Rain Man the Movie

Rain Man is a movie directed by Berry Levinson. The movie won best picture in 1988. This movie is about a man Charlie Babbitt, played by Tom Cruise. In the beginning of the movie Charlie suddenly learns of his estranged and wealthy father’s death. After the funeral, Charlie is read his father’s last will and testament. He then finds out that he is not to be included in the estates finances. This news is somewhat disturbing to Charlie. He questions the lawyer to find out who the money has been left too. Charlie finds out that the three million dollars had been left to an un-named trustee.Charlie is determined to find out who this unnamed trustee is, and why his father would leave so much money to him. Through some digging Charlie finds that the trustee is a man that lives at a mental institution. Charlie goes there to check out the institution and ask questions. At the institution Charlie runs into his long lost autistic and institutionalized brother. It takes him awhile to put the pieces of the puzzle together because Charlie was never told that he had a brother. Charlie is still angry about not inheriting his father’s money, and is very confused about the news of having an autistic brother.Charlie decides to take his brother away from the institution, and back with him to Los Angeles. The news of having a brother is a big shock to Charlie, the fact that his brother has autism is very difficult for Charlie to deal with. Charlie’s brothers name is Raymond Babbitt he is played by Dustin Hoffman. Raymond is not allowed to leave the institution for longer than two hours, so it takes some manipulation on Charlie’s part to finally convince Ray to go with him to Los Angeles on this lengthy cross country road trip. Charlie had to promise Ray that he would take him to a major league baseball game.During the excursion Charlie slowly learns more about Raymond’s condition. It’s very challenging for both of them along the way . Charlie slowly learns how to adjust to all of Raymond’s autistic ways. Ray always likes to eat at the same time every day and gets very upset and nervous if anything is altered from his normal routine. He has certain menus he follows for each day of the week and any variation in these menus seems tragic to him. Ray also followed a strict television routine. He always watches the same programs every day. Ray would drive Charlie crazy by always repeating things, and insisting on only shopping at K-Mart.Along the way Charlie realizes that Raymond has a gift to memorize and count things with great accuracy. To Charlie’s downfall he ends up taking him to Las Vegas to count cards at the black jack tables at Caesars Palace casino. Although at first Charlie was concerned mostly about the money, he does establish a very strong bond with his brother and decides that he wants him to live with him in Los Angeles. The doctors on the other hand want Raymond to come back to the ins titution to live. It is unclear if the doctor’s motives are the money, or if they truly care for this patient.They have a custody hearing to determine where Raymond will live. The doctor at the institution meets up with Charlie to try to buy him off with money, but Charlie refuses, it is no longer an issue of money for him he just wants to be with his brother. The following day they go to the custody hearing. Even though it had appeared as though Raymond had made great improvements while in the care of his brother Raymond was unable to show the psychiatrist and doctor this because he became too nervous. It appears as though he was no different than he was when he left the institution.The decision was made that Raymond would return to the institution to live. Charlie puts Raymond on a train back to the institution with a promise that he will be coming to visit him in two weeks. The movie ends with Raymond counting down the days until Charlie’s visit. He is counting how many days, weeks, minutes, and even the exact seconds it will be until he will get to see his little brother again. Levinson, B. (1988) Autism is a challenging disorder. It causes massive amounts of stress on families. Autism disorder tends to causes a lot of stress on parents, siblings, and caregivers alike.Raising a child with autism usually causes more stress on a parent than mental retardation does due to the lack of interpersonal responsiveness associated with autism. Hoppes and Harris (1990). It is such a commonly known disorder for children to be diagnosed with that it scares new moms who are constantly looking for those red flags. If a child has a speech delay then parents often become concerned about a diagnosis of autism. It will lead parents to have their children tested when sometimes there is no reason for them to be concerned.Pediatrician’s offices usually have tons of useful information pertaining to identifying symptoms of autism disorder. Some symptoms includ e but are not limited to violent temper tantrums, they can appear to be deaf at times but not at others, or not respond when their own name is called. Most often autism is recognized by a delay in language skill or even a regression of skills such as social or communication. Autism affects each individual differently, some cases can be very mild and some can be more severe. Parker and Parker (2002) often parents become aware that something is not right as early as infancy.Sometimes it can take as long as three years of age before they notice something is wrong. It really depends on the severity. Patients with autism will or can show signs of communication problems, difficulty relating to people, difficulty to changes, and repetitive body movements ex: repetitive rocking. Children with autism usually do not like a lot of physical contact; they often do not like to even be held by their own parents. It is noted that adults with autism usually find looking people directly in the eye to be a problem, even people that they may know very well.Many people with autism never learn to speak. Parker and Parker (2002) For years Scientist research to find a cure, but for now no one even knows exactly what causes autism. It is estimated that somewhere between three to nine percent of the population of the United States has been diagnosed with this disorder. Boys seem to be more likely to get it than girls are by a ratio of 2. 5 to four. Studies seem to show that genetics play a big role as siblings seem to be two hundred times more likely to get this disorder than the general population.Piotrowski (2005). Yet over the years there have been many speculations, news stories and several documentaries on how vaccinations are the main cause of autism, as of yet there has been no scientific proof that this is true Parker and Parker (2002). There are also rumors of lead and mercury being a culprit although I was not able to find a documented source on this that I could cite. There are many people who feel that if they feed their children a certain diet plan that it will help their children’s symptoms, again these are not scientifically documented.The main fact here is that there is no cure for autism, but there are treatment options available. The earlier the treatment is started the better chance the patient and families will have at a possibly of living a near-normal life. Usually it is recommended to start treatment before age two. Examples of treatment options are Individualized Education Programs, Comprehensive Treatment Programs, Applied Behavior Analysis, Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support, and certain types of medications. Parker and Parker (2002) Autism is a challenging disorder. It causes massive amounts of stress on families. Through further education and treatment autism does not have to be a crippling disease, it can be managed with proper treatment and care.References Berkell Zager, D. (1999). Autism: Identification, Education, and Treatment. Mahwah,NJ Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 17 Parker, J. & Parker, P. (2002). Official Parent’s Sourcebook on Autism. San Diego, CA Icon Health Publications, 10-25 Piotrowski, N. (2005). Psychology Basics. Hackensack, NJ Salem Press, 121-126 Johnson, M. (Producer), & Levinson, B. (Director). (1988). Rain Man [Motion picture]. United States: Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios Inc.

Assess the View That Sects Always Compromise and Turn Into Denominations

Sects are usually very hostile groups and 9 times out of 10 they will be ‘world rejecting’, meaning that they reject the outside world and believe it is either corrupt or beyond redemption. Such groups tend to abandon the outside world and start their own community with their own way of life or attempt to transform the world with an evangelical approach. An example of a sect which has cut off from the world is the Unification Church, often known as ‘The moonies’ – they reject materialism and encourage its members to hand over all assets whilst imposing an ascetic lifestyle on them.Sects and Cults are known for being quite short lived, and it is suggested that over time they will either turn into a denomination or disband and disappear all together. An example of this is the Methodists, they originally began as a world rejecting religious sect, with members living a lifestyle in opposition to existing society. However, they have evolved over time into becoming the world accommodating denomination that they are today.Neibuhr puts forward his explanation of this and calls it ‘denomination or death. ’ He believes that a Sect is a world rejecting organization that comes into existence because of a schism from an established church due to disagreements within either teachings or religious doctrine. He argues that sects are usually short lived because within one generation they will either compromise with the world, abandon their extreme beliefs and become a denomination or ultimately die out.One reason that Neibuhr puts forward is ‘the second generation’ – this refers to the children of the members who joined voluntarily, they lack the same enthusiasm and beliefs that their parents showed because they were born into it and will not express the same extreme beliefs. He also suggests, ‘the protestant ethic effect’ this is the result of the members living an ascetic lifestyle. People are most likely to join a sect because they are looking for a theodicy of disprivelage to legitimate their position in society, and after living this lifestyle where by they save their money and do not spend it on material goods.They will no longer need the theodicy of disprivelage and will be tempted to compromise with the world and become world accommodating. The Final suggestion, also stated in item A is that most sects have a charismatic leader, and when this leader dies they will either collapse or a new more bureaucratic leadership will take over, this will then transform them into a denomination. However, on the other hand Aldridge suggests that many sects have existed a long time while still retaining their features as sects such as Jehovah’s witnesses.In addition, sects maintain a strict conduct, so much so that if members fail to conform to these standards then they will be expelled, he also points out that sects are very good at socializing children into the acceptance of their beliefs and practices. Similarly, Stark and Bainbridge view religious organizations such as sects as moving through a cycle, they call this ‘the sectarian cycle. ’ The first stage is the ‘schism’, which is when there is tension and disagreement between the privileged, and deprived within a church, the deprived break away to form a world-rejecting sect with slightly different beliefs and practices.The second stage is ‘initial fervor’ which is when a charismatic leader will take over and form great tension between the sect and the outside world, thirdly the sect will then turn to a denomination for the same reasons suggested by Niebuhr leading to them finally, becoming an establishment. This sees the sect become world accommodating; within this stage there is usually a further schism, where more zealous members break away to form a new sect more true to the original message. On the other hand, not all sects are short – lived.Not all sects depend on a charismatic leader so the death of a leader would not affect the functioning of the sect enough for it to collapse and become a denomination; also Many sects have outlived one generation and have still retained their features. Wilson also argues that not all sects follow the pattern of turning into a denomination or dying out, he believes that whether or not this happens to sects depends on how they answer the question that they ask themselves ‘how can we be saved’? onversionist sects will try to convert as many people as possible through evangelism, these will be more likely to turn into larger more formal denominations. Where as Adventist sects such as the seventh day Adventists await the second coming of Christ and will hold themselves separate to society, this separatism will prevent them becoming a denomination. Wilson also argues that globalization will make it harder in the future for sects to keep themselves separate from the outside world.On t he other hand, it will also allow them to recruit in the third world, where there are large numbers of deprived people that will be attracted to sects. This is shown by the success of Pentecostalism. To conclude, the evidence suggests that although it is very easy for a sect to turn into a denomination, not all sects always do. They have means and ways of avoiding this and many have become established sects that will continue to socialize further generation and carry on the original message.

Organizational Power or Politics Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Organizational Power or Politics - Term Paper Example They should serve as guiding principles for the success of an organization and particularly in managing and empowering employees. Power is such an important element for the success of an organization, but it is a broad concept at the same time. It could either harm or help an organization depending on how it is implemented. In the context of an organization, it is defined as the ability to do or acquire something (Nelson & Quick, 2011). In this definition, power is concerned on the capacity of an individual to influence and employ authority over a certain organization or group. In other words, there is a clear distinction between power, influence and authority. Power is the ability, influence is a process and authority is the right of a person to create impact on the lives of others (Nelson & Quick, 2011). Power can be significantly viewed as the ability to influence and employ one’s authority. Thus, power should consist of combined ability to apply influence and authority. It is in this reason why power is such an important concept that for a long period of time continues to be one of the most signific ant issues that need to be taken into account in leadership and other related essential activities within an organization. In this paper, the proponent tries to discuss and analyze the basic and essential concepts of power and political behavior in an organization based on the ideas of Nelson and Quick. The essay starts with the discussion of their ideas on power and political behavior, followed by analysis and conclusion. Nelson and Quick discuss important issues regarding power and political behavior primary within the context of a group or an organization. First, they place substantial distinction among the concepts of power, influence and authority. For them, each of these has different impact and usage. A manager may have the right to take control over employees but this would not

Paper converters Ltd Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words - 2

Paper converters Ltd - Essay Example an be certain organizational elements, such as culture, that can highly affect the performance of organizational plans, either in the short or the long term, no matter the capabilities of organizational leader. The review of the terms of the merger leads to the assumption that the specific strategic decision was quite necessary, in order for the position of the two firms in their industry to be secured. Still, the lack of appropriate planning of the relevant initiative has an important implication: the actual benefits of the merger have been less than initially estimated, a problem that has been related to cultural problems both at organizational and at national level. The problem has become clearer when the firm, Paper Converters, decided to expand to Zambia. A series of measures, especially in regard to training and motivation, across the organization should be taken so that the position of the firm in the international market to be secured. Current report aims to show the reasons that can lead mergers to fail. Particular emphasis is given on the post – merger effects on firms that are interested in expand internationally. In addition, the report provides a series of recommendations in regard to the effective control and management of post merger effects. Reference is made in particular to Paper Converters; however, the findings and the recommendations presented in the study can be used for facing similar challenges. As noted in the case study, Paper Converters has been created from the merger between Dyson Papers Ltd and Jones Sales Agents Ltd. The merger was completed in 1988. The first of these companies had been established in Corby in 1983 as a result of the incentives provided then by the government for the creation of businesses in the particular region (case study). The second firm, the Jones Sales Agents Ltd, was based in Stevenage, about 60 miles far from Dyson Papers (case study). The physical distance between the two firms was considered as an

Shift from mass production to lean production in craftsmen industry Thesis Proposal

Shift from mass production to lean production in craftsmen industry - Thesis Proposal Example The waste-elimination notion of producing in the lean method has conveyed important influences on diverse industries. Frequent devices and methods have been evolved to undertake exact difficulties in alignment to eradicate non-value-added undertakings and turn out to be lean. When the producers started thinking about taking up the leaner procedures, they did not pay much attention and the concept lost importance. Several metrics of lean production have been evolved for assessing the presence and following the improvements of lean manufacturing systems. However, if we look at each metric individually, focusing on an exact presentation facet will not comprise the general leanness stage (Elliott 2004). On the other hand, people practicing lean methods usually employ self-assessment devices to portray the present rank of their arrangement. However, reviews are prejudiced, and the predefined lean stages of a questionnaire may not adjust every scheme perfectly. Overview of Avandad Trading Company Solid surface fabrication and installation need a particular knowledge and ability. â€Å"Avandad is the first company to have introduced the solid surface products and services into Iran. It is at present dynamically involved in fabricating â€Å"solid surface products such as kitchen counter tops, bathroom sinks, commercial counters, etc†. Avandad was formed in 2003 and in an endeavor to present excellence in products; Avandad has selected poly-stone as its strategic associate and foremost provider of material.

The Open Boat Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Open Boat - Essay Example This is quite contradictory to the notion that human beings hold an importance in this Universe and humanity was created with some purpose. It might compel one to think if the Universe and its activities would come to a halt if a human being dies. This piece of literature shows how the nature and her elements move in their self-determined ways despite the fate of the four sailors who struggle against uncertainties of their fate through mutual support. The opening scene of the story introduces us to four survivors of a shipwreck, the captain, the oiler who is called Billy, the correspondent (the author who underwent the similar experience was also a correspondent at that time) and the cook. The author gives a detail description of all the men. For instance the cook is obese and shabbily attired, bailing water from the boat and positive about their rescue, the oiler is physically strong and rows with a single oar along with the correspondent who is with another oar and apparently detac hed from the group. The captain on the other hand lies in an injured condition at the base of the boat. The opposition between human fate and nature is best reflected in the lines â€Å"The birds sat comfortably in groups, and they were envied by some in the dingey for the wrath of the sea was no more to them than it was to a covey of prairie chickens a thousand miles inland† (Crane). ... The normal activities of nature seemed hostile and aggressive to the men. In fact the author brings out the angry thoughts of the men as follows: â€Å"If I am going to be drowned--if I am going to be drowned--if I am going to be drowned, why, in the name of the seven mad gods who rule the sea, was I allowed to come thus far and contemplate sand and trees?...If this old ninny-woman, Fate, cannot do better than this, she should be deprived of the management of men's fortunes† (Crane). Human beings often show their desperation through expressions of anger against nature. Such conditions of men bring them to a point where they want to vent their wrath on religion and God by throwing bricks at the temples. The next reason of exasperation comes when the men find there are no temples. Though the men at first thinks their fates are guided by some form of Gods. One on hand they feel â€Å"childish and stupid† to show any kind of optimism, while on the other any â€Å"open sugg estion of hopelessness† is not a wise demeanor (Crane). Crane tries to point out that humanity is not in a glorious position but one amongst he other components of nature and just like the society pursues their everyday activities, even the Universe would be undisturbed at the absence of human race. This is presented in contrast with the concept of the 19th century suggesting that the ultimate form of creation is human being (D’Ammassa, 174). The sole ray of hope comes from their mutual dependence and obtaining support from one another at times of distress. Such situations compel men to understand what it is like to be in the midst of a harsh reality and makes them realize the importance of comradeship. The men constantly get into fights, which

Treatment & Characters' Back stories + Film Script Essay

Treatment & Characters' Back stories + Film Script - Essay Example Ashraf and Laila are more than siblings, they are best of friends since early childhood and now they only have each other. Rubina has kept her distance and cut all communication with the siblings since the ordeal but Ashraf maintains that the rape story is all but a hoax and pleads innocent to Rubina’s allegation. Since Ashraf and Rubina’s break up almost a year ago, things have not been normal between the two siblings. Ashraf has retracted back to his old gambling and drug addiction days and recently lost his job at a reputable firm in town. Rubina has lost confidence in his brother and really doubts she did the right thing by siding with her brother rather than her best friend. Rubina and Basil are actually married to each other. Eight months ago, Basil wed Rubina in a low profile civil marriage and ever since the two have been plotting a way to avenge the unfortunate ordeal that still taunts Rubina. Basil is acting as Laila’s fiancà © as a property developer. He currently needs a huge loan of a hundred million dollars to buy some real estate, flip it and sell it at an enormous profit to a Saudi prince. He is going to confront Laila and request for her assistance. Rubina is organizing for travel papers and logistics ready for their grand heist and escape this afternoon. She is to book flights to Nairobi under aliases. This will be their home from this day. Laila is waiting for Basil at her home, Ashraf is out on the lawn sipping his favorite cocktail under a sunscreen shade. Basil has told Laila he has something important to tell her and she is all anxious. Laila Shamila was born in Qatar and of a rich family. Sister to Ashraf Amir. Both parents died in an airplane crash when she was 22 years. The only family known to her is her sibling. She graduated from Uttar University and because of previous family connections landed a job as a bank manager a position esteemed and envied by many. She is smart and

Ancient Greek Ceramics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ancient Greek Ceramics - Essay Example The decorations in the so-called marine style, has the dynamic vitality typical of Minoan art. The popularity of the octopus as a decorative motif on Minoan ware can hardly be divorced from the role of the octopus in the Minoan diet and economy. But did it have another purpose Octopus are traditionally caught by lowering a ceramic vessel into the water which the octopus is likely to enter and remain in as a safe lair (Bush and Brewer). Although this jar has too narrow a neck for that purpose, one wonders if the motif did not originate on jars made for just such fishing, the image perhaps as a sort of magic charm. In the Mycenaean period between about 1450 and 1100 BC, the Minoan world came to be dominated by Greek speaking invaders who, however, did not make major changes in the society of Greece as reflected in its physical remains. The pottery of mainland Greece in this period is generally called by archaeologists late Helladic III. Many Mycenaean ceramic pieces imitate the style of Minoan pottery, though usually with an inferior and derivative execution. Others, such as the chariot krater (vessel for mixing wine and water) now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (), have much more in common with later geometric vases and show the beginning of that tradition. This piece, though manufactured in the Argolid (i.e. near Tiryns, Mycenae, Argos, or Corinth) was discovered in a tomb in Cyrus. It uses a light color of clay marked with a dark brown slip. The rendering in relatively crude but shows a definite figurative scene of two chariots being driven (the context, such as a race, or in combat, or just a pairing for symmetry, cannot be determined). But elements like spots used to decorate the figures' clothing, as well as the ox skin that covers the body of the chariot, and the crosshatching on the horses' harness, is becoming abstract. Moreover, a great deal of the otherwise empty surface of the case is taken up with geometric designs completely unrelated to the realistic depiction of space and beginning to serve as abstract geometric representation. In the Geometric period between about 1100 and 800 BC, Greek culture was disrupted by further waves of invaders and every urban center in Greece was destroyed by warfare. Greek culture became illiterate and isolated both from the larger Mediterranean world and within itself as trade and contact between isolated settlements declined. The period is called Geometric because of the abstract, regular character of its decorative arts. No exception among thework of this era is the terracotta centaur from Lekfandi on Euboea (Thomas 1999, 99-100). It shares the geometric decorations of contemporary ceramic vessels. At 36 centimeters high, this is the largest surviving Geometric sculpture. From the point of view of sculpture, the execution is somewhat cartoonish, which features that suggest rather than copy the proportions of the human face and equine body. The painted decoration departs from that of both earlier and later Greek polychroming of sculpture as well as pottery decoration in not r elating in any discernable way to features like the musculature or hair of the centaur (certainly not any form of clothing), but in showing abstract patterning that is meant to add to the decorative value of the piece rather than realistically

Sunlight on the Grass Essay Example for Free

Sunlight on the Grass Essay For the purpose of this assignment I will analyse two stories. Firstly I will examine the â€Å"Compass and Torch† by Elizabeth Baines and will demonstrate how the objects in the title relate to the characters of the story and represent key themes. I will then discuss â€Å"Something Old, Something New† by Leila Aboulela and highlight the ways in which the title relates to the story. Firstly the â€Å"Compass and Torch† is a story about a young boy setting out on a camping trip with his estranged father. The compass and torch are used symbolically throughout the narrative to reflect the boy’s feelings and relationship to his family. I feel that the compass symbolises a lack of direction or the absence of a relationship between father and son. This can be demonstrated when they are about to leave the car for their journey together at the bottom of the hill. â€Å"The man looks up – for the first time – at the path they will take, which runs from the gate to the brow of the hill. Then he groans: I didn’t bring a compass†. The lack of compass showing with nothing to guide them the chance for them to get closer in their relationship is doomed. However, the narrative continues to suggest that the compass is not required, that with love and hope in their hearts, father and son will always be bonded. â€Å"Compasses are things boys and dads tend to have, but which, when they are alert and strong at heart, they can leave behind.† The compass can also be seen as a metaphor for the pull of the boy between his divorced parents. This idea is shown when the boy had gone upstairs looking for his torch and overhears his Mother and her boyfriend Jim talking in the kitchen. â€Å"The boy might have remembered it, the compass, as they were leaving. But he couldn’t wait to get going, for it all to be over †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ And the way his mother said hardly anything, and made her face blank whenever Dad spoke to her or looked her way†. This text demonstrates that mother and father remain hostile following their divorce and reflects the boy’s awareness of this and feelings of being in the middle of it all. The story demonstrates how the camping trip is an opportunity to strengthen the father son relationship, with the torch signifying the path of reconciliation, used as a tool to light the way to a new future. This is highlighted when, as the boy is sitting in his father’s car, he shows him he has brought his torch, representing the boys longing to bond with his dad.â€Å" as the man drops into the driving seat something in the boy’s chest gives a little hop of joy and he cries excitedly, ’oh I brought my torch!’†. This idea is further reinforced in the narrative when we discover both father and son have torches, â€Å"Two torches are for lighting a bigger space in the wilderness, for lighting it together. Two torches are for father and son to back each other up.† Furthermore, the colour of the torches seems to hold some significance. It is shown that the boy has a red torch whilst the father has a green one. I feel this is deliberate and hold connotations similar to a traffic light system where the red torch symbolises the lack of relationship with this father, with no way of moving forward whilst the fathers green torch reflects the idea of rebuilding the relationship, with the possibility of new horizons. Although not in the title of the story the horse is also symbolic of the boy’s mother and highlights further how Baines uses symbolism to represent characters throughout the narrative. For example whilst on his journey with his father a horse appears. â€Å"The horse comes up to the car. She nudges up, puts her nose over the edge of the door. The man bats her away† I feel this represents the mothers need to protect her son and the struggle the boy feels between his parents. The quote above illustrates the father not wanting the mother to be involved, to take a step back. Similarly â€Å"the horse nuzzles the rucksack top and the man pushes her away†. In Something Old, Something New, Leila Aboulela writes about a wedding due to take place between a Scottish man and his Sudanese bride. The title is therefore appropriate to the story as the popular wedding phrase something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. However, the title goes deeper than that and relates to the story in many more ways representing a number of key themes. The groom is depicted as a man desperate to find himself. He has dropped out of medical school and is unsure on which direction his life should take. He converts from Catholicism to Islam and his new spiritual world seems to have saved him. Indeed, the narrative demonstrates how his view of Islam is different to his brides. â€Å"She associated Islam with her dark skin, her African blood, her own weakness. She couldn’t really understand why anyone like him would want to join the wretched of the world. But he spoke with warmth†. Religion for her seems a flaw, but for him represents a new beginning in life. This theme of conflicting ideas of old and new is also depicted when he arrives in Egypt to meet his bride and her brother. Back in Scotland, her ethnic difference seemed exotic, exciting but once in her home country he realises its nothing new any more â€Å"He became aware that everyone looked like her, shared her colour, the women were dressed like her†. The author also utilises the Nile as a metaphor for the proposed marriage. The Nile is one of Egypt’s most anticipated sights, but on closer inspection the groom finds it is not as he expected â€Å"yes it’s beautiful he replied. But as he spoke he noticed that the rivers flow was forceful, not innocent, not playful. Crocodiles no doubt lurked beneath the surface.† I feel this represents the marriage that his idealised view of his wedding and his bride suddenly turning fearful, with the lurking crocodiles a metaphor perhaps for her overbearing brother. With this fear in place, the groom begins to yearn for the comforts of home and staying at the Hilton hotel represents to some degree the characters longing for home comforts. The Hilton used as sign of the Western world in contrast to the barren landscape of Egypt. †The hotel lobby was impressive, the cool tingling blast of the air-conditioner, music playing, an expanse of marble. He felt soothed somehow, more in control†. Another example of this is when the character struggles to follow the strict Islamic custom of mourning following the girls Uncle’s death. â€Å"He shrugged, he did not want to talk about it, was numbed by what had happened, dulled by the separation from her that the mourning customs seemed to impose.† Furthermore the anxiety he feels about this new culture is noted again â€Å"He had thought, from the books he’d read and the particular British Islam he had been exposed to, that in a Muslim country he would find elegance and reason. Instead he found melancholy, a sensuous place, stripped to the bare bones†. The idea of a new life and a new culture suddenly turning sour in his mind is reinforced with the theft of his British passport contributing to a feeling of a loss of identity. To conclude I feel I have demonstrated how the stories titles relate to the overall meaning of the story and how symbolism is used to portray characters and to enhance the mood and tone of the narrative. Where possible I have provided key examples to support my ideas and to illustrate my understanding of the texts.

Epidermic cell observation Essay Example for Free

Epidermic cell observation Essay The sample of epidermal cells were taken from two onions instead of one onion (layer 6-10 from the first onion, layer 1-4 from the second onion) due to the time limit of experiment which may cause an inconsistency in raw data because the two onions are slightly different in preserved temperature, shape, and growing environment. When cell samples were taken from the second onion, some of the cells are frozen due to the preservation which causes a distortion of the shape of the cells and may result in errors of counts. Because of the time limit of this experiment, there is a limitation in the size of samples. When counting the cells, there is no strict rule on regarding or disregarding part of a cell. The researcher estimated the number and may cause an error in counting. The standard deviation is much smaller than one third of each mean, and gives the data more reliability The exponential function does not fit the means well enough that for layer 9, 6, 5, 3, 2, 1, the value according to the function is not included in the range of the mean plus or minus the standard deviation. Possible improvements Use consistently one onion for the experiment. Preserve the samples with restricted conditions. (Preserved time, temperature, moisture) Collect more samples. Restrict the proportion of length that a cell has in the range of scope to be regarded in the counting.

Gender Mainstreaming: Impact and Effects

Gender Mainstreaming: Impact and Effects The Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 approved gender mainstreaming as a key strategy for promoting equality between women and men. Many international organizations including the United Nation were entitled to implement the strategy in their work. In 1997 the Economic and Social Council provided concrete guidelines on how the United Nations should work to incorporate gender perspectives in its work programmes (ECOSOC Agreed Conclusions 1997/2). The importance of the gender mainstreaming strategy was reinforced in the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly to follow-up the implementation of the Platform for Action (June 2000). The strong focus on the advancement of women and gender equality has led to increased international recognition of the importance of gender perspectives, such as poverty reduction, human rights and good governance. Moreover, these perspectives must be taken into account in data collection, analysis, policy making and planning, to ensure the achievement of gender equality, effective and sustainable development and peace and security. Although, it is easy to secure agreement for gender mainstreaming as an important strategy for promoting gender equality, implementation of this strategy has proven more difficult than its predictions. The implementation of gender mainstreaming can primarily require significant changes in how business is done. Trying to bring the realities of both women and men to bear on data collection, analysis, planning and monitoring in all areas of development, requires specific knowledge and capacity. Gender Mainstreaming Definition: the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programmes, in all areas and at all levels. It is a strategy for making womens as well as mens concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality. (ECOSOC 1997) Meaning that, gender mainstreaming in all decisions, will take into account that there are women and men in different situations; which will prevent discrimination between the sexes. It is not about few individuales dealing with gender issues, but all individuals are challenged to think about this equality between women and men. Never the less, gender mainstreaming is a strategy to ensure that equality is realized as a state responsibility. However, gender means is not about being women or men, it is taking into considiration the variety and diversity of people, for the reason that we live in a world that is impacted by the allocation of gender roles. People are judged by their behaver based on gender expectations. Therefore, gender mainstreaming is an organizing principle, gender is the analytical point for gender-sensitive work, and equality is the goal to be achieved. The dimensions of gender mainstreaming: Gender mainstreaming is both of gendered political and policy practice and a new gendered strategy for theory of development. As a practice, gender mainstreaming is a practice to promote gender equality. It is also intended to improve the effectively of mainlines of policy by making visible the gendered nature of assumption, process and outcomes. However, as a form of theory gender mainstreaming is a process of revision of key concept to grasp more adequate a world that is gendered, rather than establishing a separate gender theory. (Walby 2005). Reasons for implementation of gender mainstreaming: Gender mainstreaming is not an end in itself, but a means to an end. (Vijayakumar 2006). Gender mainstreaming does not involve developing separate womens projects within work programmes, or even womens components within existing activities in the work programmes. It requires an attention to gender perspectives as an integral part of all activities across all programmes. This involves making gender perspectives more central to all policy development, research, development, implementation and monitoring of norms and standards. It is important to see the linkages between gender mainstreaming and the promotion of equal opportunities and gender balance within the organization itself. Organizational culture and organizational values are important in terms of creating work environments which are encouraging to gender mainstreaming. The gender mainstreaming strategy does not mean that targeted activities to support women are no longer necessary. Such activities specifically target womens priorities and needs, through, legislation and policy development. Women-specific projects play an important role in promoting gender equality. They are needed because gender equality has not yet been attained and gender mainstreaming processes are not well developed. Gender mainstreaming strategies and gender equality strategies are important for reducing existing gaps, serving as a channel for promotion of gender equality and creating a constituency for changing the mainstream. Gender mainstreaming can create an empowering space for women. Gender mainstreaming strategies, that focuses on men support promotion of gender equality by developing male buddies. It is vital to understand that these two strategies, gender mainstreaming and womens empowerment, are in no way in competition with each other. (Braams 2007). Gender empowerment strategies have worked for year on capacity building for women themselves. However, Gender mainstreaming can be one of the most effective Strategies supporting gender equality. Gender mainstreaming is a way of ensuring that policy and decision-making take account of womens and mens different interests and needs. For gender mainstreaming, decision-making on policy measures and priorities has to be organized in a way as to do justice to the differences between men and women. (EC 2007). Gender mainstreaming policy should respond to changes in requirements, interest and perception with regard to womens and mens social roles, as it promotes equality. Moreover, it cant be accomplishes by one actor, it is a combination on individuals and organizations at all level. Gender Mainstreaming helps in the following qualities at work; first, gender mainstreaming it focus on equitable distribution of resources between women and men. Second, Gender mainstreaming supports for equal opportunities policy at all levels of the organization. Third, Gender mainstreaming supports for equal opportunities policy at all levels of the organization; engendering of knowledge, skills and attitudes. Never the less, Gender equality and the right to equal participation in all sectors of society are fundamental Human Rights. Gender mainstreaming is a process for ensuring equity, equality and gender justice in all of the critical areas of the lives of women and men. (Vijayakumar 2006). Moreover, it increases the effectiveness and eficiency of the work. It is known that men are more rational and women are more emotional, lets asume the assumption, then the brainstorming and decisions made will be better if they are taken by both sexes. The Implementation: Gender mainstreaming should be implemented at two levels; the organization and organization programmes, in order to benefit from it the most.( World Bank 2003). The Organization: In order for and organization to contribute to greater gender equality should have the following structures, policies and procedures in place. First, a clear policy on its commitment on gender police, and it is supported by senior and middle management. Second, Human resources practices that is sensitive to the gender needs and interests of both women and men on the organizations staff, as well as in their constituency. Third, Internal tracking and monitoring capacity to ensure that the strategy is being reached, and this may include some monitoring on staff recruitment and promotions and the performance of managers and supervisors in discussing and following up on gender equality initiatives. Fourth, a central gender mainstreaming unit with policy responsibility and mandate to guide the overall gender mainstreaming process. Finally, a recognized network of staff responsible for gender equality issues in their respective work units, coordinated as a team by the policy unit. The organizations programme: Effective gender mainstreaming strategy therefore includes at least the following programming elements. First, Project management that is technically proficient, aware of the implications of gender differences for project outcomes, remains in touch with the constituency, and establishes positive incentive and accountability mechanisms to ensure consistent results is extremely important. Second, an effective monitoring and reporting mechanisms capable of reflecting how far the project is contributing to greater gender equality. Finally, Gender analysis that explores the national and international context in which the concerned communities are operating, clarifies the ways in which this context impacts differently on women and men and the implications of these differences for project activity. However, hat might appear to be minor actions actually represent major life-changing moves for women and men, given the dynamics that existed before gender mainstreamed programmes. Given the traditional and financial constraints hat combine to keep women a safe distance from making the inconsequential decisions and choices, these seemingly small-step decisions are massive. Gender mainstreaming outcomes and benefits: Women are not newcomers to the working world as some may believe, but their role is changing, as are the socials values. Historically womens work has been relegated to the home. But, it was not always so, for most of human history, work and the rest of life were completely integratedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦with the industrial revolution, the workplace moved out of the family, homeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the workplace became mens domain; and women came to bear the responsibility of supporting the family. (Rao, Stuart, Kelleher.1999) Today, women account for nearly fifty percent of the workforce but for less than 4 per cent of the nations top executives. Women managers are clustered into administrative and support functions. (Kaila.2005) Gender mainstreaming can be associated with many benefits including: assisting in achieving better gender data collection and analysis, ensures economic security for both sexes, achieving equal value for paid work, achieving a gender balance and achieving equal participation of women and men the rights of women and men. (Rea 2007) First, assists in achieving better gender data collection and analysis; this will inform the integration of a gender perspective in the development of all organizations policies, processes, systems and structures. It will also provide the gender analysis which is critical to the development of effective gender action measures to tackle specific gender inequalities Second, ensures the economic security of both men and women, as it addresses the gender inequalities which lead to poverty. Third, achieving equal value for paid work, equity, done by women and men; including the equitable sharing of work and family and caring responsibilities. Fourth, achieving a gender balance, on all level of the organization. Fifth, ensures the active and equal participation of women and men at all levels of organization. Finally, promotes and protects the rights of women and men by increasing awareness of their different needs and potential to have the same opportunity to live a fulfilled life. Never the less, Gender mainstreaming can be associated with many benefits including: Quality improvements enhance the effectiveness of the administration process, Enhance participation process, financial benefits and improve the organizations image. Limitations and restrictions on gender mainstreaming: The limitations of gender mainstreaming are easy to solve, but their solutions are costly. Main limitations are identifying partner, commitment of senior management, fund raising, instruments and up- to date data on gender issues. (Taylor 1999). First, to effective implementation of gender mainstreaming partners are requires, identifying them, raising their awareness of the importance of this concept and making them write reports Second, commitment of senior managers is absolutely necessary. If senior managers pass on the message, support it and strengthen it, half the way is achieved. However, senior managers are generally only convinced to convey a message if their political superiors are committed to a cause. Third, Gender mainstreaming is an investment in the overall quality of policy. The costs of this quality improvement should therefore be counted as regular policy costs. Staff, experts and budgets should be made available Fourth, adequate instruments of measurements, manuals, monitoring procedures and evaluation procedures for gender mainstreaming should be tailored to the address the organizations needs. This will need experts to perform them. Fifth, in order to benefit from gender mainstreaming implementation, staff members should have up-to-date knowledge and awareness of gender issues. Hiring experts to keep monitoring the updated material about gender issues and presenting it to the staff can be the solution and may be costly. Conclusion: Equality, which is the corner stone of democratic nations, successful organizations and a basic human right, are time and space dependent phenomena. At least three historical waves of approaches to equality between the sexes can be distinguished (Ress, 1998). Through the strategy of gender mainstreaming, different realities of women and men are aware of and made clear, the observance of the gender perspective is an essential decision criterion for suitability and quality of the measure. The gender mainstreaming process makes no institutional gender politics unnecessary, as shown by the present analysis indicates that women are disadvantaged in many areas yet. The instrument of women is therefore still need to be applied long! What is new is that the gender mainstreaming approach also includes the situation of the men in our society in the analysis. A major obstacle to successful mainstreaming is the attitudes and cultures in our development organizations, which carry the baggage of their own quite traditional male cultures of work and power. These attitudes and cultures continue to be transferred in practice at home and in the field. Finally, International Labor organization should strengthen its policy and programmes on gender equality and decent work, support gender sensitive policy formulation, work with governments and social partners on employment and job creation, strive to improve the understanding and application of the principle of equal remuneration for women and men for work of equal value. Recommendations: Increase the involvement of men as partners: Successful gender mainstreaming calls for a deeper involvement of men at all levels. It is also requires a greater sensitization of men to the larger issues at stake. Activist women point to the need for men for men to become involved in Men in Development and Mens Empowerment program. Work on Government policy change: According to NGO Activists: Government is supportive are words, they make very good pronouncementsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ yes, lip service, very good. Action is where we think there is a problem. We think that there is no political will; real political will is to be able to implement. Sensitize women in power: Efforts must be also be made to deepen the sensitization of those few women in power and ensure their gender consciousness. Networking: Network is critical in moving women from immediate community activities into broader regional and national areas of related concern. Networking also presents opportunities to bridge the gap between urban and rural women as well as divides of class, religion and age in order to build strong cohesive force. Hazards of Volcanoes: Minimising the Risks Hazards of Volcanoes: Minimising the Risks A natural hazard is defined as a natural process or phenomenon that may cause loss of life, injury or other health impacts, property damage, loss of livelihoods and services, social and economic disruption, or environmental damage (UNISDR, 2009). It is clear that volcanoes pose a huge threat to human life and can also have major economic impacts. This short essay aims to present the hazards that arise due to volcanoes and look at what measures are currently (or should be) being taken in order to minimise the risks taken by living in close proximity to one. Primary Volcanic Hazards http://earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca/nazko/IMG012.jpgThe main and most obvious hazard that occurs due to a volcano (depending on the type) is the eruption. For volcanoes such as Kilauea in Hawaii the effusive eruption is less dangerous due to the lower pressure and lava tends to be erupted rather than other materials. The main hazard from these types of eruptions is the lava itself, which can reach widespread areas in some cases and destroys most things in its path. Volcanoes similar to Mount St. Helens in Washington, USA have extremely dangerous explosive eruptions (also known as Vesuvian eruptions) which involve many different hazards in themselves. Massive quantities of ash-laden gas are violently discharged to form a cauliflower-shaped cloud high above the volcano (Tilling, 1985). A report by (Myers Brantley, 1995) describes the effects of the blast from an eruption such as this: An explosive eruption blastsmolten and solid rock fragments (tephra)into the air with tremendous for ce. The largest fragments (bombs) fall back to the ground near the vent, usually within 2 miles. The smallest rock fragments (ash) continue rising into the air, forming a huge, billowingeruption column. Eruption columns can be enormous in size and grow rapidly, reaching more than 12 miles above a volcano in less than 30 minutes. Once in the air, the volcanic ash and gas form an eruption cloud. Large eruption clouds can travel hundreds of miles downwind from a volcano, resulting inash fallover enormous areas Another hazard is known as a pyroclastic flow and is when High-speed avalanches of hot ash, rock fragments, and gas move down the sides of a volcano during explosive eruptions or when the steep edge of a dome breaks apart and collapses. Thesepyroclastic flows, which can reach 1500 degrees F and move at 100-150 miles per hour, are capable of knocking down and burning everything in their paths. A similar hazard is known as a pyroclastic surge which is more energetic and has a dilute mixture of searing gas and rock fragments. They can move over ridges easily whereas flows tend to follow valleys (Myers Brantley, 1995). Secondary Volcanic Hazards Hazards that are not a direct result of the initial blast can be classed as secondary. Mud and debris flows are known as lahars and are initiated by large landslides of water-saturated debris, heavy rainfall eroding volcanic deposits, sudden melting of snow or ice near a vent or the breakout of water from glaciers, crater lakes or from lakes dammed by eruptions (Tilling, Topinka, Swanson, 1990). These are also very destructive and range greatly in size from several centimetres in size to kilometres and in speed from less than a metre per second to tens of metres per second. Most of the time an earthquake proceeds a volcanic eruption due to the imminent release of the pressures that have built up inside. An earthquake can be extremely dangerous in itself, so when coupled with an eruption it can be devastating. The main hazard is shaking and ground rupture which can lead to severe damage of buildings and in turn cause loss of life. They are largely dependent on the local geological and geomorphological conditions which can either amplify or reduce wave propagation (Perkins Boatwright, 1995). For example, a city built on a river bed is far more vulnerable due to the phenomenon of liquefaction which amplifies the size of the waves due to soil temporarily losing its strength and transforming into a liquid. Damage to electrical power lines or gas mains can also cause fires to break out and in some cases they may be extremely difficult to put out due to water mains bursting which would incur a loss of pressure. Reducing the risks from these hazards One of the most important processes involved in reducing the risks imposed by a volcano is monitoring. According to (Brantley Topinka, 1984) Volcano monitoring involves a variety of measurements and observations designed to detect changes at the surface of a volcano that reflect increasing pressure and stresses caused by the movement of magma, or molten rock, within or beneath it. There are many measurements that are taken in order to build up a large picture of the volcano and ultimately predict to the nearest accuracy possible when an eruption is going to take place. The movement of the ground is closely recorded because increased movement can indicate an upcoming eruption due to the movement of magma underground. Standard levelling surveys are used to obtain changes in the elevation, the tilt is measured and electronic distance measurement is also used. When no earthquakes or measurable ground movement occurs there are geophysical properties which can be measured including electr ical conductivity, magnetic field strength and the force of gravity. Once again, changes in any of these values can indicate the movement of magma. Changes in the composition or emission rate of sulphur dioxide and other gases from a volcano can also indicate a variation in magma supply rate or a change in magma type. Modified from (Wright Pierson, 1992) In addition to monitoring, detailed hazard maps are drawn which show the areas that are likely to be effected during an eruption event. Figure 3 is a simplified version for the Mount St. Helens volcano. These maps are extremely useful because they allow resources to be allocated to the parts that need it the most. For example any settlements in immediate danger from the volcano must be evacuated first, and so on. The final piece in the hazard reduction puzzle is communication. No matter how precise the information regarding an eruption is, it is useless unless this information is successfully conveyed to the people at risk and they are in a position where they understand and can take action. The following is what the U.S. Geological Survey Volcano Hazards Program does in order to try and achieve this: participatesin volcano-emergency planning workshops and emergency-response exercises convenesinternational, regional, and local workshops focused on volcano-hazard issues prepareseducational materials with partners, including exhibits, fact sheets, booklets, video programs, and maps collaborateswith emergency-management specialists to develop effective warning schemes meetswith community leaders and residents wanting information about potentially dangerous volcanoes in their area workswith the news media and media producers leadseducational field trips to active and potentially dangerous volcanoes for the public, officials, local residents, educators, and students helpseducators and students with classroom presentations, teacher workshops, field trips, and activities (U.S. Geological Survey, 2009). It is clear that volcanoes pose a huge threat to peoples safety. However, when a high amount of monitoring, planning and communication takes place it is usually possible to predict eruptions to a level accurate enough to save lives. The main limiting factor is the money available to spend (or the money willing to be spent) on all of these things by a countrys government. This means that for example, people in the USA and Canada can feel relatively safe about the threat to them from most of their volcanoes whereas people living in some countries of Africa cannot.

The Ghosts of The Woman Warrior Essay -- Maxine Hong Kingston Woman Wa

The Ghosts of The Woman Warrior In Maxine Hong Kingston's novel, The Woman Warrior, Kingston touches upon several aspects of life common to all. Her experiences as a child were illustrated through this book. People not of the Chinese culture were seen as ghosts in this child's world. The similarities between Kingston's childhood, and the reader's help make this novel universally readable. The images created by Kinston, and the parallels between her life and others justify the creation of The Woman Warrior. When writing an autobiography, it is the goal of the author to point out the lessons of her life to others. While the lessons expressed are not always unique, each has its purpose. Parent child differences are common; caused by changing times and beliefs. Kingston not only had to deal with the generation gap, but she had to deal with the dissimilar Chinese and American mindset and traditions. Kingston often explained in detail how her mother acts in certain situations. Maxine often felt embarrassed by her mom; when they received a wrong prescription, her mother wanted retribution from the pharmacist. It would be complex for Maxine to explain the situation to the store clerk, who would not understand. As a child such a situation is confusing, explaining to mom will not help, she is not American. Those who have not encountered a similar situation can still correlate the predicament the one's experiences. Telling stories is a tradition of many cultures. Parents tell of a mystical event, or sometimes of a person. Knowing the history of one's ancestors is important. As a whole, people are always making mistakes; to correct them the error must be remembered so that the same act is not repeated. "S... ...haman who would only treat those who were not dying. This was her way of making herself appear a better doctor. No one would want to be treated by a physician whose patients died. Maxine's mother is also reluctant to show her Medical diploma from China. She said, "The sweat of hard work is not to be displayed. It is much more graceful to appear favored by the gods."(??) Modesty is an attribute to one's personality, an especially important one in Chinese culture. Kingston recalls several events during her childhood in Stockton, during The Woman Warrior. No matter where one is from, one's parent child relations have similarities to those told in this novel. In every life there are people considered outsiders, those outsiders are ghosts to certain people. The biographical events on which this book is based provide a universal foundation for Kingston's novel. The Ghosts of The Woman Warrior Essay -- Maxine Hong Kingston Woman Wa The Ghosts of The Woman Warrior In Maxine Hong Kingston's novel, The Woman Warrior, Kingston touches upon several aspects of life common to all. Her experiences as a child were illustrated through this book. People not of the Chinese culture were seen as ghosts in this child's world. The similarities between Kingston's childhood, and the reader's help make this novel universally readable. The images created by Kinston, and the parallels between her life and others justify the creation of The Woman Warrior. When writing an autobiography, it is the goal of the author to point out the lessons of her life to others. While the lessons expressed are not always unique, each has its purpose. Parent child differences are common; caused by changing times and beliefs. Kingston not only had to deal with the generation gap, but she had to deal with the dissimilar Chinese and American mindset and traditions. Kingston often explained in detail how her mother acts in certain situations. Maxine often felt embarrassed by her mom; when they received a wrong prescription, her mother wanted retribution from the pharmacist. It would be complex for Maxine to explain the situation to the store clerk, who would not understand. As a child such a situation is confusing, explaining to mom will not help, she is not American. Those who have not encountered a similar situation can still correlate the predicament the one's experiences. Telling stories is a tradition of many cultures. Parents tell of a mystical event, or sometimes of a person. Knowing the history of one's ancestors is important. As a whole, people are always making mistakes; to correct them the error must be remembered so that the same act is not repeated. "S... ...haman who would only treat those who were not dying. This was her way of making herself appear a better doctor. No one would want to be treated by a physician whose patients died. Maxine's mother is also reluctant to show her Medical diploma from China. She said, "The sweat of hard work is not to be displayed. It is much more graceful to appear favored by the gods."(??) Modesty is an attribute to one's personality, an especially important one in Chinese culture. Kingston recalls several events during her childhood in Stockton, during The Woman Warrior. No matter where one is from, one's parent child relations have similarities to those told in this novel. In every life there are people considered outsiders, those outsiders are ghosts to certain people. The biographical events on which this book is based provide a universal foundation for Kingston's novel.

Communication Self-Analysis :: Communication

1. I just started working at a clothing store, and it was a great way for me to engage in new conversations and identify the elements that go into interpersonal communication. An essential to this conversation was that she was willing to take her time to get to know me and teach me how to do things, and I was able to listen. The following contexts existed in my conversation with a fellow girl coworker. The physical dimension was that we were at our workplace where it is dimly lit, there wasn’t a lot of people around, and we were surrounded by clothing. The temporal dimension was that it was nighttime when we were working so we were both tired, and I was a new employee whereas she had been working here for a long time and had more experience then I did. That also goes along with the social-psychological dimension in that we had a new relationship, she was in a higher rank then I was in our work, and the situation was friendly and easy going since we were just beginning to know each other. The cultural dimension came into play in that she is originally from Texas and I am from Utah. When she talked she had a slight southern accent and would use slang words like â€Å"ya’ll†, words that I usually don’t use. Noise had a big impact on the conversation as well. There was much physical noise around us from the loud music playing in the store, the sound of people walking the mall, the music playing in the mall, and other conversations going on around us. There wasn’t any obvious physiological noise, but there was psychological noise going on with myself as I wasn’t so focused on what she was saying and more worried about if I was doing my job right and in making a good first impression. Also, it was my first time meeting this person so I tried hard not to make any preconceived ideas about the girl. Semantic noise was the southern accent the girl had. When speaking to this girl I did realized how context and noise can influence the way a conversation goes. 2. One of my roommates just got a new boyfriend, and from the moment I met him my perception process told me that I wouldn‘t like this guy. The first thing I noticed about him was that he reeked of smoke and alcohol.

APS essay

Culminating Activity, Identity and Behavior Profile In class and at home, you will have had a chance to study and evaluate different personality traits and theories of personality development. You will now Identify an aspect of your personality that you think Is Important In defining who you are as a person. You will then apply the previously studied traits and theories to yourself. As support for your analysis. You will use examples gathered from research on current events. Short Essay Topic:Based on the information you have learned about personality development, write a paragraph explaining how at least two theories helped shape your own personality. Refer to specific personality traits that you have and how they might have been formed by the elements of the various theories. Hints on Essay Structure: Follow the structure given on the Social Studies Essay Rubric and also include these additional points. In the Introductory paragraph, be sure to describe the behavior and personality trait you will analyze.You should also briefly introduce the theories that you will apply in your analysis. Your thesis statement should refer to the theories explain your behavior and personality trait. For the first Body paragraph, write about one theory and how it explains your behavior and personality trait. Be sure to fully explain how the theory applies to your trait, and then use an example from current news events to Illustrate your point. For the second body paragraph, write about another theory and the same trait. Make the same kind of explanation and analysis s you did In the first body paragraph.In the Concluding paragraph, end with a point about what your analysis of behavior and personality tells us about your Identity. Evaluation: Social Studies Essay Rubric. Please hand in rubric with paragraph. You may write in first person for this essay. Length: Approximately 2 pages, double-spaced Rubric for Identity and Behavior Profile Levels of Achievement Criteria Level 3 Le vel 1 Understanding (K) Understanding of terminology, facts and concepts related to topic Consistently monstrance a thorough understanding through correct application, definition and usage of facts, terms, etc.Demonstrates a considerable understanding, through correct application, definition and usage of facts, terms, etc. Demonstrates some understanding, through some correct application, definition and usage of facts, terms, etc. Demonstrates limited understanding, through incorrect or missing application, definition and usage of facts, terms, etc.

Summary: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens is a book authored by Sean Covey. It was in the year 2001 the Indonesian version of the book first published in Indonesia. Sean Covey’s father, Stephen Covey, is well-known for authoring his international bestseller book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, The 8th Habit: from Effectiveness to Greatness, and many other popular self helping books. Sean Covey himself writes other several self helping books as well. If practiced, the 7 habits Stephen and Sean Covey referred in their books will make the readers able to control their lives, to do more in fewer time, improve relationships with other people, improve self confidence, rehab from addiction, be happy, find the balances between the time for school, work, hang out, and many other activities. Moreover, the readers will find out what do they value the most in their lives. What do habits have to do with effectiveness? Well, our habits will decide whether or not we will be successful, and whether or not we will be happy. An English poet once said that at first we will determine our habits, and the next our habits will determine who we are. Our habits, good or bad will shape our characters. Everyone has good as well as bad habits, so everyone should deal with their bad habits and create the good habits. Yes, we are able to create, change and eliminate our habits. It is not easy to do that, but when we are able to deal with our own habits, then we are ready to deal with other people’s habits. In creating good habits, we should have good paradigm in our lives. Paradigm means perception. It is like a pair of glasses that will determine whether we will see things clearly or not. We will never know how poor our current vision is, until we get a new and better pair of glasses. In the book, Sean Covey mentioned some statements of some experts in the past that sound silly now. One of them is a statement from Ferdinand Foch, a French Military Strategic Expert who became a World War I Commander. He once stated that airplanes are interesting toys, but have no value in the military. Ferdinand was sure about his perception, but it turned out that he was wrong. No one has the best and complete perception. As an analogy, let us say that there is a group of blind people who never encounter any elephants before. We bring them an elephant and we ask them to touch and describe the elephant. One will say that an elephant is like a giant snake. He actually is only touching the elephant’s trunk. Another will say that an elephant is like a rope, but he is actually only touching the elephant’s tail. They all will be very sure of their perception about the elephant, and they will argue. The point from this analogy is, we are like those blind people, trying to understand something big and we only see it from one side but we are so sure that it is just as what we see. Having the wrong paradigm is just not good because it will be an obstacle in our lives. In this live, what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG), so in order to get the good things we must make sure that we see the good things. My favorite from Covey’s stories about paradigm is the story of a Dauphine of France. After King Louis is imprisoned, the Dauphine is taken to a faraway community. They are trying to destroy the Dauphine’s morality so that he will not become the next King of France. They introduce him to the community where people use bad words, where prostitution is everywhere, and where people are not respecting or trusting other people. Six months in such a community, not even once he follows their lifestyle. The secret is that he knows that he is born to be a King, and that is why he should not act like that. In this story, we can see how powerful paradigm is. Positive paradigms will make us great but negative paradigms will obstacle us. 1st Habit: Be Proactive Being proactive means not being reactive. A reactive person is a person who feels that he is a victim of life, a victim of conditions, and a victim of other people’s mistake. When something unfortunate happens to him, he always thinks that he is a victim, and he can do nothing. He never thinks that it is his own fault. The blame is always on other people, or on conditions. He keeps complaining on things that he cannot control, like the weather, the traffic jam, etc. Reactive people tend to have bad tensions and they are easily irritated. In our lives, we should lead our own way. If the journey of our lives is like our journey in a car, being proactive means being the driver. The reactive people are the passengers in their own car, and they are letting other people or the condition to drive for them. While the reactive people wait for good things to happen to their lives, proactive people make them happen. They look for the things they want and if they cannot find one, they create one. They know what things they can control and what things they cannot control. Reactive people complain and worry about things they cannot control while proactive people deal with the things they an control. We cannot control the conditions, but we can control our respond towards the conditions. For example, when Amy has a problem, she becomes easily irritated, so when Beth told her that she looks miserable, Amy get irritated and said bad things to Beth. If Beth is a reactive person, she will be irritated as well; she will get mad and start a fight with Amy. This time, Beth is a proactive person, she does not like what Amy said about her, but she pull back and try to tolerate. Beth tries to understand that Amy is undergoing a problem and she did not mean to say that. She also introspects herself, and she tries to put herself on Amy’s position, and she understands that if she was Amy, she will get irritated as well. The next day, Beth apologizes to Amy and Amy tells her that she also felt sorry for saying bad things to her. Barrack Obama’s â€Å"Yes We Can† slogan is a proactive slogan. By being proactive, we should be sure of our own ability. If we cannot trust our selves, how can other people trust us? Instead of saying â€Å"Okay, I will try† we should say â€Å"I will do it†. It is more powerful yet ensuring. Which sentence do you think is the best when one of your friends gives you a birthday present? Is it â€Å"Wow, Beth they are fabulous stilettos. I will try to wear them†, or â€Å"Thank you Beth, I will wear them†? 2nd Habit: Begin with the End in Mind When driving our cars on the road, we will encounter several branches and we should choose the one that will bring us to our destination. How can we choose which way to go if we do not know our destination? When asking people about directions, we should always mention the destination so that they can tell us which the right route is. There are times when we should make big decisions about the choices in our lives, and the same principle will apply. We should know where to go; we should know what our goal in our lives is. Once we know, we will find out which route to take, which choice we should take. If we just randomly choose the route, then we will arrive at a random destination as well. That is why we should begin with the end. Writing down our own mission statements is the best way to implement the 2nd habit. These will be our guidelines and principles to help us to choose which route to go in our lives. Our mission statements could be anything, could be in our own or our favorite words, poems, pictures, photographs, quotations, etc. Some or most of us might think that this is not necessary. It is actually very helpful not because it is written, but it is helpful because when we want to write our mission down, we need to be specific to put the words together. Besides, it also gives a sort of psychological effect that it gives us spirit by having our mission statements written down. 3rd Habit: Put First Things First In the third habit, we learn about priorities and time management. In the second habit, we learn that we should decide what the most important aspects in our lives are, and then in the third habit, we learn that we should prioritize them. In doing our daily activities, we are not spending our time effectively if we do not set any priority. There is a famous analogy about priorities, which is also mentioned by Sean Covey in the book. Let us assume that there is an empty container, representing the time we have in a day. There are big stones representing the important things to do and there are also pebbles representing some other daily unimportant activities that will take some time. When we put the pebbles into the container, and the big stones after, the container will have no enough space for all of the stones and pebbles. There will be some big stones remain outside the container. Now try to do it reversely. If we put the big stones first, and the pebbles right after, there will be enough space for all of them because the pebbles can fit into small spaces between the large stones. The message from this analogy is that we should do the priorities first in order to get all of them done. There is a simple way to help us managing our time. It is by setting a weekly plan and we can it on our agenda. By having them written down, we will not forget about our plan, deadlines or maybe other schedule. In making the weekly plan, we should identify what are our ‘big stones’ and set a schedule for them. After that, we can schedule our ‘pebbles’ as well. Then we should do our best to have all the priorities of the week done. In the third habit, we also learn to face our fear and pressure. We need courage to hold on our ground principles, our standards, and our priorities. We need courage to step out from our comfort zone. Stepping out from our comfort zone is necessary to challenge and to improve ourselves. There would be risks, but without taking the risks, we cannot learn and grow. A person who risks nothing does nothing, has nothing, and is nothing. We shall not let our fear make decisions in our lives. We might fail many times, but we should never give up. Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but rising every time we fall (Confucius). 4th Habit: Think Win/Win In the society, most of us do not think win/win. Some of us think Win/Lose, Lose/Win, or Lose/Lose. The Win/Lose people think of everything as competitions where there is only either win or lose, and that when competing with other people, they should be the winner, and when other people become the winner, they become the loser. They think that nothing is enough for everybody so they should compete. The Lose/Win people think that they should just let other people be the winner by making everyone happy and sacrifice their own need / feeling (become the loser). The Lose/Lose people think that if they fail, everyone should fail as well. This will happen when two or more Win/Lose people meet. The Win/Win people think that everyone could get all they want because everything is unlimited. Sean Covey illustrates the situation as people going out to eat at a buffet, so everyone can have all you can eat. Now that we know what the Win/Win attitude is, we might want to know how to think Win/Win. The first thing is to win our own victory, which means that we should have a good level of confidence. The second thing is to avoid being competitive and comparative. It will be an endless effort to be the best in everything and to be perfect in anyways. Nobody is perfect and we should embrace our strengths and weaknesses. When we feel secure about ourselves, then we can avoid being competitive and comparative. 5th Habit: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood Many people are too busy talking that they have no time to listen. God created each of us with a pair of ears and only one mouth. It tells us that we should spend more of our time listening than talking. We should stop talking and try to listen to and understand other people, and then it will be our turn to be listened to and understood. People tend to be egoistic, so they want other people to listen to them because they just care about their own problem, but they fail to listen to other people. What happen when everybody is talking? No one is listening. We need other people to understand us. Let us look at a situation where Amy has a conflict with her parents. Amy talked to Beth about her problem, but before Amy done telling about her feelings, Beth keep interrupting with her story about a conflict she had with her parents and assuming that Amy is having the same problem Beth ever had. Amy will not be happy because she feels that Beth is not paying attention to her, and Beth does not understand her. Later, Amy will not be open to Beth anymore, because what Amy really need is Beth’s attention and sympathy. Not paying attention is just one of the bad listening styles. There are some others like pretending to be listening, selectively listening, verbal-only listening, self-focus listening and wandering minds. In order to understand other people, we should sincerely listen to them when they are talking. There are three steps in sincerely listening. First, we should listen to his/her verbal (words) as well as non-verbal language (intonation, body language). Secondly, we should try to see things from his/her perspective, and the last is to be a mirror. What it means by to be a mirror is to repeat what he/she told us with different words as our respond to show that we are paying attention. 6th Habit: Synergize People are all different; they have different needs, different interest, and different skills. There is no one like you and there is no one like me in this world. Differences can break a nation apart, but differences can also form a powerful nation. It depends on how they deal with their differences. There are many cases of differences that cause conflicts. However, in many parts of the world, the communities have people with different religion, culture, race and nationality. Differences are not always about those. People from the very same hometown, culture, race, nationality and religion have differences as well. They might be different in their social status, their talents, etc. Some people deal with the differences by avoiding, and some tolerating the differences. Nowadays people tend to campaign about toleration. Actually, there is the best way to deal with the differences. It is to embrace the differences and utilize them. It is not about how to let different people do different things. It is about how to let two different persons work together; synergize to get a better result which they could never achieve if they work alone. As an example, when Amy and Beth want to set a business to earn their own money, Amy wants to do a bakery business while Beth wants to do a creative art business. Amy is into baking cakes and cookies while Beth is into creating decorative stuffs. They might fight about which business to do which will result in nothing but a fight. They might also do it their own way. Amy alone could do her best and earn USD 800 from her bakery business. On the other hand, Beth could do her best and earn USD 700 from her creative art business. However, there is another solution to their different business interest. They can synergize where they accept orders for cakes or cookies as wedding or birthday party souvenirs. Amy will bake the cupcakes or the cookies while Beth will handle the packaging. Then together, they could earn up to USD 2000. When they do the business alone and we sum up their profit, USD 800 plus USD 700 is only USD 1500. 7th Habit: Sharpen the Saw There are four key dimensions in our lives, which are body, mind, heart and soul. These key dimensions should be sharpened regularly. No matter how much energy we use to cutting trees with a blunt saw, it will takes forever. If we spend our time to sharpen the saw before cutting the trees, we will not need that much of time. We should regularly sharpen the four key dimensions. If we only sharpen our body intensively, without sharpening our mind, we will be the brainless athletes. If we only sharpen our mind intensively without sharpening other dimensions, we will be the unsocial geeks. Neither one is good. We should balance between the four dimensions. First, we will discuss about how to sharpen our bodies. We can do it by eating healthy food because we are what we eat. We can also relax in the bathtub at the end of the day, exercise or do any kinds of sport we like, have enough sleep every day, and refusing to take any hazardous intake. Addiction to tobacco, alcohol and/or drugs is extremely dangerous. It will not only blunt one dimension, but also other dimensions. Secondly, to sharpen our mind, we should continuously learn about anything. We should never stop learning. Learning does not mean going to school, college or any academic institute. School and college are very important for our future, but the thing is, we should make sure that we are actually learning, not achieving scores only. There is no point of going to college with great GPA if we learn nothing. There are many ways to learn and the most frequently used is reading. We do not always have to read school textbooks to learn something. We can choose any topic of our interest. No matter how unimportant a topic sounds, we are actually learning something and broaden our knowledge when we read about it. Other ways to sharpen our mind are playing games (chess or logical games), traveling, attending seminars, watching television, reading newspaper, learning how to play a music instrument, etc. The third dimension is our heart, and we can sharpen it by building good relationships with other people as well as ourselves. A good relationship with ourselves means that we trust ourselves, that we are content and confidence in our own skin. In other words, we are treating ourselves nice. While a good relationship with other people means that we make sure that we are trustworthy, kind, loyal and understanding. Depression is a demon for this dimension, but we can fight depression with hope, faith and laughter. Never underestimate the power of hope, faith and laughter. The last but not the least dimension is our soul. How do we sharpen our soul? There are several ways to do it. We can meditate, write a journal, go on a trip, paint, pray, write a song, listen to the music, play an instrument, and many other activities. Going on a trip to see nice view where we can relax and enjoy the view. It will help us to get in touch with the nature. Nature has the healing power for our soul. Writing a journal also heals us by letting us to express our feelings, and from a journal we can also learn from our mistakes because we might forget about that lesson in the future. Moreover, reading, listening or watching an inspirational media will also help us to sharpen our soul. Reading is useful to sharpen our mind but depending on the content, some can sharpen our soul as well.

Basic Economics Definitions Essay

Colander (2010) stated, â€Å"Economics is the study of how human beings coordinate their wants and desires, given the decision-making mechanisms, social customs, and political realities of the society† (p. 4). The main word defining â€Å"economics† would be coordination, and in economics, refers to three central problems that face any economy and how they are solved. These central problems are 1. What and how much to produce. 2. How to produce it. 3. For whom to produce it (Colander, 2010). Individuals frequently assume that economics only concern is with business, money, and supply, and demand. However, economics began as a branch of philosophy, and Alfred Marshall, the 19th century economist describes economics as the study of individuals in the business of everyday life. * Scarcity Colander (2010) stated â€Å"scarcity has two elements: our wants and our means of fulfilling those wants. These can be interrelated since wants are changeable and partially determined by society† (p. 5). Scarcity is a basic problem of economics it has apparent limitless individual wants and needs when the world in fact has limited resources. We as a society have scarce creative resources to fulfill everyone’s wants and needs. * TANSTAAFL Colander (2010) states TANSTAAFL â€Å"economic knowledge in one sentence â€Å"There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch† (p. 7). This acronym is trying to illustrate the cost of spending and decision making, and expresses that there is always a cost whether hidden or indirect even if it may seem like it is free. * Opportunity Cost Colander (2010) states â€Å"Opportunity cost is the benefit that you might have gained from choosing the next-best alternative. To obtain the benefit of something, you must give up something else. TANSTAAFL theory embodies the opportunity cost concept because it tells us that there is a cost to everything; that cost is the next-best forgone alternative† (p. 9). In economics, the term â€Å"opportunity cost† refers to money or benefits lost or given up pursuing a particular path specific path of action instead of an alternative or something else. Almost every decision made in business has an opportunity cost attached to it. For example should a business continue using a particular piece of equipment, or should the business purchase new equipment with additional features, and pay a higher rate. * Production Possibilities Curve Colander (2010) states the definition as â€Å"The production possibility curve is a curve that measures the maximum combination of outputs that can be obtained with a given number of inputs† (p. 29). The â€Å"Production Possibility Curve† is a graph representing the difference in rate when two products are produced with only a specific quantity of resources. For example, Suzie will bake brownies and cookies, but she has only one oven. An area in the oven used for baking brownies is not necessarily used for the cookies; therefore, for each brownie baked there are fewer baked cookies. * Comparative Advantage Colander (2010) states the definition as â€Å"some resources have a comparative advantage over other resources— the ability to be better suited to the production of one good than to the production of another good† (p. 28-29). Comparative advantage is the capability to manufacture services or merchandise at an opportunity cost lower than other individuals or businesses giving the individuals or businesses the capability of selling their services or merchandise at lower pricing than their competitors price. * Business Cycle Colander (2010) states the definition, as â€Å"a business cycle is the upward or downward movement of economic activity that occurs around the growth trend† (p. 158). Business cycles refer to economic fluctuations in trade, production, and economic activity in over several months or years. Economic fluctuations take place throughout long-term growth trends, involving shifts over time showing fast economic growth, and periods of decline. * CPI Colander (2010) states the definition, as â€Å"the consumer price index (CPI) is an index of inflation measuring prices of a fixed basket of consumer goods, weighted according to each component’s share of an average consumer’s expenditures† (p. 171). The CPI or consumer price index is a measurement showing household purchases indicating the change in the price levels of services and consumer goods. The CPI calculates the price changes for each predetermined item in the â€Å"basket of goods† and averages them, and weighted by their importance with the price changes related to the cost of living. * Labor Force To define labor force or workforce, and this is the calculation of every adult whether employed or unemployed. Estimated by The Bureau of Labor Statistics labor is categorized by employed, unemployed or not in the labor force for individuals age 16 and over. Individuals not categorized into the labor force are students, retired, or institutionalized individuals. The labor force changes over periods because of social and demographic changes. * Transfer Payments Colander (2010) states the definition, as â€Å"payments to individuals that do not involve production by those individuals. Transfer payments include Social Security payments, and unemployment insurance† (p. 184). Transfer payments are monies from the government given to individuals such payments include unemployment, social security, disability, and other welfare payments. References * Business cycle. (2013). In Merriam-Webster. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/business cycle Comparative advantage. (2013). In Merriam-Webster. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/comparative advantage Colander, D. C. (2010). Macroeconomics (8th ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. (pg. 4, 5, 7, 9, 28-29, 158, 171, 184). Economics. (2013). In Merriam-Webster. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/economics Opportunity cost. (2013). In Merriam-Webster. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/opportunity cost Scarcity. (2013). In Merriam-Webster. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scarcity

The Return: Shadow Souls Chapter 21

Pandemonium. Elena whipped her head up, confused as to whether she was supposed to be the repentant slave any longer. The community leaders were all babbling at one another, pointing fingers, throwing up their hands. Damon had physically restrained the Godfather, who seemed to regard his part in the ceremony as concluded. The crowd was hooting and cheering. It looked as if there would be another fight; this time between Damon and the Godfather's men, especially the one called Clewd. Elena's head was whirling. She could catch only disjointed phrases. † – only six strokes and promised me that I could administer – † Damon was shouting. † – really think that these little flunkies tell the truth?† someone else – probably Clewd – was shouting back. But isn't that exactly what the Godfather was, too? Just a bigger, more frightening, and, undoubtedly, more efficient flunky who reported to someone higher up, and didn't cloud his mind with dope-smoke? Elena thought; and then ducked her head hastily as the fat man glanced toward her. She could hear Damon again, this time clearly above the hubbub. He was standing by the Godfather. â€Å"I had believed that even here there was some honor once a bargain was struck.† His voice made it obvious that he no longer thought negotiations were possible and that he was about to go on the attack. Elena tensed, horrified. She had never heard such open menace in his speaking voice. â€Å"Wait.† It was in the Godfather's lackadaisical tones, but it caused an instant of silence in the babble. The fat man, having removed Damon's hand from his arm, turned his head back toward Elena. â€Å"I will waive, for my part, the participation of my nephew Clewd. Diarmund, or whoever you were, you are free to punish your own slave with your own tools.† Suddenly, surprisingly, the old man was brushing bits of gold out of his beard and speaking directly to Elena. His eyes were ancient, tired, and surprisingly discerning. â€Å"Clewd is a master at whipping, you know. He has his own little invention. He calls it the cat's whiskers and one blow can flay the skin from neck to hip. Most men die from ten lashes. But I'm afraid he'll be disappointed today.† Then exposing surprisingly white and even teeth, the Godfather smiled. He extended to her the bowl of golden sweetmeats he'd been eating. â€Å"You might as well taste one before your Discipline. Go on.† Afraid to try one, afraid not to, Elena took one of the irregular pieces and popped it in her mouth. Her teeth crunched pleasantly. A walnut half! That's what the mysterious sweets were. A delicious half walnut dipped in some kind of sweet lemon syrup, with bits of hot pepper or something like that clinging to it, all gilded with that edible gold stuff. Ambrosia! The Godfather was saying to Damon, â€Å"Do your own ‘discipline,' boy. But don't neglect to teach the girl how to cover her thoughts. She has too much wit to be wasted here in a slum-brothel. But then why do I not think she wishes to become a famous courtesan at all?† Before Damon could answer or Elena look up from her genuflection, he was gone, carried by palanquin bearers to the only horse-drawn carriage Elena had seen in the slums. By now the arguing, gesticulating civic leaders, egged on by Young Drohzne, had come to a sullen agreement. â€Å"Ten lashes, and she need not strip, and you may give them,† they said. â€Å"But our final word is ten. The man who negotiated with you has no more power to argue.† Almost casually, one lifted by a tuft of hair a bodiless head. Absurdly, it was crowned with dusty leaves in anticipation of the banquet after the ceremony. Damon's eyes flared with true rage that set objects around him vibrating. Elena could feel his Power like a panther rearing back against a leash. She felt as if she were speaking against a hurricane which cast every word back into her throat. â€Å"I agree to it.† â€Å"What?† â€Å"It's over, Da – Master Damon. No more yelling. I agree.† Now, as she prostrated herself on the carpets before Drohzne, there was a sudden keening of women and children and a fusillade of pellets aimed – sometimes badly – at the smirking slave owner. The train of her dress was spread behind her like a bride's, the pearl overskirt making the underskirt a shimmering burgundy in the eternal red light. Her hair had fallen free of its high knot, making a cloud around her shoulders that Damon had to part with his hands. He was shaking. From fury. Elena didn't dare look at him, knowing that their minds would rush together. She was the one who remembered to say her formal speech before him and Young Drohzne so this entire farce would not have to be reenacted. Say it with feeling, her drama teacher, Ms. Courtland, had always excoriated the class. If there was no feeling in you there could be none in the audience. â€Å"Master!† Elena shouted in a voice that was loud enough to be heard above the women's lamentations. â€Å"Master, I am but a slave, not fit to address you. But I have trespassed and I accept my punishment eagerly – yea, eagerly, if it will restore to you but one hairsbreadth of the respectability you enjoyed before my unwonted evildoing. I beg you to punish this disgraced slave who lies like discarded offal in your gracious path.† The speech, which she had shouted in the unvarying glassy tones of someone who had been taught each word by rote, hadn't actually needed to be more than four words, â€Å"Master, I beg forgiveness.† But no one seemed to have recognized the irony that Meredith had put into it, or to find it amusing. The Godfather had accepted it; Young Drohzne had already heard it once, and now it was Damon's turn. But Young Drohzne wasn't finished yet. Smirking at Elena, he said, â€Å"Here's where you find out, Missy. But I want to see that ash rod before you use it!† – stumbling to Damon. A few practice swishes and blows to the cushions surrounding them (which filled the air with ruby-colored dust) satisfied him that the rod was all that even he could want. Mouth visibly watering, he settled on the gold couch, taking in Elena from head to toe. And finally the time had come. Damon couldn't put it off any longer. Slowly, as if every step was part of a play that he hadn't rehearsed properly, he sidled alongside Elena to get an angle. Finally, as the gathered crowd became restless, and the women showed signs of losing themselves in drink, rather than in keening, he picked his spot. â€Å"I ask forgiveness, my master,† Elena said in her no-expression voice. If left to himself, she thought, he wouldn't even have remembered the necessities. Now, indeed, was the time. Elena knew what Damon had promised her. She also knew that a lot of promises had been broken that day. For one thing, ten was almost twice six. She wasn't looking forward to this. But when the first blow came, she knew that Damon wasn't one of the promise-breakers. She felt a dull thud, and a numbness, and then, curiously, a wetness which had her glancing up through the latticework of boards above them for clouds. It was disconcerting to realize that the wetness was her own blood, spilled without pain, running down her side. â€Å"Make her count them,† Young Drohzne slurred in a snarl, and Elena said â€Å"One† automatically, before Damon could put up a fight. Elena went on counting in the same clear, unaffected voice. In her mind she wasn't here, in this foul-smelling horrible gutter at all. She was lying with her elbows propped up to support her face, and looking down into Stefan's eyes – those spring-green eyes that would never be old, no matter how many centuries he accumulated. She was dreamily counting for him, and ten would be their signal to jump up and begin the race. It was raining gently, but Stefan was giving her a handicap, and soon, soon she would scramble off him and run away through lush green grass. She would make this a fair race and really put her muscle into it, but Stefan, of course, would catch her. Then they would go down on the grass together, laughing and laughing as if they were having hysterics. As for the vague, far-off sounds of wolflike leers and drunken snarls, even they were gradually changing. It all had to do with some silly dream about Damon and an ash rod. In the dream, Damon was swinging hard enough to satisfy the most exacting of onlookers, and the blows, which Elena could hear in the increasing silence, sounded more than hard enough, and made her feel a bit nauseated when she reflected that they were the sound of her own skin splitting, but she felt no more than dull cuffs up and down her back. And Stefan was drawing up her hand to kiss! â€Å"I'll always be yours,† Stefan said. â€Å"We belong together every time you dream.† I'll always be yours, Elena told him silently, knowing he would get the message. I may not be able to dream of you all the time, but I am always with you. Always, my angel. I'm waiting for you, Stefan said. Elena heard her own voice say â€Å"Ten,† and Stefan kissed her hand again and was gone. Blinking, bewildered, and confused by the sudden inrush of noises, she sat cautiously up, looking around. Young Drohzne was hunched into himself, blind with fury, disappointment, and more liquor than even he could stand up under. The wailing women had long ago gone silent, awed. The children were the only ones who still made any noise, climbing up and down on the boards, whispering to one another and running if Elena should happen to glance their way. And then, with an entire lack of ceremony, it was over. When Elena first stood up the world made a complete double circle around her and her legs folded. Damon caught her, and called to the few young men still conscious and inclined to look at him, â€Å"Give me a cape.† It wasn't a request, and the best-dressed of the men, who seemed to have been slumming, tossed him a heavy cape, black, lined with greenish blue, and said, â€Å"Keep it. The performance – marvelous. Is it a hypnotist's act?† â€Å"No performance,† Damon snarled, in a voice that stopped the other slummers in the act of holding out business cards. â€Å"Take them,† Elena whispered. Damon snatched up the cards in one hand, ungraciously. But Elena forced herself to toss the hair off her face and smile slowly, heavy-lidded, at the young men. They smiled somewhat timidly back. â€Å"When you – ah – perform again†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"You'll hear,† Elena called to them. Damon was already carrying her back to Dr. Meggar, surrounded by the inevitable entourage of children plucking at their cloaks. It was only then that it occurred to Elena to wonder why Damon had asked for a cloak from some strangers, when he, in fact, was already wearing one. â€Å"They will be having ceremonies somewhere, now that there are this many of them,† Mrs. Flowers said in genteel distress as she and Matt sat and sipped herbal tea in the boardinghouse parlour. It was dinnertime, but still quite light outside. â€Å"Ceremonies to do what?† Matt asked. He had never made it to his parents' house since he'd left Damon and Elena more than a week ago to come back to Fell's Church. He'd stopped by Meredith's house, which was on the edge of town, and she'd convinced him to come by Mrs. Flowers's first. After the conversation the three of them had had with Bonnie, Matt had decided it was best to be â€Å"invisible.† His family would be safer if no one knew that he was still in Fell's Church. He would live at the boardinghouse, but none of the children who were making all the trouble would realize that. Then, with Bonnie and Meredith safely gone to meet Damon and Elena, Matt could be a sort of secret operative. Now he almost wished he'd gone with the girls. Trying to be a secret operative in a place where all the enemies seemed to be able to hear and see better than you could, as well as to move much faster, hadn't turned out to be nearly as helpful as it had sounded. He spent reading most of the time the Internet blogs that Meredith had marked, looking for clues that might do them some good. But he hadn't read of the need for any kind of ceremonies. He turned to Mrs. Flowers as she thoughtfully sipped her tea. â€Å"Ceremonies for what?† he repeated. With her soft white hair and her gentle face and vague, amiable blue eyes, Mrs. Flowers looked like the most harmless little old lady in the world. She wasn't. A witch by birth, and a gardener by vocation, she knew as much about black magic herbal toxins as about white magic healing poultices. â€Å"Oh, doing generally unpleasant things,† she replied sadly, staring into the tea leaves in her cup. â€Å"They're partly like pep rallies, you know, to get everyone all worked up. They probably also do some small black magic there. Some of it is by way of blackmail and brainwashing – they can tell any new converts that they are guilty now by reason of attending the meetings. They might as well give in and become fully initiated†¦that sort of thing. Very unpleasant.† â€Å"But what kind of unpleasant?† Matt persisted. â€Å"I really don't know, dear. I never went to one of them.† Matt considered. It was almost 7:00, which was curfew for children under eighteen. Eighteen seemed to be the oldest that a child could be and become possessed. Of course, it wasn't an official curfew. The sheriff's department seemed to have no idea of how to deal with the curious disease that was working its way through the young girls of Fell's Church. Scare them straight? It was the police that were frightened. One young sheriff had come tearing out of the Ryan house to be sick after seeing how Karen Ryan had bitten off the heads of her pet mice and what she had done with the rest of them. Lock them away? The parents wouldn't hear of it, no matter how bad their child's behavior was, how obvious it was that their kid needed help. Children who were towed off to the next town for an appointment with a psychiatrist sat demurely and spoke calmly and logically†¦for the entire fifty minutes of their appointment. Then, on their way back they took revenge, repeating everything their parents said in perfect mimicry, making startlingly real-sounding animal noises, holding conversations with themselves in Asian-sounding languages, or even resorting to the clich but still chilling backward-talking routine. Neither ordinary discipline nor ordinary medical science seemed to have an answer to the childrens' problem. But what frightened parents the most was when their sons and daughters would disappear. Early on, it was assumed that the children went to the cemetery, but when adults tried to follow them to one of their secret meetings, they found the cemetery empty – even down to Honoria Fell's secret crypt. The children seemed to have simply†¦vanished. Matt thought he knew the answer to this conundrum. That thicket of the Old Wood still standing near the cemetery. Either Elena's powers of purification had not reached this far, or the place was so malevolent that it had been able to resist her cleansing. And, as Matt knew well, the Old Woods were completely under the domination of the kitsune by now. You could take two steps into the thicket and spend the rest of your life trying to get out. â€Å"But maybe I'm young enough to follow them in,† he said now to Mrs. Flowers. â€Å"I know Tom Pierler goes with them and he's my age. And then so were the ones who started it: Caroline gave it to Jim Bryce, who gave it to Isobel Saitou.† Mrs. Flowers looked abstracted. â€Å"We should ask Isobel's grandmother for more of those Shinto wards against evil she blessed,† she said. â€Å"Do you think you could do that sometime, Matt? Soon we'll have to ready ourselves for a barricade, I'm afraid.† â€Å"Is that what the tea leaves say?† â€Å"Yes, dear, and they agree with what my poor old head says, too. You might want to pass the word on to Dr. Alpert as well so she can get her daughter and grandchildren out of town before it's too late.† â€Å"I'll give her the message, but I think it's going to be pretty hard tearing Tyrone away from Deborah Koll. He's really stuck on her – hey, maybe Dr. Alpert can get the Kolls to leave, too.† â€Å"Maybe she can. That would mean a few less children to worry about,† Mrs. Flowers said, taking Matt's cup to peer into it. â€Å"I'll do it.† It was weird, Matt thought. He had three allies now in Fell's Church and they were all women over sixty. One was Mrs. Flowers, still vigorous enough to be up every morning taking a walk and doing her gardening; one was Obaasan – confined to bed, tiny and doll-like, with her black hair held up in a bun – who was always ready with advice from the years she had spent as a shrine maiden; and the last was Dr. Alpert, Fell's Church's local doctor, who had iron gray hair, burnished dark brown skin, and an absolutely pragmatic attitude about everything, including magic. Unlike the police, she refused to deny what was happening in front of her, and did her best to help alleviate the fears of the children as well as to advise the terrified parents. A witch, a priestess, and a doctor. Matt figured that he had all his bases covered, especially since he also knew Caroline, the original patient in this case – whether it was possession by foxes or wolves or both, plus something else. â€Å"I'll go to the meeting tonight,† he said firmly. â€Å"The kids have been whispering and contacting each other all day. I'll hide in the afternoon someplace where I can see them going into the thicket. Then I'll follow – as long as Caroline or – God help us, Shinichi or Misao – isn't with them.† Mrs. Flowers poured him another cup of tea. â€Å"I'm very worried about you, Matt, dear. It seems to me to be a day of bad omens. Not the sort of day to take chances.† â€Å"Does your mom have anything to say about it?† Matt asked, genuinely interested. Mrs. Flowers's mother had died sometime around the beginning of the 1900s, but that hadn't stopped her from communicating with her daughter. â€Å"Well, that's just the thing. I haven't heard a word from her all day. I'll just try one more time.† Mrs. Flowers shut her eyes, and Matt could see her crepe-textured eyelids move around as she presumably looked for her mother or tried to go into a trance or something. Matt drank his tea and finally began to play a game on his mobile. At last Mrs. Flowers opened her eyes again and sighed. â€Å"Dear Mama (she always said it that way, with the accent on the second syllable) is being fractious today. I just can't get her to give me a clear answer. She does say that the meeting will be very noisy, and then very silent. And it's clear that she feels it will be very dangerous as well. I think I'd better go with you, my dear.† â€Å"No, no! If your mother thinks it's that dangerous I won't even try it,† Matt said. The girls would skin him alive if anything happened to Mrs. Flowers, he thought. Better to play it safe. Mrs. Flowers sat back in her chair, seeming relieved. â€Å"Well,† she said at last, â€Å"I suppose I'd better get to my weeding. I have mugwort to cut and dry, too. And blueberries should be ripe by now, as well. How time flies.† â€Å"Well, you're cooking for me and all,† Matt said. â€Å"I wish you'd let me pay you bed and board.† â€Å"I could never forgive myself! You are my guest, Matt. As well as my friend, I do so hope.† â€Å"Absolutely. Without you, I'd be lost. And I'll just take a walk around the edge of town. I need to burn off some energy. I wish – † He broke off suddenly. He'd started to say he wished he could shoot a few hoops with Jim Bryce. But Jim wouldn't be shooting hoops again – ever. Not with his mutilated hands. â€Å"I'll just go out and take a walk,† he said. â€Å"Yes,† said Mrs. Flowers. â€Å"Please, Matt dear, be careful. Remember to take a jacket or Windbreaker.† â€Å"Yes, ma'am.† It was early August, hot and humid enough to walk around in swimming briefs. But Matt had been raised to treat little old ladies in a certain way – even if they were witches and in most things sharp as the X-acto knife he slipped into his pocket as he left the boardinghouse. He went outside, then, by a side route, down to the cemetery. Now, if he just went over there, where the ground dipped down below the thicket, he'd have a good view of anyone going into the last remnant of the Old Wood while no one on the path below could see him from any angle. He hurried toward his chosen hide noiselessly, ducking behind tombstones, keeping alert for any change in birdsong, which would indicate that the children were coming. But the only birdsong was the raucous shriek of crows in the thicket and he saw no one at all – – until he slipped into his hideout. Then he found himself face-to-face with a drawn gun, and, behind that, the face of Sheriff Rich Mossberg. The first words out of the officer's mouth seemed to come entirely by rote, as if someone had pulled a string on a twentieth-century talking doll. â€Å"Matthew Jeffrey Honeycutt, I hereby arrest you for assault and battery upon Caroline Beula Forbes. You have the right to remain silent – â€Å" â€Å"And so do you,† Matt hissed. â€Å"But not for long! Hear those crows all taking off at once? The kids are coming to the Old Wood! And they're close!† Sheriff Mossberg was one of those people who never stop speaking until they are finished, so by this time he was saying: â€Å"Do you understand these rights?† â€Å"No, sir! Mi ne komprenas Dumbtalk!† A wrinkle appeared between the sheriff's eyebrows. â€Å"Is that Italian lingo you're trying on me?† â€Å"It's Esperanto – we don't have time! There they are – and, oh, God, Shinichi's with them!† The last sentence was spoken in the barest of whispers as Matt lowered his head, peeking through the tall weeds at the edge of the cemetery without stirring them. Yes, it was Shinichi, hand in hand with a little girl of maybe twelve. Matt recognized her vaguely: she lived up near Ridgemont. Now, what was her name? Betsy, Becca†¦? There was a faint anguished sound from Sheriff Mossberg. â€Å"My niece,† he breathed, surprising Matt that he could speak so softly. â€Å"That, in fact, is my niece, Rebecca!† â€Å"Okay, just stay still and hang on,† Matt whispered. There was a line of children following behind Shinichi just as if he were some sort of Satanic Pied Piper, with his red-tipped black hair shining and his golden eyes laughing in the late-afternoon sunlight. The children were giggling and singing, some of them in sweet nursery school voices, a remarkably twisted version of â€Å"Seven Little Rabbits.† Matt felt his mouth go dry. It was agony to watch them march into the forest thicket, like watching lambs riding up a ramp into an abattoir. He had to commend the sheriff for not trying to shoot Shinichi. That would really have caused all hell to break loose. But then, just as Matt's head was sagging in relief as the last of the children entered the thicket, he jerked it back up again. Sheriff Mossberg was preparing to get up. â€Å"No!† Matt grabbed his wrist. The sheriff pulled away. â€Å"I have to go in there! He's got my niece!† â€Å"He won't kill her. They don't kill the children. I don't know why, but they don't.† â€Å"You heard what sort of filth he was teaching them. He'll sing a different tune when he sees a semiautomatic Glock pistol aimed at his head.† â€Å"Listen,† Matt said, â€Å"you've got to arrest me, right? I demand that you arrest me. But don't go into that Wood!† â€Å"I don't see any proper Wood,† the sheriff said with disdain. â€Å"There's barely room in that stand of oak trees for all those kids to sit down. If you want to be of some use in your life, you can grab one or two of the little ones as they come running out.† â€Å"Running out?† â€Å"When they see me, they're going to scatter. Probably burst out in all directions, but some of 'em will take the path they used to go in. Now are you going to help or not?† â€Å"Not, sir,† Matt said slowly and firmly. â€Å"And – and, look – look, I'm begging you not to go in there! Believe me, I know what I'm talking about!† â€Å"I don't know what kind of dope you're on, kid, but in fact I don't have time to talk any more right now. And if you try to stop me again† – he swung the Glock to cover Matt – â€Å"I'll cite you for another account of trying to obstruct justice. Get it?† â€Å"Yeah, I get it,† Matt said, feeling tired. He slumped back into the hide as the officer, making surprisingly little noise, slipped out and made his way down to the thicket. Then Sheriff Rich Mossberg strode in between the trees and was lost to Matt's field of vision. Matt sat in the hide and sweated for an hour. He was having trouble staying awake when there was a disturbance in the thicket and Shinichi came out, leading the laughing, singing children. Sheriff Mossberg didn't come out with them.