Ethical Delimas Facing a Profession Essay Example for Free

Ethical Delimas Facing a Profession Essay Healthcare professionals often face complex ethical dilemmas in the workplace. These dilemmas often arise when employment obligations conflict with personal beliefs. An ethical dilemma that is becoming more common in the workplace involves emergency contraception. Emergency contraceptives or morning-after pills are a fiery topic. Some pharmacists are refusing to dispense morning-after pills because it is against their beliefs. Imagine yourself in the position of needing this medication. Should the beliefs of the pharmacist outweigh your rights as the patient? For me, the answer would be a resounding no. According to The Code of Ethics for Pharmacists (Pharmacist. com, 1994), adopted by the membership of the American Pharmacists Association October 27, 1994, â€Å"Pharmacists are health professionals who assist individuals in making the best use of medications. This Code, prepared and supported by pharmacists, is intended to state publicly the principles that form the fundamental basis of the roles and responsibilities of pharmacists. These principles, based on moral obligations and virtues, are established to guide pharmacists in relationships with patients, health professionals, and society. † The Code of Ethics further states, â€Å"A pharmacist promotes the right of self-determination and recognizes individual self-worth by encouraging patients to participate in decisions about their health. In all cases, a pharmacist respects personal and cultural differences among patients. A pharmacist avoids discriminatory practices, behavior or work conditions that impair professional judgment, and actions that compromise dedication to the best interests of patients. This guideline clearly states the responsibilities and duties of the pharmacist are to serve the needs of the patient even when doing so contradicts their personal beliefs. In some states, legislators are introducing bills that would grant pharmacists the right to refuse (refusal clauses also known as conscience clauses) to dispense drugs related to contraception on moral grounds. Other state legislators are introducing legislation that would require pharmacies to fill any legal prescription for birth control. NCSL Health Program, 2011) APhA has had a policy supporting a pharmacist’s conscience clause since 1998. APhA’s two-part policy supports the ability of the pharmacist to step away from participating in activity to which they have personal objections—but not step in the way. The Association supports the pharmacist’s right to choose not to fill a prescription based on moral or ethical values. But recognizing the pharmacist’s important role in the health care system, APhA supports the establishment of systems to ensure that the patient’s health care needs are served. Pharmacist. com, 1994) When it comes to ethics or morality, arguments and counterarguments will never cease. If a person’s religious objections to emergency contraception interfere with their ability to do their job, then they shouldn’t be in that profession. Refusing to do your job because your conscience won’t allow it comes with consequences that you must accept. Businesses and society cannot function if people are able to ignore rules, regulations, standards, and laws on the basis of â€Å"conscience† or religious desire.

Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS)

Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) V1.5 Equation for ns changed(Removed time) Changes are bolded Before Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD) was developed, theoretical studies on high swirling confined turbulent flows can only be validated by conducting experimental studies. These experimental studies require long leading time and high cost. Now, with the help of CFD, researchers are able to study these complex flows in a much shorter time and with a lower cost incurred. Many experimental studies have been conducted on the high swirling confined turbulent flows but little has been done on the computational modelling. Most of these intricate flow simulations are accomplished at the expense of high computational cost methods such as Large Eddy Simulations(LES) and Direct Numerical Simulations(DNS). Thus, a lower computational cost alternative will be very helpful in the studies of high swirling confined turbulent flows. Thus, this project will be using the Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) based turbulence models in ANSYS FLUENT to simulate the high swirling confined turbulent flows in two different test cases and the results validated with experimental data. The aims and objectives are discussed as follows: Aims and Objectives Aims To validate the accuracy of RANS based turbulence models for the simulation of high swirling confined turbulent flows. Objectives To simulate the high swirling confined turbulent flows using ANSYS FLUENT with different RANS turbulence models. To compare the numerical data from the simulations with the experimental data to validate the accuracy of the turbulence models. To understand the effect of the RANS turbulence models on the predicted results. Review of Confined Swirling Flows Confined swirling flow plays an important role in various engineering fields. For example, they can enhance the mixing process in the stirred tanks, improve the separation of particles in cyclones [1] and also increases the flame stability in gas turbine combustors. So, what is a swirling flow? A swirling flow is a flow where a swirl velocity that exists in the tangential direction other than the flow motion in the axial and radial directions. The swirl velocity of the flow plays a major role in the evolution and decay process of swirling flow motion but not the radial velocity of the flow as shown in a study by Beaubert et al. [2] A swirling flow consist of two types of rotational motion. A solid body rotation at the inner region near the centerline and a free vortex motion at the outer region. [14] Solid body rotation and free vortex motion respectively has its velocity directly and inversely proportional to the radius of the pipe at the centre of their axis of rotation as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1: Velocity profile of swirling flow in a pipe. [4] Confined swirling flow can then be categorized into subcritical and supercritical flows. A subcritical flow has a reverse flow at the exit and is very sensitive towards changes at the exit as shown experimentally by Escudier and Keller[11]. On the other hand, the supercritical flow has no reverse flow at the exit and is insensitive towards variation at the exit.[10] Subcritical flows are formed when the ratio of maximum swirl velocity to the averaged axial velocity exceeds unity was stated in a theory by Squire[12]. Review of Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD) CFD is a methodology which is employed to study fluid flow using numerical analysis and algorithms to solve the governing flow equations. In the past, the field of fluid dynamics was made up of purely experimental and theoretical studies. CFD is considered the third approach in the studies of fluid mechanics and would complement the two existing methods. [5] The three main elements when implementing CFD are the pre-processor, solver and post-processor. The pre-processors task is to transform the input of a flow problem into a form that is suitable for the solver. During pre-processing, the geometry of the problem is defined and the flow domain is divided into smaller cells (meshing). The physical (eg: turbulence) and chemical phenomena that needs to be modelled are selected and the fluid properties are defined. Next, the boundary conditions are given to cells which interacts with the domain boundary. The solution to the flow problem is stored in the nodes in each cell. In the solver, the conservation equation containing the mass, momentum, energy and species is integrated over each cells. Then, the unknown variables of the equation are interpolated and substituted back into the equation. The solver then runs numerical techniques to solve the derivatives and flux in the cells. Lastly, the post-processor allows user to analyse the data obt ained by plotting graphs and observe the flow animation. [6] Review of Turbulence Flows All fluids in motion are governed by the conservation of mass equation and the Navier-Stokes equation. The latter equation relates the flow properties such as the velocity, pressure, density and temperature for a moving fluid. The conservation of mass equation and the incompressible Navier-Stokes equation (in Cartesian tensor notation) can be respectively written as Turbulence is shown to develop as an instability in the laminar flow through detailed analysis of the solutions for the Navier Stokes equation. [7]. In principle, Direct Numerical Simulation(DNS) can be used to simulate very accurate turbulent flow by solving the exact equations with the appropriate boundary conditions. However, it requires very large amount of computational power as this method has to represent all of the eddies from the smallest scale to the largest scale and the time step chosen must be small enough to resolve the fastest fluctuations. The turbulent eddies will be discussed in more detail in the next section. The two other methods that can be used to simulate the turbulent flows (with decreasing computational power and accuracy) would be the Large Eddy Simulation(LES) and turbulence modelling with Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes equation (RANS). Basically, LES solves the governing equations partially as only the large eddies are solved using the governing equations and the filtered smaller eddies are modeled while RANS models the entire turbulence eddies and only the mean variables are calculated. For turbulence modelling, the minute details of the turbulent motion are not prioritized so only the average flow properties are solved. In a turbulent flow, the velocity field fluctuates randomly in both space and time. Despite the fluctuations, the time averaged velocity can be determined and the velocity field equation can be written as: () where is the time averaged velocity and is the fluctuating component in the velocity field. Other than the velocity, other flow properties can also be decomposed into its mean and fluctuating parts. In our simulations, the flow is assumed to be steady, have constant density and axially symmetric. Thus, the incompressible Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations (in Cartesian tensor notation) can be written as Where is the Reynolds Stress tensor, which is a component of a symmetric second order tensor from the averaged process. The diagonal terms are normal stresses while the non-diagonal terms are shear stresses. The Reynolds Stress can be understood as the net momentum transfer due to velocity fluctuations. This term also provided unknown terms to be equation and thus, more equations have to be found to match the number of unknowns to solve the equations. A straightforward method of generating equations would be to create new sets of partial differential equations (PDEs) for each term using the original set of Navier-Stokes equation. This can be done by multiplying the incompressible NS equations by the fluctuating property and time averaging them to produce the Reynolds-Stress equation. By deriving the Reynolds Stress term, we can identify what is influencing the stress term but the problem with this approach is that more unknowns and correlations were generated and no new equations are formed to account for these unknowns. [7] Thus, these unknown terms have to be modelled to close the equation before they can be used. Review of Turbulence Eddies The velocity field fluctuations in the turbulence flows are actually the eddies in the flow. The eddies moving pass an object generates the turbulence kinetic energy and the length scale of the eddies, are determined by the diameter of the object. As the large eddy break down into smaller eddies, the turbulence kinetic energy will be passed down and eventually dissipated due to viscous forces in the flow. Thus, according to the Kolmogrov scales, the length and time scale of the smallest eddies depends on the rate they receive energy from the larger eddies, and the kinematic viscosity,. It is also noted that the rate of turbulence energy received is equal to the rate of turbulence energy dissipated so, . The Kolmogrov scales shows the length and time scale of the smallest eddies to be and respectively. [8] These expressions can then be used to determine the length and time scale ratio between the small and large eddies. () () From the equations above, we can conclude that the large eddies are several orders of magnitude larger than the small eddies. Thus, even at a low Reynolds number, the time and length ratio between the small and large eddies are significant enough to affect the number of elements and time step required to model the entire turbulent flow. Therefore, instead of solving all the eddies, turbulence modelling is required to reduce the amount of computational cost of CFD. Summary The understanding of the motions of confined swirling flows and characteristic of the subcritical and supercritical flows will be useful when explaining the simulation results. Before the simulation results are obtained, it is also important to identify the basic steps of running any CFD simulations which are the preprocessing, solving and post processing. DNS solves the exact NS equation while LES solves the equation for larger eddies and models the smaller eddies. The process of solving the exact equations takes up a lot of computational power as it would need to represent the all the turbulent eddies involved and a suitable time step has to be chosen to resolve the fluctuations. When compared to DNS and LES, RANS turbulence modelling requires the least computational power as it does not solve the exact NS equations but instead, models the entire turbulence eddy and only solves the mean average variables. The low computational cost of RANS turbulence modeling is the primary reason why this project has chosen it to simulate the confined swirling flows. However, the accuracy of this methods requires validation, which is the aim of this project. The RANS turbulence models created will be based on the PDEs of the Reynolds stress as a guideline as it shows how the Reynold stress behave. Thus, the next section will elaborate more about the RANS turbulence models that will be implemented in this project. The main objective of the RAN based turbulence models are to model the (Reynolds Stress tensor) and provide closure to the RANS equation. The three main categories of the turbulence models are linear eddy viscosity models, non-linear viscosity models and Reynolds Stress Model(RSM). [9] There are three types of linear eddy viscosity models: algebraic models, one equation models and two equation models. They are based on the Boussinesq hypothesis which models the Reynolds stress tensor to be proportional to the mean rate of strain tensor, by a coefficient named the eddy viscosity,. This infers that the turbulence flow field acts similarly to a laminar flow field. [10] (5) The second term of the right hand side of the equation above is required when solving turbulence models that needs to calculate the turbulent kinetic energy, k from the transport equations. The equation for k is half the trace of the Reynolds Stress tensor. For the algebraic turbulence models, no additional PDE equations are created to describe the transport of the turbulent flux and the solutions are calculated directly from the flow variables. An algebraic relation is used as closure based on the mixing length theory. The mixing length theory states that the eddy viscosity have to vary with the distance from the wall. However, the problem with these equations are that they do not account for the effects of turbulence history. In order to improve the turbulent flow predictions, an additional transport equation for k is solved which will replace the velocity scale and include the effects of turbulence flow history. For one and two-equation models, the modeled k equation is involved thus discussion on the exact k equation will first be done. The exact k equation is a PDE derived by multiplying the incompressible NS equations with , averaging it and multiply with . The exact k PDE equation obtained is The left hand side(LHS) terms are the material derivative of k which gives the rate of change of turbulent kinetic energy. The first term on the right hand side(RHS) is the production term and represents the turbulent kinetic energy that an eddy will gain due to the mean flow strain rate. The second term on the RHS represents the dissipation term which meant the rate at which the kinetic energy of the smallest turbulent eddy being transferred into thermal energy due to the work done by the fluctuating strain rate against the fluctuating viscous stresses. The third term on the RHS is the diffusion term which represents the diffusion of turbulent energy by molecular motion. The last term of the RHS is the pressure-strain term which signifies the tendency to redistribute the kinetic energy in the flow due to the turbulent and pressure fluctuations. In order to close and solve the k equation, the Reynolds Stress, dissipation, diffusion and pressure-strain term has to be specified. For the Reynolds Stress term, it is already mentioned at the beginning that it is based on the Boussinesq hypothesis. The eddy viscosity, is modelled similarly to how it was done for the algebraic models Where is a constant, the length scale of turbulence eddies, is similar the mixing length and velocity scale of the turbulence eddies is replaced by the square root of the turbulence kinetic energy, k. The equation above is an isotropic relation which means that it is assumed that the momentum transport is the same in all direction at any point. Next, the dissipation term is modelled based on the assumption that the rate of turbulence energy received is equal to the rate of turbulence energy dissipated. Thus, we can write the equation and since the equation is homogenous, it can be characterized by the length and velocity scale of turbulence eddies giving Where is a constant. For the diffusion and pressure-strain term, the sum is modelled based on the gradient diffusion transport mechanism as there is the pressure-strain term is small for incompressible flows. The gradient transport mechanism implies that there is a flux of k down the gradient. It is to help ensure that the solutions are smooth and a boundary condition can be applied on k when k is in the boundary. There is no Therefore, the equation shows Where is the turbulent Prandtl number and is normally equal to one. -not completed will talk about the modeled turbulent kinetic energy in one equation spalart allmaras -will talk about dissipation part for 2 equation model in k-e This test case is chosen because the flow was mapped and documented in detail as So et al was able to measure and document the flow in detail using a Laser Doppler Velocimetry(LDV) at 10 axial stations up to 40d downstream. Thus, the validation of the accuracy of the RANS turbulence models on confined high swirling flow can be done. Description of Test Case The flow consists of an annular high swirling stream projected into a pipe of uniform radius, R = 62.5mm with a central non-swirling jet of diameter, d = 8.7mm. The swirl number, S of the flow is calculated with Where U is the axial velocity and W is the swirl velocity. The swirl number just downstream of the swirl generator is approximately 2.25 which indicates that it is a high swirling flow and will cause an adverse pressure gradient at the centreline. The purpose of the non-swirling jet was to delay the occurrence of reverse flow due to the adverse pressure gradient along the centreline from 12d to 40d downstream from the inlet. Geometry (Computational Domain) The confined swirling flow in this case is a subcitical flow according to the rule of thumb of Squire mentioned in Section x. Thus, two different computational domains were used for the simulation of the flow to check if the exit geometry will affect the swirling flow simulated. Figure 2 (temporary figure) The first computational domain is the complete geometry of the pipe which consist of the computational inlet at x/d =1 and the constriction of 0.75R from x/d = 70 to the computational outlet at x/d = 90. The second computational domain is a cut off from the first domain at x/d = 55 where the constriction is removed. Meshing -have not completed it. Will be updated in the next revision. Boundary Conditions Inlet The inlet experimental measurements for the axial and tangential velocity and stresses are provided. However, the radial velocity component was not measured and is set to 0 rad/s. The radial stress is also not measured and was set equal to the tangential stress, whereas the three shear stresses are assumed to be zero. < graphs of prescribed to be added> Outlet Conditions at the outlet are not known prior to solving the flow problem. No conditions are defined at the outflow boundaries as ANSYS FLUENT will extrapolate the required information from the interior. It is assumed that the flow is fully developed at the exit end thus the outflow boundary condition is used. (dphi/dx|exit = 0) Wall The no slip condition is applied.

Essay --

James Mercer Langston Hughes was a poet and a novelist from the mid -1900s who began writing poems throughout his high school career. His poems are mainly affiliated with the tough life he had been through as racism reached its peak. In his poems, Langston Hughes discusses his hardships dealing with all the racist people in his schools and the ones around him. And how the experience of life was for someone who was black. He was known as the most versatile writer of the Harlem Renaissance, a time in American history when African Americans became part of the mainstream in both politics and music. In Langston Hughes’s poem, â€Å"Dreams† Langston Hughes illustrates the value of dreams. He believes that dreams serve as the purpose of life and if there are no dreams to achieve then that life is not worth living. The rhyme scheme of the poem is A-B-C-B-D-F-E-F. In line 1 and 2 Langston Hughes uses personification describing how dreams die, giving dreams characteristics of living things. By this he means that if people do not follow their goals/dreams they can never taste freedom and they become incapable of doing anything with their life. From lines 3-4, a metaphor is used to compare life to a broken-winged bird that cannot fly if dreams die. This is the same concept where if there aren’t dreams to pursue in life, there is nothing to be done in life. From lines 6-8, Langston Hughes uses personification again saying, if dreams go, or in other words fade away, life becomes a barren field with frozen snow. This is a metaphor. With this being said, a barren field is used to describe an empty life, still, and alone where there is nothing to be done and where nothing can be done, everything is stable. This barren field being frozen with snow sh... ...n’t being treated like the white kids are treated. From lines 3 to 6, Langston Hughes explains how the injustice in his life doesn’t matter to white kids. To white kids, injustice is like unnoticeable, yet it does exist. Throughout the rest of the poem, Hughes questions the promises made by the Pledge of Allegiance. The promise made was, Liberty and Justice for all! This was only for the white kids where when it came to African Americans, they were ignored. Langston Hughes points out the part in the Pledge where it is said, â€Å"for all†, and that really only stands for white people. He says the Pledge of Allegiance has lies written in it. Like a children’s nursery rhyme, treated insignificantly. Langston Hughes discusses how the promises made in the Pledge are only promised, but are not given to all. The rhyme scheme for this poem is A-B-C-D-C-E-F-G-H-G-I-J-K-L-K.

Essay --

Jefferson Finis Davis was born on June 3,1808, in ____ Kentucky. He was the tenth of ten children. Davis was named after the third president of the United States of America, Thomas Jefferson. During his childhood Davis moved twice; he moved at the age of 3 to St.Mary Parish, Louisiana. Less than a year later he moved to Wilkinson County, Mississippi. Three of his brothers served in the war of 1812. He began his education in 1813 at Wilkinson Academy, near the family cotton plantation. Davis Later attended a catholic school called Saint Thomas. When he was there he was the only protestant student in attendance. Davis went on to attend Jefferson College in Washington, Mississippi, in 1818, and then attended Transylvania University at Lexington, Kentucky, in 1821. His father Samuel died on July 4, 1824, when Jefferson was 16 years old. He attended the United States Military Academy starting in 1824. He was placed under house arrest after his involvement in the eggnog riots. In June 182 8 he graduated 23rd in a class of 33. Following graduation, Second Lieutenant Davis was assigned to the 1st Infantry Regiment he was stationed at Fort Crawford, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin Territory. Zachary Taylor had recently been placed in command of the fort when Davis arrived in early 1829. Davis returned to Mississippi on furlough in March 1832 this was his first leave since arriving at the fort. The Black Hawk war broke out while Davis was still in Mississippi. He quickly returned to the fort in August 1832. At the end of the war, Colonel Taylor assigned him to the transportation of Black Hawk to prison. Davis soon fell in love with Sarah Knox Taylor, his commanding officers daughter. They pursued Sarah’s father for permission to marry but he... ...inted and then elected to the U.S. Senate. He resigned his position to run for Governor of Mississippi. Although he was not successful, he was ultimately named Secretary of War under President Pierce. He went back to the Senate in the 1840s and remained there until Mississippi seceded January 9, 1861. Davis waited for official notification and addressed the Senate on January 21, 1861 calling it the â€Å"saddest day of his life.† He returned to Mississippi. Davis was first named as Major General for the Army of Mississippi on January 23, 1861 and then elected as Provisional President of the Confederate States of America and inaugurated in February. He was selected because of his military and political background. When Virginia joined the Confederacy, Davis moved the Capital to Richmond in May 1861. By November he had been elected to a full-six year term as President.

21st Century Advertisement Tactics Essay -- essays research papers

21st Century Advertisement Tactics At first glance you see an incredibly handsome man embracing an enchanting young lady. The two appear to in love. They are all alone, kissing in a dark gloomy subway station. How can this be an advertisement for men ¡Ã‚ ¦s shoes? Most advertisements use appealing visuals like these to sell their products. Many of those techniques are illogical, deceptive, and some may even be considered too erotic. The attached advertisement for shoes employs many of these techniques in campaigning their product to customers. It promotes shallow values (sex appeal), it was illogical, and even deceptive. This advertisement was geared more for men. It is an ad for men ¡Ã‚ ¦s shoes and was found in a magazine geared for men. The magazine Maximum is geared generally toward the male crowd. The most prominent figure in the advertisement is what appears to be a couple, dressed in dark dull colors, standing in a subway kissing. However, at the bottom of the advertisement a bright tan colored shoe appears to jump out at you from the dismal dark back round. This advertisement is a prime example of using color to promote a product. The tan shoe is bright in contrast to the dismal bland appearance of the background. It seems to jump off the page and grab your attention. Clearly in this advertisement color was used to help elaborate on the product. The use of color is only one of the many techniques advertising companies can use to embellish their product. Sometimes they may...

The Host Chapter 13: Sentenced

Are they here?† We choked out the words-they burst from us like the water in our lungs had, expelled. After water, this question was all that mattered. â€Å"Did they make it?† Uncle Jeb's face was impossible to read in the darkness. â€Å"Who?† he asked. â€Å"Jamie, Jared!† Our whisper burned like a shout. â€Å"Jared was with Jamie. Our brother! Are they here? Did they come? Did you find them, too?† There was barely a pause. â€Å"No.† His answer was forceful, and there was no pity in it, no feeling at all. â€Å"No,† we whispered. We were not echoing him, we were protesting against getting our life back. What was the point? We closed our eyes again and listened to the pain in our body. We let that drown out the pain in our mind. â€Å"Look,† Uncle Jeb said after a moment. â€Å"I, uh, have something to take care of. You rest for a bit, and I'll be back for you.† We didn't hear the meaning in his words, just the sounds. Our eyes stayed closed. His footsteps crunched quietly away from us. We couldn't tell which direction he went. We didn't care anyway. They were gone. There was no way to find them, no hope. Jared and Jamie had disappeared, something they knew well how to do, and we would never see them again. The water and the cooler night air were making us lucid, something we did not want. We rolled over, to bury our face against the sand again. We were so tired, past the point of exhaustion and into some deeper, more painful state. Surely we could sleep. All we had to do was not think. We could do that. We did. When we woke, it was still night, but dawn was threatening on the eastern horizon-the mountains were lined with dull red. Our mouth tasted of dust, and at first we were sure that we had dreamed Uncle Jeb's appearance. Of course we had. Our head was clearer this morning, and we noticed quickly the strange shape near our right cheek-something that was not a rock or a cactus. We touched it, and it was hard and smooth. We nudged it, and the delicious sound of sloshing water came from inside. Uncle Jeb was real, and he'd left us a canteen. We sat up carefully, surprised when we didn't break in two like a withered stick. Actually, we felt better. The water must have had time to work its way through some of our body. The pain was dull, and for the first time in a long while, we felt hungry again. Our fingers were stiff and clumsy as we twisted the cap from the top of the canteen. It wasn't all the way full, but there was enough water to stretch the walls of our belly again-it must have shrunk. We drank it all; we were done with rationing. We dropped the metal canteen to the sand, where it made a dull thud in the predawn silence. We felt wide awake now. We sighed, preferring unconsciousness, and let our head fall into our hands. What now? â€Å"Why did you give it water, Jeb?† an angry voice demanded, close behind our back. We whirled, twisting onto our knees. What we saw made our heart falter and our awareness splinter apart. There were eight humans half-circled around where I knelt under the tree. There was no question they were humans, all of them. I'd never seen faces contorted into such expressions-not on my kind. These lips twisted with hatred, pulled back over clenched teeth like wild animals. These brows pulled low over eyes that burned with fury. Six men and two women, some of them very big, most of them bigger than me. I felt the blood drain from my face as I realized why they held their hands so oddly-gripped tightly in front of them, each balancing an object. They held weapons. Some held blades-a few short ones like those I had kept in my kitchen, and some longer, one huge and menacing. This knife had no purpose in a kitchen. Melanie supplied the name: a machete. Others held long bars, some metal, some wooden. Clubs. I recognized Uncle Jeb in their midst. Held loosely in his hands was an object I'd never seen in person, only in Melanie's memories, like the big knife. It was a rifle. I saw horror, but Melanie saw all this with wonder, her mind boggling at their numbers. Eight human survivors. She'd thought Jeb was alone or, in the best case scenario, with only two others. To see so many of her kind alive filled her with joy. You're an idiot, I told her. Look at them. See them. I forced her to see it from my perspective: to see the threatening shapes inside the dirty jeans and light cotton shirts, brown with dust. They might have been human-as she thought of the word-once, but at this moment they were something else. They were barbarians, monsters. They hung over us, slavering for blood. There was a death sentence in every pair of eyes. Melanie saw all this and, though grudgingly, she had to admit that I was right. At this moment, her beloved humans were at their worst-like the newspaper stories we'd seen in the abandoned shack. We were looking at killers. We should have been wiser; we should have died yesterday. Why would Uncle Jeb keep us alive for this? A shiver passed through me at the thought. I'd skimmed through the histories of human atrocities. I'd had no stomach for them. Perhaps I should have concentrated better. I knew there were reasons why humans let their enemies live, for a little while. Things they wanted from their minds or their bodies†¦ Of course it sprang into my head immediately-the one secret they would want from me. The one I could never, never tell them. No matter what they did to me. I would have to kill myself first. I did not let Melanie see the secret I protected. I used her own defenses against her and threw up a wall in my head to hide behind while I thought of the information for the first time since implantation. There had been no reason to think of it before. Melanie was hardly even curious on the other side of the wall; she made no effort to break through it. There were much more immediate concerns than the fact that she had not been the only one keeping information in reserve. Did it matter that I protected my secret from her? I wasn't as strong as Melanie; I had no doubt she could endure torture. How much pain could I stand before I gave them anything they wanted? My stomach heaved. Suicide was a repugnant option-worse because it would be murder, too. Melanie would be part of either torture or death. I would wait for that until I had absolutely no other choice. No, they can't. Uncle Jeb would never let them hurt me. Uncle Jeb doesn't know you're here, I reminded her. Tell him! I focused on the old man's face. The thick white beard kept me from seeing the set of his mouth, but his eyes did not seem to burn like the others'. From the corner of my eye, I could see a few of the men shift their gaze from me to him. They were waiting for him to answer the question that had alerted me to their presence. Uncle Jeb stared at me, ignoring them. I can't tell him, Melanie. He won't believe me. And if they think I'm lying to them, they'll think I'm a Seeker. They must have experience enough to know that only a Seeker would come out here with a lie, a story designed for infiltration. Melanie recognized the truth of my thought at once. The very word Seeker made her recoil with hatred, and she knew these strangers would have the same reaction. It doesn't matter anyway. I'm a soul-that's enough for them. The one with the machete-the biggest man there, black-haired with oddly fair skin and vivid blue eyes-made a sound of disgust and spit on the ground. He took a step forward, slowly raising the long blade. Better fast than slow. Better that it was this brutal hand and not mine that killed us. Better that I didn't die a creature of violence, accountable for Melanie's blood as well as my own. â€Å"Hold it, Kyle.† Jeb's words were unhurried, almost casual, but the big man stopped. He grimaced and turned to face Melanie's uncle. â€Å"Why? You said you made sure. It's one of them.† I recognized the voice-he was the same one who'd asked Jeb why he'd given me water. â€Å"Well, yes, she surely is. But it's a little complicated.† â€Å"How?† A different man asked the question. He stood next to the big, dark-haired Kyle, and they looked so much alike that they had to be brothers. â€Å"See, this here is my niece, too.† â€Å"Not anymore she's not,† Kyle said flatly. He spit again and took another deliberate step in my direction, knife ready. I could see from the way his shoulders leaned into the action that words would not stop him again. I closed my eyes. There were two sharp metallic clicks, and someone gasped. My eyes flew open again. â€Å"I said hold it, Kyle.† Uncle Jeb's voice was still relaxed, but the long rifle was gripped tightly in his hands now, and the barrels were pointed at Kyle's back. Kyle was frozen just steps from me; his machete hung motionless in the air above his shoulder. â€Å"Jeb,† the brother said, horrified, â€Å"what are you doing?† â€Å"Step away from the girl, Kyle.† Kyle turned his back to us, whirling on Jeb in fury. â€Å"It's not a girl, Jeb!† Jeb shrugged; the gun stayed steady in his hands, pointed at Kyle. â€Å"There are things to be discussed.† â€Å"The doctor might be able to learn something from it,† a female voice offered gruffly. I cringed at the words, hearing in them my worst fears. When Jeb had called me his niece just now, I'd foolishly let a spark of hope flame to life-perhaps there would be pity. I'd been stupid to think that, even for a second. Death would be the only pity I could hope for from these creatures. I looked at the woman who'd spoken, surprised to see that she was as old as Jeb, maybe older. Her hair was dark gray rather than white, which is why I hadn't noticed her age before. Her face was a mass of wrinkles, all of them turning down into angry lines. But there was something familiar about the features behind the lines. Melanie made the connection between this ancient face and another, smoother face in her memory. â€Å"Aunt Maggie? You're here? How? Is Sharon -† The words were all Melanie, but they gushed from my mouth, and I was unable to stop them. Sharing for so long in the desert had made her stronger, or me weaker. Or maybe it was just that I was concentrating on which direction the deathblow was going to fall from. I was bracing for our murder, and she was having a family reunion. Melanie got only halfway through her surprised exclamation. The much-aged woman named Maggie lunged forward with a speed that belied her brittle exterior. She didn't raise the hand that held the black crowbar. That was the hand I was watching, so I didn't see her free hand swing out to slap me hard across the face. My head snapped back and then forward. She slapped me again. â€Å"You won't fool us, you parasite. We know how you work. We know how well you can mimic us.† I tasted blood inside my cheek. Don't do that again, I scolded Melanie. I told you what they'd think. Melanie was too shocked to answer. â€Å"Now, Maggie,† Jeb began in a soothing tone. â€Å"Don't you Now, Maggie' me, you old fool! She's probably led a legion of them down on us.† She backed away from me, her eyes measuring my stillness as if I were a coiled snake. She stopped beside her brother. â€Å"I don't see anyone,† Jeb retorted. â€Å"Hey!† he yelled, and I flinched in surprise. I wasn't the only one. Jeb waved his left hand over his head, the gun still clenched in the right. â€Å"Over here!† â€Å"Shut up,† Maggie growled, shoving his chest. Though I had good reason to know she was strong, Jeb didn't wobble. â€Å"She's alone, Mag. She was pretty much dead when I found her-she's not in such great shape now. The centipedes don't sacrifice their own that way. They would have come for her much sooner than I did. Whatever else she is, she's alone.† I saw the image of the long, many-legged insect in my head, but I didn't make the connection. He's talking about you, Melanie translated. She placed the picture of the ugly bug next to my memory of a bright silver soul. I didn't see a resemblance. I wonder how he knows what you look like, Melanie wondered absently. My memories of a soul's true appearance had been new to her in the beginning. I didn't have time to wonder with her. Jeb was walking toward me, and the others were close behind. Kyle's hand hovered at Jeb's shoulder, ready to restrain him or throw him out of the way, I couldn't tell. Jeb put his gun in his left hand and extended the right to me. I eyed it warily, waiting for it to hit me. â€Å"C'mon,† he urged gently. â€Å"If I could carry you that far, I woulda brought you home last night. You're gonna have to walk some more.† â€Å"No!† Kyle grunted. â€Å"I'm takin' her back,† Jeb said, and for the first time there was a harsher tone to his voice. Under his beard, his jaw flexed into a stubborn line. â€Å"Jeb!† Maggie protested. â€Å"‘S my place, Mag. I'll do what I want.† â€Å"Old fool!† she snapped again. Jeb reached down and grabbed my hand from where it lay curled into a fist against my thigh. He yanked me to my feet. It was not cruelty; it was merely as if he was in a hurry. Yet was it not the very worst form of cruelty to prolong my life for the reasons he had? I rocked unsteadily. I couldn't feel my legs very well-just prickles like needle points as the blood flowed down. There was a hiss of disapproval behind him. It came from more than one mouth. â€Å"Okay, whoever you are,† he said to me, his voice still kind. â€Å"Let's get out of here before it heats up.† The one who must have been Kyle's brother put his hand on Jeb's arm. â€Å"You can't just show it where we live, Jeb.† â€Å"I suppose it doesn't matter,† Maggie said harshly. â€Å"It won't get a chance to tell tales.† Jeb sighed and pulled a bandanna-all but hidden by his beard-from around his neck. â€Å"This is silly,† he muttered, but he rolled the dirty fabric, stiff with dry sweat, into a blindfold. I kept perfectly still as he tied it over my eyes, fighting the panic that increased when I couldn't see my enemies. I couldn't see, but I knew it was Jeb who put one hand on my back and guided me; none of the others would have been so gentle. We started forward, toward the north, I thought. No one spoke at first-there was just the sound of sand grinding under many feet. The ground was even, but I stumbled on my numb legs again and again. Jeb was patient; his guiding hand was almost chivalrous. I felt the sun rise as we walked. Some of the footsteps were faster than others. They moved ahead of us until they were hard to hear. It sounded like it was the minority that stayed with Jeb and me. I must not have looked like I needed many guards-I was faint with hunger, and I swayed with every step; my head felt dizzy and hollow. â€Å"You aren't planning to tell him, are you?† It was Maggie's voice; it came from a few feet behind me, and it sounded like an accusation. â€Å"He's got a right to know,† Jeb replied. The stubborn note was back in his voice. â€Å"It's an unkind thing you are doing, Jebediah.† â€Å"Life is unkind, Magnolia.† It was hard to decide who was the more terrifying of the two. Was it Jeb, who seemed so intent on keeping me alive? Or Maggie, who had first suggested the doctor-an appellation that filled me with instinctive, nauseated dread-but who seemed more worried about cruelty than her brother? We walked in silence again for a few hours. When my legs buckled, Jeb lowered me to the ground and held a canteen to my lips as he had in the night. â€Å"Let me know when you're ready,† Jeb told me. His voice sounded kind, though I knew that was a false interpretation. Someone sighed impatiently. â€Å"Why are you doing this, Jeb?† a man asked. I'd heard the voice before; it was one of the brothers. â€Å"For Doc? You could have just told Kyle that. You didn't have to pull a gun on him.† â€Å"Kyle needs a gun pulled on him more often,† Jeb muttered. â€Å"Please tell me this wasn't about sympathy,† the man continued. â€Å"After all you've seen†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"After all I've seen, if I hadn't learned compassion, I wouldn't be worth much. But no, it was not about sympathy. If I had enough sympathy for this poor creature, I would have let her die.† I shivered in the oven-hot air. â€Å"What, then?† Kyle's brother demanded. There was a long silence, and then Jeb's hand touched mine. I grasped it, needing the help to get back on my feet. His other hand pressed against my back, and I started forward again. â€Å"Curiosity,† Jeb said in a low voice. No one replied. As we walked, I considered a few sure facts. One, I was not the first soul they'd captured. There was already a set routine here. This â€Å"Doc† had tried to get his answer from others before me. Two, he had tried unsuccessfully. If any soul had forgone suicide only to crack under the humans' torture, they would not need me now. My death would have been mercifully swift. Oddly, I couldn't bring myself to hope for a quick end, though, or to try to effect that outcome. It would be easy to do, even without doing the deed myself. I would only have to tell them a lie-pretend to be a Seeker, tell them my colleagues were tracking me right now, bluster and threaten. Or tell them the truth-that Melanie lived on inside me, and that she had brought me here. They would see another lie, and one so richly irresistible-the idea that the human could live on after implantation-so tempting to believe from their perspective, so insidious, that they would believe I was a Seeker more surely than if I claimed it. They would assume a trap, get rid of me quickly, and find a new place to hide, far away from here. You're probably right, Melanie agreed. It's what I would do. But I wasn't in pain yet, and so either form of suicide was hard to embrace; my instinct for survival sealed my lips. The memory of my last session with my Comforter-a time so civilized it seemed to belong to a different planet-flashed through my head. Melanie challenging me to have her removed, a seemingly suicidal impulse, but only a bluff. I remembered thinking how hard it was to contemplate death from a comfortable chair. Last night Melanie and I had wished for death, but death had been only inches away at the time. It was different now that I was on my feet again. I don't want to die, either, Melanie whispered. But maybe you're wrong. Maybe that's not why they're keeping us alive. I don't understand why they would†¦ She didn't want to imagine the things they might do to us-I was sure she could come up with worse than I. What answer would they want from you that bad? I'll never tell. Not you, not any human. A bold declaration. But then, I wasn't in pain yet†¦ Another hour had passed-the sun was directly overhead, the heat of it like a crown of fire on my hair-when the sound changed. The grinding steps that I barely heard anymore turned to echoes ahead of me. Jeb's feet still crunched against the sand like mine, but someone in front of us had reached a new terrain. â€Å"Careful, now,† Jeb warned me. â€Å"Watch your head.† I hesitated, not sure what I was watching for, or how to watch with no eyes. His hand left my back and pressed down on my head, telling me to duck. I bent forward. My neck was stiff. He guided me forward again, and I heard our footsteps make the same echoing sound. The ground didn't give like sand, didn't feel loose like rock. It was flat and solid beneath my feet. The sun was gone-I could no longer feel it burn my skin or scorch my hair. I took another step, and a new air touched my face. It was not a breeze. This was stagnant-I moved into it. The dry desert wind was gone. This air was still and cooler. There was the faintest hint of moisture to it, a mustiness that I could both smell and taste. There were so many questions in my mind, and in Melanie's. She wanted to ask hers, but I kept silent. There was nothing either of us could say that would help us now. â€Å"Okay, you can straighten up,† Jeb told me. I raised my head slowly. Even with the blindfold, I could tell that there was no light. It was utterly black around the edges of the bandanna. I could hear the others behind me, shuffling their feet impatiently, waiting for us to move forward. â€Å"This way,† Jeb said, and he was guiding me again. Our footsteps echoed back from close by-the space we were in must have been quite small. I found myself ducking my head instinctively. We went a few steps farther, and then we rounded a sharp curve that seemed to turn us back the way we'd come. The ground started to slant downward. The angle got steeper with every step, and Jeb gave me his rough hand to keep me from falling. I don't know how long I slipped and skidded my way through the darkness. The hike probably felt longer than it was with each minute slowed by my terror. We took another turn, and then the floor started to climb upward. My legs were so numb and wooden that as the path got steeper, Jeb had to half drag me up the incline. The air got mustier and moister the farther we went, but the blackness didn't change. The only sounds were our footsteps and their nearby echoes. The pathway flattened out and began to turn and twist like a serpent. Finally, finally, there was a brightness around the top and bottom of my blindfold. I wished that it would slip, as I was too frightened to pull it off myself. It seemed to me that I wouldn't be so terrified if I could just see where I was and who was with me. With the light came noise. Strange noise, a low murmuring babble. It sounded almost like a waterfall. The babble got louder as we moved forward, and the closer it got, the less it sounded like water. It was too varied, low and high pitches mingling and echoing. If it had not been so discordant, it might have sounded like an uglier version of the constant music I'd heard and sung on the Singing World. The darkness of the blindfold suited that memory, the memory of blindness. Melanie understood the cacophony before I did. I'd never heard the sound because I'd never been with humans before. It's an argument, she realized. It sounds like so many people arguing. She was drawn by the sound. Were there more people here, then? That there were even eight had surprised us both. What was this place? Hands touched the back of my neck, and I shied away from them. â€Å"Easy now,† Jeb said. He pulled the blindfold off my eyes. I blinked slowly, and the shadows around me settled into shapes I could understand: rough, uneven walls; a pocked ceiling; a worn, dusty floor. We were underground somewhere in a natural cave formation. We couldn't be that deep. I thought we'd hiked upward longer than we'd slid downward. The rock walls and ceiling were a dark purpley brown, and they were riddled with shallow holes like Swiss cheese. The edges of the lower holes were worn down, but over my head the circles were more defined, and their rims looked sharp. The light came from a round hole ahead of us, its shape not unlike the holes that peppered the cavern, but larger. This was an entrance, a doorway to a brighter place. Melanie was eager, fascinated by the concept of more humans. I held back, suddenly worried that blindness might be better than sight. Jeb sighed. â€Å"Sorry,† he muttered, so low that I was certainly the only one to hear. I tried to swallow and could not. My head started to spin, but that might have been from hunger. My hands were trembling like leaves in a stiff breeze as Jeb prodded me through the big hole. The tunnel opened into a chamber so vast that at first I couldn't accept what my eyes told me. The ceiling was too bright and too high-it was like an artificial sky. I tried to see what brightened it, but it sent down sharp lances of light that hurt my eyes. I was expecting the babble to get louder, but it was abruptly dead quiet in the huge cavern. The floor was dim compared to the brilliant ceiling so far above. It took a moment for my eyes to make sense of all the shapes. A crowd. There was no other word for it-there was a crowd of humans standing stock-still and silent, all staring at me with the same burning, hate-filled expressions I'd seen at dawn. Melanie was too stunned to do anything more than count. Ten, fifteen, twenty†¦ twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven†¦ I didn't care how many there were. I tried to tell her how little it mattered. It wouldn't take twenty of them to kill me. To kill us. I tried to make her see how precarious our position was, but she was beyond my warnings at the moment, lost in this human world she'd never dreamed was here. One man stepped forward from the crowd, and my eyes darted first to his hands, looking for the weapon they would carry. His hands were clenched in fists but empty of any other threat. My eyes, adjusting to the dazzling light, made out the sun-gilded tint of his skin and then recognized it. Choking on the sudden hope that dizzied me, I lifted my eyes to the man's face.

How revolutionary was the American war Essay

The American war of independence was also known as the American revolutionary war. This war was fought between the American colonies and England. The war itself started with the battle of Lexington and concord. It started when some soldiers of the British army arrived in Lexington, Massachusetts. Over there, they fired at the colonial militia which it was a group of farmers, boys as well as old men. Then on the following day they headed to Concord and over there they killed some Americans. Thus, this was the first engagement of battle of the revolutionary war. The broader sense of the revolution began when parliament started to impose laws and regulations to the colonies. For instance, After the French and Indian war was over, Britain turned its attention to the colonies. They restricted the colonies to trade with other nations. Thus trough the navigation act the colonies were allowed to trade only with England. So goods such as sugar, tobacco, and cotton that were produced in the colonies could only be exported to British ports. Indeed, these rules and regulations ended up restricting the colonist’s life and freedom Other laws that they impose on the colonies included taxes. Since the French and Indian war had put England in a lot of debt, they decided to raise the taxes. Then In 1764, England passed the Sugar Act, which was used to raise money from the colonies. Moreover, â€Å"The Stamp Act passed by England in 1765, placed taxes on everyday items such as newspapers, legal documents, and even playing cards† (Divine 135). Furthermore, England did not even consider the thoughts of the Americans when they tried to have soldiers enforce British taxes and acts. The colonists felt that they were treated unfairly so they called for a meeting to protest the tax. So, representatives from nine out of the thirteen colonies came to this meeting. â€Å"The colonists drafted petitions to parliament that stated no taxes should be imposed on them, but with their own consent, given personally, or by their representatives† (Divine 136). Besides, they felt that the stamp act was improper because Am ericans were not represented in parliament. But still, the British went behind their own law which is â€Å"no taxation without representation† (Divine  132) and still taxed the colonies anyway. In return, the colonists imposed a voluntary boycott of British goods until parliament repealed the stamp act. So, it was obvious then, that the British were not treating the Americans equally like their own citizens in England. So I think that it was these inequalities that also lead to the decision to declare independence from the British rule. In addition, the â€Å"Townshend Acts came and it also taxed glass, paper, tea and lead.†(Divine 140) Therefore, the colonies refused to pay. In fact, it didn’t seem logical then that the colonies were regulated and tax by a government from so far away. Eventually, the Americans realized that the only way for them to retain their rights was to have political freedom from England. So they wanted independence from England. But unfortunately, the British strongly opposed letting the Americans be free. Therefore, it created many conflicts between the Americans and the British especially the soldiers. Indeed, all of these conflicts led to the revolutionary war. Finally, when America decided to declare its independence and go to war, it was a sign of radical action. Britain’s army was bigger and consisted of well trained and experienced soldiers. Americans, on the other hand, had soldiers who were poorly trained and equipped. But that didn’t stop them. They were determined to go to war anyway in order to change the rule of the nation. As a result they were able to break away from British rule. Thus the revolutionary war had a greater impact on the colonies and involved more than their independence. A new view of government was created that the world had not seen before. Democracy for the first time was implemented in a government and its authority was based on individual rights rather than from a king or church. Furthermore, the revolution changed the American society in some ways. For instance, after the war the American people denounced such English titles like esquire from the names of wealthy people. They also lower the amount of land that they needed in order to vote. Even though the American Revolution brought some change, other things were still the same. For instance, the distribution of wealth in America was still uneven Thus, â€Å"the sudden accumulation of large fortunes by new families made other Americans sensitive to aristocratic display†(Divine 163) Moreover, women were not allow to vote and it took a long time for some slaves to be free or  to be treated as equals. Thus the revolution did not bring about a big change of American society, at least not in the short term. But, â€Å"republicans such as Samuel Adams and Thomas Jefferson raised issues of immense significance for the later history of the United States. They felt that equality was essential. â€Å"Even though they failed to abolish slavery, institute universal manhood suffrage, or apply equality to women, they articulated a set of assumptions about people’s rights and liberties that challenge future generations of Americans.†(Divine 168) Reference: America past and present, volume I, Divine Breen and Fredrickson Williams, copyright 2002 http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/American%20Revolution http://www.kusd.edu/schools/lance/platinum/banaszynski/revolution/patriot_links_2003/taxes_taxes_taxes.html