Characters Transition into an Adult - 1254 Words

As people will say growing up sucks, you finally realize you aren’t a kid anymore. In the coming of age film, you see the main character emotionally transition into a adult. What makes the coming of age film special is the relationship the protagonist has with his or her group of friends. The coming of age film differs in friendships, depending on the gender of the main character. The friendships help shape how the protagonist is going to be by the end of the film, usually in a positive light. When the films characters are predominantly woman the film is usually emotional and sarcastic. The female friendships are not usually compromised and the girls are often loyal to a fault. In the film Now Then (Lesli Linka Glatter 1995) Demi Moore Gaby Hoffmann (young) play Samantha, a woman who is going home to fulfill a promise she made to her four three childhood friends Chrissy (Ashleigh Aston (young, Rita Wilson adult), Roberta (Christina Ricci young, Rosie O’Donnell adult), and Teeny (Thora Birch young, Melanie Griffith adult) to always be there when they were needed. Throughout the beginning of the film, Samantha is stressing about returning and meeting up with friends she hasn’t seen in years. Sam even as a grown adult kept a childhood promise she could have easily have backed out on. Now Then starts our in present time and goes back to when Sam feels like everything changed for her. Death brings these girls together as they search to figure out what happened to DearShow MoreRelatedWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been?965 Words   |  4 PagesConnie’s transitions in â€Å"Where are you going, Where have you been?† Most characters go through many transitions throughout the story. The transitions maybe big or small, but they do make a difference in the story. In the short story â€Å"Where are you going, Where have you been?† by Joyce Carol Oates, Connie is the protagonist. Connie is a 15 year old girl that is so unexperienced and she wants to go out and explore the world. Connie is enveloped by Arnold Friend’s sweet talk, he is the instrument thatRead MoreGeneric Conventions of Teen Movies in the 1955 Film Rebel Without a Cause1102 Words   |  5 Pagespermeating theme. The multiple relationships in American Pie can be seen as the characters strive for transition from puberty into adult society. This is another theme which can be seen in the 1955 Rebel without a cause, as all teenage characters are trying to make it as mature adults. This is a great task for the teenagers as the ideal of the love of your life must be found before the transition is complete. The message of the film is that when love has been found life willRead MoreAnalysis Of Mark Twain s Adventures Of Tom Sawyer1273 Words   |  6 Pagesthe fear of the citizens of the newly reborn nation after the war between the states and what changes await for them, in correlation to the children as the fearful citizens and their exposure to society or the adult world as the reborn nation. Children fear of what lies ahead in the adult world as the citizens of the reborn nation fear what exists in a united nation. Twain’s sepulchral imagery conjures up the spine-chilling mood of a child when faced with a part a ugly truth of reality, which hintsRead MoreSimilarities Between The Medicine Bagg And Apache Girls Rite Of Passage797 Words   |  4 PagesRites of Passage Essay The stories â€Å"The Medicine Bag† and â€Å"Apache Girls Rite of Passage† both explain the important traditions that transition a child to adulthood. In â€Å"The Medicine Bag† a young boy named Martin is passed down an important family heirloom that represents the change from a boy to a man. In â€Å"Apache Girls Rite of Passage† a documentary is made about an important ritual that Apache girls participate in to change from a girl to a woman. In both passages there are similarities and differencesRead MoreSpeech, Language And Communication1680 Words   |  7 PagesHow play/activities are used to support the development of speech, language and communication Encouragement is an important tool for helping children develop in their language and communication skills and should be used as much as possible. Adults will need to give children the opportunity to take part in speaking and listening for many different purposes and situations and this can be achieved either in a whole class or small group setting Language is important in these roles and we should encourageRead MoreInformative Speech On Business Culture Essay963 Words   |  4 Pagesyour main points: I will begin by telling you a little bit about business culture in China, then I will discuss how to manage international business in China as a foreigner, and lastly I will tell you about Chinese unique communication behaviors. Transition statement: Let me begin with a general overview of China’s geopolitics situation. Body I. General information about China. A. â€Å"According to the 2007 Worldmark Encyclopedia of Nations, in the section â€Å"Location, Size, and Extent, The People s RepublicRead MoreInnocence and Experience as Seen by Kehily and Montgomery 957 Words   |  4 Pagesinnate, while being perceived as an innate aspect of an individual as a child growing up, specifically a woman. Rather, it is a perception by the outside that has nothing to do with her character. The adults in the world, or those she interacts with, pin this ‘label’ on her regardless of their own doings. The adults choose to perceive some of the things she does as innocent and especially at the age where she is transitioning into womanhood. The authors summarize this point of view by saying that theRead MoreLewis Carroll s Wonderland : A Magical Underworld Named Wonderland871 Words   |  4 Pagesthrough a magical underworld named Wonderland. This young girl s adventures in Wonderland can be seen as a metaphor for the experience of growing up , both in terms of physically growing up and physiologically maturing as she gets to understand the adult world through her autonomy and experiences. She physically grows and shrinks again and again in the story up to a total of 12 times. Her constant physical change as she attempts to find the ideal size, evokes how complex the idea of growing up canRead MoreThe Process of Aging in Up a Movie by Carl Fredricksen854 Words   |  3 Pages Life is a chronological process filled with transitions and relationships. The purpose of this paper is to delineate an understanding of an older man’s journey through later life from a gerontology perspective and define real-life learning of an older adult as it was presented in the film â€Å"Up†. By reviewing the life events of the main character Carl Fredricksen a retired balloon salesman and how he fulfills a lifelong dream of a great adventure to South America. The animated film is a comedyRead MoreGoose Creek Performing Arts Center905 Words   |  4 Pagestogether which included a large wooden table, a ramp for transition, stairs, giant chess board, cups, plates, pots and a kitchen sink and shrubs made out of green construction paper. The sound effects went off at the right time for example when the water sound effect was heard when Alice drowned in her own tears. The waves appeared right at the moment she stopped crying to make it look realistic that she was drowning. However I did feel the transition between some scenes did need a little work as it seemed

Analysis Of Cat In The Rain By Ernest Hemingway - 1244 Words

The bonds between men and women varied across the world in the 1920’s, with certain countries embracing women within society, yet other countries saw women as nothing more than homemakers. In his time in Europe, Ernest Hemingway witnessed the utmost respect men had towards women. Yet when Hemingway arrived back in America he saw the misogynistic attitudes towards women and their movement for suffrage. Ernest Hemingway’s â€Å"Cat in the rain† is the adventure of American women seeking suffrage in the 1920’s, alongside portraying the juxtaposition of treatment of American women to European women. â€Å"Cat in the rain† begins by defining the setting, using strong imagery of the postwar period of Italy the 1920’s. Hemingway puts emphasis on a war†¦show more content†¦Bickford Sylvester, a scholar in the works of Ernest Hemingway, noticed Hemingway writes about an independent †woman [who] learns that she must live without the support of an adequate maleâ€Å" (Sylvester Bickford 3).Therefore the wife must learn to obtain what she desires herself, without the use of George. However, the American woman would be met with better treatment from a male other than George, as she ventures downstairs to the European Padrone. When the Wife arrived downstairs she encounters the European padrone who †bowed to her as she passed the officeâ€Å" (Hemingway). For the first time, she is treated with genuine respect from a male. Hemingway showcases the juxtaposition of the viewing of women through the stagnant American Husband and the Respectful European Padrone. Hemingway critic Joseph DeFalco, argues the padrone a father figure who is †protective father †¦ and not what a father is likely to beâ€Å"(DeFalco 159). Although the interaction between the padrone and the wife is respectful, it is not in the nature of father to daughter. However, the interaction is based on the customs of how European men treated women. Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, a Women’s activist, and historian observed that European men †produced the earliest models of European womanhood †¦ [in] accounts of the earlyShow MoreRelatedAn Analysis of â€Å"Cat in the Rain† by Ernest Hemingway1924 Words   |  8 PagesArgument The short story Cat in the rain by Ernest Hemingway is one of my favorite pieces of short fiction written by an American writer. I read the story for the first time in my second year at the university and, ever since then, whenever I met people who shared my passion for literature, I bring up Cat in the rain. What puzzles me most is the uncertainty that I have regarding the cat. Is the cat that the American woman saw in the rain the same one with the cat that the innkeeper gave her atRead MoreAn Analysis of Ernest Hemingways Cat in the Rain922 Words   |  4 PagesAn Analysis of Ernest Hemingways Cat in The Rain In his frictional story, â€Å"Cat in the Rain,† Ernest Hemingway sets the scene for his fiction in a hotel room in Italy on a rainy day. On the first reading of this short story it can be easily interpreted as a wife nagging her husband, who is lying in bed preoccupied reading a book. The young married American’s being in a foreign country on business or pleasure, (Hemingway does not say) one would expect that the expression of love would be moreRead MoreHemingway’s Short Stories of Autobiographical, Immature Males1906 Words   |  8 Pagesshort stories Cat in the Rain and The Snows of Kilimanjaro have male characters that are autobiographical. He attempted to dispel criticism of his short stories as autobiographical because Hemingway did not care for critics. His focus on his work as art ignores the autobiographical and psychological content he depended upon to develop characters. His characters are judged by the female characters of the short stories in the same way Hemingway was judged by his wives. Ernest Hemingway wrote storiesRead MoreStructuralism and Interpretation Ernest Hemingways Cat in Ther Ain9284 Words   |  38 PagesPorter Institute for Poetics and Semiotics Analysis and Interpretation of the Realist Text: A Pluralistic Approach to Ernest Hemingways Cat in the Rain Author(s): David Lodge Source: Poetics Today, Vol. 1, No. 4, Narratology II: The Fictional Text and the Reader (Summer, 1980), pp. 5-22 Published by: Duke University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1771885 . Accessed: 14/03/2011 05:14 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTORs Terms and Conditions of Use,Read MoreStylistic Analysis Cat in the Rain1979 Words   |  8 Pageshas been chosen for stylistic analysis is a short story Cat in the rain by Ernest Hemingway. It has been chosen because it is suggestive and contains a definite psychological implication. The story is interesting from the point of view of the authors approach to conveying the main idea to the mind of the reader. It is always implicit and remains unspoken. It is the reader himself who should find it behind the simple, at first sight, description of the events. Hemingway presents only sequence of outwardRead MoreGender Roles in the Play Trifles Essay3006 Words   |  13 Pagesunderstanding and sense of relief on this suppressing stereotype. Opening up the ideology of gender roles, there are many things that determine how we associate gender and sex with peoples’ identities. The article, â€Å"The Context of Current Content Analysis of Gender Roles: An Introduction to a Special Issue† written by Rudy Rena, Lucy Popova, and Daniel Linz, demonstrates the idea of symbols representing our sex and gender and are explained by bringing up social influences associated with our sexualRead MoreANALIZ TEXT INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS28843 Words   |  116 Pagesï » ¿TEXT INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS The purpose of Text Interpretation and Analysis is a literary and linguistic commentary in which the reader explains what the text reveals under close examination. Any literary work is unique. It is created by the author in accordance with his vision and is permeated with his idea of the world. The reader’s interpretation is also highly individual and depends to a great extent on his knowledge and personal experience. That’s why one cannot lay down a fixed â€Å"model†Read MoreLogical Reasoning189930 Words   |  760 Pageslooking at alternative actions that can be taken, then considering the probable good consequences of each action and the probable bad consequences while weighing the positive and negative impact of each consequence. It’s a kind of cost-benefit analysis. Exercises 1. Columbus Day is an American holiday. Write a short essay that weighs the pros and cons and then comes to a decision about whether there should be more or less public celebration (by Americans and their institutions) on Columbus

The Lost Symbol Chapter 24-25 Free Essays

CHAPTER 24 The revelation crashed over Langdon like a wave. I know why I am here. Standing in the center of the Rotunda, Langdon felt a powerful urge to turn and run away . We will write a custom essay sample on The Lost Symbol Chapter 24-25 or any similar topic only for you Order Now . . from Peter’s hand, from the shining gold ring, from the suspicious eyes of Sato and Anderson. Instead, he stood dead still, clinging more tightly to the leather daybag that hung on his shoulder. I’ve got to get out of here. His jaw clenched as his memory began replaying the scene from that cold morning, years ago in Cambridge. It was six A.M. and Langdon was entering his classroom as he always did following his ritual morning laps in the Harvard Pool. The familiar smells of chalk dust and steam heat greeted him as he crossed the threshold. He took two steps toward his desk but stopped short. A figure was waiting there for him–an elegant gentleman with an aquiline face and regal gray eyes. â€Å"Peter?† Langdon stared in shock. Peter Solomon’s smile flashed white in the dimly lit room. â€Å"Good morning, Robert. Surprised to see me?† His voice was soft, and yet there was power there. Langdon hurried over and warmly shook his friend’s hand. â€Å"What in the world is a Yale blue blood doing on the Crimson campus before dawn?† â€Å"Covert mission behind enemy lines,† Solomon said, laughing. He motioned to Langdon’s trim waistline. â€Å"Laps are paying off. You’re in good shape.† â€Å"Just trying to make you feel old,† Langdon said, toying with him. â€Å"It’s great to see you, Peter. What’s up?† â€Å"Short business trip,† the man replied, glancing around the deserted classroom. â€Å"I’m sorry to drop in on you like this, Robert, but I have only a few minutes. There’s something I needed to ask you . . . in person. A favor.† That’s a first. Langdon wondered what a simple college professor could possibly do for the man who had everything. â€Å"Anything at all,† he replied, pleased for any opportunity to do something for someone who had given him so much, especially when Peter’s life of good fortune had also been marred by so much tragedy. Solomon lowered his voice. â€Å"I was hoping you would consider looking after something for me.† Langdon rolled his eyes. â€Å"Not Hercules, I hope.† Langdon had once agreed to take care of Solomon’s hundred-fifty-pound mastiff, Hercules, during Solomon’s travels. While at Langdon’s home, the dog apparently had become homesick for his favorite leather chew toy and had located a worthy substitute in Langdon’s study–an original vellum, hand-calligraphed, illuminated Bible from the 1600s. Somehow â€Å"bad dog† didn’t quite seem adequate. â€Å"You know, I’m still searching for a replacement,† Solomon said, smiling sheepishly. â€Å"Forget it. I’m glad Hercules got a taste of religion.† Solomon chuckled but seemed distracted. â€Å"Robert, the reason I came to see you is I’d like you to keep an eye on something that is quite valuable to me. I inherited it a while back, but I’m no longer comfortable leaving it in my home or in my office.† Langdon immediately felt uncomfortable. Anything â€Å"quite valuable† in Peter Solomon’s world had to be worth an absolute fortune. â€Å"How about a safe-deposit box?† Doesn’t your family have stock in half the banks in America? â€Å"That would involve paperwork and bank employees; I’d prefer a trusted friend. And I know you can keep secrets.† Solomon reached in his pocket and pulled out a small package, handing it to Langdon. Considering the dramatic preamble, Langdon had expected something more impressive. The package was a small cube-shaped box, about three inches square, wrapped in faded brown packing paper and tied with twine. From the package’s heavy weight and size, it felt like its contents must be rock or metal. This is it? Langdon turned the box in his hands, now noticing the twine had been carefully secured on one side with an embossed wax seal, like an ancient edict. The seal bore a double-headed phoenix with the number 33 emblazoned on its chest–the traditional symbol of the highest degree of Freemasonry. â€Å"Really, Peter,† Langdon said, a lopsided grin creeping across his face. â€Å"You’re the Worshipful Master of a Masonic lodge, not the pope. Sealing packages with your ring?† Solomon glanced down at his gold ring and gave a chuckle. â€Å"I didn’t seal this package, Robert. My great-grandfather did. Almost a century ago.† Langdon’s head snapped up. â€Å"What?!† Solomon held up his ring finger. â€Å"This Masonic ring was his. After that, it was my grandfather’s, then my father’s . . . and eventually mine.† Langdon held up the package. â€Å"Your great-grandfather wrapped this a century ago and nobody has opened it?† â€Å"That’s right.† â€Å"But . . . why not?† Solomon smiled. â€Å"Because it’s not time.† Langdon stared. â€Å"Time for what?† â€Å"Robert, I know this will sound odd, but the less you know, the better. Just put this package somewhere safe, and please tell no one I gave it to you.† Langdon searched his mentor’s eyes for a glint of playfulness. Solomon had a propensity for dramatics, and Langdon wondered if he wasn’t being played a bit here. â€Å"Peter, are you sure this isn’t just a clever ploy to make me think I’ve been entrusted with some kind of ancient Masonic secret so I’ll be curious and decide to join?† â€Å"The Masons do not recruit, Robert, you know that. Besides, you’ve already told me you’d prefer not to join.† This was true. Langdon had great respect for Masonic philosophy and symbolism, and yet he had decided never to be initiated; the order’s vows of secrecy would prevent him from discussing Freemasonry with his students. It had been for this same reason that Socrates had refused to formally participate in the Eleusinian Mysteries. As Langdon now regarded the mysterious little box and its Masonic seal, he could not help but ask the obvious question. â€Å"Why not entrust this to one of your Masonic brothers?† â€Å"Let’s just say I have an instinct it would be safer stored outside the brotherhood. And please don’t let the size of this package fool you. If what my father told me is correct, then it contains something of substantial power.† He paused. â€Å"A talisman, of sorts.† Did he say a talisman? By definition, a talisman was an object with magical powers. Traditionally, talismans were used for bringing luck, warding off evil spirits, or aiding in ancient rituals. â€Å"Peter, you do realize that talismans went out of vogue in the Middle Ages, right?† Peter laid a patient hand on Langdon’s shoulder. â€Å"I know how this sounds, Robert. I’ve known you a long time, and your skepticism is one of your greatest strengths as an academic. It is also your greatest weakness. I know you well enough to know you’re not a man I can ask to believe . . . only to trust. So now I am asking you to trust me when I tell you this talisman is powerful. I was told it can imbue its possessor with the ability to bring order from chaos.† Langdon could only stare. The idea of â€Å"order from chaos† was one of the great Masonic axioms. Ordo ab chao. Even so, the claim that a talisman could impart any power at all was absurd, much less the power to bring order from chaos. â€Å"This talisman,† Solomon continued, â€Å"would be dangerous in the wrong hands, and unfortunately, I have reason to believe powerful people want to steal it from me.† His eyes were as serious as Langdon could ever recall. â€Å"I would like you to keep it safe for me for a while. Can you do that?† That night, Langdon sat alone at his kitchen table with the package and tried to imagine what could possibly be inside. In the end, he simply chalked it up to Peter’s eccentricity and locked the package in his library’s wall safe, eventually forgetting all about it. That was . . . until this morning. The phone call from the man with the southern accent. â€Å"Oh, Professor, I almost forgot!† the assistant had said after giving Langdon the specifics of his travel arrangements to D.C. â€Å"There is one more thing Mr. Solomon requested.† â€Å"Yes?† Langdon replied, his mind already moving to the lecture he had just agreed to give. â€Å"Mr. Solomon left a note here for you.† The man began reading awkwardly, as if trying to decipher Peter’s penmanship. â€Å"`Please ask Robert . . . to bring . . . the small, sealed package I gave him many years ago.’ † The man paused. â€Å"Does this make any sense to you?† Langdon felt surprised as he recalled the small box that had been sitting in his wall safe all this time. â€Å"Actually, yes. I know what Peter means.† â€Å"And you can bring it?† â€Å"Of course. Tell Peter I’ll bring it.† â€Å"Wonderful.† The assistant sounded relieved. â€Å"Enjoy your speech tonight. Safe travels.† Before leaving home, Langdon had dutifully retrieved the wrapped package from the back of his safe and placed it in his shoulder bag. Now he was standing in the U.S. Capitol, feeling certain of only one thing. Peter Solomon would be horrified to know how badly Langdon had failed him. CHAPTER 25 My God, Katherine was right. As usual. Trish Dunne stared in amazement at the search-spider results that were materializing on the plasma wall before her. She had doubted the search would turn up any results at all, but in fact, she now had over a dozen hits. And they were still coming in. One entry in particular looked quite promising. Trish turned and shouted in the direction of the library. â€Å"Katherine? I think you’ll want to see this!† It had been a couple of years since Trish had run a search spider like this, and tonight’s results astounded her. A few years ago, this search would have been a dead end. Now, however, it seemed that the quantity of searchable digital material in the world had exploded to the point where someone could find literally anything. Incredibly, one of the keywords was a word Trish had never even heard before . . . and the search even found that. Katherine rushed through the control-room door. â€Å"What have you got?† â€Å"A bunch of candidates.† Trish motioned to the plasma wall. â€Å"Every one of these documents contains all of your key phrases verbatim.† Katherine tucked her hair behind her ear and scanned the list. â€Å"Before you get too excited,† Trish added, â€Å"I can assure you that most of these documents are not what you’re looking for. They’re what we call black holes. Look at the file sizes. Absolutely enormous. They’re things like compressed archives of millions of e-mails, giant unabridged encyclopedia sets, global message boards that have been running for years, and so forth. By virtue of their size and diverse content, these files contain so many potential keywords that they suck in any search engine that comes anywhere near them.† Katherine pointed to one of the entries near the top of the list. â€Å"How about that one?† Trish smiled. Katherine was a step ahead, having found the sole file on the list that had a small file size. â€Å"Good eyes. Yeah, that’s really our only candidate so far. In fact, that file’s so small it can’t be more than a page or so.† â€Å"Open it.† Katherine’s tone was intense. Trish could not imagine a one-page document containing all the strange search strings Katherine had provided. Nonetheless, when she clicked and opened the document, the key phrases were there . . . crystal clear and easy to spot in the text. Katherine strode over, eyes riveted to the plasma wall. â€Å"This document is . . . redacted?† Trish nodded. â€Å"Welcome to the world of digitized text.† Automatic redaction had become standard practice when offering digitized documents. Redaction was a process wherein a server allowed a user to search the entire text, but then revealed only a small portion of it–a teaser of sorts–only that text immediately flanking the requested keywords. By omitting the vast majority of the text, the server avoided copyright infringement and also sent the user an intriguing message: I have the information you’re searching for, but if you want the rest of it, you’ll have to buy it from me. â€Å"As you can see,† Trish said, scrolling through the heavily abridged page, â€Å"the document contains all of your key phrases.† Katherine stared up at the redaction in silence. Trish gave her a minute and then scrolled back to the top of the page. Each of Katherine’s key phrases was underlined in capital letters and accompanied by a small sample of teaser text–the two words that appeared on either side of the requested phrase. Trish could not imagine what this document was referring to. And what the heck is a â€Å"symbolon†? Katherine stepped eagerly toward the screen. â€Å"Where did this document come from? Who wrote it?† Trish was already working on it. â€Å"Give me a second. I’m trying to chase down the source.† â€Å"I need to know who wrote this,† Katherine repeated, her voice intense. â€Å"I need to see the rest of it.† â€Å"I’m trying,† Trish said, startled by the edge in Katherine’s tone. Strangely, the file’s location was not displaying as a traditional Web address but rather as a numeric Internet Protocol address. â€Å"I can’t unmask the IP,† Trish said. â€Å"The domain name’s not coming up. Hold on.† She pulled up her terminal window. â€Å"I’ll run a traceroute.† Trish typed the sequence of commands to ping all the â€Å"hops† between her control room’s machine and whatever machine was storing this document. â€Å"Tracing now,† she said, executing the command. Traceroutes were extremely fast, and a long list of network devices appeared almost instantly on the plasma wall. Trish scanned down . . . down . . . through the path of routers and switches that connected her machine to . . . What the hell? Her trace had stopped before reaching the document’s server. Her ping, for some reason, had hit a network device that swallowed it rather than bouncing it back. â€Å"It looks like my traceroute got blocked,† Trish said. Is that even possible? â€Å"Run it again.† Trish launched another traceroute and got the same result. â€Å"Nope. Dead end. It’s like this document is on a server that is untraceable.† She looked at the last few hops before the dead end. â€Å"I can tell you, though, it’s located somewhere in the D.C. area.† â€Å"You’re kidding.† â€Å"Not surprising,† Trish said. â€Å"These spider programs spiral out geographically, meaning the first results are always local. Besides, one of your search strings was `Washington, D.C.’ â€Å" â€Å"How about a `who is’ search?† Katherine prompted. â€Å"Wouldn’t that tell you who owns the domain?† A bit lowbrow, but not a bad idea. Trish navigated to the â€Å"who is† database and ran a search for the IP, hoping to match the cryptic numbers to an actual domain name. Her frustration was now tempered by rising curiosity. Who has this document? The â€Å"who is† results appeared quickly, showing no match, and Trish held up her hands in defeat. â€Å"It’s like this IP address doesn’t exist. I can’t get any information about it at all.† â€Å"Obviously the IP exists. We’ve just searched a document that’s stored there!† True. And yet whoever had this document apparently preferred not to share his or her identity. â€Å"I’m not sure what to tell you. Systems traces aren’t really my thing, and unless you want to call in someone with hacking skills, I’m at a loss.† â€Å"Do you know someone?† Trish turned and stared at her boss. â€Å"Katherine, I was kidding. It’s not exactly a great idea.† â€Å"But it is done?† She checked her watch. â€Å"Um, yeah . . . all the time. Technically it’s pretty easy.† â€Å"Who do you know?† â€Å"Hackers?† Trish laughed nervously. â€Å"Like half the guys at my old job.† â€Å"Anyone you trust?† Is she serious? Trish could see Katherine was dead serious. â€Å"Well, yeah,† she said hurriedly. â€Å"I know this one guy we could call. He was our systems security specialist–serious computer geek. He wanted to date me, which kind of sucked, but he’s a good guy, and I’d trust him. Also, he does freelance.† â€Å"Can he be discreet?† â€Å"He’s a hacker. Of course he can be discreet. That’s what he does. But I’m sure he’d want at least a thousand bucks to even look–â€Å" â€Å"Call him. Offer him double for fast results.† Trish was not sure what made her more uncomfortable–helping Katherine Solomon hire a hacker . . . or calling a guy who probably still found it impossible to believe a pudgy, redheaded metasystems analyst would rebuff his romantic advances. â€Å"You’re sure about this?† â€Å"Use the phone in the library,† Katherine said. â€Å"It’s got a blocked number. And obviously don’t use my name.† â€Å"Right.† Trish headed for the door but paused when she heard Katherine’s iPhone chirp. With luck, the incoming text message might be information that would grant Trish a reprieve from this distasteful task. She waited as Katherine fished the iPhone from her lab coat’s pocket and eyed the screen. Katherine Solomon felt a wave of relief to see the name on her iPhone. At last. PETER SOLOMON â€Å"It’s a text message from my brother,† she said, glancing over at Trish. Trish looked hopeful. â€Å"So maybe we should ask him about all this . . . before we call a hacker?† Katherine eyed the redacted document on the plasma wall and heard Dr. Abaddon’s voice. That which your brother believes is hidden in D.C. . . . it can be found. Katherine had no idea what to believe anymore, and this document represented information about the far-fetched ideas with which Peter had apparently become obsessed. Katherine shook her head. â€Å"I want to know who wrote this and where it’s located. Make the call.† Trish frowned and headed for the door. Whether or not this document would be able to explain the mystery of what her brother had told Dr. Abaddon, there was at least one mystery that had been solved today. Her brother had finally learned how to use the text-messaging feature on the iPhone Katherine had given him. â€Å"And alert the media,† Katherine called after Trish. â€Å"The great Peter Solomon just sent his first text message.† In a strip-mall parking lot across the street from the SMSC, Mal’akh stood beside his limo, stretching his legs and waiting for the phone call he knew would be coming. The rain had stopped, and a winter moon had started to break through the clouds. It was the same moon that had shone down on Mal’akh through the oculus of the House of the Temple three months ago during his initiation. The world looks different tonight. As he waited, his stomach growled again. His two-day fast, although uncomfortable, was critical to his preparation. Such were the ancient ways. Soon all physical discomforts would be inconsequential. As Mal’akh stood in the cold night air, he chuckled to see that fate had deposited him, rather ironically, directly in front of a tiny church. Here, nestled between Sterling Dental and a minimart, was a tiny sanctuary. LORD’S HOUSE OF GLORY. Mal’akh gazed at the window, which displayed part of the church’s doctrinal statement: WE BELIEVE THAT JESUS CHRIST WAS BEGOTTEN BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY, AND IS BOTH TRUE MAN AND GOD. Mal’akh smiled. Yes, Jesus is indeed both–man and God–but a virgin birth is not the prerequisite for divinity. That is not how it happens. The ring of a cell phone cut the night air, quickening his pulse. The phone that was now ringing was Mal’akh’s own–a cheap disposable phone he had purchased yesterday. The caller ID indicated it was the call he had been anticipating. A local call, Mal’akh mused, gazing out across Silver Hill Road toward the faint moonlit outline of a zigzag roofline over the treetops. Mal’akh flipped open his phone. â€Å"This is Dr. Abaddon,† he said, tuning his voice deeper. â€Å"It’s Katherine,† the woman’s voice said. â€Å"I finally heard from my brother.† â€Å"Oh, I’m relieved. How is he?† â€Å"He’s on his way to my lab right now,† Katherine said. â€Å"In fact, he suggested you join us.† â€Å"I’m sorry?† Mal’akh feigned hesitation. â€Å"In your . . . lab?† â€Å"He must trust you deeply. He never invites anyone back there.† â€Å"I suppose maybe he thinks a visit might help our discussions, but I feel like it’s an intrusion.† â€Å"If my brother says you’re welcome, then you’re welcome. Besides, he said he has a lot to tell us both, and I’d love to get to the bottom of what’s going on.† â€Å"Very well, then. Where exactly is your lab?† â€Å"At the Smithsonian Museum Support Center. Do you know where that is?† â€Å"No,† Mal’akh said, staring across the parking lot at the complex. â€Å"I’m actually in my car right now, and I have a guidance system. What’s the address?† â€Å"Forty-two-ten Silver Hill Road.† â€Å"Okay, hold on. I’ll type it in.† Mal’akh waited for ten seconds and then said, â€Å"Ah, good news, it looks like I’m closer than I thought. The GPS says I’m only about ten minutes away.† â€Å"Great. I’ll phone the security gate and tell them you’re coming through.† â€Å"Thank you.† â€Å"I’ll see you shortly.† Mal’akh pocketed the disposable phone and looked out toward the SMSC. Was I rude to invite myself? Smiling, he now pulled out Peter Solomon’s iPhone and admired the text message he had sent Katherine several minutes earlier. Got your messages. All’s fine. Busy day. Forgot appointment with Dr. Abaddon. Sorry not to mention him sooner. Long story. Am headed to lab now. If available, have Dr. Abaddon join us inside. I trust him fully, and I have much to tell you both. –Peter Not surprisingly, Peter’s iPhone now pinged with an incoming reply from Katherine. peter, congrats on learning to text! relieved you’re okay. spoke to dr. A., and he is coming to lab. see you shortly! –k Clutching Solomon’s iPhone, Mal’akh crouched down under his limousine and wedged the phone between the front tire and the pavement. This phone had served Mal’akh well . . . but now it was time it became untraceable. He climbed behind the wheel, put the car in gear, and crept forward until he heard the sharp crack of the iPhone imploding. Mal’akh put the car back in park and stared out at the distant silhouette of the SMSC. Ten minutes. Peter Solomon’s sprawling warehouse housed over thirty million treasures, but Mal’akh had come here tonight to obliterate only the two most valuable. All of Katherine Solomon’s research. And Katherine Solomon herself. How to cite The Lost Symbol Chapter 24-25, Essay examples

Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment

Question: Discuss about the Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment. Answer: Summary of focus chapter: Renewables and storage The chapter on renewable and storage brings into highlight the need for balancing renewable energy sources and deal with energy storage to deal with demand spikes in renewable energy generation (FS UNEP Centre. 2017). The rise in renewable energy resource has increased due to the changing world dynamics and more focus on investing in renewable energy. With recent technological advancements, the number of creative ways to restore energy has become possible to meet rising energy demands. The improvement in the economics of renewable energy is also creating opportunity for increased investment in renewable energy (Lewis 2014) As there might be variations in wind speed or cloud cover, making up for the demand in renewable energy resource might be difficult. To balance this fluctuation in renewable resource, balancing techniques is required to meet consumptions demand efficiently. National grid system operators is the answer to these issues as they can anticipate extra generations needs based on improved energy forecasting techniques (Castillo and Gayme 2014). There are four ways to balance the generation of renewable energy resource- via conventional generation, interconnectors, demand response strategies and the energy storage. The decision to choose the best method for balancing depends on long-term or short-term needs and costs involved per MWh. Considering several limitation in other three approaches, energy storage is regarded as the best technique to quickly respond to demands (FS UNEP Centre 2017). In order to succeed in energy storage, understanding about current storage landscape is important. Storage has become an exciting field for investors due to cost declines in lithium-ion batteries due to fierce competition among electric vehicle manufacturers. Entrepreneurial efforts to produce lithium-ion batteries are one the rise with about 35GWh production every year by Tesla Motors. Hence investment in storage has increased particularly to improve grid performance, manage demand-supply problems and regulate frequency of renewable resource usage. Further improvement in storage facility has been done by application of behind-the-metre storage to balance small scale industries. Electrification extension has been possible in conjunction with solar mini-grids which have battery storage as well as diesel generators for back-up. Several projects are being planned related to batter storage and increasing capacity f energy storage products. Policy makers are aware of the challenges in balancing renewable and energy storage due to cost issues in spite of several improvements in storage technology. Top companies are investigating the actual cost involved in balancing renewable. It will be necessary to engage in flexible generation by combining interconnectors, demand response, gas-fired power and energy storage (Kousksou et al. 2014). In case of quick balancing needs, the focus will be on renewable energy installation close to the site. Many German companies are also looking into introducing batteries in renewable energy plants to curb the current cost of energy generation. The cost will also depend in duration of battery use and it is predicted that with the cost of batteries is likely to go down in the recent years which will help in balancing efforts (FS UNEP Centre 2017). Reference Castillo, A. and Gayme, D.F., 2014. Grid-scale energy storage applications in renewable energy integration: A survey.Energy Conversion and Management,87, pp.885-894. FS UNEP Centre. 2017.Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2016. [online] Available at: https://fs-unep-centre.org/publications/global-trends-renewable-energy-investment-2016 [Accessed 18 Jan. 2017]. Kousksou, T., Bruel, P., Jamil, A., El Rhafiki, T. and Zeraouli, Y., 2014. Energy storage: Applications and challenges.Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells,120, pp.59-80. Lewis, J.I., 2014. The rise of renewable energy protectionism: Emerging trade conflicts and implications for low carbon development.Global Environmental Politics.