My History about a Guard in the Mall Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 5

My History about a Guard in the Mall - Essay Example The guard looked like part of the furniture by virtue of his immobility. He was an inch or two shies of six feet and had a ruddy face. However, I could only see an outline of his nose and chin as he was not facing my direction. He had which I thought contrasted to his military style hair cut. On his head, he had blond crossly cropped like soldiers would be. He had on a well-starched blue short sleeved shirt and a pair of pants made of the same material. He had regulation boots, but it was the way he positioned his feet that made my neck snap up from my examination. From where I sat, I could tell his right shoe was clearly more buffed than the right one. I tried to play Sherlock Holmes and looked to see if he held his baton with his left hand. He did his holster was on the same side, so I concluded he was right-handed. He lifted up his face to examine something in the distance somewhere across the door his eyes were blue, and he had exceptionally busy eyebrows, which were not quite as brown as his hair. His eyes had a faraway look like a sailor trying to spy a distance inland from the deep sea. I wondered if he had been in the navy, and he seemed to be staring at a point far in the horizon even in an enclosed mall where there was not much of a horizon. His hands, which had shifted the baton to a peg on his belt, they were big pinkish callused hands which could have seen hard labor in the past. The fingernails on his left hand looked like they had been chewed on rather on rather than clipped. He stood with his feet apart, and this seemed to give him an element of stability as well as size. When he stood there, with his feet aside his hands constantly felt at his pockets area.  

Motivational Strategies To Improve Learning Research Paper

Motivational Strategies To Improve Learning - Research Paper Example Motivation in secondary school learners has been termed as one of the factors that define how successful one shall be in their life after, especially in their career fields. However, records indicate that of all issues and problems that have bothered many teachers overtime, motivation remains the most puzzling (Theobald, 2005). Teachers agree that motivation is imperative in any student, but â€Å"generating† it has remained the hardest task for the teachers. As a result, behavioral and cognitive psychologists have carried out colossal research in a bid to establish the strategies that teachers can use to successfully motivate their students. Educational psychology, which can be defined as the keen study and analysis of how human beings learn, forms the base of the researchers and studies that these psychologists carry out (Krause et al, 2013). This work embarks on identifying the various strategies that teachers can adapt to successfully motivate their students. The strategie s shall be backed up by psychological education theories to further explain how they work. To begin with, what is the motivation? It can be defined as the internal aspiration in a person to not just succeed but also the ability to take the steps to engage in activities that will lead to the desired success (Salvin, 2003). It has been said that one characteristic of the people with high levels of motivation is the that they have a kind of energy that is generated from within them, which overflows and has in its power, dynamism and immense knowledge of what one wants, and the direction they have to take to get what they want (Benson, 20080. Motivation can be in two forms, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (Uyulgan and Akkuzu, 2014). Intrinsic motivation is the motivation that is generated y the desire to conquer, or the success in overcoming challenges. Some people call it the â€Å"good motivation†. Intrinsic motivation is usually reward based (short term) but in the long run .

Network Installation Proposal

Network Installation Proposal The purpose of this document is to specify the project plan to setup Network Infrastructure for Heath Robinson Web Hosting Company. This document outlines a brief plan about, on how the project is to be shaped and also includes the milestones and deliverables. Heath Robinson Web Hosting Company has acquired second floor in a building, in East Anglia Industrial Estate. The project deliverable is to design and implement the overall setup, which includes refurbishing/construction, Software design and development, Network design and implementation, Hardware and Software testing. The Project plan for time management, cost estimation, resource planning and roles and responsibilities needs to be provided as part of the deliverables. Project goal Objectives The high level goals and objective of the project is to efficient evaluation of the required planning, methodology and approach to achieve the following scope of work Investigating requirements of new installations of required equipment, network cables and software needed for running the network system Constructing/refurbishing the acquired buildings where new equipment will be installed; This part of the project is contracted to a building company and managed by the construction manager who is a part the project team Designing the network for the new building based on the business requirements of the company Investigating and purchasing appropriate hardware and other equipment required for the new installation Developing the software required for the network system Installing the network and computers in the new building Testing Hardware and Software Assumptions and Constraints As the Project Manager for the Project, I have the defined target time for the project completion. The Project needs to start from 1st of April 2010 The Project execution should be in 30 day The approved project budget from the Management is  £200, 000 The Financial Advisor, who is part of the project, has advised a budgetary costing of  £500, 000 to be fixed for project. Any deviation from the approved budget needs approval from the Management committee. Project Deliverables The list of project deliverables is as follows Project Management Plan Cost Estimation Project Feasibility Construction /Refurbishing Software Design and Specification Network Design and Implementation Hardware Software Testing The Team Roles Responsibility The Project Team consists of the 10 members, each from a specific domain and with precise skill set. Each resource will be responsible for completing their task and reporting back to project manager. As the Project Manager the task here is to submit a project proposal for approval by the Company Managerial Committee, with a detailed feasibility analysis report, in particular the economic feasibility of the project, supported with financial calculations of the net profit, payback / bread-even period, return on investment, net present value and internal rate of return for the project. The Roles and Responsibility of the 10 individuals is as follow 1 computer hardware specialist responsible for hardware-related task 1 financial advisor responsible for control financial resources available to the project 1 network designer responsible for designing the network for the company 2 software developers for developing software required by the new installation 2 office assistants, one in charge of purchasing computers and other hardware equipment and the other dealing with paperwork in the office and produce project-related documents 1 construction manager responsible for building and refurbishment work 1 software testing engineer 1 hardware testing engineer Tasks Activity and Miles stones Cost Estimation / Time Management The Project Manager along with the Financial Advisor has come up with the following Cost estimation. The Following are the cost allotted for various activities, which would be one time setup cost, Capital expenditure. Material Cost Cost Allotted Construction ( Material)  £ 30,000.00 Network (Servers, Desktop, Cabling)  £ 20,000.00 Software Development ( Licenses)  £ 20,000.00 Testing( Software hardware)  £ 15,000.00 Office Maintenance  £ 5,000.00 Other Services  £ 5,000.00 Total Cost  £ 92,000.00 The following are the cost allotted for resources, Operational Cost (Direct cost) Resource Resource Cost /Per Month Construction manager  £ 5,000.00 Software Engineer (2)  £ 15,000.00 Hardware Engineer  £ 4,000.00 Network Engineer  £ 6,000.00 Testing Engineers (2)  £ 7,000.00 Office Assistant (2)  £ 2,500.00 Financial Advisor  £ 8,000.00 Total Cost  £ 47,500.00 The following are the cost allotted for office maintenance, Operational Cost (Indirect cost) Utility Cost /Per Month Electricity  £ 750.00 Sanitary  £ 400.00 Stationary  £ 300.00 Maintenance  £ 500.00 Petty Cash  £ 500.00 Total Cost  £ 2,450.00 The Total Project Costing Costing Total Material Cost  £ 92,000.00 Resource  £ 47,500.00 Administration Cost  £ 2,450.00 Total Cost  £ 142,500.00 Project Execution Activity List The whole project execution will be divided into sub- category of activities The Project Execution is sub-divided into following sub -tasks Construction Hardware structure Cabling Network Design Implementation Software Design Coding Testing Construction The Construction is the first task of the project. The activity will begin from the 1st of April and estimated time from is one week. The Construction Manager is designated to take the complete responsibility of planning the construction activity and over look all the activities. The following list of activities will be done during the constriction phase Floor plan Roof and ceiling construction Painting and carpentry Provide Water, Electrical, Pressure air and gas services Install Cabinets Install Wall Cabinets Paint Cabinet Paint Walls Ceilings Hardware structure Cabling As per the project plan, Five Servers will be installed in the server room and the required cabling and racks need to be installed in the switch room. The Hardware engineer along with Network Engineer will be planning the activity and the requirements are as follows No of Data Ports 30+ 5 No of Voice Ports 30 ports No of Redundant ports 30ports The structured cabling activity is planned to start from the 2nd week , 7th of April 2010 and estimated to complete by 10th of April 2010. Network Design Implementation The Network design activity starts parallel to the structured cabling activity and the implementation would kick off as soon the server room wiring is complete. The Implementation activity would start from the 3rd week of April 2010 and estimated to complete in 5 days. The Network is designed using industry standard Star topology. The New floor requires Voice, Data and Video wiring and electronic facilities to support newest form of telecommunications. The Switch room, which houses the Servers, Networking equipments (Switches, Routers, and Firewalls) connects to the each terminal (Desktop) via Horizontal Cabling. The option for Vertical Cabling can be enabled in future for connecting multiple switch rooms The list of activities is as follows Network design Server Installation and mounting Server application configuration Domain and Active directory setup User profiles setup Access privilege creation Network Overview Heath Robinson Web Hosting Company http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRBO9d3_iaiMZfK9Tq1JQUgEbrG7Zt5ay336Cm3ZL2ANMIkAREt=1usg=__amDzGGGK51fLYfo3QCeIcL6XCYA=http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRBO9d3_iaiMZfK9Tq1JQUgEbrG7Zt5ay336Cm3ZL2ANMIkAREt=1usg=__amDzGGGK51fLYfo3QCeIcL6XCYA= http://www.sycamorecomputers.com/img/networkdiag.jpg Software Design Coding The software developers will be assigned the task of designing the software customized to the requirement. The Design and coding activity is intended to start from mid 3rd week after the servers are configured and installed. The activity is estimated to take 5 days. Two Software developers were appointed for creating bespoke software that is tailored specifically to companys need as it is a web hosting company the software were used are .net, Java, PHP and C++.The software developers are skilled on various programming languages and are proficient in design and development of the bug free software. The list of activities for the software developers team is as follows Software design Software coding Software compiling Software Release Testing One hardware testing engineer and software testing engineer were appointed their responsibilities is to setup of test processes including hardware and software deployment, provide technical support and training when required advanced testing, performing complex diagnostic tests on faulty computer. Software testing technician execute test plans to evaluate the performance of software applications and information and telecommunication systems. The Testing will be done by 2 Engineers, one will be conducting Software Testing and the other will be conducting Hardware Testing. The activity will be handled by each individual post Hardware and Software implementations. The Software Testing activity will include Code review Design Review Test Plan Manual Automation Testing Code tweaking and Regression Hardware Testing Activity will include System Definition System Testing Fault Testing Load Testing Office Assistant: The 2 Office assistant were appointed for essentially do whatever office tasks are needed so that the professional doesnt have to. One office assistant will purchase hardware needed to the office and other will do paper works. The Project plan Time Management Project Futuristic Aspect The success of any project is based on few parameters which portrays the efficiency of the project in terms of the objective achieved and sets bench marks for the future project undertaking The followings are very important from the project efficiency point of view Return of Investment Net Present Value Break Even Point The calculations of the above are as follows with respect to the project Return of Investment (ROI) Net Present Value Return of Investment is a performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment or to compare the efficiency of a number of different investments with respect to a project. To calculate ROI, the benefit (return) of an investment is divided by the cost of the investment; the result is expressed as a percentage or a ratio ROI = Gain from Investment Cost of Investment __________________________________ Cost of Investment Net Present Value or NPV is used to decide financial viability of an investment. The difference between the present value of cash inflows and the present value of cash outflows. NPV is used in capital budgeting to analyse the profitability of an investment or project. Here the NPV and ROI are calculated. The following tables show you the NPV and ROI value. The Project cost and the profit for next five years is as follow. A 30% growth is assumed for our calculation Taking the above The return on investment formula: ROI = Gain from Investment Cost of Investment __________________________________ Cost of Investment ROI = 10,82,725 554,000 - 554,000 = 1.21 Return on investment is a very popular metric because of its versatility and simplicity. That is, if an investment does not have a positive ROI, or if there are other opportunities with a higher ROI, then the investment should be not be undertaken Break Even Point for the First year First year Sales  £1, 75,000 First year Cost (Direct + indirect)  £50,000 Yearly Net Cash Flow Cumulative Net Cash Flow = Yearly Net Cash Flow  £1,75,000  £50,000 = 1,75,000 = 0.79 BEP (1 year) Payback Period: The cumulative cash flow curves above show roughly the point in time when the cumulative cash flow breaks even, that is, when cumulative incoming returns exactly balance cumulative outflows. This point in time (point on the horizontal axis) is Payback period .The payback period is 1 years RISK ASSESSMENT The Risk assessment and the mitigation measure are very important for smooth completion of the project. The Risk assessment phase is carried out at the initial planning phase of the project .The risk assessment need to be continuously monitored and updated throughout the life of the project INITIAL PROJECT RISK ASSESSMENT CONTROL PLAN Requirements Control Plan When changes are to be made in the requirements after the project plan has been released, the changes shall be brought to the attention of the committee and discussed. Any changes that are to be made will be with the prior approval of the committee and only if feasible and permissible within the constraints of the project mentioned Schedule Control Plan If the work scheduled gets behind, the stake holder is ready to spend extra time on the project in between and after the schedules and also to make up for the lost time and deliver the final project on time. Budget Control Plan Any changes to the budget need to be updated to the management committee Quality Control Plan The Project Manager will be assessing the quality of work for each of teh stake holder and will ensure that the required level of quality is achieved in the given time frame Closeout Plan All the details about the post-mortem debriefings, report on the lessons learnt, project objectives and the milestones achieved would be mentioned as part of the Project documentation at the end of the project. The analysis and the lessons learnt will be used for future project success.

Gatsby and the American Dream Essays -- The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitz

The American Dream is what we all aspire to achieve. The idea of starting off with nothing and to become something has caused millions of people from all corners of the world to immigrate to this country for over 300 years. However, what exactly is the American Dream? F Scott Fitzgerald answers this question within his novel The Great Gatsby. Through the eyes of Nick Carraway, Fitzgerald analyses the high class of the 1920s and reveals that the American Dream has been distorted from a pure ideal of security into a convoluted scheme of materialistic power. Fitzgerald incorporates the aspects of both the Ã’old dreamÓ & the Ã’new dreamÓ in his tragic story to depicts how the inflexible dream has been corrupted and lost forever.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Fitzgerald illustrates in The Great Gatsby that the qualities of the original dream are perseverance and hope. The most glorified of these characteristics is that of success against all odd. The ethic of hard work can be found in the life of the young James Gatz. His focus on becoming a great man is thoroughly depicted in his Ã’Hopalong CassidyÓ journal. When Mr. Gatsby showed the tattered book to Nick, Mr. Gatsby said, Ã’Jimmy was bound to get ahead. He always has some resolves like this or something. Do you notice what heÕs got about improving his mind? He was always great for thatÓ. The Ã’Hopalong CassidyÓ symbolizes the continual struggle for self-improvement, which has been the basis of America a land of opportunity. Social Classes have always been apparent in civilization and America in the 1920s is no exception. Often those who rank in the lower classes usually feel that their problems will be resolved if they gain enough wealth to reach the upper class. This then offers a false connotation that the American Dream is this passage into to high social status and upon reaching that level, you are then able to abandon all economic worries. However, the American Dream involves more than acquiring wealth and a high social status. The dream involves attaining a balance between the spiritual strength and the physical strength of an individual. In the end of this book Jay GatsbyÕs ultimate goal to have Daisy love him never comes to fruition solely because he chooses to pursue his dream by engaging in a lifestyle of high class. The product of hard work is the longing Jay Gatsby, who contains the purest chara... ...umanityÓ: Ã’So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the pastÓ. The dream is now completely gone without a possibility of being resurrected. Through unfolding events of a doomed romance, F Scott Fitzgerald also depicts the inevitable doom of the American Dream. Gatsby had no balance to the extremes of his material and spiritual sides of himself. His dream of winning over DaisyÕs love is masked by the desire to become rich. Fitzgerald created Gatsby to show the failure of the individual who believes the American Dream requires money. It is well documented America was to be a land of endless opportunity and wealth, however a nation needs more depth than itÕs promise of materialism. The true composition of a nation is the unity of its peopleÕs minds in order to achieve a universal acceptance. Fitzgerald uses Gatsby and the other characters to convey his message- The American Dream, once a pure and noble concept is now dead and buried into the ground by a dehumanized void which revolves around money. Perhaps the book is not a tribute to a man named Jay Gatsby, rather, a tribute of an a noble aspiration of realistic success which is now and forever gone.

Factors of a reaction lab Essay

Hypothesis According to the collision theory, the rate of a reaction depends on the frequency of collisions between reacting particles. The more frequent the collisions, the faster the rate of the reaction. However, in order for the collisions to be effective, the particles must collide with sufficient energy (activation energy). Furthermore, the particles must collide with the proper orientation. The aim of this lab is to increase how often collisions occur. Theoretically, we should be able to achieve this by increasing the HCl concentration. However, we will instead decrease the HCl concentration just because it’s easier by diluting it with water. We thus predict that by decreasing the HCl concentration, it should take longer for the reaction to produce the predetermined amounts of hydrogen gas that we are observing. Variables Independent- the concentration of HCl Dependent- the rate of the reaction Controlled- Size of test tube Syringe type Timer Mass of Zn Volume of HCl Size of the stopper Controlling Variables size of test tube- we used the same test tube for most of the trials syringe type- we used the same syringe for all the trials timer- we used the same timer for all the trials mass of zn- we kept the mass of zn constant 1.00g size of the stopper- we used the same stopper Procedure 1. Grab a test tube rack, a test tube, a stopper that fits snuggly into the test tube and a syringe. 2. Place the test tube into the test tube rack and attach the syringe to the test tube. 3. Using an electric balance, obtain a sample of powdered Zn that weighs 1.00 g exactly. 4. Pour the 1.00g sample of powdered Zn into the test tube. 5. Grab two beakers. Fill one with HCl and the other with non-distilled water. BE SURE TO LABEL THE BEAKERS APPROPRIATELY! 6. Using a 10ml graduated cylinder and pipette, measure out 10 ml of HCl. 7. Pour the HCl into the test tube, quickly cork the test tube with the stopper, and pull slightly on the syringe’s end to make sure the hydrogen gas will flow through. 8. Record the how long it takes for the marker on the syringe to reach, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 cm3. 9. Repeat with HCl concentrations of 0.8 mol dm-3 and 06 mol dm-3. 10. Repeat steps 3-9 a second time in order to obtain a second trial. Data Collection and Processing Raw Data Table Hydrochloric acid, 1.0 mol dm-3 Time taken for corresponding volume of hydrogen gas to be produced/s Volume of hydrogen gas produced/cm3 Observations – Zn clumps together at bottom of test tube – Bubbles are produced – No longer powder – Nothing happens for a while and then all of a sudden there’s like this outward burst of energy which results in small intervals btw the given volumes produced Data Processing Overview I will first determine the average time it took for the different HCl concentration to react and produce the given volumes of hydrogen gas. Next I will calculate the standard deviation for each set of trials to determine the accuracy of the average. Finally, I will graph the average times using a scatter. Sample Calculation Average of different trials for time taken for 1cm3 of hydrogen gas to be produced with 1.0 mol dm-3 of HCl: (118 + 123)/2 = 120.5s Hydrochloric acid, 1 mol dm-3 Volume of hydrogen gas produced/cm3 Average time taken for corresponding volume of hydrogen gas to be produced/s 1 120.5 2 152.0 3 190.5 4 227.0 5 274.0 Hydrochloric acid, 0.8 mol dm-3 Volume of hydrogen gas produced/cm3 Average time taken for corresponding volume of hydrogen gas to be produced/s 1 137.0 2 226.0 3 330.0 4 439.5 5 552.5 Hydrochloric acid, 0.6 mol dm-3 Volume of hydrogen gas produced/cm3 Average time taken for corresponding volume of hydrogen gas to be produced/s 1 202.0 2 209.0 3 242.0 4 309.5 5 382.5 Standard deviations of the averages were determined by using the following formula in a Microsoft Excel program: Standard Deviation for different HCl acid concentrations HCl acid concentration/mol dm-3 Standard Deviation Average time vs. Volume of hydrogen gas produced Conclusion and Evaluation Conclusion: – Hydrochloric acid, 1 mol dm-3 concentration, the highest concentration used in this experiment produced the given volumes of hydrogen gas the fastest out of all three HCl concentrations. – Hydrochloric acid of 0.8 mol dm-3 concentration did produce 1 cm3 of hydrogen gas faster than hydrochloric acid of 0.6 mol dm-3 as predicted. – Hydrochloric acid of 0.6 mol dm-3 concentration produced hydrogen gas faster than hydrogen gas of 0.8 mol dm-3. – Limitations Suggestions for Improvement Some of the Zn powder got stuck to the side of the test tube as we poured it into the test tube. Maybe use a straw or something like that to make sure the Zn gets to the bottom of the test tube. And like blow into the straw (softly!) to ensure that none of the Zn gets stuck to the inside of the straw. We didn’t use the same syringe for all the trials because we were trying to get all the trials in on the same day. Use the same syringe for all trials. We didn’t get all the trials in on the same day. I think it took us three classes. As a result, each day we were working in different room temperatures. Organize ourselves better so that we get all the trials in on the same day. We couldn’t dry the test tube correctly. Each time we dried it there was still water at the bottom of the tube. Maybe like attach a paper towel to a stirrer and swap it around inside the test tube to dry it out. Zn is impure. As a result, the HCl acid could be reacting as well with whatever impurities present are thus slowing down the reaction, perhaps.

Common Ground on Child Beauty Pageants Essay

I’m sure you all have seen the TV show â€Å"Toddlers in Tiaras.† It is a show about young children competing in beauty pageants to win a place in a higher ranked pageant, money, and the ownership of a winning title. Many people think differently about the show and the pageants. Some are all for the pageants and some are against them. People who are against the pageants complain that they should be eliminated because they exploit children and place them in harm’s way. They claim because of major dangers; no one under the age of eighteen should be placed in a beauty pageant. The children who are in the pageants are dressed up in adult’s clothing, have piles of make up on, and are harming their bodies. They are harming their bodies by putting the make up on and tanning. By putting make up on at such young of an age, their face ages faster. By tanning, they begin to get that urge that some adults have to tan, which makes their skin age and have wrinkles early. It also puts them at the risk of having skin cancer at an early age. They say it also appeals the children to sexual predators. When a child is half naked on stage and sometimes on TV, these sexual predators see them and may even try to meet them. Sexual predators are only part of the problem. Studies show that every child who may benefit from the competition, hundreds of others suffer damage to their self-esteem and have warped self-vision of themselves and their bodies. Many times, they use JonBenet, a young child who competed in these pageants at the age of six. She was murdered in the basement of her home by a sexual predator. The suspect claimed he became aware of her by the pageants being on television. People who are for the pageants and the TV shows claim that it brings their children fame and confidence. When a child has worked hard on a routine and they get on stage and accomplish it, there is no better reward than the applause and praise from the audience and family. Some also say that the tanning and make up does not harm their skin, it just makes them feel prettier. Someone once told me that when a person looks at themselves in the mirror, and they have their hair and make-up done, they feel better about themselves. That is what many moms claim their children feel whenever they have their make-up done, outfits on, and hair done. Moms of pageant children say that when their child has worked hard, and they have their name called on stage for a winning title, there is no happier feeling. They have worked and accomplished their goal. Call it what you want, but people have their own opinions. Some people think pageants hurt a child, and some think they help a child. Both of them could be right, depending on the child’s standpoint. If a child’s dream is to be in pageants, I would let that child fulfill their dream. What would you do? Works Cited Page Hilboldt-Stolley, Lise. â€Å"Pretty Babies.† Good Housekeeping 228.2 (1999): 102. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 10 Dec. 2012.

Aristophanes the Ancient Greek Comedy Writer

Aristophanes the Ancient Greek Comedy Writer Aristophanes is important today because his work is still relevant. People still laugh at modern performances of his comedies. In particular, his famous womens sex strike for peace comedy, Lysistrata, continues to resonate. Pronunciation:  /à ¦.rÉ ª.sta.fÉ™.niz/ Examples:  In Aristophanes  Frogs, Dionysus, like Hercules before him, goes to the Underworld to bring back Euripides. The Old Comedy Old Comedy had been performed for 60 years prior to Aristophanes. In his time, as his work shows, Old Comedy was changing. It was bawdy and topically political, taking license with living people in the public eye. Ordinary humans played the most heroic characters. Gods and heroes could play buffoons. His style of Old Comedy is described as over-the-top, more like Animal House than How I Met Your Mother. The latter has a lineage that could be traced to an important comedy genre that came after Aristophanes. This was New Comedy, the stock character-filled comedy of manners, written by the Greek Menander and his Roman imitators. To be more completely accurate, New Comedy followed Middle Comedy, a little-known genre to which Aristophanes contributed at the end of his career. Aristophanes wrote comedies from 427-386 B.C., which gives us approximate dates for his life: (c. 448-385 B.C.). Unfortunately, we know very little about him, although he lived in Athens during periods of turmoil, beginning his writing career after the death of Pericles, during the Peloponnesian War. In A Handbook of Greek Literature, H.J. Rose says his father was named Philippos. Rose calls Aristophanes a member of the Athenian conservative party. Aristophanes Makes Fun of Socrates Aristophanes knew Socrates and poked fun at him in The Clouds, as an example of a sophist. From the other side, Aristophanes appears in Platos Symposium, comically hiccuping before he comes up with an inspired explanation for why there are are people with different sexual orientations. Of more than 40 plays written by Aristophanes, 11 survive. He won prizes at least six times but not all firsts four at the Lenaea (held roughly, in January), where comedy was added to the events in about 440 B.C., and two at the City Dionysia (roughly, in March), where only tragedy had been performed until about 486 B.C. While Aristophanes produced most of his own plays, he did not initially do so. Not until the Acharnians, a pro-peace play and one of those featuring the character of the great tragedian Euripides, won a prize at the Lenaea, in 425, did he start producing. His previous two plays, the Banqueteers, and the Babylonians do not survive. The Knights (Lenaea of 424), an attack on the political figure Cleon, and Frogs (Lenaia of 405), which also features the character of Euripides in a contest with Aeschylus, also won first prize. The generally irreverent, creative Aristophanes made fun of the gods and of real people. His portrayal of Socrates in The Clouds has been criticized for contributing to the atmosphere that condemned Socrates since he portrays Socrates as a ridiculous sophist teaching the morally worthless topics of philosophy for money. Old Comedy Structure A typical structure for Aristophanes Old Comedy would be prologue, parados, agon, parabasis, episodes, and Exodus, with a chorus of 24. Actors wore masks and had padding front and back. Costumes might include giant phalluses. He used equipment like the mechane or crane and the ekkyklema or platform. He made up long, complicated, compound words where appropriate, like cloudcuckooland. Surviving Comedies by Aristophanes The AcharniansThe BirdsThe CloudsThe EcclesiazusaeThe FrogsThe KnightsLysistrataPeacePlutusThe ThesmophoriazusaeThe Wasps