The secret life of bees Essay Example for Free

The secret life of bees Essay T-Ray, Lilys father comes to collect Lily but leaves Rosaleen in the cell; alone to be with her thoughts and come to terms with what has actually just happened. Youre lucky I got you out he yelled. But she cant stay there She dumped sniff juice on three white men! What the hell was she thinking? Lily is grateful for her father coming and getting her out of jail, but is upset that Rosaleen has been left behind. But Rosaleen has to learn her lesson and that is the impression that the reader gets from her father, youre lucky I got you out' tells us that he might have even left his own daughter in the jail cell for longer than he did, I think that Rosaleen and Lily had no real reason to be in jail in the first place the way the writer describes the incident is that Rosaleen was paying back the man for deeds he had done in the past that severely damaged her family. There is a great turning point to this novel, when Rosaleen and Lily run away together. They went to South Carolina and found a house that they seemed very interested in. Lily wants to run away because the situation with her father is getting too much for her and she also wants to find much more about her mother. The woman moved along a row of white boxes that bordered the woods beside the pink house, a house so pink it remained a scorched shock on the back of my eyelids She looked like an African bride. This was when they first seen the house and where watching the beekeeper go about her duties, which was amazing to them. Lily has a connection towards bees and this is what brought her and Rosaleen towards this house, as if the bees were calling her and showing her the right path in her life. As they watch this woman they feel as if they are getting to know her more and more just by watching her go about her duties. At this house they meet three black calendar sisters: May, June and August, August is the beekeeper who tells Lily the secrets of the Black Madonna mother to thousands. Its from August that Lily unexpectedly receives the keys to her mothers mystery and learns the secrets of beekeeping. This is where I spent my summers, she said Big Mama kept bees; too, right out there in the same spot theyre in today She liked to tell everyone that women made the best beekeepers. This felt like home to Lily the girls were almost her sisters she never had and August was like that special mother that she had always wanted, Rosaleen took on that figure but was more like a best friend than a mother to Lily. As the turning point develops Lily does think back to what life at home was like and whether her Dad is ok, but she knows there will be trouble down the line and will see her father again. Towards the end of the novel Lily starts to realise how important real family is and what they are there to do. Looking back to the old days Lily realises how much she really misses her mother and once told stories of her by August is reminded of her charming nature. August telling Lily the stories of her mother really does trig her memory of having great fun with this special person and makes her look back with Rosaleen at those great days everyone enjoyed with her and how great she really was. Lily loved her mother very much and still does she is reminded of this as she reflects back onto her childhood past and thinks of all the great times the family had together. When T. Ray finds Lily it is an unfortunate yet tragic event at the same time, she wants to see him but doesnt feel love for him. This is the autumn of wonders, yet every day, every single day, I go back to that burned afternoon in August when T. Ray left. and there they were. All these mothers. I have more mothers than any eight girls off the street. They are the moons shining over me. This is when Lily realises although she cannot remember meeting her biological mother she has many other mother figures in her life that will almost fill those shoes until she grows up. I also think that her father leaving her is a very stupid and selfish thing of him to do. Lily goes from having so much sympathy from me to being a young woman who can understand that once something so tragic as your mother dying has happened there really is nothing that you can do about it and all you can do is look for new or replacement mothers for the time being. Lily I feel is a very heroic child dealing with what she does as a main character she develops dramatically changing from very vulnerable to extremely strong and courageous. This is evident through her relationship with her father and Rosaleen. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Miscellaneous section.

Oil :: Free Essay Writer

Oil EPA Oil Spill Program Overview Welcome to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Oil Spill Program. This website provides information about the U.S. EPA's program for preventing, preparing for, and responding to oil spills that occur in and around inland waters of the United States. As a major industrial nation, the United States produces, distributes, and consumes large quantities of oil. Petroleum-based oil is used as a major power source to fuel our factories and various modes of transportation, and in many everday products, such as plastics, nylon, paints, tires, cosmetics, and detergents. On average, the U.S. uses over 250 billion gallons of oil and petroleum products each year. To meet this demand, each year the U.S. produces an average of 125 billion gallons of crude oil and imports an average of 114 billion gallons of crude oil and other petroleum products. At every point in the oil production, distribution, and consumption process, oil is invariably stored in storage tanks. With billions of gallons of oil being stored throughout the country, the potential for an oil spill is significant, and the effects of spilled oil can pose serious threats to the environment. In addition to petroleum-based oil, the U.S. consumes millions of gallons of non-petroleum oils, such as silicone and mineral-based oils, and animal and vegetable oils. Like petroleum products, these non-petroleum oils are often stored in storage tanks that have the potential to spill, causing environmental damages that are just as serious as those caused by petroleum-based oils. To address the potential environmental threat posed by petroleum and non-petroleum oils, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has established a program designed to prevent oil spills. The program has reduced the number of spills from the total volume handled each year. The program is also designed to prepare for and respond to any oil spill affecting the inland waters of the United States.

Othello presents women as the victims of men Essay

To what extent do you agree that in â€Å"Othello† Shakespeare presents women as the tragic victims of men? Throughout ‘Othello’, Shakespeare uses the manipulation of the protagonist, by the antagonist, Iago, to present a play controlled by men. In such a male dominated society, Shakespeare presents the women in the play as tragic victims at the hands of their husbands, in particular Desdemona and Emilia. Throughout this essay I will relate to the Aristotelian and Senecan descriptions of tragedy to come to a conclusion of how in ‘Othello’ Shakespeare presents women as tragic victims of men. Firstly, throughout ‘Othello’ Shakespeare presents men as the dominant characters of the play, whereas the women are portrayed as characters to always be suspicious of. No female character is given as many lines in the play as any male character, in particular Iago. This is reflective of Iago’s dominance in ‘Othello’, therefore meeting one of the Senecan definitions of tragedy presenting women as tragic victims of men. Furthermore Othelloâ€℠¢s suspicious nature towards his wife, Desdemona, is false, and though the women are constantly thought of cheating, they never do. In act 3 scene 4 of the play Desdemona claims that Othello is â€Å"true of mind†. The dramatic irony of that statement once again implies that Desdemona is a character who follows social conventions, yet her husband’s false accusations relate to the Aristotelian definition of tragedy in the Desdemona is pitied by the audience due to her pure feelings of love towards Othello. The use of the adjective â€Å"true† further shows Desdemona as a tragic victim of Othello as she is unaware of Othello’s beliefs that she is cheating on him with Cassio, which is false. Though women may be portrayed as tragic victims in ‘Othello’, Emilia gives the audience reason to believe that women are far from tragic victims in the play. She challenges social convention in that women should be passive to their husbands. In defiance of Iago’s â€Å"Be wise, and get you home†, Emilia here opposes the model of a â€Å"good† wife, who should be silent and marginalised. Though Emilia is undoubtedly ultimately a tragic victim of the play, s he reveals how corrupted a male dominated society is when she clears Desdemona’s â€Å"reputation†. Her death opposes an immoral conviction against her sex, exonerating her part in the tragedy. In act four scene three of the play, Emilia implies that she is equal to men, which suggests to the reader  further that she is a character who once again defies society’s expectations of women. Emilia criticises the way men behave, in which she asks â€Å"have we not affections/desires for sport-and frailty-as men have?† claiming that women’s needs are just the same as men, although it is acceptable for men to cheat on their wives. This is supported earlier in the play when Emilia likens men’s behaviour to that of belching, which itself is a vulgar activity. â€Å"they are all but stomachs, and we all but food/they eat us hungerly, and when they are full/they belch us† this corrupt truth is also reflective of how men treated women, and that it was ok for men to cheat on their wives, but had women done the same, it would have been considered a sin. On the other hand, Emilia could be interpreted as a tragic victim at the hands of men in ‘Othe llo’. As oppose to Desdemona’s marriage to Othello, Emilia’s marriage to Iago has lost all signs of romance and affection, and her victimisation could be interpreted through her satirical attitude towards men. Her death at the hands of Iago, her manipulator, shows that Iago was truly to blame for Othello’s murder of Desdemona, as it was him whom Emilia stole Desdemona’s handkerchief for. Her death is therefore her punishment, furthermore making Emilia a tragic victim as she has died through no fault of her own. Like Emilia, Desdemona is also a tragic victim of the men in ‘Othello’. Her murder, like Emilia’s, is through no fault of her own is a result of Othello’s jealousy and Iago’s interference. What makes Desdemona even more tragic to the audience is the fact that even in death she tries to protect her husband, telling Emilia that she has killed herself, â€Å"nobody, I myself†, this further depicts to the audience that Desdemona is a good and pure character. Her devotion to her husband makes her a tragic victim in the play as she can not be blamed for her death. Contextually it is important to understand how women are presented as t ragic victims of men in ‘Othello’. Contemporary views of women were, according to Sir Thomas Elyot â€Å"to be mild, timorous, tractable, benign, of sure remembrance, and shamefast.† Conversely men were seen to be â€Å"fierce, strong in opinion, covetous of glory, desirous of knowledge, appetiting by generation to bring for his semblable.† Elyot’s views of the contemporary man, though much grander than those of women, could prove to be their downfall in ‘Othello’. Shakespeare’s protagonist’s downfall could be based on the fact that he is desirous of knowledge, and Iago’s manipulation of  Othello’s trustworthy nature suggests that not only are women the tragic victims of men, but it is men who are also victims of men. The use of derogatory language and coarse sexual imagery is used by Shakespeare to show the male character’s misogynistic attitudes towards women, and this is evident whenever Iago speaks of the opposite sex. His lamenting of Desdemon a, a character who is pure and good throughout the play, particularly portrays how women are presented as tragic victims of men. He tells Brabantio that â€Å"a black ram is tupping your white ewe†, referencing Othello and Desdemona’s romance. The contrast of black and white suggests that Iago views Desdemona and women in general as guilty beings, which further suggests to the audience that women are tragic victims of men in ‘Othello’ as it is the men who are guilty, not the women. Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, holds a highly misogynistic view towards his daughter upon hearing of her affection for Othello, when he answers the question â€Å"is she dead?† with â€Å"aye to me†. Iago also views women as objects- â€Å"look to your house, your daughter and your bags†, his materialistic view of women, in which equating Desdemona to material good, suggests that Iago is a misogynist as he does not hold women in high regard at all. In conclusion, women are certainly presented by Shakespeare as tragic victims in ‘Othello’, however it is not completely at the hands of the male characters. Yes, both Emilia and Desdemona die at the hands of their husbands, but it is through socie ty’s expectations of women that they are murdered, as well as Iago’s evil manipulation of The Moor. Desdemona dies through no fault of her own, this making her a tragic victim at the hands of Othello, as she has not committed any sin, and she is only murdered through Iago suggesting to Othello that she had been cheating on Cassio. Desdemona is also a tragic victim as not only has she done nothing wrong, but throughout the play she is portrayed by Shakespeare as a genuinely good and pure character. Emilia is a tragic victim as ultimately she dies from knowing that Desdemona’s murder was due to the actions of her husband. Finally it was the women who were tragic victims at the hands of a society where the man is judge, jury and executioner, as well as manipulating them to satisfy their selfish needs.

Narodnaya Volya (The Peoples Will, Russia)

Narodnaya Volya or The Peoples Will was a radical organization that sought to overturn the autocratic regime of the Tsars in Russia. Founded in:  1878 Home Base:  St. Petersburg, Russia (formerly Leningrad) Historical Context Narodnaya Volyas roots can be found in the revolutionary impulse that swept Europe in the late 18th and 19th century. Some Russians were deeply impressed by the American and French  revolutions and began seeking ways to encourage  ideals  of the French Enlightenment in Russia as well. The ideals of political liberation were intermixed with socialism—the idea that there should be some equitable distribution of property among societys members. By the time that Narodnaya Volya was created, there had been revolutionary stirrings in Russia for nearly a century. These crystallized in the late 19th century into a plan of action among the Land and Liberty group, who began to take concrete steps toward encouraging a popular revolution. This was also the goal of Narodnaya Volya. At that time, Russia was a feudal society in which peasants called serfs worked the land of wealthy notables. Serfs were semi-slaves with no resources nor rights of their  own and were subject to the despotic rule of their rulers for their livelihood. Origins Narodnaya Volya grew out of an earlier organization called Zemlya Volya (Land and Liberty). Land and Liberty was a secret revolutionary group organized to encourage revolutionary impulses among Russian peasants. This position stood in contrast to the other view of the time, in Russia, that the urban working class would be the primary force behind a revolution. Land and Liberty also used terrorist tactics to achieve its goals, from time to time. Objectives They sought democratic and socialistic reforms of Russian political structure, including the creation of a constitution, the introduction of universal suffrage, freedom of expression and the transfer of land and factories to the peasants and laborers who worked in them. They saw terrorism as an important tactic in achieving their political  objectives and identified themselves as terrorists. Leadership and Organization The Peoples Will was run by a Central Committee that was tasked with planting revolutionary seeds among peasants, students, and workers through propaganda and to bring that revolution into effect through targeted violence against government family members. Notable Attacks 1881: Tsar Alexander II is assassinated by a Narodnaya Volya bomb in St. Petersburg, following several earlier attempts to kill him.1880: A bomb is set off below the dining room of the Tsars Winter Palace, in one of the efforts to kill Alexander. He was unharmed, reportedly because he was late for dinner, but nearly 70 others were injured.Other government officials in Russia, selected for their symbolic significance.