A Tale of Two Cities - a novel about the devotion of a family - Free Essay Example

One of the most well-known books is A Tale of Two Cities. A novel that tells the devotion of a family while England and France are in a major war. There are many elements to this story, including the plot, characters, and quotes, and this storys elements are very different than other stories. The plot is one of the essential things to a story, and this story is no exception. Our story starts out in 1775. We find Mr. Lorry, a businessman, with a young woman, Lucie, going to free a prisoner with no crime over his head. The prisoner, whose name is Doctor Manette, and is also Lucies father, has been held in France for the past 18 years. When they go to free him, they dont meet Doctor Manette though, in his place is a broken man who makes shoes. They head back to France with the broken Doctor Manette. Five years later, we head off to a trial, the trial of Mr. Charles Darnay, who is thought to be a spy. Miss Lucie and Doctor Manette are key witnesses in this case, and we see that the Doctor is no longer as broken as he was. During the trial, however, they reveal how Charles has a look-alike stranger, Mr. Sydney Carton. Darnay is called innocent. Both Carton and Darnay have taken a liking to Miss Lucie. Later on, Charles Darnay actually does marry Lucie. On their wedding day, C harles has a long talk with Doctor Manette about his life before he came to England. He is actually Charles Evremondes and is apart of a rich family in France. But as it turns out, the rest of his family are jerks. The Doctor decides that Charles is not like the rest of his family. France is not doing too great. Charles uncle, the Marquis, has been stabbed in the night and is dead. The Marquis though has made a lot of enemies. So many enemies in fact, that the caretaker of the mansion has been arrested and put in prison. Charles receives a letter from this caretaker as he asks Charles to come and witness to his trial, so without telling his wife or father-in-law, he heads off to France. His timing couldnt have been worse, as the revolution is happening. When he gets to France, he has been taken prisoner. Luckily, his favorite family is to the rescue. It takes a long time, but the Doctor does free Charles. Sadly though, the same night he is released, he is arrested again. The next day, a trial is held, a man named Defarge, the leader of the rebellion, produces a letter that Doctor Manette wrote when he was in his prison cell, depicting why he was arrested. His letter contains a tale of death, rape, and horrible human beings, these horrible human beings were Charles father and uncle. The Jury decides to kill Charles for his fathers crimes. The night before he is executed, Sydney Carton, Charles look alike st ranger, shows up and takes Charles place. He wants to die for Charles, so Charles can live a long life with his wife and daughter. The next day, Sydney dies by the guillotine, as he says that it is the best action he has ever taken. This plot is exciting, adventures and amazing for its time. Characters are also very significant to the story. Two significant characters are Doctor Manette and Lucie. Doctor Manette is an outstanding guy, especially considering all the hardships in his life. He was a prisoner for a long 18 years. He became a broken man as he started making shoes to keep himself sane. His daughter pieced him back together. We soon see that he is just an overall good guy. The night before Lucies wedding, she has set out a time just for the two of them to sit and talk. She is worried that he will suffer from her marriage, but he says to her. My future is far brighter, Lucie, seen through your marriage than it could have been than it ever was without it Believe it love! Indeed it is so. Consider how natural and how plain it is, my dear, that it should be so. You, devoted and young, cannot freely appreciate the anxiety I have felt that your life should not be wasted-wasted my child- should not be wasted, struck aside from the natural order of things, for my sake. Your unselfishness cannot entirely comprehend how much my mind has gone to this but only ask yourself, how could my happiness be perfect, while yours was incomplete?' There is no question that he only wants what is best for his child, even if its not the best for him. But the fact that he is selfless isnt what makes him a good character in my mind, but that he is still haunted by his imprisonment. Whenever times get hard, he goes straight to his old ways and starts making shoes. He copes with his feelings this way because he doesnt know how to do anything else. He goes into this trance that he used have during his prison time. But he wouldnt have made it out of this trance if it wasnt for his daughter, Lucie Manette. She was the golden thread that united him to a Past beyond his misery, and to a Present beyond his misery. Lucie always has her fathers best interest in mind. She wants to make sure that he is doing well, is happy, and that he isnt troubled by the choices she makes. She is selfless, just like her father, and she loves people so much. She just about faints when they call her husband to the guillotine but pulls herself together because she wants to be there for Charles. Lucie and Doctor Manette go hand in hand and are two of the most important characters in Tale Of Two Cities. One thing every book needs are good quotes. I think there are two outstanding quotes in this story. In the first quote, Doctor Manette has just come out of a depressed state, which he went to making shoes on his workbench. His friend, Mr. Lorry is asking him to explain why this experience might have happened. You see, said Doctor Manette, turning to him after an uneasy pause, it is very hard to explain, consistently, the innermost workings of this poor mans mind. He once yearned so frightfully for that occupation, and it was so welcome when it came; no doubt it relieved his pain so much, by substituting the perplexity of the fingers for the perplexity of the brain, and by substituting, as he became more practiced, the ingenuity of the hands, for the ingenuity of the mental torture; that he has never been able to bear the thought of putting it quite out of his reach. Even now, when I believe he is more hopeful of himself than he has ever been, and even speaks of himself with a kind of confidence, the idea that he might need th at old employment, and not find it, gives him a sudden sense of terror, like that which one may fancy strikes to the heart of a lost child.' (Page 201.) This is talking about how Doctor Manette deals with pain, he uses his hands to create something new, in his case, shoes. He wants to keep his workbench by him just in case he might need it whenever that pain comes to him. It frightens him to think about what he would do if he didnt have that workbench to help him release his feelings and thoughts. I love the analogy of this quote as those who have had this experience understand, while those who havent experienced it simply dont. Another quote that is incredibly descriptive talks about one of the ways the French used to kill people for their crimes, the Guillotine. Above all, one hideous figure grew as familiar as if it had been before the general gaze from the foundations of the worldthe figure of the sharp female called La Guillotine. It was the popular theme for jests; it was the best cure for a headache, it infallibly prevented the hair from turning grey, it imparted a peculiar delicacy to the complexion, it was the National Razor which shaved close: who kissed La Guillotine, looked through the little window and sneezed into the sack. It was the sign of the regeneration of the human race. It superseded the Cross. Models of it were worn on breasts from which the Cross was discarded, and it was bowed down to and believed in where the Cross was denied. It sheared off heads so many, that it, and the ground it most polluted, were a rotten red. It was taken to pieces, like a toy-puzzle for a young Devil, and was put together again when the occasion wanted it. It hushed the eloquent, struck down the powerful, abolished the beautiful and good. Twenty-two friends of high public mark, twenty-one living and one dead, it had lopped the heads off, in one morning, in as many minutes. The name of the strong man of Old Scripture had descended to the chief functionary who worked it; but, so armed, he was stronger than his namesake, and blinder, and tore away the gates of Gods own Temple every day. (Page 272.) I love how it says that it is like a toy-puzzle for a young devil, who might take it apart for a while, meaning he doesnt use it, or he might play with it every day, meaning he u ses it a lot. It explains how people thought that God had abandoned them. Another fascinating part to me is that if you didnt know what the Guillotine was, then you had no clue how it stopped peoples hairs from turning gray, was the best cure for a headache or was a razor that shaved close. These two quotes describe something in a way no one would expect it, which is why they are my favorite quotes. Everyones opinion matters and everyone has a different opinion.My opinion is that I would recommend A Tale of Two Cities. It is a novel bursting with action, romance, plot twists and lessons I think everyone should learn. But if you are lucky enough to read and understand A Tale of Two Cities, I think you will be very impressed and delighted by the story. There are key points that every book must have like plot, characters, quotes and how people see the book/recommend it. A Tale of Two Cities is bursting at the seams with so many different aspects, including romance, action, deep characters, and even deep quotes. So let me ask you, what other books have you read that carry the same complexity, same detailed plot and characters, and the same thought-provoking quotes as A Tale of Two Cities?

Dissatisfaction with Society Revealed in Yeats’ Stolen Child

Dissatisfaction with Society Revealed in Yeats’ Stolen Child The Stolen Child,a poem by W.B. Yeats, relates the story of a child who is lured away by fairies to a fantasy world illustrated through rich descriptions of nature and the freedom it offers. The plot of the poem becomes a metaphor for the return to innocence that the author feels is necessary in a society that is attempting to lead children away from the mysticism and innocence that characterize childhood, toward a more mundane reality as an adult. With his vivid descriptions and use of extended metaphor, Yeats is able to create a world unaffected by time, in stark contrast to the world in which we live, to illustrate his dissatisfaction with reality. In the†¦show more content†¦The island could also be symbolic of the womb, a watery environment that protected the developing child from the world. This imagery would support Yeats message that we must rekindle the innocence and abandon of our youth, which has been controlled and limited by the confines of modern society. The use of rushing water as a symbol of freedom continues in the third stanza where Yeats describes how the wandering water gushes... in pools among the rushes (28). In the final stanza, Yeats draws his most striking contrast of all to illustrate his message. He does this by following the descriptions of nature in its wildest form, of the previous stanzas, with those of the domestic atmosphere from which the child is being taken, in this stanza. Initially, Yeats established the setting of the poem in the first stanza by describing a place Where flapping herons wake / The drowsy water rats (5). This is contrasted in this stanza with images of calves on the warm hillside / Or the kettle on the hob / Or... the brown mice (45). Calves, kettles, and mice are all images that are associated with a domestic farm or a country home. Thus, this imagery is being used to portray how modern society has enslaved nature, controlling its freedom. Water rats and herons, on the other hand, are both wild and free animals that are found near water, the symbol

Be Warned and Study JusticeThe Shifting Definition of...

Be Warned and Study Justice:The Shifting Definition of Justice in Virgil’s Aeneid A twenty-first century reading of the Iliad and the Odyssey will highlight a seeming lack of justice: hundreds of men die because of an adulteress, the most honorable characters are killed, the cowards survive, and everyone eventually goes to hell. Due to the difference in the time period, culture, prominent religions and values, the modern idea of justice is much different than that of Greece around 750 B.C. The idea of justice in Virgil’s the Aeneid is easier for us to recognize. As in our own culture, â€Å"justice† in the epic is based on a system of punishment for wrongs and rewards for honorable acts. Time and time again, Virgil provides his readers†¦show more content†¦Instances that may confuse today’s audience are directly linked to the interference of the Roman gods’ will in our contemporary idea of justice. Woven throughout the Aeneid are many examples of the punishment/reward system of justice. The story of King Mezentius is a lesson in the types of characteristics and actions that can be justly punished. The King ruled his land â€Å"barbarously by force,† was a man of arrogance, and a tyrant (Virgil 246, lines 647-8, 650). He had no qualms about unnecessarily torturing his subjects in disgusting and cruel ways. Though Mezentius eventually allows himself to be killed in battle, the death of his innocent son, Lausus, is the king’s true punishment for his actions. Mezentius himself acknowledges this: My son, I stained your name with wickedness –Driven out as I was, under a cloud,From throne and scepter of my ancestors. Long since I owned my land, my hating folk,Punishment for my sins. I should have given My guilty life up, suffering every death,†(325, lines 1191-6) While the death of blameless Lausus is unfortunate, Virgil shows the type of retribution exacted for terrible treatment of others. Regardless of power or throne, Virgil shows that a king is not at liberty to do whatever he wants. The prince’s death is Mezentius’ just reward for his evils,

Analysis OF The Difference Between Fixed Cost And Variable Cost

Question : Analyse the difference between fixed and variable costs. What is the relationship of these costs with volume and profit? Discuss the use of break-even analysis as a technique for evaluating business decisions, and describe and evaluate its benefits and weaknesses. Answer : Fixed cost refers to the expenditure which is constant for different levels of production and sales. However, fixed costs will change over time with the changes n external factors. Fixed cost is independent of output or sales of the business organization. For example salary of the employees, rent for the space, insurance premium, depreciation etc (Neish and Banks, 2010). The following graph demonstrates fixed cost: Variable cost refers to the cost which fluctuates with the change in production level, sales etc. The variable cost is dependent on other factors and it has been observed that this cost varies in a specific proportion. Variable cost is responsible for changing the total cost of a product. Example of variable cost includes cost of material, wages paid to the labors, incentives to the sales representatives etc (Jagels, Coltman and Coltman, 2004). In the following diagram, variable cost is represented: Relationship of the Cost with Volume and Profit Relationship with cost, volume and profit can be established with the aid of a technique, Cost Volume Profit (CVP) analysis. The management accounting tool emphasizes on analyzing the impact of sales volume and cost of goods sold on the operating profit of the business firm. First of all, the assumptions of CVP analysis must be considered. CVP analysis assumes that all cost can be segmented as fixed or variable cost. This analysis holds for the situation when the fixed cost, variable cost per unit and selling price per unit are constant (Hart, Wilson and Fergus, 2008). The third assumption of CVP analysis is: all the produced units are sold. The profit equation is given below: P*X=Vc*X +Fc +Profit In the above equation, P = Selling price of the product X = Output/ Sales Vc = Variable Cost Fc = Fixed Cost Putting the values in the equation, the profit can be calculated for different levels of output. Contribution margin can be calculated for analyzing the relationship between cost, volume and profit. In this method, contribution margin will imply the profit of the company before considering the fixed cost (Neish and Banks, 2010). Contribution margin can be calculated with the aid of the following formula: Contribution Margin = Total Sales -Total Variable Cost On the other hand unit contribution margin can be calculated by considering the following formula: Unit Contribution Margin = Selling price per unit - Variable cost per unit Thus the contribution margin can be calculated for understanding the proportion of variable cost and selling price. Additionally, contribution margin ratio can be estimated with the aid of the following formula: Contribution Margin Ratio =Total Sales/Unit Contribution Margin High Contribution margin ratio implies that the unit contribution is low or the variable cost is high. On the other hand, low contribution margin ratio indicates that the unit contribution margin is high or the variable cost is low (Jagels, Coltman and Coltman, 2004). Break-even Analysis Break even analysis is a useful tool that helps the management accountants and production management in managing the activities effectively. Break even analysis focuses on identification of the point at which the company does not make profit or loss. The breakeven point is completely dependent on the level of production, selling price of the product, variable cost and the fixed cost (Hart, Wilson and Fergus, 2008). Breakeven point can be calculated in terms of sales volume in units or in monetary value. At the breakeven point, Profit = 0 In the equation of CVP, the value of profit can be substituted by zero and formula for calculating break even can be calculated. The following formula can be used for estimating break even sales (Hansen and Mowen, 2000): Breakeven Sales (in units) = Fixed cost/Selling price per unit - variable cost per unit Breakeven Sales (in amount) =Selling price per unit X Break even sales in units Advantages 1. Breakeven point is very useful in identifying the point at which the business firm will not incur profit or loss. 2. Break even analysis helps in estimation of profit at different level of output. 3. Break even analysis helps in predicting the impact of price change. 4. Breakeven point also helps in anticipating the impact of change in efficiency and cost on profitability (Epstein and Lee, 2011). 5. Break even analysis is a helpful tool in analyzing the correlation between the profit with different cost. Weaknesses 1. Breakeven analysis only considers the perspective of suppliers and it does not give any idea regarding sales volume. 2. In break even analysis, fixed cost is considered to be constant. However, it must be noted that in long run, fixed cost changes. 3. Additionally, it is assumed that the output of the mount produced by the business firm is completely sold by the business firm. However, in reality this situation might not take place. Hence, calculation of the breakeven point will be erroneous. 4. Break even analysis can be only applied to single product of product mix where the proportion of products are same (Coombs, Hobbs and Jenkins, 2005). References Coombs, H., Hobbs, D. and Jenkins, D. (2005).Management accounting. London: SAGE Publications. Epstein, M. and Lee, J. (2011).Advances in management accounting. Bingley, UK: Emerald. Hansen, D. and Mowen, M. (2000).Management accounting. Cincinnati: South-Western College Pub. Hart, J., Wilson, C. and Fergus, C. (2008).Management accounting. Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: Pearson Education Australia. Jagels, M., Coltman, M. and Coltman, M. (2004).Hospitality management accounting. Hoboken, N.J.: J. Wiley. Neish, W. and Banks, A. (2010).Management accounting. North Ryde, N.S.W.: McGraw-Hill.

School free essay sample

What are some challenges of incorporating visual elements in technical instructions or manuals? The biggest challenge is when you use visuals elements you have to choose the right ones that are related to the subject or the topic you are writing about. It’s very important to choose carefully when using visual elements in manuals because you have to use ones that are specific to explain your points of the topic. Why are visuals important? It’s important because it will show how much you understand the topic you are explaining to others, and it will make it easy for the reader to understand what the writer is trying to explain. For an example, I am looking at a baby crib, and I don’t understand one or few of the steps, if there are some pictures it would be easy for me to look at the pictures and I can apply it to the crib, but if there are no images than I will be lost and It would take me longer. We will write a custom essay sample on School or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Are there times when it would be inappropriate to include visuals? Explain your answers. I bought my three years old son a crib, they have two parts of a manual the first one is explaining how to put the crib together but it has no images, so I tried so hard I got some of the crib right.I was made because I did not see any images to show me how to put the crib up; I was going to return the bed just because they did not include any images on how to do it. I do better when I see a picture than read the explanation, and it took me about two hours to get it but no luck. I looked in the box for the last time and I found the paper I was looking for, the one that has images on how to fix the crib step by step. It got the crib done within an hour and my baby boy was sleeping in it. I believe having visual elements in manuals is very important.

The Real Reason for Washingtons Crazy Street Patterns

The Real Reason for Washingtons Crazy Street Patterns Watch out. Here comes the end of the world again. Viewers of the History Channels Ancient Aliens learned that the crazy streetmap of Washington, D.C. with its roundabouts and angled avenues, is based on celestial navigations, ancient aliens, and Luciferian New World Order. City planner Pierre Charles LEnfant would be shocked to hear about this. Born August 2, 1754 in France, Monsieur LEnfant is best known for designing the D.C. roadways of circles and spokes, a 1791 master plan that transformed a patch of swamp and farmland into the capital of the United States. Even today, much of Washington, D.C. with its wide boulevards and public squares follows LEnfants original concept. But was LEnfants design inspired by Freemasonry, aliens, and the occult - or maybe the orderly French Baroque styles of the day? The Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) of the National Park Service has given us the answer. In documenting the significance of LEnfants design, they say: The historic plan of Washington, District of Columbia - the nations capital - designed by Pierre LEnfant in 1791 as the site of the Federal City, represents the sole American example of a comprehensive baroque city plan with a coordinated system of radiating avenues, parks and vistas laid over an orthogonal system. Influenced by the designs of several European cities and eighteenth-century gardens such as Frances Palace of Versailles, the plan of Washington, D.C, was symbolic and innovative for the new nation. Existing colonial towns surely influenced LEnfants scheme, just as the plan of Washington, in turn, influenced subsequent American city planning.... LEnfants plan was magnified and expanded during the early decades of the twentieth century with the reclamation of land for waterfront parks, parkways, and improved Mall, and new monuments and vistas. Two-hundred years since its design, the integrity of the plan of Washington is largely unimpaired - boasting a legally enforced height restriction, landscaped parks, wide avenues, and open space allowing intended vistas.- LEnfant-McMillan Plan of Washington, D.C. (The Federal City), HABS No. DC-668, 1990-1993, pp. 1-2 The Legends and Stories The real story of LEnfants design is one of professional urban design - architectural planning based on study and history. The juicy stories that were fabricated may have begun with prejudice. One of the original surveyors of the District of Columbia was Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806), a free African-American. Banneker and Andrew Ellicott (1754-1820) were enlisted by George Washington to stake out the boundaries for Americas new capital, the Federal City. Because he knew a bit about astronomy, Banneker used celestial calculations to mark off the borderlines. A Black man using the stars and the moon, along with the Freemasonry of some of the Founding Fathers, and stories of the occult and a new government based on Satanism was certain to flourish. The street design in Washington, D.C., has been laid out in such a manner that certain Luciferic symbols are depicted by the streets, cul-de-sacs and rotaries, claims one conspiracy theorist writing in The Revelation. LEnfant hid certain occ ultic magical symbols in the layout of the new capital, and together they become one large Luciferic, or occultic, symbol. If this story of urban design intrigues you, the theories about extraterrestrials and advanced civilizations visiting Earth in ancient times may be of further interest. Were the avenues of Washington, D.C. really ancient landing strips for alien spaceships? Check out the full series from the History Channel to find out what other mayhem the ancient aliens were up to (Ancient Aliens DVD Box set, The Complete Seasons 1–6). The McMillan Commission LEnfant had come to America to fight in the Revolutionary War, serving with the Corps of Engineers of the Continental Army. His passion for Americas future was well-understood by the likes of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, but his stormy reluctance to compromise did not sit well with the City Commissioners. LEnfants plan lived on, but he was uninvolved with its development and died penniless on June 14, 1825. It wasnt until 1900 when Senator James McMillan chaired a commission that instituted the vision of Pierre LEnfant. To realize the plans of LEnfant, the McMillan Commission enlisted the  architects Daniel Burnham and Charles F. McKim, the landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., and the sculptor Augustus St. Gaudens - all famous figures in American design at the turn of the 20th century. Pierre Charles LEnfant is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, in a grave overlooking the city he designed but never realized. Sources Arlington National Cemetery website. arlingtoncemetery.mil/Explore/Notable-Graves/Prominent-Military-Figures/Pierre-Charles-LEnfantThe Revelation website, theforbiddenknowledge.com/chapter3/A Brief History of Pierre LEnfant and Washington, D.C., Smithsonian.comLEnfant-McMillan Plan of Washington, DC (HABS NO, DC-668, 1990-1993, researched and written by Elizabeth Barthold and Sara Amy Leach), Historic American Buildings Survey, National Park Service, Department of the Interior at http://lcweb2.loc.gov/master/pnp/habshaer/dc/dc0700/dc0776/data/dc0776data.pdf; The LEnfant and McMillan Plans, National Park Service [websites accessed July 23, 2017]Image of Baroque street plan of 1791 Washington, DC designed by Pierre LEnfant from the LEnfant-McMillan Plan, HABS DC,WASH,612- (2 of 32), Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Managerial Communications Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Managerial Communications - Essay Example I will appreciate that everyone is bound to make mistakes. If I lose focus during the interview, the results may be negative. I am not supposed to allow anxiety to distort my voice. I will be calm and maintain the same degree of coolness and body communication.Focusing more on the current and the subsequent questions may help mitigate the effect of giving the wrong answer. Again, I should avoid interrupting the interviewer by trying to respond to an earlier question, which I believe I gave the wrong answer.   The time for the interview is limited and the time allocated to a particular question should strategically be utilized. Regularly, I can impress the interviewer by staying calm and confident, when a question is put to me than affording the right answer. Another thing to note is that there is often no distinct answer and the way I present myself is of much importance than the answers I give.It is also important to appreciate that an interview helps the employer to identify the person who can respond positively to different issues in the place of work. The answers are important, but other aspects that I portray in an interview are more significant, and they have more impact on the results of an interview.Sometimes, interactions with my colleagues in the workplace will not be always positive. Some of their response and reactions might make me angry. To hold the anger, I need to know that anger is a usual and healthy feeling, which aids us impulsively detect and react to a threatening circumstance. When anger is properly managed, it can remedy an apparent injustice. On the other hand, anger can be an emotion that can become uncontrollable and cause negative results.