Maniac Magee :: essays research papers

Maniac Magee is about a boy who struggled throughout his life. His name was Jeffrey Lionel Magee, sometimes known as Maniac Magee. His parents died in a trolley accident when he was three years old. He is patient, determined, and he really wants to be loved and understood. He spent eight years in bizarre household of his Aunt Dot and Uncle Dan, who hated each other but refused to divorce. They lived in the same house without speaking to each other, using Magee as their go-between. He tried to have them talk to each other but he failed, so in the middle of his school concert Magee screamed: â€Å"Talk to each other†, and then ran away. That was the beginning of his run and search for a real home. He ended up in the town of Two Mills, two hundred miles away from his aunt and uncle. The Jeffrey meats a black girl called Amanda Beale, who introduced him to the town and told him that this town is divided by race into East and West Ends. It is with Amanda and her family that Magee found a home. In Two Mills, he was called â€Å"Maniac Magee† after defeating John McNab, a giant five feet eight twelve year old child, in a baseball game. McNab was a member of the Cobras, a survivalist gang who hates and fear blacks. Magee has a strong sense of jus tice, a thirst for knowledge, and an amazing lack of fear. The only time that he showed fear in the book was when he did not walk out on trolley trestle where his parents were killed, not even to help a frightened little boy. Magee then met a new friend called Earl Grayson, an old man at the zoo. Magee helped Grayson how to read and then he found a home with him at the zoo bandstand.

Premodern Religion

Paul Lambert Hum 251 Professor Horten 9 / 26 / 2012 The Facade of Pre-Modern Religion During the pre-modern age there was perhaps no larger an aspect of everyday life than religion. Today’s day and age is a stark contrast, as religion has for the most part taken a backseat in importance. From the pre-modern age to now, religion has changed completely. Pre-modern religion held political power locally, and all across Europe. Today religion holds a mostly spiritual power for the truly devout.This essay will discover the role and importance that religion played in the pre-modern age, and how it permeated the lives of those living in it. In pre-modern times there wasn’t a diverse society like the one we currently live in. In the pre-modern age everybody had their own role in the community. In this feudal society, there was very little opportunity for advancement. Because of the lack of education at this time people only had a few skills, which they would put to use to make a living. Most people were farmers who worked the land most of their lives to provide food for their village, and family.There were others that had specialty skills, who may have been a blacksmith, or a shoe maker; but what they all had in common was that they were all hard workers, who had hard lives. In a pre-modern village the noble family, or the wealthiest families, would have presided over the village. These nobles would have essentially ruled over the villages and made sure things ran smoothly. About the only chance of becoming something other than a craftsman, or farmer, was to be born into one of these noble families.If you were privileged you could become a knight, but many of these people would become clergy. These clergy were one of the biggest aspects of the pre-modern society. Each village had a church, and that church was the main center of community life. The priests or clergymen were at the center of this as well. The clergy played the role of intermediary to God. Th ese men were also some of the only educated people around, although their education may have been still somewhat limited. In addition to the church, the clergy would have run the monastery.Monasteries were multifaceted facilities where the sick in the community could be cared for, the poor fed, and where monks would have studied, and also made copies of books. Clergy would have been at the head of religious ceremonies, as we saw in â€Å"The Return of Martin Guerre,† where at his marriage the priest performs the actual marriage ceremony; along with blessing of the bride and groom so that they may be fertile and produce many children. The largest role that clergy would have played though would have been as the spiritual leader of the community.One of the biggest differences between religion in pre-modern times and today was the public nature of personal religious faith. Today our own personal religious beliefs are usually kept to yourself, unless you are talking with someone c lose to you, or are having a theological discussion. In pre-modern life everyone was religious, and your religious beliefs were a public matter. At a time when the mass public is so vastly uneducated, the need for counsel with clergy was in high demand.As we read in the book â€Å"Year of Wonders,† the local clergyman, Michael Mompellion, from the beginning of the book, because of his role of clergy, is always being asked for help. In the beginning of the book Anna has to work hard to keep Miss Bradford from bursting into the rectory to seek out the counsel of the Rector, Mompellion. Until the end of the book when we see Mompellion’s true colors show through, he does seem like a very good, level headed, leader for the community.Although his actual holiness may have been more of an act, due to some of his strange actions throughout the book; it seems that the village may not have made it through the plague without his leadership, both spiritual and actual. Michael Mompe llion is the one who first suggests that the village must quarantine themselves to prevent the spread of the plague to other villages. He is the one who stands up to the wealthy Bradford family, warning them of the potential for spreading the plague if they leave the village.In this confrontation Mompellion is shown to have the best interests of not only the village, but others surrounding by stating â€Å"but think of those you are putting at risk†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (110). This is in stark contrast to Colonel Bradford whose family is looked up to in the village doesn’t take the responsibility of staying and setting an example for the rest of them. Colonel Bradford clearly states his main concern, â€Å"The colonel replied coldly. â€Å"I am merely doing what any man of means and sense must do: safeguarding what is mine. †(110).Mompellion is also shown to give tremendous spiritual leadership. Mompellion in his sermon to the village; embraces the plague, as a test from God . He implores the village to view the plague in the same way. Mompellion states that the plague has brought God nearer to the village than ever before, and perhaps as close as he will ever come in all of their lives. Mompellion tests their faith in God here, and even though most of the villagers stay, their behavior afterwards is less than holy. Throughout the book Anna and Elinor Mompellion tend to the needs of the villagers.The two help with births, and when villagers begin to fall ill, they tend to them until death; and Michael Mompellion tends to their spiritual needs. Michael Mompellion is never cast in the holiest of holies light from the beginning. In the first interaction we see him in he tells Miss Bradford to go to hell. Mompellion also takes advantage of vulnerable Anna towards the end of the book after his wife is murdered, and sleeps with her. Mompellion is seen taking advantage of his position in the community; even what relatively small power he does have, which is ve ry small compared to the Catholic Church of the time.The Catholic Church played probably the biggest role in religion in the pre-modern age. At the head of this church was the Pope. In the Catholic Church the Pope acted as a king. Cardinals came second in the hierarchy. The power of the Catholic Church saturated the pre-modern day. Although Europe was still made up of many different countries, the Catholic Church essentially over powered the political will of any one country. The Pope especially had an almost unlimited power both politically and religiously. The role of the Pope was to act as an intermediary to God on earth.This led to the uneducated pre-modern people of the time to blindly follow most if not all commands that came from the Pope. In addition to having the power of a king, the Pope pursued power and wealth as if he were one. Over time the Catholic Church amassed land and wealth. The Pope was anything but holy by taking advantage of his perceived power of intermediary to God. The Catholic Church furthered their power over the pre-modern people by perpetuating a view of God as a brutal enforcer, who dealt out punishment for sin with very little mercy.The church emphasized fearing God. This kept the people obeying the rule of the church, and the Pope. This rule continued for the most part until the reformation. At this time large gothic cathedrals began to be built. These churches were very tall, with thick stone walls, and large stained glass windows. The cathedrals were designed to give the pre-modern people a sense of the presence of God inside, and a sense of the power and majesty of the Catholic Church by the sheer size on the outside.Religion played a major role in the lives of pre-modern people in Europe. For whatever reason it may have been; fear of the Catholic Church, or excommunication, a desire to fit in, or just plain old true belief. I believe it was a little bit of all of those factors. But the role of religion in pre-modern life di d have several key functions for those clergy in power. It allowed them to be an inspiration to the people they overlooked. In the case of Michael Mompellion, he was the one who kept the cool head in the face of impending danger.That religious power was also easy to take advantage of, and led to the search for more wealth, land, and political power. By using the people’s belief that the Pope was really chosen by God as his voice on earth, the Catholic Church was able to hide behind their religious office, and make people think they were doing good, when in fact it was only a facade. Works Cited Vigne, Daniel, dir. Le Retour de Martin Guerre. 1982. Film. 11 Sep 2012. Brooks, Geraldine. Year of Wonders. New York: Viking Penguin, 2001. Print. Horten, Gerd. â€Å"Pre-Modern Age . † Concordia University, Portland. 9/5-14/2012. Lecture.

“Pankration”: Nicasylus changes Throughout the Novel Essay

Throughout the novel Pankration, Nicasylus changes dramatically. Nicasylus was only considerate of himself and was very selfish; by the end of the novel he was kind, caring, unselfish and self-reliant. Nicasylus becomes less selfish through the novel, he faces his fears and learns to fend for himself and not rely on others as much. Throughout Nicasylus journey he becomes less selfish. Nicasylus starts out as a boy living in Athens who can have slaves do his every command. When the plague strikes Nicasylus is sent away on a boat which is attacked by pirates. The pirates held Nicasylus captive and he had his freedom taken away from him It was such a relief to be given the opportunity to clean of that smell that seemed to have permeated his skin. He climbed into the barrel and scrubbed fiercely at his body, while the crew stood about, staring and laughing rudely. Cadmus the Pirate sold Nicasylus as a slave and he was faced with adversity when he had to undertake tasks as a goat herder With no reason to enjoy life as a slave, Nic enjoyed the long haul up the mountain. The conditions were poor and Nicasylus had to learn to cope in the hard conditions and he became more self-relying because of it. Nicasylus had to face his fears both physically and emotional throughout the novel. Nicasylus journey to Pankration in Athens was full of obstacles. Nicasylus had to live in rough conditions being held captive on a pirates boat; he also had to defend himself against a wolf The stone struck the wolf between the eyes. It hit the ground, a landslide of heavy flesh, and the kid, not yet dead, rolled out of its jaws whilst he was as slave working as a goat herder. Nicasylus also had to escape from Amasis who kidnapped him. Nicasylus had to survive throughout many bad conditions by himself and he grew stronger, learning from these experiences. Nicasylus had to learn to fend for himself and be more self-relying. Whilst Nicasylus was sailing the Aegean Sea being held captive on the pirate ship, he had no-one to rely on, this was also the case when Nicasylus was sold as a slave and became a goat-herder The first months went past like a bad dream, Nic had not been brought up to clean, sweep, look after dirty animals or do any of the tasks he was set. Whilst Nicasylus was a goat-herder he had  to fight a wolf and with help from another slave (Tiso) he avoided death. During Nicasylus adventures he couldnt rely on others, he had to learn to be self-sufficient. When someone has other people to do everything for them they dont learn to do anything by themselves. At the start of Pankration Nicasylus was a selfish boy who couldnt do anything himself. Throughout the novel Nicasylus had to fend for himself and face his fears, this made Nicasylus appreciate what he has and made him learn to be more self-reliant. Therefore, this justifies Nicasylus changes dramatically throughout the novel PANKRATION.

Compare and Contrast the Poems September 1913 and Easter 1916 Essay

New Irish Hereford Prime bonus THE 90+ days pre-booking bonus is available from the 1st November 2012. If you will have cattle ready for slaughter from this date they should be booked in from the beginning of August 2012. Heifer & Steer qualifying weight range 220kg – 380kg SEE NEXT PAGE FOR EXAMPLE HEIFERS & STEERS >>> What is the new Irish Hereford Prime bonus worth to you Eg. 580kg HEX Heifer – Grading O+4- @ 51% kill out = 296kg carcase – 15c/kg – Under 300kg carcase Hereford Prime bonus + 6c/kg QA – Earn extra â‚ ¬62 – 20c/kg – Under 300kg carcase & pre-booked 28 days + 6c/kg QA – Earn extra â‚ ¬77 – 25c/kg – Under 300kg carcase & pre-booked 90 days + 6c/kg QA – Earn extra â‚ ¬92 If this animal graded R+ or better it would also get a further 6c/kg Hereford quality bonus and be worth â‚ ¬110 extra in Irish Hereford Prime The new Hereford Prime bonus can be worth up to 31c/kg on this R+ heifer under 300kg carcass Eg. 675kg HEX Steer – Grading R-4- @ 52% kill out = 351kg carcase – 10c/kg – Standard Hereford Prime bonus + 6c/kg QA – Earn extra â‚ ¬56 – 15c/kg – Pre-booking 28 days in advance + 6c/kg QA – Earn extra â‚ ¬74 – 20c/kg – Pre-booking 90 days in advance + 6c/kg QA – Earn extra â‚ ¬91 If this animal graded R+ or better it would also get a further 6c/kg Hereford quality bonus and be worth over â‚ ¬112 extra in Irish Hereford Prime The new Hereford Prime bonus can be worth up to 26c/kg on this R+ steer

Use the first of the prompt 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Use the first of the prompt 1 - Essay Example Furthermore, the essay also intends to differentiate why or why not the liberal approach has made a difference in Rodriguez’s attitudes as compared to Delbanco. It was in this context that the thoughts of Rodriguez were emphasizing a much liberal form of education as compared to Delbanco. As Rodriguez (597) quoted – â€Å"The boy who first entered a classroom barely able to speak in English, twenty years later concluded his studies in the stately quiet of the reading room in the British Museum†. While on the other hand, Delbanco states - â€Å"The educational imperative is clear: A class should be small enough to permit every student to participate in the give-and-take of discussion under the guidance of an informed, skilled, and engaged teacher†. Again, presenting his views in â€Å"Achieving of Desire,† Rodriguez describes few major difficulties faced by students when balancing life in both academic and working class family stages. His critical emphasis was on learning the attitude of stereotypical students, assuming their relation with a particular working class, who are more likely to spend times in books and class notes rather than spending times with family members or friends. For instance, Rodriguez asserts that a stereotypical student, belonging from a working class family background, often finds a new environment of learning to reward him/her with mental calmness. It is in this context that the findings obtained by Rodriguez rationalize that the school environment as completely different from a working class family. He further asserts that in such a home environment, parents have strong influence on students because of the positive environment, which further increases their chances of academic excellence in their educational career (Rodriguez 597-607). On the other hand, Delbanco in â€Å"College at Risk† provides a distinctive definition of education. Delbanco agrees, â€Å"What those statements have in common—and there is truth in both—is an

International Sustainable Tourism Management Essay

International Sustainable Tourism Management - Essay Example In the vast tourism literature, community based tourism is defined in two broad ways. The first description focuses on community involvement with the affected community in the mapping of tourism industry as a land use, and the resultant enlargement of the tourism venture, in an effort to create a lasting relationship between clients and service providers. The second description focuses on development of a community through tourism. The world is ever changing and so are the tourism destinations and markets. The important of tourism monitoring cannot therefore be overemphasized right from the project level to the country level for effective evaluation and managing these changes in tourism. According to Hall (2008), monitoring in community bases tourism helps to alleviate the understanding of the contribution the tourism industry makes in regard to the sustainability objectives of the community as well as the general impacts of tourism on the community. In additions, community monitorin g is vital in an effort of identifying areas in which changes are taking place and where improvements may be needed in the tourism sector. This makes management and monitoring as both interdependent and interrelated under community-based tourism. Due to the fact that tourism is an industry that is highly completive, the projects of community-based tourism ought to keep careful tabs like any other small business on their performance in every aspect. This means that the community should and in fact must have a swift reaction and understanding, that can enable them meet the needs of the customers, manage their internal operations, financial aspects, interpersonal relations as well as their ability to forge better and long term relations with various stakeholders and other external suppliers. Generally, monitoring is a term used to define the process of taking consistent measurements, using indicators to give a better understanding of the trends in performance and the current situation. It is worth mentioning that an indicator on the other hand is a tool used in evaluating and monitoring. The purpose of indicators is to help in simplifying the complex information by measuring and selecting a given element in the study as an indication or a lead to the position of a give issue at hand. Tourism indicators such as expenditure, arrival numbers, and length of stay have for a long time been used in an effort to monitor and evaluate performance of tourist destinations (Mowforth and Munt 2009). Conversely, indicators of sustainable tourism differ from those indicators of conventional tourism in terms of the linkage they create between issues of sustainability and tourism in the community. Community monitoring, therefore, entails a thoughtful piloting and selecting viable indicators, followed by collecting information and proper evaluation of that information for purposes of presenting and working on the outcomes. Although it is quite true that it could take some time to f ormulate a monitoring strategy, successful formulation of such strategy could result to a more effective and responsive to projects of community based tourism for sustainable tourism. There are a number of benefits that are associated with monitoring community-based tourism in relation to sustainable touris

Hospitality Business Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Hospitality Business Development - Essay Example This paper illustrates that since the mid-1960s, Swire Group was running chains of hotels that offered its excellent services. The hotel offers quality services to its large clientele by serving healthy cuisine, offering lodging and conference facilities, as well as an offering outside catering services. In 2013, the total annual revenue for its classical services was in the excess of 1 billion US dollars for their Taiwan, Hong Kong, USA and China branches in. Swire Group is also involved in the logistics and cold storage and is renowned for having the largest refrigerated warehouse in Hong Kong. In both empirical and conceptual studies that involve business strategy, the repercussion of the business environment  is  a critical contingency factor at the hotel. The performance of any environment is pegged on its strategic position. In strategic management literature, one major concern is the manner in which organizations adapt to the strategic environment. This depicts the way in which companies attempt to fit properly within the business environment where they can operate amidst changes that happen in the corporate strategy. According to Wagen and Goonetilleke, strategic business environment leads to strategic analysis. A strategic analysis looks into the industry deeply as well as the organization’s operations that enable the management make successive decisions. Analysis of an organization should take place when carrying out a strategy to acknowledge the factors that influence the profitability of an organization. Analysis can either be external or internal.Additionally, internal and external analysis can be categorized into micro-environmental and macro-environmental.