Tuesday, January 28, 2020

School System Essay Example for Free

School System Essay I. Introduction In this chapter, the researchers would like to propose an automated billing system in AMA Computer Learning Center (ACLC) College of Gapan City, Nueva Ecija. In our generation so many things are different. The advent of technology has changed the way we live, work and spends leisure time. Computer was considered the lifeblood of society; they are everywhere. And the advancement in discoveries, both in hardware and software, keep coming, day in and day out. Technology changes and improves at a rapid pace and companies and institutions have cope with it. This is because as the latest knowledge of development in computer technology grows people’s standard increase. They seek and crave for better and more efficient ways to accomplish tedious task. The group of Companies was built upon the dream of the late Amable M. Aguiluz Sr. (AMA), Auditor General and National Treasurer during the term of President Diosdado Macapagal, to build an institution that would provide world-class education to Filipino y0uth. That dream bore fruit on October 20, 1980 when his son Dr. Amable R. Aguiluz V. (ARA), established the AMA Institute of Computer Studies and blazed the trail for popular computer education in the country. Originally located along Show Boulevard, the pioneering school offered EDP Fundamentals, Basic Programming and Technology Career courses. In June 1981, AMA Computer College (AMACC) was launched offering a four-year degree course in BS Computer Science – the first to be offered in the country. From only 13 students, the population of AMACC surged to 600 in 1983 and to 1985. To meet the growing demand for computer courses, AMACC established its first campus in Makati in 1983. A second campus followed in 1986 in project 8, Quezon City. In 1987, AMA Computer Learning Center (ACLC) was established to offer short courses in computer programming and two-year technical vocational courses. Today, there are today more than 100 learning centers nationwide. In the same year, AMA Basic Education was formed to offer courses elementary, high school and eventually pre-school education. Now known as the St. Augustine International School, its branches are located in Metro Manila, Laguna, Cebu, and Davao. In 1996, AMA set up the AMA Telecommunications and Electronics Learning Center (AMATEL) – the country’s first-ever telecommunications school. It is now called AMA International Institute of Technology (AIIT). In 1998, ABE International Business was established to offer courses in Hotel and Restaurant Management (HRM), Business Administration and computer-related courses. Today, ABE has several branches nationwide. ABE is an international school affiliated with ABE in the United Kingdom. It offers not just local, but also international diploma and international practicum program. The AMA school network also expanded overseas with branches in Los Angeles, California; Manama; Bahrain; Bangladesh; China; and Hong Kong. In 2000, AMAES launched its most ambitious expansion program with no less than 14 branches being set up nationwide. To help it graduates finds employment, AMA established in the same year its own manpower placement agency called INFOTECH Professional Services Inc. The year 2002 saw AMA expanding into maritime education, medicine, nursing, care-giving and allied health courses. Now, the Norwegian maritime Academy (NMA), the AMA school of Medicine (ASM), and the St. Augustine School of Nursing (SASN) are making a mark in their respective fields with IT-based curricula. AMA Education System (AMAES) – the umbella for AMA schools, currently boasts of more than 200 branches nationwide and in key foreign cities. It has proudly produced more than 150,000 professionals who have been gainfully employed locally and overseas. On August 20, 2002, AMA was granted University status by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) – a well-earned tribute to the first ISO-certificated computer educational Institution in the Philippines. Founding Chairman Dr. Amable R. Aguiluz V was installed as the first AMA University president. The billing system throughout the school has relied on pens and papers. The information of the students with regards to their billings, school fees, projected additional expenses, and other expenses within the year are done computing using pens and papers, they have a computer to encode the billing information, using the V-Look UP and Microsoft Office Excel 2007. Due to manual usage, they noticed that certain problems cannot be avoided like data redundancies, missing records of the students. Furthermore, some could not be able to handle the massive volume of the students. Under the old manual billing scenarios, getting rid of paper improves efficiency, reduces human errors and allow information to flow to their system without a time consuming data input process. And also a higher student turnaround as enrollees will be saved faster. And as the population of ACLC continues to grow, many difficulties in handling their billing in a manual process and one of the solution in this problem is to make their manual billing into a computerized system. With this, the proponent of this research sought to find the way to facilitate all the students billing records â€Å"an automated billing system† to replace the manual operations. The developer wants to improve especially to meet the needs of ACLC, also through this system, billing information is easily obtained hence, school tends to rely less in manual operations. II. Statement of the Problems The proponents would like to develop the ACLC to address the following problems of their school in terms of their billing system. 1. How the proposed enrollment system will help the school? 2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the current manual enrollment to the proposed enrollment system? 3. How the proposed system helps the daily operations of the school? 4. How can ACLC come up to the solution that may possibly solve their manual enrollment process? 5. Who are those beneficiaries of the proposed billing system? 6. What are the difference in using the current and the proposed system? III. Objectives of the Study Creating a computerized enrollment system of ACLC is the main objective of the study. The following are the specific goals: 1. To develop the system that will minimize the processing time in accessing records, and calculating fees of students. 2. To provide a proper computer-based database for ACLC. 3. To build a user-friendly system that produces accurate and error-free data results. 4. To monitor the integration of the different operations, which includes billing data, database system, and payments, it is a need for computerization. 5. To secure all the billings, payments, fees of the students. 6. To lighten the load of the staff in accessing records. 7. To improve their billing system. IV. Scope and Delimitation The study covers the billing process in ACLC (AMA Computer Learning System). The centered on means of speeding up the billing report, computation of transactions of billing. This study will be a great help in converting the manual system to computerized system for great speed retrieval. The system developed in such way that the company will be able to obtain the following: Maintain the complete files in computerized form, prepare billing report in an easiest way, updates record time to time. The proposed system has the limitations, does not include time to time printing of transactions and does not retrieve data if have power interruption. V. Significance of the Study In the development of the study, the main goal of the developer is to develop a program that could be beneficial to as many people as possible. The computerized billing system is developed to provide constructive significance to the following: The Registrar – Student registration or enrolling will going to be much easier because of the proposed system, saving student files and adding subjects is convenient and faster. The Cashier To make their work easy and also they could handle all the billings of the students without time consuming data input process and can make the computation of every transaction in the easiest way. The Proponents the development of the system challenges the programming skills of the researchers whereby searching for a new programming platform to make the common and simple program through a more sophisticated and advance approach. Students they will accommodate in a short period of time during setting up their bill immediately. Management of the School – it helps to organize and supervise its company especially the students who give fund to operate the school properly in the process of giving correct billing. Parents – it helps them to know the total bill and load that their sons or daughters have for the whole semester and they are enrolled VI. Hypothesis of the Study The researchers will provide some predictions about the proposed billing system: 1. The proposed enrollment system will upgrade its manual enrollment process into an automated enrollment system. 2. It will lessen the works of the staff/ personnel through the help of proposed billing system. 3. The proposed system helps in minimizing the time and efforts and gives a convenient, more accurate, reliable, and there would be a consistent operations and procedures. 4. Through the help of proposed system, it will decrease the data handling errors of the students in their billings and information. 5. The proposed enrollment system could be the answer to the problems of the school in processing their billings. 6. The proposed enrollment system can change the current data management more efficient, secured, save more space for the office, handle or search student information easier and lessen data reiteration.

Monday, January 20, 2020

America Needs a Complete Smoking Ban Essay -- Should smoking be banned

Approximately 7,500 infants die due to sudden infant death syndrome due to exposure of secondhand smoke in America (â€Å"American Lung Association†). Children all over the United States are unwillingly exposed to parental secondhand smoke in public, in cars, and at home. When children are exposed to secondhand smoke, many develop life threatening diseases later in life as a result of that exposure. In the United States, smoking should be banned while in the presence of children. Children’s lungs are vulnerable to the effects of secondhand smoke, and this can cause serious problems down the road. Some states have already banned smoking in public and others are in the process. Secondhand smoke exposure has the possibility of causing nicotine dependence in adolescent (nicotine dependence in Children). Secondhand smoke can cause diseases in the lungs of children which can be long-term. There are three examples of diseases in children that include asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and pneumonia. Asthma, being the most common, is a chronic disorder which causes the host to cough, wheeze, have a shortness of breath, and chest pains (â€Å"WebMd† Asthma.) Living with asthma is very common; many people can live perfectly normal lives with the disease. Another illness caused by secondhand smoking is COPD. Symptoms include COPD flare ups, shortness of breath, buildup of mucus, weight loss, and in some cases the host’s skin will turn a shade of blue. There are four stages to COPD which are mild, moderate, serious, and very serious in which the symptoms progressively become worse as you go from stage to stage ("WebMd COPD.") A third disease is pneumonia which violently attacks the respiratory system. Symptoms include rapid ... ...ndhand Smoke." American Lung Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Mar. 2015. . "Symptoms and types." WebMd. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Mar. 2015. . "COPD Symptoms and types." WebMd. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Mar. 2015. . "Pneumonia Symptoms and types." WebMd. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Mar. 2015. . Bell, Kirsten, Salmon Amy, and Darlene McNaughton. "Smoking around children and childhood overnutrition." 19.2 (2009): 15. Web. 2 Mar. 2015. "second-hand smoke may trigger nicotine dependence symptoms in kids." NewsRx Health & Science 19 Oct. 2008: 195. Health Reference Center Academic. Web. 28 Mar. 2015.

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Bloodlines Chapter Twenty-Two

CLARENCE DIDN'T WANT to talk to us about what had happened. In fact, he adamantly denied anything was wrong, claiming he'd scratched his neck while shaving. â€Å"Mr. Donahue,† I said as gently as I could, â€Å"this was made by a surgical tool. And it didn't happen until Keith visited.† â€Å"No, no,† Clarence managed in a weak voice. â€Å"It has nothing to do with him.† Dorothy stuck her head in just then, carrying a glass of juice. We'd called for her shortly after my arrival tonight. For blood loss, the remedies were the same for Moroi and human alike: sugar and fluids. She offered the glass to him with a straw, her lined face filled with concern. I continued my pleas as he drank. â€Å"Tell us what your deal is,† I begged. â€Å"What's the arrangement? What's he giving you for your blood?† When Clarence remained silent, I tried another tactic. â€Å"People are being hurt. He's giving out your blood indiscriminately.† That got a reaction. â€Å"No,† said Clarence. â€Å"He's using my blood and saliva to heal people. To heal sick humans.† Saliva? I nearly groaned. Of course. The mysterious clear liquid. Now I knew what gave the celestial tattoos their addictive high. Gross. Adrian and I exchanged glances. Healing certainly was a use for vampire blood. The tattoo I wore was proof of that, and the Alchemists had worked long trying to duplicate some of the blood's properties for wider medicinal use. So far, there was no way to synthetically reproduce it, and using real blood simply wasn't practical. â€Å"He lied,† I replied. â€Å"He's selling it to rich teenagers to help them with sports. What did he promise you for it? A cut of the money?† Adrian glanced around the opulent room. â€Å"He doesn't need money. The only thing he needs is what the guardians wouldn't give him. Justice for Tamara, right?† Surprised, I turned back to Clarence and saw Adrian's words confirmed on the old Moroi's face. â€Å"He†¦ he's been investigating the vampire hunters for me,† he said slowly. â€Å"He says he's close. Close to finding them out.† I shook my head, wanting to kick myself for not having figured out sooner that Clarence was the blood source. It explained why Keith was always unexpectedly here – and why he got so upset when I showed up without warning. My â€Å"fraternizing with vampires† had had nothing to do with it. â€Å"Sir, I guarantee the only thing he's investigating is how to spend the money he's been making.† â€Å"No†¦ no†¦ he's going to help me find the hunters who killed Tamara†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I stood up. I couldn't stand to hear any more. â€Å"Get him some real food, and see what he'll eat,† I told Dorothy. â€Å"If he's only weak from blood loss, he just needs time.† I nodded for Adrian to follow me out. As we walked toward the living room, I remarked, â€Å"Well, there are good and bad sides to this. At least we can be confident Keith's got a fresh supply of blood for us to bust him with. I'm just sorry Clarence had to get hit so – â€Å" I froze as I entered the living room. I'd simply wanted to go there because it would be a familiar place to discuss our plans, one that was less creepy than Clarence's bedroom. Considering how my imagination often ran wild while I was in this old house, I'd found that few things came as a surprise. But never in my wildest dreams had I imagined the living room would be transformed into an art gallery. Easels and canvas were set up all around the room. Even the pool table was covered by a big roll of paper. The pictures varied wildly in their content. Some simply had splashes of color thrown on them. Some possessed astonishingly realistic depictions of objects and people. An assortment of watercolors and oil paints sat around amidst the art. For a moment, all thoughts of Clarence and Keith disappeared from my head. â€Å"What is this?† â€Å"Homework,† Adrian said. â€Å"Didn't you†¦ didn't you just start your classes? How could they have assigned this much?† He walked over to a canvas showing a swirling red line traced over a black cloud and lightly tested to see if the paint was dry. Studying it, I tried to decide if I really was seeing a cloud. There was almost something anthropomorphic about it. â€Å"Of course they didn't give us this much, Sage. But I had to make sure I nailed my first assignment. Takes a lot of tries before you hit perfection.† He paused to reconsider that. â€Å"Well, except for my parents. They got it on the first try.† I couldn't help a smile. After watching Adrian's moods oscillate so wildly in the last couple weeks, it was nice to see them on the upswing. â€Å"Well, this is kind of amazing,† I admitted. â€Å"What are they? I mean, I get that one.† I pointed to a painting of a woman's eye, brown and long-lashed, and then to another one of roses. â€Å"But the others are open to, um, slightly more creative interpretation.† â€Å"Are they?† asked Adrian, turning back to the smoky painting with the red streak. â€Å"I figured it was obvious. This one is Love. Don't you see it?† I shrugged. â€Å"Maybe I don't have an artistic enough mind.† â€Å"Maybe,† he agreed. â€Å"Once we bust your buddy Keith, we'll discuss my genius art all you want.† â€Å"Right,† I said, growing serious again. â€Å"We need to search his place for evidence. I figured the best way to do that is if I lure him out and you break in while he's gone. To get through the lock – â€Å" Adrian waved me off. â€Å"I can pick a lock. How do you think I got into my parents' liquor cabinet in middle school?† â€Å"Should've guessed,† I said dryly. â€Å"Make sure you look everywhere, not just in obvious places. He could have compartments hidden in the walls or in furniture. You want to find vials of blood or metallic liquid or even the tool that pierced Clarence.† â€Å"Got it.† We hashed out a few more details – including who he should call when he found something – and were about to leave when he asked, â€Å"Sage, why'd you pick me to be your partner in crime in this?† I thought about it. â€Å"Process of elimination, I guess. Jill's supposed to be kept out of trouble. Eddie'd be a good asset, but he needed to go back with her and Lee. Besides, I already knew you didn't have any moral qualms about breaking and entering.† â€Å"That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me,† he declared with a grin. We headed out to Keith's after that. All the lights were on in the first floor of his building, dashing a last-minute hope I'd had that maybe I wouldn't have to lure him out. I would've actually liked to help with the search. I dropped Adrian off and then drove to a twenty-four-hour restaurant that was outside the opposite side of town. I figured it would be perfect for keeping Keith away from his home. The driving time alone would provide Adrian with extra searching time, though it meant Adrian had to wait outside for a while until Keith left. Once I finally arrived, I got a table, ordered coffee, and dialed Keith's number. â€Å"Hello?† â€Å"Keith, it's me. I need to talk to you.† â€Å"So talk,† he said. He sounded smug and confident, no doubt happy at pulling off the last-minute tattoo sale. â€Å"Not on the phone. I need you to meet me.† â€Å"At Amberwood?† he asked in surprise. â€Å"Isn't it after hours?† It was indeed, but that was a problem for later. â€Å"I'm not at school. I'm at Margaret's Diner, that place out by the highway.† Long silence. Then: â€Å"Well, if you're already out past curfew, then just come here.† â€Å"No,† I said firmly. â€Å"You come to me.† â€Å"Why should I?† I hesitated only briefly before playing the card I knew would get him, the one thing that would make him drive out here and not raise suspicions about the tattoos. â€Å"It's about Carly.† â€Å"What about her?† he asked after a moment's pause. â€Å"You know exactly what.† After a second's pause, Keith relented and hung up. I noticed that I had a voice mail from earlier in the day that I hadn't heard come in. I called and listened. â€Å"Sydney, this is Wes Regan from Carlton College. Just wanted to go over a couple things with you. First, I'm afraid I have some bad news. It doesn't look like I'm going to be able to retroactively admit your brother from auditor status. I can enroll him next semester for sure if he stays in good standing, but the only way he can keep taking classes now is if he continues to do so as an auditor. He won't be able to get financial aid as a result, and in fact, you'll actually need to pay the auditing fee soon if he's going to stay in the classes. If he wants to drop altogether, we can do that too. Just call me and let me know what you'd like to do.† I stared at the phone in dismay when the message was over. There went our dreams of sliding Adrian into fully enrolled student status, not to mention his dreams of getting financial aid and moving out of Clarence's. The next semester probably started in January, so Adrian was facing four more months at Clarence's. Adrian would also be facing four more months of bus-riding and taking classes without college credit. But were the credits and financial aid really the most important things here? I thought back to how excited Adrian had been after only a couple classes, how he'd thrown himself into the art. His face had been radiant when he stood in his â€Å"gallery.† Jill's words also echoed through my mind, about how the art had given him something to channel his feelings into and made the bond easier for her to cope with. Those classes were good for both of them. How much was an auditing fee? I wasn't sure but knew it wasn't as much as tuition. It was also a onetime cost that I could probably slide into my expenses without raising the attention of the Alchemists. Adrian needed those classes, of that I was certain. If he knew financial aid wasn't an option this semester, there was a good chance he'd just drop them altogether. I couldn't allow that. He'd known there might be â€Å"a delay† while the financial aid came together. If I could keep him going to Carlton a little longer, then maybe he'd get invested enough in the art that he'd stay on, even when the truth came out. It was a sneaky thing to do, but it would benefit him – and Jill – in the end. I dialed back Wes Regan's office, knowing I'd get his voice mail. I left him a message saying that I'd drop off a check for the auditing fee and that Adrian would stay on until he could be enrolled next semester. I hung up, saying a silent prayer that it would take a while for Adrian to find out any of this. The waitress kept giving me the evil eye over just having coffee, so I finally ordered a piece of pie to go. She had just set the carton down on my table when an irritated Keith entered the restaurant. He stood in the doorway, looking around impatiently until he saw me. â€Å"Okay, what's going on?† he demanded, making a big show of sitting down. â€Å"What's so important that you felt the need to break school rules and drag me halfway across town?† For a moment, I froze up. Looking into Keith's eyes – real and artificial – triggered all the conflicting feelings I'd had about him this last year. Fear and anxiety over what I was trying to pull off warred with the deep hate I'd long carried. Baser instincts wanted me to make him suffer, to throw something at him. Like the pie. Or a chair. Or a baseball bat. â€Å"I – â€Å" Before I could say another word, my phone chimed. I looked down and read a text message from Adrian: GOT IT. CALL MADE. ONE HOUR. I slipped the phone into my purse and exhaled. It had taken Keith twenty minutes to get here, and during that time, Adrian had been dutifully searching the apartment. He'd apparently been successful. Now it was up to me to delay Keith until reinforcements showed up. One hour was actually a lot less time than I'd expected. I'd given Adrian Stanton's phone number, and she would've dispatched whatever Alchemists were closest. I'd figured that would mean Los Angeles, but it was hard to say with the scope of our jobs. If there were Alchemists on the east side of the city, they'd get here very quickly. It was also possible they could cut time by simply flying a private jet in. â€Å"What's that?† asked Keith irritably. â€Å"A text from one of your vampire friends?† â€Å"You can stop the act,† I said. â€Å"I know you don't really care about me ‘getting too close' to them.† I hadn't intended this to be the topic that distracted him, but I'd take it. â€Å"Of course I do. I worry about your soul.† â€Å"Is that why you called my dad?† I asked. â€Å"Is that the reason you wanted me out of Palm Springs?† â€Å"It's for your own good,† he said, putting on that holier-than-thou air. â€Å"Do you know how wrong it was that you even wanted this job in the first place? No Alchemist would. But you, you practically begged for it.† â€Å"Yeah,† I said, feeling my anger rise. â€Å"So Zoe wouldn't have to do it.† â€Å"Tell yourself that if you want. I know the truth. You like these creatures.† â€Å"Why does it have to be so cut-and-dried? In your view, I either have to hate them or be in league with them. There's a middle ground, you know. I can still be loyal to the Alchemists and on friendly terms with vampires and dhampirs.† Keith looked at me like I was ten years old. â€Å"Sydney, you're such an innocent. You don't understand the ways of the world like I do.† I knew all about his â€Å"ways of the world† and would've said as much if the waitress hadn't come by to take his drink order just then. When she was gone, Keith continued his spiel. â€Å"I mean, how do you even know you're feeling the way you do? Vampires can compel, you know. They use mind control. Spirit users like Adrian are really good at it. For all we know, he's been using his powers to endear himself to you.† I thought of all the times I'd wanted to shake some sense into Adrian. â€Å"He's not doing a very good job, then.† We bickered back and forth about this, and for once, I was glad of Keith's obstinacy and refusal to see reason. The longer he argued with me, the more time the Alchemists had to get to his apartment. If Stanton had told Adrian one hour, she probably meant it. Still, it was best to be safe. My breaking point came when Keith said, â€Å"You should be glad I'm looking out for you like this. This is about more than vampires, you know. I'm teaching you life lessons. You memorize books but don't understand people. You don't know how to connect to them. You're going to carry this same naive attitude with you into the real world, thinking everyone means well, and someone – some guy, probably – will just take advantage of you.† â€Å"Well,† I snapped, â€Å"you'd know all about that, wouldn't you?† Keith snorted. â€Å"I have no interest in you, rest easy.† â€Å"I'm not talking about me! I'm talking about Carly.† So. Here it was. The original purpose of our meeting. â€Å"What's she have to do with anything?† Keith kept his tone steady, but I saw it. The slightest flicker of anxiety in his eye. â€Å"I know what happened between you guys. I know what you did to her.† He became very interested in stirring ice around with his straw. â€Å"I didn't do anything to her. I have no idea what you're talking about.† â€Å"You know exactly what I'm talking about! She told me. She came to me afterward.† I leaned forward, feeling confident. â€Å"What do you think my dad would do if he found out? What would yours do?† Keith looked up sharply. â€Å"If you're so certain something terrible happened, then why doesn't your dad already know? Huh? Maybe because Carly knows there's nothing to tattle on. Anything we did, she wanted to, believe me.† â€Å"You are such a liar,† I hissed. â€Å"I know what you did. You raped her. And you will never suffer enough for it. You should've lost both of your eyes.† He stiffened at the reference to his eyes. â€Å"That's harsh. And has nothing to do with any of this. What the hell's happened to you, Sydney? How'd you turn into such a bitch? Maybe making you associate with vampires and dhampirs has caused more damage than we realized. First thing tomorrow, I'm going to call Stanton and ask that they pull you now. No waiting until the end of the week. You need to be away from this dark influence.† He shook his head and gave me a look both condescending and pitying. â€Å"No, you need to be re-educated, period. It should've happened a long time ago, as soon as they caught you busting out that murderer.† â€Å"Don't change the topic.† I spoke haughtily, though he'd again woken a sliver of fear in me. What if Adrian and I failed? What if the Alchemists listened to Keith and hauled me away? He'd never have to worry about me again in a re-education center. â€Å"This isn't about me. We were talking about Carly.† Keith rolled his eyes in annoyance. â€Å"I'm done talking about your slutty sister.† That was when my earlier impulse to throw something at him won out. Lucky for him, it was only my coffee and not a chair. Also lucky for him: the coffee had cooled considerably. There was still a lot of it left, and it managed to splash everywhere, drenching his unfortunate choice of a white shirt. He stared at me in astonishment, sputtering to get his words out. â€Å"You bitch!† he said, standing up. As he started moving toward the door, I realized that my temper might have just blown the plan. I hurried over and caught hold of his arm. â€Å"Wait, Keith. I-I'm sorry. Don't go.† He jerked his arm away and glared at me. â€Å"It's too late for you. You had your chance and blew it.† I grabbed him again. â€Å"No, no. Wait. There's still lots we have to talk about.† He opened his mouth with some snippy remark and then promptly shut it. He studied me for several seconds, his face growing serious. â€Å"Are you trying to keep me here? What's going on?† When I couldn't muster a response, he pulled away and stormed out the door. I quickly ran back to the table and tossed a twenty on it. I grabbed the pie and told the bewildered waitress to keep the change. The clock in my car told me I had twenty minutes until the Alchemists were supposed to show up at Keith's. That was also the time it would take to get back there. I drove right behind him, making no effort to hide my presence. It was no secret now that something was going on, something I'd lured him away from home for. I blessed every red light that stopped us, praying he wouldn't arrive too early. If he did, Adrian and I were going to have to delay him. It wouldn't be impossible, but it also wasn't something I wanted to do. We finally made it back. Keith pulled into his building's tiny lot, and I parked uncaringly in a fire zone out front. I was only steps behind him as he ran to the door, but he hardly seemed to notice. His attention was on the lit-up windows of his building and the dark silhouettes barely discernible beyond the heavy drapes. He burst in through the door, and I followed a moment later, nearly running into him as he came to a complete standstill. I didn't know the three suited men there with Adrian, but I knew they were Alchemists. They had that cold, polished feel that we all strove for, and their cheeks were emblazoned with gold lilies. One was going through Keith's kitchen cupboards. Another had a notepad and was talking to Adrian, who was leaning against the wall and smoking. He smiled when he saw me. The third Alchemist was kneeling on the floor in the living room near a small storage cupboard in the wall. A tacky painting of a shirtless woman's back lay nearby, which apparently had been used to hide the compartment. Its wooden door had clearly been forcibly opened, and various contents were strewn haphazardly around – with a few exceptions. The Alchemist was going to great pains to sort one pile of objects: metal tubes and needles used to drain blood, along with vials of blood and small packets of silvery powder. He looked up at our sudden entrance and fixed Keith with a cool smile. â€Å"Ah, so glad you're here, Mr. Darnell. We were hoping we could take you with us for some questioning.† Keith's face fell.

Saturday, January 4, 2020

Analysis Of Siddhartha - 1388 Words

The book â€Å" Siddhartha â€Å" by Hermann Hesse follows main character Siddhartha of his exploration for knowledge and experience. Siddhartha travels to many places throughout the book, learning new things at each destination. Beginning with his friend, Govinda, they both set off to learn from the Samanas in the forest. As the book progresses, they both split onto their own paths of preferred learning. This leads Siddhartha on a majority of his expedition for knowledge. Learning many things from a variety of different teachers. This leads him through many new experiences and the wisdom he shows at the end of the book. Through his journey for knowledge, Siddhartha faces many challenges along his path. One of the challenges happens to him when†¦show more content†¦This challenge is death or the will to die, as Siddhartha faces one of his lowest points after leaving the city, which is him willing to commit suicide. His willingness to die is caused by the effect of his life in the city, he hated how he had changed and as its described,† There was nothing more than a deep, painful longing to shake off this whole confused dream, to spit out this stale wine, to make an end of this bitter, painful life.† ( Page 71) What it appears he is saying in this is that the only way he feels he can escape these previous experiences and life in the city is to kill himself. This is as well to escape the being he had now become, that he now hated, and that he felt he would never be able to escape, leave, and move onto a different life style once again. The only way he was able to escape his will for death and overcome this challenge was to return a bit more toward his routes and speak the word â€Å"Om† in Brahmin prayers and part of the first teachings he had learned. Within the book, Siddhartha faces a third challenge involving the son he had with Kamala. Closer toward the end of the book, Kamala is making her journey to go see the dying Buddha with her son, During this process, she is bitten by a snake and killed by the river where the ferryman and Siddhartha work. This event leads to Siddhartha’s son now staying with him at theShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Siddhartha s Siddhartha 2907 Words   |  12 Pages1. As Siddhartha, the protagonist, runs all around ancient India trying to reach complete inner peace within the Self (Nirvana), he finds himself living multiple different lives and meeting a few teachers that show not only different points of view on the world but also giving him the puzzle pieces to finally put together the puzzle of Nirvana. Siddhartha’s story begins around 644 B.C., about the approximate time of the Buddha in ancient India. Everyone loves Siddhartha: his parents, fellow BrahminsRead MoreAnalysis Of Siddhart ha1182 Words   |  5 PagesLife Lessons Siddhartha was laying down by the river contemplating life. 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In the novel Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha is searching for enlightenment, but as he ages andRead MoreSiddhartha Analysis Paper1322 Words   |  6 Pagespeace. Siddhartha illustrates each of these themes in the novel, Siddhartha. Throughout his life, Siddhartha is very independent. For example, Siddhartha demonstrates self-determination when he leaves his overbearing father â€Å"to begin the life of the Samanas† (Hesse 10). There, he escapes from the physical world to soon realize that enlightenment cannot come from ignoring the world around him. He decides to follow the Buddha and learn his teachings; however, he is unsuccessful. As Siddhartha goes throughRead MoreA nalysis Of Hermann Hesse s Siddhartha1520 Words   |  7 Pagescomfort in times of change, who will be there? That is the transition the protagonist in the novel Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse decides to make when he leaves the comfort of his home and finds comfort in the flow of the river. 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