The Story of the Door Essay Example For Students

The Story of the Door Essay R L Stevenson presents Mr Utterson and a stereotypical lawyer in the Victorian times. He is long and dull looking, with cold mannerisms, that was never lighted by a smile. However, he lets the audience know quickly that Mr Utterson is not what he seems. He is actually a caring person, who has many friends yes somehow loveable.  His profession is a lawyer, and therefore the audience can assume that he will be a person with a very high moral conscious, one that abides by social and government laws. He is probably reliant on his reputation, alike to most of the Victorian, who thought reputation was extremely important. We will write a custom essay on The Story of the Door specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now His appearance is introduced as an unremarkable figure. Long, dusty and probably a little old looking. |It doesnt state whether he is good-looking or ugly, therefore we must assume he has a plain exterior. This is included to make the audience think that he isnt arrogant, or shallow.  His personality is somewhat contradictive. It says that he has many friends that enjoy his company friendly circle ready made from the hands of opportunity. But also that his friends are only his friends because they share his ideals, and his way of life, people very alike to him. It does say that because he is a lawyer that he is the last reputable acquaintance to a man before his downfall. He is quiet in social situations, especially with his close friend Mr Enfield, where they hardly speak to one another. His private behaviour is confusing. He very much enjoys going to the theatre, but hasnt gone in over twenty years, indicating that he is a man that doesnt think the theatre is reputable habit, and places that above his happiness. But he also puts off business engagements for his walk with Mr Enfield, implying that one friendship is more important to him than his career.  His attitudes to others that share his profession are of a good nature. He doesnt get involved with people that go down the wrong path but is kind to his friends. But he isnt overtly emotional with them, nor does he come off as an open person. R L Stevenson intends the audience to trust Mr Utterson, because he is good natured, and doesnt do anything bad even as going to the theatre, but also he subtly make the reader think about whether they should trust him, because he puts reputation above happiness. They are not sure whether to like him, because they havent seen him be particularly nice or unkind to others around him, and there is little speech to judge him by with Mr Enfield. He does seem a curious person, who thinks about things a long time before talking about them. There are many contradictions about his character, it says that he is a cold person, but lovable at the same time. This is probably to let the audience know early, that in this book people can be more than just one type of person, which is the main theme to the book.  He has chosen to present him so early in the book, because throughout he is the backbone of the other characters, although he is not the main character, he is who we read most about, so we need to know his character before we ca go any further into the book. |Otherwise we would have to guess why he does things. Mr Enfield in different to his walking companion Mr Utterson, and we find this out with the sentence, a well known man about town which points to him being a frequently party going, and enjoying night life, which greatly contradicts his friend, who keeps himself to himself, and enjoys drinking on his own with his own thoughts and his house. He is also very open, telling his friend about something that happened to him, for no reason other than to make conversation, something the Utterson probably would have spent long time thinking about. He is more emotional; explaining how seeing the girl trampled on affected him, until he got angry. .u6c17e0a631dff90867b81c9dc0208f42 , .u6c17e0a631dff90867b81c9dc0208f42 .postImageUrl , .u6c17e0a631dff90867b81c9dc0208f42 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u6c17e0a631dff90867b81c9dc0208f42 , .u6c17e0a631dff90867b81c9dc0208f42:hover , .u6c17e0a631dff90867b81c9dc0208f42:visited , .u6c17e0a631dff90867b81c9dc0208f42:active { border:0!important; } .u6c17e0a631dff90867b81c9dc0208f42 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u6c17e0a631dff90867b81c9dc0208f42 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u6c17e0a631dff90867b81c9dc0208f42:active , .u6c17e0a631dff90867b81c9dc0208f42:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u6c17e0a631dff90867b81c9dc0208f42 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u6c17e0a631dff90867b81c9dc0208f42 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u6c17e0a631dff90867b81c9dc0208f42 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u6c17e0a631dff90867b81c9dc0208f42 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u6c17e0a631dff90867b81c9dc0208f42:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u6c17e0a631dff90867b81c9dc0208f42 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u6c17e0a631dff90867b81c9dc0208f42 .u6c17e0a631dff90867b81c9dc0208f42-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u6c17e0a631dff90867b81c9dc0208f42:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: The Handmaids Tale EssayR L Stevenson uses a lot of quick descriptive words to get across the image that the street is very busy and quick. He makes sure the read knows this is a road where well of people live, because there is well polished windows and it stands out amongst the other roads. His use of the metaphor, like a fire in a wood, means that the feeling is contagious like fire, and when you go there, you feel upbeat yourself. It then greatly differs to the description of the door, which makes you think of a rotting animal with words such as thrust forward blistered and stained. He makes sure it is very out of place, surrounded by undesirables on such thriving stree t full of happy people. It makes sure the reader associates with this door are annoying and ugly. The door, which is mentioned in great details, is a metaphor for the barrier that stands between the house and the rest of the street. It is something you can go through but it also means that there is something that isnt letting you in. When speaking about the flashback, the language is more informal, and the structure is not paragraphed.  Character of Enfield.  He doesnt tell his good friend where he has been, and this points that he may have been somewhere he shouldnt have been. He wouldnt have even told his friend if he had been doing something considered wrong, because when the book was written, reputation was everything. He also says that he didnt ask more questions about the man, because if it looks strange, the less he asks, because he doesnt want to have the burden of other peoples problems. Mr Enfield, builds up tension with his use of repetition, street after street after street and his language in describing the man is strong and vivid, by comparing him to a juggernaut, it creates a image clearly in the readers mind,. The crowd and he react to the man, in a way usually unknown; he says that he had an unbelievable desire to kill the man, for no reason. That he was so repulsive that he couldnt think of what it was that was so wrong about him. He doesnt mention that the person that made the cheque out was Harry Jekyll, because he doesnt want to think of his friend as being associated with such a bad man. He thinks that it was probably something to do with Harry doing something when he was young, and someone is blackmailing him. Utter son wants to know how the man got into the house that Enfield described as so ugly and mysterious, because they werent allowed to step into the house.

All About Levees in the U.S.

All About Levees in the U.S. A levee is a type of dam or wall, usually a man-made embankment, that acts as a barrier between water and property. It is often a raised berm that runs along a river or canal. Levees reinforce a rivers banks and help prevent flooding. By constricting and confining the flow, however, levees can also increase the speed of the water. Levees can fail in at least two ways: (1) the structure is not high enough to stop rising waters, and (2) the structure is not strong enough to hold back rising waters. When a levee breaks at a weakened area, the levee is considered breached, and water flows through the breach or hole. A levee system often includes pumping stations as well as embankment. A levee system can fail if one or more of the pumping stations fail. Definition of Levee A man-made structure, usually an earthen embankment or concrete floodwall, designed and constructed in accordance with sound engineering practices to contain, control, or divert the flow of water so as to provide reasonable assurance of excluding temporary flooding from the leveed area. - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Types of Levees Levees can be natural or man-made. A natural levee is formed when sediment settles on the river bank, raising the level of the land around the river. To construct a man-made levee, workers pile dirt or concrete along the river banks (or parallel to any body of water that may rise), to create an embankment. This embankment is flat at the top, and slopes at an angle down to the water. For added strength, sandbags are sometimes placed over dirt embankments. Origin of the Word The word levee (pronounced LEV-ee) is an Americanism - that is, a word used in the United States, but not anywhere else in the world. It should come as no surprise that levee originated in the great port city of New Orleans, Louisiana, at the mouth of the flood-prone Mississippi River. Coming from the French word  levà ©e and the French verb lever meaning to raise, handmade embankments to protect farms from seasonal floods became known as levees. A dike serves the same purpose as a levee, but that word comes from the Dutch dijk or German deich. Levees Around the World A levee is also known as a floodbank, stopbank, embarkment, and storm barrier. Although the structure goes by different names, levees protect the land in many parts of the world. In Europe, levees prevent flooding along the Po, Vistula, and Danube rivers. In the United States, you will find important levee systems along the Mississippi, Snake, and Sacramento Rivers. In California, an aging levee system is used in Sacramento and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Poor maintenance of the Sacramento levees have made the area prone to flooding. Global warming has brought stronger storms and greater risks of flooding. Engineers are seeking alternatives to levees for flood control. The answer may lie in modern flood control technologies used in England, Europe, and Japan. Levees, New Orleans, and Hurricane Katrina New Orleans, Louisiana, is largely below sea level. The systematic construction of its levees began in the 19th century and continued into the 20th century as the federal government became more involved with engineering and funding. In August 2005, several levees along waterways of Lake Ponchartrain failed, and water covered 80% of New Orleans. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers designed the levees to withstand the forces of a fast-blowing Category 3 storm; they werent strong enough to survive the Category 4 Hurricane Katrina. If a chain is as strong as its weakest link, a levee is as functional as its structural weakness. A full year before Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast, Walter Maestri, the emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, was quoted in the New Orleans Times-Picayune: It appears that the money has been moved in the president’s budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that’s the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can’t be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us. - June 8, 2004 (one year before Hurricane Katrina) Levees as Infrastructure Infrastructure is a framework of communal systems. In the 18th and 19th centuries, farmers created their own levees to protect their fertile farmland from inevitable floods. As more and more people became dependent on other people for growing their food, it made sense that flood mitigation was everyones responsibility and not simply the local farmer. Through legislation, the federal government helps states and localities with engineering and subsidizing the cost of levee systems. Flood insurance has also become a way for people living in high risk areas can help with the cost of levee systems. Some communities have combined flood mitigation with other public works projects, such as highways along riverbanks and hiking paths in recreation areas. Other levees are nothing more than functional. Architecturally, levees can be aesthetically pleasing feats of engineering. The Future of Levees Todays levees are being engineered for resilience and built for double duty - protection when needed and recreation in the off-season. Creating a levee system has become a partnership among communities, counties, states, and federal government entities. Risk assessment, construction costs, and insurance liabilities combine in a complex soup of action and inaction for these public works projects. The building of levees to mitigate flooding will continue to be an issue as communities plan and build for extreme weather events, a predictable unpredictability from climate change. Sources USACE Program Levees, US Army Corps of Engineers at www.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/LeveeSafetyProgram/USACEProgramLevees.aspxUnited States of Shame, by Maureen Dowd, The New York Times, September 3, 2005 [accessed August 12, 2016]History of Levees, FEMA, PDF at https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/1463585486484-d22943de4883b61a6ede15aa57a78a7f/History_of_Levees_0512_508.pdfInline photos: Mario Tama/Getty Images; Julie Dermansky/Corbis via Getty Images (cropped)