Analyzing the major challenges i faced as a member of a writing Essay

Analyzing the major challenges i faced as a member of a writing community (IMPORTANT worth 20% of my grade) - Essay Example Despite the advantages associated with excellent writing skills, international students face challenges in development of effective writing skills. The challenge is adverse when the English is not the student’s first language. Students from Arabic and French speaking African countries face massive challenges because they must study English as a language before developing the necessary writing skills. Language learning is the process that requires time. For instance, early introduction to language leads to a better understanding of the language. For this case, students study English language at an old stage when in college. Such late introduction to a new language will adversely affect the writing skills of the students. For my case I started studying language in high school and despite the aggressive learning approach, I have not reached a satisfactory level. Therefore, the main challenge is to understand the language and developing the necessary skills with the focus being on the writing skills and style (Briggs 56). The introduction of the various languages at the infant stage of life may be beneficial for the students compared to the current college approach employed. The main challenge in international writing is the understanding of the Standard English for academic use, which affects article or publication quality. Language understanding and proficiency is vital in the development of the necessary writing skills and can be improved through practice and writing. In addition, there are five domains, which an international student can experience difficulties when developing academic writing skills (Briggs 20). The first challenge is the difference in culture. Difference in culture leads to culturally coined problems. The assumed and actual differences in the concepts of academic writing between the country of origin and host country can affect the writing significantly. In fact, it is a considerable challenge for international students because of the difference in understanding and perception. Some words may be translated to give a different meaning to the whole situation. The use of slang within the college causes a challenge because it affects understanding and meaning of words for international student. Academic writing approach between the different nations illustrates the difference in writing concepts which will be evident in the writings. According to Briggs, the observation by teachers indicates that the problems related to cultural adjustment, language and learning are products of cultural differences. The main challenge with culture is the difference in the learning style between country of origin and study country. For instance, the Middle Eastern culture does not encourage male and females interacting freely in the learning environment (Briggs 56). Therefore, the students may face the challenge when studying in the western countries which have no gender related restriction. Such changes will affect the international student and in turn reduce or lead to poor academic success. Culture is a vital issue in learning for international students because it affects perception and understanding. The international students are faced with general-linguistic problems, which result from linguistic knowledge or competency of the student. These are problems that cannot be accounted for by the students because of the second language deficiency (Briggs 23). Additionally, the ability of the student to

His fiend-Like Queen is Malcolms View of Lady Macbeth at the End of the Play Essay Example for Free

His fiend-Like Queen is Malcolms View of Lady Macbeth at the End of the Play Essay Act 1 Scene 5 is the first scene where you see Lady Macbeth. In this scene we are told a lot about Lady Macbeths character and her relationship with husband, Macbeth. The scene opens with Lady Macbeth reading a letter from Macbeth, which brings our attention to two main points. Firstly, Lady Macbeth is literate, which was very unusual at the time and tells us that she may be a well-educated character. Secondly, it shows us that she is very close to her husband; it wasnt a common thing to write to your wife from the battlefield because many generals didnt have the time, but Macbeth has made the time to do this. The content of the letter also shows us a lot; Macbeth tells his wife everything that happened to him in his encounter of the witches, which shows us that he is able to trust his wife. In the letter Macbeth tells his wife that the witches said, Hail King that shalt be! When Lady Macbeth reads this her thoughts, just like Macbeths, jump straight to murder: that which rather thou dost fear to do/Than wishest should be done. Lady Macbeth is determined that Macbeth shall be king and never actually mentions what she will gain from this, Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be/What thou art promised. Lady Macbeth appears to know her husband well, yet do I fear thy nature, /It is too full o th milk of human kindness. This also tells us a lot about Lady Macbeth herself; even after Macbeth has been on the battlefield killing hundreds, most people would see the fact that he could come home and be kind as a great thing, but Lady Macbeth sees this as his weakness. This is thinking very much like the witches foul is fair, and fair is foul. Lady Macbeths character has many attributes, which may be associated with evil and which is, in turn, part of the witches characters. The first of these is the fact that Lady Macbeth is very manipulative: That I may pour my spirits in thine ear. She speaks of the Raven which is a bird associated with death. When she hears that Duncan will be coming to the castle she immediately thinks that this is the perfect opportunity to kill him, she refers to the fatal entrance of Duncan. She calls to the spirits for help: Come you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here. make thick my blood, / Stop up th access and passage to remorse. Come to my womans breast/And take my milk for gall, In this speech she is asking the spirits to take her womanly tendencies away from her so that she is able to kill Duncan without feeling remorse and without those feminine feelings or attributes that may weaken her. In Shakespeares time witches were linked with the devil and gave away their femininity when they linked themselves to him, therefore when Lady Macbeth willingly asks for her feminine characteristics to be taken from her own body, she links herself to the supernatural, and therefore the witches. The speech also tells us that Lady Macbeth doesnt believe that she is normally able to kill someone; she thinks that this is the only way she will be able to do it and is trying to convince herself that she is evil throughout the scene. What is said in this speech is very similar to the one Macbeth makes, when he asks himself to not think about the treason and murder he is committing. This makes another link between Macbeth and his wife when Lady Macbeth says: Come thick night/And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell. This line shows us a lot, first that it reflects Macbeths, Let not light see my black and deep desires. The fact that she speaks of night links her to the witches, since night is the witches element. This line also links her subtly to the main dark themes of the play. Lady Macbeth has a very strong character and is very controlling, which was a characteristic uncommon at the time: and you shall put/This nights great business into my dispatch. She is taking everything into her own hands and seeing all the opportunities she has at that moment, but is failing to see further than that, to the consequences that may come about from her actions. In this scene Lady Macbeth does come across as having an evil nature. She is manipulative and is able to think about killing someone without much second thought, as well as able to link herself to the supernatural and destroy her feminine body in search of a greater power. In scene 6 Duncan arrives at Macbeths castle in Inverness. In this scene the first thing the reader realises once you have read it is the dramatic irony in it; Duncan says The air / Nimbly and Sweetly recommends itself/Unto our gentle senses and is talking about how nice the castle is when he is in fact very unsafe at Macbeths castle. This scene is also a very good example of Lady Macbeths deceiving abilities; she is sweet-talking Duncan and being kind, All our service, /In every point twice done then doubled and To make their audit at your Highness pleasure: she is being the perfect hostess. She is almost over doing the acting in the way she is flattering him so much, Still to return your own. Lady Macbeth is very two faced and hypocritical in this scene We rest your Hermits. She is taking up Duncans reference to prayer, How you shall bid God ild us for your pains, and this is hypocritical because of the prayers that she made to the spirits/That tend on mortal thoughts about taking away her womanly aspects. Scene 7 opens with Macbeth contemplating the plan to murder Duncan. He comes up with three strong reasons why he shouldnt kill him: First, as I am his kinsman and his subject, /Strong both against the deed; then, as his host, but there is still a present desire to be King. Lady Macbeth then comes into the scene and does not like what Macbeth is saying. She starts by putting him on the back foot by answering his questions with more questions: Macbeth: How now? What news? Lady Macbeth: He has almost supped. Why have you left the chamber? Macbeth: Hath he asked for me? Lady Macbeth: Know you not he has? This is where Macbeth tries to take charge and tells lady Macbeth [They] will proceed no further in this business and he tells her that he is happy, I have bought/ Golden opinions from all sorts of people. She doesnt take this into account and starts attacking. She starts by emotionally black mailing him, questioning his love for her, Such I account thy love, asking that, if he says that he wishes to be King and then take it back, how can she trust that he really does love her when he says it. She then attacks his ego, suggesting he is a coward even after he has come back from killing thousands of people on the battlefield: Wouldst thou have that/Which thou esteemst the ornament of life, /And live a coward in thine own esteem. She compares him to the cat, which would never go for the fish, Like the poor cat Ithage? She is asking him a rhetorical question, putting the thought into his head that he has the desire but not the guts to seize his dreams. She then attacks his manhood: What beast wast then? That made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst do it, then you were a man; / And to be more then what you were, you would be so much more the man. Then to prove her point further, and show us the length she is forcing herself mentally to convince herself she is truly evil, she presents this horrible image: How tendertis to love the babe that milks me-I would while it was smiling in my face Have plucked my nipple from its boneless gums, and dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you have done. After this Lady Macbeth manages to sway Macbeth back to the murder with her certainty: Macbeth: If we should fail? Lady Macbeth: We fail? But screw your courage to the sticking-place, And well not fail. She is almost mocking him with the we fail? making him feel small with the suggestion of it. Then she asserts her control over him again with And well not fail. She then shows us how she is a practical by explaining her plan to Macbeth; His spongy officers, who shall bar the guilt / Of our great quell? This speech really convinces Macbeth to go through with the murder and proves once again that, at this point, Lady Macbeth really does have control over Macbeth. This scene shows that Lady Macbeth has many evil traits; she is manipulative and controlling. She is also a very practical woman with her plan. Act 2 Scene 2 opens up with a short soliloquy from Lady Macbeth and the content of this soliloquy is quite contradictory; whereas in Act 1 where Lady Macbeth comes across as very confident, here she says What hath quenched them hath given me fire suggesting that maybe she isnt a naturally confident person and is trying to be. She comes across as being nervous and jumpy, Hark! Peace! It was the owl that shrieked. She lacks confidence in her husband: Th attempt and not the deed Confounds us. Just from hearing Macbeth say, Whos there? What ho! she jumps to the conclusion they have failed in plan. Next we see a whole new side to Lady Macbeth Had he not resembled My father as he slept, I had donet. This is proof that maybe Lady Macbeth has a heart and is not the cold heartless person she tries to make herself out to be. This is also an example of her stupidity; she doesnt make the connection between what she says and what she does. Lady Macbeth isnt a very understanding woman, another sign that she isnt very clever: when Macbeth comes in he is traumatized by what he has just done, instead of Lady Macbeth being caring and understanding she gets angry at him, Why did you bring these daggers from the place? They must lie there. Go carry them, and smear / The sleepy grooms with blood. When Macbeth looks at his bloody hands and says, This is a sorry sight. Lady Macbeth replies with A foolish thought, to say a sorry sight. That is also a sign of her practicality she is trying to get Macbeth to not dwell on his thoughts. Then there is also another sign of nervousness between them both with the short exchanges when they first meet: Macbeth: When? Lady Macbeth: Now. Macbeth: As I descended? Lady Macbeth: Ay. Lady Macbeth isnt very understanding at all of what her husband is going through and tells him, Consider it not so deeply. In act 2 scene 3 we see examples of Lady Macbeths practicality and ability to act. The scene opens with Macduff and Lennox entering, wishing to see the King and then finding him dead. Lady Macbeth enters and we see how her acting abilities are still strong, with her pretending she has no idea what has happened Whats the business, and it comes across that she genuinely doesnt seem to have an idea about what is going on. There is the irony of Macduff calling her, O gentle lady, when earlier we are given these horrible images by her, And dashed the brains out. She then manages to keep up the charade by coming across as horrified by the death of the King, Woe, alas! / What, in our house? Macbeth then enters and starts to give these flowery speeches: The wine of life is drawn, and his gashed stabs looked like a breach in nature: when these are compared to the initial reaction of Macduff, O horror, horror, horror! they appear to be prepared. Lady Macbeth can see this and sees how this is getting her husband into deeper trouble and she faints, drawing the attention away from her husband, another example of Lady Macbeths practicality and affection for her husband, she wishes to protect him. It is also possible that the vivid descriptions her husband has given, His silver skin laced with his golden blood, has really shown to her what they have done and the shock of this may have caused her to faint. It may have also been due to shock in the change of her husband, before this he was a wreck at the thought of what he had done: I am afraid to think what I have done. now he is able to lie with apparent ease, talking about the man he murdered so highly, and the guards he murdered while they were still sleeping. She scared at what her husband has become. By the end of act 2 we have seen cracks in Lady Macbeths visage, she is not as strong as she believes she is and she lacks the imagination to see this. In Act 3 Macbeth is now King and Lady Macbeth is the queen. The scene opens with Banquos soliloquy, then the full royal court entering and Lady Macbeth greets Banquo with great gusto, If he had been forgotten, / It had been as a gap in our great feast. After there has been much chatter between Macbeth and Banquo, Banquo leaves and Macbeth dismisses everyone including his Dearest love: before he was always with her and needed her opinion on decision and she was very much in control. Is this a suggestion that Macbeth doesnt feel he needs her guidance now or is he trying to be the man Lady Macbeth tried to suggest he wasnt? She must being feeling rather insignificant now and most probably hurt that after what they had just done that he could dismiss her like that. Act 3 scene 2 opens with Lady Macbeth asking permission to see her husband, Say to the King, I would attend his leisure / For a few words. This is very strange because before Lady Macbeth would never have had to ask to see her husband. Does this mean she has lost the power she had over her husband and isnt in control like she use to be? We then see that Lady Macbeth isnt the evil person she made herself out to be; we see she is hurting from what has happened: Tis safer to be that which we destroy, / Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy. Macbeth then enters and Lady Macbeth forgets about her worries and starts trying to comfort Macbeth, whats done is done. But she isnt taking her own advice, she is, without content. Macbeth then talks about his torment and uses this vivid imagery, O full of scorpions is my mind, Macbeth then drops hints that something is going to happen, there shall be done / A deed of dreadful note. In this same speech Macbeths also uses the imagery of creatures associated with evil and death: The shard-borne beetle so we can assume he is talking about the plan to kill Banquo. Lady Macbeth is properly feeling very confused at this point, before Macbeth included her in all the discussions and now she has no idea what he is talking about, Whats to be done? So by the end of this scene we have truly seen the soft and feminine side to Lady Macbeth: we have also seen the first signs of her coming collapse. We have seen examples of her love for Macbeth by casting aside her own worries to try to look after him. The first key point about Act 3 scene 4 is the notable change in Lady Macbeths behaviour. In Act 1 she was very welcoming and talkative with her guests coming across as being a strong character but is this scene she has lost this strong visage, she has to be prompted to welcome her guests, Our hostess keeps her state, but in best time / We will require her welcome. After this though we are able to see some of Lady Macbeths old characteristics, when Macbeth is distracted with talking to the Murderers, Lady Macbeth notes that he is away too long and reminds him he is holding a dinner, You do not give the cheer, an example of her practicality. Soon after Macbeth he rejoins the dinner he mental state deteriorates, when he sees Banquos ghost. Lady Macbeth steps in here with her practicality and tries to bring her husband back while passing off his madness as having some sort of fit: My lord is often thus, / And hath been from his youth She is finally able to bring him back by attacking his ego again by repeating the line, Are you a man? She is then fairly harsh to Macbeth mocking what he said earlier in the play, This is the air-drawn dagger which you said / Led you to Duncan. We see her lack of imagination, You look but on a stool. She is still unable to understand why Macbeth is suffering. Lady Macbeth is then able to bring Macbeth back to reality, where he starts acting normal but then mentions Banquo again, this sets Macbeth off again as the ghost reappears and he goes mad. Lady Macbeth steps in once again with her practicality and gets rid of the court so she can attend to her husband and before he is able to say to much about the murders, Stand not upon the order of your going. / But go at once. When the rest of the court has left, Lady Macbeth changes: her answers become short. At some point she must have realised what Macbeth had been seeing, changing how she was. Is her quietness a response to what Macbeth has become? She believed that this would only take one murder, and now Macbeth has murdered four times. She must be feeling scared, before she was very much in charge and now Macbeth is fully in control and not asking her opinions. There is already the idea of another murder in his head: Strange things I have in head, That will to hand; / Which must be acted ere they may be scanned. By the end of this act you can see Lady Macbeth is scared and she has lost the control she had over her husband. She isnt the strong character she was in Acts 1 and 2 only her practicality is left. Act 5 scene 1 is when Lady Macbeth has finally gone mad. Shakespeare gives little indication of time in the play, but from what we can gather a fair amount of time has passed, and over this time we can tell that he mental state has deteriorated. The scene starts off by telling us that Lady Macbeth has been sleeping walking and going through the routine of writing a letter, then reading it. I believe this refers to the letter she received from Macbeth about the witches; the letter which started the whole affair off. I think that subconsciously she is wishing for everything to go back to that moment so none of this ever happened. She enters sleep walking carrying a candle and the gentlewoman says that Lady Macbeth has, light by her / continually, tis her command. This is ironic because earlier in the play Lady Macbeth says, pall thee in thy dunnest smoke of hell. So after wishing not to see the light she cant bare to be without it. There is then more irony in this scene, Out damned spot, out I say! she is unable to wash the blood from her hands and to Macbeth earlier she says: A little water will clear us of this deed. She almost repeats Macbeths, Will all great Neptunes ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hands?: with the smell of the blood still; all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. We can see now that she always did understand what her husband was saying, but on a subconscious level: she lacked the imagination to understand when conscious. Earlier in Macbeth Lady Macbeth asked: Come thick night / and pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, and now she says, Hell is Murky. It appears that she is now in her own hell and it is terrifying. Throughout the scene there is more imagery of blood, we have Lady Macbeth mocking Macbeth about being upset about killing Duncan, now she is saying: Who would have thought the man has so much blood in him. At first she acted as if she was fine and didnt have a conscience, we now see that everything had built up and has been affecting her: The Thane of Fife had a wife; where is she now? What, will these hands neer be clean? She is even suffering for the murders she had nothing to do with. After reading Macbeth and carefully analysing Lady Macbeths actions throughout I think we are able to feel some pity for Lady Macbeth. I think she can be blamed partly for the Tragedy of Macbeth because she did push her husband to commit the murder, but we do not fully see what her motivation for this was. My view is that she was mainly doing what she thought her husband deserved because it is obvious through the play that she is deeply in love with Macbeth. Also taking into consideration the time the play is set was it not Macbeths place to stick with what he originally felt and tell her that they would not murder the King? I think pity grows towards her as the play goes on; as the reader you can see a change in her character, which quite clearly shows us that she never intended for Macbeth to become theevil tyrant he did become. Another reason for her to be pitied is that you can see she is in pain and suffering but she ignores this to try and comfort her husband who is more open about his suffering. This drives Lady Macbeth crazy in the end, and the idea that she died because of her love for her husband is tragic. This is why I think Malcolms view of lady Macbeth, His fiend-Like Queen is unfair towards her and that it was Macbeths place to have put a stop to the murder which eventually led to both of their deaths.

Good vs. Evil in Macbeth :: Macbeth essays

Good vs. Evil in Macbeth The good characters in Macbeth are less interesting than the evil ones. Everybody has an 'evil seed' planted in them. Only the really evil person acts on them and commits something morally wrong. Like Macbeth. When Macbeth first received the prophecies, he actually considered them. " Two truths are told,...but what is not" (line 137-152, Pg 27-29). We see him arguing with himself and feeling disgusted that he even thought that. That was interesting because we get the feeling that something out of the ordinary is coming up and our anticipation gets into the story straightaway. At the end, we didn't expect that a murderer like Macbeth would have a dramatic and poetic imagination "To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,...And then is heard no more: it is a tale" (line 21-28, Pg 233), or that he would, even in defeat, display conscience and bravery. "I will not yield to kiss the ground before young Malcolm's feet,...And damn'd be him that first cries 'Hold, enough!'" (line 32-39, Pg 249 ). We are surprised, and astonished because we see Macbeth in a different light and for that reason, he is interesting. While Banquo (the good character) on the other hand, was sceptical and quickly dismissed the idea of the prophecies, saying it was just their imagination. " Were such thing here as we do speak about? ...That takes the reason prisoner?" (line 86-89, Pg 27). That response was so predictable. There was no excitement at all. Lady Macbeth. When she got the letter from Macbeth about the prophecies, she immediately thinks of murder and we saw how evil she really was. " The raven himself is hoarse,...To cry, 'Hold, hold!'" (line 41-57, Pg 41). Here we see her summon evil spirits to thicken her blood and to turn her milk into bitter gall and then calls on them to prevent her from feeling remorse and to remove her femineity. This is very intriguing. We didn't even expect that an apparently strong, practical, and determined woman would act in such contradiction to her womanliness. We also see her as a selfish woman when Macbeth had second thoughts about murdering King Duncan. "Was the hope drunk...Like the poor cat I' the adage?" (line 38-48, Pg 59), "What beast was't then...As you have done to this" (line 52-64, Pg 59). She then attacks his manhood to persuade him to kill Duncan.

Demise of the Permian- Triassic Period Essay examples -- Exploratory E

Demise of the Permian- Triassic Period It is well known that there was a mass extinction killing the dinosaurs. However 185 million years before their demise, almost all life on earth was destroyed.1[1] There has long been theories that meteorites are the cause the of the mass extinctions and professor Asish Basu believes he may have found clues that point to space as the cause of the extinction in the Permian- Triassic period.2[2] The Triassic period is during a time when the earth was divided in a giant land mass: pangea, and water. Here there was no separation of continents. The Triassic is when the dinosaurs first started to appear, but long before the notorious Tyrannosaurus Rex dominated the terrain. At this time the dinosaurs were just a small part of the many animals that wandered the earth and were by no means, the large dominant, creatures that come to ones mind today. However the marker of this period is an extinction of the animals in the Permian period. The Permian period is known for the abundance of flora and the major changes in landscape including the formation of the Appalachian Mountains.3[3] Most notably is the giant fern: glossopteris. However at the end of the period, during the time of the extinction, it too disappeared.4[4] Professor Basu and his colleagues found fragments of chondritic minerals with mineral compositions that do not occur on earth, in Antarictica. These minerals have very similar chemical composition to minerals found in Meishan China. Because such similar extra-terrestrial minerals have been discovered in two geographically distant places, there is evidence that a meteor struck the earth and the dust that covered the land was significant enough to co... ... If it was a meteor it could give new insight to what kind of meteor it was and how it killed almost an entire planet’s living organisms. Either way, this evidence should not be taken lightly and is a crucial to the world of science. Notes: 1[1] Basu, Asish; Petaev, Michail I.; Poreda, Robert J.; Jacobsen, Stein B.; Becker, Luann, Science: â€Å"Chondritic Meteorite Fragments Associated with the Permian-Triassic Boundary in Antarctica†, Vol 302, Issue 5649, 1388-1392 , 21 November 2003 2[2] Basu 3[3] Encyclopedia. http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/section/Permianp_HistoricalGeologyofthePeriod.asp 4[4] Associate Press. CNN: â€Å"Ancient Meteorite Wiped Out Life† Washington, Nov. 20, 2003 5[5] Basu, 6[6] Associated Press 7[7] Basu, 8[8] Britt, Robert Roy, Science: â€Å"Controversial New Claim in Death-by-Meteor Case†, 20 November 2003 9[9] Britt 10[10] Britt

Compare and Contrast Seabiscuit vs Secretariat

Seabiscuit vs. Secretariat Impossible. A word the average English speaking individual fears. It is defined as: incapable of being done. In 2010 Walt Disney released Secretariat, a movie that tells the impossible true story of possibly, the greatest racehorse ever. Universal Studios DreamWorks released Seabiscuit several years prior. Similarly, the movie Seabiscuit provides its audience with a portal back in time to tell yet another seemingly impossible true story. Except this movie tales the journey of three men and one very special horses’ rise to success and fame.While both films recount inspirational and seemingly impossible true stories, Seabiscuit edges out Secretariat at the wire through the use of a more historically accurate plot, first-class acting and far more believable cinematography. The sheer amount of historical accuracy maintained throughout Seabiscuit far outweighs Walt Disney’s portrayal of Secretariat. In Seabiscuit, each of the main character’ s personal struggles is told throughout the first part of the film.These struggles show how the characters came together in real life, provides the audience with an adequate understanding of the effect of the Great Depression on them and allows the viewers to connect emotionally to them as well. In Secretariat, many of the people who were major parts of his journey were completely omitted. The overall feel of the film is very Disney like; in the essence of follow your dreams and they will come true. Ultimately, Walt Disney turned Secretariat into just another dramatic fairy tale.Too many actual events and characters were left out of the film, which in turn, took away from the real drama of Secretariat’s story. Seabiscuit incorporates a narration of the times and also includes historic photos and footage that capture the era. Unlike Secretariat, Seabiscuit manages to not only maintain historical integrity but is quite entertaining as well. Thus making Seabiscuit the clear winn er. The first-class acting in Seabiscuit undoubtedly surpasses the acting in Secretariat. Toby Maguire stars in Seabiscuit as Seabiscuit’s jockey John â€Å"Red† Pollard.First off, Maguire had to dramatically change his physical appearance in order to fit the part of a skinny impoverished jockey. His character â€Å"Red† faced the Great Depression head on, forced to leave his family at the mere age of fifteen. The movie follows Pollard from this point on and lets the audience see the adversity he faced throughout his life. Maguire delivers an award-winning performance by capturing and delivering the sheer emotion that fueled Red Pollard through his life and eventually onto the back of Seabiscuit.His stellar acting was a quintessential part of the movie’s success. On the other hand, in Secretariat the main character Penny Chennery played by Diane Lane was not as fulfilling. Her character felt very forced and dramatized for the big screen. Throughout the mo vie the audience is able to predict her every move, her character feels like just another typical Hollywood role; nothing compared to the woman she actually was. The loss of her actual prowess takes away from the overall movie. When compared to Maguire’s performance, Lane failed to cross the finish line.While both Seabiscuit and Secretariat are true stories based on phenomenal racehorses, Seabiscuit has a much more coherent flow. For example, both movies originate from very distinguished eras; Seabiscuit however, makes it very clear to the audience that the story took place during the Great Depression. The use of actual photos and video footage from the time allows the audience to actually understand the tribulations of the times. The camera angles used during racing scenes literally places you in the saddle, allowing viewers to take their very own ride down the home stretch.Overall, Seabiscuit feels real. The transitions from scene to scene are smooth and are never predictab le. On the contrary, Secretariat feels forced. Walt Disney in a sense destroyed the movie by adding too much drama. Many scenes are obviously fabricated to a point where the audience loses sight of the true story behind the movie. Furthermore, Seabiscuit yet again edges out Secretariat by staying true to the seemingly impossible story that was already complete for Hollywood.In conclusion, like many movies based on a true story Secretariat and Seabiscuit are both very informative. However, Seabiscuit managed to maintain historical integrity through first-class acting and believable cinematography. Seabiscuit and Secretariat’s story of overcoming the impossible was already perfect for Hollywood. Walt Disney fell short by not sticking to the real script and adding too much drama to Secretariat. All in all Seabiscuit raced into the heart of its viewers and never looked back.

Learn About the Many Varieties of Quartz

Learn About the Many Varieties of Quartz Quartz  is an old German word that originally meant something like hard or tough. It is the most common mineral in the continental crust, and the one with the simplest chemical formula: silicon dioxide or SiO2. Quartz is so common in crustal rocks that its more notable when quartz is missing than when its present.   How to Identify Quartz Quartz comes in many colors and shapes. Once you start studying minerals, though, quartz becomes easy to tell at a glance. You can recognize it by these identifiers: A glassy lusterHardness 7 on the Mohs scale, scratching ordinary glass and all types of steelIt breaks into curved shards rather than flat-faced cleavage fragments, meaning it exhibits conchoidal fracture.Almost always clear or whiteAlmost always present in light-colored rocks and in sandstonesIf found in crystals, quartz always has a hexagonal cross-section like that of a common pencil. Most examples of quartz are clear, frosted, or found as milky-white grains of small size that dont display crystal faces. Clear quartz may appear dark if its in a rock with a lot of dark minerals. Special Quartz Varieties The pretty crystals and vivid colors youll see in jewelry and in rock shops are scarce. Here are some of those precious varieties: Clear, colorless quartz is called rock crystal.Translucent white quartz is called milky quartz.Milky pink quartz is called rose quartz. Its color is thought to be due to various impurities (titanium, iron, manganese) or microscopic inclusions of other minerals.Purple quartz is called amethyst. Its color is due to holes of missing electrons in the crystal in combination with iron impurities.Yellow quartz is called citrine. Its color is due to iron impurities.Green quartz is called praseolite. Iron impurities account for its color, too.Gray quartz is called smoky quartz. Its color is due to holes of missing electrons in combination with aluminum impurities.Brown smoky quartz is called cairngorm and black smoky quartz is called morion.The Herkimer diamond is a form of natural quartz crystal with two pointed ends. Quartz also occurs in a microcrystalline form called chalcedony. Together, both minerals are also referred to as silica. Where Quartz Is Found Quartz is perhaps the most common mineral on our planet. In fact, one test of a meteorite (if you think youve found one)  is to be sure it doesnt have any quartz. Quartz is found in most geologic settings, but it most typically forms sedimentary rocks like sandstone. This is no surprise when you consider that nearly all the sand on Earth is made almost exclusively from grains of quartz. Under mild heat and pressure conditions, geodes can form in sedimentary rocks that are lined with crusts of quartz crystals deposited from underground fluids. In igneous rocks, quartz is the defining mineral of granite. When granitic rocks crystallize deep underground, quartz is generally the last mineral to form and usually has no room to form crystals. But in pegmatites quartz can sometimes form very large crystals, as long as a meter. Crystals also occur in veins associated with hydrothermal (super-heated water) activity in the shallow crust. In metamorphic rocks such as gneiss, quartz becomes concentrated in bands and veins. In this setting, its grains do not take their typical crystal form. Sandstone, too, turns into a massive quartz rock called quartzite. Geological Significance of Quartz Among the common minerals, quartz is the toughest and most inert. It makes up the backbone of good soil, providing mechanical strength and holding open pore space between its grains. Its superior hardness and resistance to dissolution are what make sandstone and granite endure. Thus you could say that quartz holds up the mountains. Prospectors are always alert to veins of quartz because these are signs of hydrothermal activity and the possibility of ore deposits. To the geologist, the amount of silica in a rock is a basic and important bit of geochemical knowledge. Quartz is a ready sign of high silica, for example in rhyolite lava. Quartz is hard, stable, and low in density. When found in abundance, quartz always points to a continental rock because the tectonic processes that have built the Earths continents favor quartz.  As it moves through the tectonic cycle of erosion, deposition, subduction, and magmatism, quartz lingers in the uppermost crust and always comes out on top.

MASH TV Show Premiers

MASH TV Show Premiers MASH was an extremely popular TV series, which first aired on CBS on September 17, 1972. Based on the real experiences of a surgeon in the Korean War, the series centered upon the interrelationships, stresses, and trauma involved in being in a MASH unit. MASHs final episode, which aired on February 28, 1983, had the largest audience of any single TV episode in U.S. history. The Book and Movie The concept of the MASH storyline was thought up by Dr. Richard Hornberger. Under the pseudonym Richard Hooker, Dr. Hornberger wrote the book MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors (1968), which was based on his own experiences as a surgeon in the Korean War. In 1970, the book was turned into a movie, also called MASH, which was directed by Robert Altman and starred Donald Sutherland as Hawkeye Pierce and Elliot Gould as Trapper John McIntyre. The MASH TV Show With nearly an entirely new cast, the same MASH characters from the book and movie first appeared on television screens in 1972. This time, Alan Alda played Hawkeye Pierce and Wayne Rogers played Trapper John McIntyre. Rogers, however, didnt like playing a sidekick and left the show at the end of season three. Viewers found out about this change in episode one of season four, when Hawkeye comes back from RR only to discover that Trapper was discharged while he was away; Hawkeye just misses being able to say goodbye. Season four through eleven presented Hawkeye and B.J. Hunnicut (played by Mike Farrell) as being close friends. Another surprising character change also occurred at the end of season three. Lt. Col. Henry Blake (played by McLean Stevenson), who was the head of the MASH unit, gets discharged. After saying a tearful goodbye to the other characters, Blake climbs into a helicopter and flies off. Then, in a surprising turn of events, Radar reports that Blake was shot down over the Sea of Japan. At the beginning of season four, Col. Sherman Potter (played by Harry Morgan) replaced Blake as head of the unit. Other memorable characters included Margaret Hot Lips Houlihan (Loretta Swit), Maxwell Q. Klinger (Jamie Farr), Charles Emerson Winchester III (David Ogden Stiers), Father Mulcahy (William Christopher), and Walter Radar OReilly (Gary Burghoff). The Plot The general plot of MASH revolves around army doctors who are stationed at the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) of the United States Army, located in the village of Uijeongbu, just north of Seoul in South Korea, during the Korean War. Most of the episodes of the MASH television series ran for half an hour and had multiple story lines, often with one being humorous and another being serious. The Final MASH Show Although the real Korean War ran only three years (1950-1953), the MASH series ran for eleven (1972-1983). The MASH show ended at the end of its eleventh season.  Goodbye, Farewell and Amen, the 256th episode aired on February 28, 1983,  showcasing the last days of the Korean War with all the characters going their separate ways. The night it aired, 77 percent of American TV viewers watched the two-and-a-half-hour special, which was the largest audience to ever watch a single episode of a television show. AfterMASH Not wanting  MASH  to end, the three actors who played Colonel Potter, Sergeant Klinger, and Father Mulcahy created a spinoff called  AfterMASH. First airing on September 26, 1983, this half-hour spinoff television show featured these three MASH  characters reuniting after the Korean War at a veterans hospital. Despite starting off strong in its first season,  AfterMASHs  popularity dumped after being  moved to a different time slot during its second season, airing opposite the very popular show  The A-Team. The show was ultimately cancelled just nine episodes into its second season. A spinoff for Radar called  W*A*L*T*E*R  was also considered in July 1984 but was never picked up for a series.