The Dark Crystal

Predecessor to the 80’s cult classic, The Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal was legendary puppeteer Jim Henson’s first attempt at creating a fantasy motion picture filmed entirely with intricate animatronics and puppets. The film is complete with heroes, villains and the other main elements of fantastical narratives as described by Russian scholar and folklorist Vladimir Propp in his breakthrough work, Morphology of the Folktale, which states that there is a sequence of 31 functions — certain actions that a character fulfills in order to advance the plot towards the “happy ending” — that can be applied to any fairy tale narrative in any medium: literature, film, theatre, etc. Although at first glance, the Dark Crystal’s familiar fantasy narrative may seem like a textbook rendition of Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey and Monomyth, subtle nuances in the narrative pattern — opposing Jungian character relationships and their intricate actions (Jen & Kira/ the Skeksis & Mystics) — more closely align and elevate a cinematic fairy tale such as Dark Crystal with Propp’s 31 functions even though a couple of these functions occur in a different order. For the most part, Propp’s 31 functions can be found in The Dark Crystal through various sorts of character actions, better suited to his predicted structures than Joseph Campbell’s. The film starts off with a narrator, who lets the audience know about the background and setting…

In The Dark Crystal, directed by Jim Henson and written by Henson and David Odell, the protagonist, Jen, directly follows the seventeen steps of “the Hero’s Journey,” initially popularized by Joseph Campbell in 1949 and later adapted by Christopher Vogel, with one slight deviation. Jim Henson intentionally created the story to follow the format laid out by Vogel. The steps of this journey fit neatly into three acts: departure, initiation, and return. This follows Jen all the way from his home in…

remaining acetic anhydride. Through the process of filtration, aspirin crystals were collected and separate from the liquid acetic acid-water solution. Lastly, the product was weighed and tested for purity. The experimented resulted in the production 3.68 g of aspirin crystals which had a little impurity. This report discusses an experiment to study the synthesis of a drug from organic material. The experiment deals with the…

She rises from her chair and grabs a spherical green object from a nearby shelf. She sets it on the table with a thump. “Is that a crystal ball?” Will asks. The sound of his voice sends my heart into a downward spiral. Heat rises up my spine. Whatever is in the air in this place, it’s making my emotions go haywire. The crystal ball suddenly sparks into a cloud of green, producing sparkles within it. The woman laughs at the sight. “So much attraction! I’ve never witnessed the crystals igniting so…

create a model based off the crystal structure of the endonuclease domain of Bacillus subtilis MutL. This structure, in particular, exposes the presence of zinc in the binding site which is important for the MMR function of BsMutL in vivo. From there, they proposed a model describing the association of MutS and DNA polymerase III, β clamp with MutL, and nicking of a synthesized DNA strand. The importance of MutL is in its united effort with MutS to recognize mismatches and interactions of the β…

TITLE: QUALITATIVE PHASE IDENTIFICATION & CRYSTAL STRUSTURE ANALYSIS OF ISONICOTINAMIDE POLYMORPHS. INTRODUCTION The science of crystallography is important in stability studies and determination of solid state molecule or particles. Isonicotinamide (pyridine -4- carboxamide) is the amide form of isonicotinic acid which exists as different polymorphs. Isonicotinamide finds extensive use in the pharmaceutical industry because of its good anti-tubercular, anti-bacterial, anti-pyretic and…

The manufacturers of sealants typically ship their products as a powder, and contractors prepare the liquid sealcoating as it is needed to complete jobs. The mixture requires adding water, additives and sand in the correct proportions if the sealant is to perform as it should. Although some people believe that sand is merely a filler that is added to reduce the amount of dry sealant needed, nothing could be further from the truth. Sand Provides Important Safety Features Sealcoating without…

The crystal size is also affected by the rate of cooling and larger crystals were shown to be formed when fat was cooled at a slower cooling rate83. However the samples were not subjected to changes in the rate of cooling in this study. At higher temperatures (or lower supercooling conditions) due to decrease in the driving force, less crystals are formed although the crystals are larger in size as compared to those formed at lower temperatures83. At lower temperatures, due to the higher driving…

3.4. Friction Characteristics of the NCD, MCD and boron doped NCD Coatings against Alumina Balls The friction coefficient curves of NCD, MCD and boron-doped diamond films sliding with Al2O3 balls are shown in figure 4, figure 5 and figure 6, respectively, for a sliding speed of 8 m/s and a load of 1N, 5N and 10N, respectively. Figure 4 (a), figure 5 (a) and figure 6 (a) show the friction coefficient of NCD, MCD and BDNCD at 1 N, respectively. Figure 4 (b), figure 5 (b) and figure 6 (b) show…

Granite is widely known as the hardest building stone in the world. So, just why is this reliable material so strong? Today, the stone countertop experts at Rocky Mountain Granite & Marble in Webster, NY, explain what you need to know: A Sturdy Composition Granite is created when molten rock solidifies under the earth’s crust. Composed of Quartz, Mica, Feldspar, and other strong minerals, it’s only natural the product is so sturdy. In fact, quartz and feldspar are tougher than steel. The only…