Story Analysis of Popular Mechanics by Raymond Carver

Popular Mechanics, a very short story by Raymond Carver. It was included in Carvers 1981 collection called What We Talk About When We Talk About Love and later appeared under the title Little Things in his 1988 collection, Where Im Calling From. Popular Mechanics describes an argument between a man and a woman that rapidly escalates into a physical struggle over their baby. Meaning of the Title The title of the story refers to a long-running magazine for technology and engineering enthusiasts of the same name. The implication is that the way the man and woman handle their differences is widespread or typical—that is, popular. The man, woman, and baby dont even have names, which emphasizes their role as universal archetypes. They could be anyone; they are everyone. The word mechanics shows that this is a story about the process of disagreeing more than it is about the outcome of those disagreements. Nowhere is this more evident than in the final line of the story: In this manner, the issue was decided. Were never told explicitly what happens to the baby, so its possible that one parent managed to wrest the baby successfully from the other. However, the parents have already knocked down a flowerpot, a bit of foreshadowing that doesnt bode well for the baby. The last thing we see is the parents tightening their grip on the baby and pulling back hard in opposite directions. The parents actions couldnt have failed to injure him, and if the issue has been decided, it suggests that the struggle is over. It seems most likely, then, that the baby was killed. Intentional Wording The use of passive voice in the final sentence is chilling, as it fails to assign anyone responsibility for the outcome. Additionally, the words manner, issue, and was decided have a clinical, impersonal feel, focusing again on the mechanics of the situation rather than the humans involved. But the reader wont be able to avoid noticing that if these are the mechanics we choose to employ, real people do get hurt. After all, issue can also be a synonym for offspring. Because of the mechanics the parents choose to engage in, this child is decided. The Wisdom of Solomon The struggle over a baby echoes the story of the Judgment of Solomon in the book of 1 Kings in the Bible. In this story, two women arguing over ownership of a baby bring their case to King Solomon for resolution. Solomon offers to cut the baby in half for them. The false mother agrees, but the real mother says shed rather see her baby go to the wrong person than see it killed. Because of this womans selflessness, Solomon recognizes that she is the real mother and awards her custody of the child. Escalations and Winning Unfortunately, there is no selfless parent in Carvers story. At first, it appears that the father wants only a photo of the baby, but when the mother sees it, she takes it away. She doesnt want him to have even that. Angered by her taking the photo, he escalates his demands and insists on taking the actual baby. Again, he doesnt really seem to want it; he just doesnt want the mother to have it. They even argue about whether theyre hurting the baby, but they seem less concerned with the truth of their statements than with the opportunity to hurl accusations at one another. During the story, the baby changes from a person referred to as him to an object referred to as it. Just before the parents make their final pull on the baby, Carver writes: She would have it, this baby. The parents want only to win, and their definition of winning hinges entirely on their opponents losing.  Its a grim view of human nature, and one may wonder how King Solomon would have dealt with these two parents.

The The Song Of Roland - 1289 Words

The lives of knights depicted in the â€Å"The Song of Roland† are a demonstration of the fierce warriorship, aggressiveness, and deep faith of French Knights. A code of chivalry or gallantry existed among these men. At the top of this code of conduct were the highly regarded virtues of honor, faithfulness, courage, compassion, truth, and obedience. Noble knights prized the wares of their trade, such as fine warhorses, armory, battle skills, and fine regalia. In this epic poem, Roland and the other Knights show great obedience to their liege, King Charles. Roland volunteers for tough missions like leading the rear guard as the army made its way thru the Pyrenees Mountains. He promised the King that France would not lose any†¦show more content†¦Knights were dedicated to their God and Church. These brave men truly believed that even though the battle was not always in their favor, God is the only one who could overcome the odds. Victories are God’s way o f showing he approves of the knights mission. All things happen because God knows it will happen. Roland follows his lord and his God with complete faithfulness. â€Å"His whole sense of what a Christian knight must do is nearest to what pleases God, for it comes from God.† Many of the poems passages tell of the knights’ individual courage and their battle prowess. It seemed as though God was willing each of the French blows to be lethal and the Pagans blows to miss their mark. The warriors fought bravely no matter what the odds. They were not afraid to lead or make tactical decisions. They valued good judgment. At one point, Oliver questions whether Roland made a good decision not to call the army. At the end of the battle, as Roland lay dying, he also questioned his decision not to blow the Oliphant to alert King Charles’ Army. The poem notes that the idea of service to all is the same as service to the King. In the trial of Ganelon, they first see France as their complete realm of unity. They value their homes, families, and country. Ganelon’s treason was a threat to their France. The pagans do not identify that closely as a country. Good knights show compassion for their comrades and enemies

Cell Phone Usage in School Should Be Banned Free Essays

Kaitlyn Sebastian Cell Phone Usage in School In a Wireless survey, it has been said that 91% of Americans use a cell phone. These devices have majorly advanced within the years and can be used for many things. Although cell phones have many great and convenient features, their usage in school should be banned because teens ignore the enforced rules, it can be used to cheat, and most have a camera feature that can be used to take inappropriate pictures of others. We will write a custom essay sample on Cell Phone Usage in School Should Be Banned or any similar topic only for you Order Now Teens these days are very â€Å"rebellious† in my opinion. Most don’t like being told what to do and like to be independent. So, when they know that there are rules in school against having cell phones around with you throughout the day, they ignore them because they always think they will never get caught. Teens can be very sneaky with what they do and can hide things easily. They know that the worst that can happen is having their phone taken away for the rest of the school day and then getting it back after. Some schools could enforce the rule all day but, â€Å"Kids kind of roll their eyes, and I’m sure they have it out again 10 or 15 feet down the hall,† high school teacher Ed Stried remarked. Many schools allowed to have their phones collected in the beginning of the day and then at assigned times, students are able to use their cell phones, like during Study Hall, or lunch break. Many have found this unsuccessful because kids ignore it and can pretend that they did not have a cell phone on them and hide them through the day, sending texts or pictures. Teachers should not allow this because it can be such a distraction. Their phones should be checked and kept in their locker until school is over. Taking pictures brings me to my next point. Many new phones today have a built in camera feature that allows people to easily take a â€Å"quick-pic† anytime without bringing a whole different device, such as a digital camera. Despite its handy uses, this cool feature can be used inappropriately. Bullying is also a major issue in school and it comes in many forms, like cyber bullying which includes through phones. Students, if allowed to use their cell phone at anytime throughout a school day, can also take pictures at anytime. Some may be used to shoot a memorable moment, and some may be used to take an embarrassing picture of someone. Many teens are on social networks, always posting updates and uploading pictures of their whereabouts. Many cellular devices allow a quick share feature that can upload the photo that you took straight onto your website. Students can take an advantage of this and may have intentions of not being nice to others in school. They can easily take a picture to make fun of someone or harass them and post it right away on Facebook for example. Having phones allowed to be used during school can cause other dangerous issues and can pose for serious consequences. These serious consequences can also take part when kids do the wrong things with the ability to text and take pictures. One major problem that usage in schools can lead to is cheating. Again, with a camera, kids can take pictures of tests or quizzes to share with other students who have it later in the day. They can also easily get away with texting their friends because most can text without looking at the keyboard. Another important thing is that you can also access the internet. They not only could go to inappropriate websites but also look up answers right in the palm of their hands. Yes, students can enjoy the freedom of being able to text their parents a quick message or check their email but this is unfair to all the students who do not cheat and work really hard studying, so this can be a real problem. Overall, being able to use a cell phone in school can lead to serious issues with students. It should be banned because students ignore the rules, can be used to take pictures inappropriately, and to cheat and/or share answers with others. The result of banning cell phone use in school will help maintain a safe and distraction-free atmosphere that all students can enjoy. Source Citation: â€Å"Schools continue to deal with cellular misbehaving. † Janesville Gazette [Janesville, WI] 5 Dec. 2010. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 26 Apri. 2012. â€Å"EDITORIAL: Policy on cell phone use effective. † Daily News [Bowling Green, KY] 30 Oct. 2009. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 26 Apri. 2012. How to cite Cell Phone Usage in School Should Be Banned, Essay examples

Object

Object-Oriented Programming Vs. Procedural Program Essay mingIt was way back in the 1970s when Kernighan and Ritchie were working on creating a new programming language they would soon call C. It was called this because a language called B preceded it. C was created with simplicity and flexibility in mind. Its primary use was for writing operating systems, however it became popular for a wide variety of other programs. The one thing that C lacked was support for objects; it was a procedural-oriented program. In a procedural-based programming language, a programmer writes out instructions that are followed by a computer from start to finish. This kind of programming had its advantages, but an object-oriented language makes programming clearer and easier to understand. Object-oriented software is all about using objects. An object actually contains code (member functions) and data (data members). Traditionally, code and data have been kept apart. For example, in the C language, units of code are called functions, while units of data are call ed structures. Functions and structures are not formally connected in C. A C function can operate on more than one type of structure, and more than one function can operate on the same structure. In object-oriented programming, code and data are merged into a single indivisible thing an object. This has some big advantages. A primary rule of object-oriented programming is this: as the user of an object, you should never need to peek inside the box. The way objects work are that a message is sent in and the object knows how to handle it. Thus the user never needs to see the implementation details. By not knowing what is going on inside an object, the user is unable to change the internal implementation code. Providing access to an object only through its messages, while keeping the details private is called encapsulation. The benefits of objects do not stop with encapsulation. Objects also have the special ability to inherit functionality from other objects. When thinking about inhe ritance and objects, it is useful to distinguish between an is a relationship and a has a relationship because objects can have both types of relationship with each other. If the relationship between class 1 and class 2 can be said, as class 1 is a class 2, then class 2 can derive from class one. If class 2 has a class 1 you use composition to put a class 1 object into class 2 as a data member. So, one may ask, What is the benefit of inheritance? Well, with inheritance, if you find that someone has already developed an object that is mostly what you need, you can easily add new features without breaking the old ones. In other words, inheritance allows you to easily reuse code. The last aspect of object-oriented programming is polymorphism. Objects are smart enough to be dynamic. Specifically, they have the ability to react differently depending on the situation. Well using polymorphism, an object can be made to handle any scenario with the exact same method name. Thus, depending on what the object is asked to print, it will be able to print it. Polymorphism refers to the ability of an object to have numerous methods with the same name. This is also referred to as method overloading. An object can have multiple methods with the same name but different parameter lists. The appropriate method to execute is chosen at run-time depending on which parameter list is provided in the method call. Instead of having separate methods like printPicture(), printLetters(), and printNumbers() you have one unified print() and the object itself determines how to handle the different types of situations. Perhaps the most serious limitation of procedural programming is the tendency for large procedural-based programs to turn into spaghetti-code. Spaghetti code is code that has been modified so many times that the logical flow shown in the figures above becomes so convoluted that any new programmer coming onto the project needs a two month prep-course in order to even begin to understand the software innards. Thus, an object-oriented approach is taken to limit this so called spaghetti-code. In object-oriented programming, you build small, self-contained bits of code, which correspond more closely to how you think about your program. Thus object-oriented programming offers a new and powerful model for writing computer software due to objects, which send and receive messages. This approach speeds the development of new programs, and, if properly used, improves the maintenance, reusability, and modifiability of software. Procedural-oriented programming is actually very powerful; so dont l et the hype make you think that it has no place in your arsenal of programming tools. A well-written procedural-oriented program can actually be easy to understand. It is just that well written procedural code is hard to find, especially when teams of programmers, working on multiple versions are involved. The fact is that procedural languages typically lack the ability to enforce abstraction. .u05d6a4b8a1a27ec49e3ff7a4afe7e7a4 , .u05d6a4b8a1a27ec49e3ff7a4afe7e7a4 .postImageUrl , .u05d6a4b8a1a27ec49e3ff7a4afe7e7a4 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u05d6a4b8a1a27ec49e3ff7a4afe7e7a4 , .u05d6a4b8a1a27ec49e3ff7a4afe7e7a4:hover , .u05d6a4b8a1a27ec49e3ff7a4afe7e7a4:visited , .u05d6a4b8a1a27ec49e3ff7a4afe7e7a4:active { border:0!important; } .u05d6a4b8a1a27ec49e3ff7a4afe7e7a4 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u05d6a4b8a1a27ec49e3ff7a4afe7e7a4 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u05d6a4b8a1a27ec49e3ff7a4afe7e7a4:active , .u05d6a4b8a1a27ec49e3ff7a4afe7e7a4:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u05d6a4b8a1a27ec49e3ff7a4afe7e7a4 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u05d6a4b8a1a27ec49e3ff7a4afe7e7a4 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u05d6a4b8a1a27ec49e3ff7a4afe7e7a4 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u05d6a4b8a1a27ec49e3ff7a4afe7e7a4 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u05d6a4b8a1a27ec49e3ff7a4afe7e7a4:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u05d6a4b8a1a27ec49e3ff7a4afe7e7a4 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u05d6a4b8a1a27ec49e3ff7a4afe7e7a4 .u05d6a4b8a1a27ec49e3ff7a4afe7e7a4-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u05d6a4b8a1a27ec49e3ff7a4afe7e7a4:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Medicinal Marijuana EssayBibliographyWho knows.. 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