Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Book report on Xenocide essays

Book report on Xenocide essays The book I read is called Xenocide by Orson Scott Card. This book is the third in a quartet that chronicles the life of a man called Ender and his sister Valentine. In this book, both Ender and Valentine are over 3000 years old thanks to faster-than-light-travel and Einsteins theory of relativity. Ender is known through out the universe as Ender the Xenocide for destroying the Bugger race 3000 years earlier. His sister Valentine is equally famous for her writings under the name Demonsthes. Both are assumed dead for more than obvious reasons. Though soon enough a world in trouble will find out the truth and learn that they are more than lucky these two extraordinary people are still alive to help them through possible annihilation. The book begins with Ender all ready on Lusitania and married to the most prominent scientist there. Valentine is on a distant planet also married and with kids when she finds out that Ender needs her to help and she must come to Lusitania right away. Now this would have to be a most serious problem to uproot a family from there home and travel to a distant world, wasting years through the theory of relativity and close to light speed travel. And it is a very serious problem. Lusitania is a new colony planet that contains the only other sentient life forms every found by humans. The other being the Buggers, though they were destroyed 3000 years before. Therefore strict rules were placed upon the colonist not to associate with these life forms. They broke these laws. This was not the largest threat though. The problem was that the sentient life forms contain a virus in their genetic code that is deadly to all humans who come in contact with it. Even worse, there is no cure. Therefore, Starways Congress has decided to destroy the entire planet with the Dr. D device. This device is a molecular disrupter. Therefore, Valentine leaves right a...

Sunday, March 1, 2020

Alt as an Alternative to Alternative

Alt as an Alternative to Alternative Alt as an Alternative to Alternative Alt as an Alternative to Alternative By Mark Nichol The prefix alt-, an abbreviation of alternate, has appeared in the media lately, attached to the word right to denote a political movement supporting nationalism and opposing multiculturalism and liberal immigration policies. Although this prominence is a very recent phenomenon, the term alt-right- or, at least, its full form, â€Å"alternative right†- is not brand new: Coined in 2008, it was adopted two years later as the name of a website devoted to content espousing alt-right principles. However, it’s unclear when the abbreviated version of the term was coined; it might date back mere days or weeks at most. A dictionary entry offers this definition of alt: â€Å"Denoting a version of something, especially music, that is intended as a challenge to the traditional version.† (Alternative, in this sense meaning â€Å"not traditional or usual,† is an extension of alternate, which is ultimately derived from Latin alter, meaning â€Å"other.†) The coinage follows a format employed for a handful of terms, of which alt-rock is the most prominent: In 1979, various sources began to refer to underground music inspired by the punk rock movement with the adjective alternative; as such music, ironically, became mainstream, it was labeled, among other things, â€Å"alternative rock,† and thence alt-rock. As this movement was increasingly commercially exploited, the term’s popularity declined. However, the prefix has been affixed more recently to comedy that, like anything alt, is considered edgy or iconoclastic. Similarly, alt-fiction is the term given to novels and short stories that subvert and defy conventions of traditional fiction. There’s even alt-dating, the use of online dating websites that appeal to people outside mainstream society. Such terms are perhaps inspired in part by the use of the prefix alt in Usenet, a computer-based discussion system established in 1980, to denote groups outside the system’s conventional discussion categories. The abbreviation is also familiar to users of PC keyboards, which includes an Alt key used in combination with other keys to carry out a function distinct from that enabled by pressing the other key alone, but this term originates with alternate, not alternative. It’s quite likely that in our jargon-happy culture, the prefix may begin to appear more often, modifying additional nouns as a shortcut for signifying unconventional behavior or thought. In tandem, however, as often occurs when jargon proliferates, expect such terms to be used derisively or ironically as well as sincerely. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Spelling category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Useful Stock Phrases for Your Business Emails10 Techniques for More Precise Writing15 Names and Descriptions of Effects