Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay Example for Free

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay Ernest Hemingway probably summed it up best when he said, All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn (source). We’re dealing with quite a book here. Published in 1885, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain’s follow-up to the Adventures of Tom Sawyer, carved new territory into the American literary landscape in several ways. As one of the first novels to use a specific region’s vernacular in its narration, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn set a precedent for many other distinctly American works to follow. Some readers didn’t exactly get this new colloquial style, however. Accustomed to the proper prose of Hawthorne, Thoreau, and Emerson, some readers didn’t know what to do with Huck’s particular way of storytelling. Aside from the novel’s new style of writing, Twain’s decision to use thirteen-year-old Huck as the narrator allowed him to include certain content that a more civilized narrator probably would have left out. At first, Twain’s novel was labeled crass by some readers. The book was even banned in schools for its use of the n-word which is ironic, given that the novel is up in arms over slavery. Even today, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn makes Banned Books lists. Look more:Â  social satire essay Twain’s novel jumped head first into one of the biggest issues of its day: racism. Although the Emancipation Proclamation had been signed over two decades before Huckleberry Finn’s original publication date, African-Americans everywhere were still victims of oppression and racism. They were technically free, but often by name only in Reconstruction-era America. Many southerners were bitter about the outcome of the Civil War. By guiding his characters through several states of the Confederacy, Twain was able to reveal the hypocrisy of many pre-war southern communities. As a southerner himself, Twain had first-hand experiences to draw on, and he was able to walk the fine line between realistic depiction and ironic farce. Not to mention, Twain created the now-iconic character of Jim, a runaway slave who convinces Huck that African-Americans are deserving of freedom, and that equality is a goal for which we all should be fighting. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is now considered to be one of the Great American Novels, mostly due to how it so heartily champions the American ideals of freedom, independence, and rugged individualism. Huck’s dedication to his own moral standards and his bold sense of adventure and self-sufficiency have earned him a place in the All-American Hall of Fame. In addition, Twain is a hilarious storyteller, and the plot of this novel is a roller-coaster ride of moral dilemmas – so trust us when we say that if you haven’t taken the ride yet, you probably should. Why Should I Care? Mark Twain wrote Adventures of Huckleberry Finn twenty years after the American Civil War. Slavery had been abolished, and the North and South were making up (albeit with some residual anger). So why publish a highly moralistic tale about a system that was no longer in place? Weren’t race issues a moot point once slavery was out of the picture? Hardly. Freedom didn’t mean equality by any means – not legally, socially, or practically. (See Shmoop Historys Jim Crow in America for more.) Actually, come to think of it, this isn’t an outdated notion at all. Rules and laws often don’t accurately reflect what’s really going on. From a legal standpoint today, we have equality of race; yet racism is still a problem. Men and women are equal, yet many still see a glass ceiling for women in the workplace, meaning they often have invisible boundaries to advancement. That doesn’t mean laws are useless. Laws may not immediately effect change, but we’ve seen that they do precede change. While laws can affect how people act, it takes more to change the way we think. We can’t rely on laws alone. That’s where The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn comes back into the picture. We need people like Mark Twain to remind us not to be self-congratulatory for starting a process in motion, but instead to realize that greater change is always necessary.

Essay --

Introduction The Hedge fund industry is surrounded by many debate and controversy. Lack of excessive returns, unclear impact, oversight on the market are all subjects of concerns for the public and market participants. The hedge fund industry worries small investors and financial professional who do not know how to accurately assess the risks associated with hedge funds. Hedge funds are mainly operating like mutual funds but not the managers. Oversight and low regulation allow them to not make public information on their profits and losses or investment strategies. Hedge funds rely a lot on volumes to achieve profits. Systemic risk became a major part of the debate since LTCM in 1998. Story of LTCM Background Long Term Capital Management - LTCM - was a hedge fund that was established in 1994 by John Meriwether who was a successful bond trader at Salomon Brothers. Meriwether was one of the first on Wall Street who hired professors and academics who applied models based on financial theories to trading. This team demonstrated an ability to precisely calculate risk and generated amazing returns (Goldberg, M., 2012). The partners of LTCM included a professor from Harvard University, Nobel Price-winning economists, a former vice president of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, and other successful bond traders. This group of traders and academics attracted about $1.3 billion from different institutional clients (Goldberg, M., 2012). Investors were not allowed to take any money out for three years and paid $10 million to get into the fund. Annual return in 1995 was 42.8% after management took 27% off the top in fees. In 1997 LTCM successfully hedged most of the risk from the Asian currency crisis by ... ...ge (Goldberg, 2012). Should the Fed have intervened? In order to save the U.S. banking system, the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York William McDonough convinced 15 banks to bail out LTCM with $3.5 billion, in return for a 90% ownership of the fund. Also, the Fed started lowering the Fed funds rate as a assurance to investors that the Fed would do whatever it took to support the U.S. economy. Without that direct interference, the entire financial system was threatened with a collapse (Amadeo, 2012). However, the Fed brokered and intervened a better deal for the LTCM managers and shareholders. This was the precedent for the Federal Reserve's bailout role with AIG, Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the financial crisis. Once financial companies realized that the Fed would bail them out, they were more willing to take risks (Amadeo, 2012).

Cement Kiln Shell Welding

Cleaned the weld chamfers free from rust preventive coating. * Welded erection irons (20 Nos) on both sides of the joint & pulled the sections together by draw bolt. * Adjusting irons are welded in between the erection irons where shell overlap was found. * Checked the alignment of the shell with Piano wire arrangement. * Gap of 3mm maintained in between the shell joint. * Strong backs will be welded on one shell after initial alignment. * Took polar readings on either side of the joint & both ends of the Shells * Plotted polar diagrams and checked the eccentricity. Tolerances : * Eccentricity (radial run out ) must not exceed * +/- 1. 0 mm of the inlet & outlet rings * +/- 1. 5mm of the erection welds. * +/-1. 4mm of kiln section in the live ring. Axial untruth of live ring must not exceed +/- 1mm * After completion of alignment, weld the strong backs to the other side. Welding of Joint : * Clean the joint surface. * Preheat the joint area of shell ( 1m lg ) to 150 deg * Welding ele ctrodes are to be preheated * Complete the root run on the outer surface of the joint side with 2. 5mm electrode. * Next with 4mm electrode & then 5mm & 6 mm electrodes. Gouge & remove the root run weld from the inner surface of the joint, check with Dye penetrant for any cracks and start the root run inside. * Complete the inside welding. * Check the joint by Ultrasonic testing. * Importance of Pre-heating: * Preheating slows the cooling rate in the weld area. This may be necessary to avoid cracking of the weld metal or heat affected zone.* Hydrogen contributes to delayed weld and /or heat affected zone cracking, hence it is important to keep the weld joint free of oil, rust, paint, and moisture as they are sources of hydrogen. * Electrodes used ( 1-2 joint) : FLS 9721 : E 7018 (3. 15mm ) Bottom runs * FLS 9721 : E 7018 (4. 00mm) * FLS 9721 : E 7018 (5mm) * FLS 9732 : E 6027 for Cover Run * E 7018 E 6027 * Yield stress : 410-480360-410 N/sq. mm * Tensile strength :510-590 440-490 N /sq. mm * Elongation : 28% 27 * Impact (Charpy V) * +20deg c – approx. 14090 * Electrodes used (other joints) : * FLS 9727 : E 9018 (3. 15mm ) * FLS 9727 : E 9018 (4. 00mm) * FLS 9727 : E 9018 (5mm) * FLS 9727: E 9018 ( 6mm) E 9018: Yield stress : 490-590 N/sq. mm Tensile strength : 640-740 N/sq. mm Elongation : 25% Impact (Charpy V) +20deg c – approx. 180

Reasons for Humanity to Go Back to the Moon

It has been  decades since the first astronauts walked on the lunar surface. Since then, nobody has set foot on our nearest neighbor in space. Sure, a fleet of probes have headed to the Moon, and they have supplied a lot of information about conditions there.   Is it time to send people to the Moon? The answer coming from the space community is a qualified yes. What that means is, there are missions on the planning boards, but also many questions about what people will do to get there and what theyll do once they set foot on the dusty surface. What Are the Obstacles? The last time people landed on the Moon was in 1972. Since then, a variety of political and economic reasons have kept space agencies from continuing those bold steps. However, the big issues are money, safety, and justifications. The most obvious reason that lunar missions arent happening as quickly as people would like is their cost. NASA spent billions of dollars during the 1960s and early 70s developing the Apollo missions. These happened at the height of the Cold War when the U.S. and the former Soviet Union were at odds politically but were not actively fighting each other in land wars. The expenses of trips to the Moon were tolerated by American people and Soviet citizens for the sake of patriotism and staying ahead of each other. Although there are many good reasons to go back to the Moon, its tough to get a political consensus on spending taxpayer money to do it. Safety Is Important The second reason hampering lunar exploration is the sheer danger of such an enterprise. Faced with the immense challenges that plagued NASA during the 1950s and 60s, it is no small wonder that anyone ever made it to the Moon. Several astronauts lost their lives during the Apollo program, and many technological setbacks took place along the way. However, long-term missions aboard the International Space Station show that humans can  live and work in space, and new developments in space launch and transport capabilities are promising safer ways to get to the Moon. Why Go? The third reason for a lack of lunar missions is that there needs to be a clear mission and goals.  While interesting and scientifically important experiments can always be done, people are also interested in return on investment. Thats particularly true for companies and institutions interested in making money from lunar mining, science research, and tourism. Its easier to send robot probes to do science, although its better to send people. With human missions come higher expenses in terms of life support and safety. With the advances of robotic space probes, a great amount of data can be gathered at a much lower cost and without endangering human life. The big-picture questions, like how did the solar system form, require much longer and more extensive trips than just a couple days on the Moon. Things Are Changing The good news is that attitudes toward lunar trips can and do change, and its likely that a human mission to the Moon will happen within a decade or less. Current NASA mission scenarios include trips to the lunar surface and also to an asteroid, although the asteroid trip may be of more interest to mining companies.   Traveling to the Moon will still be expensive. However, NASA mission planners feel that the benefits outweigh the cost. Even more important, the government foresees a good return on investment. Thats actually a very good argument. The Apollo missions required a significant initial investment. However, technology—weather satellite systems, global positioning systems (GPS), and advanced communication devices, among other advancements—created to support the lunar missions and subsequent planetary science missions are now in everyday use on Earth. New technologies aimed specifically at future lunar missions would also find their way into the worlds economies, spurring a good return on investment Expanding Lunar Interest Other countries are looking quite seriously at sending lunar missions, most specifically China and Japan.  The Chinese have been very clear about their intentions, and have good capability to carry out a long-term lunar mission. Their activities may well spur American and European agencies into a mini race to also build lunar bases. Lunar orbiting laboratories may make an excellent next step, no matter who builds and sends them.   The technology available now, and that to be developed during any concentrated missions to the Moon, would allow scientists to do much more detailed (and longer) studies of the Moons surface and sub-surface systems. Scientists would get the opportunity to answer some of the big questions about how our solar system was formed, or the details about how Moon was created and its geology. Lunar exploration would stimulate new avenues of study. People also expect that lunar tourism would be another way to maximize exploration.   Missions to Mars are also  hot news these days. Some scenarios see humans heading to the Red Planet within a few years, while others foresee Mars missions by the 2030s. Returning to the Moon is an important step in Mars mission planning. The hope is that people could spend time on the Moon to learn how to live in a forbidding environment. If something went wrong, rescue would be only a few days away, rather than months.   Finally, there are valuable resources on the Moon that can be used for other space missions. Liquid oxygen is a major component of the propellant needed for current space travel. NASA believes that this resource can be easily extracted from the Moon and stored at deposit sites for use by other missions — particularly by sending astronauts to Mars. Many other minerals exist, and even some water stores,  that can be mined as well. The Verdict Humans have always made an effort to understand the universe, and going to the Moon does seem to be the next logical step for many reasons. It will be interesting to see who starts up the next race to the Moon. Edited and revised by Carolyn Collins Petersen