Presentation Of The Greek Society Essay Example for Free

Presentation Of The Greek Society Essay One of the prolific poets that ever emerged from Greece is Homer. Not only was he known for his poetic exploits, his works are one of the works that gave an idea of what life was like in Ancient Greece. Early philosophers of the Ionian school found his work intriguing and His work was criticized by Thales. For the purpose of this essay, focus will be drawn on one of his works, Iliad. It is impossible to speak of Greek literature without considering Iliad. Iliad is not just a literary piece; it gives an account of the wars and conquests in Ancient Greece. It informs us about of the various doctrines held by the Greeks and how they conceive of a lot of things. The work is written in a prose form and is divided into Books from I to XXIV. As seen from Iliad, the ancient Greek society was characterized with conquests and battles. There is the innate desire of men to engage other nations in war. It shows the lust of men for power and their thirst for fame and glory. There was also the belief in gods and spirits. The Greeks are depicted as set of people who believes and explains everything that happens to the as an act of the gods. When good things happen, it is so because the gods are happy with you. Hoverer, when things are going out of hand, it is conceived that the gods are angry. The poem also depicts the ancient society as a society that lives of men were not regarded. There was no room for pity because if a man was considered to be a coward if he allows feelings of compassion. Men are motivated by a sense of duty to their nation and they fight for the case they believe in. these people fought, shed their blood and gave their lives for what they believe in. it was a time that was characterized with battles and for a man to be honored, you have to be a soldier or someone who has gone to battle.

My Religious Belief Essay -- Religion Religious Christianity Essays

My Religious Belief I am a Christian and I believe in the Holy trinity: God, the Son, the Holy Spirit. †¢ God is the most high God, all-powerful, all-knowing, the creator, full of unfailing love and truth, God is the only â€Å"true† God. He is the light. †¢ Jesus is the son of God, he is God in the flesh, he came into this world for two purposes, to teach us how to live on earth and because God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, Jesus. Jesus died on cross for our sins, and is sitting at God’s right hand today. †¢ The Holy Spirit is the spirit of love that dwells in each and every last one of us, it is not a part of the body so if the body dies, the spirit will continue to live. Because love never dies. All three, God, the son, and the Holy Spirit are one, which is love. A Christian’s core belief system basically boils down to what’s in the heart and in the heart should be nothing but love. Unfortunately, our heart’s isn’t naturally overflowing with the love. The heart takes time to blossom because as humans, we really don’t know what true love is, we only know the love the world has taught us and that love is selfish/ false. We learn true love when we build a loving relationship with God and that requires a lot of patience, faith, time and God’s help. At any time in our lives, we can have a loving relationship with God. Many people choose not to accept God because they are walking in the dark, which is why we say God is the light. The ...

Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story Chapter 23~24

Chapter 23 Mom and Terrapin Pie â€Å"She's in town,† Jody said. â€Å"She's coming over in a few minutes.† Jody lowered the phone to its cradle. Tommy appeared in the bedroom doorway, Scott still dangling from his sleeve. â€Å"You're kidding.† â€Å"You're missing a cufflink,† Jody said. â€Å"I don't think he's going to let go. Do we have any scissors?† Jody took Tommy by the sleeve a few inches above where Scott was clamped. â€Å"You ready?† Tommy nodded and she ripped his sleeve off at the shoulder. Scott skulked into the bedroom, the sleeve still clamped in his jaws. â€Å"That was my best shirt,† Tommy said, looking at his bare arm. â€Å"Sorry, but we've got to clean this place up and get a story together.† â€Å"Where did she call from?† â€Å"She was at the Fairmont Hotel. We've got maybe ten minutes.† â€Å"So she won't be staying with us.† â€Å"Are you kidding? My mother under the same roof where people are living in sin? Not in this lifetime, turtleboy.† Tommy took the turtleboy shot in stride. This was an emergency and there was no time for hurt feelings. â€Å"Does you mother use phrases like ‘living in sin'?† â€Å"I think she has it embroidered on a sampler over the telephone so she won't forget to use it every month when I call.† Tommy shook his head. â€Å"We're doomed. Why didn't you call her this month? She said you always call her.† Jody was pacing now, trying to think. â€Å"Because I didn't get my reminder.† â€Å"What reminder?† â€Å"My period. I always call her when I get my period each month – just to get all the unpleasantness out of the way at one time.† â€Å"When was the last time you had a period?† Jody thought for a minute. It was before she had turned. â€Å"I don't know, eight, nine weeks. I'm sorry, I can't believe I forgot.† Tommy went to the futon, sat down, and cradled his head in his hands. â€Å"What do we do now?† Jody sat next to him. â€Å"I don't suppose we have time to redecorate.† In the next ten minutes, while they cleaned up the loft, Jody tried to prepare Tommy for what he was about to experience. â€Å"She doesn't like men. My father left her for a younger woman when I was twelve, and Mother thinks all men are snakes. And she doesn't really like women either, since she was betrayed by one. She was one of the first women to graduate from Stanford, so she's a bit of a snob about that. She says that I broke her heart when I didn't go to Stanford. It's been downhill since then. She doesn't like that I live in the City and she has never approved of any of my jobs, my boyfriends, or the way I dress.† Tommy stopped in the middle of scrubbing the kitchen sink. â€Å"So what should I talk about?† â€Å"It would probably be best if you just sat quietly and looked repentant.† â€Å"That's how I always look.† Jody heard the stairwell door open. â€Å"She's here. Go change your shirt.† Tommy ran to the bedroom, stripping off his one-sleever as he went. I'm not ready for this, he thought. I have more work to do on myself before I'm ready for a presentation. Jody opened the door catching her mother poised to knock. â€Å"Mom!† Jody said, with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. â€Å"You look great.† Frances Evelyn Stroud stood on the landing looking at her youngest daughter with restrained disapproval. She was a short, stout woman dressed in layers of wool and silk under an eggshell cashmere coat. Her hair was a woven gray-blond, flared and lacquered to expose a pair of pearl earrings roughly the size of Ping-Pong balls. Her eyebrows had been plucked away and painted back, her cheekbones were high and highlighted, her lips lined, filled, and clamped tight. She had the same striking green eyes as her daughter, flecked now with sparks of judgment. She had been pretty once but was now passing into the limbo-land of the menopausal woman known as handsome. â€Å"May I come in,† she said. Jody, caught in the half-gesture of offering a hug, dropped her arms. â€Å"Of course,† she said, stepping aside. â€Å"It's good to see you,† she said, closing the door behind her mother. Tommy bounded from the bedroom into the kitchen and slid to a stop on stocking feet. â€Å"Hi,† he said. Jody put her hand on her mother's back. Frances flinched, ever so slightly, at the touch. â€Å"Mother, this is Thomas Flood. He's a writer. Tommy, this is my mother, Frances Stroud.† Tommy approached Frances and offered his hand. â€Å"Pleased to meet you†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She clutched her Gucci bag tightly, then forced herself to take his hand. â€Å"Mrs. Stroud,† she said, trying to head off the unpleasantness of hearing her Christian name come out of Tommy's mouth. Jody broke the moment of discomfort so they could pass into the next one. â€Å"So, Mom, can I take your coat? Would you like to sit down?† Frances Stroud surrendered her coat to her daughter as if she were surrendering her credit cards to a mugger, as if she didn't want to know where it was going because she would never see it again. â€Å"Is this your couch?† she asked, nodding toward the futon. â€Å"Have a seat, Mother; we'll get you something to drink. We have†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Jody realized that she had no idea what they had. â€Å"Tommy, what do we have?† Tommy wasn't expecting the questions to start so soon. â€Å"I'll look,† he said, running to the kitchen and throwing open a cabinet. â€Å"We have coffee, regular and decaf.† He dug behind the coffee, the sugar, the powdered creamer. â€Å"We have Ovaltine, and†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He threw open the refrigerator. â€Å"Beer, milk, cranberry juice, and beer – a lot of beer – I mean, not a lot, but plenty, and†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He opened the chest freezer. Peary stared up at him through a gap between frozen dinners. Tommy slammed the lid.†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ that's it. Nothing in there.† â€Å"Decaf, please,† said Mother Stroud. She turned to Jody, who was returning from balling up her mother's cashmere coat and throwing it in the corner of the closet. â€Å"So, you've left your job at Transamerica. Are you working, dear?† Jody sat in a wicker chair across the wicker coffee table from her mother. (Tommy had decided to decorate the loft in a Pier 1 Imports cheap-shit motif. As a result it was only a ceiling fan and a cockatoo away from looking like a Thai cathouse.) Jody said, â€Å"I've taken a job in marketing.† It sounded respectable. It sounded professional. It sounded like a lie. â€Å"You might have told me and saved me the embarrassment of calling Transamerica only to find out that you had been let go.† â€Å"I quit, Mother. I wasn't let go.† Tommy, trying to will himself invisible, bowed his way between them to deliver the decaf, which he had arranged on a wicker tray with cream and sugar. â€Å"And you, Mr. Flood, you're a writer? What do you write?† Tommy brightened. â€Å"I'm working on a short story about a little girl growing up in the South. Her father is on a chain gang.† â€Å"You're from the South, then?† â€Å"No, Indiana.† â€Å"Oh,† she said, as if he had just confessed to being raised by rats. â€Å"And where did you go to university?† â€Å"I, um, I'm sort of self-educated. I think experience is the best teacher.† Tommy realized that he was sweating. â€Å"I see,† she said. â€Å"And where might I read your work?† â€Å"I'm not published yet.† He squirmed. â€Å"I'm working on it, though,† he added quickly. â€Å"So you have another job. Are you in marketing as well?† Jody intervened. She could see steam rising off Tommy. â€Å"He manages the Marina Safeway, Mother.† It was a small lie, nothing compared to the tapestry of lies she had woven for her mother over the years. Mother Stroud turned a scalpel gaze on her daughter. â€Å"You know, Jody, it's not too late to apply to Stanford. You'd be a bit older than the other freshmen, but I could pull a few strings.† How does she do this? Jody wondered. How does she come into my home and within minutes make me feel like dirt on a stick? Why does she do it? â€Å"Mother, I think I'm beyond going back to school.† Mother Stroud picked up her cup as if to sip, then paused. â€Å"Of course, dear. You wouldn't want to neglect your career and family.† It was a verbal sucker punch delivered with polite, extended-pinky malice. Jody felt something drop inside her like cyanide pellets into acid. Her guilt dropped through the gallows' trap and jerked with broken-neck finality. She regretted only the ten thousand sentences she had started with, â€Å"I love my mother, but†¦Ã¢â‚¬  You do that so people don't judge you cold and inhuman, Jody thought. Too late now. She said, â€Å"Perhaps you're right, Mother. Perhaps if I had gone to Stanford I would understand why I wasn't born with an innate knowledge of cooking and cleaning and child-rearing and managing a career and a relationship. I've always wondered if it's lack of education or genetic deficiency.† Mother Stroud was unshaken. â€Å"I can't speak for your father's genetic background, dear.† Tommy was grateful that Mother Stroud's attention had turned from him, but he could see Jody's gaze narrowing, going from hurt to anger. He wanted to come to her aid. He wanted to make peace. He wanted to hide in the corner. He wanted to wade in and kick ass. He weighed his polite upbringing against the anarchists, rebels, and iconoclasts who were his heroes. He could eat this woman alive. He was a writer and words were his weapons. She wouldn't have a chance. He'd destroy her. And he would have. He was taking a deep breath to prepare to light into her when he saw a swath of denim disappearing slowly under the frame of the futon: his dismembered shirt sleeve. He held his breath and looked at Jody. She was smiling, saying nothing. Mother Stroud said, â€Å"Your father was at Stanford on an athletic scholarship, you know. They would have never let him in otherwise.† â€Å"I'm sure you're right, Mother,† Jody said. She smiled politely, listening not to her mother, but to the melodic scraping of turtle claws on carpet. She focused on the sound and could hear the slow, cold lugging of Scott's heart. Mother Stroud sipped her decaf. Tommy waited. Jody said, â€Å"So how long will you be in the City?† â€Å"I just came up to do some shopping. I'm sponsoring a benefit for the Monterey Symphony and I wanted a new gown. Of course I could have found something in Carmel, but everyone would have seen it already. The bane of living in a small community.† Jody nodded as if she understood. She had no connection to this woman, not anymore. Frances Evelyn Stroud was a stranger, an unpleasant stranger. Jody felt more of a connection with the turtle under the futon. Under the futon, Scott spotted a pattern of scales on Mother Stroud's shoes. He'd never seen Italian faux-alligator pumps, but he knew scales. When you are lying peacefully buried in the muck at the bottom of a pond and you see scales, it means food. You bite. Frances Stroud shrieked and leaped to her feet, pulling her right foot free of her shoe as she fell into the wicker coffee table. Jody caught her mother by the shoulders and set her on her feet. Frances pushed her away and backed across the room as she watched the snapping turtle emerge from under the futon merrily chomping on the pump. â€Å"What is that? What is that thing? That thing is eating my shoe. Stop it! Kill it!† Tommy hurdled the futon and dived for the turtle, catching the heel of the shoe before it disappeared. Scott dug his claws into the carpet and backed off. Tommy came up with heel in hand. â€Å"I got part of it.† Jody went to her mother's side. â€Å"I meant to call the exterminator, Mother. If I'd had more notice†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Mother Stroud was breathing in outraged yips. â€Å"How can you live like this?† Tommy held the heel out to her. â€Å"I don't want that. Call me a cab.† Tommy paused, considered the opportunity, then let it pass and went to the phone. â€Å"You can't go out without shoes, Mother. I'll get you something to wear.† Jody went to the bedroom and came back with her rattiest pair of sneakers. â€Å"Here, Mom, these will get you back to the hotel.† Mother Stroud, afraid to sit down anywhere, leaned against the door and stepped into the sneakers. Jody tied them for her and slipped the uneaten pump into her mother's bag. â€Å"There you go.† She stepped back. â€Å"Now, what are we going to do for the holidays?† Mother Stroud, her gaze trained on Scott, just shook her head. The turtle had wedged himself between the legs of the coffee table and was dragging it around the loft. A cab pulled up outside and beeped the horn. Mother Stroud tore her gaze away from the turtle and looked at her daughter. â€Å"I'll be in Europe for the holidays. I have to go now.† She opened the door and backed out through it. â€Å"‘Bye, Mom,† Jody said. â€Å"Nice meeting you, Mrs. Stroud,† Tommy called after her. When the cab pulled away, Tommy turned to Jody and said, â€Å"Well, that went pretty well, didn't it? I think she likes me.† Jody was leaning against the door, staring at the floor. She looked up and began to giggle silently. Soon she was doubled over laughing. â€Å"What?† Tommy said. Jody looked up at him, tears streaming her face. â€Å"I think I'm ready to meet your folks, don't you?† â€Å"I don't know. They might be sort of upset that you're not a Methodist.† Chapter 24 The Return of Breakfast The Emperor lay spread-eagle on the end of a dock in the Saint Francis Yacht Club Marina, watching clouds pass over the bay. Bummer and Lazarus lay beside him, their feet in the air, dozing. The three might have been crucified there, if the dogs hadn't been smiling. â€Å"Men,† the Emperor said, â€Å"it seems to me now that there is, indeed, a point to that Otis Redding song about sitting on the dock of the bay. After a long night of vampire hunting, this is a most pleasant way to spend the day. Bummer, I believe a commendation is in order. When you led us down here, I thought you were wasting our time.† Bummer did not answer. He was dreaming of a park full of large trees and bite-sized mailmen. His legs twitched and he let out a sleepy ruff each time he crunched one of their tiny heads. In dreams, mailmen taste like chicken. The Emperor said, â€Å"But pleasant as this is, it tastes of guilt, of responsibility. Two months tracking this fiend, and we are no closer to finding him than when we started. Yet here we lay, enjoying the day. I can see the faces of the victims in these clouds.† Lazarus rolled over and licked the Emperor's hand. â€Å"You're right, Lazarus, without sleep we will not be fit for battle. Perhaps, in leading us here, Bummer was wiser than we thought.† The Emperor closed his eyes and let the sound of waves lapping against the piers lull him to sleep. Lying at anchor, a hundred yards away, was a hundred-foot motor yacht registered in the Netherlands. Belowdecks, in a watertight stainless steel vault, the vampire slept through the day. Tommy had been asleep for an hour when pounding on the door downstairs woke him. In the darkness of the bedroom he nudged Jody, but she was out for the day. He checked his watch: 7:30 A.M. The loft rocked with the pounding. He crawled out of bed and stumbled to the door in his underwear. The morning light spilling though the loft's windows temporarily blinded him and he barked his shin on the corner of the freezer on his way through the kitchen. â€Å"I'm coming,† he yelled. It sounded as if they were using a hammer on the door. He did a Quasimodo step and slid down the stairs, holding his damaged shin in one hand, and cracked the downstairs door. Simon peeked through the crack. Tommy could see a ball-peen hammer in his hand, poised for another pound. Simon said, â€Å"Pardner, we need to have us a sit-down.† â€Å"I'm sleeping, Sime. Jody's sleeping.† â€Å"Well, you're up now. Wake up the little woman, we need breakfast.† Tommy opened the door a little wider and saw Drew dazzling a stoned and goofy grin behind Simon. â€Å"Fearless Leader!† All the Animals were there, holding grocery bags, waiting. Tommy thought, This is how Anne Frank felt when the Gestapo came to the door. Simon pushed through the door, causing Tommy to hop back a step to avoid having his toes skinned. â€Å"Hey.† Simon looked at Tommy's erection-stretched jockey shorts. â€Å"That just a morning wood, or you in the middle of something?† â€Å"I told you, I was sleeping.† â€Å"You're young, it could still grow some. Don't feel bad.† Tommy looked down at his insulted member as Simon breezed past him up the stairs, followed by the rest of the Animals. Glint and Lash stopped and helped Tommy to his feet. â€Å"I was sleeping,† Tommy said pathetically. â€Å"It's my day off.† Lash patted Tommy's shoulder. â€Å"I'm cutting class today. We thought you needed moral support.† â€Å"For what? I'm fine.† â€Å"Cops came by the store last night looking for you. We wouldn't give them your address or anything.† â€Å"Cops?† Tommy was waking up now. He could hear beers being popped open in the loft. â€Å"What did the cops want with me?† â€Å"They wanted to see your time cards. They wanted to see if you were working on a bunch of nights. They wouldn't say why. Simon tried to distract them by accusing me of leading a black terrorist group.† â€Å"That was nice of him.† â€Å"Yeah, he's a sweetheart. He told that new cashier, Mara, that you were in love with her but were too shy to tell her.† â€Å"Forgive him,† Clint said piously. â€Å"He knows not what he does.† Simon popped out onto the landing. â€Å"Flood, did you drug this bitch? She won't wake up.† â€Å"Stay out of the bedroom!† Tommy shook off Lash and Clint and ran up the stairs. Cavuto chewed an unlit cigar. â€Å"I say we go to the kid's house and lean on him.† Rivera looked up from a stack of green-striped computer printout. â€Å"Why? He was working when all the murders happened.† â€Å"Because he's all we've got. What about the prints on the book; any thing?† â€Å"There were half a dozen good prints on the cover. Nothing the computer could match. Interesting thing is, none of the prints were the victim's. He never touched it.† â€Å"What about the kid; a match?† â€Å"No way to tell, he's never been printed. Let it go, Nick. That kid didn't kill these people.† Cavuto ran his hand over his bald head as if looking for a bump that would hold an answer. â€Å"Let's arrest him and print him.† â€Å"On what charges?† â€Å"We'll ask him. You know what the Chinese say, ‘Beat a kid every day; if you don't know why, the kid will.  » â€Å"You ever think about adopting, Nick?† Rivera flipped the last page of the printout and threw it into the wastebasket by his desk. â€Å"Justice doesn't have shit. All the unsolved murders with massive blood loss involve mutilation. No vampires here.† For two months they had avoided using the word. Now, here it was. Cavuto took out a wooden match, scraped it against the bottom of his shoe, and moved it around the tip of his cigar. â€Å"Rivera, we will not refer to this perp by the V-word again. You don't remember the Night Stalker. This fucking Whiplash Killer thing the press has picked up is bad enough.† â€Å"You shouldn't smoke in here,† said Rivera. â€Å"The sprout eaters will file a grievance.† â€Å"Fuck 'em. I can't think without smoking. Let's run sex offenders. Look for priors of rapes and assaults with blood draining. This guy might have just graduated to killing. Then let's run it with cross-dressers.† â€Å"Cross-dressers?† â€Å"Yeah, I want to put this thing with the redhead to bed. Having a lead is ruining our perfect record.† She woke to a miasma of smells that hit her like a sockful of sand: burned eggs, bacon grease, beer, maple syrup, stale pot smoke, whiskey, vomit and male sweat. The smells carried memories from before the change – memories of high school keggers and drunken surfers face-down in puddles of puke. Hangover memories. Coming as they did, right after a visit from her mother, they carried shame and loathing and the urge to fall back into bed and hide under the covers. She thought, I guess there's a few things about being human that I don't miss. She pulled on a pair of sweatpants and one of Tommy's shirts and opened the bedroom door. It looked as if the good ship International Pancakes had run aground in the kitchen. Every horizontal surface was covered with breakfast jetsam. She stepped through the debris, careful not to kick any of the plates, frying pans, coffee cups, or beer cans that littered the floor. Beyond the freezer and the counter she spotted the shipwreck survivor. Tommy lay on the futon, limbs akimbo, an empty Bushmill's bottle by his head, snoring. She stood there for a moment running her options over in her head. On one hand, she wanted to fly into a rage; wake Tommy up and scream at him for violating the sanctity of their home. A justifiable tantrum was strongly tempting. On the other hand, until now Tommy had always been considerate. And he would clean everything up. Plus, the hangover he was about to experience would be more punishment than she could dole out in a week. Besides, she wasn't really that angry. It didn't seem to matter. It was just a mess. It was a tough decision. She thought, Oh heck, no harm, no foul. I'll just make him coffee and give him that â€Å"I'm-so-disappointed-in-you† look. â€Å"Tommy,† she said. She sat down on the edge of the futon and jostled him gently. â€Å"Sweetheart, wake up; you've destroyed the house and I need you to suffer for it.† Tommy opened one bloodshot eye and groaned. â€Å"Sick,† he said. Jody heard a convulsive sloshing in Tommy's stomach and before she could think about it she had caught him under the armpits and was dragging him across the room to the kitchen sink. â€Å"Oh my God!† Tommy cried, and if he was going to say anything else it was drowned out by the sound of his stomach emptying into the sink. Jody held him up, smiling to herself with the satisfaction of the self-righteously sober. After a few seconds of retching, he gasped and looked up at her. Tears streamed down his face. His nose dripped threads of slime. Cheerfully, Jody said, â€Å"Can I fix you a drink?† â€Å"Oh my God!† His head went back into the sink and the body-wrenching heaves began anew. Jody patted his back and said â€Å"Poor baby† until he came up for air again. â€Å"How about some breakfast?† she asked. He dived into the sink once again. After five minutes the heaves subsided and Tommy hung on the edge of the sink. Jody turned on the faucet and used the dish sprayer to hose off his face. â€Å"I guess you and the guys had a little party this morning, huh?† Tommy nodded, not looking up. â€Å"I tried to keep them out. I'm sorry. I'm scum.† â€Å"Yes, you are, sweetheart.† She ruffed his hair. â€Å"I'll clean it up.† â€Å"Yes, you will,† she said. â€Å"I'm really sorry.† â€Å"Yes, you are. Do we want to go back to the futon and sit down?† â€Å"Water,† Tommy said. She ran him a glass of water and steadied him while he drank, then aimed him into the sink when the water came back up. â€Å"Are you finished now?† she asked. He nodded. She dragged him into the bathroom and washed his face, rubbing a little too hard, like an angry mother administering an abrasive spit-bath to a chocolate-covered toddler. â€Å"Now you go sit down and I'll make you some coffee.† Tommy staggered back to the living room and fell onto the futon. Jody found the coffee filters in the cupboard and began to make the coffee. She opened the cupboard to look for a cup but the Animals had used them all. They were strewn around the loft, tipped over or half full of whisky diluted by melted ice. Ice? â€Å"Tommy!† He groaned and grabbed his head. â€Å"Don't yell.† â€Å"Tommy, did you guys use the ice from the freezer?† â€Å"I don't know. Simon was bartending.† Jody brushed the dishes and pans from the lid of the chest freezer and threw it open. The ice trays, the ones Tommy had bought for the drowning experiment, were empty and scattered around the inside of the freezer. Peary's frosty face stared up at her. She slammed the lid shut and stormed across the room to Tommy. â€Å"Dammit, Tommy, how could you be so careless?† â€Å"Don't yell. Please don't yell. I'll clean it up.† â€Å"Clean it up my ass. Someone was in the freezer. Someone saw the body.† â€Å"I think I'm going to be sick.† â€Å"Did they come into the bedroom while I was sleeping? Did they see me?† Tommy cradled his head as if it would crack at any moment and spill his brains onto the floor. â€Å"They had to get to the bathroom. It's okay; I covered you up so the light wouldn't get to you.† â€Å"You idiot!† She snatched up a coffee cup and prepared to throw it at him, then caught herself. She had to get out of here before she hurt him. She shook as she set the cup on the counter. â€Å"I'm going out, Tommy. Clean up this mess.† She turned and went to the bedroom to change. When she emerged, still shaking with anger, Tommy was standing in the kitchen looking repentant. â€Å"Will you be home before I leave for work?† She glared at him. â€Å"I don't know. I don't know when I'll be back. Why didn't you just put a sign on the door, ‘See the Vampire'? This is my life you're playing with, Tommy.† He didn't answer. She turned and walked out, slamming the door. â€Å"I'll feed your turtles for you,† he called after her.

Chemistry Vocabulary - Definitions of Chemistry Terms

This is a list of important chemistry vocabulary terms and their definitions. A more comprehensive list of chemistry terms can be found in my alphabetical chemistry glossary. You can use this vocabulary list to look up terms or you can make flashcards from the definitions to help learn them. absolute zero - Absolute zero is 0K. It is the lowest possible temperature. Theoretically, at absolute zero, atoms stop moving. accuracy - Accuracy is a measure of how close a measured value is to its true value. For example, if an object is exactly a meter long and you measure it as 1.1 meters long, that is more accurate than if you measured it at 1.5 meters long. acid - There are several ways to define an acid, but they include any chemical that gives off protons or H in water. Acids have a pH less than 7. They turn the pH indicator phenolphthalein colorless and turn litmus paper red. acid anhydride - An acid anhydride is an oxide that forms an acid when it is reacted with water. For example, when SO3- is added to water, it becomes sulfuric acid, H2SO4. actual yield - The actual yield is the amount of product you actually obtain from a chemical reaction, as in the amount you can measure or weigh as opposed to a calculated value. addition reaction - An addition reaction is a chemical reaction in which atoms add to a carbon-carbon multiple bond. alcohol - An alcohol is any organic molecule that has an -OH group. aldehyde - An aldehyde is any organic molecule that has a -COH group. alkali metal - An alkali metal is a metal in Group I of the periodic table. Examples of alkali metals include lithium, sodium, and potassium. alkaline earth metal - An alkaline earth metal is an element belonging to Group II of the periodic table. Examples of alkaline earth metals are magnesium and calcium. alkane - An alkane is an organic molecule that only contains single carbon-carbon bonds. alkene - An alkene is an organic molecule that contains at least one CC or carbon-carbon double bond. alkyne - An alkyne is an organic molecule that contains at least one carbon-carbon triple bond. allotrope - Allotropes are different forms of a phase of an element. For example, diamond and graphite are allotropes of carbon. alpha particle - An alpha particle is another name for a helium nucleus, which contains two protons and two neutrons. Its called an alpha particle in reference to radioactive (alpha) decay. amine - An amine is an organic molecule in which one or more of the hydrogen atoms in ammonia have been replaced by an organic group. An example of an amine is methylamine. base - A base is a compound that produces OH- ions or electrons in water or that accepts protons. An example of a common base is sodium hydroxide, NaOH. beta particle - A beta particle is an electron, although the term is used when the electron is emitted in radioactive decay. binary compound - A binary compound is one made up of two elements. binding energy - Binding energy is the energy that holds protons and neutrons together in the atomic nucleus. bond energy - Bond energy is the amount of energy required to break one mole of chemical bonds. bond length - Bond length is the average distance between the nuclei of two atoms that share a bond. buffer - A liquid that resists change in pH when an acid or base is added. A buffer consists of a weak acid and its conjugate base. An example of a buffer is acetic acid and sodium acetate. calorimetry - Calorimetry is the study of heat flow. Calorimetry may be used to find the heat of reaction of two compounds or the heat of combustion of a compound, for example. carboxylic acid - A carboxylic acid is an organic molecule containing a -COOH group. An example of a carboxylic acid is acetic acid. catalyst - A catalyst is a substance that lowers the activation energy of a reaction or speeds it up without being consumed by the reaction. Enzymes are proteins that act as catalysts for biochemical reactions. cathode - A cathode is the electrode which gains electrons or is reduced. In other words, it is where reduction occurs in an electrochemical cell. chemical equation - A chemical equation is a description of a chemical reaction, including what reacts, what is produced, and which direction(s) the reaction proceeds. chemical property - A chemical property is a property that can only be observed when a chemical change occurs. Flammability is an example of a chemical property, since you cant measure how flammable a substance is without igniting it (making/breaking chemical bonds). covalent bond - A covalent bond is a chemical bond formed when two atoms share two electrons. critical mass - Critical mass is the minimum quantity of radioactive material needed to cause a nuclear chain reaction. critical point - The critical point is the endpoint of the liquid-vapor line in a phase diagram, past which a supercritical liquid forms. At the critical point, the liquid and vapor phases become indistinguishable from one another. crystal - A crystal is an ordered, repeating three-dimensional pattern of ions, atoms, or molecules. Most crystals are ionic solids, although other forms of crystals exist. delocalization - Delocalization is when electrons become free to move all over a molecule, such as when double bonds occur on adjacent atoms in a molecule. denature - There are two common meanings for this in chemistry. First, it can refer to any process used to make ethanol unfit for consumption (denatured alcohol). Second, denaturing can mean breaking down the three-dimensional structure of a molecule, such as a protein is denatured when exposed to heat. diffusion - Diffusion is the movement of particles from an area of higher concentration to one of lower concentration. dilution - Dilution is when a  solvent is added to a solution, making it less concentrated. dissociation - Dissociation is when a chemical reaction breaks a compound into two or more parts. For example, NaCl dissociates into Na and Cl- in water. double displacement reaction - A double displacement or double replacement reaction is when cations of two compounds switch places. effusion - Effusion is when a gas moves through an opening into a low-pressure container (e.g., is drawn by a vacuum). Effusion occurs more quickly than diffusion because additional molecules arent in the way. electrolysis - Electrolysis is using electricity to break the bonds in a compound to break it apart. electrolyte - An electrolyte is an ionic compound that dissolves in water to produce ions, which can conduct electricity. Strong electrolytes completely dissociate in water, while weak electrolytes only partially dissociate or break apart in water. enantiomers - Enantiomers are molecules that are non superimposable mirror images of each other. endothermic - Endothermic describes a process that absorbs heat. Endothermic reactions feel cold. endpoint - The endpoint is when a titration is stopped, typically because an indicator has changed color. The endpoint need not be the same as the equivalence point of a titration. energy level - An energy level is a possible value of energy that an electron can have in an atom. enthalpy - Enthalpy is a measure of the amount of energy in a system. entropy - Entropy is a measure of the disorder or randomness in a system. enzyme - An enzyme is a protein that acts as a catalyst in a biochemical reaction. equilibrium - Equilibrium occurs in reversible reactions when the forward rate of the reaction is the same as the reverse rate of the reaction. equivalence point - The equivalence point is when the solution in a titration is completely neutralized. It is not the same as the endpoint of a titration because the indicator may not change colors precisely when the solution is neutral. ester - An ester is an organic molecule with a R-CO-OR function group. excess reagent - Excess reagent is what you get when there is leftover reagent in a chemical reaction. excited state - An excited state is a higher energy state for an electron of an atom, ion, or molecule, compared with the energy of its ground state. exothermic - Exothermic describes a process that gives off heat. family - A family is a group of elements sharing similar properties. It is not necessarily the same thing as an element group. For example, the chalcogens or oxygen family consists of some different elements from the nonmetal group. Kelvin - Kelvin is a unit of temperature. A Kelvin is equal in size to a degree Celsius, although Kelvin starts from absolute zero. Add 273.15 to a Celsius temperature to get the Kelvin value. Kelvin is not reported with a  ° symbol. For example, you would simply write 300K not 300 °K. ketone - A ketone is a molecule that contains a R-CO-R functional group. An example of a common ketone is acetone (dimethyl ketone). kinetic energy - Kinetic energy is energy of motion. The more an object moves, the more kinetic energy it has. lanthanide contraction - The lanthanide contraction refers to the trend in which lanthanide atoms become smaller as you move left to right across the periodic table, even though they increase in atomic number. lattice energy - Lattice energy is the amount of energy released when one mole of a crystal forms from its gaseous ions. law of conservation of energy - The law of conservation of energy states the energy of the universe may change form, but its amount remains unchanged. ligand - A ligand is a molecule or ion stuck to the central atom in a complex. Examples of common ligands include water, carbon monoxide, and ammonia. mass - Mass is the amount of matter in a substance. It is commonly reported in units of grams. mole - Avogadros number (6.02 x 1023) of anything. node - A node is a location in an orbital with no probability of containing an electron. nucleon - A nucleon is a particle in the nucleus of an atom (proton or neutron). oxidation number The oxidation number is the apparent charge on an atom. For example, the oxidation number of an oxygen atom is -2. period - A period is a row (left to right) of the periodic table. precision - Precision is how repeatable a measurement is. More precise measurements are reported with more significant figures. pressure - Pressure is force per area. product - A product is something made as a result of a chemical reaction. quantum theory - Quantum theory is the description of energy levels and the predictions about the behavior of atoms at specific energy levels. radioactivity - Radioactivity occurs when the atomic nucleus is unstable and breaks apart, releasing energy or radiation. Raoults Law - Raoults Law states that the vapor pressure of a solution is directly proportional to the mole fraction of solvent. rate determining step - The rate determining step is the slowest step in any chemical reaction. rate law - A rate law is a mathematical expression relating the speed of a chemical reaction as a function of concentration. redox reaction - A redox reaction is a chemical reaction that involves oxidation and reduction. resonance structure - Resonance structures are the set of Lewis structures that can be drawn for a molecule when it has delocalized electrons. reversible reaction - A reversible reaction is a chemical reaction which can go both ways: reactants make products and products make reactants. RMS velocity - The RMS or root mean square velocity is the square root of the average of the squares of individual velocities of gas particles, which is a way of describing the average speed of gas particles. salt - An ionic compound formed from reacting an acid and a base. solute - The solute is the substance that gets dissolved in a solvent. Usually, it refers to a solid that is dissolved in a liquid. If you are mixing two liquids, the solute is the one that is present in a smaller amount. solvent - This is the liquid that dissolves a solute in solution. Technically, you can dissolve gases into liquids or into other gases, too. When making a solution where both substances are in the same phase (e.g., liquid-liquid), the solvent is the largest component of the solution. STP - STP means standard temperature and pressure, which is 273K and 1 atmosphere. strong acid - A strong acid is an acid that completely dissociates in water. An example of a strong acid is hydrochloric acid, HCl, which dissociates into H and Cl- in water. strong nuclear force - The strong nuclear force is the force that holds the protons and neutrons in an atomic nucleus together. sublimation - Sublimation is when a solid changes directly into a gas. At atmospheric pressure, dry ice or solid carbon dioxide goes directly into carbon dioxide vapor, never becoming liquid carbon dioxide. synthesis - Synthesis is making a larger molecule from two or more atoms or smaller molecules. system - A system includes everything you are evaluating in a situation. temperature - Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of particles. theoretical yield - Theoretical yield is the amount of product which would result if a chemical reaction proceeded perfectly, to completion, with no loss. thermodynamics - Thermodynamics is the study of energy. titration - Titration is a procedure in which the concentration of an acid or base is determined by measuring how much base or acid is required to neutralize it. triple point - The triple point is the temperature and pressure at which the solid, liquid, and vapor phases of a substance exist in equilibrium. unit cell - A unit cell is the simplest repeating structure of a crystal. unsaturated - There are two common meanings for unsaturated in chemistry. The first refers to a chemical solution that does not contain all of the solute that can be dissolved in it. Unsaturated also refers to an organic compound which contains one or more double or triple carbon-carbon bonds. unshared electron pair - An unshared electron pair or lone pair refers to two electrons that arent participating in chemical bonding. valence electron - The valence electrons are the atoms outermost electrons. volatile - Volatile refers to a substance that has a high vapor pressure. VSEPR - VSEPR stands for Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion. This is a theory used that predicts molecular shapes based on the assumption that electrons stay as far as possible from each other. Quiz Yourself Ionic Compound Names QuizElement Symbol Quiz