Terrorism 5.4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Terrorism 5.4 - Essay Example In the early history of terrorism, to be killed by invaders meant there was a great reward waiting for you in heaven as presented by suicidal martyrdom. This dates back to thousands of years in most religions and societies. Terrorism against an enemy can therefore be viewed as an act of religion. However it is viewed as crime against humanity by the victims of an attack. In the modern terrorism, it has been a tool used by both sides of colonial conflicts mainly in the mid-20th century. The frequency of religion based terrorism gained roots in the last 20 years of 20th century hence becoming more and more frequent. There is also another kind of terrorism today that brings about destruction to industrial and agricultural systems. This can be termed as economic terrorism. The underground mass transit system is a vulnerable place for a suicide bomb attack. This is because in these subways there is life and vibrancy especially during week days when people are scrambling to get to work on time. The number of commuters that could potentially lose their lives is alarmingly high making it a possible threat. The international airports area also poses a potential site for terrorism. This is because of the many inbounding and out bounding flights every day. This gives a chance to any terrorist who would want to bomb the area by strapping it to his body. The aircraft may also be skyjacked and be forced to land in a country to the terrorists. The terrorist may also fire indiscriminately and throw grenades to the thousands of people in the airport. Terrorists may also target large public areas like the major university which contains a big number of students, the convention center that attract tourists and the campus football stadium that holds a large number of football fans. This can be done by sneaking in the bomb amidst the large masses of people or throwing grenades. They could also execute it by kidnapping some of the students. Another possible

Trouble in Paradise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Trouble in Paradise - Essay Example This is one of Lubitsch’s best and the most favorite film and had chosen the main character because he liked to ‘rehabilitate obscure European plays’. It was a great box office success and had won critical appreciations from the critics. The popular genre of screwball comedy of the 1930s in Hollywood was given a new dimension by Lubitsch in this film. While the normal screwball films were racy slapstick romantic comedies that just hinted subtly at sex and united the lovers only at the end, ‘Trouble in Paradise’ reveled in sexual innuendoes and larceny. The two main characters of the film were lovers as well as partners in crime whose dedication for their work was equaled only by their passion for each other. Throughout the film, with suggestive dialogues delivered with orchestrated grace and finesse, Lubitsch has not only expanded the idea of thievery into a glamorized activity, he has also shown that sexual exploits can also become intrinsic part of the overall plot. All the works of Lubitsch have his special signature ‘Lubitsch touch’ that never fails to keep his audience very firmly to the ground realities. This film too has its share. In fact, at the start of the film itself, the romantic gondola of Venice is shown as a carrier of garbage! Indeed, the juxtaposition of the extreme is the highlight of Lubitsch films which he carries with aplomb. The film is representative of the artifice that a man is forced to portray in order to accomplish his nefarious intentions. Posing as aristocratic Baron, made it easier for Gaston to fool his intended victim, Madame Mariette Colet and steal her riches. He was an honest thief because he had accepted the fact unlike ‘Giron’, accountant of Colet, who had been ripping his boss for years and yet always pretended to be her well wisher. He even wanted to report Gaston to the police for the same crime that he had been committing for years! The film

Film journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Film journal - Essay Example The experience comes over a period, and it is born out of creative and the technical expertise, and above all the love for the job of film production with the ability to choose the right talent. For a film to be able to realize itself, the producer will have the responsibility of assessing the film to ensure it is to the expected level. He will tend to the film from the time of conception to the time it will be completed. The producer will serve as the organizer of the film, and he will provide a good environment so that the entire team that is involved in the production of the film can flourish for the good of the film. Most films made in Hollywood the producers are the decision makers during studio system. This is because they supervise a variety of films at the same time, controlling the stories, the budgets and the overall production taking care of each aspect of the production on a whole, thereby being responsible for the fate of the entire films. Producers are responsible for t he development of ideas, and once they are attached to the idea, they put around the right team and go ahead to supervise the entire functioning. For instance, Irving Thalberg, who was once famously involved in over a hundred productions. David O. Selznick, the producer of ‘Rebecca’ was instrumental in bringing Alfred Hitchcock to Hollywood to direct the film because of Hitchcock’s expertise with thriller-suspense cinema. Hitchcock took charge of the film and was so good with his work that Selznick famously said that the only director he can ever trust a film with was Hitchcock. The producer, in some instances such as the one mentioned above, might have a situation that is fragmented. The producer, in such a situation, will have many associates with him so that they may help him with his tasks. In other instances, he may not be the sole producer of the film and instead have many producers with him, and each of them will be performing different roles for the produ ction. One of the producers will be in charge of the business activities while the other can handle creative responsibilities in the production of the film. One of the producers, on the other hand, can be a major investor and, therefore, may not be directly involved in the production of the film. A co-producer may buy the script or the film’s star to the production, on the other hand. Martin Scorsese’s film of ‘The Aviator’ had four producers – Michael Mann, Graham King, Sandy Climan, and Charles Evans Jr. - sharing the responsibilities. A producer is, therefore, responsible for providing the final film to the audience. He, therefore, enjoys the entire responsibility of the film. In several occasions, a writer, star of a film, or a director will produce his own film for having a full artistic control of the film. The most spectacular and perilous example being of Francis Ford Coppola who was the co-writer, producer and director of his most famous fi lm ‘Apocalypse now’. Producing children films have a different experience because the producer usually chooses to be attached to a specific project together with his team. Most of the children films have limited resources, and it is the responsibility of the producer to make the film possible. The producer will work together with his people, together with the director of the film and try to achieve the specific goal

Effect of Temperature on Vitamin C in Orange Juice

Effect of Temperature on Vitamin C in Orange Juice Abstract: This experiment was planned to study how different temperatures can affect the loss of vitamin C in orange juice stored for a fixed period of time. Equal volume of freshly squeezed orange juices with known (initial) vitamin C concentration were stored at different temperatures i.e. 10 °C, 20 °C, 30 °C, 40 °C, 50 °C and 60 °C for a constant duration of 5 days. After the storage period, the vitamin C concentration for each temperature was measured by DCPIP titration and the difference relative to the initial concentration was calculated to calculate the amount of vitamin C reduced. The result of this experiment showed that the amount of vitamin C lost increases with the increase in temperature and 10oC was the best temperature that gave the least reduction in vitamin C concentration. An analysis using Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient has revealed a strong positive linear relationship between the two variables with the calculated r value exceeds the critical va lue at 5 % significant level thus, supporting the experimental hypothesis. Vitamin C is a remarkable compound derived from one of the ascorbic enantiomers, L-ascorbate. It is a water soluble vitamin that cannot be naturally synthesized in human body.1 Therefore, it is vital to have our diet balanced with adequate amount of it every day. There are two important roles played by vitamin C; antioxidant and collagen formation.2 These two features have placed vitamin C in a class of its own as a future potential in fostering better health. A previous research regarding relationship between vitamin C and human brain has shown that vitamin C could help drugs to pass the blood brain barrier.6 This would enable brain diseases such as Parkinson to be effectively treated as artificial dopamine can be delivered directly to the brain. At the same time, the biggest challenge in bone marrow treatment i.e. getting enough cells, could possibly be solved as a recent study by Dunagqing Pei13 on vitamin C, has found that it can boost the production and pluripotency of stem cells in human body. However, Vitamin C is also known to be very vulnerable towards heat. The precursor of vitamin C, ascorbic acid, has molecular of C6H8O6. The proximity of highly electronegative oxygen atoms on the hydroxyl (OH) groups makes the hydrogen atoms to become easily detached from the structure. Meanwhile, the presence of heat causes the hydroxyl bond to break the ascorbic acid is said to undergo destruction or oxidation by losing hydrogen atoms, forming dehydroascorbic acid. Therefore, it is suggested that the rate of ascorbic acid destruction is significantly greater at higher temperature.* Most of the studies on vitamin C degradation are principally based on the effect of storage condition and period, and very few were done on identifying the degradation trend within a specific range of temperature. Previous research, on the effect of storage methods and conditions on vitamin C retention in human milk revealed that freezing reduces the least amount of vitamin C as compared to other storage methods, followed by refrigeration which is better than cold water. Another study at Ankara University, has shown an inverse relationship between temperature and retention rate of vitamin C in citrus fruit concentrates, while orange fruit was found to have higher retention ability than the others. Therefore, this experiment was aimed to find a specific trend regarding the effect of temperature on the loss of vitamin C. Citrus fruits (orange) were used in this experiment due to appreciable amount of vitamin C that they have, thus, increasing the reliability of the results. The results from this study can be used to illustrate how certain temperatures can cause drastic change in vitamin C hence, increasing the awareness on appreciating the effort of preserving vitamin C content in food for optimum health benefit. For instance, in agricultural tropical regions that grow citrus fruits, it becomes very vital to preserve the fruits at low temperature if possible due to higher chance of vitamin C destruction than other regions. Experimental Hypothesis: The higher the temperature, the higher the degradation of vitamin C in freshly squeezed orange juice. Null Hypothesis: There is no significant relationship between the different temperature and the degradation of vitamin C in freshly squeezed orange juice. PLANNING Five types of citrus fruits were randomly chosen, namel: lemon, lime, grapefruit, Clementine and orange. The fresh juice of each fruit was obtained through cutting and squeezing. The vitamin C content for each juice was determined by titration against 1 ml of 1 % DCPIP. The titration was repeated two times to get an average volume of the juice needed to decolourise DCPIP. The result: The least volume of orange was needed to decolourise DCPIP, indicating that it has the highest vitamin C content. Therefore, orange fruit was chosen as it would give significant response towards different temperatures. Determining the best storage period: Several orange fruits were squeezed to obtain fresh orange juice that would be enough for its vitamin C content to be measured on daily basis. Firstly, the initial vitamin C content of the juice was measured and 4.8 ml was needed to decolourise 1 ml of DCPIP solution. Equal volume of the remaining juice was divided into two beakers and each was stored in an incubator of different temperatures (10 °C and 60 °C). Two distinctive temperatures were chosen to allow easy comparison of the trend in each temperature. The result: The result shows no more change in volume of juice required after 5 days for 60 °C. Therefore, storage period of five days were chosen for the main experiment. MAIN EXPERIMENT Variables: Manipulated variable: Different temperatures (oC) (6 incubators were set at different temperatures of 10 °C, 20 °C 0, 30 °C, 40 °C, 50 °C and 60 °C) Responding variable: Amount of vitamin C lost (By DCPIP titration, the difference between initial and final vitamin C concentration in each juice was  calculated to determine the concentration of vitamin C reduced) Fixed variables : Storage period, volume and concentration of DCPIP, type of fruits (The storage period was five days. 1ml of 0.1% DCPIP  Used for each titration) Apparatus: Beakers, knife, test tubes, syringes, Parafilm, aluminium paper, incubators, mortar and pestle, measuring cylinder. Materials: Orange fruits, 1% dichlorophenolinophenol (DCPIP) solution, distilled water, 500 mg vitamin C tablet. Real Experimental Procedures: Standardizing Vitamin C Concentration: 1) A tablet of 500 mg vitamin C tablet was crushed into fine powders using a mortar and a pestle. 2) The powdery form of vitamin C was then dissolved into 100 ml of distilled water in a beaker to form 5 mg/ml of ascorbic solution. 3) 1 ml of 1% DCPIP solution was measured and placed into a test tube by using a syringe. 4) 1 ml of 5 mg/ml of ascorbic acid solution was then taken using a syringe and added drop by drop into the measured DCPIP solution until decolourised. 5) The volume of ascorbic acid solution needed to decolourise the DCPIP solution was recorded. 6) The titration process was repeater three times to get an average volume. The result of titration is as follows: Volume of Juice Titrated / ml Hence, 2.5 ml of 5 mg/ml of ascorbic acid solution was needed to decolourise 1 ml of 1% DCPIP solution To find a formula to calculate vitamin C concentration in orange juice, Conc. of orange juice (mg/ml) Vol. of orange juice (mg/ml) = 5 mg/ml 2.5 ml Since the volume needed to decolourise is proportional to vitamin C concentration. So. Conc. of orange juice (ml) 2.5 ml = 5 mg/ml Vol. of orange juice (mg/ml) 2.5 ml Concentration of orange juice (mg/ml) = X 5 mg/ml Vol. of orange juice (ml) Therefore, this calculation would be used to calculate the vitamin C concentration. Determining vitamin C loss: 10 orange fruits were cut and squeezed to obtain fresh juice. 1 ml of 1% DCPIP solution was measured and placed into a test tube by using a syringe. 1 ml syringe was filled with the orange juice and added drop by drop into the DCPIP solution until it decolourised. The volume of juice added was recorded. The titration was repeated five times to get an average volume and its vitamin C concentration was calculated using the derived formula. The juice was then divided into 6 equal volumes and each placed into 100 ml beaker. The top of each beaker was sealed with Parafilm and its surface was wrapped with aluminium paper and labelled with different temperatures. The beakers were placed in six incubators of different temperatures according to the label and left for five days. After five days, the beakers were sealed off. 1 ml of 1% DCPIP solution was measured and transferred into a test tube by using a syringe. The orange juice stored in 10 °C was taken by a syringe and added drop by drop into the DCPIP until it decolourised. The volume of juice added was recorded The titration was titrated three times to get an average volume and its vitamin C concentration was calculated using the formula: 2.5 ml Concentration of orange juice (mg/ml) = X 5 mg/ml Vol. of orange juice (ml) Steps 8-10 were repeated but this time using the orange juices stored in  °C, 30 °C, 40 °C, 50 °C and 60 °C. The difference between the initial concentration and the final concentration of each juice was calculated to determine the amount of vitamin C lost. Risk Assessment: The process of cutting the orange fruits required the use of knife, so it was done carefully to avoid any injury. The fruits were then squeezed very gently to minimise heat production. The juice was only prepared right before the experiment was about to be carried out. DCPIP is a strong dye which is hard to be removed so lab coat was worn. During the titration of juice against DCPIP, the test tube was not shaken vigorously to avoid oxygen from dissolving. The juice was discarded immediately after the experiment. Results: Statistical Analysis: Based on the result from the table, it is known that there is an obvious trend and correlation between the temperature and vitamin C loss. Therefore, Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient (PMCC) was chosen to measure the strength of this relationship. In this method, the value of correlation coefficient, r needs to be calculated which ranges from -1 to 1. The details of its values are as follow: Therefore, the value of correlation coefficient, r, using Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient has shown a strong positive linear relationship between temperatures and loss of vitamin C. Hence, null hypothesis is rejected. Data Analysis: Table 4 shows the volume of the freshly-squeezed orange juice needed to decolourise 1ml of 1% DCPIP solution. The average volume was used to calculate the concentration of vitamin C present initially. Meanwhile, Table 5 shows the amount of vitamin C concentration reduced after being stored at different temperatures for five days. From the table, there is an inverse relationship between the vitamin C concentration left and the amount of vitamin C lost. There is also a huge difference in the amount of vitamin C left between the juice stored in 10 oC andt the one stored at 60 oC, which is 2.11 mg/ml. This represents 77.6% of the original concentration of vitamin C. The calculated statistical correlation coefficient, r of 0.9584 is absolutely a strong indicator to support this relationship. Graph 1 illustrates the trends and correlation between the two variables. From the graph, it can be concluded that generally, the higher the temperature, the higher the amount of vitamin C lost. 10 oC is the best temperature that gave the least reduction in vitamin C level with only 0.12 mg/ml (4.4%) decrease after five days. Meanwhile, 60 oC caused maximum drop in concentration after five days with 2.23 mg/ml (82%) of vitamin C had lost. The largest gap in vitamin C loss occurred between 40 oC and 50 oC with 1 mg/ml (37%) of increase recorded. Based on the graph, the amount of degradation at 20 °C and 30 °C opposed the general trends when 0.6 mg/ml vitamin C had lost at 10 °C which is greater than 0.56 mg/ml at 30 °C. However, the difference is so small which suggests that this anomaly might be due to several reasons: Higher rate of oxidation of ascorbic acid by oxygen in the atmosphere. False end-point titration Apart from that, the results obtained have also shown that there is only a little change in vitamin C concentration from 10 °C to 30 °C. However, drastic change in concentration started to occur after 40 °C. This suggests that orange fruits should be kept below 30 °C with better vitamin C retention at lower temperature. Evaluation: From the results of the experiment, the huge difference in vitamin C lost between 40 °C and 50 °C could be explained by the presence of enzyme ascorbate oxidase in citrus fruits. The function of this enzyme is still not fully understood, but one best suggestion is that it might involve in controlling the oxidation process of ascorbic acid.12 Just like any other enzymes, when the optimum temperature is exceeded, the bonds holding the ascorbate oxidase together start to break and it is said to be denatured. Therefore, the destruction of ascorbic acid takes place without any control. Measurement of vitamin C in this experiment was done by titrating the juice against dichlorophenolindophenol (DCPIP). It is a strong oxidizing agent with distinctive blue colour and decolourised when being reduced by vitamin C.15 Therefore, the destruction of vitamin C by heat means that more is needed to decolourise DCPIP solution. Oxidation of DCPIP by oxygen in the atmosphere is one of the limitations of this experiment. Hence, the test tubes were not shaken vigorously during titration in order to minimise this limitation as vigorous moves can increase the rate of oxygen dissolving in a solution. The other limitation could be the side decomposition of vitamin C due to the presence of light and air. Just like temperature, ultraviolet ray from incidence light causes the hydroxyl bond in ascorbic acid to break, thus become oxidised. To reduce this limitation, the beakers containing orange juice to be stored at different temperatures were neatly wrapped with aluminium paper which is a good reflector of light and heat. The surfaced of the beakers were also sealed with Parafilm. This would prevent the entry of air and significantly reduce unnecessary oxidation of vitamin C in the juice. Several modifications can be made in the future to improve the accuracy and reliability of the results of this experiment. Iodine titration could be used as an alternative for DCPIP titration. Although this technique may require the use of more reagents, the result from the trial experiment has shown that the end point of titration is much easier to be identified. Besides, orange juice could be obtained by blending the peeled orange fruits instead of squeezing them. This ensures maximum amount of juice obtained from each fruit as well as preventing destruction of vitamin C by heat. Finally, percentage of vitamin C degraded can be used as the response variable instead of concentration. This would allow clearer illustration of the amount of vitamin C reduced for the readers and also make the comparison process easier. Conclusion: Based on the result of this experiment, it can be concluded that the higher the temperature, the greater the degradation of vitamin C in freshly squeezed orange juice. The statistically calculated r value using Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient, 0.9584, is significantly higher than the critical value at 5% significance level thus, providing a strong evidence to support the hypothesis. Sources Evaluation: Several recourses were used in providing me important information in completing this assignment. Sources 1 and 2 are books that are specially made about fruit management and also detailed information about vitamin C as well as compelling research on it. Both books were published after year 2005, so the information available is mostly up to date. Besides, I have also accessed journals available online. Sources 3 and 4 come from two well known websites for food and nutrition based journals. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition is a trustable website with over 3100 members, publishing up to dates research related to nutrition and human. Sources 7, 8 and 9 are chemistry based websites, serving enormous information on the structures and reaction of biological compounds. Chemwiki is a virtual online based chemistry textbook, accessed by millions of people searching for chemistry knowledge. Sources 10 and 11 are websites exclusively made for vitamin C. The Vitamin C Foundation, for instance, is recognised by Internal Revenue Service, IRS in protecting vast information about vitamin C for public reference. Source 12, Scientific American magazine is a popular scientific magazine established for nearly two centuries since 1845 with more than 3.5 million readers all over the world. Therefore, there would be no doubt in reliability of the content in this magazine.

Caesar :: essays research papers

Many people associate the ‘Ides of March’ with the play “Julius Caesar.'; That particular day, March 15th in 44 BC, Rome lost not only a future king, but also a strong political and military leader. Julius Caesar’s life, his accomplishments, and his unfortunate assassination have etched out a place in textbooks worldwide. Caesar’s childhood was filled with many changes in the Roman Empire.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gaius Julius Caesar was born in Rome, Italy on July 12th or 13th in the year 100 BC. When he was young, Caesar lived through one of the most horrifying decades in the history of the city of Rome. The city was assaulted twice and captured by Roman armies, first in 87 BC by the leaders of the populares, his Uncle Marius and Cinna. Cinna was killed the year that Caesar had married Cinna’s daughter Cornelia. The second attack upon the city was carried out by Marius’ enemy Sulla, leader of the optimates, in 82 BC on Sulla’s return from the East. The confiscation of property resulted from the massacre of political opponents on each occasion. At the time of Caesar’s birth, the number of patricians was small, and their status no longer provided political advantage. (Sahlman). Caesar’s family was part of Rome’s original aristocracy, although they were neither rich nor influential. (Sahlman). Caesar’s father died when Caesar was only 16 years old. It was Caesar’s mother, Aurelia, who proved to influence young Caesar. (Sahlman). With his mother’s blessing, Caesar sought out to gain notoriety for his family name.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To obtain distinction for himself and his family, Caesar sought election to public office. In 86 BC, Caesar was appointed flamen dialis with the help of his uncle by marriage, Gaius Marius. (Sahlman). In 84 BC Caesar married Cornelia, daughter of Lucious Cornelius Cinna. (Sahlman). In 82 BC Caesar was ordered to divorce his wife by Lucious Cornelius Sulla, an enemy of the radicals. (Sahlman). Caesar traveled to Rhodes in 78 BC to study rhetoric and did not return until 73 BC. (Sahlman). During his journey to Rhodes pirates managed to capture him. Caesar convinced his captors to raise his ransom, which increased his prestige. He then raised a naval force, overcame his captors, and had them crucified. In 69 or 68 BC Caesar was elected quaestor. (Sahlman). His wife died shortly thereafter. Soon after his wife’s death, Caesar met and fell in love with Pompeia, a relative of Caesar’s then friend, Pompey.

A Five Year Development Plan for Russia Essay -- Politics Government S

A Five Year Development Plan for Russia This paper presents a five year national development plan for the Russian Federation. The plan I have created is a culmination of a semester's worth of research on the current state of affairs in Russia. Following a brief review of relevent history, recommendations spanning the course of the next five years will be made in three areas that are of particular concern: economic development, political reform, and the environment. Relevent history and a synopsis of the current situation will preceed the recommendations in each section. Historical Background The pressure to be an industrial and technological powerhouse has left Russia with a skewed development situation. During the Soviet era, money and resources were funneled into the military, research, technology, and the space program. At the same time, basic necessities of the population were essentially ignored. Such high-tech government expenditures were exacted at a great social cost, as the bulk of Russia has remained largely underdeveloped. Russia's modern-day development requires that it focus on domestic issues, and catch up with itself in terms of its advanced industry. The Soviet Union ceased to exist as a political entity in the final days of 1991. From that point on, the Russian Federation was faced with and committed to the daunting task of getting its economy and its politics back on track. With the downfall of communism and the Soviet state came the downfall of both the ruble and the Russian economy as a whole. At its worst in 1992, Russia suffered 2000% inflation. As of 1996, the rate was less than 22% and it has fallen into the single digits in the present day, but the legacy of the monetary crisis has deeply ... ... References Aslund, Anders. How Russia Became a Market Economy. The Brookings Institution, 1995. Boycko, Maxim; Schleifer, Andrei; and Vishny, Robert. Privatizing Russia. The MIT Press, 1995. Filipov, David. The Boston Globe. "As Crises Ebb, It's Time to Get Down to Business; Outlook '97 Russia". January 5, 1997. Frydman, Roman; Rapaczynski, Andrzej; and Earle, John. The Privatization Process in Russia, Ukraine and the Baltic States. Central European University Press, 1993. Goldman, Marshall. Lost Opportunity: Why Reforms in Russia Have Not Worked. W.W. Norton & Company, 1994. Nelson, Lynn; and Kuzes, Irina. Property to the People: The Struggle for Radical Economic Reform in Russia. M.E. Sharp Inc, 1994. Nelson, Lynn; and Kuzes, Irina. Radical Reform in Yeltsin's Russia: Political, Economic, and Social Dimensions. M.E. Sharp Inc, 1995.

Harry Potter’s Influence on Society Essay

â€Å"It’s important to remember that we all have magic inside us.† (J.K. Rowling, scholastic book fair promotion, October 1999) One of the most influential novels of this generation is the Harry Potter Saga. Since the first book was published in 1997 these novels take you on a breath-taking adventure through witch-craft and wizardry. How has this saga written by J.K. Rowling been an influence on society you ask? Come explore how Hogwarts the school of witch-craft and wizardry made its way from a small fantasy school in England to a worldwide phenomenon. It all starts with the author; J.K Rowling is the master-mind behind these magical books. Born on July 31st, 1965 as Joanne Rowling she decided to go under the name J.K for her books. She chose this because her key target readers were young boys and she thought that they would not want to read a book by a female author although she was mistaken. The idea came to her while she was on a four hour delayed train trip from Manchester, England to London. She saw a young boy sitting across from her and started to create a story for this him. She decided his name would be Harry and he was on his way to attend his first year at a school as a wizard. This is what started the successful journey that would change reading for our generation. The Harry Potter saga is made up of seven novels. (Listed below in order) * Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone ( Sorcerer’s Stone) * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix * Harry Potter and the Half –Blood Prince * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows These books follow the life of Harry Potter a young wizard who has been through something you cannot imagine. Both of his parents were murdered when he was just a baby by Lord Voldemort ( who plays the villain in the story). Harry Potter was present while this happened but he survived the killing curse with only a minor scar on his forehead. He survived because mother’s love for him was so powerful that it somehow protected him from the curse that took his parents lives. Since he was orphaned he was living with his aunt, uncle and cousin just outside of London, England. When he turned eleven years old he received an invitation to attend the Hogwarts school of Witch-craft and Wizardry because he was wizard. While on his way to Hogwarts he comes to learn that he is famous for the events that lead him to have just mere scar on his forehead and being the only wizard to survive a killing curse. On the Hogwarts express he meets two young wizards who eventually become his best friends, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasely. Each book is a new school year which comes with new tasks and new level of maturity. Throughout the novels we come to understand that Harry Potter has the same problems as a everyday teenager but there is extra level of responsibility because along with magic comes consequences. There is two ways that magic can be used. There’s good magic but there is also dark magic and both of these are seen within the Harry Potter novels. Voldemort being the villain is constantly in a fight with Harry. This is where the theme of the story comes in. The theme of the Harry Potter novels is good vs. evil. Harry represents the good character and Voldemort represents the evil. The only way for Harry to be free of the evil spirit is to kill him. Harry uses dark magic to do so but uses it in defense. Along every step of the way Harry’s two best friends where there to help. When he needed advice or someone to lean on the both Ron and Hermione were always there. Without them Harry Potter would never have been able to demolish the evil character and enjoy his life to the fullest. That is the moral of the story, love can overcome evil and if you have support system you can do anything. That is something as human beings we should keep with us for all time. Morals are something we can learn from reading but because sometimes we get distracted by technology and materialistic items we forget that. J.K Rowling was taking on a generation that was attached to technology and attracting them back to reading. This may be the largest impact the Harry Potter Saga has had on society. Reading is somehow lost in this generation and many people do not realize the importa nce of reading. Reading enhances vocabulary, helps speech, and really broadens a person’s understanding and tolerance. Reading always teaches you something, from Harry Potter we learn that evil cannot stand in the way of love, and no matter what has happened you can always get through it if you have people to support you. J.K Rowling also focused on one other important detail, imagination. Reading allows you to use your imagination to come up with scenarios for you self. It allows you to build your artistic ability and creativity by doing so. Creativity stems from imagination; this means without an active imagination there would be no creativity whatsoever. Imagination allows you to transport into a fantasy world and experience things you would not be able to in reality. One important thing about imagination and creativity is that is undefined. Every single person views it differently and there is no right or wrong answer. J.K Rowling took this into consideration while writing her books and many people think because she created such a conversely topic that it opened the public up to the books. But one thing everyone can agree on is that this book changed our generation. Michelle McMorrow Ramsell the director of Tuscarawas Public Library says in a news paper article that: â€Å"The popularity of the Harry Potter series made reading a cool thing and made reading a cool thing to talk about with friends. The time that Harry Potter was released was is when technology started to become a major part in our generation. Harry Potter books got millions of people involved from the middle-school age level and up.† This is one of the reasons Harry Potter is such an influential book. Not only did it bring people back into reading but it also has characters that people can relate to. J.K Rowling started to write because she was an English major and it was a passion of hers but as she got more into depth with the books she started to make all the characters relatable. She started writing the book when her mother fell ill, but quickly after her mother passed away and that is when she decided she would use this idea for the book. She knew what it felt like to lose someone who was so important so that is where she came up with the idea for Harry to lose his pare nts. Many people know what it is like to lose someone important to them and when someone else dealing with the same thing it makes you feel like you are not alone. J.K Rowling was diagnosed with clinical depression in 1993, she needed a way to escape real life and she chose this with Harry Potter. She decided to add the dementors, the creatures who are known as the soul-sucking creatures who are constantly after Harry because of the way she felt. She thought that a good way to come out of depression is to be sidetracked in a way, and Harry Potter was her way out of reality and she took that into consideration. She also tried to relate most of her characters to people she knew when she was younger. J.K Rowling says that she sees a lot of herself in Hermione. Hermione comes off as a know it all sometimes and J.K says that’s how many people saw her when she was young. The Wesely’s were a poor family that did not have much, she was able to relate to this because before Harry Pot ter she was in that place for a long time. Ron was also based on J.K Rowling’s best friend Shane Harris. She also saw herself as Harry because there was always something she was trying to fix and she was not a quitter. She was never going to give up in what she believed in and it helped her get through many hardships she faced throughout her life just like him. Reading books can allow you to escape reality and maybe even sometimes solve a problem which is what she was trying to accomplish. The Harry Potter books were such a success that they were turned into a film series starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson. The entire film series made 7.7 billion dollars and is also one of the top highest grossing films of all time. The first movie premiered in 2001 and the last being in two parts finished in 2011. Over the last ten years J.K Rowling worked closely with the script writers because she wanted it as close to the books as possible. The movies success made the young actors Hollywood superstars and it al so had a huge impact to our generation. The movies and books are translated into 67 different languages, so no matter where you live or what language you speak you can get a taste of the magic. It was a family movie that everyone can enjoy together and seeing the magic come alive on screen really touched people all over the world and that also made an impact on society. Many things have evolved from the novels and the movie is not the only one. On June 18th 2010, Universal Studio’s opened up a new Theme park named: The Wizarding world of Harry Potter. Here you can experience the magic of Hogwarts in real life. You can you visit the Hogwarts castle, Three-broom sticks diner, Honeydukes sweet shop, Ollivander’s wand shop, Zonko’s joke store, and dervish and banges quidditch equipment store. These are all places that are in the movies and books and after ten years there finally a reality. â€Å"I used to leave set wishing I was at Hogwarts and that Harry Potter was real life. I got to experience the magi c of it but normal kids didn’t and now because of the theme park they can, and it’s wicked.† – Daniel Radcliffe( interview in 2010 about the Theme Park) This is a huge impact on society because there is not anything like this visting the theme park gives you the full experience and your imagination really comes to life. Daniel Radcliffe believes that â€Å"The wizarding world of Harry Potter has the potential to be a fantastic memory that kids will take with them, that will be something that stands out with them for a long time.† ( interview about the theme park 2010) This is a true fact and everyone who visits seems to capture some of the joy and take it with them where ever they may go. Pottermore is also another place to experience the Hogwarts school of witch-craft and wizardry. A website created by J.K Rowling in order to keep the Harry Potter Saga alive after the seventh book and the eighth movie being completed. She did this in response to her fan base being so strong. â€Å"So I’d like to take this opportunity to say thank you because no author could of asked for a more wonderful, diverse readership. I’m thrilled to say that I’m now in a position to give you something unique. An online reading experience unlike any other and its called Pottermore. It’s the same story with a few crucial editions; the most important one is you. Just as the experience of reading requires the imagination of the author and reader work together to create the story, so Pottermore will be built in part by you the reader. The digital generation will be able to enjoy a safe, unique online reading experience built around the Harry Potter books. Pottermore will be the place where fans of any age can share, participate in and re-discover the stories. And I will be sharing additional information that I’ve been holding for years about the world of Harry Potter. I hope to see you soon.† (J.K. Rowling on Pottermore.com) By visiting this website you can go through journeys of the books and through every chapter you visit you learn something new about the wizarding world. Like the books and movies you get sorted into a house: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin, here you get to experience life as if you were a student. Just like the book you earn house points, make friends from many houses, brew positions, casts spells, attend quidditch matches , take journeys through diagon ailey ( located in London where the shops are), visit the wizarding bank and really experience life as a virtual Hogwarts student. As you can see the Harry Potter novels really do influence society. There has been over a million copies of the books sold, eight successful films translated into 67 languages, a enchanting theme – park, amazing websites, and even merchandise which includes, shirts, stickers, hats, sweatshirts, wands, anything you can think of. It is a spectacular story that has transformed reading. Most people before the Harry Potter series thought reading was boring and that TV. and the internet were more entertaining, but after reading it they changed their mind. J.K Rowling created an imaginary story that was still relatable and people will remember this book for years to come. â€Å"There’s always room for a story that can transport people to another place, and I feel I completed this task with Harry Potter.† ( J.K. Rowling on the success of her novels.)