Buncefield Disaster Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Buncefield Disaster - Essay Example Disasters are major accidents which take place on a large scale in specific areas. However it is not necessary that the whole areas are affected by these large scale disasters. Such a disaster which would be described in this report would be a mass disaster which took place on the 11th of December 2005. The disaster famously known as the Buncefield disaster took place because of an overfilled storage tank at the Buncefield Oil Depot located close to Hemel Hempstead, Herfordshire UK. The disaster was so huge that it expanded and took over other 20 storage tanks and the fire further spread. The horrible incident resulted in the combustion of that area for several days (Buncefield Major Incident Investigation Board, 2006). The oil depot that was destroyed in that incident was one of the largest distribution terminals employed to store refined oil, petrol, aviation turbine fuel, diesel and other kerosene supplies. The explosion that started in the early morning of 11th December, 2005 resulted in the explosion of the large stocks of these refined products. The explosion was further fortified by petrol, diesel, gas and other products. The intensity of the disaster remained firm for 3-4 days. The last major combustions were stubbed out on Wednesday 14th December. However, the fire was not completely extinguished until 15th December. The explosion was so intense that the blast was heard up to about 200 miles (320 km) away. The devastating blast affected the nearby area including commercial buildings and the industrial area. The working week directed towards a great loss of many workers who were supposed to be residing there. 43 people were harmed; however, luckily no serious injuries or deaths were recorde d. The spectators and crews found this incident much destructive and confirmed that it is possibly the largest incident of this sort in peacetime Europe.

Something related to the instruction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Something related to the instruction - Essay Example According to the information that the management provided, the Indiana State Museum advocates environmental awareness activities with fun educational programs and initiatives. In this case, many such events are organized throughout the year in order to concentrate efforts ion environmental management. On the wall of the museum, there is impressively displayed photo gallery that tells various stories about environmental conservation. Very many paintings are displayed that exhibit various scenery and geographical scenes that are well managed. Accordingly, the entire Museum can be described as a complete story that challenges people to take an active responsibility in the conservation of our environment. One can confidently describe the Indiana State Museum as a centre of excellence as far as environmental conservation is concerned. The museum instructor describes the founder of the facility as an esteemed environmentalist and that the museum was founded to specifically facilitate the conservation efforts. The information and material presented during the visit to Indiana State Museum is very much related to the current course topic. In this case, the information describes environmental conservation efforts. In my current topic, environmental conservation is a key

An Element of Art and Science Essay Example for Free

An Element of Art and Science Essay Astrology provides a very debatable kind of knowledge that is generally assessed by the intelligent as a useless kind of knowledge, which only makes sense for the ignorant. At the same time astrology is usually associated with gypsies and hucksters, who are known for their deceptive and fake knowledge, as they try to deceive people for their own financial interest. On the other hand, we find people with high education attempting to study astrology and very much respect the kind of knowledge it offers them. Whether such knowledge offered through teaching astrology in universities is worth doing or to be considered an inapplicable knowledge for high education is a critical decision to make, which requires obtaining a great insight about astrology it self as an academic field in order to be able to make a correct assessment. Astrology is actually a combined form of knowledge that both combine both the element of art and of science in its essence. It contains the mathematical element as well as the artistic element o symbolism (Astrology? 891). Scientists usually disregard the art side of astrology and focus on the basic mathematical part of it, as they judge it as useless and insignificant. This actually destroys the wholeness and balance within the realm itself. This may be considered a reason for misunderstanding the real value of knowledge in astrology. It is also a fact that every field is vulnerable to be used by ignorant people who devoid it totally of its meaning and value, in order to sell it as cheap as possible in a market of ignorance that unfortunately have many customers who are wiling to buy, again this helps in misunderstanding Astrology (Astrology? 891); and as there is the presence of the competent and the incompetent in every field, and people usually search for the best in every profession, so why exclude Astrology (Astrology? 896). Astrology requires a sophisticated kind of thinking as it combines artistic and scientific knowledge, it can therefore never be considered as insignificant knowledge. It may not be appreciated by scientists due to the artistic element provided within it, and their total dependence on reason for discovering reality since the onset of the renaissance; thus reviving such forms of knowledge actually, shows the evolution of knowledge and thinking that reflects the significance of intuitive forms of knowledge besides the pure rational ones. The astrological knowledge in itself consists of a natural balance between intuitive and rational knowledge, and disturbing this balance will only lead to the production of inconsistent forms of knowledge that seem to appear on the surface to help in the generation of misunderstandings regarding astrology. The argument of scientists against Astrology reflects the on going disagreement between scientific knowledge and intuitive forms of knowledge. Scientists never admit the truth in any intuitive understanding, and they usually regarded as invalid. They never accept the fact the mystery is part of reality and that the rational mind can never be able to reach full understanding of the universe. Astrology is a balanced kind of knowledge as it respects both forms of thinking, which in fact a respect for nature and for the human being as part of that nature. I feel that the purpose of a reading is to understand ones life challenges And potential, to provide an opportunity for self reflection and life Evaluation, as well as to confirm ones intuitive sense of what ones Life is about (Astrology? 895). Human beings as well as nature are made of matter and soul that can never be detached from each other as long as life is there. How can scientists reach the truth if they are actually altering the natural balance in life by looking for material proof and ignoring the intuitive reality of nature? The soul remains a mystery that can never be explained by scientific truth, and science can not resolve the question of life and death. There fore, accepting astrology as a significant form of knowledge by a scientist is truly a question of him admitting intuition as a part of reality. From another side, if the issue had not been on intuition, regarding astrology, it is still a form of knowledge that surely provides the individual with some insight about life and introduces him to different kinds of thinking; it should be even credited for this reason alone, my studies in Astrology, as well as in other fields, are attempts to understand the grand design of the whole (Astrology? 894). Scientists also accuse Astrological interpretive knowledge of not being exact stars incline but do not compel (A critical? 882), and this fact works against scientific logic which is sharp and determinant. But actually, life in it self is never exact or straight forward and clear as mathematical knowledge entails for instance. Astrology may actually provide the best for of understanding of life and nature; it allows people to understand reality the way it is without trying to alter its nature. The whole issue of prediction and future related knowledge can never be definite or fully explainable, to discuss future probabilities is much like giving a weather report (Astrology? 896). On the other hand, it should be admitted that Astrological knowledge may help in creating dependent and weak individuals, if they used it wrongly. It might lead them to spin in a cycle, which they might not be able to break. People can stress too much on the intuitive knowledge in Astrology and thus once again altering its balance of logic and intuition and thus getting again a wrong insight about life and nature, with an accompanied change in personality and attitude to life Astrology, when practiced as completely as possible, takes away from ach of us our right and duty to make our own personal decisions (A Critical? 882). In the case of a scientist who puts great emphasis on logic and excludes intuition, makes him a rough and rigid person who stands weak in front of the scientifically unexplained mysteries of the world; while in the case of the ignorant who does the opposite to give too much significance to intuition and disregards reason suffers another kind of weakness that creates a dependent and shattered personality. But again we must also admit that this would be the case with any field if wrongly interpreted. All in all, I believe that Astrology is a sophisticated form of knowledge that should be respected for the special thinking abilities it provides an individual who studies it. It also reflects on the importance of providing a balance between Art and Science, and thus between logic and intuition, which is found deep within the nature of man and the universe he lives in. I would very strongly recommend all institutions of high education to teach Astrology in order to correct the misunderstanding entitled to it, and thus expose the rich and deep knowledge it provides. Works Cited Bok, Bart J. A Critical Look at Astrology. The Humanist Costello, Priscilla. Astrology, Science or Abracadabra? Wellesley College.

Cleft Palate Microflora- Normal and Pathogenic

Cleft Palate Microflora- Normal and Pathogenic A REVIEW OF LITERATURE Abstract Oral cavity is a house for more than 300 species of microorganisms which includes aerobic, non aerobic, spores, fungi etc. Though many microorganisms are commensal only few microorganism involve in pathogenic process due to predisposing or initiative factors like poor oral hygiene, medically compromised patients, dentate and non dentate mouth, dietary habit, clefts, etc,. Cleft palate is one of the conditions in which commensal microorganisms can become pathogenic over time. There will be communication between nasal and oral microorganisms, which makes the habitat more suitable for few like Staphylococcus species. Even after the closure of due to exchange of microflora between oral and nasal cavity it can lead to wound dehiscence, which further leads to post operative complications. Key words: cleft palate, oral microflora, wound dehiscence, staphylococcus, streptococcus, commensal, fistula Introduction Clefts of the palate comprise a range of disorders affecting the oral cavity, the causes of which remain largely unknown1. Affected children have a range of functional problems which include feeding difficulties at birth due to problems with oral seal, swallowing and nasal regurgitation, hearing difficulties due to abnormality in the palatal musculature and speech difficulties due to nasal escape and articulation problems (Mossey and Little, 2009)2. Cleft may also predispose to alteration of normal flora at nose and oral cavity. Viridans streptococci were the first persistent colonizer of the human mouth and Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, and Neisseria spp were consistently found toward the end of the first year of life (Arief et al, 2005)3. NORMAL ORAL MICROFLORA The world we live in contains unimaginable numbers of bacteria, representing the major diversity of life on our planet. The commensal bacteria are present on the epithelial surfaces of the skin and on the mucosal surfaces of the oral cavity, respiratory tract, esophagus, gastrointestinal tract and urogenital tract. An estimated 300 to 500 bacterial species (sp) coexist within the oral cavity, of which approximately 50% are currently uncultivable.4 In spite of this, only a relatively small number of bacteria cause infection in man (Henderson and Wilson, 1998)5. Establishment of a normal flora occurs in a sequential manner: (1) the first exposure of the mucosal surfaces of a sterile neonate is to the maternal genital microflora during its passage through the birth canal, (2) a few hours later the organisms from the mothers (or the nurses) mouth and possibly a few from the environment are established in the mouth, usually Streptococci spp, which bind to mucosal epithelium, (3) oral flora on the childs first birthday usually consists of Streptococci, Staphylococci, Neisseriae and Lactobacilli, (4) the next evolutionary change in this community occurs during and after tooth eruption when two further niches are provided for bacterial colonization, (5) when all the teeth are lost as a result of senility, bacteria that colonize the mouth at this stage are very similar to those in a child before tooth eruption6,7,8. The oral cavity, upper respiratory tract, and certain regions of the ears and eyes have an indigenous microflora. Because of the close anatomic relationship of these structures, the resident flora of these regions shares many common pathogens. Within a given microenvironment, however, certain microbes that constitute the normal flora are associated with distinct anatomic sites. Thus, the normal flora exists within complex ecosystems at different sites and interacts closely with different bacterial spp and with the host epithelial layers. This indigenous microflora is known to change over time and host age, congenital malformation, underlying disease and chemotherapeutic agents affect its composition4. Microbial counts have been reported to vary from day to day9. A variety of conditions affect successful colonization of the mucosal surface in the oral cavity, including factors such as epithelial cell turnover, salivary flow, reduction in the oral pH environment following food intake and dentition. The predominant components of oral flora are Streptococcal spp, most commonly members of the Streptococcus group4,7,8. Increasing the amount of sugar intake would encourage growth of certain Streptococci that are able to tolerate a lower pH environment and also presence of teeth (Arief et al, 2005)3. Organisms generally considered as commensals including palate are coagulase-negative staphylococci, nonhemolytic and viridans streptococci, Corynebacterium spp, Neisseria spp Candida spp and other cultivable and not-yet-cultivable spp of Streptococcus.10,11,12 Candida albicans (C. albicans) is the most prevalent yeast isolated from the human body as a commensal or as an opportunistic pathogen13. The presence of C.albicans in the oral cavity is not indicative of disease. In many individuals, C.albicans is a minor component of their oral flora, and they have no clinical symptoms. In healthy individuals, a large number of sites in the oral cavity can be colonized by C.albicans14. A number of bacteria which populate the normal oral microflora are opportunistic pathogens capable of injuring or even killing the carrier, if conditions permit- organisms like Staphylococcus aureus (S.aureus), ÃŽ ²-hemolytic streptococci, Neisseria meningitides, Streptococcus pneumoniae,5 Klebsiella spp, Escherichia coli (E.coli) and Pseudomonas spp (Roscoe and Hoang, 2007)10. (Table 1) MICROFLORA INVOLVED IN WOUND DEHISCENCE Any wound is at some risk of becoming infected. One school of thought is that the density of microorganisms is the critical factor in determining whether a wound is likely to heal. However, a second school of thought argues that the presence of specific pathogens is of primary importance in delayed healing, while yet others have reported microorganisms to be of minimal importance in delayed healing15. Wound contaminants are likely to originate from three main sources: (i) the environment; (ii) the surrounding skin; (iii) endogenous sources involving mucous membranes. The normal microfloras of the oral cavity are both diverse and abundant, and these supply the vast majority of microorganisms that colonize wounds15. Bacterial infections after cleft palate surgery increase the risk of wound breakdown, palatal fistulas, poor speech, poor growth, poor aesthetic results and death. As the commensal oral bacteria in a normal young child change from birth as the child grows, factors that affect oral bacterial colonization include presence of antibodies that inhibit bacterial adherence, presence of teeth, formation of a biofilm, bacterial load in the saliva of attendants and frequency of exposure, prolonged hospital care and exposure to antibiotics (Chuo and Timmons 2005).3,16,17 The risk of infection is generally based on the susceptibility of a surgical wound to microbial contamination. Clean surgery carries 1 to 5% risk of postoperative wound infection and in dirty procedures that are significantly more susceptible to endogenous contamination, a 27% risk of infection has been estimated15. Though, infection is not a very frequent complication following correction of the palate, when infection occurs, partial or complete dehiscence may be the consequence. All wound infections were diagnosed on the second to sixth postoperative day while most patients leave the hospital on the third postoperative day. However, the strong relationship with preoperative cultures and dehiscence indicates that pathogens causing infection do play a role. Moreover, patients with dehiscence showed pus and fever, both signs of an infectious complication18. One might also argue that wound tension contributes to dehiscence and other causative factor. For example, too close to the incision edges may prevent the tissue from meeting and binding together properly. Sutures that are too tight can result in strangulation of the wound edges and poor blood supply to the wound, causing necrosis or sutures are removed too early.18 Wounds undergo a predictable alteration in microbial flora over time. Early on, the wound is colonized particularly by ÃŽ ²-hemolytic Streptococci and S.aureus, within the first 1 to 4 weeks, these are soon accompanied by that often infect wounds together in a synergistic fashion. After approximately 4 weeks, chronic wounds are more likely to become colonized by Pseudomonas spp Infections in older wounds are polymicrobial mixtures of aerobic pathogens usually associated with tissue necrosis, undermining and deep structure involvement (Gordon Dow, 2009).19 Invasive group A Streptococcal infections, once thought to be mainly a problem of the preantibiotic era, continue to be reported in many countries. In a multicenter general practice study in Denmark (1983 and 1984), group A ÃŽ ²-hemolytic streptococci detected in the throats of 10.9% of 99 asymptomatic children younger than 15 years old. Also the throat carrier rates of groups A, C and G ÃŽ ²-hemolytic streptococci decreased with increasing age of the individuals’ studied.16 The carrier ship of group A Streptococcus may predispose to infection and S.aureus ranks second among spp cultured from infected wounds18. Whilst the importance of Staphylococci as medical pathogens has been recognised for many years, it is now suggest that Staphylococci can be isolated frequently from the oral cavity of particular patients group such as children, elderly and in ill patients. Therefore, it is apparent that the oral cavity may present a hitherto poorly recognised reservoir of Staphylococci, some of which may, under appropriate conditions cause local or systemic infection.17 Nasal bacteria may be transmitted through an oronasal cleftfistula to the oral cavity, and it may be able to survive in the oral environment in children with cleft lip and palate (CLP) (Mims et al., 1993). S.aureus were identified in 53.1% of saliva samples and 40.6% of nasal samples. The oronasal fistula area was significantly higher in children who had S.aureus colonization in their oral cavity (Tuna et al, 2008).20 Recent data have shown that S.aureus is more frequently found in the oral flora of cleft patients than in normal children. Using saliva swabs, Arief et al. found that children with cleft palate showed more colonization by S.aureus compared to normal children of 3–39 months, which decreased significantly after operation.3 According to Aziz, Rhee, and Redai (2009), 5.5% of patients had nonlife-threatening complications (infection or wound dehiscence)21 and according to Hupkens and group (2007), they encountered 6.0% of wound dehiscence.18 The microbiological studies comparing flora between cleft and non-cleft sites in children with CLP by Brennan et al. (2001) determined that the oral bacteria colonize the cleft nasal floor in patients with unilateral oronasal fistulas. They reported that oral bacteria were not cultured in the nasal floor of the cleft in the majority of patients with oronasal fistula. The Investigators claimed that oral bacteria might occur only when the fistulae are sufficiently large to maintain a similar environment to the oral cavity.20 The study by Tuna et al. showed bacterial transmission was proven for large oronasal fistulas and a correlation was found with S.aureus counts in the children with CLP. It appears that as fistula size increases, significantly higher colony numbers of S.aureus were found in saliva samples. In addition, S.aureus tends to survive in the oral cavity as a result of transmission through the nasal passages as long as an unrepaired cleft exists.20 One study by Myburgh, and K.W. Butow (2009), swabs taken from their soft palates were made for days 0, 2, 4 and 6. The pathogenic organisms were: C.albicans, E.coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, S. aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and others.22 Another study from Finland showed that, Viridans Streptococci were the first persistent oral bacteria in babies (Kononen, 2000). Staphylococci were prevalent in more than 25% of children aged 0 to 6 months. The prevalence of Staphylococcus was lower in older children.16 Klebsiella spp are ubiquitous in nature and probably have two common habitats, one being the environment and the other being the mucosal surfaces of humans which they colonize. In humans, Klebsiella pneumoniae is present as a saprophyte in the nasopharynx and in the intestinal tract. Klebsiellae are opportunistic pathogens, can give rise to severe diseases such as septicemia, pneumonia, UTI, soft tissue infection and nosocomial outbreaks. The detection rate in the nasopharynx range from 1 to 6%, which differ considerably from study to study; Klebsiella spp are rarely found there and are regarded simply as transient members of the flora.23 According to the statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Klebsiella spp account for 8% of endemic hospital infections and 3% of epidemic outbreaks. The mortality due to Klebsiella spp bacteremia approaches 27–34% in adult patients. This data also showed a marked overall increase in the incidence of this infection during the study period and are in agreement with previous reports regarding the dynamics of gram-negative and Enterobacteriaceae bacteremias.24 During the 1980s and 1990s, the frequency of nosocomial Candidiasis has increased dramatically. Data from the USA National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance System shows that C.albicans was the most frequently isolated fungal pathogen (59.7%) in hospital environments. Transfer of Candida between individuals often occurs via the hands of health care workers, and nosocomial transmission can occur without Candidiasis outbreaks.14 Approximately 60% of the isolated recovered were gram-positive cocci (coagulase-negative Staphylococcus, ~31%), S.aureus (20%), and Enterococcus (9.5%). Over the past 5–10 years, most commonly isolated were gram-negative rods, such as E.coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, P.aeruginosa, and Enterobacter spp.23,25 It could be hypothesized that patient characteristics are primarily responsible for these differences. For example, genetic predilections, underlying diseases, social factors and economic factors and also differences in the virulence of individual microorganisms may be responsible for the manifestations of infection observed in cleft palate patients after surgery.26 (Table 2) Conclusion S.aureus and ÃŽ ²-hemolytic Streptococci are the commonest microflora which are responsible for wound dehiscence, it is always advised to do preoperative and postoperative culture. Though wound dehiscence is not always but frequent complication patient should be under proper care especially children. Alongside attention should be give to the other commensal microflora like Klebsiella, Candida, etc., which can become pathogenic over time in cleft patients. Despite advances in preoperative care, the rate of surgical wound dehiscence has not decreased in recent years. Recognition of risk factors, prevention of wound infection and mechanical stress on the incision are important. Management of dehisced wounds may include immediate surgery. If surgery is not needed, management is essentially the same as that of any other wound through maintenance of a moist wound environment, reduction of bio burden and pain, and promotion of granulation tissue.

Courtly Love in The Canterbury Tales

Courtly Love in The Canterbury Tales In all periods, in all forms of literature, love has always found its place within the words of its authors. The ideas and meanings readers create about love can change drastically from one reading of a text to another. However, it is safe to say that when reading a tale of courtly love, the type of love is immediately recognizable thanks to the peculiar behaviour, desires, and extreme heartache of the characters. The experience of love the characters feel is put to an extreme that is unrecognizable to what we know as modern day love. Almost all of the Canterbury Tales contain love and lovers who act upon the conventions and standards of courtly love. Chaucer was greatly influenced by the courtly romance of his predecessors. In this paper I intend to give a brief history of courtly love and explore the influences of courtly love on Chaucer and how it is echoed within his Canterbury Tales. It is difficult to define courtly love when scholars such as C.S Lewis, D.W Robertson, E.Talbot Donaldson and Gaston Paris disagree with both the nature and origin of it. Alexander J. Denomy puts it nicely as he defines courtly love as a type of sensual love and what distinguishes it from other forms of sexual love, from mere passion, from so-called platonic love, from married love, is its purpose or motive, its formal object, namely, the lovers progress and growth in natural goodness, merit, and worth. Courtly love contains an important social component. In the poetry of the troubadours, social promotion is an important theme, particularly when it comes to love. William of Poitriers is the highest of nobility as he is the first troubadour. He proclaimed that love can transform a courtly man into a churl, and a churl into a courtly man. The troubadours find it very important that the woman whose love they seek must be of some nobility, at the same time, they claim that love, though u nrequited, makes them better, inspiring in them an emulation of the beloved through which they hope to become worthy of the elevated love for which they long (Manson 239-240). Courtly love is a highly ritualized practice. Generally, courtly love is practiced only between a woman and a man of noble status who are not married. Usually the characters would be a squire, or a knight and a woman with an aristocratic background. Courtly love is seen as ideal and above intercourse. True love was seen to only exist outside of marriages. Marriages had nothing to do with love as they were arranged more often than not. Having a wife was looked at the same way as owning another piece of property to a husband. The medieval teaching of marriage focused on Pagan and Christian views. The first purpose of marriage is to multiply the human race; the second purpose of marriage is to avoid fornication. Kelly states that other motives were admissible, too, especially the nobler ones of peace-making or the encouragement of love between in-laws, but also less noble ones of desire for the intendeds beauty or wealthà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦mutual love between the spouses is notably absent fr om their lists (Kelly pg 247). In the common society of the medieval world there is ordinary love. Some of Chaucers tales are of ordinary love; these tales are called fabliaux. It is easy for one to spot fabliaux from a courtly love tale as the characters in fabliauxs react to lust; they react to love in its most non complex state, its natural state. All forms of love begin with lust, but to be able to master the art of courtly love, one must take themselves out of the simple state of lust and take it to a superior extremely sensual state of love; its power is elevated to a point of worship. In order to achieve this sense of love the man has to endure suffering for the love he seeks. After he goes through the suffering he is able to rise above the lust and begin to serve the women with courageous deeds and beautiful language. An example of one of Chaucers fabliauxs is The Millers Tale. This tale is lusty and vulgar yet the characters, although somewhat immoral, have more depth and personality than the characters in The Knights Tale. Above I have noted that marriage is not typically placed in with courtly love tradition, although in his book The Allegory of Love, C.S. Lewis states that adultery does have its place in courtly love. He suggests that a wife is no superior. As the wife of another, above all as the wife of a great lord, she may be queen of beauty and loveà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦but as your own wife, for whom you have bargained with her father, she sinks at once from a lady to a mere woman (36-27). Chaucer plays upon this idea in The Millers Tale. It is a criticism of courtly tradition, it is similar to The Franklins Tale and The Merchants Tale in that it is about a young squire who cuckolds another mans wife and enters into an affair. Even though it is not traditional for courtly love to be associated w ith a married woman both The Franklins Tale and The Merchants tale use this idea of stealing a mans wife. Both of the young squires, Damian and Aurelius covet another mans wife, but of course only one commits adultery. On the other hand, The Knights Tale is not at all fabliaux and represents much of the courtly love tradition. Arcite and Palamon are both characters of noble status, and they are the best and ideal of their type. Chaucer does a wonderful job glorifying his characters to perfection, he makes certain that the reader knows how noble, courageous, and beautiful his characters are, that gretter was ther noon under the sonne (863). These characters embody the standards of courtly love; Arcite suffers extreme love pains for Emelye as he has his freedom but does not have access to her. Arcites anguish is so great because he cannot see Emelye that it physically changes him. Palamon can not even recognize him. It is made quiet clear that there has never been anyone to feel the pains of love as bad as what Arcite felt. Theseus even acknowledges the extremes of love-sickness when he asks who may been a fool but if he love? (1799). Palamon also suffers love pains for Emelye as although he can see her through bars, he will never be able to be with her, he will never be able to touch her. Both men suffer for her, and later in the tale both men perform courageous deeds when they decide to fight each other for the chance of being with Emelye. The language in The Knights Tale is quiet extreme and takes every event to a heightened level. Theseus builds a battlefield for the two knights to battle on and he refers to it as a noble theatre as it was / I dar wel seyen in this world ther nas (1885-1886). Thus further embodying the greatness of courtly love. Andreas Capellanus was surely an influence for Chaucer when it comes to courtly love. De Arte Honeste Amandi is essentially a hand book on how to love like a courtier written by Capellanus. Love is a certain inborn suffering derived from the sight of an excessive meditation upon the beauty of the opposite sex, which causes each one to wish above all things the embraces of the otherà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦(Capellanus 40). First is the sexual desire, and then is the excessive meditation on the womens beauty which makes the lover rise above his lust to a realm of innocent passion that makes only the embrace of the love he seeks meaningful. Throughout Capellanuss hand book on how to love like a courtier are examples of problems in which lovers know no answers. One example of a situation is, if a lover dies, how long one must wait until she may seek a new love (Capellanus 49). The answer is two years. Chaucer uses this span of two years in The Franklins Tale, and it strikingly resembles that of wh ich is read in Capellanuss De Arte Honeste Amandi. In The Franklins Tale Arvergus is sent away for two years on duty. The squire Aurelius has loved Dorigen for two years, and he prays to the gods that the waters stay higher than the rocks for two years, and suffers love sickness for two years. As well, after two years of Dorigens husband beings away she considers having an affair. Another influence on Chaucers writing was Guillaume de Lorris Le Roman de la Rose. In this love affair the protagonist greatly suffers for his love. He shows all of the symptoms of love-sickness, as well he listens to the commands given to him by the god of Love. The commands become expected for the young knights in following works of courtly love. Many of Chaucers concepts in The Canterbury Tales derived from the courtly ideas in the Rose. An example of how the rose is interrelated with Chaucers work is how The Franklins Tale and The Knights Tale resemble it. In the poem a young man is wandering in a garden. He leans over and looks into a well of narcissus; this glance into the well causes him to fall in love with the first thing he sets his eyes upon. When they young lover sees a rose bud, cupid shoots an arrow at him; it enters though his eye and penetrates his heart. The young man removes the shaft from his eye but he will forever have the arrow head lodged into his heart. This i dea of love at first sight has held its own place in literature throughout centuries. Chaucer mirrors this representation of an arrow in the heart in The Franklins Tale and The Knights Tale. Aurelius suffers from love, although he appears fine on the outside a keen arrow stuck within his soul / A wound thats only surface-healed can be / A perilous thing, you know in surgery / unless the arrowhead be taken out (435-438). In The Knights Tale Palamon is struck by love through the eye, I have been hurt this moment through they eye, / Into my heart (42-43). In both cases the wounded lovers are inflicted of the gods love, and both will suffer for the one they love. The medieval period in English Literature spends a lot of time being concerned with love and lovers, surely more than any other period. Almost every one of The Canterbury Tales discusses love is some manifestation or another and almost all encounter lovers. Chaucer was neither an enemy nor a companion of courtly love. With him the concept remained unchallenged, serviceable for dealing with love elegantly and useless for dealing with it seriously (Eliason 15). He takes inspiration from authors before him and adds an element of courtly love into his own work that develops the idea with a new sense of creativity and intelligence.

A Moment of Innocence :: essays papers

A Moment of Innocence When I walked into class that day I was indifferent to the movie that we would be watching that evening. Five minutes into A Moment of Innocence (1995) by Mohsan Makhmalbaf, I was hooked. By taking a pseudo-documentary style Makhmalbaf lets us see the people as they are transformed into the characters from the director’s past. This style allows us to â€Å"grow up† with them and to relate to both sides of the story. By taking a true event and fictionalizing, at least part of it, Makhmalbaf has us trying to figure out what parts have been added to the narrative and which parts truly speak to history. A documentary does not strive to tell a story, it looks upon events unemotionally and tries not to colour our ideas about the event. A Moment of Innocence is not a documentary but uses the truth function common to that genre to give us an understanding of the events from both sides and makes us think about how our actions effect others every day. If A Moment of Innoce nce had been a wholly fictional film I do not believe that it would have carried the same emotional impact. Different scenes in the film show us how Makhmalbaf is trying to reconcile his past actions with his feeling today. They also show how he is, while not in any way apologizing for his actions, trying to amend some of the damage he may have caused. There are several scenes in the film that stand out to me as important. The scene that caught me the most off-guard occurred when Makhmalbaf and young Makhmalbaf went to the director’s cousin’s home to try to enlist her daughter to play the roll her mother had played in real life. For just a moment the daughter and young Makhmalbaf step out of themselves and become the characters that they are playing. They make plans to meet the next day for the incident with the policeman, both look nervous, Makhmalbaf returns and they resume their roles as if the exchange had never occurred. This glimpse into what and how the incident was planned gives the audience a look into the type of people that Makhmalbaf and his cousin were as young adults, scared but sure in their purpose. The scene also allows us to step out of the knowledge that this is staged and shows us the characters as people, not actors.

Graduation Speech -- Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

Good afternoon. Today I have been asked to speak about graduation past, present and future. My first graduation occurred when I finished kindergarten. This is often where we learn the most basic of principles. This is what I learned: Share everything. Play fair. Don't hit people. Put things back where you found them. Don't take things that are not yours. Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash your hands before you eat. Don't forget to flush. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Live a balanced life. Learn some and think some, and draw, paint, sing, dance, play and work a little bit everyday. Take a nap in the afternoon. When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands and stick together. Be aware of the wonder of God's creation. Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The golden rule and love, and basic sanitation, ecology, and politics and sane living. Think of what a better world it would be if we all decided to take a nap at 3:00 every afternoon and then laid down with our bl...