Critical response to Z for Zachariah by Robert C. OBrien Essay Example for Free

Critical response to Z for Zachariah by Robert C. OBrien Essay The book I read is Z for Zachariah by Robert C. OBrien. I enjoyed this book because it contained few but excellent characters and is full of mystery and suspense. Z for Zachariah is about a sixteen-year-old girl, called Ann Burden who thinks she is the only person to survive a nuclear war. However, as her diary entries progress, you learn of a person in a green suit who is pulling what looks like a trailer covered with the same green material as the suit approaching Ann Burdens valley. Later in the diary you find out that the person is a man who had been an industrial chemist before the war, working for the Government designing a suit to protect people in the event of a nuclear explosion. His name is Mr Loomis and he is wearing the only one of these suits. When Mr Loomis finally arrives in the valley, he is amazed by the fact that there is water, which appears to be safe but Mr Loomis makes one severe mistake. When he checks the water for the level of radiation with his Geiger counter he in fact checks the clean water in the stream but then goes on to venture further down the valley, where he finds Ann Burdens home where the polluted Burden Creek is nearby. Once Mr Loomis has seen inside Anns house (where Ann has cleverly hidden any clues that could show the visitor that there has been people living there recently) he then proceeds towards Burden Creek in the hope of getting his first bath in probably months. However, not realising that the stream and Creek are not connected and in fact the Creek runs into the valley from over the hill where the pollution is, he jumps right in. Within a very short period of time after Mr Loomis has had his bath he became very ill, as he had been exposed to a lot of radiation. When Mr Loomis becomes sick Ann then realises she will have to help him and that is when she first shows herself. Anns diary entries take you through the events that happen when she is and is not in the company of Mr Loomis. My favourite part of the book is the first three diary entries. In these diary entries Mr Loomis has not yet arrived in the valley however Ann has seen smoke from over the hill for three days, which she presumes is from a human made fire because it is in a thin column that it rises. The smoke comes at the same time everyday, in late afternoon. Each afternoon the smoke is nearer to Anns home. I like this part of the book the most because in it you find out what it has been like for Ann being alone for so long because her family left her to look for other people and had never returned. It is interesting to read Anns thoughts of being excited and scared that she may in fact not be the only person left in the world. It is obvious why Ann would be excited about someone else coming into the valley but maybe not so clear why she would be scared. Ann is scared because after the nuclear explosion some radio stations had still broadcasted, but towards the end of them broadcasting the presenters seemed to be going crazy. Here is a quote from the second diary entry which will explain why Ann is scared Suppose a car came over the hill, and I ran out, and whoever was in it got out suppose he was crazy? Or suppose it was someone mean, or cruel, and brutal? A murderer? What could I do? After this quote, you realise that Ann is a very sensible and careful person because she decides to move her things to a cave nearby her home and make it look as though no one has lived in her house. That way she can watch whoever is coming into her valley and if they are crazy or mean she can stay in the cave unbeknown to the visitor and wait until they leave. At the end of the third diary entry Ann has still not seen anyone but knows that they are camping at the crossroads and exploring North, South, East, West and when they come into the South they will find Anns valley. The most remarkable character in the book I think is Ann Burden. She is careful, mature, kind, helpful, sensible, confused, and strategic/logical. In the following paragraph I will explain why Ann Burden is all of the things I have just said: The reason I think Ann is careful is because when Mr Loomis is first entering the valley she goes to the cave to live there as she does not know if Mr Loomis is safe. During the book Z for Zachariah you realise that in fact even though Ann is only sixteen she is more mature than Mr Loomis who is quite a bit older than Ann. The proof that shows this, is all of the words I am using to describe her and she also thinks about having children to begin the human-race again. The words kind, helpful and sensible describe Ann well because when Mr Loomis is ill with radiation poisoning she helps him and is kind to him even though hes a stranger. Also Ann still helps Mr Loomis after he tried to rape her she gives him half of everything i.e. eggs, milk and chicken and lets him have the comforts of her home while she moves into the cave. It is obvious that Ann is confused, as she does not know why Mr Loomis is being so horrible to her especially when she has done everything she can to be nice to him and to help him. The last words to describe Ann are strategic and logical; I think these words describe Ann well because when she does not want Mr Loomis to find her she thinks about what he can and cannot see e.g. when she builds a fire she thinks about where and how to build it so Mr Loomis cant see it she also thinks about what time of the day to light it. The style of Z for Zachariah is in diary form. Throughout the book there were not many figures of speech, however, there were a few similes, here is a quote from the book that describes Anns dog Faro when he has returned from the dead lands where there is radiation, in it there is a simile as thin as a skeleton. The structure of Z for Zachariah is in chronological order, each event happening in an order that makes sense and makes the story more intense and interesting. During the book, there is not much direct speech as the genre of the book is in diary form so it contains more of the thoughts and feelings of Ann Burden. The themes in the book are effects of modern technology, survival, dominance, bullying, age against youth, optimism/realism, breeding, art v science and religion v atheism. In the following sentences, I will discuss the themes that occur in Z for Zachariah. The first theme effects of modern technology is the theme that allowed the story to occur because nothing in the book would have happened had there not been a nuclear explosion. The themes of survival, dominance and age against youth are all linked together and are in a way very similar to each other. These three themes are perhaps the strongest and most occurring ones throughout the book, I will explain why: survival of course is going to be a major issue, Ann is the one who thinks about this the most having thought of growing her own crops, so when the supplies run out in the shop she will still have food to survive, and that is just one example. Throughout the book Mr Loomis tries to be the stereotypical Alpha male, he wants everything to be done his own way and to be done by him. For example when Ann said she would go into the town with the safe suit to collect books, even though Mr Loomis is still ill he refuses to let her go, perhaps thinking she is incapable or he could have been worried she wouldnt come back with the safe suit, although I think the first scenario is more likely. The only time Mr Loomis seemed to let Ann do things her way is when he could not do things for himself, however, he never admitted it. Age against youth is another strong theme as throughout the book you realise that Mr Loomis even though he is older he is not always wiser and more mature, in fact Ann is definitely the more mature of the two characters. Optimism and realism are two words that can explain Ann and Mr Loomis completely different personalities. Ann being the optimist who thinks that the results of an action will always be good and Mr Loomis being the realist he makes decisions based on facts and not on false hope. Throughout the book breeding is a theme, but more with Ann she thinks towards the future and beginning the human-race again. The theme of art v science is one that occurs throughout the book. As Ann is interested in art and Mr Loomis is interested in science, a few quarrels occur between them. However, quarrels is perhaps the wrong word because Mr Loomis always seemed to get his own way. Again, I will use the example of when Ann wanted to use the safe suit to collect some engineering and physics books for Mr Loomis; she also suggested that she get some for herself. Such as poetry. Yet Mr Loomis refused and said, You could not go. Understand that. Keep away from the suit. Never touch it. After Mr Loomis had given Ann his lecture, she could not understand why he had become so angry. It was alright if he wanted something but as soon as Ann wanted something to do with her interests, it was too much of a risk. Religion v atheism is a theme in the book. Ann being the religious one and Mr Loomis the atheist. I dont think Ann is strongly religious, I just think she finds going to the church and praying a comforting factor. Earlier I said Mr Loomis is an atheist. This means that he doesnt believe that any god or gods exist, therefore he does not understand why Ann would want to go to the church and waste her time praying. I enjoyed this book because there were few characters, which allowed you to get to know them better. I also liked the style of the book being in diary form because you didnt have to read the minute by minute accounts of what is happening in the book you only get to read the exciting and more intense parts which would be written in a diary. The thing that made the book a little boring was the fact that there werent many different figures of speech. The length I though was too long, some parts of the book seemed to be dragged out to give it a longer length, for example when Mr Loomis is sick the book got a little boring because in the diary entries you really were only told what Ann had did that day, there wasnt enough character interaction. One thing that I thought ruined the book was the ending, I thought it was exciting when you were told that there was hope that there could be other people still living and you wanted to keep reading and know if there was anyone else out there, but it just stopped. Taking the entire book into account my opinion is that it is quite good as I think it gives a good insight into what could happen if there is a nuclear explosion it is realistic.

The Study of Myopia and Photorefractive Keratectomy :: Eyes Vision Health Essays

The Study of Myopia and Photorefractive Keratectomy Myopia is defined as nearsightedness, which exists when the refractive elements of the eye (cornea and lens) place the image in front of the retina. The myopic condition is common in infants but generally levels off to normal vision as the infant ages (Vander & Gault, 1998). Myopia occurs in about 25% of the adult U.S. population. Many adults use corrective lenses or contacts to correct their myopic vision to 20/20 vision (Drexler et al., 1998). Many people find contacts or glasses hindering in their personal and/or professional lifestyle. For example, military pilots cannot wear glasses while flying and some firemen may find glasses too dangerous to wear during a rescue attempt. There is refractive surgery available to correct myopic eyes, like Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK). Why do people have myopia, what can be done to correct myopia, and what are the results of corrective surgical procedures? These are a few questions that will be addressed and analyzed. For an eye to focus correctly on an object, it must be placed in a certain position in front of the eye. The primary focal point is the point along the optical axis where an object can be placed for parallel rays to come from the lens. The secondary focal point is the point along the optical axis where in coming parallel rays are brought into focus. The primary focal point has the object's image at infinity, where as the secondary focal point has the object at infinity. For people who have myopic eyes, the secondary focal point is anterior to the retina in the vitreous. Thus, the object must be moved forward from infinity, in order to be focused on the retina. The far point is determined by the object's distance where light rays focus on the retina while the eye is not accommodating. The far point in the myopic eye is between the cornea and infinity. The near point is determined by which an object will be in focus on the retina when the eye is accommodating. Thus, moving an object cl oser will cause the perception of the object to blur. The measurement of these refractive errors are in standard units called diopters (D). A diopter is the reciprocal of a distance of the far point in meters (Vander & Gault, 1998). The myopic condition manipulates these variables in order to ultimately make a nearsighted individual.

A Sense of Fear and Death: a Contrast and Comparison Between the Masque of the Red Death and Young Goodman Brown

The Masque of the Red Death and Young Goodman Brown are both good stories that paint vivid images. Throughout these stories, both Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne evoke a sense of fear and death. Edgar Allan Poe tells us a story of a prince who believed he could save himself and his nobles by keeping them inside of his castle. However, Nathaniel Hawthorne tells us a story of a man who takes a â€Å"journey† with his conscience. Both authors use characterization, symbolism, imagery and allusions to portray fear and death. The Masque of the Red Death opens up with fear and death. Blood was its Avatar and its seal† (1); an avatar is a graphical image that represents a person. Here Edgar Allan Poe uses characterization to give us an idea of how horrible the Red Death is. This quote gives the Red Death life and death having life speaks LOUDLY for itself. In comparison, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses characterization gives the belief. faith, life in which Goodman Brown's wife was faiths avatar. However Hawthorne uses characterization as symbols to evoke fear. When Hawthorne describes Faith he mentions pink ribbons.A child wears ribbons and children, in most cases, are the representatives of innocence which is what these ribbons symbolize. â€Å"But something fluttered lightly down the air and caught the branch of a tree. The young man seized it, and beheld a pink ribbon. â€Å"‘My Faith is gone! ‘ cried he†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (5). Fear is the unpleasant feeling aroused by the threat of danger, evil or pain. In this quote it is clear that Young Goodman Brown is threatened by pain as well as evil. As Young Goodman Brown continues, â€Å"There is no good on earth and sin is but a name.Come, devil, for thee is this world given. † There is a great significance of Faith's ribbons being found without her. This meant that his wife Faith, along with his faith is gone and it pained him. Faith is what is keeping Goodman Brown sane, assured, and secu re in the forest. The forest is also another symbol Hawthorne uses to evoke fear. It represented danger, death. The forest was described as â€Å"a dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (1). Darkness is the color of death. In parallel Edgar Allan Poe also uses colors to represent death and summon fear.However, he uses both an â€Å"ebony clock† and a seventh room to do so. â€Å"It was in this apartment, also, that there stood a gigantic clock of ebony† (2); as the ebony color of the clock represents death, the ebony clock on a whole symbolizes that time is running out and death is near. Poe also tells us in the story that at every hour the clock strikes and chimes; in these moments all things are still and the people who are in the masquerade suddenly snap back to reality and realizes what is going on. This representation exhibits fear and dear.The seventh room also presents death and fear. Allan Poe described the seventh room t o have the colors read and black; red representing blood and black representing death. Allan Poe also uses this room and its colors to give us a mental picture. Imagery is the use of figure of speech to create mental images. Poe paints a vivid picture of the seventh room and invokes a great sense of fear and death. Poe tells us that the room has â€Å"black velvet tapestries† (1) and the panes in the room â€Å"were scarlet – a deep blood color† (1).This gives us a feel of how scary and over-whelming that room may be. In comparison, Hawthorne used the forest to paint a picture and to put us in a place where we felt the fear of danger and evil Goodman Brown feels. Allusion is also used by both authors in both stories. Allan Poe made reference to the Bubonic Plague that occurred in the early 1330s. This plague was a very vicious disease that killed off families, home, and populations. With knowledge of this plague readers can only imagine how horrified the charact ers in the story are whenever the clock strikes another hour.Hawthorne, in contrast, made reference to the time of the puritans where they believed anything or anyone who is not pure is evil and wicked. In these times it was believed that a woman's faith was her and her family's way to heaven. â€Å"I'll cling to her skirts and follow her to heaven† (1). This historical fact helps us to understand why Goodman Browns pain of losing Faith was such a great significance and manifested so much fear. With Faith gone and his faith gone his way to heaven, along with his family's, was gone as well.Both authors use references to the bible as well. Poe used the term pestilence in which he said, â€Å"No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous† (1). Pestilence is a plague and in Revelations 18:8 it reads, â€Å"Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine. † Also in Jeremiah 42:17 it reads, â€Å"So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them. This reference shows how powerful the plague is and how much terror and fear is instilled in the characters of the story. Hawthorne, on the other hand, referred to the book of Job. Job was a man of God who obeys Gods every command and never spoke blasphemy. One day the devil asks the Lord to put Job's faith to the test and God agreed. The devil everything away from Job and Job began to look to the heavens and asked God why this was happening to him. In Young Goodman Brown Goodman Brown â€Å"looked up to the sky, doubting whether there really was a heaven above him† (4).This shows great fear that Goodman Brown felt at this point of the story. All in all though one author may have use more of a literary technique than the other, they both manifest the idea of fear and death in a great manner. These literary techniques, from characterization to allusion, all of these devices work together in some way. In both The Masque of the Red Death and Young Goodman Brown, both authors Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne used characterization, symbolism, imagery and allusion to personify death, indicate fear and pierce, to instill both a sense of fear and death, in a reader’s heart and mind.

Sex, Gender, And Gender - 915 Words

When a child is born, the most common question asked is what is the baby’s sex? This question is asked because, sex is biologically determined, from the second we come out of the womb, by our chromosomes, genitalia, reproductive organs, and hormones. People often group sex and gender together as if they are the same thing, but really they are two separate categories. Gender is a category that splits bodies into a binary system of women and men. Ultimately the two terms intertwine because, one’s biologically determined sex is assigned a gender role to play. The main difference between the two is that gender excludes biology. Sex represents the body’s anatomy and physiological workings and gender represents social forces that mold behavior. Historically, science has played a major role in constructing and reinforcing sex as either male or female. Many scientists looked at the bodies as a whole and skeletons to make the distinction of only male and female sexes. When developing theories many anatomists and anthropologist looked at mainly males and their bodies. This was only the beginning of science creating a value of men over women. In craniometry studies, scientist found woman had smaller skull sizes, which then suggested that they had smaller brains. This conclusion resulted in the linking of women to children and animals, while men were of a higher classification. Camper’s studies show â€Å"the skulls highlighted were predominantly male. The only female skull CamperShow MoreRelatedSex, Gender, And Gender847 Words   |  4 PagesThe meaning of sex and gender is often thought of as the same thing, when in fact it the meanings between these two words are different. Sex is the characteristics that are set apart from male and female. The characteristics include primary sex traits related to the reproductive system such as: hormones, chromosomes, the genitalia, and various other ways. However, the secondary sex traits that are not directly based on the reproductive system. These secondary traits consist of characteristics suchRead MoreSex, Gender, And Gender1468 Words   |  6 PagesPopular understanding reflects the view that sex refers to ones biological functions in comparison to gender, which is solely explained as a cultural impact in depicting ones identity. The conveying of these two concepts create implications in demonstrating the understanding of ones sex or gender as distinct elements, of personal characteristics and human traits. Sex and gender are two contrasting features constantly interrelating, in day-to-day lives. A concise narrowing will be drawn from thisRead MoreSex, Gender, And Gender869 Words   |  4 Pagesthere was not a difference between a person’s sex and gender. Before learning about sex and gender throughout my school career, I would have defined sex as a category in which you are born into based on what reproductive organ you are born with, which is slightly correct. Ye t, I would have defined gender in the same manner, using them interchangeably just as most people, not knowing how complicated the terms really are. The appropriate definition of sex referred to a person’s biological status andRead MoreSex, Gender, And Gender936 Words   |  4 Pagesconventional views, of sex and gender in today’s society. As a result, we often think of sex as biological and gender as social, which are terms that are often used interchangeably and are socially or culturally constructed. In other words, the terms male and female are referred to as sex categories, while masculine and feminine are considered gender categories. To demonstrate the prevailing views of sex and gender, in African Gender Studies, the author argues that, over time, sex tended to be understoodRead MoreSex, Gender, And Gender814 Words   |  4 Pagesroles of sex and gender in today’s society. As a result, we often think of sex as biological and gender as social, which are terms that are often used interchangeable and are socially or culturally constructed. In other words, the terms male and female are referred to as sex categories, while masculine and feminine are considered gender categories. â€Å"Over time, sex tended to be understood as the base and gender as the superstructure† (OyÄ›wà ¹mà ­, 2005, 12). For instance, in African Gender Studies, theRead MoreGender : Sex And Gender Socialization992 Words   |  4 Pages Sex and Gender Socialization Before we learned this chapter, I didn t know that sex and gender are different to each other, all I know is that gender and sex have the same meaning which referred to male and female. Recently, I just learned the difference between sex and gender, which is sex is like our biological difference which what makes people male and female, while gender is what the society reinforces a person to be based on their expectations and behaviors of being a male and femaleRead MoreGender, Gender And Sex Matters904 Words   |  4 PagesGender and Sex Matters This class is all really interesting for me, except the two features I talked above, all the other topics are just too attractive and applaud me. The gender problems totally right, and I believe this happens in every country. When I translated â€Å"Sex† and â€Å"Gender† in the dictionary, it gives us the same meaning: male and female. Thus I ‘m really surprised when I found they have different meanings in class! As referred to by Allen, Sex is a biological classification while genderRead MoreSex and Gender1424 Words   |  6 Pagespotential to sustain a pregnancy helps us sort humans into male and female. Simple as pie. Which is good because sorting people by sex is something that is very important to most people. Watch nearly anybody go up to someone holding an infant and the first thing that she or he will ask the parent if the child is a girl or a boy. But why should it matter to anyone what the sex of the baby is? Even if it is easy to tell masculine from f eminine. Except, of course, that its not. Theres nothing at all simpleRead MoreGender Secrecy : Sex And Gender1244 Words   |  5 PagesAalap Pandya Valorie Ebert ENC1102-8:00 am 4 September, 2014 Poisson First Draft Gender Secrecy Sex and gender are commonly misconstrued to mean the same thing. Which causes stereotypes and expectations to be created on the idea that they are one. The stereotypes and expectations are as follows; boys should be dirty and aggressive who love action figures and the color blue, who have to grow up and have high status roles in society so they can be successful. Girls, on the other hand, should be delicateRead MoreSex and Gender1775 Words   |  8 PagesSex and Gender Sex and gender make up one of the most basic functions in our society. Gender helps delineate tasks and how we refer to people, and is reinforced for us throughout our lives (Lorber 2006). Gender interacts with sex in varying ways (Disch 2006). Those who are not strictly heterosexual male or female are not readily accepted and face adversity as they bend gender and defy sex. It has long been debated whether there is a difference between sex and gender, and if so, what that difference