Abstract
This paper is an historical biography that draws comparisons between the Dutch artist Rembrandt and the King of France, Louis XIV. The emphasis is on the social and political contexts of a particular era (1660) during which these two figures lived.

Abstract
Since the domestication of dogs over ten thousand years ago, companion animals have held a special place in the hearts of people. For many people, owning a companion animal is a rewarding and enjoyable affair. Pets will offer unconditional love and support that may otherwise be unobtainable to people in today's cold-hearted, "dog-eat-dog" society. This paper shows, however, that owning a pet of any species, much like having a human child, is an endeavor that calls for a great deal of commitment and responsibility on the part of the human companion.

From the Paper
"Companion animals have shown humans unmeasurable amounts of loyalty and dedication over the centuries, and in turn it has become common practice among most people in our society to have a pet. However, as rewarding as pet ownership can be, people must be willing and able to dedicate themselves to properly providing for their pet's every physical and emotional need. There are people who are not able to make the often selfless decisions necessary when caring for an animal due to circumstances beyond their control, as well as people who will consistently make the most selfish decision possible due to their personal disrespectful view of animals. Those individuals who would not provide a safe, secure, and healthy home for an animal should not become pet owners."

Tags:vetinerary, vaccination, spay, neuter

Abstract
This paper reviews two articles that discuss the history, theory and concepts of media culture. It examines John Nerone's "Approaches to Media History. In: Angharad Valdivia (ed.), A Companion to Media Studies" and Asa Briggs and Peter Burke's "A Social History of the Media. From Gutenberg to the Internet." The paper compares the opinions of the two texts.

From the Paper
"Paradoxically as it may be the conclusion gives a whole new meaning as everything becomes clearer. There is no media history ,but there are different types of history that amounted together might deserve the right to be looked upon in a broader way and thus we can state their belonging to something bigger than what they really are. Media is a concept formed out of smaller particles, each of them owning their own history.
"One of the very interesting facts that I found in Nerone's text is how media development brought with it a mixture of social classes and how that brought about criticism. Media was now seen as a means of multiplying mediocrity instead of knowledge. The author invites us though not to look at these ideas as being elitist as they may seem when reading such an affirmation, but merely as disappointing conclusions of scholars who expected something else from this phenomenon."

Tags:culture, communication, television, public

Abstract
This paper criticizes flaws in chapter four of Judith Wallerstein's "The Good Marriage". It argues that the true rigors of society coupled with the complexity of a human relationship make the notion of a companionate marriage a foolish one. It concludes that if both husband and wife have each other's best interest at heart there's no need to "keep score".

Abstract
This paper examines "The Things They Carried" by Tim O' Brien, the story of 12 soldiers, members of the Third Platoon, Alpha Company, Fifth Battalion of the 16th Infantry, 198th Infantry Brigade of the American Division in the Vietnam War of 1969. It looks at how O'Brien relates his and his companions' desolate and fatal experiences during that war and how he uses those experiences to explore the complications of memory and trauma, the most lasting of the things he and his companions endured, and which have remained with him to this day. It examines how it lists the many things they carried into war that were more real and terrifying than bullets, guns, grenades, and disease, such as the deaths, injuries, and sicknesses, and the overall brokenness they had to face in fighting.

From the Paper
"O'Brien gives major focus on the death of his closest friend, Kiowa throughout the book. It was a freak incident in that his own platoon killed him by mistake when it camped in a latrine on the banks of the song Tra Bong. It was plain to see why the author held Kiowa closest to his heart: Kiowa shared his sentiments about the cruelty of war. Kiowa was also a very compassionate and intelligent man, but precisely because of the kind of soul he was that O'Brien gave greater coverage of Kiowa's very costly death than his life. It was a gutting loss he carried with great pain and could never get over with."

Tags:kiowa, platoon, death, guns, alpha, company

Abstract
"Everyman" is a morality play, written in the 15th century, author unknown. It is said to be the best of the morality plays. The paper shows how "Everyman" uses allegory to tell how God sent Death to Everyman, to take him on a journey. Everyman journeys from birth to his time of death, thinking of companions along the way, and finding that they have all forsaken him by the end, except for his good deeds, which are the only companion he may take with him to his final accounting with God.

From the Paper
"Everyman tries to delay his journey, by asking Death many questions, but Death cannot be delayed. Everyman doesn't want to go and resorts to trying to bribe Death so that he may remain on earth. But money means nothing to Death. Death comes to Everyman as a messenger and a guide. He has a job to do, and he does it well. He takes Everyman on a journey in which Everyman's mortal life ends, and the final resting place of Everyman's soul is determined. But Death does allow Everyman to seek companions to accompany him on his final journey."

Tags:conflict, drama, heaven, hell, religion, salvation

Abstract
This paper discusses how, in Mary Godwin Shelley's 1818 Gothic masterpiece, "Frankenstein", the main protagonist, Victor Frankenstein, a young student of the alchemical arts and sciences, takes the reader on an exploration into the unknown, for his primary goal is to create life from the dead. It looks at how, after much experimentation, he produces a creature of hideous proportions and intellect, bent on nothing but revenge. It also shows how, likewise, Professor Hardwigg, the main protagonist in Jules Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth", published in 1864, leads the reader on another "journey" into the unknown, only this time into the bowels of the earth, where Hardwigg and his companions discover another world, much like Victor Frankenstein with his experiments concerning the mysteries of life and death.

From the Paper
"The beginning of Frankenstein opens the proverbial door to the strange and horrifying tale related by Victor Frankenstein to Captain Walton, an English explorer surveying the polar regions of the far north. One day, as the ship's company is looking out over the empty ice fields, they are astonished to see a sledge drawn by dogs speeding northward with the sledge driver huge and misshapen. That night, an ice floe carries another sledge with a weakened man to the ship, and once the man (Victor Frankenstein) discovers that the first sledge has been sighted, he turns quite agitated. As Victor convalesces on the ship, he becomes friendly with Walton and after recovering his strength, relates the tale of the creature that he created artificially from the dead."

Tags:victor, walton, hardwigg, monster

Abstract
This paper discusses the concept of epiphanies, that everything old is made new again and that the world has been changed forever by some new insight and how it is a creed of most world religions including Christianity. It examines how the descriptions of life in a gorilla family given by Dian Fossey in her book "Gorillas in the Mist" provide the kind of moments that are best described as epiphanous because they help us connect in a very detailed and precise way our own lives with those individuals of another species. It evaluates the moments that make it such an epiphanous tale such as the detail that Bonne Annee was attracted on her walks with her human companions to the graveyard where the gorilla victims of poachers were buried.

From the Paper
"One of the most affecting scenes in this chapter is the description of Bonne Annee, who was captured in the wild and then confiscated from the poachers who had taken her from her family. After rehabilitation, she was reintroduced the wild, only to be rejected by the first group she was introduced to (Group 5) because the kinship and social relationship ties in that group were too close to permit a stranger to be introduced. After recovering from the wounds inflicted on her by members of Group 5, she was introduced into a more heterogeneous group and so finally began to live life among her own kind."

Tags:bonne, annee, species, humans

Abstract
This paper discusses the Miller who appears in English author Geoffrey Chaucers "Canterbury Tales". The paper covers the Miller's flaws, his strengths and the character elements revealed through his story, as well as Chaucer's descriptions in the general prologue. It demonstrates how the Miller is a drunken, lavious man, but he is honest in his opinions and avoids affecting a religious or noble pretense like his companions.

From the Paper
"The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer, begins by describing twenty-nine people, each of whom is making a pilgrimage to Canterbury, England. By chance they meet in Southwark and decide to make the journey together. These twenty-nine characters encompass all areas of medieval life. There are religious figures, a pardoner, a prioress, and a monk. Then there are military figures, a knight and his squire. But the most numerous, and perhaps the most eccentric characters are the commoners, the Wife, the Merchant, and especially the Miller. Chaucer includes the Miller in order to contrast him with characters like the Knight and the Parson, who are noble and religious. Chaucer's descriptions of the Miller in the general prologue, when combined with the content of the Miller's tale, portray a character whose perspective is a sharp contrast to nobility. The Miller makes no apologies for his disposition. He is lecherous, outspoken, ostentatious, and a drunk."

Tags:renaissance, bagpipe, Nicholas, Absalom, Alison

Abstract
This paper examines the importance of toys in the physical and psychological development of infants, toddlers and children. It evaluates how different toys can stimulate different cognitive development such as building blocks which can expand a child's capacity in interpreting spatial relationships and math concepts like weight size and gravity. It discusses the psychology of how certain toys can be 'security blankets' or sleeping companions or even imaginary friends promoting a child's need for security but also preparing children for building loving bonds with others by applying their love for the doll to people in real life.

From the Paper
"Toys dominate in children's daily activities early in childhood and play a crucial role in helping kids construct meanings from everyday experiences. Many kinds of concept are built with the aid of toys. A child experiences basic qualities like softness and hardness, flexibility and rigidity as he or she pokes a stuffed animal or squeezes a rubber doll. When building with blocks, children learn about spatial relationships and math concepts like weight size and gravity. As toy historians Eugene and Asterie Provenzo assert, toys provide children with "the opportunity to penetrate and understand the physical environment in which they live". "

Tags:gender, infants, cognitive, interpretation, spatial, relationship