The Role of Ambition in Macbeth - 605 Words

The role of ambition in Macbeth The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare recounts Macbeths meteoric rise as a soldier and promising future leader whose megalomaniacal ambition led to his tragic downfall. In addition to Macbeths ambitions, which initially enable him to be strong leader and soldier, he is influenced heavily by his wife, Lady Macbeth, and the three witches that prophesize his ascent to the throne, as well as warn him of his eventual demise. It can be argued that it is Macbeths ambition that allows him to succeed in his endeavors, however the goals to which he is working toward influence the results of his hard work. Macbeths ambitions help him to become a war hero, and as his goals change, his ambitions drive him to become a tyrannical villain. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth and Banquo, Macbeths friend and a sergeant in King Duncans army, are hailed as heroes in helping to defeat Macdonwald who led the allied forces of Norway and Ireland against Scotland. Th e Sergeant exalts Macbeths prowess and states, For brave Macbeth--well he deserves that name-- Disdaining fortune, with his brandishd steel, Which smoked with bloody execution, Like valours minion carved out his passage Till he faced the slave; Which neer shook hands, nor bade farewell to him, Till he unseamd him from the nave to the chaps, And fixd his head upon our battlements. (Shakespeare, n.d., 1.2.35-42) The Sergeant continues to describe the duos valor, AsShow MoreRelatedThe Role Of Ambition In Macbeth1208 Words   |  5 PagesMacbeth is a Shakespearean play which shows how ambition drives a person’s life and how people are constantly driven by uncontrolled ambition to better their lives. In the play, regardless of Lady Macbeth and the witches, Macbeth is responsible for his own downfall. He is driven by ambition to be viewed as a better man in the country and to be in control of his own fate. Uncontrolled ambition can easily turn into insanity; plans should be led through intelligence and maturity in order to achieveRead MoreRole of Ambition in Macbeth Essay1098 Words   |  5 PagesThe play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare is based upon old Scotland and this is used as the general time frame. During this time, Monarchy still existed and Scotland is in war with Whales. There are many emotions that arise throughout the play, but the most important of all is ambition. â€Å"Ambition is the desire for personal achievement. Ambitious persons seek to be the best at what they choose to do for attainment, power, or superiority† (â€Å"Ambition†). The motif of ambition in the play is thatRead MoreShakespeare‚Äà ´s ‚Äà ²Macbeth‚Äà ´ Is a Warning Against the Dangers of Ambition.1112 Words   |  5 PagesAmbition plays a major role in Shakespeare’s tragedy of Macbeth, and is presented as a dangerous quality that principally influences the characters to do wrong. This play gives off a warning of how ambition can affect people and their actions by its influence on Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth. This disastrous story begins with the witches predicting that Macbeth would become Thane of Cawdor and then King of Scotland. Hence, Macbeth’s ambition emerges, furthermore persuaded by his wife and alsoRead MoreCause Of Macbeths Downfall955 Words   |  4 PagesThe Causes of Macbeths Downfall Essa y (English Yearly) INTRODUCTION {DON’T HAVE TOO MANY FACTS IN INTRODUCTION ANAYLISE MORE USING THE FIRST SECTIONS OF EACH PARAGRAPH} Macbeth is a powerful and emotionally intense play. As an audience, we see how a well-regarded and loyal soldier change to a murderous tyrant. Lady Macbeth continuously pressures Macbeth, when he fears he has gone too far, playing a major role in his downfall. It is his ambition, along with the influence of his wife and the strainRead MoreRelationship Between Macbeth And Lady Macbeth745 Words   |  3 PagesJames Ms. Berryman Academic English III, Period 1 21 December, 2015 Relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in The Tragedy of Macbeth In relationships, the power given to both partners must be balanced in order to have any success. Once one person feels they are above the other one, chaos and anger might result. Back in the Elizabethan era, men and women had two completely different roles in society, the roles of women were very limited. Men were superior and were considered as leaders, while womenRead MoreRole Reversal in Shakespeare’s Macbeth Essay544 Words   |  3 PagesShakespeare’s play, Macbeth, two main characters experience a change that alters their roles and brings out the worst in them. After Macbeth is promised greatness by three witches on a heath, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth try to achieve his prophecy. Because of their over-reaching ambition, they commit numerous murders to obtain their goal of becoming royalty. In order to cope with the guilt, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth undergo a role reversal, where they exchange characters and amount of ambition. In the beginningRead MoreEssay about Macbeths ambition907 Words   |  4 PagesAn ambition for power can seem to be true perfection, but one should be careful what they wish for, because that power might be exactly what causes their downfall. In the play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare ambition plays a great role and is also a main theme. Ambition is often the motivating force in ones life. It is supposed to be the motivating factor that drives one towards success. The main character, Macbeth has ambition even though it leads him to his downfall. In contrast, Lady MacbethRead MoreLady Macbeth Character Analysis768 Words   |  4 PagesIn the play Macbeth, the character Lady Macbeth has changed throughout Act I and Act V tremendously. Her attitude has changed heavily from her being cold-hearted and harsh in the beginning, to being dominated by guilt. Lady Macbeth’s transformation reveals the darkness of human nature and eventually dark ambition leads to Macbeth murderi ng Duncan to be king. This play critiques or upholds prescribed gender roles because when Lady Macbeth is pushing Macbeth to murder Duncan, she feels as if she hasRead MoreSupernatural Soliciting Within Shakespeare s Macbeth1728 Words   |  7 PagesJulia Sawicka Ms. Paolone ENG3U1d Monday, November 6th, 2017 Supernatural Soliciting within Shakespeare s Macbeth Shakespeare’s Macbeth is broadly known as a cursed play by a myriad of individuals globally. Given its appalling history of death and disorder, as well as the supernatural elements present within the play, many have come to the latter conclusion. To add, Macbeth is also a tragedy, adding more malediction to the already allegedly accursed play. To create such a tragic, ill-fatedRead MoreAnalysis Of My Last Duchess By Robert Browning And A Woman s Lover 1712 Words   |  7 PagesThis analysis will look at how major themes such as, ambition, supernatural, reality and appearance, played a role in the way events occurred and how they have affected the marriage between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. This analysis would also study how the author, William Shakespeare, portrayed these themes using language and historical context to affect the opinions of the audience’s perception of the two characters. As Shakespeare’s Macbeth had been written in the past, it would be of great contrast

American College Is Worth It - 913 Words

American College is Worth It? In the lasts decades higher education tuition has increased considerably. As a result, most of Americans students finish their bachelor’s degree indebted with student loans. After all the sacrifices and hard work that college students do to graduate, it is uncertain if they will get an acceptable job. Some of colleges students think that the student loan debt is worth it, but some students think the opposite. Students who think that the debt is worth it usually want to improve their lifestyle. In the other hand, people who thinks that tuition is expensive considered just study high school. For that reason, some people think that it is better not study a higher education and find a job that pays well. A high school diploma can not be compere to a bachelor’s degree. Study in college expand students knowledge and made students independents and matures. Most of the unique experience a young adult can experiment is in college. Also, exist commun ity college for people with low income. Every American should have the opportunity to study higher education because that will be beneficial in many aspects of the person. The most important problem for high school students and their parents when they think about college is how they will pay it. According Robin Wilson, a reporter for the Chronicle of Higher Education says â€Å"In fact, despite stories of a large number of students who face gargantuan debt, about a third of graduates leave college with no debtShow MoreRelatedIs An American College Education Still? Worth It?1465 Words   |  6 PagesIs An American College Education Still ‘Worth It’? One of the realities of the past several decades is that society has come to place an increasing level of emphasis upon the importance of education. Whereas it has been understood for decades that education is an integral component of the overall level of success that a person might hope to experience during their lifetime, the necessity of each and every individual striving for a college degree has been a more and more defining aspects of the driveRead MoreIs College Worth The Cost?1296 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction: The U.S. is home to some of the greatest colleges and universities in the world. But with an overwhelming 1.3 million students graduating with an average student loan debt of $29,000 each and with youth unemployment elevated, the question of whether or not college tuition is worth the money arises (The Institute for College Access Success, 2013). Higher education faces intimidating challenges: continually rising costs, access and completion problems, constant changing of technologyRead MoreIs College Worth It?857 Words   |  4 PagesIs college worth it, many ask and a lot of them wonder. This controversial topic has a lot of arguments and still no fix answer to it. Some people might find college to be not worth it as most people find it useless after graduation as said by TOM BACHTELL on a college graduation â€Å" diploma—need not be a statistics major to know that the odds of stepping into a satisfying job, or, indeed, any job, are lower now than might have been imag ined four long years ago†. But in my opinion I would say thatRead MoreGraduation Speech Over College Education Essay1686 Words   |  7 PagesOver the years, there has been a great deal of debate over college education and it’s worth to society and the students who is currently contemplating where they should go or not. In addition, the question of cost, and just how expensive college has become over the last decade has come to attention. It is clear that Americans and important figureheads have argued over whether the benefits of attending college outweigh the benefits of just high school diploma or another type of post-secondary schoolingRead MoreIs A College Education Worth It?1443 Words   |  6 PagesOne 23 March 2016 Is a College Education Worth It? Is the American dream just a dream?The worth of a college education is arguably one of the most controversial topics in the country. Over the years, the American education system seems to emphasize and underline the importance of college education. The reality of the situation is that a college education can be appreciated through looking at the statistical numbers of people that have enrolled in to college education. A college education is valued becauseRead MoreThe Importance of Higher Education768 Words   |  4 Pages| In the view of most Americans, a college education has now taken on the importance that a high school education had in the past, and has become a necessary ingredient for a good job and comfortable lifestyle. This value is shared even more widely among African-American and Hispanic parents.* * 84% say that it is extremely (37%) or very (47%) important to have a college degree in order to get ahead.1 * 87% strongly (68%) or somewhat (19%) agree that a college education has become asRead MoreCollege Education Is Worth The Cost Of College926 Words   |  4 PagesMost Americans grow up in their late teenage years with the idea that they will go to college. However, few individuals take the time to think about the essence of a college education. For some people college education is worth it whiles for others it may not be worth the cost. General assumption of not making it to college and still making it in life has now become a wise saying for desperate people who have decided to chase money but not a career. A recent study emphasized that one can eventuallyRead MoreIs Higher Education Worth the Price?1109 Words   |  5 PagesXiaoqing Ding Dr. Haendiges Engl-1010 6/23/13 Is Higher Education Worth the Price? A recent study shows that less than sixty percent of students can be graduate form four-year colleges. Interestingly, tuition of most of American colleges improves fast year by year. Beth Pinsker said in his article â€Å"The message that everyone should go to college does a disservice to the 60 percent of students who do not finish their degrees within six years, according to new research from Brookings CenterRead MoreIs College Education Worth The Cost For Students?1385 Words   |  6 PagesThe value of a college education is a topic that strikes debates across the nation. People wonder if the debt and time will be worth in helping them obtain a career to pay off the debt and generate a larger income for themselves than if they did not have a four-plus year college degree. My whole life, I have always valued a college education. At the same time, I know that the higher education is not as important to others. I never understood why someone does not want to obtain a college degre e, butRead MoreA Common Conception Of Present Day Society Essay846 Words   |  4 Pages A common conception in present-day society is the idea success stems from a higher education. However, is this notion correct? Today, about thirty-two percent of the American population has at least a Bachelor’s Degree compared to the twenty-four percent in the year 2000. The quantity has gradually increased due to this belief. Nevertheless, a substantial number of people do not take into consideration the availability of job positions in their chosen career. Furthermore, many acquire a considerable

Simple Pendulum Lab Free Essays

The Simple Pendulum Objective and Background Objective: The Objective of this experiment is to examine the simple harmonic motion and to determine the value of the acceleration due to gravity from the analysis of the period of the simple pendulum. [1] Background: There are three equations that will be used to calculate the period of motion of the simple pendulum. They are the slope of the line of the graph of T? against L, and the gravity of the pendulum motion. We will write a custom essay sample on Simple Pendulum Lab or any similar topic only for you Order Now The period of the motion is the time needed for one complete cycle that a pendulum bob swing from the initial position to the other end, and then back to the initial position. [1] The equation to calculate period is, T = 2? Lg Where, T = Period of the motion, measured in s. L = Length of the pendulum, measured in cm. g = Acceleration due to gravity, measured in m/s2. The slope of the line in the graph of T? against L can be used to determine the gravity of the pendulum motion. It is because, y = mx m = T? L= 4 g = Slope of the line in the graph T? /L. Therefore, to find the gravity of the pendulum motion, we can use the slope of the graph. The slope of the graph is given by the formula, g = 4 m g = Acceleration due to gravity, measured in m/s?. Procedure and Observations Materials: * String * Metre Stick * Stop watch * Stand * Pendulum bob Procedure: 1) Materials listed above were taken for the experiment. 2) The pendulum bob was tied tightly with the string. 3) The string with the pendulum bob was hung on the stand. ) A meter stick was used to measure the distance between the centre of mass of the bob and the top of the string. 5) The distance was recorded in the observation table. 6) The pendulum ball was held at a distance from the centre and it was released. 8) A stop watch was used to time the time needed to complete ten cycles. 9) The time was recorded in the observation table. 10) Steps 4-7 were repeated four more times with different lengths. Observations: L (m)| 10T (s)| 0. 185| 9. 01| 0. 39| 14. 13| 0. 595| 15. 04| 0. 79| 17. 58| 1| 19. 67| Diagram of the Pendulum Figure [ 1 ] Calculations and Results Method 1 – Graph of T2 vs. L Data collected L(m)| T2(s2)| 0. 18| 0. 81| 0. 39| 1. 99| 0. 59| 2. 37| 0. 79| 3. 09| 1| 3. 86| Hand drawn graph ?x ?y Figure [ 2 ] The slope can be determined by m=? x? y. So, by taking a value for x x = 0. 4 cm y must then be y = 1. 4 cm m= 1. 4 cm0. 4 cm m=3. 5 The error would be given by ?mm= ? x1x12+ ? x2x22 ?m= m 0. 051. 42+ 0. 050. 42 ?m= 3. 5 0. 051. 42+ 0. 050. 42 ?m=0. 45 The acceleration due to gravity is given by g=4? 2m g=4? 23. 5 g=4? 23. 5 g=11. m/s2 Calculating the error for g would yield ?gg= ? mm2 ?g= g 0. 453. 52 ?g= 11. 30. 453. 52 ?g= 1. 45 m/s2 g=11. 3 m/s2 Â ± 1. 45 m/s2 Solving for the percentage deviation would give % deviation= Actual value-Expected valueExpected value* 100% Expected value=9. 8 m/s2 % deviation= 11. 3 m/s2-9. 8 m/s29. 8 m/s2*100% % deviation= 11. 3 m/s2-9. 8 m/s29. 8 m/s2*100% % deviation= 15. 3% Method 2 – Linear Regression Excel graph F igure [ 3 ] The equation of the line is given by T2 = 3. 53L + 0. 33 Where m=3. 53 The acceleration due to gravity is given by =4? 2m g=4? 23. 53 g=4? 23. 53 g=11. 1 m/s2 Solving for the percentage deviation would give % deviation= Actual value-Expected valueExpected value* 100% Expected value=9. 8 m/s2 % deviation= 11. 1 m/s2-9. 8 m/s29. 8 m/s2*100% % deviation= 11. 1 m/s2-9. 8 m/s29. 8 m/s2*100% % deviation= 13. 2% Conclusion By comparing these two methods of calculating the acceleration due to gravity it is clearly noticeable that there is a difference between the two, when it comes to the accuracy. When calculating g using the hand drawn graph method it yielded =11. m/s2 Â ± 1. 45 m/s2. However, when using the linear regression method on excel, it yielded g=11. 1 m/s2. This is clearly closer to the expected value of 9. 8 m/s2. There are several reasons contributing to the conclusion that linear regression is more accurate, than measuring calculating the slope off of a hand drawn graph. Firs t of all, computers are much more accurate than humans. There is no denying the fact that humans are not perfect and no hand drawn graph will be as precise as a computer drawn graph. A ruler was being used, which may lead to believe that the line is perfectly straight, whereas it is actually not. This is clearly noticeable when one zooms in on a hand drawn graph. Another problem with the ruler is that no matter how hard one tries to measure the distance between two different points, one will never be able to get the exact distance. Computers however, Excel in this case, draw perfectly straight lines. Also the location of line of best fit line, in the hand drawn part of the experiment, was estimated, which obviously leads to an inaccurate result. Excel however, uses the calculation of linear regression to draw the line of best fit and this is extremely accurate, since the exact slope is being calculated by Excel. It is clear that the method of linear regression is more accurate by looking at the percentage deviations for each method. The % deviation for the hand drawn graph yielded 15. 3%, whereas the percentage deviation for the linear regression method only was 13. 2% Even though the linear regression method was more accurate than the hand drawn method, there was still a pretty significant difference, between that value, namely g=11. m/s2, and the expected value of 9. 8 m/s2. This is due to a few sources of error when this experiment was conducted. One of the errors that contributed to this difference was that the length of the string was not exactly measured. Thus, the relation between the length and the period was wrong, leading to false results. Another reason that contributed to the inaccuracy was the fact that when the bob was not swinging the way it was supposed to. It was only supposed to have a linear motion, but it had a slight circular motion, which of course lead to a longer period. This again resulted in a wrong relation between the period and the length, leading to a wrong result. There was another major aspect to the experiment that lead to this result. Namely the fact one could not tell where the bob actually started its swinging motion exactly; therefore the exact period could not be measured with the stopwatch. It is evident however, that if these errors could have been avoided, the acceleration due to gravity could have been calculated very accurately using the method of linear regression. References [1] PCS 125 Laboratory Manual, 2008 How to cite Simple Pendulum Lab, Papers

The Effect Of The Russian Orthodox Religion free essay sample

On The Cult Essay, Research Paper The Effect of the Russian Orthodox Religion on the Cult Orthodox Christianity has had an huge consequence on the civilization of Russia. The acceptance of the Orthodox religion from Constantinople by Prince Vladimir in 988 introduced cultural influences that deeply affected the Russian consciousness. As the people embraced Orthodoxy it developed a uniquely Russian spirit and frozen deep in the fertile Russian psyche. Orthodoxy had a major impact on political relations, art, and about every other facet of Russia # 8217 ; s civilization. Orthodoxy helped hammer Russia # 8217 ; s universe position and defined her topographic point in the universe. The church affected the idea forms and motives of a whole civilization and changed the manner Russians thought about themselves and the ways that they lived their lives. The church acted as a consolidative factor for the Russian state. Church vacations and fasts enriched and brought intending to the rhythm of seasons and seeding in the subsistence society. We will write a custom essay sample on The Effect Of The Russian Orthodox Religion or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Russians possessed a deep spiritual religion and from it they derived a sense of intent in the existence and the promise of redemption. The church nourished and preserved the civilization of Russia during centuries of internal discord and foreign intercession. Orthodox people feel a strong sense of community and brotherhood towards one another through a shared bond of religion. As a consequence of this accent on community, the rights of the group tend to take precedency over the rights of the person in Russian civilization. The Orthodox and Catholic religions had an adversarial relationship for old ages. As this rift deepened and grew progressively counter, the rift between the East and the West besides grew. The difference in faith between Russia and Europe can mostly explicate the huge differences that developed in their civilizations. The Tsar of All Russia derived his power and right to govern from his position as God # 8217 ; s chosen representative on Earth. As it is God entirely who bestowed power on the czar, it was in the best involvement of the monarchy to protect and advance the church. This construct of the czar possessing a Godhead right to regulation contributed to the political passiveness of the Russian people. In the Byzantium tradition the construct of symphonia defined the relationship between the church and the province and acted as a balance on the limitless power of the czar. As the caput of the church and the caput of the province, the metropolitan and the czar were peers and the metropolitan had the right to reprimand the czar. The difference between the Possessors and the Non-Possessors challenged the thought of symphonia, or harmoniousness and cooperation between the pillars of society. The Owners and the Non-Possessors held immensely different thoughts about the function the church should play in society and political relations. When the doctrine of the Owners triumphed, the church gained the right to wealth and serfs at the disbursal of political influence. The czar became superior to the metropolitan, and the government could now interfere in secular affairs of the church. The release of the czar Fr om any beginning of answerability left the czar with absolute, limitless power. The maltreatments of Ivan the Terrible epitomize the danger of absolute regulation left unbridled. The Russian people really believed that God had sent Ivan to govern Russia as a penalty for her wickednesss. The split between the two cabals caused the also-rans, the Non-Possessors, to be reviled as misbelievers. This had a negative consequence because the church came to be represented by a cabal alternatively of through a consensus. This led to merely one set of thoughts being developed in the church and the civilization and as a consequence it lost some of its verve. The Possessors made ritual sacrosanct. Every gesture, word, and motion was important and to divert from the service in any manner would be unorthodoxy. This accent in the exterior signifier of faith over interior jubilance paved the manner for another struggle that was to earnestly sabotage the power of the church. The 3rd Rome theory was formulated by the monastic Philotheus in the 15th century. He asserted that Russia was the inheritor and defender of the merely true religion. Rome and Constantinople had both fallen and Moscow was the 3rd and concluding place of Orthodoxy. This theory legitimized the Russian Orthodoxy # 8217 ; s power and affirmed that she was no longer dependent on Constantinople. A church split occurred in the 17th century due to alterations in ritual implemented by the Patriarch Nikon. His efforts to rectify incompatibilities in the rites of the Greeks and the Russians were simply to set up greater solidarity and continuity between the two religions. Russia was seeking to assist the Greeks who were populating under Turkish regulation since 1439. Russia had a sense of manifest fate and she felt that she had been chosen to support the Eastern Orthodox peoples. The belief that ritual must be inviolable caused the change of ritual to be considered dissident. Those who refused to alter their beat of worship were called Old Believers and they were executed and silenced by the governments. The Old Believers insisted on following the old signifiers because they feared perpetrating unorthodoxy. The manner they saw the state of affairs was that Rome had fallen because of unorthodoxy. Moscow was the last place of Orthodoxy and if Russia fell from the grace of God, it would intend the terminal of the universe. The basic issue in the split was the relationship between the Russian and Orthodox churches. Some felt that since Russia had adopted Orthodoxy from Byzantium she should stay a? junior spouse # 8217 ; . Others felt that it was Russia # 8217 ; s destiny to be a leader and to liberate her Eastern brethren. The Orthodox relegion has been indispensable to the people to convey them a sense of hope and fate and a glance of Eden on Earth. The pick of Orthodoxy was every bit influential as the Mongul Yoke on the formation of the Russian character. Orthodoxy brought the people a batch of joy, created a sense of community, intensified the states isolation, created beautiful art, started wars, complicated political relations, and best of all, reminded the people to love each other. 375

Industrial Revolution and Architecture essays

Industrial Revolution and Architecture essays Siegfried Giedion's book about the effects of the Industrial Revolution upon humanity's personal and social space, and the discipline of architecture as a whole, is entitled Mechanization Takes Command. In his title, Giedion suggests that human beings' intimate surroundings were completely permeated and transmuted by the forces of mechanization, as generated by the mass industrialization of production and society. Ironically, the forces of humanity created the machine. The machine was supposed to make human life easier. But instead, human life and human speed has become subordinate to the pace and confining discipline of the machine-based modalities of production. In fact, Gideon believes that because mechanization sprang entirely from the mind of man, it is more dangerous and less easily controlled than natural forces since it reacts on the senses and the mind of its creator in a way that natural forces do not. The equilibrium of the human body, which requires a certain state of nature to function at its best is instead subjected to machinesfor instance, workers must put on extra clothes to keep warm in offices that are kept cool for the computer machinery present. Or, they are subjected to the heat of the assembly line, working in the dark to produce far more goods then they need in huge factories. Spaces to produce grow larger and less decorated, as machines need more room and cannot take delight in art. Spaces that human beings occupy grow smaller as they are piled into apartments, to live in small and enclosed cities, to serve machines, and human beings are denied the time and leisure to produce works of beauty that are individual, to add delight to their increasingly small surroundings. Even amenities, such as ornate dressings' to rooms and clothing are now purchased from mass-producing factories, rather than made by the individ...

OptionParser Command-Line Options the Ruby Way

OptionParser Command-Line Options the Ruby Way Ruby comes equipped with a powerful and flexible tool to parse command-line options, OptionParser. Once you learn how to use this, youll never go back to looking through ARGV manually. OptionParser has a number of features that make it quite appealing to Ruby programmers. If youve ever parsed options by hand in Ruby or C, or with the getoptlong C function, youll see how welcome some of these changes are. OptionParser is DRY. You only have to write the command-line switch, its arguments, the code to run when its encountered, and the command-line switch description once in your script. OptionParser will automatically generate help screens for you from this description, as well as infer everything about the argument from its description. For example, it will know the file [FILE] option is optional and takes a single argument. Also, it will know that [-no]-verbose is really two options and will accept both forms.OptionParser will automatically convert options to a specific class. If the option takes an integer, it can convert any string passed on the command-line to an integer. This cuts down on some of the tedium involved in parsing command-line options.Everything is very contained. All of the options are in the same place, and the effect of the option is right along-side the definition for the option. If options have to be added, changed or someone simply wants to see what they do, the re is only one place to look. Once the command-line is parsed, a single Hash or OpenStruct will hold the results. Enough Already, Show Me Some Code So heres a simple example of how to use OptionParser. It doesnt use any of the advanced features, just the basics. There are three options, and one of them takes a parameter. All of the options are mandatory. There are the -v/verbose and -q/quick options, as well as the -l/logfile FILE option. Additionally, the script takes a list of files independent of the options. #!/usr/bin/env ruby # A script that will pretend to resize a number of images require optparse # This hash will hold all of the options # parsed from the command-line by # OptionParser. options {} optparse OptionParser.new do|opts|   Ã‚  # Set a banner, displayed at the top   Ã‚  # of the help screen.   Ã‚  opts.banner Usage: optparse1.rb [options] file1 file2 ...   Ã‚  # Define the options, and what they do   Ã‚  options[:verbose] false   Ã‚  opts.on( -v, verbose, Output more information ) do   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  options[:verbose] true   Ã‚  end   Ã‚  options[:quick] false   Ã‚  opts.on( -q, quick, Perform the task quickly ) do   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  options[:quick] true   Ã‚  end   Ã‚  options[:logfile] nil   Ã‚  opts.on( -l, logfile FILE, Write log to FILE ) do|file|   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  options[:logfile] file   Ã‚  end   Ã‚  # This displays the help screen, all programs are   Ã‚  # assumed to have this option.   Ã‚  opts.on( -h, help, Display this s creen ) do   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  puts opts   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  exit   Ã‚  end end # Parse the command-line. Remember there are two forms # of the parse method. The parse method simply parses # ARGV, while the parse! method parses ARGV and removes # any options found there, as well as any parameters for # the options. Whats left is the list of files to resize. optparse.parse! puts Being verbose if options[:verbose] puts Being quick if options[:quick] puts Logging to file #{options[:logfile]} if options[:logfile] ARGV.each do|f|   Ã‚  puts Resizing image #{f}...   Ã‚  sleep 0.5 end Examining the Code To start off with, the optparse library is required. Remember, this isnt a gem. It comes with Ruby, so theres no need to install a gem or require rubygems before optparse. There are two interesting objects in this script. The first is options, declared at the top-most scope. Its a simple empty hash. When options are defined, they write their default values to this hash. For example, the default behavior is for this script to not be verbose, so options[:verbose] is set to false. When options are encountered on the command-line, theyll change the values in options to reflect their effect. For example, when -v/verbose is encountered, it will assign true to options[:verbose]. The second interesting object is optparse. This is the OptionParser object itself. When you construct this object, you pass it a block. This block is run during construction and will build a list of options in internal data structures, and get ready to parse everything. Its in this block that all the magic happens. You define all the options here. Defining Options Each option follows the same pattern. You first write the default value into the hash. This will happen as soon as the OptionParser is constructed. Next, you call the on method, which defines the option itself. There are several forms of this method, but only one is used here. The other forms allow you to define automatic type conversions and sets of values an option is restricted to. The three arguments used here are the short form, long form, and description of the option. The on method will infer a number of things from the long form. One thing is will infer is the presence of any parameters. If there are any parameters present on the option, it will pass them as parameters to the block. If the option is encountered on the command-line, the block passed to the on method is run. Here, the blocks dont do much, they just set values in the options hash. More could be done, such as checking that a file referred to exists, etc. If there are any errors, exceptions can be thrown from these blocks. Finally, the command-line is parsed. This happens by calling the parse! method on an OptionParser object. There are actually two forms of this method, parse and parse!. As the version with the exclamation point implies, it is destructive. Not only does it parse the command-line, but it will remove any options found from ARGV. This is an important thing, it will leave only the list of files supplied after the options in ARGV.

African Tribal Dances Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

African Tribal Dances - Essay Example Furthermore, when they dance, for them all time stops, the air draws back and the past, the present and the future merge into a single indescribable jewel in eternity. We will discuss about the culture of the famous Zulu tribe of Africa. Zulu is the largest ethnic group of Africa. It has a population of an estimated 10-11 million people, living mainly in the province of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. Their language is ‘isiZulu’. It is ‘Bantu language’, more specifically part of the ‘Nguni’ subgroup. Their importance is revealed by the fact that the Zulu Kingdom played a major role in South African History during the 19th and 20th centuries. At one time, Zulu people were classified as the third-class citizens and suffered from state sanctioned discrimination, now they are the most numerous ethnic group among the African tribes and share equal rights among all the other citizens. The Zulu are descendents from a chief from the Congo area. They migrated south in the 16th century, picking up many of the traditions of the San, who also inhabited this South African area. During the 17th and 18th centuries, as a result of the treaties made by many of their most powerful chiefs, the control of the Zulu villages was given to the British. As Zulu had a strong village government systems, so this created much of the conflict and they fought against the British, but could not win because of their small strength. Till 1879, much of the Zulu area was given under the British, but still, the Zulu as a whole decided not to be under British rule, so as a result, war erupted between the British and Zulu. Although the result was in favor of Zulu, as they won the war, but within six months, they were conquered by the British, who exiled the Zulu Kings and divided up the Zulu kingdom. In 1906, another Zulu uprising was lead, continuing their try