Charles Dickens Essays - Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers

Charles Dickens INTRODUCTION This report will talk about the life of a famous author, Charles Dickens. It will tell you about his early, middle, and later years of his life. It will also talk about one of his great works of literature. In conclusion, this report will show a comparison of his work to his life. EARLY LIFE Charles Dickens was born at Landport, in Portsea, on February 7, 1812. His father was a clerk in the Navy Pay-Office, and was temporarily on duty in the neighborhood when Charles was born. His name was John Dickens. He spent time in prison for debts. But, even when he was free he lacked the money to support his family. Then, when Charles was two they moved to London.1 Just before he started to toddle, he stepped into the glare of footlights. He never stepped out of it until he died. He was a good man, as men go in the bewildering world of ours, brave, transparent, tender-hearted, and honorable. Dickens was always a little too irritable because he was a little too happy. Like the over-wrought child in society, he was splendidly sociable, and in and yet sometimes quarrelsome. In all the practical relations of his life he was what the child is at a party, genuinely delighted, delightful, affectionate and happy, and in some strange way fundamentally sad and dangerously close to tears. 2 At the age of 12 Charles worked in a London factory pasting labels on bottles of shoe polish. He held the job only for a few months, but the misery of the experience remain with him all his life. 3 Dickens attended school off and on until he was 15, and then left for good. He enjoyed reading and was especially fond of adventure stories, fairy tales, and novels. He was influenced by such earlier English writers as William Shakespeare, Tobias Smollet, and Henry Fielding. However, most of the knowledge he later used as an author came from his environment around him. 4 MIDDLE LIFE Dickens became a newspaper writer and reporter in the late 1820's. He specialized in covering debates in Parliament, and also wrote feature articles. His work as a reporter sharpened his naturally keen ear for conversation and helped develop his skill in portraying his characters speach realistically. It also increased his ability to observe and to write swiftly and clearly. Dickens' first book, Sketches by Boz (1836) consisted of articles he wrote for the Monthly Magazine and the London Evening Chronicles.5 On April 2, 1836 he married Catherine Hogarth. This was just a few days before the anoucement that on the 31st he would have his first work printed in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. And this was the beginning of his career. 6 Then, at 24, Dickens became famous and was so until he died. He won his first literary fame with The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. Published in monthly parts in 1836 and 1837 the book describes the humorous adventure and misadventures of the English Countryside. After a slow start, The Pickwick Papers as the book was usually called gained a popularity seldom matched in the history of literature. 7 Then in 1837, Catherine's sister Mary, died. Because of her death Dickens' suffered a lot of grief. This led some scholars to believe that Dickens loved Mary more than Catherine. Catherine was a good woman but she lacked intelligence. Dickens and Catherine had 10 children. Then later in 1858, the couple seperated. 8 LATER LIFE His later years was basically consisting of two main additions to his previous activites. The first was a series of public readings and lectures which he began giving it systematically. And second, he was a successive editor. Dickens had been many things in his life; he was a reporter , an actor, a conjurer, a poet, a lecturer, and a editor and he enjoyed all of those things. 9 Dickens had a remarkable mental and physical energy. He recorded all his activites in thousands of letter, many of which made delightful readings. He spent much of his later life with crowded social friends from arts and literature. He also went to the theater as often as he could, cause

Approaches to Teaching Grammar Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Approaches to Teaching Grammar - Article Example The apparent limitation of the syllabus was that students were not involved in learning the language due to the monotonous nature of activities. Secondly, adults feel that the language they are learning is not preparing them for the world. The skills of language; reading, writing, speaking and writing were taught in isolation and in a very set manner. Since, we use more than one skill at a time, learners were forced to focus on one skill and the integration of skill development was missing. Speaking was ignored like in any traditional classroom, due to its difficult nature of assessment and requires a competent teacher. All the focus is on writing as it is considered the most important academic skill. The main reason for learning English language is instrumental. Like other countries, this country is also facing recession and employment rates are constantly fluctuating rather deteriorating. Students want to learn the language to seek new opportunities around the world. When this Institution will activate my syllabus, they have to consider that it is learner centered where adults come to discuss debate, interact socially and philosophically and begin to work in teams. The main aim of the course is to make it motivating and interesting for the students. Target Learners First thing to be kept in mind is that the students are a part of society and we have to touch English in the manner it is appropriate. Culture of target language will also be exposed to students to a certain degree. Learning English for my target students is not a total new experience as they have completed their twelve years of education, where weekly 120 minutes were given to language teaching. But the medium of instruction remains Arabic.... First thing to be kept in mind is that the students are a part of society and we have to touch English in the manner it is appropriate. The culture of target language will also be exposed to students to a certain degree. Learning English for my target students is not a totally new experience as they have completed their twelve years of education, where weekly 120 minutes were given to language teaching. But the medium of instruction remains Arabic. Language development is to the extent where the students understand instructions and follow them appropriately, but with some emphasis on repetition of instructions. The students can read and comprehend with the teacher’s help. Teacher is always in control and there aren’t many opportunities for learners to talk about their lives, opinions, and experiences. Teacher takes most of the time explaining to the learners how to go about the written activities. Learners listen to the teacher and do accordingly; obviously repetition o f instructions is in demand. Learners have very less room for creativity and expression. Activities are monotonous and last for the whole period. All the activities revolve around making the learner write in the end. Learners feel bored and there is no excitement as the classes have routine and learners know what is going to happen next. The learners do not find authentic language to use it outside the class but they are able to write an application, letters and etc. What they lack is confidence in talking in English along with the experience.

METABOLISM, Report on any two (2) classes of messengers, that interact Lab

METABOLISM, on any two (2) classes of messengers, that interact with each other, directly or indirectly, to alter the met - Lab Report Example When these glucose levels reach a high level, the pancreas will release insulin that stimulates tissues that are dependent on insulin to take up the excess glucose. Therefore, glucagon is one part of the feedback system, together with insulin, that stabilizes the levels of blood sugar. Glucagon is synthesized in the islets of langerhans by the alpha cells and secreted by the same cells. The islets of langerhans are found in the pancreas’ endocrinal portion and in man1. Glucagon is a peptide hormone with 29 amino acids, and generally, it acts to raise sugar levels present in the blood through promotion of glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis, which refer to splitting of stored glycogen to glucose sub-units and formation of glucose respectively2. It exists as an inert holoenzyme, pro-glucagon, which is activated by pro-hormone convertase into glucagon. Glycogen is a polymer form of glucose that is similar to starch in plants and is stored in liver hepatocytes. These hepatocytes po ssess receptors for glucagon that bind the hormone. On binding of glucagon, the hepatocytes release glucose from the glycogen polymer released to the blood, for use by other cells through glycogenolysis. Simultaneously, glucagon also binds to hepatocytes and kidney cells and stimulates the synthesis of glucose through the process of gluconeogenesis. Through, shutting down the process of glycolysis, glucagon leads to the shunting of glycolytic intermediates to the reformation of glucose. The hormone also has a minimal on the human process of lipolysis. It appears that production of glucagon depends on the CNS, although the pathways that affect the production of glucagon are yet to be clearly defined. Glucagon dissociates soon after it binds onto the glucagon receptors since they change the configuration after activating cyclic adenosine monophosphate2. The free glucagon is dissociated in the blood by proteolytic enzymes. Cyclic adenosine monophosphate is a nucleoside phosphate, which acts as a second messenger and is of utmost importance in numerous processes in the human body. The messenger is formed from ATP, and the resultant molecule is used in signal transduction within the cell acting in the cyclic adenosine monophosphate dependent pathway3. Adenylate cyclase, which is found on the inner membrane’s inner surface, synthesizes cyclic adenosine monophosphate from the precursor molecule ATP. Adenylate cyclase enzyme undergoes activation through G-protein coupled receptors, whereas it is inhibited by inhibitory G-protein coupled receptors. Adenylate cyclase within the liver and in the muscles is more specific to glucagon than it is to adrenalin3. Cyclic adenosine monophosphate has one phosphate group that is bound to position three and position five of the sugar through two phosphate-ester linkages4. These linkages form a cyclic structure or a ring that is limited by residues of oxygen and phosphorous, as well as by the carbons at position three and fiv e. This explains why it is referred to as cyclic adenosine monophosphate. It is used for signal transductions within human cells for passing on the effects of hormones that cannot pass through the plasma membrane, such as the peptide hormone glucagon. Cyclic adenosine monophosphate is particularly involved in protein kinase activation. It also binds to ion channels and regulates their permeability. Some of