Group Mechanisms, Culture Company Performance

American Revolution and the Battle of the Chesapeake

American Revolution and the Battle of the Chesapeake The Battle of the Chesapeake, also known as the Battle of the Virginia Capes, was fought September 5, 1781, during the American Revolution (1775-1783). Fleets and Leaders Royal Navy Rear Admiral Sir Thomas Graves19 ships of the line French Navy Rear Admiral Comte de Grasse24 ships of the line Background Prior to 1781, Virginia had seen little fighting as the majority operations had taken place far to the north or further south. Early that year, British forces, including those led by traitor Brigadier General Benedict Arnold, arrived in the Chesapeake and commenced raiding. These were later joined by Lieutenant General Lord Charles Cornwallis army which had marched north following its bloody victory at the Battle of Guilford Court House. Taking command of all British forces in the region, Cornwallis soon received a confusing string of orders from his superior in New York City, General Sir Henry Clinton. While initially campaigning against American forces in Virginia, including those led by the Marquis de Lafayette, he was later instructed to establish a fortified base at a deep-water port. Assessing his options, Cornwallis elected to utilize Yorktown for this purpose. Arriving at Yorktown, VA, Cornwallis constructed earthworks around the town and built fortifications across the York River at Gloucester Point.    Fleets in Motion During the summer, General George Washington and the Comte de Rochambeau requested that Rear Admiral Comte de Grasse bring his French fleet north from the Caribbean for a potential strike against either New York City or Yorktown. After extensive debate, the latter target was chosen by the allied Franco-American command with the understanding that de Grasses ships were necessary to prevent Cornwallis escaping by sea. Aware that de Grasse intended to sail north, a British fleet of 14 ships of the line, under Rear Admiral Samuel Hood, also departed the Caribbean. Taking a more direct route, they arrived at the mouth of the Chesapeake on August 25. That same day, a second, smaller French fleet led by the  Comte de Barras departed Newport, RI carrying siege guns and equipment. In an effort to avoid the British, de Barras took a circuitous route with the goal of reaching Virginia and uniting with de Grasse. Not seeing the French near the Chesapeake, Hood decided to continue on to New York to join with Rear Admiral Thomas Graves. Arriving at New York, Hood found that Graves only had five ships of the line in battle condition. Combining their forces, they put to sea heading south towards Virginia. While the British were uniting to the north, de Grasse arrived in the Chesapeake with 27 ships of the line. Quickly detaching three ships to blockade Cornwallis position at Yorktown, de Grasse landed 3,200 soldiers and anchored the bulk of his fleet behind Cape Henry, near the mouth of the bay. The French Put to Sea On September 5, the British fleet appeared off the Chesapeake and sighted the French ships around 9:30 AM. Rather than swiftly attack the French while they were vulnerable, the British followed the tactical doctrine of the day and moved into a line ahead formation. The time required for this maneuver allowed the French to recover from the surprise of the British arrival which had seen many of their warships caught with large portions of their crews ashore. Also, it allowed de Grasse to avoid entering battle against an adverse wind and tidal conditions. Cutting their anchor lines, the French fleet emerged from the bay and formed for battle. As the French exited from the bay, both fleets angled towards each other as they sailed east. A Running Fight As wind and sea conditions continued to change, the French gained the advantage of being able to open their lower gun ports while the British were prevented from doing so without risking water entering their ships. Around 4:00 PM, the vans (lead sections) in each fleet opened fired on their opposite number as the range closed. Though the vans were engaged, a shift in the wind made it difficult for each fleets center and rear to close within range. On the British side, the situation was further hampered by contradictory signals from Graves. As the fighting progressed, the French tactic of aiming for masts and rigging bore fruit as HMS Intrepid (64 guns) and HMS Shrewsbury (74) both fell out of line. As the vans pummeled each other, many of the ships to their rear never were able to engage the enemy. Around 6:30 PM the firing ceased and the British withdrew to windward. For the next four days, the fleets maneuvered within sight of each other. However, neither sought to renew the battle . On the evening of September 9, de Grasse reversed his fleets course, leaving the British behind, and returned to the Chesapeake. Upon arriving, he found reinforcements in the form of 7 ships of the line under de Barras. With 34 ships of the line, de Grasse had full control of the Chesapeake, eliminating Cornwallis hopes for evacuation. Trapped, Cornwallis army was besieged by the combined army of Washington and Rochambeau. After over two weeks of fighting, Cornwallis surrendered on October 17, effectively ending the American Revolution. Aftermath and Impact During the Battle of the Chesapeake, both fleets suffered approximately 320 casualties. In addition, many of the ships in the British van were heavily damaged and unable to continue fighting. Though the battle itself was tactically inconclusive, it was a massive strategic victory for the French. By drawing the British away from the Chesapeake, the French eliminated any hope of rescuing Cornwalliss army. This in turn allowed for the successful siege of Yorktown, which broke the back of British power in the colonies and led to American independence.

Newark (Create one thats suitable) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Newark (Create one thats suitable) - Essay Example Notable contributors of the slow but steady recovery of Newark include the establishment of the New Jersey Performing Centre (NJPAC) in the 1990’s and the recent renovations of the Hahne and Company building in downtown Newark. In the late 1920s, many skyscrapers were built in Newark illustrating how the city was growing at a high rate. The city’s population increased rapidly with most people inhabiting most parts of the city and the neighbourhoods. In 1938, the city’s budgets fell from $57.8 million to $45 million in 1944 indicating a small and slow recovery from the 1930’s Great depression. Newarks’ decline was attributed to the wave that drove people to build massive housing and commercial projects. As a result, a lot of money was eliminated in circulation particularly in Newark’s activities. The Great Depression is believed to have caused manufacturers to leave the city with the jobs. Statistics show in the 1950’s the white population declined with high margins while the black population increased rapidly until 1967. It has been found out the white investors left the city’s commercial buildings and left the African Americans struggling with the substandard housing conditions, unemployment and poverty. The sharp decrease in industrial jobs caused the increased poverty rates in 1940s and 1950s. Crime and violence increased in downtown Newark where murder, homicide, theft and rape cases were consistently reported to the Newark Police Department. The good Newark’s image was destroyed with most curio shops, cafà © and art collectives being closed down during the post-World War II era. The Newark riots of 1967 caused significant decline in recovery of the Newark City in terms of economic growth, controlling crime and violence, as well as, the City’s image. In July 1967, a white police officer beat an African American citizen

Social And Economic Justice Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Social And Economic Justice Theory - Essay Example The thesis gains importance because present day Governments and Judicial systems should adopt the best available social and economic justice theory in their efforts to ensure fairness in justice delivery. Justice in this context does not confine to justice delivered in courts alone but also concerns the justice a common man is entitled in his day to day life. Courts are concerned with rule of law alone. The courts are expected to delver judgments tempered with economic and social justice to iron out differences due to unjust inequalities among people. If a law is unfair, courts are sometimes unable to reverse it because of the supremacy of law making power of the elected body. Courts can still guide the law making body to ensure observing the principles of economic and social justice while enacting laws. It is the law makers who are more concerned about how far the rules are socially and economically justifiable. Seemingly perfect law may not be really so if it is deeply gone into for which exercise knowledge of theories of justice is necessary. Not only is the law maker should know but also the members of the society so that if they are affected in toto or a particular section of the society is affected by an unfair practice or law, they can voice their concern. The three theories of justice that one must be concerned with are Utilitarianism, Justice as fairness, and Libertarianism in one's effort to find answer to the questions raised here. That is whether an individual is entitled to justice in direct proportion to his individual efforts. Utilitarianism theory posits that a society should have laws and institutions aimed to bring about general satisfaction for its constituents. As there is no instrument to measure the satisfaction, the utilitarianism finds it indirectly through the propositions of what is good for the members and what are the means to achieve it. Firstly the basic needs of human being such as food, shelter, protection should be satisfied. Aristotle laid the foundation of this utilitarian concept by holding that human actions actions are driven by their rational choices in order to realize their basic needs. Hence basic needs realization is the reflection of the utilitarian theory which satisfies the above said conditions of human good for overall happiness of the society's members. John Stuart Mill, Jeremy Bentham and Henry Sidgwick were the Utilitarians of the 19th century. John Stuart Mill held on the lines of Aristotle that human happiness depended upon liberties in speech and action as well as economic prosperity. He insisted wealth was indispensable to realize the human expectations. Utilitarians therefore wanted free education funded by public money through levy of taxes, both capitalist and mixed economy, protection of all kinds of liberties and a democratically elected form of Government. An objection to this was made by John Rawls in his A Theory of Justice 1971(pp.23-4) since institutions envisaged can turn out to be unjust. Because when the analogy of an individual's sacrificing for his future gains is applied to the society's sacrifice for the present for future benefits as can happen in the utilitarian way of

Nursing Theory Website Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Nursing Theory Website - Research Paper Example The fact that they provide links to other websites is also additional help in finding the most relevant information about the theory. The currency of the information from these websites dates 2012 and some 2011 but none of the information provided is more recent than 2012 which is still considered fairly current. The information provided in these websites about the theory is deducted from books, articles and journals and these references used are listed at the end of the theory discussion. Since these books, journals and articles are per reviewed and considered credible, then the information posted in these websites concerning the nursing theory and even other theories is also considered to be valid and reliable to be used in theoretical and practical work. Orem’s Self-Care theory is applicable in hospitals not education purposes. This is so because it aims to identify the needs of the patient through using different methods to assess the condition of the patient. After the identification, the same theory and its methods are used to attend and solve the problems the patient presents with according to their need after extensive evaluation of which outcome and treatment will be effective. The major advantage of this theory is the fact that the nurse and the patient get to interact while the nurse tries to evaluate the patient to find out the problem as well as during evaluation of the best treatment methods and the care being provided so far to the patient. It is helpful to first time nurses fresh from nursing school and who are yet to get correct the assessment and treatment. It provides guidelines as well as courage on how to interact with the patient medically. The theory is attractive because it has not been overused compared to other theories such as the Florence Nightingale’s theory. The lack of monotony and overuse of a theory leads to its appreciation as

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk | The Outsider by Albert Camus

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk | The Outsider by Albert Camus In both Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk and The Outsider by Albert Camus, the protagonist explores the significance of their existence. The two characters determine that everyone is destined to the same fate. The narrator says Its easy to cry when you realize everyone you love will reject you or die(Palahniuk, p8). Later on in the novel one understands why the narrator is unnamed, however for simplicity sake he is often referred to as Jack. Jack is right; were all privileged to the same ending. We all die, even better we all die alone. This is a philosophical outlook on life that is commonly referred to as The Absurd. Humanitys efforts to find meaning in the universe are waste because such a thing will ultimately fail. The philosophy concludes that this search for a meaning of life is a search that is humanly impossible and therefore absurd. The originally materialistic narrator in Fight Club, who remains unnamed throughout the novel, as well as the seemingly irrational French man Mers ault eventually believe whole heartily in the Absurd. Throughout both novels several examples of emerge which demonstrate their application of the Absurd. There are four commonalities in the books that offer the best illustration of this philosophy and how it applies to their lives; each commonality illustrates strange behaviour by the main characters. They challenge the reader to analyse whether or not their actions are appropriate or utterly ridiculous. Initially both protagonists are faced with a certain traumatic event; both react similarly to each other however their response is strikingly different than the average persons, they do not cry, they are not enraged because they live life completely in the present. Soon after, confronted with another odd situation, both Jack and Mersault do the strangest of things which infringe on the standard set of morals followed by most. But for a moment one wonders, why should they act any differently? Following these actions, the reader sees the most brutal consequence of their beliefs; the death and dismemberment of other characters making it clear that they do not care for the lives of others. Finally at the end of both novels, both protagonists have their epiphanies. They settle on an answer to a fundamental question, what is the significance of their life, and the lives of others? It is clear that this belief in the Absurd is what makes these novels so fascinating, it is what drove the plot, instigated character growth and lead them to an eventual peace. Jack and Mersault live life completely in the present. Their realization of lifes meaninglessness allows them to live free of remorse and guilt. They both accept their pasts and move on. Both men are confronted with an incident which would be detrimental to most. The men experience all things at face value, and so they are focused on the details of what is currently happening around them experiencing the even with a lack of forceful emotions. To most this looks like a distinct detachment from the traumatic event, and that the two men lack the understanding of basic human reaction. Within the novel Fight Club, Jack is first stuck living a materialist lifestyle. A life of mediocrity, Jack works as a product recall specialist, lives alone with his IKEA furniture and a wardrobe that was becoming very respectable. Eventually he is drawn towards a puzzling man named Tyler Durden whom he met on one of his many business trips. When arriving home from that very trip, Jack is welcomed by all his belongings scattered on the street. There had been an explosion inside his apartment. With no home and having lost all his possessions, Jack says: May I never be complete. May I never be content. May I never be perfect. Deliver me, Tyler, from being perfect and complete (Palahniuk 31). Why did Jack appear completely void of emotion at a time like this? Imagine: youve lost almost everything you own, youre left with just the clothes on your back after living your life owning everything you need. You feel sad, you feel crushed, and you are overcome with emotions. Jack feels nothing of that sort. Oh, not my refrigerator, this was the extent of his emotions felt towards the event (Palahniuk 30). Instead of becoming overwhelmed with the implications of this event, Jack looks over his items which have been scattered on the sidewalk. To Jack this explosion had blasted [his] clever Njuranda coffee table in the shape of a lime green ying and an orange yang that fit together to make a circle, and ruined his Haparanda sofa group with the orange slip covers, designed by Erika Pekkari (Palahniuk 28). These kinds of details often fall to the back of ones mind when evaluating such disadvantageous occurrences. Yet Jack definitely does not waste his time pondering about the single fact that he has lost his belongings. In the first sentence of The Outsider, Mersault is notified that his mother has died. He receives the news through a telegram. The telegram simply says that that there will be a funeral tomorrow. As heart breaking as this news should be, Mersault gets straight to the logistics of attending the funeral. His first thought is the distance to which he must travel to attend the funeral. Fifty miles, he decides he can catch the two oclock bus and get there in the afternoon (Camus 9). He does end up catching the two oclock bus and does in fact attend the funeral, yet expresses none of the emotions which are expected in such a circumstance. Mersault sees the funeral as it is and nothing more. He takes note of the small things that happen without adding an opinion about it. When they sat down most of them looked at me and nodded awkwardly. Mersault lets the reader know of all the details that do not escape him. He notices that they had their lips all sucked into their toothless mouths and tha t they were all sitting opposite me round the caretaker (Camus 15). Mersault is giving insight into how he feels about the funeral, although his mind is not busy mourning over the loss of his mother. Instead he makes remarks such as: I was tired and I was hot under my dark clothes (Camus 20). One should not be thinking about much besides the loss of a loved one at a funeral. Mersault is simply uninterested in dwelling on this fact. Both Jack and Mersault have similar experiences in the beginning of the novels. A tragic loss of a loved one and the loss of a majority of ones belongings should invoke strong emotions in a person. Not for these two gentlemen, instead its revealed that they live their lives completely in the present. In their minds, the emotions of regular individuals are meaningless and therefore they would rather use their time to experience life through all of the sense. They both feel joy and frustration like every other human being. The difference is that their feelings are purely sensual. Absurdism is very closely related to existentialism and nihilism, this branch of philosophy was extensively explored during the 19th century because of the disaster that the humanity had experienced (the brutalities of both World Wars). According to David E. Cooper, existentialist and absurdist ethics claims that: (a) moral values are created rather than discovered, (b) moral responsibility is more extensive than usually assumed, and (c) moral life should not be a matter of following rules (Cooper 179). Inside these two novels, both main characters do apparently immoral things to seemingly innocent people, for little to no satisfaction. They often do these things because they realise that their actions are untimely rendered meaningless because of death. According to Mersault in The Outsider, his new found friend and neighbour Raymond and his requests are a good enough reason to do some of the bizarre things. Several days after his mothers funeral, Raymond confronts Mersault on his way upstairs. Raymond offers Wine and black pudding to Mersault in exchange for company. Realizing that joining Raymond would save him the task of cooking dinner, he accepts. This meal was not without a catch. Raymond had explained his current predicament with his mistress; he has a plan to teach this woman a lesson for being deceptive. However the first part of the plan involved writing a nasty letter that would lower her self esteem but Raymond felt that he could not fulfill this task and insisted that Mersault should help him out by writing the letter for him. Throughout Raymonds explanation, Mersault was fully aware of how both Raymond and his mistress felt. Despite his knowledge on how the letter may affect the girl, he writes it. He did [his] best to please Raymond because [he] had no reason to please him (Camus 36). This example goes to show that he does not follow the regular set of rules that accompany morals because with his realization that his actions are meaningless in the future he has acquired a new freedom. In the beginning of Jack and Tylers relationship right after Jack had lost his apartment and all of its contents, Tyler says, he could move in with him, but he would have to do him a favour. There, drunk in a bar Jack asks what this favour will be. Tyler replies I want you to hit me as hard as you can (Palahniuk 31). Apart from being the symbolic beginning of a fight club which the plot is centered on, this simple request will demonstrate how Jack acts knowing that his actions are indifferent to the world. Of course he hits him, why not? He rational is based on the fact that acting morally and doing what most would see as sensible is pointless. The words of Mersault from The Outsider could at this point fall straight from the mouth of Jack. Everybody was privileged. There were only privileged people (Camus 116). Mersault means that we are all facing the same privileged destiny, death, and that is was unavoidable. Jacks actions do not ultimately matter to anyone, so he does not follow the rules used by most of the population which make up the basics of morality. The novels present two characters who act immorally they both decide to do things despite how immoral the things seem. Neither character is unintelligent, for they in fact do take note of the details which are their lives. By definition act morally is what you should, however both protagonists come to the judgment that to follow these rules made up by society is pointless. In accepting the Absurd, the theme of authentic existence is common, both Mersault and Jack demonstrate that very authenticity by as ones self which does not always follow the basic moral codes. To accept the Absurd is to continue to live in spite of the fact that the search for a meaning of life is absurd. In accordance with a new level of freedom acquired from the acceptance that one is free from all duty, come the theme of authentic existence. Authentic living involves being true to oneself in most situations and living in accordance with ones values and beliefs (Linley 386). Living true to oneself often accompanies the notion that ones reason and rationale are correct. This might sound like the right ways to life ones life; however in both novels both Jack and Mersault give examples of how their application to this philosophy works out. They both demonstrate a lack or care for others lives and as a result emerge as self-centered. Despite the first two rules of fight club instigated by Tyler, new men are showing up each week to fight. One weekend Jack is taking part in one of his many fights within fight club, this time however, he does not stay in the realm of fighting. Once Jack has knocked out his newcomer opponent, he does not stop striking. After ruthlessly hammering his face with his bony knuckles, Jack continues with the knotted tight butt of [his] fist after [his] knuckles were raw from [the newcomers] teeth stuck through his lips (Palahniuk 88). Afterwards he discusses his thoughts with Tyler during breakfast the following morning. Jack admitted that his insomnia had returned and that he was in a mood to destroy something beautiful (Palahniuk 87). By dismembering the face of the angel face newcomer, Jack remained authentic to himself in the situation. After the irritation with his insomnia has been flattened out, Jack calmly removed himself from the situation. Not a single feeling is expresses towards the physical and emotional damage caused to the newcomer. Mersault also presents an example of how he lives accepting the Absurd. Mersault, Raymond, and Raymonds friend have an awkward confrontation with the Arabs who dislike Raymond. After the fact, Mersault wonders the same area alone. The raging heat of the sun had caused Mersault much discomfort and therefore he strolled towards the nearest shaded area which was the riverside. Unfortunately, one of the Arabs who he knew was potentially dangerous was there sitting in the shade. Mersault describes his severe discomfort, the same intense heat that he had experience at his mothers funeral had returned at his very moment. All the veins in his forehead were throbbing at once beneath the skin (Camus 59). At this point all Mersault wants is the shade in which the Arab stands. Gun drawn, Mersault approaches the Arab in preparation for self-defence. At that point All [he] could feel was the cymbals the sun was clashing against my forehead (Camus 60). The Arab pulls out his knife and lunges for hi m. Mersault shoots the man and is finally rewarded with his shade. He acted to fulfill his desire for shade but at the same time he knew by doing this he would have to kill another man to get it. Remaining authentic to himself and abiding by his logic he chose to approach the Arab instead of finding other shade. By living true to themselves, Mersault and Jack appear to have acted eccentrically however to them it was the right decision. To them, it was better to abandon the rules that society shapes and take complete control on their lives, this way their action and their existence remained authentic. Acting true to themselves, they move past their seemingly brutal actions and thoughts onto the next thing on their mind. In Jacks case he goes on to explain to Tyler that he not only wanted to destroy something beautiful but that he wanted to everything beautiful [hed] never have (Palahniuk, 88). For Mersault, he realizes that has acquired a certain fate by shooting the man, Mersault fire four more rounds into the body purely in disappointment. They both belittle the thoughts and feelings of others to nothing because of their philosophy on life. In the last moments of both novels, both protagonists realize that in fact they do accept and embrace the Absurd. The characters themselves do not know what they really believe in until the end, but the reader knows. In the beginning the reader picks up that these two men are strange to say the least. Then, as the novels progress, their behaviour begins to reflect the philosophy of Absurdism exclusively. The acknowledgement of their beliefs pours out at a weird yet wonderful time in their life. Mersault is arrested, incarcerated, and placed on trial for his murderous act. The jury is convinced that Mersault is a soulless monster because of the lack of emotion he showed at his mothers funeral. It seems as though his murder is not what is ultimately judged in court, his seeming lack of remorse or guilt is what the judge and jury assess to decide his fate. Ultimately Mersault is condemned to death by decapitation. In prison awaiting his execution he meets a chaplain. The Chaplain attempt to turn Mersault towards faith in his hours before death, but is ultimately shot down my Mersault. As the time passes Mersault grows tired of listening to the Chaplain. Then, for some reason, something explored inside of [him] (Camus 115). At the top of his voice Mersault tells him every reason why he was wrong about religion. Mersault brings tears to the eyes of the Chaplain because he insists that he has no time for God, and that one should. When he finds composure he finally comes to realiz e how he feels about the world. He says: It was as if that great rush of anger had washed me clean, emptied me of hope, and, gazing up at the dark sky spangled with its signs and stars, for the first time, the first, I laid my heart open to the benign indifference of the universe (Camus 117). With this he finally recognizes the absurdity of the universe and humanities indifference to it. He becomes aware of the Absurd; he becomes aware that he has to create his own meaning in his life. Mersault is finally able to experience a subjective and intense meaning in the form of a peace brought about by this surrender to the benign indifference of the world.ÂÂ   When Jack finally figures out that Tyler is not a separate person but rather a separate personality, His mind spins out of control and he eventually ends up symbolically shooting himself not to kill himself but to kill Tyler. Jack ends up in a psychiatricÂÂ  hospital where he utters his final conclusion on the meaning of his life. Jack says: I look at God behind his desk, taking notes on a pad, but Gods got this all wrong. We are not special. We are not crap or trash either. We just are. We just are, and what happens just happens. And God says, No, thats not right. Yeah. Well. Whatever. You cant teach God anything (Palahniuk 154). Just like Mersault, Jack also comes to the conclusion. He remarks that to consider God as real, and a leap of faith to believe that there is meaning beyond what a human can rationalize or prove as real, is ridiculous because you cannot question it or obtain a deeper understanding that whats written in religious books. Just as Mersault does, Jack grasps the concept that lifes meaning is only to exist. These narratives give meaningful insight into the meaninglessness that is The Absurd. Both novels comprise of character self discovery. I have addressed four specific types of experiences which apply to both novels that Due to its non-conformist nature, many readers struggle with Absurdism when they are first exposed to it. Indeed, it would be accurate to describe absurdism and absurdist fiction as an acquired taste. Conversely, this genre is a favourite among scholars because it lends itself so well to interpretation, discussion, and debate. Similarly, the moral of the story is generally not explicit, and the characters are often ambiguous in nature. Restate thesis.

How Does Chaucer Present The Miller To Become Such A Vivid And Vibrant

How Does Chaucer Present The Miller To Become Such A Vivid And Vibrant Character? ‘The Canterbury Tales’ is a selection of stories written in Middle English. On a spring day in April sometime in the 14th century 29 pilgrims (including Chaucer as a character 30) set out for Canterbury on a pilgrimage. Among them is a knight, a monk, a prioress, two nun’s, the friar, the squire, the yeoman, the merchant, a clerk, a sergeant of the law, a wealthy landowner, a doctor, the wife of Bath, a supplier, the reeve, a somonour, a pardoner, Harry Bailey (the host), Chaucer himself, a haberdasher, a carpenter, a weaver, a tapestry maker, a dyere, a cook, a shipman, a poor parson, a plowman, and a miller. To entertain themselves they decide to tell a tale each on the way and another on the way back. They all start there journey at ‘The Tabard’ an inn or pub. The miller is categorised as lower class and his character when telling this story is exceedingly drunk. The miller’s tale is about an Oxford student called Nicholas who lives with an old wealthy carpenter and his young attractive wife called Alisoun. The carpenter keeps a close eye on her. One day Nicholas decides to ‘try it on’ with Alisoun without much resistance on the agreement of secrecy Alisoun agrees. In the church a parish clerk called Absolon falls in love with Alisoun. He tries to woo her over by giving her presents and money. As Nicholas lives in the same house as Alisoun she isn’t interested in Absolon. Nicholas hatches a plan to get rid of the carpenter; therefore he can spend the night with Alisoun without disturbances. Nicholas pretends to be ill and stays in his room for two days. The servant reports to the carpenter that Nicholas i... ...uch as the knight would have had a much higher standard of spoken speech, which is another contrast between the knight and miller’s tale. It is also written as a poem in rhyming couplets, which I believe keeps the story lively with continuity. In conclusion, Chaucer presents the miller to be a vivid and vibrant character by mainly imagery and colours. Chaucer is clear on his descriptions and gives incredible detail on his character. Chaucer hopes that the physical appearance of the miller will reflect the miller as a person as well. Chaucer relies on symbolism and similes to reveal the miller’s character to us; therefore Chaucer does not have to make a direct opinion of him. This keeps him as a neutral story teller, but another benefit of this is that the audience cannot hold Chaucer responsible for the miller’s tale as he is merely a neutral messenger.