The Resultant Event Essay

The Resultant Event Essay The Resultant Event Essay ENG-05W Final Essay The Resultant Events The officers watched the detectives closely. The politics of a police department were conflicted and convoluted. The officers were of two minds about the detectives. In the first instance, they knew that they needed to act in a subordinate manner. The detectives were important figures in the department. However, they also knew that the detectives were facing reprimand and dishonor if their investigation did not turn up anything of significant importance. This led to a sense of divided loyalties. The two detectives had begun to sense, quite correctly, that the officers were only honoring them with their mouths, but that their hearts were not in the right place. This sense of conflicted loyalty on the part of the officers came from the events preceding the investigation. It was important to understand the history and background of the town of New Bedford. New Bedford had been a quiet town founded in the time of the first colonial settlers. The New England town would experience explosive growth in the middle of the 1800's – shortly after the United States Civil War – as a rare gold field was found in the nearby foothills. New buildings sprang up overnight in the town during the gold rush. One of those new buildings was built by Josiah Cranberry. He was a young gold miner determined to cash in on this opportunity for riches. The background of coming from nothing left a person hungry for success. This was close to Josiah's mind as he built a simple house and went out every day to seek the life he wanted to build. He had been attracted at a young age to a beautiful young lady from a well to do family. He knew they would never accept her marriage to a man from such lowly origins as he. It must be remembered that the environment and social customs were much different in that time. The class distinctions in the world were far more noticeable and apparent. Thus, the opportunity to mine for gold was a huge potential ben efit for him. He imagined going back to gain the hand of the one he loved. Yet in the smooty town, such dreams were hard to realize. Josiah was counseled not to be overly hopeful. Josiah went farther out than most of his fellow gold seekers. He reasoned that it would be easier to strike it rich where the ground had not been previously inspected to such a great degree. This determination proved wise in his case. He was outfitted with the main tools of the trade. He had a mining pan and a shovel. One day, being discouraged, he wandered home along a different path. Coming upon a small stream, Josiah was shocked to discover gold in the water. Panning, he felt he had struck a source of wealth. Perhaps his dreams were closer than he had realized. He quickly noted the location of this site on his map. Then he headed back to town and spoke with a trusty innkeeper. Old John Barnes had been an innkeeper for many decades. He was a shrewd and squinty old man. Yet he had a reputat ion for being trustworthy. This was hardly earned, as it would come to be revealed. In any event, Josiah went on to tell him all about the situation, and ask that he assist Josiah in procuring the necessary claims and paperwork. When he went to bed that night, Josiah was happier than he had ever been. However, some days later, he would find that the innkeeper had taken the site for himself. Josiah had not even been mentioned as the founder of the site. Great wealth accrued to the innkeeper, while the young man pined his life away for his lost opportunity and his lost love. This was the start of the Cranberry – Barnes feud. For over one-hundred years after this, the feud was fought long and hard. By a quirk of fate, both men had large families in time, and they both stayed near New Bedford. Barnes was a rich family, but their unethical manner of gaining riches always left them in a state of moral decay. Generations later, the

Ancient Mayan Architecture - Temples and Palaces

Ancient Mayan Architecture - Temples and Palaces The Maya were an advanced society that flourished in Mesoamerica long before the arrival of the Spanish in the sixteenth century. They were skilled architects, building great cities of stone that remain even a thousand years after their civilization fell into decline. The Maya built pyramids, temples, palaces, walls, residences and more. They often decorated their buildings with intricate stone carvings, stucco statues, and paint. Today, Maya architecture is important, as it is one of the few aspects of Maya life that is still available for study. Maya City-States Unlike the Aztecs in Mexico or the Inca in Peru, the Maya were never a unified empire ruled by a single ruler from a single place. Rather, they were a series of smaller city-states who ruled the immediate vicinity but had little to do with other cities if they were far enough away. These city-states traded with and warred upon one another frequently, so cultural exchange, including architecture, was common. Some of the more important Maya city-states were Tikal, Dos Pilas, Calakmul, Caracol, Copn, Quirigu, Palenque, Chichà ©n Itz and Uxmal (there were many others). Although every Maya city is different, they tended to share certain characteristics, such as general layout.​ Layout of Maya Cities Maya tended to lay their cities out in plaza groups: clusters of buildings around a central plaza. This was true of the impressive buildings in the city center (temples, palaces, etc) as well as smaller residential areas. These plazas are rarely neat and orderly and to some, it may seem as if the Maya built anywhere they pleased. This is because they Maya built on the irregularly-shaped higher ground to avoid floods and dampness associated with their tropical forest home. In the center of the cities were the important public buildings such as temples, palaces, and the ball court. Residential areas radiated out from the city center, growing sparser the further they got from the center. Raised stone walkways linked the residential areas with each other and the center. Later Maya cities were built on higher hills for defense and had high walls surrounding most of the city or at least the centers. Maya Homes The Maya kings lived in stone palaces in the city center near the temples, but the common Maya lived in small houses outside the city center. Like the city center, the homes tended to be bunched together in clusters: some researchers believe that extended families lived together in one area. Their modest homes are thought to be much like the homes of their descendants in the region today: simple structures constructed mostly of wooden poles and thatch. The Maya tended to build up a mound or base and then build upon it: as the wood and thatch wore away or rotted they would tear it down and build again on the same foundation. Because the common Maya were often forced to build on lower ground than the palaces and temples in the city center, many of these mounds have been lost to flooding or encroaching wilderness. The City Center The Maya built great temples, palaces, and pyramids in their city centers. These were often mighty stone structures, over which wooden buildings and thatched roofs were often built. The city center was the physical and spiritual heart of the city. Important rituals were done there, in the temples, palaces, and ball courts. Maya Temples Like many Maya buildings, Maya temples were built of stone, with platforms on the top where wooden and thatch structures could be built. Temples tended to be pyramids, with steep stone steps leading to the top, where important ceremonies and sacrifices took place. Many temples are graced by elaborate stone carvings and glyphs. The most magnificent example is the famous Hieroglyphic Stairway at Copn. Temples were often built with astronomy in mind: certain temples are aligned to the movements of Venus, the sun or the moon. In the Lost World Complex at Tikal, for example, there is a pyramid which faces three other temples. If youre standing on the pyramid, the other temples are aligned with the rising sun on equinoxes and solstices. Important rituals took place at these times. Maya Palaces The Palaces were large, multi-storied buildings which were home to the king and royal family. They tended to be made of stone with wooden structures on top. Roofs were made of thatch. Some Maya palaces are spacious, including courtyards, different structures that were possibly homes, patios, towers, etc. The palace at Palenque is a good example. Some of the palaces are quite large, leading researchers to suspect that they also acted as a sort of administrative center, where Maya bureaucrats regulated tribute, trade, agriculture, etc. This was also the place where the king and noblemen would interact not only with the common people but also with diplomatic visitors. Feasts, dances, and other community social events could also have taken place there. Ball Courts The ceremonial ball game was an important part of Maya life. Common and noble people alike played for fun and recreation, but some games had important religious and spiritual significance. Sometimes, after important battles in which important prisoners were taken (such as enemy noblemen or even their Ahau, or King) these prisoners would be forced to play a game against the victors. The game represented a re-enactment of the battle, and afterward, the losers (which were naturally the enemy nobles and soldiers) were ceremonially executed. Ball courts, which were rectangular with sloped walls on either side, were prominently placed in Maya cities. Some of the more important cities had several courts. Ball courts were sometimes used for other ceremonies and events. Surviving Maya Architecture Although they were not on a par with the legendary Inca stonemasons of the Andes, Maya architects built structures which have withstood centuries of abuse. Mighty temples and palaces at places like Palenque, Tikal, and Chichen Itza survived centuries of abandonment, followed by excavation and now thousands of tourists walking and climbing all over them. Before they were protected, many ruin sites were scavenged by locals looking for stones for their homes, churches or businesses. That the Maya structures have survived so well is a testament to the skill of their builders. The Maya temples and palaces that have withstood the test of time often contain stone carvings depicting battles, wars, kings, dynastic successions and more. The Maya were literate and had a written language and books, of which only a few survive. The carved glyphs on temples and palaces are therefore important because there is so little remaining of the original Maya culture. Source McKillop, Heather. The Ancient Maya: New Perspectives. New York: Norton, 2004.