Human survival Essay Example for Free

Human survival Essay Wilson highlights the effects that the Homo sapiens have brought about in the world through what he refers to as a geophysical force, ranging from causing changes in the climate and the atmosphere to the modification of the fauna and flora. Besides, he reckons that in the history of evolution, it is only the human species that has tenuously advanced the complete mass in protoplasm. His claim that the human species’ destructive habits are maintained in their hereditary traits is credible. Apart from being tribal and assertively territorial, this species is oriented by selfish reproductive and sexual drive. Our actions lead to water and air pollution, lowering of the water tables and extinguishing of other species. The human’s nature juggernaut theory moreover explains why global responsibility comes last since the genetic heritages have led to humans being egocentric. They swiftly react to daily life minor problems and conflicts but inhumanly to similar magnitude status and tribal security challenges (Wilson, 1996). However, due to the exponential development in human populace and technology, the young generation has become more environmentally concerned than the older. Since they are in pursuit of better standards of living, they have intensified their scientific knowledge. This advancement has however led to more environmental destruction. Since humankind possesses intelligence and spirit, it has survived the ecological laws. However, these are not adequate to free this species from the natural environment’s constraints such as the almost exhausted resources and deteriorating atmospheric chemistry (Wilson, 1996). To free ourselves from the suicidal accusations, we ought to keep off civilization dimensions that are a threat to the environment. We have to be ethical so as to protect our self-images. In various arenas, environmental issues are being addressed as a moral issue and this will aid safeguard the surroundings. Even demographic statistics have reflected positive responses to this issue. With these signs of stabilizing the global environments, chances of preserving the ecosystems that are surviving and micromanaging them for the benefit of humankind remain strengthened.

Effects Of Concentration On The Absorbance Values

Effects Of Concentration On The Absorbance Values Abstract: A 0.2100 M stock solution of cobalt (II) chloride hexahydrate was analyzed using UV-Vis spectroscopy. A series of dilutions of the stock solution were made to analyze the effects of concentration on the absorbance values of cobalt (II) chloride hexahydrate using the UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The copper (II) chloride hexahydrate was found to have the highest absorbance value at an average wavelength of 511.02 nm. The average molar extinction coefficient for copper (II) chloride hexahydrate was found to be 4.5172. Spectroscopic analyses of dilutions of the stock solution were used to create a calibration curve of absorbance versus concentration of the cobalt chloride hexahydrate solution. A solution of unknown concentration was analyzed using the UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The calibration curve was used to determine that the unknown had a concentration of 0.1250 M. Introduction: Ultraviolet/Visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy analyzes electronic transitions between atoms and molecules. Spectra are produced when electrons in molecules or atoms move from one electronic energy level to another of higher energy. In doing so, the absorbed energy is equal to the difference between to the two levels. Compounds that absorb light in the visible region are colored. Compounds that absorb light only in the ultraviolet region are colorless. Inside a UV-Vis spectrophotometer there are usually two light sources, a tungsten lamp for the visible region (380-800 nm) and a deuterium lamp for the ultraviolet region (10-380 nm). The light source produces a white light ray which contains all wavelengths (all colors). The light ray directed to a monochromator by a mirror. The monochromator is used to separate light into specific wavelengths. Each wavelength corresponds to a different color. The instrument scans through the UV-Vis spectrum, sending different wavelengths of light through the sample. A single wavelength passes into the modulator, which consist of a rotor with mirrors that splits the light into two beams. One beam passes through the sample cell, while the other passes through the reference cell. Both sample and reference beams are redirected by mirrors into a detector. The detector compares their intensities of the two beams and sends a signal to the computer that controls the instrument. The signal is defined as abs orbance, which is a measurement of how much light is being absorbed by the sample at that particular wavelength. The Beer-Lambert law states that absorbance (A) is proportional to concentration of the absorbing species and path length of the medium over a certain time: In equation 1, is the molar extinction coefficient and has units of, the path length of the medium or L, is reassured in centimeters or cm and the concentration of the absorbing species has units of molarity or M. In this experiment a solution of cobalt (II) chloride hexahydrate was analyzed using UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy. The purpose of this experiment is to create a calibration curve of absorbance versus concentration by making series of dilutions of cobalt (II) chloride hexahydrate. The calibration curve will then be used to determine the concentration of an unknown sample. The molar extinction coefficient for cobalt (II) chloride hexahydrate will also be determined using the absorption at the concentrations of each dilution. Experimental Procedure: Using the analytical balance, 2.5072 g of cobalt (II) chloride hexahydrate were weighed and placed into a 50 mL beaker. The purple solid was dissolved inside the beaker using 15 mL of distilled water. The purple liquid was then transferred to a 50 mL volumetric flask with the aid of a funnel. The beaker was then rinsed with another 15 mL portion of distilled water to collect any remaining cobalt (II) chloride hexahydrate left behind and then was transferred to the 50 mL volumetric flask using the same funnel. Additional 20 mL of distilled water were added to the 50 mL volumetric flask to create the stock solution of cobalt (II) chloride hexahydrate. Dilutions of the stock solution were made by transferring 2, 4, 6 and 8 mL of the stock solutions to four labeled 10 mL volumetric flasks. Distilled water was added to fill each flask to the line. The absorbance for each solution was calculated using spectrophotometer. Before any samples were analyzed, a sample containing just water was used to blank the instrument. A quartz cuvette was filled with distilled water and covered. The blank sample was placed in the sample holder in the back of the spectrophotometer. Using the program, the spectrophotometer parameters were set to scan the sample from 650 nm to3 90 nm. The program was also designed to automatically let the user know which sample to place next into the sample holder. After the blank sample was analyzed, the cuvette was rinsed with distilled water first and then with a small portion of the stock solution. The cuvette was then filled with a portion of the stock solution, covered and analyzed using the spectrophotometer. This procedure was repeated for all dilutions. After each analysis, the cuvette was first rinsed with distilled water and then rinsed with a small portion of the following sample. Results: In order to analyze the sample using the spectrophotometer, the compound needs to be present in the aqueous form. The copper (II) chloride hexahydrate appeared purple as a solid. After the 2.507 grams of copper (II) chloride hexahydrate were dissolved in 50 mL of distilled water, the compounds color changed from a dark purple to a pink colored solution. The concentration of the copper (II) chloride hexahydrate stock solution was found using the molecular weight of the compound, the amount of compound used and the amount of distilled water used to dissolve it. Table #1 shows the how the concentration of the copper (II) chloride hexahydrate stock solution was found. When the dilutions were made by taking 8, 6, 4 and 2 mL of the stock solution, the concentration of each dilution decreased proportionally to the amount of stock being added. The intensity of the pink color of each dilution also decreased as the amount of milliliters of distilled water increased. Table # 2 shows how the concentration for each dilution of the stock solution was calculated. The software was programmed to analyze the solutions in the following order, the blank sample, the stock solution (0.2100 M), the 0.1680 M dilution, the 0.1260 M dilution, the 0.0840 M dilution and 0.0420 M dilution. All samples were analyzed in the spectrophotometer, by using quartz cuvettes. The blank sample had no visual results as expected. When the 0.2100 M stock solution was analyzed by the spectrophotometer, the computers monitor displayed the formation of a graph starting at 650.00 nm on the x-axis and 0.00 Absorbance on the y-axis. After the graph passed 580.00 nm, the graphs absorbance values started to increase exponentially. The maximum absorbance value was recorded at 0.9993 and it occurred at maximum wavelength of 511.34 nm. After the was passed, the graphs absorbance values started to exponentially decreased until the graph reached 420.00 nm, after 420.00 nm the graphs absorbance values displayed a slightly constant pattern until the end of the graph at 380.00 nm. Similar results were observed for all the dilutions. The 0.16800 M dilution analysis showed a maximum wavelength of 510.92 nm and a maximum absorbance value of 0.7266. The 0.12600 M dilution analysis showed a maximum wavelength of 511.11 nm and a maximum absorbance value of 0.5703. The 0.0840 M dilution analysis showed a maximum wavelength of 510.98 nm and a maximum absorbance value of 0.4024. The 0.0420 M dilution analysis showed a maximum wavelength 510.75 nm and a maximum absorbance value of 0.1758. Table # 3 summarizes all the maximum wavelengths and absorbance values for the stock solutions and all its dilutions. Figure # 1 (appendix-pg 14) illustrates the graph for each solution. Using the data from table # 3, a calibration curve of absorbance versus concentration can be created. Figure # 2, the calibration curve can be found in the appendix section, page 13. The molar extinction coefficient for copper (II) chloride hexahydrate can be found using data found in Table # 3 and the Beer-Lambert law. By algebraically manipulating the Beer-Lambert equation (A = ÃŽ µ * L *c), the molar extinction coefficient (ÃŽ µ) for copper (II) chloride hexahydrate can be determined by: ÃŽ µ = A / L*c. The molar extinction coefficient for all the solutions can be found in Table # 4. The average molar extinction coefficient for copper (II) chloride hexahydrate was found to be 30445. A solution of unknown concentration was analyzed using the spectrophotometer following the same procedure as all other solutions. The solution of unknown concentration was found to have a maximum wavelength of 511.49 nm and a maximum absorbance value of 0.5715. The concentration of the unknown sample was determined using the equation of the line found on the calibration curve (page 13-Appendix). The unknowns absorbance value of 0.5715 was used as the y-value and the equation was solved for its correspondent x-value or concentration. The unknowns concentration was found to be 0.80 M. Table # 5 shows how the equation of the line from the calibration curve was used to determine the concentration of the unknown. Figure # 3 in the appendix section-pg 14, is a graph of all the solutions tested. In figure # 3, the unknown is easier to identify because the graph is in a landscape format and the x-axis increases by a factor of 20 nm as opposed to a factor of 50 nm in Figure # 1. Conclusion: The spectroscopic analysis of copper (II) chloride hexahydrate made the students familiar with operating a spectrophotometer. Dilutions to a stock solution of copper (II) chloride hexahydrate were made to examine how different concentrations of the compound affected the absorbance values of each sample. The copper (II) chloride hexahydrate was found to have the highest absorbance value at an average wavelength of 511.02 nm. A calibration curve for the concentration versus absorbance of copper (II) chloride hexahydrate was created using the data obtained from stock solution and dilutions using the spectrophotometer. A unknown sample was found to have a concentration of 0.1250 M. The concentration of the unknown was determined by using the calibration curve along with the data obtained from the spectrophotometer. The average molar extinction coefficient for copper (II) chloride hexahydrate was found to be 4.5172. The value for the molar extinction coefficient was determined using the t heory behind Beer-Lambert law and maximum absorbance values from the spectrophotometer. Discussion A different approach to determine the concentration of the unknown involves using the average molar extinction coefficient for copper (II) chloride hexahydrate found in table # 4. By algebraically manipulating the Beer-Lambert equation a formula for concentration can be derived: c = http://www.800mainstreet.com/elsp/Elsp.html

Moral and Ethical Implications of Gun Ownership

Moral and Ethical Implications of Gun Ownership Have Gun, Will Travel . . . to Work Do you have a moral, not only a legal, right to own a gun? Assume that either the Second Amendment or state law gives you a legal right to keep a gun in your car when you drive. Do you also have a moral right to do this? Do you have either a moral or a legal right to park a car with a loaded gun in a privately owned public parking lot regard-less of what the lot’s owner wants? I as a citizen am of the opinion that I do have a moral right to own a gun. I earn a right to protect myself from any danger or threat, legally. Therefore It is morally acceptable too if somebody wants to own a gun without hurting the innocent. When the state law allows a person legally to keep the gun, it is morally correct to have the gun in the car or anywhere else until and unless the owner of the place does not have any problem with it. But in conditions where the owner of the parking-lot doesn’t support the decision, it is legally and morally incorrect to practice your own will in somebody else’s property. . In your view, do employees have either a moral or a legal right to park cars with guns in them in the company parking lot? If so, what about the property rights and safety concerns of employers? If employees don’t have this right, would it be good policy for companies to allow them to stow guns in their cars anyway? Do companies have good grounds for being concerned about weapons in their parking lots? In my opinion, employees have the moral and legal right to park cars with guns in the company parking lot if the company allows. If the company I concerned about the property rights and safety issues of the employers and stops the employees to stow the guns in the cars, it is legally incorrect and the employees would be charged of practicing illegal acts without the consent of the owner. Companies have grounds for being concerned about the issues as any kind of mishap can take place in the parking area if the place would be loaded with guns and therefore the company would be held responsible for the issue. In order to avoid that, companies have all the right to stop the employees from stowing guns without their permission. 3. Do you agree with the NRA that if companies ban guns from their parking lots, this restriction would take â€Å"a wrecking ball to the Second Amendment† or nullify the right of people to have weapons for self- defense? Explain why or why not. In your view, have gun advocates been guilty of politicizing this issue? Do you think state legislatures are right to get involved, or should the matter be left to companies and employees to settle? I agree with NRA that if the companies ban guns from their parking lots, this would nullify the right of the people to have weapons for self-defense, because even though the second Amendment allows the use of guns foe the self-defense, it does not allow to practice something without permission of the owner on a private property. Therefore In my view, the gun advocates should have been guilty because there is no second thought about it. If the owner does not allow the guns, they cannot be forced. Rules are defined by the owner of the property. State legislatures should not get involved in the matter as the legislature allows the keeping of guns and also to abide the rules of the owner. Therefore it is a matter of the employee and the companies to handle the issue. Because the workplace is the company’s private property, the company could choose, if it wished, to allow employ-ees to bring guns not only into the parking lot but also into the workplace itself. Are there ever circumstances in which doing so might be reasonable? Or would the presence of guns automatically violate the rights of other employees to be guaranteed a safe working environment? If the company does not allow the employees to bring guns into the parking lot, there is no condition that it might be reasonable to bring in the guns until and unless the company allows the particular employee or all the employees to stow in their guns on a given day. Otherwise it will be against the law and would be illegal. It would violate the laws and the rights of the other employees. Rule defined by the companies is that do not put guns in the cars, then keeping them would be considered a violation of the rule. What would a libertarian say about this issue? What considerations would a utilitarian have to take into account? What conclusion might he or she draw? The libertarian would be against the ban on having guns in the cars of the parking lots of the companies as their basic concern would be the employee’s right to keep whatever the state has allowed him to. He will be of the opinion that the employees can keep anything they want to keep themselves safe from any sort of danger on their way from home and office. They have a right to protect themselves on their own. He would conclude that the companies are irrational in putting such demands and they are being self-centered by not giving a thought to the employee’s security. The state should be involved in the matter as if the state allows the legal right to keep the guns, the companies should not prohibit it. If you were on a company’s board of directors, what policy would you recommend regarding handguns, rifles, or other weapons in employees’ cars? In making your recommendation, what factors would you take into account? Would it make a difference how large the company was, the nature of its workforce, or where it was located? If you support banning firearms from the parking lot, what steps, if any, do you think the company should take to enforce that policy? If I were on the company’s board of directors, I would make a policy to partially ban the stowing of guns and rifles in the cars. I would suggest to make a safe place where every day my employees who wish to keep their guns with them can deposit them and can claim those on their way back to home. Keeping the guns in the parking lot is not safe, therefore they can be kept in a well-guarded place. This would please the employees that their issues are taken care of and thus wont effect the company’s policies as well. The nature of workforce and the location would not make a difference as the policies are same everywhere. Explain whether (and why) you agree or disagree with the following argument: â€Å" If employees have a right to keep guns in the parking lot, then they also have a right to bring them into workplace. After all, we’re only talking about licensed, responsible owners, and the same rationale applies: An employee might need a weapon for self- protection. What if a lunatic starts shooting up the company?† No I do not agree with the argument mentioned above as that is totally based on the owners will that what does he/she permits its employee’s and to what extent. If the company allows the employee’s to bring in the guns in the parking lot and does not allow the guns in the company, the employees cannot practice that. No body earns a right to practice something on other’s property without the permission of the owner. The safety concerns of the company are justified and I support the decision of the company. It is the responsibility of the company to take care of its employees. Union Discrimination: Assuming the Foundation’s description of the case is accurate, was Paul Robertson treated unfairly? Was this a case of discrimination? If Robertson was an â€Å"at- will† employee, does he have any legitimate grounds for complaint? Considering the given issue and assuming that the description is accurate, I am of the opinion that yes Paul Robertson was treated unfairly. No state rules that if the employee does not join a union or pay union dues, he or she cannot work. It is the basic human right that he can work without any external policies. It is up to the employee if he/she wants to get associated with a union or not. Companies cannot force or make a deal with the union that they will hire only employees that will deal with union. It was a strong case of discrimination as Paul Robertson was deprived of his basic rights without any legal reason. If Robertson was an â€Å"at-will† employees he might not have any legitimate grounds for the complaint as he won’t be treated differently and unjustly and would to be able to complain. Does it make a difference to your assessment of the case whether someone like Robertson knows, when he accepts a job, that he must join the union or that non- union employees will be the first to be laid off? No, this might not make any difference to my assessment as any company cannot put such allegations on the employees. It is on the free will of the employees that they could join or do not join the union. The employees are hired on the basis of their skills and aptitude regardless of the fact that they will join the union or not. This an extreme case of discrimination as the future employees are judged on the basis of their willingness to join the union or not despite of their skills and hard work. My assessment that this is a case of discrimination would remain intact even in the given scenario. If union employees negotiate a contract with management, part of which specifies that management will not hire non- union employees, does this violate anyone’s rights? Would a libertarian agree that the resulting union shop was perfectly acceptable? Libertarian would never agree on this company and union setup. Every person should be hired for a job he is eligible of and fills in the criteria. Keeping such restrictions would be a biased decision and the violation of human rights. Every person has the freedom to choose what they want. This is not an acceptable scenario. A person should be rejected from a job if he doesn’t have the skills to fulfill the job not on the basis of tagging them as union or non-union employees. Presumably Paul Robertson could have joined the union, but he chose not to. What principle, if any, do you think he was fighting for? Assess the union charge that people like Paul Robertson are â€Å"free riders† who want the benefits and wages that unionization has brought but try to avoid paying the dues that make those benefits and wages possible. Paul Robertson could have joined the union but he did not because he was fighting against the discrimination policy that the company had utilized. His basic fight was for the rights that he possess even if he does not join the union. The Union’s charge of Paul Robertson as a â€Å"free rider† is inacceptable ad vague. The wages and the benefits that employees like Paul Robertson enjoy are the benefits they get because of their hard work and their job. They do not need to be associated with any union to get tat. Those are the benefits they earn it through hard work. What do you see as the likely motivations of Bechtel Power and the union? How would they justify their conduct? The Bechtel Power and the union wished to hire the employees that would join the union and pay the union in order to earn money and increase the union employees. They would justify their conduct that they offered Paul Robertson to join the union if the employee cannot meet the demands of the organization, the company bears the right to fire him/her. The company would justify by implying that meeting the criteria of the company is the basic need of the company and Paul or employees who do not join the union are not meeting the criteria so it is not a discrimination case if they do not hire such individuals. Why did the Foundation run this ad? Is the ad anti- union propaganda? Do you think the Foundation is sincerely interested in the rights of individual workers? Or is it simply interested in weakening unions vis- à  - vis management? In my opinion, the foundation run this ad to help the people and to aware those individuals that actions are taken against the discrimination. It is not an anti- union propaganda but an effort to help the individual workers who are deprived of their basic rights. The foundation is boosting the people to speak up for their rights and building a trust that they are there to help them in such circumstances and they should fight for their basic rights. The aim of the ad is not to target the union or to propagate against the union. It was to highlight the issues of the individuals. Assess union shops from the moral point of view. What  ­conflicting rights, interests, and ideals are at stake? What are the positive and negative consequences of permitting union shops? Morally, the union shops are incorrect. The rights of individuals are at stake. The right to work without any restriction is sacrifices. Even form the company’s point of view it might lose hardworking individuals because they might not be willing to join the unions. The company could be at stake too with such restrictions. The positives of permitting union shops is that the company could bloom with the employees paying the union charges but keeping in account the negatives, it might lose skilled employees and only those will be hired that would be willing to accept the union and pay charges.

China and Japan Essay -- Chinese Philosophy, Ming

Throughout the dynasties in China and Japan, religion, economy and politics have been affected by each other in various ways. In the book â€Å"Religion and Making of Modern East Asia†, Thomas Dubois brings to light the impact religion made on both politics and economy in China and Japan throughout the historical period up till date. In his words, he describes â€Å"religion as an extremely political force† (Dubois, 2011, pp. 7-16). As various religions were introduced, it shaped the politics of leaders as most of them saw it as an avenue to impose their religion on the citizens. In all, religion invented political and economic stabilities and instabilities in various dynasties throughout Japan and China Ming China also known as â€Å"Great Ming† Reigned in China for many years and saw through many religions. However, most Chinese attest to three major religions; Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism. In the early centuries, Shang dynasty, known as the â€Å"origin of Chinese civilization† was very powerful and dominated the Ming China for over five centuries. In this period, the rulers imposed their religion on the citizens and made it compulsory as the state religion. Later on, Zhou over-threw the Shang dynasty bringing in another perspective of religion known as Confucianism, this particular religion, believed that â€Å"authority was not by chance but given a greater power which was higher than man† (Dubois, 2011, p. 17). Most of the citizens embraced this new religion as it brought about peace and good virtue. â€Å"Confucianism reigned through the Han dynasty, until it was finally over-thrown by the Sung Dynasty. Were the whole imperial system final ly fell† (Dubois, 2011, p. 23). Although Confucianism came to the people as a religion, ... ... of China and Japan denied the citizens that right. Some religions were still being outlawed in Japan, contrary to restrictions which allow every citizen a right to worship.† (Dubois, p. 202). With the help of the Americans, the political hierarchy was adjusted thereby allowing citizens the right to free religion. In concluding, juxtaposing China and Japan’s history, both have similarities. Inevitably, religion continuously, affects politics and economics, most times producing ethno-political identities. Even in Nigeria today, religion affects the economic and political sects. The domineering religious group is often politicized and tends to favor its own religion either through finances or privileges. It is therefore evident that religion, economy and politics are inter-twined and will continue to affect the changes around us just like China and Japan.

Cryogenics And The Future :: essays research papers

Cryogenics and the Future Cryogenics is a study that is of great importance to the human race and has been a major project for engineers for the last 100 years. Cryogenics, which is derived from the Greek word kryos meaning "Icy Cold," is the study of matter at low temperatures. However low is not even the right word for the temperatures involved in cryogenics, seeing as the highest temperature dealt with in cryogenics is 100 (C (-148 (F) and the lowest temperature used, is the unattainable temperature -273.15 (C (-459.67 (F). Also, when speaking of cryogenics, the terms Celsius and Fahrenheit are rarely used. Instead scientists use a different measurement called the Kelvin (K). The Kelvin scale for Cryogenics goes from 173 K to a fraction of a Kelvin above absolute zero. There are also two main sciences used in cryogenics, and they are Superconductivity and Superfluidity. Cryogenics first came about in 1877, when a Swiss Physicist named Rasul Pictet and a French Engineer named Louis P. Cailletet liquefied oxygen for the first time. Cailletet created liquid oxygen in his lab using a process known as adiabatic expansion, which is a "thermodynamic process in which the temperature of a gas is expanded without adding or extracting heat from the gas or the surrounding system"(Vance 26). At the same time Pictet used the "Joule-Thompson Effect," a thermodynamic process that states that the "temperature of a fluid is reduced in a process involving expansion below a certain temperature and pressure"(McClintock 4). After Cailletet and Pictet, a third method, known as cascading, was developed by Karol S. Olszewski and Zygmut von Wroblewski in Poland. At this point in history Oxygen was now able to be liquefied at 90 K, then soon after liquid Nitrogen was obtained at 77 K, and because of these advancements scientist all over the world began competing in a race to lower the temperature of matter to Absolute Zero (0 K) [Vance, 1-10]. Then in 1898, James DeWar mad a major advance when he succeeded in liquifying hydrogen at 20 K. The reason this advance was so spectacular was that at 20 K hydrogen is also boiling, and this presented a very difficult handling and storage problem. DeWar solved this problem by inventing a double- walled storage container known as the DeWar flask, which could contain and hold the liquid hydrogen for a few days. However, at this time scientists realized that if they were going to make any more advances they would have to have better holding containers. So, scientists came up with insulation techniques that we still use today.

Film and Literature Essay

Literature and film feed at the same breast, considering the affinities between them. Since its very beginning, Hollywood has used works of fiction as source material for films. One of the most discussed adaptations is Francis Ford Coppola’s Film Apocalypse Now (1979) based on Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness (1902). This paper compares and contrasts these works of art, arguing that while there are obvious differences, the film generally general remains true to the core meaning of the novel. One can say that Coppola’s film is a thematic and structural analogue to Conrad’s novel. Differences On the surface it seems that Apocalypse Now deviates largely Heart of Darkness. The differences can be seen in settings, events, characters, and other snippets of information such as quoted lines and strange actions of the major characters. The settings of the two stories are different and written in different periods of time. The setting of Conrad’s late nineteenth century novel is the Belgian Congo in the 1890s. By contrast, Coppola’s 1979 film takes place in Southeast Asia in the 1960s during the Vietnam War. In addition, the novel centers on Charles Marlow, a British sailor employed by a European trading company as captain of one of their steamboats, whereas the film focuses on an American army officer, Benjamin Willard. Another major difference is that the ivory traders are in the Congo of their own greed and free will, whereas the American soldiers are drafted into Vietnam and engage in the war against their will. At the first glance, there seem to be character differences in the novel and film – Copolla’s Willard is nothing like Conrad’s Marlow. In the novel, Marlow is very eager to meet Kurtz and perhaps gain knowledge about the secrets of the ivory trade in the former Zaire. On the other hand, Willard seems to have a death wish. Copolla portrays Willard as a depressed human, having a soldier’s killer instinct, throughout the entire film. The effectiveness of point of view also differentiates the novel and the film. While it is true that Willard remains on the screen more than anyone else in Apocalypse Now, and his comments are often heard on the film’s sound track, viewers still do not see others completely from his perspective as readers do in Heart of Darkness. Hence, the film is robbed of some of the emotional intensity that one feels when one reads the novel. This is simply because the narrator in the novel communicates his subjective reaction to the episodes from the past. In the film, the audience does not grasp the extent to which the narrator is profoundly affected by Kurtz’s tragedy. Many of Marlow’s sage reflections about Kurtz’s life and death are absent in the film. Moreover, while Coppola successfully creates a staggering experience of the war’s madness, he seems to confuse the moral issues. This is perhaps because of his view of personalizing the novel. The director identifies so strongly with Kurtz that he modifies the issue of power and disturbs the delicate balance between Conrad’s story and the subject of Vietnam. Apocalypse Now succeeds in making its viewers experience the horror of the war and to realize their own complicity in it, but it fails to highlight the nature of Kurtz’s horror illuminated in Heart of Darkness. Coppola’s failure to combine Conrad’s story and the Vietnam War in this respect points largely to The film’s adaptation of Kurtz. In the novel, Kurtz is corrupted by his isolation in the wilderness, resulting in an obsession with power and unfolding frightening truths about himself: I think it had whispered to him things about himself which he did not know, things of which he had no conception till he took counsel with his great solitude-and the whisper had proved irresistibly fascinating. It echoed loudly within him because he was hollow at the core. (133) in the film, Coppola tries to resonate Kurtz’s â€Å"hollowness† by having the character recite The Hollow Men by T. S. Eliot. But this can be seen as more of an emblematic solution that does not somewhat applies in the Vietnam War context. Parallels While the settings, backgrounds, characters, and approaches of the novel and film are somehow different, the narration, structure, and that theme are similar. The following paragraphs summarize some of the essential parallels between Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Coppola’s Apocalypse Now. In the novel, Marlow introduces his narrative with a passage about â€Å"devotion to efficiency†, the idea behind how the ivory trade makes profit, justifying cruel exploitation (Kinder 16). This statement is also applicable to the Vietnam War context as they are both in the stages of Western imperialism: The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much. What redeems it is the idea only. An idea at the back of it; not a sentimental pretence but an idea: and an unselfish belief in the idea-something you can set up and bow down before, and offer a sacrifice to. (70) Coppola does not retain this speech in the film, but it becomes the groundwork for the dramatic events that unite Kurtz and Williard: the former’s recounting of the inoculation story and the latter’s murder of a wounded Vietnamese woman. The two are driven into a situation in which â€Å"military efficiency is totally undermined, yet they have been trained to worship it and to internalize it as the source of their own personal pride† (Kinder 16). In the novel, although Kurtz embodies all of Europe, he can be viewed as a â€Å"universal genius† who shows what lies ahead for those who take the challenge to look into the abyss. Despite the shortcomings in the handling of Kurtz, Copolla’s conception of film remains a masterful work that complements the power of Conrad’s vision. The novel and the film embody the theme of insanity and madness and insanity caused by the evil of imperialism. Madness in the novel is the result of being removed from ones normal environment and how people cope with their new environment. The same theme is explored in the film. Many soldiers who are drafted into Vietnam are barely 18 or 19-year-olds. Their mental stability is shaken when they are thrown into a harsh environment, where their lives hang on by the minute. Soldiers such as Lance and Chef are ready to snap at any moment due to the shock and realization of what kind of situation they are in or what is the purpose of fighting fellow men. They also fear the fact that they do not know where they are headed. Copolla and Conrad literally and metaphorically confront the madness and insanity brought about by Western imperialism and colonialism. Through Kurtz and the American soldiers, Copolla is able to portray what war is like for them, and why so many of them suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. The film suggests that wars are an imperialist tool that drives the weak into their destruction. On the other hand, Conrad exposes how the imperialist agenda leads to the exploitation of foreign lands and its people, leaving the imperialist agents themselves deranged and empty (Papke 583). Both the novel and the film also give rise to a race discussion. Conrad and Coppola portray White men as the dominant. They not only rule over their respective crews; they also dominate the local peoples. Marlow and Willard look at the native people as if are the savage culture and White men are the civilized one. But it is interesting to note that each of the two main characters see a little of himself in Kurtz, a degenerated savage White man. Coppola’s take on Conrad’s Heart of Darkness has gained much attention from film scholars. In â€Å"The Power of Adaptation in ‘Apocalypse Now’†, Marsha Kinder states that â€Å"Coppola rarely hesitates to change Conrad’s story-setting, events, characters-whenever the revision is required by the Vietnam context. † (14) Moreover, the dialogues in the film, especially Willard’s voice-over narration, have been attacked by several film critics for sounding more like a parody of author Raymond Chandler than an adaptation of Conrad’s novel. But a deeper look suggests that Willard’s character and tone are not intended to be Marlow’s. To suit the Vietnam context, Willard has been totally transformed into a trained assassin, whose life has been drained of all meaning. Coppola retains Conrad’s focal image of the river. In the film, just as in the novel, each of the main characters embarks on a literal and metaphoric central journey. Marlow’s description of the Congo is an enormous snake uncoiled that fascinates him as a snake would a bird. The film’s structure is controlled by the image of the river â€Å"that snaked through the war like a main circuit cable,† carrying Willard to Cambodia. The novel and the film begin with the protagonists’ explanation of how they got the appointment which necessitated their excursion upriver. Marlow is dispatched to steam up the Congo in to find Mr. Kurtz, while Willard is mandated to journey up the Mekong River in a navy patrol boat to find Col. Kurtz. Moreover, while they travel up a primeval river to fulfill their respective assignments, they speculate about the character of the man they are seeking, with the help of the information they have pieced together about him. In both novel and film, the river eventually leads Marlow and Willard to Kurtz and his dying words of horror (Kinder 15). This final destination for both men is their soul-altering confrontation with Kurtz. Overall, it is an expedition of discovery into the dark heart of man. It is also a close encounter with man’s capacity for evil. Coppola agrees with this observation and stated that he also saw Willard’s voyage upriver as a representation for the journey of life that people take within themselves and during which they decide which side to take: good or evil. The horror of the world dominated by hollow men is at the center of both Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now. Kurtz, in his god-like acousmatic voice and morally terrifying manifestation, is invested with much greatness: He fully understands existence in all its repugnance. Repelled and terrified Kurtz pushed himself to go into the very heart of darkness, to fully engage in the dualism (good and evil) of Being. To call Kurtz heroic or rapacious or good or evil, is to miss the point entirely. He is forever shaped by a dark satori, by an understanding of the omnipresent nature of darkness. Marlow and Willard are arguably Kurtz’s spiritual sons, and they experience the same realization. Both of them look full face at the great condemnation, at the dark obscurity of Being. Each of them faces moral terror in the shape human conduct forced beyond decent limits; and each of them is profoundly transformed by this experience. In her book, Double Exposure: Fiction Into Film, Joy Could Boyum states that â€Å"in substituting Willard for Marlow, a madman for a sane one,† Coppola creates a character incapable of â€Å"any shock of recognition,† a man unable to â€Å"know evil when he sees it† (114). Boyum also argues that there is no discovery for Willard; he is a â€Å"murderer confronting a murder, a madman face to face with madness-it amounts only to a tautology. † Thus, Copolla’s Apocalypse Now can be argued as a movie that has no moral center. Unlike Willard, Marlow returns from the river experience with intact moral perspective and sanity, inviting the reader’s trust and identification. But one can also say that, like Apocalypse Now, Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, itself, is a novel that has no moral center. The book suggests that Marlow’s great realization is that existence itself has no moral heart. The character has not sustained the river journey with his intact moral perspective unchanged. Towards the end of the novel, Marlow is a transformed man, largely isolated and very different from those people aboard the Nellie. He is alienated forever in his wisdom. Willard, too, in the end, is vastly separated by his new knowledge. While many critics see Willard as immoral, insane, and unchanging, Kurtz’s view of him is more fitting. In the film, Kurtz describes Willard when he sees him for the first time as â€Å"an errand boy sent by grocery clerks to collect a bill. † But in the end, Willard becomes wiser. He has been transformed, humbled by his face-to-face confrontation with the darkness natural in Kurtz, in himself, in existence. Therefore, the separate stories of Willard’s and Marlow’s river experiences follow a similar narrative pattern and arrive at a similar truth. Apocalypse Now is a thematic and structural analogue to Heart of Darkness. This is perhaps because, Copolla, in his authorial wisdom, fully understood that theme and technique, meaning, and structure are inseparable entities. To tell a story differently is to tell a different story. It seems that, ultimately, Copolla and Conrad tell the same story. Conclusion This paper looks at the differences and parallelisms between Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Coppola’s Apocalypse Now. In comparing and contrasting the novel and the film, this paper suggests that the film has some significant deviation from the novel. Despite this, however, Apocalypse Now generally remains true to the core of Heart of Darkness. Both the novel and the film follow the same story line but Conrad and Copolla have different ways of presenting this story. This results in surface differences. But a deeper and closer reading of both the novel and the film reveals that they complement each other. This is one of the most important things in adapting a work of literature into a film. Works Cited Boyum, Joy Gould. Double Exposure: Fiction Into film. New York: Universe Books, 1985. Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York: New American Library, 1950. Kinder, Marsha. â€Å"The Power of Adaptation in ‘Apocalypse Now’†. Film Quarterly 33. 2 (1979-1980): 12-20. Papke, David Ray. â€Å"Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness: A Literary Critique of Imperialism. † Journal of Maritime Law and Commerce 31. 4 (2000): 583-592.

Ms.Stevie Cuffan

Steve Cuffs What's the magical number to death? All thirteen people drove Hannah Baker straight to her grave. A permanent home for her, there no one can bully her, tease her, or drive her crazy. A suicidal theme in this story is a main cause of teens dying today. Ten's today feel to get rid of a temporary pain is to solve with a permanent solution. Cruelty, devastation, and suspense is what bothered Hannah, and Just like Hannah Baker, plenty of other teens today. So are these words and other people really worth taking your life? Teens are attributed to suicide from some type of form of mental or physical buses.Young teens in today's society feel that they are being neglected which makes them feel worthless to themselves and others. Teenagers feel that they are worthless if they can't fit into certain social classes, follow popular media, newest fashions, or just simply become popular. So being worthless is their fit for punishment, their only true escape to get away from all this is to take their own life. Teenagers feel that everything voiced in their past will be their failures in the future or the reasons for their unaccomplished goals.Ups and downs are Just apart of life, however though some â€Å"down† periods last longer then others. Depression in teens is a big cause in suicide; depression is caused from stress or hormonal change. Depression caused in teens is caused from losing family or friends, lack in extracurricular activities, low self-esteem for example caused by bullying about their clothes, religion, intelligence, social class, also ethnicity. Teenage depression has to do with life changes, similarly known as adjustment disorder. All those changes can in fact make a teenager feel hopeless, which seems to be a never ending feeling.Changes in emotions are a massive destruction in a teenager's life. When you are a teenager you are trying to find yourself in this huge place we called the world. Being depressed as a teen is a major destruction in their lives. It can cause them to have lower self-esteem, not being as confident as others, and getting their hopes up. To emphasize on this point, teens will not be as talkative, share this sad/gloomy vibe, bored or overwhelmed, have serve anger outbreaks, also irritability. Teens can also appear to be more anxious or even worried. Is it possible to even spot these changes? Yes it is.For instance they would become more impulsive, rebellious, become more in trouble with the law, running away or threatening to run away, sleeping less or even eating more. Every year, thousands of young adults die in the United States. Not by cancer, car accidents, or diseases, but by their mom hand. All these people make that one choice to take their own life. Some of these teens experience strong feelings of stress, confusion, self-doubt, or even pressure to succeed more then a parent, sibling, or even a close friend. Teenagers need that person to talk to and some adults are not willing to.Some a dults feel that they are always right and everything has to go their safety, Just someone to listen. Not argue, but talk. Young adults feel so droned out sometimes by adults since adult have to be that superior one all the time, which is not true. Growing up in today's society us teens need our adults the most to rely on through this harsh generation with so many things changing so fast that we Just can not simply control and that's what adults think we can do. This book really puts some teens in check Just by them realizing that their words do hurt. Their words can cause pain. Their words can cause death.