The Ruins by Scott Smith Essay Example for Free

The Ruins by Scott Smith Essay The Ruins by Scott Smith is a remarkably thrilling horror novel published in 2006, which has been transformed into a major motion picture in 2008 with a similar title. Scott Smith is an American writer who was educated at Dartmouth College and Columbia University. His style of writing almost has this immense power that can invisibly hold anybody in suspense. Racing through pages , readers will not be able to put the book down until they find out what happens next, even after spending eight or nine hours of reading time. With its disturbing sense of horror and the feeling of reality combined with a mystery that can hardly be solved, The Ruins will definitely appeal to young people especially teenagers, whose curiosity can often lead them to plenty of endless yet dangerous adventures. This is a spine-chilling story about a group of five young Americans on vacation, who are passing through a densely dark jungle, leading their ways from Coba an extremely remote area of Mexico to a Mayan village. The fun and laughter of a day trip starts to twist into an absolute nightmare, as they bump themselves into some ancient ruins in the middle of nowhere. Once they have made their steps up the ruins, crossing the border between a hill and an empty clearing, they had no choice but to keep going without turning back. Suddenly becoming captive on this hilltop with almost no food, no water, no shelters or support, the five young adults have to find another way to survive, if not making their ways back down and getting killed by the Mayans rifles and bows. With plenty of human corpses being discovered later on, whom died with their flesh and bones ripped into pieces by tons of green vines and a type of blood-red flowers, the Americans slowly realise that it is the end of their journey, where only death can put a full stop to everything. After days of trying escape, hoping and fighting against nature, one die after another, leaving no marks of their arrival, with their body being buried deep down into the Earth, covered with the long green vines, which have revealed themselves to a cold blooded killer. Being set out in the wild of Mexico, the story has the smell of a humid day with rough soil, damp trees sap and wild flowers, lingering in the air. The entire environment densely covered with trees shades and flourishing undergrowths seems to become so alive through Scott Smiths descriptive writing. With the use of vivid adjectives and lively details, depicting a vibrant but deadly outcast of a Mexican jungle, the author has succeeded in creating a three dimensional setting, where readers senses can be fully awakened. Personally, I was completely amazed by how realistic the setting seemed when reading the novel. I could easily imagine the eerie atmosphere surrounding the characters when passing through ceilings of canopies and the exhaustion of a hot and dusty summer day. I could feel the grip of fright and terror in their escapes from the deadly vines with their burning acidic sap, or the pain drilling through their skins as the vines pull away their strips of flesh. The way Scott Smith has maintained the suspense and tension through out the whole novel is magnificent with the use of short sentences, together with applying flows of characters personal thinking. Besides, he has gone into describing in detail how the fear of each character travelled through different stages. This effect has successfully driven the readers to race through lines and to flap over pages as fast as possible. There have been times when I felt like holding my breath, pushing myself to finish another page, which just kept going. Moreover, the method of eliminating the use of chapters or parts, keeping the story moving is indeed, very clever. Scott Smith has managed to fascinate readers, particularly, myself, making them to keep reading on and on and gradually get swept into an endless journey full of horror and panic. Finally, as strange as it might sound, it is the frustration caused by the immaturity and impatience of the characters, which indeed, keeps me interested until the very end of the novel. By including different personal thoughts of different characters along the story lines, the author has portrayed very realistically how stupidly people at the very early stage of their lives, without much experience and self-control, would react under such circumstances. For example, how the two female characters kept panicking and blaming themselves as well as others for their current situation or how the group leader, so impatiently and blindly, led everyone into a path that had been covered and hidden on purpose at the beginning. In the end, it is a very valuable lesson about patience, care and teamwork which has been embraced by Scott Smith. With the great fear that will long haunt its readers, The Ruins should be considered to be not only one of the first top ten books but also one of the best horror novels of the century, which has made its way through many other great publications to be one of the National Bestsellers of the United States.

Essay --

"The Glass Menagerie" by Tennessee Williams shows the struggle of two people to fit into society, Tom and Laura, and how society wouldn't accept them. They were the dreamers that were unjustly kept out and you may even go as far as to say persecuted into staying out and aloof like the other dreamers which are forced to become outcasts and not contribute to the actions of all. Tom and Laura, the two dreamers, were pushed by their mom, Amanda, to her frame of mind and the thoughts of a hard working society. They both stumbled on the fire escape which served as a gateway, physically and mentally. Tom had the problem of fitting in at the warehouse were he worked, because is the warehouse really a place for someone like him and his mind rebelled. Lastly you can see how society forced them to change and Laura to lose her status in order to fit in with Jim and that's shown by the horn breaking. Tom then realizes that and leaves which causes him to change too. Tennessee Williams artfully depicted this. The fire escape. A downtrodden red thing off the sides of buildings showing societies ineffectual escape from itself. In this case it served as a passageway between the real world and the dream one that Laura and Tom were living in at home. Both somehow stumbled both physically and mentally. When Laura said â€Å"I'm all right. I slipped but I'm all right†(47). She was trying to pass to the real world to do a real job and couldn't because of societies â€Å"inability† to accept her and her ways. She wasn't strong enough to make the trip by herself, but needed the moral support of the other dreamer in the area, which was Tom who came running out. Tom is the one who stumbles mentally in his inability to look at t... ...lizing that he was changing to Amanda's way of thinking, so he left. upon his leaving he lost his dreaming ability anyway. It was ironic how he no longer dreamed because he felt he was seeing the dreams in real life, as society had again forced him out. As you can see Tom and Laura were dreamers which were unaccepted into society. Laura lost her dreaming when the unicorn lost it's horn and tom then lost his upon doing the first thing he had dreamed about because he stayed that way and didn't dream about going any higher. Ultimately Tennessee Wiliiams message was that society was rigid and it forced those which did not fit the mold to change into a from which was acceptable. That we killed the dreamers and are till doing it at an even younger age. We have to Accept them with open arms if ever we are able to make it far into the future and survive.

The Twilight Saga 3: Eclipse EPILOGUE – CHOICE

JACOBBLACK â€Å"Jacob, do you think this is going to take too much longer?† Leah demanded. Impatient. Whiney. My teeth clenched together. Like anyone in the pack, Leah knew everything. She knew why I came here – to the very edge of the earth and sky and sea. To be alone. She knew that this was all I wanted. Just to be alone. But Leah was going to force her company on me, anyway. Besides being crazy annoyed, I did feel smug for a brief second. Because I didn't even have to think about controlling my temper. It was easy now, something I just did, natural. The red haze didn't wash over my eyes. The heat didn't shiver down my spine. My voice was calm when I answered. â€Å"Jump off a cliff, Leah.† I pointed to the one at my feet. â€Å"Really, kid.† She ignored me, throwing herself into a sprawl on the ground next to me. â€Å"You have no idea how hard this is for me.† â€Å"For you?† It took me a minute to believe she was serious. â€Å"You have to be the most self-absorbed person alive, Leah. I'd hate to shatter the dream world you livein – the one where the sun is orbiting the place where you stand – so I won't tell you how little I care what your problem is. Go. Away.† â€Å"Just look at this from my perspective for a minute, okay?† she continued as if I hadn't said anything. If she was trying to break my mood, it worked. I started laughing. The sound hurt in strange ways. â€Å"Stop snorting and pay attention,† she snapped. â€Å"If I pretend to listen, will you leave?† I asked, glancing over at the permanent scowl on her face. I wasn't sure if she had any other expressions anymore. I remembered back to when I used to think that Leah was pretty, maybe even beautiful. That was a long time ago. No one thought of her that way now. Except for Sam. He was never going to forgive himself. Like it was his fault that she'd turned into this bitter harpy. Her scowl heated up, as if she could guess what I was thinking. Probably could. â€Å"This is making me sick, Jacob. Can you imagine what this feels like to me? I don't even like Bella Swan. And you've got me grieving over this leech-lover like I'm in love with her, too. Can you see where that might be a little confusing? I dreamed about kissing her last night! What the hell am I supposed to do with that?† â€Å"Do I care?† â€Å"I can't stand being in your head anymore! Get over her already! She's going to marry that thing. He's going to try to change her into one of them! Time to move on, boy.† â€Å"Shut up,† I growled. It would be wrong to strike back. I knew that. I was biting my tongue. But she'd be sorry if she didn't walk away. Now. â€Å"He'll probably just kill her anyway,† Leah said. Sneering. â€Å"All the stories say that happens more often than not. Maybe a funeral will be better closure than a wedding. Ha.† This time I had to work. I closed my eyes and fought the hot taste in my mouth. I pushed and shoved against the slide of fire down my back, wrestling to keep my shape together while my body tried to shake apart. When I was in control again, I glowered at her. She was watching my hands as the tremors slowed. Smiling. Some joke. â€Å"If you're upset about gender confusion, Leah . . . ,† I said. Slow, emphasizing each word. â€Å"How do you think the rest of us like looking at Sam through your eyes? It's bad enough that Emily has to deal with your fixation. She doesn't need us guys panting after him, too.† Pissed as I was, I still felt guilty when I watched the spasm of pain shoot across her face. She scrambled to her feet – pausing only to spit in my direction – and ran for the trees, vibrating like a tuning fork. I laughed darkly. â€Å"You missed.† Sam was going to give me hell for that, but it was worth it. Leah wouldn't bug me anymore. And I'd do it again if I had the chance. Because her words were still there, scratching themselves into my brain, the pain of it so strong that I could hardly breathe. It didn't matter so much that Bella'd chosen someone else over me. That agony was nothing at all. That agony I could live with for the rest of my stupid, too long, stretched-out life. But it did matter that she was giving up everything – that she was letting her heart stop and her skin ice over and her mind twist into some crystallized predator's head. A monster. A stranger. I would have thought there was nothing worse than that, nothing more painful in the whole world. But, if he killed her . . . Again, I had to fight the rage. Maybe, if not for Leah, it would be good to let the heat change me into a creature who could deal with it better. A creature with instincts so much stronger than human emotions. An animal who couldn't feel pain in the same way. A different pain. Some variety, at least. But Leah was running now, and I didn't want to share her thoughts. I cussed her under my breath for taking away that escape, too. My hands were shaking in spite of me. What shook them? Anger? Agony? I wasn't sure what I was fightingnow. I had to believe that Bella would survive. But that required trust – a trust I didn't want to feel, a trust in that bloodsucker's ability to keep her alive. She would be different, and I wondered how that would affect me. Would it be the same as if she had died, to see her standing there like a stone? Like ice? When her scent burned in my nostrils and triggered the instinct to rip, to tear . . . How would that be? Could I want to kill her? Could I not want to kill one of them? I watched the swells roll toward the beach. They disappeared from sight under the edge of the cliff, but I heard them beat against the sand. I watched them until it was late, long after dark. Going home was probably a bad idea. But I was hungry, and I couldn't think of another plan. I made a face as I pulled my arm through the retarded sling and grabbed my crutches. If only Charlie hadn't seen me that day and spread the word of my â€Å"motorcycle accident.† Stupid props. I hated them. Going hungry started to look better when I walked in the house and got a look at my dad's face. He had something on his mind. It was easy to tell – he always overdid it. Acted all casual. He also talked too much. He was rambling about his day before I could get to the table. He never jabbered like this unless there was something that he didn't want to say. I ignored him as best I could, concentrating on the food. The faster I choked it down . . . â€Å". . . and Sue stopped by today.† My dad's voice was loud. Hard to ignore. As always. â€Å"Amazing woman. She's tougher than grizzlies, that one. I don't know how she deals with that daughter of hers, though. Now Sue, she would have made one hell of a wolf. Leah's more of a wolverine.† He chuckled at his own joke. He waited briefly for my response, but didn't seem to see my blank, bored-out-of-my-mind expression. Most days that bugged him. I wished he would shut up about Leah. I was trying not to think about her. â€Å"Seth's a lot easier. Of course, you were easier than your sisters, too, until . . . well, you have more to deal with than they did.† I sighed, long and deep, and stared out the window. Billy was quiet for a second too long. â€Å"We got a letter today.† I could tell that this was the subject he'd been avoiding. â€Å"A letter?† â€Å"A . . . wedding invitation.† Every muscle in my body locked into place. A feather of heat seemed to brush down my back. I held onto the table to keep my hands steady. Billy went on like he hadn't noticed. â€Å"There's a note inside that's addressed to you. I didn't read it.† He pulled a thick ivory envelope from where it was wedged between his leg and the side of his wheelchair. He laid it on the table between us. â€Å"You probably don't need to read it. Doesn't really matter what it says.† Stupid reverse psychology. I yanked the envelope off the table. It was some heavy, stiff paper. Expensive. Too fancy for Forks. The card inside was the same, too done- up and formal. Bella'd had nothing to do with this. There was no sign of her personal taste in the layers of see- through, petal-printed pages. I'd bet she didn't like it at all. I didn't read the words, not even to see the date. I didn't care. There was a piece of the thick ivory paper folded inhalf with my name handwritten in black ink on the back. I didn't recognize the handwriting, but it was as fancy as the rest of it. For half a second, I wondered if the bloodsucker was into gloating. I flipped it open. Jacob, I'm breaking the rules by sending you this. She was afraid of hurting you, and she didn't want to make you feel obligated in any way. But I know that, if things had gone the other way, I would have wanted the choice. I promise I will take care of her, Jacob. Thank you – for her – for everything. Edward â€Å"Jake, we only have the one table,† Billy said. He was staring at my left hand. My fingers were clamped down on the wood hard enough that it really was in danger. I loosened them one by one, concentrating on that action alone, and then clenched my hands together so I couldn't break anything. â€Å"Yeah, doesn't matter anyway,† Billy muttered. I got up from the table, shrugging out of my t-shirt as I stood. Hopefully Leah had gone home by now. â€Å"Not too late,† Billy mumbled as I punched the front door out of my way. I was running before I hit the trees, my clothes strewn out behind me like a trail of crumbs – as if I wanted to find my way back. It was almost too easy now to phase. I didn't have to think. My body already knew where I was going and, before I asked it to, it gave me what I wanted. I had four legs now, and I was flying. The trees blurred into a sea of black flowing around me. My muscles bunched and released in an effortless rhythm. I could run like this for days and I would not be tired. Maybe, this time, I wouldn't stop. But I wasn't alone. So sorry, Embry whispered in my head. I could see through his eyes. He was far away, to the north, but he had wheeled around and was racing to join me. I growled and pushed myself faster. Wait for us, Quil complained. He was closer, just starting out from the village. Leave me alone, I snarled. I could feel their worry in my head, try hard as I might to drown it in the sound of the wind and the forest. This was what I hated most – seeing myself through their eyes, worse now that their eyes were full of pity. They saw the hate, but they kept running after me. A new voice sounded in my head. Let him go. Sam's thought was soft, but still an order. Embry and Quil slowed to a walk. If only I could stop hearing, stop seeing what they saw. My head was so crowded, but the only way to be alone again was to be human, and I couldn't stand the pain. Phase back, Sam directed them. I'll pick you up, Embry. First one, then another awareness faded into silence. Only Sam was left. Thank you, I managed to think. Come home when you can. The words were faint, trailing off into blank emptiness as he left, too. And I was alone. So much better. Now I could hear the faint rustle of the matted leaves beneath my toenails, the whisper of an owl's wings above me, the ocean – far, far in the west – moaning against the beach. Hear this, and nothing more. Feel nothing but speed, nothing but the pull of muscle, sinew, and bone, working together in harmony as the miles disappeared behind me. If the silence in my head lasted, I would never go back. I wouldn't be the first one to choose this form over the other. Maybe, if I ran far enough away, I would never have to hear again. . . . I pushed my legs faster, letting Jacob Black disappear behind me.

Immigration to the United States

The controversy over immigration policy has become one of the most pressing issues in the United States. There are many misconceptions when it comes to immigration but the United States actually benefits from immigration by allowing foreigners to live study and work here. There are immigrants who have earned their citizenship in this in this country and are making the best of it and then there are those who come to this country just to cause harm. We as a people need to understand the difference between the two and to realize that there are some benefits to immigration. Those who are opposed to immigration always claim that immigrants take on jobs, lower wages and drain too much tax money. According to a study by Public Policy Institute of California, â€Å"immigrants who arrived in the State between 1990 and 2004 increased wages of native workers by an average of 4%. † What they do not realize is that jobs that immigrants take on are jobs that most people in America would not take whether immigrants were here or not. There are plenty of economic benefits to immigration reform. I’ve learn that â€Å"immigration reform would increase U. S. GDP, which is Gross Domestic Product by at least 0. 84 percent. This would translate into at least a $1. 5 trillion cumulative increase in GDP over 10 years. † Immigrants contribute to our society, maybe not as much as those who were born here but there are some positive things that come out of immigration. Not all immigrants are here to cause terror and threaten the lives of other human beings. A study that was done by the Immigration Policy Center in Washington D. C. howed that â€Å"immigrant men between the ages of 18 to 39 had an incarceration rate five times lower than people born in the United States. † There are people who have worked hard to earn to citizenship and should not have to be placed into a certain category just because they were not born here. Also there is a diversity value to having immigrants living in the United States. Having people live here who were not brings about cultural and social changes along with opinions and ideas for new developments. The benefit of immigrants moving here is to have a better life. They would not have moved here if they did not imagine a better standard of living. The benefit may not be for the United States but there is a benefit for the immigrants. Immigration has its advantages and disadvantages. Some of the disadvantages include† greater poverty, increase in crimes, lower unskilled wage, education costs, and a few others. † On the other hand, the positive benefits of immigration far outweigh the disadvantages in many ways such as the economic advantages and the cultural advantages. More often than not most immigrants come to the United States looking to make a better life for themselves. Some immigrants go through so much trouble just to be turned away. When applying for citizenship there is a lot of paperwork and intense interviews. Immigrants who are here illegally and just wanted to cause harm do not deserve to live here in America, but those who have worked hard to earn their citizenship deserve the same rights as someone who was born here.

Score College Credit Guide for the AP Physics 1 Exam

Score College Credit Guide for the AP Physics 1 Exam The AP Physics 1 exam (non-calculus) covers Newtonian mechanics (including rotational movement); work, energy and power; mechanical waves and sound; and simple circuits. For many colleges, the Physics 1 exam does not cover the same depth of material as a college physics course, so youll find that many of the more selective schools will not accept a high Physics I exam score for college credit. If at all possible, students serious about the sciences and engineering should try to take the calculus-based AP Physics C exam. About the AP Physics 1 Course and Exam Physics I is an introductory-level physics course grounded in algebra, not calculus. Students in the course explore a range of topics in Newtonian physics organized into 10 content areas: Kinematics. Students study forces and how interactions between systems can change those systems.  Ã‚  Dynamics. Students examine how the properties of a system determine how the system will behave.  Circular Motion and Gravitation. Students learn about gravitational forces and use Newtons third law to predict the behavior of systems.Energy. Students study the relationship between forces on a system and kinetic energy, and they learn how to calculate the total energy of a system. They also study the transfer of energy.Momentum. Students learn about the ways in which a force on a system can change the momentum of an object. This content area also covers the conservation of momentum.Simple Harmonic Motion. Students examine the conservation of energy, and the behavior of oscillating systems.Torque and Rotational Motion. Students learn how a force on an object can create torque and change the objects angular momentum.  Electric Charge and Electric Force. This content area examines h ow a charge on an object can affect its interaction with other objects. Students study long-range and contact forces. DC Circuits. In studying direct current circuits, students examine how the energy and electric charge of a system is conserved.Mechanical Waves and Sound. Students learn that a wave is a traveling disturbance that transfers energy and momentum, and they study concepts such as amplitude, frequency, wavelength, speed, and energy.   AP Physics 1 Score Information AP Physics 1 exam is the most popular of the four AP Physics exams (it has three times more test-takers than the AP Physics C Mechanics exam). In 2018, 170,653 students took the AP Physics 1 exam, and they earned a mean score of 2.36. Note that this is by far the lowest mean score of all AP exams- in general, students who take the AP Physics 1 exam are less prepared than those who take any other AP subject. Since most colleges who do allow credit for the exam require a score of a 4 or 5, only  about 21% of all test takers are likely to earn college credit. Be sure to consider this low success rate before deciding to take AP Physics 1 in high school.  Ã‚   The distribution of scores for the AP Physics 1  exam is as follows: AP Physics 1 Score Percentiles (2018 Data) Score Number of Students Percentage of Students 5 9,727 5.7 4 26,049 15.3 3 33,478 19.6 2 48,804 28.6 1 52,595 30.8 The College Board has released preliminary score percentages for the 2019 AP Physics 1 exam. Realize that these numbers may change slightly as late exams get added to the calculations. Preliminary 2019 AP Physics 1 Score Data Score Percentage of Students 5 6.2 4 17.8 3 20.6 2 29.3 1 26.1 Course Credit and Placement for AP Physics I The table  below presents some representative data from a variety of colleges and universities. This information is meant to provide a general overview of the scoring and placement practices related to the AP Physics 1 exam. For other schools, youll need to search the college website or contact the appropriate Registrars office to get AP placement information. Sample AP Physics 1  Scores and Placement College Score Needed Placement Credit Georgia Tech 4 or 5 3 hours of credit for PHYS2XXX; the Physics C (calculus-based) exam is required to earn credit for PHYS2211 and PHYS2212 Grinnell College 4 or 5 4 semester credits of science; will not count towards the major and does not satisfy any prerequisites LSU 3, 4 or 5 Students need to take the Physics C exams to earn course credit MIT - no credit or placement for the AP Physics 1 exam Michigan State University 4 or 5 PYS 231 (3 credits Mississippi State University 3, 4 or 5 PH 1113 (3 credits) Notre Dame 5 Physics 10091 (equivalent to PHYS10111) Reed College - no credit or placement for the Physics 1 or 2 exams Stanford University 4 or 5 Students must score a 4 or 5 on BOTH the Physics 1 and Physics 2 exams to earn course credit Truman State University 3, 4 or 5 PHYS 185 College Physics I UCLA (School of Letters and Science) 3, 4 or 5 8 credits and PHYSICS General Yale University - no credit or placement for the Physics 1 exam A Final Word About AP Physics 1 Its helpful to keep in mind that college placement isnt the only reason to take the Physics 1 exam. Selective colleges and universities typically rank an applicants academic record  as the most important factor in the admissions process. Extracurricular activities and essays matter, but good grades in challenging college preparatory classes matter more. The reality is that success  in challenging courses is the best predictor preparedness available to the admissions officers. Doing well in a course such as AP Physics 1 serves this purpose well, as do other AP, IB, and Honors classes.   To learn more specific information about the AP Physics 1  exam, be sure to visit the  official College Board website.

The Proofreading Zone A Haunted Comma Splice

The Proofreading Zone A Haunted Comma Splice The Proofreading Zone: A Haunted Comma Splice Here at Proofed, we work hard to ensure your writing is error free. And since we’re experienced professionals, most of the time we feel like we’ve seen it all. But now and then we come across something truly mysterious. Something that can’t be explained using the standard rules of punctuation. And since it’s Halloween today, we thought we’d invite you to hear a tale of terror and typos in†¦ The Proofreading Zone! The Client We met Mr. Robins on Thursday February 15th, 2018. It was a cloudy morning at Proofreading Towers. It promised to be like any other day. But the drizzle had turned to rain by lunchtime, with darker clouds on the horizon. It was appropriate, perhaps, that Mr. Robins appeared, silhouetted in our door, the moment the first clap of thunder rang out. The panic in his voice was clear. It was hard to even understand what he was saying. All we could make out were the words â€Å"The sentences! They run on and on and on!!!† He looked troubled. His hair was a mess. And he was clutching a memory stick in one hand, muttering to himself. After a few minutes, he collapsed. The Problem Arises†¦ We tried to make Mr. Robins comfortable when he woke up, and after a strong coffee he was able to explain his situation. It all began while putting the finishing touches on a business report. He noticed a comma splice on page one and corrected it. But when he went back to check the document before printing, it was back. â€Å"Odd,† thought Mr. Robins, â€Å"I’d swear I corrected that already.† But it only took a moment to replace the comma with a full stop again. And so he hit print, saved the file, and closed Microsoft Word. But when the printer had churned out the report and Mr. Robins checked that all the pages were there, the first thing he saw was the comma splice. It was back. The same comma. Mr. Robins was confused. Had he hit print before correcting it? He wasn’t sure anymore. He opened the document on his computer again and there it was: a comma splice on page one. â€Å"I must be going mad,† he told himself, before deleting the comma splice again, carefully saving the document, and hitting print. We’re sure we don’t have to tell you what happened next. You Can’t Escape Your Errors†¦ Mr. Robins stayed late at work that evening. His boss asked him if he was okay, as he had spent the entire afternoon marching back and forth between his computer and the office printer, looking more and more exasperated. Not wanting to admit he was at war with a comma, though, he forced a smile and said that everything was fine. Just some computer issues. But everything wasn’t fine. No matter what he did, the comma splice always returned. He tried copying the text to a new document. But it would just appear there, too. He tried working on different computers. But none of them were immune to this mysterious, impossible comma. He even tried printing the document and using corrector fluid to white out the comma splice. But when he tried to add a period on top of the correction, the ink ran and formed a perfect comma. This is when Mr. Robins broke. He screamed so loudly that he felt ashamed, even though everyone in the office had gone home hours ago. After he had calmed down, he decided to save the document to a memory stick and do the same. He could work on it more before bed. But even at home, the problem persisted. No matter what he did, he could not get rid of that comma splice. It was as if it were taunting him. He tried looking online to no avail. Everyone treated him like he was making some kind of weird joke. Eventually, at 2am, he decided to go to bed. That night, Mr. Robins dreamed of commas†¦ The Next Morning After getting out of bed, Mr. Robins tried not to think about punctuation. Instead, he made breakfast and settled down to read the New York Times. But right there, in the first article, he spotted a comma splice half way down the page. â€Å"Oh great,† he thought. â€Å"Another one.† He decided to move on to the next article and turned the page. But right there at the top of the first column, he saw a comma splice in a headline. And another in some ad copy. And two more on the next page. This was getting silly. But Mr. Robins didn’t have time to think about it. He was going to be late for work, so he put the paper down and left the house. He saw four more comma splices on the way to the office: two on billboards and one on a sign held up by a homeless man at the side of the road. And things didn’t improve after he got to work. There was a memo there on his desk, waiting for him. It said: You left a lot of paper on your desk yesterday, can you make sure to tidy up next time? Who had left it there? Did they know about the comma splice? Had they done it deliberately? He looked around to see if anyone was laughing, for any sign it might be a prank. But nobody was looking. Instead, he booted up his computer and checked his emails. The first header he saw said: Big project coming up, clear your schedule Another comma splice. When he opened the email, it was one long sentence, strung together with dozens of commas. And so was the next email. And the next one. What was happening? Mr. Robins stood up and stepped back from his desk. Someone asked him if he was all right, but he didn’t reply. He just stared at his computer, and then picked up his memory stick and left without a word. He needed to find someone who would understand. Someone who could fix this comma splice for good. And so he ran from his office, passing signs in shop windows, trying not to look but deeply aware of the comma splices all around him. He needed help. He needed the professionals. The Solution While our proofreaders are all trained to handle regular punctuation errors, this was something different. We had to call in Lady Grammaticus. Nobody knows where Lady Grammaticus came from. Or even her real name. But when punctuation gets spooky, you want her in your corner. Spelling errors and sentence fragments everywhere fear her for good reason. She even defeated the Cursed Colon of Connecticut. Thankfully, Lady Grammaticus had heard of something like this before. She told us the story of Aldus Manutius, the Venetian scholar who invented the modern comma. She claimed that Manutius achieved this innovation in punctuation after making a deal with an unknown power from beyond this world. And the Eternal Comma Splice was the price he paid. This terrible typo followed Manutius around for the rest of his life. You can even see it on his tombstone. But it didn’t end there. The comma splice spread, moving from mind to mind, from document to document, driving all who tried to correct it insane. But the comma splice had not met Proofed’s team of professional editors before. Armed with knowledge of what we were up against, we loaded up Mr. Robins’ document, printed it out, and carefully added a dot above the comma to turn it into a semicolon while Lady Grammaticus chanted in Latin. As the ceremony reached its climax, the semicolon began to glow. Epilogue It’s hard to say whether it was proofreading or, technically, an exorcism. But the semicolon was still there after the glow had faded, connecting two independent clauses just like a good semicolon should. And when we looked at the computer screen again, the comma splice was gone, replaced by a semicolon. It took a while to convince Mr. Robins that everything was all right, but he seemed reassured after we bought a copy of the New York Times to show him that it was splice free. Thus the tale of the haunted comma splice comes to its end. But who knows when evil punctuation will strike next? The world is full of demonic dashes and abhorrent apostrophes, just waiting for a chance to foul your writing by appearing in the wrong place. So, wherever you are and whatever you’re writing, make sure to proofread carefully! Happy Halloween!

Economic Policy and Personal Decisions Research Paper

Economic Policy and Personal Decisions - Research Paper Example In the long run equilibrium, the economic growth is dependent on three factors the growth in labour force, amount of capital available to the workforce, and the rate of technological advance. If we consider, an economy where the aggregate demand is due to an increase in spending, Cashell observes that this demand can be satisfied by either raising the prices or increasing real production. If the economy is operating at full employment, and the stock is at full capacity then an increase in demand is met by an increase in the prices of available goods and services. Cashell states that, for a fully employed economy, increased government spending does yield an increase in the nominal GDP (2005). Let us consider the wage. This forms a main element of cost in the economy of any country. A higher wage rate does translate into a higher cost this means a less profit will be incurred at any given price. A squeezed profit for any company means a cut back on production. A wage increase in any ec onomy would mean a decrease in the number of goods and services supplied at a constant price. During a recession, the economy is a short-run equilibrium. In such an environment, it is difficult for the wages to be increased; however, this can be counteracted by a fall in prices, and thus the recessional gap can be seen as shrinking. This led the economy to equilibrium at full employment. Cashell concludes that if wages and prices fall unusually slowly then it is possible for the economy to endure a prolonged period of production below potential GDP (2005).