Interim report Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Interim report - Research Proposal Example Branding is one of those practices that enable businesses to attract and retain customers, who always make comparisons between brands to arrive at the best one that effectively meets their goals and objectives. Having a good business brand is essential in differentiating the goods and services produced by a business to those produced by other businesses1. Additionally, successful business brands and the branding process is essential towards driving customer loyalty. It is important for businesses to understand that the branding process is not meant for multinationals along; instead, it has to be made by all businesses that designs and produces goods and services for people. Brands, as used in business activities can be described from two important approaches, first, a brand can be looked at as a special mark, symbol or image the distinguishes businesses and products of one company to another2. Secondly, branding can be looked at in terms of the thoughts and perspectives that people often have on the business and the products it offers. The process of building successful brands plays an important role in the customers’ decision-making process over products and services they want to buy. In most cases, customers will often go for popular business brands; they often tend to think that these brands have been made under the highest standards. This paper examines the process of creating effective business brands as well as how they help to improve business functions. Brand strategy in business functioning refers to the systematic plan that defines the vision of the business and articulates how the business carries its functions in achieves set goals and objectives3. The strategy illustrates how the business creates its demand and attractiveness for clients that have to make a choice among many products being offered by other business rivals in the environment. It is important to

Race and your Community Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Race and your Community - Essay Example In short they came in search of a better and more profound life both for themselves as well as their children. They came looking for a life style more enhanced and improved than they had previously been living in their original country of heritage. With the passage of time, my ancestors came to settle in St. Louis, Mo. Whenever one discusses the notion of race, it is essential to discuss the concept of community as well. One cannot exist without the other and both are essential for the survival of any society. Therefore, in the same dictionary, the definition of community is given as, "a group of people living together in one place such that they have the same religion, race etc.; and the people of an area or country considered as a group." It is true that communities originally started off with people of a certain background, a specific guild living together such that they either had their professions, color or ethnicity as a common denominator. Such communities have existed in most parts of USA, until recently. With the advent of globalization, immigration of people to the New World from all over the planet and enhanced awareness of other cultures among the local population, all communities have had to undergo drastic changes. My community is also a part of this modern global society. It is dive rse from the past ones in the sense that people of all racial backgrounds coexist in it. However, it is not to say that communities no longer exist and that groups of people no longer tend to segregate together. They do but in a very different set-up. This is because the common denominators that previously made-up a community, have changed. In my opinion the two basic factors that makes up a community now a days is the monetary resources as well as the age group of people. People with high-income levels usually tend to segregate in a certain area of a city whereas those with less income tend to live in separate neighborhoods or areas of their own. The same may be said for people of different ages groups. The elderly of course live in retirement homes or neighborhoods specifically designed for them. Whereas the young people prefer to live in an area with hip nightclubs and a lot of hustle n' bustle, families with small children will instead try to find a safe and peaceful neighborhoo d with low crime rates. Thus communities still exist but they have taken on a new face that is quite different from any previous one. For a moment, picture the community that I live in. Around where I live there are five churches; each belongs to a different Christian denomination, two synagogues, a Muslim mosque and a Hindu temple. The Buddhists of the area gather together at a member's house to pray. This sufficiently shows that people of all religions have come to dwell and live together in a single community and that religion is no longer a denominator for a community. I personally have friends from all of the aforementioned religious groups. Consider the various ceremonies that these different groups follow, "decorating the hands of the bride with Hennna (Arabian), spreading of rose petals (English), jumping the broom (African), bride wearing numerous robes (Japanese), Bride carrying lump of sugar to signify sweet life (Greek) etc. (http://www.slpl.org/slpl/interests/article240109217.asp) Thus, when one goes to a wedding in our community you can be

The Waste Heat Energy Such As Motorcycle Engineering Essay

The Waste Heat Energy Such As Motorcycle Engineering Essay The concept of using the waste heat energy such as motorcycle exhaust, heat exchanger, home exchangers, electrical equipment, industrial process and others to generate electrical energy is the main idea of this project. The energy produced will be used to power the battery charger. Battery chargers refer to a device that used to put energy into a secondary cell or rechargeable battery by forcing an electric current through it. The charging protocol depends on the size and type of the battery being charge. Existing battery charger is mainly relied on electricity to supply the energy. As electricity consumption one of the main concern nowadays. This is because it contributes to high household expenditure. In this project, we will design a new battery charger that mainly powered by thermal energy and it will backup by normal electricity source. A thermoelectric generator (TEG) module is used to harvest heat from the surrounding and convert into electricity. During the time when the electricity supply from TEG is insufficient, a microcontroller-based monitoring and switching circuit will switch to normal electricity source. An analysis and comparison of the energy consumption between the proposed battery charger and existing one will be carried out. Thermoelectric powered battery charger consists of thermoelectric generator (TEG), power management, DC to DC boost up converter, charger circuit and switching circuit. Thermoelectric modules can convert heat energy to electrical power directly (Jose Antonio B. V. et al., 2009). The Basic principle of a TEG is the Seebeck effect. Imposing different temperature on both ends of a thermoelectric generator, the devices can output a certain electrical energy which is proportional to the temperature difference of both ends of the device. The energy produce will be used to charge the battery charger and has the capability to reduce the power consumption. It is also in order to support and move towards a green technology application. PROBLEM STATEMENT The demand for electrical energy around the world is increasing every year, every month and every day. The human needs the electrical energy to live their lives. Nowadays, lots of electrical equipments were design to use electrical energy in the most efficient way. However, the existing source of energy will be depleted one day. Based on the World Resource Institute, fossil fuel such as oil, natural gas and coal make up a total 80 percent of the total energy consumption in the world (Damasa, 2006). The reproductions of fossil fuels are almost impossible as they require millions of year to be produced by the anaerobic decomposition of remains of organisms that settle to the sea bottom (Habjanec, 2009). To overcome this problem, it is important to find a new source of energy to replace the existing energy. This new energy is known as renewable energy (RE). Renewable energy means the energy that comes from the neutral source. The research for renewable energy is grown rapidly. Renewable energy such as solar, wind and hydro has limited resources and depend on weather and topography. Heat is one of the renewable energy. More than half of the energy consumed worldwide is wasted in the form if excess heat (Quick, 2009). Heat waste energy produced and released without attempted to capture it and reuse it since heat is a kind of energy. Nowadays, global warming become a big issues caused by the heat released to the environment. In order to converse the environment, the power will enable to supply small amount of power to electronic devices. OBJECTIVE This project has the following objectives: To design a prototype of an efficient, reliable thermoelectric battery charger to charge the battery. To analyze the productivity, profits, etc. compared to the existing battery charger. To analyze the time taken, complexity efforts to design electronic devices for thermoelectric battery charger. SCOPE OF WORK Hardware Proteus 7 professional will be used to design and running the simulation circuit on the hardware for thermoelectric powered battery charger. This software is choosing based on their characteristic that easy to use, and easy to run hardware simulation and software. Software MPLAB will be used to write a programming assembly language for the microcontroller in the switching circuit. This switching circuit used as a backup system for the battery charger when the voltage produced from TEG is insufficient by supplying the normal supply. PROJECT SIGNIFICANCE This project has the following significance: The ability to reduce power consumption by harvesting thermal energy from the surrounding The energy produced from thermoelectric will used as a main source of battery charger and backup by normal electricity source. In order to support and move towards a green technology application THESIS ORGANIZATION CHAPTER 1 (INTRODUCTION) This Chapter will present the introduction of the project, which is brief information and scope of the project is discussed. It is also including the objectives of the project, software and hardware proposed and thesis organization. CHAPTER 2 (LITERATURE REVIEW) This Chapter discussed the literature review and detail about information and scope of the project. It consists of general theory and provides information about thermoelectric powered battery charger. CHAPTER 3 (METHODOLOGY) This chapter will discuss briefly about the methodology of this project. It consists of several phase which are project planning, design, simulation and project fabrication. A proper planning is needed to be done to complete this project. CHAPTER 4 (RESULTS) This chapter contains all the result obtained in this study. All the simulation result for the hardware will be performed in graph form. The result for thermoelectric powered battery charger will be performed in table. CHAPTER 5 (DISCUSSION) In this chapter the discussion of designed thermoelectric powered battery charger will be carried out. This provides a general discussion of the output result. CHAPTER 6 (SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION) This chapter contains a brief summary of this project. A future recommendation will be carried out. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW INTRODUCTION During 1821, Thomas Johann Seebeck discovers a circuit from two dissimilar metals with junction at a different temperature would deflect a compass magnet (Lazaridis, G., 2009). It was quickly realize that the temperature different could produce electrical potential which can drive an electric current in a closed loop circuit. The voltage is found to be proportional to the temperature different between the two junctions. This is then named as Seebeck Effect after his name. In 1834, one decade after Seebeck effect was found, Jean Charles Anthanesa Peltier a French physicist investigate the thermocouple effect and found that the electrical current would produced heating as well as cooling at the two different material. This phenomenon was called Peltier Effect. In the middle of nineteenth century, Irish-born William (Lord Kelvin) completes the thermoelectric theory by trying together what Seebeck and Peltier had observed (Peter D. Heinz, 2012). THERMOELECTRIC GENERATOR (TEG) Thermoelectric generators use the Seebeck effect to produce electrical power from a temperature different caused by heat energy flow [3]. Thermoelectric generator can convert heat energy into electrical energy directly (Ahmad Nazri A. R. et al., 2011). Thermoelectric power generation have advantages in term of free maintenance, quiet in operation and involving no moving or complex part. The Thermoelectric generator works by heating one face and cooling the other face of thermoelectric module and in the thermoelectric circuit is connected a load (Jose Antonio B. V., 2009). The thermoelectric generator is formed based on two elements which are N-type and P-type semiconductors. The N-type and P-type semiconductors are connected in series electrically and in parallel thermoelectrically among two ceramics layers (Jose Antonio B. V., 2009) The bigger temperature different, the higher the voltage can be generated (Ahmad Nazri A. R. et al., 2011). The electron flows from hot to cold side through the N-type, and the electrons hole flows from hot to cold side through the P-type will allows the combination of electrical produced in series and increased the voltage and power output. Figure 1.1 shows the diagram for thermoelectric generator. As the heat flows from hot to cold side, the voltage will produced. http://static.newworldencyclopedia.org/thumb/8/8b/Thermoelectric_Generator_Diagram.svg/277px-Thermoelectric_Generator_Diagram.svg.pnghttp://images.iop.org/objects/phw/news/15/5/7/valley.jpg Figure 1: Basic thermoelectric generator diagram. The voltage produce from the heat flow is proportional with the temperature different between the hot and cold plate. This phenomenon can be shown by the following equation: V = ÃŽÂ ±ÃƒÅ½Ã¢â‚¬ T 1 Where V is the resulting voltage, ÃŽÂ ± is the Seebeck coefficient and ΆT is the temperature different. THERMOELCTRIC BATTERY CHARGER EXISTING WORK In the previous year, the research about TEG and it application has growth rapidly. In 2011, on Power Engineering and Optimization Conference, Ahmad Nazri A. R. et al., has develop Heat Energy Harvesting for Portable Power Supply (PosHEAT). In this research, his investigate the best material to design thermoelectric generator by using Bismuth Terlluride (Bi2Te3). Heat source for this research was taken from motorcycle engine. The voltage produce from the TEG stored in the rechargeable batteries and will used to charge the mobile phone. The portable and compact thermoelectric generator was designs to make it is easy to used and carry. From the experiment conduct, the maximum voltage produced when the temperature different 75dT/oC is 4.4V. It is sufficient to charge a mobile phone, PSP, MP3, MP4 and other digital products anywhere and anytime. Jose Antonio B. V., 2009, was research about Thermoelectric Generator Using Water Gas Heater Energy for Battery Charging. In this research he designs a prototype of a maximum power point tracker (MPPT) for the thermoelectric (TE) module in order to increase the energy conversion in the battery charging. A SEPIC (single-ended primary inductance converter) DC-DC converter is applied and controller by a microcontroller and to achieve the maximum power of point tracking is used the perturbation and observation (PO) algorithm. The performance of the battery charging by using PO MPPT is compared to the battery charging directly to the TE module. The source of heat conversion in this research comes from water gas heater. From the experiment conduct the MPPT improved the energy delivery to the battery charger compared to the direct connection. The principle of using thermoelectric heat converter is used to design a battery charger for a lab-top computer. In 1995, Marmudur R., Roger S., on Thermoelectric Power Generation for Battery Charger, develop a battery charger to charge a lab-top computer that consists of thermoelectric converter system, that powered by butane gas and DC-DC boost up converter. In this research, the voltage produced from the heat is 5watts and can be used to charge the lab-top computer. In another word, the heat conversion from butane gas can expand the internal batteries for lab-top computer. Besides that, a battery charger by using compost also has been research. On 2010, Caitlin Ahearn, investigate about heat conversion by using compost pile. The energy produced will be used to charge a battery. From the experiment, by using the copper slab insulated with extruded polystyrene at placed at the center of compost pile, would transfer 86% ±2% heat from hot side to the cold side. At the 60oC  ±1 oC temperature different can produced 463mW ±6mW, which is this amount sufficient to charge a battery. To improve the energy transfer, more researches were conducted. In 2012, Xu Yingyin et al., was investigate about the DC to DC boost up converter by using two controls mode, maximum power tracking (MPPT) and power matching (PM). The performance of MPPT and PM were investigated by using mathematical model and transfer function. The results for this research shown in Figure 2 below. Figure 2.1: Input power curve and control mode From the Figure 2.1, it show when Pin_max CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY INTRODUCTION This chapter is very important to provide information of the methods that being used in completing this project. STARTMETHODOLOGY PROCESS FLOW Literature Review Project Proposal Technical Project 1 Project Seminar 1 Design and Build System Design Hardware Success? NO Design Software YES Success? NO Implementation and Testing YES Success? NO YES End Conclusion Thesis Writing Analysis Literature review Literature review is a very important part of the research process. The general purposed of the literature review is to gain knowledge and understanding of the current state about the selected research topics. This chapter was conducted to investigate the past researches that have been done in suspension system include passive and active. It is because the research in this field has already been done before. All the works in this project is based on the previous research. Design Hardware The new battery charger that mainly powered by thermal energy and it will backup by normal electricity source will be design. Design Software During the time when the electricity supply from TEG is insufficient, a microcontroller-based monitoring and switching circuit will switch to normal electricity source. The software will be design to switch the system. Implementation and testing Once the system has been fabricated, the implementation and testing will be conducted and the time to the thermoelectric charge the battery will be taken. Correction might be done if needed. Analysis From the testing process, analysis of time taken to complete the battery to charge will be obtained and will be comparing with the existing battery charger. Conclusion and thesis writing A thesis will be written for submission, which includes all process stated above along with conclusion obtained from this work and some recommendations for future project

Economy Of Russia :: essays research papers

The phase in the business cycle that Russia is in is Prosperity. Prosperity is the high point of the business cycle. The Gross Domestic Product is 796 billion dollars. Russia is partners with Germany in exporting and importing. The number of imports is 33 billion and the number of exports are 66 billion. The National Budget is 56.6 billion dollars. They have 1 radio per 2.9 people. They also have 1 Telephone per 5.9 people. Russia’s education is free and compulsory through ages 7 to 17. The unemployment rate is 8 percent. The inflation rate is 85 percent and possibly more if monetary policy is relaxed. Russia was mostly an agricultural country until the late 19th century, when industrialization began, in European Russia. Economic development was then interrupted by World War 1 and the Civil War that followed. Modern development was initiated by Stalin, whose frantic industrialization drive in the 1930’s made the Soviet Union an industrial giant. Under Stalin and his successors, the less settled frontier regions of Central Asia and Siberia were developed. Several of the world’s largest dams were built on in the former Soviet Union, and the world’s first atomic station was opened in 1954. By the 1980’s about 40 nuclear reactors were operating in the Soviet Union. In the late 1970’s the economic backwardness of the Soviet Union had become so self evident that no amount of political propaganda could obscure it. Western developed countries began to enter the Information Age, introducing new communication technologies and electronic links among institutions and individuals. The Soviet Union still relied on the rigid planning and pervasive controls, leaving no room for initiative and inventiveness. When Mikhail Gorbachev became head of the party in 1985, the huge country began to move. Gorbachev surrounded himself with a number of reform-minded economists and soon formulated the main pillars of economic restructuring called perestroika. The major goals of perestrioka were to make Soviet enterprises more self-governing and to give them more freedom, while at the same time, more responsibility for their performance. In the planned economy before perestroika, all enterprises were totally dependent on central planners, who determined where to buy materials, what to produce, and where to sell it. This system encouraged inefficiency, because the companies did not have to compete with any other companies.

Insight of Plato’s Gorgias

Textual Analysis Term Paper: Gorgias As history suggests, Plato was Socrates’ prime student. Plato’s key belief was that the ultimate reality was the notion and concepts of things. His deduction was that what we see in the physical world are simply abstract representations of universal ideas. Consequently, Plato supposed, that to correctly understand reality one must transcend the physical reality into the world of ideas, which is seen in Plato’s â€Å"Gorgias. † A lot of the dialects in this piece of work are full of Socratic irony. Plato's main idea of the true ature of reality centers on the abstract perception of universals and what creates the physical reality. As Platonic Realism proposes, to be able to sensually perceive these universals, as they have no temporal traits is impossible. In â€Å"Gorgias† we are able to see through Socrates’ and Callicles’ dispute about justice, the ideas that form the foundation about what consist s to be a successful political leader. Plato recognizes the conventional meaning of pleasure as satisfaction, but to understand his view of the moral dimension behind it there is a particular framework behind the concept of eauty. In â€Å"Gorgias†, he has Socrates say that things, both concrete things such as bodies, and abstract things such as laws, and even knowledge, are beautiful â€Å"on account of either some pleasure or benefit, or both. † (Plato, p. 72) In the beginning of the discussion between Socrates and Callicles itself, Socrates mentions that the basis of their arguments will be with what they both love: philosophy ; Athenian democracy. To understand Socrates’ arguments it is foremost important to notice that he directs his arguments towards the pursuit of pleasure, as he implies it is the highest good of uman life. The difference between Callicles and Socrates on pleasure and the good is that Callicles thinks the structures of the pleasures one p ursues or the pains one avoids is futile whereas Socrates puts extra attention to these structures. Callicles and Socrates both contradict each other in this debate, nevertheless they agree on one aspect where he they Socrates says casually that â€Å"it is uglier to act unjustly than to be treated unjustly. † (Plato, p. 98) which means it is better off to be unjust than to suffer it since suffering from injustice is more agonizing than doing it. Despite the fact that Socrates admits that suffering injustice is more painful than doing it, the consequences of having pleasure from inflicting injustice are nevertheless worse. Socrates’ brings up his argument of self-control, through mentioning that suffering injustice is conflicting with happiness and doing injustice is in fact even worse than suffering it, accordingly doing injustice must also be conflicting with one’s happiness. It is because Callicles rejects self-control as being fitting with happiness, that he is forced to ignore the consequences of his actions.Therefore, to prove Callicles wrong, Socrates uses rhetoric in a way that is philosophical to guide his logic. He suggests that life without knowing the full form of pleasures, without having a knowledge of their natures, basically, what their structures are, is a life which is destined to be frustrated. It becomes a unhealthy experience to achieve happiness. Contrasting this, Callicles thinks that one can understand that suffering injustice is automatically more painful than inflicting injustice with respect to happiness. Socrates tries to convince Callicles that this thought is incorrect.Socrates’ no doubt tries to prove Callicles wrong and in this case, he mentions that one has to know the nature which implies the structure, of the pleasure of one’s pain, which is how Socrates’ emphasizes on self-indulgence. Throughout the dispute, the difference between a true and a false pleasure is that one needs to exam ine the nature of every pleasure so as to find out whether it is a true pleasure. â€Å"But still, even now, state whether you say that a pleasant thing and a good thing are the same or whether there is anything of [the things that are] pleasant that is not good? † (Plato, p. 09) If the nature of pleasure is solely based on action this is considered a bad pleasure, which we get from cooking and make-up as Socrates suggests. The first step is fought over the issue of whether all pleasures are good. Socrates thinks that only true pleasures are good whereas Callicles thinks that all pleasures whether true or false are good. The second step is fought over what is necessary for happiness. Socrates thinks that self-control is what is necessary to experience the true pleasures and to avoid the false ones; â€Å"[†¦] it is possible for a man who is distressed to feel joy. † Plato, 113) This presents why many would call some pleasures bad is that they lead to such things a s sickness and poverty, which inevitably lead to pain. The basis on which this is important is because Socrates gets Callicles to agree that a person's body is good if it has the structure appropriate to it, which is in this case, health. Socrates has a deep meaning to it since he mentions that having a healthy body is nothing without the soul, rather that it represents what the body is for. Therefore, when Socrates claims that the soul is good if it has the order and structure appropriate to it, that s, justice and self-control, he is claiming how the soul is good and not just what the soul is for. â€Å"And so examine first whether these things seem to you to have been sufficiently and whether there are some other such matters concerning the soul, some having to do with technical skill [†¦] but others that make small account of [what is best]; and consider in turn, just as [in the case of cooking], only the pleasure of the soul [†¦]. † (Plato, 123) Therefore, if t he soul has the virtue appropriate to a soul, that person will be, in due course happy. If the soul cannot do this, nd does not have the virtue appropriate to a soul, that person will be miserable. As mentioned earlier, Socrates argues that self-control is what controls one's desires and pleasures. The most important interpretation of what this amounts to would have Socrates arguing for the rational part of our soul â€Å"controlling† the desires. self-control is, ultimately self- control, which implies that naturally, it is impossible for the self-controlled person to do what is not apt. Where the dialect would overlap is if the soul is not able to attain happiness, unless of course, it has structure and order which is known as self-control, then Socrates ill have proven that not only does it fit with happiness but that it is equally necessary for happiness and if Socrates supports the opposite of this argument, it would automatically support what Callicles’ argues. C allicles’ love for â€Å"demos† may at some point be portrayed as being anti- conventional. Callicles mentions that the democracy and its laws is a way to control the stronger people, the weak people wanted to unite as one to overthrow the people bestowed with higher power. Callicles’ position on the relationship between the powerful and the normal people turns out to be most definitely conventional, which explains why he has uch love for the population, which may bias his political leadership. What Socrates had basically done was to enslave Callicles into a web of words. Socrates used Callicles’ belief of â€Å"demos† but also polis law, pleasures, and desires' to thrust Socrates’ ideas on Callicles. For example, if we take Socrates’ technical approach, any common person would assume that in pursuing pleasure, Callicles is not doing what he wants, â€Å"[†¦] pleasant is different from the good, and that each of the two has its own concern and method of possessing [it] – the hunt for the pleasant and the hunt for the good [†¦]. (Plato, p. 122)According to that passage, we all want what is truly good, but the pleasures that seem good to Callicles are not those that are essentially good, so pursuing pleasure is not what Callicles wants. It only portrays that Callicles pursues it unwillingly (Plato, p. 139). As a result, this shows that Callicles lacks the ability to do things as per his wish, which eventually Callicles is what we can label a â€Å"slave† or even in the context of this work a lover of the people. Kreon from the Antigone would agree with Socrates, as he would remain adamant about proving his point as Socrates is doing in his dispute with Callicles.No matter how contradictory he may sound he would rather inflict injustice onto Antigone than being defeated by a puny little girl. â€Å"Now that I’ve caught her as the only one In all the city who openly defied me, I wonà ¢â‚¬â„¢t be seen as false to my own word By all the city – I’ll kill her. † (Sophocles, p. 82) The fact that Kreon honors his power more than morality proves that he would make sure his point came across the population and his son even if he had to go against them. His intention would only change if it benefitted himself. To conclude, one might think that the reason behind Callicles’ interpretation of eeking pleasure from his own desires may be his relationship with the people. He might consider the pursuit of their pleasure in preference to his own, and so he is their servant in the sense that he prioritizes their liking over his own. In this dispute nevertheless, Socrates does not make a flat out criticism about Callicles’ ideals instead he makes an association behind the pursuit of pleasure with serving the â€Å"demos†. They reach to somewhat of an understanding between them as they distinguish between pursuing one’s own pleasure a nd that of others never becomes an issue. Socrates characterizesCallicles’ view as that virtue is within the satisfaction of his own desires and those of others; â€Å"[†¦] that of the desires, some, being filled, make the person better, [and] these one should accomplish, but others, [being filled, make the person worse [†¦]. (Plato, p. 128). Whereas Socrates is concerned, by philosophical rhetoric he can succeed in getting his ideas through any skilled person and therefore, may be a successful political leader. Bibliography Plato, Gorgias. (Newburyport: R. Pullins Company, 2007), 23-171. Sophocles, Antigone. (New York: Oxford University Press, Inc. , 2007), 52-116.

Heroism and cowardice in the Odyssey Essay

The most respected and venerated social group in Homeric times was that of the heroic warriors and kings. These were the people who lead their armies into battle and won accolades for their valor or courage displayed on the battlefield. The cowardly on the other hand, were subjected to strong prejudice. Their existence was considered a burden on the earth and they were ignored and ridiculed by everyone. This is evident in the Odyssey when Homer describes the incident of Elpenor’s death. â€Å"There was one called Elpenor, the youngest of the party, not much a fighting man and not very clever. This young man had got drunk and gone to sleep on the roof of Circe’s palace. Roused in the morning by the bustle and din of departure, he leapt up suddenly, and forgetting to go down the ladder and take the proper way down, he toppled headlong down the roof. † As is clear from this description, Elpenor’s death was never much of an issue for Odysseus or his crew, who laughed it off and ignorantly left his body unburied in their haste to go to Hades, because stupid and cowardly Elpenor was not worth mourning for. However the unparalleled sorrow expressed at the deaths of Agamemnon and Achilleus was justified because they were great heroes who deserved to be lamented. Elpenor’s body was only buried when he himself reminded Odysseus to bury him lest he (Odysseus) incurred the wrath of the Gods, at leaving a human corpse unburied. The suitors on the other hand were considered fine men in their own right-handsome and brave. It was only their wanton misuse of Odysseus’s property in his absence and their disrespectful attitude towards Penelope that turned many of the Gods against them. The suitor’s willful insolence directed at the property and wife of an absent man was seen as an act of cowardice and thus excited the wrath of the Gods. The suitors in truth were no more than mere cowards as was evident when they tried to make truce with Odysseus in the following lines-â€Å"So spare us, who are your own people. And afterwards we will make amends to you by public levy for all the food and drink that has been consumed in your house. † Thus they truly deserved their end and there were to be no tears shed in their memory because their cowardly acts had subjected them to an ill-fated end. Homer thus defines a hero not only to be handsome and brave but also god fearing, hospitable and one who never takes unfair advantage of others, especially in their absence. This is also evident in the Iliad when Paris’s abduction of Helen in Menelaus’s absence seals both his fate and that of his homeland- Troy. Odysseus is the only character in the Odyssey who thus comes closest to the ideal of the ‘hero’. He is strong, handsome, brave, and also intelligent and witty. In Homer’s world, no hero is complete without being endowed with the gift of intelligence and astuteness. Odysseus displays his acumen on many occasions-the encounter with Polyphemus the Cyclops and Circe, just to name a few. Odysseus also seems to be the master of deceit as is evident from the countless tales of trickery he tells people in order to avoid detection. In Homer’s eyes, this treachery on the part of Odysseus is justified as he is only trying to protect his own interests without harming anybody else’s. However despite these heroic qualities, Odysseus fails to live up to the ideal of the true hero. In the final conflict with the suitors, Odysseus thinks nothing of shooting a whole quiver full of arrows at unarmed men but his knees go weak the minute he sees the defenseless acquire some form of defense. This is evident from the following lines: â€Å"when Odysseus saw them putting on armour and brandishing great spears in their hands, his knees quaked and his heart failed him. † Odysseus also disguises himself as a beggar instead of appearing in his original form before the suitors because he is scared of their numbers. But despite his infrequent acts of cowardice the Gods still support him and help him in his endeavor to rid his house of the suitors. This is because the very idea of his returning home after twenty years to restore his house and rescue his wife is very heroic and thus the means by which he achieves this end can be ignored. One cannot also help but think that it is more of the Goddess Athene’s help than Odysseus’s courage and bravado, which ultimately wins the day for him. This is evident from the following lines: â€Å"the six did as he ordered and threw with all their might. But Athene made the whole volley miss. † Athene herself made the suitors’ aims miss, but rather partially helped Odysseus’s lances meet their targets. Hence the impartial help of the Gods was the main reason behind Odysseus’s success. But this supernatural aid can be seen as a reward for past bravery and suffering on the part of Odysseus and as a punishment for cowardly insolence on part of the suitors. Hence the theme of cowardice and bravery plays a big part in the Odyssey. The book does take a certain amount of interest in the fate of the cowardly, but its primary focus rests with the heroic. Even the Gods favor the brave over the cowardly. The Gods take a supreme interest in the death of the heroic be it through noble (e. g. Achilleus fighting on the battle field) or poor means (e. g. Agamemnon killed by his wife and her lover) but as long as the cowardly are given a decent burial, the Gods don’t care about them and their name is never mentioned in their premises. (E. g. Elpenor’s death) People who have behaved in a way not suiting their status are also condemned to a coward’s death (e. g. : the suitors) and the Gods do not lament their end.

School Essay Example

School Essay Example School Essay School Essay Essay Topic: Middle School Alright, there are several factors that led to the differences between the Chesapeake and New England colonies. The first factor would be the types of crops they grew. Farmers in New England grew sustenance crops, mostly to feed themselves. This led to small family owned farms, which would surround a group of houses which had an area of common ground in the middle of the town. Now, the south tended to favor cash crops such as tobacco and indigo and things of that nature. Tobacco required large tracts of land and completely destroyed the soil in which it was grown. Houses were often further apart than they were in New England (remember the centralized town with the farms on the outside) and therefore people interacted less. Another huge factor was the demographics of the regions. In New England, the population was almost equal between males and females, with the longest life expectancy in the world. This means growing families and huge leaps in population. Since slavery was relatively uncommon in New England, families had children to work on their farm. Since the families lived In close contact with one another, things like school and religion were extremely Important aspects of New England life. In the South, men greatly outnumbered women, and disease was fairly common. The life expectancy was really low there, and families much smaller than their northern counterparts. Since the labor was provided by slaves, people had no real reason to have children, especially with the life expectancy being so low. Since farms were so far apart, unlike northern towns, the south lacked schools and churches. This Isnt to say that they didnt have them, they were fewer and farther between than they were In New England. The gist of all of this Is that due to low life expectancy, the reliance on cash crops, and the lack of education, the north ND south were beginning to form different cultures. The North had these things, which created more tightly knit communities, and also created the common belief that Southerners were backwards and dumb. There was a lot of distrust between the colonies, which would disappear with the French and Indian War when people from the North and South would serve side-by- side In the military. I hope this helps you a little, Im working off of memory and left all of my American H school By Jeerer on their farm. Since the families lived in close contact with one another, things like school and religion were extremely important aspects of New England life. Far apart, unlike northern towns, the south lacked schools and churches. This isnt to in New England. The gist of all of this is that due to low life expectancy, the reliance on cash crops, There was a lot of distrust between the colonies, which would disappear with the side in the military.