Tuesday, August 25, 2020

The Significance of the Last Stand :: History Historical essays

The Significance of the Last Stand I. Fictionalizing History Relating history of past to history of present [1] What do antiquarians make with the history they account? History is a story that never closes. The occasions of the present basically have just occurred previously. History specialists attempt to understand the present by deconstructing the past. Just through investigation of the past would one be able to comprehend the present. I played cowpokes and Indians as a kid. I would consistently fill the role of the cowhands, and thus the cattle rustlers consistently won. Toward the finish of my day's experience I went to my folks to let them know of my success against the Indians. I made sure to incorporate everything about the fight - from first charge to last saber stroke. History was made that day in my lawn with the green figurineâ€soldier on horsebackâ€whose destruction of the Indian adversary powers was both brave and fair. [2] Past history is associated with the events of the present. History rehashes itself as present activity picks up centrality from past occasions. President Clinton was as of late arraigned. To date he is the main President to get this not exactly noteworthy praise. As I would like to think, no basic repercussions came about. The main motivation behind why Clinton’s arraignment was significant was on the grounds that it was the principal such case in our nation’s history. On the off chance that President Nixon had not surrendered and had been impugned and expelled from office, the significance of Clinton’s indictment would have showed up far less significant all things considered. On account of the previous history of our country, the current history got huge. II. The Purpose of They Died With Their Boots On Entertainment of American Cause 1876 [3] American film exhibits history as account. The authentic exemplary They Died With Their Boots On is an entertainment of the historical backdrop of General George Armstrong Custer’s life. This film adds to the effectively predominant legend of the Boy General. The film was discharged in 1941, when Germany, under Adolf Hitler, had control of â€Å"Fortress Europe, and took steps to end majority rule government as the world knew it. The United States arranged to shield vote based system in all out war. American troopers required a reason to pass on for.

Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Save Point

Save Point Its been over two weeks since I last blogged, and Ive been working on this post alone for the past six days. Most of it, Ive been writing in my headforming the words, stringing them together like jewels on a necklace, trying sentences and paragraphs on for size, then discarding and reweaving them until they sparkle and sound just the way I want them to. Poetry, prose. Prose, poetry. Sometimes I think theres not a whole lot of difference. Sometimes I know that they are worlds apart. I wrote a fair bit in high school. Poetry, mostly, with the occasional short story or narrative. Since coming to MIT, Ive had far less time to dedicate to my writing than I really would have liked, which is one of the reasons Im leaning towards taking more writing classes for my HASS concentration. Mostly I put my literary energy into blogging instead although Im hesitant to even mention creative writing and blogging together, since theyre such very different genres, arguably even mediums, of writing each with their own advantages and limitations. I cant just make things up when I blog, for one thing. :) I dont know how many of you reading this are writers or bloggers yourselves, so perhaps the past few paragraphs didnt make a whole lot of sense my apologies. But my point is that its taken me a while to get my thoughts down on paper (or motherboard, as the case may be), partly because sometimes other, more interesting thoughts march inside my head and demand to be taken out and allowed to shine, which is basically the cause of those past two paragraphs of digression. Also that hyperlink. Isnt Cummings wonderful? Last week, during finals, a bed spontaneously appeared in the student lounge off of the Infinite Corridor. (Photo courtesy of Yan.) For some reason this hack struck me more vividly than pretty much any other hack pulled this semester. Part of it is the simple fact that it appeared during finals week, when everyone is at their most hosed, most stressed, most sleep-depped and yet still find time to put together amazing things. (Interestingly enough, two other hacks also occurred during finals time) And part of it is just the meaning of the hack. Hacks, in their purest form, are designed to make the viewer laugh marvel think. A lot of hacks simply make you scratch your head and wonder how did they do that? This semesters Epiphany Toilet definitely falls into this category, as does the infamous police car on the Dome. Other hacks, while apparently simple, nonetheless just sort of stick in your memory like the chorus of some Top 50 song, and keep bubbling to the forefront of your mind when you least expect them. For me, the Save Point hack was one of these. The simple phrase You may rest your party here remained embedded in my subconscious far longer than it should have, and its taken on new shades of meaning over the past ten days or so, as I finished up my finals and packed up my bags to head home after another long but enjoyable semester. And then I spent the next couple days sleeping until noon. :) Winter break. A time of rest, recovery, recharging. Assembling ones forces and laying plans for the future. Preparing for the struggles that are to come with any semester at MIT: the tiny defeats, the small victories. Finals, again, sooner than we expect: the last battle. And the cycle begins again each fall, with new faces and new names as another class of freshmen arrives. I love talking to people. I love listening to their stories, trying to understand what makes them who they are, and why. Getting to know their passions, their hobbies, all their little imperfect and intensely human quirks. This is part of why I wanted to become an admissions blogger, so I could connect to the students who might someday become part of MIT. Because in the end, I truly believe that MIT is what it is today because of its students, this population of self-selected and self-acknowledged geeks, nerds, technorati, entrepreneurs, innovators whatever label or labels you try and put on it, you will only come two-thirds of the way to the truth, in a Zenos Paradox sort of way. Part of the MIT culture is that it tends to defy labels, anyway. What am I saying, here? What is the point of this? Simultaneously everything and nothing. I am writing to hear myself talk, I am writing to reach out and convey a message that right now seems desperately important but might mean nothing tomorrow. These people ought to know who we are and tell that we are here, or something like that. So much of writing and blogging, especially is simply trying to find the right audience. And as far as readership concerns, I really do think that numbers are not as important you might think. Even so, my audience, on this blog, is far larger than I would have expected. Originally I thought of myself as only ever writing for the prospective students showing them what the school I love is like, and maybe helping them (you) through the maze that is the college admission process along the way. But over the past year and a half Ive discovered a staggering other array of readers ranging from my old grade school teachers to the parents of my fraternity brothers not to mention the other current students, who always provide useful perspectives and have this wonderful habit of pointing out things I otherwise would have overlooked. Im only human. Even on this blog, where I can say exactly and precisely I want, I ramble, I rant, I rave because thats part of who I am in real life, and I want to share that part of myself with you on this blog. Just because I go to MIT doesnt make me any different, any less flesh-and-bone than you. If you cut me I bleed. I am not so old that I have forgotten how to cry. MIT has changed me, yes. But not maybe as much as youd think. Mostly, I think MIT has made me more aware of who I truly am, and of the person I always wanted to be. At MIT, hundreds of miles from my hometown, blissfully and terrifyingly torn apart from everything I used to know, Ive been able to rediscover myself all in the company of four thousand other strangers, classmates, friends who are making the same kind of journey I am. Applying to MIT is its own kind of journey. And I think the real, fundamental purpose of this entry is to encourage all of you applying to MIT, all of you who will be getting that life-changing decision in March, to just take a moment and think. I remember high school, especially senior year: so busy juggling classes, SATs, extracurriculars, friends, and all the rest to ever find a moment for yourself. But you need self-introspection, sometimes. Right here, right now: I challenge you to stop, think rest your party for a moment. Create a save point for yourself. Think about how far youve come and how much youve accomplished. Break down the assumptions youve been carrying about yourselves, about MIT, about the world. There is so much more than you know, than any of us can possibly ever know. Humility in the face of the great unknown (including admissions decisions) is one of lifes greatest virtues. As I write this, wondering where I should stop, I realize that the streets and sidewalks of South Bend are coated with a fine sheet of snow and ice, beautiful and dangerous at the same time. MIT is like that, too, in a way. And thats part of why those of us who go here love it. You have been warned.

Saturday, May 23, 2020

Hero As A True Hero - 1427 Words

The great and mighty Hercules once said, â€Å"A true hero isn’t measured by the size of his strength, but by the strength of his heart.† The word hero comes from the Greek, literal meaning of â€Å"protector† or â€Å"defender†. A great example of a tenacious protector is Beowulf, â€Å"Higlac’s follower and the strongest of the Geats - greater and stronger than anyone anywhere in this world,† (Beowulf 195). A man beloved and looked up to by his people- a noble warrior at heart. On the other hand, there are kings, like Oedipus, who can be heroes and highly regarded just because of their societal status. Since ancient times heroes have been a quintessential part in all societies, from the poverty and slums of Africa to the proud, flourishing Hollywood. They†¦show more content†¦Another thing highly valued by the Geats’ society was their king. They greatly appreciated and praised them and when their king died â€Å"...they heaped up treasures, jeweled helmets, hooked swords and coats of mail, armor carried from the ends of the earth: no ship had ever sailed so brightly fitted, no king sent forth more deeply mourned,† (Beowulf 37-40). The Geats valued showing respect for their king and almost worshiped him. Not all values will be the same in every society. In Beowulf’s society the king and citizen relationship was like a father to his kids, which worked because, as the king, Higlac was well respected by his people and they listened and obeyed him. Whereas in Oedipus The King, when a plague struck the city of Thebes and the people â€Å"[huddled] at [Oedipus’] altar, praying before [him]† their â€Å"...city reek[ed] with the smoke of burning incense, [rang] with cries for the Healer and wailing for the dead,† (Oedipus 2-6). The Thebans had no idea how to handle their previous king dying; therefore, being very dependent on him, when disaster struck they leaned on their next king, Oedipus, to fix the problem and end the plague. This shows how a society can get chaotic without morals or principles: from a king and day to day tasks, to no king and no knowledge of how to act or function. If a society becomes too dependent on their king or their hero to save them in times of trouble, an unexpected or sudden death of that particularShow MoreRelatedHero Essay : A Hero Is A True Hero805 Words   |  4 PagesReeve states, â€Å"A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to preserve and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.† In other words, a hero is a everyday person that has the courage, bravery, and strength to overcome any challenge they are going through or as a challenge to help someone no matter what it takes. Even though there could be many struggles, a hero has to endure the strength to do anything to help in any way they can. Many people think they know what a hero is, but do theyRead MoreIs Odysseus A True Hero1352 Words   |  6 PagesMccann Mrs.Carroll English 01 February 2016 Is Odysseus A True Hero In the story The Odyssey the main character Odysseus is not a true hero. A man with so much hatred and anger should not be someone to hold to a high prestige, or want to be. The needless killing and disrespect to other people s wishes is not part of what a hero should be, or is to endanger the people that he is in charge of. This is why odysseus is not a true hero. â€Å"A favorable wind brought us from the land of Troy to theRead MoreOdysseus : A True Hero1227 Words   |  5 Pageshave held debates about Odysseus. The discussion is whether Odysseus was a true hero, as read in The Odyssey. There is abundant supportive evidence to verify all sides of the debate and opinions held about Odysseus. Odysseus had encompassed many qualities that I believe make him a hero. The qualities he embodied were mental strength, physical strength, and spiritual strength. I would like to advocate for why Odysseus was a hero. To support my thesis, I want to explore Odysseus, first in the area ofRead MoreOdysseus Is A True Hero1233 Words   |  5 Pageswhether Odysseus was a true hero, as read in The Odyssey. There is much supporting evidence to prove all sides of the debate and opinions held of Odysseus. It is of my opinion that Odysseus is a hero in his homeland, his family, the Greek people, and for us to learn from to this day. Odysseus had encompassed three many qualities that I believe made him a hero. He embodied, mental strength, physical strength, and spiritual strength. I would like to advocate for why Odysseus was a hero. To support my reasonsRead MoreHeroism : A True Hero1283 Words   |  6 PagesGeorge S Patton, a senior officer of the U.S. Army, once said, â€Å"The real hero is the man who fights even though he is scared.† The online dictionary from Merriam-Webster defines a hero as, â€Å"One who shows great courage.† People notice that a hero shows courage and perseverance in overwhelming positions. People can even be inspired to show the same in the problems they are going through. Maybe inside the hero they are nervous, or even scared, but outside they show that they will power through whateverRead MoreThe True Meaning Of A Hero1240 Words   |  5 PagesTo many the true definition of a hero varies. The true meaning of a hero varies according to the individuality of a person due to our uniqueness. A hero to some if not many, is a person who acquires courage, intelligence, strength, and has risked and sacrificed his life for the dignity of himself and the wellbeing of others. A h ero bears the characteristics of a leader, by not only possessing physical strength but most importantly intellectual strength. A hero is also described as someone who landsRead More A True Hero Essay3569 Words   |  15 PagesA True Hero As I read David Halberstam’s ideas in his essay, â€Å"Who We Are† (2004), I started thinking about our nation’s leaders and heroes. September 11th came to my mind and the many firefighters and rescue workers who heroically risked their lives to save complete strangers. Then, I remembered that the media dubbed Jessica Lynch a hero when she came back to the United States. Not only Jessica, but also many other American soldiers fighting abroad are called heroes. I started wondering ifRead MoreBeowulf : A True Hero1763 Words   |  8 Pagesimpressionable king. Beowulf displays four key characteristics, courage, strength, knowledge, and respect/trust, which are extremely important to the plot, as well as for the life of the Geats, the Danes, and Beowulf’s true identity. From the beginning, Beowulf is viewed as the epitome of a true hero. He may have been somewhat selfish at times and boast about his achievements, but when it really mattered he is there for h is people. These traits truly expose the heroic king he becomes. The courage and braveryRead MoreThe True Hero: Odysseus623 Words   |  2 Pagesan epic hero. Epic heroes all have good and bad qualities, for example Hercules is known as the strongest man in the world, but he is not that smart. Odysseus is a great example of an epic hero. He is smart, strong, and protected by gods and goddesses, but he does have faults in his actions considering he is only just a mortal. In Homer’s book, The Odyssey, Homer shows how Odysseus is truly an epic hero, by showing his journey back home to Ithaca. Odysseus’s most known trait of an epic hero is hisRead MoreA True American Hero637 Words   |  3 PagesA True American Hero After reading about Alexander Hamilton we can definitely see the importance that he provided in establishing the United States. The author also did a very good job of explaining how Hamilton was able to do this. When we reading the story we can see that Hamilton was able to use his intelligence, Finical knowledge, hard work ethic,background, patriotism, and the respect that others had for him to influence and help establish the United States. It was by successfully obtaining

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Will We Run out of Helium One Day

Helium is the second-lightest element. Although it is rare on Earth, you likely have encountered it in helium-filled balloons. Its the most widely used of the inert gases, utilized in arc welding, diving, growing silicon crystals, and as a coolant in MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scanners. In addition to being rare, helium is (mostly) not a renewable resource. The helium that we have was produced by the radioactive decay of rock, long ago. Over the span of hundreds of millions of years, the gas accumulated and was released by tectonic plate movement, where it found its way into natural gas deposits and as a dissolved gas in groundwater. Once the gas leaks into the atmosphere, it is light enough to escape the Earths gravitational field so it bleeds off into space, never to return. We may run out of helium within 25–30 years because its being consumed so freely. Why We Could Run out of Helium Why would such a valuable resource be squandered? Basically, its because the price of helium does not reflect its value. Most of the worlds supply of helium is held by the United States National Helium Reserve, which was mandated to sell off all of its stockpile by 2015, regardless of price. This was based on a 1996 law, the Helium Privatization Act, which was intended to help the government recoup the cost of building up the reserve. Though the uses of helium multiplied, the law had not been revisited, so by 2013 much of the planets stockpile of helium was sold at an extremely low price. In 2013, the U.S. Congress did re-examine the law, ultimately passing a bill, the Helium Stewardship Act, aimed at maintaining the helium reserves. Theres More Helium Than We Once Thought Recent research indicates theres more helium, particularly in groundwater, than scientists previously estimated. Also, although the process is extremely slow, ongoing radioactive decay of natural uranium and other radioisotopes does generate additional helium. Thats the good news. The bad news is that it will require more money and new technology to recover the element. The other bad news is that there isnt going to be helium that we can get from the planets near us because those planets also exert too little gravity to hold the gas. Perhaps at some point, we may find a way to mine the element from gas giants further out in the solar system. Why We Arent Running out of Hydrogen If helium is so lightweight that it escapes Earths gravity, you may be wondering about whether we may run out of hydrogen. Even though hydrogen forms chemical bonds with itself to make H2 gas, its still lighter than even one helium atom. The reason we will not run out is that hydrogen forms bonds with other atoms besides itself. The element is bound into water molecules and organic compounds. Helium, on the other hand, is a noble gas with a stable electron shell structure. Since it doesnt form chemical bonds, it isnt preserved in compounds.

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

The Hero And The Crown Part Two Chapter 18 Free Essays

string(28) " his chin and stayed there\." AFTER THIS, suddenly the winter was too short, despite the nightmares of a man with eyes brighter than a dragon’s, who wore a red cloak. The snow melted too soon, and too soon the first tight buds knuckled out from the trees, and the first vivid purple shoots parted the last year’s dry grass. There was a heavy rich smell in the air, and Aerin kept seeing things in the shadows just beyond the edge of sight, and hearing far high laughter she could not be sure she did not imagine. We will write a custom essay sample on The Hero And The Crown Part Two Chapter 18 or any similar topic only for you Order Now Sometimes when she saw or heard such somethings she would whip around to look at Luthe, who, as often as not, would be staring into the middle distance with a vague silly smile on his face. â€Å"You aren’t really alone up here at all, are you?† she said, and was surprised to feel something she suspected was jealousy. Luthe refocused his eyes to look at her gravely. â€Å"No. But my †¦ friends †¦ are very shy. Worse than I am.† â€Å"I’ll be leaving soon anyway,† Aerin said. â€Å"They’ll come back to you soon enough.† Luthe did not answer immediately. â€Å"Yes. Soon enough,† She got out Talat’s saddle and gear and cleaned everything, and oiled the leather; and upon request Luthe provided her with some heavy canvas and narrow bits of leather, and she rigged a plain breastplate, for Talat had insufficient wither to carry a saddle reliably straight. She also made a little leather pouch to carry the red dragon stone, which had been living under a corner of her mattress, and hung it around her neck on a thong. Then she spent hours currying Talat while the winter hair rose in clouds around them and Talat made hideous faces of ecstasy and gratification. She came dripping into the grey hall at twilight one evening, having shed a great deal of white hair and dust in the bathhouse, and found Luthe pulling the wrappings off a sword. The cloth was black and brittle, as if with great age, but the scabbard gleamed silver-white and the great blue gem set in the hilt was bright as fire. â€Å"Oh,† breathed Aerin, coming up behind him. He turned and smiled at her, and, holding the scabbard in a shred of ragged black cloth, offered her the hilt. She grasped it without hesitation, and the feel of it was as smooth as glass, and the grips seemed to mold to her hand. She pulled the blade free, and it flashed momentarily with a light that cut the farthest shadows of Luthe’s ever shadowed hall, and there seemed to be an echo of some great clap of sound that deafened both the red-haired woman and the tall blond man; yet neither heard anything. And then it was merely a sword, glinting faintly in the firelight, with a great blue gem set at the peak of the hilt. â€Å"Yes, I rather thought she was for you,† Luthe said. â€Å"Goriolo said I would know when the time came. Funny I did not think of her sooner; there can be no better ally against Agsded.† â€Å"What – who is she?† Aerin said, holding the tip upright so the firelight would run like water down the length of the blade. â€Å"She is Gonturan,† Luthe said. â€Å"I – er – found her, long ago, on my travels in the – er – East. Before I settled here. Although I think it probable that she called me; there was no good reason for me to have been possessed of a desire to go haring off on a long journey East. I have never been a traveler by nature.† â€Å"Called you?† said Aerin, although she had no difficulty in believing that this particular sword could do anything – jump over the moon, turn herself into a juggernaut, speak riddles that might be prophecy. â€Å"It’s a long story,† said Luthe. Aerin took her eyes off the sword long enough to flash him an exasperated look. â€Å"I’ll tell you all of it someday,† Luthe said, but his voice carried no conviction. Aerin said quietly, â€Å"I leave at the next new moon.† â€Å"Yes,† said Luthe, so softly she did not hear him but knew only that he must agree; and Gonturan slid like silk into her scabbard. They stood not looking at anything, and at last Aerin said lightly, â€Å"It is as well to have a sword; and I left mine in the City, for it is sworn to the king and the king’s business; although if Arlbeth knew of Agsded he must admit that Agsded is king’s business.† Luthe said, â€Å"He would; but he would never admit that it was your business, even if he knew all the story. Arlbeth is a worthy man but, um, traditional. But Gonturan goes with you, and Gonturan is better than a platoon of Damarian cavalry.† â€Å"And easier to feed,† said Aerin. â€Å"North you must go,† said Luthe. â€Å"North and east, I think you will find the way.† Talat stood still while Aerin tied the last bundles behind his saddle, but his ears spoke of his impatience. It’s been a pleasant sojourn, they said, and we would be happy to return someday; but it’s high time we were off now. Aerin gave a final tug on a strap and then turned to Luthe. He stood next to one of the pillars before his hall. She stared fixedly at the open neck of his tunic so she need not see how the young spring sunlight danced in his hair; but she found herself watching a rapid little pulse beating in the hollow of his throat, and so she shifted her attention to his left shoulder. â€Å"Good-bye,† she said. â€Å"Thanks. Um.† The arm attached to the shoulder she was staring at reached out toward her, and she was so absorbed in not thinking about anything that its hand had seized her chin before she thought to flinch away. The hand exerted upward force and her neck reluctantly bent back, but her eyes stuck on his chin and stayed there. You read "The Hero And The Crown Part Two Chapter 18" in category "Essay examples" â€Å"Hey,† said Luthe. â€Å"This is me, remember? You aren’t allowed to pretend I don’t exist until after you leave my mountain.† She raised her eyes and met his; blue eyes smiled into veiled green ones. He dropped his hand and said lightly, â€Å"Very well, have it your way. I don’t exist.† She had already turned away, but she turned back at that, and his arms closed around her, and so they stood, while the sun shone down on their two motionless figures and one impatient stallion. Aerin broke free at last, and heaved herself belly down over the saddle, and swung her leg hastily behind, thumping a bundle with her boot in the process. Talat grunted. â€Å"Come back to me,† said Luthe behind her. â€Å"I will,† she said to Talat’s ears, and then Talat was trotting briskly down the trail. The last Luthe saw of them was a stray blue gleam from the hilt of a sword. Spring seemed to burst everywhere around them as they went, as though Talat’s small round hoofs struck greenness from the earth; as if the last white hairs of his winter coat conveyed a charm to the earth they touched. When they slept, they slept in small glades of trees where leaves had just begun to show; but in the mornings, somehow, the leaves were uncurled and heavy with sap; even the grass Aerin lay on had thickened during the night hours. Talat seemed to grow younger with every day, his shining whiteness brilliant in the sunlight, tirelessly jogging mile after long mile; and the birds followed them, as the leaves opened for them, and the flowers cast their perfumes around them. Aerin saw, and wondered, and thought she was imagining things; and then thought again that perhaps she wasn’t; but the sun told her that they went steadily north, and the hard feel of Gonturan in her hand reminded her of why they went. They had first descended to the forest plain when they left Luthe, and turned right, or north, in the foothills; and here the grass grew to Talat’s knees, and he had to wade through it, with a rushing sound like a ship’s prow through the sea. Before them the grass was thinner; behind them, when she turned to look, the grass was deepest where their trail had been, and waves of grass rippled out from it in wide curving swells. Aerin laughed. â€Å"I believe we go in company after ail, though the company chooses to be silent.† Talat cocked his ears back to listen. But soon they climbed into the mountains again, and there spring had more trouble following them, although she continued to try. Aerin was not conscious of guiding Talat, any more than she had been when they sought for Luthe; they both knew where they were going, and it drew them on; and behind them spring urged them forward. Higher they went, as the sun rose over them and set almost behind them, and the ground underfoot was no longer turf, but rock, and Talat’s hoofs rang when they struck. When they first came to the stony ground, his hoofbeats struck a hard warning sound; they seemed to thunder of doom and loss and failure, and Talat shied away from his own feet. â€Å"Nonsense,† said Aerin, and dismounted, taking Gonturan with her; and she swung her up over her head and down, and thrust her into the trail before her, which was not rock at all, but earth; and as she drew the blade out again, there were some small crushed grass stems growing from the hole that she had made. Aerin knelt, and picked up a handful of dirt and pebbles from the tiny bit of broken earth before her; and threw her handful down the rocky way before them, as far as her arm could hurl; and as the handful disintegrated, the bits twinkled. She threw another handful after the first; and when she threw this into the air it smelted of the crushed leaves of the surka, and as she looked ahead she saw, as if her eyes had merely overlooked it the first time, a slender grey sapling bearing green leav es; and in its topmost branches there appeared a bird, and the bird sang; and around the tree’s foot there grew a budding surka plant, which explained the heavy pungent smell in the air. â€Å"What a pleasant place this is,† said Aerin dryly, but it seemed that her words were sucked away from her, and echoed in some narrow place that was not the place where she stood. Her hand tightened a little on Gonturan’s hilt, but she raised her chin, as if someone might be watching, and remounted Talat. Now his hoofs rang out merrily, like hoofbeats on the stony ways of the City; and there was grass growing in tufts among the stones, and a few wildflowers clinging to crevices over their heads. The feeling of being watched increased as they went on, though she saw no one, except, perhaps, at night, when there seemed to be more rustlings than there had been when they were still below on the plain, and more quick glints that might have been eyes. The fifth night since she had plunged Gonturan into the earth, and the twelfth since she had left Luthe, she stood up from her fireside and said into the darkness, â€Å"Come, then, and tell me what you want.† Her own voice frightened her, for it sounded as if it knew what it was doing, and she was quite sure she did not; and so she staggered and almost fell when after a few moments something did come, and pressed up against her, against the backs of her thighs. She did not move; and before her she saw the glints of many pairs of eyes, moving nearer, at about the right level for creatures the size of the thing that leaned against her legs. She had her arms crossed over her breast; now with infinite reluctance she unbent her ri ght elbow and let the hand dangle down behind her leg, and she felt the creature’s breath. She closed her eyes, and then opened them again with an involuntary yelp as a very rough tongue dragged over the back of her hand. The weight against her legs shifted a little, and then a round skull pressed into her palm. She looked down over her shoulder with dread, and the great cat thing, one of the wild folstza of the mountains, which could carry off a whole sheep or bring down a horse, began to purr. â€Å"Pleased to make your acquaintance,† Aerin said shakily. â€Å"I think.† Her eyes had grown more accustomed to the darkness, and in the shadows now she could see more of the folstza, ten, a dozen, sixteen, twenty; they roved restlessly through the undergrowth as they approached, for, like cats of any size, they did not wish to admit that they approached; all but the one who warmed Aerin’s right thigh and shivered her with its purring. At last the folstza sat before her in a semicircle, blinking with green or gold or brown eyes, or looking off into space as if they couldn’t imagine how they found themselves there. Some sat neatly, tails curled around four paws; some sprawled like kittens. One or two had their backs to her. They were all sizes, from younglings who hadn’t grown into the length of their legs and the size of their feet, to some that were grey-muzzled with age. â€Å"Well,† said Aerin. â€Å"I’m sure I am – er – grateful for your companionship. If Agsded troubles you too, I’m sure you could be of use in our – er – meeting.† As if this were a signal, the cats stood up and wandered toward the small campfire, where Talat laid his ears back flat to his skull and rolled his eyes till the whites showed. â€Å"No,† said Aerin bemusedly; â€Å"I rather think these are our friends?† and she looked down at the thing that now twined itself between her legs (it had to scrunch down slightly to accomplish this) and rubbed its head affectionately against her hip. It was the biggest of the lot of them. The rest were arranging themselves around the fire, some of them in heaps, some of them in individual curls and whorls. The one that now sat and stared up at Aerin was black, with yellow eyes, and short sharp ears with a fringe of fine long black hairs around each; and down his neck and back were cloudy grey splotches that dripped over his shoulders and haunches. She saw the flicker in his eyes and braced herself just in time as he sprang up on his hind legs and put his forepaws on her shoulders. His breath was soft against her face, and the ends of his whiskers tickled her cheeks. He looked faintly disappointed as she stood her ground and stared back at him; and he dropped to all fours again and padded silently over to her bedding, lying unrolled and ready near the fire. He batted it with a forepaw till he’d disarranged it to his liking, and then lay down full length upon it, and smiled at her. Aerin looked at him. She looked around; the other cats were watching intently through slitted eyes, for all their languor; none of them had their backs to her now. She looked at Talat, who had backed up till his rump and flattened tail were pressed against a tree, and whose ears were still flat to his skull. She looked longingly at Gonturan, hanging from a tree on the far side of the fire, where she had set her when first making camp. Gonturan glittered in the firelight, but Aerin thought she mocked her even as the big cat did, and knew there was no help there. â€Å"Even allies must know their place,† Aerin said aloud, and was again startled at how decisive her voice sounded. She stalked over to her blanket and the cat on it, seized the hem of the blanket, and yanked. The cat rolled a complete circumference and came up again looking startled, but Aerin did not stop to watch. She wrapped her blanket around her shoulders, picked up the bundle she used as a pillow, and rearranged herself to sleep at the foot of the tree on the far side of the fire, with Gonturan’s hilt in easy reach. She lay down with her back to the fire, and stared wide-eyed at the writhe of tree root before her. Nothing happened. The silence was broken only by the small snaps of the fire, and even these, at last, subsided, and real darkness fell. I should keep the fire going. Aerin thought; who knows what else is out there waiting? Who knows †¦ But her nightmares claimed her, and she fell asleep; and again she was suspended in nowhere, but nowhere was lit with a smoky red light, and a voice was calling her name; or she thought it was her name it called, but perhaps the word was â€Å"uncle.† She awoke at dawn with a cramp in her side, for a heavy black-furred head was resting in the hollow between her last rib and her pelvis. As she stirred he began to purr. She sat up anyway, and glared at him. â€Å"You are horrible,† she said, and he gave her the same sleepy smile as when he had attempted to usurp her bedding. Talat was dozing uneasily, still leaning against his tree, and was inclined to be cross when she went to put his saddle on; but perhaps that was because of the four-footed grey-edged shadow she brought with her. She rode off without looking behind her; but she felt, if she could not hear, the fluid motion following, and the black cat trotted along beside them as he could, occasionally leaping into the rocks above them as the trail narrowed. Once he jumped over them, from a rock face on one hand to an evergreen tree on the other, showering them with small sharp needles and seedpods; and when he rejoined them Talat whirled and snapped at him, but he only glided out of the way. He was smiling again. â€Å"Don’t let him tease you,† Aerin murmured. Talat’s ears stayed back all that day, and he was a little short on the weak leg, for he could not relax. On the next day the yerigs joined them, the shaggy wild dogs with their great ruffs and silky feathery legs and long curling tails. They were a little less alarming than the folstza only because Aerin was accustomed to the king’s hounds, which were only half the size of the yerigs. The royal barn cats who caught the mice that tried to invade the grain bins were barely a tenth the size of the foltsza. The yerig leader had only one eye, and a torn ear. She touched Aerin’s knee gently with her nose and then raised her head to stare fiercely into Aerin’s face. â€Å"I welcome you,† Aerin said to her; and the dogs with her ranged themselves on one side of the campfire while the cats, pretending that the dogs did not exist, still somehow all found themselves on the opposite side of the campfire; and that night Aerin slept very warm, for there was a cat to one side of her and a dog on the other. Still they traveled north and east, and still the sun rose before them and sank behind them, but it seemed to Aerin, leading her quiet army, that it rose more sluggishly and sank sooner each day; and while the trees still shook out young leaves for her, there were fewer trees, and the solitary sound of Talat’s shod hoofs rang duller and duller. Occasionally she thought wistfully of the Lake of Dreams, and of a grey stone hall that stood near it; but she struck these thoughts from her mind as soon as she recognized them. And then the day came when dawn was barely a lessening of shadow, and the clouds hung so low it took an effort of will to stand up straight and not bow beneath their weight. â€Å"Soon,† Aerin said to those that followed her; and soon came back to her in a rumble of many throats. Talat stepped out that morning as if all his joints ached, and Aerin was willing enough to go slowly; she heard little gibbering voices snarling and sniveling at the edges of her mind, and there seemed to be a red fog over her eyes, as if the nothingness that haunted her nights would find her out in the days; and she murmured a word that Luthe had taught her, and the voices stopped, and the fog lifted. But she was not long allowed the pleasure of this small victory, for now a single voice murmured to her, and its murmurs reminded her of her Northern blood, her demon blood †¦ . â€Å"No!† she cried, and bent forward to press her face in Talat’s mane, and then she felt the pressure of a heavy paw on her shoulder, and whiskers tickled her cheek, and she opened her eyes to see two yellow eyes in a black face that did not smile; and Talat stood perfectly still, his head bowed, as the black cat’s other forepaw pressed into his crest. She sat up again, and the cat dropped to the ground, and Talat turned his head to look at the cat, and the cat turned his head to look back. Talat’s ears, half back, eased a little, and one reluctantly came forward and pointed toward the cat, and the cat walked up to him and put up his nose. Talat’s other ear came forward and pricked, and he lowered his nose, and the two breathed gently into each other’s faces. Then they went on. The mountains opened suddenly into an ugly uneven plain; the footing was bad, crumbly and full of small hidden crevasses, and there were no trees at all. Aerin’s army stepped and glided and shambled out of the shadows of the rocks and the last leaves, and billowed up around her till she and Talat were the hub of a wheel; and all looked around them. â€Å"We are no longer in Damar,† she said calmly, and Talat heaved a great sigh. Aerin unslung Gonturan from her saddle, and carried the blade in her hand, for the comfort of her only, for there was nothing for a sword to do in the wide bleak brooding space before them, where no spring could come. The silence hammered at her, and she heard the little gibbering voices again, but indifferently this time, as if she heard them from behind a locked door whose strength she did not doubt. â€Å"Come along, then,† she said, and Talat walked forward, yerig and folstza making way for them and then falling in beside them. There was nothing to see but the heavy grey sky and the bleak grey landscape. Mountains again there must be on the far side of this flat grey space; but the clouds ringed them in, and there was no horizon. Her beasts followed her because she led them, but they could not see what she led them to. Neither could she see aught that was useful; but the small nasty voices in her mind seemed to push harder on one side of her skull than another; and so she went toward them. And before them suddenly was a black mountain, or crag, or tower, or all three; for it was the size of a mountain, but of the looming impossible shape of a crag that will be ripped into an avalanche in the next great storm; and yet it was also a worked shape, however improbable, as if a hand had built it – surely in its peak was the glint of windows? – but the hand must have belonged to a madman. Around it twined a vast vine of the surka, and Aerin’s stomach turned over and fell back in her belly like a stone, and the gibbering voices could be heard to laugh. She dismounted and walked slowly forward. She raised Gonturan, and Gonturan blazed blue, and the black tower suddenly glowed red, fire red, and the peak of the tower lifted and turned toward her, and the glint of windows was a dragon’s red eyes, and the black shadow that bent toward her was a dragon’s black head, and it opened its mouth to breathe flame at her. Her left arm went suddenly dead, and then the pain of old burns bit deeply into it, new and fresh; and she smelled her own flesh burning. â€Å"No!† she screamed, and dropped Gonturan, and threw up her right arm against the glare of flames, her left arm hanging limp beside her. She turned to run, but something was in her way; something sleek and black tripped her, and she fell against Talat’s flank, and her mind cleared, and she no longer smelled scorched flesh. She turned back fearfully, for her left arm still throbbed with memory, but there was no fire, and no dragon; only the black monstrous shap e twisted round with leaves. She bent and picked up her sword; but the blue fire had gone out, and the blade was as dull as the grey plain around them. She looked again to the glint that might be windows, for she knew now that she had come to the place she looked for, knew that Agsded was here. And she knew also that there was no way in, for the way that Gonturan might have won her was lost to her now. Slowly she circled the great tower, but there were no doors, and now it looked like a mountain after all, and nothing that should have had a door, it was foolish to have supposed otherwise; and her quest was a failure, for if not here then she knew not where. She crawled over the rocks below the surka that wrapped itself around the black crag, for she would not touch the surka if she could help it, this surka that the eye of Agsded must have touched, that his breath might have stirred; but she went alone, for Talat and the folstza and yerig waited where she had challenged the tower with Gonturan’s flame and then lost it. She came round the full circle and knew herself defeated, and she went up to Talat and put her arms around his neck and her face in his mane, as she had done so often before for little hurts and dismays; and now in this great hurt she had no other recourse. He tucked his chin against her arm, but it was no comfort, and she stepped away from him again – and he bolted forward, and reared, and neighed, a war-horse going to battle. She stared at him open-mouthed, the hilt of her dull sword prodding her elbow. Talat scrambled up the rocks before them, and neighed again; and plunged into the twining surka, which slowed him little. Aerin watching felt that the leaves pulled at him and hindered his passage as best they might; but he surged through them and did not care. He neighed again as he reached the foot of the smoother walls of the tower itself; he was above the vines now, and Aerin could see streaks of their sap on him. He shook his head, and reared again, and struck the walls with his front feet; and sparks flew, and there was a smell as of burning, but of the burning of unclean things. He came to all fours, and then reared and struck again; and then the folstza and the yerig were flowing up over the rocks and through the clinging surka to join him, and the yerig queen flung herself at a high outthrust knob of rock, and scrabbled at it. â€Å"It won’t work,† Aerin whispered, and Talat reared and struck again, and the smell of burning was stronger. The folstza were clawing great ropes of vine from the base of the tower, and flinging them down, and the tower seemed to quiver in her sight. The sharp little elbow of rock that the yerig queen clung to gave way suddenly, dumping her at Talat’s feet; but where it had been there was a crack in the black wall; and when Talat struck at the crack a fine rain of stone powder pattered down. The torn vines thrashed like wild things when they touched the sandy grey ground. Aerin reached to touch one of the dark leaves, and it turned into a small banded snake with venomous eyes; but she picked it up anyway, and it was only a leaf. She stood staring as her army sought better purchase on the black rock face; distantly she heard the patter of stone chips, and she picked up another leaf, and wove it through the stem of the first; and another, and then another, and when, suddenly, there was a crash and a roar and she looked up, what she held in her hands was a thick heavy green wreath of surka; and her hands were sticky with the sap. A great face of the crag had fallen, and within, Aerin saw stairs winding up into the black mountain, red with torchlight; and her army turned its eyes on her, and panted, and many of their mouths dripped pink foam, and many of their feet had torn and bleeding pads. Talat was grey with sweat. With the wreath in her hands, and Gonturan banging lifelessly at her side, she stepped carefully through the rubble, and through the ranks of her army, many of whom touched her lightly with their noses as she passed them, and set her foot on the first stair. How to cite The Hero And The Crown Part Two Chapter 18, Essay examples

Saturday, May 2, 2020

Disruptive Innovative Network for Market and Value -myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theDisruptive Innovative Network for Market and Value. Answer: Introduction A disruptive based technology is a concept of innovation that assist by creating a new market and value based network and finally went on to disrupt of a present market and value related network. The work is utilised in technology and business literature associated to defines to innovation that improve the quality of product or services in methods that the market does not based on expectation. However, the word disruptive technology is used widely with disruptive innovation which seems a right term in many ways since few technologies are disruptive internally rather it is associated based on business model that the present technology (Christensen et al., 2015). In an organization there are many important question which must be answered by every company like how can one beat at the competition in the market or how to know in advance about the battles in the market with changing trends and customer needs. The concept of disruption has proven to be very consistent and effective kind of strategy for causing intense competition to flee from number of entrant attackers rather fighting back. Another important question here is how business ideas in disruptive strategy can be shaped in right manner. Objective and scope The objective of the report is to understand the concept of disruptive innovation and its contribution in business in current time. There are number if leaders of small or big companies that are praising it as their guiding stars and for many executives at large with strong establishment companies like Intel, Salesforce.com and many more. Ironically, the disruption theory is under a lot of danger of becoming a part of victim of its own success. The concept of broad dissemination, the theorys core topics have not understood properly and it comes under the basic tenets in frequent manner and it can be misapplied (Christensen et al., 2016). In addition, it is also important for the refinements in the theory over past twenty years that appear to have completely overshadowed by overall popularity of the first form of formulation. As an outcome, the theory is also sometimes highly criticized for the disadvantages that have already been addresses properly. Literature review The dilemma of innovator can be identified in various stages or the help of three essential elements based on disruption as depicted below in the figure. Initially, each market there is level of improvement that consumer can use as well as absorb which are represented by the dotted sloping line which goes upward in the chart. For instance, the automobile based organization keep providing a new and improved engine however one cant just use all the performance that they make it available which comes under the hood (Christensen et al., 2016). There are number of factors like traffic jams, safety concerns, speed limits and safety issues constrain on how much performance can be used rightly. The chart depicts the customers ability to use the improvement as a single line. In real life, there is wide distribution of consumers that are around the media and there are so many lines in the market which indicated by the curve of distribution at the right. Consumers are also highest or highly demanding tiers that can never be completely ok with the best that is present and it also covers the least demanding tiers that can be over satisfied with little quantity. On an average, the dotted line in the graph shows the technology that is sufficiently good to serve the present mainstream set of customers and their needs (Guttentag, 2015). Secondly, in each market there is distinct and separate set of trajectories for improving the innovative companies that provides as they introduce a new and improved set of products. Thus, an organization whose product are positioned in square manner on so many mainstream consumers with the current needs that might overshoot what those consumers are able to use in future. This further happens since the organization keep looking to make better products that can sold for high profit margins for not so satisfied consumers in highly demanded tiers of the market. To properly visualize the whole process, it is important to think back in time of 1983 when so many people started using the PCs specifically for work processing. There are number of typists often had to stop the work to let the Intel chip inside to catch up with speed of typing. The third most critical component of the model is based on distinction that exist between sustaining and disruptive based innovation. There are sustaining based innovation that specifically target the current demand with high end consumers with better performance that what was available previously (Pinkse et al., 2014). There is sustainable based innovation that are incremental by nature for yearly improvement that all good organizations can grind. There is other sustainable innovation that breakthrough products. It never mattered on how technology is challenging for the innovation but the setting of competitors always wins the war of sustaining the technology. Since the strategy also entails the making of a better product that one can sell for high profit margins to the best consumer and the establishment where competitors have the strong innovation to fight sustaining battles. And it is important to have the right resources to win in future (Horn and Staker, 2014). The concept of d isruptive innovation on the other hand never really tries to bring better products to loyal consumer in the current market. Instead, there is a disruption which completely redefines the overall trajectory by discussing products and services that are not as good as current present products. However, disruptive technologies also provide advantages based and simple with high convenience and less expensive products that can attract the new or at times less demanding consumers. It is also important to understand that when the disruptive product properly gain a foothold in new or low-end markets along with improvement cycle starts. And since the pace of technologies further progresses with outstrips the customers capacity to use it and the previous average technology eventually improving enough to intersect the needs of more demanding consumers (Horn and Staker, 2014). The concept of disruption also has a paralysed impact on the leaders of industry and with right resource allocation with processes designed as well as perfected to support sustaining innovation and are constitutionally unable to answer. They are always highly motivated to go upward in the market with less motivated people to defend new market that the disruptors find good looking deals. This phase or phenomenon is called as asymmetric motivation. It is associated with core of the dilemma of innovators and the beginning of solution of innovators (King and Baatartogtokh, 2015). Disruption at work The overall disruption is also integrated with steel mills defined by Minimills which is further reviewed in a brief manner in the book of The Innovators Dilemma. In historic language, most the worlds steel has come from huge integrated mills that do every possible thing from reacting to iron ore to limestone and many more. The overall cost was about eight billion dollars to build a new integrated kind of mill in present manner. The concept of Minimills on the other hand, melt scrap the steel in electric kind of arc with furnaces that are approximately twenty meters in diameter as well as ten meters tall (Baiyere et al., 2015). Since one can produce the molten steel which is cost effect in a way small chambers and minimills doesnt require the huge scale rolling operation that are needed to handle the output of effective blast furnace and therefore it is called as minimills. It is important to understand here that steel is a commodity and one can think that every possible integrated steel organization in the world will adopt in aggressive manner for the straightforward with low cost minimill technology. One can easily discuss about something that makes so much sense that has been very challenging for many integrated mills. The concept first became technologically right in the mid-1960. Since, the companies melt the scrap of many varying chemistry in the electric arc based furnaces along with the quality of the steel that minimills can produce first was poor (Baiyere et al., 2015). Also, the only place that accepts the output of minimills was based on concrete and reinforcing bar market. The discussion for rebar are usually loose by nature and therefore this was an ideal place for products of low as well as variable or changing quality. Since the minimills were attacked with the rebar market along with integrated mills that were happy to get rid of the current style of commodity based business. Since the differences occurs at the cost structure and the options for the sake of investment that can face and the rebar market seem very distinct to disruptor. For the current integrated manufacturer, gross profit margins on rebar usually hovered with approx. seven percent and the complete product category accounted just for four percent of industry tonnage. It was less attractive of any kind of tier of the market in which one can invest to develop (Osiyevskyy and Dewald, 2015). Therefore, as the establishment of minimills as a foothold in the market along with integrated mills that were reconfigured the rebar lines to make highly profitable products. On the other hand, there was twenty percent of cost based advantage and the minimills have further enjoyed the attractive profits of competition which is completely against th e current integrated mills for rebar until 1979 specifically when minimills finally succeed in driving with last integrated mill out of the rebar set of market. As per the past record, pricing statistics shows that prices is based on rebar then collapsing by more than twenty percent. In minimill can also compete against the prohibitive cost and integrated mills. Conclusion The concept of disruptive innovation will keep expanding as well as refining the basic theory of disruptive innovation along with much work that lies in future. For instance, there are number of universally impactful answers to many disruptive threats that also remain completely elusive. The current set of belief in the system of companies should develop a separate set of division that functions under the protection of many senior leadership to rightly explore a new kind of disruptive model (Reinhardt, 2013). There is time, the method works and there is time when it doesnt. In specific cases, a failed response to disruptive threat cannot be part of lack of clarity with insufficient executive level attention and wrong financial investments. Such issues that come up with an incumbent and an entrant level have yet to be completely specified and how best to meet the issues is still needs to be discovered. The theory of disruption does not completely explain everything about the concept o f disruptive innovation. It is important to understand that there far too many cases that are in play and each element of will help in rewarding for further studies (Parry and Kawakami, 2017). However, there is a cause for hope along with empirical tests that shows that using the theory of disruption makes people measurably right and accurate as per the prediction of which fledgling the business. The community is growing and researchers continues to manufacture or develop disruptive theory and integrate it with other approaches and one will come to an even better clarity of people assisting companies by innovating in a successful manner. Reference Baiyere, A., Donnellan, B., Hevner, A., Smith, C. and Stikeleather, J., 2015. DISRUPTIVE INNOVATIONS and IT_x000D_ A Wicked yet Empowering combination. Christensen, C.M., McDonald, R., Altman, E.J. and Palmer, J., 2016.Disruptive Innovation: Intellectual History and Future Paths. Harvard Business School. Christensen, C.M., Raynor, M.E. and McDonald, R., 2015. Disruptive innovation.Harvard Business Review,93(12), pp.44-53. Guttentag, D., 2015. Airbnb: disruptive innovation and the rise of an informal tourism accommodation sector.Current issues in Tourism,18(12), pp.1192-1217. Horn, M.B. and Staker, H., 2014.Blended: Using disruptive innovation to improve schools. John Wiley Sons. King, A.A. and Baatartogtokh, B., 2015. How useful is the theory of disruptive innovation?.MIT Sloan Management Review,57(1), p.77. Osiyevskyy, O. and Dewald, J., 2015. Explorative versus exploitative business model change: the cognitive antecedents of firm?level responses to disruptive innovation.Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal,9(1), pp.58-78. Parry, M.E. and Kawakami, T., 2017. The Encroachment Speed of Potentially Disruptive Innovations with Indirect Network Externalities: The Case of E?Readers.Journal of Product Innovation Management,34(2), pp.141-158. Pinkse, J., Bohnsack, R. and Kolk, A., 2014. The Role of Public and Private Protection in Disruptive Innovation: The Automotive Industry and the Emergence of Low?Emission Vehicles.Journal of Product Innovation Management,31(1), pp.43-60. Reinhardt, U.E., 2013. The disruptive innovation of price transparency in health care.Jama,310(18), pp.1927-1928.