The document will be a one-page critical summary of the five (5) Essay

The document will be a one-page critical summary of the five (5) handouts - Essay Example In ‘Man vs Machine’ this debated is also considered, visually indicating the specific elements the man and machine disagree on in terms of what is legitimate. This article indicates the specific parts of the art that have been disagreed upon by the art historian and the machine (namely, the original painting of a number of human figures). Ultimately, it’s clear that the technology is in need of further development, and may always fall short of human conceptual ability. In ‘The Van Gogh Project’ this analysis is furthered in terms of wavelet analysis on Van Gogh paintings. While similar to the previous articles, this article is notable for its potential contribution to art history, as it hints that the computer technology may be able to detect stylistic shifts through the artist’s different periods. The next article examined was ‘‘7: Decimel Numeration and the Place Value System.’ This essay examined the historical nature of a number of mathematical elements, most notable the decimal system as an Indian invention. In these regards, it argues that the question is much more complex than simply being related to the development of a decimal system, but a complex process of evolution. Within this spectrum of development a number of cultural influences are demonstrated to be part of decimal system.

Blue Ocean Strategy Paper Essay Example for Free

Blue Ocean Strategy Paper Essay The Blue Ocean Strategy focuses on the three industries that closely touch people’s lives. Areas they looked at were Autos, Computers and Movie and what companies within those fields are doing to managing sustainable profit and growth through the test of time. The creation of a blue ocean strategy places its focus on strategic moves to place their brand in position long past its rise to fame. Rather than focusing on creating a company and battling your competitor’s blue ocean strategy gears to forecasting innovations and products to make oceans of uncontested market space. (W. Kim, 2004) A product strategy that is much a product of managerial action, rather than the creation or invention of new market space but the development and evolution of the products rather than the company. Primary Strategy Importance The blue ocean strategy takes a look at the host of companies in the thirty plus industries and the key players within them. The process of analyzing and studying the leading and successful players and the unsuccessful and failing competition. Looking for distinct and common differences between the groups, as well as the commonalities to discover the common factors that lead to the successful growth of one and failings of the other. The consistent variable common pattern that shows focusing on competition does not provide for long term successful companies. The common practice is the within the market place the competition style strategy has little advantages to it. (W. Kim, 2004) The irrelevant old school theory that out doing your competitors was not the road to take that leads to profit and success. Placing the value in innovation and creation will lend itself to a new demand and achieve a value that has a largely dominate market with high pay  offs and leave an ocean that separ ates you from the completion. The creation and break out of strategic pricing and targeting the strategy of new demands and thinking of new ideas that competitors are not offering with strategic pricing and low cost you can create a new market that is far beyond the industry and competitors you seek to outdo. Marketing from the point of view of the customer or consumer rather than what planning and research will outdo your competition shows no long term successful models, and the continual innovation and meeting the visionary demands of a new market will leave you as the sole leader of a this variation of new product. Similar Strategic Move Blue ocean strategy shows the critical importance of focusing your strategy not on competition or trying to reinvent the wheel, but innovation and creation of demand that in 20 years will be the trend the need and meet the customer needs that competition (established or not) have failed to see. Important factors of use of the company talent and resources such as cost and general broad customer generic products will satisfy the moment but mostly established players succeed and ride the roller coaster of size and market share. The best example that uses the blue ocean strategy is the Fitness industry and the success of Health Clubs. The gym and fitness industry is a mostly new industry in America and since the 1970’s/1980’s has had more than its fair share of failures as the innovations and offerings mixed with demand were not there. The importance of health and taking care of yourself as well as the eternal trend of looking good was a trend that was gaining strength and today has become a way of life (or you will have no life you will be dead). Gold’s gym which is credited for taking the fitness gym to the level of meeting a way of life in America that has now become a way of life. Insurance companies, doctors, social circles, advertisements, daily activities and stamina, and the demand of your own mother to exercise stay in shape, be healthy is a must. Your insurance companies, your employer, social circles even give discounts, benefits and incentives for those who enroll in gyms and health clubs. Today Gold’s gym has survived the revolving door of new gym clubs that come on the market and leave. Various fitness trends have made things such as cycling, weight lifting, yoga, kick boxing to launch sub-specialty industries who match the services  and demand for health and fitness in huge industry. The estimated revenue of health clubs in the US being $25 Billion dollars a year, and an estimated database of over 48 Million members in America (1/8 of the total US Population) the industry started just thirty to f orty years ago is huge. (Statista.com, 2013) Innovative ways of bring people in to use their facilities and offering of different amenities and services has been the key to what companies will stand the test of time and which will fold. Trying to out price the customers has led to the closure of many successful gyms (in their time) however, not using innovation that would separate them from the competition in terms of staying a head of the curve for demand and trends lead to their closure. Companies that have taken risk such as LA Fitness and 24 Hour Fitness may very well be huge money makers and leaders in the market but take on many elements of those that focused on coverage and competition. Their size may make it difficult for creative new products and services as they have hundreds of clubs in several countries that employ thousands of people that need to be trained and adjusted. Strategy today continues to lend to the success and meet demands and needs of the industry customers want such as multiple locations, low cost, and amenities. Red Ocean Version Pro Con An alternative red ocean move for the health club industry is Belly’s Total Fitness. A onetime industry leader and attributed for making the health club business a chain group in the US is now all but dissolved and absorbed by larger and constantly redeveloping competitors such as LA Fitness and 24 Hour Fitness. The signature and staple business model may have been both the success and failure of the business. Offering multiple locations within the same network and multi-amenity locations that put them as an up and coming trend that cast a shadow of industry leader Gold’s Gym. The growing health clubs such as LA Fitness, and 24 Hour Fitness observed the success of Belly’s and began to open up locations with similar features, but at lower cost to members and offering the latest and greatest in programs, equipment and services. The blue ocean strategy that LA Fitness and 24 Hour fitness use of reading the trends and demands of members and following the strong national focus of fitness and health has allowed them to consume the once leading and fellow competitors growing their network and member base to  levels never expected. With the industry being so new it’s hard to see if places such as LA Fitness and 24 Hour fitness will last the test of time is a question only time can answer. What I do know is that if they are executing an effective strategy of innovation versus the research and development and focusing on and competitor intelligence will show no advantage for their market share and long term profits. Conclusion The fundamentals of blue ocean strategy rest solely in the creation of value seen by the customer and lower cost while simultaneously differentiating your brand, product or service within industry and rejecting old world style tunnel-vision focus strategy of your competitors. By delivering these important features of blue ocean strategy you create a sustained powerful impact on a distinct market that benefits what would have been your competition and creates blue oceans of new opportunity that spin off into a new existing market that you have all to yourself. References Perreault, W. D. (2011). Basic Marketing: A marketing strategy planning approach (19th ed). New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Statista.com. (2013). U.S. Health Club Industry . New York: Ipsos Media, Simmons National Consumer Studies and Consumer Insights from Scarborough Research. W. Kim, R. M. (2004). Blue Ocean Strategy. Harvard Business Review, 10(86), 76-84.

Examining The Bromination And Debromination Of Cholesterol Biology Essay

Examining The Bromination And Debromination Of Cholesterol Biology Essay Bromination/debromination which is an important organic reaction that aims in purification of crude cholesterol from impurities which include 3-cholestanol, 7-cholesten-3-ol, and 5,7-chlestadien-3-ol was performed in a laboratory scale for two weeks. Due to steric constraints, only cholesterol reacted with bromine and crystallized from the solution making it possible to be separated (Feiser, and Williamson 63). The dibromocholesterol formed is regenerated by reacting with Zinc dust. In addition, three methods were used to evaluate the effectiveness. These were Sodium Iodide test, Silver Nitrate test, and Sulfuric acid test. NaI test showed a positive response as color changed to yellow. The formation of the precipitate also indicated a positive result. The sodium iodide reagent reacted with 1 ° and 2 ° alkyl halides through an SN2 mechanism.  On the other hand, the silver nitrate reagent reacted with 2o and 3 ° alkyl halides through an SN1 mechanism.   Negative results were observed for both the commercial cholesterol and 1-chlorobutane (Zubrick 38). Conversely, the t-butyl chloride gave a positive result for the AgNO3  test and a negative result for the NaI test. The synthesized cholesterol was 0.29 gram and the theoretical yield was 1.08 gram. This gave a percent yield of 26.9 gram. Although this was a low yield the TLC analysis confirmed a high purity of the synthesized cholesterol. The melting point of the synthesized cholesterol and commercial cholesterol seems to fall in the same range. This confirms the purity of the synthesized cholesterol. TLC analysis was carried out to confirm the purity of the analysis. The distance traveled by commercial cholesterol was 5.5 whereas that travelled by the synthesized cholesterol was 4.6. The absence of other spots on the TLC plate confirms that there were no contaminations present in the sample. Introduction Cholesterol is an important steroidal compound found in both animals and plants. Despite the fact that cholesterol causes diseases, it plays a vital role in life. For example, cholesterol is the main structural component in cell walls and in myelin sheath formation. It is also a major precursor for most steroid hormones. Crude cholesterol is isolated from natural sources and various methods have been used in its purification. Crude cholesterol contains approximately 3-5% contamination. Some of the contaminants are 3-cholestanol, 7-cholesten-3-ol, and 5,7-chlestadien-3-ol shown below. Figure 2: Some common contaminants of commercial cholesterol The main objective of this experiment was to purify commercial cholesterol using organic reaction chemistry, including the use of the electrophilic addition. For complete purification of cholesterol from the above impurities is achieved by a reaction of bromine with cholesterol to generate dibromocholesterol. Because of the steroid ring structure present in these compounds that causes steric constraints, only cholesterol reacts with bromine to form an insoluble diaxial dibromo compound through electrophilic addition. On the other hand, cholestanal does not react with bromine and the other two contaminants are dehydrogenated by bromine leading to formation of soluble dienes and trienes respectively. The dibromo-cholesterol precipitates as a solid leaving the other impurities in the reaction solvent. A purification step such as solvent washing or crystallization is carried out to separate the solid from the impurities. The so lid dibromo-cholesterol is then reacted with zinc in order to regenerate pure cholesterol. Figure 1: Reaction Scheme for the Bromination/Debromination of Cholesterol To test the effectiveness of this reaction three different chemical tests namely sodium iodide in acetone, silver nitrate in ethanol test, and sulfuric acid test, were performed. Each of these tests is selective for a specific functional group. Dibromocholesterol contains both primary and secondary alkyl halides and reacts with a sodium iodide in acetone and silver nitrate in ethanol to form a precipitate or a cloudy solution. In addition, the presence of double bonds in dibromocholesterol in form of alkene makes it possible for the formation of a fluorescent green sulfuric acid layer and a red chloroform layer when reacted with sulfuric acid (Landgrebe 78). Material and Methods 1g of commercial cholesterol was added to a 25 mL Erlenmeyer flask. 7 mL t-butylmethyl ether was measured with a graduated cylinder and added to the flask containing the cholesterol and a magnetic stir bar. A water bath was then set up on the hotplate in the hood. The Erlenmeyer flask contain the reaction solution was inserted into the water bath and clamped as shown below. The heat and the stirrer were turned on and gently heat until all the cholesterol dissolved in t-butylmethyl ether. Figure 3:   Set-up for bromination reaction (Note: the actual reaction mixture is not blue) The flask was removed from the water bath after all the cholesterol was completely dissolved and allowed to cool to room temperature. After the cholesterol solution was cooled, the flask was clamped to the ring on the hot plate as shown in figure 4 and stirred without heating. A burette was then used to dispense 5 mL of bromine solution into the flask. A precipitate solution formed almost immediately. Figure 4:   Set-up for the Addition of Bromine The water bath was replaced with ice and tap water and the reaction solution stirred intermittently with a glass stir rod for ~ 10 minutes to complete the crystallization of the product. About 20 mL of the t-butylmethyl ether acetic acid solution was then dispensed in a clean 50 mL Erlenmeyer flask which was clamped to a ring stand and allowed to cool in the ice bath. A vacuum filtration was done using a Buchner funnel and filter paper. The solid in the filter was washed using ~10 mL of the cooled solution of t-butylmethyl ether acetic acid and then with ~10 ml of methanol. The solid was then allowed to dry with the vacuum on for about 5 minutes. the dibromocholesterol melting point was measured and recorded. The dry solid was weighted and sealed in a vial and stored for next experiment. To debrominate cholesterol, 20 mL of t-butylmethyl ether, 5 mL of acetic acid and 0.2 g of Zn dust were added into the Erlenmeyer flask containing the dibromocholesterol solid. The mixture was swir led for 5-10 minutes in the hood and sonicated in 5 minutes to allow the reaction to go completion. After sonication the solids present were removed by gravity filtration method into a clean 125 mL Erlenmeyer flask. The filtrate was transferred to a 125 mL separatoryHYPERLINK http://community.acphs.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/Arts%20and%20Sci/Courses/CHE211/Common/lab/Organic-sde/BP-Dist/BP_General.html funnel in which 20 mL of deionized water was added, shaken and allowed to separate into layers. The two layers formed were then separated as water layers and organic (ether) layers. The ether layer was washed with 20 mL of 10% NaOH and then 20 mL of saturated NaCl solution. 100mg of the drying agent magnesium sulfate was added to the organic layer and the solution swirled until dry. The drying agent was removed by gravity filtration using a glass funnel fluted filter paper and a very dry 50 mL Erlenmeyer flask. The flask was placed in a warm water bath and then ice cooled for 10 minut es until all but 5 mL of the ether remained following a precipitate formation from the solution. The remaining solvent was decanted and the synthesized cholesterol transferred and allowed to dry in the hood for 20 minutes.The dry solid was weighed and the weight recorded. In addition the melting point was also taken and recorded. To evaluate the effectiveness of the bromination reaction three chemical reactions mentioned above were carried out. NaI in acetone test Five test tubes labeled A, B, C, D and E were used for this test.   About 30 mg of the commercial cholesterol starting material was added to tube A; ~30 mg of dibromocholesterol to tube B; ~30 mg of the synthesized cholesterol product to tube C; ~0.3 mL of 1-chlorobutane to tube D; and ~ 0.3 mL of t-butyl chloride to tube E.   In addition, about 3 mL of acetone was added to each tube to completely dissolve all the compounds.   Solutions A-E was used to do the NaI in acetone test as well as the AgNO3 in ethanol test. Tubes A-C did the TLC as well. The NaI in Acetone and AgNO3 in Ethanol tests were performed by setting up a test tube rack containing ten small test tubes. The test tubes were labeled N1 N5 and A1 A5. 1 mL of NaI in acetone reagent was added to test tubes N1 N5, and 1 mL of AgNO3 in ethanol reagent to test tubes A1 A5. This was followed by adding 5-8 drops of A solution to test tube N1 and tube A1, 5-8 drops of solution B to test tube N2 and tube A2, 5-8 drops of solution C to to test tube N3 and tube A3, 5-8 drops of solution C to test tube N4 and tube A4, and 5-8 drops of solution C to test tube N5 and tube A5. The test tubes were heated for a while and all the observations recorded. The sulfuric acid for alkenes test was performed by additional solutions of cholesterol and dibromocholesterol with five dry-cleaned test tubes 1-5. 10 mg of commercial cholesterol was placed in tube 1, ~10mg of the dibromocholesterol to tube 2 ~10 mg of your synthesized cholesterol to tube 3, ~10 mg of 2-chlorobutane to tube 4, and 10 mg of cyclohexene to tube 5.  About 1 mL of chloroform (CHCl3) was added to each tube and vortex to completely dissolve all solids.   In addition, 0.5 mL of H2SO4 was then added to each tube. The observation for this reaction was recorded in the notebook. The TLC analysis of cholesterol and dibromocholesterol was performed by obtaining a silica gel TLC plate and setting it up to run TLC analysis on solutions A-C above. The plate was spotted with each solution and developed by placing the plate using 30% ethyl acetate: 70% hexane as the mobile phase. The developed plates were viewed under UV lamp and in the I2 chamber and observations recorded. Results Table 1 Percent Yield of synthesized cholesterol Actual Yield 0.29g Theoretical Yield 1.08g Percent Yield 26.9% Mass of Synthesized Dibromocholesterol was 1.57g Table 2 Melting Point Test Compound Temperature  °C Commercial Cholesterol 144.6-150.3 Dibromochesterol 105-109 Synthesized Cholesterol 147 Table 3 Sodium Iodide test Compound Time Vortex Temp First Sign of Reaction Com. Cholesterol None Dibromocholesterol + Yellow Synthesized Cholesterol + Chunky Yellow 1-Chlorobutane + Yellow Tert-Butyl Chloride + Cloudy Table 4 Silver Nitrate test Compound Time Vortex Temp First Sign of Reaction Com. Cholesterol None Dibromocholesterol + Cloudy Synthesized Cholesterol + Cloudy Yellow 1-Chlorobutane None Tert-Butyl Chloride + Cloudy Table 5: Sulfuric Acid Test Compound Time Vortex Temp First Sign of Reaction Com. Cholesterol + Color Dibromocholesterol + Color Synthesized Cholesterol + Color 1-Bromobutane None Tert-Butyl Chloride + Color Table 6: Thin Layer Chromatography: In 30% Ethyl Acetate/70% Hexane Commercial Cholesterol 5.5 1.0 5.5 Dibromocholesterol 4 0.73 5.5 Synthesized Cholesterol 4.6 0.84 5.5 Discussion The yield of the synthesized cholesterol was .29 grams (Table 1). The theoretical yield was 1.08 grams. The actual yield was calculated by taking the difference of the weight of the round bottom flask and the synthesized cholesterol by the synthesized cholesterols weight alone. The percent yield was calculated to be 26.9 percent. The synthesize process was not efficient due to the low yield and percent yield of the synthesized cholesterol. The melting point of the synthesized cholesterol and commercial cholesterol seems to fall in the same range. This confirms the purity of the synthesized cholesterol. NaI test showed a positive response as color changed to yellow. The formation of the precipitate also indicated a positive result. The sodium iodide reagent reacted with 1 ° and 2 ° alkyl halides through an SN2 mechanism.  On the other hand, the silver nitrate reagent reacted with 2o and 3 ° alkyl halides through an SN1 mechanism.   Negative results were observed for both the commercial cholesterol and 1-chlorobutane. Conversely, the t-butyl chloride gave a positive result for the AgNO3  test and a negative result for the NaI test. The stationary phase of the TLC test was the silica gel TLC plate and the mobile phase was 30% Ethyl Acetate/70% Hexane (Table 6). The distance traveled by commercial cholesterol was 5.5, and for the synthesized cholesterol was 4.6. The difference in the distance traveled and the R f values of the samples commercial and synthesized cholesterol were pure. Since there were no other spots visible on the TLC plate was a clear indication that there were no contaminations of other chemical compounds present in the sample.

The History of the Coffeehouse :: essays research papers

The first coffeehouse the world had ever seen was founded in Constantinople, just becoming Istanbul in 1475. It was such a huge success that right after it opened, two more appeared. So began a fascination with coffee that would last 300 more years. The reason the first coffeehouse did not open in, say, England, was location. Since Turkey was only a quick sail away from the original brewer of coffee, Arabia, traders could get the coffee to the city with minimal effort. The Europeans were completely out of the coffee trading loop until coffee began to make it’s way into the hands of Venetian traders, leading the Italians to be the first Europeans to found coffeehouses. Slowly, coffeehouses came to open in England as well, the first opening in 1652. However, there was still the problem of transporting all that coffee from Turkey or the Middle East, a costly business. This problem was solved when the Turks, defeated in battle, left sacks upon sacks of the flavorful beans behind i n parts of Europe. This created an abundance of coffee houses in Vienna, where there was large amounts of this left-behind coffee. Eventually, the storehouses began to run low on coffee, now very much in demand with the Europeans. You may be wondering, why didn’t they just grow some coffee? First of all, the merchants who sold the beans knew this, and sold the beans in non growing conditions (such as already ground up.) Secondly, people did try to grow coffee- but on European soil, the beans that were usable floundered and died. If they managed to get usable coffee beans at all, (it was illegal to get them) you wouldn’t have nearly enough to support even the smallest coffeehouse for a week. The Dutch trading companies knew all this, but they came up with a new, radical notion- why not get some beans, but grow them not in Europe but in the East Indies! So the Dutch smuggled a small amount of un ground or processed coffee beans out of the Arabian port of Mocha, then shipped them to Ceylon and the East Indies for cultivation. 30 years later, a French naval officer named Gabriel De Clieu sailed for the Caribbean island of Martinique. When he arrived, he happened to be carrying some un cultivated coff ee beans. (We’ll never know how those got there.) He casually sold it to the locals, unwittingly starting one of the world’s largest coffee producers.

Case of Speluncean Explorers Essay

After reading the opinions of various judges in the case of The Speluncean Explorers, I found the arguments of Justice Foster well justified. Hence, I agree with him the most. He believes that the four explorers are innocent of any crime and rests his conclusion on two grounds. Firstly, Justice Foster takes the view that positive law cannot be applied to the case. Instead, he states that law of nature should govern the case. Men’s co existence in a society is essential for the application of positive law. I agree with him because in this situation where the co existence of the men is not possible without the taking of life, positive law is not applicable. He believes â€Å"maxim cessante ratione legis, cessat et ipsa lex† which means when the reason for law ceases, the law itself ceases, should be applied to thiscase.I agree with him that the men were not guilty of crime because Roger Whetmore’s life was ended in a â€Å"state of nature† and not in a â€Å"state of civil society†. This is a case where natural law supersedes positive law. He also raised a point regarding the jurisdiction that the state had over these explorers at the time of the murder given that they were miles below the territorial jurisdiction.Also, what the men did was according to the agreement accepted by all of them.I agree with Justice Foster’s question that when the state can sacrifice the lives of ten workers trying to rescue the five explorers in the cave , then why isn’t it justified that one life be sacrificed to save the lives of four. Secondly, he emphasizes and talks about the relevance of the golden rule. The case had been decided without violating the statute â€Å"he who shall willfully take the life of another is a murderer†. However, literal rule cannot always be applied. Justice Foster illustrates cases such as Commonwealth v.Staymore and Fehler v. Neegas to support his argument that applying golden rule often gives a more just result. He raises a point that the above-mentioned statute has never been applied literally by giving an example of the exception of self-defense. I agree with him that statutes must be read between the lines to close the loopholes and give a fair judgment. Also, there was no malicious intention in committing the murder and it was solely for the purpose of survival. An important point to be noticed is the lack of intention to murder and the role of survival. According to Aristotle and Plato’s discourse on law, I also think that the end can justify the means and so to save many people, one man was killed. Therefore, I agree with Justice Foster that the four men are innocent of the crime of murdering Roger Whetmore.

Why Marjane Satrapi Graphic Form

Why Marjane Satrapi chose to tell her story Persepolis in the graphic form The graphic novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi was written in the graphic medium to appeal to a wider audience. Literary critic, Manuela Constantino, proposes that â€Å"the combination of a visual representation and a child’s point of view makes the story easily accessible and therefore attracts a wide range of readers. † (Constantino, 2008: 2) Another plausible reason for Satrapi's choice to do the novel in this medium is the apparent popularity graphic novels enjoyed at the point of the memoir’s publication.Writing the novel graphically, brings the Middle Eastern novel closer to its Western readers. As Constantino wrote; Satrapi emphasizes â€Å"the universal qualities of her child narrator and the details of her experiences that would be familiar to her Western readers. † (Constantino, 2008: 2) Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi in the graphic form deems effective because it is writ ten in a form that is recognizable to her target readers, written in somewhat a ‘universal’ language. Satrapi chose to tell her story in the graphic form to better connect with her readers. It is apparent that Satrapi’s targeted audience are mainly Western Christians.Over forty percent of the world’s population who practice a religion are Christians. The religious stature of the main characters made the novel accessible to its non Muslim readers. Being able to observe Christians in a predominantly Islamic country, opens a window to a life Satrapi's readers could only dare to imagine. A world where u are told what to believe and what to think. It is therefore logical to target the sensitive majority of the population to educate about the Iranian political struggle and to get her story across. The novel in itself is about driving away the West from the conservative Iranian nation.Driving away the things her targeted readers consider their norm. Westerners an d others around the world try to â€Å"seek insight into a country and a nation that have been deemed â€Å"evil† and an imminent threat to Western society. † (Malek, 2006: 10) To aid the West in its quest to â€Å"seek insight† into the nation of Iran, Satrapi wrote the novel in a medium that is very closely related to and very familiar in the Western culture. As demonstrated in: â€Å"†¦ They found records and videocassettes at their place, a deck of cards, a chess set. In other words, everything that’s banned. The scene leads the reader to feel unwanted and driven off alongside Marji, an Iranian who embraces the reader’s culture as demonstrated in page one hundred and twenty six , from her Iranian world. The reader and Marji form a special bond – they become a unit. This common ground builds a stronger connection between Marji and the reader leading the audience to feel a stronger form of empathy towards the child, as they are now p art of the cultural issue.Satrapi also chose to relate socio-political issues, conflict and loss to Arabic writing; as demonstrated in page eighty seven, in the panel where in two women are arguing. Satrapi, 2003) Their banter is written in a language unfamiliar to her targeted readers leading the reader to classify fighting and arguments as foreign and that the very presence of these women and their conflict is alienating. Another instance is when Pardisse reads her letter to her dead father, a letter written in the same foreign writing – grief is then related to this alien language. (Satrapi, 2003: 86) And on page one hundred and thirty two, in the panel where The Guardians of the Revolution (women’s branch) were introduced, one will observe the same unreadable writing resembling Arabic on their vehicle. Satrapi, 2003) Her use of all these subtle details in the graphic aspect of the novel adds to the effectiveness of the medium in that it forces the reader to lose al l sense of familiarity with the antagonistic characters. The visual aspect of this novel aided in Satrapi’s depiction of Marji as someone who embraces the western culture, the reader's culture, with the familiar images of Nike sneakers, jeans, jean jackets, and chocolates, as well as Kim Wilde and Iron Maiden songs. (Satrapi, 2003: 126) This brings another dimension to the relationship between Marji and her readers.Writing the novel in graphic form brings the Middle Eastern graphic novel closer to its Western neighbours because it is in a medium that is recognizable in the West. In addition, Satrapi’s depiction of Muslim leaders as â€Å"uneducated, primitive, and narrow-minded brutes† strengthens her connection with her Western readers whose perception of Muslim extremists might indeed be quite similar to the one crafted in the autobiography. (Constantino, 2008: 4) The novel Persepolis is effective because it was written to please a specific type of community.I t uses language and cultural barriers in the illustrations and text to further separate the reader from the antagonists. â€Å"Satrapi’s Persepolis appeared, significantly, at a time when memoirs have been experiencing a great surge of popularity. † (Malek, 2006: 8) The time of the publication of the memoir deemed critical to its success. It was published around the time where graphic novels were coined â€Å"the most important narrative mode of our contemporary culture. † (Miller, 2000: 421) It shared the lime light with other graphic novels, the likes of Craig Thompson’s â€Å"Blankets† and Joe Sacco’s â€Å"The Fixer†. Time, 2003) Satrapi chose the perfect time to debut her graphic memoir as she was able to ride ‘the literary high’ comics were experiencing at that point in time. A probable reason why Satrapi chose to tell her story in the graphic medium is the effectiveness and popularity of graphic novels at the point of the novel’s publication. Writing the novel in graphic form and through the eyes of a child allows the issue to be digested with fewer objections by the reader. The novel written through the eyes of a child makes it easier for the reader to comprehend the situation.It gives the story a comedic approach to a devastating period in Iranian history. â€Å"Readers of all ages can identify with the child, feel for her, and learn with her about the complexities of national and international politics. †(Constantino, 2003: 4) The connection shared between Marji and the reader strengthens their bond and heightens the effectiveness of the story. It is a medium closely related to fun. Writing the novel in graphic form ‘dumbs down’ the brutality of the whole situation. A frame on page fifty two illustrates Ahmadi’s gruesome fate in prison: chopped into several pieces. Satrapi, 2003) Another panel depicting the same kind of ‘turned down' brutality is a s cene on page seventy six where a woman is being stabbed on the leg. These otherwise gruesome scenes can be better understood because the reader can look at it, take it as it is, and envy the child’s innocence and simplistic thought process. Constantino adds: â€Å"The text is easily accessible and seemingly transparent. It makes many people feel that they are educating themselves while they are being entertained.† Although the text might seem, in a way due to its graphic medium, juvenile, its purpose is to educate and tell an ‘untold story. Some might argue that depicting critical situations such as the Islamic Revolution in a form of graphic medium takes away the severity of the circumstances however; it can definitely be counter argued by the undeniable phrase ‘it’s so simple it works. ’ The visual element allows her to include the offstage action as part of the main narrative flow. Instead of having to impart information as separate inciden ts, where its impact is reduced by removing it from the context of the story, we see things as they happen, increasing the emotional mpact of the moment. The directness of her work allows her to do two things excellently: to distinguish between individuals easily with just small strokes of the pen and make her depiction of horrors, death, torture, and anguish, emotionally realistic without being graphic or gruesome. Persepolis was written in the graphic form to create a stronger connection with the material and its readers. Persepolis is a powerful story about a person’s struggle for self identity.The different occurrences in Marji’s life that define her for who she is was written in the graphic medium to make it easier for her audience to connect with her as people in search of who they are. Writing the novel in graphic form offers a sense of familiarity with Satrapi’s targeted Western audience. It brings the unfamiliar Iranian world, issues and their tradition s closer to the West’s classification of ‘normal’. It uses religion (specifically Christianity) in illustration and text to even deepen the connection between Marji and her audience. It forms a common ground, a sense of belonging to the same movement.It is also plausible that one of the reasons why the novel was written in the graphic form was to ride the growing popularity of comics at that particular point in time. Publishing the graphic novel to a community who openly accept comics as a form of sophisticated literature presented an opportunity for the novel to succeed. And lastly, it was written in graphic text to make it easier for the reader to comprehend the situation as these instances don’t usually happen to her targeted Western audience. It makes watching people die a little bit more bearable as it is depicted in a way that a child might perceive death.Satrapi choosing to tell her story in the form of a graphic novel not only shows us how far that medium has come as a means of expression, but allows us a glimpse into a world that few of us know anything about.Word Count: 1707 Citation Arnold, Andrew. â€Å"The Best and Worst: 2003. † Time. November 13 2010. Website. ;lt; http://www. time. com/time/bestandworst/2003/comics. html;gt; Malek, Amy. â€Å"Memoir as Iranian Exile Cultural Production: A Case Study of Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis Series. † Iranian Studies: Journal of the International Society for Iranian Studies 39. 3 (2006): 353-380. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 15 Nov. 2010. Print. Manuela Costantino. â€Å"Marji: Popular Commix Heroine Breathing Life into the Writing of History. † Canadian Review of American Studies 38. 3 (2008): 429-447. Project MUSE. Cameron Library, Edmonton, AB. 17 Aug. 2010. Website. ;lt;http://muse. jhu. edu/;gt; Nancy Miller, â€Å"But Enough About Me, What Do You Think of My Memoir? † Yale Journal of Criticism 13, no. 2 (2000): 421. Print. Satrapi , Marjane. Persepolis. New York: Pantheon Books. 2003. Print â€Å"World Religions. † The World Almanac and Book of Facts  ©2010. 2010. Print.