HTML5 Being Used to Develop Games

Question: How is HTML5 Being Used to Develop Games? Answer: Introduction HyperText Markup Language (HTML) is used to mark up pages on the World Wide Web (WWW). WWW has long outgrown its text-only origins (Peter, 2004), and the users of Internet and WWW demand more media-rich and interactive experiences. This advancement shows in the latest version of HTML, the HTML5 with its focus to allow for easier and efficient web applications development without third-party plugins (Sarris, 2013) in addition to supporting the existing markup ("HTML Design Principles", 2007). The new Application Programming Interface (API) launched with HTML5 allow for manipulating media and for functionalities in the native browser itself. The APIs introduced in HTML include Canvas, Full Screen, Web Audio API, WebGL, Geolocation, Indexed Database, File, and others (Patel, n.d.). The new technologies available in HTML5 allow for the creation of applications which mimic the standard applications which are installed on a device like Android (apps) or Windows (applications). Such capabil ities include video games also. A video game is an interactive game played using specialised equipment ("the definition of video game", n.d.). The attraction of Web technologies is that they do not discriminate or have favourites (Beckerle, 2016). Web technologies like Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), HTML, XML (eXtensible Markup Language), and JavaScript are standard. These technologies behave the same across platforms (like Android, iOS, Linux and other operating systems) and devices (computers, mobiles, televisions, game consoles and other devices which support Web browsing). This universal approach has the huge benefit of developing the product (website, web application, or a game) once and have it work across so many platforms and devices. The cost and time savings in developing video games in HTML5 (Chong, 2017) is one of the reasons why the businesses and developer community is taking an interest in developing games in HTML5. This paper explores how HTML5 is being used to develop games. Background Video games are a lucrative business (Cox, 2014). The recent addition of new platforms in the way of mobile devices has not cut into the domains of consoles or computers (Needleman, 2016) but has created a new market of smaller and quick-to-complete-levels video games. The mobile devices have brought new demographics like children, housewives and the elderly to the video gaming industry. As discussed earlier, the number of platforms and operating systems pose a business decision as to which combinations of platform/operating system to support and budget/time. Web technologies allow bypassing this dilemma by being equally accessible on all of the financially important platforms and operating systems. This combination of business opportunity, efficiency in developing a game, and a universal technology brings us to the topic of this paper - how is HTML5 being used to develop video games and this will be answered in the next section. Answers to the Research Questions Games are developed using HTML5 by utilising the APIs released in this version of HTML. These APIs enable the various aspects of a game like the display of graphics, interaction with user input, audio. Specifically, a game developer wishing to develop games in HTML5 would be interested in the Full Screen, Gamepad, Typed Arrays, HTML audio, WebGL, Indexed Database, WebRTC, WebSockets, Web Workers, Pointer Lock, AJAX, File, SVG and the core HTML, CSS and JavaScript technologies. As per the drawing of graphics, a developer has the option to choose among Canvas, SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics), or a combination of both. Either option is suited for a particular scenario (Rousset, n.d.). A canvas element is like a bitmap image in that once the picture is drawn in the Web browser, the result is unintelligible to the browser and cannot allow for detailed control of the various parts that made the original image. Canvas will have issues when zoomed in or displayed on higher resolution displays than the one for which it was originally designed. The SVG is infinitely scalable and thus does not have any issues like pixelation. An SVG element gets attached to the Document Object Model (DOM) and thus allows for fine-tuning using CSS as well as JavaScript. Canvas only supports JavaScript. However, the canvas is fast, and SVG is slow. For developing a game, a combination of both - having the best of both worlds - is recommended (Dengler, 2011). Regarding audio, due to the considerations for mobile devices, certain roadblocks are present in the current implementations of Web browsers ("Audio for Web games", 2015). These issues are not problems per se and think about the user first, which is a good thing e.g. mobile browsers disallow preloading a video to help avoid any unwanted mobile data usage. Audio sprites, Audio API and AJAX, are used to manage the audio for the game. Animations are a core feature of even the simple games. Web technologies provide ways for efficient manipulation at a higher level than the native controls using libraries. These libraries are open-source and thus free and have the benefit of knowledge of programmers all over the world. Some of these libraries include Animator JS (Lord, n.d.) and Phaser. Even the craziest ideas in a game must be reliable i.e. every time the player initiates an identical set of actions the response must be identical to the previous time. For this, the game also requires reliable physics engine. Physics is essential for detecting collisions as well as managing projectiles (like in Angry Birds game). Popular engines of game development include Ninja Physics, Arcade Physics, P2. All of these are free-and-open-source. These are bundled in the Phaser library mentioned above. To enable the game to work without Internet connection, and to save game state locally, Indexed Database API is used. This API is designed for high-performance, can handle arbitrarily large amounts of data and uses indexes for fast searches ("IndexedDB API", 2016). All this data is stored on the user's device and is managed by the Web browser. Indexed Database is a transactional database system like the ones used by server-side technologies like MySQL. WebSockets technology is used to manage communication between the local copy of the game on player's device and the game server, possibly in real-time (as in online multiplayer games). What WebSockets does is open a live two-way communication line between the client and server, where the client can receive new responses without having to poll the server ("WebSockets", 2017). HTML and CSS are used to create the interface of the game and JavaScript is used to develop the functionality of the game. Existing games can also be ported to Web-based games using JavaScript libraries like Emscripten or Asm.js ("Introduction to game development for the Web", 2015). References Audio for Web games. (2015). Mozilla Developer Network. Retrieved 28 January 2017, from https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Games/Techniques/Audio_for_Web_Games Beckerle, M. (2016). Cross-Platform Desktop Apps Development Using Web Technologies | Making Sense Blog. Making Sense. Retrieved 28 January 2017, from https://blog.makingsense.com/2016/09/cross-platform-desktop-apps-development-using-web-technologies/ Patel, V. A 5 minute overview of all new JavaScript APIs in HTML5. Htmlgoodies.com. Retrieved 28 January 2017, from https://www.htmlgoodies.com/html5/javascript/a-5-minute-overview-of-all-new-javascript-apis-in-html5.html Chong, B. (2017). Would a brand spend $20,000 to acquire 10,000 users? - MarketJS Blog. Marketjs.com. Retrieved 28 January 2017, from https://www.marketjs.com/blog/would-a-brand-spend-$20000-to-acquire-10000-users Cox, K. (2014). Its Time To Start Treating Video Game Industry Like The $21 Billion Business It Is. Consumerist. Retrieved 28 January 2017, from https://consumerist.com/2014/06/09/its-time-to-start-treating-video-game-industry-like-the-21-billion-business-it-is/ Dengler, P. (2011). Thoughts on when to use Canvas and SVG. IEBlog. Retrieved 28 January 2017, from https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/ie/2011/04/22/thoughts-on-when-to-use-canvas-and-svg/ HTML Design Principles. (2007). W3.org. Retrieved 28 January 2017, from https://www.w3.org/TR/html-design-principles/#conformance IndexedDB API. (2016). Mozilla Developer Network. Retrieved 28 January 2017, from https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/IndexedDB_API Lord, C. Files master Chris Lord / Animator Js. GitLab. Retrieved 28 January 2017, from https://gitlab.com/Cwiiis/animator-js/tree/master Introduction to game development for the Web. (2015). Mozilla Developer Network. Retrieved 28 January 2017, from https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Games/Introduction Needleman, S. (2016). Mobile-Game Revenue to Surpass Console and PC, Study Says. WSJ. Retrieved 28 January 2017, from https://www.wsj.com/articles/mobile-game-revenue-to-surpass-console-and-pc-study-says-1461265949 Peter, I. (2004). History of the world wide web. Nethistory.info. Retrieved 28 January 2017, from https://www.nethistory.info/History%20of%20the%20Internet/web.html Rousset, D. The Complete Guide to Building HTML5 games with Canvas SVG. Htmlgoodies.com. Retrieved 28 January 2017, from https://www.htmlgoodies.com/html5/client/the-complete-guide-to-building-html5-games-with-canvas-svg.html#fbid=UrnTyicA88C Sarris, S. (2013). Important Concepts for HTML5 | The Goals of HTML5 | InformIT. Informit.com. Retrieved 28 January 2017, from https://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=2090300 the definition of video game. Dictionary.com. Retrieved 28 January 2017, from https://www.dictionary.com/browse/video-game WebSockets. (2017). Mozilla Developer Network. Retrieved 28 January 2017, from https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/WebSockets_API

Yeats Use of Symbolism in Leda and the Swan and the Second Coming Essay Example

Yeats Use of Symbolism in Leda and the Swan and the Second Coming Essay Yeats, a somewhat eclectic poet, explores, throughout his work, a wide range of themes and ideas. He reflects on his nation’s politics, Irish mysticism, the afterlife, love, and his own past. While each set of his poems share many recurring images, however, it is Yeats’ examination and opinions of the gyres of time and history that crop up in all forms of his poetry. While references to this great spiraling metaphor for the fabric of the universe can be found in some of Yeats’ most famous works, such as ‘Sailing to Byzantium’, ‘Long-legged Fly’ and ‘Easter 1916’, to name just a few, it is an aspect of his poetry which is relevant to almost all of his writing. However, it is in Yeats’ apocalyptic poems, ‘Leda and the Swan’ and ‘The Second Coming’ that this metaphor for the history of time is most explored. The poems relate the tales of two points in time that Yeats feels to be important turning points in history, epicenters of calamity and destruction, as the stability of civilization in torn apart and humanity enters a new era of was and horror. The first of the poems, ‘The Second Coming’, was written in 1920 and the very title indicates to the reader something of sinister nature, and links in very much with the final chapter of the Bible, Revelations, which acts as a foresight of judgment day. We will write a custom essay sample on Yeats Use of Symbolism in Leda and the Swan and the Second Coming specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Yeats Use of Symbolism in Leda and the Swan and the Second Coming specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Yeats Use of Symbolism in Leda and the Swan and the Second Coming specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer It is also possible that the tragedies of World War One, which had only ended two years prior to the printing of the poem, also influenced Yeats’ lack of optimism about a long future peace. From line one, Yeats talks of a â€Å"widening gyre†, â€Å"turning and turning† as history, past, present, and future, revolves slowly. The great gyres referred to by Yeats are used to represent his view that a single miniscule point in history can spiral outward exponentially to cause great long term catastrophe. Yeats also notions toward his beliefs in the link between mysticism and astrology as the â€Å"turning and turning† represents the spinning planets, along with the 23 phases of the moon, each of which, Yeats believed, corresponded to an epoch in time. Another metaphor s then employed as we are told of how â€Å"the falcon cannot hear the falconer†. Here, Yeats uses the image of the falconer to represent some kind of order and structure, possible God, or possibly simply the rational part of man. However, the stability which this entity should be commanding , the falcon, is no longer at ne with him. It has spiraled outward again and again to achieve such great hights that that it had in fact lost touch with its master. This catastrophe this build up had lead to is then unleashed as â€Å"Things fall apart† and â€Å"the center cannot hold†. This collapse then triggers one devastating conclusion: â€Å"Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world†. Yeats uses oxymoronic juxtaposition to startle and almos confuse the reader. By talking of â€Å"mere anarchy†, Yeats throws so much that is settled in the readers mind to the wall/ The two words bring with them images of utterly destroyed buildings, cities, live and civilizations as an end comes to humanity. Yeats then talks of a â€Å"blood-dimmed tide† also being â€Å"loosed†, and this repetition of the word â€Å"loosed† establishes a feeling that this havoc is no new creation, but something which had been locked away in the vaults of time and will now once again bring death of the earth. Stanza two begins with proclamations warning of a coming doom: â€Å"Surely some revelation is at hand; Surely the Second Coming is at hand. The Second Coming! † This somewhat maddened calling of the apocalypse is haunting to say the least. The repetition of â€Å"surely†¦at hand† brings with it a feeling that Yeats is not just assuming this horrific future is possible, but also that he knows, for sure, that it is on its way. The call is also one of fear in itself. He knows it’s coming, but he cannot accept it. As word of the second coming is utters, Yeats talks of how â€Å"Hardly those words are out/When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi/Troubles my sight†. Yeats, falling into some kind of trance, begins to describe the scene as an awesome sight grows before him. He talks of â€Å"A shape with a lion body and the head of a man/A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun†. The creature described is, of course, the form of the ancient Egyptian sphinx. This metaphor is far stronger than the one of the falcon, as the great beast begins â€Å"moving it’s slow thighs†. The creature represents an antichrist, a further image of this destruction of man. The blank and pitiless gaze it gives emphasizes its lack of human emotion, and the brutal nature of its task. The, all of a sudden, â€Å"darkness drops†, and the vision is over. Reflecting on what he saw, Yeats talks of the â€Å"nightmare† to come, and that for the â€Å"rough beast, its hour come round at last†. Overall, the poem sets out clearly what Yeats truly believes as the future for mankind. The structure is also worthy of note. Usually, Yeats stuck strongly to established rhyme schemes and stanza structures, however, in this poem he choses not to. While stanza one 8 lines, the second is 14, and this emphasizes to some extent the lack of clarity in Yeats’ vision, as his description what he saw flows out of him almost uncontrollably. Also, the lack of rhyme scheme indicates once more the havoc and ruggedness of events to come, although word repetition does connote a feeling of the slowly turning gyre, turning round and round endlessly. The second of the two poems, ‘Leda and the Swan’, takes us back to the first era of destruction, cruelty and war, before the epoch of Christianity. It tells the mythical tale of Leda being raped by the Greek god Zeus, in the form of a swan, an action that supposedly lead to the birth of Helen of Troy. Later, Helen’s kidnap triggered the Trojan Wars, an era of fighting, death and misery that apparently spanned from, Yeats believed, around 2000 BC until the arrival of Christianity. Yeats therefore uses this to reinforce his belief that the epochs of time fluctuate between one of peace and one of destruction. Leda and the Swan’, however, unlike ‘The Second Coming’, does not focus so much on the occurrences of the period which it the rape caused, but on the rape itself. Yeats begins describing an image of power: â€Å"A sudden blow: the great wings beating still†. The abruptness of the beginning, the â€Å"sudden blow†, brings to us a n image of the swift swan, with Leda helpless to resist. Its â€Å"great wings† are an image of both beauty and power, and this is emphasized further as we are told of the â€Å"staggering girl† the swan is overpowering. Her innocent nature is exposed as she tries to flee the scene, but Zeus is too powerful. Yeats describes the rape further, with deepening detail, as â€Å"her thighs caressed/By the dark webs, her nape caught in his bill/he holds her helpless breast upon his breast†. This vivid commentary explains to the reader the violence Zeus inflicts while taking advantage of Leda. He â€Å"helpless† breast is crushed, as Zeus metaphorically crushed the coming future of mankind. In stanza two the reader is faced with two rhetorical questions. Firstly, we are asked, â€Å"How can those terrified vague fingers push/The feathered glory from her loosening thighs? The question poses the though, that neither physically, nor mentally, could Leda reject Zeus. His power, his ‘glory’ and his status all ensure this, and her â€Å"loosening thighs† confirm an end to her protest as she accepts Zeus inside her. This acceptance and embracement of Zeus suggests that, just like when the second coming arrives, we must accept the power of fate, as protest will bring n o benefits. A second question then follows up the first, â€Å"how can body, laid in that white rush/ But feel the strange heart beating where it lies? † Here, Yeats ponders if anybody really could bring themselves to escape the situation. He challenges any idea that Leda could help herself from being raped, as she could do nothing to oppose the rape. The final stanza then moves back to the vivid description, as â€Å"a shudder in the loins† brings a point of orgasm. This climax to the entire poem, is both representative of the orgasm itself, the point when Leda first becomes impregnated with Helen, and also foreshadows the horrific era in history which follows the birth. We are told of hoe this moment of ecstasy â€Å"engenders there/ The broken wall, the burning roof and tower†, and the idea of how changing of future this single moment would be it is made more clear. At that very instant, the seed of a new gyre is also planted, one that will expand outward until it bring incomprehensible damage to mankind. Also, the phallic symbol of the â€Å"tower† enforces once again the idea of Zeus’ great stature as a being of immense power. We are told also of how the rape also results in Agamemnon, a leader in the Trojan wars, a son of a King, dying. His death occurred whilst Helen was kidnapped, and therefore Yeats links it with the event of the rape. Yeats then continues the same stanza on the next line, and indented. This interruption signifies, also, how the rape causes a rift in the stability of man. If forces an almost new beginning, but not a completely refreshed one, as the Stanza and topic remain the same. This idea is also emphasized by the fact that the final stanza, the pinnacle of the rape, is two lines longer than the others, and features a rhyme scheme of ABCABC, rather than the simple ABAB of the previous two. These things also interrupt the flow of the poem, and the flow of the future life of man. The final lines leave a poignant message. â€Å"Being so caught up/So mastered by the brute blood of the air/Did she put on his knowledge with his power/Before the indifferent beak could let her drop? † Firstly, Zeus’ great manliness is reinforced, but it is the Yeats’ use of the rhetorical question that is once again magnificently effective. It asks whether Leda, in accepting the rape, knew of its consequences, or was she told of them by Zeus. This is a stark statement as obviously it had only previously suggested that Zeus had known what he was doing, and Leda been fully innocent. Also, the comment about Zeus’ indifference finally sums up the attitude of how, despite his knowledge of all that was to follow, he cared not for the people’s sufferings that were to come about as a result of his own actions. Overall, the two poems give a deep insight into how Yeats’ viewed the world, viewed history, and viewed the future. His fascination with the Gyre system is portrayed deeply in the second coming, and his calls of the apocalypse are almost akin to that of a raving madman. However, it is more than a flow of random words, his effective repetition of particular words and points, along with a deeply descriptive metaphor of times to come, give the poem a multitude of levels into which we can read. The horrors, although described in no more than two short stanzas, are brought so vividly to the mind of the reader that they cannot help but feel fear for mankind’s future. Leda and Swan acts almost as proof of how events can trigger these epochs of utter destruction, as the deep insight into how a violent act can begin a long period of war and suffering, and Yeats’ no doubt feels that either World War One, or some violent act to come, which was obviously well on its was due to political turmoil in Europe, could spark off a long term period of war.

Greek Eros and Philia Love Magic

Greek Eros and Philia Love Magic Classical scholar Christopher Faraone writes about love among the ancient Greeks. He looks at evidence from erotic charms, spells. and potions to form a mixed picture of what relations between the sexes were really like. In this article, we use Farones information to explain the common uses of love magic between ancient Greek men and women. But first, a small digression to introduce terms used for love: Brotherly Love; Gods Love; Romantic love; Parents Love The following online discussion argues that the reason English speakers are confused about love is that we dont have enough words for it. Writer A:I recently read: Sanskrit has ninety-six words for love; ancient Persian has eighty; Greek three; and English only one.The author thought it was symbolic of the devaluation of the feeling function in the West. Writer B:Interesting, but I think English speakers do know the 96 forms of love - they just jam it into one word! The Greek words were eros, agape, and philia, right? See, we all use those definitions, but in the same word. Eros is a romantic, sexual hormone-raging love. Agape is a deep, connecting, brotherly love. Philia is a...hmm...I think necrophilia and pedophilia explain it.That is why we are all confused over what love is, since we have dozens of definitions for it! Agape and Philia vs. Eros We native speakers of English distinguish between lust and love but tend to get confused when we look at the Greek distinction between: eros andagape orphilia Affection as Love While it is easy to understand agape as the love one feels towards friends, family, and animals, we think of the mutual affection we feel towards our mates as different. Affection and Passion The agape (or philia) of the Greeks included affection, and also the sexual passion felt towards our mates, according to the University of Chicagos Christopher A. Faraone. Eros, however, was new, disorienting passion, conceived of as an attack of unwelcome lust, aptly represented as inflicted by the arrow-wielding god of love. Black and White Love Magic When we talk about black magic, we mean spells or voodoo practices designed to hurt someone else; by white, we mean spells or charms whose aim is to heal or help, often connected with medicinal herbs and other holistic or non-traditional healing practices. From our perspective, the ancient Greeks used black and white magic to arm themselves in the arena of love. Black magic: There were magical effigies much like those used today by practitioners of voodoo. The practitioner of this aggressive magic would cast an incantation and poke or burn the effigy in an effort to affect the person represented. The intention was to make the woman represented suffer the pangs of lust to the point that she would leave her family. The practitioner might invoke Eros, Pan, Hekate, or Aphrodite.White magic: Practitioners applied herbs to make an errant lover return or to restore harmony to a dysfunctional relationship. She might invoke Selene, Helios, or Aphrodite. Both types of love magic usually involved spells or incantations, but the type were referring to as black is more closely related to curse tablets than the other, more benign, love magic. The difference between these two types of magic is based on the difference between the two types of love, eros and philia. Gender-Based Love Magics Faraone distinguishes these two types of love, eros and philia, and their related magics as overwhelmingly gender-based. Men used the eros-based agoge spells [agolead] designed to lead women to them; women, the philia spells. Men used the spells to make women burn with passion. Women used the spells as aphrodisiacs. Men tied up their effigies and tortured them. They used incantations, tortured animals, burning, and apples. Women spread ointments on the clothing of their mates or sprinkled herbs in food. They also used incantations, knotted cords, and love potions. Theocritus Iunx The gender division isnt absolute. The iunx is said to have been a small, sexually rapacious bird which Greek men would tie on a wheel and then torture, in the hopes of filling the objects of their lust with burning, irresistible passion. In Theocritus second Idyll, its not a man, but a woman who uses an iunx as a magical object for an agoge spell. She repeatedly chants: Iunx, bring my man home. Mythology and Modern Love Magic in Pill Form While the agoge spells, the ones men usually used on women, resemble voodoo and seem like what we call black magic, the philia spells could also be deadly. As is the nature of many herbs, you only need a little. When the mythological Deianeira used the centaurs ointment on Hercules garment, it was as a philia spell, to keep Heracles from abandoning her for his new love, Iole (cf Women of Trachis). Although we do not know, perhaps a drop would not have killed him; however, the amount Deianeira used proved fatal. The ancient Greeks did not distinguish magic from medicine, as we claim to do. The need for erotic (whether agoge or philia) magic has long extended into domestic life where the wife of an impotent man (or the man himself) might invoke a bit of philia magic. Viagras popularity attests to the fact that we still practice magic miracle cures. Source Faraone, Christopher A., Ancient Greek Love Magic. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1999.

Battle of Fort Henry in the Civil War

Battle of Fort Henry in the Civil War The Battle of Fort Henry took place February 6, 1862, during the American Civil War (1861-1865) and was one of the first actions of  Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grants campaign in Tennessee. With the start of the Civil War, Kentucky declared neutrality and stated it would align against the first side to violate its territory. This occurred on September 3, 1861, when Confederate Major General Leonidas Polk directed troops under Brigadier General Gideon J. Pillow to occupy Columbus, KY on the Mississippi River. Responding to the Confederate incursion, Grant took the initiative and dispatched Union troops to secure Paducah, KY at the mouth of the Tennessee River two days later.   A Wide Front As events were unfolding in Kentucky, General Albert Sidney Johnston received orders on September 10 to assume command of all Confederate forces in the west. This required him to defend a line extending from the Appalachian Mountains west to the frontier. Lacking sufficient troops to hold the entirety of this distance, Johnston was compelled to disperse his men into smaller armies and attempt to defend those areas through which Union troops were likely to advance. This cordon defense saw him order Brigadier General Felix Zollicoffer to hold the area around the Cumberland Gap in the east with 4,000 men while in the west, Major General Sterling Price defended Missouri with 10,000 men. The center of the line was held by Polks large command which, due to Kentuckys neutrality earlier in the year, was based closer to the Mississippi. To the north, an additional 4,000 men led by Brigadier General Simon B. Buckner held Bowling Green, KY. To further protect central Tennessee, construction of two forts had commenced earlier in 1861. These were Forts Henry and Donelson which guarded the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers respectively. The locations for the forts were determined by Brigadier General Daniel S. Donelson and while the placement for the fort bearing his name was sound, his choice for Fort Henry left much to be desired. Construction of Fort Henry An area of low, swampy ground, the location of Fort Henry provided a clear field of fire for two miles down the river but was dominated by hills on the far shore. Though many officers opposed the location, construction on the five-sided fort began with slaves and the 10th Tennessee Infantry providing the labor. By July 1861, guns were being mounted in the forts walls with eleven covering the river and six protecting the landward approaches. Named  for Tennessee Senator Gustavus Adolphus Henry Sr., Johnston had desired to give command of the forts to Brigadier General Alexander P. Stewart but was overruled by Confederate President Jefferson Davis who instead selected Maryland native Brigadier General Lloyd Tilghman in December.  Assuming his post, Tilghman saw Fort Henry reinforced with a smaller fortification, Fort Heiman, which was constructed on the opposite bank. In addition, efforts were made to place torpedoes (naval mines) in the shipping channel near the fort. Armies Commanders Union Brigadier General Ulysses S. GrantFlag Officer Andrew Foote15,000 men7 ships Confederate Brigadier General Lloyd Tilghman3,000-3,400 Grant and Foote Move As the Confederates worked to complete the forts, Union commanders in the west were under pressure from President Abraham Lincoln to take offensive action. While Brigadier General George H. Thomas defeated Zollicoffer at the Battle of Mills Springs in January 1862, Grant was able to secure permission for a thrust up the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. Advancing with around 15,000 men in two divisions led Brigadier Generals John McClernand and Charles F. Smith, Grant was supported by Flag Officer Andrew Footes Western Flotilla of four ironclads and three timberclads (wooden warships). A Swift Victory Pressing up the river, Grant and Foote elected to strike at Fort Henry first. Arriving in the vicinity on February 4, Union forces began going ashore with McClernands division landing north of Fort Henry while Smiths men landed on the western shore to neutralize Fort Heiman. As Grant moved forward, Tilghmans position had become tenuous due to the forts poor location. When the river was at normal levels, the forts walls stood around twenty feet high, but heavy rains had led water levels to rise dramatically flooding the fort. As a result, only nine of the forts seventeen guns were usable. Realizing that the fort could not be held, Tilghman ordered Colonel Adolphus Heiman to lead the bulk of the garrison to the east to Fort Donelson and abandoned Fort Heiman. By February 5, only a party of gunners and Tilghman remained. Approaching Fort Henry the next day, Footes gunboats advanced with the ironclads in the lead. Opening fire, they exchanged shots with the Confederates for around seventy-five minutes. In the fighting, only USS Essex suffered meaningful damage when a shot hit its boiler as the low trajectory of the Confederate fire played into the strength of the Union gunboats armor. Aftermath With the Union gunboats closing and his fire largely ineffective, Tilghman decided to surrender the fort. Due to the flooded nature of the fort, a boat from the fleet was able to row directly into the fort to take Tilghman to USS Cincinnati. A boost to Union morale, the capture of Fort Henry saw Grant capture 94 men. Confederate losses in the fighting numbered around 15 killed and 20 wounded. Union casualties totaled around 40, with the majority aboard USS Essex. The capture of the fort opened the Tennessee River to Union warships. Quickly taking advantage, Foote dispatched his three timberclads to raid upstream. Gathering his forces, Grant began moving his army the twelve miles to Fort Donelson on February 12. Over the next several days, Grant won the Battle of Fort Donelson and capturing over 12,000 Confederates. The twin defeats at Forts Henry and Donelson knocked a gaping hole in Johnstons defensive line and opened Tennessee to Union invasion. Large-scale fighting would resume in April when Johnston attacked Grant at the Battle of Shiloh.

Argyle Diamonds Strategic Business Plan Case Study

Argyle Diamonds Strategic Business Plan - Case Study Example Companies should have successful competitive strategies to be able to attract, retain and grow customers. However, before the company can plan and execute these strategies, it should be able to pinpoint its sources of competitive advantage which can be differentiated through products, services, channels, people and to age (Kotler & Armstrong, 2001). Since the market is in the international orientation, the advertisers should keep in mind the differences that are distinct between and among the target market from different cultural backgrounds which may significantly affect the effectivity of the campaign. The fact is, there may be ideas that will not be applicable across the diverse target market population. Studies on the relationship of consumer behavior and their personal values and cultural orientation as well as their beliefs on certain principles, the dispositions they hold and the side they take on political, gender and social problems and issues should be duly accorded. Moreover, other elements, such as understanding the right target audience for a product or service, an indeed, researching such an audience in considerable depth, are equally important. Similarly, even if the appropriate channels are known and understood, the content of the messaging and communications developed for those channels, and that audience, or nature of critical importance. Such channels, for example, will include TV advertising, or an outdoor campaign. Advocates of such channels will argue with justification, that media can now be bought to give a highly articulate degree of one to one targeting, but more importantly the inclusion within messaging across these channels of a telephone number, email address, or website, fulfill our requirement to develop one to one dialogue (Elgar, 2003).

Statement of purpose 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Statement of purpose 3 - Essay Example However, these challenges are not to deter me from continuing with the quest I have vowed to purposefully accomplish in my chosen career which is to teach a foreign language, specifically English to my fellow-Kuwaiti people to advance their own dreams. Teaching has always been a part of me coming from a family of teachers with my father being a Mathematics teacher in intermediate school and my mother, a Kindergarten teacher. Looking up to my parents’ examples, I value the affects one could make in teaching like one anonymous writer said, ‘A good teacher is like a candle- it consumes itself to light the way for others’. My parents and other teachers helped in the molding of my young mind into the person that I am now, a passionate mind voracious to knowledge, ready to be consumed for the process of teaching to continue in my own small way. Teachers allowed themselves to be consumed and were able to bear fruit, building lives that are stable and goal-focused. These, I have seen in my parents, teachers and my personal making as my professors mentioned in their recommendation letters on my behalf describing me as hard-working and a team-player. In addition, they look at me as a student of high moral principles who also displayed a good level of oral and written English communication skills. ... This is the very reason why I like to enroll in the Masters degree in the United Kingdom so I would be exposed to native speakers as well as teachers who have been well-trained to train foreign educators like me. Looking at the programs offered by the University of Brighton, I am drawn to enroll in this prestigious school as it perfectly fits the needs I have right now. I like the idea of being educated in the issues related to English language teaching, exploring in-depth aspects of English and the theory and practice of language teaching in relation to the international context which the school program offers. Its analytical and investigative skills development program also poses a great challenge and excitement to me because I am well aware that research is one difficult task nevertheless, it also is a very educational endeavor that I believe would enhance my analytical abilities. The course structure caught my attention and interest because I know that with the program, my skills would be all the more sharpened as I read quality materials with the guidance of efficient professors as well as with the help of diverse students whom I could learn from. Studying in such a respected university with tried and tested programs would be to me an honor and a privilege because I know that the University of Brighton would not only be recognized because of its location but more so with the quality of education she offers. Being a current employee of the Ministry of Education in Kuwait as an English teacher in intermediate school who just started by the last quarter of last year, I have seen my need for a higher education which I would like to take in the United Kingdom for reasons earlier mentioned. I

Review Literary Terms, Eng 125 Essay Example for Free

Review Literary Terms, Eng 125 Essay Imagination is the power to create. It is the key component to literature. Without imagination, there wont be an interesting story, I believe. Imagination is not only important to the writer, it helps the reader broaden their interpretation of the story. When you allow reading to unlock your imagination, your connection sets the stage for intellectual engagement. It allows the experience of reading literature to include the pursuit of ideas and knowledge. (Clugston, R. W 2010). With imagination comes genre. Choosing what category or type of literature. It can be a short story, poem, or drama. It can be used to make broad distinctions or to identify specific categories within a broad category. The short story and the novel, for example, are specific literary genres within the broad category of fiction. (Clugston, R. W. 2010). I think another very important component to literature is the tone. Setting the tone will let the reader know what attitude the literary work is going. For example, the final lines in Updikes poem create an initial feeling of sympathy, which is likely to become empathy if the reader reflects on the dogs predicament in not being able to communicate its final struggle. (Clugston, R. W 2010). Tone is followed by image. Image represents the experience that go through your senses, the idea. Writers use specific language to describe the imagery. Again, in Frosts and Updikes poems about the dog, In Frosts image of an old dog theres an initial feeling of sadness, but if the reader reflects on what the poem has to say about the inevitable life cycle that both the dog and the speaker face, sadness is likely to fade somewhat into acceptance. Reference Clugston, R. W. (2010). Journey into literature. San Diego, California: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.