The Green Mile Term Paper

The Green Mile Research Paper

The film "The Green Mile" is an adapted screenplay that was written by Frank Darabont and is based on the novel by Stephen King. It was released in December of 1999 and has a lot of leading actors and actresses. These include Tom Hanks, Michael Clarke Duncan, David Morse, Sam Rockwell, Bonnie Hunt and James Cromwell. The movie used various techniques throughout it. Some of these techniques include the camera shots, the music, the sound and the special effects. These techniques were used to create empathy for John Coffey, but also to sustain interest in it.

The story takes place at a Louisiana Penitentiary, which is nicknamed The Green Mile because of the color of the faded limestone that makes up the floor. Paul Edgecombe, which is played by Tom Hanks, is the head prison guard at the Penitentiary and is in charge of four other guards. During this time he is suffering from a painful bladder infection. Although things change when he meets a man named John Coffey, which is played by Michael Clarke Duncan. He is a large man with a muscular build and looks like the kind of guy you'd find in a boxing ring, but we discover that he is quite harmless and surprisingly scared of the dark. John has been convinced of raping and murdering two young girls, but Paul doesn't believe the conviction. He doesn't believe a man that does things such as curing his bladder infection would do a thing like that.

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During the movie extreme close ups are used. They are used in the movie to attract the viewer's attention and to highlight something important. An example of this is during the first. There was an extreme close up of Pauls as an old man getting ready to retell a story, which happened a very long time ago, it really allows the viewers to watch the man's facial expressions. Another example is when John and Paul shook hands. The camera zoomed in on this and this suggested a possible future friendship and respect for each.

Dialogue is used in the movie to explain situations or emphasize certain things. Examples of this are during the start of the when the guard describes the truck how the trucks rear axle is bending and also when he warns the guards of John Coffey's tremendous size. Another example is when John Coffey is speaking with great respect towards the. The dialogue can also be used to get an idea of what kind of a person the character is by what they say and how they say it.

During the movie many different camera angles are used. The idea of this is to make people feel a certain way or to emphasize things. An example is the shot of Coffey's feet. This is done so that it builds suspense and the audience is unable to look away until Coffey's face is shown. The next example is from the height of Coffey's chest. The effect is once again to emphasize his enormous size. Next is a shot up from the handcuffs and the camera pans up to zoom in on Coffey's face. This shows us the feelings that John was experiencing while he was entering death row.

The acting of the character also determines how the audience interprets the character. The acting of Michael Clarke Duncan makes his character seem like he is a gentle and fearful person. This would make the audience feel sorry for John Coffee even though he has been convicted of rape and murder.

Camera zooms are used in movies to show the audience anything important or significant. An example of this is when the camera zooms in on Coffey's face as he says, "I tried to take it back". It shows the emotions on Coffey's face at this moment, but also highlights a scene that is important to the storyline.

Editing is used in the movie to make the audience to feel a certain way at a time, but also to get the desired impact on the audience. One of the editing techniques is flashbacks and these are used a few times during the movie. They are used to flashback to the time when Coffey is caught with the two little girls in his arms. It lets us see what really happened when he was caught and wether or not he was guilty of the crimes he was convicted of. In the flashbacks sound is used very commonly to build suspense. In the flashback of Coffey's crime the music being playing, dogs bark and the two girls screamed dogs and the screaming of the girls all added to the tension and suspense in what was going to happen next. It is also used later on to show his true innocence.

The use of special effects adds greater viewing pleasure for the audience letting them see very remarkable acts of detail. An example of this is when Coffey cured Edgecombe from his bladder infection. He placed his hands over Edgecombe's organ and immediately his hands began to glow miraculously. After sucking the disease from Edgecombe's body it entered his and after a few seconds later Coffey spat it out into the air showing us the millions of tiny particles escaping his body.

The Mis en scene of "The Green Mile" is very convincing and looks very realistic. The use of an old prison in the movie brings out the realism of the movie making the audience believe what they are seeing to be true. All other details contributed to the believability of the film including the cars, uniform, homes, music etc. This was because they were from the 1930's, the year the movie was set in. The frequent series of executions is used to build up the effect of how unbearable the pain really is and makes us feel sorry for Coffey as he progresses through the line of death row. The song "I can't give you anything but love" sung by Billie Holiday are finally making love once again after the curing of his bladder infection. The song suggests that Paul has been waiting for this moment for a very long time and truly loves his wife very much.

The techniques used in the film "The Green Mile" are all used to create empathy for John Coffee and sustain interest in the story. Techniques such as close up and camera angles are used to attract the viewer's attention and also show us many shots and views of the different characters. All of these techniques contributed into portraying the character of John Coffey and add empathy and understanding in the role he was playing as an innocent character.

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The Heimlich Maneuver Essay

Performing the Heimlich Maneuver, on someone who is choking, is fairly easy. There are three simple steps that you need to follow. If each step is followed correctly, you will have no problem saving a choking victim's life.

Before you begin, you must recognize that the person is actually choking. If they are coughing or gasping, then air is still able to pass through. Therefore, performing this maneuver could actually do more harm.

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Someone who is choking will not be able to speak or breathe. They will be fighting for air to get through. This is when the Heimlich Maneuver should be administered.

First, you want to wrap your arms around the choking victim's waist. Do not worry about getting so close to a stranger. You are trying to save this stranger's life! If the victim is unconscious, you have to place them on their back and kneel across their hips. Positioning a victim that has fallen unconscious is very important. They must always be placed on their back this way you can work on them. Do not worry about the object getting stuck even further down the person's throat. The way the action is performed will not allow the object to get lodged any further. It will be forced up and out.

Next, is the positioning of your hands on the individual. You have to make a fist and place the thumb side of it right under their ribcage against their abdomen. For the unconscious victim, you must put one hand on top of the other and place the heel of your bottom hand right below the rib cage.

It is important to follow this next step correctly so you do not harm the person choking. After you have positioned your hands correctly, you must use your weight to press into the victim's upper abdomen with quick upward thrusts. This step applies for a victim that is standing as well as one who is unconscious, lying on the floor. You must repeat this step until the object is expelled.

By following these basic steps, you will have no problem assisting someone who is choking. Not only will you be able to perform this maneuver but you will have the satisfaction of knowing if such a situation arose, you could handle it. There are no words that can describe the feeling you get knowing you have the knowledge and ability to save someone's life.

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Why Do They Hate Us? Essay

One main reason Arabs and Muslims feel hatred towards America is because "Washington abandoned the Muslims at the end of the war in Afghanistan, and sought to disarm and disperse them" (Peter Ford p.104). In the words of the Holy Prophet it is said that, "all Muslims are like one body, and if one part of the body gets injured, then all parts feel that pain. If one Muslim is injured by non-Muslims in Afghanistan, it is the duty of all Muslims of the world to help him." Muslims are frustrated with the double standards of the US. The US provides Israel with $3 billion a year for military and economic aid, which Israel uses against Palestinians. Israeli soldiers are seen shooting at Palestinian youth, their tanks are plowing through Palestinian homes, and their helicopters are rocketing Palestinian streets. And the US is being seen as the bad guys for providing the weapons and not doing anything to stop innocent victims from being killed.

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Palestinians want the US to hear their interests equally compared to the Israeli people. Palestinians are also branded as terrorist when they take self defense against the Israeli people, while the US does nothing about the unjust attacks made by Israel.

The Palestinians are being treated like criminals in their own county. Atallah says, "An American or a Canadian or a European can just walk into Palestine but I can't without permission from the Israeli government." They are being bullied by the US and Israel in all these ways. During a US air raid over Libya, the Ghussein family lost a daughter when a missile crashed into their house. When the case for the civilian deaths during the air raid was brought to Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson he dismissed the suit and called it a "frivolous" case. Where is the justice for these people? All they can feel is humiliation and despair. Muslims are going to fight as long as they are being threatened by the US and Israel so their needs to be a truss of some kind.

Sheikh Abu Hamza says that, "motivation is everywhere", talking about the assault on New York and Washington. When the President puts Americans first in every situation or when the US does not honor its missile treaty with Russia this causes hatred towards the US because they cannot be trusted and they seem unfair. So all the countries the have been touched by these matters can't help but feel a contradiction about the September 11th attack because it give the US a taste of what these other countries have been feeling for a long time.

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Term Paper on Scott

I have never been told this story in its entirety, however from what I have been told I have been able to piece together my own version of the tale. The story serves as a message for me even if its original intent was not that. It is my reasoning for never doing drugs.

Scott is the name of my eldest uncle on my mom's side of the family. He was always the type of kid who would always be the smartest in the class; however he was also always the trouble maker of the class. He excelled in many areas of his life from a very early age; he was a straight A student and an excellent soccer player. However by the time he reached high school his misbehavior was beginning to overshadow his academic and athletic abilities.

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One day when the teacher was late for class he and two of his friends dismantled the teachers chair so that it was only very loosely held together. When she entered the room she immediately sat on the chair and came crashing to the floor. Another time he picked the teacher up and hung her on the coat rack, he feet dangling in midair. It's not surprising with his behavior that by the age of 16 he was no longer in school. Instead he was out getting drunk and experimenting with different drugs. He lost all opportunities he had to turn professional in soccer. Before he turned 18 he was an official alcoholic attending meetings whenever sober enough to do so. It is around this point when Scott just disappears with out a trace, no one knows where he is or if he is even alive. Until he periodically pops out of the woodwork every so many years looking for money to satisfy is addictions. In his early twenties he is deported from 3 different countries before being sent home to Britain and loosing his right to a passport.

Up until now this story would probably have very little effect on my life seeing that I have only been in the same room with my once, which at that time I was not even a year old. But in the winter of 2000 my grandma became very sick, the family knew that she had very little time to live and all relatives began coming home from all over the world to see her for what would be the last time. Around this time Scott emerged once again, my uncle Allan who had traveled home from Australia informed him on my Grandma's condition. He sounded drugged my Uncle told us, however he promised Allan that he would come to see her. Everyday my Grandma sat by the window hoping and waiting on Scott to come home to see her. Months passed and he never came and eventually my Grandma passed away without ever seeing Scott again. Almost six months after the funeral was over, my Grandpa received a visit from Scott and his daughter no one knew about. He had absolutely no idea what had happened he even had no idea that my grandma was even sick. So because of all the drugs he never got the chance to say goodbye to someone he had only seen a handful of times since he became an adult.

Despite never been directly told this story the puzzle I have pieced together stands perhaps any story I could have ever been told. The fact that drugs can take over someone's life the way they did Scott's is my reason for never touching them. I never want to loose more than half my life and everything that is important to me over something so insignificant.

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Renaissance in Europe Term Paper

Renaissance in Europe Research Paper

As civilizations began to blossom across the world the civilizations began to remove themselves from being referred to as others. They began to fade away from resembling other civilizations. Each one brought it's own unique form of great achievement to society. As we remember these societies today we most greatly remember the lasting impressions that their distinctive achievements in sculpture, architecture, and painting gave to the world.

As you look at China under the Song dynasty it is evident that painting was at it's highest excellence. The Song usually painted beautiful landscapes that could capture emotion and the very excellence of a mysterious tree. The Song really used light to show the reality that often lies hidden beyond a world of doubt. The Song dynasty often set the bar for artists to follow in the future. This helped even famous renaissance artists to excel at the job that they do best.

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It is evident how the past greatly influenced the present in the form of the great Renaissance in Europe. With the help of past work and other great achievements in building design and structure work the greatest achievement of the Renaissance is it's grand work in the artistic field.

The most long-lived achievements of the Renaissance in Europe were made in the realm of art. Artists of this time period, before 1494, were very influential in the way that artists across the world think today about the structure of line and the grace that a natural painting can have.

During the 15th century painters like Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo experimented with this new artistic event called painting. "Da Vinci experimented with the laws of linear perspective, and variations of light and shade that were used to perfect his work," (video: 12/16). Also different approaches like studying anatomy and proportions of a human body, using oil, and overall making corrections on the canvas helped to improve the importance that painting eventually made throughout the world.

These men were great achievers during the Renaissance and later became known as two of the world's greatest artists who have ever lived.

A second great achievement of the Renaissance in Europe was the architecture used to construct many of the buildings that are still standing today. The roots of architecture are bound to the past. The architects used building plans from Romanesque churches to held conform the style of structure that they are trying to build. Overall the general ideal behind all of the architecture that was built during this time period was to emphasize harmony and a common social structure.

Lastly a third great achievement of the European Renaissance was sculpture. "Certainly the greatest sculptor of the Italian Renaissance indeed, probably the greatest sculptor of all time was Michelangelo." He was a inspired man willing to work hard to achieve great success. His sculptures could expressively show the beauty of the human body and elaborate on the stylistic manners of the human. He was such an achievement to the Renaissance because he set a standard to which all other sculptures to this day are compared.

It is evident that the before and around the 15th century many great achievements were made. With the help of great artists like Da Vinci and Michelangelo the lasting impressions that their work had put on the world will never be forgotten nor put to rest.

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North Korea Nuclear Program Crisis Research Paper

This paper focuses on the event of the nuclear weapons program crisis in the East Asia realm and its effects on the regions from near and far. I am only going to focuses on a couple of countries in that region for simplicity. China (The People's Republic of China), the superpower to the west; Japan, the superpower of the east, North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea); South Korea, the bottom half of the Korean Peninsula, as well as the U.S. involvement in the nuclear weapons program.

North Korea's nuclear program based in Yongbyon continues to build upon a growing arsenal that threatens U.S. cities and other countries. On several fronts, the U.S. is making efforts to control the spread of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons-- the weapons of mass destruction. All of this comes in the wake of the U.S. confronting officials in Pyongyang with U.S. evidence of the secret uranium project, which violated the 1994 Agreed Framework international agreements.

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The Clinton Administration's 1994 Agreed Framework allegedly froze North Korea's nuclear weapons program in return for low-cost oil and two atomic reactors to produce electricity. "In the deal North Korea was to end all efforts to enrich plutonium for weapons and open its facilities to international oversight"(Hoagland 2003). The U.S. insisted that North Korea began cheating on the agreement almost as soon as the ink was dry. It was also critical of provisions that had U.S. taxpayers financing the supply of fuel oil for North Korea in return for its agreement to freeze, but not dismantle, the program. Months after signing of the deal, North Korea managed to cut a deal with Pakistan to trade missile technology, and began a secret uranium processing facility near the Chinese border. There was not enough evidence of this at the end of the Clinton Administration for action to be taken. Over the next couple of years, the Bush Jr. Administration continued to compile evidence of the broken agreement, and in late October of 2002 the U.S. confronted officials in Pyongyang with U.S. evidence. North Korea admitted it was pursuing the program and would continue until they got the non-aggression pact from the United States. Bush put the squeeze on North Korea by cutting off the U.S.-supplied fuel oil. North Korea responded by restarting the plant, previously frozen, that fabricates weapons fuel project to generate electricity, worth $4.6 billion, which was largely financed by South Korea and Japan. It also announced that it would re-start the plutonium processing plant, as well as withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

As with all the evil empires that fell before, North Korea buys time to survive an economic gamble of extorting huge flows of international aid by constantly threatening to expand its nuclear and missile arsenals. The hard-nosed do-it-alone cowboy President Bush pulled another trick out of his hat by employing the six nation talks. The six-nation talks- include North Korea, South Korea, China, Japan, Russia, and the United States. The goal of the six nations talks is to discuss the nuclear crisis situation further with North Korea, but North Korea wanted to discuss nothing further. Instead it threatened to keep and strengthen its "nuclear deterrent force" by reprocessing spent fuel rods with chemicals to yield enough plutonium to make a dozen more nuclear weapons. The U.S., along with members of the six-nation talks are trying to get North Korea to surrender its nuclear programs, but according to the Associated Press, North Korea says "it will only do so if the United States signs a non-aggression treaty, as well as provide economic aid and open diplomatic ties before it can feel safe enough to dismantle its program." Bush said he would strike no bargain unless the North Korea scrapped its nukes first.

There is no reason to doubt that North Korea feels threatened - in general by its own weakness and isolation, and in particular by a Bush Administration which calls it names ("axis of evil"), has a declared doctrine of dismantling any acts of terror, and has shown in Afghanistan that it means business. Hence it seems logical to Kim Jong-Il to assemble a vast arsenal, by fair means or foul, to ensure he avoids the fate like that of the Taliban or Saddam Hussein. Equally, North Korea is desperately short of resources and has no other chips to bargain with to contain the U.S. threat or to win the much needed economic assistance and aid.

North Korea's government is ruled by a one-man dictatorship, Kim Jong Il, who is in his second reign and oversees the country's 1.1 million armed forces- the world's fifth largest military. "North Korea is already one of the poorest places on Earth. The government not only starves their people, but also puts them to work as slave laborers in concentration camps" (Max Boot, 2003). The government depends on funding from its export of legal goods and illicit ones such as drugs, missiles, and counterfeit currency. This income is supplemented by foreign aid. What little money the regime has goes to support the armed forces. Bush was quoted as forthrightly denouncing communism, tagging North Korea and Iran the "axis of evil". The key thing that will change in respect to North Korea is that there's now pressure here, in this region, from China, Japan, and South Korea.

China is the country with the closest ties to North Korea and could play a key role in dissuading Kim from his nuclear stand. China shares a border with North Korea and has a long history of propping up the country's bankrupt regime. "Today China is North Korea's biggest benefactor, providing an estimated 40% of immediate food needs and 90% of its oil," according to the Heritage Foundation, a Washington D.C.-based research institute. For China, the situation looks threatening. If North Korea has nukes, South Korea and possibly Japan will feel pressured to develop nuclear strike capabilities of their own to deter North Korea. That raises concerns to China which already shares borders with nuclear powers India, Pakistan, and Russia it faces its eastern flank armed with weapons of mass destruction-- pretty scary. To China, the greatest fear is a broken North Korea, perhaps leading to what the Bush Administration calls "regime change." A breakdown in the North Korean government could send a flood of millions of starving Koreans into the already heavily populated nation.

Japan has long since had tension with North Korea since Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan and Kim met for a landmark summit meeting a year ago in Pyongyang. Kim admitted that North Korea had abducted Japanese nationals to train as spies in the 1970s and 80s. This triggered outrage in Japan. Since then, Koizumi has suspended food aid and humanitarian assistance to the North and joined the United States in calls for an end to Pyongyang's nuclear weapons development. You can imagine North Korea did not take too this to well. "The North Korean newspaper urged Tokyo to "stop cooperating" with the United States in the interests of its own security" (French Press, 2003). The abduction issue is one of the biggest stumbling blocks to the normalization of ties between North Korea and Japan.

South Korea remains bi-partisan, not wanting to hurt its position with the U.S. or North Korea. The Korean Peninsula, which has long been a divided country and the Koreans a divided nation, is looking towards unification for the second time since the Korean War. "North and South Korea are in what geographers call regional complementarity. This condition arises when two adjacent regions compliment each other in economic-geographic terms. North Korea has raw materials that the industries of South Korea need; South Korea produces food that the North need; North Korea produces chemical fertilizers farms in the South need"(Blij, p.487).

What to do? Clinton offered fuel oil for a shutdown of North Korea's nuclear reactors, but Kim Jong Il cheated. Bush took a tougher line. Japan fears missiles and is angry over North Korean kidnappings of its citizens. South Korea wishes it would all go away, but it is opening cross-border routes despite the nuclear crisis. China and Russia are fed up with rebel Kim Jong Il, the prot of his late father Kim Il Sung, who attacked recent six-party talks in Beijing as a "stage show".

Now the fear is that North Korea may test a bomb. It's hard to see how this nuclear crisis situation could end. The U.S. is in a situation now to increase security by including other countries in talks with North Korea because our attention is still in Iraq, and to avoid another war that the U.S. cannot afford to begin. The hard line has to be drawn and followed. The Clinton administration responded with high-level negotiations, but was undermined from the time the ink dried. Maybe its time to stop negotiating with these evil empires, and make a permanent statement on the war on terrorism by taking away the things they rely on the most. The U.S. needs to make crystal clear that it will not be threatened, or taken for a joy ride on what seems like a roller-coaster of lies and deception. The U.S. gave them the opportunity with the Agreed Framework in 1994, and they proved that they never had any attention of following that pact. So why should the U.S. attempt to make new negotiations on what could be the very foundation of the North Korean government to buy more time to stock their piles of nuclear weapons? I whole- heartedly believe that the U.S. should finish the conceived idea that the Clinton Administration had on bombing the nuclear program in Yongbyon, and destroying any opportunity North Korea has to continue building the weapons of mass destruction.

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Machiavelli Research Paper

Niccolo's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli is written by Maurizio Viroli. Maurizio Viroli, a native born Italian, received a PhD in Social and Political Sciences at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, and a degree in Philosophy at the University of Bologna, Italy. He has written two other books, A Dialogue on Republican Values (2001), and Republicanism (1999). Of the three books, Niccolo's Smile has been reviewed as the greatest of the three, and the most outstanding of novels about Machiavelli. After researching what other books Maurizio Viroli wrote, I discovered that many people call Viroli "One of Italy's finest writers on the History of Ideas."

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In Niccolo's Smile, Maurizio Viroli aimed to recount the same stories that Roberto Ridolfi wrote, but to write them in a new way. Viroli tried to focus on aspects that were previously overlooked and wanted to revise accepted views of Machiavelli. Viroli mentions how fascinated he was by Machiavelli - by his political thinking and writing, but especially by the way in which he laughed about light and other people. Moreover, he wrote this book to try to understand the meaning of Machiavalli's endless smile, a smile that emerged from his letters, his works, and from certain portraits of him. Viroli's main objective in the book is to interpret in detail how Machiavelli's smile represented a great understanding of life, even deeper than his political thought. In addition to defining Machiavelli's smile, Viroli also works to analyze the overall life of Machiavelli.

Predominately, Viroli articulates how Machiavelli's smile can be used to characterize Machiavelli himself, and his life as a whole. Viroli begins the story by describing Machiavelli's upbringing. Machiavelli was born into "poverty" (6), which did not help usher him into a good job in society. Although he was poor, this background guided him, along with teachers, to form "a distinctly personal conception of life - a rich blend of generosity, enthusiasm for great deeds, intense passions, comprehension of the fagility of life, and a love of beauty that sprang in part from a deep understanding of life's harshness and human malice" (10). Viroli contines through the book giving brief histories of Florence, Machiavelli's personal life and family, Machiavelli's tragedies, and of course, politics. In general, the book is a concise and lively account of Machiavelli's life which provides the average reader with historical context and background to understand most of Machiavelli's works. It is almost like Viroli is writing more of an argument of a misunderstood legend than a plain, simple biography. Although the book is informative, at times Viroli's admiration for his charismatic subject begins to overwhelm his argument. Also, on occasions, Viroli will lose his focus of the topic, or overly comment on Machiavelli's smile. Aside from these few bothersome qualities of the book. Viroli adequately covered the material of his theme, and at times he over wrote about it. The book was written in a very scholarly manner.

The strengths of the book are rely on how Viroli compiled the book. Viroli's writing, unlike others, presents the full Machiavelli, not just the cynical philosopher of politics as excerpts in the Viroli's book contained. In the book he included enough information the give the reader a sense of awareness of early Europe and Machiavelli, which this knowledge in turn could be used to understand many of Machiavelli's own works. The story also does have an undeniable charm and wit to itThese are the only strengths of the book. There are quite a few weaknesses, including all of the annoyances that were described above; how Viroli overwhelmed his argument because of his zeal for the subject, or how he over-explained Machiavelli's smile. I would review the book as flat, unemotional and strangely hard to follow. Italian names are hard to pronounce in the English language and the story does not flow well. The story jumps around making parts unclear. It would have been very helpful if there were a glossary of prominent characters and events. All in all, I think it was an informative book, but the smile business was overdone, and I would have preferred to hear more about Machiavelli's frown. The book was a frustrating read, but I expected that. I loved Machiavelli's motto "It is better to act and repent than not to act and regret" that he repeated to his friends.

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