas economy, culture, and politics. Throughout its history, Seoul was known by a number of different names, and the name Seoul itself is believed to have originated from the Korean word for the capital city, Seoraneol. The name Seoul is interesting, however, because it has no matching Chinese characters. Instead, a Chinese name for the city, which sounds similar, has recently been chosen. GoranQ/Getty Images History of Settlement and Independence Seoul has been continuously settled for over 2,000 years since it was first founded in 18 B.C. by the Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. The city also remained as the capital of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty and the Korean Empire. During the Japanese colonization of Korea in the early 20th century, Seoul became known as Gyeongseong. In 1945, Korea gained its independence from Japan and the city was renamed Seoul. In 1949, the city separated from Gyeonggi Province and it became a special city, but in 1950, North Korean troops occupied the city during the Korean War and the entire city was nearly destroyed. On March 14, 1951, the  United Nations forces took control of Seoul. Since then, the city has rebuilt and grown considerably. Today, Seoul is still considered a special city, or a direct-controlled municipality, in that it as a city has a status equal to that of a province. This means that it has no provincial government controlling it. Rather, the federal government of South Korea controls it directly. Because of its very long history of settlement, Seoul is home to a number of historic sites and monuments. The Seoul National Capital Area has four  UNESCO  World Heritage Sites: the  Changdeokgung Palace Complex, the  Hwaseong Fortress, the  Jongmyo Shrine,  and the  Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty. Diego Mariottini/EyeEm/Getty Images Geographic Facts and Population Figures Seoul is located in the northwestern part of South Korea. The city of Seoul itself has an area of 233.7 square miles and is cut in half by the Han River, which was previously used as a trade route to China and helped the city grow throughout its history. The Han River is no longer used for navigation because its estuary is at the border between North and South Korea. Seoul is surrounded by several mountains but the city itself is relatively flat because it is on the Han River plain, and the average elevation of Seoul is 282 feet (86 m). Due to its very large population and relatively small area, Seoul is known for its  population density  which is about 44,776 people per square mile. As such, much of the city consists of dense  high-rise  apartment buildings. Mostly all of Seouls residents are of Korean descent, although there are some small groups of Chinese and Japanese. The  climate  of Seoul is considered both humid subtropical and humid continental (the city lies on the border of these). Summers are hot and humid and the East Asian monsoon has a strong impact on Seouls weather from June to July. Winters are usually cold and dry, although the city gets an average of 28 days of snow per year. The average January low temperature for Seoul is 21 degrees F (-6 degrees C) and the average August high temperature is 85 degrees F (29.5 degrees C). Politics and Economy As one of the largest cities in the world and a leading global city, Seoul has become the headquarters for many international companies. Currently, it is the headquarters of companies like Samsung, LG, Hyundai, and Kia. It also generates over 20% of South Koreas gross domestic product. In addition to its large multinational companies, Seouls economy is focused on tourism, building, and manufacturing. The city is also known for its shopping and the Dongdaemun Market, which is the largest market in South Korea. Seoul is divided into 25 administrative divisions called gu. Each gu has its own government and each is divided into several neighborhoods called a dong. Each gu in Seoul varies in both size and population. Songpa has the largest population, while Seocho is the gu with the largest area in Seoul.

Mercutio Monologues From Romeo and Juliet

Mercutio Monologues From Romeo and Juliet Not to criticize Shakespeare, but the play Romeo and Juliet should feature a little less Friar Lawrence  and a little more Mercutio. You could argue that this funny, furious character should have gotten his very own play, but instead, he gets killed off (spoiler!) at the beginning of Act Three! Still, we can rejoice in the few excellent Mercutio moments and monologues. The Queen Mab Monologue In Mercutios best and lengthiest monologue, often called The Queen Mab Speech, the jovial supporting character chides Romeo, claiming that he has been visited by a fairy queen, one that makes men desire things best left unattained. In Romeos case, he is still pining for Rosaline. Little does he realize that he will soon fall for Juliet. When performing the following monologue, actors often begin very playfully, but as the speech continues, touching upon corruption and war, Mercutio becomes more frenzied and intense. MERCUTIO: O, then I see Queen Mab hath been with you.She is the fairies midwife, and she comesIn shape no bigger than an agate stoneOn the forefinger of an alderman,Drawn with a team of little atomiesOver mens noses as they lie asleep;Her wagon spokes made of long spinners legs,The cover, of the wings of grasshoppers;Her traces, of the smallest spider web;Her collars, of the moonshines watry beams;Her whip, of crickets bone; the lash, of film;Her wagoner, a small grey-coated gnat,Not half so big as a round little wormPricked from the lazy finger of a maid;Her chariot is an empty hazelnut,Made by the joiner squirrel or old grub,Time out o mind the fairies coachmakers.And in this state she gallops night by nightThrough lovers brains, and then they dream of love;Oer courtiers knees, that dream on curtsies straight;Oer lawyers fingers, who straight dream on fees;Oer ladies lips, who straight on kisses dream,Which oft the angry Mab with blisters plagues,Because their breaths with sweetmea ts tainted are.Sometimes she gallops oer a courtiers nose,And then dreams he of smelling out a suit;And sometimes comes she with a tithe-pigs tailTickling a parsons nose as a lies asleep,Then dreams he of another benefice.Sometimes she driveth oer a soldiers neck,And then dreams he of cutting foreign throats,Of breaches, ambuscadoes, Spanish blades,Of healths five fathom deep; and then anonDrums in his ear, at which he starts and wakes,And being thus frighted, swears a prayer or twoAnd sleeps again. This is that very MabThat plats the manes of horses in the nightAnd bakes the elflocks in foul sluttish hairs,Which once untangled much misfortune bodes.This is the hag, when maids lie on their backs,That presses them and learns them first to bear,Making them women of good carriage.This is she!(Romeo interrupts, and then the monologue concludes:) True, I talk of dreams,Which are the children of an idle brain,Begot of nothing but vain fantasy,Which is as thin of substance as the airAnd mo re inconstant than the wind, who woosEven now the frozen bosom of the north,And, being angerd, puffs away from thence,Turning his face to the dew-dropping south. Mercutio Describes Tybalt In this scene, Mercutio explains the personality and combat techniques of Tybalt, Juliets deadly cousin. By the end of the speech, Romeo walks in, and Mercutio begins to chastise the young man. MERCUTIO: More than prince of cats, I can tell you. O, he isthe courageous captain of compliments. He fights asyou sing prick-song, keeps time, distance, andproportion; rests me his minim rest, one, two, andthe third in your bosom: the very butcher of a silkbutton, a duellist, a duellist; a gentleman of thevery first house, of the first and second cause:ah, the immortal passado! the punto reverso! the hai!The pox of such antic, lisping, affectingfantasticoes; these new tuners of accents! By Jesu,a very good blade! a very tall man! a very goodwhore! Why, is not this a lamentable thing,grandsire, that we should be thus afflicted withthese strange flies, these fashion-mongers, theseperdona-mis, who stand so much on the new form,that they cannot at ease on the old bench? O, theirbones, their bones!Without his roe, like a dried herring: flesh, flesh,how art thou fishified! Now is he for the numbersthat Petrarch flowed in: Laura to his lady was but akitchen-wench; marry, she had a better l ove tobe-rhyme her; Dido a dowdy; Cleopatra a gypsy;Helen and Hero hildings and harlots; Thisbe a greyeye or so, but not to the purpose. SigniorRomeo, bon jour! theres a French salutationto your French slop. You gave us the counterfeitfairly last night. Mercutio and Benvolio In this next scene, Mercutio demonstrates his genius for mockery. Everything he complains about regarding his friend Benvolios character does not apply to the young man. Benvolio is agreeable and good-natured throughout the play. Mercutio is the one most likely to pick a quarrel for no good reason! Some might say that Mercutio is actually describing himself. MERCUTIO: Thou art like one of those fellows that when heenters the confines of a tavern claps me his swordupon the table and says God send me no need ofthee! and by the operation of the second cup drawsit on the drawer, when indeed there is no need.BENVOLIO: Am I like such a fellow?MERCUTIO: Come, come, thou art as hot a Jack in thy mood asany in Italy, and as soon moved to be moody, and assoon moody to be moved.BENVOLIO: And what to?MERCUTIO: Nay, an there were two such, we should have noneshortly, for one would kill the other. Thou! why,thou wilt quarrel with a man that hath a hair more,or a hair less, in his beard, than thou hast: thouwilt quarrel with a man for cracking nuts, having noother reason but because thou hast hazel eyes: whateye but such an eye would spy out such a quarrel?Thy head is as fun of quarrels as an egg is full ofmeat, and yet thy head hath been beaten as addle asan egg for quarrelling: thou hast quarrelled with aman for coughing in the street, because he hat hwakened thy dog that hath lain asleep in the sun:didst thou not fall out with a tailor for wearinghis new doublet before Easter? with another, fortying his new shoes with old riband? and yet thouwilt tutor me from quarrelling!

Interventions to reduce harm associated with adolescent substance use Essay

Interventions to reduce harm associated with adolescent substance use - Essay Example that reduce harm associated with adolescent substance use are because the disease burden and deaths for young people in developed nations is attributed to substance use. The interventions are about to reduce harm. In this course, they have to reduce mortality in the future and morbidity in the short period. The interventions are subjected to review to know about the impact of them on the persons. The positive impact of the intervention is a scale of its efficacy. In order to prevent the attractiveness to substance use, the regular interventions are necessary to avoid the adolescents in vulnerable families, schools and communities being attracted to substance use. However, there is little evidence found in study of JW Touymbourou et al in 2007 that tells about efficacy of treatment. However, they have found that the screening and brief interventions are effective. (J W Toumbourou, 2007, p.1391) This indicates that treatment approaches need long term approach than to observe in a limited time of study. This needs the feedback from the counselors who treat people suffering from substance abuse. They are effective in many contexts because, these reduce the availability of these drugs to majority of adolescents and are universal interventions. However, the efficacy of targeted interventions is more important as it is capable of addressing the problems personally. In contrast to regulatory interventions, the development interventions are more targeted than being universal. These interventions target the reduction of pathways to drug related harm by enhancing the conditions for healthy development of a person through his/her adolescence. Even in these interventions, there are two types. They are the ones that begin before the birth of a person and others are the ones, which are taken in the early stages of adolescence. The interventions before birth proved to be effective. (J W Toumbourou, 2007, p.1395) However, there are second types of interventions that start