Outline Template Essay

Writing Prompt: How have these two authors expressed their relationships with nature? After reading and analyzing â€Å"The Calypso Borealis,† an essay by John Muir, and William Wordsworth’s poem, â€Å"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,† write an essay in which you describe how each author views nature and answer the question. Support your discussion with evidence from the text. I. Hook: John Muir and William Wordsworth were both two lonely people who had their love, passion, and connection for nature in common. Nature had brought them an abundance of joy, and took away their loneliness and sad states. A. Bridge: At some point, they had decided to put it down on paper how it affected them. Muir and Wordsworth described how nature’s essence had healed their minds and healed them of their negativity. The essence of nature brought feelings of peace and serenity to their souls, getting rid of the depression that had once been in their minds. B. Thesis: Wordsworth and Muir convey their deep connection and passion for nature by utilizing similes and hyperboles to assert the reader how much nature has affected their life. II. Topic Sentence: As much as John Muir loves to set off on journeys to discover different, unique kinds of plants, this was one of his favorite encounters he’s ever had, and it was also the one that affected him immensely. A. Example, Reason, Detail, or Fact from the text: In the essay, he states that â€Å"this Calypso meeting happened some forty-five years ago, and it was more memorable and impressive than any of my meetings with human beings†. B. Explanation: Even though it was a long time before he wrote the essay, finally coming face to face with the Calypso borealis moved him so much. He felt mesmerized by the plant, and he was overwhelmed with passion and emotion at the sight of it. C. Example, Reason, Detail, or Fact from the text: Muir had also rendered that he had felt â€Å"strong and exhilarated as if  never more to feel any mortal care.† D. Explanation: In other words, he felt like there was nothing that could bring him down. As soon as he saw that plant, he felt as if he could carry the whole world on his shoulders, like nothing could stop him. III. Topic Sentence: Although Muir wasn’t the only one that felt fulfilled by nature, William Wordsworth also felt similar towards nature. He wrote I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud about a specific field of daffodils he walks among that fills him with delight. A. Example, Reason, Detail, or Fact from the text: For instance, Wordsworth uses words with positive connotation like glee, gay, jocund, bliss of solitude, and pleasure throughout the poem. B. Explanation: He tends to use it to describe the positivity and happiness he feels because of the daffodils. C. Example, Reason, Detail, or Fact from the text: Another thing that proves his happiness in the poem is the fact that in the beginning, he said he wandered lonely as a cloud, meaning he was walking about aimlessly as he felt alone. D. Explanation: Then he saw a whole crowd of daffodils, and now whenever he feels numb or empty, he just thinks about the daffodils, and his heart will â€Å"fill with pleasure and dances with the daffodils.† IV. Conclusion: A. You will write a conclusion in a later lesson and do not need to complete this part now.

How and why does order disintegrate on the island? Essay

On the island two leaders are clearly marked out at the start; Jack and Ralph. Jack has a fierce desire to lead and control. From the start of the book he challenges Ralph’s leadership and is obsessed with power. At the start he controls the ‘wearily obedient’ choir with military discipline and at the end he rules his tribe of savages with fear and torture. Jack rejects the democratic processes by which rules and decisions are made, and instead imposes his own desires by force. He overcomes and suppresses the civilised restraints which originally prevented him killing the pig and gives up to his violent and bloodthirsty instincts. We are not informed in the book of Jack’s intelligence, as when he gains power, he makes very primitive solutions to the problems on the island because he has lost all sense of rational thought. He resorts to superstitious practices like leaving an offering for the beast, and uses rituals to keep the tribe together and to hide their emotions. Ralph is dependable and responsible. He is basically kind, with ‘a mildness about his mouth and eyes that proclaimed no devil’. His sensitivity can be seen in the way he deals with Jack’s disappointment at losing the leadership vote by giving him charge of the choir. He hopes the society works in a democratic and civilised way and is shocked when things go wrong. He is intelligent, but he often finds making decisions and thinking things through too much for him, and relies on Piggy to help and prompt him. Ralph takes time to notice just how important Piggy is to him being chief, and he grows to value Piggy’s loyalty and common sense. Ralph shows physical courage, such as when he forces himself to climb the mountain and face the beast. Moral courage is shown when he admits his part in Simon’s murder. He struggles to keep believing that humans are fundamentally good. He can’t understand how a boy like him could experience real hatred: ‘But he’s, he’s Jack Merridew!’ In the end he recognises the real evil inside humans; ‘the darkness of a man’s heart’. Ralph represents the values of civilisation and democratic rule, which are eventually defeated by the evil contained within society. However, the two similarities the boys possess are that they are both stronger and a lot bigger than the others, which is the most important reason for them being marked out as obvious leaders at the first meeting. Ralph wins the vote for chief because of his; ‘attractive appearance; and most obscurely, yet most powerfully, there was the conch.’- even before the boys really know each other they already seem to respect the conch as it unites them in what seems like a orderly meeting with the sound it makes. Because of this it is seen as the tool that creates and resembles civilisation throughout the book Each of them is a leader, but the leadership each shows is based on different principles. Ralph’s liberal style of leadership takes notice of other peoples opinions. He feels the responsibility of his position and also feels its burdens. Jack’s style of leadership is based on domination and fear. He imposes his will on others with no regard for their needs or feelings. He wields power without responsibility, and enjoys having power over other beings, animal or human. The things he cannot dominate he tries to destroy, which is why he hunts Ralph at the end of the book. Jack hides his identity behind his mask and the anonymous title of ‘chief’. Jack uses these things to protect himself from remembering the civilised world, enabling him to perform savage acts with no remorse, which makes him a very strong leader, even if he is unjust and selfish. One of the main symbols of leadership on the island is the conch. This creamy shell that can be blown like a horn represents the democratic system of leadership on the island, as it is Ralph’s tool for organising meetings and controlling the boys. The conch also represents the paternalistic rà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½gime of adult authority that cares for everyone. Throughout the book the reader and the characters identify Piggy with this ideology due to his intelligence and his total faith in democracy. As respect for the conch fades, a sense of order also fades. This continues until the conch is smashed, ending order and civilisation on the island. The evil that is inside human beings is personified in the beast. Many people don’t want look inside themselves and don’t want to recognise this aspect of their nature. They look for something in their surroundings to be the cause or its embodiment. This happens on the island – the boys have lost all sense of home and security, which begins to provoke nightmares. One of the littluns resorts to muttering his name and address as a means of remembering the civilised world – in doing so grasping for security – ‘Percival Wemys Madison, The Vicarage, Harcourt Street†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢.They then begin to think the branches are snakes, which develops into a beast, which rapidly changes form in the boys’ imaginations. When the dead pilot lands on the mountain top this becomes the focal point of their fear. Jack takes advantage of the fear this causes by promising to protect them from the beast, which, once it takes a physical form, leaves no doubts in the minds of the majority of the boys – which makes Jack very powerful and he becomes the new leader on the island. Once Jack is given this authority, he extends his power over his ‘tribe’ by making them fearful and in awe of him as well as the beast. He does this by concealing his civilised identity with a mask of clay paint, changing his name so he is known only as chief, ordering his tribe to perform rituals; ‘ ‘Go on!’ The two savages looked at each other, raised their spears and spoke in time. ‘The Chief has spoken.’ ‘. And making them dance to celebrate the savage act of killing a pig. As order disintegrates on the island, the boys descend to savagery. This is best illustrated by the choir. They begin the novel in smart uniforms promoting their group identity. They then become hunters, and begin to enjoy killing the pigs. Jack then releases his savage instincts by making his mask, and they all follow suit, degenerating into a tribe of savage killers. Every time the group kills, it becomes more of a ritual and less of an actual hunt for food. This continues throughout the novel until the final hunt – which is the hunt for Ralph. This is made even more disturbing when Golding makes Roger sharpen a stick ‘at both ends’. We cannot be sure whether they intend to cut Ralph’s head off and put it on one end of the stick with the other end in the ground, or whether they intend to thrust the stick through his body and cook him over a fire. Either way, this shows just how much the boys have changed – there is no element of civilisation left and the descent to savagery is complete. Order is destroyed on the island because of the natural savagery that is inside human beings. The reader presumes that more prominent figures like Jack and Roger are ‘evil’, but all they are doing is giving in to their instincts. The only reason why Piggy and Ralph can remain civilised is by battling with their instincts, a battle that they lose at times in the book, such as at the time of Simons death. All the boys needed for their instincts take over was an escape from the influences of civilisation. I think Golding is trying to convey how weak civilisation is, as well as showing that all humans have the potential for savage behaviour. The island is a microcosm of the outside world – when the boys set fire to the island at the end, the adults are also setting fire to their world with the atom bomb. Golding has been quoted as saying that ‘anyone who lived through the Second World War and didn’t believe that men produced evil just as bees produced honey must be ignorant or mad’ – he very successfully uses the book as his argument.

Company Financial Analysis Essay

Emirates Computers Name: Instructor: Task: Date: Calculate the three (3) liquidity, five (5) financial leverage, six (6) turnover and four (4) profitability ratios for all the years as per example 3. 5 in the PowerPoint presentations. Liquidity; Current ratio=current assets/current liabilities 2010:29021/19483=1. 49 2011:24245/18960=1. 28 Quick ratio= (current assets- inventories)/current liabilities 2010: (29021-1301)/19483=1. 42 2011: (24245-1051)/18960=1. 22 Cash ratio=cash/current liabilities 2010:13913/19483=0. 71 2011:10635/18960=0. 6 Financial leverage; Total debt ratio= (total assets-total equity)/total assets 2010: (29021-7766)/29021=0. 73 2011: (24245-5641)/24245=0. 77 Debt equity ratio=total debt/total equity 2010: 30833/7766=3. 97 2011: 28011/5641=4. 97 Equity multiplier=total assets/total equity 2010:29021/7766=3. 74 2011:24245/5641=4. 29 Turnover; Inventory turnover=cost of goods sold/inventory 2010:49128/1301=37. 76 2011:42789/1051=40. 71 Days sales inventory=365/inven tory 2010:365/1301=0. 28 2011:365/1051=0. 35 Receivables turnover=sales/account receivables 010:61494/10136=6. 07 2011:52902/8543=6. 19 Days sales in receivables=365/receivables turn over 2010:365/10136=0. 04 2011:365/8543=0. 04 Total assets turn over=sales/total assets 2010:61494/38599=1. 59 2011:52902/33652=1. 57 Capital intensity=total assets/ sales 2010:38599/61494=0. 63 2011:33562/52902=0. 63 Profitability ratios; Profit margin=net income/sales 2010:2635/61494=0. 04 2011:1433/52902=0. 09 Return on assets=net income/total assets 2010:2635/38599=0. 31 2011:1433/33652=0. 04 Return on equity=net income/total equity 2010:2635/7766=0. 4 2011:1433/5641=0. 25 Emirates Computer products and services bring revenue from its sales. Revenues from January 2010 to January 2011 were about 16% that is an increase from the previous years. This was mainly because of the recovery in the economy. A company’s economic health is critical because the products it sells are not primary products a nd therefore people prefer buying food than spending money to acquire a computer. This explains the reasons to why there was a decline in revenue for the year 2009, which was about 13. % drop in comparison to the previous years. 2010 has reported an increase and this is due to a change in the strategies involved in the business. The revenue stream of the company has changed due to the solution and services that Emirates Computers has put in place. The service revenue has shown a tremendous increase over the years. There has been a gradual appreciation from 14. 3% of revenue in January to about 18. 7%of revenue in January 2011. There has been a profitable growth of 25% in 2010 and a growth of about 5% in the year 2009.The percentage of revenue for the past three year has been due to cost of goods and services, which has shown a relative growth. Expenses like selling and administrative expenses and other expenses have been constant for over three years. There was an increase on intang ible assets in addition to other costs. This is because of an increase on intangible assets from the Perot systems in 2010. The increase in facility action costs and severance was because of closure of some facilities that manufacturers used in addition to using contract manufactures to provide cheaper services.The company has shown increase in values because of its stability in percentage revenues because the company has good management, which understands the business, and controls their costs. The company is well informed, they understand every detail that may challenge it operation, and therefore they never encounter surprises that may negatively influence them. The company has registered an excellent net income in the year 2011 which showed an increase of over 80% from the years before. Return on assets is 2. 5 % and profit margin is 1. 6%, which come because of the increase in net income.Additionally the growth in the company has been because of higher revenues and a good cost control. The change in the company’s way of operation has led to the increase in net income. The services of operation of this company have increased as compared to the cost of manufacturing the product. The acquisition of the Perot systems led to the decrease in net income to 42. 2 % in 2010. Health wise the company has shown progress and therefore Emirates Computers has plans to keep expanding its services to a higher level, which will eventually help the company (Peterson & Fabozzi, 2012).There has been an increase on the current assets as compared to previous year from 72% to 75% in the year 2011. The company has recognized all highly liquid investments such as credit cards from banks with a three month original maturities. These because there was increase in cash provided by operations while a decrease in cash in investing activities. The decrease in cash in investing activities is mainly because of lack of material they are important for acquisitions in 2011 as compared to 2010. Generally, the company has portrayed a good fiscal year and their good health.It indicates an improvement in the ability to generate profits and income. The company has shown efficiency and effectiveness in because all the three Profitability ratios that involve profit margin, return on assets and return on equity. The company has a qualified auditor who analyses the financial statement of accounts of the company. Although at one point, the auditor gave an unqualified opinion concerning its financial statements. This is evident when analyzing the property plant equipment account, which is not very heavy in the balance sheet. The only representation is only 5. 1% assets own by Emirates Computers.Another aspect that the company has shown strength in is its Liquidity. The company current assets increased while its current liabilities and the current ratio and quick ration showed an increase from 1. 2% and 1. 22% in 2010 to 1. 49% and 1. 42%. Current liabilities on a dollar re mained stable. Nevertheless, the increase in total assets, led to the decrease in current liabilities to 5. 8 %. All changes made Emirates Computers to be liquid and this gave it a boost and an advantage thus indicating good health. The company’s equity of stakeholders increased to about 2 billion dollars (Fridson & Alvarez, 2011).This is because of the increase as are suit of earnings retained. In the year 2010 – 2011 return on equity (ROE) rose from 28. 8% to 39. 3% in 2011 while net income increased greater the stakeholders equity. Therefore, Emirates Computers makes profit with the stock price variation because it does not pay dividends (Tracy, 2009). Conclusively, the purpose of Emirates Computers Company is mainly to offset gains and losses that resulted from their exposure on contract. This reduces volatility of the earnings in addition to protecting the values of assets and liabilities.Emirates Computers carries out assessments in order to ensure effectiveness both at the beginning of hedge and at regular intervals in order to pinpoint out any ineffectiveness that might occur. Reference Peterson, P. P. , & Fabozzi, F. J. (2012). Analysis of Financial Statements. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. Tracy, J. A. (2009). How to read a financial report: Wringing vital signs out of the numbers. Hoboken, N. J: John Wiley & Sons. Fridson, M. S. , & Alvarez, F. (2011). Financial statement analysis: A practitioner's guide. Hoboken, N. J: Wiley.

Philosophy inquiry- A mini-version of a possible chapter 3 of a Assignment

Philosophy inquiry- A mini-version of a possible chapter 3 of a dissertation proposal - Assignment Example Aristotle refuses to imitate a theory that has been formulated without empirical estimation of regular and in-depth observation of the universal facts and realities (Thomas & Thomas, 1960). Turner opin...... The same is applied to social exchange theory, cognitive development perspective, deviance theories and others. The studies demonstrate various models and paradigms observed and followed by the researchers while developing an outline for conducting a qualitative research. Guba (1990) argues that a paradigm serves as an interpretative framework, which is guided by the set of beliefs and feelings about the world and how it should be understood and studied. In other words, a research paradigm determines and decides the epistemology, ontology and methodology to be applied on the basis of the topic selected for conducting the research work. Epistemology stands for describing the source of knowledge, which includes what is known, and what is going to be explored. The term epistemology has been derived from the Greek notion episteme, which stands for the philosophy of knowledge (Gall, Borg, & Gall, 1996). In simple words, epistemology aims to explore the source and origin of some specific k nowledge or information. Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that studies the nature of knowledge and the process by which knowledge is acquired and validated Epistemology poses the questions including: What is the relationship between the knower and what is known? How do we know what we know? What counts as knowledge? (Krauss, 2005:759). On the other hand, ontology is determined to unveil the realities of the concepts involved in the study. It also discovers the reality about the topic as well as the units of analysis selected for the research. For instance, while discovering the relationship between domestic violence and children’s alienation towards

Puppies, Pigs, and People eating meat and marginal cases Essay

Puppies, Pigs, and People eating meat and marginal cases - Essay Example In his creative and provocative paper Norcross contends that there is no need for humans to continue consuming factory-farmed meat. He starts his article by giving an example of the fictional Fred and the quest for a chemical that will allow him to have the gustatory experience, akin to that of tasting chocolate. Unfortunately, Cocoamone can only be retrieved from the brain of an abused puppy following prolonged torture and an excruciating death. Just as one would condemn an individual who carries out this sort of treatment on puppies, so we should also condemn those who derive gustatory pleasure from the consumption of factory-farmed animals. The author gives some differences between Fred and an average consumer of meat, as well as possible defenses that one could use to justify their meat eating habits as being different to Fred’s fetish. He follows each of this method of reasoning with an objection. The first difference that he brings along has to do with the fact that Fre d does the torturing himself while a majority of Americans consume meat from creatures tortured by others. His second difference is that most consumers are not aware of the treatment meted out on these animals before they get to the supermarket. His first defense of the carnivore is that even if the individual did not consume or buy the factory-farmed meat, the animals would not be spared a life of cruelty. Agri-business is a vast market and changes to the eating habits of one individual cannot cause much of a difference. This Norcross refers to as causal impotence; the belief that refraining from meat consumption does not alter the amount of suffering the animal experiences. He objects vehemently to this defense by offering an example of a chocolate mousse that has Cocoamone. Norcross argues that once a person is informed on the methods of attaining Cocoamone, a morally upright person would then not order for the mousse. Consequently, this should be similar for a morally upright pe rson who is given information on the methods used to obtain factory-farmed meat. His second response is that while there is a tiny chance that one’s behavior is harmful, the harm that is risked is even extra harmful. A chance of one in a thousand to save two hundred and fifty chickens is the same as, the certainty of saving twenty-five chickens a year by a person electing not to consume chicken. Norcross continues to show an even more disturbing scenario where there is no change in breeding in the factories until ten thousand people turn to vegetarians. The faster the threshold is attained, the sooner the difference will be made; therefore, an individual’s behavior does result in a difference. The point of this fictional story is meant to raise a pertinent question; is Fred’s behavior really that different in a moral sense from the behavior of millions who buy and eat factory-sourced meat? Norcross does not think so and rejects various ways that could be used to distinguish the two. Relevant differences include the following: for any individual, who consumes factory-sourced m

Computer Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Computer Security - Essay Example In this element bidders can use the early stages to their advantage, since the prices then are low, to decide amongst themselves who should win which objects and then agree to stop pushing up prices. To overcome this weakness there is a need for a stronger auction design. Ozment addresses this issue of collusion, pointed out by Klemperer, by categorizing them into two major areas of concern in the vulnerability market. The first being employee-tester collusion, which comprises of the possibility that a competitor to pay an engineer to insert a backdoor into the program and hence increase its vulnerability. The second being tester-tester collusion, in which testers could agree not to submit reports until the price works in their favor. Having acknowledged these problems Ozment also proposes certain solutions to mould auction design to minimize the occurrence of collusion. By not making public the number of testers a limit can be imposed on their ability to collude and control the auct ion. It can further prevent colluding groups to form and then identify and punish a opposing member through retaliatory bidding. Also by having testers register in advance with a third party the auction provides incentives, in shape of reduced registration charges, for individuals who are actively planning to test the product and claim the reward. This reducing chances of employee-tester collusion. ... The issue of entry deterrence eventually leads to, the third main issue, predatory behavior as some bidder’s receive a modest advantage over the others. Ozment proposes the incorporation of an initial value of the reward in the auction to be of a high level to combat this issue. This creates an incentive to kick start the first few auctions in the series by bringing in a large number of testers. Furthermore it lowers the entry costs for participants in future actions in the sequence. Another solution proposed is by incorporating a reputation reward along with the monetary reward will increase participation of the bidders as well as effectively discourage predatory behavior. Some other factors such as reserve prices, political problems, loopholes, credibility of rules and market structure are also mentioned by Klemperer. However Ozment proposes structural suggestions to strengthen auction design by inserting stronger elements of cultural, legal and managerial tools during the s equence of the auction. Looking at all the above mentioned details it is effective to conclude that it is possible to design an auction as mentioned by Ozment while keeping in mind the factors mentioned by Klemperer. Despite undertaking a development of an auction design keeping in mind the strong enhancements suggested to strengthen it by Ozment, there are still a lot of perverse incentives that might be created. If we look at the fact that the key barriers to auction design are collusion, entry deterrence and a general buyer market power it can lead to the conclusion that design may not matter very much when the entry for a big number of potential bidders is made easy. This can be viewed by looking at the example of government security sales in which

The Effects of Violence Video Games on Children Behavior Essay

The Effects of Violence Video Games on Children Behavior - Essay Example The increased involvement of the people in the playing of video games has portrayed the negative effects that they can lead to. This is particularly true of violent video games as there has been a strong association between the playing of violent video games and increase in crime amongst youths. It has been analyzed that the playing of violent video games has resulted in many criminal acts which include robberies as well as murders. This paper will serve to explain the history of these violent video games and their strong association with acts of crime that have taken place owing to the negative impact of these violent video games. There has been a great rise in the popularity of video games and the number of people playing these games has widely increased. It is believed that children of the age group from 8 to 18 years in the United States have an exposure of 40 hours out of seven days to different forms of media. There has been a sharp increase in the exposure to video games by th e children and the teenagers. It has been analyzed that children even as young as two years play video games on an average of one hour every day. In the age group of 8 to 13 year old boys, it has been seen that they tend to play video games for more than approximately 7.5 hours in a single week. Another very important aspect that has been highlighted is that a research among teenagers explained the fact that the games that they purchased were not reviewed and analyzed by their parents and hence there is no check on the nature of the video games that are played by these children (Anderson et al 2001). It has been found out that 75 percent of the teenagers actually purchase and play video games that are meant for adults and these games have very high content of violence and negativities portrayed in them (Adams, 2010). The extent of the violence exposure has been explained by the statistics in a study which shows that in the United States, the young generation is exposed to 40,000 kil lings by some form of media by the time they acquire the age of 18 years (Anderson 2005). The history of video games dates to the years following 1970. But the video game that became a matter of debate was the game which was named "Death Race 2000". This game was based upon a car which was to be driven over bodies that were made of sticks. The game did not have good graphics but still the violent theme of the game sparked many debates. The last decade of the twentieth century came with many new games which were far more violent than the Death Race. These games included Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Wolfenstein 3D and Night Trap. All these games were based on violent themes. The Mortal Kombat was particularly a game which received much attention and became the favorite of young children. It was based solely on killing the opponents. This led to major controversies and the matter became a national issue. The matter also reached the Senate and a prominent member from the Senate Joe Li eberman presented the idea that restrictions should be imposed on video games. Night Trap was removed voluntarily by the shop owners following these issues and the video game industry also became aware that such games could result in blows to their industry. Thus, the video game industry formed a body which is termed as Entertainment Software Rating Board in the year 1994 to check on the violent and sexual material of the

Critically analyse the competing views articulated by Essay

Critically analyse the competing views articulated by capital-exporting countries and capital-importing countries in relation to the nature of compensation for the expropriation of foreign property - Essay Example and other countries. Similarly, Mexico nationalised all American interests in 1938 and refused to pay compensation to the property owners. Their stand, as capital importing countries was that when they initiated economic and social reforms both the nationals and foreign entities suffered or enjoyed equally and hence, there was no question of compensation especially when they had no sources or means or capacity to compensate the parties. On the other hand, capital exporting countries insisted that they were entitled to minimum standard of treatment which should not be just equal to the treatment given to the nationals. Many equitable principles have evolved in the process each of which has been fairly argued for and against. The capital importing countries held the view that when foreign entities enter into their states they are supposed to merge their destiny along with nationals and work together for the country’s betterment and therefore cannot expect any better treatment th an available to nationals. All these controversies had been due to absence of settled international law prior to world war period and during the immediate post war period. As a solution to the much vexed issue, bilateral and multilateral treaties have come to stay as contracts with legal binding to address similar situations during their operating periods. This paper proposes to examine the views of the capital exporting and capital importing countries in the matter of compensation payable for taking of the foreign investor’s (capital exporting) properties by the host states (capital importing). Since there is no enactment of international law as such, only by the customary law and equitable principles, it can be decided whether an expropriation resorted to by the host state is justifiable or not. With this perspective, this paper will examine the customary law and various instances of expropriations across the world and

The Glass Menagerie Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Glass Menagerie - Term Paper Example Tom wants to forsake his duty to his family but he seems to have difficulty in leaving Laura the most. In the play, responsibility becomes a choice between duty to one’s dreams and duty to one’s family, which is juxtaposed with gender and social class issues. The Glass Menagerie depicts that society insists that people forget their duty to their own dreams because they have to follow gender and social class norms and expectations. The concept of responsibility is a product of social conditioning, which is based on gender and social class customs. Society teaches gender norms that define the roles and responsibilities of men and women to each other. In Scene 2, Amanda expresses her disappointment with Laura after learning that the latter has dropped her classes at the business college. Amanda underscores the sacrifices made in sending Laura to school: â€Å"Fifty dollars’ tuition, all of our plans – my hopes and ambitions for you – just gone up the spout, just gone up the spout like that† (Williams ii. 369). During this time, working class women had limited educational and economic opportunities. For Amanda, Laura is throwing away the only opportunity she has to earn money and to help her brother support their family. Tom has the gravest responsibility of all because as a man, he is expected to provide for his mother and sister. Amanda constantly nags Tom of his duties to his family: â€Å"What right have you got to jeopardize your job? Jeopardize the security of us all? How do you think we’d manage if you were –† (Williams iii). Amanda cannot even say the unthinkable. She finds it unthinkable for a man to desert his family because a man’s most important duty is to his family. As a southern belle, she is a traditional woman and her conventions molded her thinking about the duties of men and women. Aside from gender division, society separates people into social classes, where the rich have mor e freedoms than the poor. Tom envies the life of the rich: â€Å"Across the alley from us was the Paradise Dance Hall. You could see [couples] kissing behind ash-pits... This was the compensation for lives that passed like mine, without any change or adventure† (Williams v. 381-82). He hates his life where duty to others is central. The play demonstrates uneven social and gender structures that affect people’s ability to be happy. Society asserts that men have the responsibility to take care of their families’ basic needs and wants. Tom has the duty to raise his family after their father left many years ago. He says: â€Å"House, house! Who pays rent on it, who makes a slave of himself to†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Williams iii. 373). Society thinks it is natural for men to be breadwinners. They are the symbolic beams of the family. Tom thinks differently, however. He wants to follow his duty to himself, but for the longest time, he surrenders to social dictates. Aside fro m Tom, Jim has a duty to improve Laura’s self-confidence because he sees her as a little sister. He senses Laura’s strong insecurity because of her physical illness: â€Å"A little physical defect is what you have. Hardly noticeable even! Magnified thousands of times by imagination! You know what my strong advice to you is? Think of yourself as superior in some way!† (Williams vii. 402). In the article â€Å"Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie,† Ardolino argues that the Rubicam College stands for Julius

Compare and contrast the consequences of WWI respectively WWII Essay Example for Free

Compare and contrast the consequences of WWI respectively WWII Essay WWI and WWII brought an extreme destruction and devastation to the world, certainly the previous wars had also brought devastation, but in a totally different scale. These wars were the biggest in the history of men with unexpectedly huge causalities to every country participating. The technology of warfare had improved beyond the imagination of men, bringing weapons that could kill enormous masses of people within a short period of time. WWI and WWII both had devastating results, far more than expected since each war took more than 10 million lives each and as written in the header, that was much more than any previous war. The cost of the war had gone along the size. Whole Europe fell in large debts from the wars, and there were inflation everywhere, more severe after the first war, and you can almost assume that the leaders of the countries had learnt something at least. Especially the inflation were high under the depression in Germany. The previous optimism from the 19th century was gone, now people had experienced the true horror of war, of the first world war, and after the second world war the horror that it could be repeated, a thought which didnt occur to most people after the first war. Partly due to that many countries changed their ideologies after both wars, countries drew back after the first war, trying to repair some of the devastation, along with the more republics that came, the ideologies became more turned inwards the country above all, we are the better, nationalism is a possible definition, but in many cases, except Germany, who mostly under these years were driven by hatred and revenge against the unfair Versailles treaty, it was more a fear, a paranoia, especially for the French along the Maginot line, walls rose between countries and the whole area were pretty tense, not as tense as before the war, but still everything hadnt faded away. The exception for this was the USA with their attempts to create the League of Nations, but it became very short lived and hadnt the impact it needed for becoming strong. However it planted the seed for the coming UN, which makes another similarity, both wars created these welfare organisations. But after the WWII the countries in Europe again started to look over their own borders, becoming a little more widely minded, countries became more involved in worldwide questions and started with these war-preventative organizations like NATO, trying to prepare for the next war, now that they knew that a repeat of the war werent impossible. These would show themselves useful sooner than expected. Since WWII as well as WWI led to a new conflict, for WWI obviously the WWII, and later for the second, the cold war, although it werent even close to the scale of the previous wars mostly due to the fact that it didnt blossom to the war it were predicted to. Both wars also had an enormous impact on the economy in Europe. Among others huge economic debts piled up for each country involved. Furthermore the countries lost labour, since they got killed in the war. This was a downfall for the economy but to make up for some of the scarcity of labour women got to work in the factories, something which earlier was unthinkable, especially in the first world war. A general opinion of men during the late 19th century and the early 20th century was that women should be at home, taking care of the family etc, while men should work, providing the family with money. Although women was accepted working in factories to a great extent in the second world war, compared to the first and especiallty the time before, it would take a lot of more years before a women, not during war time should work. This also provided to the new liberal ideologies after the Second World War. Moreover things that had an impact on the economic change was the new technical improvements during the wars, since many products was invented as a consequence of the war and also the rate of mass production rose during the first world war. Also due to the enormous cost of the war there were inflation in many countries, one extreme example is Germany after the first world war, the Versailles treaty had put Germany under unimaginable debts. Debts that Germany had no opportunity paying back. Thats the major reason behind the inflation, when in just a few months in 1923 the worth of the mark compared to the dollar rose from 4.6 million to 4.3 trillion, about 1000000 times as much. Also the geography of the world changed after the wars, the borders changed quite a lot, and for example the first world war was the final blow for the Ottoman Empire, the reason that it fell, although it were about to fall anyway this was the spark. Then during the war Austria Hungary fell and the borders changed a lot in the Balkans. Finally, as pointed out the effects are quite similar, the atmospheres after the wars were rather similar, both were tense and allowed for new conflicts to start. The distrust of people for the government rose greatly. Furthermore theres one effect I havent taken up yet, the destruction of the earth after the wars, great parts of Europe were affected, trenches were built, big land parts were bombed, and destructed even whole cities were bombed, then especially the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki under the second world war. Then theres the social trauma, both of the soldiers and the families at home, losing their relatives. But as they are similar, there arent many significant differences, probably the biggest were however the fact that no country did demand any compensation for the war, then there were no opportunity of a scenario like the one of Germany after the First World War to occur another time. Even though there also were positive sides on the war like the great leap in technology the overall effects were greatly negative, both wars had devastating effects.

Physics of the Bottle Flip Challenge

Physics of the Bottle Flip Challenge One of the biggest trends of 2016 was the water bottle flip challenge, and almost everyone was trying their hand at it. But, there is much more to it than just skill and luck, and-even though the trend seriously died out-Ill be teaching you a few cheats that are going make you flip! Or at the very least give you the ability to become the mic-dropping finale at your schools talent show. But in all seriousness, of all the trends to hit big in 2016, bottle flipping was perhaps the most surprising. Sure, we expect the collective mind of the internet to dredge up long forgotten childhood shows, ironically appreciate terrible movies, or recreate popular dance moves; but flipping bottles of water so that they can land correctly? Its something almost anyone can do, watch, and appreciate. You see it happen and you understand it regardless of how old you are or what language you speak. But, for those of you who many not be familiar, here is a quick summary. Bottle flipping entails taking a bot tle and tossing it so that it twirls through the air like a gymnast, and sticks a 10/10 landing. Now, despite what Know Your Meme-a website that dedicates itself to documenting online phenomena and memes-might say, the origins go back as far as 2007 to a video released by a skateboarder named Ben Daleman. However, it was Michael Senatores epic flip during his school talent show last year that really caused people to flip out over the flip. As elegantly simple as bottle flipping might be, scientifically, its a completely different story. Involving everything from elasticity of collisions, to fluid dynamics, to momentum, to laws of gravity, the science behind the bottle flip is quite amazing. But, once you understand that science, youll actually have an unfair advantage in your next bottle flipping tournament, at your next school talent show, your next visit to grandmas house, or whenever you might just want to impress someone. Now, without further ado: The Scientific Cheat Code Thatll Get You the Upper Hand in the World of Bottle Ballistics. Before you start pitching your old plastic around, your flip can either be made or lost by the very first choice that you make-the bottle. There are hundreds, if not thousands of different brands of bottled water on the market. As well, almost all of them have different bottle shapes, heights, even thicknesses of plastic, and picking the right one can make the difference between becoming a flipping champ, or a flipping chump. So if you think of bottle flipping as a video game, then think of your choice of bottle as the difficulty level. The typical bottle most people are using rounded bottle, thin plastic, like Poland Springs, those are effectively the normal setting. Not too hard, not to easy, just a good sweet spot to judge other bottles. But what in particular makes this one the ideal, middle candidate? Well, lets take two other bottles and itll all become clear. A water cooler jug, and a bottle of Coca-Cola. Now, the Coca-Cola bottle is the bottle flipping equivalent of hard mode, and the reason for that is surface area. Notice that the bottom isnt round like the other two, but rather has multiple prongs that give the bottle added stability. Now, under normal usage, thats a great shape, but when flipping bottles, it is a completely different story. Â   Â   You see, in physics, the energy of being in motion is called kinetic energy, and the word elasticity is a measure of how much kinetic energy remains as kinetic energy after two objects combine. To give you an example, lets look at anime. Goku punches Krillin in the face. Gokus fist has a bunch of kinetic, or movement energy. That then is transferred into Krillins face and body launching him off for miles. So, one would say that the elasticity of that collision of fist to face is really high. The kinetic energy of Gokus fist stays as movement energy as Krillin flies through the air. So thats an elastic collision. Alternatively, there are inelastic collisions, where the kinetic energy is transformed into deforming the material, or where energy is lost in other ways, like heat and sound. The Goku punch example isnt perfectly elastic, because some of his punch energy is lost deforming Krillins face. A good example of an inelastic collision is two balls of clay thrown together. They stick , there is no bounce, all the kinetic energy of the two balls moving is lost as they deform into one larger ball. Now, knowing all that, look at our bottle flip. Its plastic hitting a table, so the collision would be mostly elastic, where the kinetic energy of the bottle falling is preserved. But, the table isnt going to move so that movement energy has to go somewhere, and thats back into the bottle-which is causing it to bounce. The plastic of the bottle compresses ever so slightly, and then springs back into position, causing it to rebound from the table and potentially costing you your glorious moment at the talent show. Yet, as that may be, the force isnt going to cause a ton of bounce when its spread out over a wide surface such as the rounded bottom of your average water bottle. But what about the prongs of the Coca-Cola bottle? That force is moved to the very small area thats actually hitting the table, causing the bottle to rebound higher and thus making it harder to get th at perfect landing. Whereas on the other end of the spectrum are the large jugs of water-which are the equivalent of flipping easy mode. Part of it is the huge surface area of the base, but to see why these are the clear choice for any inexperienced flippers we need to talk about the other elephant in the room-finding the perfect water level. Empty water bottles weigh practically nothing, averaging in at 10 grams, and if you have an empty water bottle just sitting on a table, its center of mass-the point on the bottle where all the mass averages out-is right around the middle. But water is a lot heavier than plastic, and when you put something like water into a bottle, the center of mass is going to move. In this case it moves downward. Theres more mass on the bottom of the bottle than on the top, and thus the place where the mass averages out is going to end up a lower. Now, why is that important? Because the center of mass sometimes goes by another name, the center of gravity, and gravity-as the largest obstacle between you and that perfect bottle flip-pulls from the center of gravity. Therefore, the lower the center of gravity is, the less likely that bottle is going to tip over when you flip it. Thus, allowing you to walk off the high school stage head held high. But if you overfill the bottle with water now the cente r of gravity is much higher, the point at which all the mass has averaged out has crept back upwards. When that happens and its tipped to the left, the center of mass is now to the left of the tipping point, and gravity will pull the bottle down, causing it to fall, and causing you to take the walk of shame, or move to another school district. This is why getting just the right amount of water is tricky and essential. You need to put in enough water in the bottle so that the center of mass goes about as far down as it can get without inadvertently allowing that center of gravity to creep back upwards by overfilling. So mathematically the ideal sweet spot is going to be filling up that bottle to the one-third mark. Its there that the center of mass is going to be about as low as it can go. Those wide, short squat, water cooler bottles are the easiest ones to flip because theyre the ones where keeping the center of gravity low is a cinch. It doesnt take a lot of water to weigh them do wn-getting their center of mass low-and all in all these jugs are just super stable. Now obviously youre not going to shove a water cooler jug in your backpack to pull out during lunch hour bottle flipping tournaments. So what bottle do you choose? Well, in between these jugs and our standard round-bottomed ones is everything from Smart Water-being tall and narrow-to Fiji water-being made from a firmer plastic and with a wider base, and shorter height. The fact that Fiji water is short means that youre going to have to be a lot more precise in your water level measurements making it much harder to land the flip; therefore, making Smart Water a little more incentivizing. Lastly, and arguably the most important part of each flip: the throw. Now, before we talk about throwing bottles, lets talk hammers. Grab a hammer and toss it in the air! Eh, actually, no. Its dangerous and youll put a hole in the floor. Instead, lets visit historys most famous hammer tossers-The Hammer Bros. Notice how the hammer twirls all lopsided? Well, its because of our old friend-the center of mass. Objects in free fall that have any rotation will always rotate around their center of mass. Hammers, which traditionally have wooden handles and steel heads, have a hugely lopsided center of mass and rotate around that. But the cool part is, for as chaotic as that movement looks, if you trace the trajectory of the center of mass it will always follow a perfect arc. But heres the thing, for as complicated as throwing a hammer may look, a water bottle is even more complicated because of fluid dynamics. When you flip the bottle into the air, the center of mass is shifting as the mass of the water moves around in the bottle. As it does this, the water robs the bottle of angular momentum-or spin. This becomes most dramatic just after the bottle flips, when the water sloshes around and goes from being in the bottom of the bottle to the top. It adjusts to gravity, which simultaneously helps push the bottle down, allowing for that signature straight-up landing. How this knowledge helps you is that most newbie bottle flippers include too much horizontal velocity. You see, if the bottle is moving forward too fast when it lands, the bottles movement is suddenly stopped, but the water inside the bottle still wants to move forward. And it does, which takes all the mass with it. So instead of acting like a stabilizing force inside the bottle, the water actually helps knock the bottle over. The key here is to try to use as much force upward while also putting that spin on the bottle. The best way to do this is to make sure the bottle is parallel with the ground when you rel ease it. This sends the center of mass straight upward, and since youre holding onto the other end, the bottle with naturally rotates as you let go. So, there you have it, the steps to a prefect flip. Choose a bottle with a firmer plastic and a wide base like a Fiji bottle, fill that bottle to about a third full, double-checking the exact level by doing that 45 degree fall test to measure where the center of gravity is at, and then practice your toss so that you release it in parallel with the ground, and try to minimize its forward momentum. But if you want even more of an edge, consider swapping out the water in the bottle for Mercury. As the heaviest liquid at room temperature, that should lower the center of mass to amazing depths while still maintaining all the benefits of fluid dynamics. Just, fair warnings, dont drink it, or touch it, or do anything with it really because its toxic. Between Mercury and hammer tossing, explaining the science behind bottle flipping can be filled with bad ideas.

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Optimisation Techniques

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Optimisation Techniques We have to use different techniques to optimise our website. Our main focus will be on how to reduce the size of the webpage and script execution time. This, in turn, will definitely improve the user experience as well as reduce the load on the servers. The images and graphical interfaces occupy the maximum storage size on the webpage. Therefore we need to compress the images and the scripts in an effective manner that wont affect functionality and quality of the website. First we need to simplify the design of the website, reducing the number of HTTP requests. JavaScript and CSS can be minified by removing comments and space characters from the code. Furthermore we can make java script and CSS external which can be cached by the browser. Post Load and Pre Load components can be set, which will make the user experience better by initially loading the important content and then loading the remaining content. Ultimately we can optimise loops which will reduce the script execution time. Specific Optimisation Techniques to be used for the Website The different optimisation techniques are: Minimise HTTP requests Add an expiry or a cache control header Put scripts at the bottom Remove duplicate scripts Make Ajax cacheable Post load components Pre load components Make JavaScript and CSS external Reduce DNS Lookups Minimise HTTP requests The majority of the time taken when a page is loading is a result of HTTP requests. Reducing the number of components will thus reduce the number of HTTP requests required to render the page. This is the key to faster loading pages. Combined files are a way to reduce the number of HTTP requests by combining all scripts into a single script, and similarly combining all CSS into a single stylesheet. Discussing the decisions for each page We will use some techniques which will be applicable on all the pages. Style sheets will be placed at the top and scripts at the bottom of the webpage. AJAX, JavaScript and CSS made cacheable. CDN servers will be used and redirects, 404 errors, and empty image source avoided. GET will be used for AJAX requests and also make efficient use of pre and post load components. The complete JavaScript code and CSS will be minified. The Home page is the one which should be fast, attractive and interactive. The Home page will make up the rapport of your website. In order to make it attractive we need to use different images, CSS, graphical interfaces and flash content. Images and graphical interfaces are bigger in size so we will scale them and try to convert them into a more suitable format such as Portable Network Graphics (.png). The users login page, discussion page, upload page and modify page will be much simpler than home page but they will contain lots of videos and images with the description. Thus, we can just remove the white space characters from their code reducing the size of the webpage and optimising the images. Videos are too big in size so we will not upload it on our server. We will use YouTube or other free video upload sites and embed the link on our webpage. Product Catalogue will contain all the images of the product that can be searched and sorted by category and brands. The loops will be optimised for faster search and sorting. Business information, current employees and product information will contain the detailed textual description with images of what we do, what we sell and who works in our company. All this information is static, so we will cache the information and optimise the images. Q2. Client side security issues are an extremely important component of any web-based application. Introduction Client side security is one of the most important topics in internet security. All the information which has been downloaded from servers is stored on the clients machine. All the site preferences as well as your login details are stored as cookies on the local machine and we need to keep those files safe from hackers. We use different antiviruses and firewalls on the local machine, however they are not as efficient as they should be. JavaScript and AJAX are the most vulnerable languages for most of the current web-based exploits like Trojans, viruses, etc. [1] (Uta Priss, 2012, Advanced Client-Side Security:What many users do not know, From http://www.upriss.org.uk/awt/lec4a.pdf) In this document we will look at the major threats, type of client side attacks and some strategies for minimising those risks. Problem Domain Nowadays internet is a basic necessity of day to day life. We are so dependent on internet these days. Everything from paying our electricity bills to international business meetings we do online. All our bank details are on our local machine which is vulnerable to hackers. For this reason do we need a secure system to work safely online. Whenever we use internet our local system stores the information from the server which contains your preferences, form data and the history of the webpages you viewed. How do hackers operate..? Hackers try to bypass the firewall and gain inappropriate access to local host resources. There are more chances to breach the security of the firewall when the hacker and the host are on the same network because request for resources originating within the network can be trusted more than request originating from outside the network. (Bidgoli Hossein , Wiley John Sons, (2006) Hanew Jersey, John Wiley Sons) Issues One of the most widely used languages for website development, JavaScript, is not secure. JavaScript is an open scripting language which means anyone can manipulate it and change its function. The JavaScript security model attempts to protect the user from websites that may be malicious and is not designed to protect the website owner. It cant protect data sent from the browser to the server and there are limits on what the page author can control via JavaScript whilst it is being executed within the browser. The success of JavaScript is also however the reason why attackers have targeted and leveraged the technology as a means to compromise the systems and reek untold grief for clients. JavaScript has been used to perform attacks that involve redirects, downloading of content, or even revealing details about a victims system.[2] Now we will discuss some attack strategies such as XSS (Cross Site Scripting), CSRF (Cross Site Request Forgery) and introduce some prevention measures to i mprove the security of the website. XSS Cross-Site Scripting attacks are a type of injection problem, in which malicious scripts are injected into the otherwise benign and trusted websites. Cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks occur when an attacker uses a web application to send a malicious code, generally in the form of a browser side script, to a different end user. Flaws that allow these attacks to succeed are quite widespread and occur anywhere a web application uses input from a user in the output it generates without validating or encoding it. An attacker can use XSS to send a malicious script to an unsuspecting user. The end users browser has no way to know that the script should not be trusted, and will execute the script. Because it thinks the script came from a trusted source, the malicious script can access any cookies, session tokens, or other sensitive information retained by your browser and used within that site. These scripts can even rewrite the content of the HTML page. Prevention measures: Validate, filter, and sanitise all input Process output response stream data through encoding Many modern browsers will attempt to detect an XSS attack and notify the user CSRF CSRF (Cross-Site Request Forgery) is an attack which forces an end user to execute unwanted actions on a web application in which he/she is currently authenticated. With a little help of social engineering (like sending a link via email/chat), an attacker may force the users of a web application to execute actions of the attackers choosing. A successful CSRF exploit can compromise end user data and operation in the case of a normal user. If the targeted end user is the administrator account, this can compromise the entire web application. Prevention measures: Implement strong XSS mitigations Use Tokens to verify expected user actions Hidden form value fields E.g., RoR ASP.Net MVC provide framework support Use POST for any actions that alter data on server side Is the idempotent web paradigm for HTTP GET compromised? Check HTTP Referrer Most modern browsers include features to palliate the following attacks: Phishing Attacks Spyware Malicious websites Adware Destruction or corruption of data or configuration Theft of configuration information Installation of malware Theft of information and identification (Oriyano Sean-Philip and Shimonsk Robert,(2012)Client Side Attacks and Defense, USA, Elsevier, Pg 130) Conclusion In summary, we discussed the major client side scripting attacks, preventive measures and the most vulnerable languages. Client side scripting attacks are effective in taking the personal information of the user. However, if we play smart we can extenuate and avoid those attacks in the first place by making some changes in our firewall settings and not clicking on suspicious links. Prevention is always preferred over a cure for the problems being faced for a normal user in this unprotected web environment. As programmers, we should make appropriate use of the AJAX commands and code the website in such a way as to make it more reliable and harder to alter. Lastly, JavaScript is the most popular language and will remain so in coming years. In light of this, we should make efficient use of the primary functions and the libraries to make it less vulnerable to attacks.

Summary: :: essays research papers

SUMMARY: â€Å"Vinnie Ream†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The article â€Å"Vinnie Ream,† from the August 2000 issue of Smithsonian Magazine, tells the story of a woman in the 1800’s who was chosen to sculpt statues of prominent Americans, including Abraham Lincoln, despite having little experience. The article gives both an overview of the life of Vinnie Ream and an account of the political battles that arose from her commissions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The article opens by talking about how the government had decided to commemorate Civil War hero David Farragut with a statue. While many people expected congress to choose well-known sculptor Horatio Stone for the work, they instead picked a 26-year old woman who had only done one large statue in her life. This episode is used to illustrate how Vinnie Ream caused a great deal of controversy, with a strong split between supporters and detractors.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There is a brief recounting of her childhood leading up to her interest in sculpting, influenced by an artist named Clark Mills, who encouraged and taught Ream. She was then given permission by Abraham Lincoln to do a small statue of him. After he was assassinated, congress decided to pay $10,000 to commission a larger statue of the president. Ream wrote letters and made friends with members of congress in an effort to secure the commission.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This effort led to a ferocious debate both in congress and among the general public. Many were swayed by the girl’s charms and enthusiasm, while others saw her as lacking both experience and talent, claiming that she was being considered only on the basis of her personality. She was eventually chosen for the work, and the statue she made met with the same mixed response.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Having made friends in high places, she later sought the commission for the Farragut statue. With the help of people like William Tecumseh Sherman, she was able to get this prestigious work as well, though many were bothered by the apparent politicking involved.

Pandora :: essays research papers

In Greek mythology Pandora was the first woman, bestowed upon humankind by Zeus as a punishment for Prometheus' theft of fire. Entrusted with a box containing all the ills that could plague people, she opened it out of curiosity and thereby released all the evils of human life; wife of Epimetheus. Zeus ordered Hephaestus to make a mixture of earth and water and from it to create a woman as beautiful as a goddess. When she was ready, Athena adorned her and taught her how to weave, while Aphrodite endowed her with grace and passion, the Graces and Peitho garlanded her with gold ribbons and the Hours decorated her with spring flowers. Hermes, on the other hand, put malicious and lying words into her heart. Zeus called her Pandora, because she had received gifts (dora) from all the gods, and sent her off to Epimetheus. Bewitched by her beauty, he fell in love with her and took her out for mankind to see. Pandora's fate was to be the cause of all human misfortune, because she opened the lid of a jar from which evils of all kinds immediately spilled out to fill the world. Only hope was left in the jar, because Pandora closed the lid again at the last moment. As a result, mankind - who until that time had known no pain, sickness or death - was doomed to everlasting unhappiness.Pandora (mythological figure), in Greek mythology, first woman on earth, created by the god Hephaestus at the request of the god Zeus. Zeus wished to counteract the blessing of fire, which had been stolen from the gods by the Titan Prometheus and given to human beings. Endowed by the gods with every attribute of beauty and goodness, Pandora was sent to Epimetheus, who was happy to have her for his wife, although he had been warned by his brother Prometheus never to accept anything fr om Zeus. In bestowing their gifts on Pandora, the gods had given her a box, warning her never to open it.

Role of Women in Pakistan

Women in Pakistan were initially thought to play the traditional role of being housewives. However with changing times, the Pakistani society has also evolved. Women have a much significant role to play in the society rather than serving their husbands at home. During this time of economic crisis when men are suffering from unemployment and lower wages, households require all members of the family to work and add to the family income. So the wives have to go out and work so that they could earn enough to give their families a sufficient standard of living.Women belonging to the lower income group and rural class have since independence played the role of family earners. They have served in households by rendering their services such as that of cooks, servants, cleaners, etc. While the lower class women worked all day to earn two meals per day for their families, women of the middle class were supposed to stay at home and take care of the people living in their homes. However when the world entered the 21st century the position of women in the country transpired. More women were allowed to acquire higher education and then work in the corporate world to earn for themselves and their families.Women in Pakistan now form a relatively greater part of Pakistan's working population and their contribution to the country's economy has ever since been increasing. However men still dominate all the higher posts in private and public offices, the trend is now changing as women are being encouraged by being awarded with promotions for their high quality of work. The mindset of the people in the rural class is also changing, there is greater awareness regarding the importance of education for both boys and girls and there has been an increase in the enrollment of lower income class girls in primary and secondary schools.Almost all of the women belonging to the middle class families have now started acquiring higher education. The trend of getting girls married as soon as the y enter their 20s is slowly diminishing because today's men only want to marry women who have acquired a substantial level of education. Women in Pakistan also have a major role to play as housewives and mothers. They are the ones responsible for the upbringing of their children. Since women have now become educated they can teach their children the values and etiquettes of life. Not only that, women could now teach their own children at home after they come back from school.Previously families had to spend excessive amounts of their income to send their children for tuitions because the mothers were not educated enough to guide their children academically but now with most mothers being educated they could sit with their children and help them with their homework. Although there is greater acceptability for women in Pakistan's society, they are still victims of discrimination. The gender stereotypes which have existed in the society for years still continue to be a barrier for wome n's progress in the country.

The Da Vinci Code Chapter 81-83

CHAPTER 81 The Hawker is on final approach. Simon Edwards – Executive Services Officer at Biggin Hill Airport – paced the control tower, squinting nervously at the rain-drenched runway. He never appreciated being awoken early on a Saturday morning, but it was particularly distasteful that he had been called in to oversee the arrest of one of his most lucrative clients. Sir Leigh Teabing paid Biggin Hill not only for a private hangar but a† per landing fee† for his frequent arrivals and departures. Usually, the airfield had advance warning of his schedule and was able to follow a strict protocol for his arrival. Teabing liked things just so. The custom-built Jaguar stretch limousine that he kept in his hangar was to be fully gassed, polished, and the day's London Times laid out on the back seat. A customs official was to be waiting for the plane at the hangar to expedite the mandatory documentation and luggage check. Occasionally, customs agents accepted large tips from Teabing in exchange for turning a blind eye to the transport of harmless organics – mostly luxury foods – French escargots, a particularly ripe unprocessed Roquefort, certain fruits. Many customs laws were absurd, anyway, and if Biggin Hill didn't accommodate its clients, certainly competing airfields would. Teabing was provided with what he wanted here at Biggin Hill, and the employees reaped the benefits. Edwards's nerves felt frayed now as he watched the jet coming in. He wondered if Teabing's penchant for spreading the wealth had gotten him in trouble somehow; the French authorities seemed very intent on containing him. Edwards had not yet been told what the charges were, but they were obviously serious. At the French authorities' request, Kent police had ordered the Biggin Hill air traffic controller to radio the Hawker's pilot and order him directly to the terminal rather than to the client's hangar. The pilot had agreed, apparently believing the far-fetched story of a gas leak. Though the British police did not generally carry weapons, the gravity of the situation had brought out an armed response team. Now, eight policemen with handguns stood just inside the terminal building, awaiting the moment when the plane's engines powered down. The instant this happened, a runway attendant would place safety wedges under the tires so the plane could no longer move. Then the police would step into view and hold the occupants at bay until the French police arrived to handle the situation. The Hawker was low in the sky now, skimming the treetops to their right. Simon Edwards went downstairs to watch the landing from tarmac level. The Kent police were poised, just out of sight, and the maintenance man waited with his wedges. Out on the runway, the Hawker's nose tipped up, and the tires touched down in a puff of smoke. The plane settled in for deceleration, streaking from right to left in front of the terminal, its white hull glistening in the wet weather. But rather than braking and turning into the terminal, the jet coasted calmly past the access lane and continued on toward Teabing's hangar in the distance. All the police spun and stared at Edwards. â€Å"I thought you said the pilot agreed to come to the terminal!† Edwards was bewildered. â€Å"He did!† Seconds later, Edwards found himself wedged in a police car racing across the tarmac toward the distant hangar. The convoy of police was still a good five hundred yards away as Teabing's Hawker taxied calmly into the private hangar and disappeared. When the cars finally arrived and skidded to a stop outside the gaping hangar door, the police poured out, guns drawn. Edwards jumped out too. The noise was deafening. The Hawker's engines were still roaring as the jet finished its usual rotation inside the hangar, positioning itself nose-out in preparation for later departure. As the plane completed its 180-degreeturn and rolled toward the front of the hangar, Edwards could see the pilot's face, which understandably looked surprised and fearful to see the barricade of police cars. The pilot brought the plane to a final stop, and powered down the engines. The police streamed in, taking up positions around the jet. Edwards joined the Kent chief inspector, who moved warily toward the hatch. After several seconds, the fuselage door popped open. Leigh Teabing appeared in the doorway as the plane's electronic stairs smoothly dropped down. Ashe gazed out at the sea of weapons aimed at him, he propped himself on his crutches and scratched his head. â€Å"Simon, did I win the policemen's lottery while I was away?† He sounded more bewildered than concerned. Simon Edwards stepped forward, swallowing the frog in his throat. â€Å"Good morning, sir. I apologize for the confusion. We've had a gas leak and your pilot said he was coming to the terminal.† â€Å"Yes, yes, well, I told him to come here instead. I'm late for an appointment. I pay for this hangar, and this rubbish about avoiding a gas leak sounded overcautious.† â€Å"I'm afraid your arrival has taken us a bit off guard, sir.† â€Å"I know. I'm off my schedule, I am. Between you and me, the new medication gives me the tinkles. Thought I'd come over for a tune-up.† The policemen all exchanged looks. Edwards winced. â€Å"Very good, sir.† â€Å"Sir,† the Kent chief inspector said, stepping forward. â€Å"I need to ask you to stay onboard for another half hour or so.† Teabing looked unamused as he hobbled down the stairs. â€Å"I'm afraid that is impossible. I have a medical appointment.† He reached the tarmac. â€Å"I cannot afford to miss it.† The chief inspector repositioned himself to block Teabing's progress away from the plane. â€Å"I am here at the orders of the French Judicial Police. They claim you are transporting fugitives from the law on this plane.† Teabing stared at the chief inspector a long moment, and then burst out laughing. â€Å"Is this one of those hidden camera programs? Jolly good!† The chief inspector never flinched. â€Å"This is serious, sir. The French police claim you also may have a hostage onboard.† Teabing's manservant Remy appeared in the doorway at the top of the stairs. â€Å"I feel like a hostage working for Sir Leigh, but he assures me I am free to go.† Remy checked his watch. â€Å"Master, we really are running late.† He nodded toward the Jaguar stretch limousine in the far corner of the hangar. The enormous automobile was ebony with smoked glass and whitewall tires. â€Å"I'll bring the car.† Remy started down the stairs. â€Å"I'm afraid we cannot let you leave,† the chief inspector said. â€Å"Please return to your aircraft. Both of you. Representatives from the French police will be landing shortly.† Teabing looked now toward Simon Edwards. â€Å"Simon, for heaven's sake, this is ridiculous! We don't have anyone else on board. Just the usual – Remy, our pilot, and myself. Perhaps you could act as an intermediary? Go have a look onboard, and verify that the plane is empty.† Edwards knew he was trapped. â€Å"Yes, sir. I can have a look.† â€Å"The devil you will!† the Kent chief inspector declared, apparently knowing enough about executive airfields to suspect Simon Edwards might well lie about the plane's occupants in an effort to keep Teabing's business at Biggin Hill. â€Å"I will look myself.† Teabing shook his head. â€Å"No you won't, Inspector. This is private property and until you have a search warrant, you will stay off my plane. I am offering you a reasonable option here. Mr. Edwards can perform the inspection.† â€Å"No deal.† Teabing's demeanor turned frosty. â€Å"Inspector, I'm afraid I don't have time to indulge in your games. I'm late, and I'm leaving. If it is that important to you to stop me, you'll just have to shoot me.† With that, Teabing and Remy walked around the chief inspector and headed across the hangar toward the parked limousine. The Kent chief inspector felt only distaste for Leigh Teabing as the man hobbled around him in defiance. Men of privilege always felt like they were above the law. They are not.The chief inspector turned and aimed at Teabing's back. â€Å"Stop! I will fire!† â€Å"Go ahead,† Teabing said without breaking stride or glancing back. â€Å"My lawyers will fricassee your testicles for breakfast. And if you dare board my plane without a warrant, your spleen will follow.† No stranger to power plays, the chief inspector was unimpressed. Technically, Teabing was correct and the police needed a warrant to board his jet, but because the flight had originated in France, and because the powerful Bezu Fache had given his authority, the Kent chief inspector felt certain his career would be far better served by finding out what it was on this plane that Teabing seemed so intent on hiding. â€Å"Stop them,† the inspector ordered. â€Å"I'm searching the plane.† His men raced over, guns leveled, and physically blocked Teabing and his servant from reaching the limousine. Now Teabing turned. â€Å"Inspector, this is your last warning. Do not even think of boarding that plane. You will regret it.† Ignoring the threat, the chief inspector gripped his sidearm and marched up the plane's gangway. Arriving at the hatch, he peered inside. After a moment, he stepped into the cabin. What the devil? With the exception of the frightened-looking pilot in the cockpit, the aircraft was empty. Entirely devoid of human life. Quickly checking the bathroom, the chairs, and the luggage areas, the inspector found no traces of anyone hiding†¦ much less multiple individuals. What the hell was Bezu Fache thinking? It seemed Leigh Teabing had been telling the truth. The Kent chief inspector stood alone in the deserted cabin and swallowed hard. Shit.His faceflushed, he stepped back onto the gangway, gazing across the hangar at Leigh Teabing and hisservant, who were now under gunpoint near the limousine. â€Å"Let them go,† the inspector ordered. â€Å"We received a bad tip.† Teabing's eyes were menacing even across the hangar. â€Å"You can expect a call from my lawyers. And for future reference, the French police cannot be trusted.† With that, Teabing's manservant opened the door at the rear of the stretch limousine and helped his crippled master into the back seat. Then the servant walked the length of the car, climbed in behind the wheel, and gunned the engine. Policemen scattered as the Jaguar peeled out of the hangar. â€Å"Well played, my good man,† Teabing chimed from the rear seat as the limousine accelerated out of the airport. He turned his eyes now to the dimly lit front recesses of the spacious interior. â€Å"Everyone comfy?† Langdon gave a weak nod. He and Sophie were still crouched on the floor beside the bound and gagged albino. Moments earlier, as the Hawker taxied into the deserted hangar, Remy had popped the hatch as the plane jolted to a stop halfway through its turn. With the police closing in fast, Langdon and Sophie dragged the monk down the gangway to ground level and out of sight behind the limousine. Then the jet engines had roared again, rotating the plane and completing its turn as the police cars came skidding into the hangar. Now, as the limousine raced toward Kent, Langdon and Sophie clambered toward the rear of the limo's long interior, leaving the monk bound on the floor. They settled onto the long seat facing Teabing. The Brit gave them both a roguish smile and opened the cabinet on the limo's bar. â€Å"Could I offer you a drink? Some nibblies? Crisps? Nuts? Seltzer?† Sophie and Langdon both shook their heads. Teabing grinned and closed the bar. â€Å"So then, about this knight's tomb†¦Ã¢â‚¬  CHAPTER 82 â€Å"Fleet Street?† Langdon asked, eyeing Teabing in the back of the limo. There's a crypt on Fleet Street? So far, Leigh was being playfully cagey about where he thought they would find the â€Å"knight's tomb†, which, according to the poem, would provide the password for opening the smaller cryptex. Teabing grinned and turned to Sophie. â€Å"Miss Neveu, give the Harvard boy one more shot at the verse, will you?† Sophie fished in her pocket and pulled out the black cryptex, which was wrapped in the vellum. Everyone had decided to leave the rosewood box and larger cryptex behind in the plane's strongbox, carrying with them only what they needed, the far more portable and discreet black cryptex. Sophie unwrapped the vellum and handed the sheet to Langdon. Although Langdon had read the poem several times onboard the jet, he had been unable to extract any specific location. Now, as he read the words again, he processed them slowly and carefully, hoping the pentametric rhythms would reveal a clearer meaning now that he was on the ground. In London lies a knight a Pope interred. His labor's fruit a Holy wrath incurred. You seek the orb that ought be on his tomb. It speaks of Rosy flesh and seeded womb. The language seemed simple enough. There was a knight buried in London. A knight who labored at something that angered the Church. A knight whose tomb was missing an orb that should be present. The poem's final reference – Rosy flesh and seeded womb – was a clear allusion to Mary Magdalene, the Rose who bore the seed of Jesus. Despite the apparent straightforwardness of the verse, Langdon still had no idea who this knight was or where he was buried. Moreover, once they located the tomb, it sounded as if they would be searching for something that was absent. The orb that ought be on his tomb? â€Å"No thoughts?† Teabing clucked in disappointment, although Langdon sensed the Royal Historian was enjoying being one up. â€Å"Miss Neveu?† She shook her head. â€Å"What would you two do without me?† Teabing said. â€Å"Very well, I will walk you through it. It's quite simple really. The first line is the key. Would you read it please?† Langdon read aloud. † ‘In London lies a knight a Pope interred. ‘† â€Å"Precisely. A knight a Pope interred.† He eyed Langdon. â€Å"What does that mean to you?† Langdon shrugged. â€Å"A knight buried by a Pope? A knight whose funeral was presided over by a Pope?† Teabing laughed loudly. â€Å"Oh, that's rich. Always the optimist, Robert. Look at the second line. This knight obviously did something that incurred the Holy wrath of the Church. Think again. Consider the dynamic between the Church and the Knights Templar. A knight a Pope interred?† â€Å"A knight a Pope killed?† Sophie asked. Teabing smiled and patted her knee. â€Å"Well done, my dear. A knight a Pope buried.Or killed.† Langdon thought of the notorious Templar round-up in 1307 – unlucky Friday the thirteenth – when Pope Clement killed and interred hundreds of Knights Templar. â€Å"But there must be endless graves of ‘knights killed by Popes. ‘† â€Å"Aha, not so!† Teabing said. â€Å"Many of them were burned at the stake and tossed unceremoniously into the Tiber River. But this poem refers to a tomb.A tomb in London. And there are few knights buried in London.† He paused, eyeing Langdon as if waiting for light to dawn. Finally he huffed. â€Å"Robert, for heaven's sake! The church built in London by the Priory's military arm – the Knights Templar themselves!† â€Å"The Temple Church?† Langdon drew a startled breath. â€Å"It has a crypt?† â€Å"Ten of the most frightening tombs you will ever see.† Langdon had never actually visited the Temple Church, although he'd come across numerous references in his Priory research. Once the epicenter of all Templar/Priory activities in the United Kingdom, the Temple Church had been so named in honor of Solomon's Temple, from which the Knights Templar had extracted their own title, as well as the Sangreal documents that gave them all their influence in Rome. Tales abounded of knights performing strange, secretive rituals within the Temple Church's unusual sanctuary. â€Å"The Temple Church is on Fleet Street?† â€Å"Actually, it's just off Fleet Street on Inner Temple Lane.† Teabing looked mischievous. â€Å"I wanted to see you sweat a little more before I gave it away.† â€Å"Thanks.† â€Å"Neither of you has ever been there?† Sophie and Langdon shook their heads.† I'm not surprised,† Teabing said. â€Å"The church is hidden now behind much larger buildings. Few people even know it's there. Eerie old place. The architecture is pagan to the core.† Sophie looked surprised. â€Å"Pagan?† â€Å"Pantheonically pagan!† Teabing exclaimed. â€Å"The church is round.The Templars ignored the traditional Christian cruciform layout and built a perfectly circular church in honor of the sun.† His eyebrows did a devilish dance. â€Å"A not so subtle howdy-do to the boys in Rome. They might as well have resurrected Stonehenge in downtown London.† Sophie eyed Teabing. â€Å"What about the rest of the poem?† The historian's mirthful air faded. â€Å"I'm not sure. It's puzzling. We will need to examine each of the ten tombs carefully. With luck, one of them will have a conspicuously absent orb.† Langdon realized how close they really were. If the missing orb revealed the password, they would be able to open the second cryptex. He had a hard time imagining what they might find inside. Langdon eyed the poem again. It was like some kind of primordial crossword puzzle. A five-letter word that speaks of the Grail? On the plane, they had already tried all the obvious passwords – GRAIL, GRAAL, GREAL, VENUS, MARIA, JESUS, SARAH – but the cylinder had not budged. Far too obvious.Apparently there existed some other five-letter reference to the Rose's seeded womb. The fact that the word was eluding a specialist like Leigh Teabing signified to Langdon that it was no ordinary Grail reference. â€Å"Sir Leigh?† Remy called over his shoulder. He was watching them in the rearview mirror through the open divider. â€Å"You said Fleet Street is near Blackfriars Bridge?† â€Å"Yes, take Victoria Embankment.† â€Å"I'm sorry. I'm not sure where that is. We usually go only to the hospital.† Teabing rolled his eyes at Langdon and Sophie and grumbled,† I swear, sometimes it's like baby- sitting a child. One moment please. Help yourself to a drink and savory snacks.† He left them, clambering awkwardly toward the open divider to talk to Remy. Sophie turned to Langdon now, her voice quiet. â€Å"Robert, nobody knows you and I are in England.† Langdon realized she was right. The Kent police would tell Fache the plane was empty, and Fachewould have to assume they were still in France. We are invisible.Leigh's little stunt had just boughtthem a lot of time. â€Å"Fache will not give up easily,† Sophie said. â€Å"He has too much riding on this arrest now.† Langdon had been trying not to think about Fache. Sophie had promised she would do everything in her power to exonerate Langdon once this was over, but Langdon was starting to fear it might not matter. Fache could easily be pan of this plot.Although Langdon could not imagine the Judicial Police tangled up in the Holy Grail, he sensed too much coincidence tonight to disregard Fache as a possible accomplice. Fache is religions, and he is intent on pinning these murders onme.Then again, Sophie had argued that Fache might simply be overzealous to make the arrest. After all, the evidence against Langdon was substantial. In addition to Langdon's name scrawled on the Louvre floor and in Sauniere's date book, Langdon now appeared to have lied about his manuscript and then run away. At Sophie's suggestion. â€Å"Robert, I'm sorry you're so deeply involved,† Sophie said, placing her hand on his knee. â€Å"But I'm very glad you're here.† The comment sounded more pragmatic than romantic, and yet Langdon felt an unexpected flicker of attraction between them. He gave her a tired smile. â€Å"I'm a lot more fun when I've slept.† Sophie was silent for several seconds. â€Å"My grandfather asked me to trust you. I'm glad I listened to him for once.† â€Å"Your grandfather didn't even know me.† â€Å"Even so, I can't help but think you've done everything he would have wanted. You helped me find the keystone, explained the Sangreal, told me about the ritual in the basement.† She paused. â€Å"Somehow I feel closer to my grandfather tonight than I have in years. I know he would be happy about that.† In the distance, now, the skyline of London began to materialize through the dawn drizzle. Once dominated by Big Ben and Tower Bridge, the horizon now bowed to the Millennium Eye – a colossal, ultramodern Ferris wheel that climbed five hundred feet and afforded breathtaking views of the city. Langdon had attempted to board it once, but the† viewing capsules† reminded him of sealed sarcophagi, and he opted to keep his feet on the ground and enjoy the view from the airy banks of the Thames. Langdon felt a squeeze on his knee, pulling him back, and Sophie's green eyes were on him. He realized she had been speaking to him. â€Å"What do you think we should do with the Sangreal documents if we ever find them?† she whispered. â€Å"What I think is immaterial,† Langdon said. â€Å"Your grandfather gave the cryptex to you, and you should do with it what your instinct tells you he would want done.† â€Å"I'm asking for your opinion. You obviously wrote something in that manuscript that made my grandfather trust your judgment. He scheduled a private meeting with you. That's rare.† â€Å"Maybe he wanted to tell me I have it all wrong.† â€Å"Why would he tell me to find you unless he liked your ideas? In your manuscript, did you support the idea that the Sangreal documents should be revealed or stay buried?† â€Å"Neither. I made no judgment either way. The manuscript deals with the symbology of the sacred feminine – tracing her iconography throughout history. I certainly didn't presume to know where the Grail is hidden or whether it should ever be revealed.† â€Å"And yet you're writing a book about it, so you obviously feel the information should be shared.† â€Å"There's an enormous difference between hypothetically discussing an alternate history of Christ, and†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He paused. â€Å"And what?† â€Å"And presenting to the world thousands of ancient documents as scientific evidence that the New Testament is false testimony.† â€Å"But you told me the New Testament is based on fabrications.† Langdon smiled. â€Å"Sophie, every faith in the world is based on fabrication. That is the definition of faith – acceptance of that which we imagine to be true, that which we cannot prove. Every religion describes God through metaphor, allegory, and exaggeration, from the early Egyptians through modern Sunday school. Metaphors are a way to help our minds process the unprocessible. The problems arise when we begin to believe literally in our own metaphors.† â€Å"So you are in favor of the Sangreal documents staying buried forever?† â€Å"I'm a historian. I'm opposed to the destruction of documents, and I would love to see religious scholars have more information to ponder the exceptional life of Jesus Christ.† â€Å"You're arguing both sides of my question.† â€Å"Am I? The Bible represents a fundamental guidepost for millions of people on the planet, in much the same way the Koran, Torah, and Pali Canon offer guidance to people of other religions. If you and I could dig up documentation that contradicted the holy stories of Islamic belief, Judaic belief, Buddhist belief, pagan belief, should we do that? Should we wave a flag and tell the Buddhists that we have proof the Buddha did not come from a lotus blossom? Or that Jesus was not born of a literal virgin birth? Those who truly understand their faiths understand the stories are metaphorical.† Sophie looked skeptical. â€Å"My friends who are devout Christians definitely believe that Christ literallywalked on water, literally turned water into wine, and was born of a literal virgin birth.† â€Å"My point exactly,† Langdon said. â€Å"Religious allegory has become a part of the fabric of reality. And living in that reality helps millions of people cope and be better people.† â€Å"But it appears their reality is false.† Langdon chuckled. â€Å"No more false than that of a mathematical cryptographer who believes in the imaginary number ‘i'because it helps her break codes.† Sophie frowned. â€Å"That's not fair.† A moment passed.† What was your question again?† Langdon asked. â€Å"I can't remember.† He smiled. â€Å"Works every time.† CHAPTER 83 Langdon's Mickey Mouse wristwatch read almost seven-thirty when he emerged from the Jaguar limousine onto Inner Temple Lane with Sophie and Teabing. The threesome wound through a maze of buildings to a small courtyard outside the Temple Church. The rough-hewn stone shimmered in the rain, and doves cooed in the architecture overhead. London's ancient Temple Church was constructed entirely of Caen stone. A dramatic, circular edifice with a daunting facade, a central turret, and a protruding nave off one side, the church looked more like a military stronghold than a place of worship. Consecrated on the tenth of February in 1185 by Heraclius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, the Temple Church survived eight centuries of political turmoil, the Great Fire of London, and the First World War, only to be heavily damaged by Luftwaffe incendiary bombs in 1940. After the war, it was restored to its original, stark grandeur. The simplicity of the circle, Langdon thought, admiring the building for the first time. The architecture was coarse and simple, more reminiscent of Rome's rugged Castel Sant'Angelo than the refined Pantheon. The boxy annex jutting out to the right was an unfortunate eyesore, although it did little to shroud the original pagan shape of the primary structure. â€Å"It's early on a Saturday,† Teabing said, hobbling toward the entrance,† so I'm assuming we won't have services to deal with.† The church's entryway was a recessed stone niche inside which stood a large wooden door. To the left of the door, looking entirely out of place, hung a bulletin board covered with concert schedules and religious service announcements. Teabing frowned as he read the board. â€Å"They don't open to sightseers for another couple of hours.† He moved to the door and tried it. The door didn't budge. Putting his ear to the wood, he listened. After a moment, he pulled back, a scheming look on his face as he pointed to the bulletin board. â€Å"Robert, check the service schedule, will you? Who is presiding this week?† Inside the church, an altar boy was almost finished vacuuming the communion kneelers when he heard a knocking on the sanctuary door. He ignored it. Father Harvey Knowles had his own keys and was not due for another couple of hours. The knocking was probably a curious tourist or indigent. The altar boy kept vacuuming, but the knocking continued. Can't you read? The sign on the door clearly stated that the church did not open until nine-thirty on Saturday. The altar boy remained with his chores. Suddenly, the knocking turned to a forceful banging, as if someone were hitting the door with a metal rod. The young man switched off his vacuum cleaner and marched angrily toward the door. Unlatching it from within, he swung it open. Three people stood in the entryway. Tourists, he grumbled. â€Å"We open at nine-thirty.† The heavyset man, apparently the leader, stepped forward using metal crutches. â€Å"I am Sir Leigh Teabing,† he said, his accent a highbrow, Saxonesque British. â€Å"As you are no doubt aware, I am escorting Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Wren the Fourth.† He stepped aside, flourishing his arm toward the attractive couple behind them. The woman was soft-featured, with lush burgundy hair. The man was tall, dark-haired, and looked vaguely familiar. The altar boy had no idea how to respond. Sir Christopher Wren was the Temple Church's most famous benefactor. He had made possible all the restorations following damage caused by the Great Fire. He had also been dead since the early eighteenth century. â€Å"Um†¦ an honor to meet you?† The man on crutches frowned. â€Å"Good thing you're not in sales, young man, you're not very convincing. Where is Father Knowles?† â€Å"It's Saturday. He's not due in until later.† The crippled man's scowl deepened. â€Å"There's gratitude. He assured us he would be here, but it looks like we'll do it without him. It won't take long.† The altar boy remained blocking the doorway. â€Å"I'm sorry, what won't take long?† The visitor's eyes sharpened now, and he leaned forward whispering as if to save everyone some embarrassment. â€Å"Young man, apparently you are new here. Every year Sir Christopher Wren's descendants bring a pinch of the old man's ashes to scatter in the Temple sanctuary. It is part of his last will and testament. Nobody is particularly happy about making the trip, but what can we do?† The altar boy had been here a couple of years but had never heard of this custom. â€Å"It would be better if you waited until nine-thirty. The church isn't open yet, and I'm not finished hoovering.† The man on crutches glared angrily. â€Å"Young man, the only reason there's anything left of this building for you to hoover is on account of the gentleman in that woman's pocket.† â€Å"I'm sorry?† â€Å"Mrs. Wren,† the man on crutches said,† would you be so kind as to show this impertinent young man the reliquary of ashes?† The woman hesitated a moment and then, as if awaking from a trance, reached in her sweater pocket and pulled out a small cylinder wrapped in protective fabric. â€Å"There, you see?† the man on crutches snapped. â€Å"Now, you can either grant his dying wish and let us sprinkle his ashes in the sanctuary, or I tell Father Knowles how we've been treated.† The altar boy hesitated, well acquainted with Father Knowles' deep observance of church tradition†¦ and, more importantly, with his foul temper when anything cast this time-honored shrine in anything but favorable light. Maybe Father Knowles had simply forgotten these family members were coming. If so, then there was far more risk in turning them away than in letting them in. After all, they said it would only take a minute.What harm could it do? When the altar boy stepped aside to let the three people pass, he could have sworn Mr. and Mrs. Wren looked just as bewildered by all of this as he was. Uncertain, the boy returned to his chores, watching them out of the corner of his eye. Langdon had to smile as the threesome moved deeper into the church. â€Å"Leigh,† he whispered,† you lie entirely too well.† Teabing's eyes twinkled. â€Å"Oxford Theatre Club. They still talk of my Julius Caesar. I'm certain nobody has ever performed the first scene of Act Three with more dedication.† Langdon glanced over. â€Å"I thought Caesar was dead in that scene.† Teabing smirked. â€Å"Yes, but my toga tore open when I fell, and I had to lie on stage for half an hour with my todger hanging out. Even so, I never moved a muscle. I was brilliant, I tell you.† Langdon cringed. Sorry I missed it. As the group moved through the rectangular annex toward the archway leading into the main church, Langdon was surprised by the barren austerity. Although the altar layout resembled that of a linear Christian chapel, the furnishings were stark and cold, bearing none of the traditional ornamentation. â€Å"Bleak,† he whispered. Teabing chuckled. â€Å"Church of England. Anglicans drink their religion straight. Nothing to distract from their misery.† Sophie motioned through the vast opening that gave way to the circular section of the church. â€Å"It looks like a fortress in there,† she whispered. Langdon agreed. Even from here, the walls looked unusually robust. â€Å"The Knights Templar were warriors,† Teabing reminded, the sound of his aluminum crutches echoing in this reverberant space. â€Å"A religio-military society. Their churches were their strongholds and their banks.† â€Å"Banks?† Sophie asked, glancing at Leigh. â€Å"Heavens, yes. The Templars invented the concept of modern banking. For European nobility, traveling with gold was perilous, so the Templars allowed nobles to deposit gold in their nearest Temple Church and then draw it from any other Temple Church across Europe. All they needed was proper documentation.† He winked. â€Å"And a small commission. They were the original ATMs.† Teabing pointed toward a stained-glass window where the breaking sun was refracting through a white-clad knight riding a rose-colored horse. â€Å"Alanus Marcel,† Teabing said,† Master of the Temple in the early twelve hundreds. He and his successors actually held the Parliamentary chair of Primus Baro Angiae.† Langdon was surprised. â€Å"First Baron of the Realm?† Teabing nodded. â€Å"The Master of the Temple, some claim, held more influence than the king himself.† As they arrived outside the circular chamber, Teabing shot a glance over his shoulder at the altar boy, who was vacuuming in the distance. â€Å"You know,† Teabing whispered to Sophie,† the Holy Grail is said to once have been stored in this church overnight while the Templars moved it from one hiding place to another. Can you imagine the four chests of Sangreal documents sitting right here with Mary Magdalene's sarcophagus? It gives me gooseflesh.† Langdon was feeling gooseflesh too as they stepped into the circular chamber. His eye traced the curvature of the chamber's pale stone perimeter, taking in the carvings of gargoyles, demons, monsters, and pained human faces, all staring inward. Beneath the carvings, a single stone pew curled around the entire circumference of the room. â€Å"Theater in the round,† Langdon whispered. Teabing raised a crutch, pointing toward the far left of the room and then to the far right. Langdon had already seen them. Ten stone knights. Five on the left. Five on the right. Lying prone on the floor, the carved, life-sized figures rested in peaceful poses. The knights were depicted wearing full armor, shields, and swords, and the tombs gave Langdon the uneasy sensation that someone had snuck in and poured plaster over the knights while they were sleeping. All of the figures were deeply weathered, and yet each was clearly unique – different armory pieces, distinct leg and arm positions, facial features, and markings on their shields. In London lies a knight a Pope interred. Langdon felt shaky as he inched deeper into the circular room. This had to be the place.