Abstract This paper offers an explication of the poem "Count Gismond Aix in Provence" by Robert Browning in which the speaker is revealed to be a young woman whose honor has been besmirched and is then defended by her champion, Count Gismond. The writer describes that she has been dishonored by her own cousin, a man named Count Gauthier. The writer further explains that Gismond steps forward and protects her, defending her honor as in a medieval drama.
From the Paper "Robert Browning was noted for his dramatic poems, monologues in which the speech of the narrator illustrates a dramatic event and through which meaning was conveyed by the story told, by the attitude and response of the speaker, and by the poetic devices included by the poet. These elements can be seen in the dramatic monologue in the poem "Count Gismond Aix in Provence" in which the speaker is revealed to be a young woman whose honor has been besmirched and is then defended by her champion, Count Gismond. She has been dishonored by her own cousin, a man named Count Gauthier."
Abstract The paper examines the central theme of hope in A. Dumas's "The Count of Monte Cristo". Hope is vital to Edmond Dante's survival and is also the foundation for the novel that transforms the plot from one of vengeance and justice to a novel that focuses instead on survival. Hope is central to the characters survival and infuses the main character Dante with the strength and courage he needs to overcome his enemy's transgressions and in the end, win back all that is rightfully his. Other themes mentioned include love and human justice, though, according to the paper, ultimately it is hope that drives the plot and encourages the reader to side with Dante and carries him through to his ultimate success in the end. The paper concludes that without the theme of hope, "The Count of Monte Cristo" would fall apart and become a tragic novel of only vengeance, rather than a work of art that inspires readers to stay firm in their convictions and realize their dreams are attainable.
From the Paper "For multiple twisted reasons Dante while mostly innocent is sent to prison for treason. The reasons he is sent to suffer include jealousy and other man's fears that Dante will reveal the worst about their actions. It is in prison that Dante first discovers hope while staying in the Chateau d'If. Here Dante encounters a man by the name of Abbe Faria who teaches Dante much of the world including subjects like history, philosophy and languages (Goldstein, 2005). This helps Dante transform into an educated man, capable of competing against his enemies. In prison Faria also bestows on Dante treasures that he has hid on the island of Monte Cristo. Here Dante discovers hope and discovers that with his newfound knowledge and education he can once more conquer and regain all that is rightfully his."
Abstract This paper presents an overview of the Unification of Italy and the part Count Cavour played in it. The event leading to the unification as well as the various strategies of the Count is all described.
Abstract This paper is a book report on Bram Stoker's "Dracula" that addresses the question of whether Count Dracula's actions are rational or justifiable. The paper gives a thorough description of the book as a work of literature, and as a discussion of morals and human nature. The conclusion drawn is that the Count's actions are justifiable only if one is prepared to take 'vampire morality' as a standard for behavior.
This paper compares two vampires---the archetype Count Dracula from Bram Stoker's "Dracula" and the flamboyant Lestat De Lioncourt from Anne Rice's "Vampire Chronicles".
Abstract This paper explains that protagonist vampires in all traditions differ from other mythical supernatural beings in their resemblance to humans; Anne Rice's Lestat De Lioncourt possesses human qualities such as a spirit and a mind in different proportions than Bram Stoker's old Dracula. The author points out that the Count is not freed by immortality but imprisoned by it; therefore he has no companions but those unfortunates who find themselves like rodents in a mousetrap in the dingy abysses that he calls home; he would never take a nun as a lover as does Lestat De Lioncourt. The paper relates that the true fans of horror no longer want to be frightened by the mere fantasy of the fearsome as Count Dracula; they want to be scared to their very core by a protagonist vampire that resemble themselves such as Lestat De Lioncourt.
From the Paper "Lestat, also known as 'the brat prince,' is endowed with an unusual wealth of talents and is the most passionate of Anne Rice's vampires by far. However, he and the rest of Rice's vampires can all be killed in the same ways. A stake through the heart or a crucifix won't do a thing to these nearly indestructible beings. In fact, as Louie once said in "Interview with the Vampire," they are "actually quite fond of looking at crucifixes." Decapitation only delays resurrection, regardless of how the remains are scattered. The only two ways to kill Rice's vampires are by fire or by somehow placing them in the sun (which would cause them to ignite into flames, thus making this death a mere variation of the expiration by fire). "
Abstract This paper explores horror actor Peter Cushing's ancestral ties with Sir Henry Irving, the great English stage actor and Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula, in the context of the English stage and Irving's tours of America, from 1881 to 1889. It examines Bram Stoker's work in April of 1912, that used a new medium of artistic expression and brought Stoker his posthumous fame--the motion picture industry which catapulted Stoker's Gothic novel to the darkest realms of cinematic exploitation and created a new cultural icon in the form of a blood-sucking, malevolent human monster known as Count Dracula.
From the Paper "While Ellen Terry and Henry Irving enjoyed some days of quiet and peace in the privacy of their drawing-rooms and staterooms, the rest of the (touring) company, the tons of scenery, the hundreds of costumes, the 1,200 wigs, the small-part actors, the supers and Bram Stoker, were sailing to America in a slow boat called The City of Rome." Although this quote from Madeleine Bingham's 1978 biography Henry Irving and the Victorian Theatre seems at first glance rather superficial, two specific points deserve closer examination--first, Henry Irving, the legendary British thespian, the Sir Laurence Olivier of his time, who dominated the English stage for more than thirty years and was the first actor to be knighted 1, and actress Ellen Terry, his longtime leading lady, must have thought of themselves as blue-blood royalty, due to sailing to America from Liverpool in October of 1883 aboard the luxurious steamship Britannic on their first U.S. tour; and second, as the remainder of the company trudged along on that "slow boat" The City of Rome, Irving's business manager, the Dublin-born Bram Stoker, apparently was not considered as deserving of better quarters during the long voyage across the Atlantic to the theatrical citadel of New York City. However, this may have been in Stoker's favor, for it is quite possible while separated from Irving's manic desire for control that Stoker retreated to his conjoined cabin ( No. 100, a few steps from the promenade bar 2 ) and took pen in hand to scribble in a "dogeared notebook (with) hieroglyphical entries in thick, half-obliterated pencil," 3 more notes concerning his ten years of research into the occultic sciences."
Abstract This paper examines how a study of Southern California coastal waters in 1999 showed that the waters rarely contain enough bacteria during the summer to make swimmers sick, except at creeks and storm drains that are releasing urban runoff. It looks at how significant portion of coastal water contamination comes from non-point source pollution such as agriculture and urban runoff, faulty septic systems, marinas and recreational boating and habitat degradation. It proposes a study to determine the coliform count in water samples from New Port Beach, California which is considered to be one of the best urban beaches in the United States and provides an analysis of the results.
From the Paper "Newport Beach is the fifth best urban beach in the United States, according to the Surfrider Foundation report issued in May, 2000 (Mehta, 2000). The city was one of three California communities to make the list as a place where healthy shorelines and urban development coexist. However, Newport Bay suffers from extreme pollution from the Santa Ana River. In January, 2000 Gumbel (2000) reported that all 8 miles of Huntington Beach, a few miles north of Newport Beach, had been closed since the previous summer because the water had shown exceptionally high levels of enterococcus bacteria, indicating fecal contamination. Surfrider Beach in Malibu was plagued at the same time by E. coli bacteria and viruses. The contamination in both cases was attributed to urban runoff."
Abstract This paper discusses how when it was published in 1897, "Dracula" ,as a novel, engaged with many contemporary debates. In particular, it looks at the idea of colonial anxiety and how the character of Count Dracula serves as an appropriate metaphor for the fear of invasion, the fear of otherness and also the fear of becoming ?other.? It also examines how his physical invasion, that is, his violation of women, gives rise to sexual anxiety, mainly focusing on concerns about the rise of the ?New Woman,? and how it manifests itself in the hyper-sexuality of the character Lucy Westenra.
From the Paper "Dracula also represents a Victorian fear of the past. The Count symbolises aristocratic tyranny and superstition: in his first journal, Harker records the Count's speech about his tyranic ancestry, in which he reveals himself to be descended from Attila the Hun, ?What devil or what witch was ever so great as Attila, whose blood is in these veins.? Dracula also says that ?the old centuries had, and have, powers of their own which mere "modernity" cannot kill.? This directly threatens the bourgeois modernity and rationality of Victorian Britain at a time when the Industrial Revolution was in full swing. In light of this fear of regression, it is quite ironic that while, as Dracula's main enemy, Van Helsing embodies science and religion ? two bastions of modern Victorian ideology ? Dracula is in fact defeated by neither blood transfusions or the Cross, but instead through occult lore and primitive weaponry."
Abstract This paper discusses and analyzes the topic of e-voting, or voting through ATM-like electronic terminals. It looks at the pros and cons of the election process moving into an electronic age and away from the "hanging chads." The writer also examines issues of security, such as hacking and vote count integrity.
From the Paper "The 2000 Presidential election and the fiasco in Florida's vote count were just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to voting in America. Today, voters are faced with more than punch cards. They are faced with "e-voting." What is e-voting? E-voting is a more practical way of voting by using electronic touch-screens or optical-scanning systems that record the vote when a voter touches the screen, clicks a mouse, or marks a ballot than can be optically scanned. The systems work electronically, and votes should be tallied almost instantaneously. The machines automatically show each office or item on the ballot as the voter enters their vote, and "If a voter makes a mistake, such as selecting two candidates for the same office, the computer points out this error and allows the voter to correct it" (Bonsor). These machines eliminate the inefficiencies of punch card and manual voting, and they are quicker for voters to use, so polling places can handle more voters in less time. In addition, they bring voting to many more people, including the blind and non-English speakers, for there are screens that talk back and screens in other languages."
Abstract This paper explains that the four factors of production are land, labor, capital, and enterprise. The author points out that the Periodic Inventory System is a physical count inventory, usually made at the end of the accounting period, which does not maintain a detailed record of the actual inventory kept during the accounting period. The paper stresses that persons in charge of controlling the inventories in a business must follow certain steps and perform an accurate inventory control in order to avoid high costs due to overstocking matters.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Production Factors
What Is Inventory
Cost Associated with High Inventories
Inventory Systems
Periodic Inventory System
Perpetual Inventory System
Conclusion
Graph
From the Paper "Inventory is the value of a firm's current assets that are shown on the balance sheet, generally at cost. Inventory or merchandise inventory is generally applied to goods or materials available on hand that are held by a merchandising firm, either wholesale or retail. It includes raw materials, work in progress, and finished goods that are ready for sale, but has not been sold yet."
Abstract At first glance one might think that Punam Khosla's "If Low Income Women of Colour Counted in Toronto" is just another publication stating the screamingly obvious, that women of colour face multiple discrimination and are usually poorer than other people. However, such an attitude would play right into the hands of those who are marginalising the problems of minority women, to the point where they are in danger of being left off the page altogether. This essay places this article in a theoretical context by showing how developments in feminist theory have sidelined issues that are of concrete, practical significance for women.
Abstract This paper discusses the play, "Egmont," written by Johann Wolfgang Goethe. The paper specifically focuses on Goethe's views on friendship and relationships and the ways that he portrays this in his play. The paper shows how, through the many relationships that Count Egmont has, Goethe portrays his pessimism towards the possibility of the ideal friendship.
From the Paper "The citizens of Brussels are the first people that appear in the play, and from the beginning they praise Count Egmont, suggesting the positive relationship between the two. Although the citizens do not interact with Egmont until the end of the first scene in Act II, they show that they have amity for Count Egmont, whom they cherish as a friend and respect as a leader. People feel like he is a leader who is like them and understands them, creating a comradeship between Egmont and the citizens. However, Act IV scene I conveys that even friends whom once may have praised you can leave once something may seem a little uncertain for them. In Act IV scene I, the citizens express their concern for Count Egmont's death, but no one seems to have the courage to take action for Egmont. Rather, when Vansen challenges the loyalty and courage of the civilians, all are hesitant to speak up. When Vansen asks, "Who would? Who would stop them? You? Will you start a revolt when they arrest him?" one of the civilians, Soest, stutters and could not answer (Goethe 155). The cowardliness of Egmont's followers results in his death at the scaffold."
Abstract This paper explains that, inevitably, bridges deteriorate over time at different rates: Timely maintenance activities, which are well-planned and carried out with minimal disruption to road users can present substantial savings in terms of both time and money for both bridge owners and road users. The author ponts out that, to tackle the complicated issues regarding bridge management, research activities in the UK as well as other countries in continental Europe concentrate largely on the bridge management process, with attention given to improving the use of limited finances to maximize the returns from the maintenance and repair of the bridge stock as well as reduce additional costs due to traffic delays and lane closures for these activities. The paper includes a critical review of other BMSs used worldwide, development of models to predict bridge condition over time, analysis of the various road user costs and using different optimizing techniques to best allocate finances and optimize bridge performance. 39 tables. 40 figures.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Objective
Bridge Conditions in the U.K.
Introduction
Maintenance and Upgrading
Expenditure
Department of Transport (DoT) Programme
What is a Bridge Management System (BMS)?
Introduction
Department of Transport Structure
Maintenance Agents
BMS in the U.K. and Other Countries
Introduction
Bridge Condition
Other Information in BMS's
Condition Prediction
Cost Models
Decision for Maintenance and Repair
Prioritization
BMS in the U.S.A.
BRIDGIT System
PONTIS System
SMIS System
Inventory
Inspection and Assessment
National Structures Programmes (NSPs)
Prioritization
Project Creation
Whole Life Assessment and Costing
Activities Schedule
Data Accuracy
Design Specifications
Access
Integration with External Systems
Bridge Inspection and Assessment
Bridge Inspection Types
Defects
Bridge Scoring
Introduction
Definitions
Bridge Condition Score (BCS)
Bridge Condition Index (BCI)
Bridge Stock Condition Index (BSCI)
Multi Span Bridges
Bridge Scoring Example
Interpreting BCS's
BCS Results
Histograms for Bridge Stock
Interpreting BCI's
BCI Results
Interpreting BSCI's
Predicting Bridge Condition with Time
Introduction
Markov Chain Approach
Example Calculation
Bridge Condition Example
Bridge Condition Results
Bridge Aggregation Example
Bridge Aggregation Results
Bridge Stock Example
Bridge Stock Results
Traffic Costs
Introduction
Traffic Count Example
Traffic Count Results
Traffic Delay Cost Examples
Delay Costs Results (1st Example)
Delay Costs Results (2nd Example)
Accident Cost Example
Accident Costs Results
Environmental Impact
Introduction
Emissions Example
Emissions Results
Decision-Making and Prioritization
Decision-making
Introduction
Prioritization
Introduction
Dynamic Programming
Budget Allocation Approach
Budget Allocation Results (1st Example)
Budget Allocation Results( 2nd Example)
Budget Allocation Results ( 3rd Example)
Improvements to Budget Allocation Approach
Introduction to BCI optimization approach
Service Potential (BCI) Examples
BCI Optimization Results (1st Example)
BCI Optimization Results (2nd Example)
BCI Optimization Results (3rd Example)
Maintenance Costs Examples
BCI Optimization Results (4th Example)
BCI Optimization Results (5th Example)
BCI Optimization Results (6th Example)
Conclusion
Future Research
From the Paper "It is proposed that the transition probabilities to be used are the Bridge Condition Index (BCI), which operates on a linear scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best). The degree of severity of bridges is linearly distributed over this range (i.e. BCI of 50 to 51 is the same as 90 to 91), except that costs are expected not to have a linear distribution. This is a useful approach as the BCI (average) is interpreted as 'service potential' and is used as a performance indicator.
Using the example for multi span bridges earlier on, the transition probabilities for a three-state Markov chain model with limiting stage value of 3 is proposed. The probabilities are in accordance to the BCI values for the 'good' bridge arranged in order of descending magnitude (i.e. P(1) = 0.9845 and P(2) = 0.9246). For the purposes of comparison, the other two bridges ('medium' and 'bad') are also modelled and the three are plotted together."
Abstract This paper studies the gender roles in the Bible, analyzes the stories of Jephte's daughter and the sacrifice of the virgins. It compares the Bible's attitude towards men and woman, specifying the different roles each were given and how these effect people's attitudes today.
From the paper:
"Many of the passages that address gender in the Hebrew Bible expressly identify the masculine principle with that which is acceptable unto God, and the feminine with that which is fit for shame and secretiveness. For example, the monthly bleeding of a woman makes her unclean, and anything which she may touch. Sexual intercourse with a woman shall make a priest temporarily ineligible to enter the presence of God, and women themselves may never enter the tabernacle. Miriam, the sister of Moses, is stricken with leprosy for her forwardness. Deborah, one of the only female leaders of the Jewish military, exclaims that her active role casts shame upon the Jewish people. Sacrificial animals include both males and females of the species, though it is significant that only the firstborn males of both humans and animals are to be dedicated specifically to God -- females, before the divine, being again nearly invisible. Indeed, this invisibility to the divine goes so far that when a religiously ordered census was made from time to time of the Jewish people, only the males were counted."
Abstract This paper examines how Bram Stoker portrays erotic elements and religious undertones in his novel "Dracula". The author provides a brief analysis of the novel and looks at the way the time in which it was written impacted its acceptance.
From the paper:
"Bram Stoker is known by the world primarily as the author of the powerfully unforgettable novel Dracula. The novel introduces us to the diabolical character?Count Dracula. Dracula was written during the late-Victorian age, when "sex was likely to seem bestial, polluting, depleting, deathly, satanic, a fever in the blood, the theme of dreams, the nature of madness, and the lurking menace in the shadow of every scene" (Stade VI). Obviously very much ahead of its time, the public nevertheless openly accepted Dracula."
