Saturation of Borax Essay Example for Free

Saturation of Borax Essay Formulating this experiment taught us many things. In the past, we were asked to conduct previously planned labs, with a purpose assigned from the teacher. We did not know how much thought was put into these labs until we were asked to create one for ourselves. An experimental process requires preparation, flexibility, and organization. This project provided insight on developing a unique process to answer a specific question. The experimental process requires extensive preparation. With our pre-lab, everything included had to be well thought-out. Research was done beforehand. We read articles on how borax would behave and became familiar with its chemical properties. We also read about others in the past who have done a similar experiment to us. Most importantly, we had to prepare ourselves for what results we should expect. If we did not get similar results, we would know that our experiment has a problem. With this knowledge, we had to determine the optimal method to answer our question. Our procedure had to be efficient and be as problem-free as possible for the day we carried out our experiment. Materials listed had to be obtainable at the school. We learned preparation was instrumental to performing a successful lab. While preparation to the lab was extremely important, it is always difficult to foresee any potential problems until the lab is carried out. Being flexible was another important trait we learned in this project. Materials had to be realistically available, so we had to compromise practicality for availability. For example, beakers were constantly unavailable, so we had to use a larger sized beaker than we needed. We also had problems with the experiment itself. The dissolving of Borax took an enormous amount of time. Given the time available, it was not practical to continue the method we were using, so we modified our procedure to fit with the time constraints. We did not expect these kinds of stumbling blocks. We also learned that you can never predict what will happen, as some things are out of your control. We had an incident where a classmate cleaned out our beaker, which contained a solution. We lost those results, and we did not have a choice but to quickly repeat the experiment. Some things are out of our control. In the future, when we enter the workforce, problems like this will arise and one must learn to deal with them. The experimental process requires organization. Carrying out the experiment, we had to follow the procedure closely. Materials had to be requested in advance, and prepared the day before. In our pre-lab, it was extremely important that the prepared table had the required boxes to record our information in. Recording our information was a challenge to us. We would sometimes forget to record the mass of objects and had missing numbers in our table, in which we would have to repeat that process again to obtain the value. Missing values in our table proved to be detrimental to our overall efficiency. A messy table proved to be a stumbling block later, when we were writing the report too. It was difficult to decode what our thoughts were, and distinguish what each number was for (many numbers had no unit). Now we know that good organizational skills are extremely important. In conclusion, this project covered many skills that are required in the completion of an experimental design. In order to complete a successful experiment, one must be prepared, flexible and organized. These skills play a critical role in the outcome, as they will dictate how one will deal with the problems they face, and prevent future problems form occurring. Writing this report was slightly challenging due to the amount we learned, and the space available to write. After this report, we learned to draw conclusions and reflect on the experiences that we gained. It helped us look back on our results and look at them from another perspective and it gives ideas on how to improve our experimental design in the future.

F. S. Fitzgeralds Fighting the Past and Self-loathing in Babylon Revis

F. S. Fitzgerald's Fighting the Past and Self-Loathing in "Babylon Revisited" Franklin Scott Fitzgerald's life as a writer in the 1920's shaped the stories that he created. Much of the content of many of his tales correlates with his private life with his wife Zelda, his trouble with alcohol, and their lives in Europe. Fitzgerald wrote the story "Babylon Revisited" - perhaps his most widely read story - in December of 1930, and then it was published in February of 1931 in The Saturday Evening Post. Mathew J. Bruccoli writes in "A Brief Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald" that "The dominant influences on F. Scott Fitzgerald were aspiration...Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, and alcohol," and each of these influences are painfully visible in "Babylon Revisited." Charlie Wales, the main character in "Babylon Revisited," is obviously an image of Fitzgerald and the life that he lived in the roaring twenties, but the sympathy that Fitzgerald's writing seems to presume is as shallow as Charlie's giving up alcohol. The bond between Fitzgerald and Charlie Wales, however, is not as sh allow as the contempt that Fitzgerald holds for the life that both he and Charlie experienced: both Charlie and Fitzgerald experience financial success, suffering marriages, and alcoholism. Through the narration of Charlie's past and his conversations with various characters in "Babylon Revisited," it is explained that Charlie became somewhat wealthy in the boom of the 1920's and spent it frivolously. Charlie and Helen Wales enjoyed a carefree life full of parties, plays, and other functions of high society in which they paid exorbitant amounts of money to every person that they dealt with, where Charlie remembers "thousand-franc notes given to an orchestra for playing... ...rough her affair with a French naval aviator contributed almost the entire storyline from which Fitzgerald created Charlie and the whole of "Babylon Revisited." Bibliography Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "Babylon Revisited." From The International Story. Spack, Robert, ed. St. Martin's Press: New York. 1994, pp86-102. William J. Brondell, "Structural Metaphors in Fitzgerald's Short Fiction," in Kansas Quarterly, Vol. 14, No. 2, Spring, 1982, pp. 107-11. James M. Harrison, "Fitzgerald's 'Babylon Revisited'," in The Explicator, Vol. 16, No. 4, January, 1958, pp. 1, 3. Reprinted in Short Story Criticism, Vol. 31. Matthew J. Bruccoli's "A Brief Life of Fitzgerald" originally appeared in F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Life in Letters, ed. Bruccoli with the assistance of Judith S. Baughman (New York: Scribners, 1994.); essay reprinted courtesy of Simon & Schuster.

The New Subjects in Romantisism

During the Romantic Period there seemed to be revolution in the air. The American Revolution and the French Revolution of 1789 had a great impact on literature of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. This impact can be seen throughout Romantic literature but especially in the area of new subjects. Before the 19th century authors tended to write about the aristocratic class. There was nothing written for or about the common people. There are three areas in which the discussion will focus upon in the area of new subjects. The first area will focus on the children, the second will be women, and the third will be the new attitude towards God. The Romantic period strongly emphasized the lives of children. Authors writing at that time did not just look at children playing outside but within real life situations. Writing started to be explored in the language of the common man. The topics presented by most of these writers appealed to the general public. Today, the area of children within literary works does not seem revolutionary. At this time, however, there were no writings that reflected the everyday lives of children. The first important poem in the Romantic period with regards to children is by William Blake, â€Å"The Chimney Sweep.† This poem focuses upon the tremendous abuse of children during this time. This poem portrays visions of death throughout â€Å"were all of them lock'd up in coffins of black†(Norton 31). This quote catches the reader's attention with a vision of death. These children talked of death very candidly because they died young. The sweeper almost inevitably would have died before he even knew how to live life. They worked in horrible labor conditions with no sign of relief because there were no labor laws. These children mainly died from consumption of the fumes within the shaft or by an accident. â€Å"We are Seven† by William Wordsworth refers frequently to children. This poem is told from the perspective of a seven-year-old girl. A young girl as the center of the poem would have been unheard of in earlier periods. The little girl has a brother and a sister who have died. The girl shows the reader the presence of another reality. The audience could not have understood this new reality we before the entrance of a child's perspective. The child has seven people in the family but two are dead. The little girl's reality is different than the readers. She believes her family members are with her even though they are really dead. These two poems impacted the populace to be aware of the exploitation of children and their understandings of the world. Frankenstein also addresses the concept of children in literature. Mary Shelly does it on several occasions. The first reference to children in the book is when Victor's brother is killed. Only in the Romantic Period do readers see the concept of death of children. Also on another occasion within the novel the talk centers on children migrating because of war. In earlier novels the role of children was not predominant. Another area in which the Romantic writings were opened were the writings on and by women. The most influential work would be Mary Wolstonecraft's work The Vindication of The Rights of Woman. There are many points that are brought to light within this work. Wolstonecraft calls for the education of all people, including women. She does not want to educate women for the amusement of men, but for intellectual stimuli. She tires to argue for women's education in a subtle way. She argues for the education of women to be for the betterment of the populace. Wolstonecraft tries to make the point that the education of women would be in a good light. She argues that the education of women would create stability within the home. Husbands and wives will be able to hold a substantive conversation; they will â€Å"become the friend, and not the humble dependant of her husband†(Norton 113). Wollstonecraft was able to write in this way because she herself was educated. Her relationship with her husband was one of a mutual affection not a necessity, and he was not threatened by this. Women threatened other contemporary males during this time. As seen here from a journal called Gentleman's Magazine in April 1799: In the general confusion of ideas, religious, moral, and political, we are not surprised to find claims set up for the female sex, unsupported we must say by prescription, but we are justified in saying by reason. Mrs. R. avows herself of the school of Wollstonecroft; and that is enough for all who have any regard to decency, order, or prudence, to avoid her company. She has traveled for her improvement; and what are the blessed fruits of her travels? Let the motley list of heroines subjoined to this letter, and the anecdotes of female characters, of all descriptions, interspersed in it, speak for themselves. (Randall 1) This is an illustration of how men felt at this time. This also shows that not everyone was inclined to recognize the new subjects. (The Mrs. R refers to Mary Robinson a contemporary of Wolstonecraft) One of the most intriguing works we read was â€Å"The Lady of Shalott.† This poem was in long form but it captured life in a different light. The poem depicts women looking at life only through a mirror. She watches her whole existence through the mirror, until she finally needs to see with her own eyes what has happened. The meaning of this poem can be interpreted in many ways. One way is that woman are watching the world pass them by without trying to taking part in everyday actions. Another area in which women were making their mark was writing the literature. Mary Wollstonecraft started the chain of events. She was one of the first women noticed for her writings. Her daughter Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley made great strides as a writer also at this time. These authors also made women more human. Women, not only did they cook and clean but also they even did other things. The third area to look at when addressing new subjects is God. There were many writings on the role of God before this period. The Bible being the best example tells of God the friend and God the punisher. William Blake illustrates poetry best in relation to God. The two poems that gave us the best look at, the two different versions of, God are â€Å"The Lamb† and â€Å"The Tyger.† In these two poems Blake takes two very different views. The lamb is the traditional symbol for the flock of God. He challenges the idea of Christ the lamb with the repetitive nature. He repeatedly asks the question â€Å"who made thee?† referring to who created a creature like the lamb (Norton 29). In the â€Å"Tyger† the same question of â€Å"who made thee?† comes up (Norton 37). This vicious animal and hunter is he too one of Gods creatures. This asks the question â€Å"What king of immortal hand or eye/ could frame thy fearful symmetry?† The questioning of what kind of god made you, the lamb and tyger. Then the next question asked is â€Å"Did he who made the lamb make thee?† seemingly the answer being yes it is the same god. Blake seems to question God several times within his poetry. The next one that sticks out particularly is â€Å"The Divine Image† where he continues to question what God really is. â€Å"To mercy, Pity, Peace and Love† sets the tone for the rest of the poem. He tells of how we are all God's children so we better be good to one another. He stresses the idea of equality here. There are also two stories that come to mind when discussing God as a new subject. The first is the â€Å"Rime of the Ancient Mariner† by Samuel Colleridge. In this short story we see a man on a journey. His journey starts not at the beginning of the trip to the South Pole, but it begins when he kills a bird. He shoots it with a crossbow. The symbolism behind the crossbow may mean he killed Jesus. Then when He goes through all the pains and anguish, he is forgiven for killing one of God's creatures. The next story that comes to expresses God in the area of new subjects is Frankenstein by Mary Shelly. This novel shows God in a very different light. Victor is shown as a God because he has created a creature outside of his own blood. Victor is faced with a choice whether or not to destroy or create a new creature. The Frankenstein book looked at the idea of God in a new fashion. Shelly tries to show us that our obsessions draw great light upon us. Mary Shelley shows how our obsessions draw light upon us in two ways. If we are obsessed with doing something when it happens we are let down. The second way that obsession affects us is that if we do not do something it may kill us. There were many new subjects that were addressed by Romantic poets and authors alike in regards to new subjects. The subject area of children is still being explored today. Once the subject area of children was opened the writing world has not been the same. In the area of women Vindication came when that work was published. It did not free women but gave them rights that they had not ever had before. In the area of God there was a great deal of questioning taking place. The entrance of Darwin and its legitimization raised questions pertaining to god. These new subjects were vital to the Romantic period and every piece of writing afterward.

Racial And Sexual Discrimination Throughout Desiree s...

Racial and Sexual Discrimination Throughout Desiree’s Baby and Society It was a very tough life for many women and blacks during the 19th Century because of the domination of the white men. Their social and economic lives showed the hardships they faced and was a constant reminder of the domination. The social ideology present in â€Å"Desiree’s Baby† was a powerful and dangerous force that showed no mercy to any character. A woman with small children who lost her husband would find no support or comfort from close family or even her peers during this time. Kate Chopin was a mother of six who was down on her luck, but fortunately she had the support and comfort from her mother for a brief time before she passed. After her mother’s death one of†¦show more content†¦Chopin uses Armand’s race was unimportant, because of his establishment in society, until he discovered he â€Å"belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery† (Chopin ) and how his black heritage leaves him to face a tragic and uncert ain future. Armand had always though that he was part of the established society and was on a pedestal because of his rich white heritage, but because of how low the view of blacks was, his new association with them takes way his meaning of life. Throughout the story, the significance of objects being labeled as â€Å"white† and â€Å"black† relates to the way that society during the time had associated white with greatness and positivity and black with devastation and negativity. One of the first references is when Chopin describes Armand’s love for Desiree as â€Å"sweeping over him like an avalanche† (Chopin). The love that is forged between Armand and Desiree is a positive point and their love is described as an avalanche, which is white. This provides the reader with the image of white as being positive throughout the rest of the story. Ellen Peel says that Armand is â€Å"a white male assured as his place as master† (Peel). The establishment of Armand with white skin gives him power and a position in society. Chopin relates L’Abri with darkness, as it is described as gloomy and the buildings â€Å"black like a cowl† and Desiree â€Å"shuddered at the sight of it† ( Chopin). This negative view of black images provides imagery for the