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Dissertation Writing Help

2013-02-19T03:15:53.493-05:00

Dissertation proposal development is the first step prior starting the academic study and research project. Dissertation proposal is defined as a formal paper, which covers each and every aspects related to the research work, which will propose to be used for the completion of the dissertation work. This provides basic or rough ideas to the researcher and supervisor with respect to what will be practiced in the research. Dissertation proposal is the brief paper covering various sections such as introduction, literature review, research methodology and conclusion. This mainly provides the general summary of the research question and sub-questions, aims and objectives, literature review, and methodology, which will be proposed in context to the particular area of research. Dissertation proposal development would cover various sections such as outlines of the research hypothesis, literature review, research methodology and outlines of findings and analyzing data. Out of various sections, literature review and methodology are the most important sections. The section of literature review provides brief information about the topic pertinent to the research problem. Research methodology section reflects the research approach, design and method that will be proposed to use for data collection purpose. Moreover, the dissertation proposal also presents the main research question and related aims and objectives. Dissertation proposal is a formal written paper, which involves detailed and comprehensive description of a particular subject matter, which is required for qualifying for doctorate degree. Dissertation proposal is related to research work, which is undertaken for inventing something new so that the existing situation can be improved. It presents views of advancement of a new point resulting from research, which is required for an advanced academic. Contents for developing dissertation proposal are critical to determine the quality and value of the research work because precise and concise presenting research work in an easy manner is important to understand the work for the purpose. Dissertation proposal presents students work with a perfect picture of what the result of his dissertation proposal writing may be for the purpose of inventing something new in field of chosen subject matter. For developing an effective and efficient dissertation, it needs high amount of data and information relating to research work so the complete work can be drafted in form a report to qualifying degree of doctorate. Dissertation Proposal may be related into any subject matter, which may involve science, history, art, commerce, chemistry, etc. all research work can

The space combat in SWTOR will resemble a tunnel shooter

2013-01-16T22:10:58.173-05:00

The space combat in SWTOR will resemble a tunnel shooter. This and more can be read in the latest issue of PC Gamer magazine.It is with his own spaceship therefore not freely fly around in space, but is run on a predefined path through the levels. Such sequences have been found, for example, in Lego Star Wars. "We want to capture the best moments," said LucasArts producer Jake Neri. "We want the player to feel like he was in one of the movies." It would also remain nearer the actual core game, as it is indeed still an MMO and is no space shooter.The camera moves so on a solid path through the level. You can in this area your ship from the pursuer's perspective, however, free to move along the X and Y axis. Speed up or slow flying, is not possible. Nevertheless, the space combat is thus not be particularly easy or simple because of the difficulty will attract especially clear in later missions, promises executive producer Kevin Barrett. It is also planned to incorporate different levels of difficulty.There are both primary and secondary jobs in the missions, which can be between two and eight minutes. The goal of secondary jobs will go but when re-playing, so more variety is offered. In addition, each different rewards waiting for you at the end. The appearance of your ship you can customize the weapons but always remain the same: Blasters and rockets. Possible upgrades would only improve the strength of the weapons. In addition, the skills or the stats of your character does not affect the space battle.The release of The Old Republic, you will still fly alone through space, but BioWare plans to both PvP and co-op to install at a later date. A weekly update for SWTOR community again be answering questions and we can take a look at the work of Robby Lamb, Senior Environment Artist at BioWare.He reported on the optimization of the environment in order to give more details about objects or to create the right atmosphere for a scene. Finally, it's also the game performance tune in all areas. The community issues revolve primarily around this time the character classes. Thus, according to current information, six of the eight classes specialize in healing. As Senior Game Designer William Wallace says there are no plans that also heal the Jedi and Sith Warrior can.In general, however, are also healers still

Hatchet

2007-03-05T22:22:30-05:00

Brian and his hatchet are always together. In the beginning Brian didn’t realize how much his hatchet could help him. Towards the end he realizes that his hatchet meant everything to him. Every time Brian is somewhere that’s where his hatchet would be. When Brian got out of the plane, he was worried didn’t know where he was, he didn’t have a place to live, and he didn’t have any food. Having his hatchet by his side helped him by, finding food, making shelter, and making some weapons. The hatchet helped Brian with chopping some fishes and birds that Brian had killed. When Brian wanted to eat a fish, he used his hatchet to chop the fish up; Brian was worried at first that he would starve. The hatchet also helped Brian in some ways by killing the birds, which Brian called them “fool birds”. Brian ripping off the bird’s feathers, and chopping the birds into pieces, at fist Brian couldn’t kill the fool birds, but he kept on trying. That’s how Brian kept on getting food. Brian used the hatchet to make shelter. At first Brian didn’t know how to make his shelter, but he thought about how to make a shelter. When Brian was building his shelter, he used wood and carved the wood with his hatchet. The shelter wasn’t so pretty; the shelter was good enough for Brian to stay in. When Brian was in his shelter one day, all of the sudden he hears a “BOOM”. When the tornado came it ruined everything. Brian’s shelter was all over the place, and that’s when Brian made another one. The new shelter that Brian made was heavier, so the shelter wouldn’t fall. Brian would always call his shelter he made on his own, his home. When Brian needed to get a fish, Brian needed something to catch the fish with. That’s when Brian thought that if he didn’t have a fishing pole, he could make one. Brian made a fishing pole by cutting out wood with his hatchet and carving wood to make it sharp. Brian worked really hard on the fishing pole, but it worked. That’s how Brian got a lot of fishes to eat. When Brian wanted those fool birds, he couldn’t just stab them with the hatchet; they would run away. Brian made an arrow that was sharp on the end to stab the birds.

View on Slavery in Mark Twain’s Writing

2007-01-12T05:55:18-05:00

Writers and authors always express their views in their work, even if they say that they separate their lives from their writings. Great writers need experience their work and later on reflect and write about it. Henry David Thoreau went out to Walden Pond to experience life away from distractions and really work on his writing. Wordsworth believed that writing is the spontaneous overflow of emotion recollected in tranquility. A writer needs to experience things in order to receive the emotion needed to trigger a thought. From childhood, Clemens had always been around slaves. He was taught as a young person that slaves were quite different from white people and that slaves did not get to do certain things (Lutz 8). Even though Clemens had always talked to slaves and played with the slave children, he never once ate a meal with a slave. There was an obvious and clear issue of segregation in Missouri around the time that Clemens grew up. This clear segregation has been found in many of his books. Along with many writers, his childhood and life experiences have influenced his writings. His novels and stories have been written after many years of observations. He saw the things that were occurring around him and wanted to be able to change it. Twain wrote novels and short stories about slavery and racism in order to have the slightest effect and potentially influence others to the occurrences of both slavery and racism throughout the nation. At that time, Clemens had no idea that there was anything wrong with slavery. No one had taught him differently and the entire culture around him did not say anything about it. Even his father beat the slaves, sometimes for no good reason. No one challenged the idea of slavery because everyone was all right with it. The papers claimed it to be a holy thing because there were slaves in the Bible (Lutz 9). Clemens’ early exposure to slavery appears in his later writing career through the characters and the fight against slavery. Clemens spent quite a bit of his life along the Mississippi River as a riverboat pilot. It was once his dream to get his pilot license and sail the Mississippi River. On April 9, 1859, Clemens had received his license (Lutz 22).

Krishnan's Dairy

2006-06-25T04:01:13-04:00

This drama is made perfectly by Jacob Rajan, the actor and the writer and the person who made the masks, and Justin Lewis, the director, Murray Edmond, the dramaturgy, Helen Todd, Original Lighting Design, Lighting Design developed by Antony Hodgson, Cathy Knowsley, the stage manager and the lightning and sound operator and Conrad Wedde the musician. However, it was Jacob and Justin who formed the Ink Theatre Company in 1996. Jacob Rajan plays Gobi and Zina – long hours of immigrant shopkeepers in this love story, slipping in one character to another with the use of masks. His voice and body language change with such great speed that a conversation between Gobi and Zina seems so natural and understandable. For the first time, I realized that the way I see Indian people are different, in at least one or more aspects. Jacob Rajan tries to humanize Gobi and Zina through minutiae of the days. For example, Gobi’s daily effort of asking the customers: “Cold, isn’t it?” when providing services for them, the baby crying at the back room, people asking for direction, someone runs off without paying, the exchange of newspaper at the side of the door to represent a change in the time, the doorbell tinkling and etc. Their daily grind is contrasted with the romance of tales from home, the daily horoscope and the story of the Taj Mahal. At the beginning of the story, it gives an introduction about Gobi - enthusiastic and ambitious about his plans in running successful business and Zina - longs for her home and family in India. Gobi’s flamboyant personality stands in strong contrast to Zina’s quietness, which gradually reveals a strong will within. Moreover, in this drama, nothing is superfluous; all is neat and tight. Gobi opens an invisible cash register, together with all the music effects and humorous movements, and shakes out an invisible carrier bag sounding so perfectly that leaves the audience shocked and amazed. Interwoven with a love story, Rajan’s dairy tale is told with humour and tenderness in the characters. The simplicity of the relationship between Zina and Gobi has deeply moved me, and I think it has also brought tears to the other audience too. The real beauty of Krishnan’s Dairy, though, comes in its telling. Using little more that a series of masks and some deft physical caricature, Rajan and director Justin Lewis have created

Krishnan's Dairy

2006-06-25T04:00:44-04:00

Krishnan's Dairy

2006-06-25T03:59:58-04:00

Measle and the Wrathmonk

2006-02-05T07:01:24-05:00

My book is called ¡§Measle and the Wrathmonk¡¨. The book talks about a boy called Measle. Measle is an orphan, his parents died in a fire. Measle now lives with his uncle, Basil Tramplebone. Basil treats Measle badly; he forced Measle to give him all of his money. Basil used Measles¡¦s assets to build a train set. Why a train set? Why is it so important? That is because it is not only a train set, but also a gateway to an another world. One day, Measle is curious about the train set. He cooked up a scheme to make Basil go to the bank. Measle was playing with the train set when Basil came back home. Basil was furious and made Measle to go through the gateway into the world. When Measle

Measle and the Wrathmonk

2006-02-05T07:01:12-05:00

Measle and the Wrathmonk

2006-02-05T07:01:07-05:00

Ira Berlin’s Many Thousands Gone

2005-10-05T15:54:49-04:00

Ira Berlin’s Many Thousands Gone Book Review Berlin traces the evolution of black society from the first arrivals in the early seventeenth century through the American Revolution, reintegrates slaves into the history of the American working class, and reveals the diverse forms that slavery and freedom assumed before cotton was the mainstay of the slave economy. You witness the transformation that occurred as the first generations of Creole slaves, free blacks, and indentured whites gave way to the plantation generations, whose exhausting labor was the sole engine of their society and whose physical and linguistic seclusion sustained African traditions on American soil. Berlin demonstrates that the meaning of slavery and of race itself was continually redefined, as the nation moved toward political and economic independence. Berlin argues that despite an inherent power imbalance, slavery was a negotiated relationship between slave and owner. Even in the worst of circumstances, slaves always held a strong card: the threat of rebellion. Through this negotiation, slaves not only carved out an independent social sphere from sundown to sunup, they created their own world under the owners' noses from sunup to sundown as well. Additionally, slavery itself continually changed, and hence the terms of the relationship frequently had to be renegotiated. Slavery was not a static institution, as many historians have portrayed it. Berlin's signal contribution is to drive home that slave life differed from place to place and from time to time. Berlin divides his study by both place and time. He identifies and examines four distinct slave societies in the first 200 years of North American slavery: the North; the Chesapeake Bay area; the coastal low country of South Carolina, Georgia, and eastern Florida; and the lower Mississippi Valley of west Florida and Louisiana. He periodizes slave history and slaves themselves into the charter generations (charter refers to the crown charters of such early colonies as Jamestown and Massachusetts Bay), the plantation generations, and the Revolutionary generations. Berlin also divides his study socio-economically into societies with slaves and slave societies. In the former, slaves, mainly multinational, multilingual Atlantic Creoles, were marginal to the region's central production processes, and slavery was one form of lower labor among many. In slave societies, slavery stood at the very center of economic production, with a domineering and patriarchal master-slave relationship serving as the model for all social relationships, including father and child and husband and wife. Berlin points to the establishment of the

Jon Butler's Becoming America

2005-10-05T15:51:33-04:00

Jon Butler’s Becoming America Book Review Butler's first chapter shows the decline of Indian populations due to disease, the dramatic decline in the proportion of English colonists and the tragedy of the slave trade, and the largest forced human migration in history, which brought more Africans than Europeans to England's mainland colonies from 1700 to 1770. The account of slavery highlights its brutality and stresses that Americans did not inherit but created the modern system of human and legal interrelationships. He contends that the main reason for the expansion and tightening of the slave system was simple: profit. Butler does discuss other factors, including the decline in the availability of indentured servants, the failure of attempts to enslave Indians, and the cultural predispositions of Europeans to perceive Africans as different, disagreeable, and dispensable, ideal candidates for enslavement. His descriptions of the colonies' extraordinary economic growth from 1680 to 1770, the rapid development of domestic and international markets for the agricultural products that were central to all the colonies' economies, the taking of Indian lands, the division of labor that prevailed everywhere and the increasing gap separating the richest from the poorest Americans, especially slaves, are excellent. He judges all colonists accomplices in the slave system and the destruction of Indian cultures. European settlement throughout the colonies ultimately had the effect of enslaving or oppressing Africans and attacking or infecting Indians. He concludes the chapter by pointing out, persuasively, that in these provinces of plenty, the patterns of wealth and poverty demonstrated how the experience of wealth and impoverishment descended not from the land, but from human innovation, I wanted to know the reasons the colonists themselves offered, or the arguments they had with each other, as they tried to justify the cultures they were inventing, but Butler didn’t list them. Butler argues persuasively that America during the late colonial period (1680-1776) rapidly developed a variegated culture that displayed distinctive traits of modern America, among them vigorous religious pluralism, bewildering ethnic diversity, tremendous inequalities of wealth, and a materialistic society with pervasively commercial values. In his chapter on colonial politics Butler outlines the operation of local and imperial administration, the rise of colonial assemblies, and the expansion of the claims to authority of the crown's representatives and the shrinking of their effective power. He challenges other historians' claims about the importance of religion or democracy

William Cronon’s Changes in the Land Review

2005-10-05T15:49:41-04:00

William Cronon’s Changes in the Land Book Review William Cronon sets out to explain why New England habitats changed as they did during the colonial period and how this was all a process of change. His thesis is to portray that the shift from Indian to European dominance in New England entailed important changes in the region’s plant and animal communities. Cronon supports this thesis by providing the reader with contrasts of both the ecosystems and the economies in pre-colonial New England to those at the beginning of the 19th century. From the initial squandering of valuable resources to the ultimate ruin of many areas in New England, the European way of life, including its economy, certainly changed the new land of which it had become a part of. Cronon explains how much the landscape and the environment were radically changed by the arrival of the Europeans. He also argues that the shift from Indian to English domination in New England saw English property systems take control and the dominance of domesticated animals as well. And finally, another argument suggested by Cronon reveals that the Industrial Revolution would transform New England ecology by opening up industries to urban centers and building canals to connect cities. Cronon's argument reveals that the change in New England's landscape and environment was not only brought on by the arrival of the Europeans but also made possible by the active involvement of the Indian people. Cronon introduces the field of environmental history and talks about the evidence he used to put together this book: early travel accounts; colonial town, court, and legislative records; ecological data; and the landscape itself. In addition, he discusses some of the theoretical problems with doing environmental history, which he refers to as ecological history. He makes it clear that he is centrally interested in how Native Americans and Europeans changed the landscape of New England, and how the changes Europeans made forced Native Americans to abandon their earlier ways of interacting with the land. Cronon reveals that the New England landscape during the 1800s was significantly different from what the first Europeans described. He uses Henry David Thoreau as a reference to explain how he also saw changes in the land during the 1800s. Animals which were once indigenous to the land are now very rare due to the domesticated animals of the Europeans.

The Devil in Massachusetts

2005-05-10T04:48:53-04:00

The Devil in Massachusetts: a Modern Enquiry into the Salem Witch Trial Marion L. Starkey Garden City, New York.: Anchor books, 1949 Pp. 1, 311 The Devil in Massachusetts: a Modern Enquiry into the Salem Witch Trial by Marion L. Starkey is an historical narrative of people and events surrounding the Salem Witch Trials. The format of the book is narrative with dialogue from actual trial records. The trial records applied with a modern psychiatric knowledge surrounding the witchcraft hysteria. Starkey recreates the sense of pity and terror that surrounded Salem and the suffering that many endured. The Devil in Massachusetts presents an account of the accusers, accused, prosecutors and defenders surrounding the trials at Salem. The book begins with the theory that two young and very deceiving girls began to explore witchcraft because they thought their lives consisted only of working but they lived like princesses. The girls egg on the Negro slave women of the Parris household to teach them some witchcraft. This was not hard to do since Tituba often babysat the young girls. Tituba introduced the girls to several tricks and spells similar to the voodoo she learned at home in Barbados. Starkey notes that the relation of the children and Tituba based on tradition rather then record. The only Evidence to these accounts is from the court record of the examination (pg.272). When three neighborhood girls hear of Tituba power, they join the two young girls in a witchcraft circle. The neighborhood girls being a bit older than the other two are seeking fortune telling from Tituba since they are unmarried and frowned upon in the puritan society. Everything seems fine until one of the younger girls, Betty leashes out with compulsive attacks and the doctor could not find a physical explanation. A few days later, the other girls begin having these same attacks. When a new doctor examines the girls, he notes that the attacks are from a spell. Starkey states that no detailed accounts of the “afflictions” exist but she bases her information on “early course of similar afflictions of the Goodwin children in Boston,” “an acute analysis made by Putnam of Corwin’s report of Tituba’s examination” and “general characteristics of early phases of hysteria as described by Sigmund Freud’s Selected Papers on Hysteria and other Psychoneuroses (pg. 274).” The book continues by exploring the accused witch’s of Salem that seem to be endless. With instructions

The Devil in Massachusetts

2005-05-10T04:48:34-04:00

The Devil in Massachusetts

2005-05-10T04:47:16-04:00

The Devil in Massachusetts

2005-05-10T04:47:00-04:00

The Devil in Massachusetts

2005-05-10T04:46:50-04:00

monkey, gulliver's travel analysis

2005-04-19T03:39:33-04:00

Physical travel is a very good way in exploring which will eventually lead you to discovering new things and at the end be able to reflect on how certain experiences will make changes in life that could be very helpful in the future. I’ll be referring to Gulliver’s Travels and Candide with this essay to show how their journey affected their lives all and all. I’ll start it off with Jonathan Swift’s, Gulliver’s Travel. Even though I only read the last book, I’ve already heard of this work when I was a kid. It is about an Englishman who takes off to the seas whenever his business fails. Gulliver ends up in 4 islands, namely; Lilliput, where tiny people lived. They were not at all afraid to used violence against Gulliver but overall, they were very hospitable, in a way that they even risked famine just to feed him. Unfortunately he got convicted but later on got pardoned by the king and eventually went back to his family in England. He then sets sail again and ended up in Brobdingnag, also known as the land of the giants. Here, he was discovered by a farmer but in bad luck, he was sold to the queen and became an entertainer. Gulliver’s social life was pretty easy but not enjoyable at all. He was often bothered by the natives, whose mistakes are often magnified by their huge size. Gulliver suffered in this island, like for example, he had difficulty eating because the insects leave slimy trail in his food. There was also a time where in his life was endangered by various forms of animals in the realm. Luckily, his cage was plucked by an eagle and suddenly ended up in the island of Laputa. This island is populated by intellectuals where in he discovered that the research being done there were totally insane. Gulliver was also able to witness the conjuring up of important military leaders, like that of Julius Caesar, which he found less impressive than that of what the he already know from reading the books. Most importantly, he discovered that there’s no way that you would know everything in a lifetime and that there will always be something new that you will learn everyday. And finally, he sets out as captain of a ship, but after the mutiny of his crew, he arrives in an unknown land. This land

monkey, gulliver's travel analysis

2005-04-19T03:38:05-04:00

monkey, gulliver's travel analysis

2005-04-19T03:38:03-04:00

Battle between Husband And Wife

2004-06-19T04:52:33-04:00

Battle between Husband And Wife A Review on the First Part of was D.H.Laawrence¡¯s first major novel.His only major novel,some would say.I have finished reading it during the winter holiday.For I am not quite sure that I understand the novel enough to depict the complicated relationship between Paul and his possesive mother,so I would like to pay attention mainly to the Part One of the novel in this review,especially ¡°the battle between husband and wife ¡±. At the first glance of the book,we find Mr.Morel a coal miner in turn-over-the-century Britain,lives a life of drudgery ,anger and desperation.He takes his frustrations out on his wife Gertrude.But with a deeper look into the internal subtleties of marital relationship.We can see it is both the husband and wife who are suffering and it is the vast differences in the social backgrounds divide them. Walter and Gertrude encountered in a local dance.Let¡¯s discuss the social background of the two involved first.Gertrude grew up in a steady lower-middle-class family with a strong work ethic and pride in its self-sufficiency.She inherited most of his father¡¯s rigid moral and religious beliefs though she also has her mother¡¯s gentle,humerous streak.As a practising Congregationalists of her day,she disapproves of dancing,frivolity and drink,which Walter is a man of action rather than words.They were both attracted by each other¡¯s difference at their first meet.Gertrude was fascinated by Walter who seemed as a mysterious stranger from another planet to her,rough and vigorous.He,in turn,arouses a passion in her----a woman with class ,culture and education.They married and shared a brief happy union.Then follows the ever-lasting battle. The first dispute between them was when Gertrude found that they did not own their house. To her puritanical mind,the debt is not only shameful but sinful.In her eyes,it is a Christian duty to be financially responsible and struggling to improve the social rank of one¡¯s family while such concerns are very far from the mind of the fun-loving Walter.The couple began to battle viciously as Gertrude embarked on an almost religious mission to reform herhusband. Though Lawrence place his sympathy towards Mrs Morel because he truly believed his own mother suffers unjustly at the hands of her crude,unreliable husband.I still hold the view that she is partly blamed for the declining of Morel by expecting him to live up to her ideals rather than accepting him for himself. Mrs Morel runs the house while her husband bring

Overview of Alcoholism: ACA (book critique)

2003-11-12T05:05:42-05:00

Before picking out a book for this assignment, I tried to determine what in my own personal life it is I needed to read up on. Being a recovering alcoholic and also being an adult child of an alcoholic, there were many subject matters that came to mind that I needed to look into. Being an adult child of alcoholic parents, I decided to learn more on this subject. The book I chose to read for this critique was, “Adult Children of Alcoholics”. Reading this book brought back many memories of how it was living in such a chaotic environment. I feel that this is a good book for many children of alcoholics to read. This book gave me insight on many questions that I had regarding my up bringing. At one point, I thought that alcoholism only affected those who are considered lower class families (families who live in the projects), since that is where I was raised. According to this book, there are certain generalizations that recur in one form or another with adult children of alcoholic, I fully agree with this fact. One of them being, adult children of alcoholics usually have to guess at what normal behavior is, because growing up nothing was probably normal in their lives. That is a statement that I can relate to. Growing up, I had to act as if everything was great in my home, when in reality, everything was not fine. My mother was always at work and I had to fill the mother role 1 shoes by taking care of my siblings and my dad, well he was a joke, was always passed out on the couch or on the floor. I may not be a rocket scientist, but I know that was not normal. Growing up into adulthood, it was very difficult for me to determine what was considered the norm and what was not the norm. In chapter 2 in the book “What is happening to you now?” It discusses children growing up into adults. What now? We, adult children of alcoholics, grew up and because of how we were raised, we have no clue on what or how are lives are suppose to be like. This book makes a lot of sense to me, I relate to a lot of what the author

Book Review - Bridget Jones's Diary

2002-11-10T13:00:00-05:00

Calories 1999 (continuing good work) number of times have read Bridget Jones’s Diary – 1 (v.g.) number of times roared with laughter while reading the book – infinite (excellent.) Dear Diary, Have just finished “Bridget Jones’s Diary” – wonderful! Am just pondering what makes this such an excellent novel. Hmm… Have got it! Aha! Ahahahahahahaha! Am marvellous! Am genius! Don’t we think like Bridget every day? Bridget Jones – a typical Londoner, smoker, drinker with a boring dead end office job, living in a pigsty, in a life of calorie-counting, loveless, neurotic worrying. But this sounds like any 30 year old so why has this Helen Fielding novel not only been a best-seller, but one of the most successful films of 2001?… Ooh, I know! (am truly excelling self). Because millions of females have burst into spontaneous applause with the joy of finding a pioneer for the “noughties”. Bridget, and her diary, saving women everywhere from desolate loneliness and (in her own words) “being found two weeks later, half-eaten by an Alsatian.” Those who have read this side-splitting story will have felt for Jones in her ‘difficult’ life, simply because they relate to every aspect of this diary. But how can the average female stand side by side with our heroine when her life is crazy and ours…well, isn’t. But if you get down to the basics, it’s easy. Take family, that group of people you love to bits until, once again, they come out with the wrong thing at the wrong time. Like Mummy Jones, desperately denying that she is no longer twenty-one but in fact has another 34 years added on at least, competes constantly with friend Una Alconbury to be ‘hostess with the mostest’. After returning with a “friend” from a trip with Una, Mrs Jones really has broken Colin Jones’s last nerve. A tender character, he meekly accepts that his wife has found another man, who turns out to be a criminal mastermind who doesn’t speak English. Still, love rules over all, and the Jones’s are thrown back together as “Julio” is hauled away to jail. Something families are terribly good at is fixing your life up the way they would like to have their lives fixed up for them. Yet for once, Bridget finds her mother doing something wonderful for her. Fixing her up with a “super-dooper” job in television i.e. making a total idiot of yourself. Sit up Britain television company isn’t a

Dog Soldiers

2002-06-01T14:00:00-04:00

Dog Soldiers is a story laced with despair, paranoia, and several other not so fuzzy moods, and this quote from the main character elegantly demonstrates this mood. The tone of the book was a point of interest and displeasure for me, since this was one of my first experiences with total negativity, it was a fun struggle for me to understand the point or the necessity of such an angry mood. At the same time it made me very uncomfortable, sometimes to the point where I would have to stop reading for the day. There is a constant stream of action in this story, which makes it rather difficult to process what's going on as it happens. The story rarely drags and it is written so that it feels very real and alive. Slang terms are used often too, which are also hard to understand. But after the first few chapters it seems that most readers are able to get around this and start enjoying the fast paced style in which the book is written. This style also adds to the mood of panic and paranoia that encompass the entire book as Marge, Hicks, and Converse try to flee with their dope. Marge, Hicks, and Converse are the book's three main characters, and as the plot follows first Converse's activities and then moves back and forth between Hicks and Converse, these two main characters develop into very complicated people. Marge's character isn't delved into as much, but it didn't seem to be that she was usually thinking about much besides the next time she could get high. Some of the things Converse and Hicks did or said still baffle me, just like the characters that are a part of my real life. Because all of the characters are so weak and hurt each other with such frequency and carelessness, I found it hard to like them, but I liked the fact that not many stories center on people of such violent natures. I had to read Dog Soldiers for a class, and I'm not sure if I would ever seek out a book of such violent and depressing extremity on my own reading schedule, or even be able to get all the way through it without someone else pushing me along. It was hard to get into the story's angst and intensity, but once I was able to let myself

The Pugilist at Rest

2002-06-01T14:00:00-04:00

Judging from the other reviews, the awards, and multiple accolades Thom Jones's writings, and "The Pugilist at Rest" in particular, have received, I am apparently in quite the minority. But here goes: I found an inherent

The Hobbit - Book Review

2002-04-23T14:00:00-04:00

The story has a wonderful adventurous plot. The plot is that of an adventurous journey by dwarves and their friend, the hobbit, in search of long lost treasure. The plot is suspenseful as the dwarves and the hobbit encounter several obstacles; spiders that catch them, elves that imprison them and goblins that wish to eat them. They win over some of their adversaries; the skinchanging Bear and the people of Elvenking. The story is not limited to the physical journey but also is richer through the emotional journey that the Hobbit encounters. He is a quiet, contented and unassuming Hobbit thrust into an adventure much against his will. He faces fear and death several times to find himself much changed and more courageous and trustworthy that even he ever suspected. The creation of the characters is done by their dialogues and monologues, actions and things noted by the narrator (the author in this case) himself. An example for dialogue: “All the same, I should like it all plain and clear, also I should like to know about risks, out-of-pocket expenses...” (by Bilbo, page 22, it shows that he is not ready to jump into things so quickly). An example for a monologue: “Now is the time for our esteemed Mr. Baggins, who has proved himself...” (by Thorin, page 210, it shows Thorin’s style). A good example for action is when Thorin blocked the Gate in the mountain that shows the reader that the treasure is important to Thorin and he rather die than giving it away. An example for notes by the author: “You are familiar with Thorin’s style on important occasions...” (page 210) the author talks directly to the reader and helps him understand the text. Each character has a physical description. The length and content of the description increase as the character importance to the plot increases (e.g., the hobbit has very long descriptions in the story (especially in the introduction) and the Elvenking has fewer descriptions). The more important characters get an emotional description too, but it is not well seen, but it can be extracted from the text by analyzing it. The main character of the book is Mr. Bilbo Baggins. He is the Hobbit who led the Dwarves to the Lonely Mountain to reclaim their treasure from the dragon named Smaug. Bilbo is middle aged and resides in a clean, warm burrow dug into the side

The Moghul - A general review

2001-12-18T13:00:00-05:00

This tale is offered to the memory of one William Hawkins (1575-1613), a brandy-drinking, Turkish-speaking seaman and adventurer who was the first Englishman to reach the court of Jahangir, the Great Moghul of India. There he delivered gifts from the new East India Company and a letter from King James proposing direct trade, then a zealously protected monopoly of Portugal. As he gradually adopted Indian ways, Hawkins became a court favorite of the Moghul, who made him a knightly Khan and eventually tried to keep him in India. After several Portuguese-instigated attempts to murder him, Hawkins attached himself for safety to a certain willful Indian Woman. The end of their story eventually became a minor legend throughout the early East India Company.

How true the story is

Brian Hawksworth is largely a fictional composite, whose experiences recall in part those of William Hawkins (in India from 1608 to 1613) and in part those of other seventeenth-century European adventurers. His defeat of the four Portuguese galleons was only a slight dramatization of historic victories by severely outnumbered English frigates off Surat in 1612 and 1614 commanded by English captains Thomas Best and Nicholas Downton, both sailing for the early East India Company. Hawksworth’s mercurial relationship with the Moghuland his experiences at the Moghul’s court were recreated in part from the letters and diaries of William Hawkins and those of his successor, Sir Thomas Roe. As did Brian Hawkswarth, William Hawkins adopted the Indian style of life in dress and diet, much to astonishment of his European contemporaries. Brian Hawkswarth’s love affair with Shirin was suggested by William Hawkins’ marriage to an Indian woman of noble descent, possibly a member of the Moghul’s court, on the encouragement of Jahangir, who suspected the Jesuits of attempting to poison him and wanted his food monitored. Hawkins’ wife later journeyed to London, where she caused the East India Company considerable disruption over their responsibilities towards her, and eventually she returned to India. Although most of the early Englishmen in India resembled our George Elkinton far more than they did Brian Haksworth, there was one early traveler, Thomas Coryat, whose cultural and human sensibilities would not have clashed greatly with those of Brian Hawksworth at the end of his story. The sudden appearance of the bubonic plague in India was taken from the court history of the Moghul Jahangir. Similarly, the capture of the Moghul’s trading vessel by the Portuguese,

Message in a Bottle - book review

2001-09-25T14:00:00-04:00

Have you ever read that book that you just ‘can’t put down’? Nicholas Sparks’ Message in a Bottle is definitely on that would be classified as that. This book has adventure, excitement, and most of all a true romantic tale. After watching the movie, many told me the book was even better. I had my doubts, but Sparks delivered everything promised and much more. The book begins as Theresa Osborne, a reporter for the “Boston Times”, finds a glass bottle with a message inside while on her vacation. After reading the message, Theresa was touched and later agrees with her boss to publish it in her column. Many replies were made to her concerning the touching letter. One reply was something that would be intriguing to her... another letter found on the beach, written by the same man. This sparked Theresa to try to find the man who had written these beautiful letters. Yet, Theresa would find more that what she was looking for. One major strength of this book is the characters are so real. Nicholas Sparks does a wonderful job introducing you to the characters and deep down, you feel as if they were one of your own friends. As we learn from the book, Theresa is a dedicated writer with many things going on in her life. Garrett, the one who writes the letters, on the other hand, has such a bold past behind him which he can’t seem to escape. Through the book, you find yourself learning more about the characters than ever thought possible. Another strength is the way Sparks leaves you intrigued the whole way through. This is definitely a page-turner which is hard, if possible, to put down. The end of the chapters leave you hanging and in turn force you to read further, until you can’t possible read anymore. Chapter 4 ends in, “...the plane touched down in Wilmington the following day, Theresa Osborne check into a hotel, wondering where all this would lead.” This is a prime example of a cliff-hanger! One more point about this truly marvelous book is the plot. It flows together so brilliantly. Theresa always seems to be going forward, while Garrett always reminiscing in the past. Garrett remembers through his dreams, pictures, letters, and memories. Garrett is a true romantic, as Theresa believes there is no romance left in this world. Garrett would change her views after a short period

Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences: Review

2001-09-14T14:00:00-04:00

‘Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences’ (Derrida, 1978: 278 –293) may be read as the document of an event, although Derrida actually commences the essay with a reservation regarding the word “event”, as it entails a meaning “which it is precisely the function of structural – or structuralist – thought to reduce or suspect” (278). This, I infer, refers to the emphasis within structuralist discourse on the synchronous analysis of systems and relations within them, as opposed to a diachronic schemata occupied with uncovering genetic and teleological content in the transformations of history. The event which the essay documents is that of a definitive epistemological break with structuralist thought, of the ushering in of post-structuralism as a movement critically engaging with structuralism, but also traditional humanism and empiricism – here it becomes the “structurality of structure” (278) itself which begins to be thought. Immediately however, Derrida notes that he is not presuming to place himself ‘outside’ of the critical circle or totality in order to so criticise. While the function of the centre of the structure is identified as that which reduces the possibility of thinking this structurality of structure, even though “it has always been at work” (278), that is, it has always been an economic and economising factor within Western philosophy limiting the play of the structure – where I understand play to be associated with “uneconomic” deconstructive notions such as supplementarity, the trace, and differánce, Derrida notes that “even today the notion of a structure lacking any center [sic] represents the unthinkable itself” (279). This appears to present a conundrum. For while the centre closes off play, it apparently cannot be done without, at least, it cannot be simply discarded without it re-emerging somewhere else within the totality. The conundrum is in fact a paradox and a coherent contradiction of classical thought, which echoes the Freudian theory of neurotic symptoms where a symbol at once expresses the desire to fulfil and suppress a given impulse (339). Hence, “the contradiction expresses the force of a desire” (279). The centre is, according to Derrida, both within and without the totality – it is an elsewhere (Derrida’s italics) of the totality. It is also a difficult and paradoxical concept to grasp. The notion of a full presence informs metaphysical discourses in movements aiming to uncover origins or to decode, prophesy even, the aims of philosophical and metaphysical

The Speckeld Band - Book Review

2001-02-24T13:00:00-05:00

1. Name of book? The Speckled Band. 2. Author of book? Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. 3. Setting? The story took place in Baker Street London, and in Stoke Moran. April of 1883. 4. Identify the theme of your book? It is about a detective who

Runnin' Down Some Lines: Book Review

2001-02-07T13:00:00-05:00

Deprived of opportunities for advancement in mainstream society, [black ghetto] teenagers elevate their personal style into a philosophy of life. Their exemplars are pimps and gangsters.... Gangs develop to bolster self-identity through psychological control of the streets; hip "threads" and "freaked out" cars also serve as outward signs of inner creativity. Both sexes consider coitus ("doin' the do") a natural and desirable part of adolescence; soft drugs, primarily marijuana ("tea"), also offer a temporary alternative to the harsh reality of ghetto existence. But embracing all of these is the vernacular itself - in its grace, flexibility, and strength it is a valuable tool for "gettin' down," for "blowin' fire," ultimately for staying alive... (Anderson 1981:233-234). Edith A Folb is a white woman who threw herself into the depths of one of America's most notorious ghettos for nearly nine years of fieldwork on the language and culture of African-American teenagers. She left the University of California, Los Angeles in 1964, midway through an increasingly dissatisfying Ph.D. program, to involve herself in a variety of community-based activities in the hopes of determining the future course of her life. After two years of working amongst the predominantly black inhabitants of South Central Los Angeles, Folb returned to school with a better subject of focus for her studies. She had found her calling in the last place most people would think to look; in the heart of the ghetto. "So, in 1967, [she] began the systematic study of black teenage vernacular vocabulary" (Folb 1980:viii). In 1980, Edith A. Folb's first book, runnin' down some lines: the language and culture of black teenagers, was published. The book is based on her extensive first-hand research on the teens of South Central. She spent over eight years operating within the community, interviewing many teens and conversing less formerly with countless others. Folb feels that these youths are representative of an aspect of American society both disregarded and misunderstood by the white majority. She even goes as far as to refer to the ghetto as a "country" of its own within the boundaries of the United States (Folb 1980:2). Her goal is to shed some light on the otherwise dark subject of inner city culture. Folb believes that the manner in which the teens of South Central speak may "tell those who would listen what it means to be young and black and live in a ghetto community" (Folb 1980:4). To open

The Mask of Apollo - Review

2000-11-14T13:00:00-05:00

"The Mask of Apollo" revolves around the adventures of Nikeratos, a young actor who travels the countryside of ancient Greece and Sicily while performing in various plays. In one play, Kadmos by Sophokles the Younger, Nikeratos is required to wear an old mask of Apollo as part of his costume. The mask is fifty years old and is rumored to bring good luck. Nikeratos is impressed with the mask and comes to believe that it possesses special powers. He begins to make reverent gestures toward it as when he places a bay-sprig above it and sprinkles drops of wine on the floor in front of it. During one performance of the play a battle breaks out with a neighboring town. As the actors continue performing, Nikeratos touches the mask for luck and promises to make an offering to Apollo if the god helps him get through the scene. The superstitious townspeople spotting Nikeratos in the mask begin calling on Apollo to help them win the battle. In the end they are successful in their fight. From this point forward Nikeratos carries the mask with him and defers to it when he needs guidance. Accounts of Greek history are dispersed throughout the book with the politics of the ancient Greek world of Syracuse playing a major role in the story. Nikeratos attempts to ignore politics as he sees himself as an actor who is separate from the government scene. Through his travels in various plays however, he finds himself being pulled into the civil turmoil by his relationships with the powerful people of the age including Plato and Dionysios. Dion of Syracuse, a rich and powerful man, befriends Nikeratos and uses him to carry messages between himself and Plato after the ruler Dionysios the Elder dies. This places Nikeratos in the middle of the political turbulence involving Dionysios the Younger and the rule of Syracuse. Faction fights begin which result in Dionysios exiling Dion. Plato is moved into a house in Palace Park where Dionysios can keep a watchful eye on him. Nikeratos is also forced to end his traveling around the country because of the fighting. Plato is later released when the Carthaginians attack and war begins. After several years, peace is declared. This is good news for Nikeratos and other actors because tours can now be scheduled again. This allows Nikeratos to once again travel and interact with the powerful people

Howards End: Book Review

2000-04-26T14:00:00-04:00

Howards End by E. M. Forster deals with the conflict of class distinctions and human relationships. The quintessence of the main theme of this lovely novel is: "Only connect!…Only connect the prose and passion…and human love will be seen at its height. Live in fragments no longer." This excerpt represents the main idea that Forster carries through the book: relationships, not social status, are--or at least should be--the most important thing for people. Howards End was written in 1910. That explains the naivete and idealism that permeate the atmosphere of the novel. Written in the beginning of the twentieth century in England about the beginning of the twentieth century in England it reflects the mood that existed in England at that time. It was a time of prosperity. The industrial revolution that started in the previous century made the British Empire a world power. Everyone had a job and the conditions for the workers significantly improved as compared to the past century. Trade unions that never existed before had just begun to form to protect the rights of the working people, and poor children didn't have to work in mines anymore. A bloody and seemingly meaningless war hadn't yet begun to destroy bodies and devastate souls of people. Generally speaking, the times were good, and the future was viewed in an optimistic way. The atmosphere of the book is filled with romance and hope, even though the author is very far from writing an utopian type of description of English society. In fact, the book is very truthful in the description of class problems of the country. In Howards End Forster talks about two classes and two ideologies that are separated by the thick wall of social prejudices and misunderstandings. The two social groups are represented by the cultured, idealistic Schlegels and the pragmatic, business-oriented Wilcoxes. The Schlegel Sisters, who aren't 'pure' English, but people of German origin, personify Forster's dream about what people's philosophy of life should be. They used to think about the class differences as obstacles that do not allow people to fully understand each other. The hope is that if everybody thinks that way, people will just forget about class differences--that's what Forster's dream is. Margaret and Helen Schlegels partly think this way because being part of minority group in England they have experienced discrimination caused by class prejudices. However, they reject splitting society into different social groups

The Octopus - Review

2000-04-21T14:00:00-04:00

At the turn of the century, American readers were interested only in stories with happy endings, where goodness was praised and evil was punished. They did not particularly care if that was a false interpretation of the way life really was. When men such as Frank Norris, the author of The Octopus, wrote angrily of the injustices and poverty to be found in America, readers turned away. The Octopus made them change their minds. The course of the novel and the reality of its characters held the readers’ attention. It is so powerful a book that people had to care about the wheat growers, almost against their wishes. The impact did not end in the early twentieth century, but continues its legacy into the new millenium. The Octopus, depicts the conflict between farmers and the railroad over land and power in California. The conflict between these two is revealed through the perspectives of several different groups, each viewing it their own way and offering differing ways to solve or overcome this problem. Norris uses this story as an example to show what he feels is the most important ethical dilemma of his time. The Pacific and South West railroad (P. and S.W.) was the cause of the crisis, and as the crisis built up, they saw it as an opportunity to make even more money off of the farmers. The company, in their selfish desire for wealth, continually cheated the farmers, first promising to sell them railroad land at a relatively low price, and then after the farmers greatly improved the land, unreasonably raised the price. In addition rates of transportation, for the farmers to transport their crops away to be sold was also raised. Their solution to the crisis was to keep magnifying it, until it ruined the farmers. Once the railroad raised the price for the land, the farmers could not afford to buy. They proceeded to create “dummy buyers,” fictitious settlers who they created to come in and buy the land. Soon after Delany, a ranch worker was fired, the railroad used him to act as a “dummy buyer” and buy the land. There was no way Delany could actually afforded to buy the land on his own; he was obviously acting as the railroad’s pawn, sent to aggravate the ranchers who leased farms from the railroad. The railroad also tampered with other types of characters in the

Book Review of The Name of the Rose: The Name of the Truth

1999-12-21T13:00:00-05:00

Imagine a medieval Benedictine monastery, with cellarers, herbalists, gardeners, librarians, young novices. One after the other, half a dozen monks are found murdered in the most bizarre ways, and the reader very quickly finds out that the monastery, supposedly a place of piety and tranquility is the place of sin and corruption. William of Baskerville, a learned Franciscan who is sent to solve the mystery finds himself involved in the frightening events inside the abbey. This is the story of "The Name of the Rose" by Umberto Eco. It is the year 1327 when William of Baskerville and his young scribe (Adso of Melk, who narrates the story many years later) arrive at the monastery. The monastery contains the greatest library of Christianity. The monks live "by books and for books" (351), however, only the librarian and his assistant are allowed to enter the stacks in the labyrinth of the library. The reason is that there are thousands of books by pagan, Jewish, Arab authors, and the librarian has the sovereign power to decide whose mind is mature enough to view these "heresies" (340). Naturally, the forbidden library, like heaven, becomes the place that all the monks crave for. Strange intrigues develop among the monks, and suddenly turn to murder. A gifted young illuminator, Adelmo, is killed; the next morning a second monk is found dead, plunged head first into a barrel of pigs' blood. Surprisingly enough, toward the end of the book it turns out that all those horrible crimes were committed for highly ethical reasons. The manuscript that caused the murders is the second part of the ''Poetics'' by Aristotle - the lost book containing his theory of comedy and laughter - has been found in the library and the murderer would do anything to stop the manuscript from being exposed to others. Before they solve the mystery of the murders, the main characters have to encounter many philosophical questions about faith, the truth of the Christian Church, and the many different truths of numerous heresies. Who is right, the heretics who argue against private ownership in the name of Christ who never owned anything, or the Inquisitors of the Christian Church who burn them alive? The questions and controversies are for the reader to answer, or, rather, to consider, because there are no ultimate solutions. The monastery is the place that seems to breed sinister plots while it

The Principles of Machiavelli : a book review of The Prince

1999-11-16T13:00:00-05:00

Machiavelli's views have been misinterpreted since his book was first written, people take him in the wrong way, and are offended by what he says. Careless readers take him in a completely wrong way, such as they think that he believes that the end justifies the means, that a leader should lie to the people, and that a ruler has to rule with force. In actuality, Machiavelli means no such thing, he says that there are times when the common good outweighs the means, and the morality of a rulers actions. He also says that you cannot be loved by everyone, so try to be loved and feared at the same time, but of the two, choose to be feared. The Prince is considered to be one of the most important of nonfiction literature written in the history of mankind. It gave an accurate and truthful description of the method of governing. Machiavelli understands the importance of a military force, and that a country has to be kept in order, even if that means lying to the people to get them to fight against a common foe. In Europe, the church was entangled in politics, and everything else, but Machiavelli suggests a secular state, which would allow the leader to do that which is necessary for the country and for his continued reign, though not necessarily moral. The ends do not justify the means, yet sometimes if the end is necessary for the continuation of a society, then the means do not have to be morally bound. A ruler cannot please everybody all the time, so therefore, he has to be cunning in order to maintain control. There are times when a ruler needs to lie to the populace, in order to reach a goal that is better in some way for the nation. By tying the church to the government, people expected the government to behave morally, but often times, an entirely moral ruler will be overthrown. A ruler cannot show any weakness, or else he will no longer be feared enough to keep him in power, and he will be overthrown. In The Prince, Machiavelli asserts that it is best for a ruler to be both feared and loved, but if he cannot be both, it is much better to be feared. People are unlikely to overthrow a ruler that they fear, because they fear the punishments for failure.

Darkness, Be my Friend - Review

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

Darkness, Be My Friend is the fourth book in John Marsden's series consisting of Tomorrow, When the War Began, In the Dead of the Night and The Third Day, The Frost, in which seven young people are thrown into the middle of a violent war zone. Ellie, Fi, Kevin, Lee, Homer, Robyn and Corrie set out on a camping trip to a remote part of their district. They find their way into a remote basin surrounded by dangerous cliffs and difficult terrain, where they are completely safe and cut off from the rest of the world. When the teenagers return to their homes, they find that all the families in the district were abducted and locked into the show grounds by armed soldiers who are taking over Australia. After finding this, they go on to perform numerous terrorist activities around the district to hamper the enemy's progress. These including blowing up a bridge on a major convoy route, attacking an important bay used for supplies and in Darkness, Be My Friend, the teenagers set out from New Zealand to assist a small group of elite New Zealand soldiers attack the new airbase that has been built in their town. In this book, the New Zealand soldiers disappear without a trace and the teenagers have to attack the airbase themsleves... I think that this book is as much about adventure and survival as it is about emotions, friendships and relationships. The book is written as the diary of the unofficial leader of the group and she speaks a lot about her thoughts, her relationships with the other members of the group and of her emotions about what she was forced to do during the course of the war. "I was determined I wasn't going to get angry, so I ignored that. I didn't blame him in a way. If only I could have understood what was going on in my own mind... but I found that difficult at the best of times." "It was nothing to do with Lee. I still liked him a lot. I'd got over those feelings I'd had ages ago, the negative feelings towards him. So it wasn't that. I thought maybe it had something to do with the boy in New Zealand, whose name I realised with a shock I'd forgotten. It would come back to me, no doubt about that, but for the moment I couldn't think of

Flowers for Algernon - Review

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

The book, "Flowers for Algernon", was an exciting science fiction novel written by . The main characters of the story are the central character, Charlie, who is a mentally retarded individual involved in a remarkable experiment which increased his I.Q., Alice, a teacher at the special education faculty at Beekman College who taught Charlie how to read and write, the professors who performed the experiment on Charlie, Fay, one of Charlie's aquaintances which he meets as the book progresses, and last but not least Algernon. The novel is exciting and contains very original material. The moods which are created in the reader, being me, are ones of sorrow, anger, and guilt. One of the elements of the story which contributes greatly to the mood the reader experiences would be the plot. In the story, Charlie, is subject to an experiment which increases his intelligence in hopes of knowing more in the soul purpose of impressing people to gain friends. Unfortunately some of his anticipations were not met. The main characters in the novel include Charlie, Alice, Algernon, and Fay, a character who did not make much of an appearance, but in my eyes believed, that she played a very important part in Charlie's involvement in trying to sort out his past and figure out his present and future plans. Charlie is a mentally retarded person who has impressing people and gaining friends as one of his top priorities. He then hears of an experiment which could possibly make him smart. He makes himself subject to this human experiment with the hopes of gaining knowledge in a sole purpose of gaining friends. As the book progresses, Charlie goes through dramatic changes mentally, and instead of making him gain friends he actually is looked on in the same way if not worse. For example, at Charlie's old work his "friends" made fun of him and enjoyed his company just because Charlie had amused them. Yet after the operation, Charlie discovers that he had not made his friends like him more, but in actual fact, had pushed them away. Charlie understood now that his friends had done to him in the past, and starts to look down upon them. Alice, Charlie's teacher, is the person who introduced Charlie to the idea of giving the experiment a chance. She believes that Charlie has the determination, desire, and will power to make the experiment work. She then,