Greasy Lake essays

Greasy Lake essays Like the lake, the main characters are so adumbrated that you cannot see their true selves. In the story Greasy Lake, T.C. Boyle uses diction, imagery, details, language, and syntax to express the narrators facetious tone. The characters change their behaviors and appearances to convey a primal badness because they are embarrassed to be in the upper class. First of all, the higher level vocabulary the narrator uses for these kids is much higher than one would initially imagine. This expresses the diction applied in this piece of literature. Boyle uses words like decadence and susurrus to help describe the nature and setting of Greasy Lake. He mostly uses words that one would not usually use on a normal day-to-day basis; words like snuff, fetid, and feculent. This brilliant vocabulary clashes with the words and phrases the narrator uses to try to sound tough. For instance, pumping his girlfriend and my bowels turned to ice. He is very intellectual, but he doesnt want to admit it because hes trying so hard to be rebellious. Secondly, Boyle illustrates imagery in this selection. As I read through this passage, I noticed the narrator mention frogs on page 261 and twice on page 265. At the first glance, I ignored it until I eventually realized the frogs were used to represent the characters. The characters were being so vociferous and all of a sudden they fell silent and had no idea what to do next. The imagery also helps us to paint a picture of the setting and the scenery that is pounded in our heads using similes such as the air soft as a hand on your cheek and so stripped of vegetation it looked as if the air force had strafed it. Boyle makes it clear to us on the very first page that the waters are murky and not clear. This reference to the water is telling the read...

Polymer Definition and Examples

Polymer Definition and Examples A polymer is a large molecule made up of chains or rings of linked repeating subunits, which are called monomers. Polymers usually have high melting and boiling points. Because the molecules consist of many monomers, polymers tend to have high molecular masses. The word polymer comes from the Greek prefix poly-, which means many, and the suffix -mer, which means parts. The word was coined by Swedish chemist Jons Jacob Berzelius (1779–1848) in 1833, although with a slightly different meaning from the modern definition. The modern understanding of polymers as macromolecules was proposed by German organic chemist Hermann Staudinger (1881–1965) in 1920. Examples of Polymers Polymers may be divided into two categories. Natural polymers (also called biopolymers) include silk, rubber, cellulose, wool, amber, keratin, collagen, starch, DNA, and shellac. Biopolymers serve key functions in organisms, acting as structural proteins, functional proteins, nucleic acids, structural polysaccharides, and energy storage molecules. Synthetic polymers are prepared by a chemical reaction, often in a lab. Examples of synthetic polymers include PVC (polyvinyl chloride), polystyrene, synthetic rubber, silicone, polyethylene, neoprene, and nylon. Synthetic polymers are used to make plastics, adhesives, paints, mechanical parts, and many common objects. Synthetic polymers may be grouped into two categories. Thermoset plastics are made from a liquid or soft solid substance that can be irreversibly changed into an insoluble polymer by curing using heat or radiation. Thermoset plastics tend to be rigid and have high molecular weights. The plastic stays out of shape when deformed and typically decompose before they melt. Examples of thermoset plastics include epoxy, polyester, acrylic resins, polyurethanes, and vinyl esters. Bakelite, Kevlar, and vulcanized rubber are also thermoset plastics. Thermoplastic polymers or thermosoftening plastics are the other type of synthetic polymers. While thermoset plastics are rigid, thermoplastic polymers are solid when cool, but are pliable and can be molded above a certain temperature. While thermoset plastics form irreversible chemical bonds when cured, the bonding in thermoplastics weakens with temperature. Unlike thermosets, which decompose rather than melt, thermoplastics melt into a liquid upon heating. Examples of thermoplastics include acrylic, nylon, Teflon, polypropylene, polycarbonate, ABS, and polyethylene. Brief History of Polymer Development Natural polymers have been used since ancient times, but mankinds ability to intentionally synthesize polymers is a fairly recent development. The first man-made plastic was nitrocellulose. The process to make it was devised in 1862 by British chemist Alexander Parkes (1812–1890). He treated the natural polymer cellulose with nitric acid and a solvent. When nitrocellulose was treated with camphor, it produced celluloid, a polymer widely used in the film industry and as a moldable replacement for ivory. When nitrocellulose was dissolved in ether and alcohol, it became collodion. This polymer was used as a surgical dressing, starting with the U.S. Civil War and afterward. The vulcanization of rubber was another big achievement in polymer chemistry. GErman chemist Friedrich Ludersdorf (1801–1886) and American inventor Nathaniel Hayward (1808–1865) independently found adding sulfur to natural rubber helped keep it from becoming sticky. The process of vulcanizing rubber by adding sulfur and applying heat was described by British engineer Thomas Hancock (1786–1865) in 1843 (UK patent) and American chemist Charles Goodyear (1800–1860) in 1844 (US patent). While scientists and engineers could make polymers, it wasnt until 1922 that an explanation was proposed for how they formed. Hermann Staudinger suggested covalent bonds held together long chains of atoms. In addition to explaining how polymers work, Staudinger also proposed the name macromolecules to describe polymers.