The Murders in the Rue Morgue †a Story with Many Firsts Essay Example for Free

The Murders in the Rue Morgue – a Story with Many Firsts Essay â€Å"The Murders in the Rue Morgue† is unquestionably the first detective fiction story. This without a doubt makes Edgar Allan Poe the father of detective crime. Poe was gifted at writing the genre of horror, perhaps because as some say, his life had been â€Å"marred by tragedy from an early age†(online literature). He certainly did have a knack for telling interesting and imaginative tales, which was highlighted by his obsession with death and violence in his stories. Poe was able to keep his readers interested in his stories by not only writing of death and violence but also giving them mystery and a puzzle to solve. Besides being the first detective story, â€Å"The Rue Morgue† is a story full of firsts; it tells the first locked room mystery in which the crime takes place inside a room that has been locked from the inside with no other way in or out and the main character is the first fictional detective. These types of mysteries are certain to keep a reader’s interest because it seems that there is no logical explanation. â€Å"The Rue Morgue† uses both the locked room mystery aspect and keeping the answers until the very end as interest keepers and blends them together to make one fine mystery. This story is just as much about a mystery as it is about deductive reasoning. The characters of C. Auguste Dupin and the narrator, who is his housemate, live very secluded lives. It appears that they do not go out at all during the day but do go and entertain themselves by walking the streets of Paris at night. At an early point in the story the two men are walking when Dupin breaks the silence by a single sentence commenting on the very thoughts of his partner. This small mystery intrigues Dupin’s companion and the reader. Dupin makes his rationalization seem â€Å"so simple that we all feel that we are capable of it. †(Watt, â€Å"Overview†). The reader is compelled to believe that Dupin has an extraordinary power of insight the way he reasons his way to conclusions. He is not unlike Sherlock Holmes in this respect. Holmes is known for his rationalizations and reasoning as well as his eclectic lifestyle and odd habits just as Dupin is. As a matter of fact it is said that Sir Arthur Canon Doyle was inspired by Poe and his Sherlock Holmes character is based on his detective, C.  Auguste Dupin (Mansfield-Kelly, Marchino, 82) Unlike Holmes, Dupin is not a detective by profession; rather he is an amateur detective. He takes on the case of the murders in the Rue Morgue not for money but for his own amusement after reading about it in the paper. He feels that he is more competent than the police and that he can solve the crime before they can. He uses his analytical skills to deduce the solution, which we are enlightened by at the end of the story. He is keenly observant taking in every little detail of the house on the inside and outside. Upon examining the windows in the bedroom Dupin had reasoned that the means of the murderers escape had to have been through either of the windows. As he examined more closely he discovered that they were nailed shut, or where they? One window had in fact had a nail in it, which would limit its usefulness as an escape. The other window however had been â€Å"fixed† so that it could be opened by a spring and when closed again the spring would catch and the window would look as though it was nailed shut as well. Dupin comes to the conclusion that the murdered is an orangutan because of his obsession with literature and books. He is familiar with the description of the orangutan from Baron Georges Cuvier who describes the animal and it’s strength. By knowing these characteristics he is then able to compare the devastation of the two bodies with the â€Å"wild ferocity† (76) of the beast. This all of course is just a wild guess on Dupin’s part until he places an advertisement in a paper calling for the owner of an orangutan to come and claim his beast and a sailor (as he suspected) does indeed come for him. The sailor reluctantly confirms Dupin’s observations to be correct as he describes the heinousness of the crimes in which this orangutan committed, which was a result of being frightened by the sight of his master’s whip. Poe adds a little bit of the grotesque as well. To go along with our class discussion about gore, this could arguably be a first detective story including gore in its pages. There are numerous examples throughout the story that are very descriptive and horrific in nature, especially for that time period. Poe was quite explicit when describing the state of the bodies of the murdered, just as the scenes of the bodies and murders are in CSI. Illustrating the body of Madame L’Espanaye, Poe describes it as â€Å"her throat so entirely cut that, upon attempt to move to raise her, the head fell off. † (62). Poe also gives a telling description of the act of slicing her throat, which is on page 80 in The Longman Anthology of Detective Fiction, â€Å"With one determined sweep of its muscular arm it nearly severed her head from her body. Another prime example of gore in this story is the description Dupin gives the narrator of the hair that was found on the hearth, â€Å"Their roots (a hideous site! ) were clotted with fragments of the flesh of the scalp – sure token of the prodigious power which had been exerted in uprooting perhaps half a million of hairs at a time. † (74) These descriptions might not be something that we would consider to be gore by todayâ€℠¢s standards, but in 1841 when this story was written it very well could have made people faint just reading it. I may be simple in my analysis of this story, believing it to be about mystery and reasoning. I have read other people’s thoughts on the subject of this story, which include slavery. Though I don’t necessarily believe that Poe was disguising this story as an uprising against slavery, Edward Higgins White wrote a critical essay discussing that topic. His belief is that the true crime in this story is about slavery and that the orangutan is symbolic of this. He argues that the symbolism is mostly in the last section of the story in which the parallels to race and slavery are most notable. White states †Given the loaded connotations of key terms of the narrativeescaped, master, dreaded whip, fugitive, razor, and of course the Ourang-Outang itselfit would be nearly impossible to ignore the strong suggestions that the story is about slavery, and specifically about slave resistance. † Now I don’t totally disagree with those connotations but I don’t completely believe that Poe was trying to convey that particular message with this story. White questions why Poe feels the need to hide the slave rebel. I ask that same question. I just believe that he is reading too much into the story and is seeing things that are not really there. I do agree, however, that there are some strong parallels and that in reading his essay he makes a good argument. White also brings up the â€Å"Chantilly† passage. He summarizes the fifteen-minute walk in silence in which the detective and his companion take and how Dupin describes how he came to know what his friend was thinking about. He says, â€Å"The basic point of the Chantilly sequence concerns not Dupins intelligence but the narrators ignorance: he does not even understand his own thought processes, the associations made in his imagination. † It is this revelation that leads him to believe that Dupin’s subject is not necessarily the crime itself, but the process of assessing the crime, which reaffirms my belief that the story is about reasoning along with mystery. Edgar Allan Poe, the father of the American detective fiction story. Little did he know at the time the trend that he would be setting for all of literary fiction. The Murders in the Rue Morgue† set precedents for all detective fiction that would be written after it and it established the fundamentals of the detective story technique that are used today. Poe invented the locked room mystery and I believe the first to write descriptions that could be classified as gore. His unique writing style and characters keep readers coming back and keep authors on their toes trying to emulate his style of writing. After all, with out Dupin there would be no Sherlock Holmes and perhaps the genre of detective fiction would not be as we know it to be now.

The High Price of Love in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet Essay

In one of Shakespeare’s most masterful pieces, he depicts a tragic love story in which love conquers all†¦but at what cost? The truth is in this play, love is the victor, but with horrible consequences. Love lives on, love survives, but only at the loss of life. Not only in this play, but in many other Shakespearean works, the constant theme stands that any kind of marriage or deep emotional bond which is solely based on love ends tragically. Othello’s passionate love for Desdemona is the same passion that causes him to end her life. Antony, under the suspicion that Cleopatra has died, tries to commit suicide to only find out soon after that she is alive and in hiding, but all in vain for the fatal wound has already pricked it’s victim. Shakespeare constantly relates love with tragedy, stating that love is in fact fleeting and impermanent. The only way for love to live forever is if it dies young. Initially, there is an underlying struggle of duty verses love. Both families of the â€Å"star-crossed lovers†, especially the Capulets, focus on a successful marriage having an emphasis on d...

Topics in Cultural Studies Unit 3 Group Project

Abstract India, Africa, China, and the Americas all experienced syncretism in different ways and at different levels of intensity. Some benefited economically and culturally from this exchange of cultures and goods. Some would have been much better off if left alone. We will discuss the different effects of syncretism on these countries and how they are still feeling these effects today. Syncretism: the Assimilation of Cultures By definition, syncretism is the attempted union of different principles or cultures.Syncretism is a term that can be applied to English Colonists in North and South America when they attempted to merge with various native tribes. These colonists introduced many new things to the natives including religion, weapons, medicine, and various customs. The new technology was similar to magic to these groups of people who were accustomed to living among the trees and wildlife in the wilderness. Africans were able to gain from the many technological advances of the Eu ropeans. A large portion of African culture derived from European Language, religion and customs (Sayre, 2010).On the contrary, only a small portion of African culture was adapted to European culture. The Europeans could have learned much from the seemingly primitive African Nation. Unfortunately Europeans treated Africans like commodities to be bought and sold. In America, Europeans attempted syncretism with the Native Americans with moderate success. The majority of Native Americans were peaceful and open to change. It wasn’t until the European Settlers made life altering changes like destroying herds of buffalo that syncretism became difficult and resulted in events like the Trail of Tears ( The Trail of Tears , 2012).Overall the Native American and African Cultures were open to change and made little resistance to syncretism. On the other hand the Chinese were like a boulder resisting the great force of a flowing river. Archeological Evidence suggests that China was inhab ited nearly 2. 4 million years ago (Larick, 2000). Needless to say that Chinese History is extraordinarily vast and unendingly resistant to syncretism. Europeans did manage to set up trade with the Chinese and create Silk Road. European Missionaries traveled to China on many occasions. Most Significantly the Jesuit Missionaries had a great impact on China.Missionaries like Matteo Ricci moved to China and completely assimilated with their culture in order to introduce Jesuit beliefs to Buddhists and Taoists (Dunne, 1962). Although he was welcomed by the Chinese, he still found great resistance when trying to find converts. India was very similar in its reaction to syncretism because like China, India possesses a vast history. Archeological evidence suggests that Hominids walk the immense and beautiful lands of India over 500,000 years ago (Bongard-Levin, 1979). Once sea routes were found that allowed direct commerce between India and Europe, trading posts were formed.Like the Chinese the Indians welcomed Europeans and gained economically from this agreement. Although the Europeans were welcomed economically, religiously the Indians would not be moved. Missionaries like Jordanus Catalani traveled to India to save the souls of as many non-believers as possible. As the first Bishop in India he acted as a liaison for the Pope and found many converts in India (Ricci Institute, 2012). Although many were converted to Christianity most of India remained Hindu with no desire to convert. India never changed its culture as a whole.Although influenced by Europeans, India kept its ancient culture and way of life. Both China and India welcomed European visitors but resisted change because of their long standing histories and cultures. All four cultures had their own way of life before settlers attempted to add their way of life into the recipe. Length of time as a group did play into the amount resistance each group demonstrated. Another factor that came into play was the am ount of difficulty syncretism would cause each culture. Native American found little difficulty trading with English Settler until the demands of settlers became more and more unreasonable.Eventually most of the Native Americans were enslaved, killed, or expelled from what had been their home for thousands of years. Africans were similarly taken advantage of when European Colonists enslaved and sometimes discarded many. Africa gained much from European Colonization but also found more and more difficulty with syncretism. India and China took full advantage of economic gains of syncretism but never fully gave up their way of life. Today Africa, America, India, and China all have varying levels of cultural change as a result of syncretism. All have a presence of Christianity as a religion till this day. 2. percent of India are Christian while 4 percent of China and 40 percent of Africa share this faith (Central Intelligence Agency, 2012). In Africa, unfortunately one of the most lasti ng effects of syncretism is racism and the system of apartheid. India gained its independence from Britain in 1947 and still is an independent nation. India still has keeps many influences from British Government and relations between the UK and India are friendly. Had syncretism not occurred in the Americas, I believe that Native Americans would still live the way that had been living thousands of years before European Colonists forced syncretism on them.The South America the great cities of the Amazon would still be there today. Although technology would not be as advanced as it is now, life would be much more sustainable. These native cultures survived for many thousands of years because of their ability to live with nature not attempting to control nature. If cultural syncretism had taken root during early encounters in China and India unfortunately both of these countries might have suffered the same fate as Africa and the Americas.There would almost certainly be Indian and Chi nese slaves and these countries would have been forced to assimilate as much as the European Colonists felt was convenient. Many more people in China and India would be speaking English today and would be praying to Jesus Christ. Like a priceless masterpiece being thrown into mud, these cultures would have been tarnished or even destroyed. ? References: The Trail of Tears . (2012, November 25). Retrieved from Resource Bank: http://www. pbs. org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h1567. html Bongard-Levin, G. (1979). A History of India. Progress Publishers: Moscow. Central Intelligence Agency. (2012, November 20).Field Listing :: Religions. Retrieved from The World Factbook: https://www. cia. gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2122. html Dunne, G. (1962). Generation of Giants. Notre Dame : University of Notre Dame Press. . Larick, R. C. (2000, February). Early Homo erectus Tools in China . Retrieved from Archeology: http://www. archaeology. org/0001/newsbriefs/china. html Ricci Institut e. (2012, November 25). Jordanus, Catalani, Bishop of Columbum, fl. 1302-1330. Retrieved from Ricci Roundtable: http://ricci. rt. usfca. edu/biography/view. aspx? biographyID=1415 Sayre, H. (2010). Discovering the Humanities. New Jersey: Pearson.

Successful Marketing Strategy of Haagen-Dazs

â€Å"If you love her, then take her to Hagen-Dads†, the advertisement is familiar to people all around the world. Hagen-Dads has successfully created value for its customers. Aimed to make itself the represent of top-class ice-creams, Hagen-Dads tried to make the feeling of satisfaction and happiness its selling point. And this orientation proved to work well. In 1981 , Times referred to Hagen as ‘Rolls-Royce among ice-creams'. While there are some modification actually, Hagen-Dads focuses more on young ladies who are thirsty for romantic love than noble people.On the en hand, women usually cannot resist the entice of sweet food and romantic feeling . An the other hand, the orientation builds an emotional tie between its product and the customer. It is not Just ice cream is actually part of their dream. Due to its market positioning, most of its consumers of are lovers. For them, they are pursuing more than Just delicious ice cream . Lovers desire intimacy, the feeling of being loved and understood, and special experiences . So Hagen-Dads make Its Ice cream the symbol of romantic and fancy. The packaging of its product is all-sided.Firstly, the name of the brand ‘Hagen-Dads' sounds to be Nordic ,which actually Is American. Secondly, the ice cream has a unique look and name which create a noble impression. What's more ,Hagen-Dads has done something that most companies failed to do. That Is ,to make ‘ the pursuing of romantic' the spirit and culture of the company. The connotation Hagen-Dads are trying to deliver has been developing all the time . From the original one â€Å"If you love her ,then take her Hagen-Dads† ,then In 2004,†melt slow',and the 2009 one â€Å"melt together†. Hagen-Dads tries to deliver this usage to the customers-?to foster love In the spirit level l.And that's exactly what the couples are looking for today. Among the brands that are trying to create a romantic tale, Hagen-Dads successful makes Itself to be the leading one . Let Is even Impossible for others to copy or Imitate. We can encounter It In every corner of our life ,such as movies ,novels and so on. Hagen-Dads has definitely been a symbol of romantic love. In a word ,the key to the success of Hagen-Dads Is that It Is â€Å"FACING† Its customers Instead of back to them. It tries to find out what the customers really want and then successfully create value for them.

Koppen Climate Classification

Koppen Climate Classification Giving a talk some years ago at a convention of bankers in some remote resort in Arizona I showed the Koppen-Geiger map of world climates, and explained in very general terms what the colors represent. The corporation’s president was so taken by this map that he wanted it for his company’s annual report - it would be so useful, he said, in explaining to representatives posted overseas what they might experience in the way of climate and weather. He had, he said, never seen this map, or anything like it; of course he would have if he had taken an introductory geography course. Every textbook has a version of it... - Harm de Blij Various attempts have been made to classify the climates of the earth into climatic regions. One notable, yet ancient and misguided example is that of Aristotles Temperate, Torrid, and Frigid Zones. However, the 20th-century classification developed by German climatologist and amateur botanist Wladimir Koppen (1846-1940) continues to be the authoritative map of the world climates in use today. Origins of the Koppen System Introduced in 1928 as a wall map co-authored with student Rudolph Geiger, the Koppen system of classification was updated and modified by Koppen until his death. Since that time, it has been modified by several geographers. The most common modification of the KÃ ¶ppen system today is that of the late University of Wisconsin geographer Glen Trewartha. The modified Koppen classification uses six letters to divide the world into six major climate regions, based on average annual precipitation, average monthly precipitation, and average monthly temperature: A for Tropical HumidB for DryC for Mild Mid-LatitudeD for Severe Mid-LatitudeE for PolarH for Highland (this classification was added after KÃ ¶ppen created his system) Each category is further divided into sub-categories based on temperature and precipitation. For instance, the U.S. states located along the Gulf of Mexico are designated as Cfa. The C represents the mild mid-latitude category, the second letter f stands for the German word feucht or moist, and the third letter a indicates that the average temperature of the warmest month is above 72Â °F (22Â °C). Thus, Cfa gives us a good indication of the climate of this region, a mild mid-latitude climate with no dry season and a hot summer. Why the Koppen System Works While the Koppen system doesnt take such things as temperature extremes, average cloud cover, number of days with sunshine, or wind into account, its a good representation of our earths climate. With only 24 different subclassifications, grouped into the six categories, the system is easy to comprehend. Koppens system is simply a guide to the general climate of the regions of the planet, the borders do not represent instantaneous shifts in climate but are merely transition zones where climate, and especially weather, can fluctuate.

Queen Isabella II of Spain Was a Controversial Ruler

Queen Isabella II of Spain Was a Controversial Ruler Background Isabella, who lived during troubled times for the Spanish monarchy, was the daughter of Ferdinand VII of Spain (1784 - 1833), a Bourbon ruler, by his fourth  wife, Maria of the Two Sicilies (1806 - 1878).  She was born October 10, 1830. Her Fathers Reign Ferdinand VII became king of Spain in 1808 when his father, Charles IV, abdicated.  He abdicated about two months later, and Napoleon installed Joseph Bonaparte, his brother, as the Spanish king. The decision was unpopular, and within months Ferdinand VII was again established as king, though he was in France under Napoleons control until 1813.  When he returned, it was as a constitutional, not absolute, monarch. His reign was marked by quite a bit of unrest, but there was relative stability by the 1820s, other than having no living children to pass his title to.  His first wife died after two miscarriages. His two daughters from his earlier marriage to Maria Isabel of Portugal (his niece) also did not survive infancy. He had no children by his third wife. He married his fourth wife, Maria of the Two Sicilies, in 1829. They had first one daughter, the future Isabella II, in 1830, then another daughter, Luisa, younger than Isabella II, who lived from 1832 to 1897, and married Antoine, Duke of Monpensier. This fourth wife, Isabella IIs mother, was another niece, daughter of his younger sister Maria Isabella of Spain.  Thus, Charles IV of Spain and his wife, Maria Luisa of Parma, were Isabellas paternal grandparents and maternal great-grandparents. Isabella Becomes Queen Isabella succeeded to the Spanish throne on the death of her father, September 29, 1833, when she was just three years old.  He had left directions that  Salic Law  would be set aside so that his daughter, rather than his brother, would succeed him. Maria of the Two Sicilies, Isabellas mother, supposedly had persuaded him to take that action. Ferdinands brother and Isabellas uncle, Don Carlos, disputed her right to succeed.  The Bourbon family, of which she was a part, had until this time avoided female inheritance of rulership. This disagreement about succession led to the First Carlist War, 1833-1839, while her mother, and then General Baldomero Espartero, served as regents for the underage Isabella. The military finally established her rule in 1843. Early Uprisings In a series of diplomatic turns, called the Affair of the Spanish Marriages, Isabella and her sister married Spanish and French nobles. Isabella had been expected to marry a relative of Prince Albert of England. Her change in marriage plans helped alienate England, empower the conservative faction in Spain, and bring Louis-Philippe of France closer to the conservative faction. This helped lead to the liberal uprisings of 1848 and to Louis-Philippes defeat. Isabella was rumored to have chosen her Bourbon cousin, Francisco de Assis, as a husband because he was impotent, and they largely lived apart, though they did have children.  Her mothers pressure has also been credited with Isabellas choice. Rule Ended by Revolution Her authoritarianism, her religious fanaticism, her alliance with the military and the chaos of her reign - sixty different governments - helped bring about the Revolution of 1868 that exiled her to Paris. She abdicated on June 25, 1870, in favor of her son, Alfonso XII, who ruled beginning in December 1874, after the First Spanish Republic collapsed. Even though Isabella occasionally returned to Spain, she lived most of her later years in Paris, and she never again exerted much political power or influence. Her title after abdication was Her Majesty Queen Isabella II of Spain. Her husband died in 1902.  Isabella died  April 9 or 10, 1904. You can also read about Queen Isabellas in History  on this site, in case this Isabella isnt the one you were looking for

Gun ban is not practical Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Gun ban is not practical - Essay Example Even though some people think that the issue of ban on guns  will control crime, this concern is supposed to be nonexistent owing to the truth  that guns are essential for  safeguarding oneself  against crime, and through  the implementation of ban on guns   the right of people  to bear arms in the second amendment is violated.   Firstly, in order to reduce violent behaviour, the first step is to find out the reason causing it and hence address to that factor. Guns do not bring about the fury; they are merely the way by which the anger is expressed. Concentrating on the causes of the misery, distress, rage and feeling of defencelessness, that lead individuals to resort to crimes will contribute more than just implementing gun laws that are restrictive. As stated by David Kopel (450) â€Å"Making guns illegal will primarily disarm peaceful citizens. That gives a green light for violent criminals to attack everyone – both gun owners and non-owners alike.† Secondly if the guns will be outlawed then only the criminal will possess guns since there will always be a black market for these offenders to get their hands on illegal ammunition. A gun is just an instrument; they dont murder individuals. People slay people. The issue depends on the person using the gun, and what circumstances he is caught up in. Buying a gun lawfully is a difficult procedure. The purchaser has to wait for a time period of two months and so this process assures the incorruptibility and dependability of the owner of the gun. As stated by Hugh LaFollette (316), the power of non-gun weapons for example knives and clubs are also most of the times used for crimes so there is no point in banning the guns as they leave the innocent people at a disadvantage to protect themselves. Citizens who are law abiding have the justification to defend themselves against risks and threats. Due to possession of guns, robberies have reduced significantly. Thirdly, Guns just not simply protect lives, but they