Renaissance and Reformation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Renaissance and Reformation - Essay Example Prior to this period, the pope was generally recognized as the spiritual leader by all Christians in the west, who adhered to the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church. However, following the reformation, there was a proliferation of churches opposed to the pope, and this gave rise to a number of churches that exists to date. On the other hand, renaissance means rebirth in the French language. The period marked a rebirth in the human spirit, creativity. It gave to the rise of new ideas, which had various impacts on the social structure of the French, and the Holy Roman Empire. The essence of this paper is to compare and contrast the impacts, on the social fabric of France and Holy Roman Empire. The Catholic Church was faced with a great schism between the years 1378-1417, which was given impetuous by a papal scandal that (Hunt et al, 2010, 405) negatively and severely impacted on the spiritual life. The papacy had been moved from Rome to Avignon, and was heavily influenced by the Fr ench monarchy. This brought distraught among the Christians, particularly the Italians, who were angered by the continued election of the French Popes. Marsilius of Padua, through his writings in the defender of peace (1324) argued that since the source of all power lay within the people, who were the effective source of law. Accordingly, since the people created the church, they ought to be involved in the election of the pope. Pope Gregory finally succumbed to the pressures and returned the papacy to Rome in 1377. The Romans were determined than ever to lose the papacy again, and therefore lobbied the election of an Italian pope. Consequently, Urban V was elected as the pope, and he curtailed the powers and privileges of cardinals. This angered the cardinals, some of whom elected Clement VII as the pope and who moved back to Avignon. Thus, the church was split into two, and this caused a lot of hate and discord among the Christians in Europe, with each group excommunicating the fo llowers of the other (Hunt et al, 2010, 410). The council of Europe met in 1414-1418 to resolve this standoff, and precipitate reforms in the church. This marked the end of schism, in that, one single pope; Martin V was elected, while all the important rulers in the world withdrew allegiance to the Avignon papacy. Therefore, the Holy Roman Empire prevailed over France. However, the Schism had a far reaching impact among the Christians, and affected the social fabric of both France and the Holy Roman Empire equally. The Christians were deeply worried about their salvation and they sought some other forms of religious solace. The plenary indulgence which was originally used for the crusaders who died, was extended to all those who made a pilgrimage to Rome or other designated holy places. The clergy and the laity became more interested in the religious education of the young in order to deepen their faith and the spiritual life. New ways to deepen the faith of the Christians came into being. Portable images of Mary, mother of God, and those of passion of Christ proliferated, so that the ordinary Christians would contemplate them, throughout the day, at the convenient moments. To add, the advent of the printing press was employed by the people who purchased commissioned book of hours that contained the prayers that could be said at the appropriate hours of the day and hours. France, unlike the Holy Roman Empire emerged as a strong and powerful unitary state, within the meaning of sovereignty that is applicable today. France made quick recovery from the hundred year’s war and greatly expanded under Louis XI. He captured a lot of territory,

Andy Warhol and His Screen Tests Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Andy Warhol and His Screen Tests - Essay Example The essay "Andy Warhol and His Screen Tests" investigates Screen Tests directed by Andy Warhol. Warhol's screen tests capture a variety of items created through different media including painting, hand drawing, printmaking, silk screening, films, photographs and sculpture. Part of his screen tests was computer-generated especially towards his death, following the integration of computer into the American film and media production. Regardless, Warhol’s works have been the focus of several retrospective exhibitions, publications, documentaries and feature films. This paper examines the connection between Andy Warhol’s screenshots and the pop culture between 1960s and 1980s. The important connections between Warhol’s screenshots and the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s pop life experiences have led to their resurfacing in the current century, perhaps more than they appeared in the second-half of the 20th century when they were created. In the 1970, for instance, the artist pu lled out 472 shots that he had captured between 1964 and 1966 alongside his footages of various art works from public galleries. However, between 1995 and 2007, different galleries have had their hands on these important artistic items and released them to the public for viewing for the first time in many decades as a celebration of the massive contributions Warhol made in the American visual art industry. Part of the Warhol’s earliest screenshots from films such as Kiss, Eat, and Sleep and Empire captured in the early 1960s.

Ryanair British Airways | Fare comparison

Ryanair British Airways | Fare comparison Introduction This document reports the findings of a review of the economics and business literature on empirically-estimated own-price elasticity of demand for air travel for Ryan air and British Airways. It refers to the data on page two of the assignment handout to both above airlines to illustrate and explain the concepts of price elasticity of demand and income elasticity of demand. The purpose of this study is to report on all or most of the economics and business literature dealing with empirically approximate demand functions for air travel and to collect a range of fare elasticity measures for air travel provide in the data on the second page of the assignment topic and provide some judgment as to which elasticity values would be more representative of the true values to be found in different airline such as Ryan air and British airways, furthermore will evaluate the achievement of cost savings of Ryan air through fixed costs and variable costs as well as writing a critical analysis the article on BAA Airports: ‘Notice of release of interim undertaking 1. Price Elasticity of Demand and Income elasticity of demand in the context of air travel demand: (Ryan air British Airways) This paragraph identifies two distinct prices for air travel which are price elasticity of demand and income elasticity of demand. Specifically, it is observed that studies of the demand for air travel demand should distinguish among prices for: Low cost carrier (LCC) example of Ryanair and Full Service Carrier (FSCs) example of British Airways in this case study; business and leisure travel; long-haul and short-haul travel; and international and European long-haul travel. Accordingly, to examine the sensitivity of the demand for air travel to its price, separate estimates of the price elasticity of demand are gathered for each of these two distinct markets. Price Elasticity of Demand ‘Price Elasticity of Demand is a numerical value which describes the degree of responsiveness of demand to changes in prices. (Andrew, D. 1988: 260) The demand for a particular good or service depends on a variety of factors. Key influences include, the levels of consumer income, the price and quality of the services in question and especially services that are close substitutes (Sloman, 2005). In order to obtain useful estimates of the price sensitivity of demand for a product, we must carefully control for all the factors affecting the demand. As a general rule, once other influences on demand stay unchanged, a higher price for a product leads in a lower quantity demanded. However, the price responsiveness of demand varies from one good to another and from one market to another (FitzRoy et al, 1998). Since the availability of alternative modes of transportation that are reasonably close substitutes for air transport diminishes with distance travelled, it is expected that the demand for air transport will be less elastic for longer flights typical example of British airways with is a FSCs than for shorter flights typical example of Ryan air. Determine the demand and for the premium value the demand is low. means that for the different strategies the demand is price strategy, in al produEach price will lead to a different level of demand and therefore have a different impact on a companys marketing objectives. The higher the prices are the lower the demand of the goods (Kotler 2002). British Airways has two types of customers:  · Price sensitive customers (students, independent travelers, frequently travelers) who are looking for the cheapest prices and the best offers, and  · Low sensitive customers (business and executive customers) who are concerned more in the quality than the price. Considering the three different pricing strategies of British Airways the demand curve will be as shown in the figure below. The price demand considers being elastic which means that for the different pricing strategies the demand is noticeable changing. For the low cost price the demand is high and for the premium value the demand is low. 2.3.3 Cost estimation British Airways estimating the cost of the products in relation with the quality its one provide. The cost of the ticket includes:  · The price of the service  · The added value (extras)  · The airport fees, and  · The travel agents extra fees However if someone book a ticket from the internet has at www.britishairways.com has a discount of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤10. 2.3.4 Pricing method Considering the three different types of customer, the three segments, British Airways has set a pricing method of perceived value. Perceived value is the value promised by companys value proposition and the customer must perceive this value. British Airways perceived value is made up by the companys brand mane and image, the customers image, the performance of the company and the quality of the product created by the company. 2.4 Promotional pricing British Airways has set some promotional prices on flights to some special occasion:  · Christmas gift voucher. The promotional offer for the Christmas known as British Airways escape ticket offers a perfect present. Flying to 14 travel zones from à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤59 return on UK and Europe destinations and from à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤269 return on the rest of the world.  · Domestic and European fares from à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤49 return: Low fares to 135 destinations across Europe.  · Club World business class offer: When flying to club world business class you can upgrade to first class on a free one way ticket. 2.5 Relation within the sector The competition has increased since the introduction of the low cost airlines as easy jet and Raynair. Those airlines have achieved to sell chip tickets by eliminating all the unnecessary costs. They eliminated the intermediaries, the on board value and basically they eliminated completely the augmented product. They have concentrated just on the basic product which is the flight ticket from the on destination to the other. They using a low cost low quality pricing strategy and set a market penetration objective in order to gain more market share. The have a method of value pricing of selling their tickets, the basic, in a greater value than their competitors. Other companies with same objectives as British Airways like Lufthansa and Virgin have followed the same pricing strategies and policy. They set different price rates in relation with value added and looking after how to gain a bigger piece of the market pie. 3. Conclusion Considering the increased competition in the flying industry which is rising people expect that companies will reduce cost by providing less quality products. That is partly true considering what easy jet and Raynair has succeeded. However this is only one part of the true. Companies like British Airways fight the competition with different methods like introduction of low cost ticket where customer can still enjoy a good quality product in a low affordable price. Just considering an example where Ryanair (a low cost airline) flights to Milan from  £49.99 return and British Airways from  £628 return. The problem though with Ryanair is that you can find this cheap ticket if you book it about it well in advance. But if you try to book it on the same day before your journey the price has gone up at  £179.99 return when British Airways price will be still remaining the same until a week before your journey. So does it really worth flying with the low cost airlines which offer just a ticket with no allocated seat, no food or drinks and from unfrequented airports when you have a company like British Airways with so much extra for almost the same price? Thats a question that each of as has to answer on his own. Further, international travel tends to be widen over more time than domestic travel, so that the airfare is a smaller proportion of overall trip costs, which makes international travel less sensitive to changes in ticket prices. In addition, leisure travellers are more likely to postpone trips to specific locations in response to higher fares, or to shop around for those locations offering more affordable fares. Consequently, it is expected that the demand for air transport for leisure reasons will be more elastic than business travel who usually travel with FSCs. Acco rding to Anthony et al (2000) Ryan air prices management is systematically offering different prices to different customer segments in response to demand whereas (Kimes, 1989) suggests that the team in charge of yield management need to identify how changes in price will affect their customers. Within the airline industries customer demand may be higher on week ends, during Summer months, or at particular times of a day, (Belobaba, 1987). Managers must be able to forecast time-related demand so that they can make effective pricing and allocation decision to manage the shoulder periods around high demand period. However the corporate business traveller during the week becomes a leisure traveller when on holiday or at week-ends. Different occasion find the same consumer having different expectation and needs, (Buttle, 1986). Such a concept is termed elasticity of demand. According to the Data downloaded from Ryan air website giving on page two of the assignment topic the price of the flight on the day it been downloaded is far more higher than the price of the flight on other following days of the week day. However, when approaching the end of the week-end or school holiday, there is a huge demand and the increased demand drives the price up again as customer are returning from their vacation or family are going on holiday. Closer to the date and time of the scheduled service, the price rises, on the simple justification that consumers demand for a flight becomes more inelastic the nearer to the time of the service. The low cost airlines such as Ryan air follow the pricing strategy outlined above. Customers booking early with carriers such as Ryan air will normally come across lower prices if they are ready to commit themselves to a flight by booking early. This gives the airline the plus of important how full their flights are likely to be and a sou rce of cash-flow in the weeks and months prior to the service being provided. People who book late often regard travel to their planned destination as a need and they are therefore likely to be prepared and able to pay a much higher price very close to departure. Airlines call this price discrimination yield management but despite the consider name, at the heart of this pricing strategy is the straightforward but important concept price elasticity of demand. Ryanair has a seat pricing policy that causes fares to rise as a flight fills up (Ryanair.com, 2010). Following theory of supply and demand, if customer wants a seat so badly, they will pay more for it than otherwise. Income Elasticity of Demand It is defined as numerical values which describe the responsiveness of demand to a change in consumer incomes. (Sloman, 2005) Because of the recession, demand for low cost flights grew rapidly as family with higher income who were travelling with FSCs before would prefer low cost than traditional airlines and some current low cost customer with low income may prefer domestic flight or would just prefer not to travel by air. However, since elasticity is measuring proportionate change, elasticity values will change along almost all demand functions, including linear demand curves. Estimation of elasticity values is therefore most useful for predicting demand responses in the vicinity of the observed price changes. As a related issue, we recognize that in markets where price discrimination is possible comprehensive data will not allow for accurate predictions of demand responses in the relevant market segments. In air travel, FSCs are essentially joint products consisting of differentiated service bundles that are identified by fare classes. However the yield management systems employed by FSCs also create a complex form of inter-temporal price discrimination, in which some fares (typically economy class) decline and some increase (typically full-fare business class) as the departure date draws closer. This implies that ideally, empirical studies of air travel demand should separate business and leisure t ravellers or at least be able to include some information on booking times in order to account for this price discrimination, and that price data should be calibrated for inter-temporal price discrimination: for example, the use of full-fare economy class ticket prices as data will overestimate the absolute value of the price elasticity coefficient. Within the set of differentiated service bundles that comprise each (joint product) flight, the relative prices are important in explaining the relative ease of substitution between service classes. Given the nature of inter-temporal price discrimination for flights, the relative price could also change significantly in the time period prior to a departure time. In particular changes in real income and the prices of substitutes or complements will affect demand. Alternative transportation modes (road and rail) are important variables for short-haul flights, while income effects should be measured for both short and long-haul. Oum et al. (1992) provide valuable tools that occur when evaluating the demand models. Air travel demand can be affected by changes in the prices and service quality of other modes. For short-haul routes (markets) the relative price and service attributes of auto and train would need to be included in any model; particularly for short-haul markets such as low cost airline. Failure to include the price and service attributes of substitutes will bias the elasticity. For example, if airfares increase and auto costs are also increasing, the airfare elasticity would be overestimated if auto costs were excluded. The entry of low cost carriers leads to lower fares for a subset of traffic and competitors will offer a supply of seats to match these fares. Lower average fares should lead to lower demand elasticity estimates, while increases in the number of competitors in the market will lead to higher demand elasticity estimates. 2. How ‘low cost carriers such as Ryan air able to achieve cost savings? Fixed Costs and Variable Costs. Ryan airs business model is focus around its general low cost philosophy. That is Ryan air attempts to cut all non value adding activities as it strives to drive costs down to the total minimum. Below are typical examples how it drives its downwards which include selling directly to its customer over the internet or over the phone rather than via agents and middlemen, thus saving commission cost and administrative cost. Ryan air is a ticketless as most of it customer buy over the internet, in return for a booking reference that is exchanged at the checking counter at the airport for a boarding pass. The airline has no in flight meals which is a cost saving measure that cannot be much inconvenience to its customer since all Ryan air flights are short haul. Nevertheless has subcontracted catering services on its flights where customer can buy an in flight meal and drink should they wish which is another way of driving price. Cabin crew double up as cleaner and this helps Ryan air to promise a turnaround time at any airport of 30 min rather than 45-60 min that has FSCs been the norm. Another cost cutting device, is the typical example of the UK smaller airports such as London Luton, cheaper to fly to from than bigger airports such as Heathrow which it is use at least as its base as they are less congestion and facilitate turnaround times for aircraft to be a lot shorter. Fixed Costs Fixed Costs are defined as the Total costs that do not vary with the amount of output produced (John, S. 2005:82) Ryan air as a LCC operate in the environment of high fixed cost, fixed capacity in the short term, a perishable product and seasonal demand. Virtually all of airlines costs can be considered fixed. The cost of the capital tied up in the plane, the fuel it take to fly the route, the crew it will take to staff the ground and flight operations insurance, rent, etc†¦ All these cost are fixed once the company decides to fly a particular route and the variable costs associated with serving another passenger on the flight are figure lively peanuts. Ryan air generates sufficient revenue through ancillary services such as car rentals, accommodation, currency, travel insurance, transactions, refreshments, to cover variable costs and offset at least some fixed cost. Management believes that providing these services through the internet allows Ryan air to increase sales, while at the same time reducing costs on a per unit basis. Variable Costs Variable Costs are defined as the total costs that do vary with the amount of output produced (Sloman, 2005: 82) The relatively low variable costs associated with many capacity- constrained Ryan air allow for some pricing flexibility and give operators the options of reducing pricing during low demand times. Ryan air always seeks for low variable costs. Below are factors that help Ryanair to maintain a low variable cost: * One type of aircraft, management believes that its strategy of limiting its fleet primarily to three variants of a single type of aircraft from a single manufacturer enables it to limit the costs associated with personnel training, maintenance and the purchase and storage of spare parts, as well as affording greater flexibility in the scheduling of crews and equipment. * Pricing is based strictly upon revenue maximization process that matches the aims and objectives of prices elasticity of demand * Internet booking which cut paper and administrative costs * No airport sales offices/ no cancellations * Charging a surplus for excessive baggage * Maximization of seat capacity per plane Use of less expensive airport as ‘Ryan air been offered incentives is a controversial one Ryan air director of communications. Ryan air further endeavours to reduce its airport charges by opting, when practicable, for less expensive gate locations as well as outdoor boarding stairs rather than more expensive jet ways. Ryan air has entered into in agreements on competitive terms with third party contractors at certain airports for traveller and aircraft handling, ticketing and other services that management believes can be more cost resourcefully provided by third parties. Management attempts to obtain competitive rates for such services by negotiating multi-year contracts at prices that are fixed or subject only to periodic increases related to inflation. One of the typical example is the price of aviation fuel which is directly related to the cost of oil but Ryan air control this through hedging. All these factors listed above contributed to a low variable cost of Ryan air, a key component in any successful yield management system and provide an opportunity for leverage against its major competitors. 3. Critical analysis of the issues involved in the following article: ‘BAA Airports: Notice of release of interim undertaking Bibliography

The Italian and English Legal Systems Essay -- Law

Judicial systems have been used predominantly throughout the world to address disputes in various contexts, where accused criminals, to law enforcement officers and expert witnesses take part on a daily basis to resolve deputes in judicial manner (Silverman et al 2010). However, characteristics of the judicial systems differ from country/region to another, depending on the basis of the system which may cause an impact on the expert witness. As an explanation for the above statement, it could be said that legal systems fall into two systems, the adversarial system and the inquisitorial system. Conversely, a hybrid between those two systems has formed yet another system which is identified as the mixed system. These derive from historical law and judicial practices which have been practiced for a considerable amount of time, which eventually improved and standardised. Debara.K in 2002 suggested that the foundation to form a jury was based on medieval trail modes of combat where two par ties argue their points to crown a champion. Jonakait (2008) concluded that by the 18th century, the legal systems developed into a stage where lawyers actively participated in English criminal trials making the legal system more â€Å"Adversary†. Paradoxically, inquisitorial system was born right after the 13th century, as a result of disbelief upon the adversarial system. Essentially, this system was formed by the French and then was horizontally transferred into few more countries which ultimately become one of the two dominant legal systems in the world (Johnson.Het al 2008). In this short study, English legal system will be elaborated in comparison to the Italian Legal system. Prior to that, both adversarial and inquisitorial systems shall be discusse... ...and Jones, M. (2008) History of criminal justice,4th ed. Waltham: Elsevier, p.67-70. Jonakait, R. (2008) The rise of the American adversary system: America before England, Widner Law review, 14(1), p.656. Koppen, J. and Penrod, S. (2003) Adversarial versus inquisitorial justice: psychological perspective on criminal justice systems, USA: Springer, p.29. Malleson, K. (2007) the legal system, New York: Oxford University press, p.11-14. Siegal, L. (2010) Criminology: The core, USA: Cengage learning, p.385-387. Silverman, J. and Silverman, S. (2010) how the judicial system works, UK: A Discovery company, p.27. Smith, S. and Langan, B. (1992) Civil jury cases and verdict in large countries, Burean of Justice statistics, - (1), p.3-10. Wall, W. (2010) Forensic Science in courts: the role of the expert witness, West Sussex: John Wiley and Sons, p.2-56.

When Ways of Life Collide: A Critical Analysis

When Ways of Life Collide written by Paul Sniderman and Louk Hagendoorn is a book which focuses on the collision of Western European values and Muslim values. The book tackles relevant information on the relationships of cultures values (with focus on the Netherlands): its injustices and reactions towards another culture. Moreover, the book explores multiculturalism policies and the diverging clash of values it causes between the Dutch majority and Muslim minority in the Netherlands. The book includes an introductory chapter, four body chapters which are based on a 1998 survey analysis that consists of scholarly designed statistical experiments and a concluding chapter. Muslims, the first of the body chapters, tackles the culture of Muslims and the Dutch majority towards their treatment on women and children. The book was able to show that the obvious rejection of a particular group due to conflict over values might not be always take effect. In particular, one of the authors interesting conclusion is that individuals can view the Muslims values in a negative while at the same time creating a constructive attitude towards Muslims and in effect follow even their way of life and culture. Chapter three, Prejudice, is a mere discussion and analysis of prejudice. Both Sniderman and Hagendoorn view prejudice as â€Å"a readiness to belittle minorities, to dislike them, to shun them†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p. 47). What the authors have to measure prejudice are based on statistical survey. The survey was designed for the individuals to agree or disagree on the eight most probable characterizations of minorities. The authors find that intolerance can eventually results to an open denial of the equal rights of the immigrant minorities (Muslims). On chapter four, the authors use a decoupling experiment to basically improve the previous research. Both Sniderman and Hagendoorn believes that an observed threat to an individuals’ cultural identity shows a sturdy predictor of prejudice than a perceived economic threat. However, chapter five entitled Top-Down Politics illustrates that individuals who are committing negative attitudes and show prejudice to the minority immigrants are also on the same way the most probable to react positively towards the immigrants. The main argument of the book is that the Netherlands policy towards multiculturalism which was determined through consensus has led the central point on the political argument that involves group identities: immigrant minorities and Dutch majorities. The increased conflicts between the immigrant minorities and Dutch majorities are trigger by the 9/11 attack, the rise to power of Pim Fortuyn and the Theo van Gogh murder in 2004 by a Dutch Moroccan. The book is particularly significant to a variety of audience concerned on the prevailing attitudes shown by the Dutch majority towards immigrant minorities, immigration and multiculturalism. This book is good in particularly using scholarly surveys and statistical studies in providing significant conclusions on the study.

Explore the techniques used by pre-twentieth century Essay

Explore the techniques used by pre-twentieth century authors to build fear and tension for the reader in three or four short stories. You must refer to the historical context. â€Å"The Black Cat,† by Edgar Allan Poe, â€Å"The Blind Man,† by Kate Chopin† and â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart,† by Edgar Allan Poe. Usually, a black cat is an animal associated with witchcraft and black magic. And in Edgar Allan Poe’s nineteenth century short story, this is no different. They are viewed as mythical, demonic objects; objects of evil. The author’s cat is called Pluto. This name itself suggests that maybe it is a secretive animal, hidden and unknown, like the ninth planet it’s named after; nobody knows much about it. We soon learn that the cat is â€Å"entirely black, sagacious to an astonishing degree.† Much like the writer, this cat is portrayed as being wise and astute. Yet within what appears to be no time at all, the writer is fiercely describing the feline as being a â€Å"monster,† summoning hellish images into the mind of the reader. â€Å"The fury of a demon instantly possessed me† is a quotation which shows the writer’s abstract impulsiveness towards the cat. The writer abruptly grabs the â€Å"poor beat by the throat.† This kind of behavior is not associated with pets. It seems like the writer and subconsciously personified the beast, as he grabs it by the throat, instead of kicking it away like someone would expect. Once strangling the cat, Edgar Allan Poe â€Å"deliberately cut out one of its eyes.† This is extremely irrational behavior and happens so quickly. This conjures a lot of fear in the reader, and this man has suddenly taken part in a brutal, cold-blooded slaughter. The language used is very provocative and emotive throughout the story, and this is couple by a detached tone. The immediate shift from being ‘normal’ to suddenly growing mad and irrational is complex and acute. At the beginning of the next paragraph, he describes himself to be having a â€Å"feeble and equivocal feeling,† showing that he perhaps doesn’t realise what he has just done. This arouses suspicion in the reader, as we do not know what to think. Edgar Allan Poe continually tries to befriend the reader, yet he is horrific. We start to feel sympathetic towards him, and pathos is created. The man continued to present the reader with explanations and excuses for his â€Å"evil deed.† The feeling of witchcraft is echoed when he â€Å"was aroused from sleep by the cry of fire.† His house is alight, and after the blaze, people gather around. In the only wall that is left standing, an apparition of a gigantic cat. He then remembers, â€Å"that the cat had been hung in a garden adjacent to the house.† This brings the reader to try and piece together the pieces of this puzzle, but we cannot, for it is too complex. This scene creates a lot of tension in the reader. Once again, we see that this cat, from beyond the grave has managed to produce itself. It summons terror in the reader and insecurity fills Poe. One night, as the write stood, â€Å"absolutely stupefied,† he sees a black object, and it turns out to be a large black cat, almost identical to the former animal, with the exception of a large white patch. Within time, the writer starts to feel hatred towards the cat, the only thing preventing him form physically hurting it being â€Å"the remembrance of my former deed of cruelty.† Again, impulsively, the man commits a terrible act of gruesome, murderous hatred. He kills his wife, horrifically. After this, the cat seems to have vanished. Even though the man manages to conceal the body in the wall, he is overcome with fear, just as the reader, and beings to make excuses and become petrified himself. This is shown as madness, and this makes the story intense and full of tension. Allan Poe describes the police party as being â€Å"an assassination.† This instantly shows us that something bad is going to happen, as an assassination is a planned killing. The arrogance of the killer annoys the reader, yet we still feel a subconscious sympathy towards him, for he is lost within himself; â€Å"I know myself no longer.† The writer builds up a lot of tension at the end. The whole plot has been leading up to an intense crescendo, and when the writer is at the height of confidence, a â€Å"continuous scream, utterly anomalous† was heard, â€Å"only out of hell.† The re-appearance of the animal definitely doesn’t seem lie ka coincidence. We have no ide a where it is, and then, suddenly, it foils the old, murderous villain. In the nineteenth century, people believed in witchcraft. They believed in ghosts and all superstitious theories. The writer uses this to extract terror from the reader. â€Å"My original soul seemed at once, to take it’s flight from my body; and a more than fiendish malevolence, gin-nurtured, thrilled every fibre of my frame.† This quotation exploits the reader and emphasizes the views of society. The writer’s wife believed in the â€Å"ancient popular notion which regarded all black cats as witches in disguise.† It is a story of a butchering; a cold-blooded, violent execution. Throughout, the reader is tense and fearful. Tension is built up with evocative language and sudden switches of mood and tempo. In â€Å"The Blind Man,† by Kate Chopin is a confusing story. It is extremely mysterious, with perception playing a big part in what is real, and what the reader imagines. The principal character of â€Å"The Blind Man,† is represented as being wise. The fact that he â€Å"walked slowly down the street,† and he wore â€Å"an old straw hat and faded garments† does not produce an image of poorness; yet summons an illustration or superiority. In the first sentence of the story, the reader is told that he was â€Å"carrying a small red box in one hand.† This is, at first, very mysterious and we are intrigued to learn of it’s contents. The reader is also told that he is walking on â€Å"the blistering asphalt pavement,† even though there is plenty of shade on the other side of the road â€Å"where the trees where thick.† As we do not yet know that the man is blind, the reader feels insecure and suspicious about the man’s posit ion. When we find out the man is blind, the reader feels a sense of understanding, and empathizes with the old man, even though â€Å"he was not old.† The writer personifies the man’s feelings. â€Å"Hunger, with sharp fangs was gnawing at his stomach.† This seems unusual and eerie; the setting does not produce an image of fear, yet this powerful phrase ‘wakes up’ the reader and creates a tension and slight hope that something will happen. When the group of boys try and take his box away from him, he acts like anyone would. He shouts at them, and tries to get it back. The reader thinks, that when a policeman came round the corner, he would get his box back and the boys would get in trouble. However, upon â€Å"seeing that he was the centre of a disturbance, jerked him violently† and took him aside. This scared the reader as it is totally unexpected, and is preparing us for another unexpected event, yet to come. â€Å"Then, something happened.† Before we even learn the details, suspense has already been built, as the reader is told than something has happened. It doesn’t matter at this stage what it is – all that matters is that we are on the edge of our seat, waiting. Emotions run wild as we learn that whatever has happened made â€Å"the strongest men who saw it grow sick and dizzy.† This is a phrase which emphasized the brutality of the collision. Even the â€Å"superhuman effort† that the man used to try and stop his car failed. By now, the reader is unhappily excited, the action that has taken place gives an adrenaline rush and provides the reader with tense desire to find out more. As the truth is revealed, there is a complete anticlimax. It is not as we expected; it is not the blind man in the road. Even though this is a big surprise, there is no real shock. â€Å"The blind man did not know what the commotion was all about. He had crossed the street.† This final sentence of the story is unexplained and devious. It seems supernatural, as if he is acting suspicious. Edgar Allan Poe’s, â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† is an evocative and extremely intensifying story, filled with twists and shock. In the first sentence, suspense is built up and the writer is snappy and precise with his words. â€Å"The disease had sharpened my senses, not destroyed,† is powerful yet confusing, as usually, a disease would not improve senses or physical attributes. As this is an inexplicable statement, the reader becomes wary and suspicious of this character almost immediately, thus setting the scene for a horror story. â€Å"Passion there was none. I loved the old man.† The fact that ‘loved’ is past tense, immediately shows that something either isn’t right, or has changed. The writer proceeds to say, â€Å"Madmen know nothing. You should have seen me,† really emphasizing how scary he is. And the reader is nervous – they are completely unaware and naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve. But even this madman has fears. And this makes is scarier for the reader, and we soon find out that a pale blue eye that â€Å"resembled that of a vulture,† made the writers â€Å"blood run cold.† This language creates a lot of anxiety and trepidation, for there is another character, powerful enough to trigger terror amongst the writer and the reader. Other phrases used, such as â€Å"I heard many things in hell† are demonic and hellish, showing that this story is likely to be dangerously horrid. The image that we have of this man being mad and out of control is shattered on the second page of the book, when he describes how it took him â€Å"an hour to place my whole head within the opening† of the door. This continues – it takes him an hour to put the lantern in until, eventually; he is standing in the doorway. This really does build tension, very slowly, because all of a sudden, the â€Å"old man sprung up in bed, crying out – â€Å"Who’s there?† This is slightly baffling, as the writer didn’t make any sounds – he â€Å"could feel the extent of my powers – of my sagacity.† Again, Edgar Allan Poe stands and waits for an hour. The old man groans, and it is a groan â€Å"of mortal terror.† The word ‘mortal’ prompts the reader to think about death and dying, also triggering the imagination – we want and need something to happen. The author then uses metaphors to add tension to the piece. â€Å"A single dim ray, like the thread of a spider† show the amount of precision; the perfection. Again, the writer refers to the eyes as being a â€Å"vulture.† Before the writer commits the sin he hears a sound. It is like a â€Å"watch makes when enveloped in cotton.† This makes us think about what this simile means. Poe stands by the mans door again, but this time for a number of minutes. The time has shortened, showing impatience and eagerness. The reader shivers with anticipation until eventually he â€Å"threw open the lantern and leaped into the room.† There is a total loss of the wit; the planning. However, it is a criminal calculation; perfectly planned. When the man is dead, the killer †dismembered the corpse.† This is a particularly provocative verb and sparks a gruesome image to enter the reader’s head. The writer believes himself to be perfect, and his audacity is arrogant. More suspense is built when the police enter. This is a great technique as the reader then feels that there is still more action to come. Again, the write is confident; â€Å"my manner convinced them. I was singularly at ease.† His head starts aching as he â€Å"fancies a ringing in my ears.† This produces confusion, and this confusing rapidly turns into excitement. â€Å"The ringing became more distinct†¦no doubt I grew very pale.† Edgar Allan Poe is hearing a noise; a familiar noise; â€Å"a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton.† a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton.† This repetition is extreme and the reader is overcome with anxiety. In one sense, we actually want the assassin to get away with his dastardly crime, as it will be more exciting. The fretfulness and unease continues to grow and the noise persists in booming in the ears of the poor fellow, until he lets out a roar of confession, shouting, â€Å"Villains! ‘dissemble no more! I admit the deed!† This quickfire of shouted remarks is out of desperation and guilt. The final line of the story is, â€Å"it is the beating of his hideous heart! This refers to the old, dead man. But this is also extremely ironic, and the sound that was ringing in Poe’s ears was out of guilt, and subconsciously it was his own heart. It is human nature to have fears. Lots of people have claustrophobia, and many more would hate to be buried alive. In † The Tell-Tale Heart† and â€Å"The Black Cat,† there are incarcerations and live burials. This is extremely disturbing and people in the nineteenth century would be extremely disturbed to see or hear of such events. The shock horror at the end of all three stories is graphic: the imagery produced is sensitive and detailed. Edgar Allan Poe and Kate Chopin use many different techniques and methods to build up tension and suspense. Use of effective, redolent language, and the reader’s imagination combine to force painful settings and events into the story. Nineteenth century society was brutal – there were gruesome executions and murders, and suspicious activity and witchcraft were looked down upon and punished. Conflict between logic and instinct in characters puts strain and pressure on the reader. Confusion and unexpected twists in the complex plots produce fear and total anxiety in the reader.