Reflection

As a computer programmer this game design class is totally different class. In my other classes I have to code and read the chapters from the book. On the other hand, this game design class is fun, interesting and learn many new creative applications.

Fun in a way because we have game sessions in the class where we can participate and learn new games that are completely new. For example, I have played games like Loneliness, Dating Sim, play it again and many more which are completely opposite to each other. Each game has their own mechanics, aesthetics and dynamics.

Interesting in a way because I never get bored during my class session. Each meetings we have some amazing videos that provide us the in-depth of the gaming world. Especially, the "extra credits" video that explain the importance, definition, and all the criteria that is required for the cool game designing. Also, we did the marshmallow challenge and also designed the paper prototypes for developing a board game.

Finally, I have designed a simple game by using game maker. Above image is the initial screen of the game that I have designed using game maker. The only problem that I had faced during this game designing is that I am the only person who is the artist as well as programmer of the game. Therefore, on the part of art side I had some issues to integrate the images and all, but through the images of "rpg gamamker tile set", I have managed to designed a simple and basic structure of the game. As I talk about the mechanics of my game I have added the double jump to the player that is fun.

Overall, this small and simple game is the motivation for me to design and develop new and innovative games in future.

Ingress changes the players perspective by putting them into an alternate reality

Ingress is an augmented-reality massively multiplayer online video game (MMORPG) created by Niantic Labs, an internal Google startup (Grietsch). Planet earth is the battlefield where the two teams Enlightenment which represents the green color and the Resistance which represents the blue color as mentioned in the below image. Both the team has to play this game using portals. These portals are park, buildings, statues and anything that represent some landmark around the player. There are many interesting facts about this game:

First, we can create our own Avatar and we don't need to worry about our multiple online identity. Second, for this we always need to connect to wifi because this is not a couch potato game, but we have to move around by walking or driving to finish the tasks that has been assigned to us by the Agents. Third, we can create a virtual adventure around us where we explore the new landmarks and interact with completely strange people.

Finally, this game has helped to make person more active. If I am talking about myself then the life of a Computer Programmer is to sitting at one place and punches the keys of keyboard with multiple lines of code. This is a stressful job to do. Therefore, by connecting this game helps me to explore the world surrounds me with fun create a user friendly environment.

Works Cited:

Greitsch, P. What is Ingress and Why People Play it. Retrieved From: http://trendblog.net/what-is-ingress-and-why-people-play-it/

Ingress: Augmented Reality-Game on Google. Retrieved From: http://www.androidnext.de/ingress/

Game Design

This is my game design document for the final project in the class.

Description

In this game you control a human character going through many obstacles during the level.  It may be placed in a ruined city. The goal is to reach the end of the level.

Game objects

The background is going to be grey. The player has the ability to jump. There will be some obstacles they will have to get by. There are spikes, doors and moving objects. There are walls the player can slide down or jump from point to point.

Sounds

There is light background music.

Controls

The player controls the game with arrow keys for jump.

Game Flow

The player is put in the game and is given endless lives. There will only one level but the player but player know how much time it will take to finish level. Also, in the gamer there are bonus points that player has to collect.

Levels

There is just one level. Once you reach the end then you win.

I have finished the first level of mechanics in the game. I need to add music, little bit changes in the background as design perspective, add some more bonus points, add score board for points. Finally, add the room 1 for start and other instructions for the Player to play the game.

First step towards Game Design in Game Maker

The game design of a game "Out of Site!" is a creation of our team(Vaishali and Melvin) imagination with the help of Game maker as a tool to implement the partial part of the project. Initially, as a programmer/producer I was not able to understand how to implement a simple character and wall design that has been provided by my designer/artist in a .jpg file. But, the tutorial that has been provided by the Professor has helped me to understand the basic definition of Sprite. I have splitter the image in different small images and through Sprite I have imported the character and other images for the wall as a ratio of 32*32 pixels. After that I have created multiple objects for the corresponding sprites in the game. Later on I have created a room using wall objects by incorporating the design that has been given by my designer.

Simultaneously, I have added my character object in the room. After that I went back to the object folder where I have added the events in the character object. These events provide the motion to a object in a particular way such as: left, right, up, down, collision and soon. This was the very basic I have created and then I me and my designer have tested the game.

The only problem right now I am facing in this design is to find a good music and create the next level with different options. I am also looking for the suggestions that will help me to improve my design for the final game prototype.

In conclusion, the game is simple to collect all the coins then the end door will open and the player win the game.

Game Link: OutOfSite!

Digital Gam Lab

The most important thing about the game development is before design a game a designer has to play different games to understand the basic mechanics which are helpful to the designer. It was an excellent experience to play some new games with the class partner and then try to find out the mechanics behind those games. This helps a designer to learn the definition and the implementation in the new design and development of the game. I have played the following five games with Abigal during the lab session:

1. This is the only level: The goal of the game is to finish a level and move forward to the next level.
2. Jurassic Heart: This is a dating sim. The mechanic behind this game to click on a decision as the story moves forward. This the way of expressing love through textual representation. The user has to click on the options and on those selection the story normally ends or progress throughout out the game.
3. You Have to Burn the Rope: The goal is to burn the rope to kill a boss to finish the game. The mechanics behind the game is starts with to move a player with arrow keys and the player has to read the text, those texts are working as a guidance to the player in the game. Also, player has to use the torch to burn the rope for that he/she has to jump on the walls. This was the simple game with the combination of text and video which are helpful for the player.
4. Dys4ia: The game is about the hormone replacement therapy and gender identity disorder which translates the experiences of the game designer. The mechanics behind the game is that time constraint from moving one screen to the another screen which is limited. It has the four levels which tells a story(narrative) about there experiences thought her life with lots of emotions in them.
5. Qwop: This was the hardest game to figure out how to move an athlete who is the runner trying to run a race. This was the frustrating game for me because we have a short amount of time and it was required a lot of amount of patience throughout the entire game. Regarding the mechanics we have to use letters O for foot, P and W for moving the legs simultaneously. I have tried so many times with these keys, but the player was keep falling down. Therefore, in my opinion this is not easiest game to play.

From this list the most interesting game that I found out was "This is the only Level". First, game mechanics of this game is very simple by using simple visual through geometric shapes like squad, rectangle, circle and soon. Also, design is same except the color keep changes in each stage. Second, throughout the game there are arrow keys used to go reverse and forward,  and also the mouse and shift key also required for some stages. Third, the main goal of the game is to take an elephant to the next stage without falling him on the blue color of spikes. Third, there are no penalties throughout the game suppose if a player drop an elephant on the spike. Finally, the only hard part of the game is to figure out which key is going to be use for the each stage, but by trial and error one can figure out easily to move forward. Therefore, this is the most interesting game to play.

Refference

Play this one!: http://armorgames.com/play/4309/this-is-the-only-level

Work Cited

Brendan, G. (2013, November 11). This is the Only Level Title. Retrieved from http://beerandjoysticks.com/this-is-the-only-level/#axzz3FNsf5YEW

Design and Analysis of my first Game Prototype

I am a new comer towards this fascinating and interesting gaming industry. Game designing is combination of aesthetics, mechanics and dynamics. To learn those a designer has to implement those by developing prototypes. Therefore, it was a very enthusiastic moment for me when the professor has mentioned that group of two students have to design a paper prototype for the game by using a simple concept of finish to start game. We have to do three sessions for our designed game prototype to analyze and improvise it.

Session 1: In the first session, we begin with a simple design of our game by drawing some sketches on the paper. Then we starts writing the rules by using a mechanics of dice rolling. According to board game geek website, "Dice rolling is a game by itself see Yahtzee or Craps but as a game mechanic dice rolling in a game can be used for many things, randomness being the most obvious. Dice can also be used as counters; start at 6 (for a normal die: singular for dice) and turn it to 5 at the end of a round, single player's turn etc." The main target of our game was to cross the border and captures the other person; by reaching opponent's begin point. We were not able to play the game in the first session because of the time constraints.

Session 2: In this session, I started integrating rules for the game and come up with the name of the game. I named it "Who Capture B?", B denotes

the begin point of opponents team. I also added all the points in the game. After this improved I played the game with the another team mate from the class. Though in the image the yellow sticky are rules that we designed fro the game. We uses the mechanic of "Point to Point Movement", where when a player roll a dice the token move from one point to another which depend on the number of roll in the dice. We played couple of times and then we were changing the rule list if we were stuck at one loop again and again.

Session 3: This was the last session that I have played with my family members. During the game there are many questions arose by them regarding the rules. These questions have helped me to

improve the rules. For example, in my design there is palace called Volcano and when the player come there he/she has to wait for the magic number 6 to move forward. But it was trial error thing. Therefore, from their suggestions I have updated that rule to if someone get ">=3" for more then twice in two chances then  they get a treat to move two steps ahead in the game. This mechanic is known as "Press your Luck", where one can repeat an action on certain constraints that has been designed by the game developer.

In conclusion, these three sessions are the best way of design the game and they help me to come up with new ideas toward the game designing. Also, the inputs from other user has enhanced my approach of designing the rules in this particular game.


Resource:

BoardGameGeek | Gaming Unplugged Since 2000. (n.d.). Retrieved September 29, 2014, from http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamemechanic/

Session report on the game-play

We were a group of 10 students in the class were assigned to play any of the board games or card games. We have picked a game called sequence, it was originated in Minneapolis by Douglas Reuter. Sequence is the game of cards, poker chips and a board with printed cards on it. Before we start to play the game, we have a question in our minds that "how 10 players can play this board game?". Therefore, the booklet of rules in the game box has saved our day and by following the instructions of that tiny little booklet we have started our game.

First Step: We were divided into group of three teams. Each team member of teams has three cards in their hands, a bag of red, blue and green poker chips and a deck of extra cards were placed on the table.

Second Step: Each player has to decide a card from their hands that he/she wants to put on the board. For example, if a player wants to put the "hearts of 4" on the board and a player has red poker chip then he/she has to place  the poker chip on the board and the card in front of the board. After that the player has to pick another card from the deck of cards, so the player has again 3 cards in the hands. This is the simple procedure of playing this game.

Final Step: We have less amount of time therefore, we all have decided to go with the rule of whichever team will first place the 5 poker chips in a row horizontally/vertically/diagonally on the board will win the game. Above  image represents that red team has placed the five poker chips, both horizontally and diagonally on the board. Also, here is the detailed link of the rules of the game can be found on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequence_(game).

One thing that I have learned through this session that it is better to read the instructions manual though they are not found that much interesting, but they always help us to know more about the game-play.

Here is the link if someone is interested in buying the sequence game: http://www.amazon.com/Jax-8002-Sequence-Game/dp/B00000IVAK/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1410369869&sr=8-3&keywords=sequence+jumbo+board+game.

Beginning towards gaming industry

Games are very popular from the ancient age. They helps us to build our physical as well as mental condition strong by applying various imagination to the game. Yesterday in class when professor has assigned our group a Marshmallow challenge then I had a question in my mind that how one can play a game with marshmallow. We have to build a tallest
tower from spaghetti, thread, tape and on top we have to put marshmallow. The only thing comes to my mind that if a base is strong then any size of tower can stand for a long time and for that we have to build the pillars that provides a strong support to the marshmallow which will be on top of the tower. With the help of our team we built a tower and it was on the table for more than 3 minutes. It was an amazing thing that I have done with the the help of the team members whom I hardly even know. The one thing that I have learned from this challenge that game always connect people.

Can “Artificial Intelligence” replace Humans?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the science and engineering of making intellectual machines, mainly intelligent computer programs. It is the way of using computers to understand human intelligence. Intelligence requires mechanism and artificial research has revealed exactly how to create computers and carry out some of them and others. The term artificial intelligence was first created in 1956, at the Dartmouth conference, and since then it has been extended for the reason of the theories and principles developed by its enthusiastic researchers. The aim of AI’s is to design computer software’s that can resolve any problems and accomplish the goals that are desired by the humans. In the era of industrialization, it is a step beyond mechanization. Artificial intelligence is everywhere many times we don’t even notice it. It is present in combat zone, industries, hospitals, computers and our home. Artificial intelligence is swiftly changing how the world deliberates the whole thing. Artificial intelligence plays an increasingly important role in daily experiences and the world economy.

Today internet web search engines have become an invaluable resource of information and if we are not able to seek what we need quickly and efficiently, these search engines are of no use. Every individual whether he/she is a researcher, businessmen, student, or a technical group want to seek and nurture information from this World Wide Web. And believe me searching a web using search engines is a time consuming and a very complex process. In old days, if a search engine could sort and index data in appropriate format, it was useful. But with the information mounting day by day, search engines are becoming more and more intelligent. Of course, humans are learning and integrating their thinking in this computer based models. A very simple example of AI application in search engine is text processing, it automatically tend to eliminate articles (a, an, the) from a sentence there by searching on the proper keywords like computers. To make the search engines more intelligent and efficient the artificial intelligence technologies like scheduling, planning, information extraction, sorting is integrated in a search engine.

Another form of Artificial intelligence is home automation. Home automation means to control the domestic devices and other security equipments with the help of artificial intelligence in the form of technology. This becomes the part of our everyday life. Humans have always wanted to finish the work with minimum efforts and as a result of maximum outcome. Therefore, they have discovered and designed various technologies for their comfort by doing home automation. It includes dishwasher, automatic operation of sprinklers, heating and air conditioning, security systems, telephones, computers, cell phones and household appliances.  Home automation has tremendous benefits for elderly people who are living alone in their homes. It is also useful for handicapped people. For example, if a physically challenged person has an effective security system installed in the house.  This small application of AIs technology helps the homeowner to remotely see the visitor via inbuilt camera and talk with them with the help of in built speakers and microphone inside the house. This security system also helps to protect the person from burglary in worst scenario, if somebody is trying to break in the house then this system alarm triggers and it immediately send alert to the security agency or cops. Therefore, we can imagine that artificial intelligence is everywhere in the form of any type of machine.

One more achievement is possible with the help of Artificial Intelligence systems is in the field of medical. The software and applications of AIs help physicians to diagnose patients, treat problems and examine their reaction to help them.  We know that AIs acting a significant role in mechanical replacements of the deteriorating body parts such as: artificial limbs and joints, eyeglasses and contact lenses, hearing aids and artificial valves. Nowadays, because of the advancement of technology in the field of medical, helps elderly people to cure their diseases. My uncle has been diagnosed with the problem of heart block; this will cause damage to his heart from a heart attack. Therefore, to control his heart’s electrical activity his cardiologist suggests him to place a pacemaker in his chest, a small device that controls the abnormal heart rhythms. He has now pacemaker in his chest and that small device makes him alive. The progress of artificial intelligence in the field of medical can help the physicians and the patients to fight against many severe diseases to its great extent. Artificial intelligence software is used by the hospital management to track the records of the patient.

On the other hand, artificial intelligence has created many applications for empowering financial transactions and equity markets. According to the book, “Artificial Intelligence”, the author, Noah Berlatsky mentions, for authorizing financial transactions the most common application is used is a neural network application. Neural networks software are designed to identify the configurations in data and calculate an output from a given facts and figures. This application is helpful for the credit card providers to predict the fraud done by somebody. Also, AIs tools are used to accelerate financial transactions with daily transactions in billions. Artificial intelligence in the field of finance sector is data-mining system which is use by banks, telephone companies, mortgage lenders and retailers. They collect the huge amount of data of a client or customer and then with the help of this AIs data-mining application all the raw data is transferred into useful information. For instance, the retailer stores are using data-mining application, it consolidates all sales details from its all the stores. This software enables the results for the store to predict the sales of each product at each store and provide the statistics with accurate output. This software is the huge achievement for the retailers to track all the information that payoff their spending.

Simultaneously, artificial intelligence has been used by many industries and the most common one is equity market. In the early 1970s, people were doing most of the equity trading manually. They do trading of the shares of a stock via brokers who met the client personally. After a period of time, automation the application of AI introduces in the field of equity. This automation has changed the whole system of trading in the equity market. With the help of electronic systems the exchanges of equity market can do the rapid calculations of price indices for different companies. The automated trading makes the work easier and faster with more error-free transmission of trade data in the equity market. Equity market is based on different types of industries for the transactions of the trade in the world.

Another form of artificial intelligence is used in the field of Automobile for manufacturing applications. It helps the industry to reduce human labor, save ample amount of time, increases the productivity and makes the impossible task to possible. Artificial intelligence software uses genetic algorithm which is programmatically defined by the user to increase the production sales at the right constraints. Many automotive companies are using these AIs based software for the process of work management and manufacture sequencing. For instance, Honda and Nissan automobile companies are using this application for the production in sequencing and coordinating manufacturing operations. They are using this in the production of manufacturing parts, customer orders, raw materials, logistics and business strategies. Artificial intelligence applications help the company to schedule the work and give the customer a fine and furnished output with best quality and in less amount of time.

In the article, “More Jobs Predicted for Machines”, the author, Steve Lohr mentions, last fall, the company Google had tested its project on a Toyota Prius car. The artificial intelligence software that they are using runs the car by themselves without any human driver. This software has the capability to sense anything near the car and imitate the decisions made by the human driver. The approach of Google in the automobile industry proves that the artificial intelligence has going to change the world of cars that was predicted in the Hollywood-style digital media.

Nowadays, artificial intelligence industry is rapidly escalating in the combat Zone. Military and many other U.S. agencies, for instance; CIA, FBI are using special types of “unnamed aerial vehicles (UAVs)” to detect the attack mission or conspiracies towards the nation, before it is going to harm the country and its people. According to the author, of the article Artificial Intelligence from CQ Researcher database, “Today, more than 12,000 ground robots are deployed” (Marshall 364). Many special types of AIs usage in wars help the military to save lives of many people who are fighting for the country. The following statistic shows the U.S. military unnamed attacks since 2004-2011:

Finally, Voice or speech recognition system and virtual personal assistant is the advance achievement of artificial intelligence in the communication world. The ability of a machine or program using AIs application to receive and interpret dictation, or to understand and carry out spoken commands is known as voice or speech recognition system. Also, the term virtual personal assistant is the software of AIs that is designed to do our different tasks by having a conversion with it. According to the article, “More Jobs Predicted for Machines”, the author, Steve Lohr mentions, the company Apple has launched its new iphone4s cell phone which is using the application named, Siri. Siri application is the combination of both voice recognition system and virtual personal assistant. This application works on a voice command to perform the tasks like search contact information of person from the database of iphone4s. On your voice command you can you’re your favorite restaurants, games, movies and weather information. This is the next generation evolution in the field of technology that uses a combination of artificial intelligence.

According to Albert Einstein, “The world we have created is a product of our thinking; it cannot be changed without changing our thinking (http://www.quotegarden.com/thinking.html).” This quote proves my point of view that artificial intelligence will gradually increases the advancement of computers to do work that require momentous guidance and edification. At the same time, progress in manufacturing AIs will continue to reduce opportunities for lower-skill workers. Specialized AIs applications will eventually approach the point where they match or exceed the average workers ability to perform many routine tasks. The majority of economist argues that artificial intelligence will increase global wealth by enhancing productivity and opening new opportunities for technology employment. On the other hand, AI machines will replace millions of workers, causing unemployment to rise and taking on financial damage.

Historically, any advancement in the field of technology whether it is related to industrialization that revolutionized agriculture or the era of the information technology (IT)  has tended to impact one service sector at that moment in time, but opens doors for the new job opportunities for many people. The impact of industrialization and information technology is extremely flexible. This can be rapidly useful and utilize universally. Nowadays, technologies providers compete and create varieties of artificial intelligence applications which become more affordable and easier for small companies. Due to the cost efficiency, AIs will eventually become competitive at lower levels and make it more efficient and advanced in the field of technology. Smart phones that remember numbers and addresses for us, smart cars that drive us to office and smart appliances that do the traditional jobs that human don’t want to. Are we becoming completely dependent on them, does their presence increases the risk to human? Well, I feel it will never replace humans but will be complementary indeed.

In conclusion, Expansion of artificial intelligence has the prospective to build the whole world extensively less labor-intensive, and opportunities to connect with the new age of technologies. According to Patrick Winston (MIT AI Lab briefing, 1997), “Today's AI is about new ways of connecting people to computers, people to knowledge, people to the physical world, and people to people.” This means that artificial intelligence is built for human comfort and leisure not to harm anyone or take over the world. Artificial intelligence is playing enormous part in today’s life and promises even more of a role in future. In other words, the answer of my question “Can artificial intelligence really replace humans” is to succeeding the race is not to fight against machines but make an effort to compete with machines.

Sibling Rivalry between Joseph and his brothers

Bible is the holy book of Christians and Koran is the book of Islam. Story of Joseph appears in both the Bible and the Koran. This story is comparable in most aspects. According to both Joseph is one of the 12 sons of Jacob. Joseph has a vision of “eleven stars and the sun and the moon all bowing to him” which he shares with his father and the brothers. Joseph has a special power of reading dreams. Joseph’s father behavior and the power of reading dreams develop the sibling rivalry between Joseph and his brothers. In reality, many sibling relationships are challenging, for the children and for the parents too. Sibling rivalry is inevitable because all human beings, especially the young children are capable of experiencing anger, jealousy and may express their feelings. Although the most important theme the sibling rivalry is explained differently in the Koran and in the Bible, but the moral values of books is the same.

According to the Koran, Jacob, the father of Joseph, knew that Joseph’s brothers would not accept the Joseph’s ability of interpreting the dream. Therefore, he tells Joseph not to share the dream with the brothers, but Joseph does mistake and he explains his dreams to his brothers.  According to brothers Joseph is showing his power on them. They feel jealous of their younger brother Joseph. This led them to the sibling rivalry. According to the brothers “Joseph and his brother are dearer to our father than ourselves, though we are many” (Sura 12. Joseph 78). This means that the brother of Joseph thinks that the father affection for Joseph is the most.

Dishonesty and cheating is the reason of conflict between Jacob and his elder sons.  The jealousy the brothers feels toward Joseph has blind their hearts, disorient their thinking and make small things seem impossible, large things seeming trivial. They come up with unbelievable plan to kill Joseph. “Truly our father is much mistaken.  Let us slay Joseph, or cast him away in some far-off land, so that we may have no rivals in our father’s love, and after that be honorable men” (Sura 12. Joseph 78). The jealousy of the brothers towards the Joseph has led them to the wrong deed of killing their own brother. But one of the brother’s suggests that rather than killing Joseph, they should drop him into a dark pit.  They think that Joseph absence would remove him from their father’s thoughts.  Therefore, they decide to implement this immoral plan. They go to Jacob, the father with a plan in their mind and ask a permission to send Joseph with them, on the alleged reason of letting him play and enjoy himself. From their first words, the father suspects betrayal and express his fear that a wolf would take Joseph.  Eventually, Jacob agrees and Joseph leave with his brothers.

They go directly to the well and without any guilt, pick up Joseph and throw him down into the dark well.  The brothers feel that a traveler would find Joseph and sell him into slavery. They put the goat’s blood on the clothes of Joseph and take that with them as an evidence to show it to their father. The brothers of Joseph know that father is going to suspect them for the Joseph’s lost. By the time they reach home it is dark and they starts crying in front of their father. They say, “We went off to compete together and left Joseph with our pack. The wolf devoured him. But you will not believe us, though we speak the truth. And they showed him their brother’s shirt, stained with false blood” (Sura 12. Joseph 78). This means that they say a lie to their father by telling him that wolf had killed the Joseph. The brothers of Joseph are confident that weeping is not a proof to hide their inevitable crime as they need a solid proof to cover up their crime. They show the clothes of Joseph stained with blood as evidence.

In the meantime the Joseph is in the well, the caravan approaches and the man from the caravan take out the Joseph from the dark pit. The caravan move to Egypt and the man sells Joseph as a slave. Just as the brothers are predict, the men of the caravan take Joseph to Egypt expecting to sell him for a good price. 

According to the Bible, one of the main reasons of Sibling rivalry is the favoritism. Sibling favoritism hurt feelings and infects the heart of a child and leads to feelings of inferiority, anger, resentment, and even bitterness. It has started because Jacob, father of Joseph, shows his favoritism to him in front of his other children.  Jacob gives a beautiful ornamented robe with long sleeves as a gift to Joseph to show his special love for him. This act of Jacob starts developing the seeds of jealousy and anger towards Joseph from his other children.

In the Bible, “When [Joseph’s] brothers saw that their father loved him more than all of his brothers, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him” (New International Version, Gen. 37.4). They all think that he is the most beloved son of the father and they are nothing to him. Joseph’s brothers jealousy develop more when Joseph tell him that he has a dream. The brothers say to him “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” (Gen. 37.8). They think that Joseph want to show us that he is the extraordinary child of the father and he has a gift to interpret the dreams. This means that he is able to predict the future by understanding the dreams.  Because of Joseph’s special power his brother thinks that the father tends to love him more than them.

Next day, the brothers go to pasture the flocks and the Father sends Joseph to keep an eye on them. The father does- not trust them, so Joseph has a job to spy his brothers and give information about them to the father.  Joseph follows them and when the brothers see him from afar they plan a conspiracy to kill him. They talk to one another, “Here comes the dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams” (Gen. 37.19). But one of the brothers named Ruben suggests that there is no need to kill him. Therefore, they rip his robe and throw him into the dark pit. The pit was empty and there is no water in it. After that they are waiting for the caravan while eating their meal to sell him. They see Ishmaelite and one of the brothers named Judah suggest selling Joseph to them. They lift up Joseph from the pit and sell him to Midianite for “twenty shekels of silver. They take Joseph to Egypt.

In the meantime Ruben go back to the pit and he look for the Joseph and he is not able to find him. Therefore, he picks up the robe of Joseph and takes it to his brothers. He tells them that he is not able to find the Joseph. The brothers take the Joseph “robe of many colors” and dip it into the goat’s blood. After that they go back to the father and show him the stained robe of many colors. Jacob recognizes it and he say, “It is my son’s robe!” (Gen. 37.33). He also says that a violent animal killed him and he is not alive. Meanwhile Joseph has been sold by Midianites in the Egypt to “Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh (king), the captain of the guard” (Gen. 37: 36).

According to both the books Koran and Bible, through Joseph's qualities and contributions he eventually rise to a position of great favor and duty; but, when Potiphar's wife, having failed in her efforts to seduce him, claims that it is Joseph who has been tried to seduce her. Joseph is being punished to go into prison. After a while in the prison Joseph interprets the Pharaoh’s both dreams as a single coming up prediction warning of the loom of seven years of abundance to be followed by seven years of deprivation. When the Pharaoh hears the interpretation of the dreams, he set Joseph free.  For this accomplishment Joseph becomes the in charge of the granaries. When famine struck, Joseph's brothers come to Egypt for food. Joseph recognizes them, but they are not able to recognize him. He asks question about their family and agrees to distribute the grains to them. After that he tells his servants to put the golden bowl in the bag of the Benjamin, his younger brother, so he can keep him there in the Egypt. One of the brothers says that I can accept the punishment on behalf of my younger brother because he is afraid that father could not live without his beloved son Benjamin.

When Joseph hears all these things he reveals his identity to his brothers and tells them to bring his father to the Egypt. He wants to reunite his family. Therefore he gives an old shirt to his brothers to cast it on his father face to become clear sighted. The brother does the same thing that Joseph tells him to do with the father to get his eyesight back. In the end the family of Jacob come together and Joseph give forgiveness to all his brothers for their sins.

In conclusion, in the Bible all the characters and moral of the story is in detail and cleared.  This means that the characters of the story are addresses by their names which enhance the clear vision to understand the text. In spite of Koran tends to concentrate more on moral or spiritual significance of the event rather than the details of the story. This is the tale of conspiracy and deception, of jealousy, pride, and passion. In other words, the story is not the bold and the beautiful. Though in the end everything get reconcile and they come together. Joseph’s story teaches an important lesson for us. It tells us the sibling rivalry makes a person mind evil and leads it to unrighteous path. Also, In the Bible Jacob’s behavior of favoritism develops the seeds of jealousy in the hearts of the brothers, which led them to do such an unpardonable crime. Therefore, I think that sibling rivalry is the most treacherous thing in the life. We should be cautious and always be equal to all kids in the family to avoid this kind of evil things in their hearts.

Power of Acceptance

In the article “On Being a Cripple”, the author, Nancy Mairs, is suffering from multiple sclerosis. She is diagnosed with this disease at an early age and it is hard for her to accept the biggest disease of her life. Through this article, Mairs illustrate twists and turns of her life because of this distressing disease. She is trying to overpower this painful disease by her strong personality and a power of acceptance.

Mairs is a strong person. She is physically sick but mentally strong. Rather than staying in bed, she wants to work and enjoy life until the death comes. She has a wonderful husband and three children. She is a technical editor and a teacher. She teaches writing courses and also educates medical student about neurological examinations. She cannot hide her disease from any unknown person. For me it is really hard to share some silly thing like spilling oil in the kitchen. But, for Mairs is not to be ashamed. She discusses openly the critical problems that she undergoes on daily basis. .

Every day is filled with numerous challenges for her. For example, in the article she mentions that when she wakes up in the morning she feels fatigue and is unable to start a day like a normal person. For each and every activity like brushing teeth, wearing clothes and taking shower, she has to put enormous amount of effort to finish. She is going through such circumstances every day. It is not at all challenging for a normal person, but the person who has such a disorder has a pretty hard time. Mairs experience reminds me of my cousin’s uncle; he was also suffering from a serious illness. However, he had a very positive attitude towards life. He told us, “He is going to fight back the disease with courage until the life ends”. He faced the truth of his life, worked hard and took care of his family instead of lying on the bed. In the article Mairs does the same things she raised a foster son and her two children. She goes to Mass every Saturday. She goes to work although she is suffering from severe pain of multiple sclerosis. I think because of her family and friends she is able to overcome her pain and live her life with strength and power.

The support of family and friends is the most precious gift for such a person’s life.  Mairs is truly blessed with this gift. Her family and friends are a backbone of her life. They always encourage and help her in the work. In the article, Mairs provide many examples her children and husband help her in cleaning the house; her colleagues and students are try to overcome her burden by sharing the work. Also, every person who knows Mairs accommodates her need that helps Mairs to accumulate the power to accept the catastrophe of her life.

Mairs has a great power of acceptance to adapt to devastating disease. Initially, when doctor has told her that she is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, she does-not want to believe it. As a reader if I put myself in her shoe then I might have reacted in the similar way. She does not want to lay on a bed the rest of her life and blame someone else for her condition. Therefore, I think, she uses the word “cripple” to define her disease. This word is originated from the history and gives her the moral support to accept the multiple sclerosis. I like the way she has uses the word “cripple” as this word does-not upset her. Though there are many symptoms of this disease that she faces regularly in her life. Symptoms like the ability to walk, hearing, lose vision, control of bladder/bowl movement, coordination of movements and many others. She is struggling with all these symptoms on daily basis. She does-not lose hope and tries to gather the strength to fight with the disease as a soldier.

In the article, Mairs is showing her power of acceptance by telling herself “I am not a disease” (41). For a reader it is really hard to accept this bold sentence from a person who is suffering from an incurable disease. In spite of helplessly lying on the bed and begging for the “Death” for the rest of her life, I believe by using such a word, she is trying to gather the courage to accept her condition. She has a good sense of humor though in this condition there is possibility person lost their sense of humor. In the article she mentioned, “I am a superb, if messy cook. I can do italic writing and, in an emergency, bathe an oil soaked cat” (Mairs 37). I think this type of humor helps her to faces the reality and lives every day to the fullest. She accepts multiple sclerosis as a challenge of her life and as a normal person I think, this is the biggest turn of her life which illustrate the power in herself towards the life.

In conclusion, Mairs is an optimistic woman. She is the strong and powerful woman, who has the ability to accept the truth and show it to others without any apprehension. In my opinion, she is a role model to all those people who are suffering from any kind of disease in their life. Although I am living a normal life, but many times I feel weak and struggle to accept the facts around me. Mairs teach me to fight back all my difficulties and never lose hope in the life. One most important thing, I have learned is do-not blame God if anything goes wrong to in life, always accept and face the truth with courage like Mairs does.