The book Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome Essay Example for Free

The book Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome Essay I have read the book Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome. It is a childrens adventure story in the period between the two world wars featuring the Walker and Blackett children, their families, and other inhabitants of the area around the Lake District in the northeast of England. A childrens camping and sailing story, it grasps the mind of the readers firmly although it is not fantasy and has a background of reality, through the interesting leisure activities and fascinating plot. The story begins with four Walkers, John, Susan, Titty and Roger, who are on holiday, borrowing a dinghy called the Swallow and going camping on a lake island, which they name Wild Cat Island. But they are soon challenged by the Blackett girls Nancy and Peggy (real names Ruth and Margaret), on the boat Amazon, who claim ownership to the island. After a short quarrel, they decide to form an alliance against the unfriendly houseboat man and ex-pirate, Captain Flint (in reality, James Turner) who is also the Amazons uncle. After a brief battle to decide the flagship, they attack Captain Flint and claim victory. Captain Flint becomes friendly again and the younger Swallows help Mr. Turner find his stolen treasure. The story ends with the departure of the Swallows back home. The part I found most interesting in this book is Titty, the third of the Walkers and able-seaman, staying alone in the island for the night while the others went on an expedition and capturing the Amazon. First, I was very impressed at her choice to guard the island. Most people, especially children, do not like being left alone and would have normally chosen to be in the thick of the action with the others going up the Amazon River, but such was her love of the island that she wanted to guard it in the dark. She also imagined herself as Robinson Crusoe stranded on a desert island but in the opposite of what the real Robinson Crusoe thinks in the book, she thought that he ought to have wished to stay on it forever. I was totally captured by her imaginativeness and love of nature. Secondly, although she was fooled unawares by the Amazons, she did not lose her head but stayed calm and in a superb action of dynamic circulation of mind, succeeded in capturing the Amazon by counter-using their plan and finally won victory for the Swallows, whom, had it not been for her, would have lost the battle. The art of keeping a cool head in an emergency is one of the most important virtues of life and I admire her very much for that. This talent is something I have always lacked, not that I ever found myself in a real emergency, and I must try to raise the ability of calm and dynamic thinking to overturn my inferior situation. In reading this whole book, I found the character that resembles me most Roger, the youngest of the Swallows. He is still a young boy of seven and unlike the others, who are quite mature for their young ages, has childish characters such as fearing the dark although he tries to fill in with his older siblings as adventurous youths. I have wondered when I would become all that brave and fearless like my father and other male adults. I have come to a conclusion that I must try to make change within myself, not only think that I deserve change for nothing. Roger took part in all the adventures and in the end, I might say that he achieved quite an improvement in his level of maturity through his adventures by participating and trying to really enjoy them, abandoning his traces of childishness. I hope that I will have a chance soon to grow up from the inside, which I shall embrace with open arms. I think what this book is trying to tell readers is that the flow of life, however seemingly rough and irregular, always has a constantness about it and that if you will something a lot and try hard, everything shall end well through the victory of the Swallows against the Amazons, the allied children triumphing above Captain Flint, everybody becoming friends, and everything resolving itself well. This, I think, can be applied in the same way with personal relationships. I have seen the Swallows and the Amazons finally become friends, and Mr. Turner making it up again with his nieces. It is the same in my daily life: I have a little crack in my relations with my parents due to my misbehaviors, but we always find back our good relationships. Reading this book will have effects on my future life. It has helped me to try to become a more mature person and to have more hope in things, but not to ask for good things without trying. This was also quite a new kind of book to me. Up to now, I had not yet read a realistic adventure story like this book. Also, the subjects of camping and sailing were quite new to me and I had difficulties understanding the specific vocabulary about tents and boats. But this experience of reading Swallows and Amazons, I believe, will help me very much in reading other books about similar topics. I enjoyed very much this book and would like to read the later books in the series also. *I wrote this book report in January 2009 after having read the book Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome (1930).

Essay --

Vigilantism is deeply rooted in American tradition (Brown, 1975). Arising in response to an absence of law and order in early frontier regions, and a concern with self-protection and self-preservation, vigilantes were seen as valued members of society. One of the primary reasons for the value of vigilantes is that their jurisdiction began where the law ended (Burrows, 1976; Perry & Pugh, 1989). Moreover, vigilantes partook in behaviors that legal authorities would not, could not, and should not perform (Brown, 1975). Incidents of vigilantism are not isolated to the American frontier, though. Reports of vigilantism have emerged in countries such as the United Kingdom (Evans, 2003; Sharp, Atherton, & Williams, 2008), Kosovo (Wheeler, 2000), Nigeria (McCall, 2004), Indonesia (Barker, 2006), Israel (Yanay, 1993), and Ghana (Adinkrah, 2005). These reports often conjure up mixed beliefs. Some society members and organizations publicly chastise vigilantes (Hine, 1998; McCall, 2004; Perry & Pugh, 1989), while others publicly herald them as heroes (Perry & Pugh, 1989). Lawyers, judges, and citizens have seen vigilantes as necessary components in the framework of America (Brown, 1975) and several movies have idolized real (e.g., Issakaba series) and fictional vigilantes (e.g., Death Wish and Vigilante). Pundits and intellectuals have also defended real-life vigilantes (i.e., the Bakassi Boys) accused of torture, rape, and arbitrary imprisonment. Interestingly, individuals view behaviors such as rape and t orture as deplorable when enacted in everyday situations; however, when vigilantes behave in such a way, their actions are not viewed as negatively (Ekeh, 2002; McCall, 2004). Although the general concept of a vigilante is somewhat clear... ...g victims using the mechanism of dehumanization. Dehumanization removes human qualities and/or attributes from individuals by stripping them of thoughts and feelings. For example, during Vietnam, soldiers referred to the enemy as â€Å"gooks† rather than Vietnamese citizens (Kaiser, 1969). After removing the moniker of humanness, deplorable actions are more acceptable. If removing human qualities is not successful though, individuals might also ascribe demonic or bestial qualities to their victims (Bandura, 2002). Attribution of Blame Individuals might also derogate victims by using the attribution of blame mechanism of moral disengagement. Attribution of blame portrays the aggressor as a faultless victim driven to harmful conduct through forced action (Bandura, 2002). For example, some rapists suggest that the victim was â€Å"asking for it† by the way she dressed or acted.

KM Phase Project Report

Electronics (GAPE) to analyze their processes and to come up with a KM improvement plan to shorten their product development lead-time. We took a closer look at the key activities in the product development process and identified critical activities that had most impact on the development lead- time which is the focus for our study. We also got to learn development that did not go as planned as well as getting to know what is working well in product development.Completing the KM assessment has allowed us to draw the following results: GAPE should focus on Exchange, Combination and Colonization (for both Knowledge Sharing and Discovery). Attention should be given to Routine, Direction, Sterilization and Initialization. The majority of knowledge were captured through formal procedural processes and stored in the Exchange database. But it is not easy for engineers to find them. Knowledge locator may help to solve this problem.The current KM Infrastructure does not support colonization w ell enough and does not really exhibit knowledge sharing between development teams. This could improve by setting up community Of practices. The key to success is in getting the product design requirements right the first mime, perform thorough evaluations on all project risks and get the design right the first time. This goes with the reuse of knowledge (I. E. Past product development experiences, standard proven design, lessons learned from the past so that mistakes will not get repeated and the use of best practices).This calls for all internal as well as external brains together to approve design before proceeding to the next stage of development. [2] Company Background Information Gold Peak Industries GAP (Holdings) Limited -the parent company of GAPE- was established in 1964 and it has been in the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong since 984. It is well known by the public for its battery products under the GAP Batteries brand. GAPE is in the design and manufacturing industry special ized in both consumer and professional audio products. Reduces developed range from personal audio system & HI Speakers to professional amplifiers & speakers use in cinemas, stadiums and concerts. Engineers take ideas from product concepts through to mass production, then leave the design in safe hands to their manufacturing colleagues in their Hough production plant. The Center of Engineering Department is located in downtown Sheehan and as over 135 Engineering staff. Located in the same site, there are over 65 staff from various associated activities to support the Engineering needs.The Engineering Department is organized into 3 main branches: Product Development Operation (65 persons) Technology (35 persons) Engineering Support Services (35 persons) Also the Acoustic Team at Hough factory has 44 persons And at Hong Kong office the RFC Team with 7 engineers. The Department Business Strategy is strong product development with dedicated functional teams – Electronics Teams, M echanical Teams, Software Teams, DSL Teams, RFC Teams, Quality Assurance Teams, Safety & Environmental Team, Test & Measurement Team, etc.For further information, please visit our client's websites: Gold Peak Group www. Galloped. Com Electronic Division: www. Gap-industries. Com [3] Assessment Scope and Objective Assessment Scope : Product Development Product Development is the primary task in the Engineering Department. Therefore, putting forward Product Development as our assessment scope came with no surprise. Assessment Objective : Shorten Product Development Lead-Time There are wow key strategic performances in product development, namely Quality and Time-to-Market.In order not to make our assessment too broad for this Knowledge Management project, we have chosen the latter as our assessment objective which is also the most important out of the TV'0 for GAPE. By improving Time-to-Market, in product development perspective, we are referring to shortening product development lead -time. The following are advantages from a shorten product development lead-time: Stay competitive in the increasing competition in the worldwide market Avoid back-orders and preventing lost sales. It may also lead to more orders and more sales if development is ahead of schedule. 4] Organization Chart Figure 1: Organization Chart In reference to Figure 1, we have the Department's organization chart. Sitting at the top of the chart, we have the Engineering Director and then branching down to sections Of functional teams. Starting from the left, we have the Product Development Section composed of a team of project managers and 4 Development Teams. Development teams are primarily consisted of Electronics engineers where they are responsible for electronics design and development as well as leading the verbal activities in Product Development.Next, we have the Mechanical Section consisting of Mechanical engineers. Mechanical Product development team support mechanical related design an d development of Product Development. Advance Mechanical section specialized in new design techniques and choice of materials, simulation and other tools that may help development. The Engineering Service Section provides support and services to other sections. It consists of the Safety, Environmental and Material Teams, The Artwork and workshop. Document Control takes care of all documents in & out of Engineering.The Technology Section consisting of Advance Engineering, Software Team, RFC Team and the DSL Team all working towards the same goal to maintain a competitive edge to compete with the others. These are the lucky group in the department whom will get to learn, design and develop first of the kind in both technologies and products (I . E. Technologies and products that are new to GAPE). Finally we have the Acoustic Team. This Team is responsible for design and development of drivers and speakers. 5] Product Development Process projects are initiated with feasibility and just ification with the introduction Of product design specification. In reference to the Product Design Specification Engineer, the engineers will review all past design in the Exchange system with similar specification and review all lessons learned from similar field. The engineers will then work on the initial draft design considering technical risk assessment, BOOM cost, tooling cost, development lead-time and Engineering hours and other investment that go with the project.Reuse existing design and components where appropriate. Tacit Sharing on design and progress are held on a weekly basis. Only the final sign proposal will be uploaded to their Exchange system when all criteria are met and ready for management approval. Formal procedures (routines) and document format are in place for uploading design document to the Exchange system at the end of each development stage. Design are checked according to design rules and approved by managers before the upload is approved. Please refer to the following figure for the Product Development Process Flow.Figure 2: Product Development Process The Product Development Process consists of 4 stages – Feasibility, Design & Realization, Industrialization and Mass Production. The items in the middle are key activities that we have identified in the product development process. At the bottom are the outcomes from each of these stages. Below is an explanation Of the activities in each Of the 4 Stages. Feasibility Stage The project typically starts with a set of requirements listing out the required features, the industrial design and the target cost.The engineers will need to process this information, consider their Use Cases and their User Interface. They will then find out if there are any past projects and designs that can be used to meet some of these requirements. Reusing proven designs will minimize the development lead-time and impose minimal risk to the development. The engineers will then put together a proposal for customer to sign off the project. Often a time the proposal will get adjusted to better match with the end user's needs, cost target of the customer and time to market.Any new technology, new component needed and any performance specification required beyond those achieved in the past by the department had to be found, evaluated and learned. All risks will need to be assessed before committing to the project. These are conducted in the Technology Scouting & Evaluation activity. Once all risks are assessed and requirements are met per customer wish, Engineer can proceed with the Project planning activity to draw up the development schedule and plan all resources (both man power and equipment) for the development. The concept release will be granted after successfully completing all feasibility activities.Design and Realization This involves all knowledge from past projects, lessons learned and best practices together to come up with the solution. Design involves electronic circu its, software and mechanical design. Once the design is drawn, the engineers will conduct simulations to predict if the design conformed to performance requirement. Once the design passed simulation test, Engineer will design the circuit on PC. This is the PC Layout Design activity. They will also design a test plan to qualify the design at board level as well as at system level.The realization is a collection of activities in getting physical samples, build and design tested. These activities are the Prototype Sample Build, the Engineering Sample Build and the Tool Making. Only a few samples (typically 3 sets) will be built during the Prototype stage. The Engineering Sample Build mom after the Prototype Build involving a larger quantity (typically 1 5 sets) and it will have all design improvements in place from the prototype design. Engineer will initiate Tool Making once the mechanical design is mature enough and off-tool parts will be used on the Pilot Build.The design release is granted only when enough confidence is gained from the design during the Design and Realization stage. The engineers may proceed to the next stage of development after granting Design Release. Industrialization This stage consists of 2 key activities: the Pilot Build and the Pre-production Build. Both builds are conducted on the production floor with production flow, processes and test fixtures specifically designed for the product. The design for Manufacturing issues and Standard Operating Procedure gets verified and optimized on the Pre-production Build prior to Mass Production.The build quantity is considerably larger than previous builds. These processes are also very valuable in verifying design tolerances and production process variations. Mass production At this stage, all design and production processes would have been fully verified and qualified for production in huge quantities. Product Development Process Flow will come to an end after executing the first production lot . The engineers will then leave the design, repair and product know to their Manufacturing Engineers whom will have full responsibility of the product from there onward. 6] Learning from Past Product Developments Let's take a closer look on past product development and see if we find opportunities to shorten the development lead-time if we had been given another chance to do it again. We have reviewed 10 products developed in the past 12 months. We have observed there was no hold up on schedule urine the Industrialization Stage and the Mass Production Stage. The following activities typically are more procedural and time controlled and they did not show sign to have impact on the lead-time: Project Planning, Simulations, PC Layout, Test Plan, Prototype Build, Engineering Sample Build and Tool Making.We found issues that lead to a longer lead-time fall into the following categories: Technology Scouting and Evaluation Example: Risks are not thoroughly understood before committing to d evelopment. One of the projects had its USB Audio with intermittent audio while operating from Windows XP. This intermittent problem was unknown until the team got to the evaluation stage on the first prototype sample. The problem resides in the software driver design where the solution provider could not solve in a short time and the team has no access to the driver codes to solve it.The team had to find an alternative USB Audio solution to continue the development. This had resulted in a time loss of 2 months. Circuit, Software & Mechanical Design a) Example 1: Design from scratch where they could have reused an existing proven solution. We have identified one Of the project where the engineers ad designed an all new amplifier from scratch where they could have simply reuse design from a past project. This new amplifier had no performance, cost, weight or size advantage over the existing design.The reason for designing the new amplifier was because the team of engineers was not aw are that there was an equivalent amplifier design which they could have just copied. This has resulted in a time loss of 1 month and also in a waste of engineering effort. B) Example 2: Repeating problems that had been encountered and solved by another team in past developments. [7] Critical Activities Figure 3: Critical Activities in the Product Development Process After understanding what went on with past product developments, we have concluded that some Of the activities are less critical to our assessment objective.In reference to Figure 3, these non-critical activities are highlighted in grey colored text. Activities remained in black color text are areas we have targeted to focus our study to improve their efficiency and effectiveness in order to shorten the overall development lead-time. [8) KM Assessment [8. 1] Desire KM processes We have mapped out contingency factors to each of the 2 critical sub- recesses to determine their desired KM processes.These contingency factors come from informal interviews conducted with various experienced Engineers working on product development in the department. These factors reflected how they overall judge each of these activities based on their participation in current and past product developments. Figure 4: Chart to determine desire KM Processes Major Processes Us b-processes Task Characteristics Knowledge Characteristics Organizational Characteristics Environmental Uncertainty Desired KM Process(SE) Uncertainty InterdependentTIE DIP Size Strategy Feasibility Technology scouting & Evaluation Medium High D Combination Colonization for knowledge Discovery Design Circuit , Software , Mechanical Low Exchange Colonization for knowledge sharing Projects handle by the department vary considerably in complexity ranging from a simple audio docking system to a complex Audio Visual Receiver involving complex DSL processing. By averaging out these extremes, we have decided to weight Task Uncertainty as â€Å"Medium† f or both sub-processes. This weighting is more representative of the real situations.

Captain Ahab Essay - 1462 Words

Captain Ahab sights Moby Dick from afar and continues his hot pursuit on the White Whale. For three days, a relentless chase occurs because of Ahab’s desire for revenge. The indomitable whale continually destroys boat after boat. During the latter days of the struggle, the whale finally attacks the Pequod, plunging the ship to the bottom pits of the ocean. Determined to reach his final goal, the captain makes a last ditch effort and launches his harpoon towards Moby Dick. Ironically, Ahab’s harpoon catches around his neck and strangles him to death. Obviously determined to avenge his leg, the Captain causes his own downfall through his own desire for retribution. In The Tragedy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark, Shakespeare creates two†¦show more content†¦In addition, he begins to doubt what the Ghost tells him during the beginning of the novel, which shows logical reasoning and thinking because of the lack of proof presented by the Ghost. Consequently, he decides t o find out first if the Ghost is speaking honestly, which shows that initially, thoughts of retribution did not corrupt Hamlet’s judgment till the latter acts of the play. Also, Hamlet makes evident his ability to think analytically when he again questions his lack of motivation. After watching the play, Hamlet berates himself over the lack of effort he exhibits. Hamlet questions, â€Å"Is it not monstrous that this player here, /But in a fiction, in a dream of passion, /Could force his soul so to his own conceit† (2.2.59-61). Hamlet’s adroit use of language again makes evident his control of mind, in complete contrast with his state of mind at the conclusion of the play. The doubt that lingered in his mind eventually transforms into an imminent burning desire for revenge, eventually corrupting Hamlet’s thoughts and leads to such doltish actions as the innocent killing of Polonius, Laertes’ father. His language reflects his lack of judgment because it contains no figurative devices and his statements are short, blunt, and are not straightforward. Laertes exhibits a similar transformation from thinking logically and reasonably to acting blindly with anger and without reason. During the beginning of the play,Show MoreRelated Captain Ahab and Moby Dick Essay1234 Words   |  5 Pages Captain Ahab and Moby Dick: Literary critics point to a variety of themes and juxtapositions when analyzing Herman Melvilles â€Å"Moby Dick†. Some see the land opposed to the sea or Fate opposed to free will. Most mention man versus nature or good versus evil. A perspective that seems overlooked though is the perspective of the self and the other. The self and other is when one discovers the other (something not us) within oneself, when one realizes that one is not a single being alien to anythingRead MoreCaptain Ahab And Ishmaels Visions Of Moby Dick1680 Words   |  7 PagesAlthough Captain Ahab’s and Ishmael’s conceptions of the eponymous Moby Dick and their quest to kill him are, in ways intellectual and emotional, similar, they diverge in that Ishmael’s conception of Moby Dick is organic and susceptible to revision, whereas Ahab’s is unchanging and linear. In order to compare and contrast Ahab and Ishmael’s visions of Moby Dick, it is necessary to understand each man’s vision of the quest. Captain Ahab’s understanding of Moby Dick is multifaceted, including conceptionsRead MoreCaptain Ahab Had A Wife, By Lisa Norling1715 Words   |  7 PagesCaptain Ahab Had a Wife, by Lisa Norling, is a collection of ideas and information regarding women in the whaling industry in the seventeen and eighteen hundreds. Norling writes how women were affected by the whaling industry, they depended on society for stability, and often conformed to society s rules. The book is written to portray women during this time as resilient and capable of living in a man driven world. By recovering the stories of real maritime women, it enables to push beyond the stereotypicalRead MoreCaptain Ahab Had A Wife : New England Women And The Whalefishery 1720-18201949 Words   |  8 PagesLisa Norling’s book, Captain Ahab Had a Wife: New Englan d Women and the Whalefishery 1720-1820, focuses on the feminist view of the early whale fisheries of New England. Feminism is the belief that women should be allowed the same rights, power, opportunities, and respect as men. During the eighteenth and nineteenth century, New England’s whaling businesses were at their highest points in their careers. It sent hundreds of ships and thousands of men out to sea on voyages that could last up to fiveRead MoreMelvilles Moby Dick: Comparing the Missions of Ahab and Ishmael1658 Words   |  7 Pagesuniverse, his fate, and his God. Ahab represents a human being made up of evil, when he decides to questions God fate, and goes against God when he tries to strike Moby Dick the whale. The whale in this novel represents God. Moby-Dick, can teach you many things if you can remain focused long enough. However, the most important lesson that can be learned from the work is not that hard to understand. This lesson about this novel can be summ ed up in one sentence; Captain Ahab mission leads him to deathRead MorePerspectives of the Beast820 Words   |  4 Pagesdifferent opinions on nature and the marvelous creatures that make up the world around them. In this paper, I will explore the differences between Captain Ahab and Santiago. In Moby Dick, we are introduced to Captain Ahab and his personal quest to avenge the personal loss he suffered at the jaws of what he considered to â€Å"evil† while Ishmael recounts â€Å" Ahab did not fall down and worship it like them; but deliriously transferring its idea to the abhorred white whale, he pitted himself, all mutilated,Read MoreAnalysis of Herman Melville ´s Moby Dick Essay821 Words   |  4 Pages Herman Melville, in his renowned novel Moby-Dick, presents the tale of the determined and insanely stubborn Captain Ahab as he leads his crew, the men of the Pequod, in revenge against the white whale. A crew mixed in age and origin, and a young, logical narrator named Ishmael sail with Ahab. Cut off from the rest of society, Ahab attempts to make justice for his personal loss of a leg to Moby Dick on a previous voyage, and fights against the injustice he perceived in the overwhelming forces thatRead More I am The Universe891 Words   |  4 PagesEveryone is responsible for their own actions. Moreover, Fate is just a scapegoat if something goes wrong. Captain Ahab, a character in the novel Moby Dick by Herman Melville, is a victim of his own negligent actions. As a result, he faces an unfortunate death from the fury of the white whale. Ahab places all of his hate on the whale, whom is later referred to as Moby Dick, because he lost a leg to him. He thinks that Moby Dick represents all of the hatred and evil in the world, and that he mustRead MoreHerman Melville s Moby Dick1358 Words   |  6 Pagespowerful emotions in the reader. Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick contains a man who is among the unforgettable characters of literature: Ahab, sea-captain of the whaling ship the Pequod. Ahab is a mysterious figure to Ishmael, the narrator of the tale, at first. Despite the captain’s initial reclusiveness, Ishmael gradually comes to understand the kind of man that Ahab is and, most importantly, the singular obsession he possesses: finding the white whale, Moby Dick, the beast that bit off his leg. TheRead MoreThe Effects Of Ambition In Moby Dick1727 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"joint-stock† illustrates that to Queqeueg, showing compassion is more than a choice, it is his nature. Even Ahab displays some compassion, which is best exemplified in the scene where the Pequod â€Å"gams† with the Enderby. One moment of compassion is the crossing of prosthetics between Ahab and Captain Boomer: â€Å"With his ivory arm frankly thrust forth in welcome, the other captain advanced, and Ahab, putting out his ivory leg, and crossing the ivory arm†¦ cried out in his walrus way, ‘Aye, aye, hearty! Let