The Opening Two Chapters of the Lord of the Flies Essay Example for Free

The Opening Two Chapters of the Lord of the Flies Essay When William Golding introduce the three main characters of the first two chapters, they seem to be stuck on an unknown island with no adults to look after them. Ralph, Piggy and Jack are their names. Ralph is a fair-minded boy who is ready for action. He is very wise as he often comes up with good ideas. He is immature compared to Piggy. Piggy is more determined and eager. In chapter one, he is very eager to find any other living being on the island. When Jack comes into the story you find that he is very aggressive and quite competitant. He is not fair-minded the way Ralph is and he is eager to be a chief and take charge of things. Through the essay I will discuss the leadership qualities of the three characters and I will argue that none of the them are capable of being a good leader on their own, but if they were to work together then maybe they could reach some succession Ralph, who is one of the three main characters, is the first person to be introduced on the island. One of the positive leadership qualities of Ralph is that he is very confident. This was the voice of one who knew his own mind. To be a leader, confidence is very necessary because if you have to stand up infront of people, you wont feel ashamed or scared! Piggy does not seem as confident as Ralph as he tends to hesitate when speaking in large crowds. Piggy glanced nervously into hell and cradled the conch. Jack, like Ralph, is confident too. Ralph and Jack are the ones who normally speak up whereas Piggy is the one who sits and listens. Ralph being as wise as he is, comes up with good ideas. We ought to draw a map. As Ralph is chosen as leader instead of Jack, he always shares his ideas with the rest of the group. I think that a good leader should come up with good ideas, as this is how the group will come to success and actually get somewhere. So really a good leader should be a team player. Like Ralph, I dont think that Piggy and Jack are team players. Even though Piggy is friendly to others he is not really a team player because he does not mix in well with others because of his problems. I think that Jack is too dictatorial to be a good team player. By reading the first couple of chapters, I found out that Ralph is basically the popular one of the group. Ralph counted. Im chief then. He had the most hands up out of the group when they were electing chief. So this does mean that he is popular. If a leader does not have any popularity then no one would listen to them. As Ralph is elected leader he tries to be fair and democratic. He allows Jack to be leader of the hunters when he himself is chosen as leader. Although Ralph has got good physical features and good leadership qualities, you could see now that he might make a boxer, as far as width and heaviness of shoulders went, but there was a mildness about his mouth and eyes that proclaimed no devil, he also has some weaknesses. I think that Ralphs immaturity can get in the way of his leadership. He always wants to have fun and is hardly serious about anything. Whilst were waiting we can have a good time on this island. A leader should take things seriously to get things done right, and on time. But having said all this, if you put Ralphs immaturity and his seriousness together, they kind of balance. So strictly speaking, Ralph has a got a balanced personality. I think that Jack and Piggys personality is not balanced like Ralphs is. I think that maybe theyre more on the mature and serious side. After Ralph is introduced in the story as the boy with fair hair, Piggy comes into the story. He makes his entrance by calling to Ralph. Hi! it said, Wait a minute! This quote indicates that Piggy wants to get noticed by Ralph. This shows that Piggy likes to be noticed although in the story this does not happen many times. Unlike Ralph, Piggy is more determined and eager, so a leader should be because I think that determination is what mostly brings people to success. In the first chapter Piggy is very eager to find anyone else living on the island. He comes up with different ways in which to manipulate Ralph into helping him do so. I expect theres a lot more of us scattered about. When Piggy and Ralph find the conch, Piggy comes up with a very good idea to call the others. He told Ralph to blow in it. This is a sign that Piggy does have a good leadership quality: he can come up with good ideas, like Ralph. Piggy is also very kind and friendly. This is a very necessary quality. If a leader is not very friendly, like Jack, then nobody would like them and enjoy having them around. Let him have the conch! shouted Piggy. This is where Piggy allows the little boy to have the conch so he could speak. As we know by reading the first couple of chapters, Piggy is quite mature compared to Ralph. Like kids! he said scornfully. Acting like a crowd of kids! When Piggy says this, he tries to imply that the rest of the boys are acting like kids and he is the only mature one around. Piggy can also be calm about things and very sensible at times, these are the good leadership qualities that could make him a good leader. But besides all this, when you read chapter two, you learn that Piggy has got a very quick temper. This is a very negative leader ship quality to have. Piggy lost his temper. Also, Piggy can be sarcastic. Sarcasm does not sound very polite the way Piggy sometimes uses it. You got your small fire all right. And again it is quite a negative leadership quality to have. Besides all the leadership qualities necessary to be a leader, Piggy does not have very good physical features. A leader should be strong and practical and very healthy. Piggy is neither of them. He is more on the fat side. His asthma does not allow him to be as practical as he may want to be. I was the only boy in school what had asthma, said the fat boy. I think that when the other boys went to explore the island, they did not let Piggy come with them because they were afraid that he would slow them down. To conclude about Piggy, I dont think that with all the problems he has, he would make a good leader. When Jack comes into the story, he makes his entrance by marching in on the beach. This already shows that he is full of confidant, a good leadership quality. Although Jack is very aggressive and dictatorial, he could make a good leader. He owns his own choir and he orders them about with oomph and confidence. Choir! Stand still. A leader should be able to talk to the rest of the group with confidence, like Jack and Ralph do. Jack is also quite competitant. A leader should be because this way they could have a challenge with someone else and see what they are good at and what they need to be good at. I think that in a way, a leader should be dominant. Jack is very dominant. I think that this is a good leadership quality because if a leader can control his group then there is no point of them being there. A leader must be dominant and should control their group. Although Jack seems too aggressive, he can also be friendly, like Piggy. Jack grinned back. It seems that Jack can smile and does not always hold a posh look. He is also quite funny as he can make people laugh. Shut up fatty! You have to be able to make someone laugh because this means that if someone is feeling down, you could make him or her feel better by making him or her laugh. I dont think that Jack will be a very good leader if he is chosen as one because he has not got many good leadership qualities as it is. I think that the following words describe him best: Dictatorial, impulsive, aggressive and dominant, arrogant, cruel, envious and red headed. As I have now explained the positive and negative leadership qualities that each of the three main characters has, I have finally come to a conclusion. I have decided that none of the three characters, Ralph, Piggy and Jack could make a good leader on their own. I think that if they work together and not have an individual leader then maybe they could achieve some success and come up with good ideas together. If you put all their positive leadership qualities together then you come up with one ever so good leader. If I were to re-write the whole story again, I would put that all three of them are leaders together!

The Economy and SUVs Essay examples -- essays research papers

SUV’s have become the center of a large controversy in the last couple of years. Many studies have been conducted on the relation to the economy and the popularity of the SUV. The sport utility vehicle not only affects the economy with its gas-guzzling capabilities during a time of war, but with the safety questions that have continued to arise. â€Å"Automobiles have a large impact on the quality of our environment and public health. Automobile use affects virtually every aspect of environmental quality - including noise levels, air quality, water pollution, and urban sprawl. Ninety percent of the environmental impact of automobiles occurs through the operation of the cars: about 10 percent from the production, raw materials and disposal of automobiles. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Federal law permits Sport Utility Vehicles to waste 33 percent more gasoline than passenger cars. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  SUVs can spew 30 percent more carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons and 75 percent more nitrogen oxides than passenger cars. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since 1990, the inefficiency of light trucks (including SUVs) have led to Americans wasting an extra 70 billion gallons of gasoline. â€Å" SUV’s burn more gas and spew out more pollution. Many of the big SUV’s pollute three times as much as cars, which greatly contributes to climate change and smog. But for many of us, it is difficult to connect our actions at the gas pump with the temperature outside or with the quality o...

All about me

The first thing that came to mind was the simple fact I was going to fall. I had to ask several questions before even completely understanding the requirements. We had to evaluate who we were, why we were here, and how Mr.. Wentworth could be of service to us. I worked for many days composing this essay; including many rough drafts and bad ideas. The first part of the prompt was by far the hardest, it took the most thinking. Preprinting consisted mainly of sitting around trying to figure out who I actually thought I was.I wrote about 3 rough drafts before deciding on how I was going to present myself. After finally liking one draft, I did numerous amounts of editing. The editing process was difficult for me because I did not want to mess up my very first essay and make a bad first impression. Revising the essay was much simpler with help from peers. The benefits of using a formatted writing process are ultimately what lead to my higher grade. This process helps to organize, edit, and write with ease during difficult assignments.To better organize I wrote many drafts and billeted list of important ideas to include, which helped to be sure I included all necessary points. Editing was made easier by my peers who read over the essay and gave me feedback from different perspectives to improve the flow ND structure of the essay. And lastly, the ease of writing the final draft came from this described process used. Without this process, I would've made a much worse grade and been more stressed out over trying to get it done.Who are You? The prompt of this essay was to write a declaration of independence from your parents, much like the Declaration of Independence written by our founding fathers. We were instructed to use more Latin based words as well as all of the rhetorical devices we studied in class. The goal of this assignment was to gain independence room our parental units and was a chance to explain our wants and needs in a professional way.We then had to read this essay to our parents in order for them to grade how well we did. Using a formal process to write this essay made it much easier to get our point across rather than Just writing without structure. Another process used as well was studying the format used by the founding fathers of our country. However, the traditional writing process helped in many ways to receive the grade I desired. Preprinting, the most important, helped me to figure out what I wanted to say and exactly how I would say it.

Byzantine-Seljuk Wars and the Battle of Manzikert

The Battle of Manzikert was fought on August 26, 1071, during the Byzantine-Seljuk Wars (1048-1308). Ascending to the throne in 1068, Romanos IV Diogenes worked to restore a decaying military situation on the Byzantine Empires eastern borders. Passing needed reforms, he directed Manuel Comnenus to lead a campaign against the  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹Seljuk Turks with the goal of regaining lost territory. While this initially proved successful, it ended in disaster when Manuel was defeated and captured. Despite this failure, Romanos was able to conclude a peace treaty with Seljuk leader Alp Arslan in 1069. This was largely due to Arslans need for peace on his northern border so that he could campaign against the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. Romanos Plan In February 1071, Romanos sent envoys to Arslan with a request to renew the peace treaty of 1069. Agreeing, Arslan began moving his army into Fatimid Syria to besiege  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹Aleppo. Part of an elaborate scheme, Romanos had hoped that the treaty renewal would lead Arslan away from the area allowing him to launch a campaign against the Seljuks in Armenia. Believing that the plan was working, Romanos assembled an army numbering between 40,000-70,000 outside Constantinople in March. This force included veteran Byzantine troops as well as Normans, Franks, Pechenegs, Armenians,  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹Bulgarians, and variety of other mercenaries. The Campaign Begins Moving east, Romanos army continued to grow but was plagued by the questionable loyalties of its officer corps including the co-regent, Andronikos Doukas. A rival of Romanos, Doukas was a key member of the powerful Doukid faction in Constantinople. Arriving at Theodosiopoulis in July, Romanos received reports that Arslan had abandoned the siege of Aleppo and was retreating east towards the Euphrates River. Though some of his commanders wished to halt and await Arslans approach, Romanos pressed on towards Manzikert. Believing that the enemy would approach from the south, Romanos split his army and directed Joseph Tarchaneiotes to take one wing in that direction to block the road from Khilat. Arriving at Manzikert, Romanos overwhelmed the Seljuk garrison and secured the town on August 23. Byzantine intelligence had been correct in reporting that Arslan had abandoned the siege of Aleppo but failed in noting his next destination. Eager to deal with the Byzantine incursion, Arslan moved north into Armenia. In the course of the march, his army shrank as the region offered little plunder. The Armies Clash Reaching Armenia in late August, Arslan began maneuvering towards the Byzantines. Spotting a large Seljuk force advancing from the south, Tarchaneiotes elected to retreat west and failed to inform Romanos of his actions. Unaware that nearly half his army had departed the area, Romanos located Arslans army on August 24 when Byzantine troops under Nicephorus Bryennius clashed with the Seljuks. While these troops successfully fell back, a cavalry force led by Basilakes was crushed. Arriving on the field, Arslan dispatched a peace offer which was quickly rejected by the Byzantines. On August 26, Romanos deployed his army for battle with himself commanding the center, Bryennius leading the left, and Theodore Alyates directing the right. The Byzantine reserves were placed to the rear under the leadership of Andronikos Doukas. Arslan, commanding from a nearby hill, directed his army to form a crescent moon-shaped line. Commencing a slow advance, the Byzantine flanks were struck by arrows from the wings of the Seljuk formation. As the Byzantines advanced, the center of the Seljuk line fell back with the flanks conducting hit and run attacks on Romanos men. Disaster for Romanos Though capturing the Seljuk camp late in the day, Romanos had failed to bring Arslans army to battle. As dusk neared, he ordered a withdrawal back towards their camp. Turning, the Byzantine army fell into confusion as the right wing failed to obey the order to fall back. As gaps in Romanos line began to open, he was betrayed by Doukas who led the reserve off the field rather than forward to cover the armys retreat. Sensing an opportunity, Arslan began a series of heavy assaults on the Byzantine flanks and shattered Alyates wing. As the battle turned into a rout, Nicephorus Bryennius was able to lead his force to safety. Quickly surrounded, Romanos and the Byzantine center were unable to break out. Aided by the Varangian Guard, Romanos continued the fight until falling wounded. Captured, he was taken to Arslan who placed a boot on his throat and forced him to kiss the ground. With the Byzantine army shattered and in retreat, Arslan kept the defeated emperor as his guest for a week before allowing him to return to Constantinople. Aftermath While Seljuk losses at Manzikert are not known, recent scholarship estimates that the Byzantines lost around 8,000 killed. In the wake of the defeat, Arslan negotiated a peace with Romanos before permitting him to depart. This saw the transfer of Antioch, Edessa, Hierapolis, and Manzikert to the Seljuks as well as the initial payment of 1.5 million gold pieces and 360,000 gold pieces annually as a ransom for Romanos. Reaching the capital, Romanos found himself unable to rule and was deposed later that year after being defeated by the Doukas family. Blinded, he was exiled to Proti the following year. The defeat at Manzikert unleashed nearly a decade of internal strife which weakened the Byzantine Empire and saw the Seljuks make gains on the eastern border.