The Guides of David Strorm Essay Example for Free

The Guides of David Strorm Essay In the beginning of the book The Chrysalids, David Strorm was describing a dream. A marvelous dream about a city seamlessly embraced by the untainted sea set around it. On the streets ran carts without horses and in the sky flew these burnished things shaped like fish, but they weren’t birds. Such a city was so fascinating to a boy who had lived in a society where everyone would look for anything that was odd, or really anything out of the â€Å"norm. † David never knew that this dream wasn’t just a dream, and he did not know that the city would ever be real. The following years had fetched David some happiness, but he fell into despair at a time. And even after all the trouble and discoveries good and bad, a happy ending was nearby. The city in the dream, New Zealand, was lastly reached, but, this was only because of the following people. Uncle Axel, the mouthpiece of John Wyndham, is David’s dearest uncle and mentor. A judicious guide whom which without, the young David would not be the same. He is an uplifting man who accepts people’s differences, contrast to Joseph Strorm, who is disgusted by the littlest differences on any being. The nights after Aunt Harriet’s death were very hard and frightening for young David, as he would solemnly pray to God that the next morning he would lose his powers and become normal. Grief had taken over his mind and I think he may have soon started following his father because he was the only influence in the house. Growing up in a vile dire district of hatred could never have been where David would spend his life as he was then slowly starting to hate his powers. One morning, David talked with Uncle Axel about Aunt Harriet and her baby, but halfway into telling his Uncle, he began crying. He then told him that he was scared. Uncle Axel said this to David: â€Å"I can almost understand that God, made angry, might destroy all living things, or the world itself; but I don’t understand this instability, this mess of devia tions- it makes no sense.† â€Å"We got to believe that God is sane, Davie boy†¦Whatever happened there was not sane-not sane at all.† (Ch.8, pg.78) He moved impatiently about Tribulation, preachers, and the Old People. Uncle Axel was the main guide for David because his words of wisdom brought David back up. David then accepted his difference and was able to survive the next six years without letting his powers get known. The Sealand woman was the definition of perfection and untainted beauty and  David’s main advisor and the story’s lifeline. She was wearing a lovely white dress; she had impeccably white teeth, and she had creamy white skin with rosy pink cheeks. David describes her as â€Å"all new and perfect,† and the Sealand woman was thought as the real â€Å"true image.† She had telepathic powers on a level where she could send thought pictures midway across the world to Petra in Labrador. The Sealand woman liked change whereas David’s father hated change. In the heat of the battle in the Fringes, after Gordon and Sophie died from a cloudburst of arrows, a raft arisen and ended the blo odbath. In that raft was the angelic Sealand woman. She made the raft fire a web-like substance upon the rebellious people below and the substance casted a paralysis throughout. It had even caught Michael, David, Petra, and Rosalind nonetheless, but the Sealand woman got them out of the substance and was elated afterwards. And so, David, Petra, and Rosalind board the raft with the Sealand Women. The dream was then only minutes away from becoming reality. Two other guides for David were his little sister Petra Strorm and Rosalind Morton. Petra Strorm is a big help to David and the entire group as she is the main reason they had gained the chance to reach the â€Å"promised land.† Petra Strorm had unbelievable telepathic prowess where she could send thought shapes extremely far distances, like she did when she was drowning or when she communicated with the Sealand woman halfway around the world. If Petra and the Sealand women never sent thought shapes to each other, the Sealand woman would never have come to the group’s rescue. It’s Petra’s far-fetched powers that had sparked hope in the midst of the others. Rosalind Morton was also another helpful person in David’s journey because she had taken the responsibility of protecting Petra when in the Fringes. This saved David the worry because Rosalind acted as a mother for Petra. Michael was also a guide for David and helped him and the two girls survive the Fringes and reach Sealand. Michael was the group’s spearhead as he was reliable and very bright. He was always able to make the right decisions and everyone would go to him for guidance. For example, when Petra and Rosalind were being held hostage, David was really hesitant and unsure of what to do, so he asked Michael. Furthermore, Michael’s advice led to the salvage of the two girls. In addition, Michael had always endeavored to put David, Petra, and Rosalind’s well-being ahead of everything else and he in a brilliant demeanor. In exchange for their well-being, he put himself in danger. For  example, when he joined the men from Waknuk in order to capture David and the two, he was risking the chance of his telepathy powers getting revealed. Plus, when the raft from Sealand had to leave due to low fuel, Michael sacrificed his own betterment to go back for Rachel. He let David move on with the others regardless and so he could reach his â€Å"promised land† quicker. Uncle Axel, the Sealand Woman, Petra, Rosalind, and Michael were all life-saving guides and advisors for David. Uncle Axel taught David about God’s sanity and tribulation which later made David regain his self-esteem and confidence. Petra was the reason the Sealand woman was so interested in rescuing the group and Rosalind Morton was the best friend a friend could ever have. But Michael above all, steered the group in the right direction and only with his advice did David survive in the Fringes. Then there was the Sealand woman who was the lifeline of the story, saving the lives of David and the others. A promise was made to Michael and the raft took off. David, along with Petra and Rosalind, was then on his way to seeing the dream.

Should We Bow to Louis XIV? Essay -- French History King Louis XIV Ess

Should We Bow to Louis XIV? Louis XIV, ruler of France for 72 years, is known for stabilizing France and making the country a strong European power. However, many of his projects were costly and caused economic problems for the nation. His personal lavish luxuries also were a financial burden to France. By the end of his reign, nearly all of the land he had acquired through warfare had to be returned, thus wasting enormous sums of French money. King Louis XIV reigned in France from 1643-1715. For 54 of these years, he reigned without the help of an official Prime Minister. Therefore, he personally controlled the French government. This created an absolute monarchy that became a model for much of Europe. Louis’ involvement in the War of Devolution with Spain, the Dutch War, the War of Palatinate and the War of the Spanish Succession had a vast impact on France. By 1677, Louis had expanded the French navy from a fleet of 20 ships to 270 ships. During his reign, the arts flourished and French culture blossomed. Along with this came the construction of the exquisite, extravagant Versailles palace. Louis’ policy on religion produced the Edict of Fontainebleau, which revoked the former Edict on Nantes. These policies and events had both positive and negative effects on life in France during the 17th Century. It could be argued that during his reign, Louis XIV established France as a dominant European power by expanding the French borders and advancing the arts. History shows that during his reign, France achieved a new dominant power throughout Europe. Through his careful, deliberate planning, France acquired much new land. France stunned Europe when Louis invaded the Spanis... ... engaged France in numerous battles and because many of his greatest marshals were now dead, France began to lose many of the lands it had acquired earlier in his reign. By 1697, France had to return Lorraine, Flanders, Luxembourg and the area around the Rhine River. Louis continued to lose battle after battle, and these defeats hurt the economy of France. The cost of these defeats became a huge financial burden on the country. The public debt increased, and taxes were raised. In short, Louis XIV should not be referred to as a glorious ruler. His projects were costly and were often fruitless. After his closest advisors died, he seemed incapable of making good decisions anymore. His personal luxuries, and his desire to be looked upon as a godlike figure, caused economic problems and a severe national debt that took France centuries to overcome.

Meursault in “The Stranger” by Albert Camus Essay

Life is wonderful, but also hard. We struggle to find the meaning in our lives, but we can not accomplish it. There are many kinds of thoughts or philosophies of life; some think that life is already determined by God or destiny when they were born, while others think that they decide what they do by themselves. In â€Å"the stranger†, Albert Camus creates Meursault as a protagonist, who does not think about anything deeply. Because of that, he can not really enjoy his life. However, finally, he thinks about his life when he faces death; he truly realized how to face to the absurd world, and thus becomes Camus’ perfect existential hero. Meursault is indifferent, and he thinks he perfectly enjoys each moment; however, the reality is he just wastes time and does not even know that. Meursault thinks that emotion is ridiculous because people are controlled by it, and regret or feeling sorry is a waste of time. Thus, even when he faces his mother’s death, he does not feel anything. He does not have interest in his mother’s death, so he does not even know when his mother died. â€Å"Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know†(3). Usually, one’s mother’s death significant and people think about their lives through her death. Even though it is not his, and he knows that he can not find it, he should think about what his life means from the relationship between death and life. However, it is possible that he does not care about it too much because he can not do anything in her death, but he does not care about his marriage, too. He has a girlfriend, named Marie, and when she asked him to get married with her, he was still indifferent, â€Å"Then she pointed out that marriage was a serious thing. I said ‘No'†(42). He dos not know what is important in life. It is not because he has different sense of values but because he does not care about anything seriously. He has not had a big problem in his way, but his way to live is now problem. When he takes Arab’s life away, he does not really realize what he did. Even when he was in the police station, he does not understand what he did, thus, † c I was even going to shake his hand, but I remembered that I had killed a man†(64). He treats everything as a fact, so he does not really have an  emotion. He thinks it is the way to enjoy his life, but it makes his life more meaningless. He does not think deeply. Also, he thinks death is death, so there is no future after death. Then, he shot the Arab four times more, but he does not know what it means, â€Å"Then I fired four more times at the motionless body where the bullets lodged without leaving a trace. And it was like knocking four quick times on the door of unhappiness†(59). He does not feel good about shooting four more times, but it is not worth death at all. Taking human life is same as knocking the door of unhappiness for him; his way to live, which is without emotion makes his life horrible later, but at this time, he does not understand anything. Life without emotion is easy because an emotion does not make sense, so he can make sense with everything in his life. However, it also makes his life colorless. Because he is different from others, the society beats him; the world does not help him, so he now has to create meaning in his life by himself. When he is on trial, he testifies honestly because he always follows his heart and does what he wants; however, it does not fit the society, then people judge him from their subjective justice. @ @When he honestly testifies about why he killed Arab, people did not listen seriously, † cI blurted out that it was because of the sun. People laughed†(103). People do not understand him, and then they do not treat him as usual. They beat the stranger; there is nobody to help him. Moreover, they think they are right, so people rid from the society and make him look worse. The prosecutor does not want Meursault to live in the society, which the prosecutor lives and to have the same human heart. â€Å"He stated that I had no place in a society whose most fundamental rules I ignored and that I could not appeal to the same human heart whose elementary response I knew nothing of†(102). He denies Meursault’s human right. He should be in trouble, but in the trial, there are only people who think they are normal and right, so they are the same as him. Thus, they do not notice that the prosecutor is wrong. Their personality is horrible because there is no exception. Meursault thinks about this judgment and the â€Å"machinery of justice†(108). It is exactly correct. They follow their own common sense, and treat him as a stranger. The consequence is a death penalty. However, ironically, this situation, which makes him face death and being aware that nobody helps him, makes him  think about his life and notice that he has to find it by himself. Right before his death, he realized the meaning in life. People do not know why they are living, but they laugh at him because they think he is stupid and better than him; however, ironically, he understands his life. When he accepts the absurd world, he can create meaning of his life; there is no future, so he has to think about every single moment carefully and enjoy it. Ironically, he does not have time any more. However, he thinks, â€Å"I had been happy and that I was happy again†(123). Actually, he enjoys his life because he did not know that he has lived indifferently. His life is hard for ordinary people to understand, but for him, it totally makes sense. Moreover, he understands everything now, so he feels happiness again. Also, he feels a sense of superiority because he knows that people who look down on him do not know. There are many thought about world, and he wants to see the absurd world, and show them his way to live, â€Å"I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate†(123). He notices that nobody seriously cares about him, but still they come to his execution. Playing the game is ridiculous for him, but people can not live without it. Nobody really has a grudge against him, but they follow the others. Being apart from society is scary and alone, so usually people can not do that. He also feels that, so he wanted to die in the crowd. Also, he is proud of his life, so he wanted to show how he lived. Now, he really enjoys his life. The life is meaningless; he realizes it when he faces death. If people know that, they give up everything; however, for Meursault, everything makes sense. There is no clue in the world, so what he can do is creating the meaning by himself. Life is hard because nobody helps him, but he decides everything and what he does has meaning. He can enjoy his life fully, so his life is wonderful. He has to enjoy his life while he is living because there is nothing after death. There is no meaning in the world, so he creates it. Everything is to be happy.

How to Use RAND and RANDBETWEEN Functions in Excel

There are times when we wish to simulate randomness without actually performing a random process. For example, suppose we wanted to analyze a specific instance of 1,000,000 tosses of a fair coin. We could toss the coin one million times and record the results, but this would take awhile. One alternative is to use the random number functions in Microsoft’s Excel. The functions RAND and RANDBETWEEN both provide ways to simulate random behavior. The RAND Function We will begin by considering the RAND function. This function is utilized by typing the following into a cell in Excel: RAND() The function takes no arguments in the parentheses. It returns a random real number between 0 and 1. Here this interval of real numbers is considered a uniform sample space, so any number from 0 to 1 is equally likely to be returned when using this function. The RAND function can be used to simulate a random process. For example, if we wished to use this to simulate the tossing of a coin, we would only need to use the IF function. When our random number is less than 0.5, then we could have the function return H for heads. When the number is greater than or equal to 0.5, then we could have the function return T for tails. The RANDBETWEEN Function A second Excel function that deals with randomness is called RANDBETWEEN. This function is utilized by typing the following into an empty cell in Excel. RANDBETWEEN([lower bound], [upper bound]) Here the bracketed text is to be replaced by two different numbers. The function will return an integer that has been randomly chosen between the two arguments of the function. Again, a uniform sample space is assumed, meaning that each integer is equally likely to be chosen. For example, evaluating RANDBETWEEN(1,3) five times could result in 2, 1, 3, 3, 3. This example reveals an important use of the word â€Å"between† in Excel. This is to be interpreted in an inclusive sense to include the upper and lower bounds as well (as long as they are integers). Again, with the use of the IF function we could very easy simulate the tossing of any number of coins. All we would need to do is use the function RANDBETWEEN(1, 2) down a column of cells. In another column, we could use an IF function that returns H if a 1 has been returned from our RANDBETWEEN function, and a T otherwise. Of course, there are other possibilities of ways to use the RANDBETWEEN function. It would be a straightforward application to simulate the rolling of a die. Here we would need RANDBETWEEN(1, 6). Each number from 1 to 6 inclusive represents one of the six sides of a die. Recalculation Cautions These functions dealing with randomness will return a different value upon each recalculation. This means that every time that a function is evaluated in a different cell, the random numbers will be replaced by updated random numbers. For this reason, if a particular set of random numbers is to be studied later, it would be worthwhile to copy these values, and then paste these values into another part of the worksheet. Truly Random We must be careful when using these functions because they are black boxes. We do not know the process Excel is using to generate its random numbers. For this reason, it is difficult to know for certain that we are obtaining random numbers.