Great Gatsby Essay- Social, Critical, Gender Lens

Society as Seen Through the Novel â€Å"The Great Gatsby† by F. Scott Fitzgerald â€Å"Well-lit streets discourage sin, but don't overdo it. †-William Kennedy. The 1920’s were days of carefree living, American dreaming, and wishful thinking. Society differed from just ten years before hand, and society was moving forward with the new changes. However the day to day living of this American dream was nothing but a sin in the making, and the crash resulted with immoral thoughts, harsh gender roles, and the split between the wealthy and poor. The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald is a novel that goes underneath all the party, carefree living, and brings out the deeper meaning of society at the time. The author provides the reader with a writing piece that exemplifies the greed and ignorance of the upper class people, the power of the male sex over the female, with the exception of love, and the moral thoughts that stuck to people in the 1920’s. F. Scott Fitzg erald’s writing brought out the deeper meaning of the difference between the wealthy and the poor and how ignorant, greedy, and carefree the upper classes really were during the 1920’s.Their actions and behaviour during the parties that Gatsby had thrown were a glimpse of the ignorance, greed, and carefree living. â€Å"I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby’s house I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited. People were not invited- the [just] went there† (Fitzgerald 41). Nick comes out saying that he feels as if he were the only one who was actually invited to the party, unlike the other hundreds of people. Being the most honest person within the novel, the reader realizes how greedy and ignorant the people of the 1920’s may be.These people come to the party to have a good time for themselves and not to have a good time with the person throwing it either. Their carefree attitude is revealed when they break the stuff wit hin the house at the party and make themselves at home as if they know the owner of the house on a personal basis. With no care in the world for Gatsby’s possessions, the party goers reveal a side of them that was seen as sociably acceptable amongst the upper class.A second example of greed, ignorance, and carefree within the upper class in the novel comes behind the character of Tom. Tom’s attitude, personality, and the vibe around him help illustrate this greedy, ignorant, and carefree behaviour. With all the money in the world he had inherited at such a young age, it is clear Tom has no worry in the world of what people may think of him or what he does. His carefree behaviour is seen with his behaviour to his wife and his unfaithful action, his ignorance towards others with his words, and the way he thinks of himself. We were in the same senior society, and while we were never intimate I always had the impression that he approved of me and wanted me to like him with some harsh, defiant wistfulness of his own† (Fitzgerald 7). For Nick to even feel as if he had to be approved of liking Tom, shows the type of person Tom truly is. His ignorance in his thought and attitude makes him believe he has the social power due to his money to think he can approve if you may be friends and like him.It shows that Tom only really likes Nick because of the fact that he is lower in class then him and does not have any threat to Tom’s overall power in wealth. These two examples help support Fitzgerald’s message of the greed, ignorance, and carefree behaviour that existed amongst the rich who had money, or thought they had money, in society during the decade of the twenties. Gender played a substantial role in the power in the 1920’s, and Fitzgerald showed this through his writing; how the male role had an upper hand on the woman, with the exception of Gatsby’s love for Daisy.Throughout the novel it is clear that the male gender a lmost always has the power over the female role. The male characters in the novel, such as Tom for instance, show the reader how this power can be used and what a danger it can place on the female role. â€Å"Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand. Then there were bloody towels upon the bathroom floor, and women’s voices scolding†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Fitzgerald 37). The power of the male sex is clearly shown to the reader with Tom’s abusive actions.Due to an argument that got out of hand between Tom and his mistress Myrtle Wilson at a party in their apartment in New York City, Tom open handily hit Myrtle across the face, breaking her nose. These abusive actions seemed to be normal to the people at the party, and although they were not overly happy with Tom’s action, the male power is easily accepted amongst the group of people. It was acceptable in the time of the 1920’s to lay your hand on your woman once in a while to ke ep them in line, and if push game to shove, the reason for the abuse was never blamed on the male in the situation, however on the emale. Fitzgerald includes this power of the male gender not only because he is a male, but to show the reader that the male did truly have the upper hand in society at the time, and that the woman was placed underneath the male at every occasion. One male power was however seen to the reader as placed under the woman. In the case of Gatsby, his love for Daisy had placed his power beneath hers, as the love that he constantly wanted from her and that was never truly given, had him on rope. His actions revolved around Daisy’s love and he adored her every move.All his power and fame due to his riches was for no one other than his past lover, Daisy. She truly held all his power, as anything that he believed needed to be done to impress he was done. An example of Daisy’s power in Gatsby is shown when Gatsby admits the reason he bought the house in the location it is at. â€Å"Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay† (Fitzgerald 78). Gatsby always wanted to have Daisy close by, in a way where in one swift motion he could grasp her and hold her but that never seemed to happen, even with the location of his house.Yet again his every move was controlled by the love he had for Daisy and the impression he wanted to lay upon her. Fitzgerald’s use of the character Gatsby helped to convey how love has an effect on a male’s power role, especially if he is the one chasing after that love. Man, in all means, is demonstrated as the power role in the Great Gatsby, however the love that makes a man chase after, is one that leaves the woman with the upper hand on the power, no matter the society that surrounds it.Fitzgerald’s writing did more than just bring out the social, and gender roles that impacted the society at the time. His writing brought out the immoral actions that people at the time saw as a floozy and acceptable: unfaithfulness and materialistic happiness. At any given time or day, being unfaithful is truly unacceptable in today’s society. In spite of this, Fitzgerald shows the reader that during the 1920’s, being unfaithful and cheating on spouses was perfectly acceptable and in many cases was known publicly.The author uses the character Tom as only one case of a character that has affairs with his wife Daisy, of which he shares a child with. Furthermore, the author exaggerates and proves to the reader that this was not the first time that Tom had an affair with Daisy, however even before their marriage, Tom was up to these duff ways. â€Å"A week after I left Santa Barbara, Tom ran into a wagon on the Ventura road one night and ripped a front wheel off his car. The girl who was with him got into the papers, too, because her arm was broken- she was one of the chambermaids in the Santa Barbara Hotel† (Fitzgerald 77).Through th e course of Tom’s behaviour with other woman, Fitzgerald shows the reader that society accepted flirtatious behaviour, affairs, and broken marriages. At the time, it was not something that was hidden or put to shame by lots of people, but on the other hand was left open and left untalked or cared about. By showing the reader that not only Tom, but Daisy, Myrtle, and even Gatsby, get involved with the life of affairs and cheating, supports the idea of unfaithfulness in society at the time. Materialistic happiness was yet another immoral view that was sought out to be done and wanted by many at the time of the 1920’s.Instead of building and finding happiness within themselves to be generally happy in life, the people within society relied on material goods to bring out their happiness. For instance, Mr Gatsby’s house is described as over excessive and filled with tonnes and tonnes of possessions. Nick and Daisy had walked through â€Å"the Marie Antoinette music rooms and Restoration Salons†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Fitzgerald 91). Gatsby’s house is filled with materialistic goods that he believes will make the difference in winning Daisy over.Daisy couldn’t marry a poor man, which is why it is believed that she went on to marry Tom. Gatsby believed by gaining all these materialistic goods worth a substantial amount of money, he would naturally win over Daisy, so that he may now be truly happy. Nevertheless, Gatsby’s plan fell short and the materialistic happiness he was hoping Daisy would fall for, never quite fell through. This materialistic want factor, shows that society’s happiness at the time was not due to good relationships, moments, and feelings, however was based on material goods, money, and being sociably acceptable.The immoral values and beliefs that were seen as sociably acceptable during the 1920’s in society, such as unfaithfulness and materials being the keys to happiness, show the reader the real va lue of society’s thoughts and wants. The greed and ignorance of the wealthy, the power that came with the male role, and the immoral values that were seen acceptable during the 1920’s show the reader the Fitzgerald’s true view of society in the 1920’s. It is evident that the social, gender, and moral roles, played a great impact on the events that happened in the 1920’s and the behaviour of the people at the time.It also shows that these three roles are influential on all aspects and decades of society and future years to come. Although this carefree lifestyle was seen to be very relaxing and fun to be along in, Fitzgerald teaches a lesson that, every perfect outlook has its flaws. Although things might seem good on one side, the other side of the fence may see the entire negative and loop holes to the actual thing itself. Work Cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner, 1996. Print.

Control Mehanism Paper

Control Mechanisms Deanna Sapata, Erik Morris, Patricia Johnson, and Bruchella Pitts MGT/330 November 26, 2012 University of Phoenix Control Mechanisms Within any organization it needs a form of control. Without control the organization cannot flourish its possibilities and success. There are times situations will get out of control in different departments of the organization. With the help of control mechanisms like market control, feedback control, concurrent control, and feedforward control with the right person in management the situations will be handled. EffectivenessApple’s organization basically uses a bureaucratic control and market control mechanism, which is controlled in all the operations in Apple’s organization by the CEO, in which used to be Steve jobs but Tim Cook is his predecessor as CEO. There are four types of specific control mechanisms in Apple, such as a feed-forward, concurrent, market, and feedback controls. The feed-forward control mechanism i n apple’s organization is very effective, this organization is a system of innovation and differentiation in which a feed-forward control mechanism would benefit this organization tremendously.This is because Apple’s system is on meeting the customers’ needs and wants and prediction of their future wants and needs and ability to determine functionality of the operations of their organization is crucial to this success. A feed-forward control mechanism lays out all rules and regulations in all of the organizations operations and employee based decisions and activities, Apple is an organization based on control and effectiveness if this control.Apples use of a concurrent control mechanism is one of their primary focuses because the focus is on environment awareness of the products in the process of the manufacturing, transportation, product use, recycling, and facilities. A concurrent control in the oversight of the use of greenhouse gas emissions in the process o f the production of their products in which they call a Comprehensive Life Cycle Analysis (Apple, 2012). Apple needs to have eyes on the production cycle to monitor the arbon emitted in the production of their products, so a concurrent control mechanism is one of their primary focuses in their company and meeting the needs of their clients worldwide. Another main focus of Apple’s organization is their marketing strategies, a market control mechanism. A market control Mechanism has a focus on the price competition of the other major competitor corporations, in which is another of Apple’s focuses.Apple strives to be the best in all operations and in marketing they are constantly competing with other multi- million corporations. A feedback control mechanism has to do with the feedback the organization gets back on processes and operations in an organization. This is the driving force of Apple, to be the most innovative and to maintain a differentiation aspect they must re ly on the feedback they receive in all departments and operations in their organization.They rely on their financial, marketing, service, production, and environment awareness to be the reason that the client chooses Apple’s products over Apple’s competitors product’s, and Apple becomes the number one organization globally as the go to in products. All four of these mechanisms have a positive effect on the four functions of management. Feedforward control is a mechanism that handles the operations and procedures and makes sure the operation and procedures are done the correct way. By using this mechanism it stops a problem before it can arise.Feedforword is a very important mechanism to have when dealing with an operation like Apple. Technology is the main source of communication and running businesses along with many other things feedforward would work with any company. No one wants to have problems with the departments of their company, to avoid any problems f eedforward would be the right tool to use. Then there is the market control mechanism that uses a tool called pricing mechanism to control the activities within the organization like they are economic transactions.The market mechanism is an awesome tool to have because confused output can be identified and market can be set up between parties. Concurrent control is a mechanism that occurs when plans are being carried out such as directing, monitoring, and fine-tuning. One more control mechanism is the feedback control that happens when the performance data have been collected and examine and is given to make corrections through someone or something. All four of these control mechanisms are very ffective within an organization. I don’t believe that a negative affect will occur because the controlled mechanisms are needed to control the functions of the organization. Just like the four functions of management are needed to establish the success of a company the control mechanis ms are needed too. Apple is worldwide company that has the hart of many consumers, customers, and inverters without the four functions of management and control mechanisms Apple would not hart of its customers.Because Apple is so successful all of these control mechanisms are required along with the four functions of management. Steve Jobs was the CEO of Apple Inc. before he died he was a man that took his job seriously. If Steve Jobs did not care about how his company was ran it would not have the success it does today. Steve made sure that he set performance standards and took action when the performance was not the way he wanted it to be. This is all about controlling what goes on within the organization to be successful.

Censorship is a form of protection Essay Example for Free

Censorship is a form of protection Essay Censorship applies to magazines, videos, films, radio, music, computer games and television. Censorship is a form of protection, instead of stopping you from being robbed like the police force, censorship protects you and your families from pornographic, violent, bloody, rude, vulgar and racist programming. It regulates the broadcasting time of programmes with adult content after the 9o’clock-water shed so viewers of a younger age such as small children hopefully will not see the programme. It stops the extreme programmes such as hard core porn violent films where the gore is to extreme. That’s what censorship does now imagine television without censorship you could be flicking through the channels and neighbours could be on one the weakest link on two and f**k fest on three a nice hardcore porn film for the little ones to watch when they get home from school. Without censorship anything would go any time, So lets have a look at what’s on without censorship, the Teletubbies could have great big battles with each other or go hunting and shoot the rabbits and on an educational note they could demonstrate how to skin and gut the rabbits for the kids at home. Later on in the day the Weakest Link could become the nude Weakest Link where Anne Robinson could prance about in a PVC catsuite and give a good old S&M style spanking to the person voted the Weakest link, and I don’t think any body wants to Anne Robinson in the Buff? Later on now comes the news which could broadcast news on a what happened in Afghanistan before the war, they could have show live battles between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance where men get limbs blown off, mutated bodies of captured prisoners and worse not something you would really want to watch real people really dying over tea or any other time for that matter. At about 7:30 say a do it yourself programme presented by Carol Smiley where you dab your hand at DIY torture with expert guidance from Laurence Llewelyn Bowen who shows you how to keep your victim alive for as long as possible while giving the maximum amount of pain, although having a room designed by him would be torture enough. Now at 8:00 we have time for a nice wholesome hardcore porn film before the kids go to bed. People like Osama Bin Ladin could give speeches on television saying how he was going to destroy America the Jews Britain and everyone whose not Muslim. Although this is extreme it what could happen without censorship. Censorship upholds the moral fabric of society. It stops extreme programming being aired on British television. The question is do you want young children being able to view programmes which are unsuitable for them which would scare them give them nightmares having them cry at the sight of a mutilated human body on tv watching porn and asking their parents what does f**k mean and what’s a ****. Young children’s minds are impressionable and we should do what we can to protect them from certain things until they are old enough to understand it to be able to sleep well without thinking some psychos at their window waiting to burst in with a chain saw and massacre them. Do you want to watch porn? Then watch Television X or by a porn film, which stops children from watching these types of programmes. Without censorship anything would go and it would be absolutely legal. Without censorship we would allow the decay of our society. Censorship does not hide you from the real world but simply takes the edge off by not allowing certain things to be viewed in their full detail before 9 or on television where most people do not wish to see the extreme programmes such as hardcore porn. But allows the specialist things to be purchased on video where people buy the video knowing full well the type of material it contains. Censorship is a form of protection. (2017, Sep 02).

Validity of qualitative research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Validity of qualitative research - Essay Example ent to which results, as the researcher presents them, are consistent with the offered perceptions by the research participants in a study (Lodico, Spailding and Voegtle, 2010). Many strategies exist for improving validity or credibility in a qualitative research. Extending a study to cover a long period is one of the strategies to improving validity. This offers sufficient time for interaction between a researcher and research participants and reduces chances of misconceptions towards data that do not represent perception of research participants or reality on observed phenomenon. An ethnographic study is an example and longer period allows the researcher to understand cultural values of participants into observed behavior. Triangulation is another strategy for improving validity of a qualitative study. This involves application of more than one strategy in the research process. An example is the use of observation together with interviews in data collection to ensure consistency in collected data. Obtaining validation from research participants is another approach to improving validity or credibility in a qualitative research and may involve secondary con tacts with participants for confirmation of collected data (Yin, 2011). My experience with qualitative research at academic and professional levels justifies this. Studies on perception towards arts for marketing purposes are

Law and Human Trafficking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Law and Human Trafficking - Essay Example The immigration laws that should prevent trafficking are not stringent thereby, creating the conducive environment that encourages human trafficking (Theresa 275). This has increased the cases of Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC). Human trafficking has also been on the rise because some of the officers working at the immigration offices and the Office of Refugee and Resettlement (ORR) are also involved in the evil act of human trafficking because of the huge profits that accrue to them from the sale of the children and the adults. This as noted by the US house Judiciary chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte, makes over 90% of the UACs cases not being presented to the courts for justice to be sought for the victims (Theresa 275). It is, therefore, important to note that human trafficking has become a crisis because of the laxity in the enforcement of the trafficking laws, not in the absence of the laws.United Nations Definition of Human Trafficking  Human trafficking is considered a serious crime and gross violation of human rights, therefore United Nations have been in the forefront in trying to assist the United States and the affected countries in preventing human trafficking through the implementation of the Trafficking in Persons Protocol. This aims at preventing, suppressing and punishers the traffickers (Shelley 115). According to the United Nations definition of Human Trafficking, Article 3, of the Trafficking in Persons Protocol provides the definition of Human Trafficking as â€Å"recruitment, transportation.

HALLIBURTON, organizational problems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

HALLIBURTON, organizational problems - Essay Example Success depended on its ability to deliver on what it charged and this had impressed the United States Military and its other clients. No one appeared to mind Halliburton overcharging if the work that it delivered could keep the troops happy when they were far from home. However, within the recent past allegations of unethical conduct, overcharging, kickbacks and political influence peddling have marred the image of this company which still wins awards for performance in its industry. This essay presents a discussion about the ethical and organizational problems that confront Halliburton Energy Services. Halliburton Energy Services is a multinational corporation with operations in 70 countries of the world (NationMaster.com, 2005, â€Å"Halliburton Energy Services†). The group provides technical products and services for oil and gas production and exploration. Revenues of Halliburton Energy Services were in excess of US$ 15 billion in 2007 and it employs nearly 51,000 people worldwide (Halliburton, 2007, pp. 2 – 5). In 2007, its revenue grew by 18 % year-over-year and about 50 % of the total revenue was from outside North America. More than 100 nationalities work with Halliburton Energy Services Inc with most of the employees working in their home countries. This firm has an old history and it began operations in 1919 when Mr. and Mrs. Erle P. Halliburton started the firm and found work cementing oil wells in Burkburnett, Texas. The company was later to move to Ardmore, Oklahoma and then to Duncan, Oklahoma before becoming listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1948. The major spheres of activities for Halliburton involve providing technical products and services for oil and gas exploration and production, handled by its Energy Services Group. However, Halliburton’s major subsidiary KBR, or Brown & Roots was a major construction company of refineries, oil fields, pipelines, and chemical plants (Briody,

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 106

Summary - Essay Example For instance, in order to justify its allegations, Russia argues that men in masks attacked and opened fire on peaceful demonstrators in the city of Kharkiv injuring some people. The statement said that some Russian journalists had been arrested and detained in the city of Dnipropetrovsk, which implies that Western countries and the new government in Ukraine were not committed to media freedom (Reuters, n.p). Despite the outcry from the Russian government, Ukrainian foreign ministry refuted the allegations asserting that they were irrational and unfounded (Reuters, n.p). It refuted that law officers have fired shots on peaceful demonstrators and no demonstrator had been injured in the Eastern City of Kharkiv. In addition, the statement confirmed that no journalist or media personnel had been arrested and detained as alleged by the Russian government. Russia has been accused of attacking Ukraine in an attempt to guard Russians living there. For example, eyewitnesses in Easter Ukraine who watch media freedom argued that after visiting Crimea, they realized that Russia orchestrated violence in the region in order to justify their reasons for invading

Horizon ElectroniX is a start-up business located along Cardiff Bay Coursework

Horizon ElectroniX is a start-up business located along Cardiff Bay - Coursework Example It will also carry mobile phones and tablets. The Marketing strategies will focus on people who prefer higher-end electronic pieces. This particular market is perceived to put great importance in their entertainment equipment and is open to spending and investing in these items for greater value and long-term use. They prefer quality versus price, yet they will demand for value-for-money qualities. Horizon ElectroniX is a business under sole proprietorship. The owner shall also perform the duties of a Chief Executive Officer, working with department managers and their staff. He will employ personnel who will be trained to perform their assigned duties, and create a corporate environment where there is ownership and pride in the business. The main business strategy is to form solid partnerships with distributors and manufacturers to be able to implement promotions and marketing activities that are beneficial to both parties. The Purchasing, Inventory and Marketing Departments hold key responsibilities in ensuring the success of the company. Further, after sales or customer service is given as much regard as sales. Management sees that they key to keep the clients coming back is to have a highly skilled, knowledgeable and reliable after sales team to assist the customers in their requirements. Horizon ElectroniX is envisioned to be the market leader in computer, electronics and gadgets within Cardiff, UK. By focusing on its strengths, its customers and the underlying values that they need, the company will establish market presence and reach gross sales to ?5M for the first three years of operations, while also improving on gross margins on sales and cash management and working capital. II. INTRODUCTION – HISTORY AND BACKGROUND Horizon ElectroniX was created on the assumption that information technology is not an inherently a do-it-yourself prospect. Each gadget or electronic piece comes with a manual, whose contents are often not friendly to those not tec h-savvy. Often times, new owners need the help or guide of an expert who will walk him through each function and characteristic, to enable them to enjoy and maximize each unit’s use. Clients who are not exactly computer hobbyists need to find quality vendors of reliable hardware, software, service, and support. They see these trusted vendors as allies, whose professional expertise are even worth more than the gadget itself. The owners and management wishes to position Horizon ElectroniX as such a vendor. It aims to serve its clients as a trusted ally, to provide them with the loyalty of a business partner and the economics of an outside vendor. Management wants to make sure clients have what they need for their personal consumption, and also to run their businesses, with maximum efficiency and reliability. Many of the company’s information applications are mission critical, so the management endeavors to give the clients an assurance that our after sales teams are alwa ys available to serve them. The company’s keys to success are as follows: 1. Offering after sales and service support with applicable charges. This puts premium into the company brand as a retailer. 2. Its strong inventory management policies. Horizon Electro

Nursing Research Article Critique Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Nursing Research Critique - Article Example A good article provides information on the geographical location of the study as well as the type of target population being explored. Although, the authors do not share any information on the location of the study but they mentioned the target population, the surgical patients. The article narrates the problem statement in a clear way; mentions the study variables as well as the population involved. The authors want to assess the impact of the education of nurses in the hospitals over the care and eventually the mortality status of these patients. This is an important area which is feasible to carry out and will result in interesting findings which will be generalized on similar hospitals. Since a researcher has to present a new idea, hypothesis or pose a research question based on some violence. This can be constructed once there is no information, or the previous research suggests some new research activity or previous evidence raised new questions. Whatever be the case, literature review becomes significantly important to build the situation! This literature review, actually, favors and opposes some of the issues and new research is proposed, in a way to decide the conflict. Yes, literature review in this article is comprehensive. The sources are very much relevant to the topic and almost all are primary ones. Both types of viewpoints, supporting and opposing, have been added which lead to the development of a rational for the next study, the current one! Theoretical/conceptual framework The authors have not described anything explicitly as theoretical or conceptual framework. But the way rational is developed based on the existing evidence and the arguments in the favor of testing the research question are impressive. The authors have taken up various concepts related to the topic and discuss them clearly; they also link these concepts. They have not provided the formal definition of various terms but have described them well. There is no information which suggests that the framework is strong enough to make judgments. Hypothesis/Research Questions This article does not state any research question or hypothesis right away as a question or hypothesis but build a rationale and make statements which go in the direction of a research question or hypothesis. Actually, an explicit hypothesis is important for making the future research design and analysis. In this article when the authors write the statement of hypothesis they take into account the variables, independent and dependent. In fact, research questions have not been raised or stated in real sense but the issues which need to be explored have been described very well. Strictly speaking, the research questions have not been written in the article so they cannot delineate the study. Quantitative Designs This study was carried out using cross-sectional design which has been mentioned clearly in the methodology section. For this hypothesis, design is fine as far as the determination of association is concerned between the independent and dependent variables are concerned. But this design cannot determine the cause and effect association as

Turkey make people sleepy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Turkey make people sleepy - Essay Example According to my personal experience to this matter; eating a lot of turkey makes me tired and consequently, I resort to taking a nap. Mary Ann’s theory questions if the thanks giving feast sleepiness and tiredness aspect could explain this lethargy. The friend of mine - Martin, who is visiting my town for summer holidays, and who had earlier admitted to this myth had even warned us that â€Å"if you serve a lot of turkey in any party or dinner, you are definitely going to fall asleep in front of your companions†. Everyone else thinks that my reason on this matter is misplaced as it is logical that eating a lot of any meal can make one sluggish and tired, but to some extent, I think that one can be surer of getting tired after eating turkey than with other meals – even after moderate consumption of turkey. In a more professional context on this matter, the story has been reasoned out by the fact that turkey contains tryptophan and amino acid contents that tend to make people tired and sleepy. However, this has also contributed to a controversy as other animals’ products and meat contains some level of these substances as well. â€Å"This is based on a little right information, but just misapplies and misunderstood†, this is what Fiona Martinez – a professor of molecular nutrition from Minnesota University had to say. Turkey traditionally has been regarded as the main meal in the thanksgiving ceremonies. Funnily, it has been observed that after these ceremonies, people tend to get tired and sleepy. This fact has made a lot of people to actually conclude that the contents of turkey are the primary reason that leads to these conditions. Therefore, many people believe in the myth that eating turkey makes people sleepy. However, in the holiday or festive seasons where a lot of people take turkey, these seasons have also been characterize by the intake of other food substances such as lots of dessert and drinks that contain al cohol are equally usually consumed during these seasons. This has also raised more hypotheses as far as this myth is concerned. A lot of individuals have claimed that it is the dessert and the alcoholic drinks taken after consuming turkey that leads to this feeling of laziness and tiredness. Otherwise, a majority of people still believe in the myth that turkey contains a natural sedative that induces sleepiness. Part II The myth around turkey has been investigated by various scholars and researchers and they have come out with different conclusions as regards to the matter. Turkey in real sense does not make people sleepy. What scientists have concluded to be the cause of this myth is the L-tryptophan which is an essential amino acid (Hirshkowitz, Max & Patricia Pg 105). Being an essential amino acid, it means that a human body cannot produce or synthesize it. Therefore, the diet we take must supply our bodies with the essential amino acid. Amino acids are the blocks that build prot eins. One of the foods rich in tryptophan is turkey. Besides, tryptophan is also found in other animal products especially poultry. When it enters the body, it is utilized in making a vitamin B which is called niacin and is essential for ensuring smooth digestion as well as in the synthesis of serotonin. Serotonin on the other side is a brain hormone or chemical which plays a major role in the regulation

Effectiveness of Electronic Group Brainstorming Essay Example for Free

Effectiveness of Electronic Group Brainstorming Essay The first article reviewed was entitled â€Å"Improving Extreme-Scale Problem Solving: Assessing Electronic Brainstorming Effectiveness in an Industrial Setting† by Courtney C. Dornburg, Susan M. Stevens, Stacey M. L. Hendrickson, and George S. Davidson, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico. The paper was authored in June of 2009. The objective of this paper was to conduct an experiment and report the results of the efforts to compare the effectiveness of group electronic brainstorming versus individual electronic brainstorming to address difficult, real-world challenges (Dornburg et al. , 2009). Many such studies have been conducted over the years to determine if group brainstorming is more effective than individual brainstorming and the conclusion is that individual brainstorming creates more and better quality ideas. However, there are not many studies examining larger work groups, 30 or more, with diversity among skill and knowledge levels in an industrial setting. This article aims to determine the best way to leverage EBS (electronic brainstorming) methods within the setting of a national laboratory to evaluate performance within four industrially relevant areas. Because of the ever-increasing use of technology in the workplace, it is imperative that managers understand group dynamics to aid in solving industrially relevant issues and how to apply the right technology to the situation. The group of individuals conducting this research declares that electronic brainstorming has been proposed to reduce the negative effects of group brainstorming and help control costs. Electronic brainstorming should allow for shorter meetings, an increase in participation regardless of the participant’s location, a reduction in costs, and provide for better documentation. The experimental goals of this paper were as follows: 1. Measure idea quality as well as quantity 2. Examine larger work groups, up to 30 members 3. Solve a â€Å"real-world issue† 4. Determine how time and scheduling interact with EBS Participants in this study were randomly assigned to a group (one group of 39 and another group of 30) and were given instructions to log into a website and input their ideas at least once a day for 4 successive days. The availability of the website was not restricted to just working hours, thus participants could enter ideas either when working or at home, so whenever an idea came to them, they had the opportunity to log into the website and input their information. The nominal group participants only were able to see their own answers. The group-condition participants could see their own ideas as well as those of their group and could build on other ideas submitted by the rest of the group. The questions the participants were asked to respond to was a problem from the company president which contrasted two models of how organizations relate to their employees. The two questions were as follows: 1. How do employees establish an identity for themselves in relation to their work environment, i.e., how do they define their â€Å"we†, and 2. How to create the appropriate balance between the role of management and the sense of empowerment of employees (Dornburg et al., 2009). The results were generated and responses were evaluated based on originality, feasibility, and effectiveness. The results showed that nominal was superior to group brainstorming in at least some industrial contexts (Dornburg et al., 2009). In the nominal group responses, both average and maximum idea quality were considerably better than the group condition responses. The analysis proved that the nominal participants produced more good ideas than group participants; however there was not a major difference in the total number of ideas produced. This research proved to this group that large electronic groups are not inevitably the best option for solving industry related issues. If idea quality is the goal of the group, this issue can better be solved by collecting electronic individual responses rather than organizing an electronic group. Furthermore, the individual approach has the potential for cost savings. The second article reviewed was entitled â€Å"Social Influence Processes in Computer Brainstorming† by Paul B. Paulus, Timothy S. Larey, Vicky L. Putman, Karen L. Leggett, and Evelyn J. Roland, Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Arlington. This article was produced in March of 1996. This research project assumes the same findings of the first paper reviewed, that large group brainstorming is not always the best option for generating new ideas, and takes it one step further to study the social influences in effect during the brainstorming process. The first paper proved that individual group brainstorming was the superior process for electronic brainstorming and this paper is investigating what elements lead to the productivity loss that occurs between individual brainstorming and group brainstorming. The article claims that there are several social interaction factors that can be attributed to the productivity loss such as social interaction anxiety, social loafing, and blocking. Additionally, it is stated that there is no real motivation to be a high performer and individuals will match their performance to the lower performers. The purpose of this research project was to provide further evidence for the social influence model within the context of electronic or computer-based brainstorming (Paulus et al., 1996). For this study, participants were assembled into groups of 4 and were asked to generate ideas using personal computers. There were four different group conditions used. In the first condition, the participants generated ideas individually, with no comparison feedback or verbalization. In the second condition, the participants publicly announced the number of ideas they created in 5 minute increments (comparison). In the third condition, as they typed their ideas, the individuals would voice their ideas (verbalization). And finally, in the fourth condition, participants verbalized their ideas as they typed and announced the number of ides they generated every 5 minutes, therefore combining both the comparison and verbalization conditions (conditions #2 and #3). The primary dependent measures were the number of ideas generated and perceptions of individual performance (Paulus et al., 1996). Additionally, this study examined the independent role of verbalization and social comparison processes in both the generation of ideas and the perception of performance in computer-based brainstorming groups (Paulus et al., 1996). There were 136 participants in this study who were randomly assigned to one of the four experimental conditions and broken into groups of 4. All participants were contributing in a large room at the same time, except in the no verbalization-comparison condition, where those individuals participated alone in another room. The participants were asked to generate ideas on the pros and cons of having an extra thumb on each hand. At the end of the session, the participants were also asked to complete a questionnaire which asked them questions about their perception of their performance during the brainstorming session. This individual performance information was evaluated by the research team as well. The results of this study proved that by using the social comparison information, it increased the performance of the students generating ideas on the computer, meaning that giving the performance statistics of others can help increase the performance of the group. However in contrast, in the condition where the participants verbalized their ideas, this reduced the level of performance over the groups who did not voice their ideas. This is consistent with the idea that production blocking is a core reason for production loss of brainstorming groups, because the blocking occurs when the individuals in the group share ideas. Consequently, sometimes the performance comparison information can be helpful, but the verbalization of ideas most likely increases social anxiety and production blocking which will reduce the benefit of the comparison information. The more favorable individual performance perceptions were in the social comparison and verbalization condition groups. In summary, the findings of this study show that the perception of the participants in an interactive group is that they are more productive if they announce their ideas as they are generated during the group brainstorming process. In other words, typing ideas as they are being voiced during the group brainstorming process may be beneficial if oral interaction is preferred. Additionally, voicing ideas can help stimulate the individual thinking process and can create more confident feelings about individual performance. However, the actual performance of the group may be hindered when participants verbalize their ideas due to blocking and anxiety. Social comparison may increase the overall number of  ideas produced, but verbalization of ideas may hinder the number of ideas produced. One of the reasons why I chose this topic was that within my team at BJC, collaboration is highly recommended and expected. Brainstorming sessions are a regular occurrence and used frequently to generate new ideas in facilitation techniques, training material development, presentation techniques, and special project deliverables. So I determined that additional research on brainstorming would be interesting and beneficial to me to apply ideas to my working environment. The first paper I reviewed discussed the use of two different types of electronic brainstorming and which version was best for the brainstorming process. I have read many articles lately on brainstorming where they have indicated that due to personality differences, and being more introverted versus extroverted, idea generation is not a one-size-fits-all process. Using an individual electronic process can help those that are more introverted to give them time to think about ideas and write down ideas as they come to them, instead of putting them on the spot and asking them to generate ideas immediately and in a large group setting. I have personally not used the electronic method with regularity in a business setting. More often than not, we usually schedule a meeting and gain participation by having everyone together in one room and throw ideas around. I do feel that I can build off of others’ ideas easily in this type of setting, but I am more extroverted, so I tend to verbalize my thoughts easily and am energized by hearing others’ thoughts. I was surprised at the outcome of the first study where the nominal group generated more quality ideas that the group-condition participants, which supports the concepts from our Organizational Behavior textbook, in chapter 9. I personally am stimulated by other’s ideas and it helps me think more creatively if I can see or hear what others are thinking about the brainstorming topic, because as noted in the second paper, voicing ideas can be stimulating. I can see where individuals who are more introverted may be intimidated by the verbalization and comparison techniques as used in the second study. I also like the idea of having a standard website or shared electronic document to capture ideas when brainstorming is needed, as used in the first study. In my work environment, the most beneficial format would most likely be the group-condition because we tend to build off of each other’s ideas. We are a very interactive group, so the oral interaction, or visual interaction, would work well in our environment. I have experienced productivity blocking in brainstorming sessions previously where your brain has a tendency to to get stuck on one thought or idea and you have a hard time getting past that particular idea. However, again, probably because I am more extroverted, and am energized by conversation, I feel that I am eventually able to work through the brainstorming process and not get stuck in the blocking circle. Sometimes to get past the blocking, it just helps to build off of someone else’s idea, instead of coming up with your own original idea. The second pape r discussed that another reason for productivity loss was because there is no real motivation to be a high performer and individuals will match their performance to the lower performers. That’s not accurate in my case because I am also a very competitive individual. Even though there is no tangible reward for submitting as many ideas as possible, due to my competitive nature I would still try to submit as many ideas as possible so that I can be proud of my accomplishment. I would also perceive that my performance was better in the case that I was providing as many or more ideas as my colleagues, rather than submitting fewer ideas. In summary, I found both articles to be extremely beneficial on the topic of electronic brainstorming. I learned about new ways to brainstorm electronically and that there are many benefits, however with the social aspect, an organization needs to take into consideration the potential areas for productivity loss. Each organization should determine the best way to use electronic brainstorming for their environment based on their culture. Even though as the textbook states in chapter 9 that electronic meetings tend to lead to decreased group effectiveness and an increase in the amount of time it takes to complete tasks, technology continues to increase in popularity and it will be interesting to see how BJC decides to harness this technology to continue to generate quality ideas for the future of healthcare. REFERENCES Dornburg C, Stevens S, Hendrickson S, Davidson G. Improving Extreme-Scale Problem Solving: Assessing Electronic Brainstorming Effectiveness in an Industrial Setting. Human Factors [serial online]. August 2009;51(4):519-527. Available from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed July 10, 2013. Paulus P, Larey T, Putman V, Leggett K, Roland E. Social Influence Processing in Computer Brainstorming. Basic Applied Social Psychology [serial online]. March 1996;18(1):3-14. Available from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed July 10, 2013.

Nazi Consolidation of Power in 1933 Essay Example for Free

Nazi Consolidation of Power in 1933 Essay The potential limits to Hitlers power were considerable. it must be remembered that Hitler was appointed as chancellor of the Weimar republic and as leader of a cross-party cabinet that included only three Nazis: Hitler as chancellor, Wilhelm frick as minister for the interior and hermann goring as minister without portfolio. the vice-chancellor was to be Franz von papen and other parties of the right were well represented. Hugenburg of the DNVP was put in charge of the Economics Ministry and Franz Seldte of the stalhelm was made minister of Labor. The establishment that had brought Hitler to power held the reins of power and did not expect to lose control. the most powerful politician in Germany in 1933 was president Hindenburg, and Hitler had to work with a number of powerful establishment figures from the newly appointed vice-chancellor von papen to the soon to be president of the reichsbank and economics minister hjalmar Schacht. Behind von Hindenburgs power was not just his prestige as president but the army, which, although still at the size set by the Versailles agreement, was highly influential. he new chancellors scope for action was also constrained by the power of institutions from the Reichstag to local government. the civil service, churches and press all stood as potential barriers to the nazification of the political system. Hitlers sworn ideological enemies on the left wielded considerable power through the trade unions. in many urban areas, such as Berlin, the Nazi vote in the general election in November 1932 was as low as 22. 5 per cent (as opposed to a national figure of 33. 1 per cent). ust as the Nazis had risen from obscurity to power on the back of considerable discontent with the political systems inability to deal with Germanys economic problems, so the Nazis now had to deliver (or at least be seen delivering). As with nearly all governments, Hitlers regime would be primarily judged on the state of the economy. for many within Germanys politically important middle class, the violence and thuggery of elements of the Nazi movement was of deep concern. For the Hilarity regime to establish broad political consensus, it needed to be perceived to be legitimate. law-abiding and respectable. so the obstacles to the creation of a Nazi dictatorship were many, and, on first inspection, seemingly insurmountable. Even from within the Nazi movement, Hitler faced pressure from the SA and radicals to implement the Nazi revolution. Enduring obstacles Despite these significant obstacles, the Nazi regime had, to a considerable le extent, consolidated power by the end of 1933. There were a number of reasons: There were high levels of collaboration of individuals and institutions with the regime because there were aspects of that government that they recognised and supported. This will be studied in greater detail in the next unit. The Nazis deployed propaganda effectively as a means of deceiving the political nation and beyond both of their real intentions and the significance of their actions. They managed to use terror and violence with efficient ruthlessness. The use of violence was balanced by the attempt by the attempt to ensure that the consolidation of power had the veneer of legality. the Nazi leaders were pragmatic ion their understanding that their revolution had to be achieved by legal means for it to be acceptable to the vast majority of the German population. Those who believed that they had tamed Hitler and his movement were to be proved very much mistaken. Although his Appeal to the German People broadcast on 1st February was conservative in nature, the Sa began to wreak revenge on the enemies of National Socialism. A decree in Prussia (which had fallen under the jurisdiction of Reich Commissioner Goering) 21 days later resulted in the police being reinforced by volunteers, i. e. the SA. The widely perceived threat of a communist seizure of power is the crucial factor in explaining how the Nazis were able to quickly undermine the constitution of the Weimar Republic. It also explains why so many non-Nazi groups were prepared to go along with the initial phase of Gleichschaltung (coordination). the national community promised by Hitler before and after becoming chancellor on 30th January 1933, the strength of the communist movement in Germany and its potential to challenge the Nazis was real. In the two elections of 1932, the Communist Party had seen its share of the vote increase from 14. 3 per cent in July to 16. 9 per cent in November. on the streets the red front fighters League matched the SA. The socialists were even stronger. Their paramilitary wing, the Reichsbanner, dominated the streets in a number of towns and cities in Germany. In the election of November 1932 the socialist SPD party received 20. 4 per cent of the vote. In his speech to the nation from the Sports Palace in Berlin on 10 February 1933, Hitler made it very clear that it was his intention to destroy the Marxist threat of both communism and socialism. Failure of the left The failure of the communists and the socialist movement to challenge Hitlers chancellorship was due to their misreading of the situation. he communists believed that Hitlers government would not last. their ideological beliefs led them to conclude that Hitlers appointment as chancellor signified a crisis in the capitalist system that would inevitably lead to political and economic collapse and the victory of communism in Germany. therefore, they concluded, the best tactic was to do nothing and wait. This was despite clear provocations: The appointment of 50,000 SA, SS an d Stalhelm (nationalist paramilitary0 members as auxiliary policeman on 22nd February led to a wave of violence against communists and socialists across Germany. On 24 February the police raided and ransacked the head office of the KPD. Hermann Goring claimed that evidence was discovered during the raid that pointed to a communist conspiracy to seize power through force. The SPD leadership were unsure how to respond. to react violently would play into the hands of the Nazi leadership, which was clearly intent on undermining the ability of the socialists to function effectively as a political movement; the Nazis had already attempted to close down a number of socialist newspapers, and SA members frequently disrupted political meetings. Equally damaging to the ability of the left to effectively oppose the Nazis was the split between the communist and socialist parties. Although many on the left argued for the creation of a unity front, there was no agreement on how this should be formed. Indeed, the hatred the communists had for the socialists was only matched by the hatred they had for the fascists. The Reichstag fire and its aftermath There is no doubt that Hitler believed his own propaganda that communists aimed to stage a takeover of power. On the night of 27 February a young Dutchman, Marinus van der Lubbe, set fire to the Reichstag as a protest at the repression of the working class. Hitler and the Nazi leadership ignored the initial evidence that van der Lubbe had acted alone and concluded that the fire was the first act in the long awaited communist backlash. It gave the regime its opportunity to crush the communists and suspend a number of parts of the Weimar constitution. Most importantly, it gave the Nazis the opportunity to use legal means to begin the seizure of power. Crucial to the seizure of power was the issuing of the emergency decree For the Protection of People and State on 28 February. Interestingly, the decree was first suggested by Ludwig Grauert, who was an advisor to Goring and as much a nationalist as a Nazi. The rights of freedom of speech, a free press and freedom of assembly enshrined in the Weimar constitution were suspended, and the police were given powers to detain suspects indefinitely without reference to the courts. The important clause 2 of the decree allowed the cabinet to intervene in the government of the states (Lander) that, together, formed Germany. This power was previously the prerogative of the President, and the clause marked a significant shift in power. Immediately Gobbels ensured that the Nazi propaganda machine portrayed the decree as a necessary step in the battle against communism, and, for that reason, it was widely welcomed. The decree is a very good example of how the Nazis were keen to ensure there was a legal front to their activities despite the fact that in reality the decree signalled the collapse of the rule of law. Indeed, Hitler stated explicitly in a cabinet meeting on 28th February that the struggle against the communists must not be made dependency on judicial considerations. in the coming months his words were adhered to as the decree was used to justify the arrest, imprisonment and often torture of thousands of political opponents. The leader of the KPD, Ernst Thalmann, was arrested on 3 March, and 25,000 political prisoners were in custody in Prussia alone by the end of April.

Equality And Diversity In Education

Equality And Diversity In Education The main aim of this case study is to explore the concept of equality and diversity in contemporary society, this research will concentrate on the impact of poverty upon the educational, emotional and social experiences of a child, in this case a young boy attending a mainstream school; he will be referred to throughout the study as Tom. The research will aim to identify some current legislation and policy surrounding equality and human rights, along with some of the inequalities related to class and the impact of these upon the social, personal and educational experiences of a child, his parent and teacher. These issues will be explored through the use of a case study of a fictional scenario which centres upon the experiences of a young boy who lives in a deprived neighbourhood with his single mother. The case study focuses on the young boy suffering from bullying due to his hygiene; the study also includes his mother and teacher. Scenario and Dialogue Child A is a young boy attending a mainstream primary school; he lives in a deprived neighbourhood with his single mother. It has been noticed by the boys teacher and other pupils that the boy and also his mother have a low standard of hygiene and they both often look unkempt. The lesson plan for today is to work in pairs for a P.E lesson. Classroom: Teacher: OK children, I would like everyone to pair up with the person sitting next to them and one of the pair should go and collect a football from the apparatus cupboard. Child B: Missà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦I dont want to be with Tom, he smells funny! Teacher: Thats not a very nice thing to say about Tom Child B: No miss Im not playing with him, look at him, hes all smelly and dirty Miss! Tomà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦you stink of wee! Teacher: Now come on, this is silly, it is not nice to call your friends names, you will hurt Toms feelings. Im sure you wouldnt like your friends calling you nasty names would you? Child B: Nah Miss, he isnt one of my friends, Id never want to be friends with someone like him, and he makes me feel sick. Tom: Shut up!!! Its not my fault, I cant help it! (Tom runs to the toilets crying) Telephone Call between Teacher and Toms Mother: Teacher: Hi, could I possibly speak to Mrs Connor please? Mother: Yes speaking Teacher: Oh hello, I was hoping I could discuss with you a matter concerning me about your son Tom. He seems to be struggling to make friends at school and there has been a bit of trouble with name-calling today due to his hygiene. Mother: Im sorry to hear that but Im a single mother with a part-time job, I cant always afford to buy luxuries, Im sure you understand this? Teacher: Yes of course that is understandable, but it seems to just been simple things, nothing a bar of soap couldnt sort out Mrs Connor. Mother: Like I said, I cant afford it Teacher: Im just concerned as it seems to be affecting his confidence to join in group activities and even paired work. He did comment today that its not his fault, so it is clearly bothering him. Does he have any other clothes he can wear to school, as his current ones seem to smell of urine? Mother: No, he only has the ones he wears to school. Teacher: I will contact you again in the next few hours, as I know that the council can sometimes give people an allowance for school uniforms. It might help you out a bit. Mother: Thank you, Id appreciate some help. This case study highlights class inequalities and how physical differences can impact upon a child whether he/she is at school or out of the school grounds. This study aims to explore the ways in which social class can impact both positively and negatively on a childs personal, social and educational experience. This will then be followed by a brief analysis of how the process of entering a childs experience has affected my understanding of the issues explored in this module. I will be including the words and thoughts of Tom and will also be including discussions he may have between his family, teachers or peers, which I will endeavour to link directly to policy and legislation and also background critical reading, related to specific aspects of the case study. Davies (2005) expresses a need to believe that all children are individuals and are to be valued. Davies also comments that we are to take into account each childs home life and background circumstances not only as detrimental effects but as experiences to be utilised in furthering their educational opportunities. It is important to also point out that professionals also need to expand on their knowledge of the subject in order to accommodate a more diverse way of teaching alongside their pupils. The scenario shows Child B referring to Tom as stinking of wee, here we are witnessing Child B stereotyping Tom as a smelly child who he does not want to be friends with. There has clearly become a normalizing attitude towards Tom, which through constant reinforcement of attitudes, Child B has come to understand that Tom is the smelly child and therefore refuses to associate with him. Butler (1993) explains this to be performative discourse, the repeated assumption of an identity in the course of daily life. Basically, the more the children call Tom the smelly child, the more accepted it will be by the other children and he will then be subjected to bullying on a daily basis. The teacher is this case study does not in fact challenge the language used by Child B but simply diverts the name calling by providing an excuse for the problem by replying Now come on, this is silly completely avoiding the fact that one child is bullying another in her own classroom. The teacher had the opport unity here to utilise her authority over the pupils, yet failed to do so. Foucault (1974) tells us that schools have a hierarchical identity within society that remains unchallenged and provides a framework for power which gives the teacher authority over the children not just as an adult over a child, but as someone who has more power and authority; this reinforces what a child accepts as being a normal power relationship. Tom has been isolated at school during activities, as his classmates refuse to work with him as he is seen as the smelly child. It seems that Tom is not receiving the support of the teacher, as she is failing to take authority over the bullying classmates and having a deprived social background seems to leave Tom unable to express his needs and rights as a child. The Children Plan (2007) states that children and young people need to enjoy their childhood as well as grow up being prepared for adult life (DCSF 2007). The Human Rights Act (1998) states the need for children to have the opportunity to express themselves. Article 10 gives everyone the right to freedom of expression, this includes children and is also linked to the outcomes of the Every child Matters agenda (DfES 2005). It is evident that Tom and his mother are suffering from social deprivation in this scenario and this can adversely affect Toms educational opportunities and his future prospects. It has been published in t he past that was published that a childs educational achievements are still too strongly linked to their parents social and economic background (Secretary of State for Education and Skills. 2005. p. 10) Vincent and Ball (2007) argue that this is social and educational link between classes is because middle class families tend to invest much more time and effort in their children, in order to ensure that they have every possible advantage that can be provided. This theory corresponds with Bourdieus description of cultural capital, which contributes to the social reproduction of class differences (Bourdieu 1990). In an attempt to try and resolve some of the class differences, the government has set up Sure Start Centres and extended schools in an effort to provide after school activities aimed initially at areas of socio-economic deprivation. This may provide activities for Tom as well as perhaps some help and advice for Toms mother. The introduction of the 10 year Childrens Plan (DFSC 2007) was another step forward for deprived children. This is aimed at providing children with equality of opportunity and improving communities through education as well as further legislation aimed at helping children and their families out of poverty. James and James (2001) argue that social policy restricts and controls childrens lives. The government through its agenda is trying to address the imbalance in opportunities between children from deprived areas and those from more wealthy families. Devine (2000) believes that in order to increase the rights of children, society in general must change its discou rses surrounding children. Cremin and Thomas (2005) contend that children compare and contrast themselves with each other and these judgments can affect feelings of self worth within the school and wider community, they go on to explain that the school as an institution can endorse such judgments to the detriment of its pupils. Esping-Anderson (2004) states that the child care provision needs to be of a high quality and supported by other policies. Local authorities have a duty to deliver services which meet the needs of individual children and promote inclusion within local communities. This government intervention is aimed to stimulate and cajole people into doing more to find a job (Deacon 2002 p. 113) and give the result people can be an active part of the economy. However, the government does tend to contradict itself, first stating that it would like all mothers to try and find a job, but then as Mayall (2002) points out, the government are encouraging mothers into work and also emphasising that a mothers responsibility is also to be a primary carers for her children. Working at home is obviously not acknowledged as a real job simply because the mother is not getting paid to do it and therefore not performing their social economical abilities. The efforts of the government to provide legislation to support children and families in areas of socio-economic deprivation may not have the desired effect however, as there appears to be a limit on the affect which education alone can have on social opportunities (Beck 2007). During the classroom dialogue in the scenario, the linguistics used by Child B when he says: Nah Miss, he isnt one of my friends, Id never want to be friends with someone like him, and he makes me feel sick can provide us with evidence of language and linguistic traits which link back to the social background of the child. (Peterson 1994 p.252) makes an interesting theory that all children enter school with discourse skills appropriate to the community in which they were raised. It is also evident that teachers tend to use language which is more easily understood by middle class children as they are more familiar with this language structure from home (Peterson 1994 p264). Peterson (1994 p.253) also expresses that some differences in linguistics may be due to cultural diversity not just social differences in the community. In a study conducted by Connolly and Neil (2001) middle-class children tended to limit their educational and career prospects because of the influences of their co mmunity such as family and peers. This was especially evident amongst the boys who felt a need to defend their locality as part of their masculine identity and found it difficult to move out of the area in which they lived. The girls however had slightly higher aspirations for themselves and were more likely to leave the area they lived in. This could have repercussions for Tom and his class mates were they to limit their outlook to their locality. It is clear that children in Toms social locality need to be educated further and encouraged on their career opportunities in the future. Teachers could play a large role in this by exploring what career their pupils would consider going into once they leave school. This could stimulate the children into wanting to do better for themselves in the future, once their school education has come to an end. The Child Poverty Action Group found in a survey that while parents believed that uniforms and school trips were important for children to be involved in school life, they would not seek help to pay for them in case their children were bullied as a result (CPAG 2003). This is also applicable in Toms case, as the teacher tried to offer some support to Mrs. Connor during their telephone conversation: I will contact you again in the next few hours, as I know that the council can sometimes give people an allowance for school uniforms. It might help you out a bit. In the scenario Mrs. Connor mentions that she cannot afford luxuries or spare clothes for Tom as she is a single mother with a part-time job. Lack of finance at home can also lead to a stressful atmosphere within the household, which can result in low performance at school. In a report about the impact of poverty upon childrens school experiences it was found that although in theory school uniforms were a good idea because of their equalising effect children from disadvantaged areas were acutely aware that uniforms cost money (Horgan 2007). At the present time in England, funding from the council for school uniforms is not available and therefore Mrs. Connor will not be able to claim any benefit to get new clothes for her deprived son; meaning he will continue to be the smelly child who does not conform to the norm unless she takes it upon herself to start putting money aside to pay for such things. Reflection Upon reflection of this research and scenario with regard to Tom and his mother, there are many implications to be discussed. There is no reason for children who are born into Toms area of social deprivation to have to go to school each day with a reinforced reputation as the smelly child or the boy who stinks of wee. In this day and age there should be access to government funding for parents such as Mrs. Connor who need help with simple things such as clothing. When a single mother has a child, a house, bills and food to pay for, it is understandable that she would not be able to cater for every need on a part-time wage. In light of the research conducted throughout this case study, it is important to highlight that Connolly and Neill (2001) believe that there is a need to provide alternative aspirations and life chances for children in areas of social and economic deprivation in order to mitigate the negative effects of their cultural norms and habits, which can be accomplished by challenging constructed ideology and establishing practices that can break down these barriers to learning. Primary practitioners need to be aware that they can influence school choices and assist families in using the current educational market to their advantage rather than just allowing choices to be forced upon them by the government. The case study also raised the issue of school uniforms and how families with a low income can struggle to make ends meet. It would be wise for schools to take into consideration these families when deciding upon the cost of uniforms, school dinners, trips and activities and so on. Children of a lower social class should not be stigmatised and miss out on such activities simply because they cannot afford to pay for them, as this means that they may not develop to the standard of a higher class child who is less deprived. With the help of childhood practitioners, the integration of sure start and extended school programs may begin to solve some of the deprivation issues to a point where they can be aided by other services. Teachers need to focus on taking control of their classroom so that pupils are aware of the hierarchical power above them. In the case study, the teacher did not solve the problem by taking Child B aside and discussing his problem with Tom; instead it was left a pub lic incident where Tom would have felt very embarrassed and ashamed of himself, when in fact there was nothing he could do about his economic deprivation at home. The teacher could have allowed the rest of the class to participate in their paired work and could have then taken Child B and Tom aside to discuss the issue. Whether he knew the impact his words would have upon Tom or not, Child B should have definitely been made more aware that he could not say such hurtful things to Tom and perhaps both sets of parents should have been informed. This situation was due to a lack of personal hygiene, lack of finance and perhaps lack of awareness on the part of Mrs. Connor. All of the issues raised are definitely not easy to confront in a modem society and need to be approached in a sympathetic and supportive way, which the teacher did seem to achieve during her conversation with Toms mother. Schools and childhood practitioners hold a responsibility to ensure that children receive a equal education with equal opportunities; they have a huge role to play in recognising the inequalities surrounding class issues and challenging discrimination within the classroom. Children should be given a broader knowledge of social deprivation, so that higher classes may hold fewer prejudices towards those who are not as fortunate as themselves. They should be made aware of their own prejudices and ways in which these link into social class.

The Red Convertible by Louise Erdrich Essay -- Papers Vietnam War Red

The Red Convertible by Louise Erdrich In the Red Convertible by Louise Erdrich, the main character Henry loses his hold on reality. The story takes place in North Dakota on an Indian Reservation where Henry lives with his brother Lyman. Henry and Lyman buy a Red Convertible that later in the story illustrates Henry’s lack of ability to stay sane. The brothers take a summer trip across the United States in the car. When they return, Henry is called to join the army, which turns out to be the transitional point in Henry and Lyman’s personal life. The Vietnam War changed Henry’s appearance, psyche, and his feelings about the Red Convertible. Before the Vietnam War, Henry’s appearance was cheerful and energetic. Henry enjoyed the time he had with Lyman, working on the Red Convertible, and traveling across the U.S. during the summer. They went from Little Knife River to Alaska without a worry in the world. Henry was talkative and friendly to even strangers. For example, when they pass a woman on the side of the road Henry says, â€Å"Hop on in†, indicating his friendliness and confidence (975). Henry’s appearance before war suggests that his life was complete. However, after war, Henry’s appearance was one of depression and dishevelment. When Henry returned Lyman said â€Å"[he] was very different, and I’ll say this: the change was no good (977).† Henry was 180 different than he was before the war. â€Å"He was quiet, so quiet†¦,† said Lyman, not talkative and cheerful like he was before (977). Henry and Lyman had went on a long trip in the Red Convertible before the war, but now Henry is â€Å"never comfortable sitting still anywhere (977).† They used to sit around the whole afternoon before, but now Henry is always ... ...y’s feelings soon changed. Henry one day comes home and says, â€Å"the red car looks like *censored*†(978). This one point in the story where Henry’s past actions before war were still there after war, completely surprise Lyman. As the Red Convertible progresses Henry’s appearance, mental state, and feelings about his once cherished car change because of the Vietnam War. The war had extreme effects on Henry and his brother throughout the story. 57,000 men and women died in Vietnam, and the soldiers that survived suffered the same post-war feelings that Henry did. Seeing death causes every person to change in some way, but when it is as gruesome and seen as repeatedly as some soldiers did, it changed their lives forever. Work Cited Erdrich, Louise. "The Red Convertible." The Story and Its Writer. 5th ed. Ed. Ann Charters. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999.

The Government Should Respect Property Rights Essay -- Expository Exem

The Government Should Respect Property Rights Imagine you’ve been enjoying your backyard picnic table and chairs for the past 10 years when suddenly, for no apparent reason, you are served notice from a government agency that you will be fined $6,000 a day unless you remove them. Or, imagine you would like to add a stone walkway to your garden. You begin to research the procedure and costs, only to learn that a lengthy application will be required, with multiple hearings before a state commission. You find yourself embroiled in a Kafkaesque legal battle costing tens of thousands of dollars. Finally, after years of struggle the government demands, as a condition for approving your little walkway, that you â€Å"donate† a portion of your land to the state. Do these sound like nightmarish stories out of some totalitarian regime? Shockingly, they are normal, everyday incidents for property owners across the nation. In California, for example, a state agency called the California Coastal Commission routinely tramples the property rights of coastal landowners. People residing within five miles inland of California’s 1,100 miles of coastline are subject to the commission’s power to approve or deny improvements involving â€Å"any solid structure† on their property. This can include adding a room to a home, planting trees, adding a fence or garden walkway and, yes, in one current Orange County case, a picnic table and chairs. Established in 1976, the California Coastal Commission’s mandate is to â€Å"preserve, protect . . . and restore the resources of the coastal zone for the enjoyment of the current and succeeding generations.† The Commission operates on the premise that the roughly 1.5 million acres under its jurisdiction are a... ...erty without permission from his tenant. Near San Francisco certain homes designated as â€Å"affordable† can be sold for no more than a government-controlled price. In Portland there are wide swaths of the city in which one cannot build a single-family home on one’s own land, even if it is adjacent to other suburban homes. In hundreds of U.S. cities, various laws establishing â€Å"historical districts,† â€Å"landmarks,† or â€Å"improvement zones† straightjacket owners who are consequently unable to remove trees, erect fences, add rooms, or even change rain gutters. Government boards, agencies and commissions with this kind of authority should be opposed not on a case-by-case basis, but on principle. The only proper state policy with respect to private property is: hands off! In America, no governmental agency should have the power to deprive an individual of his property rights.

The Defense of Marriage Act Violates the Civil Liberties of Same Sex Couples :: gay studies, gay marriage, argumentative

Marriage is the religious and legal commitment between two people, as well as the ultimate expression of love. However, marriages between same sex couples are not recognized by the federal government due to the Defense of Marriage Act. In essence, their civil right to be married is withheld from them. The Christian majority's influence in federal policy and lawmaking is one of the foremost reason why same-sex marriage has continually failed to gain long term acceptance in the United States. Same-sex unions have come to the forefront of American politics in the last couple of decades, but history has shown that it is a longstanding issue. The first historical mention of same-sex marriages occurred during the early Roman Empire. Emperors Nero and Elagabalus both married male slaves and historians are much agreed that same-sex marriages were common. However as Christianity, then a new religion, gained momentum, it's sanctions against homosexuality eventually ensured that same-sex marriages lost favor. In fact, as new Emperors themselves were now Christians, a new law in the Theodosian Code was issued, prohibiting same-sex marriage and making the offense punishible by execution. Thus began a long history of Christian persecution of homosexuals. Today, the most common objection to same sex marriage again seems to arise from religious doctrine. Opponents argue that same sex marriage not only infringes on religious freedom and that such unions are in contradiction to the biblical purpose of marriage, but will also have the effect of normalizing and encouraging homosexual behavior. However, many Christian leaders have spoken out in support of same sex marriage, going so far as to state that it would only strengthen marriage as an institution. Christian supporters also note that in widely respected works of biblical records the term "homosexual" is never used, affirming the claims that the term is actually a mistranslation from the original text of the bible. They further attest that since the original authors of the bible never use the term homosexual, the bible cannot therefore forbid homosexuality and by extention, same-sex marriage. Furthermore, The Church of Canada, many Quaker organization, The Church of Christ, The Met ropolitan Community Church and some Catholic theologians have openly supported and approved same-sex marriages. The legal issues surrounding same-sex marriage in the United States are complicated by the nation's federal government system of government.

The Blue Sword CHAPTER ELEVEN

In the hollow where they met Murfoth they set up their first proper camp. The hunting-beasts all went out that night, and everyone, not just a few Riders, had good fresh meat for dinner. The king's zotar was put up, and it was obvious that it was the king's, for it was the biggest, but this one was plain, a dull dun color, and the door was just a tent flap, and inside there were a few carpets, and hooks on side poles for lanterns, but that was all; although the black-and-white banner still flew bravely from the peak of the roof. She and the king and Murfoth and most of the Riders – Innath and Mathin among them – slept within it; but she lay awake a long time listening to the others breathe. You didn't hear the person next to you breathing if there wasn't a ceiling over you to keep the noise closed in. She missed the stars. The next morning there was breakfast at a long table similar to the one where she had first met the Riders; they were all there again, with a few others of those who had joined them over the last few days. Corlath explained what was immediately ahead of them: how they would climb into the mountains again – the range was widest where the curve west was sharpest – to meet the high plateau where the Lake of Dreams lay, and where Luthe lived. Luthe? thought Harry. Most of the army would not climb all the way to the meeting-place, but fade into the forest in little groups and pretend to be invisible; for, so far at least, Corlath and the outriders believed they had not been sighted. Harry blinked and wondered if the morning mists that seemed to continue all day long every day as a kind of dull haze had after all been more than a curious local weather pattern. Luthe himself – Mathin told her this during an interval while the household folk brought in hot malak – had ways even Corlath did not understand of seeing things, and Corlath wished to see and speak to him. But Luthe never left his lands, and so it was necessary to seek him there. â€Å"Luthe claims that lowland air confuses him,† Mathin said, and shrugged the uneven Hill shrug. â€Å"It is not for us to know.† He picked up his cup. â€Å"Yes, but who is Luthe?† said Harry. Mathin regarded her with his inscrutable expression. â€Å"No one knows,† he said. â€Å"Luthe is †¦ someone who lives in the mountains, who sees things – things something like what some of us see when we taste the Meeldtar. He has been there a very long time. No one can remember when Luthe came, or when he has not lived on his mountain.† â€Å"And the Lake of Dreams?† Mathin stared into his cup. â€Å"There is a spring that runs into the Lake of Dreams, and it is where the Water of Sight is found; but sometimes the water from the spring is only water, and no one knows why; although it is believed that Luthe knows. Water drunk from the Lake of Dreams does not give the Sight, as the true Meeldtar does; but it is not quite like drinking †¦ water.† Harry sighed. Corlath explained briefly for the newcomers what the army was proposing to do. The Northerners must, perforce, choose the one wide pass in the mountains that led into the great central plain and then the bare desert of Damar, for it was the only gap large enough to accommodate an army's numbers. The gap was a bit west of the midpoint of the length of the mountains from the curve where the north-south mountains, the Ildik range, became the east-west Horfel Mountains. When the last of Corlath's little army had collected in the hollow at the elbow of the two ranges, they would ride as quickly as horseflesh would allow to the mouth of that pass, and prepare to engage the enemy among the empty villages and deserted fields of Damar. Then there was a silence, for all in the king's tent knew that Corlath's force could not win a victory from the Northerners; nor were they likely able to resist them to the point that the invaders would decide Damar wasn't worth the trouble and return home. The best the defenders could hope for, and this they did hope for, was to cause enough trouble and loss that the Northern army would not have the strength left to seize all of Damar in quite so tight and effective a grip as Thurra would wish; and that pockets of renegade Hillfolk might hide in the Hills, or under the kelar of the City. If they succeeded so much, the battle would be worth what it would cost them, for they would have preserved themselves a future. Harry swallowed uncomfortably. She heard, a little dizzily, what Corlath was saying about the foothills the mountain pass gave into, and where the army would stand; and she cast in her mind for her best memory of Damarian geography, for she had the unpleasant sensation that something was being ignored, something that shouldn't be. Corlath was saying that they would decide more exactly once they arrived, but he seemed to know every stone and clump of grass there, the exact location of every farmhouse, as did those who listened; no one fell so low as to seek recourse to a map. She frowned in concentration. She could almost see the Residency map of Dana; it was very poor at the eastern end; it barely admitted to the existence of the mountains where the king's City stood – the City itself was one of Jack Dedham's native legends – but about the west it was pretty accurate †¦ Ah! Corlath had fallen silent. Murfoth said something and there was another silence, and Harry put in, timidly but stubbornly: â€Å"Sola, what of the pass just northwest of the †¦ of the Outlander station? It is narrow, but not so narrow that the †¦ the Northerners could not send a line through to come up behind us.† Corlath frowned. â€Å"Let them take the Outlander city – it will keep them amused long enough to delay them, perhaps. Even the Outlanders will try to stop them when they are on the threshold.† There was a silence so rigid that Harry felt that speaking words into it was like chopping holes in a frozen lake. â€Å"They would do a better job trying to stop them if they were warned,† she said. Her words didn't make much of a hole; the ice thickened visibly. She didn't want to do anything so obvious as put her hand on her sword hilt; but she did press her elbow surreptitiously against it, and stiffened her spine. â€Å"They were warned,† said Corlath, and Harry raised her eyes to his and saw the golden tide rising in them; and wondered what that fruitless conversation in the Residency must have cost him. Yet he hadn't burned the Residency down with that golden glare of his, as she suspected he could have; and so she blinked at him now and said, â€Å"Colonel Dedham would listen to you. You did not know the Northerners were on the march †¦ then; you know for certain now. The pass is narrow; he could hold it for you indefinitely – but not if they have had time to come through and go where they will.† Her voice was rising with fear and perhaps anger: was there anything but stubborn pride, the offended majesty of the absolute ruler of his small land, working in Corlath, that he should waste a chance to gain a little more time? How little she knew him after all, and how little she knew Damar, she who could not visualize every yellow blade of korf before the great pass in the mountains. And yet she could see – did she not truly see? – the threat that this second, narrow pass presented; a threat that the king and the commander of the army was choosing to overlook. She did not understand; she was born of a different people and she understood different things. â€Å"No,† said Corlath; the word rang like an axe blow, and his eyes were as yellow as topazes. Harry stared back at him – you great bully – even knowing what he could do to her, even as the sweat broke out on her skin with the effort of holding his eyes. Her elbow clamped desperately on Gonturan, and the hard edge of the blue gem dug into her ribs and encouraged her. Then he snapped his gaze from her and pointed it at the tent flap and shouted, though he rarely shouted, and fresh malak was brought in and fruit with it. The ice began, nervously, to break up, and Harry glowered at her cup and refused to be drawn into conversation, and listened to her heart beating, and wondered if she were a traitor; and if so, to whom? The next morning thirty-five chosen horsemen, with Corlath at their head and Harry, still somewhat sulky, among them, started up the track to Luthe's holding. The rest of the army broke camp first, and melted into the scrub of the mountains' feet, taking the hunting-beasts and the pack horses with them. Corlath and the little band with him waited till last, watching them go, judging if their disappearance was effective; looking to see if there were any too obvious paths broken in the undergrowth. A few fleeks broke cover, but that was the only sign of their passage. Corlath and whoever else might have a weather talent must have been satisfied, and Harry watched, with a few cold fingers working their way up her spine in spite of the heat: for the loyal fog over them was blandly breaking up. The sky was blue and clear. A britti burst into song, and Harry raised her eyes to watch the little brown speck zigzagging madly overhead. Corlath sent his big bay forward, and thirty-four riders, and one obstinate hunting-cat, followed. Harry hung near the back. She had not slept the night before for thinking of the northwest pass and Jack Dedham; Dedham's face watching Corlath as he stormed out of the Residency; and Corlath's face as he said, â€Å"Let them take the Outlander city – it will keep them amused.† Surely there was a reason none of the Hillfolk thought that gap into Damar worth consideration? But if there was a reason, what was the reason? Perhaps this Luthe would show some sense. Perhaps his crystal ball or what-have-you would say, â€Å"Beware the northwest pass! Beware!† And then again maybe it wouldn't. So, Harry, what do you propose to do about it then? She didn't know. She concentrated on Sungold's ears, slender and pricked, framing the trail in front of her, and the dark grey haunches of Innath's horse going on before. The scrub gave way to trees, and the trees to greater trees, till they were walking in a forest heavy with age, where even the air tasted old. By the end of the afternoon all the riders were on foot, walking with their sweat-dark horses up a steep uneven incline. Harry was panting, but she tried to do it quietly. Corlath probably never breathed hard. Tsornin's nostrils showed red, but his ears were as alert as ever, and occasionally he would rub his nose gently against the nape of her neck, just in case she was momentarily not thinking about him. Narknon ranged beside them like a dappled shadow. The trees were so tall and grand that Harry, watching her, could believe that she was no bigger than a housecat; that when she came up to be petted, she would twine around Harry's ankles, and Harry would pick her up with one hand and put her on her shoulder. The trees were so high overhead that the twilight beneath them might have been sunset, but might only be leaf shade; and they were a silent company, for no one spoke and the footfalls were muted by leaves and moss. Harry allowed herself to wonder about the trail, as an alternative to her endless mental circles about northwest passes: that it stayed clear enough that no one had to duck under low-hanging branches, or fight a way through an encroaching bush, but so little used that the moss underfoot was thick and smooth. And still smooth after thirty horses and thirty human pedestrians have tramped over it, the thirty-first pedestrian thought, scuffing it curiously with one foot. Sturdy moss. Maybe Luthe is a botanist in his spare time. By nightfall Harry was still walking only by dint of holding a large handful of Sungold's mane in one hand. She had tried resting an arm across his back, but his back was too high for comfort; and her sweaty hand kept sliding through his fine hair. Even his head was hanging a little low, and Harry knew she was still in company only by the soft creaking of other saddles and the occasional flicker in the gloom immediately ahead that was Innath's horse flipping its tail. As she walked her eyes closed and the colors of exhaustion twinkled across her eyelids. Then to her dismay they began to sort themselves out into patterns, but she was too tired even to open her eyes and disperse them. She saw a red-haired rider on a white horse. The horse was old, white with age, the bones of its face very clear and fine; she thought it went just a bit short with its right hind foot, but its neck was arched and its tail high. The rider's shoulders were set grimly, the legs against the horse's sides were determined, not eager. There was a smoky redness to the horizon beyond them, scarlet that did not look like dawn or sunset; they were going toward it, and the light flashed off a chain around the rider's neck and the helm tied to the saddle, and the rider's hair, and the horse's flanks. Harry wondered where they were going, where they had come from. The countryside could have been Damar. It could have been almost anywhere. She realized there was light shining through her eyelids; it was setting the white horse on fire. The horse broke into a canter, a shining glistening wave of motion †¦ Harry dizzily opened her eyes. They were approaching a clearing set with torches; she could see Corlath halted, talking to a man as tall as he was, but narrower; the man's hair was yellow. Innath broke into the lighted circle, and Harry came after, trying not to stumble, too tired even to take her hand out of Sungold's mane for pride's sake. She looked around a little, and the faces she could see near her were haggard and drooping. Perversely, this gave her strength; she dropped her hand and straightened her shoulders. Sungold turned his head to rest his chin on her shoulder. â€Å"Who's reassuring whom here?† she murmured, and Narknon immediately sat on Harry's feet and bumped her hand with her head as if to say, I am. Someone knew the way, for while Corlath finished speaking with the yellow-haired man the rest of the Riders were following someone else to †¦ someplace to lie down, Harry wished fervently. She stole a glance at Corlath as she passed him, and was comforted by the hollows under his eyes and cheekbones. It might have been only the torchlight. When Harry woke up the sun was high, and for a minute she had no idea where she was. Her first thought was that she had missed breakfast and her father would tease her about burning midnight oil. Then she remembered, with the old lurch of the heart, that she was in Daria with Richard – no, Damar, with Sungold, and Narknon, who sprawled across her feet. And Corlath, and Gonturan. Her hand had rested lightly on her sword hilt again as she slept, and through the first upheaval of waking; now her fingers recognized what they touched. She shivered, sighed, sat up. She was in a long narrow hall with a dozen or so low beds in it; high overhead, narrow but close-spaced windows let in a flood of sunlight. She only dimly remembered coming here, having seen Tsornin stabled and unsaddled and happy with a manger of grain and a heap of hay; and falling into her bed, asleep before she touched it. Most of the other beds in the room were still occupied. The hall was built of large blocks of undressed grey-and-white stone; the same sort of stone, she thought, as much of Corlath's City. The room was cool, but it smelled clean and sharp, like young leaves. There were doors at each of the narrow ends of the room, and as she stood at the foot of the bed she could look through either of them. The flagstones were cold underfoot. She sat back down on the edge of the bed – It's even a real bed, she thought – and regarded her pillow a moment. Then she sighed regretfully and pulled on her boots. Narknon opened one eye and closed it again. The rooms on each side looked much like the one she was in, and full of still-sleeping bodies rolled in dark blankets. There was another door midway in the wall opposite the windows. This she went through. Here was a vast hall, taller than the ancient trees of the forest she had just walked wearily through, with windows cut at the very heads of the walls to open above the lower roofs of the sleeping corridors. At one end of this space was a fireplace that in any room less immense would have been itself enormous; here it looked insignificant. There were several massive wooden chairs before it, and a long trestle table beyond these; the rest of the chamber was empty. Opposite the fireplace wall were doors, thrown open to admit sunlight and birdsong and the rustle of leaves. She looked up at the ceiling. Curiously, there was no sense of oppression built by the stone and space; rather there was peacefulness, the quiet of repose. Contented simply to be less tired than she had been the night before, she stood a moment, drinking in the sense of relaxation. For the first time since the confrontation with Corlath, the thought of the northwest pass left her freely, without her straining to push it aside; even the knowledge of the coming war, of her part in her first battle, did not trouble her at present. Of the latter she did know it would trouble her later – soon; but she would attend to it later. For now she smiled. Her mouth felt stiff. She brought her gaze down from the ceiling and directed it again toward the fireplace. Sleep and peace were all very well, but she smelled food, and she was hungry. The man with yellow hair who had stood talking with Corlath the night before was sitting in one of the great wooden chairs; she did not notice him till she was quite near. Her footfalls dropped gently to silence; no sullen echoes ran up the walls to disturb the birdcalls. She stopped. There was a tiny fire, barely two hands' breadth, burning at the front of the cavern of the hearth. Over it hung a large silver pot on a chain, and on a stool nearby were a stack of deep silver bowls, and a heap of shining silver spoons. â€Å"Breakfast,† said the man with yellow hair. â€Å"I've had mine; eat as much as you like. I flatter myself it's quite good, although I admit I'm not much accustomed to cooking for so many, and one begins to lose count of how many potatoes one has already put in after the first armful.† She sat down with her bowl, feeling that formal introductions were not wanted and that he would be amused if she tried to be conventionally polite; and she was so hungry. As she sat, he brought up a leather bag from the far side of his chair and poured into a flagon discovered at his feet. He handed it to her: â€Å"Goat's milk,† he said. There were brown flecks of spices floating in it. She smiled, not so stiffly this time. She looked at him as she ate; and while she was sure he knew she watched him, he kept his eyes on the small leaps and dance steps of the flame beneath the pot, as if letting her look her fill was a courtesy he did her along with filling her belly. He was tall, she knew; sitting, he looked even taller, for he was so slender. His arms were spread wide from his sides to rest on the is of the chair; but his long fingers reached well over the curled fronts of the armrests, and his knees were several inches beyond long seat of the chair. He wore a dark green tunic, and a brown shirt beneath it, with long full sleeves gathered at the wrists with gold ribbons. He wore tall pale boots that reached just above his knees, where the tunic fell over them. The tunic was slit up the side to his waist, and the leggings beneath it were the gold of the ribbons. He wore no sash; rather a narrow band of dark blue cloth made a cross over his breast, and wrapped once thinly about his waist. The ends of it were tassels, midnight blue shot with gold. A huge dark red stone hung on a chain around his neck. His face was thoughtful as he stared at the fire. His nose was long and straight and his lips thin; his eyes were heavy-lidded and blue. His hair was curly as well as bright gold, and it grew low over his collar and ears although he was clean-shaven. He should look young, Harry thought. But he did not. Neither did he look old. He turned to her as she set down her bowl and cup, and smiled. â€Å"Well? Did I know when to stop adding potatoes?† Hill potatoes were golden and far more flavorful than the pale Homelander variety that Harry had eaten obediently but without enthusiasm when she was a child, and here they blended most satisfactorily with the delicate white fish that was the basis of the I stew. It was the first time she had eaten fresh fish since she had left her Homeland, where she had often brought supper home after a few hours beside a pool or stream on her father's estate; and she was pleased, now, to notice that remembering this fact caused no nervous ripples of emotion about her past or her future. â€Å"Yes,† she said peacefully. Their eyes met, and he asked, as though he were an old friend or her father, â€Å"Are you happy?† She thought about it, her gaze drifting away from his and coming to rest on the tip of Gonturan, as she leaned against her sol's chair; for she had, without thinking about it one way or another, slung Gonturan around her as soon as she stood up from her bed. â€Å"No, not precisely,† she said. â€Å"But I don't believe I wish to complain of unhappiness.† She paused a minute, looking at the thoughts that had been with her constantly for the weeks since she had left her old life as a bundle across Fireheart's withers. â€Å"It is that I cannot see what I am doing or why, and it is unsettling always to live only in the moment as it passes. Oh, I know – one never sees ahead or behind. But I see even less. It is like being blindfolded when everyone else in the room is not. No one can see outside the room – but everyone else can see the room. I would like to take my blindfold off.† The man smiled. â€Å"It is a reasonable wish. No one lives more than a few moments either way – even those fortunate or unfortunate ones who can see how the future will be cast; and perhaps they feel the minute's passing the most acutely. But it is comforting to have some sense of †¦ the probability of choices, perhaps?† â€Å"Yes,† she sighed, and tapped a finger on Gonturan's hilt, and thought of the red-haired rider on the white horse. He had looked as though he knew where he was going, although she had to admit that he had also looked as if the knowledge gave him no joy. â€Å"Not he,† said the man with yellow hair. â€Å"The Lady Aerin. You should begin to recognize her, you know; you have seen her often enough.† She blinked at him. â€Å"You carry her sword, and ride to a fate not entirely of your own choosing. It is not surprising that she in some manner chooses to ride with you. She knew much of fate.† Not surprising. It continued to surprise her. She would prefer that it surprise her, in fact. She permitted herself – just briefly – to think about her Homeland, with the wide grassy low hills and blue rivers, when the only sword she knew was her father's dress sword, which was not sharp and which she was forbidden to touch; and where the only sand was at the seaside. She rediscovered herself staring at a silver pot over a tiny fire. â€Å"I'm afraid I can't comfort you very much with predictions; it is pleasant when I can comfort anyone with predictions, and I always enjoy it as much as possible because it doesn't happen too often. But I can tell you even less than I can usually tell anyone, and it hurts my pride.† His hand closed around the dark stone at his neck; it glowed through his fingers like fire. She looked at him, startled. â€Å"You have already begun to see the hardness of the choices that you will soon be forced to make; and the choosing will not be any easier for your not knowing why you must choose.† His voice took on a singsong quality, the red light of the stone pulsed like a heart, and the heavy eyelids almost closed. â€Å"Take strength from your own purpose, for you will know what you must do, if you let yourself; trust your horse and the cat that follows you, for there are none better than they, and they love you; and trust your sword, for she holds the strength of centuries and she hates what you are learning to hate. And trust the Lady Aerin, who visits you for your reassurance, whether you believe it at present or not; and trust your friendships. Friends you will have need of, for in you two worlds meet. There is no one on both sides with you, so you must learn to take your own counsel; and not to fear what is strange, if you know it also to be true.† He opened his eyes. â€Å"It is not an enviable position, being a bridge, especially a bridge with visions. I should know.† â€Å"You're Luthe, of course,† she said. â€Å"Of course. I told Corlath in particular to bring you – although he has always brought his Riders if he brings anyone. And I knew you had been made a Rider. I don't ask for anyone often; you should be pleased.† â€Å"I can see the two worlds I am between,† she said, unheeding, â€Å"although why the second one chose to rise up and snatch me I still don't understand – â€Å" â€Å"Ask Colonel Dedham the next time you see him,† Luthe put in. â€Å"The next – ? But – † she said, bewildered, and thrown off her thought. â€Å"You were about to ask me a question important to you, for you were trying to put your thoughts in order, when I interrupted you,† said Luthe mildly, â€Å"although I won't be able to answer it. I told you I am not often comforting.† â€Å"What are your two worlds?† she said, almost obliterating the question as she continued: â€Å"But if you can't answer it, why should I ask? Can you hear everything I'm thinking?† â€Å"No,† he replied. â€Å"Only those arrow-like thoughts that come flying out with particular violence. You have a better organized mind than most. Most people are distressing to talk to because they have no control over their thinking at all, and it is a constant barrage, like being attacked by a tangle of thornbushes, or having a large litter of kittens walking up your legs, hooking in their claws at every step. It's perhaps also an effective preventative to having one's mind read, for who can identify the individual thorn?† Harry laughed involuntarily. â€Å"Innath said you lived where you do, high up and away from everything, because lowland air clouds your mind.† â€Å"True enough. It is a little embarrassing to be forced to play the enigmatic oracle in the mountain fastness, but I have found it necessary. â€Å"Corlath, for example, when he has something on his mind, can knock me down with it at arm's length. He's often asked me to come stay in his prison that he calls a city, saying that I might like it as it is made of the same stone as this – † He gestured upward. â€Å"No thank you.† He smiled. â€Å"He does not love the stone walls of his city, and so he does not understand why I do love my walls; to him they look the same. But he knows me better than to press it, or to be offended.† â€Å"If it is only within arm's length you find Corlath overwhelming, I have no sympathy for you,† Harry said ruefully, and he laughed. â€Å"We soothsayers have other means of resistance,† he said, â€Å"But I shall be sure to tell him you said so.† She sobered. â€Å"I'd rather you didn't, if you don't mind. I'm afraid we're – we're not on the best of terms just now.† Luthe drummed his fingers on the wooden armrest. â€Å"Yes, I did rather suspect that, and I'm sorry for it, for you need each other.† He drummed some more. â€Å"Or at any rate he needs you, and you could do a lot worse than to believe in him.† Luthe rubbed his forehead. â€Å"But I will grant you that he is a stubborn man at times.† He was silent a moment. â€Å"Aerin was a little like that; but she was also a little like you †¦ Aerin was very dear to me.† He smiled faintly. â€Å"Teachers are always vain of the students who go on to do great things.† â€Å"Aerin?† said Harry. â€Å"Aerin? Lady Aerin of this sword?† – and she banged the hilt of Gonturan. â€Å"Yes,† said Luthe gently. â€Å"The same red-haired Aerin who troubles you with visions. You asked me about my two worlds: you could say that they are the past and the present.† After a long cold moment Harry said, â€Å"Why did you ask Corlath to bring me here?† â€Å"I told you that, surely. Because I knew he needed you; and I wanted to find out if you were the sort of vessel that cracks easily.† Harry took a deep breath. â€Å"And am I?† â€Å"I think you will do very well.† He smiled. â€Å"And that is a much more straightforward answer than anyone consulting an oracle has a right to expect. I shall stop feeling guilty about you.† Corlath and his Riders spent two days in Luthe's hall; the horses grazed in a broad meadow, the only wide stretch of sunlit green within a day's journey of the tree-filled valley where Luthe made his home. Harry found Sungold tearing across the field, head up and tail a banner, on the first morning, the toilsome way up the mountain apparently forgotten. He galloped over to where Harry leaned on the frame of the open stable, where a few of the horses still lingered inside, musing over their hay. â€Å"You make me tired,† said Harry absently, thinking of her conversation with Luthe. â€Å"You should be recuperating, not bounding around like a wild foal.† Tsornin thrust his nose under her chin, unrepentant. â€Å"You realize we will have to do the whole thing again shortly? And then go on – and on and on? You should be harboring your strength.† Sungold nibbled her hair. The other Riders and the fifteen other horsemen slowly seeped out of the tall stone house. Harry tried to decide, watching them, if any had had bewildering conversations with their host; but she couldn't guess, and it did not seem the sort of thing one might ask. They all looked only semi-awake, as if the journey so far – this was the first real halt since they left the City – combined with the sweet peacefulness of Luthe's domain prevented the lot of saddle-hardened warriors from feeling anything but pleasantly drowsy. They smiled at one another and leaned on their swords, and even tended their precious horses nonchalantly, as though they knew that the horses did not need them here. Narknon, so far as Harry could tell, never moved from her bed; she merely stretched out when Harry left it, and reluctantly permitted herself to be shoved to one side when Harry re-entered. Harry, although she felt the same gentle air around her, was surprised; whatever it was, it had less effect on her. Corlath himself strode around in his usual high-energy fashion; if any sense of ease was trying to settle on him, it was having a hard time of it, for he was no different than he ever was, although he did not seem surprised at the condition of his followers. Harry stayed out of his way, and if he noticed this, he gave no sign. Mostly he spoke to Luthe – Harry saw with interest, on the occasions she saw them together, that Corlath seemed to do far more talking than his companion – or muttered to himself. The mutter-ings couldn't have been pleasant, for he was often scowling. The two days were fine and clear; warm enough during the day to make bathing in the pool at the edge of the horses' meadow pleasant, cool enough at night to make the blankets on the beds in the sleeping-chambers of comfort. The torches that formed a ring outside the front gates of the hall were not lit again; Luthe was willing to welcome his guests, but did not deem further illumination necessary. On the second afternoon Harry followed the stream that spilled out of the bathing-pool, and after a certain amount of fighting with curling branches and tripping over hidden hummocks she burst out of the undergrowth to a still silver beach bordering a wide lake. The Lake of Dreams. The stream stopped its chattering as it left the edge of the woods, and slid silently over the silver sand and slipped into the waters of the lake. Harry went to the edge of it and sat down, looking at the water. There was a step at her side; she looked up and it was Luthe. â€Å"There is a path,† he said. â€Å"You should have asked.† He bent down and detached a twig from her hair, and another from the back of her tunic. Then he sat down beside her. â€Å"I will show you the way to return.† â€Å"Do you live here alone?† Harry said, extracting a leaf from the neck of her undershift. â€Å"No,† he replied, â€Å"but my housemates are even shyer than I am, and have a tendency to retreat into the undergrowth when visitors are anticipated. There are quite a number of visitors, now and again.† â€Å"The oracle is a popular one,† said Harry, smiling. Luthe smiled back, but sidelong. â€Å"Yes; I think it may be private dismay that sends my companions away at such times; they have something of kelar and the Sight themselves.† He did not seem disposed to go on, so Harry said: â€Å"Does everyone who comes here behave as though they're half asleep?† â€Å"No again; I and my friends are generally quite sharp. But yes, most visitors find it a sleepy sort of place – a reputation I, um, encourage, as it makes their thoughts sleepy too, and thus easier to dodge.† Harry said, â€Å"Encourage?† Luthe said, â€Å"You are not a sleepy one, are you? The source of the Meeldtar taints all the water here; and the air that passes over the Lake of Dreams carries something of sleepiness with it. Only those bearing much kelar of their own do not find that faintest touch of the Water of Sight a little drowsy. Like you. And Corlath.† Harry, at that, caught a thought just as it was streaking out, and stuffed it back behind her eyes. â€Å"Very good,† said Luthe. â€Å"I thought you might prove apt. I didn't catch a glimpse of that one.† Harry smiled faintly. â€Å"I suspect, however, that it might make you more comfortable to ask me it nonetheless,† Luthe said, looking into her face; but she turned away. â€Å"Corlath, eh?† Luthe said gently. Harry shook her head, not denying it, but as though she could shake herself free of her anxieties; but Luthe said no more. At last she stood up, gazing across the lake; she could not see its farther shore. â€Å"It is so large,† she said. Luthe rose to stand beside her. â€Å"No, not so large,† he said, â€Å"but it is a private sort of lake, and hard to see. Even for me.† He was quiet a moment, looking across the water. â€Å"I think perhaps the reason I stay in this particular uninhabited valley of all the uninhabited valleys in the Hills is that it comforts me by reminding me of things I cannot do. I cannot see the farther shore of the Lake of Dreams.† He turned away. â€Å"Come; I will show you the path. Unless you prefer fighting your way through the poor trees, which are accustomed to being undisturbed.†