Bram Stoker Essays - Dracula, Golders Green Crematorium, Bram Stoker

Bram Stoker Abraham (Bram) Stoker was born November 8, 1847 at 15 The Crescent, Clontarf, North of Dublin, the third of seven children. For the first 7 years of his life Stoker was bedridden with a myriad of childhood diseases which afforded him much time to reading. By the time he went to college, Stoker had somehow overcome his childhood maladies and while at Trinity College, Dublin, the honor student was involved in soccer and was a marathon running champion. He was also involved in various literary and dramatic activities, a precursor to his later interests in the theater and his involvement with the rising action Henry Irving, whose performance he had critiqued as a student at Trinity. After graduation from college, and in his father's footsteps, he became a civil servant, holding the position of junior clerk in the Dublin Castle. His literary career began as early as 1871 and in that year he took up a post as the unpaid drama critic for the "Evening Mail," while at the same time writing short stories. His first literary "success" came a year later when, in 1872, The London Society published his short story "The Crystal Cup." As early as 1875 Stoker's unique brand of fiction had come to the forefront. In a four part serial called the "Chain of Destiny," were themes that would become Stoker's trademark: horror mixed with romance, nightmares and curses. Stoker encountered Henry Irving again, this time in the role of Hamlet, 10 years after Stoker's Trinity days. Stoker, still very much the critic (and still holding his civil service position), gave Irving's performance a favorable review. Impressed with Stoker's review, Irving invited Stoker back stage and the resultant friendship lasted until Irving's death in 1905. The Stoker/Irving partnership solidified around the year 1878. During this time Henry Irving had taken over his own theater company called the London Lyceum, but he didn't like the management, and therefore approached Stoker to handle business, at which point Stoker gave up his government job and became the acting manager of the theater. A short time after Stoker began his new career, the publishing house of Sampson, Lowe contacted him expressing interest in a collection of Stoker's stories. "Under the Sunset" was published in 1891 and was well received by some of the critics, but others thought the book too terrifying for children. Stoker was already fascinated with the notion of the "boundaries of life and death" (Leatherdale, p.63) which made this book too terrifying for children at least in some of the reviewer's minds. By the time Stoker had received favorable reviews for his romance novel "The Snake's Pass" (1890), he was already making notes for a novel with a vampire theme, and by 1894 he was back to macabre themes. It seemed only a natural consequence that "Dracula" would follow and was published in June 1897. Reviews on "Dracula" were mixed, and the book never yielded much money for Stoker. In a favorable review the "Daily Mail" compared it with "Frankenstein" and Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher." "The Bookman" found it likeable in spots but commented that the "descriptions were hideous and repulsive." (Leatherdale, p.68) For the next few years after "Dracula's" publication, events took a downward spiral for both Irving and Stoker. There were troubles with Irving's establishment and a fire destroyed part of the theater (including some important scenery) and Irving eventually sold it. Stoker did manage however to publish "The Jewel of the 7 Stars" in 1903, and it was a novel based on the information given to Stoker by an Egyptologist. In 1905 Henry Irving died, leaving the aging Stoker without a steady jot for the first time in his life. A year after Irving's death Stoker wrote "Personal Reminiscences of Henry Irving." Stoker managed to write other novels after this point until the time of his death in 1912 at the age of 64.

A speech to persuade a philanthropical trust to fund a project for Essay

A speech to persuade a philanthropical trust to fund a project for saving dolphins in china - Essay Example statistics reveal that the species has a decreasing rate of 6.4%, and thus in 10-15, China will have lost a big share of its wealth (Davison, 2012, p.1). Certainly, China is famous for the rarest Yangtze River dolphin or Baiji. Year 1996 dolphins search by scientists on Yangtze River revealed the extent of depletion (â€Å"Petermaas,† 2011, p.1). Although the government has passed various regulations to reduce destruction of marine habitat, lack of proper follow up reduces its efficiency. For instance, electric fishing is strictly banned in Yangtze River but many still practice (Reeves et al, 2005, p.1). In addition, you agree with me that the wave of industrialization has resulted to bigger ships in the marine habitat. Bearing in mind that Baiji are almost blind animals they collide with ships leading to their death or are killed by ship propellers. The Yangtze River, the current habitation of Yangtze dolphin is unsecure and unreliable especially after the building of Three Gorge Dam. Therefore, the remaining dolphin requires a secure habitat. Let us remark that various initiatives have come up to protect our dolphin population. However, lack of proper funding has been the greatest drawback. We need to sensitize the public to stop electro fishing and using the wrong nets. We require funding to run sufficient advertising as we seek to sensitize all the stakeholders to put concerted efforts towards protection of dolphins. We, however, have a painstakingly uphill task considering that 30% of Yangtze River’s tributaries are seriously polluted. In fact, SEPA report calls the damage on this river as largely irreversible (Hance, 2012, p.1). Therefore, there is a need to get a conservation center where we can rescue the remaining porpoise dolphins. Previously, five porpoise dolphins introduced in the year 1990 in conservation prove this possible because they are forty in number as we speak (Davison, 2012, p.1). Therefore, I am kindly appealing to you for your kind

Annotated Bibiography Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Bibiography - Annotated Bibliography Example This is a book that gives a succinct discussion of the criminal justice and the imperfection associated with it. Written by experienced criminologist, the books present essays that describe injustices such as wrongful conviction in various nations. The authors also outline a number of recommendations deemed as necessary to stop the trend where the innocent are being punished by the legal systems. Most important, the book gives an elaborate explanation of how exonerated individuals can be compensated. Throughout his essay, the author underscores the value of carrying out the right investigation process before charging suspects of crimes. Janet Roberts & Elizabeth Stanton. (2007, November 25). A Long Road Back After Exoneration, and Justice Is Slow to Make Amends. New York Times (Late Edition (east Coast), p. 1.38. Retrieved November 2, 2011, from ProQuest National Newspapers Core. (Document ID: 1387902671). In their article, Roberts and Stanton present reveal the challenges faced by people who have been released after being charged for crimes they never commuted. Reporting on a case of Vincent Moto, a man released from prisons 9 years after serving for a wrongful conviction. The authors also interviewed a number of people released from prison after DNA test found not guilty. The article further describes that most of the people exonerated from prison lacked compensation and had to contend with moving from one job to another. With more findings from the Innocence project, the article indicates that few people receive compensation after being exonerated. In his work, Lizotte examines the case of criminal sanctioning, which he believes to be characterized by discrimination. He further discusses three forms of discrimination that are found in the sentencing of prisoners. Using data from the Chicago trial, Lizotte reported that many of non-white were more likely to be incarcerated as compared to

The President of Psychology’s 2008 Learned Society Essay Example for Free

The President of Psychology’s 2008 Learned Society Essay A day before the new academic year, I just can’t stop thinking about being back in school having new activities for the society and proudly continuing the works that the founders and alumni of the society had started and pursued according to its vision and mission. I was in my stuck in my room, daydreaming, looking forward to the incoming school year and hopefully this time winning for the post I have always wanted to be at ever since I joined the society. The start of the academic year in the university seemed to be a very pleasing scene since the election for new officers had already taken place. At that very moment, the room felt very warm and accommodating, I was rather shocked than pleased with myself. I have won. I have actually won. Now I already have what I have always wanted. The fact that the new president is someone I knew very well made me jump out of my seat, making me stand because the members of society had started grabbing my hand and muttering â€Å"congratulations† to me. And I certainly told myself that this year will turn out to be very exciting and much-looked forward to not only by members but by alumni of the society themselves. In the process of my being the new leader of the society, I think a few of what has been discovered and proven ahead of time will be included and remained. Discoveries and people that might prove to be useful not only to me but to the whole society with a reminder of what is the true essence of the learned group will be used rather continuously. On top of the list is Confucius, a government leader who lived from 551 – 479 BC. An important thing that I have picked up from his reign is that a â€Å"family is a critical social unit†. The family is considered to be the most important unit of the society since here is where a child is nurtured and taught of how to act and communicate when given the chance to meet other people. I certainly believe that the way a given family raises its children is a must. Being young, aged around five to ten is the most critical period of the individual. This is when the children start to realize life’s differences in the perspective of the people around them, the time when they will know what is right from wrong and would have that registered in their minds. So, as to relate this to our learned society, there is a need for every member to show concern to each other in order to understand and properly interpret actions portrayed. Each member has a role or a function in the group that all will be praised for something that they have done very good at and will be criticized if the plans do not work out well. But as a family, there is always a room for suggestion and forgiveness, and also help is always extendable. The next one is during the Ancient Greece Eclectic Orientation which says that â€Å"Sophists believe a person’s knowledge is based on experience. To support the belief that the Sophist possessed is Harry Stack-Sullivan who mentioned that the â€Å"individual is defined as the sum of interaction experiences. † In connection with this, during the 500 – 200 BC, stoicism mentioned that individuals are reactive, which in my opinion is related to what Sophists had to say about people thoughts being based on their experiences. People tend to respond to what the environment had set for them, which made them reactive. Simple explanation is that some of the recent discoveries today will not be present if it wasn’t for the people being curious on what happening around them. Most of the studies done, for example, Mayberry and colleagues having a research abut the coping mechanisms and effects of having a parent with mental illness on children, are mostly based on observations that they actually have. As Maurice Merleau-Ponty pointed out, â€Å"we cannot attend something unless we experience it. † Faith and science will never be at ease with each other for some reason. Honestly, there will always be discoveries that might prove that some of the church’s teachings are quite not right and reasonable, or some may say that science is contradicting the teachings of the church. Looking at an issue that seems to be old and vanishing already, the issue of condoms, has been given a great deal of the church. Religious, let us say, some of the religious people are not favorable of this because they say that it is contradicting what was written in the bible, â€Å"Go and multiply† as God told his people. Well, there is nothing really to argue about this because in the end, people tend to choose which to believe and follow. Choice is always a factor in this world. People always lean on the fact that they have to choose something where the benefit is always greater than the cost. Discoveries in different fields of science have been bursting out juts like everywhere. A certain person discovered a cure for a certain disease that was considered deadly before. A new place wherein artifacts have been discovered connecting it to the people who was born three hundred million years ago. And so on. On the question of what is left for the learned group to discover, well it is not really simply to answer but on top of priority list are more vivid researches on catharsis, the one that makes people speak of everything that they have inside their minds. Researches on the catharsis are assumed to be a great help especially to crime investigations. These can somehow make questioning on people who had just committed something against the law easier that officials or crime investigators will not have to use force on them. Those who were accused of a crime will just consciously tell every single information of the current situation. To be more specific, the question of how to let people tell everything is quite disturbing. Will there be a use of medicines, machines or just talking to that person, trying to lure out information through nice inviting way of talking? It seems like finding something that will let that person talk without hurting him. In connection to this, I would also want to find something that can actually totally stop a person from releasing different or multiple personalities without his knowledge that he can actually be somebody totally different from who he truly is and start ruining other people’s lives and alert somebody if a certain person is just imagining things and saying that he has multiple personalities when he is just actually faking it to get away from something or someone. Honestly, I am not really after discovering complicated things for complicated situations. I just wanted to make everything simple when everything seems to be complicated. A society is just like a fraternity, a brotherhood or say is just like a sorority, a sisterhood that has its own vision and mission. Activities and discoveries are important but the most important of all are its members. How can a group achieve its objectives when there are no people working hard for those? An organization, a society, a fraternity or a sorority needs members to operate and achieve goals. That is why members, people, getting along with each other, unite and organize themselves for certain mission and vision are the most important ingredients in a society. Being a president is a major responsibility. Being a president is not how you dictate people what they should do at a certain moment, it is being open to listen to ideas that members could possibly have in order to improve the current status of the society. A president is someone who can guide each and every person in the society to do things that are of their strengths and most of all, someone who can bring out the best in every person.

Lord of The Rings :: essays research papers

J.R.R. Tolkien's concept of too much power is summed up by Lord Acton when he once said, "Power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely." In Tolkien's first book of his fantasy based trilogy, Lord of the Rings, the Fellowship of the Rings tells a story of a quest to destroy a powerful ring throughout Tolkien's created "Middle Earth". This quest was headed by a "Hobbit" named Frodo Baggins who, in the end, becomes corrupted by power himself. This corruption begins when Frodo uses his ring to become invisible over and over again to escape certain situations. The quest to destroy the powerful "Ruling Ring" forms the basis for this story. The book begins with Bilbo Baggins celebrating his one hundred and eleventh birthday. Many "Hobbits" show up at his party including his third cousin, Frodo, which is the main character of the novel and a powerful wizard named Gandalf. Biblo possed a powerful ring known as the "Ruling Ring" which gives "Supreme Power" to whoever has possession of it. At the end of the party, Bilbo uses his magical ring to turn invisible and stun his guests. Gandalf, the powerful wizard, then meets up with Biblo at his house and takes the ring from Bilbo, which is corrupting him. Gandalf examines it, realizing that the ring Bilbo has is the powerful "Ruling Ring". Knowing that the forces of evil are in search of the ring, Gandalf sends Frodo, a relative of Biblo, to destroy the ring in the only place it can be destroyed, "Mt. Doom". Overhearing the talk between Gandalf and Frodo, Sam, a "Hobbit", that is good friends with Frodo is forced on the quest to aid Frodo. The two Hobbits set off on a journey in which they meet up with others that join them on their journey such as Gimli the "Dwarf", Legolas the "Elven" archer, Boromir a "Human" tracker, Aragorn the heir to the "Human" throne, two more "Hobbits" Merry, Pippin and the powerful "Wizard" Gandalf. They travel across "Middle Earth" fighting off many "Orcs" and "Black Riders" which are in search of the ring by the orders of the powerful evil "Wizard" Sauron. During their quest, they encounter many ambushes by the "Orcs" which they overcome and usually slay. In some of the ambushes, Frodo uses his ring to become invisible to escape from the "Orcs" and "Black Riders". Boromir asks to see Frodo's ring because he has a yearning for power and authority and then tries to take it from him.

Life in the Trenches Essay

Today, we were once again heavily bombarding the German lines. It was a routine thing nowadays. Some of the more experienced soldiers didn’t even notice the heavy German response bombardments that were every second posing a threat to their lives. As we heard a shell landing, we heard attentively just to make sure it wasn’t coming direct on us and then, the colossal roar burst from the ground. Life here was getting rather monotonous, always the same routine, four days on the frontline then four days behind lines and then the same thing the following week or so. It wasn’t what the papers said up in England, they were written to hide the truth of the massacring that occurred at the battle of the Sommes for one example. Hundreds and thousands of corps lay motionless on the ground. General Haig believed that with heavy bombardments we could break through their lines. He was mistaken. Men were crushed by the machine-gun fire as if dry leaves and they lay there, untouched, rotting away in the muddy earth which emitted an incredibly pungent smell. The mud made it almost impossible to live in these trenches. The water was right up to my knees and there was nothing I could do about it. A lot of my comrades managed to get trench foot which was a disease which made your feet rot due to the fact that they remained submerged for hours if not days. Life was incredibly tough in the trenches, nothing like I had imagined it to be. I thought I’d come back as a war hero but from the English articles we read, it seemed to me as if none of our letters had been dispatched or if they had been intercepted in some way, to not allow our families know the real truth. They are made to believe that all is well and that the heroes that saved the French are close to victory. This was not true. Although General Haig did believe he made some progress today, it was nowhere near what we had hopes. The Germans knew about the attack and had built very effective means to defend themselves. They had built dig outs that were up to 12 metres deep underground. This was to protect from any sort of shell attack that the English and the French had. They also had very effective barbed wire that the English didn’t completely manage to destroy before the 200,000 men were sent over the top on a suicide mission. The weather was also very unpredictable some days it would be boiling hot and we would die of thirst waiting for something remotely interesting to happen and other times, we would fear for our lives when we could hear a shell whistling like a train in a tunnel, at which point, we would sink our head right into the mud and not rise until we heard a relatively near explosion. The dig-outs were a good initiative seeing as it has always been a fact that the best way to absorb shell shock is with earth. We heard that some of the accommodations for officers were rather nice in the dig-outs. They were full complete with a bed, a pump, and sometimes even some different food that they manage to bring along with them and place it in the cupboards. Everyday, there was fear of the new methods that the Germans had developed of attacking us. There was late news that gas attack was in use. Now it was regulation that we had to carry a mask with us at all times otherwise we could be gassed with new inventions such as the mustard gas which apparently burned right through your skin and you suffered a horrible and painful death. We were all worried about this new gas. We didn’t know what it actually smelt like. Apparently, it had a pungent smell hence the name, mustard gas but most of my fellow soldiers feel that they would fall into panic if a gas attack was to take place One of the very few things which I feel is very positive about the whole trench warfare is the comradeship. I had made some pals that would risk their lives if it would mean saving mine. I had never experienced such a feeling until I came to the trenches. It was truly unique. Knowing that you would have to live with these people twenty four hours a day, seven days a week was a way of knowing that somebody would always be there for you. You would seriously bond with someone and would do anything to accomplish the promise you made them. This was particularly moving when one of your closest comrades dies in action and you feel you should have died with him or for him. The danger in the trenches was as dangerous on the front line as to get there. We would be exposed to heavy artillery fire in these measly little trenches that compared to the front line looked as if they were built for dwarves. When our men died, we buried them behind the trenches. It was a petty funeral, no service no nothing, just whoever wanted to attend to dig up a ditch and place his friends in there to rest in piece. It was up to you if you wanted to help seeing as there was always the chance of a stray bullet or a sniper hitting you as you were working. Most were left to rot. After a while, the trenches, with the wet weather deteriorated. There was no more a 4†³ thick bullet-proof parapet to save your life; the walls of the trench had collapsed to make the trench into a mud bath with water which was to reach your knees. During the wet weather it was truly disgusting. Overall life in the trenches is pretty gross and unhygienic although, some officers did get treated rather well and the food that the English were given which was usually bully beef and jam was of a much higher quality than any other front line army. Diseases spread and people suffer of lack of sleep without forgetting the fact that everyone was homesick and wishing to see their families so basically, apart from making good friends and fighting for your country, the trenches must have been a rather appalling experience.

Les miserables: character analysis

Jean ValjeanJean Valjean is a central character of Les Miserables. His story is that of misery, pain, and injustice. Valjean is an epitome of change. He makes transitions from one kind of man to another, as dictated by his drastic experiences in life. Valjean’s life is a story of how an honest and good man can be hardened by society in general, and prison in particular.Because of Valjean’s unfortunate experience in prison, he hardens into a criminal and a social outcast. This transformation in Valjean’s life is a recognition of the observed truth and pattern of human behavior, wherein man changes, either for better or for worse, as a result of external forces such as society. The most important part of Valjean’s personality is his resilience and positive attitude towards life and change in general. He accepts the positive effect of other people in his life, and learns to love and care for such people.Ultimately, however, the good character of Valjean surfa ces, and even the bishop realizes that, as shown by this passage:â€Å"The bishop approached him and said, in a low voice, ‘Do not forget, ever, that   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   you have promised me to use this silver to become an honest man.' Jean    Valjean, who had no recollection of any such promise, stood dumbfounded. The   Ã‚   bishop had stressed these words as he spoke them. He continued solemnly,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   ‘Jean Valjean, my brother, you no longer belong to evil, but to good. It is your soul I am buying for you. I withdraw it from dark thoughts and from the spirit of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   perdition, and I give it to God!†FantineFantine is one of the characters in Les Miserables who lived the less appealing life. She had been deprived of good opportunities since her childhood, such as education and care. Thus, she grew up to be an uneducated girl whom everyone else found easy to victimize.Fantine can easily be categori zed as a victim of society, since she had been deprived of education without her fault, and yet society readily found her corrupt and unfit for fruitful activity and relationships. A lot of people took advantage of her lack of knowledge, education and experience, and thereafter left her out in the cold. Fantine’s character is a perfect illustration of the bigotry in human society and the story of her life is but a perfect example of the way injustice ruins lives.Brought by her experiences, Fantine learned to have a different view of morality, as expressed in her statement, â€Å"[T]he guilty one is not he who commits the sin, but the one who causes the darkness.†CosetteThe character of Cosette is in many respects similar to that of Valjean, an effect largely influenced by the latter’s taking charge over her education and upbringing. Thus, like Valjean, Cosette exhibits her kindheartedness and morality through her actions, thereby manifesting that her initial exp erience with the cruel Thà ©nardiers did not corrupt her character. Cosette, at one point in the story, said, â€Å"[W]e bow to the man who kneels. A faith is necessary to man. Woe to him who believes in nothing.† Such a statement reflects her belief about man, and shows how pure Cosette’s character has remained.Fortunately for Cosette, she had not been exposed to the kind of cruelty and hardship that Valjean went through, although she expressed resentment over Valjean’s overprotective stance. When viewed as a whole, Cosette’s character does not provide a lot of conflict, she being one of the lucky personalities in the story.