Technology Forecasting Essay

Technology Forecasting Essay The various mathematical models being used to carry out forecasts sometimes lead to significant errors. This occurs because the development of new relationships is not taken into account and possible trends changes are considered negligible. A major failure in forecasting arises from the fact that social and political issues are not taken into consideration when forecasting is carried out. It is impossible to predict the future based only on past data. The models that do that are actually excluding qualitative parameters such as the opinion of the individuals. Therefore it is essential to use a different method for dealing with these problems. According to the theory of Godet, the future is not a continuation of the past but an â€Å"outcome of the wishes of various actors and the constraints imposed on them by the environment† (Godet 1982). The configuration of prices within an energy market depends a lot on the balance between the supply and demand for energy. In order to evaluate future energy price scenarios, it is necessary to mention the parameters that affect the supply-demand balance. In 1, some typical parameters are presented. Economic growth refers only to the quantity of goods and services produced. Energy is actually the driving force that moves every economic activity. The economy can be set in motion by specific activities that convert energy from naturally sources (e.g. solar, heat, wind, running water, fossil fuels and chemicals) into forms that will be used to produce goods and services. Eventually, a high economic growth rate implies urgent needs concerning the uninterrupted supply of energy. In response to that, the infrastructure network may choose to readjust the price of energy in order to cover the demand for stable power (Alam 2006). According to Shafiee and Topal (2008), high prices might indicate the threat of a physical scarcity of fossil fuels (e.g. oil, gas). If production cost increases, then producers will try to pass this cost to customers. Eventually, the price of energy will rise. When the population increases steadily and in combination with the desire for better living conditions, the demand for energy will increase too. This leads to the requirement for additional energy production which eventually will increase prices. When an energy market is characterized by the domination of one or at least two or three suppliers, then these companies may take advantage of the surge in demand and increase prices in order to make profits and cover financial losses. Environmental taxation is a tool that can be used to meet environmental and national objectives. In the case of energy production, the pollutant will try to pass this additional cost to the customer. Eventually, the inability of the producer to comply with specific rules concerning the environment, will force the consumers to pay more for the same amount of energy. 2) Among the elements that can influence the procedure of energy price planning, there are some parameters that can be quantified, such as population, economic growth, energy consumption, type of market and greenhouse gas emissions. According to 2, three possible scenarios concerning the evolution of the earths population are presented. By taking as a typical reference point the year 2050, the difference between the final results of the three scenarios is rather large. The current population of earth according to U.S. Census Bureau (2009) is 6,792,134,536 billions. This number compared with the three different results reveals three different change rates. Table 1: (Source: United Nations 2004). Current Population Scenario High Scenario Medium Scenario Low 6.79 billions 10.6 billions 8.9 billions 7.4 billions Change concerning current situation + 56.11% + 31.07% +8.98% Taking into consideration the current population of earth and the three scenarios, someone may conclude that the low scenario is impossible to occur in the future. If something unexpected takes place (e.g. fast spread of a certain virus, war, births control etc.) slight changes may occur and the three scenarios might arise in a different form. Another parameter that can affect the future scenarios of energy pricing is the magnitude of economic growth. Economic growth is often measured through the measurement of gross domestic product (GDP).According to 3, the average annual increase for the period 1981-2008, compared to the GDP of 1980 is 1334.56%. If someone takes into account the projections indicated by the red color, the average increase for the 34 year period is 1773.29%. The PPC S.A. (2009) generates 85% of the countrys electricity and holds 91% of lignite exploitation rights in Greece. Despite the liberalization of the electricity wholesale market which started in 2001, the PPC continues to enjoy a monopoly over access to lignite (EUbusiness 2009). Partially affected by this phenomenon, the price of electricity in Greece started to rise after the so-called liberalization (RIZOSPASTIS 2002; NAFTEMPORIKI 2005; RAE 2007; Media2Day Publishing S.A. 2007; iNews.gr 2009). The emissions of carbon dioxide are a parameter that can introduce an additional cost for every country. This is because the emissions that occur from the consumption of fossil fuels, provided that they are greater than a specific limit, are accompanied by a certain amount of money that will have to be submitted by the pollutant. According to the most recent plan for the emissions rights from 2008 to 2012, the following limits/emissions rights are attributed to the sector of electricity generation (Voutsadakis 2008): Total quantity: 328 million tones of carbon dioxide Electricity generation sector: 230 million tones of carbon dioxide PPC: 220 million tones of carbon dioxide If the structure of the electricity generation sector in Greece remains the same, beginning from 2013, 2.2 billion euros will have to be submitted for purchasing additional emissions rights. This is equal to 35 more euros for every MWh produced. Consequently the price of electricity will increase by approximately 45% compared to the current prices (Voutsadakis 2008). As mentioned in section 1, numerous parameters, some of which can easily be quantified, have to be taken into account in order to form future scenarios concerning the price of energy. Godet in â€Å"La Prospective† (Godet 1982) emphasizes on the lack of a global and qualitative approach concerning the forecasting process. Although quantitative methods are characterized by a high reliability, especially in short term forecasts, in the case of long time periods quantitative methods present many blind spots. This is justified by the fact that in a long time period, the probability for a person to face unexpected events is rather high. For this reason, it is not proper to depend only on mathematical methods to make forecasts. What is needed is a combination of both quantitative and qualitative methods. This is exactly what Godet (1982) proposes in his written work. Price of energy can not be cut off from the existence of phenomena, that even though can not be easily quantified, do affect in a significant level any action related to the energy scheme. For this reason, I totally accept the view of Godet, according to which forecasting apart from numbers should be based partially on assumptions, insight and judgment; each one of these factors depend a lot on the opinion of the individual. Experience curves can make accurate estimates about the evolution of technology cost. This requires the inclusion of the methodology limitations. Once the limitations are taken into account, experience curves can be an effective tool for every private or public firm dealing with technology issues. Experience curves describe the relation between past costs and cumulated production. This way it is possible for someone to estimate future costs through the extrapolation method. An important observation is that in order to obtain reliable experience curves, it is essential to apply the specific method to a wide set of cost-cumulative production numbers. Otherwise, the forecasts will be of low reliability. On the other hand, even when the learning curve is evaluated over a wide range of data, relatively dissimilar fits of the same set of numbers are possible to occur; each one of them is equally justifiable. The conclusion is that the output of a process can be described as the total of a procedure through which experience is gained and one for which no cost reductions occur. The experience gained from individual components explains why experience curves usually bend towards the horizontal axis; this indicates the slowdown of the cost change when a technology matures (Ferioli et al. 2009). The use of experience curves based on a single countrys data might designate many difficulties and uncertainties. When dealing with specific sectors of the energy market (e.g. wind energy) a global industry analysis is more useful; especially when someone is trying to forecast global cost issues related to the energy market (Junginger 2001). As mentioned in the first paragraph of this section, limitations of experience curves have to be taken into account. First of all, lets mention the advantages of this tool (Neij et al. 2003). 1. Experience curves describe how cost declines with cumulative production; the curve emphasizes the need of experience to realize cost reductions. It clearly illustrates that RDD programs cannot stand alone. 2. Experience curves can be used as a support in strategic decisions. 3. Experience curves can be used to analyze the effect of combined policy measures in terms of installed units and cost reductions. 4. Experience curves can be used to investigate the existence of national and international systems through which experience is possible to be obtained. 5. Experience curves can assist many individuals, such as financial analysts, industry, researchers and policy makers, in analyzing and assessing strategies and policy measures. Correspondingly, the limitations of the experience curves are the following (Neij et al. 2003): The success of this method depends on high-quality data. Unfortunately, uncertainty is an element that dominates in the international literature. Constructing trustworthy experience curves requires a basic understanding of the technology in question. In order to avoid misinterpretation during data analysis, specialists should be asked for their opinion before drawing any conclusions from experience curve analysis. Experience curves are a tool that must be combined with other methods of analysis of cost reduction sources. Even when a vast amount of data is available, it is possible to draw just conclusions on an aggregated level. For a detailed analysis, other data and tools are required. Experience curves do not show the effects of individual parameters, but the combined effect of several elements. The analysis of individual parameters requires additional analysis tools. The limitations of the experience curves arise from data availability. Due to their limitations complementary methods should also be taken into account. Experience curves should be considered as a generic tool for energy technology analysis. Technological forecasting is an effective tool in setting technology strategies. A large number of techniques have been evolved for technological forecasting. The quality of forecasts depends on the selected techniques. The selection can affect the accuracy and reliability of the forecast. According to Levary and Han (1995), a good choice of forecasting method should be based on the following factors: * Data availability * Degree of data validity * Number of variables affecting technology development * Degree of similarity between proposed technology and existing technologies According to the international literature, the elements that reduce the efficiency and accuracy of technological forecasting are the following (Mishra et al. 2002): Insufficiencies of Technological Forecasting I. Limitations of Quantitative Techniques  · Adaptability to current rate of technology change is low. * Many degrees of freedom in a rapid changing environment are difficult to address. * Complex mathematical models are difficult to comprehend and practice. * Accuracy, stability and reliability are negatively affected by long-term forecasts. * Lack of adequate past data. II. Limitations of Qualitative Techniques (Exploratory)  · Definition and selection of experts is difficult. * Individual bias enters into subjective assessment methods. * Validity of assumptions in scenario development tends to be uncertain with time. * Social, political and economic factors are usually neglected. * Sharp disruptions in trends and unexpected events are usually avoided. * Forecasts are sometimes carried out by someone who belongs to a specific organization. III. Limitations of Qualitative Techniques (Normative)  · The chosen data may be conveniently selected to fit a particular technology. * Technology at the bottom of the tree may be preconceived. IV. Human Related Problems with Forecasters * Selection of forecasters team is not correct. * There is a tendency to avoid information gathering and scanning prior to forecast. * Some forecasters lack imagination and/or nerve. V. Problems in Selection of Techniques * Monitoring prior to selection is lacking. * Validation of one technique by another is not carried out to reduce subjectivity. * Techniques do not incorporate performance measures. * Failures are not considered during the forecasts. According to the previous issues, the process of forecasting will deliver low reliability results if the limitations are not restricted. In order to improve the accuracy of technological forecasts, one of the issues that need to be addressed is the proper selection of technique. Apart from this, the complexity of technology has to be taken into account as well. Finally, in order to increase the validity of the results of the selected technique, it is recommended to use another technique; this will increase the reliability of the forecast (Mishra et al. 2002). It is generally accepted between forecast researchers that the combination of methods improves forecast accuracy (Mackay and Metcalfe 2002). Experts having access to high quality data and by taking into account the previously mentioned issues are able to make relatively high accuracy forecasts concerning the evolution in the sector of technology. On the other hand, someone may wonder how come people with no expertise in a specific technological sector, have the ability to make, most of the time, an almost accurate forecast about the technological changes that will occur in the future. There are many experiments carried out in various scientific areas that justify the ability of non-experts to make an accurate prediction. A research carried out by Austin Grigg, involved specialists, trainees and people with little to none expertise. The result of the experiment was the negligible difference (in favor of the experts) in the accuracy of the prediction between the specialists and the people with little knowledge (Armstrong 1980). This phenomenon is justified by the fact that people who do not have the necessary experience and tools for a scientific forecast, depend mainly on their insight (including myself) when they are asked to make a prediction. In the third section of this assessment project, the importance of the qualitative parameters was accepted. The most significant part of the qualitative element in a forecasting process is the insight. Its about the ability to predict something, not by depending on mathematical models and numbers, but on the identification of relationships and behaviors within a model, context, or scenario (Reay 2009). Therefore, when an individual is fully aware of the interactions among the qualitative parameters, that affect the evolution of an under-study issue and the issue itself, then a prediction carried out by this individual will have a high reliability degree, concerning the proper use and explanation of the qualitative data. The chosen case study for this section is the California electricity crisis of 2000 and 2001. The deregulation of the electricity market in California was expected to reduce the high retail prices of electricity. The result was exactly the opposite compared to the initial purpose; wholesale prices increased even more, customers experienced interruptions in supply of energy and utilities bankrupted. Among the crisis roots, the following factors are included:  · The absence of additional generating capacity.  · The unexpected dry season and spikes in natural gas prices (California was greatly depended on the operation of hydro plants and natural gas).  · The market infrastructure allowed power generation firms to control wholesale prices in the power exchange market.  · The delay and inability of regulators to predict the crisis and appropriate respond to this phenomenon. In 4.2, someone may observe that power plant outages increased during the crisis period; this affected in a high degree the magnitude of blackouts that customers experienced. The yellow strip bars indicate an average increase of 8759 MW for the months January, March and May of 2001 compared to the corresponding months of 1999 and 2000. According to 7, the dawn of deregulation indicates a rather smooth trend concerning the evolution of wholesale market prices; what was expected to occur had nothing to do with the sharp increase of prices that took place after that period. The increase in retail prices ( 8-2001 to 2003) was not expected, either because the deregulation was expected to establish low prices or because past data indicated that low prices ( 8-red dots) were likely to occur in the years to come. A key point, totally irrelevant to statistical data and concerning the flaws of forecasting techniques applied before the incident of California, will be analyzed in the next lines. When the State and the regulators of California implemented the deregulation system that was successfully adopted first by other countries (Woo et al. 2003), they proceeded in specific changes (e.g. imposition of retail price caps, partial deregulation) without trying to carry out a detailed study about the complex Californian energy scheme. In other words, what might had been successful somewhere else, it was considered as a guaranteed success in the case of California. Additionally, if the adjustment of energy market infrastructure and potential manipulations had been taken into account by examining the validity of alternative scenarios concerning the risk of deregulating the Californian electricity market, certain mechanisms able to respond to a future crisis would have probably been developed. According to the previous comments, it is obvious that forecasting methods that rely exclusively on historical data trends, they ignore the opinion of individuals and do not take into account the conditions that prevail in the environment where the under-analysis phenomenon develops. Thus, any forecasts made are of low validity and reliability. The following table contains the data for the installed nuclear capacity between 1965 and 1985. These data have been highlighted with the green color. Table 2: (Source: Nuclear Energy Agency n.d.). Years Installed Capacity (GW) 1965 5 1970 16 1975 72 1980 136 1985 253 1990 326 1995 345 2000 352 2002 359 2005 368 By using the available data of table 2, the period 1965-1985 will be used as a reference time (instead of 1967-1987). Respectively, predictions will be made for the period 1990-2005. Forecast method: Trend Source: Excel Years Installed Capacity (GW) 1965 5 1970 16 1975 72 1980 136 1985 253 1990 281.20 1995 342.80 2000 404.40 2002 429.04 2005 466.00 Forecast method: Linear extrapolation Source: Excel Years Installed Capacity (GW) 1965 5 1970 16 1975 72 1980 136 1985 253 1990 280.80 1995 342.40 2000 404.00 2002 428.64 2005 465.60 Forecast method: Logarithmic extrapolation Source: Excel Years Installed Capacity (GW) 1965 5 1970 16 1975 72 1980 136 1985 253 1990 282.64 1995 343.67 2000 404.55 2002 428.86 2005 465.28 Forecast method: Polynomial extrapolation Source: Excel Years Installed Capacity (GW) 1965 5 1970 16 1975 72 1980 136 1985 253 1990 ≈ 400 1995 ≈ 590 2000 ≈ 790 2002 ≈ 900 2005 ≈ 1000 It is obvious that among all the extrapolation-forecasting techniques, the one with the lowest divergence from the actual data is the logarithmic extrapolation method followed by the linear technique. On the other hand, none of the used methods was able to give high accuracy forecasts because the nuclear installed capacity evolution was highly affected by the incident of Chernobyl. The various mathematical methods can not express the fear of the scientific community to abandon the development of nuclear sector. According to 9, knowing that the incident of Chernobyl occurred in 1986, it is obvious that the rapid increase in nuclear installed capacity started to decline approximately 4 years (1990) after the incident of Chernobyl. Based on 10 and table 3, someone may conclude that the energy balance in Europe is highly depended on the operation of Gazprom. Table 3: (Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration 2008). Country 2006 % of Domestic NG Consumption Germany 37% Turkey 64% Italy 25% France 20% Czech Republic 79% Poland 47% Hungary 54% Slovakia 100% Austria 74% Finland 100% Romania 28% Bulgaria 96% Greece 82% Serbia Montenegro 87% Croatia 37% Slovenia 64% Switzerland 12% Skopje 100% According to table 3, Greece dependency on Gazproms natural gas is approximately 82%. This share indicates that a potential crisis in natural gas supply could lead to significant problems in sectors such as domestic heating and gas-fired power plants. Greece as a major energy user Greece has insignificant domestic reserves of oil and gas and relies greatly on energy imports. In 2006, the total energy consumption was 1.4 Quadrillion Btu. The distribution of this amount of energy can be located on 11. Although the share of natural in total energy consumption is not very high ( 11), the high dependency degree on Gazprom supply and the decreasing reserves of Greece in natural gas, would result in significant impacts in the energy balance of Greece. Provided that I would be somehow involved in the coordination of the energy planning of my country, I would propose the following measures. 1. Greece already has one natural gas import terminal situated at Revithoussa (DESFA 2007). The supplier is the Algerian company Sonatrach. The first thing that someone would have to do is to estimate the additional quantity that this company could provide to Greece on an annual basis. Then, proceed in reducing the imported natural gas from Gazprom by the same amount. 2. The countries currently facing problems with the natural gas supply from Russia are Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Skopje, Romania and Turkey. Partial supply decreases have also been reported by Austria (90%), Slovakia (70%), the Czech Republic (75%) and Hungary. Another solution to the problem could be the restart of Unit 3 at the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant. Kozloduy-3 was shutdown in December 2006 as part of an agreement with the European Union, which was concerned about inadequate safety levels. However, Bulgarias EU accession treaty apparently allows closed reactors to be temporarily re-started in the event of an acute energy shortage (Resnicoff 2009). 3. Rational use of energy, especially in sectors being supplied by natural gas, would be the last recommendation by my side. 9) The first and the third proposed measure can be characterized as a necessary but conservative approach. The proposed energy policy of Greece towards an energy crisis must ensure the energy security of the country. Taking into consideration the great dependence on energy imports in Greece, the out of the box solutions seems to be enough risky. More precisely, the improvement on the penetration of RES is a conservative and safe solution. Additionally energy efficiency and rational use of energy can be described as an incremental approach too. The out of the box solutions in the proposed response include new natural gas suppliers and improvement on energy storage capacity. The first solution is possible to lead to disturbances between Greece and Russia and the second one might require a large capital invested in various storage methods. Regardless the type of the response (out of the box or conservative-incremental approach) that someone might propose, both approaches have their merits and limitations. The adoption of a conservative approach offers a sense of security. Usually this kind of solutions can be accomplished easily due to the fact that includes measures that have been tested in previous similar situations. Also there are various limitations for this kind of approach. For instance, the increase of RES in Greek fuel mix has the following barriers. The legal framework and the authorization procedure can be described as complex procedures. In many cases this can frustrate many small investors. Another limitation is the inhibitive cost for the interconnection to the grid (mostly for reinforcement or construction of new network lines). Additionally for larger stations (more than _20MW) and in certain areas with very high wind potential there is lack of sufficient High Voltage (HV) system capacity. Due to enviro nmental restrictions and local community protests, expansion of the HV system is in some cases completely blocked. Finally, in the case of wind farms, public acceptability is also an issue in certain cases, basically due to visual impact or other reasons (Hatziargyriou, 2007). The adoption of an out o box solution in the case of an energy crisis might be risky. For this reason, this type of approach could be followed by conservative solutions ensuring that the energy security of the country will remain sufficient in any case. As it is mentioned before, Greece began receiving gas from Azerbaijan and the relative imports will likely increase as the Turkey-Greece interconnector is further utilized. This can be described as an out o box solution that can lead to imbalances between Greece and Russia, reducing the amount of Russian natural gas in Greece. On the other hand, the competition among various natural gas suppliers will have a positive effect on the corresponding energy prices. T o sum up, both approaches have advantages and disadvantages. The selection of an appropriate crisis management scheme is a complicate procedure and requires mature choices taken by veteran politicians. In addition an out o box solution for Greece may be a conservative incremental approach for another country that is an energy exporter or a country that has a stronger economy or better international relationships than Greece. 10) References Alam, S.M. (2006). Economic Growth With Energy [online]. [Accessed 24 December 2009]. Available from: . Armstrong, S.J. (1980). The Seer-Sucker Theory: The Value of Experts in Forecasting [online]. [Accessed 1 January 2010]. Available from: . Cabral, L. (2002). The California energy crisis. Japan and the World Economy [online]. 14(3), [Accessed 5 January 2010], p.335-339. Available from: . California Energy Commission (2009). Utility-wide Weighted Average Retail Electricity Prices [online]. [Accessed 6 January 2010]. Available from: . Consumer Watchdog (2002). How Deregulation Let the Power Industry Steal $71 Billion From California [online]. [Accessed 5 January 2010]. Available from: . DESFA (2007). Liquefied Natural Gas Terminal at Revythousa [online]. [Accessed 7 January 2010]. Available from: . Energy Information Administration (2009). Greece Energy Data, Statistics and Analysis Oil, Gas, Electricity, Coal [online]. [Accessed 7 January 2010]. Available from:

Mark Twain Essay

When to analyze the works of Mark Twain, it becomes clear that the author’s style is simple and direct. Indeed, the author is very successful in convening his thoughts to the reader. Henry Nash Smith, the critique of Mark Twain’s style once made a remark that Mark Twain’s style is â€Å"as close as we are likely to get to the writer’s actual experience †¦ † (Smith 19). Richard Bridgman’s evaluation of Mark Twain’s style is even clearer. The researcher puts it in the following way: â€Å"Mark Twain leads the reader to things again† (Bridgman 79). Furthermore, when to analyze Mark Twain’s style it would be fair to claim that his description of life often takes the form of mediation. This form was very rare among Mark Twain’s contemporaries. In the final outcome this very style of medication largely contributed to formation of Mark Twain’s literary style. In addition, Twain is not only a realist, he is a humorist. It means that besides depicting realistic situation, Mark Twain was quite successful in telling something humoristic. As we can see from the rest of his works, Mark Twain is able to expose â€Å"illusion and pretense and folly† (Duncan 204). Besides, as Duncan has fairly noticed he could â€Å"aid and abet the realistic enterprise† (205). Mark Twain is famous for his humor stories. To make an example, one of his most humorous and noticeable sketches is the Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. Rich vernacular language makes the story sound even more lively and funny. Under the mask of humor the author had skillfully hidden the expression of confrontation which was observed between the East and West. The story is a representation of Twain’s unique style of writing humor stories. Mark Twain is famous for his humor stories. One of the most humorous and noticeable sketches by Mark Twain is the Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. Rich vernacular language makes the story sound even more lively and funny. Under the mask of humor the author had skillfully hidden the expression of confrontation which was observed between the East and West. The conflict is represented through the conversation of narrator, who is Easterner himself and Simon Wheeler, who is Westerner. The very first sentence of the story sets humorous mood, moreover narrator’s suspicion that the person he was looking for was a myth makes an impression that the following story will be unrealistic and humorous. From the first meeting of Simon Wheeler sets the reader at ease by the following description: â€Å"†¦ he was fat and bald headed, and had an expression of winning gentleness and simplicity upon his tranquil countenance† (Price). One of the themes is the author’s critical view on American way to success. Jim Smily is the bright representative of an American who is making money easily by betting on different stuff like â€Å"†¦rat-terriers, and chicken cocks, and tom-cats, and all of them kind of things†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Price). Jim was betting and was winning all the time, as he was very fortunate. However, this easy money proves to be not stable, as he lost the case when he bet on his frog Dan’l. In this, simple from the first sight story, the author criticizes some of the flaws of the clergy and religion. Jim Smily was attending priest before making a bet. Furthermore, the other flaws of American society are wittily criticized by Samuel Clemens in this short story. Thus the dog possessing almost humanly features had his own talents and this metaphor is representing simple people who have their own talents too and who can be successful: â€Å"†¦ good pup, was that Andrew Jackson, and would have made a name for hisself if he’d lived, for the stuff was in him, and he had genius I know it, because he hadn’t had no opportunities to speak of, and it don’t stand to reason that a dog could make such a fight as he could under them circumstances, if he hadn’t no talent† (Price). In this short story, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, the author skillfully criticizes the major flaws of American society. Mark Twain is very realistic in using the words that have a direct relation to human life. The way in which the writer reveals his humor is the technique of using the cross-eyed patterns of concepts. To some extend the use of the concepts reveal Mark Twain’s personal disappointment with the system. The realist implicitly regards words as something that is related to the material value of words. An important feature of realism is that it is predicated on commonsense empiricism. As for human, it is predominately based on philosophical idealism. Paying the most careful attention to Mark Twain’s style, we can see that this author is adhering to both traditions. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and his short story The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County are two great works which give the reader a possibility to look at American society of the nineteenth century. One has a possibility to analyze today’s situation concerning race discrimination and equality of whites and blacks with the situation which existed at the beginning of the nineteenth century in time of slavery. Initially, the discussions of Twain’s style â€Å"have been concerned exclusively with his empirical pursuit† (Duncan 201). As a result, many critiques left aside the issue of the epistemological gap that existed between both the subject and object. The only pint all literary scholars actually agree with is that vernacular style used by Mark Twain is able to bring together both realism and humanism. Mark Twain’s style is predominately focused around the issue of conveying objective reality itself. Additionally, the writer goes so far as to convey his own experience of reality. This technique of writing has been already confirmed by Smith (19). His unique style of writing is able to accomplish many important life goals. However, the main achievement of Mark Twain’s style is its capacity to convey the objective reality. The objective reality that is so skillfully used in all works of Mark Twain often brings the reader face-to-face with objective reality. Jeffrey Duncan, the author of the article â€Å"The empirical and the ideal in Mark Twain† presents the famous writer as a kind of impressionist. Instead of conveying an original experience, Mark Twain decides to connect his original experience with his humor (Duncan 207). Mark Twain’s words are direct path to the real life experience. Moreover, the humor is an inseparable part of all his works. The empirical truth he tells is not conveyed just for its own sake, but for the humoristic effect. As it was discussed above, Huckleberry Finn is the representation of the vernacular style the writer employs to present the problem more sharply. To understand Mark Twain’s style of writing better, let’s take a closer look at one of his novels which is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It is one of the most well-known books of his time. The book by Mark Twain is an example of literary greatness that helped people to change their views on some important issues of those times. The author is a representative of Regionalism as his novel like his many works are written using simple language ordinary people spoke with all the collocations, variations and accents of the South. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the representation of one of the complex and progressive writings of the time when slavery was a controversy and the first issue of American Society of that time. Jim’s character is the representation of all the enslaved blacks of that time and according to the morality and laws of American society he is inferior to Huck, who is representative of white free population of America. Slavery is one of the central issues that are discussed in the book. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn depicts the way in which African Americans were perceived by the outside world. The book itself is often associated with some anger and frustration that was expressed by the author in reference to the black people. At the beginning of the story, the gap between Huck and slave Jim is enormously deep, which Huck has enough power of mind to analyze the existing stereotypes in his society and their wrongness of thinking concerning blacks: â€Å"I knowed he was white inside† (Twain 351). In my opinion the core of the problem is Mark Twain’s depiction of Jim, the black American and the protagonist of the novel. In fact, Huck’s words are negatively perceived by the contemporary critiques, who often regard the book as racist and demeaning in its nature. However, Twain’s approach to slavery issue is motivated by many reasons one of which is stereotypes or as Schmidt put it â€Å"whites’ views of rebellious slaves or postwar freemen arrogantly claiming their rights† (449). I would go so far as to say that Mark Twain showed a real attitude of the white population of the South to the black people. The same thing was accentuated with the analysis of Huck’s character that shows the author’s specific approach to black people. Huck’s approach was typical for a narrow-minded white person who was seeing African Americans as a lower race. Loyalty to Jim can be described as very shaky. It means that everything depends on the situation into which a person is placed. Also Huck cared for Jim who had a strange approach to the reality and the things that took place in the American society. However, in general, Huck was aware of the ways in which he can show his loyalty to the other people. He cared for Jim realizing that Jim is black, thus needed the â€Å"other†, dehumanized approach to his personality. However, Huck really liked this simple man and he could even go to hell, but set Jim free: â€Å"All right, then, I’ll GO to hell† (Twain 417). However, according to Schmidt this decision is ill-conceived. Further more, the author points out that protagonist’s intentions are rather â€Å"illusion that Huck’s moral choice is absolute and self-determined† (Schmidt 455). During the post-Civil War African Americans were still treated as â€Å"slaves† in American society. The release of Jim Crow laws gave many important advantages to black Americans. The review of the current laws shows that the major part of African Americans was freed by Jim Crow law. As for white people, they did not change their attitude to black Americans, and continued to see them as heartless and soulless creatures. Also, there was a tendency to picture blacks as monsters who were deprived of human feelings. Under the circumstances like these African Americans were negatively perceived by the general public, and were even feared by the American society. Also, the release of Jim Crow laws widened the gap between the whites and blacks. The analysis of the book indicates that the society of those times was actually adding problems instead of searching for the solution of these problems. The main peculiarity of the book is the dubious approach to the African American issues. As Huck has actually indicated, African Americans were more than just animals. The above mentioned words indicate on the fact hat Jim’s case was approached from the white man’s perspective. Huck analyses the situation in the following way: â€Å"I tell you gentlemen, a nigger like that is worth a thousand dollar – and kind treatment, too† (Twain 364). The situation itself has a deep meaning. Though disgraceful at the first glance, Huck’s approach to Black issue can be described as rather positive. The novel was written a few years after the slavery had been abolished between 1876 and 1883, whereas the events of the story take place before 1865. Thus Mark Twain was influenced by the changes which followed the Thirteenth Amendment and while writing the story was reflecting on the events of his past. Therefore, the novel has to be read and analyzed in the historical and social context. The views of the author concerning blacks and slavery are the combination of his childhood memories and the conscious rejection of slavery of writer’s adulthood. The time period between the abolishment and the time the story was written is relatively short, therefore actual social changes were slight, as the majority of the plantation owners of the South were strongly against the abolishment trying to prevent freeing slaves or their free workforce. Mark Twain was a progressive man, who knew that all people are equal despite their skin color or race. Therefore, friendship between a white boy Huck and black slave Jim is natural and obvious for the adventures events of the story. The two friends share everything what happens on their way down the Mississippi river and really enjoy each other’s company. To conclude, Mark Twain’s unique style of writing, his realism and very insightful sense of humor of his works is the undeniable evidence of the writer’s talent and hard work. His works have been fascinating literature for more than a century and will continue to be enjoyed by the readers of many future generations. Works Cited Benesch, Klaus & Schmidt, Kerstin (ed. ). Space in America: Theory, History, Culture. Rodopi: Amsterdam, 2005. Bridgeman, J. The Colloquial Style in America. New York: Ox- ford Univ. Press, 1966, p. 79. Duncan Jeffrey L. â€Å"The Empirical and the Ideal in Mark Twain†, PMLA, Vol. 95, No. 2 (Mar. , 1980), pp. 201-212. Smith, Henry Nash. Mark Twain: The Development of a Writer, xii,. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1962. Kaplan, Justin Mr. Clemens and Mark Twain: A Biography (New York: Simon, 1966), p. 197. Price, Angel. â€Å"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County†. Southwestern Humor and Mark Twain. n. d. Web. 25 Jan. 2010. Schmidt, Peter (ed. ). â€Å"Seven Recent Commentaries on Mark Twain†. Studies in the Novel. 34 (2002): 448-460. Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn with Connections. New York: Henry Holt & Company, 2004. Mark Twain Essay ?America: the land of the free and the home of the brave. When people think of America, they either think of fat Whites eating McDonalds or Yanks who love to invade other countries for oil. What people rarely think of when thinking of America, is the great writers that the country has produced. Throughout this year, I have read many great works written by many American writers. Over the course of America’s history, the nation has produced many great novelists. From Benjamin Franklin during the American Revolution era, to F. Scott Fitzgerald during the Roaring Twenties, many great American writers have written wonderful books and poems. When people from other countries think of great writers, they only think about Shakespeare or Homer, who aren’t even American writers. They rarely think about Henry David Thoreau or Ernest Hemmingway because they aren’t well known in foreign countries. These writers are famously known in America but one common question that people ask is, â€Å"Which American author is the greatest? †In my opinion, out of all the American writers, Mark Twain is the greatest and most influential author because of his humor and wonderful novels. Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born on November 30, 1835, nearly thirty years before he took the name Mark Twain, in Florida, Missouri. It is located some 130 miles north-west of St. Louis, and 30 miles away from the Mississippi River. His father, John Marshal Clemens, was from Virginia and was a failed country farmer and lawyer. His mother, Jane Clemens, met his father in Missouri and married him in 1823. His parents had seven children but only Twain, who was the sixth child, and three other siblings survived childhood. His surviving siblings were Orion, Henry, and Pamela Clemens. When Twain was four, his family moved to Hannibal, Missouri, a port town on the Mississippi River that inspired the town of St. Petersburg in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Missouri was still a slave state at the time which caused Twain to become familiar with the institution of slavery. He later explored this theme in his writings. As a child, â€Å"Young Twain reveled in life along the Mississippi, a river busy with steamboat activity and he often traveled in makeshift rafts or cavorted in various swimming holes† (â€Å"Mark Twain Biography† par 4). When Twain was eleven years old, his father died and Twain was forced to cease formal schooling and had to help support his family. He came to work for a newspaper called the â€Å"Hannibal Journal,† a newspaper owned by his brother Orion. With no formal education like many other Americans at the time, he got his education in print shops and newspapers. When he turned eighteen, he left Hannibal for New York and worked as a printer. Twain eventually left New York in order to travel to New Orleans down the Mississippi in a steamboat piloted by Horace E. Bixby, who inspired Twain to become a steamboat captain himself. After being rewarded with his steamboat pilot license, Twain received his pen name, Mark Twain, from â€Å"mark twain,† meaning the river is measured at two fathoms. While Twain was training for his pilot’s license, his younger brother, Henry was killed when the steamboat he was working on exploded. Twain, having foreseen this in a dream one month earlier, joined the â€Å"Society for Psychical Research. † Twain continued working on the Mississippi until 1861 when the American Civil War broke out and river was curtailed or blocked off in order to separate the Confederate States in half. At the start of the war, Twain volunteered briefly in a Confederate local unit before the company was disbanded by Twain and his friends two weeks after joining. In 1861, Twain joined Orion and together, the two brothers traveled west across the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains, visiting a Mormon community in Salt Lake City. Their journey ended in the silver-mining town of Virginia City, Nevada where Twain became an unsuccessful miner. He eventually worked at the â€Å"Territorial Enterprise,† a newspaper in Virginia City. His experiences here gave him material for his 1965 novel, â€Å"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. † Twain then moved to San Francisco, California in 1864 where he was still a journalist and met writers such as Bret Harte and Artemus Ward. His first success was his tall tale â€Å"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County† which brought him national attention. In 1867, Twain toured Europe and the Middle East where he met his future brother-in-law, Charles Langdon. Langdon showed Twain a picture of his sister, Olivia Langdon, in whom Twain immediately claimed to have â€Å"fallen in love at first sight†. Twain eventually married Olivia in Elmira, New York. She came from a â€Å"wealth but liberal family,† and through her he met abolitionists, socialists, and activists for women’s rights such as Frederick Douglas and Harriet Beecher Stowe. The couple moved to Buffalo, New York where they had four children; Langdon, Susy, Clara, and Jean. Twain moved his family to Hartford, Connecticut in 1973 where he eventually wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), The Prince and the Pauper (1881), Life on the Mississippi (1883), and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885). Throughout the later years of Twain’s life, he passed through a period of deep depression largely based on the Death of his daughter Susy in 1896 of meningitis, Olivia’s death in 1904, and Jean’s death on December 24, 1909. In 1909, Twain was quoted saying, â€Å"I came in with Halley’s Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it. It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I don’t go out with Halley’s Comet. The Almighty has said, no doubt: ‘Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together† (Mark Twain Biography par 17). Twains prediction was strangely accurate, he died of a heart attack on April 21, 1910, in Redding Connecticut, one day after Haley’s comet made its closest approach to Earth. Twain is buried in his wife’s family plot at Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira, New York. Mark Twain’s historical background influenced his perspective by making him have a negative view on society slavery. Twain grew up during America’s period of slavery and he witnessed first-hand how cruel people could be to minorities and how little Whites cared for them. An example of this is when Huck says Now I struck an idea, and fetched it out: â€Å"It warn’t the grounding –that didn’t keep us back but a little. We blowed out a cylinderhead. † â€Å"Good gracious! anybody hurt? † â€Å"No’m. Killed a nigger† (Twain 315). These few lines of dialogue say all there is to say about how blacks are viewed at that time by the Whites: that they are â€Å"nobody†, less than human, with lives that are of little or no value to anyone. Twain also felt that the difference between the rich and the poor is unfair because the rich only think about themselves leaving the poor to live their own miserable lives. During Twain’s time, America was practically owned by a hand few of men such as John D. Rockefeller and George Pullman, both wealthy business men who made their money off of cheating their workers by giving them low pay. All the people cared about was making money no matter how they make it. For example, Huck’s father said in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, â€Å"I’ve been in town two days, and O hain’t heard nothing but about you bein’ rich. I heard about it away down the river, too. That’s why I come. You git me that money-tomorrow-I want it,†(Twain 333). Pap is only interested in Huck’s money and was willing to beat Huck, his own son, for the money until he passes out. Once Pap gets the money, he just uses it to go buy alcohol. In these lines, Twain is satirizing how the rich are willing to take money from the poor then use the money on useless possessions. Major social issues of Twain’s time were the issue of slavery and gap between the lower class and the higher class. Twain believed that the Whites were foolish for thinking themselves better then every other race, â€Å"There are many humorous things in this world, among them, the white man’s notion that he is less savage than the other savages† (Mark Twain Biography par 73). This quote provides good historical context in that it shows us how Twain feels about Whites being racist to minorities. He witnessed racism first-hand while growing up in the south. The Whites view other races as savages when in reality, the Whites are the true savages for enslaving a race of people just because they have a different skin color. Mark Twain’s works makes him a realist and a regionalist. Regionalism is when an author implements words and ideas into their work in order to make it sound like the region of the country the story takes place. Realism is when an author writes about life as it currently is. Most of Twain’s works take place in the south and he gives his characters dialogue to match the region in which they came. This is shown when Huck says, â€Å"How is servants treated in England? Do they treat ’em better ‘n we treat our niggers? No! A servant ain’t nobody there. They treat them worse than dogs,†(Twain 345). In these lines, we see Twain using dialogue to show how southerners talk during the time showing his regionalism. These lines are also realist in that they talk about social issues during the time which in this case is slavery and the serf system in England. Mark Twain wrote many great works when he was alive. From the tall tale of the Jumping Frog of Calaveras County to the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain has managed to capture the attention of readers across the country with his amazing works. Out of all of the novels that Twain has written, I would say that there are three that have made the largest impact in America. The first important text that Mark Twain wrote is The Prince and the Pauper. In this work, Twain attempts to inform us about the differences between the upper class and the lower class. The main conflict of the story is about Tom Canty and Prince Edward IV switching roles so that Tom is the prince and the Prince becomes Tom who lives in poverty and their attempts of switching back to their normal lives. The book takes place in England and main plot is about two identical boys , one a prince and one a pauper, switching lives so they can see how the other lives. A few complications are when the real prince gets kicked out of the castle, Tom suddenly becoming King after the previous king dies when Prince Edward was supposed to be king, Prince Edward trying to get back to the castle, Tom’s abusive father beating Tom and Edward, Edward getting arrested, and The Great Seal of England goes missing. The climax of the story is when everybody finds out that Tom is really a pauper and that Edward is the true King. The story resolves with Tom becoming the official ward of the new king of England, King Edward and getting to live in the castle. The most important quote of the novel is said when Edward discovers how bad his citizens live, â€Å"When I am king, they shall not have bread and shelter only, but also teachings out of books; for a full belly is little worth where the mind is starved . . . â€Å"(Twain 154). Edward says these lines because he wants to help out his citizens after discovering how poorly they live. In these lines, Twain is satirizing the wide gap between the rich and the poor in the U. S. Most rich people in the U. S. at the time had no idea that the people living in poverty had terrible living conditions. Twain is also saying that instead of the government just giving us shelter and food, it should also give us education. This text is an important work of Twain’s because it shows the wide gap between the rich and the poor. It is a realist work of literature because it talks about social issues of the time. This text is still relevant today in that there is still a wide gap between the rich and the poor in the U. S. and that the government doesn’t do enough for education because of all the budget cuts and laying off of teachers. The next important text by Mark Twain is The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. In this novel, Twain attempts to entertain us about a boy’s life during the early 1800’s. He also informs us about racism towards Indians during this time. The book is about the childhood adventures of Tom Sawyer. The book takes place the fictional town of St. Louis and the main conflict is Tom trying to find treasure Injun Joe hid while avoiding Joe at the same time. A few complications are when Tom and Becky are lost in the cave, Huck was running from Injun Joe, and Tom trying to avoid Joe in the caves. The climax of the story is when Tom discovers that Injun Joe was in the cave with Tom and Becky while they were lost. The story resolves with Tom and Becky being found, Tom and Huck finding Injun Joe’s treasure, and Injun Joe discovered dead. This text is an important work of Twain’s because it is known as one of the greatest American novels alongside The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This book lead to Huck Finn being written because of its success. The novel is a regionalist work of literature because it uses dialogue from Mississippi. This book shows racism towards Indians when Twain rights, †[They] confessed that they had had almost as satisfactory a time at the funeral as they could have had at the hanging† (Twain 294). In these lines, we see Twain satirizing how a bunch of white people from around the county went see the funeral of an Indian that was a murderer and they treated it like it was a show. This reveals how truly racist the White were if they were willing to travel far to treat the funeral of an Indian as entertainment. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is still relevant today because of the fact that the social issues, such as racism towards minorities, that Twain wrote about still exist today. The book is also still relevant today because people talk about it being the prequel to the greatest American novel of all time: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The last important text by Mark Twain is no doubt The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn because it is considered the greatest American novel written and the most controversial American novel because of the time it uses the word â€Å"nigger. † In this novel, Twain is trying to inform us about racism during the early 1800s. The book is about Huckleberry Finn and Jim, an escaped slave, trying to escape from the people who try and own them. The book takes place in Mississippi and the main conflict is Huck trying to help Jim escape slavery. A few complications are when the Duke and the King tag along with Huck and Finn, Huck’s dad trying to take Huck’s money, Huck and Jim getting separated, and Jim getting recaptured with Huck trying to save him. The climax of the story is when Huck pretends he is Tom Sawyer, and Tom pretends that he is Sid Sawyer,  Tom’s brother. The story resolves with Jim getting his freedom and Huck being finally free from his father after learning that Pap is dead. This text is an important work of Twain’s because it is widely considered to be the greatest American novel ever written. It correctly explains the main social issue of that time and keeps a reader reading until the very end. The most important quote of this book is when Huck decides not to write a letter to Jim’s owners explaining where Jim is and says, â€Å"All right then, I’ll go to hell (Twain 2410). Huck says these lines when Jim gets captured and he has to contemplate whether to tell his owner or help Jim and go to hell. Huck decides to rip and the letter and help Jim even if it means going to Hell. He knows that he is going against the teachings of the church, the teachings of his elders, basically going against the full of society that he has been immersed in. The statement is heartfelt, as Huck sees his betrayal to hold serious consequences. This quote also reflects Twain’s belief in that you should help other people no matter the consequences. This book is still relevant today because the social issues brought up in this book are still around today. Mark Twain is still relevant today in many ways. There are schools, parks, and streets named after him. Recently, there was an article saying that the city of Elmira will put up signs explaining about Twains life. The article says,† A project is under way in Elmira to place signs at three sites to provide historical background and explain their significance in the life of Mark Twain. † In these lines, we still see that Mark Twain is still important today even 100 years after his death. These signs will tell the new generation of people who Mark Twain is and hopefully get them interested enough about him in order to read his novels. I think that Mark Twain is the greatest American writer because of the books that he wrote and the time period that he wrote them. He lived during the time of slavery and wrote his books based on denouncing slavery and racism. The most important thing I learned about Mark Twain is that he was one of the few non-racist Whites in America during that time. He was willing to help minorities which is something most people didn’t do, â€Å"To be good is noble; but to show others how to be good is nobler and no trouble† (Mark Twain Biography par 16). This quote gives us the message that we should help other people in order to truly be a good person. Mark Twain lived by this rule and wrote his books based on it. The main reason why I think Twain is still important today is that he was the father of American literature. His two greatest books, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, are considered by many as the greatest American novels ever written. His books can relate to people who read them because they can find similarities between themselves and Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. The main reason why I think that Mark Twain is the greatest American writer is because his works are about satirizing the common belief at the time that the White man is better than the Black man and any other minorities. His works reflect his belief that minorities should be treated equally. In order for one to be great, one must have the will to help others that aren’t as fortunate as them and treat them the way you want yourself to be treated. Works Cited Finger, Ray. Signs Will Tell Mark Twain’s Story in Elmira. The Star Gazette. 7 May 2013 Web. 1 June 2013 http://www. stargazette. com/apps/pbcs. dll/article? AID=/20130507/NEWS01/305070051/1113/ Twain, Mark. Life on the Mississippi. New York: New American Library. 1961 Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: New American Library. 1979 Twain, Mark. The Prince and the Pauper. New York: New American Library 1979 Mark Twain Biography. The New York Times. Web. 6 June 2013 http://people. brandeis. edu/~teuber/twainbio. html

Do people deserve a second chance Essay

Do people deserve a second chance? The question may be easy to ask, but quite difficult to answer. In life, most people believe that they deserve a second chance. However, there are so many different factors that go into a decision on whether or not to give someone a second chance. In literary work, there are numerous examples of asking and sometimes receiving second chances. It’s usually better if the author has personal experience to draw upon when it comes to the material that they write about. One of the best examples of getting a second chance was Raymond Carver. Having grown in a family with very limited financial resources and a father who was drinking, Raymond Carver was exposed to the unpleasantness at an early age. As he grew older, he started drinking himself. Eventually, the author battled alcoholism and was able to beat it. He was given a second chance in life. The honesty in Carver’s work undeniable; he was able to relate his struggles to his characters lo oking for a second chance, thus making his readers aware of the importance of giving people another chance to improve their lives. A group of writers who formed the â€Å"Dirty Realism Writing School† became popular in 1980’s. They wrote stories on real life and their characters are deep in disappointment and tragedy. Raymond Carver one of the writer’s, who wrote as a master of minimalism, his writing technique creates a sense of uncertainty and he leaves the reader guessing. Carver in his real life was not a minimalist: in fact it was ironic that he was the opposite, he was a walking tragedy, which showed in the â€Å"Cathedral† and â€Å"A Small, Good Thing.† The stories were simple and packed with deep emotional feelings, its gives the reader a true inner look at one self. This article will demonstrate that the author always left it to the readers to draw their own conclusions, his stories are similar to the way Carver lived his own life, having a Second Chance. (Comninos, Raymond Carver: A Writer’s life, 2009, p. 1) One could only desire to look at the stories in â€Å"Beginners† and the ones in â€Å"What We Talk About† to recognize changes: the prose in â€Å"Beginners† to make up a compact collection of narration shattered by a flashed of dialogue; in â€Å"What We converse About† there is so much white space that some of the tales â€Å"After the Denim† look like a story in a mystery novel. In numerous cases, the man who didn’t permit editor to change his own work gutted Carver’s and on this subject Sklenicka voices a fury she is either reluctant or unable to rally on Maryann’s behalf calling Lish’s revising of Carver â€Å"a usurpation.†Ã‚  He enforced his own ideas on Carver’s stories, which Carver was credited was actually Lish’s deal. (Clark, 2013) In his interview with (Simpson, 2013). He spoke about his life and the experiences, he is usually thought of as a writer committed to a basically realist mode. The stories seemed to incorporate elements of authority or fiction. The fiction in his stories appears to reflect on itself and question its own status.. Raymond Carver stories are about historical events and relationships between fiction and the truth, its more truth than fiction. The story â€Å"Put Yourself in my Shoe,† this is from his first volume â€Å"Will You Be Quit Please?† This story is about a writer someone like Carver, a person who was having a tough life, a failure, a drunk. Carver’s wife and two children were fed up with his drinking and couldn’t take it anymore, so when he moved to California his Maryann didn’t go. That was the end of his marriage and the beginning of his second life. Carver’s second chance at life and love came in 1977, he stopped drinking and he turned his life around, he wrote the â€Å"Cathedral† it is said to be the most important short story he wrote. He met his second disease; cancer. Which took his life in 1988? This interview helps me to understand the direct relationship between the story and the writer’s experience. He uses a great degree of experience, mix with imagination. His character comes alive with every word and I could relate to the events and the peopl e in his stories. At his second chance at life, his stories were often called a â€Å"slice of life.† It reveals a glimpse of the man his actual experience and not his imagination. â€Å"What We Talk When We Talk About Love† the story focus on two couples who thinks that they know the meaning of love, but actually they are confused about the true meaning of love. The story is based on the couples drinking gin and the whole conversation makes the character seems human. The more they drunk the more they seems not understand the meaning of love. Love may not have been defined but they understood that it would always be elusive. Carver’s stories are genuine,; it features a good beginning, middle and a conclusion that puts everyone who read the story in to a reality mode. With his former writing Carver could not move beyond the hopelessness of alcoholism. He used alcohol as a means to escape reality and live within his self where there are no problems that need his attention and this shows, in â€Å"Cathedral† the story was written about alcoholism and alienation to a sorrowful self-awareness to become a  reality of hope. â€Å"Cathedral† was about his second chance at life and it contributes to his great success. (Messer, 2012) I believe that Raymond Carver is realism and connected to the people on all levels. When Carver wrote about relationships, the characters connected with his readers. I believed its more than just entertainment, to me it was a blasted of reality. The importance of giving people another chance to improve their lives, is one of the themes that the readers can pick up when looking at his literary work of Raymond Carver. He brought full circle not a narrate of alcoholism and alienation but sobriety and hoped, but the possibility for the a second chance. The â€Å"Cathedral† represents the artistic power and multifaceted undertaking as his most successful and realistic collection of short stories. I believe that the Cathedral† showed his willingness to compromise and get help, a turning point in his life â€Å"second chance†

Trojan War and Troy - 819 Words

HIS 111- Antiquity to 1500 Film Analysis- Troy Troy is an adaption of the poem written by Homer, also known as the Iliad. The screenplay was written by David Benioff and stars Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, Brian Cox, Diane Kruger, and Rose Byrne. It is a brilliant story of love and war produced in 2004. My reason for choosing this film is because of the controversy over what is myth and what is fact regarding the fall of Troy. I find the movie so majestic yet the timeframe of the Iliad was around 1250 B.C. when it doesn’t seem plausible that everything could be so miraculous. The importance of this film is in regards to the city of Troy, the alliances of the Greeks, and the reasoning behind the war in itself. It was made†¦show more content†¦Even the weapons used were inaccurate because soldiers used spears, not swords. The entire city of Troy was also not as big as it was portrayed. It didn’t make sense to me that Troy was burned to the ground when the city was known for being made of stone. Some other things were also off base like the story behind the gods and goddesses as well as the soldiers and kings. If you base it off of the myths of Greek gods and goddesses, much of the turmoil was caused because of their doing. They had a huge part in stirring up much of the war because of their influence. Also, Agamemnon couldn’t have united all of those Greek forces because Alexander the Great was the reason for much of those alliances. The relationship between families and also who-killed-who was also off in this film. Achilles died before the siege of Troy and it was in fact his own son who fought in the final war. Hektor didn’t kill Ajax in battle because Ajax committed suicide when he was denied the armor of Achilles by Greek commanders. Patroklos was not Achilles cousin but rather a friend and was also older. Briseis was neither a priestess nor cousin of Hektor and was not from Troy. Also the huge fight between Kektor and Achilles did not happen like the intense battle we saw. Hektor actually ran from Achilles and circled his own city three times before Athena made him face Achilles. Again, much of what I saw in the film was inaccurate, but the plot behindShow MoreRelatedTroy and Trojan War850 Words   |  3 PagesTroy and Trojan War: Final Topic 2 Helen: What is beauty? Some may say Helen is and was the definition of beauty. Can beauty be born or be simply made by the Gods. Beauty in this epic tale in The Iliad had the power to make any man do anything, Helen being a famous female character in this ancient time made the power of beauty strike. In this period of time walked many strong warriors, many famous warriors. But they all seemed to let Helen has the power. 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The trouble began after the Trojan prince Paris abducted Helen, the wife of Menelaus of Sparta. When Menelaus demanded her return, the Trojans refused. Menelaus then persuaded his brotherRead MoreThe war between the Trojans and the Achaeans, which resulted in the Fall of Troy1084 Words   |  5 PagesA war is a behavior patterned of organized violent conflict, which the causes are extreme aggression, socie tal disruption and high mortality. It involves two or more groups which has found a conflict which may not be resolved, only through war. In all cases, there is always one participant or group which remains successful at the end. Leaders always enter a war with their nation even though they say their actions were defensive; however when viewed objectively, their actions may more closely be dueRead MoreThe Trojan Horse1296 Words   |  6 PagesThe Trojan Horse was the ultimate sneak attack, bringing a city that would withstood nine years of battle to its knees. â€Å"I want to find out whether there was any real history behind that myth and in particular whether there was any real history behind the Trojan Horse,† says Edith Hall. In the epic poem, the Greeks set out for Troy to rescue Queen Helen, whose face â€Å"launched a thousand ships. After Edith had done research in Heinrich Schliemann first archeology dig he came to the conclusion thatRead MoreThe Trojan War : A Ne w History By Barry Strauss936 Words   |  4 PagesHomer stated that the Trojan War was a conflict that was created from the abduction of the queen of Sparta, defying the peace treaty between the Greeks and the Trojans. The Greeks and the Trojans previously fought constantly and finally agreed to cease the violence between the nation’s strongest armies. Although the Greeks were defeated after attempting to invade Troy’s walls with footmen, they defeated Troy during the night with a trick. In the book The Trojan War: A New History by Barry StraussRead MoreTrojan War: Fact or Fiction?1298 Words   |  5 PagesThe war began with a grand wedding between Peleus, the son of Aeacus, and Thetis, the sea-goddess. Eris, the goddess of discord, was not invited to the wedding. Enraged at this, she stormed into the wedding and threw a golden apple of discord on a table. The apple had the inscription â€Å"For the fairest† a quarrel soon arose between three powerful god desses. The three goddesses; Hera, Aphrodite, and Athena all wanted the title of fairest. They wanted to Zeus to be the judge of this contest. NotRead MoreThe Trojan War : A New History With His Narrative1670 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction: Barry Strauss highlights one of the greatest wars fought in all time in his book The Trojan War: A New History with his narrative skill and swiftness in interpreting a good antiquated tale of indignity and deception. The book re-studies Homer’s well-known work, the Iliad, along with the cycle of epic poems, examining evidence of the Bronze Age from the Mediterranean to the Near East. Homer’s description of the Trojan War truly did take place due to the archeological evidence found inRead More In Christa Wolfs Cassandra, the story of the fall of Troy is cleverly944 Words   |  4 Pagesfall of Troy is cleverly retold in a monologue that focuses on patriarchy and war. In Christa Wolfs Cassandra, the story of the fall of Troy is cleverly retold in a monologue that focuses on patriarchy and war. The novel tells the tale of the Trojan War through the eyes of Cassandra, who is the daughter of Priam and prisoner of Agamemnon. While reading the book, the reader must wonder what changes Troy is going through before and after the war. In the months leading up to the war, changesRead More Archaeology and the Trojan War Essay1705 Words   |  7 Pages Archaeology and the Trojan War â€Å"†¦ he [Heinrich Schliemann] found layers of ruins †¦ and two bore unmistakable signs of violent destruction. One of these layers, the seventh according to more recent excavators, was no doubt the city of Priam and Hector. The historicity of the Homeric tale had been demonstrated archaeologically.† - M.I. Finley, the World of Odysseus Introduction The Trojan War and its characters are detailed in the writings of Homer, Vergil, Dante and many others. It is a