Methamphetamine abuse

Methamphetamine abuse is a major problem in the United States, as it increases spreads from Western parts of the country to other parts. With its root in the Hawaii, it has gradually spread to the Southern and Mid-west part of the states; and is increasingly associated with unsafe and frivolous behaviors that predispose to transmission of infectious diseases like hepatitis B and C, and even the dreaded virus, HIV.   Of course, the later condition makes it more worrisome for the government, health care workers and Drug agency. It is associated with brain damage, serious cardiovascular disorder, behavioral changes, psychotic symptoms, depression, and deleterious effects in pregnant women. This is a situation where an individual consumes methamphetamine in quantities that are above a therapeutic abuse, without prescription, and for unsolicited personal gains. It presents with short term gains such as euphoria accompanied by rush, high level of activity and increased attention. Methamphetamine is used as therapeutic drug in attention deficit syndrome, and is used to treat narcolepsy, a sleep disorder. Methamphetamine is a Schedule II stimulant. This implies that it had a high addiction tendency and increased potential for abuse. Although it is only available through a prescription that can not be refilled, it is abused by many within the country. Most of these are man aged 18-25white. Etiology The cause of this abuse can not be divorced fro the use of drug for personal or group work. In most cases of abuses [ if not all], methamphetamine is taken as a   neuroactive stimulant to produce short term effects in the individual. Such effects include: euphoria, rush, increase rate of breathing, Increased attention and concentration, Increased activity and wakefulness, reduced appetite and decreased fatigue. It also increases libido. These short term advantages are associated with a good feeling in the user. Besides, it does not last long enough, and as a compensatory mechanism, methamphetamine drub users and chronic abuser engage in continual use of drug, increased consumption frequency. Sometimes, they take high dose of the drug to increase the effect of the drug on their behavior such as improved sexual performance, better attention and increased tendency to work better and more effectively. Methamphetamine comes in a variety of forms. It can be smoked, snorted, injected, or orally ingested. The method that is adopted by a region depends on the cultural behaviour with respect to other abused drugs and the pattern of choice has changed over time. Of these methods, smoking is commonest because of its faster rate of absorption into the brain to produce the desired effects. One other factor that contributes to Methamphetamine abuse is that it is e readily available at local clandestine laboratories. Although it is manufactured by foreign specialized laboratories, the ingredients for its manufacture are readily available over the counter at affordable prices; as a result, it is produced for local use. This contributes greatly to its widespread use. Pathogenesis Methamphetamine is similar to amphetamine but they do not share essentially the same properties of site of action. It is particularly similar to dopamine structurally. Its primary site of action is the brain.   Although t shares certain similar behavioral and physiological effects with cocaine, it is different from it in its mechanism of action. It has a high retention rate in the body. This implies that is not readily eliminated from the system via excretion or detoxification in the liver. Since its primacy site of action is the brain, its absorption and long stay in there increase its stimulant action. Central to this action is the fact it increases the levels of the brain chemical dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is involved in emotional motivation, pleasure, and motor function.   Methamphetamine blocks dopamine re-uptake, while increasing the release of dopamine, leading to much higher concentrations in the synapse, which can be toxic to nerve terminals. This has an implication in chronic abusers, their increased frequency of consumption or ingestion of higher concentration potentates these effects and makes dopamine readily available for its deleterious effects on neurons. Clinical Features The symptoms of methamphetamine abuse and sign elicited on examination arise from the euphoria of short term effect, and the toxic effects of dopamine by virtue of long term use. The short term effects have been mentioned earlier. The long term effects are usually negative: one of such is addiction. Association with chronic consumption of the methamphetamine is increased tolerance for the substance. This creates a preparatory ground for addiction. Other symptoms seen in chronic abusers of methamphetamine include anxiety, confusion, insomnia, mood disturbances, and violent behavior. They also can display a number of psychotic features, including paranoia, visual and auditory hallucinations, and delusions.   Memory Loss, Aggressive or violent behavior, Mood disturbances, severe dental problems, Weight loss also form part of features seen in this category of people. Treatment The alarming rate of spread of methamphetamine indulgence across the nations is worrisome for health care providers. It is equally a headache for every member of the community interested in safe sexual behavior, peace and progress; those averse towards violence and communal clashes which have been associated with methamphetamine abuse. In the midst of this sad picture emerges the god news that methamphetamine abuse can both be prevented and more interestingly treated. Since the disorder includes brain damage which presents in functional and behavioral disturbances, the treatment options available are targeted at these. Treatment of methamphetamine intoxication is primarily supportive. Treatment of methamphetamine abuse is behavioral; cognitive behavior therapy, contingency management, and the Matrix Model have proven effective. Treatments by use of drugs are under investigation. REFERENCES Winslow BT, Voorhees KI, Pehl KA., Methamphetamine abuse. Swedish Medical Center Family Medicine Residency, Littleton, Colorado 80121, USA. http://www.drugabuse.gov/about/organization/cewg/pubs.html. http://www.nida.nih.gov/ResearchReports/Methamph Injury associated with methamphetamine use: A review of the literature Hawaii Med J. 1997;56:34–6, 44. [PubMed]; Murray JB. Psychophysiological aspects of amphetamine-methamphetamine abuse. J Psychol. 1998;132:227–237. †¦ www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1448174 Psychophysiological aspects of amphetamine-methamphetamine abuse. From: The Journal of Psychology | Date: 3/1/1998 | Author: Murray, John B. †¦ www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-20565391.html Thomas Ernst, PhD, Linda Chang, MD, Maria Leonido–Yee, MD and Oliver Speck, PhD Evidence for long-term neurotoxicity associated with methamphetamine abuse http://www.neurology.org/cgi/content/abstract/54/6/1344 Methamphetamine Abuse During Pregnancy: Outcome and Fetal Effects BERTIS B. LITTLE, MA, PhD, LAURA M. SNELL, MPH and LARRY C. GILSTRAP, III, MD ttp://acogjnl.highwire.org/cgi/content/abstract/72/4/541   

Islamic Fundamentalism Essay

Introduction: The term â€Å"Islamic Fundamentalism† refers to one of those Islamic movements in the Middle East, North Africa or South and East Asia with a goal to establish an Islamic government in the area of their struggle. Islamism and Islamic Extremism are other synonyms of Islamic Fundamentalism. The rise of Islamic Fundamentalism can be traced back to the 20th Century when different movements emerged with the goal of the revival of Islamic Political presence in the global scenario. It was initially in response to the colonialism and imperialism of the West. Most of the Muslim intellectuals regarded Western dominion of their lands as unfair. The alleged the Western Nations as looting and robbing their resources and wealth. The modern Islamists consider the global economical and political system as tools to perpetuate Western domination on the world. That’s why they appose and despise it. This paper will discuss whether the Islamic Fundamentalism is a threat to the modern civilization or not. Islamic Fundamentalism a Growing Threat: The feeling to revive the Islamic values among the daily life is a common feeling in the Muslim communities of the world. Thus in this way Islamic Fundamentalism is not a harmful or an aggressive phenomenon. There are also large numbers of Muslims who think that the western political and economical systems are not compatible with their social and religious norms. These people want to establish an Islamic political and economical system as an alternative to the Western Democracy and Capitalism. These are also divided into two categories. The mainstream of Islamists is determined to work according to the current rules and regulations of their respective societies. They do not violently appose political pluralism participate in the democratic process and recognize the interests and rights of the minorities. They do not disregard the presence of a market economy either. The Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt and Jordan and the Islamic Salvation Front of Algeria before it was deprived from its electoral victory and forced to take arms lie in this category. (Millward, 1993) In the second category of the Islamist lie those who have a revolutionary and radical notion of establishing an Islamic State. They completely disregard the existing system in their societies and are eager to overthrow it with force and military struggle. They have no recognition of the market economy and they despise any form of political pluralism, and minority rights. Alqaida, The Palestinian Hamas and Egyptian Islamic Jihad lie in this category. (Millward, 1993) Because they consider the modern political system under the jurisdiction of the United Nations a way to perpetuate Western dominion, they despise it and deem it as an opponent and hostile force. Because their long-term goal is to develop an alternate global political system they have intended to destroy the existing supporting powers of the current system. These were the intentions behind the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Because the radical Islamic Movements deem the U. S. has the most powerful supporter of maintaining the status quo they made their first offensive against her. The more will be the support for democracy and capitalism the earlier it will become the target. U.K and Spain are other examples of some rigorous supporters of the democracy and capitalism which, sustained brutal assaults from radical Islamists. Conclusion: Radical Islamic Fundamentalism is indeed a threat to the modern world, but they have their limitations. The radical Muslims are a small faction of the Islamic Mainstream. Though recent events like American led invasion on Iraq has sparked angered among the Muslim youths, the failure of the secular elite leadership of the Islamic world is responsible for turning their eyes to the radicalists. If the World Leader did not take serious measures to pacify the Muslim masses the â€Å"Green Peril† will become deadly truth. References: Bukay, David (2003). Cultural Fallacies in Understanding Islamic Fundamentalism and Palestinian Radicalism, Jerusalem Summit , Retreived from the World Wide Web on April 19th 2007, http://www. jerusalemsummit. org/eng/full. php? id=23&speaker=72&summit=32 Millward. Wm. (1993). The Rising Tide of Islamic Fundamentalism, Canadian Security Intelligence Service, retrieved from the World Wide Web on April 18th 2007, http://www. csis-scrs. gc. ca/en/publications/commentary/com30. asp.

Events management law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Events management law - Essay Example The paper then touches on three fundamental legal issues that were bound to affect the organisres of the event. The issues touched on are contracts, sponsorship and health and safety laws. The law of contracts is looked into in light of the fact that these organisers must engage other parties in the planning and running the event. As a result, they must appreciate the importance of contracts and use the relevant laws to ensure they get what they deserve The laws of sponsorship are discussed with the knowledge that the Australian Parliament passed a bill to regulate ambush marketing in the course of the games. Besides, there are many other legal dimensions of sponsorship laws that the organisers need to understand, and these are covered quite well in the section. Finally, the report looks into the aspect of health and safety for the parties involved in the event. The value of understanding the various aspects of this field are looked into and carefully covered. It is after this that a list of recommendations is drawn to show the importance of legal counsel and empowerment to organisers of such events as this. The law is an expansive field that covers all or most aspects of life. The law is especially special in the business world since in this field, all stakeholders come with diverse personal interests. As a result a code to govern the operations of business ventures is fundamental to ensure smooth running and a reference for conflict resolution when necessary. In the world of business, events form a substantial fraction. In fact, a single major event easily affects a host of other businesses in tremendous ways. The fact that events are key and lucrative business ventures means that a lot of entrepreneurs will want to venture in this form of business. Consequently, a clearly defined legal system is fundamental to help regulate the business processes related to events. In this paper, The Commonwealth Games

Assessment of Creativity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Assessment of Creativity - Essay Example This kind of research is done in controlled conditions, where there are some certain kinds of instructions given are the same (Kaufman & et al. 2004). There are many kinds of tasks given to test creativity. These include mathematical problems, puzzles, poem writing and story writing. The disadvantage with this kind of test is that it cannot be done to already existing innovations. It only exists in a controlled environment. It is very disadvantageous as creativity cannot be limited to a vacuum (Kaufman & et al. 2004). The Mathematical Creativity Problem Solving Ability Test is a test developed to identify those who are mathematically gifted (Kim & Ahn 2003). The ability to provide new solutions using already existing knowledge of concepts involves thinking methods and principles. There are four stages involved in creative math problem solving. This includes identification of the problem, the formation of a plan to solve the problem, execution of the plan and analysis of how well the problem was solved (Kim & Ahn 2003). The test consists of two parts. The first part is open-ended, where there are various accepted answers. The second part is closed and there is only one correct answer. This type of test beneficial does not completely limit the thinking of an individual. A mathematics creativity test should provide both convergent and divergent thinking. It should not completely limit one to a wrong or right answer. There should also be factors that promote the formation of creativity. An environment where all the factors favorable for habit formation are favorable, various other tasks should be integrated into the test not only the ability to provide the answer. Things such as an understanding of the problem and articulation of the solution should be

Toulmin argument paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Toulmin argument - Research Paper Example This is a city that puts a premium to attracting businesses by giving generous tax incentives. It is fast growing as a city and with it various concerns like increased crime rates, environmental and health concerns, property taxes, public transportation and police protection have some citizens worried and they feel these issues need increased government attention. The city gives a great deal of emphasis and focus on environmental issues. It has put up a government Web site where citizens can e-mail their various concerns. In particular, there is a section in the Web site where important health issues are given importance by the Health and Human Services Department (HHS). One particular Web page under the HHS page is the Environmental Health Services page which is concerned with certain public health issues like proper sanitation, food safety, waste disposal and management of disease-carrying pests and insects such as bed bugs, cockroaches and mosquitoes (http://charmeck.org 1). This paper is concerned with the last time item mentioned, which is disease-carrying mosquitoes which is not given enough attention by the local government. Mosquitoes are capable of transmitting many diseases like malaria, dengue, yellow fever, filariasis and West Nile virus (WNV). Among disease-carrying insects, cockroaches, flies and mosquitoes are the worst with mosquitoes capable of breeding quickly and spreading their diseases through vectors or those carriers of the virus. One important vector for most diseases carried by mosquitoes are birds. In previous instances, North Carolina always investigated the presence of dead birds and tried to determine their cause of death by conducting autopsies on the dead birds. However, since a West Nile virus has long been confirmed in North Carolina, health authorities stopped doing those autopsies on dead wild birds and no longer overly concerned. It is this dangerous sense of complacency that might lead to unnecessary suffering and death

Conclusion Chapter Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Conclusion Chapter - Dissertation Example Meanwhile, gender and grade level were found to have a significant relationship with reading achievement, while gender and VARK7G learning styles in turn correlated with the dependent variables. RAAF and FT scores were also found to differ greatly based on gender. Grade and gender were found to be significant factors, especially with respect to reading achievement. Meanwhile, gender and multi-single learning styles were likewise found to have a significant relationship. Gender was also found to affect FT and RAAF scores. While males were found to be affected greatly by grades and VARK7G categories, the same could not be said for their female counterparts. Their learning styles in RAAF were also less error-prone, and particular learning styles were said to be more or less effective for males than females. All in all, learning styles are said to differ not only based on one’s gender, but also on age and grade level – which is why teachers need to vary their lesson plans a ccording to these considerations. Research Question 3 aimed to determine if there are significant differences between males and females in terms of learning style. The study found that at least 1.6% of the variance in learning styles is due to gender, and it has also been observed that males and females alike tend to prefer multi-learning style. All in all, the gender-based differences in learning style preference are marginal at best, with both genders choosing the quad and aural styles as their most and least preferred learning styles, respectively. Research Question 4 asks the following: In Arabic reading classes, do teaching strategies significantly affect reading achievement among students? The TRSQ is divided into subscales referring to reading instruction (RI), reading resources and types of text (RR), reading activities and behaviour (RA), development of

Mediation and intercultural communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Mediation and intercultural communication - Essay Example is to ensure the best performance of his duties, connected with finding an acceptable agreement between opposing parties. As far as mediation in Saudi Arabia is concerned, completely confidential and satisfactory for both parties resolution of the conflict should be meant, while mediation sphere in this country comprises one of the best professionals in this area. Mediators in Saudi Arabia are divided by the sphere of professional interest: for example, in order to solve dispute concerning employment agreement, it is necessary to contact with mediator in Saudi Arabia, who specializes in labor contracts. Other kinds of disputes, which can be handled by mediators in Saudi Arabia, include consumers, business, divorce etc. Saudi Arabia, being a multicultural country, faces disputes in which representatives of opposing cultural views are involved. Intercultural relations and communication are of the great importance in such cases, as it is tremendously necessary to tolerate opposin g parties in order to come to an agreement, which will satisfy both. In such cases mutual understanding and intercultural communications play an integral part and share each other’s thoughts and views, help to understand other opinions and to come to common solutions. To conclude, mediation in Saudi Arabia is a basic instrument in solving disputes and finding agreements. Intercultural relations and communication make it possible to understand opposing parties and to reach a common goal Seat, K. (2012, March 19). International Mediation Developments – November 2013.International Mediation Developments - November 2013. Retrieved June 21, 2014, from http://www.mediate.com/articles/intlmeddevNo Zemanta, A. (2010, January 11). Virtual Mediation Lab.  Virtual Mediation Lab. Retrieved June 21, 2014, from

Political Parties and the Electorial Process Assignment

Political Parties and the Electorial Process - Assignment Example On the other hand, Democrats have favored interventions that intervene closely on the lives of individuals in a manner that may be seen to alter local authority (Peress, 2011). On economy, Republicans favor a policy of free enterprise where the government only encourages a free business environment. They focus on letting the people act independently within a free market with little government interference. For example, Republican policy may not so easily favor bailing out an enterprise that is facing financial woes. Democrats on their part, Democrats hold that the economy is a sensitive area that the government should monitor closely. They tend to favor government support of economic institutions in the event they are threatened with issues of performance. For example, the Obama administration bailed out Ford Company to save millions of jobs for Americans. The other difference between Republicans and Democrats ideologies is that whereas Republicans favor limited government spending, Democrats believe in federal tax control. Democrats hold that it is the business of the federal government to design tax policies and regulations. Republicans do not agree with this position, favoring controlled government spending and tax increases. ... On the other hand, Democrats have favored a controlled military spending. Even so, the current administration was not keen on that. It could be probably because of terror threat, which has been a serious issue in the last 10 years (Peress, 2011). Analyze Key Reasons Why Third Parties Have Ever Been Successful At the Presidential Level The nature of party system in the US is such that representatives are first elected at district level. Election at the district level is such that only one candidate with the most votes is declared the winner. This system has seen many candidates from third parties who lose at the district level since the major parties are usually out to make the best out of the districts elections. One can say that the level of political competition that the district level explains why it has always been difficult for third parties to be successful. Besides, the fact that there has been the trend that majorities of the electorates identify with the bigger parties has a lso posed a political challenge for candidates who prefer to run on third parties. It is a fear or concern of the psychological power of the big two parties on the minds of the electorates (Snyder and Ting, 2011). Besides, there is no big historical success for third parties. Probably Roosevelt was the only lucky candidate of third parties when he scooped 88% of the Electoral College votes, but he also reversed and joined the Republican Party. Therefore, it appears that history does not serve third parties a fair share of the competitive platform against Democrats and Republicans. They may be seen as political underdogs who cannot bark so loudly enough on matters of interest to the electorates. Lastly, third parties have also suffered the blow of

Applying E-Business Strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Applying E-Business Strategies - Essay Example In spite of having the right to comment about the cafà ©s activities, the customer’s viewpoints reveal ignorance of children’s right towards recreational activities such as storytelling sessions. An open web forum is prone to abusive comments, non-relevant posts, and inciting others regarding an issue concerning either the cafà © or other firms. Consequently, encouraging an open line communication and maintaining an open web forum necessities to the cafà © to ask the customers to agree with the terms of web forum prior to posting their comments. Deleting offensive comments and integrating a word filter into the web forum will further encourage an open line of communication and still maintain an open web forum. The best type of business that fits Broadway cafà © is the advertising e-business that will be executed through a number of strategies including the use social blogs (Canzer 97). A website is one of the way that the cafà © will receive feedback on their services, which facilitate the improvement of services towards customer satisfaction through an effective customer service. Once customers are satisfied, the cafà © will increase sales as they keep on coming back for more increasing the cafà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s revenue. The social platforms form one of the major marketing strategies that the cafà © can use to showcase its products and services and conduct promotions. Posting and sharing of pictures will help in the improving the cafà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s brand providing a direct access forum for the customers to review the services prior to their visit, which further attract more customers; hence, increasing Broadway cafà © revenue. Broadway cafà © can further introduce a cashless payment to deal with the cafà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s finance where the customer is able to pay using an online payment method, which most people find appropriate compared to walking around with cash. Additionally, the cafà © can

Applied management project Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 14250 words

Applied management project - Dissertation Example Companies can try to capture market share from foreign shores in order to be able to expand without the fear of being discriminated against foreign or local counterparts (Hoekman 2001). Still, there remains considerable criticisms because of the lapses of the organisation have negatively impacted some developing nations. However, the magnitude of the global marketplace makes it very difficult to manage. With the opportunities presented by the WTO, the companies can then turn their sights on these markets and the possible entrenched competition that they may face. Hence, there is the urgency to be able to penetrate swiftly as well as to guide the product in this very critical stage (Robertson 1993). Also, companies would do well to be able to be able to innovate in such a way that they can capture and hold market share. To do so, it is shown in the paper that it is important to always consider the market when innovating their products (Karr and Gabrielson 2007). Background, Aims and O bjectives The global economy has greatly benefited from the increased trading activities that have been fuelled by trade liberalization. Hence, there are many companies that have tried to take on the challenges and be able to get into the different countries and capture the demand of their respective domestic markets. This strengthening of the global trading system has further expanded the global marketplace where companies can have access to different areas where they can sell their wares as well as be able to enhance their production capabilities. It is important to note that this has been supported greatly by the anti-discrimination principles of the Most Favored Nation (MFN) rule as well as the National Treatment rule which has enabled the different companies from different countries to be able to have fair treatment (Hoekman 2001). Still, there are criticisms of the global trade organisation. In fact, Rose (2003) even alleges that the WTO does not really contribute to the growi ng trade between nations. Furthermore, there have also been allegations that the organisation is merely a pawn used by rich and powerful countries and companies to advance their self-serving interests and be able to take advantage of the resources from other countries. Also, there have also been conflicts that have come between policies from different nations with those of the WTO. Among these have been the labour policies and the now increasingly pressing environmental policies. Through the past decade, there has been increasing awareness of the effects of global warming. Hence, different countries have been growing more concerned about the need to protect the environment and mitigate the impact of pollution in the environment. Therefore, there have been increasing regulations that different companies must abide in order to reduce their carbon footprints. However, there is the risk that these policies may be interpreted as protectionist in nature rather than as a protection for nat ure. On the other hand, there have also been rulings in favour of trade that has earned the ire of environmentalist groups that have alleged that the organisation was favouring capitalism over the need to protect the environment. It is important to remember though that trade must be able to promote sustainability while countries must likewise ensure that they abide by the various agreements from the trade rounds that has

Organization Knowledge Essay Example for Free

Organization Knowledge Essay Managing information in today’s growing world is a tedious task. With excessive amount of data coming into systems daily, it has become imperative for knowledge organizers to follow certain guidelines if they are to ensure quick and easy retrievals later on. The purpose of this paper is to explore the different techniques using which knowledge in a public library can be organized. For this purpose, I m assuming that I have been employed by a public library and have been designated the task of organizing their knowledge. Organization of knowledge in a public library is a more delicate task than organization of knowledge at any other school or college library. Fact is that there are a greater number of users in a public library with all sorts of personalities. (ALA/PLA) Students, teachers, retirees, civilians, knowledge-seekers, tourists, etc are some of the different categories of users of a public library. Since all of these categories hold different perceptions as to the organization of knowledge and would expect a different kind of classification, it is important to use standardized organization techniques to address a maximum number of users in an appealing way. Classification of knowledge is a very ambiguous job. There are no pre-defined rules or any set criteria that govern the classification of knowledge. It is to the discretion of the librarian or the manager operating in the situation to decide by them the way of organizing their knowledge. Given the task of organizing knowledge at the public library I would begin by classifying and sorting out the different books according to the subject material they deal with. For example, books on art, literature, politics, religion, music and science can all be identified into separate groups and thus can easily be sorted. This would be the preliminary and perhaps one of the most critical steps in the entire process. Having effectively carried out a thorough classification during the first process would mean simplification and reduced errors in the oncoming steps. Organization of Knowledge) The next step is to assign labels or bar tags to these bags in an intelligent manner. Books in a library need a unique identification number that comes in hand at the time of borrowing and return. These identification numbers would be distributed on the basis of their category with no discretion within each category. Since new books would be coming into the library every now and then, the identification numbers cannot follow a rule. This is because every time new book comes in, it would require other books’ labels to be re-assigned. This would not only be an impossible task, it would also negate the integrity of the data contained in the library. Therefore, it is far more important to ensure that these books are given intelligent tags identifying their category and a corresponding number so that the identification number is a composite field made up of characters and numbers. After successful grouping or rather preliminary classification of the books in the library, I would no focus on ordering the books within each subset using the alphabetical order. Alphabetical order is a very tricky pattern to follow. There is no way a strict alphabetical order can be followed. Instead the name of the book and the author’s name are both used for alphabetical ordering. For example, a book written by P. Gerrard titled â€Å"On the Economics of War† can be classified under the â€Å"P† category or the â€Å"O† category. However, it depends on the librarian as to what is considered more important for him. I, being employed in a public library, would list this book under the â€Å"P† section due to the fact that the title of the book starts with an insignificant word, in terms of a title. The word â€Å"on† has no significant literary value when expressing a book title. Thus, listing this book under the â€Å"P† category would make life easier when it comes for searching. Similarly, placing the book titled â€Å"In the Eye of the Mist† by Pete K. Moss under the â€Å"I† category would have no intelligence associated with it. Intelligent categorization calls upon this book to be placed under the â€Å"P† category owing to the first name of the author starting with this alphabet making it easier to trace this book around the library. The discretion with which similar groupings will be done depends to a great extent upon the title of the book. Unless the title of the book opens with a relatively rare word or with a noun, the categorization will be done using the name of the author. Although, this may look to b a relatively easy task to perform, it should be noted that often there are several authors of a book or either their name does not start with a single initial. Such cases are often perplexing and it creates the problem of a uniformed strategy to follow. Ensuring uniformity in the organization of knowledge means that there would be fewer chances of not finding a book in the place it was thought to be in. (Organization of Knowledge)It also makes life easy for regular users of a library. Since public libraries serve the general public, there re several reads bound to be using the library on a routine basis. Such users get accustomed to the organization technique used within a library and after a considerable amount of time spent using the library, they themselves become equipped with the knowledge of finding a book easily. Often it has been seen that such people are there helping other naive users around the library when the librarian is not around or perhaps busy with another user. Moving on, since all of the books would by now be organized in their respective categories, it would be no longer confusing as to where a particular book should be placed. (What is Knowledge Organization? ) The next step would be to ensure that these books are all fed into a centralized system along with their shelf numbers. Inputting the identification numbers would be a time-consuming task. Normally libraries have added information about books contained in a database. Inputting such information along with the identification number would mean several days’ hard work. Thus, the general recommendation is to scan the identification numbers on the book along with their location tag. The location tag is like the identification number. It informs the reader as to which shelf this book will probably be placed on. Logically numbering the shelves and then placing the correct shelf tag on the book according to its position would eliminate a great deal of manual input. Scanned data will contain the label of the book and the location. Librarians in their free time can then update their database with additional information about these books. Thus, the final step would be to correctly place these books in the shelves that have been labeled onto them. Incorrect placement of these books will result in wasted activity during the organization of knowledge steps. Thus, it is imperative to ensure that these books are placed back in their respective shelves even after they are returned by an issuer. In conclusion, I would like to assert the fact that knowledge organization is a hefty, yet significant task when it comes to using a library. The books in a library are pretty much arranged in a very logical and orderly manner. It is this fact which makes a library usable and books accessible. Online entries of the locations of books into computers also assist librarians only because they know that the proper place of that book is the one pointed out by the computer. Librarians face a tough task ahead of them when they join public libraries and attempt to organize the knowledge there.

Upper Class In Britain Sociology Essay

Upper Class In Britain Sociology Essay There are quite intense debates nowadays about social classes between social scientists. Some argue that there is no need anymore to study the classes of society in the old ways, since in the twentieth century capitalism and the global economy altered the society and the way people live their lives so much; that classes became so fragmented, so layered that basically they have turned into lifestyles (Marsh et al, 2000). Others argue that, although there are changes in the class system, the basic classes still clearly can be found and studied (especially the upper class), and these social classes are still playing a decisive part in peoples life and identity. They agree that social classes became very layered and sometimes hardly identifiable, but they also say that people still identify themselves in the terms of classes and that the classes were not effected equally by these changes in global and national economy. They also say that inequality between people still makes the classes fairly identifiable (Macionis Plummer, 2005). These debates would not have made sense till the industrial revolution. Till that time there was a clearly identifiable working-, middle- and upper class. However the changes in the national and global economy, also in the ownership of the big companies and the birth of the joint-stock companies made the borders between social classes vague and, some say, led to the demise of the upper class (Marsh et al, 2000). Edgell (1993) cited by Kirby et al (1997, p. 125) states that there are two approaches of the upper classs situation now days. The managerialist and the non-managerialist approach. The managerialist scientists, like Dahrendorf, say that the separation of ownership and control led to the birth of a manager class and through this change it also led to vast alterations in the upper class. They state that, on one hand, the workers can buy shares in any company and the control of the companies wandered from the owners (members of the upper class) to the managers, thus the upper c lass became just as fragmented and layered as the working-, and middle-class. On the other hand, because of the changes in the quality of life, the lower classes enjoy or will enjoy the same privileges just as the upper class (Kirby et al, 1997). Hence, argue they, it does not make sense to study classes in the old way, since the classes in the way as people knew them have disappeared. However the scientists on the other side of the fence say that, though the class system became very layered, that change did not affected the upper class as much as the other classes. Moreover, they argue that the upper class is the only one which still can be identified and separated easily, although it became more layered than it was in the nineteenth century (Bilton et al, 2002). They prove this statement with statistics, surveys and other evidences. The changes that made the working-, and middle-class almost too layered to be studied, also had an effect on the upper class. The scientists now days separate different layers. The basic partitioning separates it to two layers: the upper-uppers and the lower-uppers. The upper-uppers are the old landed aristocracy and the lower-uppers are the new rich, who became wealthy during the industrialization or in the twentieth century through the changes in the global and national economy. These are the very basic layers of the upper class, but we can separate them further. As Macionis Plummer (2005) and Giddens (1980) cited by Kirby et al (1997, pp.124-125) state there are four main categories: the land-owning rich, whose income and wealth comes mostly from inherited lands and goods, the so called fat-cats who have gigantic salaries, the ‘jet-set rich who made their wealth in the show-, or any other businesses, but one thing is common in them they are all very famous. The last group i s the entrepreneurial rich who made their money through investments in companies or real estate. Scott (1997) cited by Fulcher Scott (2003, p.716) uses a different partitioning. He states that there are four layers of the lower-upper class. The first one is the ‘entrepreneurial capitalist. They make their money through running the business of big companies, whose shares they own. The second group is the ‘rentier capitalist. They made their money from the land or from any other business, but now days they make money by investing into many enterprises. The third layer is the ‘executive capitalist who own executive positions in big companies and reached this status by good education and hard work; and the last group is the ‘finance capitalist. They make their income by holding part-time positions in many corporations leadership, mainly in the banking or insurance sector. As it can be seen there are many layers in the upper class, but what makes these layers can be asked to constitute a well identifiable and basically single social group, called the upper class? Well, many things. In the nineteenth century the upper-upper and lower-upper class were quite separate. The landed upper class did not absorb the new rich till the end of the nineteenth century. This absorbing process was very slow. Though the lower-uppers had the same power and many times they were richer than many old-uppers, they did not have the prestige which the old-uppers had had for a long time. However, the unity of interests they have, slowly made them one single social class; and nowadays they are attached together by many things (Fulcher Scott, 2003). In a Weberian view, they have the power, status and wealth to defend their interests and reproduce themselves, which can be seen in the statistics. As Macionis Plummer (2005) state in 1997 there were 120.000 millionaires in Britai n, this number grew to 200.000 till 2000. Furthermore between 1983 and 1993 the earnings of the top five per cent of the population rose by fifty per cent, whilst the earnings of the lowest five per cent were basically stagnating. In addition the top one per cent of Britains population owns the one fifth, one fourth of the countrys marketable wealth, while half of the whole population owns only the six per cent of it. That is because they have huge influence in society, hence they can protect each others interest, which they do so. And what tides these people together as an upper class? As Kirby et al (1997) claim there is a social and economic unity amongst them. That means that they have similarities in background and education. They are mostly educated in public schools, and this public school system plays a very significant role in reproducing the upper class. As Stanworth Giddens (1974) cited by Kirby et al (1997, pp.126-127) found that ‘†¦of those employed in each of the following occupational categories bishops, senior ranks of the armed forces, principal judges, senior civil servants, Conservative MPs, and the directors of the largest industrial and financial corporations more than half had been to a public school (in many cases the proportion was much higher). Some 73 per cent of the directors of industrial corporations and 80 per cent of the directors of financial firms had received a public school education. This ratio is quite huge considering that public schools educate only five per cent of the male school population. For the members of the upper class this educational system has many benefits. It reproduces them and as Fulcher Scott (2003), Kirby et al (1997) and Marsh et al (2000) argue it establishes the so-called ‘old boy network. Furthermore, as Fawbert states (2007), it helps them to maintain their cultural capital (which helps them to remain wealthy); also they make very close kinship connections and interlocking networks, which ensure that their privileges will be transmitted to the next generation. Because of all these things it can be concluded that, although the upper part of society changed and got layered during the nineteenth and twentieth century, it still constitutes one well identifiable social class. The people, who belong to the upper class, manage to maintain their superiority. With the wealth and power they possess, they can ensure a privileged education to their children which leads almost straight to Oxford and Cambridge (‘Oxbridge). During this education process the youth of the upper class can develop the ‘old boy network, which helps them to get better jobs through the ‘elite self-recruitment (Fawbert, 2007). Furthermore, as Scott (1992) cited by Marsh et al (2000, p.306) argue, they are ‘†¦a group of people allied around certain social institutions. These institutions are the Conservative Party, the Church of England, the public schools and ancient universities, the legal profession and the Guards regiments†¦.Therefore despit e of the changes there is still a well identifiable upper class in Britain. Moreover it is the only social class left, which can be easily recognized and separated from the other social classes. Bibliography Bilton, T. et al (2002) Introductory Sociology 4th edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Fawbert, J. (2007) ‘Week 6: The class structure today: the upper class. Identity Structure. [Online]. Available at: http://breo.beds.ac.uk (Accessed: 7 December 2007) Fulcher, J. Scott, J. (2003) Sociology 2nd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kirby, M. et al (1997) Sociology in Perspective Oxford: Heinemann Educational Publishers. Macionis, J. Plummer, K. (2005) Sociology: A Global Introduction 3rd edn. Harlow: Pearson Education. Marsh, I. et al (2000) Making Sense of Society 2nd edn. London: Longman.

The History Of Afghanistan History Essay

The History Of Afghanistan History Essay After the September 11th attacks on America, many nations were drawn into the War on Terror. With this escalating conflict came the names of many countries that the American public knew little about. Prior to 9/11, Americans knew Afghanistan simply as a country in the Middle East. In the aftermath of 9/11, Americans now associate Afghanistan with words like Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Despite the recent press coverage on this land-locked nation, few understand the history of Afghanistan, including the rich cultural aspects, political climate, and society of this country. As the future of Afghanistan is being lived and written right now, a clear understanding of the countrys history is imperative in understanding the new global circumstances. It is for this reason that Meredith L. Runion has written this book, published by Geenwood Press. The author is a Program Manager in the Directorate of Science and Technology for the U.S. Federal Government and has been involved in several efforts regarding the Middle East. She is regarded as a specialist in the history of Afghanistan. The author has produced a volume that reflects her current research on Afghanistan. In addition to writing several articles on the subject, The History of Afghanistan, is her first published book. Meredith is a native of the Washington D.C. area, and holds advanced degrees in Decision Science and Business. The book is intended for students and general readers. It is also serves as an appropriate starting material for researchers trying to find concise yet all-inclusive text on the entire history of Afghanistan and the rulers that have governed it. The United States, being a superpower which attacked Afghanistan and is now embroiled in the War Against Terror in this region, shares a special relationship with this country. Yet, many Americans know very little about Afghanistan, its history and the people who occupy this region. Therefore the author has made special effort to keep the book simple, concise and easy to follow for the American readers. Among the many other questions the writer addresses some are as given: How did Afghanistan get to be the way it is? What kind of political systems have evolved there? What kind of influence does it have in the region? What are the dominant political, religious and cultural forces that move its leaders? These and many other questions have been answered in this volume. The book under review is a nonfiction account of the history of Afghanistan. It provides an abridged history of Afghanistan, from the emergence of civilization to the United States overthrow of the Taliban in late 2001. The history is almost entirely political and military in nature, recounting shifting dynasties and governments and successive invasions by empires and great powers. Major points in the book describe how modern Afghanistan is a melting pot of a multitude of cultures, tribes, and political influences all under the guiding belief of Islam. The author repeatedly stresses that due to the countrys strategic location along the crucial trade routes between Central Asia and the Middle East, Afghanistan has suffered repeated conquests throughout its tumultuous history. In spite of this, Afghanistan has proven to be a resilient force in the face of long term conquests, as the United States is experiencing today. It starts with an introduction to the country, focusing on its geography and people. It discusses its location in the region, its physical features and agricultural potential. It also discusses its economy and the ethnic groups inhabiting the country. It is interesting to note that the author has devoted a complete chapter to Afghanistans prehistory. While libraries and bookstores are filled with a multitude of works on the early life of Mesopotamia and Persia, very little can be found about Afghanistans prehistory. Further, most books provide only one or two paragraphs on the early civilization era of Afghanistan, usually after Alexander the Great conquered this region. By including a complete chapter on the countrys prehistory the writer has made the book appealing to general public as well as students of history. The next chapter discusses the early civilizations which flourished in this area. Brief yet informative material has been presented about the Aryan Civilization, the Medes Empire, the arrival of Alexander the Great in the region and the Greco-Bactrian rule in Afghanistan. Most books on the subject ignore the intermediate period between the early civilizations and the arrival of Islam in Afghanistan. However, the writer has discussed the Greek-Hellenistic culture prevailing in the area till the conquests led by Muslim invaders. The Macedonian Empire, the division under Seleucid and Mauryan Rule, the Greco-Bactrian and Parthian eras, The Kushan Empire and the Sassanid Dynasty have been dealt with by the author in this chapter before moving on to the advent of Muslim conquerors. Conspicuous, however, is the authors lack of attention to the rule of Islamic Empires in Afghanistan. The Islamic Empires of this region were some of the most powerful and influential ones during the period extending from 10th century A.D., and played a significant role in shaping the history of Central Asia, Persia and India. The indisposition of the author to handle this period of history in greater detail will come as a surprise to researchers and historians. The following chapter discusses the Mongolian Invasion, the Timurid Empire and Safavid Rule leading up to the creation of the first Afghan state under Ahmed Shah Durrani in 1747. A complete chapter has been written by the author detailing the Anglo-Afghan Wars from 1839 to 1919. Once again the author very concisely narrates the history of Afghanistan during this period ensuring that no important event is left out. Events leading up to the Soviet Invasion, Retreat of Soviet forces and the Afghan Civil War have been described by the author in a succinct manner. Since the history of Afghanistan during this period has been covered by a significant number of books, and that too in great detail, it is relieving to note that the writer has not presented extensive material reproducing the same events in the book. Instead the author sticks to presenting the events briefly. The next chapter in the book discusses the rise of fundamentalism in Afghan society. This covers the role of the Mujahideen, the rise of the Taliban, their war with the Northern Alliance and finally the advent of Osama bin Laden on the global scene. This chapter will be of particular interest to Western readers, especially those in the United States who are not clear about the origin of the Taliban. Afghanistan is a nation about which Western readers knew very little about till the events of 2001. Overall, Runion gives an insightful overview of such a country. In general, the book lays greater stress on the historical events occurring in the past 30 years. According to Frank W. Thackeray and John E. Findling, both professors at Indiana University and foreword-writers for the book, the past 30 years have been witness to a great deal of historical change, and it is to this change that this book is primarily addressed. The material in the book has been presented in an orderly manner, with the author focusing on the chronological order of the historical events. The language used is simple and helpful for students wishing to acquire knowledge about the subject matter in a short time duration. However it must be noted that the book presents a very brief overview of the history of Afghanistan, with the overly plain language at times becoming simple even for high school students. As the reader moves towards the more modern history of Afghanistan, it becomes perfectly clear that this book was written for Americans who wanted to know more about Afghanistan after 2001. If that is the only purpose of the readers, this book will prove fine. But if the readers are history students or researchers, they will find vast other eras of history getting ignored. The book contains additional chapters that add useful detail to the historical narrative. One chapter is a thorough chronology of important historical events, making it easy for readers to follow the flow of Afghanistans history. Another chapter features biographical sketches of the nations most important figures who have contributed to the historical development of the Afghan nation. The book also contains a comprehensive bibliography, so that those readers interested in the subject matter can find more about the nation and its history. Each chapter is followed by detailed notes explaining the contents of the chapter, making extensive references to works of other writers and historians on Afghanistan. Included alongside these items is a glossary of frequently used terms, and a guide to further readings. The author apparently did a great deal of research and references multiple sources to provide an unbiased look into Afghanistan. It was noted that the chronology of this book moves in a haphazard fashion, and the areas the author chooses to focus on are sometimes puzzling. Even though Afghanistan was a neutral nation during WWI and WWII, those wars are discussed in a paragraph. The authors style of narrating the events which have not yet occurred in a specific section becomes irritating at times. For example, the author writes: That king ruled until the war was over in 1967 Then the next section will begin: The war of regicidal independence began in 1960 This is fairly common, and has the readers sometimes struggling to put their mindset back into chronological order. The absence of maps was greatly felt, which could have assisted in explaining the historical contents of the book. Similarly, the book contained no illustrations or images, making it a tiresome and unamusing read at times. Inclusion of maps and illustrations could have added to the appeal and quality of the book Overall, the book makes a satisfactory attempt to explain the major historical events of Afghanistan very briefly. Some historical details have been ignored by the author. For an introductory history to Afghanistan, this serves its purpose, but it will probably pique rather than satiate the readers search for knowledge, which may have been the authors point all along. The book has about 150 pages, so if the readers want an in depth material this probably isnt recommended. However, this is a great starting material for those wanting to gain more understanding on the country and the current focus on modern events and conflicts It is recommended for general public wishing to acquire elementary knowledge and background information about the history of Afghanistan in a concise manner. Students of history and researchers looking for in-depth material on the subject however will be disappointed.

Smallpox : Pathogenesis and Pathology Essay -- Disease virus Variola

Smallpox: Pathogenesis and Pathology Smallpox was eradicated in 1980 by the Center for Disease and control. It is now contained in five labs in the United States and Russia, however there are other labs in the world with smallpox. Smallpox is created from the virus Variola which inoculates itself through the skin and into the dermis or more commonly from prolonged, direct face to face contact. Smallpox incubates for as long as two weeks at which time it is multiplying in the lymph nodes and bone marrow. The virus is also able to enter the blood stream and travel through without being harmed by macrophages. The variola virus also causes monkeypox and cowpox however none of these are as bad or as fatal as smallpox. Smallpox is transferred through the air from prolonged face-to-face exposure. It is also transferred by skin inoculated into the dermis often in an existing wound. Once a human is infected with smallpox, the virus incubates for a period of ten to fourteen days, at which time the human was not infectious. In the incubation period the variola virus multiplies. Once the incubation period ends smallpox infects the respiratory tract which at this time cannot be detected nor provide any symptoms. Next, the virus replicates in the lymph nodes, bone marrow, and spleen. The smallpox virus creates virions which carry the viral DNA from cell to cell protecting it from the inhospitable conditions of the body. There the infected macrophages and virions infect other macrophages in the dermis thus spreading the virus later causing the pustules on the skin. Necrosis and edema follow causing such legions to leave permanent scars once the pustules scab and fall off (Aguayo). The first cells to become actively produced f... ...0/vaccinia_virus.html>. Langohr, I. M., G. W. Stevenson, H. L. Thacker, and R. L. Regnery. "Extensive Lesions of Monkeypox in a Prairie Dog." Veterinary Pathology. 2004. University of California Davis. 24 July 2007 . Mayo Clinic. "Smallpox." MayoClinic.Com. 12 Aug. 2005. Infectious Disease. 25 July 2007 . "Smallpox." Armed Forces Institute of Pathology,. 1 Jan. 1970. 27 July 2007 . "Smallpox Vaccine And Monkeypox." Center for Disease Control. 1 Jan. 1970. 25 July 2007 . Webmd. "Cowpox Infection, Human." EMedicine.Com. 29 July 2007. WebMD. 23 July 2007 . Smallpox : Pathogenesis and Pathology Essay -- Disease virus Variola Smallpox: Pathogenesis and Pathology Smallpox was eradicated in 1980 by the Center for Disease and control. It is now contained in five labs in the United States and Russia, however there are other labs in the world with smallpox. Smallpox is created from the virus Variola which inoculates itself through the skin and into the dermis or more commonly from prolonged, direct face to face contact. Smallpox incubates for as long as two weeks at which time it is multiplying in the lymph nodes and bone marrow. The virus is also able to enter the blood stream and travel through without being harmed by macrophages. The variola virus also causes monkeypox and cowpox however none of these are as bad or as fatal as smallpox. Smallpox is transferred through the air from prolonged face-to-face exposure. It is also transferred by skin inoculated into the dermis often in an existing wound. Once a human is infected with smallpox, the virus incubates for a period of ten to fourteen days, at which time the human was not infectious. In the incubation period the variola virus multiplies. Once the incubation period ends smallpox infects the respiratory tract which at this time cannot be detected nor provide any symptoms. Next, the virus replicates in the lymph nodes, bone marrow, and spleen. The smallpox virus creates virions which carry the viral DNA from cell to cell protecting it from the inhospitable conditions of the body. There the infected macrophages and virions infect other macrophages in the dermis thus spreading the virus later causing the pustules on the skin. Necrosis and edema follow causing such legions to leave permanent scars once the pustules scab and fall off (Aguayo). The first cells to become actively produced f... ...0/vaccinia_virus.html>. Langohr, I. M., G. W. Stevenson, H. L. Thacker, and R. L. Regnery. "Extensive Lesions of Monkeypox in a Prairie Dog." Veterinary Pathology. 2004. University of California Davis. 24 July 2007 . Mayo Clinic. "Smallpox." MayoClinic.Com. 12 Aug. 2005. Infectious Disease. 25 July 2007 . "Smallpox." Armed Forces Institute of Pathology,. 1 Jan. 1970. 27 July 2007 . "Smallpox Vaccine And Monkeypox." Center for Disease Control. 1 Jan. 1970. 25 July 2007 . Webmd. "Cowpox Infection, Human." EMedicine.Com. 29 July 2007. WebMD. 23 July 2007 .

Humanity as a Bridge :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  People of the world are very different in many ways, and yet similarities exist. Many languages are spoken, many religions are practiced, but we have one 1 thing in common, humanity. By definition, humanity is what makes us part of the human race. Humanity is like a universal bridge, connecting groups of people to each other. Without humanity, you have many groups stranded like islands. We have to celebrate this bridge, and allow others to cross it, to experience our different cultures. We can use this knowledge of our various cultures to improve ourselves as human beings. If we're not improving, then we are taking a step back, enough steps back and we will eventually come back to where we started from. Instead we should take steps forward, crossing this bridge and uniting with the people on the other side. Uniting with people is essential to stop unwanted accidental misunderstand. Those that are not united are not familiar with each other, and those that are unf amiliar with each other have more differences, and when differences exist, conflicts arise. With conflicts come wars, with wars come destruction, destruction of the crucial bridges that connect us. If we cross the universal bridge more often, we will virtually eliminate hate and racism, something which we desperately need in this crucial and sensitive time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  People of the world are very different in many ways, and yet similarities exist. Many languages are spoken, many religions are practiced, but we have one 1 thing in common, humanity. By definition, humanity is what makes us part of the human race. Humanity is like a universal bridge, connecting groups of people to each other. Without humanity, you have many groups stranded like islands. We have to celebrate this bridge, and allow others to cross it, to experience our different cultures. We can use this knowledge of our various cultures to improve ourselves as human beings. If we're not improving, then we are taking a step back, enough steps back and we will eventually come back to where we started from. Instead we should take steps forward, crossing this bridge and uniting with the people on the other side.

Constructing and Supporting a Collaborative Learning Culture Essay

Introduction In our public school system, it is important for leaders to act as guides of change and transformation that leads an institution through the constant and ever changing society. By guiding the school through the process, a leader becomes a servant of the institution, rather than a dictatorial figurehead. It is important that school leaders gain the approval and support of their staffs while implementing any changes that need to occur. This is best achieved by using a collaborative method of leadership that results in a delegation of authority to members of the staff, who normally might not be in a leadership capacity. By giving giving the teachers and other stakeholders the opportunity to make decisions about the general direction of the school, a leader creates a situation where these collaborators become supporters and they will work to make the changes necessary. (Kohm, 2009) This is a development of trust and helps to create an atmosphere of respect that can be very v aluable as the leader sometimes needs to use that respect, like currency, to move the staff into areas of discomfort revolving around the ideas of sharing their educational practices, including both successes and failures, with the rest of the professional staff. Discussion There are many models of collaboration that can be effective at reforming a school and are highly effective. The Professional learning Community (PLC) model is very popular and has become nearly a brand name to describe collaborative models used in education. This model allows the school to be broken into many different PLC groups along many different lines of data, and then reformed as necessary. Most excellent PLC programs look at student data on a regul... ...es. Educational Leadership, 67(2), 67-72. Lath, S. (2010). A study of the occupational stress among teachers. International Journal Of Educational Administration, 2(2), 421-432. Stanley, A. (2011). Professional development within collaborative teacher study groups: pitfalls and promises. Arts Education Policy Review, 112(2), 71-78. Taylor, T., Martin, B. N., Hutchinson, S., & Jinks, M. (2007). Examination of leadership practices of principals identified as servant leaders. International Journal Of Leadership In Education, 10(4), 401-419. Waldron, N. L., & McLeskey, J. (2010). Establishing a collaborative school culture through comprehensive school reform. Journal Of Educational & Psychological Consultation, 20(1), 58-74. Wayne, D. (2008). Alive and well: Optimizing the fitness of an organization. Performance Improvement, 47(5), 21-26.

Ic to Nano

SAY IC TO NANO!!!!! A Paper On â€Å"Nano – Internal Combustion Engines† Paper Presented By, N. TONY V. KUMAR III B. TECH. IIIB. TECH. MECHANICAL ENGINEERING MECHANICAL ENGINEERING G. PULLAREDYENGG COLLEGE G. PULLAREDDYENGG COLLEGE [email  protected] com ph:9573071011 ph:9493205458 [pic] Introduction:What is nano technology? Its worth pointing out that the word nanotechnology has become very popular and is used to describe many types of research where the characteristic dimension are less than about thousand nano meter If we are to continue these trends we will have to develop a new manufacturing technology which will let us inexpensively build nano system with mole quantities that are molecular in both size and precision and are inter connected in complex patterns NANO TECHNOLOGY WILL DO THIS. What is heat engine?Heat engines work on the principle of converting chemical energy into mechanical work and evolve from external combustion engine to internal combustion engi ne. External combustion engine is the heat engine in which fuel combustion takes place external to cylinder. Due to this it is bulky and consumes lot of place. Second revolution of heat engines are ICE in which fuel combustion takes internally and consumes less place and became compact, cost effective. Of late third revolution is NANO Internal Combustion Engine. It is difficult to thread- in a needle.Imagine working with an instrument with one billionth of meter. Construction of â€Å"Nano† – A 0. 1cc Compression Ignition Engine: [pic] The Nano is a 0. 1cc (that's less than 0. 01 cuin) compression ignition engine – most frequently, if somewhat inaccurately, referred to as a â€Å"diesel†. It was designed by Richard Gordon and the plans were included as a supplement with the British Magazine Model Engineer in the early 1990's [pic] An idea of the size of the Nano is given by this picture. From backplate to drive washer is less than 1 inch.There are no exot ic materials required. The crankcase is hacked from a solid cube of aluminum 3/4†³ on a side. The piston and contra piston are cast iron. The crankshaft and liner are any old steel from the scrap box. [pic] Here is an exploded view of the engine. The odd looking thing in the foreground is a special Nano-Spanner required to tighten the back plate. It also fits the fuel nipple. The construction is extremely conventional – only the scale is unusual. [pic] Like all model IC projects, there are a few special jigs and tools required to construct the Nano.All are fully detailed in the plan, which includes step by step instructions with photos. The cutter is made from water hardening drill rod (called â€Å"silver steel† in the UK because of its appearance – it contains no silver). the teeth are formed of Dermal-type cut-off wheel. [pic] The cutter is used to form the exhaust ports in the cylinder. There are three of these, spaced at 120 degrees with sufficient spa ce between them for the angled transfer ports to slightly overlap the timing. The crown of the piston is conical to assist transfer.The contra piston has a matching concave conical depression. [pic] As mentioned previously, the crankcase is formed from a cube of aluminum. The venturi is machined separately and secured with Lok-Tite before the final reaming of the crankshaft journal. Notice the three transfer passages in the photo. These terminate in a transfer belt below the cylinder seat that matches with the cylinder transfer ports. If you look very closely, you'll also see the stuff-up that turned away part of the venturi opening. Always happens on the last operation! n [pic] There's nothing special in the crankshaft components. Another jig (not shown) is made to hold the shaft in the 3-jaw chuck, offset by half the throw for forming the crank pin. Even at these sizes, final lapping to size is no different from larger engines in terms of the amount of metal that must be LEFT for removal. Only the microscopic size makes things difficult. The prop driver knurls were formed with a thread form tool, set on edge and used as a shaper. The prop nut is anodized in the usual way. [pic]Again, apart from their size, there's nothing special about the needle valve components the needle itself was made from steel and â€Å"blued† it by a quick heat in a gas flame followed by water quenching. No big deal, but the amazing thing is the attention it draws with people who examine the engine. This costs just US$10(Rs. 440/-) only. When it was fired, it run briefly, oscillating back and forth about TDC like over compressed diesels with small mass fly wheels are won’t to do. Running! .but spring starters are the only way to start ultra small diesels – hand propping just won't work.Also, the fuel for mini diesels needs a lot of ether – as high as 50% by volume. With high ether fuel and a spring starter, the little Nano will burst into life. Richard Gor don claims it will turn 40,000 rpm – yes, that's no typo, forty thousand revolutions per minute. American engine builder Ron Colona used to demo his at model engineering shows and turning at better than 20,000 rpm. | | | |The Components Used: | | | | | |[pic]Crankcase | | | | | |[pic]Backplate | | | | | |[pic]Cylinder and Head | | | | | |[pic]Venturi and Needle Valve Assembly | | | | | |[pic]Conrods and Crankshafts | | | | | |[pic]Piston and Contra-Piston | | | | | |[pic]Final Assembly and Test Report | | | | Crankcase and Cylinder rough-out: The crankcase starts off as a chunk of aluminum bar of about 1-1/2†³ diameter, sawn to length, plus a little bit. The first step is to finish turn the front section with a 1/4†³ radius where the journal blends into the body. The photo shows the roughing out process. Note that the tool is raked back sharply while â€Å"hoggin' great cuts† are made so that if it digs in, the cut will be forced shallower, not deeper as it w ould be if the tool were set raked forward like a regular knife tool.Next we need to remove all the excess aluminum that does not look like a crankcase. This can easily be done with a band saw, or less easily done with a hacksaw! In either case, marking out is simplified by preparing a full size profile on paper, centered in a circle the same size as the bar stock. Mine was done from the CAD drawings, but pencil and compass could achieve the same result with about the same effort. The paper template has a hole cut roughly in the middle to accommodate the journal and the blended radius where it meets the front face. It is attached to the face with a standard glue stick. If you're careful, this will last long enough to complete the butchery. Saw to within about 1/32†³ (1mm) of the outline.Take care because heat buildup will melt the glue. The next photo shows the four basic stages in crankcase manufacture: [pic]Bar stock blank [pic]Journal turned and sawing template glued in plac e [pic]Crankcase rough sawn to within 1mm of the template outline [pic]The finished crankcase [pic] Backplate: The back plate is simple turning with only some aspects of work holding posing any problems. In this first shot, the back plate profile has been turned on a piece of bar stock with the interior face oriented towards the tailstock. This means we will be screw cutting towards the shoulder formed by the back plate rim, so a thin (0. 20†³) run out groove is first cut at the thread/rim junction to the depth of the thread form. This also assures the back plate will form a tight seal against the rear of the crankcase. The thread cutting tool is a piece of 1/4†³ diameter HSS steel, ground to a 60 degree point with seven degrees of side rake, mounted in a tracting tool holder. This magnificent gadget takes a while to make but is absolutely invaluable to thread cutting. The little ball lever actuates a spring loaded, over center cam – just requiring a flick to retrac t the tool bit by about 3/16†³. This allows the saddle to be repositioned for the next cutting pass without having to twiddle dials and remember settings.The cylinder blank has now been replaced in the 3 jaw chuck with the top of flange against the jaws and some thin aluminum shim (beer can material) around the outside to protect the finish and thread. The bore will be drilled so as to leave 8 to 10 thou to be removed by the reamer. It is pilot drilled first. I'm told its good practice to select a pilot size no grater than half the next drilling size to prevent the next size wandering. Here we see the reamer being floated into the bore using the tailstock (larger hand reamers will have a dimple in the end which assists this operation. For this operation, the headstock is turned by hand. Keep up plenty of suds and never rotate the chuck backwards. The reamer is prevented from rotating by resting the tap handle on the compound slide.A piece of shim material protects the slide fro m damage by the handle. The transfer ports of the weaver are unusual. They comprise 5 vertical channels, spaced equidistantly around the forward 180 degrees of the cylinder. They terminate in a â€Å"transfer belt† below the exhaust ports. This arrangement avoids the induction port at the cylinder rear. These ports cannot be cut before reaming (or boring) as their presence would make it impossible to cut the bore accurately. This flash-failure shot shows how they are drilled. A short aluminum (or brass) plug is turned to be an interference fit up the bore. The holes are then drilled at the intersection of the cylinder and plug.The cylinder wall will be quite thin adjacent the transfer passages, but by using a slightly softer material for the plug, the drill will incline towards the softer material, preventing any danger or a ruined part. Venturi and Needle Valve Assembly: In the previous section, the cylinder had progressed to a nearly finished state, still requiring internal lapping. Lapping should always be the last operation on a cylinder of this type. This means the boss for attaching the side port venturi must be fitted before lapping can be done. In this session, the boss is made and the associated parts for the venturi and needle valve. The boss will be soft soldered to the cylinder (diesels don't get hot enough to melt soft solder). â€Å". older does not make the joint, it only keeps the air out† and schooled me to make a good fit of parts to be soldered. The boss will butt to the cylinder, which has an outside diameter of 0. 500†³. So, a good fit can be achieved by profiling the boss with a 1/2†³ end mill. In this photo, we see the boss blank (enough for four) which has been finished outside, drilled ready for tapping and transferred still in the 3 jaw chuck to the mill for end profiling. Applications: Nano IC engine has various applications ranging from race cars to space crafts. ? In race cars this IC Nano Engine was used. T he engine was fully fabricated, that is, no castings were employed. | | | | | | | | | | | | | |[pic] | |It can be controlled in aero planes/satellites/space ships etc. , the timing of in let and exhaust valves. | |According to NASA reports they are experimenting about the use of nano engine in nano & pico satellites. | |In case of a mine tragedy where harmful gases are emitted ,these nano IC engines can be employed as powerful blowers to blow out these gases is a | |less time saving the lives of trapped miners .We require at least 5-6 blowers to blow these gases where as two nano IC engines could do the tick in| |less time. | |Agriculture pumps sets. | |Every field of industry. | |Prospects: | |The problem | |Every day people are spending more and more money because of rising gas prices. People all over the world are trying to find a solution—even | |visiting websites to locate the nearest and cheapest gas, all the while losing time and mileage just to reach [these] refueling stations. Many have| |been giving up favorite hobbies and changing life plans because of the need to reallocate their funds for gas.For those of us who must drive to | |work or school, it seems we have little choice but to continue paying more. Now, there is a way to fight back against these constant increases in | |gas prices—and to fight pollution and protect the environment in the process. | | | |The solution | |Use the most advanced technology available to improve fuel economy, prolong the engine life, reduce harmful emissions and protect the environment. | |The number one product for fuel economy, power and pollution control is now available. |Introducing our two unique nanotechnology products: | |F2-21 NanoLube Engine Oil Treatment, and | |F2-21 NanoRon Gas & Diesel Fuel Enhancer. | |With nanotechnology, fuel transforms at the nano-level to achieve a more complete combustion, resulting in increased fuel economy, more driving | |power, and fewer pollutive emissions. | | Use either product or both to get multiple benefits: | |  Ã‚  Ã‚   –   Adds great power to your engine. NanoLube eases heavy driving loads and increases   | |  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      Driving  pleasure with a faster, smoother, and quieter ride. |  Ã‚  Ã‚   –   Boosts miles per gallon (analogous to buying Premium Gas or boosting your octane number), | |  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      While saving you money and conserving energy. | |  Ã‚  Ã‚   –   Prolongs engine life by cleaning your combustion chamber and piston ring deposits, | |  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      Extending engine life and cutting equipment downtime. | |  Ã‚  Ã‚   –   Protects the environment by reducing harmful emissions and fighting global warming. | | | | | |[pic] | | | Summing upWith the application of Nano in every sphere of life the ‘big’ may not find its place in engineering dictionary in future. If we are to continue these trends we will have to develop a new manufacturi ng technology, which will let us inexpensively build nano system with mole quantities that are molecular in both size and precision and are, inter connected in complex patterns NANO TECHNOLOGY WILL DO THIS. NANO technology with all its challenges and opportunities is an avoidable part of our future. It can be rightly said that nano technology slowly and steadily assuring in the next Industrial Revolution. Bibliography †¢ www. Bbc. co. uk †¢ [email  protected] com †¢ www. google. co. in

Manila, Philippines

Manila, Philippines – Fair-skinned and well-groomed Bern Josep Persia may be the new face of the gay-speaking community, being the self-proclaimed bekimon president in the country. A photographer and a tech support representative, Persia plays different roles (from a call center agent to a newscaster) in a series of videos about bekimons, defined as people who are â€Å"hard-core users† of gay language — whether they are homosexuals or not. Most of the terms that bekimons commonly use are alterations of basic Filipino and English words such as workibells (work), kalurkey (kaloka or crazy), teh (ate or sister), anekwaboom (ano or what) and heller (hello). Others are totally unique — from the popular jowa (spouse or boyfriend/girlfriend) to names of showbiz figures such as Carmi Martin (a term used to refer to karma). The term bekimon (beki is a colloquial word for â€Å"gay†) took off from the growing popularity of the jejemon subculture, which refers to those who deliberately exaggerate ordinary words by adding or subtracting letters, or by using a mixture of upper-case and lower-case letters, in written communication. On Monday, jejemon was chosen as Salita ng Taon (Word of the Year) in the Sawikaan 2010, an academic conference organized by the Filipinas Institute of Translation Inc. Bekimons may not be as talked-about as jejemons yet, but it can't be denied that the new term is starting to create a buzz in the online community. The Bekimon Facebook page, for one, is slowly gaining fans at more than 2,500, with comments flooding the site each day. On top of these are a number of news articles as well as several discussions about the new subculture in social networks, blogs and online fora. Persia's YouTube page, which is home to over 40 bekimon videos, is said to be the 85th most viewed channel under the Comedians category last month. The future of bekimons Gay lingo has been prevalent throughout the Philippines, and was initially used by the homosexual community as a tool to communicate with each other. Jovy Peregrino, director of the University of the Philippines – Diliman Sentro ng Wikang Filipino, reportedly expressed support to the growth of the bekimon language. Peregrino stressed, however, that learning about formal languages such as Filipino and English should not be sacrificed. But the question is, will the bekimon subculture last just like the jejemons, or is it merely a fad? For Persia, it doesn't really matter. In the bekimon Facebook page, he stressed that he didn't coin the term or upload videos of himself just to be the talk of the town. Rather, he said he's doing this to â€Å"make sad people happy, relieve stress and ease the homesickness of Filipinos living abroad,† particularly the gay-speaking community. â€Å"Walang mali sa pagiging masaya (There's nothing wrong with being happy),† Persia said. One of his supporters, meanwhile, expressed confidence that the bekimon subculture will never die, saying, â€Å"Everybody has a bekimon side. â€Å"

Hopefully Looking Into the Future: Haiti

Hopefully Looking into the Future â€Å"Hope is the thing with feathers  /That perches in the soul  /And sings the tune without the words  /And never stops at all. †Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚  Emily Dickinson In Edwidge Danticat's anthology, The Butterfly's Way: Voices from the Haitian Dyaspora in the United States, different voices of the Haitian dyasporas tell their stories on how they have hope. Whether it be a young child looking for motherly love, seeking to win a soccer game or on an even bigger scale, or getting politically active and hope that what you have done pays off.Though Haiti is often associated with negative stereotypes, whether it be associated with AIDS or â€Å"the Phrase† which was Haiti: The Poorest Nation in the Western Hemisphere (Dreyfus 57), Haitian Americans tend to look on the bright side and turn out to be very optimistic. They are not the ones to just give up, they have come too far. The hope Emily Dickinson's quote from her poem Hope is the thin g with feathers   describes, is what the hope Haitians have. It gets buried within a person, that never succumbs. Throughout many essays, this point is clearly supported.Though their country may not be at its best, throughout the essays, Haitians as well as this part of the Haitian dyaspora, look to move forward and become successful by the migration to the United States. In many instances throughout the compilation of essays and poems, Haitian Americans share their stories on how they have this sense of hope. In â€Å"Restavek† , by Jean-Robert Cadet, the boy, despite the maltreatment of Florence, hopes that deep down she loves him and cares for him. In reality all she really does is abuses and uses him for what he's supposed to be doing as a restavek child.Even til the end, when the boy knows how Florence treats him, he hopes that she had gotten him something for his ceremony. In â€Å"Bonne Annee†, Jean-Piere Benoit inserts a small anecdote that shows that,  "Haitians hope even when there is no hope† (34). Interestingly enough, Benoit cleverly includes the brief anecdote of the soccer game of Italy versus Haiti right after he mentions Bebe Doc taking over his father, but right before states that Bebe Doc had fled the country, as if to enhance the meaning of it.By putting it in this order, you see that Haiti can, even if they end up losing they do have the potential. Jean- Claude fleeing the country gives rise to new hope among many Haitians, both in the ten departments of Haiti and in the eleventh department. As Benoit describes that even † a blizzard in New York [†¦ ] does not prevent jubilant Haitians from taking to the snowy streets, waving flags, pouring champagne† (Benoit 35). Like the soccer game, they celebrated. Something good has happened, an occurrence that for Haitians does not come too often. hink this is perfectly sequenced in order to convey In â€Å"Adieu Miles and Good-bye Democracy†, Patric k Sylvain shows us that the hope he has in his country becoming a democracy is more important to him than his family. Even though he does give up his role as a father to take that of a political activist, he does question himself on whether he made the right decision and if he even made a difference in Haitian politics. All these different voices come together to express the potency of the hope of Haitian Americans.The hope Haitians have prevails over death. Although many Haitians seem to be very hopeful in life, there most certainly are those few that through death triggered hope, and ultimately resorting to suicide. In â€Å"Something in the Water†¦ Reflections of a Peoples Journey†, Nikol Payen tells us of a woman that could not bear with the suffering being on the boat with her infant and gave up on life, plunging into the ocean, never to be heard of again. Although she did not fight to continue, we have to understand the hardships dealt on a daily basis.The boy tell ing the author the story of the aunt that had jumped off the boat, gains hope from seeing this act. He resorts to trusting Payen and getting onto the ship, hoping that he would get a better ending than the aunt. In Marie Ketsia Theodore-Pharel's essay â€Å"Haiti: A Cigarette Burning at Both Ends†, the title alone gives the essay an ethos of lost hope, that no matter what Haiti will, in comparison to a cigarette, burn at both ends, choking any possibilities of having hope. In the end, Thurel died, simple as that. Mr.Thurel â€Å"had made the ultimate sacrifice†, his journey had ended, but his death triggered the author of the essay to think, and other could have been influenced too. Therefore his death had made an impact on people enough to maybe give them hope to do better, and not turn out haw he had. Theodore- Pharel is contemplating whether Mr. Thurel had died for no cause, and this makes her question her love for Haiti. Being given a hopeless title, but opening th e essay with an anecdote from her past that shows the story of a martyr that obviously impacted her, makes me think of the essay as being contradictory.Thurel's suicide, as the suicide of the woman on the boat, is because of the difficulties that they were dealing with in their lives. However, in Thurel's suicide we see more of him being somewhat of a martyr. Thurel said himself in this essay that he was to â€Å"offer myself in holocaust for the complete liberation of my country† (Pharel 83). He died for his country , as had past fighters: Dessalines and Christophe. Like they once did, he had hope for his country, and as did Sylvain, which was mentioned before.Hope does not stop at death, especially considering the fact that Haitians believe that a person does not really die, their soul lives on. And even after death, there is always hope for future generations. Many of the authors of these essays have grown up in the United States, coming from Haitian-born parents. These pa rents hoped for their children to be successful. They did not want their children to have to go through what they had been. These authors, now mostly accomplished , are the epitome of a Haitian American, or of the Haitian dyaspora.Finding â€Å"success in exile†, whether it be to learn a lesson as Sandy Alexandre did in Exiled when she was tricked by her mother to go to Haiti to teach her a lesson to respect her elders, or finding exile as a motivator to become successful (Dreyfus 58). Having been sent to to Haiti, Dreyfus realizes she has to be thankful for what she had, not just take it for granted, seeing that not everyone had the same privileges as she did back in her home in America. In â€Å"Home is†¦ Sophia Cantave, currently a professor at Tufts University, is perplexed if â€Å"perhaps my mother had given birth to me so that I could do all the things that she never did† (170). As an educated woman, she is proud of having succeeded, making her mom proud, yet she is disconnected from her mother, her native land. This hope given to future generations , of the children of Haitian migrants to the United States, is in a way disconnecting them from Haiti. Hope is an exuberant trait among Haitian Americans.Those that had grown up in a place very different from their mother country, as well as those still in Haiti and even in the journey to migrate faced many dilemmas. As Haitians, going from fighting France to win their independence and always having this background of a turbulent government, they will always turn to hope. All they can do is hope, hope for the best , as their ancestors had done in the past and as they continued to do so. And from that hope, become a proud Haitian, because despite their past, they overcame it. They are left alone in this new world, with only hope at their side to help them continue.

David Copperfield (Sparknotes)

Summary — Preface In the preface written to accompany the first single-volume publication ofDavid Copperfield, Dickens tells us that the completion of the novel is, for him, both a regret and a pleasure. He rejoices in the completion of the novel because the novel was a long time in coming, and he is satisfied that it is finished after two years of hard work. He mourns its completion, however, because it marks the end of his association with a cast of characters to whom he has become intensely attached. Dickens remarks that David Copperfield is his favorite of all his novels and that, of all the characters he has invented over the years, David Copperfield is dearest to him. Summary- I am born An older David Copperfield narrates the story of his life. He begins by saying that only the writing that follows can tell who the hero of his story is. He tells of his simple birth, which occurred at the stroke of midnight on a Friday night. An old woman in the neighborhood has told him that the time of his birth indicates he will be unlucky and will be able to see ghosts and spirits. David’s father is already dead when David is born. David’s aunt, Miss Betsey Trotwood, appears on the day of David’s birth and speaks with David’s mother, Clara. Miss Betsey informs Clara that she intends to take custody of the girl Clara is about to bear. Miss Betsey wishes to raise the girl so that men never take advantage of her the way Miss Betsey has been taken advantage of in her own life. When David is born and Mr. Chillip, the doctor, informs Miss Betsey that Clara has had a boy, Miss Betsey storms out of the house and never returns. Summary — Chapter II. I Observe. David’s earliest memories are of his mother’s hair and his nurse, Clara Peggotty, who has very dark eyes. He remembers the kitchen and the backyard, with the roosters that frightened him and the churchyard behind the house, where his father is buried. Both David and his mother submit themselves to Peggotty’s kind direction. In particular, David recalls one occasion when he sits up late reading a book about crocodiles to Peggotty while waiting for his mother to return home from an evening out. David’s beautiful mother returns with Mr. Murdstone, a large man with black whiskers and a deep voice. David and Peggotty both dislike Mr. Murdstone, and Peggotty warns David’s mother not to marry someone her dead husband would not have liked. Mr. Murdstone returns later and takes David on a short trip to meet two business acquaintances, one of whom is named Mr. Quinion. Mr. Murdstone and Mr. Quinion joke about David’s dislike of Mr. Murdstone and Mr. Murdstone’s intention to marry David’s mother. When they get home, Peggotty proposes that she and David go to visit her brother and his family in Yarmouth. Summary — Chapter III. I have a Change Peggotty takes David to Yarmouth, where her family lives in a boat they have converted into a home. Peggotty’s brother, Mr. Daniel Peggotty, adopted his nephew, Ham, and his niece, Little Em’ly, who are not siblings, when their fathers drowned. Mrs. Gummidge, the widowed wife of Mr. Peggotty’s brother, lives with them too. Mr. Peggotty and Ham fish during the day, while David and Little Em’ly roam the beaches, collect shells, and fall in love. In retrospect, David muses that he has at times wished that the sea had closed over Little Em’ly then so that she would not have suffered all that she has suffered since. When David returns home, he observes that he has hardly thought of his mother or his home since he left. When he arrives, Peggotty tells him that his mother married Mr. Murdstone while they were away. David is reunited with his mother. Mr. Murdstone orders David’s mother to control herself in her behavior toward her son. David sees Mr. Murdstone again, for the first time as his mother’s husband. David thinks that Mr. Murdsone, with his great black beard, looks like an enormous and threatening dog. Analysis — Preface–Chapter III Dickens uses foreshadowing and cultivates an atmosphere of mystery in order to make his story dramatic and capture our interest from the start. The surreal circumstances under which David is born, including the appearance of Miss Betsey, mark the first example of mystery in the novel. Although Miss Betsey is absent for much of the story, she returns when David is in his hour of most dire need. The darkness and abruptness established around Miss Betsey in the opening chapter characterize her throughout the novel. Likewise, David’s comment that Little Em’ly might have been better off in the long run if the sea had swallowed her up as a child foreshadows painful events that come later. By alluding to these future difficult circumstances early in the novel, Dickens keeps us wondering what will happen to the various characters as the novel unfolds. Throughout David Copperfield, Dickens uses such foreshadowing not only to create suspense about future events but also to establish an ominous tone. Dickens portrays David as a gentle, naive child in order to limit the novel’s perspective and set up the dramatic irony of many of the story’s episodes. We see many signs of David’s youth: his memory of Mr. Murdstone as doglike, his failure to understand that Mr. Quinion and Mr. Murdstone make jokes at his own expense, his memory of his mother’s hair and form, and so on. We also see David’s innocence in his narrative voice, which focuses on other characters’ best aspects and never hints at infidelity or betrayal. Additionally, as a child, David often fears and dreads aspects of characters that an adult would not. We might expect the adult David to rewrite the story using his adult perspective to make sense of the things that baffled him as a child. But David does not recast his childhood through an adult perspective. As a result, we see the characters and the story as the young David did at the time. David’s naive voice preserves an element of surprise in the novel, as David repeatedly fails to notice parts of the story that, if shown, would reveal upcoming events. By matching his characters’ physical traits to their emotional traits, Dickens helps us categorize the many people we meet in the novel. Mr. Murdstone, for example, sports a large black beard and evil-looking face that make him appear like a beast—and indeed, he turns out to be a less than savory character. In this way, David Copperfield is generally straightforward in its depiction of good and evil characters. In most cases, characters are more or less what they appear, which makes it easy for us to remember both their outward appearances and internal traits. Also, because Dickens tends to associate good with light and beauty and evil with dark and ugliness, the images in the novel come into sharp contrast. Thus, when David’s mother and Mr. Murdstone are together, the image is as physically and aesthetically repugnant as it is morally unappealing. Though there are exceptions to this general rule, the alliance of good with beauty and evil with ugliness persists fairly regularly throughout David Copperfield. Chapters IV–VI Summary — Chapter IV. I fall into Disgrace Having returned home, David finds his house much changed. The change upsets him so much that he cries himself to sleep in his new room. His mother comes up to comfort him, but Mr. Murdstone finds them there and reprimands David’s mother for not being firm with her son. Mr. Murdstone dismisses David’s mother into another part of the house and warns David that he will receive a beating if he disobeys or upsets his mother again. That night, dinner is silent and formal, and David finds it very different from the old dinners he used to enjoy by the fire with Peggotty and his mother. After dinner, Miss Jane Murdstone, Mr. Murdstone’s cruel sister, arrives to stay. She is dark and masculine, with eyebrows that nearly meet over the bridge of her nose. David observes that she is a metallic lady, with metal boxes and a metal purse. Miss Murdstone takes over the household organization, and when David’s mother protests that she can run her own house, Mr. Murdstone threatens her into submission. Whenever David’s mother voices her concern or anger about anything done in the house or to David, Mr. and Miss Murdstone tell her that her â€Å"firmness† is failing. They often refer to David’s mother, who is much younger than they, as a naive, inexperienced, and artless girl who needs their training. David’s mother accepts the Murdstones’ molding of her, apparently because she is afraid of them. David’s mother continues to conduct his lessons. However, because Mr. and Miss Murdstone snipe at David continuously throughout his recitations, his memory fails him during every lesson. His only comfort is his father’s small collection of adventure books, which David reads over and over in order to bring some friends and pleasure into his life. After one particularly poor lesson, Mr. Murdstone beats David savagely, and David, in self-defense, bites Mr. Murdstone’s hand. As punishment, David is locked in his room alone for five days. At the end of the five days, Peggotty comes to his door and whispers through the keyhole that he is to be sent away. Summary — Chapter V. I am sent away from Home David rides away with a carrier, Mr. Barkis, who travels between towns carrying people and packages in his cart. As David leaves, Peggotty bursts out of the bushes and gives him a little money, a note from his mother, and several cakes. David is nearly hysterical at being sent away. He shares the cakes with Mr. Barkis, who, on finding out that Peggotty baked them, asks David to tell her that â€Å"Barkis is willin’. † At the inn where David switches to the London coach, dinner is waiting for him under the name â€Å"Murdstone. † The waiter tricks David into giving him all his dinner and some of his money as a tip. Because it is a large dinner, David gains a reputation at the inn for having eaten a tremendous amount. The coachman and the other passengers tease David so badly that he does not eat even when they stop later to do so. As a result, David arrives in London very hungry. In London, David waits for several hours until Mr. Mell, who says he is one of the masters at Salem House, arrives to pick him up. On the way to the school, they stop at a charity home and visit an old woman who calls Mr. Mell â€Å"my Charley† and cooks David breakfast. They proceed to the school, where all the boys are on holiday. David is forced to wear a sign that identifies him as one who bites—his punishment for having bitten Mr. Murdstone. Summary — Chapter VI. I enlarge my Circle of Acquaintance Mr. Creakle, the headmaster, returns to the school and summons David. The bald, reddish Mr. Creakle, who never raises his voice above a whisper, warns David that he will beat him for any misbehavior. David is terrified of Mr. Creakle. The headmaster’s wife and daughter, however, are quiet and thin women, and David supposes that they sympathize with the boys Mr. Creakle terrorizes. Tommy Traddles, the first boy to return from holiday, befriends David, which helps David befriend the other boys as they return. James Steerforth, the most respected of the schoolboys because of his wealth, intelligence, and good looks, takes David’s money on the pretense of holding it for him. Steerforth convinces David to spend the money on a tremendous banquet, which he splits evenly among the boys in the dorm that night. David considers Steerforth to be his protector and friend but not his equal. David is submissive to Steerforth and refers to him as â€Å"sir. † Analysis — Chapters IV—VI Although some of Dickens’s characters manage to improve their social class, social hierarchies are extremely powerful in David Copperfield. For example, even though Peggotty loves David and his mother more than anyone else loves them, both mother and son always treat Peggotty as a servant. On the other and, David reveres James Steerforth, a scoundrel, largely because he is wealthy and powerful. Tommy Traddles, who is kind and gentle to David and shows him much more loyalty than Steerforth, never even comes close to attaining Steerforth’s exalted status. The other boys also naturally obey Steerforth, apparently not because he deserves their respect but because none of them can match the confidence and arrogance that stem from his class status. This social structure that the young students establish continues throughout the novel, as characters judge each other on their class status rather than their merits. Dickens depicts English social hierarchies as inevitable but acknowledges that they are not ideal. David respects the strict class system, as do most of the secondary characters. David sincerely wishes to seem genteel, enjoys commanding servants about, and draws judgments entirely on the basis of class. Nevertheless, Dickens also shows how the power relations of the class system can be inverted—most notably in the case of the servant at the inn who tricks David into giving up his meal. Likewise, Steerforth is rich yet cruel while Mr. Peggotty is poor yet good-hearted. These two characters demonstrate that Dickens does not believe that class always corresponds to moral status. On the whole, although Dickens recognizes imperfections in the English class system, he does not actively challenge it in his writing. Although Clara’s failure to protect David is disturbing, the difficult situation of her marriage provokes our sympathy and understanding. Clara does allow her husband and his sister to inflict cruelty on David, which we may find reprehensible. But at the same time, as Mr. Murdstone breaks Clara’s spirit more and more, and Miss Murdstone convinces her that she is a worthless girl in desperate need of reform, we cannot help but pity Clara. David, for his part, never condemns his mother—in fact, he displays unwavering faith in her. Ultimately, as Clara transforms from beautiful and carefree before her remarriage to beaten-down and frightened afterward, her inexperience and good intentions become clear, and she emerges as a sympathetic character. The books to which David retreats when his life at his house becomes unbearable bring an element of fantasy to Dickens’s novel and fuel David’s sense of romantic idealism. Though David Copperfield as a novel offers a realistic depiction of the harsh aspects of daily existence for women, children, and the underprivileged, David himself often romanticizes his world. He frequently gets wrapped up in a sense of adventure and high emotion. His description of events that happen to him reveals that he sees his love affairs as tempestuous and his escapades as wild and adventurous. David’s vivid imagination is both an asset and a handicap, for it simultaneously sustains him through hard times and subjects him to the treachery of those who would take advantage of a boy’s trusting nature. Chapters VII–X Summary — Chapter VII. My â€Å"first half† at Salem House School begins, and Mr. Creakle warns the boys that he will punish them severely if they fail in their lessons. He beats David with a cane on the first day. David notices that Traddles gets beaten more than the other boys because he is fat. To cheer himself up, Traddles lays his head on his desk and draws little skeletons on his slate. Steerforth and David become close when Steerforth, who suffers from insomnia, persuades David to stay up with him at night and tell him the stories David remembers from his father’s books. One day when Mr. Creakle is ill, Steerforth and Mr. Mell get into a fight, and Steerforth reveals that David has told him about visiting an old woman with Mr. Mell at the charity house. Steerforth figures out that the old woman is Mr. Mell’s mother. When Mr. Creakle comes to see what the commotion is, Steerforth tells him about Mr. Mell’s poverty. Mr. Creakle commends Steerforth and fires Mr. Mell, who, as he leaves, shows particular favor to David. Another day, Ham and Mr. Peggotty come to visit David at school. They meet Steerforth and are amused by him. Summary — Chapter VIII. My Holidays. Especially one happy Afternoon. On the day that David arrives home for the holidays, Mr. and Miss Murdstone are away. David, his mother, and Peggotty have supper and pass an evening the way they used to do before his mother remarried. David’s mother has a new child, and David loves the child dearly. The three laugh about Mr. Barkis’s proposal to Peggotty, and Peggotty vows never to leave David’s mother. Peggotty and David’s mother quarrel briefly over David’s mother’s marriage to Mr. Murdstone. David’s mother argues that Mr. Murdstone is just trying to improve her character. She feels that she should be grateful to him. David observes that Peggotty only provokes his mother so that she might feel better by providing these justifications. The next morning, David apologizes to Mr. Murdstone for biting his hand. Later, he picks up the baby. Miss Murdstone flies into a rage, telling David never to touch the child again. To David’s surprise, his mother sides with Miss Murdstone. David’s mother observes that her two children have the same eyes. Miss Murdstone shrieks that such a comparison between the wretched David and her knightly brother’s child is utterly foolish. Mr. Murdstone forces David to remain in the company of the adults, even though they never speak to him. Mr. Murdstone says that David’s habit of reading in his room is evidence of his sullenness. When David’s holiday is over, Mr. Barkis picks him up. As they drive away, David turns around and sees his mother standing in the road and holding up her child to him. Summary — Chapter IX. I have a memorable Birthday In the middle of the next term, David’s mother dies. The school sends David home, and Mr. Omer, a funeral director and general services provider, picks him up at the coach. Mr. Omer takes David to his shop, where he meets Mr. Omer’s daughter, Minnie, and her sweetheart, Mr. Joram. Mr. Joram builds David’s mother’s coffin behind the shop, and David sits through the day listening to the sounds of the hammer. Mr. Omer tells David that David’s little brother died a few days after his mother. The Omer family is quite jovial, but David sits in the shop with his head down. When David arrives home, Peggotty greets him and comforts him. Miss Murdstone only asks him if he has remembered his clothes. In retrospect, David admits that he cannot recall the order of all the events around this time, but he describes going to his mother’s funeral with the few people who attend. Afterward, Peggotty comes to him and tells him about his mother’s last moments. She says that his mother died with her head on Peggotty’s arm. Summary — Chapter X. I become Neglected, and am provided for Mr. and Miss Murdstone take no interest in David after his mother’s death. They make it clear that they want him around as little as possible. Miss Murdstone fires Peggotty, who goes home to her family. Peggotty proposes to take David with her for a visit. On the ride there, Mr. Barkis flirts with Peggotty, who asks David what he would think if she married Mr. Barkis after all. David says he thinks it is a wonderful idea. At Mr. Peggotty’s house, David finds Little Em’ly older and more beautiful than before, though she has become a bit spoiled and coy. Mr. Peggotty and Ham praise Steerforth, whom they have met at Salem House. Mr. Barkis and Peggotty get married in a private ceremony at a church one afternoon while Little Em’ly and David are out riding around. When David returns home, Mr. and Miss Murdstone completely ignore him. David falls into a state of neglect until Mr. Quinion, Mr. Murdstone’s business partner, appears. When Mr. Quinion arrives, the Murdstones arrange for David to go to London to work in the wine-bottling industry. Analysis — Chapters VII–X Mothers and mother figures in David Copperfield represent a safe harbor from the cruelty of the world. They fill this role not only for children but for adults as well. David’s mother offers him emotional support and occasional reprieve from the Murdstones’ cruelty. Peggotty takes on the role of mother figure to both David and David’s mother, as she cares for both of them when they need her help. Many of Dickens’s novels feature orphans who, lacking this important refuge from a cruel world, come across as especially pitiful characters. In David’s case, Peggotty (and later, Miss Betsey) save him from this fate. But until these mother figures are able to help him, he suffers a great deal in losing his natural mother and living with the disadvantages that motherlessness creates. Although the large cast of secondary characters in David Copperfield may seem overwhelming, these characters serve two important narrative functions: they mark the different phases of the novel and give editorial commentary about the actions of the main characters. Throughout the novel, secondary characters voice general opinions about the events involving the main characters. Because Dickens goes into such great detail in describing the lives of the main characters, the thoughts and actions of the secondary characters provide welcome breaks from the novel’s main plots. The secondary characters also alert us to transitions between the novel’s different sections, for they often appear at critical moments when the emotional intensity of the main plot is at its height. Mr. Omer, for example, appears in order to inform David of his mother and sister’s death. Moreover, the Omers’ happy family life serves as a contrast to David’s sorrow at his mother’s death. In this way, secondary characters not only comment on the novel’s main characters but also provide transitions between the novel’s different phases. In his vanity, egotism, and pride, James Steerforth acts as a foil for David’s naive innocence and wide-eyed trustfulness. David worships Steerforth, but this adoration is undeserved. We see that Steerforth’s support of David originates not from kindness but rather from a desire to increase his own importance and control over the other boys. Steerforth’s willingness to manipulate David both contrasts with and highlights David’s willingness to trust Steerforth. The only clue we have that David might suspect that Steerforth is not what he seems is David’s occasional remark that Steerforth did not bother to save him from Mr. Creakle’s punishments. It is clear to us, however, that Steerforth is bigoted and self-centered, especially in his interactions with Mr. Mell. This disparity between David’s perception of his world and our perception of it provides dramatic irony that persists throughout much of the novel. Chapters XI–XIV Summary — Chapter XI. I begin Life on my own Account, and don’t like it I wonder what they thought of me! (See Important Quotations Explained) David’s companions at Mr. Murdstone’s business dismay David. They are coarse, uneducated boys whose fathers work in blue-collar professions. David meets Mr. Micawber, a poor but genteel man who speaks in tremendous phrases and makes a great show of nobility despite his shabby appearance. Through an agreement with Mr. Murdstone, David goes to live with Mr. Micawber, his wife, and four children. The Micawbers befriend David and openly tell him of their financial troubles, each time becoming overwhelmingly upset and then recovering fully over good food and wine. David gets very little pay at his factory job and lives primarily on bread. In retrospect, David wonders what the waiters and shopkeepers must have thought of him, so independent at so young an age. At the factory, David is known as â€Å"the little gent† and gets along fine because he never complains. Eventually, Mr. Micawber’s debts overwhelm him. He is thrown into debtors’ prison, where he becomes a political figure among the inmates, lobbying to eliminate that establishment. Summary — Chapter XII. Liking Life on my own Account no better, I form a great Resolution. Mr. Micawber is released from jail and his debts are resolved. The family decides to move to look for work. David decides he will not stay in London without the Micawbers and resolves to run away to his aunt Betsey. He borrows some money from Peggotty and hires a young man to help him move his box to the coach station. Along the way, the young man steals David’s money and possessions. Summary — Chapter XIII. The Sequel of my Resolution David sells some of the clothes he is wearing in order to buy food. The shopkeepers who buy the clothes take advantage of him, and travelers abuse him on the road. David arrives at the home of his aunt, Miss Betsey Trotwood, who initially tries to send him away. When he tells her that he is her nephew, she consults with Mr. Dick, the man who lives upstairs in her home. Mr. Dick suggests that before she do anything, she give David a bath. Miss Betsey repeatedly compares David to the sister he never had and concludes that his sister would not have done the stupid things David has done. Miss Betsey is a tough, sharp woman obsessed with keeping donkeys off the grass in front of her house. She bathes and feeds David and speaks to Mr. Dick at length about David’s mother, whom she pitied very much. David is nervous about whether his aunt will keep him or will send him away. Summary — Chapter XIV. My Aunt makes up her Mind about me The next morning, Miss Betsey reveals to David that she has written Mr. Murdstone to tell him where David is. She has invited Mr. Murdstone there to discuss David’s fate. Miss Betsey sends David up to check on Mr. Dick’s progress on his Memorial, an autobiography he is trying to write. But Mr. Dick continually starts his project over from scratch because, each time, he begins to muse in the text about King Charles I, whose demons he believes possess him. Mr. Dick has an enormous kite that he promises to fly with David someday. David returns to Miss Betsey and tells her that Mr. Dick sends his compliments to her. Miss Betsey reveals that she took in Mr. Dick when his brother tried to have him placed in an asylum. Mr. and Miss Murdstone arrive on donkeys, and Miss Betsey rushes out to chase the donkeys off her lawn. The Murdstones are rude to David during their visit, and Miss Betsey scolds them and forces them to leave. Mr. Murdstone warns her that if David does not come with him immediately, he will never be able to come back again. Miss Betsey asks David what he wants to do, and he says he wants to stay with her. It is resolved that he will do so, and Miss Betsey renames him Trotwood Copperfield. Analysis — Chapters XI–XIV Dickens uses the Micawbers, who turn up periodically throughout the novel, to comment on the debtors’ prisons common in England in the 1800 s. Debtors were placed in these prisons until they were able to resolve their financial difficulties, which often took years. In the meantime, families were torn apart and suffered hardships as the imprisoned heads of households were unable to earn money to support them. Dickens himself, as a member of a family with enormous financial problems, suffered as a direct result of debtors’ prisons during his youth. Much like Mr. Micawber, Dickens’s father, for all his financial woes, could not control his spending when it came to dining and drinking. The passages involving Mr. and Mrs. Micawber are based in large part on Dickens’s own experience, as are the descriptions of David’s job at the wine-bottling factory. David’s sympathetic portrayal of Mr. Micawber suggests Dickens’s concern for the underclass and his frustration at the harsh conditions of the debtors’ prisons. The episodic, plot-heavy nature of David Copperfield stems from the fact that it was originally published as a serial, in pieces over time. Dickens inserted several mini-climaxes and resolutions and deliberately built suspense toward the end of each section in order to compel his readers to buy and read the next installment. The unnatural segmentation of David’s life into separate parts and the heavy-handed foreshadowing add to the novel’s suspense. For example, Dickens’s description of David’s life with his mother and Mr. Murdstone constitutes one self-contained section, which comprised the entire first part of the novel as it was published in serial form. The change of scene that opens the second section mirrors an internal change in David as he grows older. Because David Copperfield was written as a serial novel, it focuses in large part on plot and rarely stops to describe characters or settings in detail. The characters develop chiefly through their actions, and it is only over time that we get to know them—Dickens never includes any kind of thorough character analysis or description when he introduces a character. The novel’s serial nature also partly explains why the characters’ physical attributes match their internal characteristics. This correlation made character identification easier for readers who may have waited weeks since reading the previous installment of the novel. Ultimately, although many critics claim that Dickens’s characters are too simple and flat, this simplicity is largely the practical result of Dickens’s desire to gain new readers and keep current readers interested. When David arrives at Miss Betsey’s, the tone of the novel changes to reflect David’s increased tolerance for the harshness of his world. We see that David’s voice has lost some of its naivete and that he seems more prepared to deal with tragedy than in previous chapters. Miss Betsey plays a significant part in bringing about this change in the novel’s tone, for she both provides David with physical comfort and is herself a quirky, humorous character, which contrasts the tragic drama of the first chapters. The fact that Miss Betsey turns out not to be the imposing character that she seems to be in the opening scenes of the novel brings some relief to the dark tone of the first part of the story. Miss Betsey’s obsession with keeping donkeys off her lawn, for example, is an amusing touch that lightens the mood of the novel. Her concern about her lawn is inconsequential relative to David’s troubles, yet she takes it as seriously as David takes his struggle to survive. Miss Betsey also introduces Mr. Dick, whose optimistic, simple faith in David and Miss Betsey contrasts with the Murdstones’ dark pessimism. Unlike most of the other men in David Copperfield to this point, Mr. Dick is kind, gentle, and generous toward David—a far cry from the unforgiving Mr. Murdstone and the brutal Mr. Creakle. As we see, then, not only Miss Betsey but also the characters related to her momentarily change the tone of the novel from tragedy to comedy. Chapters XV–XVIII Summary — Chapter XV. I make another Beginning Miss Betsey proposes that David, whom she has nicknamed â€Å"Trot,† be sent to school at Canterbury. They go to Canterbury and visit Mr. Wickfield, a lawyer and a friend of Miss Betsey’s. At Mr. Wickfield’s, they meet Uriah Heep, an unattractive young redhead dressed entirely in black and skeleton-like in appearance. Uriah takes them to Mr. Wickfield, who recommends a school for David but warns that the dorms are full and that David will have to stay elsewhere. The adults agree that David can go to the school and stay with Mr. Wickfield until they find a more suitable arrangement. David meets Agnes, Mr. Wickfield’s lovely and charming daughter, who dotes on her father and is his one joy since his wife died. The three dine and have tea together. David rises in the middle of the night and encounters Uriah Heep, whose sliminess so strikes David that he feels the need to rub off Uriah’s touch after shaking his hand. Summary — Chapter XVI. I am a New Boy in more senses than one At school the next day, David meets the headmaster, Doctor Strong, and his young wife, Annie. Mr. Wickfield and Doctor Strong discuss arrangements Mr. Wickfield is trying to make for Annie’s cousin, Jack Maldon. Mr. Wickfield wants to know whether there is any particular reason that Doctor Strong wants Jack Maldon’s new job to be one that sends him out of the country. Doctor Strong assures him there is not. David is behind in his studies but quickly catches up. He makes friends with the boys at the school. At home, David speaks with Agnes, whom he finds more and more charming in her devotion to her father. One evening, at dinner, Jack Maldon interrupts the family to say that he hopes he can go abroad as soon as possible. Mr. Wickfield treats him politely but distantly and assures him that there will be no delay in getting him sent abroad. After dinner, Mr. Wickfield drinks heavily, and Agnes and David chat with him and play dominos. Mr. Wickfield offers to let David stay permanently at the house, and David gladly accepts. On his way to bed, David runs into Uriah Heep. Uriah asks him whether he is impressed with Agnes. David notes that whenever he says something that pleases Uriah, Uriah writhes like a snake. David quickly rises to the top of his class and settles in happily. One evening, he, Mr. Wickfield, and Agnes visit Doctor Strong’s home for a farewell party for Jack Maldon. Annie’s mother is there, and she encourages Doctor Strong to continue to bestow favors on her family members, who are poor and lower-class. Doctor Strong acquiesces to all her demands. When Jack Maldon leaves to depart for India, Annie becomes very emotional. As the coach pulls away, David sees one of her ribbons in Jack Maldon’s hand. Summary — Chapter XVII. Somebody turns up Peggotty writes to David and tells him that the furniture at his old house has been sold, the Murdstones have moved, and the house is for sale. David tells Miss Betsey of all the news in Peggotty’s letters when she visits him at school, as she does frequently. Mr. Dick visits even more frequently and becomes a favorite of Doctor Strong and the other school boys. Mr. Dick tells David that Miss Betsey recently had a strange nighttime encounter with a man who frightened her so badly that she fainted. Neither Mr. Dick nor David understands the encounter. Mr. Dick reports that the man appeared again the previous night, and that Miss Betsey gave him money. David goes to tea at Uriah Heep’s house, where Uriah and his mother intimidate David into telling them secrets about Agnes, especially about her father’s health and financial situation. David is very uncomfortable with the Heeps and feels that they are manipulating him. Uriah and his mother both frequently repeat that they are so humble as to be grateful for any attention from David. In the middle of tea, Mr. Micawber walks by the door. On seeing David, he enters. The two of them leave together and visit Mrs. Micawber, who is very glad to see David. The Micawbers are in terrible financial straits again, but they are quite merry over dinner nonetheless. Summary — Chapter XVIII. A Retrospect In retrospect, the adult David recounts several years in Doctor Strong’s school and his two love interests during his time there—a young girl named Miss Shepherd and an older woman named Miss Larkins. David also recalls a fistfight he had with a young arrogant butcher. Eventually, to his surprise, David rose to be the top boy at the school. When he was seventeen, he graduated. Analysis — Chapters XV–XVIII The retrospective Chapter XVIII marks the end of David’s boyhood and his entrance into the world as a man. Throughout his childhood, David’s character traits remain fairly constant. Although his life changes radically and frequently, often in cruel ways, David remains for the most part the naive, hopeful boy he is in the first chapters of the novel, when his mother is alive. As David later observes when speaking of Uriah Heep, a miserable childhood can easily turn a boy into a monster. David’s resilience, in contrast, is striking. Nonetheless, for all his pride in his growth, David remains gullible. This innocence lends a freshness to the narrative’s perspective—a freshness that has prompted many critics to label David Copperfield the finest portrayal of childhood ever written. As David grows older, he does remain somewhat simple-hearted and maintains a startling faith in humanity, but his narrative perspective does mature alongside him. David gradually leaves his childhood romanticism behind and looks at the world in more realistic terms, and the novel’s narrative tone reflects this change. Mr. Dick, who is both a man and a boy, contrasts with the other adult male characters in the novel, who tend to be harsh and gruff. In a story focused on the process of maturation, Mr. Dick is a model of a mature adult who is not jaded by the cruelties of the world. Like Miss Mowcher, who appears later in the novel, Mr. Dick might be described as a young mind in an adult body. Like a boy, he is unable to control his impulses or order his thoughts. Furthermore, as an innocent character, Mr. Dick demonstrates the power of love over cruelty within the moral framework of the novel. Mr. Dick’s love for David and Miss Betsey gives his character moral credibility throughout the novel. In the closing chapters of David Copperfield, Mr. Dick becomes heroic in his own right, demonstrating the supremacy of simplicity and gentleness over cunning and violence. In this way, he shows that craftiness does not signify maturity or adulthood—an important lesson for David as he becomes a man. At one point or another, each of the admirable adult characters in the story becomes slightly crazy, allowing Dickens to explore the relationship between intelligence and insanity. Miss Betsey’s obsession with donkeys makes her eccentric to the point of madness. Most of the characters consider Doctor Strong’s faith in Annie to be lunatic. Later, Mr. Peggotty’s faith in Little Em’ly leads some to consider him a raving madman travelling the countryside in search of his niece. Although the outside world would dismiss many of Dickens’s characters as insane, within David Copperfield, characters who are crazy are often of high moral quality. This contrast emphasizes Dickens’s rejection of the logic of the external world, which he sees as flawed. In the same way that Dickens rejects class as a marker of a good heart, he likewise rejects sanity as a marker of maturity. Instead, he focuses on the purity of his characters’ intentions and their willingness to follow their convictions. Chapters XIX–XXII Summary — Chapter XIX. I look about me, and make a Discovery David sets off on a monthlong journey to Yarmouth, to the home of Peggotty and her family, to decide what profession to pursue. He takes his leave of Agnes and Mr. Wickfield, and Doctor Strong throws a going-away party in David’s honor. At the party, Annie’s mother reveals that Jack Maldon has sent Doctor Strong a letter in which he claims that he is ill and likely to return soon on sick leave. But Annie has received another letter from Jack Maldon indicating that he wants to return because he misses her. The next morning, David leaves on the London coach and tries to appear as manly as possible. Nonetheless, the coachman asks him to resign his seat of honor to an older man. David spends the evening at an inn, where the waiter pokes fun at his youthfulness and the chambermaid gives him a pitiful room. David attends a play, returns to the inn, and discovers Steerforth in a sitting room. Steerforth is now attending Oxford but is bored by his studies and is on his way home to see his mother. David and Steerforth are happily reunited, and the inn staff immediately treat David with respect. Summary — Chapter XX. Steerforth’s Home. Steerforth persuades David to stay a few days with him at his mother’s house before going to Yarmouth. Steerforth nicknames David â€Å"Daisy,† and the two of them spend the day sightseeing before going to Steerforth’s home. There, David meets Mrs. Steerforth, Steerforth’s widowed mother, and Rosa Dartle, Steerforth’s orphaned distant cousin whom Mrs. Steerforth took in when Miss Dartle’s mother died. Mrs. Steerforth is an imposing, older, more feminine version of Steerforth, and she dotes on her son ceaselessly. Miss Dartle has a scar above her lip from a time when Steerforth, as a child, threw a hammer at her in anger. Miss Dartle views Steerforth’s and David’s words and actions with sarcasm, but both young men are drawn to her. Summary — Chapter XXI. Little Em’ly. If anyone had told me, then, that all this was a brilliant game, played for the excitement of the moment . . . in the thoughtless love of superiority . . . I wonder in what manner of receiving it my indignation would have found a vent! (See Important Quotations Explained) At Steerforth’s, David meets Littimer, Steerforth’s servant, who frightens David because he is so haughty and respectable. David persuades Steerforth to accompany him to Yarmouth to see Ham and Mr. Peggotty again and to meet Peggotty and Little Em’ly. On his way to Peggotty’s, David stops at Mr. Omer’s shop and sees Mr. Omer and his daughter, who is now married to her sweetheart. Mr. Omer tells David that Little Em’ly now works in his shop. She is a good and diligent worker, but some of the girls in town say she has earned a reputation for putting on airs and wanting to be a lady. David decides not to see Little Em’ly until later, so he continues on to Barkis’s house to find Peggotty. Peggotty does not recognize David at first, but when she does, she sobs over him for a long time. Mr. Barkis, ill but glad to see David, opens his cherished money box and gives Peggotty some money to prepare dinner for David. Steerforth arrives and entertains Peggotty and David. In retrospect, the adult David muses that if anyone had told him that night that Steerforth’s joviality and manners were all part of a game to him, born from his sense of superiority, David would have dismissed such an idea as a lie. When Steerforth and David arrive at Mr. Peggotty’s house, they find everyone, including Mrs. Gummidge, in a state of high excitement because Little Em’ly has just announced that she intends to marry Ham. After they leave, David delights in the good news, but Steerforth becomes momentarily and inexplicably sullen. Summary — Chapter XXII. Some old Scenes, and Some new People While in Yarmouth, David visits his old home and feels both pleasure and sorrow at seeing the old places. When he returns late from one such visit, he finds Steerforth alone and in a bad mood, angry that he has not had a father all these years and that he is unable to guide himself better. Steerforth tells David that he would rather even be the wretched Ham than be himself, richer and wiser. After they leave, Steerforth reveals to David that he has bought a boat to be manned by Mr. Peggotty in his absence, and he has named it â€Å"The Little Em’ly. At the inn, David and Steerforth meet Miss Mowcher, a loud and brash dwarf who cuts Steerforth’s hair as they gossip and talk of Mr. Peggotty, Ham, and Little Em’ly. When David arrives at Peggotty’s, where he is to stay for the night, he discovers Little Em’ly and Ham with Martha, a woman who used to work at Mr. Omer’s with Littl e Em’ly but fell into disgrace and came back to beg help from Little Em’ly. After Martha leaves, Little Em’ly becomes very upset and cries that she is not nearly as good a girl as she ought to be. Analysis — Chapters XIX–XXII The simple life at Yarmouth contrasts starkly with the sophisticated life at Steerforth’s home. At Steerforth’s, characters use their words and actions strategically to produce a desired effect. Littimer, for example, speaks in such a convoluted manner as to be completely opaque, while every one of Mrs. Steerforth’s actions is motivated by her sense of propriety and self-possession. At Yarmouth, on the other hand, characters say exactly what they mean and act out of a desire for harmony with each other. The contrast highlights the class distinction between the two families. The description of the families contributes to Dickens’s overall message that wealth and power do not correlate with good character, and that poverty does not necessarily indicate bad character. At home, Steerforth reveals that, at heart, he is slick, egotistical, and vain, even though David still continues to deny these tendencies in him. Mrs. Steerforth’s constant doting on her son reinforces these tendencies in Steerforth and make his self-centered nature understandable, if not justified. Though David is unaware of Steerforth’s snobbery, Steerforth belittles David from the moment they meet. Steerforth further demeans David by giving him the nickname â€Å"Daisy,† but David still is too caught up in his worship of Steerforth to see anything but his good qualities. Although Steerforth does demonstrate some thoughtfulness at Yarmouth, as when he tells David that he wishes he could be more focused, his self-reflective mood passes as quickly as it appears. David ignores Steerforth’s insults, as well as the fact that Mrs. Steerforth likes David only because he adores her son. Even when Steerforth begins to confide in David about his own insecurities, David views him as a superior being in whom all faults are positive attributes. David’s idolization of Steerforth makes him incapable of seeing the true nature of his false friend, even when Steerforth’s bad side is most exposed. David attains greater consciousness of romantic love as his character develops. At this stage, David’s feelings of love are still impetuous and adolescent. His frivolous infatuations mirror many of the romantic relationships he sees in his life around him, like that between Annie Strong and Jack Maldon. Although David’s experience of love is not yet as deep as it is later in the novel, he is increasingly aware of others’ romantic relationships. He observes the affair between Jack Maldon and Annie Strong, as well as the unfolding of the love affair between Mr. Orem’s daughter and her sweetheart. As David awakens to romantic love, his narrative focuses more and more on the emotional relationships between characters. Chapters XXIII–XXVI Summary — Chapter XXIII. I corroborate Mr. Dick, and choose a Profession David determines not to tell Steerforth about Little Em’ly’s outburst the night before because he loves Little Em’ly and believes that she did not mean to reveal to him so much about herself. David also tells Steerforth, as they are on their way home by coach, about a letter he has received from Miss Betsey suggesting that he become a proctor (a kind of attorney). Steerforth thinks that the profession of proctor would suit David well, and David agrees. When David arrives in London, he meets up with Miss Betsey, who has traveled to London to see him. She is very concerned that Mr. Dick, whom she has left behind at home, will not be able to keep the donkeys off her yard. Miss Betsey and David eventually resolve that David will become a proctor, despite his protestations that it is expensive to do so. On their way to establish David at the Doctors’ Commons (the place where the proctors hold court and offices), a man who looks like a beggar approaches them, and Miss Betsey jumps into a cab with him. When she returns, David notices that she has given the man most of her money. David is very disturbed, but Miss Betsey makes him swear never to mention the event again. They go to the offices of Spenlow and Jorkins, where Mr. Spenlow agrees to engage David as a clerk. Afterward, they find lodgings for David with Mrs. Crupp, an old landlady who promises to take care of David as though he were her own son. Summary — Chapter XXIV. My first Dissipation Although David is thrilled with his new accommodations, he gets lonely at night, and Steerforth is away at Oxford with his friends. David goes to Steerforth’s home and visits Mrs. Steerforth and Miss Dartle, who talk glowingly about Steerforth all day. Finally, Steerforth returns. He and David plan to have a dinner party in David’s rooms with two of Steerforth’s friends. David goes overboard in preparing for the party and then drinks himself into illness. While very drunk, he goes with Steerforth and company to the theater, where he runs into Agnes, who makes him go home. The next day he is hungover and humiliated. Summary — Chapter XXV. Good and bad Angels Agnes sends for David, and he goes to visit her where she is staying in London. She warns him that Steerforth is his â€Å"bad Angel,† that he should avoid Steerforth and be cautious of Steerforth’s influence. David disagrees, but the idea rankles him and disturbs his image of Steerforth. Agnes also delivers the bad news that Uriah Heep has insinuated himself into a partnership with her father, Mr. Wickfield. Both she and David are very distressed over this occurrence. At a dinner party at the home where Agnes is staying, David runs into Tommy Traddles, his friend from Salem House, and Uriah Heep. Uriah attaches himself to David and accompanies him home. In an unpleasant conversation, Uriah reveals to David his intention to marry Agnes. Uriah insists on sleeping the night on the floor in front of David’s fire. David gets no sleep with Uriah’s evil presence in his apartment. Summary — Chapter XXVI. I fall into Captivity Mr. Spenlow, David’s supervisor at the Doctors’ Commons, invites David to his home for the weekend. There, David meets Dora, Mr. Spenlow’s daughter, and falls in love with her. David also runs into Miss Murdstone, whom Mr. Spenlow has retained as a companion for his daughter ever since her mother died. Miss Murdstone pulls David aside and suggests they forget their difficult past relationship with each other. David agrees. One morning, he meets Dora out in the garden, where she is walking with her little dog. They have a conversation that cements David’s romantic obsession with her. When David returns home, Mrs. Crupp immediately suspects that he has fallen in love. She tells him to cheer up and go out and think of other things. Analysis — Chapters XXIII–XXVI Of all the characters in the novel, Agnes and Steerforth have the greatest influence over David, but their influences pull in opposite directions. While Agnes represents David’s â€Å"good Angel,† his conscience and his dependability, Steerforth urges David to take risks, drink too much, and be critical of the people around him. Agnes represents calm, considered reflection. Her energy is always directed, peaceful, and quiet. Steerforth, by contrast, is noisy, brash, and idle. While Agnes stays at home because her father needs her assistance, Steerforth gallivants all over the countryside pleasing himself. Whereas Agnes encourages David to take the correct path for the sake of morality, Steerforth insists on spending money and commanding servants around at his will. In this manner, Agnes and Steerforth pull David in different directions throughout the novel, forcing him to choose between good and bad. David experiences his first moral dilemma when Agnes’s influence comes into direct conflict with Steerforth’s. After seeing David drunk at the theater, Agnes suggests that he should shun Steerforth’s company because it makes him do foolish things. This suggestion throws David into a conundrum about which person he should trust. He is not yet mature enough to reject Steerforth’s seductive charisma in favor of Agnes’s quiet, contemplative love. Although Agnes wins his heart in the end, it takes her a long time, and it is difficult for David to free himself from Steerforth’s hold. Only when David gains control of his own emotions does he fully appreciate Agnes and choose her over Steerforth. As we see, Agnes and Steerforth not only exert opposite effects on David but also require him to assert his identity by choosing between them. Although David has grown since the start of the novel, he continues to be immature, naive, and unable to control his emotions as he takes his first steps into the adult world. David’s tendency to become obsessed with young women, along with his drunkenness at Steerforth’s dinner party, demonstrate that he does not yet have power over his emotional side. Perhaps the most telling mark of David’s fickle nature is his love affair with Dora, which starts the moment he sees her, quickly develops into an obsession, and remains with him, even though he knows that she is too foolish and frivolous ever to make an appropriate wife. The love affair has many moments of tension, for every time David tries to persuade Dora to be reasonable, she accuses him of being cruel or naughty and makes him leave her alone. Despite these barriers and warning signs, David loves Dora desperately. His willingness to throw himself into such an unrealistic love affair reveals that his emotions are still naive. Chapters XXVII–XXX Summary — Chapter XXVII. Tommy Traddles David decides to visit Tommy Traddles, who, he discovers when he arrives, lives in the same building as the Micawbers. Traddles is studying for the bar. His apartment and furniture are extremely shabby, and he is struggling to earn enough money to marry his true love, who has sworn to wait for him to save the money. In the meantime, Traddles has collected two pieces of furniture, a flowerpot, and a small table. Mr. Micawber, meanwhile, is in dire financial trouble again, although he still hopes to find work soon. Mrs. Micawber is pregnant again. Summary — Chapter XXVIII. Mr. Micawber’s Gauntlet â€Å"Ride over all obstacles, and win the race! † (See Important Quotations Explained) Mr. and Mrs. Micawber and Traddles come to dinner at David’s apartment. Mrs. Crupp agrees, after a good deal of argument, to cook dinner for them. The dinner is terribly undercooked, but Mrs. Micawber directs them all in re-cooking the meat. They enjoy themselves as they cook and eat. Steerforth’s servant, Littimer, arrives and asks David whether he has seen Steerforth. David replies that he has not. Littimer will not tell David why he thought Steerforth might be at his house, nor will he tell him where Steerforth has been. However, Littimer insists on serving the remainder of the meal, which makes everyone uncomfortable. After Littimer leaves, the guests continue to have a merry time. They discuss Mr. Micawber’s prospects in the brewing business and conclude that they are very good. As his friends leave, David suggests to Traddles that he neither lend anything to Mr. Micawber nor allow Micawber to use Traddles’s name to take out more credit. Traddles says he has already lent Mr. Micawber his name and adds that Mr. Micawber says that the bill is taken care of. Skeptical, David reflects that he is very glad Mr. Micawber never asked him for any money. Steerforth appears in David’s apartment immediately after the others leave, and David tells him Traddles has just left. Steerforth does not speak highly of Traddles, and David is slightly offended. Steerforth reveals that he has been seafaring at Yarmouth. David tells him that Littimer has just been at the apartment looking for him. Steerforth says that Mr. Barkis is quite ill and delivers a letter from Peggotty to David. Steerforth remarks that it is too bad that Mr. Barkis is dying, but says that above all, a man must â€Å"[r]ide over all obstacles, and win the race! † avid resolves to go visit Peggotty, but Steerforth persuades David to accompany him to his mother’s house before going to Yarmouth. As David undresses, he discovers a letter Mr. Micawber gave him as he left. It says that Mr. Micawber has not taken care of the debt he secured in Traddles’s name. Summary — Chapter XXIX. I visit Steerforth at his Home, again At Steerforth’s home, David spends the day with Miss Dartle and Mrs. Steerforth. Miss Dartle asks David why he has been keeping Steerforth away from his mother. David assures her that he has not been with Steerforth in the past several weeks. Miss Dartle seems very disturbed at this news. At dinner, Miss Dartle says that if Steerforth and his mother were ever to quarrel, their fight would be especially bitter because neither of them would want to give in to the other. However, Mrs. Steerforth assures Miss Dartle that she and her son are too conscious of their duty to each other ever to quarrel. At the end of the day, Steerforth begs David to promise that if anything ever separates them, David will remember him at his best. David promises. As he leaves, he looks in on the sleeping Steerforth. In retrospect, the adult David muses that he wishes he could have kept Steerforth just as he was at that moment, so that none of what was to come ever would have happened. Summary — Chapter XXX. A Loss When David arrives at Yarmouth, he visits Mr. Omer, who tells him that Little Em’ly has not seemed herself recently. Mr. Omer also says that Martha, a friend of Little Em’ly’s, has been missing since David was last in Yarmouth. David goes to Peggotty’s house, where Mr. Peggotty and Little Em’ly are sitting in the kitchen, helping Peggotty. David learns that Mr. Barkis is unconscious and expected to die very soon. Mr. Peggotty says that Mr. Barkis will die with the receding tide. Little Em’ly seems unusually upset and hardly raises her eyes to say hello to David. Mr. Barkis dies as the tide recedes. Analysis — Chapters XXVII–XXX In this section, Dickens builds suspense about Steerforth’s future by conveying secondary characters’ speculations about Steerforth’s mysterious absence and by using David’s narrative voice to imply that their friendship will soon reach a crucial point. The suspense is heightened by the fact that we take note of Steerforth’s conspicuous absence far more than David, who is too busy with his new life in London and his love for Dora to notice that Steerforth has been gone. Littimer’s appearance at the dinner party highlights Steerforth’s absence and raises questions about him. Moreover, Steerforth himself behaves secretively and does not indicate why he is agitated. Finally, the adult David’s reflection on his last moments with Steerforth is particularly effective in creating suspense because the adult David has full knowledge of what has happened between himself and Steerforth but deliberately chooses not to reveal this information to us. The suspenseful mood of these chapters contrasts with the young David’s ignorance of coming events and with his jovial comportment with his friends. Dickens uses sea imagery in connection with Mr. Peggotty to imply that Mr. Peggotty has mystical, unknown powers. In addition to spending much of his time fishing at sea, Mr. Peggotty lives in a boat near the water with Little Em’ly and Ham, two children whose parents lost their lives to the sea. For Mr. Peggotty, the sea both provides sustenance for life and represents a force that can take life away. His correct prediction that Mr. Barkis will die with the outgoing tide suggests that Mr. Peggotty gleans information from the sea that other characters cannot access. In this section of the novel, it seems that the sea allows Mr. Peggotty to understand and deal with death, unlike less mystical characters such as David, who feel confused and upset upon the death of Mr. Barkis. The contrast between Traddles and Steerforth in this section underscores Steerforth’s fickle nature. The two young men are physical and emotional opposites: Traddles is the fat and wimpy boy at school while Steerforth is beautiful and heroic. Yet the true nature of these characters lies beneath the contrasting exteriors. Traddles, despite his shabby appearance, is generous and loyal, both at Salem House and here, when he encounters David in London. In contrast, Steerforth, though handsome, is self-centered and disloyal. Although earlier Steerforth supports Traddles and David equally at Salem House, his derision of Traddles now raises questions about the sincerity of his friendship with David. Dickens draws out the contrast between Traddles and Steerforth in subsequent chapters, always to Traddles’s advantage. By doing so, he forces us to question Steerforth’s character and David’s relationship with him. David’s defense of Traddles in the face of Steerforth’s insults represents a major step in David’s coming of age. David has long seen Steerforth as a hero and has esteemed Steerforth’s every word and action while blinding himself to Steerforth’s faults. Now, however, David’s willingness to defend Traddles against Steerforth indicates that he is beginning to form opinions independently of Steerforth. David has also begun to see the good in the poverty-stricken and somewhat ridiculous Traddles. This new independence of thought and this ability to see beyond class and convention to the real good in people are crucial elements of David’s maturation. Though it eventually takes a traumatic event to make David see the bad in Steerforth, his ability to see the good in Traddles is an important first step. Chapters XXXI–XXXIV Summary — Chapter XXXI. A greater Loss After Mr. Barkis’s death, David stays in Yarmouth to help Peggotty arrange her affairs. He discovers that Mr. Barkis has left Peggotty a sizable inheritance and has also left money for Mr. Peg