Life in the Trenches Essay Example for Free

Life in the Trenches Essay Today, we were once again heavily bombarding the German lines. It was a routine thing nowadays. Some of the more experienced soldiers didnt even notice the heavy German response bombardments that were every second posing a threat to their lives. As we heard a shell landing, we heard attentively just to make sure it wasnt coming direct on us and then, the colossal roar burst from the ground. Life here was getting rather monotonous, always the same routine, four days on the frontline then four days behind lines and then the same thing the following week or so. It wasnt what the papers said up in England, they were written to hide the truth of the massacring that occurred at the battle of the Sommes for one example. Hundreds and thousands of corps lay motionless on the ground. General Haig believed that with heavy bombardments we could break through their lines. He was mistaken. Men were crushed by the machine-gun fire as if dry leaves and they lay there, untouched, rotting away in the muddy earth which emitted an incredibly pungent smell. The mud made it almost impossible to live in these trenches. The water was right up to my knees and there was nothing I could do about it. A lot of my comrades managed to get trench foot which was a disease which made your feet rot due to the fact that they remained submerged for hours if not days. Life was incredibly tough in the trenches, nothing like I had imagined it to be. I thought Id come back as a war hero but from the English articles we read, it seemed to me as if none of our letters had been dispatched or if they had been intercepted in some way, to not allow our families know the real truth. They are made to believe that all is well and that the heroes that saved the French are close to victory. This was not true. Although General Haig did believe he made some progress today, it was nowhere near what we had hopes. The Germans knew about the attack and had built very effective means to defend themselves. They had built dig outs that were up to 12 metres deep underground. This was to protect from any sort of shell attack that the English and the French had. They also had very effective barbed wire that the English didnt completely manage to destroy before the 200,000 men were sent over the top on a suicide mission. The weather was also very unpredictable some days it would be boiling hot and we would die of thirst waiting for something remotely interesting to happen and other times, we would fear for our lives when we could hear a shell whistling like a train in a tunnel, at which point, we would sink our head right into the mud and not rise until we heard a relatively near explosion. The dig-outs were a good initiative seeing as it has always been a fact that the best way to absorb shell shock is with earth. We heard that some of the accommodations for officers were rather nice in the dig-outs. They were full complete with a bed, a pump, and sometimes even some different food that they manage to bring along with them and place it in the cupboards. Everyday, there was fear of the new methods that the Germans had developed of attacking us. There was late news that gas attack was in use. Now it was regulation that we had to carry a mask with us at all times otherwise we could be gassed with new inventions such as the mustard gas which apparently burned right through your skin and you suffered a horrible and painful death. We were all worried about this new gas. We didnt know what it actually smelt like. Apparently, it had a pungent smell hence the name, mustard gas but most of my fellow soldiers feel that they would fall into panic if a gas attack was to take place One of the very few things which I feel is very positive about the whole trench warfare is the comradeship. I had made some pals that would risk their lives if it would mean saving mine. I had never experienced such a feeling until I came to the trenches. It was truly unique. Knowing that you would have to live with these people twenty four hours a day, seven days a week was a way of knowing that somebody would always be there for you. You would seriously bond with someone and would do anything to accomplish the promise you made them. This was particularly moving when one of your closest comrades dies in action and you feel you should have died with him or for him. The danger in the trenches was as dangerous on the front line as to get there. We would be exposed to heavy artillery fire in these measly little trenches that compared to the front line looked as if they were built for dwarves. When our men died, we buried them behind the trenches. It was a petty funeral, no service no nothing, just whoever wanted to attend to dig up a ditch and place his friends in there to rest in piece. It was up to you if you wanted to help seeing as there was always the chance of a stray bullet or a sniper hitting you as you were working. Most were left to rot. After a while, the trenches, with the wet weather deteriorated. There was no more a 4 thick bullet-proof parapet to save your life; the walls of the trench had collapsed to make the trench into a mud bath with water which was to reach your knees. During the wet weather it was truly disgusting. Overall life in the trenches is pretty gross and unhygienic although, some officers did get treated rather well and the food that the English were given which was usually bully beef and jam was of a much higher quality than any other front line army. Diseases spread and people suffer of lack of sleep without forgetting the fact that everyone was homesick and wishing to see their families so basically, apart from making good friends and fighting for your country, the trenches must have been a rather appalling experience.

enzemes potato hydrogen peroxide :: essays research papers

How the concentration of enzymes controls the breakdown of Hydrogen Peroxide? Aim- We are investigating the effect of changing the concentration of the enzyme catalase has on the rate of breaking down of Hydrogen Peroxide. Background Info- This experiment will involve some soft potato. Potato has a very high enzyme count, that ¡Ã‚ ¦s why we use it in this experiment. This enzyme is called catalase. It is used in our body to break down food and other things that we might digest. A catalase speeds up the rate of reactions. The enzymes are all protean molecules. We will also use Hydrogen Peroxide and washing up liquid. The catalase breaks down the Hydrogen Peroxide into oxygen and water. The more vigorous the reaction the more froth that it creates. The reaction in the experiment: Hydrogen peroxide „ ³ oxygen + water 2H2O2 „ ³ O2 + H2O The enzyme can be used around the body to help chemical reactions, it speeds them up! The enzyme breaks up larger molecules into smaller pieces. This is how the enzymes work below I have described some of the things that can affect how well it works. Fair test/ Factors- Temp- This can affect the movement of the particles. The higher the temp the faster the particles will move and the more collisions. If the temp of the Hydrogen Peroxide is too low the experiment will fail! High Temp- It gives them more energy so they move faster this means that they are likely to connect the substrate and the active site. The high temp also gives the particles kinetic energy. This means that the Hydrogen Peroxide will be broken down quicker. Best Temp- This is the hottest the enzyme can be heated without the active site changing (denaturing). If the active site changes then the reaction will no longer work. From our preliminary test we found out that the optimum temp is 25oc this is around room temp. PH- All enzymes have an optimum PH, the wrong PH can cause denaturing. The Ph can ¡Ã‚ ¦t be too acid or alkaline so keep it as near to 7 as possible. If the enzyme denatures then it is no use for breaking down the Hydrogen Peroxide. Concentration of H2O2- The higher the concentration the more collisions with the active site. This means there is an increased rate of reaction. Creating more froth so the concentration will have to be the same for each of the test tubes.

Book Report: The Obsidian Blade Essay

I picked this book because it had the coolest cover of all the books on the list. I know you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but I have found that books that do not have cool covers are often quite boring. Like one of the other books just had writing on the cover which guarantees extreme boringness in my opinion. This book is about round circles in the air called diskos that people go through and end up in weird places like on top of a pyramid with priests that stab you in the heart or inside of a whale. It is quite violent at times, which is good because some of the in between parts are kind of boring, but not boring enough to stop reading completely, just boring like waiting for a bus that is late and you’re really bored but also kind of anxious because you really want the bus to show up. The main character is Tucker Flay, and his motivation is mostly that he wants to find his parents who went through this hole. Also, he is trying not to get killed or turned into a zombie. Then this biker guy lives in a black barn and burns off his mustache, and a lot of other stuff happens which is even weirder, like one part where a giant worm starts eating people, and the part where Tucker’s mom goes crazy because she’s addicted to Sudoku. There are no themes, just weird things happening, so I guess the main theme is just weirdness. Mostly, this was an okay book except for the boring parts and the ending which I didn’t get at all. I would recommend it to anyone who likes weird boring books that kind of leave you hanging at the end wondering what just happened.

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