Friday, January 24, 2020

Importance of Setting in Shirley Jacksons The Lottery :: Shirley Jackson Lottery Essays

Importance of Setting in Shirley Jackson's The Lottery      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The setting in the beginning of The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson, creates a mood of peacefulness and tranquillity.   The image portrayed by the author is that of a typical town on a normal summer day.   Shirley Jackson uses this setting to foreshadow an ironic ending.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First, Jackson begins by establishing the setting.   She tells the reader what time of day and what time of year the story takes place.   This is important to get the reader to focus on what a typical day it is in this small town.   The time of day is set in the morning and the time of year is early summer. She also describes that school has just recently let out for summer break, letting the reader infer that the time of year is early summer.   The setting of the town is described by the author as that of any normal rural community.   Furthermore, she describes the grass as "richly green" and that "the flowers were blooming profusely" (196).   These descriptions of the surroundings give the reader a serene felling about the town.  Ã‚   Also, these descriptions make the reader feel comfortable about the surroundings as if there was nothing wrong in this quaint town.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Upon reading the first paragraph, Shirley Jackson describes the town in general.   The town is first mentioned in the opening paragraph where she sets the location in the town square.   She puts in perspective the location of the square "between the post office and the bank" (196).   This visualizes for the reader what a small town this is, since everything seems to be centralized at or near the town square.   This is also key in that the town square is the location for the remaining part of the story.   The town square is an important location for the setting since the ending of the story will be set in this location.  Also, Shirley Jackson creates a comfortable atmosphere while describing the residents of the town.   First, she describes the children gathering together and breaking into "boisterous play"(196).   Also, the children are described as gathering rocks, which is an action of many normal children.   She described the men as ga thering together and talking about "planting and rain, tractors and taxes"(196).   Finally, she describes the women of this community as "exchanging bits of gossip"(196) which is a common stereotype of women.   She creates a mood for the reader of the town and residents of this town on a normal summer morning.

Thursday, January 16, 2020

Paying Student Athletes

Imagine this; Mr. Perfect, a highly successful college football student-athlete, is shattering every record once held in the sport. He is on the cover of ESPN and SI magazine. His face is plastered on televisions nationwide. Everyone knows his face and name. He has all the fame that he dreamed of, but he has no money. NCAA rules state that no student-athlete can obtain a job. His full ride scholarship, after classes and books, barely leaves him with money to take care of necessities. An alumna of the school and huge fan helps him out and gives him $500 as a gift. The NCAA finds out and Bam! The school is hit with fines and can’t compete in any bowl games for two years, so much for the undefeated season. Also, he is banned from the sport in any NCAA regulated school. Mr. Perfect, being a sophomore, has one year left before he can enter the draft. Now, instead of being a sure shot first round draft, he may drop to third round at best. That’s millions of dollars lost because of a $500 gift. The team suffers, the school suffers, and he suffers. Incidents, such as the one above, happens every now and again in college sports. College athletes are not allowed to accept gifts, obtain jobs during the school year, or use their image and likeness in any way for monetary gain. This leaves many student athletes well known, yet well broke. Many student-athletes, especially those who play sports that generate millions of dollars in revenue, wonder why they can’t be compensated for their efforts. Student athletes should be compensated to help support their living expenses while attending college. College football and basketball produces the most revenue than any other college sport. According to Gibson (2013), â€Å"College basketball and football together generate more than $6 billion in annual revenue†¦two years ago, the NCAA and CBS/Turner Sports agreed on a $10. 8 billion deal to broadcast March Madness basketball games until 2024. † With all the monies that are generated from these sports, not one cent has been paid out to the student-athlete. Montopoli (2013), reports that the top university’s athletes are being denied $6. 2 billion from 2011-2015 and that combined the athletes had a fair market value of roughly $2 million above their college scholarships. That is highway robbery and unfair to the athletes who risk everything on the football field or basketball court. College coaches, some of which are averaging about three to four million per year, are making more than the athletic director and even the president of the university while the student-athletes are putting their health and safety on the line with nothing in return. Imagine struggling to buy clothes and shoes, walking to practice, to see Coach Richman pulling up in a Bentley. With the revenue that’s being generated, many injured student-athletes could use a part of it to help pay for treatment. While the NCAA requires the student-athletes to have some type of insurance, unclear standards and confusion as to the conditions of the insurance, leaves the student-athlete responsible for most, if not all of the medical bills (Peterson, 2009). Some colleges, mostly the major division 1 colleges, pay for injuries while the student-athlete is attending college. After college, the athlete is left fending for his/her self. An injury to the student-athlete can void their scholarship as well. Scholarships are renewed year to year. Therefore if an athlete is injured severely, his/her scholarship may not be renewed, leaving the student with unpaid tuition and medical bills. Also, colleges input loopholes so the medical payout is not detrimental. There are documented cases in which the college labeled the conditions an â€Å"illness† and not a sports-related injury, which left the student-athlete in debt with medical bills. A similar case like this happened to a Colgate University crew member (Peterson, 2009). Ignorance to the consent forms being signed has proved detrimental to the student as well. Now imagine that injured student-athlete at home with a pile of medical bills, no longer attending the university that he once adored, playing a video game that’s using his image and likeness. He wonders why he can’t receive a share of the monies profited from the sell of the game. He’s not alone. Many student-athletes do not know that they sign away their right to profit from their image or likeness when they enter into NCAA sports. In fact, the very same rights that the student-athlete releases are now owned by the NCAA and its licensees. Meaning, the NCAA and its licensees can do whatever it feels with your image and likeness to turn a profit for them. Former college athletes recently put together a federal class-action lawsuit against the NCAA stating that the use of their image or likeness is infringing their rights. Also, stating that the NCAA forces the athletes to sign away their rights in order to play college sports. This happens year after year due to the fact that college athlete are not properly informed of their legal rights. A survey was taken and according to Wolverton (2011), 97 percent of respondents liked being featured in video games, and two-thirds believed that the way the NCAA and video-game companies used their image or likeness was fair. But only 33 percent believed that their athletic scholarship was sufficient payment for the use of their image or likeness. If these student-athletes don’t know what they are signing the outcome could be critical. Now the college athlete can’t be in a commercial, sell any memorabilia, be paid to attend or speak at functions or anything that would result in the athlete earning a little cash to make ends meet during the academic year. He/she has basically become a slave to the NCAA. These student ‘slaves’ are being misguided under the ‘free ride’ scholarship. As a matter of fact, a Division 1 athletes winds up having to pay about $3,000 in school related expenses not covered by grants-in-aid, Associated Press (2010). That is just school related expenses, now factor in personal expenses and the number could easily double. With room and board, parking fees, etc. being covered by the student-athlete, the result of this can lead to multiple athletes risking everything to obtain money from anywhere they can. Sports agents feed off of this urge and capitalize on the opportunity to have a star student-athlete in their pocket. In conclusion, paying the student-athletes a small amount of the profit can have a huge benefit. Athletes will be able to take care of personal and school expenses. Also, they will be hesitant to accept monies from an outside source which can result in suspensions or infractions. If an agreement can’t be reached with student-athletes receiving a stipend, the athletes should be able to market themselves through commercials or in any other way that they can benefit from the use of their image or likeness that’s not negative. With the hard work, dedication, and sacrifice that these student-athletes invest into their sport, some form of financial compensation should be awarded to them.

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

How to Calculate Atomic Mass

You may be asked to calculate atomic mass in chemistry or physics. There is more than one way to find atomic mass. Which method you use depends on the information youre given. First, its a good idea to understand what exactly, atomic mass means. What Is Atomic Mass? Atomic mass is the sum of the masses of the protons, neutrons, and electrons in an atom, or the average mass, in a group of atoms. However, electrons have so much less mass than protons and neutrons that they dont factor into the calculation. So,  the atomic mass is the sum of the masses of protons and neutrons. There are three ways to find atomic mass, depending on your situation. Which one to use depends on whether you have a single atom, a natural sample of the element, or simply need to know the standard value. 3 Ways to Find Atomic Mass The method used to find atomic mass depends on whether youre looking at a single atom, a natural sample, or a sample containing a known ratio of isotopes: 1) Look Up Atomic Mass on the Periodic Table If its your first encounter with chemistry, your instructor will want you to learn how to use the periodic table to find the atomic mass (atomic weight) of an element. This number usually is given below an elements symbol. Look for the decimal number, which is a weighted average of the atomic masses of all the natural isotopes of an element. Example:  If you are asked to give the atomic mass of carbon, you first need to know its element symbol, C. Look for C on the periodic table. One number is carbons element number or atomic number. Atomic number increase as you go across the table. This is not the value you want. The atomic mass or atomic weight is the decimal number, The number of significant figures varies according to the table, but the value is around 12.01. This value on a periodic table is given in atomic mass units or amu,  but for chemistry calculations, you usually write atomic mass in terms of grams per mole or g/mol. The atomic mass of carbon would be 12.01 grams per mole of carbon atoms. 2) Sum of Protons and Neutrons for a Single Atom To calculate the atomic mass of a single atom of an element, add up the mass of protons and neutrons. Example: Find the atomic mass of an isotope of carbon that has 7 neutrons. You can see from the periodic table that carbon has an atomic number of 6, which is its number of protons. The atomic mass of the atom is the mass of the protons plus the mass of the neutrons, 6 7, or 13. 3) Weighted Average for All Atoms of an Element The atomic mass of an element is a weighted average of all the elements isotopes based on their natural abundance. It is simple to calculate the atomic mass of an element with these steps.Typically, in these problems, you are provided with a list of isotopes with their mass and their natural abundance either as a decimal or percent value. Multiply each isotopes mass by its abundance. If your abundance is a percent, divide your answer by 100.Add these values together. The answer is the total atomic mass or atomic weight of the element. Example: You are given a sample containing 98% carbon-12 and 2% carbon-13. What is the relative atomic mass of the element? First, convert the percentages to decimal values by dividing each percentage by 100. The sample becomes 0.98 carbon-12 and 0.02 carbon-13. (Tip: You can check your math by making certain the decimals add up to 1. 0.98 0.02 1.00). Next, multiply  the atomic mass of each isotope by the proportion of the element in the sample: 0.98 x 12 11.760.02 x 13 0.26 For the final answer, add these together: 11.76 0.26 12.02 g/mol Advanced Note: This atomic mass is slightly higher than the value given in the periodic table for the element carbon. What does this tell you? The sample you were given to analyze contained more carbon-13 than average. You know this because your relative atomic mass is higher than the periodic table value, even though the periodic table number includes heavier isotopes, such as carbon-14. Also, note the numbers given on the periodic table apply to the Earths crust/atmosphere and may have little bearing on the expected isotope ratio in the mantle or core or on other worlds. Over time, you may notice the atomic mass values listed for each element on the periodic table may change slightly. This happens when scientists revise the estimated isotope ratio in the crust. In modern periodic tables, sometimes a range of values is cited rather than a single atomic mass. Find More Worked Examples