Battle of Princeton in the American Revolution

Battle of Princeton in the American Revolution Conflict Date: The Battle of Princeton was fought January 3, 1777, during the American Revolution (1775-1783). Armies Commanders: Americans General George WashingtonBrigadier General Hugh Mercer4,500 men British Major General Lord Charles CornwallisLieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood1,200 men Background: Following his stunning Christmas 1776 victory over the Hessians at Trenton, General George Washington withdrew back across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. On December 26, Lieutenant Colonel John Cadwaladers Pennsylvania militia re-crossed the river at Trenton and reported that the enemy was gone. Reinforced, Washington moved back into New Jersey with the bulk of his army and assumed a strong defensive position. Anticipating a swift British reaction to the Hessians defeat, Washington placed his army in a defensive line behind Assunpink Creek to the south of Trenton. Sitting atop a low string of hills, the American left was anchored on the Delaware while the right ran east. To slow any British counterattack, Washington directed Brigadier General Matthias Alexis Roche de Fermoy to take his brigade, which included a large number of riflemen, north to Five Mile Run and block the road to Princeton. At Assunpink Creek, Washington faced a crisis as the enlistments of many of his men were set to expire on December 31. By making a personal appeal and offering a ten dollar bounty, he was able to convince many to extend their service by one month. Assunpink Creek In New York, Washingtons concerns about a strong British reaction proved well-founded. Angered over the defeat at Trenton, General William Howe cancelled Major General Lord Charles Cornwallis leave and directed him to advance against the Americans with around 8,000 men. Moving southwest, Cornwallis left 1,200 men under Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood at Princeton and another 1,200 men under Brigadier General Alexander Leslie at Maidenhead (Lawrenceville), before encountering the American skirmishers at Five Mile Run. As de Fermoy had become drunk and wandered away from his command, leadership of the Americans fell to Colonel Edward Hand. Forced back from Five Mile Run, Hands men made several stands and delayed the British advance through the afternoon of January 2, 1777. After conducting a fighting retreat through the streets of Trenton, they rejoined Washingtons army on the heights behind Assunpink Creek. Surveying Washingtons position, Cornwallis launched three unsuccessful attacks in an attempt to take the bridge over the creek before halting due to growing darkness. Though warned by his staff that Washington may escape in the night, Cornwallis rebuffed their concerns as he believed the Americans had no line of retreat. On the heights, Washington convened a council of war to discuss the situation and asked his officers if they should stay and fight, withdraw across the river, or make a strike against Mawhood at Princeton. Electing for the bold option of attacking Princeton, Washington ordered the armys baggage sent to Burlington and his officers to commence preparation for moving out. Washington Escapes: To pin Cornwallis in place, Washington directed that 400-500 men and two cannon remain on the Assunpink Creek line to tend campfires and make digging sounds. These men were to retire before dawn and rejoin the army. By 2:00 AM the bulk of the army was quietly in motion and moving away from Assunpink Creek. Proceeding east to Sandtown, Washington then turned northwest and advanced on Princeton via the Quaker Bridge Road. As dawn broke, the American troops were crossing Stony Brook approximately two miles from Princeton. Wishing to trap Mawhoods command in the town, Washington detached Brigadier General Hugh Mercers brigade with orders to slip west and then secure and advance up the Post Road. Unknown to Washington, Mawhood was departing Princeton for Trenton with 800 men. The Armies Collide: Marching down the Post Road, Mawhood saw Mercers men emerge from the woods and moved to attack. Mercer quickly formed his men for battle in a nearby orchard to meet the British assault. Charging the tired American troops, Mawhood was able to drive them back. In the process, Mercer became separated from his men and was quickly surrounded by the British who mistook his for Washington. Refusing an order to surrender, Mercer drew his sword and charged. In the resulting melee, he was severely beaten, run through by bayonets, and left for dead. As the battle continued, Cadwaladers men entered the fray and met a fate similar to Mercers brigade. Finally, Washington arrived on the scene, and with the support of Major General John Sullivans division stabilized the American line. Rallying his troops, Washington turned to the offensive and began pressing Mawhoods men. As more American troops arrived on the field, they began to threaten the British flanks. Seeing his position deteriorating, Mawhood ordered a bayonet charge with the goal of breaking through the American lines and allowing his men to escape towards Trenton. Surging forward, they succeeded in penetrating Washingtons position and fled down the Post Road, with American troops in pursuit. In Princeton, the majority of the remaining British troops fled towards New Brunswick, however 194 took refuge in Nassau Hall believing that the buildings thick walls would provide protection. Nearing the structure, Washington assigned Captain Alexander Hamilton to lead the assault. Opening fire with artillery, American troops charged and forced those inside to surrender ending the battle. Aftermath: Flush with victory, Washington wished to continue attacking up the chain of British outposts in New Jersey. After assessing his tired armys condition, and knowing that Cornwallis was in his rear, Washington elected instead to move north and enter winter quarters at Morristown. The victory at Princeton, coupled with the triumph at Trenton, helped bolster American spirits after a disastrous year which saw New York fall to the British. In the fighting, Washington lost 23 killed, including Mercer, and 20 wounded. British casualties were heavier and numbered 28 killed, 58 wounded, and 323 captured. Selected Sources British Battles: Battle of PrincetonBattle of Princeton

Free Essays on Lizzie Borden

The Burden of Proof: Lizzie Borden â€Å"Lizzie Borden took an axe And gave her mother forty whacks; When she saw what she had done She gave her father forty – one.† This classic children’s rhyme was designed after the trial of Lizzie Borden, where she was found not guilty. While the jury let her go, the public has always been skeptical. Most believe that she committed the murders, but there are also people out there who believe that Lizzie Borden was innocent after all. Another rhyme written years later, however, may not be as well known goes†¦ â€Å"An unknown subject took a hatchet And gave Lizzie Borden’s stepmother nineteen whacks; Ninety minutes after that deed was done He or she gave Borden’s father ten plus one.† (Douglas 81) This sets the scene a bit more of what happened. Nonetheless, the author of this rhyme was unbiased for he or she did not point the finger at Lizzie Borden. They simply stated the facts of what happened. In fact all of the people involved and the story is rather open and shut. There has not been much variation to it over the years, which is surprising. However, when it comes to the evidence it becomes fuzzy. One of the victims was Andrew Jackson Borden. He lived his entire life in Fall River, Massachusetts. In fact ancestors of his from the past generations had actually founded the town of Fall River. He, however, was a self-made wealthy man. Instead of inheriting riches he built himself up. Andrew Borden began his life on the lower rung of the social ladder and worked his way up high until his untimely death. Throughout his life he was married two times. The first time was to a woman by the name of Susan Morse. She was the woman who birthed his only children, Emma and Elizabeth Borden. Susan Morse passed away at an early age leaving Andrew to soon remarry to Abby Gray. The other victim of this horrendous crime was Abby Gray. She married Andrew Borden at the ag... Free Essays on Lizzie Borden Free Essays on Lizzie Borden The Burden of Proof: Lizzie Borden â€Å"Lizzie Borden took an axe And gave her mother forty whacks; When she saw what she had done She gave her father forty – one.† This classic children’s rhyme was designed after the trial of Lizzie Borden, where she was found not guilty. While the jury let her go, the public has always been skeptical. Most believe that she committed the murders, but there are also people out there who believe that Lizzie Borden was innocent after all. Another rhyme written years later, however, may not be as well known goes†¦ â€Å"An unknown subject took a hatchet And gave Lizzie Borden’s stepmother nineteen whacks; Ninety minutes after that deed was done He or she gave Borden’s father ten plus one.† (Douglas 81) This sets the scene a bit more of what happened. Nonetheless, the author of this rhyme was unbiased for he or she did not point the finger at Lizzie Borden. They simply stated the facts of what happened. In fact all of the people involved and the story is rather open and shut. There has not been much variation to it over the years, which is surprising. However, when it comes to the evidence it becomes fuzzy. One of the victims was Andrew Jackson Borden. He lived his entire life in Fall River, Massachusetts. In fact ancestors of his from the past generations had actually founded the town of Fall River. He, however, was a self-made wealthy man. Instead of inheriting riches he built himself up. Andrew Borden began his life on the lower rung of the social ladder and worked his way up high until his untimely death. Throughout his life he was married two times. The first time was to a woman by the name of Susan Morse. She was the woman who birthed his only children, Emma and Elizabeth Borden. Susan Morse passed away at an early age leaving Andrew to soon remarry to Abby Gray. The other victim of this horrendous crime was Abby Gray. She married Andrew Borden at the ag...

Marketing Intelligence Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Marketing Intelligence Systems - Essay Example Some of the topics that are going to be covered in the MIS presentation include: The value and quality of a marketing intelligence system depends on the input data the system receives. A five-step process that can help improve the quality of a marketing intelligence system is: 1) Train and motivate the sales force to spot and report new developments; 2) Motivate, retailers, intermediaries, and distributors to pass information along; 3) Collect intelligence by purchasing competitor’s products; 4) Create advisory panel composed of important stakeholders; 5) Purchase information from outside suppliers such as A.C. Nielsen Corporation (Kotler, 2002). The five step quality control process improves marketing intelligence systems to make them more valuable. When the sales force acts as intelligence gatherers they must be trained to recognize the type of information that is useful for managerial purposes. Obtaining product samples from the competition is useful to compare in terms of quality, value, and packaging presentation. Customer advisory panels provide valuable information concerning customer needs. External research firms are able to provide marketing information at a lower cost than what most companies can produce in-house. There are many benefits associated with the implementation of a MIS. The use of an MIS can assist a manager in the sales forecasting process. The system can be used by a start-up company to determine the optimal target markets to penetrate. An MIS system allows a company to monitor behavioral changes in consumer buying patterns. This type of information is useful to adapt the company’s product offering. For example a company in the food industry could utilize data concerning the tendency of a marketplace to consume salty foods to determine the chances its new potato chips brand have to succeed in a region. Marketing intelligence systems can be

Nursing informatics Applying standardized Terminologies in Practice Essay

Nursing informatics Applying standardized Terminologies in Practice - Essay Example First, standardized terminologies allow for improved communication amongst nurses and other healthcare professionals (McGonigle and Mastroianni, 2014). Second, there is more transparency of nursing intercessions when using standardized terminologies. Third, patient care gets better with standardized terminologies, and data gathering methods improve to assess nursing care results. Fifth, nurses stick more to caregiving standards while fostering the evaluation of nursing proficiency. Lastly, standardized terminologies promote the nursing study itinerary by producing information concerning patient care on a regular basis (Cashin, 2010). Applying standardized terminologies in psychiatric nursing helps in distinguishing nurse’s inputs in patient care from those made by medicine practitioners. As the advancement of EHR systems and the NHIN (Nationwide Health Information Network) grow increasingly fast, the challenge of distinguishing Geriatric, Correctional and Psychiatric nursing from pediatrics and psychology become even more crucial (Cashin, 2010). A second challenge that standardized terminologies can help overcome is integrating definitions of nursing practice into the health archive in a way that is proportionate to its significance to patients’ wellbeing. I am currently partaking in a Family Nurse Practitioner program, which makes it my role to know nurses’ contributions to patient treatment and recovery. This knowledge is as pivotal as finding a method to integrate aspects of nursing practice to EHR systems (McGonigle and Mastroianni, 2014). The acknowledged standardized terminologies applied in Geriatric and Psychiatric nursing entail seven interface and three multidisciplinary terms. First, CCC (Clinical Care Classification) is a study-oriented, experientially built term that entails nursing analyses, intercessions, and findings (Cashin, 2010). Second, Omaha System is a framework that offers a compute-attuned

Porter's 5 Forces Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Porter's 5 Forces - Essay Example The robotics industry is experiencing growth year after year and the industrial robot application has become more demanding and complicated due to modernization and automation of the manufacturing processes. I will analyze each of the forces and the impact that may be experienced in regards to profitability of the robotics industry. Existing Competitors: Within an industry, the rivalry among the competitors is countered through use new products, marketing and price discounting to be competitive. The robotic industry tends to be an oligopoly since it has a lot of rivals. The potential for product differentiation is high with much difference in power, size, quality, service and features of the products. The Power of Buyers: Consumers can capture more value by ensuring that they force the prices down and demand better quality at the industry’s profitability expenses. The top buyer from the robotic industry is the automobile industry. Literally, the number of auto firms is small but they buy in large quantities. In contrast to the automotive buyers, other buyers in other industries are moderate in power. They are smaller, many and buy in smaller volumes The Power of Suppliers: Suppliers have great influence in an industry by changing higher prices, limiting the quality of services and shifting costs. The products provided do not usually have substitution, but some tend to come up with techniques to realize differentiation of the products. The overall power of suppliers in the robotic industry tends to be weak. Threat to Entry: New entrants into the market pose a threat to the profit potential of an industry. According to Porter, the threat of entry in an industry is dependent on the height of entry barriers. In addition, it is dependent on the reaction of the incumbents expected by the newcomers. When there are few entry barriers and little or no retaliation from the competing

Fact And Fancy In Hard Times English Literature Essay

Fact And Fancy In Hard Times English Literature Essay Summary:   Explores the thematic opposition between fact and fancy, or the head and the heart in Charles Dickenss novel Hard Times. Explores the rivalry between these philosophies as a central theme to the Hard Times, as well as a fundamental crux of human existence. Charles Dickens lived in England during the 19th century, during a period of rapid economic growth when the industrial revolution was in full swing. Industrial cities sprung up throughout England, sustained solely by their factories, which furiously churned out wealth and merchandise and employed thousands of working class citizens. The living and working conditions for factory laborers in these towns were extremely poor, and the wealthy bourgeoisie prospered marvelously by greedily exploiting their employees, unfortunate people who toiled long hours in grimy factories to barely earn their subsistence. Utilitarianism was a prevalent viewpoint during this period of industrial frenzy, for it embraced the values of practicality and efficiency; and the success and survival of the participants of industrial society often depended on these standards. Dickens was disgusted with the single-mindedness of his society and with the dreary, inanimate atmosphere that accompanied it. In his novel H ard Times, an ongoing struggle ensues between the ideas of fact and fancy or the head and heart. The rivalry between these philosophies is a central theme to the Hard Times, not to mention a fundamental crux of human existence as well. Should an individual base his life on fact and rationality, or should he live by the whims of his imagination and fancy, following his heart? Dickens advances this theme persistently throughout the Hard Times, employing frequent use of descriptive imagery and metaphor throughout novel to animate the conflict between Fact and Fancy, and the result of this emphasis is a broader, encompassing critique of industrialized society in general. Dickens most clearly addresses fact and fancy through his portrayal of the education system in Coketown. The first chapter of the novel commences with a speech given by Mr. Gradgrind, addressed to the pupils at his school: Now, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else. Gradgrind takes enormous pride in being eminently practical; a man of realities; and he nobly (in his opinion) endeavors to bestow these qualities on the youthful pupilsor rather, to smother them in factual instruction. In short, Dickens gives an unquestionably condemning impression of Gradgrind and the school by depicting their forceful, joyless educational methods in contrast to the innocence and fragility of the children. Just as Gadgrind rigorously enforces his utilitarian standards in his school, he is equally fervent in adhering to these principles in his own home. He genuinely believes that his ideals are essential to leading a successful, productive existence, and instructs his children accordingly, applying his mechanical art and mystery of educating the reason without stooping to the cultivation of the sentiments and affections. Louisa and Tom must absorb enormous amounts of factual knowledge from an early age, while, simultaneously, their father systematically represses and eradicates any notions of wonder or imagination that they might entertain, chiding them, Never wonder! Not surprisingly, Mr. Gradgrind seeks through his parental guidance to elicit the same results as in his schoolthe transformation of children into machine-like workers, lacking in personality yet supposedly ideal for efficiently performing the monotonous, repetitive labors of industrial Coketown. In addition to his firm commitment to everything factual, Gradgrind himself physically personifies the ideas fact and practicality. Dickens uses abundant imagery to give descriptions of Gradgrinds physical appearance, which is decidedly severe and methodical, including his square forefinger, square wall of a foreheadas if the shape of a square itself denotes the very notion of factand eyes which found commodious cellarage in two dark caves. Later his face is more generally described as unbending and utilitarian, and on the whole, every aspect of his appearance serves to emphasize his rigid devotion to cold facts and his thorough disregard of any sort of non-factual nonsense. Dickens employs more imagery to describe the tedious existence of the Gradgrind children under their father, saying that life at Stone Lodge went monotonously round like a piece of machinery, and Tom later describes Louisa as stuffed full of dry bones and sawdust by their father. Mr. MChoakumchild, a teacher at the school, is another individual who is characterized figuratively by Dickens. Although his name is more than ample evidence to confirm his detrimental effect on the children, there is further evidence of the harmful nature of his methods. The damaging repercussions of his educational torments are especially pronounced when Dickens compares him to Morgiana in the Forty Thieves; the teacher peers into all the vessels ranged before him, and Dickenss narrator addresses him: Say, good MChoakumchild. When from thy boiling store, thou shalt fill each jar brim full by-and-by, dost thou think that thou wilt always kill outright the robber Fancy lurking withinor sometimes only maim him and distort him! In this analogy, the ills of suppressing emotion and fancy become disturbingly concrete; for someone to endure a twisted, crippled fancy could possibly be presumed as bad or worse than possessing none at all, and this potential hazard is manifested later in the novel. Next to Tom and Louisa, Sissy Jupe is another character in Hard Times who, perhaps most acutely, feels the oppressions of prohibited fancy in Gradgrinds schoolroom. As the daughter of a circus performer, she is naturally very accustomed to thinking wild, imaginative thoughts, and she struggles in vain to acclimate herself to the meticulously factual lessons in class. In one instance, when Gradgrind commands Sissy to describe a horse, she is already so petrified by Mr. Gradgrinds stern, unsympathetic countenance, as well as the intellectual constraints of the lesson already imposed heretofore, that she fails even to offer a response. On the other hand, Bitzer, a boy in her class, gives a highly abstruse, scientific answer which pleases Mr. Gradgrind immensely: Quadruped. Gramnivorous. 40 teeth. Sheds coat in spring Later Dickens uses more imagery to directly contrast Sissy and Bitzer, implicitly furthering the development of fact and fancy. When he describes the two pupils, who happen to sit in the same row-and, at the time, in the same sunbeam-Sissy, who is full to brimming with fancy, is literally radiant in the sunlight: the girl was so dark-eyed and dark-haired, that she seemed to receive more lustrous color from the sun. As for Bitzer, who is already crammed full of information and utterly devoid of any sort of imaginative faculty, the light functions to draw out of him what little color he ever possessedhis skin was so unwholesomely deficient in the natural tinge that he looked as though, if he were cut, he would bleed white. In this manner, Dickens underscores the ghastly effects of an oppressed imagination by setting off the colorless debility personified by Bitzers physical appearance, from the sunny vitality that shines from the fanciful Sissy; thus, once again, Dickens exemplifies th e backwardness of Coketowns educational system. Aside from ornamenting his descriptions with frequent imagery, Dickens also uses various metaphors to emphasize the opposition between fact and fancy. The particulars of Gradgrinds utilitarian slant on the proper education of the youth are peppered with metaphors that Dickens draws on to mockingly embellish his obstinate convictions. Gradgrinds schoolroom is a vault, and his pupils are little vessels and little pitchers, neatly displayed and naively awaiting the imperial gallons of facts that will be crammed into them. Gradgrind intends to forcefully rid these delicate vessels of any fancy and imagination entirely, considering these merits to be useless follies that serve no practical use in the real world, and Dickens emphasizes Gradgrinds over-zealous capacity for destruction when he describes him as a kind of cannon loaded to the muzzle with facts, and prepared to blow them clean out of the regions of childhood at one discharge. In short, Dickens gives an unquestionably condemning impression of Gradgrind and the school by metaphorically depicting their forceful, joyless educational methods in contrast to the naivetà © and fragility of the children. A primary objective of Coketowns industrialized environment soon appears to be uniformity itself, another theme that is greatly enhanced by metaphorical language. When Mr. MChoakumchild is introduced, Dickens informs us that he and some one hundred and forty other schoolmasters had been lately turned at the same time, in the same factory, on the same principles, like so many pianoforte legsthereby effectively likening the training of teachers to industrialized manufacture, and also hinting that the process of mass producing standardized machines of people is a fundamental, driving force in Coketowns society. This force permeates the education of the youth in school, where the machine-like teacher will mass produce industry-proficient citizens from the raw materials available in the pliable little pupils. And if they are to be suitably equipped for the real world, Gradgrind presumes that these children will need factsslews of factsand innocence and imagination are to be rooted out and discarded. The finished products of this rigorous training will emerge by the dozens, aptly-suited to excel in the industrial drudgery of Coketown. Louisa and Tom Gradgrind, unsurprisingly, feel the incompleteness of their existence even at an early age, and in one instance when their curiosity gets the better of them, they cant resist peeping through a fence at a circus performance. When their father catches them in the act, he is astounded, angered to find them in such a degraded position. At this point Tom merely gives himself up to be taken home like a machine (my emphasis), but Louisa is not quite so conditioned or obedient as Tom and shows more resistance to her father. Dickens depicts her singular, pitiful expression in this moment: struggling through the dissatisfaction of her face, there was a light with nothing to rest upon, a fire with nothing to burn, a starved imagination keeping life in itself somehow, which brightened its expression. Louisas inner fire becomes a recurring metaphor throughout Hard Times that symbolizes her suppressed imagination, and it takes on additional meaning later in the novel. In this passag e, the fire burning inside Louisa is already starved but persists nevertheless. Figuratively speaking, her imagination smolders weakly and smokily among the dry bones and sawdust that she has been filled with, and instead of a healthy fire of emotions and imagination, Louisa is filled with languid and monotonous smoke. Later in the novel, the long-term effects of enduring a childhood devoted to facts become blatantly obvious. Once Tom obtains his long-awaited independence from his fathers cold, scientific command, the rigorous training of his childhood violently backfires. Tom spirals downward in a chain of increasingly irresponsible, self-indulgent behaviors, including gambling and drinking, and eventually he gambles himself into monetary crises. His true colors come to the surface as he tries to deal with his problems, and we find out that, with all the facts and figures that his father ground into him, Gradgrind had apparently either overlooked or fallen short of instilling any sort of moral fiber in his son. Ironically, Tom ends up seeking refuge from the law by performing in disguise in the circus, the last place his father would have predicted during Toms disciplined youth. Ultimately, Tom ends up fleeing overseas after he rebukes Louisa for not helping him with his debts, and on foreign soil , full of remorse, he sickens and dies while attempting to return to his beloved sister. All in all, Gradgrinds terrible parenting is the cause of his sons failures in life; Toms squashed feelings of curiosity and enchantment exploded out of control once they were unbridled, resulting in his swift and fatal downfall. Through Toms dismal fate, Dickens grimly illustrates the repercussions of Gradgrinds utilitarian influence on those under his care. Louisa, on the other hand, does not encounter so desolate a fate as her brother, but the effects of her deprived childhood are nevertheless pronounced. While still young, Louisa marries Mr. Bounderby, an ill-fated decision that resulted largely due to the dispassionate countenance that her father infused in her from an early age. Later, like her brother, she easily succumbs to temptation once she is freed from her fathers iron grasp. In her case, the temptation is an affair with James Hearthouse, a man who easily appeals to Louisas immature, undeveloped emotions. However, Harthouse rouses Louisas long-dormant feelings into a sluggish agitation, and before she consummates any infidelity, the emotional poverty of her life engulfs her in a jolting, inescapable realitythe realization that she is destined to lead a numb and passionless existenceand so she returns to her father full of anguish and reproach, accusing him of ruining her. The fire metaphor appears again, for the once-sedated imaginative tendencies inside of Louisa have become destructive, burning within her like an unwholesome fire. She spends the rest of her days at Stone Lodge under the loving influence of Sissy, trying to regain what had become withered and stunted under her fathers care. Regrettably, Louisa has been permanently robbed of her inner spirit, her ability to live in feeling, and she ultimately endures a bleak existence, unable to secure a home or children of her own. Fortunately, Mr. Gradgrind is able learn the error of his ways, but his conversion does not spare the ruin of his two eldest children. When Louisa returns and reveals to him the effects of his parenting, he is at first doubtful, but is ultimately convinced by the wild dilating fire in his daughters eyes. Once he comes to terms with the fact that his life and beliefs, everything he had previously stood for, are in error, he arrives at the wise conclusion that there is a wisdom of the Head, and that there is a wisdom of the Heart. Later he acknowledges that Sissy, by mere love and gratitude, has brightened his household and his youngest daughter: what the Head had left undone and could not do, the Heart may have been doing silently. Gradgrinds realization is ironic, for he is the last character who we would expect to admit the shortcomings of facts and the powers of the heart. Dickenss message is clear: neither the Head nor the Heart is inherently bad; instead, the rival philosophies c omplement one another, and both should wholeheartedly embraced and juxtaposed so that nothing can be left undone. Finally, Sissy Jupe serves as a stark contrast to the other ill-fated characters. After her father abandons her early in the novel, she takes up residence with none other than the Gradgrinds themselves. Sissy is innately inclined toward fancy and an animated imagination, and her experiences in the classroom show that she tends to speak from her heart, rather than conforming to the spiritless design that Gradgrinds school holds in store for her. Indeed, her heart proves too strong and passionate to submit to the corrupting coaching she receives in school, and consequently she is withdrawn as a result of her inaptitude. Despite the halt in her education, Sissy grows into a sensible, compassionate woman during her years with the Gradgrinds, still retaining her robust imaginationa rather astounding accomplishment considering the notoriously unwholesome atmosphere of Stone Lodge. Later in the novel Sissy becomes a beacon of morals and kindness to the troubled Louisa: In the innocence of h er brave affection, and the brimming up of her old devoted spirit, the once deserted girl shone like a beautiful light upon the darkness of the other. Furthermore, only Sissy can begin to mend Louisas misshapen spirit with her soft touch and sympathetic hand and breathe the beginnings of life into an emotionally dead soul; and again it is Sissy who gives the youngest Gradgrind daughter the affectionate nurturing that Louisa and Tom needed so badly in their youths. By emphasizing the concepts of fact and fancy in Hard Times, Dickens paints a discerning model of the industrialized Victorian society, exemplifying its defects in characters like Gradgrind and Bounderby. On the whole, Dickens renders Gradgrind and his school entirely destructive and sinister, thereby presenting a possible critique of the schools in Victorian England at the current time. More importantly, however, the smaller world of the classroom directly reflects the larger, zealously industrialized society that exists outsideboth Coketown itself and the world in which Dickens lived. Through the main characters and their experiences in the representative environment of education, Dickens exemplifies the shallowness and decadence of industrialized economy, which is epitomized by Coketown. Gradgrind and Bounderby deem the Coketown workers, like Louisa and Tom, to be eternally dissatisfied and unmanageable, and Dickens openly speculates that there is an analogy between the case of th e Coketown population and the case of the little Gradgrinds. Furthermore, Coketown itself embodies the characteristic descriptions of Gradgrinds home and classroom, shown in the lines Fact, fact, fact, everywhere in the material aspect of the town; fact, fact, fact, everywhere in the immaterial, and the previously noted harms of the Coketown classroom are amplified in Coketowns factories, where machinery is chopping people up and the workers face death young and misshapen. Additional descriptions of Coketown give evidence of the inherent frailty of its moral and societal underpinnings, for although the town appears mighty and deathless, with its raging factories of fire and smoke and its tyranny over the enslaved workers, Coketowns machinery throbs feebly like a fainting pulse. The lack of any sort of supporting foundation is further emphasized by the patchy, insubstantial quality imparted on the buildings by its soot and grime: the town is shrouded in a haze of its own, a blur of s oot and smoke, discernible only as a sulky blotch upon the prospect. Moreover, Dickens actually suggests that this industrialized society is essentially corrupt and sinful when he conveys Coketown as nothing but masses of darkness that confusedly aspire to the vault of Heaven, with its chimneys rising up into the air like competing Towers of Babel. These descriptions cast a very accusatory, judgmental light on industrialism and its perpetuators in general. In Hard Times, these perpetuators, or the bourgeoisie on the whole, are represented by Mr. Bounderby, a truly despicable, selfish character, and a self-made Humbug (in his own words) who claims to follow the same philosophy as Gradgrind, and he constantly proclaims the fantastic tales of his impoverished, abandoned childhood and unlikely rise to fortune. When Gradgrind encounters Mrs. Bounderby at the end of the novel, he hastily reproaches her, wondering at her audacity in showing her face to her son, to which she replies, Lord forgive you, sir, for your wicked imaginations. This statement is ironic on several levels, for Gradgrind has only recently abandoned his rigid dependence on factsbut now, that which he deemed most dependably factual and true is revealed as a pinnacle of fanciful lies. Furthermore, Gradgrind himself formerly propagated the notion that imagination is useless and wicked; subsequently, there is now a sort of role-reversal between himself and Bounderbys mother. L astly, Bounderby, that sturdy and respected upholder of rationality and fact, is exposed as an utter hypocrite. He is a man so deeply embedded in ludicrous fabrications that his entire public identity is an invented faà §ade, a jumble of ridiculous, fanciful delusions, analogous to the elusive, ethereal qualities of Coketown itself. It is his imagination that is truly wicked, and he merely endorses utilitarian views as a result of his greedy self-interest. By portraying Bounderby as a shameless deceiver who is oblivious to the plight of his employees, Dickens suggests that industrialized society has been created and sustained without regard to human compassion or morality, and that, as a system, this type of society fosters only vice and misery. In summary, Dickens creates a loveless, greed-driven world within Coketowns schools and factories, where the principles of the market take precedence over human compassion. By sanctioning the proliferation of fact and rationality, as well as the oppression of imagination of fancy, Bounderby has no benevolent motive. He seeks to increase his wealth by increasing the efficiency of his workers, and the specialized education of the youth in Coketown is merely one manifestation of industrialized greed. Gradgrind, on the other hand, harbors good intentions for the children, but as to the effects of his actions, he is gravely mistaken, as Dickens so explicitly shows. Although Dickens does not offer a clear solution to societys ills, he portrays the goodness of humankind in the members of the circus, who cared so little for plain Fact, and about whom there was a remarkable gentleness and childishness and an untiring readiness to help and pity one another. On one note, however, Dickens is qui te clear: human nature cannot be reduced to a plethora of facts and figures, and neither can it be predicted as such: It is known, to the force of a single pound weight, what the engine will do; but not all the calculators of the National debt can tell me the capacity for good or evil, for love or hatred, for patriotism or discontent, for the decomposition of virtue into vice at any single moment in the soul of one of these quiet servants. Dickens repeatedly illustrates the grave repercussions of Coketowns society, of stifling the fire of imagination, giving a disturbing perspective of human greed and its power to corrupt.

The Reality Of Choice Essay -- essays research papers

The term philosophy encompasses various meanings and raises many questions for example, it seeks to explore the true meaning of reality, truth, values, justice and beauty. ( Lexicon Universal Encyclopedia, 240 ). There are many terms used by philosophers that are often interpreted differently by other philosophers . Free will is an example as well as an important debatable issue. Some philosophers view free will as non existent , while others argue that it really exists and I strongly agree with the latter . Every philosopher view the world according to his own culture and religion and that's why each of them created different hypothesis and theories . Some argue that the environment plays a major role in shaping a person's personality and therefore is held responsible for all his actions . Others claim that nature in itself has the upper hand with regard to the actions of human beings. While Blatchford stressed that predicting a person's actions proves the non existence of free will . ( 105 ) However, Stace contrverted that there are both free and unfree will acts (112) but I disapprove with all the previous theories because my religious upbringing allows me to believe that free will determines our destiny. Philosophers like Mill believe that a person's environment is the major shaper of his character . He believes that everything around the person affects his personality in some way or another and thereby directing his actions to reach a certain goal previously identified for him. He believes that a person has little power over forming his own character , since his character is formed by the circumstances surrounding him and since one of these circumstances is his desire to change . This desire is awakened when the person experiences painful consequences associated with his previous character ( Mill , 477: 481) . Mill also states that " A person feels morally free who feels that his habits or his temptations are not his masters , but he theirs ; " ( Mill, 480) .Free will is the ability of deciding freely what to do without fearing anything or being influenced by a habit , a temptation ,an earlier experience or tendency. For example , I know two twins who come from a very religious and conservative family they were both brought up properly and lived in the same environment . One of them chose to conform with her f... ...e always stemming from his soul . In addition , to be fair we should reward good behavior and punish bad behavior . To sum up , man possesses free will in every aspect of his life . Through the past decades many philosophers emerged each having his own sets of ideas regarding the concept of free will . Some argue that nature was the most influential factor , others stated that a person's environment and experiences are the major factor that affects people's choices . Some thought that free will exists but it is affected by both heredity and environment . Another group of philosophers claimed that free will exists and in not affected by any forces because every free act stems from a person's conscience and every person is totally responsible for his actions . God gave us the ability to choose between right or wrong and good or bad . It is up to us whether to choose this way or the other . Ofcourse , God knows our choices in advance yet , God did not make our choices we made them ourselves . I believe in God's justice and fairness . Our choice determines our fate ; whether we should go to heaven and enjoy it's delights or hell and experience the torture we deserve .