Canadian Solar Essay Example for Free

Canadian Solar Essay However, with the global economic downturn in the recent years as well as changes in the government incentives in certain countries, the company has been struggling to stay on top in this competitive market, and needs to keep a competitive advantage against companies such as Sharp and Kyocera. This is a big problem to the company since it threatens their strategy and might put them out of competition. Which brings us to the question: What should Canadian Solar do to best compete in the increasingly â€Å"global† photovoltaic industry? Analysis External Analysis General Environment Most of the general aspects influence the PV industry relies on government incentive programs. Programs for green energy such as the FIT program, has a positive effect on the industry since it guarantees rates on certain projects. Other government laws such as the placement of a cap can have a negative effect on the industry. Therefore, since income levels vary for every country, this will affect the usage of PV technology. Moreover, society has a desire to â€Å"go green† and they highly value PV technology, although the implementation of PV technology can cause society financial harm such as in Spain, where the unanticipated installations caused taxpayers $26. 4 billion. Threat of new Entrants Barriers to entry are considered low since the PV industry requires low capital and medium to low technological knowledge to make PV module. The low barriers to entry are also due to

Tourism and terrorism in egypt

Tourism and terrorism in egypt Introduction The tremendous historical sites and sights and rich cultural heritage has made Egypt a unique tourism destination. The prominence of tourism industry has had such undeniable impact on the overall Egyptian economy that it has been regarded by many observers as the life blood of Egyptian economy. The crucial significant of tourism industry have not been overlooked by Egyptian political dissents. Although unsuccessful, they at time attempted to make their political demands by carrying out terrorism attacks on this vulnerable industry. This chapter attempted to offer some general insights on tourism industry and terrorism accidents in the contemporary Egypt. The chapter begins with a cursory review of the Egyptian context proceeding with discussion on the fluctuation of the tourism industry in Egypt in the past three decades. The analysis is largely based upon the official data taken from Egypt Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) and the annual analysis of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). On occasions, the complementary aggregated data has been adapted from other resources like Business Source Premier and Regional Surveys of the World, the Middle East and North America (2008). The analysis is spilt into three periods, comparing the international tourists arrivals and receipts. Finally the results are represented in a graph tracing the trends in past three decades. The next section deals with the main tourism stakeholders playing role in the tourism in the Egypt. The final section di scusses the emergence, evolution and challenges of terrorism groups in Egypt and their engagement in terrorist attacks targeted tourism destinations. In this section counter-terrorism strategies oscillating between carrot and stick policies will be reviewed and discussed the degree to which each has been successful. Egypt at a glance The Arab Republic of Egypt located in the northeastern of the African continent and the Sinai Peninsula. It has land borders with Sudan in the south and with Libya in the west and shoreline extending along the Mediterranean Sea in the north and Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba in the East. Since the most of the country is desert, the population is distributed very unevenly in Cairo and Alexandria and around the Nile and Suez Canal. These areas are among the worlds most densely populated regions. (Countries of the World and Their Leaders Yearbook, 2008) Egypts geographic arrangement and distribution of population, and especially the sole reliance on the Nile River for irrigation has been resulted in central administration and allowed the government to extend well its authority to the peripheries. (Goldschmidt, Arthur, 1988) In 2008, the total population of Egypt was 81,713,520 which make the Egypt one of the most populous countries in the region. A large proportion this population is young; half of them are under twenty years of age and two-thirds are under thirty a situation that severely strains the economy. (CAPMAS, 2008) Egypts government is hardly able to meet the demands for food, shelter, education, and jobs. Around three million Egyptians have migrated to other Arab countries, particularly the oil-rich states, in search of work. Their payments to their families constitute a major source of Egypts income. Much like elsewhere in the world economy have come to play a crucial role in Egyptian lives. The long history of colonial exploitation and the legacy of enduring authoritarian rulers forestalled the industrial development of Egypt in nineteen century. At the turn of twentieth century, the industrialization began to take root by a rapid growth in textile industry. The growth was comparatively satisfactory before socialist government of Abdel Nasser (1956-1970) took the power. Abdel Nasser eighteen years era is characterized by militarization of politics and concentration of power through the supremacy of the executive branch. Under Nasser the state took the control of the economy to ensure equitable development, a policy known later as Arab Socialism. Nasser was a charismatic leader and earned reputation as champion of Arab interest, however, his economic policies brought the country on the verge of bankruptcy. Nassers death in 1970 ushered in a massive political and economic change i n Egypt. By initiating the economic policy of Enfetah (openness), which means liberalization of economic, Sadat his successor began a series of fundamental reforms in the economy. In addition, Sadats regional foreign policy including peace initiative and rapprochement with Israel enhanced the international image of the Egypt. Under President Hosni Mubarak (1981 until now) Egypt paved the same routes and strove for the same goals, however, there was along way to go as the country still was grappling with chronic problems emanated from inside and abroad. (Countries of the World and Their Leaders Yearbook, 2008) Flow and ebb of Tourism Industry in Egypt Between 1982 and 1990, the number of international tourist arrivals went up from 1,423,251 to 2,600,117 which indicate an increase of 182 per cent. Coupled with the numbers of arrivals, revenue from tourism was about 2.5 billion US dollars by 1990, ranked tourism sector as one of the most lucrative sectors of the Egyptian economy. (Table. 5.1) Such great advancement was mainly because of the Egypt government economic initiatives of liberalization I indicated before. (Wahab, 1997) However, the tourism industry proved to be one of the most susceptible sectors to instability in the region. The triggering of terrorist activity in the Middle East after mid-1980s and the anti-American sentiment in the region, intensified by the US air-strikes on targets in Libya in 1986, resulted in tourists reduction, particularly US citizens, in traveling to Egypt. The 90s started with one of the most dramatic event of region caused by the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990 and the following international dispatching of troops to the region. Not surprisingly the tourism industry in Egypt was affected considerably by the consequences of this event. (Conrad, 2005) In February 1991 tourist arrivals fallen off to 57,000, compared with 208,000 in February 1990. Following the end of the Persian Gulf conflict, tourist numbers recovered quickly, reaching to 2214277 on average in 1991 and account for the record figure of around 3 millions in the 12 months to June 1992. (Table. 5.2) Yet, the tourism sector in Egypt went bust again, when a tourism destination were targeted by Islamist militants terrorists. The number of tourists visiting Egypt dropped off about 22% in 1993, while revenue fell by 38%. (Table 5.2) Having failed to eradicate the problem of terrorism through its campaign against militant Islamists, the Government allocated 25 million US dollars for a venture to promote tourism in 1994, with the aim of restoring revenue from this sector to its 1992 level. (Wahab, 1997) However, the number of visitors in the first three months of 1994 was 15% lower than the 1993 level. In January 1993 the World Bank had approved a 130 million US dollars loan for the development of new tourism infrastructure, within the frame ­work of a program, valued at some 805 billion US dollars (EIU, 2004) Realizing that tourism is one of the main cornerstones of the national economy, a com ­prehensive plan was prepared for the fiscal year 1994/1995 to enhance the efforts in three main tourism fields: (a) development; (b) promotion; and (c) public awareness (El Beltagui 1995). The Ministry of Tourism was among the pioneer to put into action the policy of privatization. In addition, an overall national tourism development strategy drawing on marketing techniques was adopted. This strategy laid out the priority zones and determined the detailed rules for investors while taking into account a sustainable development strategy by protecting the natural and cultural resources. The Ministry of Tourism also undertook practical measures in the promotion of tourist industry through an ambitious plan. One important element of this promotional plan was to strengthen Egypts image on the international tourism map as a place for convention tourism. Furthermore, it attempted to raise public awarenes s of the significance of tourism through the mass media. Ten TV spots were produced in 1993-94 and repeatedly shown on main Egyptian TV channels. Also, an agreement was made between the Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Education to incorporate tourism issues in the curricula of primary and secondary schools. (El Beltagui 1995). By mid-1995 several developmental plan with the aim of enhancing tourism infrastructures were implemented in the Abu Soma and the Red Sea coast at Sahl Hashish. According to the Tourism Development Authority report during these years some 27 new projects also were taken into consideration on the south Sinai coast. (EIU, 1998) the consequences of such measures was obvious, in 1995 tourist arrivals increased a quarter further compared to last year culminating to 3.13 millions, a pattern repeated in the following year with some 3.9 million tourist arrivals and estimated revenue of 3.7 billion US dollars. (Table 5.2) Source: Egypt Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) Flourishing of the tourism industry was halted by a dramatic setback in late 1997. Constant fears of the safety and security of travelers followed a terrorist attack on a German tour bus in Cairo in September, which nine German tourists and one Egyptian lost their lives, were aggravated the next month by the massacre of 58 tourists and four Egyptians in Luxor. Many tourist agencies cancelled their travels and similarly many potential tourists withdraw their application for travelling to these destinations. Immediately the Government took extensive recovery measures including compensation of loss of tourism by internal tourism in the region. (Conrad, 2005) Egypt Air, which lost many foreign tourists, offered a half priced fares tickets for domestic tourists. Key among the recovery measures taken in these years is a numerous discounts on several goods and services to urge the potential travelers to come back to the region. The official statistics estimated 1.2 billion US dollars result ed from decrease of tourists numbers from 3.9 to 3.7 and other recovery expenses. Since 1999 the tourism industry undergone recovery and the former construction plans in tourism industry accelerated. The statistics in this year confirm such rapid recovery as around 4.8million tourists visited Egypt and brought about revenue of about 3.9 million US dollars. (CAPMAS, 2008) The investing in tourism industry in the following years was unprecedented. For instance, the value of only one contract for development of luxury accommodation in Port Ghaleb on the Red Sea was around 2,000 million US. These investments proved to be effective as tourist arrivals increased to 5.5 million in 2000, bringing around 4.345 billion US dollar income. (EIU, 2000) The regional crisis including conflict between Palestinians and Israelis in second intifada in September 2000 and the September 11th attacks of 2001 put the sector once again into decline, a number of projects put on hold and many travellers cancel their flights as a result. By November 2001 tourist numbers had fallen off 54.5% compared with the same month the previous year. Since then tourist arrivals have steadily risen and by August 2002 arrivals were a remarkable 15% up on the previous year. However, revenues were taking longer to return to pre-September 11th levels as a result of increased discounting. (Table 5.3) Once again the Government took into consideration the recovery measures in 2002 to make up for the tremendous losses of tourist revenues. Due to global values of Egypt heritages the prestigious international organization showed willingness to make investment in tourism industry in Egypt. A prime example is UNESCO which supported a 350 million dollar project to reconstr uct the Great Egyptian Museum near the Pyramids at Giza. The second Gulf War in 2003 affected the tourism industry in Egypt in some extent. The same year Egypt was host of an international conference on promotion of sustainable tourism following which contribute immensely in offering a positive image of Egypt tourism industry. In 2004 tourist income reached 6.1 billion US dollar which was the Egypts most important current-account credit in the economy history of the country. Tourist arrivals increased by 35% in 2004 to 8.1 million arrivals and a second successive record. (EIU, 2004) The Egyptian government since kept supporting the industry by targeting the markets in European and Arab countries and removing the existing barriers for foreign investing. A successful measure taken by Egypt government was sponsoring the travel of tourism journalists and allowing German and Italian visitors to show any identification cards rather than passport. Key among these measures has also been investing in human resources. The latest measure in this respect was signing a contract with Cornell University to offer training course for Egyptians in the hospitality and tourism industry. The similar educational contract has also been signed with countries with high experiences in the tourism industry such as Greece and France. In addition a five-year campaign with the aim of raising the awareness of public was undertaken in April 2006. Within these programs Egyptians are given training about significant of tourism industry in their life and how to communicate in a hospitable manner. Such training has also incorporated in the primary school curriculum. The campaign also makes best use of televised and printed media to meet its mission. Another campaign has been undertaken to enhance tourism at international level. UK-based DDB International has been hired for this purpose. Marwa Fayed, senior account manager notes â€Å"The campaign borrows some of the same concepts used by Malaysia and India .We are trying to make Egypt into a brand.† (Cited in Meed, 2007) These measures resulted in the renewal of attacks on tourist facilities in 2004 and 2005 and a victory for authorities. Finally according to most recent statistics, in 2006 tourism revenue reached 7.6 billion dollars, Egypt largest source of export earnings. Tourists arrivals rose by 5 percent to 9.1 million, a third successive record. (EIU, 2008) Source: Egypt Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) Tourism stakeholders in Egypt Central and Local government Due to centralized system of governance, appointed authorities in Egypt at local and central level has taken major roles in tourism industry. In particular in recent years they have drawn considerable attention to the industry. Egypt is organized into 27 governorates, each headed by an appointed governor. The local government system act in 1960, stipulated a diverse responsibility for governorates ranging from social, health, welfare, and educational services to the social and economic development of their region. They are monitoring on the measures and plans of the city and village councils. The actual authority however rest with top officials in Cairo in a highly centralized manner through a heavily burdened bureaucracy. The village mayors who were only elected local authorities are now selected by the Ministry of the Interior. (Fahmi, 2002) The ministry of tourism The Ministry of Tourism has come to play destination management organization (DMO) role in Egypt albeit with more and more limited power compared to its Western counterparts. The Ministry is organized into four major sections: (a) Planning and Development; (b) Regulation of Tourist Services; (c) Administration; and (d) Financial and Legal Affairs. Like most other ministries, the Min ­istry of Tourism suffers from overstaffing and inadequate technical capa ­bility. The Ministry in recent years has taken many proactive steps to ensure the private sector dependency tourism. The initial step was establishment of the Tourism Development Authority in 1991 with the aim of enhancing the relationship of private sector with the Ministry in guiding and promoting touristic investments. (Wahab 1997). The Ministry also supervises a number of public sector organizations: (a) Egypt ­ian General Authority for Promotion of Tourism; (b) Public Authority for Conference Centres; and (c) Tourism Dev elopment Authority. A crisis management unit has been established in the Ministry of Tourism to coordinate the stakeholders activities during and after crisis. Key to the recent changes in the Ministry is the new position of the public sector Tourism Authority, as an umbrella company consists of five associated companies including Egyptian General Organization for Tourism and Hotels, Misr Travel Company, Egyptian Hotels Company, Misr Hotels, and Grand Hotels of Egypt (Wahab 1997).The new appointments in the top managerial body of the Ministry of Tourism 2004 is also represents fundamental positive changes for the tourism sector in Egypt. (American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, 2008) Ministry of Interior and Police There are two major branches of the police in Egypt. The State Security Investigations Sector (SSIS) dealing with crime and investigation, and the Central Security Force (CSF) dealing with internal security issues like public protests and combat with oppositions. As a whole, the force maintains law and order, detects and prevents crime, collects evidence, processes passports, controls traffic, and screens immigrants. In each governorate, a director of police oversees law enforcement in the district. The director reports to the governor. Both the governor and director are overseen by the Ministry of the Interior. Police ranks reflect the gradations within the army, with the higher ranking police officers being major generals down to first lieutenants. Below this are lieutenant-chief warrant officers. Enlisted officers hold the ranks of master sergeant, sergeant, corporal, and private. There is a special tourist police, who wear an armband with an insignia in Arabic and English and are able to speak in English. It was established in 1997 after the massacre of 60 tourists at the Hatsheptsut temple in Luxor. According to one report, a large body of tourist police has been deployed to guard tourist sites. (Fielding, D. and Shortland, A. 2005) Egyptian Tourism Federation (ETF) The tourism private sector in Egypt is represented by Egyptian Federation of Tourist Chambers (EFTC) which was established in 1968 when the first law for tourism was enacted. With new demands for more and more enhancing the tourism industry its official title was changed to Egyptian Tourism Federation (ETF) in 2002. The main ETF task as mentioned in its constitution is to ensure the common interests of the tourism industry by developing strategic cooperation and joint planning between the five Affiliate Associations. This is accomplished through close relationship with the five affiliate business associations: Egyptian Hotels Association (EHA) Egyptian Travel Agents Association (ETAA) Egyptian Chamber of Tourist Establishments (ECTE) Egyptian Chamber of Tourist Commodities (ECTC) Egyptian Chamber of Diving and Water Sports (CDWS). The ETF is also work in association with the following institutions: Travel and tourism enterprises Ministry of Tourism and public authorities in general Supply structure of the tourism industry According to its official site the areas of activity of the ETF is to enhance and support following sectors: Resources development Transportation Infrastructure and superstructure of tourism destinations Human resources development International and regional organizations concerned with tourism development (ETF website) Egypt Airline EgyptAir is a major Egypt state-owned airline established in 1932 and headquartered in Cairo, Egypt. Beginning in 1980, EgyptAir embarked on a modernization and marketing plan. Accordingly, EgyptAir planned its network to maximize its traffic and scope, reaching main cities in all five continents. To carry out its marketing plan, EgyptAir purchased several new aircraft and then developed an autonomous infrastructure to support and serve its fleet in order to operate in a safe and efficient manner. As a result of its market research, EgyptAir was reinvented in a stepped-pyramid form. The base of the pyramid was EgyptAirs most profitable markets. This was a significant step toward establishing the airlines financial credibility, which can be very challenging for an airline from an underdeveloped region of the world such as Egypt. EgyptAir owns shares in many tourism companies and hotel chains, such as Cairo Airport Mà ¶venpick, Tut Amon, and Nefertari in Aswan and Abu Simbel, and Taba Hilton resorts in Sinai. EgyptAir also owns shares in many charter companies, such as Shorouk Air and Air Cairo. Such investments have increased EgyptAirs assets tenfold since the implementation of the airlines modernization and expansion plan in 1980. EgyptAirs network has also expanded to reach major cities and capitals in all five continents. (Groenewege, Adrianus, 2003) Terrorism in Egypt There is little debt that the main challenge to the Tourism Industry comes from a major anti-government extremist movement, the Islamic Group (IG, known in Arabic as Al-Gamaat al-Islamiya).[7] IG emerged in the late 1970s with the principle objective of removing the current Egyptian government from power and replacing it with an Islamic regime. Affiliated with al-Qaida, it has also developed an absolute anti- United States (U.S.) pledge. From 1992 until 1999, IG militants carried out several attacks against tourist destinations in Egypt, most notably a November 1997 attack at Luxor that claimed the lives of 58 foreign visitors. (Graph, 2) Since 1992 Egyptian police and security centres embarked massive attacks on Islamic groups. Coupled with these counter terrorism measures Egyptian parliament passed new anti-terrorism law stipulating death penalty for some crimes and consequently and the Egyptian martial judiciary convicted a number of terrorist to death on accusation of overthrowing the regime. The Islamic groups fought back through terrorism attacks mainly toward the tourism destinations. Such attacks continued constantly over 1993, and proved to be a suitable target for terrorists to gain their goals and at the same the tourism industry suffered considerably from the attacks. These left an intensively negative image of Egypt as a tourism choice and were resulted in withdrawal of many international tourism operators from Egypt. This time the government accelerated its counter-terrorism measures by deployment a massive number of security forces. Those accused of terrorist act were received very severe punishments by military courts. In 1993 these courts in an unprecedented action convicted a record number of 38 Islamists to death and 29 were executed. (Tal, 2005) Not surprisingly, such measures run in contrast with human right principles and triggered an extensive international criticism. Such opposition slowed down a little aggressive measure. The Egyptian government also tried to carry out the policy of carrot instead of stick by allowing the oppositions to occupy some minor public posts. (Kepel, 2005) The tug of war between government and Islamic dissents carried out till after 1997 when in massive trial 98 oppositions were sentenced charges of subversion, four of whom were convicted to death penalty and eight to imprisonment for life. This triggered a new wave of terrorism fight back marked by terrorism attack to tourist bus in Cairo which lead to killing nine German tourists and injuring 11 others. This attack is still remained unclear as the government claimed that terrorist had no link with IG but evidences all support the strong connection IG members with the event, following this event two suspects of conducting the attack were executed. This severe reaction led to the tragedy of Luxor in which 70 people, including 58 foreign tourists, wore massacred by members of IG. This over reaction learnt the Government to emphasis more on carrot policies. As such, they opened up a dialogue with moderate oppositions as part of a national reform. (Kassem, 2004) As a result, Muslim Brotherhood condemned the attack. Other political measures taken into account to combat terrorism was secret agreement between Egypt and the West for the identifying and extraditing IG leaders in exile. Since the public opinion no longer supporting the aggressive actions of terrorist, IG showed the signs of ceasefire in 1999. In 2000 Al-Jihad also paved the same way and declared the halt in terrorism attacks. The ceasefire was short-lived when in October 2004, 34 people were killed in bomb attacks at Taba. These were followed by terrorists attacks in Sharm al-Sheikh in 2005, which led to 64 lose of life, and a series of bombings exploded in Dahab in April 2006, which killed 20 people. Yet, the government has linked these attacks to terror cells of local Bedouin from North Sinai, which have connections to al-Qaida. Conclusion The progress in tourism industry in Egypt was maddeningly slow in Nasser era; however, aftermath of Nassers death the country drew attention back to tourism industry and since as the official statistics indicates it has thrived and dramatically developed. The industry proved to be very vulnerable to the security incidents. In respond, the Egyptian government has undertaken a plethora of counter terrorism techniques. The balance sheet of their measures demonstrated a capacity of for rebounding strongly from such incidents, but a sustained campaign would be far more difficult.

Compact Flourescent Lamp and the Environment Essay -- Environmental CF

Compact Flourescent Lamp and the Environment Abstract Technological advances have come a long way since the incandescent light bulb. Today, the compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) is the most energy efficient light bulb on the market. In the beginning, consumers had resistance toward the CFL. With governmental support in establishing energy-efficient lighting programs, the CFL have been able to stay in the market and improve throughout the years. Introduction With the advances in technology today, we are able to produce a variety of energy-efficient products, one of which is the compact fluorescent lamp (CFL). Having come a long way from the energy-absorbing incandescents, CFL is clearly the choice for the future. CFLs potentially could save nonrenewable energy resources and electricity expenses because they are so efficient. When we switch over to the CFL, we no longer have to constantly replace burnt out incandescents because a CFL will last â€Å"10 times [longer than] the average life of the longest-lived incandescents† (Petrowski, 1995). In addition, for only 13 to 15 watts of electricity, the CFL delivers the equivalent light of a 60 or 75 watt incandescent bulb, representing an energy savings of about 80% (Luoma, 1991). Therefore, we no longer have to drill more oil or mine more coal because if these energy efficient lights were installed in all U.S. homes over the next 20 years, â€Å"the savings in energy would equ al the estimated energy content of Alaska’s entire North Slope oil fields† (Miller, 1997). Energy efficient lights could also save U.S. businesses $15-20 billion per year in electricity bills (Miller, 1997). It is evident that the potential benefit for the environment is enormous. Nonetheless... ...rams: Experience and lessons from eight countries. Energy Policy 26:1071-1081. Miller, G. T. Jr. 1997. Environmental Science. 6th ed. New York: Wadsworth. Petrowski, E. M. 1995. A Buyer’s Guide to Light bulbs: New choices can help you create just the right lighting effects in every room- and cut your electricity bill, too. Home Mechanix 46-50. Product announcement. 1999. Long-Life, Energy-Saving Compact: Aero-tech Light Bulb flourescent lamp. Energy User News 24:34-35. Roodman, D.M. 1993. The obsolescent incandescent: replacing the ordinary light bulb with the compact fluorescent camp, CFL. World Watch 6:5-7. Rigdon, J. E. and M. K. Wadman. 1992. New Long-Life Bulbs May Lose Brilliance In a Crowded Market. Wall Street B5. Wald, M. L. 1990. With Bulbs, Light and Price Are the Key Considerations. New York Times 16N.

John Smith in Jamestown Essay -- John Smith Jamestown Essays

John Smith in Jamestown The leadership strengths and weaknesses of John Smith evoked a profound effect on the Jamestown colony. The fact that Smith actually arrived in the colony as a common prisoner and was able to achieve the leadership role that he gained is amazing. His creativity and knowledge in certain areas actually saved the colonists from attack and starvation in the early days. Some of the rules he enforced as a leader were actually instrumental in saving the colony. His skill in dealing with the natives allowed him to gain their support and continue trade that resulted in the survival of the colony. Christopher Newport, the admiral that transported John Smith and many of the colonists from England, left the Jamestown colony in the fall of 1607. Immediately all work in the settlement ceased to exist. The colonists had decided to wait on Newport to return with new workers. The plan was for the natives to provide food for them while they waited. When the natives never came with food, Ratcliffe, the current president of the colony, ordered John Smith to visit the neighboring natives and trade tools and metals for corn. The natives had noticed how the English were unable to feed themselves by planting their own crops. The natives refused to trade more than a few handfuls of corn and bread for the hatchets and iron that were offered. Smith realized the reason why the Kecoughtans were not trading more than just those small amounts and created a way to solve the problem. To prove to the natives that the English were not poor, Smith gave free beads and trinkets to the children. This was to show the Kecoughtans that the English were economically strong and possessed more valuable items. Smith used the mentality of â€Å"weakness in appearance†¦was weakness in reality† (Price 57) to justify his travels from village to village, collecting a large of amount of corn, bread, and other foods for the Jamestown colonists. Smith thought the natives would trade more food if they did not realize what a small amount of food stores that the English had actually acquired. If the natives had known what large quantities of food Smith had actually traded for, they would have realized how desperate the state of the colonists. Smith performed his trading sessions this way â€Å"’least they should perceive my too great want.’† (Price 57) In this manner, John Smith saved the ent... ...into believing the English had enough stores of food actually help protect the colonists from attack. It also allowed Smith and the colonists to continue to bring back enough food and supplies to last the settlement through the first winter. By the second winter, John Smith had taken the position of President of the settlement. This put him in a position of power where he could invoke some rules among the colonists. Invoking the â€Å"he that will not work shall not eat† rule was a key factor in surviving this winter. During the same season the food supply again became dangerously low. Rats had again infested the main food supply. John cleverly divided the colonists into three groups. Despite the risk of having the settlement devastated by the division, Smith pulled it off and saved the colonists again. John Smith remained committed to the interests of the common man throughout his efforts in Jamestown. This character trait and well as his impulsiveness and temper outburst s weakened him in the eyes of the Virginia Company. Unfortunately, this shortened his time as a leader for the settlers. Despite his flaws, John Smith was a critical player in the success of the Jamestown settlement.

al capone , a true american hero :: essays research papers

Al Capone was one of the greatest American gangsters in history. â€Å"Even though he was unbelievable smart, he dropped out of school, he dropped out of school at age 14 in the 6 Th. grade. (Kobler, John. Capone: The Life and World of Al Capone.) He got involved with crime at a very early age, and he never failed to stir up trouble. Between working 3 jobs and being in a gang, Capon had much worse problems to deal with. Problems like shelter when nighttime came. He later graduated to the notorious Five Points Gang in Manhattan where he ended up working at the â€Å"Yale’s Brooklyn Dive’, with another gangster named Frankie Yale. (Schoenberg, Robert J. Mr. Capone: The Real-and Complete). He also worked at the Harvard Inn as a bartender and bouncer. It was there he received his nickname â€Å"Scare Face† His infamous facial scars were received when he got into a brawl with a patron's brother. Cappone ended up meeting his future wife and mother to his child in 19 18. He Mary â€Å"Mae† Coughlin at a dance on December 4, 1918. Then (Alsop, Kenneth. The Bootleggers). Cappone’s and Mae got married that year and his first son was born. One thing about Cappone was that no matter the crime he always had an alibi. Cappone also had his own famous killing style. This involved his men renting an apartment across the street from the home of the victim and shooting im when he came out. Cappone’s first arrest was a disorderly conduct charge while he was working for Yale. He murdered a lot of men in NYC because of gangster etiquette â€Å"no one ever saw a thing†. Cappone's combination of physical strength and intelligence encouraged his protege. (Nash, J. Blood Letter and Bad Men). Soon Cappone was helping another gangster who went my Torio; He helped mange his bootlegging business. Cappone’s most notorious killing was the St. Valentines Massacre (Bowettiger, John. Lake Jingle: Chicago on the Spot) On February 4th 1929 four of Cappone’s men entered a garage at 2122 North Clark Street. Because two of Cappone’s men were dressed like policemen the victims put their hands up, dropped their weapons and were immediately shot. Cappone’s men fired over 150 shots into those men. Cappone eventually got nailed for not paying his taxes and the judge that heard his case sent him to prison. al capone , a true american hero :: essays research papers Al Capone was one of the greatest American gangsters in history. â€Å"Even though he was unbelievable smart, he dropped out of school, he dropped out of school at age 14 in the 6 Th. grade. (Kobler, John. Capone: The Life and World of Al Capone.) He got involved with crime at a very early age, and he never failed to stir up trouble. Between working 3 jobs and being in a gang, Capon had much worse problems to deal with. Problems like shelter when nighttime came. He later graduated to the notorious Five Points Gang in Manhattan where he ended up working at the â€Å"Yale’s Brooklyn Dive’, with another gangster named Frankie Yale. (Schoenberg, Robert J. Mr. Capone: The Real-and Complete). He also worked at the Harvard Inn as a bartender and bouncer. It was there he received his nickname â€Å"Scare Face† His infamous facial scars were received when he got into a brawl with a patron's brother. Cappone ended up meeting his future wife and mother to his child in 19 18. He Mary â€Å"Mae† Coughlin at a dance on December 4, 1918. Then (Alsop, Kenneth. The Bootleggers). Cappone’s and Mae got married that year and his first son was born. One thing about Cappone was that no matter the crime he always had an alibi. Cappone also had his own famous killing style. This involved his men renting an apartment across the street from the home of the victim and shooting im when he came out. Cappone’s first arrest was a disorderly conduct charge while he was working for Yale. He murdered a lot of men in NYC because of gangster etiquette â€Å"no one ever saw a thing†. Cappone's combination of physical strength and intelligence encouraged his protege. (Nash, J. Blood Letter and Bad Men). Soon Cappone was helping another gangster who went my Torio; He helped mange his bootlegging business. Cappone’s most notorious killing was the St. Valentines Massacre (Bowettiger, John. Lake Jingle: Chicago on the Spot) On February 4th 1929 four of Cappone’s men entered a garage at 2122 North Clark Street. Because two of Cappone’s men were dressed like policemen the victims put their hands up, dropped their weapons and were immediately shot. Cappone’s men fired over 150 shots into those men. Cappone eventually got nailed for not paying his taxes and the judge that heard his case sent him to prison.

Archeozoic Era Essay

The Archeozoic Era stretches from about 3.8 billion to 2.5 billion years ago. Traditionally, the beginning of the Archean is defined to coincide with the oldest rocks discovered. As recent discoveries have pushed back the earliest dated rocks to about 4.0 billion years old, the beginning of the Archean has also been pushed back correspondingly. However, most texts still continue to date the beginning to 3.8 billion years ago. As the Late Heavy Bombardment (LHB) ended with the Hadean, the newly forming crust continued to stabilize, and eventually led to the creation of the continents. When the continents first appeared is still under debate. The Earth in this period was moderately warm. Although the sun was about 30% cooler than it is today, the geological activity of the earth was much higher, leading to a somewhat temperate climate. Most of the earth was covered with oceans. The atmosphere contained mostly methane and little to no oxygen; therefore it is considered a reducing atmosp here. Although recent discoveries may change this view, it is generally believed that life first evolved in the Archean. Some of the oldest fossils of life on Earth include the Apex Chert (3.465 billion years old) and stromatolites (3.45 billion years old) from Australia, and the Swaziland microfossils from Africa (also about 3.45 billion years old). Dating the oldest life forms is difficult. Stromatolite-like structures have been shown to be as old as 3.5 billion years, but it can be debated whether they were made by living organisms, or natural forces (hydrothermal vents). The earliest conclusive radiometric markers of life (such as O-12 uptake, or the first evidence of photosynthesis, for example), date to about 2.7 billion years old. However, it is widely believed that the first life appeared much earlier, possibly around the beginning of the Archean, around 3.8 billion years ago, or even in the Hadean. The earliest chemical markers of life are dated to about 3.8 billion years, but this is not the same as finding microfossils. [EDIT: the oldest conclusive evidence of life has been pushed back to ab out 3.43 billion years old, at Strelley Pool in Western Australia.] The first organisms were likely non-photosynthetic, utilizing methane, ammonia or sulfates for their energy needs. Photosynthesis became common with the cyanobacteria, perhaps as early as 3.5 billion years ago. The oxygen produced by these bacteria went into oxidizing rocks on the Earth and the iron in the oceans, so there was no increase in atmospheric oxygen for a very long time. Atmospheric oxygen did not begin to rise significantly until billions of years after photosynthesis first began. The Archean was the period in which continent formation first began. The surface of the Earth had started to solidify in the Hadean, with the presence of liquid water as early as 100 million years after the formation of the Earth. But the early crust was unstable, and was continually eroded, recycled and re melted. During the Archean these areas of land increased in size and during the middle Archean the first continent sized expanses of land first appeared. These proto continents no longer exist, but their remnants are sometimes found in cratons, areas of ancient rock that survive on some of the continental shields today. Cratons typically appear when the overlying rock (mostly volcanic igneous rock) is buried deep, but not deep enough to be re melted. Instead, the heat and pressure converts it into metamorphic rock. These are areas where the crust has thickened, with fresh igneous rock on top and metamorphic rock beneath (though folding of the crust can obscure this relationship). For reasons that are not well understood, there were extensive cratonization events towards the last third of the Archean, which have never been repeated in the history of the Earth. However, continents as we know them today, with continental plates and plate tectonics did not appear until the very end of the Archean. The Earth When the Archean began, the Earth’s heat flow was nearly three times higher than it is today, and it was still twice the current level at the transition from the Archean to the Proterozoic (2,500 Ma). The extra heat was the result of a mix of remnant heat from planetary accretion, heat from the formation of the Earth’s core, and heat produced by radioactive elements. Most surviving Archean rocks are metamorphic or igneous. Volcanic activity was considerably higher than today, with numerous lava eruptions, including unusual types such as komatiite. Granitic rocks predominate throughout the crystalline remnants of the surviving Archean crust. Examples include great melt sheets and voluminous plutonic masses of granite, diorite, layered intrusions, anorthosites and monzonites known as sanukitoids. The Earth of the early Archean may have supported a tectonic regime unlike that of the present. Some scientists argue that, because the Earth was much hotter, tectonic activity w as more vigorous than it is today, resulting in a much faster rate of recycling of crustal material. This may have prevented cratonisation and continent formation until the mantle cooled and convection slowed down. Others argue that the oceanic lithosphere was too buoyant to subduct, and that the rarity of Archean rocks is a function of erosion by subsequent tectonic events. The question of whether plate tectonic activity existed in the Archean is an active area of modern research. There are two schools of thought concerning the amount of continental crust that was present in the Archean. One school maintains that no large continents existed until late in the Archean: small protocontinents were the norm, prevented from coalescing into larger units by the high rate of geologic activity. The other school follows the teaching of Richard Armstrong, who argued that the continents grew to their present volume in the first 500 million years of Earth history and have maintained a near-constant ever since: throughout most of Earth history, recycling of continental material crust back to the mantle in subduction or collision zones balances crustal growth. Opinion is also divided about the mechanism of continental crustal growth. Those scientists who doubt that plate tectonics operated in the Archean argue that the felsic protocontinents formed at hotspots rather than subduction zones. Through a process called â€Å"sagduction†, which refers to partial melting in downward-directed diapirs, a variety of mafic magmas produce intermediate and felsic rocks.[citation needed] Others accept that granite formation in island arcs and convergent margins was part of the plate tectonic process, which has operated since at least the start of the Archean. An explanation for the general lack of Hadean rocks (older than 3800 Ma) is the efficiency of the processes that either cycled these rocks back into the mantle or effaced any isotopic record of their antiquity. All rocks in the continental crust are subject to metamorphism, partial melting and tectonic erosion during multiple orogenic events and the chance of survival at the surface decreases with increasing age. In addition, a period of intense meteorite bombardment in the period 4.0-3.8 Ga pulverized all rocks at the Earth’s surface during the period. The similar age of the oldest surviving rocks and the â€Å"late heavy bombardment† is thought to be not accidental Palaeoenvironment The Archean atmosphere is thought to have nearly lacked free oxygen. Astronomers think that the sun had about 70–75% of the present luminosity, yet temperatures appear to have been near modern levels even within 500 Ma of Earth’s formation, which is puzzling the faint young sun paradox. The presence of liquid water is evidenced by certain highly deformed gneisses produced by metamorphism of sedimentary protoliths. The equable temperatures may reflect the presence of larger amounts of greenhouse gases than later in the Earth’s history. Alternatively, Earth’s albedo may have been lower at the time, due to less land area and cloud cover. By the end of the Archaean c. 2500 Mya, plate tectonic activity may have been similar to that of the modern Earth. There are well-preserved sedimentary basins, and evidence of volcanic arcs, intracontinental rifts, continent-continent collisions and widespread globe-spanning orogenic events suggesting the assembly and destruction of one and perhaps several supercontinents. Liquid water was prevalent, and deep oceanic basins are known to have existed by the presence of banded iron formations, chert beds, chemical sediments and pillow basalts. Geology Although a few mineral grains are known that are Hadean, the oldest rock formations exposed on the surface of the Earth are Archean or slightly older. Archean rocks are known from Greenland, the Canadian Shield, the Baltic Shield, Scotland, India, Brazil, western Australia, and southern Africa. Although the first continents formed during this eon, rock of this age makes up only 7% of the world’s current cratons; even allowing for erosion and destruction of past formations, evidence suggests that continental crust equivalent to only 5-40% of the present amount formed during the Archean. In contrast to Proterozoic rocks, Archean rocks are often heavily metamorphized deep-water sediments, such as graywackes, mudstones, volcanic sediments, and banded iron formations. Carbonate rocks are rare, indicating that the oceans were more acidic due to dissolved carbon dioxide than during the Proterozoic. Greenstone belts are typical Archean formations, consisting of alternating units of metamorphosed mafic igneous and sedimentary rocks. The meta-igneous rocks were derived from volcanic island arcs, while the metasediments represent deep-sea sediments eroded from the neighboring island arcs and deposited in a forearc basin. Greenstone belts represent sutures between protocontinents Life during the Era Fossils of cyanobacterial mats (stromatolites, which were instrumental in creating the free oxygen in the atmosphere ) are found throughout the Archean, becoming especially common late in the eon, while a few probable bacterial fossils are known from chert beds. In addition to the domain Bacteria (once known as Eubacteria), microfossils of the domain Archaea have also been identified. Life was probably present throughout the Archean, but may have been limited to simple non-nucleated single-celled organisms, called Prokaryota There are no known eukaryotic fossils, though they might have evolved during the Archean without leaving any fossils.No fossil evidence has been discovered for ultramicroscopic intracellular replicators such as viruses. Eoarchean Period The earliest part of the Archean eon is known as the Eoarchean. We’ve defined it chronometrically as a 200 million year period from 3.8 to 3.6 billion years, although the earlier boundary (3.8 billion) is not universally recognized. Since the Archean begins roughly with the earliest known rocks, the beginning of the Eoarchean will vary, based on estimates of the ages of the oldest rocks currently known. The Eoarchean is best known through the Isua Greenstone Belt, which is the oldest known rock formation (3.8 – 3.7 billion years old). This area, located in southwestern Greenland, contains metamorphosed volcanic (mafic) and sedimentary rocks. Much of the belt is derived from basaltic and high-magnesium basaltic pillow lavas. During the Eoarchean, crust formation (which began in the Hadean) continued. Due to the cessation of LHB, some of this crust survived and became incorporated into continents, which formed much later. The earth was mostly covered with water, with volcanoes and volcanic islands emerging here and there. The oceans were green and acidic from dissolved iron compounds. They sky was orange from high concentrations of methane, ammonia and carbon dioxide. The climate was probably temperate. Earth produced about 3 times as much heat internally as it does today, which compensated for the dimmer sun, and made the earth intensely geoactive. Life first emerged during this period, if not earlier. The earliest life was probably based on methane or some similar chemistry. Paleoarchean Period The Paleoarchean is a 400 million year long period within the archean eon, dating from 3.6 to 3.2 billion years ago. There are no specific rocks layers that separate this level – it has been defined chronometrically. This era is very significant for the history of life on earth. Both archaea and eubacteria evolved during the paleoarchean, implying that the last universal common ancestor (LUCA) of all life of earth existed during this era. The oldest stromatolites date back to about 3.5 billion years, within the Paleoarchean. These were colonies of cyanobacteria, which are the only class of bacteria that produce oxygen as a by-product of photosynthesis. They might not have been the oldest photosynthetic bacteria (some reports suggest that purple bacteria or rhodobacter developed photosynthesis first), but vast numbers of cyanobacteria were instrumental in changing the geology of earth and the evolution of life through the production of oxygen. Although cyanobacteria first started producing oxygen in this era, it is important to remember that no significant amounts of oxygen existed in the atmosphere at this time, because of vast quantities of oxidizable materials in the earth’s crust and the iron in the oceans, which absorbed any oxygen that was produced. Continent formation continued, with increasingly larger land masses emerging from the oceans. It has been proposed that the first super continent, Vaalbara, came into existence in this era, around 3.3 billion years ago (may have been as early as 3.6 billion years ago). This is based on the similarity in sedimentary sequences on the South African Kaapvaal craton and the West Australian Pilbara craton (hence the name vaal-bara). This theory is controversial, and if Vaalbara did exist, it had started to break up by about 2.8 billion years ago, shown by the diverging paleomagnetic history of these two cratons from that time on. Mesoarchean The Mesoarchean is another era that has been defined chronometrically, rather than geologically. This era covers the middle of the archean, from 3.2 to 2.8 billion years ago. The Mesoarchean continued the trends from the previous Paleoarchean era. Continent formation continued. Plate tectonics forced the separation of the Kaapvaal and Pilbara cratons, and the separation of these ancient parts of South Africa and Australia was complete by the end of the Mesoarchean, around 2.8 billion years ago. Another super continent that may have originated during the mesoarchean was Ur. This consisted of the South African Kaapvaal and West Australian Pilbara cratons (which were originally together in Vaalbara, but no longer contiguous now), plus the Indian Bhandara and Singhbhum cratons, and some regions of what is now the east Antarctica. It is believed that Ur survived for a very long time, joining with other cratons to later form Rodinia, and even later, Pangaea. Although life evolved much earlier, the first incontrovertible fossils appear from this period. Stromatolites were prevalent in coastal waters, with their cyanobacteria continuing to pump oxygen into the atmosphere. However, atmospheric oxygen levels remained very low, as the oxygen continued to be used up in oxidizing minerals on the earth’s crust and in the sea. All life from this period was consequently anaerobic. The oldest banded iron formations (BIFs) are dated to this period. BIFs are a type of sedimentary rock, consisting of layers of iron-rich minerals such as hematite and magnetite, alternating with iron-poor layers of shale and chert. It is believed that oxygen produced by the cyanobacteria precipitated out the iron (as oxides) which had previously been dissolved in the acidic oceans. The layering indicates a pattern of cyclical activity, showing oxygen â€Å"pulses†. It is unknown if these pulses corresponded to seasonal activity or some other factor. The formation of banded iron formations continued until as recently as 1.8 billion years ago, at which point it is presumed that most of the iron in the seas had already been precipitated out. There are some more recent formations, that were thought to represent events corresponding to local oxygen depletion (if oxygen is depleted, iron continues to wash into the sea through the rivers and accumulates in solution until the oxygen level rises again and it is precipitated). However, more recent research shows that this â€Å"local† oxygen depletion may have been global — the result of the â€Å"snowball earth† scenario where all life (including cyanobacteria) came close to extinction. Banded iron formations contain enormous amounts of oxygen, perhaps as much as 20 times the amount of oxygen present in the atmosphere today. Together with other such oxygen â€Å"sinks† they explain why it took so long for atmospheric oxygen levels to start rising after the appearance of the cyanobacteria. Neoarchean The last 300 million years of the Archean eon have been chronometrically classified as the Neoarchean, from about 2.8 billion years ago to 2.5 billion years ago. Many of the processes described earlier, that originated in the Mesoarchean, established themselves in the Neoarchean. Cyanobacteria started producing significant amounts of oxygen in this period. This eventually lead to the Oxygen Catastrophe during the early proterozoic, in which rising levels of oxygen poisoned much of the life that existed at the time. There is some evidence that life first colonized land during this period. There has been some evidence that microbes colonized some land masses as early as 2.75 billion years ago, but the thinking was that such colonization was very limited in scope and insignificant. However, more recently, evidence has started to accumulate that there may have been a large scale colonization of land by microbes, which broke down rocks to release sulfur and molybdenum that eventually washed into the oceans. This was thought unlikely because at the time there was no ozone layer (which appeared hundreds of millions of years later after the oxygen catastrophe, after oxygen levels had built up sufficiently in the atmosphere), so life on land was unprotected from UV rays. However, microbes may have lived deep within the rocks. During the Neoarchean, large continents first appeared on earth, with modern plate tectonics (with subduction zones, continental plates sliding over each other and the upwelling of lava to produce new crust where continental plates tore apart). The first large continents were formed (when we call previously existing continents such as Vaalbara or Ur â€Å"super continents† it’s not because of size — they were smaller than Australia — but because they were the only continents around). Certainly there was recycling of crust prior to this period (perhaps all the way back to the hadean), but earlier continents formed at hotspots over mantle plumes, rather than at subduction zones. Continents basically grow by getting lighter and tougher. Cyclic re-melting and reformation of rock through lava flows (igneous differentiation) gradually separates the lighter minerals, and allows the development of felsic rocks from mafic rocks. Lighter rocks are more buoyant, and resist recycling by floating over the liquid mantle. The archean ended about 2.5 million years ago, with the beginning of the proterozoic. This was the end of the period when mostly geological processes affected the surface of the Earth, and the beginning of the period when life started to play a significant part in what was happening on Earth.

Mark Twain Research Paper

Name — Professor Reber English 1113 10 October 2012 Mark Twain Mark Twain was a world renowned novelist and a beloved American Writer. He wrote things about what was happening in the world around him and is also a huge part of American Literature. Although Mark Twain is a famous novelist his home life, background/achievements, and greatest accomplishments are what made him who he is today. Mark Twain was more than the man we all know.For one thing, he was born as Samuel Langhorn Clemens on November thirtieth eighteen thirty-five and given the nickname â€Å"Little Sam. † In addition, his birthplace was â€Å"a two-room frame house in Florida†¦Missouri† (Cox, 7) to a John and Jane Clemens. After reaching the age of eighteen he took on an occupation in Philadelphia. Incidentally, he started working â€Å"as a cub and later as a captain for four years† (Lasky, 25) on a ship. In time, he achieved a certificate for being a Mississippi Pilot.When the Civil War broke out, Twain somewhat became a part of it. Likewise, he joined a group of friends, although none having any knowledge about fighting, war, or of the military, to fight â€Å"on the Confederate side with a small militia called Marion Rangers† (Lasky, 26). By the way, Twain was twenty-five when he moved back to Hannibal to be a part of the Militia. Mark Twain, even having little achievements, had quite the background. The root of where all this started wasn’t just at his birth, but also in his home life.Thus, Twain and â€Å"his family moved to†¦Hannibal, Missouri† (Biography of Mark Twain, 1) where he befriended slaves of his dad and uncle. As a result, this had started Twain’s negativity towards slavery when he grew older. Twain loved his family though he wasn’t so fortunate of the mishaps that were to come. For instance, he lost his father when Twain was eleven and his brother, age twenty, was â€Å"fatally scalded†¦ [when Twain ] found him on a mattress† (Cox, 43) on the Pennsylvania after the steam boat exploded killing one hundred fifty people, his brother included.On the other hand, Twain married lovely Olivia Langdon on February second eighteen seventy which follows his quote,† when you fish for love, bait with your heart, not your brain† (Brainyquotes, 2). Twain and Olivia, just like any happily married couple, also had children of their own. That is, little Langdon was their first child, born prematurely and with brittle bones, only lived nineteen months and second daughter Olivia Susan (Susy) even living up to age twenty-four had unfortunately â€Å"died from spinal meningitis† (News, 1).Twain always had problems with his middle daughter Clara, who overtime became distant to her family, and his youngest daughter, who he had the most struggles with, suffered from epilepsy (nearly trying to kill the maid during her attacks) and died at the age of twenty-nine from a heart attac k. Some things that happened in Twain’s home life marked as either turning points or became the center for some of his works. Mark Twain, unlike any other famous novelist/writer, has his very own accomplishments. The two of his greatest accomplishments is what everyone knows him famous for.The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as being his greatest and most popular works were also to quickly become his greatest accomplishments. Likewise, both books corresponded with the other about adventures of both low class, Huck Finn, and middle class, Tom Sawyer, had together and of their friendship. Another believed greatest accomplishment was his hidden eulogy that hadn’t surfaced until about two years ago. Furthermore, about his daughter Susy â€Å"a passionate eulogy† (News, 1) is guessed to have been written around the time of her death.In addition, this eulogy shows the fondness he had towards his daughter, ultimately showing she was his favorite daughter, he described â€Å"her as being ‘full of fire’† (News, 1). His occupation changed later on in his life. Therefore, he had begun to write his works â€Å"under the pen name of Mark Twain† (Synopsis, 1). In addition to all his greatest accomplishments, he had obtained the title of a sailboat pilot, novelist, journalist, lecturer, entrepreneur, and inventor. Among everything, his greatest accomplishment was him himself.Today, Twain is known for his popular works, or greatest accomplishments, thus making him a huge character for American Literature. What made him so great is through his experiences growing up, his background, and what he achieved that made up his motivation and within his works he writes of some of his incidents, his opinions, and similar adventures. All-in-all, Mark Twain may have believed his novels were his greatest achievements, but the true answer to that is what he created as himself – a legend. Works CitedBiogr aphy. CMG Solutions, 5 Jul. 2006. cmgww. com. 26 Sept. 2012. Web. Biography of Mark Twain. The Mark Twain House & Museum. marktwainhouse. org, n. d. 26 Sept. 2012. Web. Cox, Clinton. Mark Twain. New York: Scholastic Inc, 1995. Print. Lasky, Kathryn. A Brilliant Streak: The Making of Mark Twain. Orlando: Harcourt Brace & Company. 1998. Print. Mark Twain. A+E Television Networks, LLC, 2012. biography. com. 26 Sept. 2012. Web. Mark Twain. Xplore Inc, 2012. brainyquote. com. 26 Sept. 2012. Web.