Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Stand-up comedy in the middle east via youtube Article

Stand-up comedy in the middle east via youtube - Article Example New comedy performers with a different approach overrun 1960s and 70s. The new comedy was subversive, with a strong message. Comedy in those years used political and topical content to raise social questions, opinions and change the publics thinking. A 27-year-old Saudi comedian and a YouTube personality Fahad Al-Butairi, who was the first Saudi stand-up comedian to appear on stage professionally, started a YouTube channel that got so famous with many Arabs describing him as Seinfeld of Saudi Arabia. Al-Butairi started his comedy career when he was in middle school and used to perform in theater plays and in summer camps and centers in Saudi Arabia and other areas. In 2006, while studying in the US, Fahad Al-Butairi decided to try out at an open mike nights at the local comedy club in Austin where he was living basing his jokes on his personal experience, this was a success. When Fahad Al-Butairi moved back to the Saudi Arabia and got busy with his job, he heard about a comedy event in Bahrain where he performed in front of 2,000 people, this was also an instant success. The YouTube show, which he started on 2010, became his main claim to fame. It is called it â€Å"La Ykthar,† which is Arabic for â€Å"Shut up and don’t overdo it.† The show discusses Saudi Arabia’s social and political topics. It has grown in popularity with each monthly episode. Statistics show that, Al-Butairi now has over 909,000 followers on Twitter, over 488,893 subscribers on YouTube and his videos have reached 62,293,268 views. Dignitary Obeidallah, a New Jersey-conceived, Palestinian-American humorist, studies the crowd before him at Al Hussein Cultural Center. For this opening night at the first-ever Amman Stand Up Comedy Festival, Obeidallah the ever busy standup comedian is scheduled to perform a set. The entertainment events will be no different from on any other night, but tonight’s show marks the first ever comedy

Monday, October 28, 2019

Monopoly essay Essay Example for Free

Monopoly essay Essay Monopoly is â€Å"a firm that can determine the market price of a good. In the extreme case, a monopoly is the only seller of a good or service. † (Miller 103) Characteristics of a Monopoly. Are that there is one single seller in the market with no competition and there are many buyers in the market. The seller controls the prices of the goods or services and is the price maker as well. The consumers do not have perfect information on the goods or services. Advantages of a Monopoly. The Monopolies avoids duplications and hence wastage of resources. Enjoys economics of scale, due to it being the only supplier of the product or service in the market, makes many profits and be used for research and development to maintain their status as a monopoly. They also use price discrimination to benefit the weaker economic section of society. To avoid competition, they can afford to invest in the latest technology and machinery. Disadvantages of a Monopoly. Monopolies have poor levels of service, there is no consumer sovereignty, the consumers are charged high prices for such low quality goods, and lack of competition could lead to low quality goods, as well as out dated goods. What is required for a monopoly to earn profits in the long run? First off, any market type can see super normal profits in the short-run. What is more important is what happens in the long-run. Pure monopolies are not the only monopoly that can make profits. Natural Monopoly or a price discriminating monopoly can make profits as well. The only difference between them is â€Å"why† they are monopolies to begin with. Oligopolies are not monopolies, although they do tend to make above normal profits. Monopolistic competition does not yield these types of profits in the long-run. Economic profit goes to zero here in the long-run because there is a lack of barriers here to prevent competition from entering (as there is with perfect competition). If a firm uses economies of scale then I would be talking about a natural monopoly (or a few firms in oligopoly depending on how large or small the minimum efficient scale is). If the MES were small, economies of scale would not be an entry barrier to competition in order to achieve positive economic profits. If the MES were large, large enough to support one firm only, that would be the definition of a natural monopoly. â€Å"In the long run, a monopolistically competitive firm adjusts plant size, or the quantity of capital, to maximize long-run profit. In addition, the entry and exit of firms into and out of a monopolistically competitive market eliminates economic profit and guarantees that each monopolistically competitive firm earns nothing more or less than a normal profit. † (http://www. amosweb. com/cgi-bin/awb_nav. pl? s=wpdc=dspk=monopolistic+competition, +long run+production+analysis). Works Cited Roger LeRoy Miller. Economics Today, Sixteenth Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. , publishing as Addison-Wesley, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2008, 2006. http://www. amosweb. com/cgi-bin/awb_nav. pl? s=wpdc=dspk=monopolistic+competition,+long-run+production+analysis.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

gideon Essay -- essays papers

gideon Gideon v. Wainwright What most people don't know is that in the past those arrested for a crime did not really have "the right to an attorney" unless they had money. This became a right because Clarence Gideon, a prison inmate who did not have the money for a lawyer, took a pencil in his hand and wrote his own petition to the United States Supreme Court. Clarence Gideon, without a lawyer, took his case to the highest court in the country and won important rights for all of us. In 1961, Clarence Gideon was arrested in Florida on a charge of breaking and entering into a pool hall. Gideon was a likely suspect for the police to arrest: he was a 51-year old drifter who had been in and out of jail many times since he ran away from home to be a â€Å"hobo† at age 16. Although he barely finished the eighth-grade, when Gideon was arrested he knew two things: one of which was that he had not committed this crime and the second is he would not have a chance to convince a jury that he was not guilty if he did not have a lawyer. Because Gideon could not afford a lawyer, he asked a judge to appoint a lawyer to represent him. The judge refused and Gideon was convicted. He was sentenced to five years in jail, which gave him a lot of time on his hands. He put that time to good use. First, he filed a petition before the Florida Supreme Court. The petition was denied. So then he decided to file a petition in the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that putting him on trial without a lawyer was...

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Iron Crowned Chapter 7

I signed the tax return and left a check before heading out. It figured: I owed. Self-employed people always owe. It was a credit to Lara that she'd managed my books well enough that the amount was low, but after seeing her run off with my roommate, I decided it was a good thing our working relationship didn't include performance reviews. She'd also left me a jam-packed day, which turned out to be beneficial. A busy schedule kept my mind off Dorian (mostly) and what was transpiring in the Otherworld. I fought with ferocity, as though each ghost or monster I battled was Katrice herself. It was the drives in between that were the roughest on me. There was no action then. Just my own thoughts. My last job of the day was the most difficult, undoubtedly scheduled that way on purpose so that I didn't walk into the little ones tired and injured. True, I was feeling weary, but concern for Dorian kept a spike of adrenaline burning through me, one that I knew would get me through this last job. Yet, walking up to the client's house, I couldn't stop asking the same questions in my mind. Why hasn't Volusian reported to me yet? Isn't the fight over? A nervous-looking young woman answered the door, introducing herself as Jenna. She was the one who had made the call, though it wasn't exactly on her own behalf. â€Å"She's in the living room,† Jenna whispered to me, letting me inside the foyer. Her eyes were wide with fear. â€Å"Just sitting there. Staring.† â€Å"Does she speak?† I asked. â€Å"Does she answer your questions?† â€Å"Yes †¦ but †¦ it's not her. I know that doesn't make sense, but it's not. The people at work think she's just gone crazy. I'm pretty much the only one who still talks to her. She's about to lose her job, but †¦Ã¢â‚¬  Jenna shook her head. â€Å"I swear, it's just not her.† â€Å"You're right.† I held my wand in my left hand and my silver athame in the right. â€Å"Is she †¦Ã¢â‚¬  Jenna's voice dropped even lower. â€Å"Is she possessed?† â€Å"Not exactly.† Lara had warned me about this one. It had initially sounded like possession, but further data suggested otherwise, unfortunately. A possession would have been easier. â€Å"It's a fetch. It's like †¦ I don't know. Her double. Kind of.† â€Å"Then †¦ what happened to Regan?† I hesitated. â€Å"I don't know.† I didn't want to tell Jenna there was a strong possibility that Regan was dead. That was the usual fate for a fetch's victim. Of course, fetches usually left once they'd sucked all the energy and goodness from someone's life. If this one was still here, the odds of Regan still being alive were marginally higher. â€Å"If †¦ er, when we find her, she may be in bad shape.† I stared off down the hallway, where I could hear the sound of a TV in the living room. I shifted my grip on my weapons and prepared myself. â€Å"What should I do?† asked Jenna. â€Å"Wait outside. Don't come back inside until I tell you to – no matter what.† Once she was safely away, I set off down the hall. There, in the living room, I found a woman sitting perfectly straight on the couch, her hands folded neatly upon her lap as she stared at the TV. There was a blankness in her brown eyes that told me she wasn't really watching. She didn't even acknowledge my arrival. Glancing around the living room, I took in its space and features, assessing them for a fight. I also noticed a couple pictures on the wall, group shots with Jenna and a smiling brunette who looked exactly like the woman on the couch. Yet, glancing between them, I knew Jenna was right. This wasn't Regan. â€Å"Where's Regan?† I asked. The fetch didn't look at me. â€Å"I am Regan.† â€Å"Where's Regan?† I repeated harshly. â€Å"What have you done with her?† Please, please let her be alive. This time, the fetch turned her head, those cold eyes taking me and my weapons in. â€Å"I told you. I am Regan.† I had a moment's debate on what to do. Killing the fetch without learning Regan's location would make the next part of this job even more difficult. Yet, as the fetch continued staring at me, I knew she'd recognized what I was and what threat I represented. I had to take her out now, banking on the fact that fetches usually kept their victims close. I held out my wand and began chanting the words that would drive this creature back to the Otherworld. It was where fetches came from, and a forceful enough banishing was usually enough to deter them from returning. I'd only have to get the Underworld involved if she decided to – She attacked. The fetch didn't transform into her true shape as she sprang at me. Rather, she turned into something in the middle. She still wore Regan's face, but it had a sickly green hue. Her eyes were bigger and darker and looked like they'd been stretched out. Her hands and feet were bigger too – and clawed. She came at me with her full strength, knocking me into a wall mercifully free of furniture. I kneed her in the stomach, needing to get distance between me and the claws trying to rake my face and neck. She fell back a little, not much, but enough to give me more maneuvering room. I swung out with the silver blade, and she recoiled. Iron could inflict lethal blows on the gentry, but silver was the metal of choice for almost any other creature. â€Å"Tell me where Regan is,† I said, advancing forward. â€Å"Tell me, and I'll simply banish you back to the Otherworld. Make this difficult, and you die.† I was managing that balance I always did: weapon ready to attack while part of my mind focused on a connection to the Otherworld. Hecate's tattoo, a snake on my upper arm, began to tingle. The fetch decided I wasn't a full threat yet and rushed me again. I dodged this time, anticipating her movements based on the last attack. A fetch might be able to replicate someone, but their fighting style was mostly brute force. My athame caught her arm as I moved, and she snarled in pain, showing fangs that dripped with green saliva. It hurt her but didn't slow her down as she lunged back at me. I sidestepped her again but overlooked what was behind me, hitting painfully against a cabinet. I winced, and she pressed her advantage, swinging those claws at me. I barely escaped them, managing to squirm away and hurry to the other side of the room. A banishing, I decided. I'd just keep my distance and do a banishing. I just needed a couple minutes – and to stay alive. I began chanting words to send her from this world, words that didn't have to follow any ancient form so long as my power and intent were clear. She paused briefly, realizing what I was doing, and seemed to consider her options. A circle. I should have put a circle of protection around the house. There was a very real possibility she might try to flee. That and killing me were pretty much her only options. The former would probably be easier for her – and would release Regan. But I didn't want this fetch freely walking the world. I needed to send her on. Power surged in me and through me, out to the wand and toward her. This was her last chance to run – or, as it turned out, throw a coffee table at me. I admit, I didn't see that coming – literally or figuratively. I should have, though. Furniture, props, whatever †¦ they were all fair game in a fight. The fetch had no reason to rely simply on hand-to-hand combat, and my athame gave her good reason to attack from a distance. The coffee table was a simple one, a smooth circle of glass on iron legs. A wood-framed one would have been better. The frame would have slowed the spread of glass. This table had nothing to stop it, except me. I tried to jump out of its way, saving my head and face. I wasn't far enough away when it hit the wall and shattered, though. Stinging, burning pain went through my back and left arm as glass scraped and – no doubt – embedded itself in my flesh. My sense of self-preservation kept me moving through the pain, but my connection to the Otherworld had shattered with the glass. The fetch knew this and leaped forward, risking the athame in the hope I was too addled and injured from the glass to stop her. I wasn't. I had never let go of my weapons, and my athame was ready and waiting when she came. I plunged it into her heart and started the banishing again. Over the years, as I'd grown in power and spent so much time in the Otherworld myself, these banishings had become easier. Not easy, but easier. There was a time when I couldn't have held a fetch off with my athame while simultaneously attempting a quick banishing. But now, the power flowed through me as the fetch pulled herself off my blade. She had no time to react, attack, or flee. The magic seized her, and she disappeared before my eyes, fading into sparkles and then nothing. I didn't know the extent of the athame's damage. I might have just sent her back to die. Or, she might survive and come after me in the Otherworld as some creatures tried. I wasn't worried. My abilities stayed consistent in both worlds, but my magic was a bit stronger over there – especially in the Thorn Land. I took a deep breath of relief and stuck the weapons back in my belt as I hurried toward the front door. Jenna was sitting on the lawn, face pale with worry. She sprang up when she saw me. â€Å"What happened? Is she okay?† â€Å"I'm not sure,† I said, wiping sweat off my brow. My hand came away red with blood. â€Å"We have to find her. Does she have a basement?† â€Å"No.† Jenna followed me inside and then halted. â€Å"Oh my God †¦ your back †¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"It's nothing. I'll deal with it later.† â€Å"At least – † She reached toward a spot between my upper arm and shoulder blade, wincing as she did. I yelped in pain and watched as she pulled away a huge piece of jagged glass. â€Å"That's bleeding †¦ really bad †¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I'm in better shape than Regan,† I said brusquely, trying to ignore both pain and the sight of my blood all over the shard she'd taken. â€Å"No basement. Closets? Attic?† â€Å"Both.† We checked the closets with no luck, and Jenna stuck her head in the attic's tiny space. Still nothing. â€Å"Shit,† I said. I shouldn't have let the fetch go without getting Regan's location. What if Regan wasn't nearby? What if the fetch had broken habit and hidden her victim far from home? Jenna looked as defeated as I felt, then her head shot up. â€Å"The shed. There's a shed out back.† We were out the back door in a flash, jerking open the door to a little garden shed that was mercifully unlocked. There, curled up on the ground in a fetal position, was Regan. Jenna let out a strangled cry, and we both dropped to the ground. Jenna propped Regan up while I gently shook her. â€Å"Regan, Regan. Wake up. Please wake up.† For a few moments, I feared the worst. Then, Regan's eyes fluttered open, her expression frightened and confused. Her breathing came in short rasps, and she futilely tried to sit up on her own. Her failure didn't surprise me. When a fetch took over someone's life, it put its double into a sort of magic coma. It required no ropes or gags, simply leaving behind a silent and immobile victim. Regan's ability to wake up verified that the fetch was gone, but the woman had spent days without food, water, or using her muscles. â€Å"She's dehydrated,† I said. Studying Regan's state, I knew this was beyond a few glasses of water. â€Å"Let's get her to the hospital.† Jenna drove, with Regan laid out carefully across the backseat. She said little, only making the occasional moan. Meanwhile, in the passenger seat, I attempted to clean myself off with baby wipes and to pull glass bits out of my back. The blood on my face was cleaned off when we reached the ER, as was most from my body, but I didn't want to answer questions about what had happened to me. I borrowed Jenna's jean jacket, figuring the few scratches on my face weren't enough to attract attention. We told the staff that Regan had been depressed and starving herself. We went on about how we hadn't seen her for days and had only just found her tonight. Since there was no ostensible bruising or signs of binding, they took us at our word and hurried to hook her up to fluids. We'd also probably landed her in therapy, but that was of little concern now. I waited with Jenna just outside Regan's room as a nurse finished attaching the appropriate tubes and a doctor performed further examination. When they were done, they told us we could go in and that Regan would recover once her body had sustenance again. I had no intention of going with Jenna. Now that Regan was safe, my plan was to get a taxi back to my car and go home to clean up before an Otherworldly jump. Lara could bill these women later. â€Å"Wait,† said Jenna, as the doctor and nurse were about to leave. â€Å"My friend's hurt. She broke a window to get in Regan's house and got cut.† I shook my head. â€Å"No, really, I'm fine – â€Å" I shut my mouth when I followed everyone's gaze. Even I could see that the left sleeve of the jacket was soaked with blood. There was little argument to make after that. Jenna stayed with Regan, and I was ushered off to a cubicle in the ER. The nurse shut the curtain, and I took off my shirt. The doctor's eyebrows rose. â€Å"You broke a window? With what, your entire body?† He called for another nurse, who began assisting the other with glass removal and sanitizing. â€Å"I threw a rock,† I said. â€Å"It didn't make a very big hole, but I didn't have time to make it bigger. I just had to get to Regan.† â€Å"Noble,† said the doctor, whose attention was on the larger shoulder gash. â€Å"If stupid.† Someone with a better understanding of physics might have realized my injuries didn't quite line up with what I'd get crawling through a jagged hole in a window. Fortunately, this group's talents were elsewhere. The myriad scratches and cuts were dealt with by bandages and painful antiseptics. The big cut required a fair number of stitches. I was restless the whole time, wanting only to get back and see what had happened to Dorian. The medical staff was thorough in its work, however. I decided I should just be grateful that they were letting me go and not forcing a longer stay. I was the walking wounded, in bad shape but not in life-threatening danger. â€Å"Here,† said the doctor, just before letting me go. He scrawled out a prescription and handed it to me, along with reams of paper on wound care and cleaning. â€Å"Antibiotics. Get it filled tonight.† â€Å"I will,† I said glibly. He gave me a warning look. â€Å"I mean it. I know your type. You think you're invincible, but any of that could get infected. Get the prescription. Clean and change the bandages on the cuts.† He was right that I thought I was invincible. I'd had stitches and wounds before, my gentry blood usually expediting the healing. But I nodded meekly, promising I'd obey. â€Å"Good,† he said, following me out to the waiting room. â€Å"Follow up with your family doctor in a week. I think your ride's over there.† â€Å"My ride †¦?† I stared around the room, freezing when I saw a familiar face. â€Å"Mom?† She'd been leaning against a wall, eyes anxiously studying everyone in the room. Spotting me, she practically ran over, staring at my bandages in alarm. I had no coat, and the tank top showed my battle wounds. â€Å"Eugenie! Are you okay? What have you done now?† For some reason, that made the doctor snort a laugh before walking away. â€Å"I'm fine,† I told her automatically. â€Å"What are you doing here?† â€Å"I'm your emergency contact. And that is not fine.† I was still stunned to see her. It felt like it had been so long. Ages. â€Å"It is now,† I said dazedly. â€Å"All patched up. And I've got all this †¦ stuff.† I waved my stack of paper around. She brushed dark hair from her face, her expression both weary and distraught as we headed for her car. â€Å"It never gets easier. Not with you, not with him.† I gave her a sidelong look. â€Å"Does he know you're here?† â€Å"No,† she said, getting out her keys. â€Å"Not that it would matter if he did. Nothing could have stopped me from coming when they called me. I thought †¦ Well, I never know what to think†¦.† I couldn't look at her as I sat gingerly in the car. My eyes were filling with tears. I'd missed her so much. I'd missed her, well, momness. Lots of people cared about me, but it wasn't the same. Plus, I felt horrible, horrible that I made her worry. And because of me, Roland was out endangering himself again too. I hastily ran a hand over my eyes and turned to her as we pulled out of the parking lot. â€Å"When did you get glasses?† I asked in surprise. Delicate wire frames rested on a face very similar to mine. It was our coloring that was different. My red hair and violet eyes had come from Storm King. â€Å"A few weeks ago. They're just for night driving.† I looked away, fearing the tears would return. Glasses. Such a stupid thing. There was a time, though, when I would have known every little detail of her life. There was so much distance between us now. My churning, guilty thoughts only came to a standstill when she turned into a pharmacy a few blocks from the hospital. â€Å"Mom, no! I have to get back to my car and – â€Å" â€Å"You can go back to endangering your life again soon enough. Here, let me see those.† â€Å"It's not my usual pharmacy,† I said petulantly. She was skimming the wound care instructions. â€Å"Yes, well, I'm sure this one still has a couple bandages stashed away somewhere.† â€Å"You're such a mom.† She glanced up, a small twinkle in her eyes that reminded me of how things used to be between us. â€Å"I'm your mom.† I followed her sullenly as we waited for the prescription, and she forced me to get a basketful of gauze, bandages, and other first aid supplies. I already owned a lot of them, but she wouldn't rest easy until she actually saw them in my hands. â€Å"I really appreciate you coming,† I admitted as we waited. â€Å"It †¦ it's good to see you.† Her expression softened. â€Å"It's good to see you too, baby. I've missed you.† â€Å"I don't suppose Roland's forgiven me?† â€Å"It's more complicated than that,† she told me. â€Å"He still loves you. Really. But he's worried. And he doesn't like you being over †¦ there. Neither do I.† I averted my eyes again. I knew she didn't – and she had good reason. My conception was the result of her captivity and rape in the Otherworld. She'd spent years keeping that knowledge from me, hoping to protect me from both my heritage and the agony she believed that place caused. â€Å"Well, that's complicated too. I have to be there, Mom. I know you guys don't approve, but there are people counting on me. They're not all like you think. I can't let them down. They're †¦ they're dying because of me.† â€Å"Is there a man involved?† I considered a flippant remark, then chose honesty. â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"The obvious problem aside †¦ would I like him?† I tried to picture my mom meeting Dorian and couldn't stop a small smile. â€Å"Probably not.† â€Å"Do you ever talk to Kiyo anymore?† I looked up sharply, my smile fading. â€Å"It's over with us. He let me down. You know that. This other guy †¦ he won't.† I was saved from further conversation when my name was finally called. I added the prescription to my portable hospital bag and felt grateful that my mom didn't pursue the topic of my love life anymore. I was equally grateful when she drove me back to Regan's house. It wouldn't have surprised me if she'd left me carless in Tim's care. Leaving my mom stirred conflicting feelings in me. After missing her so much, part of me just wanted to stay and gaze at her, to drink in those features I loved so much. I wanted her to hold me, to be my mom and take care of everything. And yet †¦ always, always, the Otherworld was pressing on me. I didn't have the luxury of being a little girl right now. I didn't have the luxury of being her daughter. â€Å"Thank you,† I said, giving her as careful a hug as we could manage. â€Å"Thank you for †¦ I don't know. Everything.† She held me for a few moments and then pressed a kiss to my forehead. â€Å"There's nothing to thank me for. Just be careful.† She broke from the embrace. â€Å"Do what the doctor says. And for God's sake, don't end up there again. I don't want another call.† â€Å"I'll try,† I said. This made us both smile, largely because we knew my trying to stay out of harm's way was pretty futile. â€Å"And tell Roland †¦Ã¢â‚¬  I couldn't finish, but she nodded. â€Å"I know.† I left her then, loading my loot into my own car and driving home. Regan didn't live too far from me, only about ten minutes. The time flew by. I had so many things to think about that when I arrived at my house, I hardly knew how I'd gotten there. Tim's car was parked out front – as was Lara's. I dragged myself out of my own self-pitying miasma, uneasily wondering what I'd find inside. Seeing the two of them naked on my kitchen table would not be cool. Instead, they were cuddled up on the living room couch, watching a movie. All seemed innocent, but some vibe made me suspect they hadn't been actually watching too much of it. I shook my head in exasperation. â€Å"How is this my life?† I muttered, setting my bag on the counter. â€Å"Did you say something?† called Tim. The living room and kitchen were mostly open to each other. He muted the film. â€Å"Nothing important.† â€Å"We figured you'd be out for the night,† he said. I was pretty sure there was an accusatory tone in his voice. I opened the cupboards, rummaging for food. I was suddenly starving. â€Å"Well, rest easy. I'll be gone soon enough, right after I get dinner.† Lara turned and peered over the couch's back. â€Å"Pop-Tarts aren't – oh my God! What happened to you?† Tim noticed my bandages now too. He didn't look as shocked as her – he saw me come home after fights a lot – but worry had replaced his snark. â€Å"What have you been doing?† â€Å"Earning the mortgage.† I put two blueberry Pop-Tarts in the toaster. â€Å"Isn't that what you told me to do?† â€Å"Jesus, Eug. I didn't – â€Å" â€Å"Forget it,† I told him. â€Å"Everything's fine. But you're going to have to send a bill to Jenna Benson, Lara. I wasn't able to collect.† Lara nodded without a word, still aghast at seeing what my real life looked like. I poured some water and choked down one of the antibiotics while waiting for the Pop-Tarts. As soon as they were done, I retreated to my room, eating quickly as I threw together an overnight bag. While I was packing, my eyes lingered on a half-finished puzzle on my desk. I sighed. How long ago had I started that one? A month ago? I loved jigsaw puzzles. I used to do one a night. I was almost finished packing – I even included the first aid supplies, thanks to some residual mom-guilt – when the temperature dropped. An unsettling yet familiar presence filled the room, and soon Volusian appeared before me. I nearly dropped the bag. â€Å"Mistress,† he said with a mock bow. â€Å"I've come to report on the battle.†

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Dramatic power and for ending the play in confusion Essay

The final act of Translations is an act in which Yolland ends up as missing, so creating a number of stories as to the circumstances of his disappearance. The final act of Translations can indeed be criticised for lacking dramatic power, as throughout the act there is no particular build up of tension that leads to one significant event. It can be seen that what happens to Yolland is fairly predictable; therefore the dramatic power is not present. The act can also be seen as ending in confusion as there is no definitive point that tells us exactly what each character goes on to do. But despite this, the statement may be questioned as was it Brian Friel’s purpose to do this? Perhaps by ending the play with a lack of dramatic power and in confusion, he has left the rest of the play and the events leading on from it down to the imagination of the reader. In the final act of Translations, everything flows along in a kind of way that doesn’t give dramatic power, as the subject and the dramatic power it radiates is the same as it was in the beginning of the play. The subject is still the same, being that of the changing of place names and its effect on the people of Ireland, and it never changes, therefore the readers have not experienced a build up of tension to an exciting and unannounced event. The very fact that Yolland, a British soldier loathed by many Irish as he is changing Irish place names, has had a relationship with Maire, a pretty young Irish girl whom Manus also likes, tells us that it may be likely that something will happen to him at the end of the play as he has caused much dislike for himself from those in the play due to these things. Therefore, this also causes a lack of dramatic power when he finally goes missing in act three, as it can be argued that it was bound to happen and could have been predicted by the readers. The final act of Translations also lacks dramatic power due to its ‘echoes’ and resonances (that is, repetitions) to previous parts of the play. Brian Friel has woven in many an echo and resonance into the structure of the play, and this also causes a lack of dramatic power as the points that have been made in previous parts of the play are just being repeated over in act three. However, although it can be argued that there is a considerable lack of dramatic power, this may only be a lack in a physical sense, i.e. a lack of physical dramatic power, such as a fight taking place or someone being killed within the narration of the play. Throughout act three, characters emotions run high, and dramatic power can be seen as being expressed through their emotions. An example can be seen with Sarah mumbling her regret for not being able to speak more fluently. ‘I’m sorry†¦I’m sorry†¦ I’m so sorry, Manus†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ This use of few words repeating themselves, and the use of a. ellipsis symbolises her not being able to fully express her feelings fully through language as her linguistic talent is limited. The act has also been criticised for ending in confusion, and this may be down to many points which emerge throughout Act three.  The final act ends with an ellipsis, in that Hugh ends with, ‘†¦would come forth from Lybia’s downfall†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ If this final speech had ended with a full stop, then perhaps this would have signified the end of an era or the end of a build up to events. However, the ellipsis suggests that the process is ongoing, and it is not clear where the process is leading, or what it is leading to. Therefore, we can’t directly determine what happens at the end of the play, as there appears to be no definitive end to it. The ellipsis suggests that something will happen following the end of the play, yet the readers aren’t made clear as to what that will be. Another reason as to why the act has been criticised for ending in confusion is that we (as the readers) are not clear as to what finally happens to Yolland, or who is responsible for him going missing. We only have our suspicions to work with in trying to create an ending to the story. It seems suspicious that Manus leaves right away after it has been discovered that Yolland is missing, as Owen points out, ‘Clear out now and Lancey’ll think you’re involved somehow.’ Therefore, the readers may form suspicions about who’s involved, yet this shows how the play ends in confusion as no-one can determine what has happened to him. The play ends in confusion as all of the characters are ended on a depressing note, with none of them showing exactly where they are going to go on to or what they’ll end up doing in life. The one thing we know is that Maire is going to go on to learn English, yet we are not told what that will take her on to. None of the characters specify what they will go on to do in life, yet each is ended in a dismal way with Jimmy Jack going mad and Yolland having gone missing. This demonstrates why the play has been criticised for ending in confusion, as the readers must only imagine what the characters go on to do. However, this may also have been purposeful by Friel to let audiences use their imaginations and minds to create an ending to the play. Another way of interpreting this is by saying that Brian Friel has not ended the play in that much confusion, as by taking information from the history books, and by using our own knowledge, it is clear as to what happens to Ireland following on from the end of the play. Ireland does go on to be taken over completely by England, and all the place names are changed form Irish to English. Therefore, it can also be argued that the play does end in confusion but only to a certain extent as we (as readers) at least know the fate of Ireland.  Therefore, the points that Brian Friel ends act three in confusion and with a lack of dramatic power can be agreed upon but can also be argued against as Brian Friel may have ended in such a way for a purpose, that being to allow the reader to use their imagination in creating the end of a ‘story.’

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Native American Two-Spirit

Native American Two-Spirit In many Native American communities, the term Two Spirit- sometimes twospirited, depending on the source- is used to refer to indigenous members who fall outside of traditional gender roles. This term is not a substitute for homosexuality; instead, it applies to people who are considered to be a third gender, and typically hold a sacred ceremonial role within their culture. Two Spirit Key Takeaways Two Spirits are Native American or First Nations individuals who identify with both male and female genders.There is some question about the historical context of Two Spirits, because there are hundreds of Native tribes, all of which have their own unique cultural traditions.It is inappropriate for a non-Native individual to use the term Two Spirit to describe themselves. Origins and Definition of the Term Prior to the 1990s, Native people who identified as a third gender were known by the pejorative anthropological term  berdache, which is a non-Native word typically associated with male prostitutes. However, at a Winnipeg conference for gay and lesbian Native Americans in 1990, the term Two Spirit was coined to refer to Natives who define themselves as having both masculine and feminine spirits. Since that time, according to John Leland of the  New York Times, Two-Spirit societies have formed in Montana as well as in Denver, Minnesota, New York State, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, Tulsa, and elsewhere, organized around what members assert was once an honored status within nearly every tribe on the continent. Male-bodied Two Spirit people are found in many Native American and First Nations communities. In the past, they fulfilled traditionally male roles, such as fighting in wars and going to historically male activities like sweat lodge ceremonies. However, at the same time, they took on traditionally female tasks as well- cooking, washing, and childcare, for example- and often wore female dress. Author Gabriel Estrada says in Two Spirits,  Ndleeh, and LGBTQ2 Navajo Gaze that while not all indigenous nations have rigid gender roles, among tribes that do, the range includes feminine woman, masculine man, feminine man, and masculine woman. In many Native nations, the Two Spirit person found a role in their community as a shaman, visionary, keeper of oral traditions, matchmaker or marriage counselor, mediator in time of disputes, and caretaker of the vulnerable, such as children, the elderly, or injured warriors. They were often seen as sacred beings, whose dual genders were a gift from the Great Spirit. Historical Accounts We Wha (1849-1896), a Zuni, full length portrait. Photographer  John K. Hillers  /  Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology  / Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons During the colonization of North America, indigenous groups were still maintaining their traditions orally; there was no written history among the tribes. However, there was a fair amount of documentation among European invaders, many of whom kept journals of their travels. In California, Don Pedro Fages led a Spanish expedition into the territory during the late eighteenth century. He wrote in his diary of homosexual practices among the indigenous populations he encountered, describing Indian men who, both here and farther inland, are observed in the dress, clothing, and character of women- there being two or three such in each village. In 1722, a French explorer, Claude-Charles Le Roy, also called Bacqueville de La Potherie, described that among the Iroquois, there was an awareness of a third gender in other tribal groups. He said, Perhaps these male Iroquois are so horrified by [doing] women’s work because they have seen among the nations of the south some men who act like women, and give up men’s clothing for those of women. You see this very rarely among the Iroquois and they condemn this way of life by the light of Reason. It is likely that the group he referred to was the Cherokee Nation. A fur trader named Edwin T. Denig spent two decades with the Crow Nation in the early 1800s, and wrote that men who dressed as women and specialized in womens work were accepted and sometimes honored... Most civilized communities recognize but two genders, the masculine and feminine. But strange to say, these people have a neuter. Denig also wrote of a woman who led men into battle and had four wives. It is likely he was referring to a warrior known as Woman Chief. She was adopted by the Crow at age ten, and by all accounts was a tomboy, and only interested in male pursuits. Her adoptive father, whose sons had all been killed, encouraged her, and when he died, she took over his lodge and led men into battle against the Blackfoot. Details of Woman Chiefs exploits were chronicled by traders and other contemporaries, and it was generally acknowledged that she was a Two Spirit. Although the term Two Spirit itself is relatively new, the concept is not. There are numerous tribal-specific names, traditions, and roles among the different Native nations. The Lakota winkte were viewed as people who were neither male nor female, and whose androgyny was an inborn character trait, or the result of a sacred vision. They often occupied a distinct spiritual role in the community, fulfilling ceremonial duties that could not be performed by individuals who were male or only female. The winkte took on roles as seers, medicine people, healers. During times of battle, the visions of a winkte could guide warriors into their fight, and help determine steps taken by war chiefs. Among the Cheyenne, the HÄ“Ä“ mÄÆ'n Ä•h held a similar position. They accompanied warriors into battle and treated wounds after the fighting had ended, and cured the sick during times of peace. Wewha was a Zuni two-spirited person, or lhamana, who lived in the nineteenth century. She performed historically masculine spiritual and judicial roles, such as guiding religious ceremonies and serving as a mediator in disputes. However, she also spent time on traditionally feminine activities- sewing dresses, making pottery, weaving baskets, and other domestic pursuits. Controversy Over Scholarship There is some controversy in the Native community about Two Spirits- not about their existence, but about the modern notion that Native peoples historically described LGBTQ folks as two-spirited and celebrated them as healers and shamans. Mary Annette Pember, who is a journalist and member of the Ojibwe Nation, says that while Two Spirit is some empowering terminology, it also comes with some questionable scholarship. Pember points out that Native culture is based upon oral tradition, and much of what has been decided by anthropologists is based upon the writings of European conquerers, painting all Native tribes with the same brush. She says: [This] conveniently overlook[s] distinct cultural and language differences that Native peoples hold crucial to their identity... Years of colonization and appropriation by European invaders, as well as the well-intentioned religious hegemony that demonized our spirituality and way of life... has made Indian Country much like the rest of rural America in terms of enlightened treatment of LGBTQ folks. In fact, some tribes  have created laws  specifically banning same-sex marriage. Gender-variant individuals have a hard way to go, in and out of Indian Country. Although not all indigenous tribes viewed Two Spirit people the same way, overall it does appear that they were accepted as a perfectly routine part of the community. In general, each individual was judged for their contributions to the tribe, rather than for conformity to rigid gender roles. Two Spirits Today Jean Decay attends the Two-Spirit Pride Party at the Inaugural Indigenous Peoples Day Celebration. Chelsea Guglielmino / Getty Images Todays Two Spirit community is actively taking both new and traditional spiritual roles in their various nations. Tony Enos, of  Indian Country Today,  points out that Claiming the role of Two Spirit is to take up the spiritual responsibility that the role traditionally had. Walking the red road, being for the people and our children/youth, and being a guiding force in a good way with a good mind are just some of those responsibilities. He adds that service to the elders and youth of the community is an important part of maintaining the old cultural traditions. Modern Two Spirits publicly embrace the mixture of masculine and feminine within them, and there are Two Spirit societies all over North America. Gatherings, including powwows which are open to the public, are held regularly as a way of not only building community, but also of educating non-Natives about the world of the Two Spirit. Todays Two Spirits are taking on the ceremonial roles of those who came before them, working to facilitate spiritual events in their communities. They also work as activists and healers, and have been instrumental in bringing GLBT health issues to the forefront among the hundreds of Native tribes. By bridging the gap between gender roles and indigenous spirituality, todays Two Spirits are continuing the sacred work of their ancestors. Sources Estrada, Gabriel. â€Å"Two Spirits, Ndleeh, and LGBTQ2 Navajo Gaze.†Ã‚  American Indian Culture and Research Journal, vol. 35, no. 4, 2011, pp. 167–190., doi:10.17953/aicr.35.4.x500172017344j30.Leland, John. â€Å"A Spirit of Belonging, Inside and Out.†Ã‚  The New York Times, The New York Times, 8 Oct. 2006, www.nytimes.com/2006/10/08/fashion/08SPIRIT.html?_r0.Medicine, Beatrice. â€Å"Directions in Gender Research in American Indian Societies: Two Spirits and Other Categories.†Ã‚  Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, vol. 3, no. 1, 2002, doi:10.9707/2307-0919.1024.Pember, Mary Annette. â€Å"Two Spirit Tradition Far From Ubiquitous Among Tribes.†Ã‚  Rewire.News, Rewire.News, 13 Oct. 2016, rewire.news/article/2016/10/13/two-spirit-tradition-far-ubiquitous-among-tribes/.Smithers, Gregory D. â€Å"Cherokee ‘Two Spirits’: Gender, Ritual, and Spirituality in the Native South.†Ã‚  Early American Studies: An Interdisciplinary Jo urnal, vol. 12, no. 3, 2014, pp. 626–651., doi:10.1353/eam.2014.0023.

Monday, October 21, 2019

MiG-17 Fresco Soviet Fighter

MiG-17 Fresco Soviet Fighter With the introduction of the successful MiG-15 in 1949, the Soviet Union pressed forward with designs for a follow-on aircraft. Designers at Mikoyan-Gurevich began modifying the earlier aircrafts form to increase performance and handling. Among the changes that were made was the introduction of a compound swept wing which was set at a 45 ° angle near the fuselage and 42 ° farther outboard. In addition, the wing was thinner than the MiG-15 and the tail structure altered to improve stability at high speeds. For power, the MiG-17 relied on the older aircrafts Klimov VK-1 engine. First taking to the sky on January 14, 1950, with Ivan Ivashchenko at the controls, the prototype was lost two months later in a crash. Dubbed the SI, testing continued with additional prototypes for the next year and a half. A second interceptor variant, the SP-2, was also developed and featured the Izumrud-1 (RP-1) radar. Full-scale production of the MiG-17 began in August 1951 and the type received the NATO reporting name Fresco. As with its predecessor, the MiG-17 was armed with two 23 mm cannon and one 37 mm cannon mounted under the nose. MiG-17F Specifications General Length:  37 ft. 3 in.Wingspan:  31 ft. 7 in.Height:  12 ft. 6 in.Wing Area:  243.2 sq. ft.Empty Weight:  8,646 lbs.Crew:  1 Performance Power Plant:  1Ãâ€" Klimov VK-1F afterburning turbojetRange:  745 milesMax Speed:  670 mphCeiling:  54,500 ft. Armament 1 x 37 mm Nudelman N-37 cannon2 x 23 mm Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 cannonsup t0 1,100 lbs. of external stores on two hardpoints Production Variants While the MiG-17 fighter and MiG-17P interceptor represented the first variants of the aircraft, they were replaced in 1953 with the arrival of the MiG-17F and MiG-17PF. These were equipped with the Klimov VK-1F engine which featured an afterburner and significantly improved the MiG-17s performance. As a result, this became the most produced type of the aircraft. Three years later, a small number of aircraft were converted to MiG-17PM and utilized the Kaliningrad K-5 air-to-air missile. While most MiG-17 variants possessed external hardpoints for around 1,100 lbs. in bombs, they were typically used for drop tanks. As production progressed in the USSR, they issued a license to their Warsaw Pacy ally Poland for building the aircraft in 1955. Built by WSK-Mielec, the Polish variant of the MiG-17 was designated Lim-5. Continuing production into the 1960s, the Poles developed attack and reconnaissance variants of the type. In 1957, the Chinese began license production of the MiG-17 under the name Shenyang J-5. Further developing the aircraft, they also built radar-equipped interceptors (J-5A) and a two-seat trainer (JJ-5). Production of this last variant continued until 1986. All told, over 10,000 MiG-17s of all types were built. Operational History Though arriving too late for service in the Korean War, the MiG-17s combat debut came in the Far East when Communist Chinese aircraft engaged Nationalist Chinese F-86 Sabres over the Straits of Taiwan in 1958. The type also saw extensive service against American aircraft during the Vietnam War. First engaging a group of US F-8 Crusaders on April 3, 1965, the MiG-17 proved surprisingly effective against more advanced American strike aircraft. A nimble fighter, the MiG-17 downed 71 American aircraft during the conflict and led the American flying services to institute improved dog-fighting training. Serving in over twenty air forces worldwide, it was used by the Warsaw Pact nations for much of the 1950s and early 1960s until being replaced by the MiG-19 and MiG-21. In addition, it saw combat with the Egyptian and Syrian Air Forces during Arab-Israeli conflicts including the 1956 Suez Crisis, the Six-Day War, the Yom Kippur War, and the 1982 invasion of Lebanon. Though largely retired, the MiG-21 is still in use with some air forces including China (JJ-5), North Korea, and Tanzania.

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Maven

Maven Maven Maven By Maeve Maddox A reader who lives in Cardiff, Wales wants to know more about the word maven: In the last fortnight or so I’ve twice seen a word I’ve never come across before (and I read a lot!). The word is ‘maven’, and I’ve encountered it in the self-development context. I’ve looked it up and it seems to have come into use in the US in the 1980s, from a Hebrew term. A post on this word would be very interesting.    The word maven- also spelled mavin and mayvin- is from the Yiddish word meyvn (plural mevinim): â€Å"expert, connoisseur.† The Yiddish word comes from Hebrew mebin, â€Å"a person with understanding, a teacher.† The earliest use cited in the OED (spelled mavin) is dated 1907. The Ngram Viewer graph (set for English) indicates that maven existed in print as early as 1809, mavin in 1813, and mayvin in 1879. The OED labels maven â€Å"chiefly North American† and suggests that its spread may be related to radio advertising introduced by a Chicago-based food company in 1964. The ads were voiced by Allen Swift, who was introduced as â€Å"the herring maven.† Note: Ira Stadlen, known professionally as â€Å"Allen Swift,† was an American voice actor who- among many other jobs- voiced Mighty Mouse and characters in the Tom and Jerry cartoons. Although maven is a new word to the UK reader who suggested this post, the first time I encountered the word maven was while I was living in London. I had a high-rise-dwelling friend who was referred to in a local newspaper article as â€Å"a rooftop-gardening maven.† William Safire, who wrote a weekly column called â€Å"On Language† for the New York Times from 1979-2009, referred to himself as â€Å"a language maven.† Food writer Arthur Schwartz calls himself â€Å"The Food Maven.† A Web search turns up a math maven, a makeup maven, a plumbing maven, and some sort of software â€Å"core engine† called â€Å"Maven.† Maven has joined the ranks of guru as a word for a wise or knowledgeable person. Related post Gurus and Other Teachers Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Is She a "Lady" or a "Woman"?For Sale vs. On SaleHow to Write a Proposal

Saturday, October 19, 2019

A contrast between Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' and the film Essay

A contrast between Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' and the film version directed by Franco Zeffirelli 1968 - Essay Example In the play, Romeo is in the process of recovering after being jilted by Rosaline (Act 1, Scene 1, Line 155). A rejected lover’s instinctive reaction is to find another love as soon as possible, and Romeo does this, becoming amorously involved with Juliet. The movie however does not depict or refer to Rosaline at all, thereby not laying the foundation as to why Romeo became involved with Juliet. The second difference is discernable in the portrayal of the lovers’ mood during the marriage scene. In the play, Romeo and Juliet are both in a serious mood, which is reflected by the way they speak (in Act II, Scene 6, Line 6 Romeo remarks that the Friar’s holy words were solemn enough to join his hand with Juliet’s in marriage. In the same scene {Lines 33/34 (http://www.tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/romeo_juliet/full.html)}, Juliet declares that her love for Romeo has grown so much that she is not able to estimate even half of its rich value). In Zeffirelli’s movie the marriage scene is frivolous, with Romeo and Juliet shown kissing, cuddling and giggling all through it. The third difference is apparent in Juliet’s chamber during her funeral scene. In the play, although the Friar knows that Juliet is in fact not dead, still he maintains a deadpan expression throughout the funeral scene, properly condoling the Capulet family, telling them to dry their tears and prepare to bring Juliet’s body to the church for the last rites to be dispensed (Act IV, Scene 5, Lines 68-86 {http://www.tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/ romeo_juliet/full.html}). In the movie, the Friar almost lets out the secret that Juliet is not dead by being unable to control a giggle; luckily none of the mourners notices what would seem to them a strange act on the part of the holy man (Zeffirelli, Franco. â€Å"Romeo and Juliet {1968}).† The last difference lies in the final scene when the real funerals of Romeo and Juliet take place. In the play, the Montague and Capulet families bury

Friday, October 18, 2019

Individual politics assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Individual politics assignment - Essay Example Department also considers the financial needs of every policy (A.H.C. S.A, 2004). In her budget of 2014, the Australian government made certain policies directed towards bringing new changes to the health sector. The Minister of Health mentioned three policies in the Dutton conference. The paper analyses these policies to identify their strengths and weaknesses. The paper also identifies the perspectives of the claims presented. It will also make some comparison between the stated plans with those of foreign countries. Australia has a high percentage of ageing people (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2013). Unlike in the 1970 and 1971, a youthful generation has dropped to 22% from 31% in the early 1970s (M.H.C.C. A.C.T., & C.S S., 2007). The government through its various departments projects that in the coming 40 years, 25% of the Australian population will be people with over 65 years of age (Australia, 2011). In the health sector, the country is facing the problems associated with old age. The government understands this and is planning to offer more support for the sector so that it can improve its services to serve more people. Currently, the public health system is only able to serve, on a weekly basis, 170 people diagnosed with dementia. However, the country has to prepare for the future. The government projects that in 2050; there would be 7,500 cases of dementia per week (W.A.C.O.S.H, 2007). The country thus has to get ready to face such an issue in the future. Therefore, in the 2014 budg et, the government allocated more money for the expansion of services like genomics testing in MRI and MBS screening. The argument of the government is valid considering the real situation in Australia. There is a sociological problem. Australian population is aging at high rate. The health sector has to prepare to face this

Responses Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Responses - Assignment Example This makes the essay credible and the information reliable to be used for further research. Furthermore, citing of the sources makes the essay to be reliable. One of the major weaknesses of the essay is that it has generalized the issue. It did not go into details on the problems being discussed. The essay could have been sharper if the student used specific examples of errors that have occurred in the medical setting. The student could have cited books and journals to support the main ideas. A lot of research has been conducted concerning this topic. Therefore, there is an array of credible sources which could have been used to complete the essay. This could have given the author more information on the issue. What I learnt from this paper is that there are a lot of errors that are not being reported because many of the healthcare officials fear losing their jobs. Therefore, more training is required in order to equip the medical personnel with skills to avoid these errors. One of the strength of this essay is the use of statistics and real figures. This makes the essay look more credible and interesting to read. In addition, the ability of the student to compare the inequality in China and US makes the essay to be more credible because it is more expansive. One of the weaknesses of this essay is that it lacks credible sources. Therefore, the information given cannot be verified. In addition, the in-text citation does not follow any accepted standards. As a result, the essay cannot be used as a credible source of information for another research. Use of the first person in the essay is another major weakness in the essay. The student has used â€Å"I think† phrase in different parts of the essay. This is an indication that the student is not sure whether the information being provided is correct or not. In order for the information to be reliable, the student could have

Thursday, October 17, 2019

See below Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 11

See below - Essay Example The action, therefore, would help boost the Irish economy. Swift, however, adopts a satirical approach when addressing the concern of poor families in Ireland. There is evident sarcasm and utter irony at the end of Swift’s proposal (Foshay, 1961). First, it appears absurd that Swift proposes killing of Irish children in an attempt to boost the economy. Despite proposing the main idea of making delicious meals out of Irish children, Swift turns to the good objection. Towards the end of the essay, Swift argues that there are other strategies to reduce population. Reducing the population forms the foremost goal that the Irish government intends to attain. That Swift proposes better ideas than selling and killing children from poor Irish families to solve the problem of overpopulation is a great surprise. Towards the end, the reader is engaged in formulating diverse solutions that can be applicable to address overpopulation, unemployment, and poverty in Ireland. He proposes real solutions to the challenges such as advancing trade to boost the economy (Swift, 2004). Justifiably, Swift challenges the reader to think of viable solutions to societal challenges. Swift, J. (2001). A Modest Proposal: For Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland from Being a Burden to Their Parents Or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Public. Virginia Tech. Retrieved January 2, 2015 from

Display design for or a museun, gallery, shop ,church, palace or Essay - 1

Display design for or a museun, gallery, shop ,church, palace or temporary exhibition - Essay Example The display remains steady and usable to date a feature that portrays the appropriateness off the display and subsequent renovations done to the facility that have sustained the position of the display thereby finding the display some relevance among the display and architectural accolades in the contemporary society as the essay below portrays. The portrayal of space comes naturally to the display of the church; the freestanding display has specific features that facilitate free movement of people, lighting, and aeration thereby facilitating its sustainability. The cathedral exemplifies effective consumption of space as it houses numerous offices of the diocese and the parish. From the large church with a naval height of twenty two meters and the numerous compartments throughout the floor that serve as offices to the dioceses, the cathedral is self-sustaining with the displayers ensuring that key features of the cathedral such as lighting, aeration and the management of the temperature remained self-sustained. The numerous compartments that extend to the heights of the towers do not obstruct the doors and windows. The church hall therefore extends to the walls all-round the display thereby perpetuating the free flow of light and air that keeps the church aerated throughout the service. Additionally, the displayers ensured that all the rooms and compartments in the cathedral remained easily accessible depending on their relevance to the main church. Display is a fundamental feature of the display that the displayers considered. The displayers ensured that the display remained elegant to date. Among the elements of display the cathedral exemplify include presentation. The freestanding cathedral enjoys glamorous ambience arising from the large and stylishly displayed laws to the strong tall towers that earns the cathedral its towering attribute in the neighborhood. As explained earlier, aeration, lighting and

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

See below Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 11

See below - Essay Example The action, therefore, would help boost the Irish economy. Swift, however, adopts a satirical approach when addressing the concern of poor families in Ireland. There is evident sarcasm and utter irony at the end of Swift’s proposal (Foshay, 1961). First, it appears absurd that Swift proposes killing of Irish children in an attempt to boost the economy. Despite proposing the main idea of making delicious meals out of Irish children, Swift turns to the good objection. Towards the end of the essay, Swift argues that there are other strategies to reduce population. Reducing the population forms the foremost goal that the Irish government intends to attain. That Swift proposes better ideas than selling and killing children from poor Irish families to solve the problem of overpopulation is a great surprise. Towards the end, the reader is engaged in formulating diverse solutions that can be applicable to address overpopulation, unemployment, and poverty in Ireland. He proposes real solutions to the challenges such as advancing trade to boost the economy (Swift, 2004). Justifiably, Swift challenges the reader to think of viable solutions to societal challenges. Swift, J. (2001). A Modest Proposal: For Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland from Being a Burden to Their Parents Or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Public. Virginia Tech. Retrieved January 2, 2015 from

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Energy and potential Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Energy and potential - Essay Example Despite the natural occurrence in the electromagnetic field, there are also human made forces for instance, the use of X-rays in hospitals. When an individual subjects an object to function he employs energy in order for the function to take place. In this connection, we can deduce that the interaction of electric and magnetic field produces a strong magnetic field (Viegas 34). It has been estimated that the electric fields act in a similar way as gravitation field. In this case, they have to involve action at a force distance. According to Newman (56-59), he noted that gravity force is a conservative force that is capable of moving an object. In a case where gravity is unable to move an object their needs to be application of energy which may impact on potential energy. Object vertical position enables the preservation of potential energy inside the object (Giordano 71-73). The position may be lost when object moves against the rule of gravitation. This calls upon the need for other energy forces to act on an object in order to perform its function. This kind of energy comes in form of work through exerting pressure in an object so as to enhance movement. In regard to this, work is done in a view to gain upon its potential energy. In this case we should note that we cannot rely on the gravitational force but also rely on external force which works on the object. objects are capable of moving from high level to low level energy but in case of moving an object from low level energy to high level energy there is need to apply the use of force which is done as a form of work (Newman 77). This case is similar in an electric field, a case which requires a charge to be moved against the natural direction. There will be need to employ energy through work. When work is applied it means that there would be an addition of potential energy upon the acted object. This natural direction takes the place

Wild Animals As Pets Essay Example for Free

Wild Animals As Pets Essay How many of you have ever said you wanted a pet monkey when you were at the zoo last time? Or imagined how great it would be to have a tiger sleep at the foot of your bed instead of just a dog? That all sounds wonderful at first but how many people do you know that have ever had an exotic pet and not regretted it immediately? Its not really as great as you think. According to the Human Society of the United States in one of their recent surveys, 90% of exotic pets die within the first year and 90% of the remainder die in the second year. That means that only 1% lives past the age of two. Every year wild animals seriously hurt or kill people, usually their owners or family members. Big cats have killed many children and even grown men, not to mention the dogs’ people think their cougar will be friends with, they never survive. Monkeys are always the pet people wish they could have. However, they can never be trained, tamed, or basically domesticated like people think. Take Louie for example, a Black-capped capuchin born in August 2004. He was bought by a family in Chicago when he was just a baby. Within months he had bitten their daughter several times severely, but when he finally bit a child outside the family, his life was in danger. Louies owner found herself in court fighting against the parents of the child who demanded that his head be sent off for rabies testing.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Improving personal and professional skills to meet goals

Improving personal and professional skills to meet goals To achieve the personal goals and organisational goals each individual needs a set of certain skills to carry out his / her duties and responsibilities. The improved level of skills the organisation employees have, the more the chances of getting goals and objectives achieved. So for both individual and organisation the personal and professional skills advancement always remains of high importance. The requirement from this assignment is to produce a Personal Development Plan for medium term and demonstrate the steps taken within the plan. Explain methods to improve personal and professional skills to meet organisational and own goals and objectives. Personal and professional skills are those skills which are owned by individuals, personal skills are commonly by nature, but can be developed through certain processes and activities, when an individual use his personal skills for his organisational or professional goals / objectives, then it is referred as professional skill. The most common personal and professional skills are communication skills, management skills, interpersonal relations, innovative skills, analytical problem solving, decision making, social skills, pro activity and much more. Skills development method Skills development methods and techniques are the activities or actions taken by an individual or an organisation to explore the hidden potential of their employees and make their capacity more for performing certain task and activities to achieve the organisational goals and objectives. Through skills development methods and techniques increase the knowledge and skills through a consistent process of learning and education. A professional development program boosts the individuals career, through travel, research, workshops and seminars and by working with professionals who are experienced. People take up a professional development course to build their expertise in business, teaching and nursing and contribute to organizational development. Following are the details of various personal and professional skills development methods use in different organizations to achieve the organizational and individual career goals. Class room Courses / Certificates this method widely used now days at almost all good organisations, to provide their employees the opportunity to enhance their skills and learn the latest knowledge through formal class room courses and they are awarded certificate which may help them in getting better positions in future. Crew Development Program is use by the different multi-national organisations, in which they train their current employees working at operational level in order to take some management position at tactic level or strategic level. For example Mc Donalds, has a very structured program in which they train their crew member for future leadership and management of the company, and is also a very successful one because 40 % of the top 50 mangers of Mc Donalds worldwide join this organisation as crew member. Training and Development is a key method to improve skills of employees, to improve the employees basic skills initially the pre job training is provided and to enhance the capabilities of employees on job training is provided also a series of skill development activities is carried out. Leadership Development Program is an important program in practice in good and well structured organisations. In this program they select the potential employees for taking over the future management positions and then provide them training, and educate them on how to carry out management activities. Social Gatherings is also an important activity through which these companies try to socialise their employees, and provide them opportunity to attend these gatherings alongside with their families to give them insight on how to socialise with different people and for their company they value the most. College / University Placement is the method of skills development in which different organisation arrange different courses for their employees in collaboration with good universities or other degree awarding institutes to cope them with latest knowledge and skills of their field. Award Winning: To have a healthy competitive environment among their employees which may result in the personal and professional skill development, the method of award winning strategy in which the employees producing good results are awarded benefits (both financial and vertical movement in the management hierarchy) is very helpful. For example Mc Donalds have award winning scheme, employees producing better results are awarded benefits as financial, promotions etc. while to provide their employees an opportunity for distance learning they also have e-learning strategy and online resources. Personal Skill Audit Skills audit is a process that can be used to identify the skill gaps for an individual. The outcome is a training and development needs analysis that identifies where training and development programs are needed. Skills audit results in An understanding of the skills required and the gaps the organization currently has. A targeted analysis of development needs. A listing of skills which need development. Information that can be used for dynamic succession planning. Skills Audit Form I have developed the following skills audit form, after completion of this form this provides me clear understanding of my current skills level, my strengths and weaknesses and will definitely help in identification of the Skills Audit Form 1 = wide experience 3 = a little experience 5 = dont know 2 = some experience 4 = no experience Name: Date: Work as part of a team 1 2 3 4 build and develop working relationships with academic staff, peers and colleagues work effectively with others to complete tasks and achieve results empower others to work together as part of a team or group recognise and understand when compromise and accommodating others is necessary interact well with others and work co-operatively as a team member understand how to gain the attention of others in a team or group when required understand how to contribute effectively and co-operatively with others even if they do not share the same ideas and ways of working express self effectively in a group and in one-to-one situations have an understanding of team roles Use your problem solving abilities 1 2 3 4 use an appropriate approach to questioning in order to gain information from which to draw conclusions use an objective approach to relate to others in order to achieve goals make good use of verbal reasoning skills, able to handle complex data and make selective use of information explore more than one solution in order to solve a problem consider the ideas of others to help solve problems manage the process of problem solving over a period of time demonstrate resilience and lateral thinking abilities when applied to problem solving Apply your communication skills, both orally and written, and use ICT 1 2 3 4 5 understand the differences in presenting types of documents, e.g. reports, essays, dissertations, summaries check written work for errors before submission use a range of ICT packages to support work express and convey ideas appropriately and accurately in writing successfully give a presentation or demonstration demonstrate that information being received is understood by using a range of verbal and non-verbal signals understand when people have taken account of your views and you of theirs Reflect upon and review your own personal and career development 1 2 3 4 5 recognise and develop skills and competencies required for learning and future employment develop opportunities for learning activities through current and future roles recognise the importance and value of activities outside the curriculum, e.g. work experience, sports, clubs identify when extra support and help may be useful understand the importance of actively reviewing and maintaining your own development plan in order to set appropriate learning targets maintain positive attitudes to work and understand when a task has not been completed well and identify changes for the future understand how to gain feedback on work or performance Work autonomously and set your own goals 1 2 3 4 5 aspire to and maintain a results-driven approach where appropriate focus on results and performance indicators and use different strategies to achieve targets apply suitable approaches and put in extra effort if required in order to meet tight deadlines work without close supervision and use own initiative identify resources required to complete a set task harness motivation and hard work to assist in the completion of work objectives Plan, monitor and evaluate in order to influence change 1 2 3 4 5 make use of effective planning and preparation in order to anticipate and overcome problems maintain effectiveness in changing environments make appropriate adjustments when undertaking tasks set own goals and review these systematically adjust to meet different work styles work alongside colleagues in different environments Develop time management and organisational skills 1 2 3 4 5 establish a course of action for self and others to achieve goals plan and prepare effectively for assignments, including use of appropriate resources plan day in order to manage time more effectively prioritise own and others work meet set deadlines and understand the process required to meet project outcomes keep track of work schedules and deadlines by applying multi-tasking abilities Creatively apply your academic knowledge in work and non-work related settings 1 2 3 4 5 generate and recognize best practice and apply imaginative ideas to different situations work out a preferred course of action think laterally and encourage others to do so and consider how they approach an unconventional task present complex and unusual ideas to friends and colleagues Understand business environments and other organizations 1 2 3 4 5 understand what is entailed in working in an organization understand the perspectives and expectations of employers, customers, suppliers and employees appreciate business activities such as selling and marketing, budgeting and finance and how these interrelate with one another have an understanding of business issues, such as profit, revenue, productivity, company image have an understanding of own personal budget and awareness of financial trends, e.g. interest rates understand how the significance and impact of an organizations internal politics and business strategy can affect everyday work keep up to date with current affairs affecting businesses

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Reflection Essay :: Reflection Essay

Much like Benjamin Franklin believed, I feel that a person should take advantage of the time the person has in life with activities a person wants to do or needs to do. A person should not spend much time on activities the person does not want to do. Life is way too short to concern oneself with work or other activities one wants nothing to do with all the time. When possible, I try to forget about my responsibility and just let go of the ‘things’ that do not matter to me. I think a person should try to occupy oneself with something productive, worthwhile, or necessary at all times. Even though a person’s life is left up to a person to live, I cannot imagine thinking that I owe my time to society through working a job that I simply despise. I am a compassionate person, but I do not owe anyone anything regarding my time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Taking advantage of life, what could that possibly mean? Well, there are certain activities I would like to take part in before I can no longer do them. I very seldom make idle promises, and I even more seldom tell hollow promises to myself. I am going to have the best possible time I can in accordance to my desires and no one else’s. I have already made up my mind that I want to work towards starting a musical band; therefore, one can be sure I am going to take advantage of the chance and opportunity I have to accomplish it. I also have certain places I want to go or perhaps activities I want to do before my time is up. I have made it up in my mind that I am going to travel to different parts of the world to see places most people will not, or perhaps some places that most people do not even know exist. I am going to make an attempt to do some extreme activities in an attempt to experience life from another angle. Again, an angle most people just do not se e, an angle hopefully a little too far off a tangent the average person. To experience life and take advantage of it, one needs to make promises to oneself. A person may wonder, â€Å"How am I supposed to do this? How can I possibly accomplish anything I want to do?

Friday, October 11, 2019

Good People in Cannery Row Essay

John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row, on its surface, is a very simplistic book in which its plot does not have any significant impact on its universe, let alone its characters. However, if one might delve deeper into Steinbeck’s clever subtext and rich overtones, a world of bliss and beauty can be found. Cannery Row, is a book where its characters are self-described as â€Å"Whores, Pimps, gamblers, and sons of bitches† and yet called â€Å"Saints and angels and martyrs and holy men† on the very same page (405). The point of these contradictions is to comment on society’s view of Morality. This is specifically noted when one of the main Characters, Doc, says â€Å"It has always seemed strange to me†¦The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling, are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest, are the traits of success.† When referring a group of Former homeless men called Mack and the boys (505). Mack and the boys are a group of bums that live in the row, and often do nothing but drink alcohol. These men never do anything necessarily heroic, or daring, or even Courageous, but these men are the most moral individuals in the entirety of Cannery Row. Through the Scenes following Mack and the Boys, John Steinbeck develops Idea that despite their lack of ambition, they are viewed as morally upstanding individuals, who have a positive impact on society. With their happy go lucky nature, and simple needs, these men can achieve the impossible. One might think that they are very unintelligent individuals due to their standard of living, but that couldn’t be farther than the truth. Time and time again they prove themselves to be people that are not only capable, but show extraordinary prowess in certain fields. One of these men, for instance was gay. When referring to his mechanical ability, Steinbeck narrates â€Å"Indeed there are men near   Whom a car runs better. And such a one was gay. His fingers on a timer or a carburetor adjustment screw were gentle and wise and sure.† The way he listens to the ills of automatons, it is of no impossibility he could have become a wealthy mechanic, fixing cars in a garage of his owning. Gay Instead enjoys his time at the flop house, drinking and talking the day away. All Gay really wants, is to have a good time, and for the others around him to do the same. This is a key component of why gay is a moral citizen of society. Gay is often able to do wrong, but never is willing. Gay lives with an abusive Wife, which constantly beats him. He never wants to, but occasionally he has to return the favor. He used to get thrown into jail because of this, but that he liked the conditions in jail, so his wife beats him while he sleeps instead/ Gay, specifically, is an interesting case, because he has a life in which is deeper than one might believe. he is the only one to have a life of suburbia waiting for him. Gay lived a world in which he had a house and a loving wife. Through another lens, Gay was trapped in a cage with a woman that beats him so much that being put in jail is sweet relief. Despite this, Gay eventually always choses to go back to his wife. He believes that he is wrong in the situation and returns to his wife trying to be a better man. That truly is the reason why he is an upstanding person. He’s a very humble and simple creature, who just wishes to enjoy life. Another Example of such ambition would the leader of the group, Mack. Mack is by far, is the flop house’s driving force. When leading the group, he is a moral center, and the speaker of wisdom; when alone, he is a very tragic man. Throughout the book, Mack and the boys only ambition was to throw a party for Doc, a local good Samaritan. When this ambition ends in failure, he proclaims: It don’t do good to say I’m sorry. I’ve been sorry all my life†¦I had a wife†¦same thing. Ever’thing I done turn sour. She couldn’t stand it no more. If I done a good thing it got poisoned up some way†¦I don’t do nothin’ but clown no more. Try to make the boys laugh. (496) Mack seemingly is the only one who doesn’t lack ambition by choice. Whilst in with the other, Mack often is the one to set goals, albeit small ones. This is where the true tragedy of his character comes in. No matter what he does, or hard he works, all of his plans inevitably turn to failure. Mack is a man of good intentions, and made of good morals, but he is seemingly cursed with bad luck, and the world reacts as such. One of Mack’s greatest qualities is his way with words. A lesser person might use his power of speech craft to control the populace, and shape the world in his image, but Mack just wants to have fun. Whenever he uses this sort of power, he is always talking about doing something for someone else. The adventures of Mack and the boys is filled with irony: Gay having a wife that beats him, Hazel likes conversation, but hates talking, or having a party for someone who doesn’t attend. Perhaps the most ironic of all is that despite their lack of ambition and lazy attitude, their actions Influence everyone around them. All throughout cannery row, people would look on to these men, and get inspired in some way. One of the greatest examples of such inspiration is the aforementioned Doc. Even though Mack and the Boys destroyed his home by throwing a party for him, without him, he still holds them in high regard. â€Å"The sale of souls to gain the whole world is completely voluntary and almost unanimous—but not quite†¦You know how they tried to give me a party and it went wrong. But they wanted to give me a party. That was their impulse. â€Å"(505). What Doc is saying here, is that he respects the lifestyle that Mack and the Boys have chosen, and thinks of them as moral even though things don’t go their way. This is  Implied in a number of ways. Initially, he denotes the idea of throwing the party was on a whim of theirs. This is a Reference to the continuing notion of their lack of aspiration. Mack and the Boys don’t do things for certain reasons, they just decide to act whence they get the inspiration. Furthermore, he begins with a metaphor comparing the Consumerist system, a place where you have to work for a place you often hate, to selling your soul, giving away your humanly essence and personality. This metaphor works well contrasting with the boys, to those who seemingly suffer from working into monotony. Doc is implicating that their way of spontaneity is a way wherein they have the capability to do good. Steinbeck often uses these sections with Doc to illustrate the importance of the boy’s actions. Whenever Doc speaks of them, he outlines how â€Å"[business] men are sick men†, and how the boys are â€Å"healthy and strangely clean† (504). Mack and the boys don’t have that thirst that humans often have. That hunger for Silver stitching and velvet bed sheets. Steinbeck uses a group of happy homeless men as a symbol for the importance of caring for one another, while living in the moment. Mack and the boys outline how to do well in life, without selling one’s soul for wealth and power. Morality is often a tricky subject to tackle – and often when it is tackled, it’s not done well—But Steinbeck has it pegged. One might think that things such as be considerate of one another and be humble would be simple Ideologies for a book to go behind, Steinbeck does it justice. Cannery Row Shows just how people react to good deeds, as misguided as they are. John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row, on its surface, is a very simplistic book, but it is so much more.

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Options for implementing a leadership change Essay

Gene One is a biotech company that has seen steady growth since entering the biotech industry in 1996. It was founded by the late Don Ruiz and four other directors. During the last eight years, Gene One has grown to become a $400 million dollar company. Gene One wants to continue this growth, and has decided to gain additional growth and funds by issuing an Initial Public Offering (IPO). This is in order to remain competitive in the market, since it needs more capital for new development, advertisement, and marketing if it is to remain successful.   In order for the IPO to be successful, Gene One needs a solid foundation to build upon. Gene One can take an in-depth look at key concepts such as effective teamwork through cooperation, trust, and cohesiveness, sources of conflict in organizations, knowledge management, elements of organizational structure, and assess the influence of organizational structure on power and politics (Scenario, 2006). Gene One is a growing company with many opportunities for further growth in the future. With this change, Gene One needs to revaluate all areas of the company and find solutions to problems within the organization. The company has many opportunities for changes, which will enable them to reach the goals needed. The key project is to find the best solution that will enable Gene One to reach their goals, and become better than its competitors. It will need to review the solutions that they have come up with, and the additional alternative solutions that have not even been reviewed (Holmstrom, 1994). Team analysis After the death of Don Ruiz, there is a big leadership gap left in the management of Gene One. The team is therefore incomplete without him, which is undesirable for effective management. Team building is both challenging and rewarding. Effective teams achieve results far beyond what individuals could accomplish on their own. However, team building is much more than putting a group of people together and hoping for the best. Teambuilding is an art that overcomes differences in style, personality, and other potential areas of conflict, but even when a team functions in total harmony, it may not achieve its goals (Brickley, 1987). As Don’s siblings, we have found ourselves having to take part in leadership at Gene One. Each family member was assigned one member of the remaining four members of the executive. In order to assess the remaining team’s likelihood of success, I gathered information about one team member and did an analysis on it. During my analysis, I found my subject to have the following desirable attributes: –  He can take charge, is assertive and can take control of a situation. – He is   outgoing, people-oriented and extroverted – He is concerned with accuracy, details and exactness – He is competitive, has   a great   desire to win and is aggressive – He is   easy going and casual, and   takes things as they come – He likes identifying and analyzing problems – He is concerned with timely results and is quick to take action – He is good team player who works well with others – he is concerned with standards and high quality work Attributes not well represented Despite all the good attributes, I found my subject with a few negative attributes. They include: – he has a negative attitude regarding people and outcomes – He is highly emotional and easily loses his temper – He gets impatient with the subordinate staff Recommendation With a few changes to the leadership structure of Gene One, I recommend my subject for a further role in management of Gene One. His attributes are impressive and can steer the company to great heights. However, he should help take the company through a transition to usher in a structure that separates ownership from management. Leadership style Gene One needs to develop a leadership style that involves the leader including one or more employees in the decision making process.   However, the leader maintains the final decision making authority. Using this style is not a sign of weakness; rather it is a sign of strength that your employees will respect. This is normally used when you have part of the information, and your employees have other parts. Note that a leader is not expected to know everything-this is why you employ knowledgeable and skillful employees. Using this style is of mutual benefit it allows them to become part of the team and allows you to make better decisions (Tannenbaum & Schmidt, 1958). Leadership structure The leadership structure at Gene One should change such that the titles of CEO and chairman of the board are separate entities. This will help separate management from leadership.   This is the best leadership structure for large corporations or others hoping to enter that league. Most large corporations are not managed by their owners or shareholders. Instead, they are managed by a leader-CEO or President- and a team of officers. The CEO or president is usually a professional trained in a particular field with the necessary experience. The CEO is accountable to the stockholders through their elected representative, the board of directors. Gene One should not have a dual CEO where the CEO functions simultaneously as the chair of the board. A non-dual CEO would be the best option for Gene One. Research has shown that CEO duality threatens Board independence, and can erode the essential oversight responsibilities of the Board (Daily and Dalton, 1994). Negative leadership should be avoided at all costs. Negative leaders act domineering and superior with people. They believe the only way to get things done is through penalties, such as loss of job, days off without pay, reprimand employees in front of others, etc. They believe their authority is increased by frightening everyone into higher lever of productivity. Yet what always happens when this approach is used wrongly is that morale falls; which of course leads to lower productivity.

The Color Purple: Consolation in Female Bonding

Copyright: Martina Diehl June 2012 The Color Purple: Consolation in Female Bonding Celie’s road to trusting and loving herself Abstract This essay is about the love affair in The Color Purple, a novel by Alice Walker in which, thoughts on racism, incest, rape, love and family affairs are provoked. The reader learns about these subjects through the letters that Celie, an uneducated black woman, writes to God and through the letters that her sister Nettie and Celie write to each other.I would like to discuss how Walker raises the issue of love between females, which involves trust and understanding, two aspects that the men in the novel don’t possess. The reader witnesses how the women are being oppressed and abused in this men’s world, Celie and Shug find comfort and security in each other and then become less afraid to stand up for themselves. I will touch on the comparisons of the awareness hierarchy in Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison and The Color Purple.Furth ermore, Walker guides us through the rise of this sisterhood and female love affair, which helps them find the otherness in God, the colour purple. This novel tells us of sexual racism, incest, oppression and abuse which leads to what walker refers to as womanist, which is to feminism what the colour purple is to lavender (Abbandato 1113). The text implies that Celie and Shug find their love for each other through traumatic events where African-American females are lowest in rank, causing sexual racism, rape and abuse by the dominating male. The Beginning of Celie and Shug Nature said, you two folks, hook up, cause you a good example of how it sposed to go. †(105) Celie has been abused by men all her life and still she does what they tell her to out of fear until she meets Shug, who stands up for Celie and shows her many beautiful things life carries with her. ‘Pa’ has abused Celie and she has become pregnant, twice. Incest and abuse seems to be the life she knows and therefore she is afraid of all men including God because she fears getting beaten and doing something wrong. She is not afraid to write to God because she thinks that He, â€Å"as a white male istener, is ill-equipped to hear what she has to say† (Tucker 82), and because her stepfather has made her afraid to tell anybody else, as is shown in the first line of the novel: â€Å"You better not tell nobody but God. It’d kill your mammy. † (3) She has always feared men, and when she sees Shug Avery for the first time she is amazed to see that a female has power over Mr. ____. At first Shug treats Celie as a servant because Shug is supposed to be with Mr. ____ and not Celie. She finally accepts this is reality and finds out that the man she used to know as Albert is not the same anymore.Celie’s traumatic sexual events and incest may have caused Celie to dive into this female love affair with Shug. Shug hears Celie’s stories about the raping, and how Celie lets Albert take advantage of her because abuse is the life she has always lead, the life she is used to. Shug helps Celie see the beautiful things that God has given them. Walker uses the letters Celie writes as a political statement, reminding the reader that Celie can only write her feelings about herself and objective information in writing. She continues to do this in the novel even though she can tell her feelings to Shug.She still feels the need to write to God or Nettie (Christian 424). When talking to Shug, Celie finds â€Å"lesbian continuum† (Abbandato: 1108): the concept of love, friendship and sisterly solidarity, in a world where heterosexuality is compulsory and women are supposed to be no more than objects to men, they are â€Å"the second sex† (Chaber 213), women with no rights or power. A fight against society Walker shows the reader how black woman are trying to rise above the conditions of their society. Sofia and Shug are the two characters that fight against masculine domination.In Song of Solomon, Morrison focuses on the oppression of women and ridicules the men, showing the reader what men consider to be right while emphasizing the abuse of women. These two novels are set in the same time period and both take place in the South of the United States, both novels show the sexual and racial abuse of women as a second sex between 1910 and 1963. Women in white society were gaining power while black women still had none. During the twentieth century black women began to travel more and saw more of the world and therefore this change in dominance in society.They would no longer tolerate the power that men had over them. The oppression that Celie was part of. Celie does not write of her husband by name, he is part of the system joining God and her father in â€Å"an unholy trinity of power than displaces her identity. † (Abbandato 1111) Fear of standing up to the dominant sex Celie is afraid to stand up to her husban d. She does not want to get a beating and is traumatised by the events she went through before she left home to be with Mr. ____. Her mother passed away and she is left with a stepfather who raped her and whom she thought dumped her babies in the woods.Celie is continually silenced by her stepfather and Mr. ____ and has no choice in the marriage. She is only an object to the men and is required work around the house and care for them. She does not like to write down or talk about the names of the men who she knows, she prefers to call them Mr. ___ or ‘Pa’ and refers to them as ‘Him’, like God, these men have more power over her than she has over herself. (Tucker 84) She does not know the man who she calls ‘Pa’ is not her real father until much later when she hears the story from Nettie.Her children whom she thought were gone are with Nettie and Celie learns that white people hanged her father. Comparing Walker to Morrison Walker addresses the i ntersectionality of black women in a white society. As she guides the reader through the novel, the reader discovers the class differences in South America. Not only are white women less powerful than white men, beneath that are the African Americans, in which the African American female seems to be the lowest class. Toni Morrison presents the reader with a similar view where the ‘coloured’ people are in search of the self, trying to fight for a better future.Both novels show the oppression within society that bellows for the African Americans. Walker seems to concentrate on showing the reader all aspects of oppression by highlighting Celie’s sexual preference, and the sexism and racism which is present not only between a white and black society but also within the African American society. Walker lets the reader find the different levels of discrimination within classes of society. In The Color Purple as well as in Song of Solomon, these different levels of disc rimination arise. Macon Dead and the arrator in Song of Solomon show the reader these different levels of discrimination in the following excerpt: â€Å"â€Å"Why can’t you dress like a woman? † He was standing by the stove. What’s that sailor’s cap doing on your head? Don’t you have stockings? What are you trying to make me look like in this town? † He trembled with the thought of the white men in the bank – the men who helped him buy mortgage houses – discovering that this raggedy bootlegger was his sister. † (20) Macon Dead dreads what the white men might think of his family, as they are impressed with this ‘Negro’ who handles business so well.Besides that, Ruth dresses in a masculine manner, which could be argued is a way of proving that she is not lower in class than the men around her. Here in this excerpt, she might be compared to Shug Avery in some respect; she provokes the men around her to show her meaning in society. Throughout both texts a lot of similarities can be found in regard to womanism. The women in the texts tend to be either dependent on their husbands on independent women with principles and an ideal to grow, and be accepted as equals in society.Walker critiques the black community here by insinuating that women have the right to take responsibility for themselves (Christian 424). Celie’s trust and distrust Celie, as apposed to Shug, begins hardly any particular views of her own, and only does what she thinks is right: caring for her husband. She holds onto the morals she has learnt from her stepfather, although she realises that her life could be less abusive, she does not seem to feel that she has the power to change that. She thinks that her stepfather, who raped her, has killed her children and therefore she does not trust him.The incest that happens allows distrust towards her family, and so she turns to God is not allowed to tell anybody about the rap e and abuse. Celie struggles through life as an uneducated young woman who seems to have a great responsibility of looking after an entire household, she is at the bottom of the chain in her family. When Celie meets Shug Avery she seems fascinated by this black woman who is able to stand up to Mr. ____, she even calls him by his first name. Shug is surprised with the way in which Celie lets herself be treated, and the way Albert has changed.Shug finds herself interested in Celie’s life, and Celie finally finds somebody whom she will trust to tell her stories to. By putting her trust in Shug, does not Celie again depend on somebody, as she has done all along? She depends on her sister to write about what life is like, she depends on the ways she is treated and the consolation she finds in writing to God. She does not seem to be able to survive without a husband for who would care for her? Now Shug is willing to care for her, by letting Celie becoming dependent yet again.Nevert heless, due to the influence of Shug, Celie is able to trust herself again (Christian 424). A love affair: Celie and Shug The love between Celie and Shug is found through the traumatic events that especially Celie suffers from, and her previous inability to stand up for herself and to speak, as she would only write to God. African-American females in The Color Purple suffer from their dependence on a husband and being low in the hierarchical setting of the southern states. Celie finds trust and consolation in being able to speak to Shug, who does not abuse her, but merely touches her.This trust turns into a love affair, a lesbian continuum. They find a connection in being on this low hierarchical scale and both find love, which they had been missing. Celie learns to love herself, to trust her own thoughts gains trust in herself and in Shug, she learns to love herself because Shug loves her. Arguably, because she trusts herself she is able to speak up for herself and know when she do es not want something; Albert no longer abuses her because of Shug’s resentment towards Albert’s change.Celie earns a place in society by leaving her place as the uneducated woman who is part of ‘the second sex’ and becoming less dependent on the dominant male force within the African-American society. Walker shows that through trusting and loving the self, barriers can be broken and any type of love is possible. Primary Literature Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. Great Britain: The Women’s Press, 1983. Print. Morrison, Toni. Song of Solomon. USA: Plume Fiction. 1987. reprint. On racism in the African-American society.Secondary Literature Abbandonato, Linda. â€Å"A view from ‘Elsewhere’: Subversive Sexuality and the rewriting of the heroine’s story in The Color Purple†. PMLA vol. 106. (1991): P. 1106-1115 Christian, Barbara T. â€Å"We are the ones that we have been waiting for†: Political content in Alice’s Walker’s novels. Women’s studies International Forum vol. 9. (1986): P. 421-426 Idem Tucker, Lindsey. â€Å"Alice Walker’s The Color Purple†: Emergent Woman, Emergent Text. Black American literature forum. (1988): Vol. 22. P. 81-95