Essay Midterm Essay Example for Free

Essay Midterm Essay 1)The subfields of anthropology seem quite diverse in their specific subjects and methods. Why, then, are they all considered parts of the single discipline of anthropology? What ties them together? Anthropology is an extensive discipline. It is so broad it had to be split into four subfields; Archeology, Biological (Physical), Cultural, and Linguistic anthropology. The definition of anthropology is â€Å"the holistic, scientific study of human kind† (Park, 2014). Parks (2014) states, every anthropologist wants to know why we have a tendency as humans to behave as we do, change constantly, have different cultural behaviors and the ability to constantly evolve. Anthropology answers these questions from the different subfields. â€Å"Archaeology examines our past ways of life through the interpretation of material culture, organic remains, written records, and oral traditions, Biological Anthropology deals with the evolution of the human body, mind and behavior as inferred through study of fossils and comparisons with behavior and anatomy of other primate species, Cultural Anthropology explores the diversity of existing human ways of life, how they work, how they change, and how they interrelate in the modern world and Linguistic Anthropology examines the structure and diversity of language and related human communication systems† (Sanoma State University, 2014). Even though the subfields seem quite diverse they do have similarities that tie them together. According to the American Anthropology Association (2014), â€Å"each subfield applies theories, employs systematic research methodologies, formulates and tests hypotheses, and develops extensive sets of data.† References Anthropology: exploring the human in all of us. (December 12, 2012). American Anthropological Association. Retrieved from http://www.thisisanthropology.org/about-anthropology Parks, (2014) Introducing Anthropology an Integrated Approach (6th ed), McGraw Hill education Sonoma State University, (March 5, 2014). Anthropology consist of four (some would say five) subfields. Retrieved from https://www.sonoma.edu/anthropology/home/subfields.html

Organic Solar Cells History, Principles and Efficiency

Organic Solar Cells History, Principles and Efficiency Solar Cells Solar cells are cells or devices use for converting sunlight into electric cur ­rent (electricity) or voltage. They are also called photovoltaic cells (PV) or devices and the process of generating electricity from sunlight is called pho ­toelectric effect. Solar Energy conversion through photovoltaic effect can be achieved with many materials at different lifetimes. Over the years many research and development have been conducted in the area of solar energy (thin film applications)[1]-[3]. But most of these developments have been in inorganic solar cells with conventional silicon base solar cells dominating in the production of solar energy in the commercial market [4]-[5]. Silicon base cells for thin film application have enormous advantages like good absorp ­tion rate of sunlight, suitable band gap for photovoltaic applications, longer lifetimes and improving efficiency. But the process of silicon base cells gen ­eration of voltage is tedious and above all very expensive fo r the commercial market. Research for alternatives to silicon has been ongoing for some time now with some other inorganic materials like Copper Indium Gallium Sele ­nium (Cu-In-Ga-Se)[6], Cadmium Sulfide (CdS)[7], Lead Cadmium Sulfide (PbCdS)[8], etc. But some have similar production problems like the silicon and as well expensive. Others also are of dangerous elements which are not environmentally friendly (CdS, PbCdS, etc). Another alternative to silicon base cells in terms of thin film (solar cells) research for photovoltaic applica ­tion could be organic solar cells (also known as plastic solar cells)[9]. With this, photocurrents are generated from organic materials. In this review, brief history of organic solar cells is discussed, the basic principle of operation is outlined and some performance in terms of the materials absorption rate, efficiency, stability and degradation and comparison between organic solar cells and inorganic solar cells (silicon) are also discussed. Chapter 2 Organic Solar cells (Plastic Solar cells) The infancy of organic solar cells began in the late 1950s [10]. At this time, photoconductivity in some organic semiconductor cells (anthracene, chlorophyll) were measured with voltage of 1 V by some research groups[11] ­[12].They proposed that if a single layer PV cell is illuminated consisting of an organic layer, sandwich cell with low work function metal (aluminum, Al) and a conducting glass of high work function (indium tin oxide, ITO), photoconductivity will be observed. With this interesting result and less cost effective of these organic semiconductor cells and also a possibility of doping these materials to achieve more encouraging results caught up with many researchers in this field. The work done since has been unprecedented as shown in figure 2.1 on the next page. In the 1960s, semiconducting properties were observed in dyes partic ­ularly in methylene blue [13]. Efficiency of 10−5 % in sunlight conversion was reported in the early 1970s to an improvement of 1 % in the early 1980s [14]. This was achieved through an interesting phenomenon known as heterojunction[15]. This phenomenon is a surface between semiconduct ­ing materials of dissimilar layers. Photovoltaic devices were applied with heterojunction where donor-acceptor organic cells were tailored together. In recent years, photoconductivity has been measured in dyes and the dye so ­lar cells have progressively been improved for laboratory cells[16]. Currently power conversion efficiency of organic photovoltaics in single-junction devices is over 9 %[17] and that of multi-junction cell is over 12 %[18]. Some materials of organic solar cells are dyes and some polymers like origomers[19], dendrimers[20], liquid crystal materials[21] and self-assembled monolayers [22]. All these need to be prepared carefully to obtain optimum efficiency and stability[23] Figure 2.1: Number of publications is plotted against the year of publications. This shows the inception of organic solar cells and how much interest the field has generated among scientists and the commercial entities over the years. Years below 1990 saw less publication (1960 to 1970 -10 and 1980 to 1990  ­29) compared to the years in the figure. Principle of Operations. In recent time, organic solar cells are of different operations due to their usage. Similar to inorganic solar cells, organic solar cells can be used to convert sunlight into electricity with the aid of a semiconductor. The basic principle behind this operation is outline below: Most organic solar cells have very thin material layer either single or multi-layer where there is a strong absorption of light sandwich between two electrodes, an anode (A) and a cathode (C). The anode (usually indium tin oxide ITO) is transparent and has a high work function. The cathode (aluminum) is opaque and has a low work function. The material layer is usually a photosensitive organic semiconductor. When light of appropriate energy (sunlight) is incident on it, an electron is excited from the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) to a lower uncopied state called lowest uncopied molecular orbital (LUMO) leaving a hole in the HOMO. This leads to exciton formation. That is, there is a creation of an electron-hole pair which is strongly bounded together. As the electron stays at the LUMO, there is a loss in energy by the electron through thermal relaxation as the electron penetrates the energy band gap. The electron-hole pair diffuses in ­dependent of the electric field and are separated (exciton dissociation) at the interface between the donor state (HOMO) and the accepter state (LUMO). The electron is collected at one end of the electrode (cathode) and the hole at the other end of the electrode (anode) thereby generation photocurrent in the process. If the electron and the hole after separation do not reach the interface, their absorbed energies are dissipated out and no photocurrent is generated. Step by step principle is illustrated in pictorial form below: Figure 3.2: a) Light is incident on an electron (red). (b) Electron is excited from the HOMO to the LUMO creating a hole (black) at the HOMO. (c) Exciton formation of electronhole pair. (d) Diffusion of exciton independent of electric field. (e) Exciton dissociation. (f) Collection of charges. Chapter 4 Performance 4.1 Absorption of light. In organic solar cells, the thin organic semiconducting layer is responsible for light absorption. This layer has a valence band which is densed with electrons and a conduction band. These bands are separated by an energy gap. When the layer absorbs light, an excited state is created. This state is characterized by an energy gap. The energy gap is the energy difference between the higher energy state (LUMO) and the lower energy state (HOMO). It is usually of the range of (1.0 -4.0) eV[24] and it is determined as: Eg = ELUMO − EHOMO . (4.1) Where Eg is the energy gap in electron volts (eV), ELUMO is the energy at LUMO (higher energy state) and EHOMO is the energy at HOMO (lower energy state). The energy gap usually serves as an activation energy barrier. This acti ­vation energy barrier needs to be overcome before an electron is excited from the lower energy state to the higher energy state. The excited electron has energy greater than or equal to this activation energy barrier. This energy is determined as: h.c Ephoton = ≠¥ Eg . (4.2)ÃŽ »photon Where Ephoton is the energy of the incident photon (light), h is Plancks constant (6.626 Ãâ€"10−34 Js), c is speed of light (2.997 Ãâ€"108 ms−1) and ÃŽ »photon is wavelength of the photon (≈ (400 -700) nm). As the excited electron remains at the LUMO, a hole is created in the HOMO. The electron undergoes thermal relaxation as it remains at the LUMO and this result in loss of energy by the electron. This energy loss is compensated for as: El = Eelectron − Eg . (4.3) Where El is thermal energy loss of the electron, Eelectron is the energy of the electron at the LUMO and Eg is the energy gap. Figure 4.1: (a) Thin organic semiconductor layer (with both LUMO and HOMO) with energy gap (Eg). (b) Incident light of greater energy than the energy gap excites electron (red) from HOMO to LUMO. This creates a hole (black) at the HOMO (c) Energy lost by the electron through thermal relaxation. 4.2 Stability and Degradation In solar cell application, long operational lifetime performance is required. To achieve this, stability and degradation are few of the key important issues to look at in real-time application. Over the years, stability of organic solar cells has improved very much in terms of their power conversions[25]. This is clearly shown in the figure below: Ideally the advantages of organic solar cells with their low cost materi ­als, recyclable, easy production and production in large quantities, à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡exibility and durability (low weight), stability should be optimum. These advantages somehow also affect the stability of the organic cells. The active layer (thin organic semiconducting layer) component which is a core component of the cells is sometimes prone to degradations. These degradations occur dur ­ing their production (printing in bulk quantities and rolling them together thereby introducing some mechanical properties which then affect the mor ­phology of the active layer) and also reactions from weathering (UV light, oxygen, water). Extensive work on photo stability of some organic solar cells (large number of polymers) has been investigated by Manceau et al[27]. Figure 4.2: Organic Photovoltaic (OPV) production with progression in years shown. The years below 2010 had lower production of OPVs (> 0.5 MW) [26]. Chapter 5 Comparism between organic solar cells and inorganic solar cells (Silicon base solar cells). Organic and inorganic solar cells serve similar applications but they interest ­ing differences in terms of how they are made. Organic solar cells are cheap in terms of materials, production and are recyclable, they have very thin solar cells with little energy in making them, they are à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡exible, durable and have low weight, they are colourful and they have easy production and can be produced in large areas. But they have low efficiency and lifetime compared to silicon base solar cells. Inorganic solar cells are cost effective in terms of materials, production and are not recyclable, much energy is need to have thin layer cells, they are rigid and not durable, they are of dark grey materials with dark blue to black coat ­ing, they have complicated production and are difficult to produce in large areas. But they have good light absorption rate, better efficiency and longer lifetime. Chapter 6 Conclusion Organic solar cells can be alternative to silicon base solar cells with its in ­teresting applications. They can be fabricated into our day to day usage materials and equipment with low cost technology in serving their purpose. Efficiency and stability still remains areas that should be addressed in the future to optimally have good power conversions.

Elements in Designing Public Spaces

Elements in Designing Public Spaces Introduction: Now a days more attention is given on to the human dimension in the city planning and the need for quality in the public spaces. Importance of public spaces is universally accepted by one and all. The question is what makes public space more successful? The designer is trying to give best model of good public spaces. However we find that many times well designed public space also doesnt generate good public response. In this essay an attempt is made to study a place evolved organic growth through accumulation and flourishes of public at large design public space to know which place is more successful. Question: What makes a successful public space? Have people who use it had any role to play in making it a successful? What role a designer can play in making a space successful? Public space defined: If one has to define public space in one liner, it means space for public at large.According to public space book, public zrealm includes all the space accessible to and used by people (p.111).So we can say it is a space which is made for people and it is made by people. As Loukaitou sideris and Banerjee (1998, p.175) observe: public life involves relatively open and universal social contexts, in contrast to private life, which is intimate, familiar, shielded, controlled by the individual, and shared only with family and friends. Public space is the place where one likes to spend more time not doing anything special and enjoy surroundings. This can be libraries, community centers, streets, plaza and parks. The dimensions of public space are physical and social. (p.109) Physical means space- which occur social activities. These spaces may be or may not be privately owned. For example hospitals, theaters etc are privately owned public space. The public space can be external or internal and it might be quasi external and internal space. (p.111) William White (1980) in his study in New York gave more emphasis on small scale open spaces in towns, squares, piazzas, plazas, pocket parks and street as the important public space, which are external public spaces. Primitive man moved from place to place in search for food and shelter. Agriculture helped him to settle at place for security and protection. Family life and sense of ownership were the important factor which weighed with him for the establishment of settlement. Communal living gave rise to social interaction. He then stated exchanging goods and services with others in the community for his personal and family need and here started business and commerce. Good and bad events in the community brought inmates closer and this is how, a life outside the private house originated. Initially no particular space was identified as public space. Shady place under the tree on the outskirt of a village or habitat served the purpose. Common well near the village, lake side land, riverbank or the market place was the place where people of all walks of life gathered and discussed their serious and non serious issues. Still in villages people use to gather at the Chauraha of the village. Chauraha is the space where the community meeting takes place in village. It might be under tree or open space at the junction of street. Here they did their routine activity, enjoyed the community life. This was the most primitive public space created by the people without any deliberation or active participation. Market places, squares, plazas and gardens are the extended versions of such places by evolution. All these places have grown organically by evolution. The man is the most inquisitive and innovative creature on earth. He has the ability to think, evaluate, accept the good and forego the bad. These mental faculties have made it possible for a man to improve by evolution. The change may not seem in a short time, in the longer run, the change is substantial. By evolutionary process man has tried to make his habitat more and more suited. Man has improvised his society by accumulation, adaptations and additions. Henry Sheftoe has raised a question can we design such places at the drawing board? Critics of formal architecture and planning such as Bernard Rudofsky (Architecture without Architects) and Christopher Alexander (The Timeless Way of Building, A Pattern Language) suggest that we are better of growing good places and spaces, rather than trying to build them from a blueprint. Henry Sheftoe has said I think we have a lot to learn about how plans and natural environments grow, evolve and adapt to local circumstances and then to mirror this in the development of the built environment. What do we mean by a city or town? Is it just a place of land where houses have been built for human settlement? Or it is a living organism of people staying there. If one knows the basic different between house and home, he will appreciate this important difference. A building may be just a structure of four walls and roof for an outsider but for a person residing there is more than that because he is attached to the same sentimentally. This sense of attachment to a public place works at macro level. Therefore, when we talk of evolved public space, they are the places created be people for themselves to suit their taste, culture and tradition. The city is discussed in barren eviscerated terms and in technical jargon by urban professional as if it were lifeless, detached being. In fact it is a sensory, emotional, lived experience. (Landry 2006,p.2). When a city or town is to be planned from the scratch, the designer can defiantly give his best with the help of his design input. He provides for the well designed public spaces for the common use and the same will be used by people who will stay there. But this is not the easy case every time. How well the people will accept a public space if it is designed without taking in to account their taste and needs? It may fail through it may be the most ideal design situation. Sennet (1973) in his critical statement said they have failed, not for lack of technical expertise, but because they have lot had the power to be adaptive over the course of time p100. Barnad (1994) in his account of How Building Learn suggested that good architecture is nor necessarily produced by design specialists but by the spontaneous and continuous activity of the people. Christopher Alexander asks why our modern cities so often lack a sense of natural growth, and goes on to suggest a set of rules and guidelines by which we can inject that organic character back into our high streets, buildings and squares. People who stay at a place, have by their long association to the place and style of living, developed an affinity towards the same and material change in that space will never be accepted by them. Spaces are for people to suit the designed place. Such attempts will arouse condemnation from the people and will result in failure of the space to serve the purpose. One can treat the body but not the soul. What is successful public space?: Successful public space are the place which is universally accepted by the community, where one can see and enjoy multiple activity and accessible by all kinds of member of society from children to aged. According to Francis Tibbalds, successful public spaces consist of rich, vibrant, mixed use environment that does not die at night or at the weekends and is visually stimulating and attractive to residents and visitors alike. Successful public spaces contain overlapping use of different activity and where person can join and participate without any hesitation. It must be a safe place. This is the place where society like to meet daily and enjoy the pollution free atmosphere. Henry Sheftoe has used word convivial for a successful public space. He says convivial is defined in dictionaries as festive, sociable, jovial and fond of merry- making; usually referring to people, but it can equally apply to a situation. He says without such convivial spaces, cities, towns and villages would be mere accretions of buildings with no deliberate opportunities for casual encounters and positive interactions between friends or strangers. How to evaluate public space? Despite the fact that the public space is important for good urban living, question still remains, what places are good or bad. Evolution of public space is a subjective issue and decisions may vary from person to person. Here we are not concerned with the decision form the designers point of view, but only from the point of vew of an individual common man on the street. Experts in the subjects have given different parameters for evaluating the success of a public space. However project for public space have after many case studies and surveys propounded four important parameters and they are access and linkages, comfort and image, user and activities, sociability. All other parameters given by others are more or less covered within the sweep of the aforesaid four issues. Therefore in this essay, success of the public spaces is examined by applying these four parameters only. Accessibility is most important factor which affects the willingness of the users. People are ready and willi ng if the space is nearby, in the neighborhood or approachable easily. Comfort and images decides the attraction of people. According to book Image of the City (Lynch, p.9), the quality in a physical object which gives it a high probability to evoking a strong image in any given observer. Good comfort of space also create good image on the mind. Comfort is the abstract perception in the minds of the user and good seating, lighting, mobility, traffic free environment are the physical criteria. People coming to certain public space have different reasons to come and therefore multiple activity options on the space make it more convivial. Mixed used activities generate maximum public response. If space is used by only one type of users, other users may not find place interesting. Space must provide welcoming environment to all the residents at all the time. Activities in short are the reasons to visit the place, they will interact and communicate with each other. They will love the company and will have sympathy for others. Tolerance, compassion and love are the natural fallout of a good public space. Why Banaras Ghats and Pershing park? Case study of ghat in Banaras as evolved public space: Banaras is perhaps the oldest living city in the world. It is said that (singh, 1993) city has been lived since 4th century. According to Mark Twain (1898) Banaras is older than history, older than tradition, older than legend and looks twice as old as all of them together. It is situated on the bank of holy river Ganga. According to author P. B. Singh (1993), From the ages this river front of Ganga is used by people of India as a place for performing rituals and holistic activity from birth to death. Visitor from all over the world make a point to visit Banaras either to perform Hindu rituals or be witness to them. River bank of Ganga and especially the Ghats has been acclaimed as public places and their existence since time immemorial does make it evolved public place. It is a classical example of evolved public place. According to the Merriam Websters online dictionary (2009) Ghat means A broad flight of steps that is situated on an Indian riverbank and that provides access to the water especially for bathing. Banaras is bound on the east by river Ganga which flows from north to south and while bending continuously makes a beautiful crescent like riverfront. The left bank is flanked by city while right bank is plain and undeveloped. The right bank lands are reserved for agriculture and no construction is permissible. People of Banaras are strongly related to river. The river nurtures their life. It is respected mother like. All the people living there regularly visit the ghat for bathing and routine. Earlier the ghats were muddy platforms to sit near the river. However by evolution the muddy platforms are regenerated as stepped ghats. Most of these ghats have been improved during the 17th and 18th centuries. (Singh, 1993). High contours and different water levels in the river during different seasons, the stepped embankment -ghat is perhaps the best type of river front. There are almost 84 ghats along the river in span of 5 kms. However study is confined to Dasashvamedh ghat, Darbhanga ghat, Munshi ghat, Ahilyabai Ghat. Accessibility and linkage to the edge of the river (Ghat): Study area Ghats are interconnected with each other and one can walk from one to other easily. Access to the ghat is little bit mysterious and confusing. But in plan, one can observe that all roads in the city directly lead to the ghats. Ghats are connected with two types of street. Dasashvamedh road is the Commercial Street and main approach for visitors. Other streets are Secondary Street and connect internal part of the city to the ghats. Other clear accessibility to the ghats is from the river, which is very clear and inviting. Transit points are the main bazaar street. Ghat is accessible on foot and by the boat from the river. The overall experience from city to the Dasashvamedh Ghat: From city to the Ghat is a human scale. Person cant perceive the Ghat while moving from the street. River is not visible from the inner parts of the town. Arrival to the Ghats is quite surprising. Organic development of the building on the edge of river diverts the users movement towards Ghat at certain angle and cut the vision from the distance. The experience from Dasashvamedh Ghat to the city: This experience is quite opposite to one stated above. At the ghat edge buildings are monument scale, which create image of the city from the river and image of skyline gives clear interpretation of activity on the edge. From the ghat one can observe whole city skyline because of the topography of the city. This scale slowly disappears while moving towheads the city. Dasashvamedh road: Dasashvamedh road is a main connection between Kashi Vishvanath temple and the Dasashvamedh Ghat. The whole street contains commercial life and full of mix use character houses. Surprisingly street has two way roads with divider at the center but does not give access to cars. Only two wheelers can pass on this road. The flow of people on this route is so high and black head crowd leads everyone towards the Ghat. At the junction of the Ghat street goes down in slope. Secondary Streets: These streets connect Munshi Ghat, Darbhanda Ghat and Ahilyabai ghat which are mainly attached with residential area. These streets are quite narrow and flanked by row of 3 to 4 storied residential houses with small shops on the ground floor. Street creates shadow on the road all the time which gives good comfort all the time of the day to user. Cows and dogs also stroll in these narrow streets and pedestrian found comfortable. Dark street have over looking spaces from the houses create secure and safe walk for users. At the junction of Chaustti Bazaar streets widen up and that generate community activity with the help of Chaurah (cross road) and temple or shrine. Here edges are the mediator who play major role to generate public spaces at the certain intervals. Accessibility to the Ghats is crowded and appears mess to a designer. On the linkage of the ghat and street, small temples and stalls which make it porous and active in nature. Crowd on such points make the movement on foot also difficult. Edge of the Ghat: Edge of the Darbhanga Ghat and Munshi Ghat are quite dead because of the fort wall but still we can observe activities there. On Dasashvamedh Ghat, shops and temples make edge quite porous and live. Comfort and Image: Ghats have its own individuality on the bank of rive Ganga. Here we can really appreciate what Kevin Lynch thought about the city image (1981, p.1 ) At every instant, there is more than eye can see, more than ear can hear, sitting or a view waiting to be explored. According to Rishma Parikh (2000, p.39) the nature of the placeis sensorial as well as physical. Both, physical environment and the manners of its consumption are responsible for an image. Ghats are very unique in nature. The steps on the contour make it full of life and activities. One can notice that number of people, mostly tourist are busy with cameras taking photograph. But those busy in their routine activities of bathing, praying, performing rituals are unperturbed. The space is full of people from all walks of life. The stone steps provide sitting for people as well as provide accessibility to river. Here Ghats face east direction so direct sun light will be there in the morning hours but in let afternoon and evening hours, monumental scale edge gives shadow on the steps. People use umbrella to gain shadow in the morning hours on the platform of the ghat. At places, bottom of the trees is converted into platform to sit. Here at the Dasashvamedh Ghat we can see police station but still safety is the issue because of the overcrowding. The buildings on the steps create overlooking spaces, which help to reduce issues of safety. City of Banaras is very congested in nature. But as one enters the Ghat, one can feel openness and freedom of space, which is the main attraction for the people to come at ghat. Uses and activity: The Ghats generate very strong religious bond because of devotees holding central activity power. All ghats are used for ritual activities. In the morning people gather here for bathing and Puja, in the afternoon people are busy doing rituals and evening hours see people attending Arati (offering with lighted lamps) and Puja. They take bath in the river. In the afternoon time we can see the people doing different ritual activity behind the death of the people. Apart from the rituals we can see children playing on the platform of the Ghats. Visitors are roaming around and taking photos. Even these activities are also daily on the Ghats. In the special occasions the Ghats used as Emphi Theater, where different live concerts are arranged. On festival days, special Arati is done. Ghats have multi layer activity throughout the day. On the edge of the Dasashvamedh Ghat we can find small temples which conduct religious discourses. The small stalls around the Ghats sell many items which attract not only the local public but also the tourist alike. Small idols, flower, scented sticks etc. Even visitor can take a ride in the bat during the day and night time full moon boat ride is very famous to enjoy the river. This is perhaps the best place where one can see culture and tradition of India. It is India in small scale. Sociability: Sociability of the place is clearly seen. Activities here bring the people together. Devotees and priest sit together and have rituals, which is the back bone activity on the ghat. We find people of all walks of life from beggars to businessman freely interacting with each other. Rich give aims to poor. Bhandaras are the special events on festival days. This is the best example of community participation on the ghat. Even one can observe animals like, cow, goat and man/woman sitting together very comfortably. Visitors and even foreign tourist are seen involved in local activities. Barber shop, tea stalls, palmist, horoscope reader, singer, musician and serpent are commonly seen here and people enjoy their presence and company. Ghats are the best example of socialization between people of different culture and tradition. Space around the Ghats is quite messy and dirty but it doesnt dissuade public to going there. All big events in the town are held here. The Ghats not only have religious importance but are the life line of the people of neighborhood. Kumar says about people of Banaras in her article, their bowels would simply not move in closed spaces, nor would they consider themselves clean from bathing under tap, which shows social attachment of people to the space. Take away ghat from Banaras and it would be lifeless. Ghats are the best examples of democratic places. Neelakshi Joshi has rightly said, the ghat is thus the common bath, the largest open space, meditation center and the biggest pub in town for culture and social encounter and has been so far centuries untold. The ghats of Banaras stand as inspiration for bringing together all men-painters, ascetics, beggars, washer men and kings to the same platform. Natures bounty is not considered the prerogative of the man who can afford the property by the river. It is rather a thing of joy for all to be enjoyed together. Case study of Pershing Square: Site is situated in Los Angeles. City has storing grid pattern and this park is fitted in block size of the grid. This park was designed 1866 and number of time it was redesigned. The study is based on the last design which is done in 1994 by Ricardo Legoretta and Laurie Olin. Before in 1866 it was a formal Spanish plaza and then it was reinvented in 1911, 1928, 1950 and 1994. The number of redesigning of plaza shows transformation of the city from time to time. It is suggestive of the lack of community connection. If local people are attached to a place, they would have stuck to basic form of the space. In 1951 government rebuilt the area and proposed underground parking with the reason to reduce car congestion of the area. Accessibility and image to the park: The Pershing square is an island having road grid on all four sides. The streets which are adjacent to the square are south Olive Street, West 5th and 6th lane and south hill street. Park is accessible from all roads. Streets act as a divider between edge of adjacent building and park. Buildings around the streets are like west 6th lane, South Olive and Hill Street. Have activates like dominos pizza, restaurants, cafà ©, hotels, offices and international jewelry center. This street faà §ade seems very active and porous in nature. The West 5th street faà §ade is little dead and have parking lot as well. Traffic on this street in day time is quite high. People use this street as a pathway to go from one place to another. People do not linger here on this space for long time. At the edge of the square have entry for the underground parking. It has different color wall on the edge, which distract the vision of people. One can find public transport at the edge of the park. On all stree ts, bus stop to access the park. Pershing square metro station is located nearby at five minutes walk. Comfort and image to the park: At the first glance of the parks modern architecture generate good impression on the mind. Usage of the bright color creates aesthetic excitement. Even good use of architectural elements can be seen inside the park. Park has good comfortable arrangement of seating. Pam tree in the park give better shadow and give proper comfortable area to stand. The steps around the water body give comfortable sitting to the user. Usage and activity at the park: The park has scientific architectural elements like solar system waterfall, several constellation maps on floor, telescopes. But this element does not generate activates. At lunch time, people serving in nearby places come here to take their lunch. Most of the time the park is sterile. The development authority conduct good events on the park to attract people like ice scatting, musical evenings etc. but after the activity park seem dead. Park is used only by homeless people. Sociability: The development authority designed it to make a social and democratic space. But it has not come up as such. It has miserable failed to serve is purpose. Analysis: Case study shows that ghats are conveniently located on bank of River Ganga. The river runs north to south and city has organically grown along the river. All the roads lead us to Ghat and accessibility is good form proximity point of view. However city is congested. Roads are narrow and mess. Ghats remain crowded all the time and movement is not comfortable. Cleanliness is another negative factor. However from the point of varied of activities, it is a successful place in as much as the place is bubbling with varied activities throughout the day. Socialization is utmost on this space. If the success of the ghat is to be evaluated y applying parameters suggested by the Project for Public Space, the rating would be poor. However, clumsy accessibility and poor comfort level do not deter the people from socializing on this space. The reverence, people of Banaras has shown is enormous to river Ganga. River Ganga is the life line of people o Banaras and Ghats are the organs without which life at Banaras cannot be thought of. Social attachment of the people of Banaras to river Ganga is is enormous and that has made the ghats a great success despite all odds in terms of good design elements. Ghats are present day riverfronts. However, care has been taken by those who developed ghats on river to ensure that the river is not canalized by embankments as we see at other places. The crescent shaped curve of the river is also well maintained showing their respect for the river. Ghats are perhaps the best example of evolved places. Second case study of Pershing Square Park gives an opposite proposition. Accessibility to park is good. Comfort level and image of the place is also good. Aesthetic design of the park should normally arouse public response. The development authorities have inserted all good design elements to make the park success. However we find that public participation at the place is very poor. The park has failed to achieve its objective. Either people are not interested in the activities it offers or the people have no attachment with the space. The combined study of the two places leads us to conclude that over and above the four parameters suggested by Project for Public Space, there is one more factor which is vital to make a public space convivial and it is -emotional attachment of people to its place. Presence of this factor alone can make a space successful even if no some other counts it may not be convivial. Emotions emanate from long unbroken social and cultural bond. People make places by their accumulations of adaptations and additions. Designer can certainly give his inputs on first three counts of accessibility, comfort and activities but he is helpless on the last parameter in as much as he can solicit public response. He cant make people use this space. Public sentiments are the most vital issue which makes the place successful. Without public response, the space will be sterile and miserably fail to achieve its true objective. The authorities, therefore, should concentrate more on improving evolved public spa ces by increasing the accessibility and comfort level and by providing diverse mix use activities. Evolved public spaces can be made more convivial with little work in this direction. Findings: People make places. Unless the space stimulates the overwhelmed response from one and all, the public space meat for them cannot become successful. The public spaces evolved by accumulation of adaptations and additions by users themselves are more convivial and people regularly use such places though they are not encouraging from the designers point of view. The success of particular public spaces is not in the hands of the designer. His best design model can fail if people do not respond favorably. Design exercise fails if it does not uphold the sentiments of the people using them. Evolved public space can be easily made more comfortable and lively by the efforts of the designer who keeps in mind the sentiments of the users.

The Yellow Wallpaper -- Literary Analysis, Gilman, Crane, Perkins

When looking at two nineteenth century works of change for two females in an American society, Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Stephen Crane come to mind. A feminist socialist and a realist novelist capture moments that make their readers rethink life and the world surrounding. Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† was first published in 1892, about a white middle-class woman who was confined to an upstairs room by her husband and doctor, the room’s wallpaper imprisons her and as well as liberates herself when she tears the wallpaper off at the end of the story. On the other hand, Crane’s 1893 Maggie: A Girl of the Streets is the realist account of a New York girl and her trials of growing up with an alcoholic mother and slum life world. The imagery in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† and Stephen Crane’s Maggie: A Girl of the Streets uses color in unconventional ways by embedding color in their narratives to symbolize the opposite of their common meanings, allowing these colors to represent unique associations; to support their thematic concerns of emotional, mental and societal challenges throughout their stories; offering their reader's the opportunity to question the conventionality of both gender and social systems. The use of color in Stephan Crane’s Maggie: A Girl of the Streets is crucial when looking at the setting of the story; the repeated use of red is significant when describing Maggie’s mother Mary and the importance of color in describing the social system through the story. It is seen prominently when Maggie and Pete go to the theater, parts of the play paralleled the lives of the common people: "The latter spent most of his time out at soak in pale-green snow storms, busy with a nickel-plated revolver, re... ...nd fear of the domesticity that she is imprisoned in. These ideas only reiterate the gilded cage idea of the nineteenth century and the association of all that is bad in a society represented by the trappings of domestic life. The color symbolism in both Crane’s Maggie: A Girl of the Streets and Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† share the associations of gender, society and the realism of a woman’s sphere within a changing and evolving commercial society. As the societal changes of the nineteenth century move closer to the industrialism, naturalism, and the rise of a new class taboos such as mental illness and poverty; it moves further from an ideal domestic Victorian society. The industrialization of manufacturing and the production of goods and thoughts are most representative through the writings of Crane and Gilman as well as other nineteenth century writers.

Mother Daughter Relationships - Mothers and Daughters in Amy Tans The Joy Luck Club :: Joy Luck Club Essays

Mothers and Daughters in Joy Luck Club Amy Tan's novel, The Joy Luck Club, explores the relationships and experiences of four Chinese mothers and four Chinese-American daughters. The difference in upbringing of those women born during the first quarter of this century in China, and their daughters born in California, is undeniable. From the beginning of the novel, you hear Suyuan Woo tell the story of "The Joy Luck Club," a group started by some Chinese women during World War II, where "we feasted, we laughed, we played games, lost and won, we told the best stories. And each week, we could hope to be lucky. That hope was our only joy." (p. 12) Really, this was their only joy. The mothers grew up during perilous times in China. They all were taught "to desire nothing, to swallow other people's misery, to eat [their] own bitterness." (p. 241) Though not many of them grew up terribly poor, they all had a certain respect for their elders, and for life itself. These Chinese mothers were all taught to be honorable, to the point of sacrificing their own lives to keep any family members' promise. Instead of their daughters, who "can promise to come to dinner, but if she wants to watch a favorite movie on TV, she no longer has a promise" (p. 42), "To Chinese people, fourteen carats isn't real gold . . . [my bracelets] must be twenty-four carats, pure inside and out." (p. 42) Towards the end of the book, there is a definite line between the differences of the two generations. Lindo Jong, whose daughter, Waverly, doesn't even know four Chinese words, describes the complete difference and incompatibility of the two worlds she tried to connect for her daughter, American circumstances and Chinese character. She explains that there is no lasting shame in being born in America, and that as a minority you are the first in line for scholarships. Most importantly, she notes that "In America, nobody says you have to keep the circumstances somebody else gives you." (p. 289) Living in America, it was easy for Waverly to accept American circumstances, to grow up as any other American citizen. As a Chinese mother, though, she also wanted her daughter to learn the importance of Chinese character. She tried to teach her Chinese-American daughter "How to obey parents and listen to your mother's mind.

A Place Where the Sea Remembers †Short Story Essay

In A Place Where the Sea Remembers, Sandra Benitez invites us into a mesmerizing world filled with love, anger, tragedy and hope. This rich and bewitching story is a bittersweet portrait of the people in Santiago, a Mexican village by the sea. Each character faces a conflict that affects the course of his or her life. The characters in this conflict are Remedios, la curandera of the small town who listens to people’s stories and gives them advice, Marta, a 16 year old teenage girl, who was raped and became pregnant. Chayo is Marta’s big sister and Calendario is Chayo’s husband. Justo Flores, his conflict is person vs. self. One of the most important conflicts in this story is person vs. person, then person vs. supernatural followed by person vs. self. Marta was raped at a young age, so she wants to have an abortion. As she talks about it, Calendario, her brother in-law promises her that he and Chayo would take care of her baby when he is born, for he has been promoted to the salad maker in town. But everything changes when Chayo and Calendario are blessed with a child that they thought they would never have. Since Chayo is about to have a baby of her own, she refuses to take care of Marta’s baby. Marta’s dream is to go to El Paso. She goes to see Calendario and she finds out that her own sister did not want to take care of her child because she is having one of her own. So that is when the conflict person vs. person begins between Marta and Chayo. When Chayo finds out about her sister’s betrayal they do not speak for years. There are hard feelings going on between them throughout the story. Marta has a second conflict, person vs. supernatural. Marta goes to see Remedios, la Curandera, to help her with her problem. Remedios knows what happened to Marta even before she speaks. She knows that she was raped on the beach against her will. When Marta tells her about her problem and asks if she could help her Remedios refuses. Marta, disappointed about her sister’s selfishness, goes to el brujo to put a spell on her sister’s son. Marta regrets doing that and goes to Remedios to undo the spell. Chayo still thinks the curse is there after four years. Marta takes care of her own child, and learns how to deal with the fact he came from a rape but in the end there is a twist of fate. Remedios has seen Marta’s future. She knows that her child is going to die; she sees this when the boy was in his mother’s womb. The conflict of person vs. person begins with Don Justo Flores. Each day he goes to the beach where people beach pay him to see his birds perform tricks. Don Justo is a lonely man but he has a story. He had two wives and five children, including Justina, his first, and Ernestina, his fifth. Suddenly he receives a telegraph; he suspects it is bad news but he cannot read. He hopes the telegraph is from Justina saying all is forgiven. So as he walks on the beach as usual, he finds a girl named Rita and asks her to pick her fortune. Don Justo asks the guy next to her to read him the telegraph. The guy tells him it is bad news after he reads, â€Å"Come home at once, papa Justina is gone from us.†(A Place Where the Sea Remembers, Sandra Benitez, p. 108) So he gathers his things and goes to town for tequila and he blames himself for not being a good father and not being there for Justina when she was a little girl. He remembers allowing his second wife to push Justina out of the hou se; he cannot stand the pain. Whether we like it or not, conflict is a part of everyday lives. It can happen to anyone, from your friends to your family. Often it is not the fact that conflict occurs, but how it is dealt with, how people react to it. After being touched by conflict, people can evolve and build strong relationships. However, conversely many people can also suffer and be influenced. Therefore, in some ways conflict can be commendable, and some ways it can be brutal. Often conflict is violent, negative and destructive. However, this is not always so. There are times where conflict can bring unexpected qualities from people change a person for the better. Humans are stubborn. In A Place where the Sea Remembers, Marta and Chayo are experiencing person vs. person conflict. If the sisters understood each other and accepted that each other’s perspective is different, but not wrong, there would not have been any conflict.

Comparative Essay- Booker T. Washington & W.E.B. Dubois

Kelly Carnevale Period 2 September 2012 Comparative Essay BOOKER T. WASHINGTON & W. E. B. DUBOIS Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Dubois were two men that drastically altered the face of Civil Rights. Both had a strong hand in education and were dynamic figures of the Progressive Age. While they both were figure heads in the social improvements in African American lives, their strategies of achieving change were very different. The two men had very different upbringings. Washington was born as a slave in Virginia in 1856. He lived in a one-roomed log cabin.Dubois was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts in a town made up of 5,000 whites, with only 50 blacks. As for education, both men were highly advanced. Washington attended Hampton Normal Agricultural Institute in Virginia and graduated with high marks, eventually becoming a professor there. Dubois attended Great Barrington High School and became the sole black student to graduate. He eventually went on to attending Harvard Law School and became the first black man to earn a PhD there. Over the course of their lives, both grew to become very accomplished men.Washington became the founder of Tuskegee Normal & Industrial Institute and wrote the Atlanta Compromise. He was also the first black man invited to the White House. Dubois became the founder of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) and won a Lenin Peace Prize as well as his many academic successes. Both men were very large figures in civil rights in the late 19th century. However they had very different views when it came to the philosophical approach of achieving these rights.Washington believed that blacks should accept racial discrimination for the time being and concentrate on socially furthering themselves through hard work. He believed that African Americans could earn the respect and civil equality that they desired from whites by having education in physical skills and high virtues. Dubois, while agreeing that African Americans should improve their education and further themselves in society, was outraged by racial injustice and inequality and demanded his rights instead of just excusing the racism.The 19th century was blessed to have such men as Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Dubois. Without these historical figures, who knows where African Americans would be today. If these men lived today they would be overwhelmed to see that they made a change in society, that today blacks and whites are friends in society, that they have equal rights, can work the same jobs, read the same books, and live in the same neighborhoods as the white men, and we even have a black president.