Essay Sample on Salem Witch Trials A Scientific and Historical Analysis

Essay Sample on Salem Witch Trials A Scientific and Historical Analysis The Salem Witch Trials, of 1692, occurred in Salem Massachusetts. This is a case where people accused other people of witchcraft. Salem was a town governed by strict Puritan religion, and to have such a charge labeled against you could cost you your life. According to Boyer and Nissenbaum, there were many worldly reasons for the events that happened so many years ago. In this essay, the authors make their findings based on scientific analysis and much historical research. Paul Boyer and Stephen argued that the Salem Witchcraft Trials took place because of the separation of the east and west, the choosing of the ministers of the church, and the agricultural and merchant interests. After much research, â€Å"Boyer and Nissenbaum took their list of accusers and accused the noted the location of each village resident on the map†(Boyer Nissenbaum 36). Geographically there was lots of evidence of this theory â€Å"Of the fourteen accused witches living in the village, twelve lived in the eastern section† (Boyer Nissenbaum 36). The whole trial episode seems to have come down to the fact that one side of the village accused the other side. â€Å"That was Salem Village’s uneasy relation to its social parent, Salem Town† (Boyer Nissenbaum 36). As the community grew farther away from the original settlement people began to want their own village. As a result, the new settlers wanted to have their own separate entity â€Å"with their own church, their own taxes, and their own elected officials† (Boyer Nissenbaum 38). This east-west division continued to grow and came to the breaking point over taxes, â€Å"Everyone paid taxes to su pport a minister for the town church, to maintain the roads, and to care for the poor† (Boyer Nissenbaum). The western part of the village commenced to try to break away and form their own town. This is well illustrated in the map that which Boyer and Nissenbaum drew up. The map showed the location of the accusers and the accused. â€Å"The map showed that more accusers lived on the western part of the town and the accused lived on the eastern part.† (Boyer Nissenbaum 37) Another major reason the Salem Trials took place was the choosing of a minister for the new village. â€Å"Not long after the village received the right to build its own meeting house, it settled down to arguing over who ought to preach from its pulpit† (Boyer Nissenbaum 38). James Bayley was the first selection of the house but had to be relieved after complaints were heard. â€Å"Bayley didn’t attend regularly to his private prayers† (Boyer Nissenbaum 38). George Burroughs relieved James Bayley in 1680 but had to leave after other numerous problems. Deodat Lawson than relieved Burroughs and lasted fours years. Samuel Parris than took over the job in 1688. â€Å"His term was equally stormy, and in 1696 his opponents finally succeeded in starving him out of the job by refusing to collect taxes to pay his salary† (Boyer Nissenbaum 38). Boyer and Nissenbaum discovered a major part of this dispute in the churches records. Boyer and Nissenbaum discovered th at the same names were being put together. â€Å"The people who supported James Bayley usually supported George Burroughs and then opposed the second two ministers† (Boyer Nissenbaum 40). The same was found for the other two also. â€Å"Conversely, the supporters of Deodat Lawson and Samuel Parris had been the people who complained about Bayley and Burroughs† (Boyer Nissenbaum 40). This was closely linked to the divisions of the accusers and accused. Salem town was a spot for commerce in New England; those living in the east part were living well. â€Å"By contrast the farmers in the western portion of Salem Village were tied closely to traditional agrarian life† (Boyer Nissenbaum 40). Those living on the east side wanted to close out everything but the western side. Also those people accused lived on â€Å"Ipswich Road, a route that passed by the village rather than through it, a main thoroughfare for travels and for commerce† (Boyer Nissenbaum 40). Those who lived outside of he precepts of Puritan standards were always in danger. Anyone who dressed flamboyantly or ran a tavern could be accused. â€Å"Two tavern keepers, John Proctor and Bridget Bishop, were hung as witches; Elizabeth Proctor barely escaped with her life; and Joshua Rea, another tavern keeper on the road, signed a petition defending Goody Nurse†(Boyer Nissenbaum 41). According to Boyer and Nissenbaum â€Å"Their reconstruction suggest that the Salem body politic was experiencing its own social analogue of conversion hysteria†(Boyer Nissenbaum 41). The conflicts that occurred here in Salem went from disagreements between three factions and lead to accusations of â€Å"a plague from the invisible world†(Boyer Nissenbaum 41). The farmers of Salem were determined to stop the merchants at any costs and as a result the charge of witchcraft was applied.

gaurdian angels essays

gaurdian angels essays Dorothea Tanning was born August 25, 1910 in Galesburg Illinois. She was an artist from a very young age, showing interest in her free time, as she worked first in a library, then doing school publications, and finally a booth at Chicagos World Fair in 1931. She moved to New York and found work as a freelance commercial artist. By 1936, her career had begun, discovering dada and surrealism at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In 1946, she painted Guardian Angels In an iconographic analysis of a Tanning painting, the viewer is easily lost in the surrealism; I am no exception. The surrealism of her pieces has left me with more questions than answers, but some conclusions can be drawn through a formal analysis, and educated guesses. When I tried to understand Tannings intent from my normal point of view, I only noticed how it was unlike reality, a dream. I hardly can understand my own dreams, much less someone elses , so I changed my point of view. I attempted to enter Tannings realm of expression. Inside I found the depth of Tannings perception, a work of detailed symbols and emotion. The first thing I noticed in Guardian Angels was the overall feeling I got from the painting. I noticed its overall coldness and solitude. I believe this was the general intent Tanning had when she made the background blue and green; the top of the painting is the background, resembling ice creeping forward like a glacier of sheets over the beds. This creates such a cold, lonely overtone that Tanning probably felt as she painted The Guardian Angels. If I look deep into the image, as though I were standing on the sheets, I can see the coldness surrounding me with nowhere to run, the next in line to be carried off. This effect was reached deliberately by Tanning, with her use of lighting on the sheets. The blackness on the background on the right creates a sense that t ...

Social psychology essays Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Social psychology essays - Essay Example because of technical ineptitude in the fingerprinting or DNA laboratory for example, perjured testimony, eyewitness misidentification, and also because of overzealous law enforcement officers who are eager to close the case and mete out justice. A courtroom is a place wherein many evidence are presented that are at best circumstantial and are then judged by ordinary people if it works for or against the defendant—a room wherein people not experts at lie detection weigh witness testimonies. Thus, wrongful convictions are not unexpected as the justice system is composed of imperfect human beings. Some states wherein there is a high rate of erroneous convictions have already enacted bills to address this problem. Because the United States rely on juries to ultimately decide on a person’s guilt, I believe that there should be a seminar or lecture regarding lie detection in order to minimize wrongful convictions. The jurors should be fully aware of what their decision could mean and what the evidences signify. In this way, they can create a more educated verdict. They are better equipped to intelligently weigh the evidences and testimonies that are presented during the trial. The polygraph relies on the physiological changes in the body, like pulse and blood pressure, to detect deception. It starts with a series of control questions to set the tone like â€Å"What is your name?† This is then followed by an explanation of what the polygraph is and what it does. Next comes the â€Å"stim test† wherein the person attached to the polygraph will be asked to lie so that the tester can see if the machine has picked up on this lie and is working properly. Then the test itself ensues. The questions alternate between some that are irrelevant, some control questions, and those that are relevant to the case. If the tester is not satisfied with the results, there is a post-test interview that is conducted. The polygraph has been known as the lie detector test that some highly

Describe the journey of a Red Blood Cell around the body Essay

Describe the journey of a Red Blood Cell around the body - Essay Example A spectrin network attached to the lipid bilayer contains several organic proteins, phospholipids, sphingolipids and cholesterol. This type of attachment increases the stiffness of the RBC. Moreover, this sort of spectrin protein allows the free diffusion of vital component from extracellular fluid to intracellular fluid. (Li & Lykotrafittis, 2012). The journey of red blood cells (erythrocytes) usually begins in the circulatory system. During their passage through the blood vessels the erythrocytes undergo several important changes in shape and structure particularly when needed to pass through the narrow passages in the circulatory system. An erythrocyte is a biconcave disc of a diameter ranging between 6-8 microns, with mean thickness of 2.5 micrometres at the periphery and approximately 1 micrometre towards the centre of the cell (Guyton & Hall, 2006). Transporting of oxygen from lung to various other organs is the function of the RBCs during their journey in the human circulatory system. Importantly, this oxygen available for the functioning of organs is stored into the haemoglobin of RBC and when it reaches its particular destination, oxygen is liberated from haemoglobin and it moves through the cellular passive diffusion. Furthermore, carbon dioxide (CO2) that is released after cellular activities is then again fused with haemoglobin of RBC. This deoxygenated blood due to presence of CO2 into the haemoglobin then enters into the heart, and is finally diffused to the lungs. It was reported that in some lower animals (some invertebrates), Hb is present as a free protein in plasma and it is not bound to the RBCs like in human beings. The total life span of each erythrocyte in the circulation is 120 days (Dean, 2005). But during this period if any of them gets damaged, then they could be eliminated from the circulatory system with the help of macrophages which is usually present in the bone marrow, spleen or in the liver (Premkumar, 2004). A normal man has an average of 5,200,000 red blood cells (RBC) per cubic millimetre and a normal woman has an average of 4,700,000 RBCs per cubic millimetre (Guyton & Hall, 2006). Around 3 million red blood cells (RBC) enter the circulation each second (Starr & McMillan, 2012). Haemoglobin is usually concentrated in the red blood cells (RBC); the metabolic limit of haemoglobin-forming mechanism of the body allows only a maximum concentration of 34grams of Haemoglobin in each 100 millilitres of cells (Guyton & Hall, 2006). In any normal and healthy individual, the haemoglobin (Hb) concentration remains at this maximum permitted level. 2. Bone marrow, Journey and Production of erythrocytes: Production of the erythrocytes from the bone marrow is called erythropoiesis (Schlossberg & Zuiderna, 1997). Apart from bone marrow, red blood cells are also produced by various other organs during the early development of human body. Yolk Sac is the primary site of the production of RBCs during the early embryonic p eriod (Guyton & Hall, 2006, p. 421). Liver serves as the main organ for RBC production during the middle trimester of gestation while lymph nodes and spleen also produce an amount of RBCs during this stage of development (Guyton & Hall, 2006, p. 421). Bone marrow is an important part of human body for the production of red blood cells (RBC) during the last month of gestation and soon after the birth (Guyton & Hall, 2

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Essay Example for Free

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Essay In ‘A Tale of Two Cities,’ by Charles Dickens, there were two characters that have many different personality traits, strengths, and weaknesses. But they also had a few things in common as well. These two characters are Sydney Carton and Madame Defarge. Although these two characters are alike, they both have different motives. Sydney Carton is a very strong and intelligent man. Fist, Carton presents himself as a drunk, lazy attorney, who feels as though his life has no meaning. Carton professes his love to Lucie Manette, but later on Carton becomes a changed man. He transform into a Christ-like figure. He begins to shoulder his way through life. His goals are positive and lead to his â€Å"recalled to life,† in book the first. Carton only wants to do what he knows will please Lucie, because he wants to die with the knowledge that one human being in the world who thought he was worth something and cared for him. Another character in the book named Stryver, describes Carton as â€Å"summons, no energy, and purpose.† Sydney also describes himself as, â€Å"like one who died young.† The only time in which Carton’s motivation kick in is towards the end, when he sacrifices his own life for Charles Darnay because he knows it is what would make Lucie Manette happy. The next character I will describe is Madame Defarge. Madame Defarge is completely motivated as well as Carton is, but Madame Defarge is also driven with revenge. It appears that Madame Defarge goals are only of vengeance. Madame Defarge is self-centered; app her goals are reflected around herself and her own revenge, which is shown when she says, â€Å"Tell the wind and fire where to stop; not me.†

Red Death Essay -- essays research papers

Edgar Allan Poe's short story entitled The Mask of the Red Death is an artistic example of vivid symbolism. Throughout the sinister tale Poe writes in a style that appeals to all five senses and captivates the reader's curiosity until the story's dour conclusion. Upon first glance, the story seems to be a complex tale of good versus evil. If the reader were to examine the story more deeply, they would then discover that the plot and symbolism intertwined throughout the narrative is no more than a simple metaphor for life and death. A quick synopsis of the story tells the account of the affluent and overly confident Prince Prospero and his faulted attempt to escape death. Poe illustrates that Prospero is blinded by his riches and believes that he can escape death. A heavy dose of figurative language is used to create a struggle in which the mood goes from elation to somberness in just a mere three pages. The characters of the story are well defined in that the reader can ascertain certain traits, good or bad, of the characters. For instance, Poe writes, "When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court." (Poe 41) This line identifies the Prince as a smug, insecure, and even foolish character all while foreshadowing a dark conclusion. These lines identify the Prince as the axis of the story by illustrating a few ... Red Death Essay -- essays research papers Edgar Allan Poe's short story entitled The Mask of the Red Death is an artistic example of vivid symbolism. Throughout the sinister tale Poe writes in a style that appeals to all five senses and captivates the reader's curiosity until the story's dour conclusion. Upon first glance, the story seems to be a complex tale of good versus evil. If the reader were to examine the story more deeply, they would then discover that the plot and symbolism intertwined throughout the narrative is no more than a simple metaphor for life and death. A quick synopsis of the story tells the account of the affluent and overly confident Prince Prospero and his faulted attempt to escape death. Poe illustrates that Prospero is blinded by his riches and believes that he can escape death. A heavy dose of figurative language is used to create a struggle in which the mood goes from elation to somberness in just a mere three pages. The characters of the story are well defined in that the reader can ascertain certain traits, good or bad, of the characters. For instance, Poe writes, "When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court." (Poe 41) This line identifies the Prince as a smug, insecure, and even foolish character all while foreshadowing a dark conclusion. These lines identify the Prince as the axis of the story by illustrating a few ...

Financial Statements and Stakeholders

Introduction In this report six different users of financial statements will be identified. Each user group will be described and the reasons why they use financial statements will be examined. Analysis and calculations of relevant and specific financial information will be performed to reflect the performance of the company, and how this is seen by the different stakeholder groups.The two companies I have chosen are J.Sainsbury plc and WM Morrison’s Supermarkets plc, hereafter known as Sainsbury’s and Morrison’s. This is because these two companies are two which have a large number of stakeholders who will be affected by the company’s financial statements. Sainsbury’s and Morrison’s also compete within the same sector and thus the financial statements and companies are obviously comparable, this will help with benchmarking to analyse the data .(Mclaney and Atril.2008). This will help to determine, along with the relevant analysis and calculations, which stakeholders will be more pleased with the financial statements out of the two supermarkets. As of May 2014, Morrison’s had 11% of the market, and Sainsbury’s 16.6% (Garner.2014). The financial statements we will be assessing are income statements and balance sheets. These are the two statements which are of greatest importance to the majority of stakeholders. I have attained the most recent financial statements from the two companies from their recent annual reports. This report will use financial ratio’s to assess the profitability, efficiency, Liquidity, Financial Gearing and Investment potential within Morrison’s and Sainsbury’s.(Mclaney and Atril.2008.). Boards of Directors The owners and boards of directors of both Sainsbury’s and Morrison’s would use financial statements to review the performance of management and assess the overall performance of the company. For the smooth operation of the organisation, the managers and owners also need the financial reports to make essential business decisions. For example the current debt to equity ratio is important in deciding the amount of long term capital that would be required to be raised for making certain business decisions. This can be determined by using the following formula. Total liabilities Total assets x 100% Sainsbury’s (?m)Morrison’s (?m) 10535 16540 x 100% =63.7% 6037 10792 x 100% = 55.9% As can be seen Sainsbury’s debt to equity ratio is 63.7% with Morrison’s at 55.9%, a difference of 7.8%. This ratio is one of the key set of 10 identified by Laurent (2006) in being able to predict a firms performance. This thus means that they are financing their growth more by debt than they are by their current assets than Morrison’s. However this is not necessarily a bad thing, and this could mean that they growing more than if they did not utilise this outside financing. If this increases earnings by a greater amount than the debt interest that would be incurred then it is definitely beneficial to do so, thus the board would be pleased with what they have seen from the financial statements. Shareholders Shareholders receive a set of financial statements as a right, and are the only stakeholders to do so. The shareholders interest will be in what the company is doing with the money they have invested, and whether it is making a profit or loss. If it is profitable, they will want a return in the form of dividends, so they will be concerned with the level of dividends the company is paying out year on year and the potential for future profits and dividends. If profit levels and dividend pay-outs diminish noticeably, or if no dividends are paid out because the company has made a loss, then they will consider selling their shares and investing in something else which will give them a higher return. Obviously operating profit margin is also needed to measure overall performance and this can be calculated as follows. Profit before interest and tax Sales x 100% Sainsbury’s (?m) Morrison’s (?m) 1009 23949 x 100% =4.2% (95) 17680 x 100% =-0.5% Supermarkets usually operate at low operating margins, so these results are not wholly surprising (McLaney and Attril.2008) Morrison’s extremely poor performance this year is down to incredibly high administrative costs, this could be seen as possibly due to a new initiative or launch of service which required high costs to get this off the ground, and therefore this may pay dividends in the future. Thus it will be imperative to see how they will perform in the next year without these high administrative costs. Sainsbury’s operating profit margin can be compared with the previous year to see how they are progressing, and this was 3.8%. Thus their net profit margin has increased and the shareholders will be pleased with this performance as it could increase shareholder dividends. Banks Banks are extremely interested in a companies such as Sainsbury’s or Morrison’s financial statements. For example if a company has an overdraft or a bank loan, then the banks need to make sure that a company can afford to pay these loans it owes off (Palepu and Healy.2008). If a company is applying for a loan, similar considerations apply, although the bank would in addition insist on looking at more up to date information than the last set of statutory accounts as these could be rather out of date. The banks would calculate this by with the acid test ratio. This shows the company’s ability to pay its current liabilities from liquid assets. This is calculated as follows. Current assets less inventory Current liabilities Sainsbury’s (?m) Morrison’s (?m) 4362-1005 6765 = 0.5 : 1 1430-852 2873 = 0.2 : 1 Supermarkets by nature have very low acid test ratio scores due to some stock on their shelves not selling as quickly as they would like. However Morrison’s at 0.2:1 is much lower than the company would be wanting to have, whereas Sainsbury’s at 0.5:1 is relatively healthy for a company that operates as a supermarket. Creditors A company’s trade creditors and suppliers will also obviously be interested in a companies financial statements such as the balance sheet and income statement. Such stakeholders will be concerned with whether the company can pay regularly for its purchases from them, so they will have an eye to the cash position of the company – its liquidity. They will also be interested consequently in any items in the accounts which may affect this liquidity such as bank overdrafts or loans, as such items would usually indicate cash problems in the company which may render it an insecure buyer for the future. Creditors are also extremely interested in creditor days. This is the average payment period to payables expressed in days. This can be calculated by the following formula. Trade payables x 365 Purchases Sainsbury’s (?m)Morrison’s (?m) 2272 x 365 16606 = 50 days 2692 x 365 22562 = 44 days As can be seen, Sainsbury’s creditors will be the more pleased out of the two sets of stakeholders for both supermarkets. This is because they are paid on average six days faster than Morrison’s creditors and thus will have a more efficient flow of cash. This could mean building a better relationship with these creditors. However Morrison’s may also be pleased as it means they are able to hold on to this cash for longer and maximise cash flow with longer creditor days payable. Trade debtors/customers. These persons would be interested in the company’s likely continuance into the future as a secure source of supply, and so would look for any items affecting this, such as production difficulties, sales price increases etc. These will also be most interested in debtor (receivables) days, this is the Average collection period for receivables expressed in days. It is calculated as follows. Trade receivables x 365 Sales Revenue Sainsbury’s (?m)Morrison’s (?m) 433 x 365316 x 365 23949 = 7 days17680 = 7 days Here both Sainsbury’s and Morrison’s debtors will be equally as pleased when analysing the financial accounts for both of these companies. This is because they both receive a similar amount of time in which to pay their debts. Equally both of the supermarket chains will be relatively pleased with this as they will be in a similar position to each other in receiving the money from debtors. Similarly this is much shorter than the time it takes both to pay their creditors, and thus their cash flow efficiency will be maximised. Competitors Competitors will also be interested in the financial results of a rival in the same industry sector to see whether its results are better or worse than its own, whether it has brought new products to the market place and how these have been doing (Palepu and Healy.2008). Competitors of Sainsbury’s such as Asda and Tesco may also be interested to compare things such as costs of goods on the income statement to compare this to their own performance. A rival’s bad result, when its own is good, would enhance performance in the eyes of its own shareholders. A rival’s similar adverse performance may reflect that both are hit by the same business factors. In the retail business something that both Morrison’s and Sainsbury’s would be interested in seeing is how their inventories turnover period compares with that of their rivals. It can be calculated as follows. Inventories x 365Cost of sales*Sainsbury’s Morrison’s 1005 x 365852 x 36522562= 17 days16062= 20 days Here Sainsbury’s will have the more pleased boards of the two supermarkets when analysing their competitors in terms of inventory turnover. This is because on average they manage to turn over their inventory 3 days quicker than Morrison’s. This demonstrates that they have a more efficient stock system and are selling their products at a faster rate, which could lead to a better overall performance. Conclusion As can be seen, a range of different stakeholders have reason to be interested in a companies financial statements. These stakeholders range from being interested in their own personal gain, those such as Shareholders, as well as being interested in how it impacts upon other stakeholders, through the analysis of both debtor days and creditor days. Financial reports are important for all different stakeholders so they can decide whether or not it is beneficial to be involved with a certain company, they are always interested in the going concern of the company. It is important for numerous reasons that these stakeholders have access to the accounts to gain clarity and for the continuation of the working relationship with companies such as Sainsbury’s and Morrison’s. It is therefore important that the accounting is accurate and up to standards for these different stakeholders of financial statements, it is also useful for comparison of companies and as can be seen from the analysis Sainsbury’s stakeholders will be more pleased with the financial statements than Morrison’s. Bibliography Garner, E. (2014). Kantar, UK grocery growth at lowest level for 11 years, [Online] http://uk.kantar.com/consumer/shoppers/070514-kantar-worldpanel-uk-grocery-share-data-april-2014/ [Accessed online on 01/11/2014] J.Sainsbury’s plc, 2014. Annual Report and accounts 2013-2014. [Online]. http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/media/2064053/sainsbury_s_annual_report_and_ accounts_ 13-14.pdf. 2014. [Accessed online on 01/11/2014] Laurent, C.R. Improving the efficiency and effectiveness of financial ratio analysis. Journal of Business Finance and Accounting. [Online] Vol 6(3). 2006. p401-413. McLaney, E. J., Atrill. P. (2008). Accounting and finance : an introduction. Fourth edition. Harlow: Pearson. Palepu, K. Healy, P. (2008) Business Analysis and Valuation: Using Financial Statements. Mason:Thomson Learning WM Morrison’s Supermarkets plc , 2014. Morrison’s Annual Report 13-14 [Online]. http://annualreport.marksandspencer.com/downloads/MS_AR2014_Annual_Report.pdf [Accessed online on 01/11/2014]