Comparison Essay on “Dead Souls” and “Taras Bulba”

I. The great achievement of prose of the XIX century (from the 1840s to the 1890s) was Russian Realism, which is represented by many great Russian writers and Nikolai Gogol is not the last in this list. It is often mentioned that after 1830 Pushkin turned more and more to prose, although being the greatest poet of the time. However, the writer who established really innovating novelistic and narrative tradition in Russian literary culture was Gogol. Gogol's example, combined with the authoritative literary pronouncements of the greatest literary critic of the period, V. G. Belinsky, proved prose to be the literary medium of the future. Later, the great Russian novelist   (and not the worst philosopher of religious thought) Dostoevsky have said, referring to himself and his fellow Realists, â€Å"We have all come out from under Gogol's â€Å"Overcoat†Ã¢â‚¬  (meaning the famous story by Gogol, â€Å"Shynel† or Overcoat).Vladimir Nabokov highly esteemed Gogol as a grea t Russian (in no case Ukrainian, he is sure, in spite of the fact that Nikolaj Gogol-Ianovski originates from Ukraine, Mirgorod, and his world outlook is obviously marked by Ukrainian national tradition) novelist, dramatist, satirist, and founder of the so-called critical realism in Russian literature, best-known for his novel â€Å"Mertvye Dushy† (1842, Dead Souls). Praising the imaginative power and linguistic playfulness of the writer’s latest works (â€Å"Shynel† or Overcoat, â€Å"Mertvye Dushy† etc), Nabokov states that Gogol is everything but the romantic folklore novelist.Actually, there can be defined two main periods in Gogol’s writing: conservative romantic and vernacular idealism of the Ukrainian past (which we find in Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka and Taras Bulba) and the next evolutionary period of modernistic urban life reflection with all its psychological abnormality and deviations. If to believe Nabokov, in the mature age Gogol was ashamed of the playful artificialness of his early works; and as for the famous Russian critic, it is a dreadful nightmare even to imagine Gogol scribbling Ukrainian folkloristic novels volume by volume†¦ Had he chosen this path, the world would have never heard his name. So, let’s compare these two antagonistic periods of Gogol’s writing corresponding to the most vividly representative works of his: â€Å"Taras Bulba† and â€Å"Dead Souls†.II. Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka, the book of Ukrainian folklore stories, which appeared in 1831-32, was Gogol's breakthrough work (Gogol had greatly admired Pushkin, and he used in this work the same narrative device as Pushkin did in his Tales of Belkin). It showed his skill in mixing fantastic and demonic ideas of his people with macabre, and at the same time he said something crucial about the Russian and Ukrainian (ignoring Nabokov’s imperialistic snobbism, it is important to mark Gogol’s Ukrainian roots) character. After failure as an assistant lecturer of world history at the University of St. Petersburg (1834-35), Gogol became a full-time writer. Under the title Mirgorod (1835) Gogol published a new collection of his stories, also inspired by Ukrainian vernacular culture, beginning with â€Å"Old-World Landowners†, which described the decay of the old way of life.The book also included the famous historical tale (poem in prose) â€Å"Taras Bulba†, which according to many literary critics showed the influence of W.Scott and L.Stern. However, it is rather ignorant not to take into account the original Ukrainian novelistic tradition, which is widely based on folklore (Gulak-Artemovski, Kvitka-Osnovjanenko and many other writers of Ukrainian romanticism are evidently folkloristic). The protagonist of â€Å"Taras Bulba† is a strong, heroic character, absolutely non-typical for Gogol’s later cavalcade of bureaucrats, lunatics, swindlers, and losers, numerously represented on the pages of â€Å"Dead Souls†.In 1569, dominion over the right-coast Ukraine passed to Poland.   The Polish lords (lyahy) promptly tried stamping out Ukrainian culture by savagely exploiting the peasantry, outlawing the Ukrainian language and imposing Catholicism (Unia) and Papal supremacy on the Orthodox population.   In response, Ukrainian male peasants flocked to join the military groups known as the Cossacks. They founded the Zaporizhian Sitch on the Hortycya Island.The Cossacks, essentially a wild cross between mercenary crusaders and highwaymen,  became the focus of resistance to the Poles, the Turks and the Crimean Tatars. Gogol’s novel tells the story of the old and wise warrior Taras Bulba who, with his sons Ostap and Andrij, sallies forth to join the Sitch. Gogol's incontestably romantic adventure was as much a propaganda piece for his own time as an elegy for a way of life that had passed.   In â€Å"Taras Bulbaâ €  we meet conservative Gogol, who has just arrived to Petersburg and is not yet sophisticated in the city life. He is shocked by the corruption and moral decay of the city dwellers. He craves for the Golden Age of his people’s history and this age, he thinks, was the glorious times of the Zaporizhian Sitch.â€Å"Taras Bulba† is a remarkable example of the early romantic Gogol (if to call Gogol the writer’s texts). However, this novel works on both levels (historical and pshycological, more typical for the later Gogol’s works) and is surely one of the most exciting masterpieces in world literature.  Set sometime between the mid-sixteenth and early-seventeenth century, Gogol’s epic tale recounts both a bloody Cossack revolt against the Poles (led by the bold Taras Bulba of Ukrainian folk mythology) and the trials of Taras Bulba’s two sons. As Robert Kaplan (translator) writes, â€Å"[Taras Bulba] has a Kiplingesque gusto . . . that make s it a pleasure to read, but central to its theme is an unredemptive, darkly evil violence that is far beyond anything that Kipling ever touched on. We need more works like Taras Bulba to better understand the emotional wellsprings of the threat we face today in places like the Middle East and Central Asia.† (Jane Grayson and Faith Wigzell; p.18).And the critic John Cournos has noted, â€Å"A clue to all Russian realism may be found in a Russian critic’s observation about Gogol: ‘Seldom has nature created a man so romantic in bent, yet so masterly in portraying all that is unromantic in life.’(The Rise of Prose: Nikolai Gogol). But this statement does not cover the whole ground, for it is easy to see in almost all of Gogol’s work his â€Å"free Cossack soul† trying to break through the wall of gloomy and non-heroic ‘today’ like some ancient demon, essentially Dionysian. So, through the years, this novel sounds at once as a reproa ch, a protest, and a challenge, ever calling for joy, ancient joy, that is no more with us.This wide interpretation lies far beyond previously often-uttered accusation of vernacular populist romanticism. Nikolai Gogol searched for the joy and sadness in the Ukrainian songs he loved so much. Ukrainian was to Gogol the language of the soul, and it was in Ukrainian songs rather than in old chronicles, of which he was not a little contemptuous, that he read the history of his people. So, here in this novel the writer’s intention is not the historical but rather the psychological picture of his people. Hence no one (even Nabokov) has the right to accuse Gogol of Ukrainian culture profanation as if following the modern literary trend of his time.Indeed, so great was his enthusiasm for his own land that after collecting material for many years, the year 1833 finds him at work on a history of ‘poor Ukraine’, a work planned to take up six volumes; and writing to a friend at this time he promises to say much in it that has not been said before him. However, Gogol never wrote either his history of Little Russia (Malorosiya) or his universal history, he didn’t become Ukrainian Balzac but is often called Ukrainian Goffman or Poe.Apart from several brief studies not always reliable, the result of his many years application to his scholarly projects was this brief epic in prose, Homeric in mood (The Rise of Prose: Nikolai Gogol). The sense of intense living, ‘living dangerously† – to cite Nietzsche – the recognition of courage as the greatest virtue, the God in man, inspired Gogol, living in times which tended toward grey monotony, with admiration for his more fortunate forefathers, who lived in a poetic time, when everything was won with the sword, when every one in his turn strove to be an active being and not a spectator. In â€Å"Taras Bulba† we find the people of action, and â€Å"Dead Souls† gives us th e gallery of people of things.Russia! Russia! I see you now, from my wondrous, beautiful past I behold you! How wretched, dispersed and uncomfortable everything is about you†¦(Nikolai Gogol)III. Gogol began working on â€Å"Dead Souls† in 1835. The plot and the main idea of the story was suggested to Gogol by Pushkin who seemed to have understood Gogol as a writer quite well. Pushkin felt that the idea of a man travelling all over the Russian Impire buying up the ownership rights to serfs who had died (‘mertvye dushy’) would allow Gogol to make at once the literary success. In fact, it was an opportunity to introduce a multitude of characters, varied settings, mountains of detail, and the scope within which to be able to elaborate the anecdotal story of the work to his heart's content and to reveal all the sins of his contemporary. Gogol had big ideas of becoming a scriptor of his age a sort of Balzac†¦For the next six years, he devoted almost all of hi s creative energy to â€Å"Dead Souls†. His compulsive craftsmanship is evident in that the entire work was revised at least five times; the author stated that some passages had been rewritten as many as twenty times. He felt that this novel should be his best one.Unfortunately, only the first part of Dead Souls, twelve chapters in all, was completed by Gogol. The second part, as we know it, (some chapters of which are often published with the first part) is a recreation from various sources of what Gogol might have done with the continuation of his work. Influenced by the fanatical priest Father Konstantinovskii, he burned what he actually had already written for the second part of the novel just nine days before his death.The situation from which the novel develops is based upon a scheme which theoretically was possible in Gogol's day. The government had a policy of loaning money to landowners, feeling that this class was its strongest support. Lands owned, however, were me asured not in acres, but by the number of â€Å"souls† (serfs, or here, mertvye dushy) residing on them. De facto, landowners were serf owners†¦ The government was ready to accept the land (that is, the serfs) of an individual as collateral for a loan. Thus, a method was required by which the holdings of an individual landowner could be established at any given time.This method stated that an individual possessed the number of ‘souls’ recorded as such that belong to him/her in the most recent population census. The census was taken every ten years, which meant that near the end of the ten-year cycle almost every landowner would have some serfs who were not recorded in the preceding census because they had recently been born, and some serfs still recorded even though they had died long ago since the last census. In â€Å"Dead Souls†, the main character, Chichikov, schemes to buy from the serf holders a number of those â€Å"souls† who had died b ut were still counted as living until the next census. An absurd situation becomes possible: dead souls are sold as being alive people, which ar estil able to work. â€Å"It's cheap at the price.A rogue would cheat you, sell you some worthless rubbish instead of souls, but mine are as juicy as ripe nuts, all picked – they are all either craftsmen or sturdy peasants†, – Sobakievich boasts to his weird buyer (Gogol, Nikolai Vasilievich). Once Chichikov had a number of such souls, he would apply to the government bank for a loan, using the â€Å"souls† as his collateral. With this low-interest loan in hand he would then buy and work an actual country estate, eventually paying back the loan and purchasing living souls to work the land. Well, passing the whole plot, it is imporatnt to state Gogol’s idea of small marginal people actually decaying in their small towns and farms. The Russia of small towns is the country of odd and irreversibly narrow-minde d people. What Gogol proves is that these small landowners are actually dead†¦ They have burried themselves alive in their dirty stinking flea-bitten houses.Contrudicting the wide-sprea yet contested idea of Gogol’s evolution as a writer, it is possible to say that either completing histoical heroic plot or conveying contemporary decayed society, Gogol’s intention stays the same – to show the depth of a human soul and how this soul can be filled with live brightness of heroism or by dead wickedness and miserable oddity. Bibliography Gogol, Nikolai Vasilievich. Taras Bulba and Other Tales. Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library// http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/GogTara.htmlNikolay Gogol: Text and Context, ed. by Jane Grayson and Faith Wigzell (1989).N. V. Nabokov: Nicolai Gogol, 1944.The Rise of Prose: Nikolai Gogol// http://www1.umn.edu/lol-russ/hpgary/Russ3421/lesson6.htm

Sports Dissertation Topics

Sport Dissertation Topics – Introduction A degree in Sports Science could assist students seeking to build a career in sports therapy, coaching, development or personal training. As a student studying sports science, you can become a sports administrator, events organiser, sports psychologist or health promotion specialist (Guardian, 2010). It is therefore very important for sports students, looking for sports dissertation ideas to choose one that could help progress their career further. Here are a list of sports dissertation titles within which you can base your research. Sports Dissertation Topics1. Exercise and physiology1. Physiological foundation and performance in football: A study on muscle strength as the key factor for determining success among elite footballers in England 2. Muscle strength in swimming: A case study of the human kinetics form and skeletal muscle functions in swimming activities 3. Neural variations in resistive exercise: Investigating the factors limiting performance among gymnasts and recommendations for training 4. The physical and psychological characteristics of professional body builders: A study on the co-relation between nutrition, behavior and performance among the elite body builders 5. Isometric power in skeletal muscle: Comparing single muscle fiber strength and reproduction in athletic activities. 6. Aging effects on muscle functioning and morphology: A study on muscle transformation among women athletes in menopause and beyond 7. Adjustment to training and strength: Neurological and Morphological input to improved bone strength and development in strength training 8. Strength and nutrition: An investigation on the modern and traditional methods of training and the promotion of strength and balance in retired professional footballers 9. Muscle strength and gender: A study on the comparative muscle strength in men and women athletes. 10. Muscular strength and training among the elderly: A study of age related diseases and risk factors involved among the old gymnastsTo get help with this dissertation or to get pricing on a custom essay Contact Us Today2. Sports and nutrition1. Sports and nutrition: A comparative study on pre-game diet and meal matching activities and how they help increase the performance of players in football. 2. Nutrition and athlete performance: A study on the different models of nutrition recommended for vegetarian athletes 3. Protein requirements in strength sports: A comparative study on protein supplementation for bone development and optimal performance in strength training. 4. Vitamins and athlete performance: A study of vitamin supplementation for peak performance in athletics 5. Depletion of vitamins in athletics. A comparative study on the use of protein and carbohydrate supplements to recover muscle glycogen after strength training. 6. Iron requirements in sports: A study on the level of iron requirements among women and men athletes 7. Supplements and athlete performance: Investigating the use of citrate, glutamine and bicarbonate supplements and their effects on athlete performance 8. Athlete performance and caffeine intake: A study on the contemporary issues of caffeine intake and their effects on athlete performance. 9. Is vitamin D a major concern for athletesA case study of Vitamin D supplementation on resistance trained athletes 10. The use of prescribed supplements in sports: A study on the stand of international sports association on sup ¬Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¬plement intake.To get help with this dissertation or to get pricing on a custom essay Contact Us Today3. Sport Pharmacology & Exercise1. Drug supplementation and peak performance in athletics: Examining the comparative effects of drug supplementation among the elite athletes, a case study of supplement and non-supplement users 2. The use of prescribed drugs and supplements in athletics: A study of the frequent used drugs and supplements for respiratory cardiovascular diseases in athletics. 3. Hypertension and exercise: The stand of international sports association on the management of hypertension among physically active patients and athletes 4. Ergogenic aid and pharmacology in sports: A case study of the use of diuretics in sports and the influence of physical activities on drug therapy for respiratory and cardiovascular diseases among elite athletes 5. Handling Bronchial complications in sports: A case study of the athletes subjected to the inhalation of the beta2-agonist during the 2012 London Olympics. 6. Asthmatic tri-athletes: A study on the effects of training, exercise and medication among asthmatic athletes 7. The legal capacity for Drug and supplement use in sports: A study on the international legislations on drug and supplement use in football. 8. Adrenaline rush in sports: A case study of black white females over the age of 45 in the UK and in the United States 9. Chronic medical conditions and nutrition requirements: A comparative study on the nutritional requirements for athletes with chronic conditions 10. Cardiovascular medication in sports: A case study of athletes using cardiovascular medication in the 2012 Olympics and the challenges of using heart rate as a measure of exercise intensity/capacityTo get help with this dissertation or to get pricing on a custom essay Contact Us Today4. Satellite cells1. Stem cell therapy: A comparative study on stem cell therapy and the implications for treating cartilage deficiencies and osteoarthritis for athletic sports 2. The satellite cell cycle: Investigating the importance of satellite stem cells in growth, maintenance, regulation and muscle regeneration during gym training. 3. Disease control and muscle adaptation in athlete training: A study on the role of the myo-nuclear domain in the differentiation and proliferation of the stem cell cycle, diseases and adaptation 4. Satellite cells in aging athletes: A study on the alteration of satellite stem cells between young and old athletes and the importance of satellite cells in regulation of muscle mass 5. Testosterones and satellite cells: A study on the molecular and cellular mechanisms and the influence of testosterone on the skeletal muscles for performance enhancement in sports 6. Satellite stem cells and athlete training: A study on the effects of heavy resistance training on satellite stem cells in the skeletal muscle of athletes 7. Hyperplasia, satellite cells and hypertrophy: Investigating the cell division orientation and the heterogeneity of swimmers satellite cell muscles 8. The development of satellite stem cells: A study on the origin, proliferation, functions and the status of the satellite stem cells 9. Satellite stem cells adaptation: A study of the trapezius muscles during aerobic or endurance training 10. Satellite cells and age related factors: Investigating the heterogeneity and function-ability of an adult athlete satellite stem cells.To get help with this dissertation or to get pricing on a custom essay Contact Us Today5. Mitochondria and physical conditions1. A study on the relationship between mitochondria development, strength and fitness in the physical condition of athletes with reference to insulin sensitivity 2. Mitochondrial functions and cell metabolism: A study of the effects of partial fatty acid oxidation and mitochondrial overload and their contribution to the increment in of resistance of the skeletal muscles in endurance training 3. Aging and metabolism: A study on the use of anti aging drugs to avoid metabolic related syndromes among elder athletes 4. Metabolic disorders: Combating insulin and obesity using drugs and exercise mimetics in the skeletal muscles of athletes 5. Can the increase of muscle mitochondrial help reduce insulin resistance caused by high fat dietsUnderstanding insulin resistance and high fat diet in strength training 6. Can metabolic flexibility and glucose tolerance be compromised by specific muscle deletion of carnitine acetyltransferase after exerciseA comparative study on the metabolic fitness and muscle exercise in power lifting trainings 7. Metabolic fitness and obesity: A study on cellular energy transductions and their influence to obesity among athletes. 8. Carnitine deficiency: A study on the effects of over nutrition and aging on metabolic control and mitochondrial performance in strength training 9. Metabolic fitness and type 2 diabetes: Revisiting the connection between type 2 diabetes and mitochondrial oxidation functions in flexibility training 10. Metabolic health and diseases: A study on the functions of mitochondrial uncoupling and lipid oxidation during aerobic training and mental conditioningTo get help with this dissertation or to get pricing on a custom essay Contact Us Today6. Biomechanics in Sports1. Intrinsic biomechanics and strength training: A study of Pectoral bench recruitment practices applied in bench pressing variation in weight lifting training. 2. Intrinsic and extrinsic biomechanics: A study on newbie gains, their duration, registration of gain levels among male and female athletes 3. Biomechanics and nutrient supplementation in weight training: A study of the different gain levels on supplement users and non users both on a good diet in a period of four months. 4. Strength training: A study on the use of bands in strength training to increase muscle gains and their benefits. 5. Gender in Sports: Investigating the performance and biomechanics of coaching in elite female athletes in intelligence training 6. Biomechanics and temperature: Investigating athlete muscle reactions during isometric training in relation to temperature variations. A case study of African and European athletes 7. Athletic sports and puberty training: A study of the female athlete before and after puberty and the possible metabolic effects 8. Biomechanics preparation in sports: A study on the importance of biomechanics preparation before German volume training 9. Biomechanics and human movements: Revisiting the biomechanics of cell biology for health and nutrition in circuit trainings 10. Bio measurement and human physiology: Developing aspects for human physiology understanding, homeostasis maintenance and physiological parameters in human health and nutrition during body building trainingTo get help with this dissertation or to get pricing on a custom essay Contact Us Today7. Health and well being in sports1. Functional assessment and physical conditioning in aerobic endurance and football training: Investigating the need for structured exercise and physical activity in the psychological and physiological development and the well being of footballers 2. Exercise and nutrition in athletics: A study on the relationship between health nutritional consumption and physical activities of elite athletes 3. Exercise optimization and metabolic training: Examining the theories, principles and concepts connected to metabolism of nutrients during metabolic training. 4. Subjective well being among college footballers: A case study of England college footballers 5. Athlete well being and performance. A comparative study on the effects of mental well being on physical activities among elite athletes 6. Subjective well being in swimming as a sport: A study on the science of life satisfaction and happiness in relationship to the performance of swimming professionals 7. Cultural well being in football: A case study of black athletes in co-relation to their self esteem and satisfaction in performance in European football clubs 8. Subjective well being and athlete performance: A meta-analysis of the personality traits of elite athletes and their contributions to performance 9. Marital status and subjective well being in football as a sport: A case study of married and single footballers in England 10. Subjective well being, age and gender in football training: Investigating the changes in physical activities in relation to cross-sectional gender and age in football strength training.To get help with this dissertation or to get pricing on a custom essay Contact Us Today8. Exercise psychology1. Investigating the hardships faced by coaches on behavioral intervention and performance coaching. A case study of the England National team coaching fraternity 2. Exercise and parenthood: A study on the barriers experienced by working parents with small children and the probable effects on performance 3. Homosexuality in coaching: A case study of Gay coaches in the National Collegiate Athletic Association 4. Gender and cultural analysis in exercise and practice: Analyzing gender and cross- cultural disparities in sports. A case study of black footballers in Spain 5. Gender in coaching: A study on the perception of different divisions in coaching male and female athletes 6. Sport injury: A study on the effectiveness of using the integrated model of sport injury to improve psychological improvements of injured high school athletes. 7. Is fatness a cause of embarrassmentA study on the pressures experienced by college female gymnasts on body image 8. Leadership in sports: A study of college athletes and their perception on coaches and team captains. 9. Career transition in sports: A case study on the psychological effects of career ridding injuries in football academies in the United Kingdom. 10. Eating behaviors and body image: A study on the influences posted by the UK media on the eating behaviors of female athletes in England.To get help with this dissertation or to get pricing on a custom essay Contact Us Today9. Clinical exercise psychology (CEP)1. A study on the effectiveness of music beat frequencies on exercise intensity among athletes and its implications in pace setting in practice. A case study of online and television gymnasts 2. Does child hood exposure to smoke increase the chances of pulmonary abnormalities in child athletesA study on the effects smoke in children 3. Do PDE5 inhibitors affect blood pressureA study on the effects of using PDE5 inhibitors (Viagra) among male footballers 4. Pacing strategies in training: A study on the effects of non uniform pacing and how it affects performance during practice. 5. Resistance training among cardiac patients: A study on the disparities in response and rehabilitation results among athletes with cardiac problems 6. Age and training: A study on the discrepancies in the learning process among athletes of different age groups 7. The psychological and physiological effects of Non Impact Aerobics: A case study of women athletes over 45 years 8. Does athletes trained in high altitude areas perform better than athletes trained in low altitude areasA case study between athletes from high altitude areas and low altitude areas in Europe 9. Metabolic Disorders and exercise Prescriptions for Cardiac and pulmonary athletes: A study on the techniques, responses, prescription, exercise, programming and adaptations of athletes with heart and chest complications 10. Motivational factors in training: The psychological and physiological perceptions of youthful athletesTo get help with this dissertation or to get pricing on a custom essay Contact Us Today10. Sport Science and Exercise1. The effects of physical activity and the use of oral contraceptives: A six month study on college female athletes in the United Kingdom 2. Athlete performance and family back ground: A study on the performance of athletes tracing their back grounds from children’s home and how it affects their performance 3. A prospective study on the comparison of the effectiveness of ‘SMART’ goal settings among upcoming athletes and elite athletes 4. Autism and sports: A study on the performance of children with spectrum autism and normal children in middle schools 5. The use of androgenic anabolic steroids in volatile sports: A case study of boxing as a sport 6. The application of muscle power in sports and their effects on injury, risk and pain: A study of female and male rugby players 7. Women and sports: A study on the role of sports in the enhancement of women in the society and body image development 8. School settings and its effects of students performance: A study on the best sport performing higher level institutions in England 9. Leisure and sports: A study on the lifestyles of elite footballers in England and their effects on performance 10. Hospital employees and their perception of sports as a recreational activity: A case of St. Georges Hospital, London. Let us help you Write your DissertationReferencesReferences Linking words – Sports Science Degree 1. http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/dec/11/sports-science-degree

Interview Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 9

Interview - Assignment Example 363). The main domains covered in the interview included; From the response got from the respondent after the interview process, it came out that the respondent had a strong love for the brand of the product. It is therefore, an assumption that the brand had taste of feeling coupled with demand in the market structure following the respondents answer. The brand according to the respondent was nutritious since it contains fruits with it. According to the respondent, the proteins in milk in general are of advantageous to him since they help in body and development (Beckley et al, 365). Milk is also nutritious from the study. Milk, therefore is good for health since it makes an individual to remains grower healthy and also sober all the time. Through being sober most of the time, an individual is active throughout. He or she from the study, will be able to carry on with his or normal duties consciously. It is evident that customers may be influenced by the price value of the commodity (Beckley et al, 363). The respondent maintains that he won’t leave the qq skimmed milk brand of milk since it is relatively cheap as compared to other brands in the market. Other factors that made the respondent to n stick with the brand include the composition of the brand. All these items made the respondent to prefer the brand to other since it was good for his health. Qq skimmed milk is that type of wine that costs less in the market. It only costs Qatar’s Qr 85 per liter (See Appendix 2 on the Milk Brands’’ Price list). Since, it is cheap in the market; it was preferred by the respondent mostly as his drink. A manager therefore from this perspective may reduce the consumption that price of the commodity since it is its greatest determinant in the market. Tastes and composition also influences the demand of a commodity in the market (Beckley et al, 368). The respondent maintained that he won’t change

Organizational change is inevitable but how change is implemented Essay

Organizational change is inevitable but how change is implemented depends upon the organizational culture - Essay Example This suggests that barriers to change could occur from different sources. Managers are the change agents that shape the conditions for change (Saka, 2003). However, they too have to deal with the external environment which includes the organizational culture, the employees, and the top management. In addition, their skill and knowledge to cope with the change process is also critical for the success of the change management process. Despite the importance given to managing change, the change management process at most organizations is a difficult task. Thus, this paper evaluates the change dilemmas and decisions during mergers and the factors that influence change. It also evaluates the role of motivation in implementing change. Change has always been associated with resistance. Resistance can occur when the purpose of change has not been communicated in an appropriate manner. Lack of effective communication can lead to resistance because it disturbs the equilibrium of the workforce that is used to set patterns (Hoang, 2007). Additionally, the change agent may lack the skills, competencies and the ability to manage the change process. They may also fail to recognize that adjustment to a new environment takes time (Kee & Newcomer, 2008). This would make them push the employees toward change which can lead to frustration. Apart from resistance, employees may demonstrate a demoralized attitude and indifference to work. Gollan (2006) clarifies that management of people is more important than the combined effect of strategy, product quality, service, technology or even investments in research and development. If the staff is not taken into confidence they feel demoralized and they could give vent to their emotions of distrust, shock and anger. According to Schramm (2007) the change management program should be initiated much before the change process so that the transition and change is smooth. AT&T appears to have adopted the right change management strategy as the y linked their HR strategy to the strategic goals of the organization. AT&T merged two its business units in 1992 and the outcome was the new Global Business Communications Systems (GBCS). When AT&T merged two business units they faced dilemmas as they encountered several problems in the change process. Human resource effort is necessary to recast policies and programs into tools for linking the new business principles to daily life. The organization recognized that reorganization of the HR function was essential to support the strategic linkage. The change manager at AT&T was asked to examine every aspect of people dimension which emphasized the need to engage the workforce and create an environment that would support their people as the only sustainable, competitive advantage (Plevel, Lane, Nellis & Schuler, 1993). This conforms to Alimo-Metcalfe and Alban-Metcalfe (2005) who contend that transformational leaders must be able to articulate a strong vision and purpose to the follow ers. Transformational leaders must take on teaching role whenever necessary and this is precisely what the leadership at AT&T organized. The supervisors were asked to work as partners of the employees. The change management process was initiated much in advance. The employees were taken into confidence and the purpose of change was adequately communicated. To counter the apprehensions of the employees, AT&T initiated extensive communication at the beginning of their change process (Christen, 2005). An

Reflecting imaging Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Reflecting imaging - Essay Example Cameras form the central part in understanding the image formation processes. The analogue forms the start of modern imagery with components remaining the same over the years. The principle of using reflected light from the object still forms the integral part in image formation. Some cameras such as those used at night in infrared radiation detection are one of the few types that do not use the same principle of reflection target object. Significant similarity between human eyes and digital cameras is very clear. Capturing, storage and display of the images has improved overtime with current images store in data form and displayed on the camera.in the article, an explanation of digitisation and the processes involved such as quantisation and sampling has remained elaborated. The article further explains terms and problems associated with this digitisation. Imaging is a form of visual representation of an object or reproduction of the same visual object. Reflection is the property of waves changing direction by bouncing off the surface of object as they cannot pass through or get absorbed. The bouncing of light is the most common and it is important in image formation even to human eyes. Reflected light imaging is the process of forming images when electro-optical waves bounce from the target to the camera or recording device. However, transmission imaging involves waves passing through the object before reaching the camera or recording device. In this imaging technique, the images produced depend on the absorption and reflective properties of the object at the specific wavelength of the incident light. Classification of images leads to an image being a digital or analogue image based their properties. Digital image relates to visual illustration of an object in an electronic form that can remains manipulated and stored by electronic devices, which are 2D image I[r, c]. These kinds of images are tangible but have

Young Goodman Brown Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Young Goodman Brown - Research Paper Example The story is set against the 17th century backdrop, and published in his collection Moses from an Old Manse. My focus would lie on the author’s examination of the good-evil binary in this brilliantly symbolic tale. In this context, I will attempt to form an understanding of Hawthorn’s personal ideologies involving the symbols and imagery explored in the story. Certain representations of good and evil, like Faith’s pink ribbons, the Devil’s staff, and Goodman Brown’s journey into the forest, respectively stand for purity and innocence, evil, and Young Goodman Brown’s self-reflection into the dark side of his soul. Hawthorne’s Symbolic Perception: an Overview of the Puritan Context The Salem Witch Trials of 1692, where more than a hundred were tried, tortured and burnt on grounds of practicing witchcraft and the black arts, left a deep impression on Hawthorne’s perceptive symbolism of good and evil. It took the form of a deep-seat ed â€Å"ugly blot† on his mind as well as the records of early history of New England (Colacurcio 286). The Puritanical context of his fictions reflects a thorough understanding of Hawthorne’s symbolism and imagery. ... The 1692 Salem incident was not, for him, a lonely outburst of religious passion and destructive conservatism, but as a whole, suggestive of the flawed metaphors of good and evil that was being publicized by Puritanism (Colacurcio 286). The character of Goodman Brown, it must be remembered, is a third generation puritan. By the virtue of being a product of the very ideals Hawthorne criticizes, his story bears a strong relevance to an understanding of Hawthorne’s peculiar handling of religious dichotomies (Colacurcio 286). The 1692 Salem case itself becomes a latent symbol in the story. The puritan understanding of evil encompassed a great many factors and conditions. Social conditioning drove the popular emphasis on a strict adherence to decorum, rules and religious dictates as delivered by the puritan fathers, the original establishers of the New England settlements. An unwavering observation of explicit religious and socio-cultural regulations ensured man’s â€Å"goo dness†, while deviations from the rulebook caused evil temptations and the eventual damnation of the eternal soul. The binaries were simple, specific and strict. While dealing with such puritan settings, as in â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† and his most celebrated novel â€Å"The Scarlet letter†, Hawthorne exhibits an uneasy sense of ambiguity and uncertainty. His resolutions are not the simplistic symbolic triumph of goodness over evil or salvation over sin. His symbolism simmers with an unresolved urgency that sits awkwardly in the conservative framework of the 19th century America. â€Å"Young Goodman Brown†: Symbols, Binaries and Imagery Hawthorne devotes his primary attention to the raging contention between forces of good and evil in â€Å"Young

Freedom and Human Rights in Orwells 1984 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Freedom and Human Rights in Orwells 1984 - Essay Example The issues of freedom and human rights are discussed further on. A process of individual’s degradation in the face of oppression and intimidation is shown by Orwell. It is interesting to trace individual’s transformation from an independent citizen to a dependant person oppressed by a perverted socialism. A novel’s background Socialism by itself is not destructive. It is more relevant to look at its rulers and discuss their history. In accordance with Marx, a great philosopher of socialism: â€Å"revolutionary violence was inevitable since those in power will never voluntarily relinquish their position, and he viewed the future communist society as the redemption of that nightmare of history that we have had hitherto† (Scaliger, 2007). Another position is expressed by Orwell. Socialists showed violence to fight against violence; an example of the Soviet Union shows to us that the society based on violence would lead to freedom opposition. Therefore, it is necessary to develop human rights protection laws and take control over freedom achievement in the society. A political form of Socialism is not bad in its essence. It is better to reach socialism by democratic means and not through violence. Orwell shows that working people have their own ethical concerns creating a bridge for decency development under socialism (Deery, 2005). Consequently, Orwell is positioned as an ethical socialist, who is focused on the basic moral values of working people and he does not want that people would lose them. Social justice for Orwell can be reached in case liberty, equality and fraternity are preserved. It is interesting to discuss external factors influencing on conceptual representation of freedom by Orwell (Deery, 2005). In accordance with Marx and Engels, freedom is an integrative part of self-determination. In reality, freedom has a broader meaning; it should be clarified that freedom â€Å"means being in charge for one’s own life and being able to reveal the highest potential of an individual† (Scaliger, 2007). In this utopian novel, Orwell created a satire of an ideal type of socialism. Stalinist practices and Trotsky’s practices provided Orwell with fruitful information about the cruel and violent regime, degrading human souls. The world order reinvented by Orw ell is an interesting fantasy of a writer: â€Å"His narrative gifts having flowered during the ugliest days of Stalinism and soared at a time when such ideas were in the air, he thereupon extrapolated Stalin's system and Burnham's schemes--worldwide and into eternity† (Deery, 2005). Freedom in the novel An interesting vision of freedom provided by Orwell is appealing for contemporaries as well: â€Å"Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four" (Orwell, p. 69). The Party is intimidated by the emergence of extra-linguistic reality and by the fact that some global issues may be intimidating for the whole society. It is easier and more convenient for the Big Brother to reshape the minds of his people, take away a hope from them and transform their skills into a motive force for socialism. For Winston, the Party is bad, because â€Å"its infallibility, or freedom from the strictures of falsifiability, is buttressed by its ability to impose, through Foucauldian di sciplinary techniques, a radically groundless regime of purely local and discontinuous epistemes† (Orwell, p. 45). We can see that there is an internal and external fight for freedom among the main characters of Orwell’

Prestnation and presentation write up Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Prestnation and presentation write up - Essay Example (Crooks 2010). â€Å"The oil leak started when there was a loss of control over the pressure in the well followed by the failure of the well’s blowout preventer, a specialized valve designed to maintain consistent conditions. After the initial explosions the blowout preventer’s emergency functions failed to seal the well, allowing the leak to occur†. (BP oil, 2011) The language of this statement stresses that the occurrence was an â€Å"accident† which implies that it is out of the control of the company, and something that happened by chance. The expression of regret is a recognition of the pain and suffering that has been suffered by those who died and others who know them. The words do not imply that BP caused these deaths, or that they accept responsibility for them. The words just regret that something has happened. Because of the location of the incident near the American coastline there was immediate press interest and a flood of images and commentaries on the incident itself and the on-going and severe pollution of the area around the rig. BP was forced to treat this as a major public relations disaster as well as an environmental one and health and safety one. It was the attention of the press over a long period of time that turned this from one incident into a long series of further damaging developments. Not only the leak was highlighted, but also the inability of the company to stop it, and the inadequate clean up and recovery attempts. â€Å"We have acted to take responsibility for the clean-up, to respond swiftly to compensate people affected by the impact of the accident, and to look after the health, safety and welfare of the large number of residents and people who helped respond to the spill. As of 31 December 2010, we had spent $17.7 billion for our response activities. Throughout, we have sought to work closely with government, local residents, our shareholders, employees, the wider industry and the media. â€Å" (BP oil 2011) The

The Seeds of Ageism Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

The Seeds of Ageism - Assignment Example Ageism is an amalgamation of stereotypes beliefs, discrimination behaviors, prejudice evaluations. Ageism is attributed to the changing demographic trends in various part of the world. Life expectancy is enhanced as a result people live for a longer duration and may lead a healthy life (Marques Presentation FLARE31Aug). According to the United Nations aging index, the number of individuals above the age of 60 years is equal to the number of individuals between the age of 0- 14 years this highlight the fact that elderly people are equal in number to the young population. Further, Europe witnessed an aging index of 136.2 in 2007 while it is anticipated to enhance to 229.7 in 2050 (Ageism in Europe). These data indicate that there is going to be a drastic alteration in population structure in future which is going to have lasting implication on the society in terms of labor markets, growth both economic and developmental, the behavior of consumer as well as health systems. These implications are not ordinary to overlook as they are going to change the structure of the society. Health systems are going to affect to a greater extent as they have to witness new paradigms. Ignorance of any kind leads to prejudice or ageism. Ageism has a negative implication and it depicts the attitude an individual display towards elderly people. According to Nelson (2002), Older adults in the United States tend to be marginalized, institutionalized and stripped of accountability, supremacy and eventually their distinction. Considering the history, people used to respect their elders and provided them great regard and respect, they were considered to be guide and teachers who are experienced to help them to reach the solution in case if any problem arise. It was considered to be divine if one lives for more than 50 years of age (Branco and Williamson, 1982).  

Magazine article on E-books Essay Example for Free

Magazine article on E-books Essay Cassettes-sidelined! DVDs –gathering dust! VHS-retired! Technology mutates and evolves leaving redundant platforms in its place. Much of the time technology is beneficial and change is good, however occasionally change is not so auspicious and we do not realise what we have lost until it’s truly gone. The book. The Bible, The odyssey and The Gruffalo (and that’s not even mentioning the poets). All books which have stood the test of time and are still being read as much today as the moment they were published; with these texts societies were bound and broken; lessons were learned and empires fell; all to the humble book. However the brazen veteran; the book; is endanger of being stripped of its crown by the young and brash E-book. In the words of Northrop Frye books are the only piece of technology which has not become socially defunct–Yet! They have stood firm whilst DVDs, tapes and vinyl like empires, rose and fell. However the frog like e-book with its dull boring features and its fabulously annoying Wifi connectivity could be the bane of books. E-books are vastly growing in nature, like a weed; multiplying on every train, beach and plane you see them they are growing in number and his suggested by 2016 there will be nearly 10 billion of these dastardly devices roaming the world. Even the mere existence of E-books has created a whole new type of piracy where people are ripping off hard working authors and publishers by getting counterfeit e-books online for free. This illegal practice was consummated by the emotionless e-book. These characterless devices rob the tangible nature you get from books. The feel of the paper the smell of the ink all contribute to the sensation we get from reading. E-books rob this from us and sadly soon children will not understand this interaction as they will be more familiar with the blistering headache the monotonous e-book provides.

Cross Cultural Pragmatic Perspective For Classroom Teaching

Cross Cultural Pragmatic Perspective For Classroom Teaching Introduction Cross-culture pragmatics, as a new subject of language study, is based on the developments of pragmatics theories. It hybrids Anthropology, Translation, Communication, Sociology and Pragmatics together and gets wide influence on future language study. Scholars from different countries are always focusing on the problems which language learners always made in their second language using to compare with their native language comprehension. Cross-culture pragmatics is the study of interrelationship communication between people who are from different culture backgrounds. So behind the language usage differences is the huge diversity of cultures which influence the actions and thinking of people. Core Definitions Pragmatics is the study of meaning in context. It deals with particular utterance in particular discourse and situation and is especially concerned with the various ways in which many social contexts of language performance can influence interpretation. In other words, pragmatics is concerned with the way language is used to communicate rather than the way it is structured. Cross-culture pragmatics developed since 1950s in America when Chomsky ¼Ã‹â€ 1957 ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ° developed his grammar-based approach to language acquisition. Lado (1957) had published his book Linguistics Across Culture which can be considered as a milestone to cross-culture pragmatics. It shows the differences between this new subject and comparative linguistics. In his view, comparative linguistics should focus on the differences among languages especially give a systematic comparison of the target language, native language and their culture to get the relation from meaning and distribution. Individuals tend to transfer the forms and meanings and the distribution of forms and meanings of their native language and culture to the foreign language and culture both productively and when attempting to speak the language and to act in the culture and receptively when attempting to grasp and understand the language and culture as practiced by natives. From then on, others like Charles Mor ris considered that the study of language should be parceled into syntax, semantics and pragmatics while certain researchers at least in the past have seen pragmatics as a fuzzy area, possibly not deserving of being categorized as a separate and main field. (Thomason,1973 ¼Ã… ¡162). Thomason (1973) thinks that the status of pragmatics is much less clear, if such a discipline exists at all, it is very under-developed . The definition of culture may be ambiguous with some considering it largely related to ethnicity while sociologists and others (Dash, P.2003) consistent to Stern (1992) may see it as inclusive of social groups, some of which may be independent of ethnic consideration ( Dash, P., 2004). Failure is an irreplaceable notion in cross-culture pragmatics from which linguists could get valuable evidences to investigate the language communication and analyze the reason of pragmatic failure. That which is related to cross-cultural failure is referred to as pragmalinguistic failure whereas that which has a non-cultural basis due to the social relationships and positions between individuals is referred to as sociolinguistic failure (Thomas, 1983 ¼Ã… ¡99). Leech (1983) analyzed the different importance of politeness applying into cultures and the informative intent or the sentence meaning, and the other the communicative intent or speaker meaning. The ability to comprehend and produce a communicative act is referred to as pragmatic competence which often includes ones knowledge about the social distance, social status between the speakers involved, the cultural knowledge such as politeness, and the linguistic knowledge explicit and implicit (Kasper, 1997). Foreign language learners are easily to put their own culture to the target language learning which constantly causes pragmatic failures and thus affects the effectiveness of trans-cultural communication. Thin (1984) writes in his book that, literal meaning has little, if any relevance to the use of spoken language in social life. Just (2001) further investigates, much of what we state about others, we have not derived from their statements but from their behaviour. From their point, interpreting pragmatic failure could not ignoring the cultural basis and social belief. Green (1996) especially demonstrated that the central notion is that pragmatics must include belief, intentions (or goal) plan and act. Differences in the way of speaking with different languages are profound and systematic, andà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦reflect, and can be explained, in terms ofà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ differences in cultural traditions, cultural values, and cultural priorities( Wierzbicka 2003:21). It will lose its meaning when language learners use their language without their belief and innate cultural comprehension. The verbal expressions of the language will also fade and lose their vivacity. Cross-pragmatics communication failure It has be beard in mind for all the teachers of pragmatics in their classroom teaching that it is most important cross-cultural risk of pragmatic pitfalls for a certain group of learners who are really in it. For this concern, language teachers especially L2 teacher should be careful to explain the difference of pragmatic usage of communication to avoid cross-cultural misunderstandings. For example, Chinese put modesty as their primary politeness , for this reason , they would criticize themselves to others especially when they are praised by others. I remember an interesting conversation happened between a Chinese girl and an Aussie girl. A: I love your dress, it is amazing! C: No, no, it is only an ordinary dress. Then the conversation fell into ice. It is normal for westerner especially English speaker to say Thank you when their dress are appreciated by others. But in this case, the Chinese girl used her chi-English thinking and directly translated her native language thinking into English to say no. The Aussie girl may think her aesthetic taste being laughed. It is ironic that it is the culture difference causes the misunderstanding. Another example happened in students from Asian countries especially Japan, Korea and China. Teachers from western culture background may find that it is difficult to let those students to call their given name directly without using the title Mr, MS or Professor. These Asian countries are greatly influenced by Confucius and Mencius. Teachers and elders are respected and their authority must not be challenged. In daily conversation, this hierarchical difference would be more obvious, students or the young must use title or honorific pronouns to call the teachers or the elders. Or else they would be criticized by the public. Although they will get used to the western social manners, they still bear the cultural thinking. The idea of number is so universal in the sense that it is readily accessible to all human beings and it is expressed in the lexical structure of all languages. However, not all languages have a grammatical category of number. As we know, English recognizes a distinction between one and more that one ( singular and plural). This distinction has to be expressed morphologically, by assign a suffix to a noun or by changing its form in some other way to indicate whether it refers to one or more than one: boy/boys, box/boxes, man/men, and person/people. The form of a noun in Chinese does not normally indicate whether it is singular or plural. A: May is leaving Nanjing for Beijing tomorrow. B: Dont forget to take the two luggages with you. Of course, it is typically a chi-English conversation. In this communication, pragmatic failure has come out. Luggage is a collection noun and also an uncountable one. The plural form of the word luggage should be expressed as two pieces of luggage. So B should say: Dont forget to take the two pieces of luggage with you. In social cultural concerning, dead is a forbidden word in Chinese culture, Chinese people always use pass away or other word to replace the word DEAD. So in Arabic numbers , Chinese always avoid and unlike the figure 4. Because it shares the same pronunciation with the word dead in Chinese. It is just the same as westerners unlike number 13 and thinks it unlucky. Although both of them are superstitious, they are the part of the culture. As a ordinary language learners , he has to respect it and not to judge. Furthermore, privacy is not often be discussed in public in western countries, many English speakers may feel weird and uncomfortable when people ask them about it. Chinese people always talk about family, marriage and job. But no offense, they just treat them as normal topic to arise the conversation. However, if the English speaker refused harshly, the conversation will be placed on iceberg. Both of the speakers will feel awkward. In hip-pop and rap culture, as a popular music culture. The lyrics always include some abbreviation and jargons having hidden meaning which people hard to understand. Even the native English speaker cannot comprehend. Because it represents the typically Negro street culture in United States. This also can approves that within a big cultural circle, there always exists small cultural. For this sake , we could know cross-cultural could not only exists between countries but different ethnic groups or other groups. Another examples is the Japanese word Sumimasen Versus I am sorry. English speakers might think that Japanese apologize more frequently than they really do because Sumimasen is always be heard in daily life. Sumimasen can be translates as I am sorry and be uses for apology; however, it can also be used in other purposes. There seven functions of it (Ide, 1998:510). It can be used to convey sincere apologies, sumimasen was also used to express thanks, to convey a mixture of thanks and apologies, as a preliminary a request, as an attention-getter , as actual-taking device, and more ritualistically as advice to confirm what someone has sais or simply to acknowledge it. It carries pragmatic and ritualistic functions that extend beyond conveying the semantic meaning of regret or gratitude in actual discourse. So when English speakers hear Sumimasen as frequently as they say I am sorry they think the meaning of these two words are equivalent. Though it is unavoidable to make pragmatic failure during cross-cultural communication, we should consider how to improve the ability of cross-cultural communication since the target students are second language learners. We need to offer a few qualifications related to the issue of how to become a more competent communicator. First, the major cultural barriers to the cross-cultural communications, stereotyping and prejudice, misusing of power, culture shocks, and ethnocentrism, etc. Secondly, because communication is an activity that has a consequence, we must continually ask ourselves id we are behaving in a way that harms our communication partners. For example, do not shake your left hand with people come from India, because left hand symbolize dirt and bad luck. The most important way of how to improve the ability of the cross-cultural communication is following some basic advice such as knowing yourselves, considering the physical and human setting, seeking a shares code, devel oping empathy, encouraging feedback and learning about cultural adaptation, etc. All these can help improve cross-cultural communication. It has become necessary to us to improve the ability of cross-cultural communication. In my opinion, it is also a hard job for teacher themselves to improve their ability of cross-cultural communication. In classroom teaching, teachers hope the students from different cultural backgrounds to show their difference language usage or reactions towards the same things in front of the whole class. But students who notice the intention sometimes are not willing to take the chalks which may make them feel embarrassed like the animals in the zoo. As Thomas (1983) writes, ..speaking good English does not necessarily mean conforming to the norms of the culturally hegemoic strata. The teachers might well know different culture through their teaching, the key point is they shouldnt bear the discriminations to certain culture. If the teacher cannot keep his neutrality, students from certain cultural background may feel hurt and inferior. Mangubhai (1997) states, Nonetheless, it is possible to discern certain patterns of behavior, or primary tendencies within a cultural or sub-cultural group that permit one to address learners as a group. Grouping the students and respecting their own culture wou ld be the fundamental rule for all language teachers. Classroom Implications There are some implications for cross-cultural language teachers in their classroom teaching to eliminate the pragmatic failure and cultural misunderstanding. Foreign language teaching should be entered at all levels of linguistic knowledge words, sentences, discourse penetration pragmatic knowledge to enhance the ability to use language learners so that students understand the language reflected in the pragmatic rules, values and social ideas. Through the two cultures, two languages contrast, explore, and point out their differences in order to avoid linguistic pragmatic failure. Foreign or second language teachers when they are in the teaching process should pay special attention to the custom of a particular form of language-oriented; English speech act realization and understanding of differences in speech act. In vocabulary teaching, the students are supposed not only to understand the terms of intention, but also pay attention to their cultural meaning and proper use, in particular the taboo words. In oral practice and translation practice, different usage of words and expressions should be emphasized through certain discourse and contexts. Provide a lot of cross-cultural communication context to its recommend sources and materials relevant to the subject of the foreign cultures of extra-curricular books to enhance the learners understanding of foreign cultures and improve their practical application ability. To encourage the students to investigate the culture barrier themselves and let them to talk more with the native speaker of the target language will fasten the process of culture immersion. In communication, language is the basic unit of discourse. Thus, the ability to foster communicative discourse on the need to develop capacity. The so-called discourse capability refers to the students master the discourse on the basis of knowledge of the mechanisms of convergence can be quickly and accurately grasp the basic content of discourse and the central idea, in-depth understanding of the communicative value of text, students with strong reading ability and listening comprehension. Can be combined with the ability to read and write the language heard of synchronized and coordinated manner. The challenge for language teachers is to present information about culture in such a way that learners come to recognize, through nonjudgmental comparison, both the existence of their own system and that of the other language/culture. Language teachers must not only act as a good teaching instructors, administrators, evaluators, but also to act as lifelong learners and teaching the role of researchers. Pragmatic abilities as related to pragmatics, cross-cultural communication studies, second language acquisition research, foreign language teaching and other fields of inter-disciplinary issues, so the teacher must establish a life-long learning concept, lay a solid basic skills, and focus on their own knowledge structure updates. Language teachers in cross-cultural teaching background should expand the breadth and depth of their knowledge, and continuously develop their pragmatic competence in order to ensure the professional competence of adaptability, do a good job nurturing stude nts who pragmatic competence. Feedback plays a key role in learners progress in culture competence. A teacher can give feedback in the role of an L2 instructor who points out learners mistakes, presents correct models, or direct learners to self-correct. Alternatively, a teacher can provide feedback as one interlocutor in the interaction, who responds to the other interlocutors remarks and behaviors with natural conversational prompt for repetition, clarification, or self-correction (Noda, 1998). Performing a culture in each case should aim to create a memory focused on pleasing the subjects of the remembering so they will want to continue the conversing (Walker, 2000). The ability to discern others response and adjust ones behaviors accordingly is an important skill that contributes to learners overall competence in C2 communication. Therefore, when learners performance is culturally incorrect, responding as an interlocutor in the interaction is one option in giving feedback. Since this kind of feedback is implicit and time-consuming, when it causes confusion or is not applicable in classroom instruction, explicitly correcting learners can always be an alternative option. Kramsch (1991: 229) refers to it as cultural competence, and asserts that it can best be developed in a structured learning environment, here conscious parallels can be drawn, where language can be explicitly linked to its meaning in a particular sociocultural and historical context, where disparate linguistic or cultural phenomena can be brought together and attached to more abstract principles of both base (C1) and target (C2) language and culture. Teachers should continually deepen their understanding of both C1 and C2 by reading studies from a variety of sources that help identify and analyze cultural patterns in the series of isolated cultural facts which they experience or teach about. Conclusion As supported by the definitions by Mangubhai and Son (2003) and Hatch (1992) in respect to an utterance, its underlying meaning and intention derived from specific context represents pragmatics(Dash, 2004). Both Morris (in Thomason, 1973) and Green (1989) separate out pragmatics to semantics and it is this separation, which needs to be imparted in defining to teachers and students how to generate a real improvement in pragmatic competence. Well-organized role play and multi-media displaying authentic and successful pragmatics usage across different cultural against the examples of more frequent cross-cultural pragmatic failure may be a start to guide the students to successful pragmatic strategies . Culture changes through times, the materials language teachers use may be out of date, the teacher could ask the students to correct mistakes and discuss it through groups to clear the misunderstanding. In an attempt to explore the roles of cultural values and cultural themes curriculum, learners learn doing things in a culturally appropriate manner, which automatically results in a procedural knowledge of C2 cultural themes. L2 learners also develop descriptive knowledge on cultural themes and cultural values through explicitly learning information on the two. Culture has a distinct personality; the use of language must be followed. Culture rules, in other words, culture determines thinking, decision. In this sense, the difference in language use can not be avoided. It takes time to implant the pragmatic ability only in classroom teaching. It will be a long journey for both students and teachers to experience the cultural difference in their life and process of learning. However, study the culture of target language including manners, customs and cultural formation of the correct concept will have positive effect on pragmatic competence. (3214 words)

hoes and bitches :: essays research papers

Fuck, sittin' up lettin' these motherfuckerz know, though You're my pimp buddies, my boy Sean Dogg, you on a mission (Yeah, baby!) Creep Dogg, I know you trippin' (I feel you) Ya heard me? (um-hm) [murmur] We just sittin' up in here droppin' game about these motherfuckin'...HOS (HOS?!) That's right, hos, and that what the topic is today on the show: hos (Why you always gotta talk about 'em?) I mean, cause if you gotta blame it on somebody You might as well blame it on a motherfuckin ho.... [beat kicks in] You feel me, Meech (Now that I think about it...) It was all on a motherfuckin' ho (Ya heard me?) That the topic today: Hos Live here, Snoop Dogg, and uh..what I'm gonna do right here [inhales] besides smokin' this weed...I'm a holla at 'chy'all... It was all on a ho, in one minute or two it, too cause I know I got it like that...y'knahmsayin? It was all on a ho (Ho, ho, ho) ["Now that I think about it?" echoes] Shiit, niggaz straight feelin' like Bobby Womack is in this motherfucker tonight...y'knahmsayin? That's the way I feel about 'cha...hm hm..it was all on a ho... But uh...it's Nineteen-motherfuckin'-Ninety Eight And I believe today is uh...October 31st, if I ain't...wrong...right, nigga? Yeah, yeah there, so uh... as they say in Halloween world or... White world or just a world, in general: Trick or Treat, bitch (Ha ha!) Ya feel me? (Ya heard me?) We puttin' this Space-Age pimpin' Full ?Fledge? pimpin' right here...y'know? Right now, bitch can't even look at me Bitch you under arrest for "Reckless Eyeballs" We just doin' this real P-Im right about now, ya feel me? (That's it...that's it...) Because...I mean, I got a big grip...a BIG, BIG memory, cuz I remember a whole lot of bitches didn't wanna give no nigga no title "Playa" Bitches wouldn't even look at me, y'knahmsayin? (Yeah you!) They just want a nigga to bust a rap about 'em, y'know (Yeah you!) Buy 'em sometin' to eat from...IHOP, y'know Go get 'em a Big Mac value pack or sumthin'... But uh...I'm a tell you what I really remember the most about these bitches, cuz (What chu remember, dawg?) [Snoop raps] I remember Rachel, Tina, Lisa, and Grace cause every single one of them had a special place in my heart From the start, see I was just a young puppy A young dummy, panties, bitches to fuck with me Now that I grew up and blew up, I look back and thanked [thought] on these hos, they straight to' up, know what? I'm in effect for the nine-eight

University Living as the Third Gender :: Journalism Journalistic Essays

University Living as the Third Gender In Thailand, they are called Kateoy or â€Å"Ladyboys.† In Burma, they are the Hijra and have the power to bless a child with fertility or curse it with impotence. In America, they are called transgendered, but the definition of the word is hard to pin down. â€Å"There are as many ways to be trans as there are trans people,† said Michael*, a 21-year-old Newton resident to Northeastern University’s bisexual, lesbian, gay, straight, transgendered, queer and questioning alliance (NuBiLAGA) meeting on Nov. 18. But Michael, who was born a female but now lives as a male, has his own definition. â€Å"A transgendered person is someone who does not fit with or identify with the gender identity or gender roles assigned at birth,† Michael said. The American Heritage Dictionary defines transgender as â€Å"Appearing as, wishing to be considered as, or having undergone surgery to become a member the opposite sex.† While often confused with cross-dressers who masquerade as the opposite sex on occasion, transgendered persons wish to permanently live as the opposite gender. Some opt to have surgery to match their anatomy with their lifestyle, some do not and just adopt the mannerism of the opposite gender. Scientific statistics and studies on transgendered persons border on non-existent. Since transgendered people often identify simply as male or female, it is difficult to get an accurate count of the trans population using official censuses which don’t denote â€Å"biological male/female† or â€Å"cultural male/female.† Transgendered people also cannot be included in counts of the gay and lesbian population, because if a person was biologically female, but identifies as a male and is attracted to females, they would consider themselves heterosexual and not a lesbian. As Michael addressed the group, his partner, Bailey*, a 21-year-old female to male transgendered resident of Jamaica Plains, drew four parallel lines on the dry erase board. One by one, Michael explained the significance of each line: sex, gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation. The visual is what Michael uses to distinguish to people the differences between the terms and how each can function mutually exclusive from the others. He explained to the group that sex is dictated by chromosomes and genitalia. On one end of the spectrum is male, on the other is female and in the middle is intersex, commonly referred to hermaphrodite. On the gender expression line, Michael and Bailey created a spectrum from masculine to feminine, with androgynous or gender neutral in the middle; sexual orientation often divided between attraction to men or women.

Philosophy of Education Essay -- Philosophy of Teaching Statement

Philosophy of Education Ever since I was a little girl I had this dream of being a teacher. Whether it was making up â€Å"pretend† tests or having my younger brother sit through my instruction, I knew that I was a born teacher. And now that I have grown and matured into a responsible young woman, I feel that my place in this world is in the classroom. I feel that the children are our future and we should teach them everything we know to the best of our abilities. Every summer since the age of 13, I have been babysitting for local families in my small hometown of Pineville. In fact, 2 years ago I had been babysitting for a Optometrist and his wife and they were expecting their second child. As an honor, they asked if they could name their second daughter after me. Kara Nicole was born in June of 2001. As a matter of fact, I have found that my feelings on education often reflect the song The Greatest Love of All by Whitney Houston. She states in her song that she feels that the c hildren are our future and I must say that I agree completely with her sentiments on the education of our youth. When I came of age to enter college, there was no question in my mind as to what field I wanted to enter. Elementary education was the only option for me. One of my favorite quotes, although I do not know the author, says that â€Å"To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world† and I must say that this reflects my philosophy on education. To me, this quote reveals every compassionate thought I have on education alone. Teachers in some small way or another can be the sunshine in a child’s life. In my opinion, teachers, play many roles; mentors, confidants, sources of inspiration, and disciplin... ...Concord College. I wish to enter a masters program at some other institution of higher education. However, at this time, I am unsure where that institution may be. I know for sure, that I do plan on doing something with the Special Education department. Along with these added classes, I will always be open for Summer classes or workshops that teachers often attend to keep themselves updated on current trends. In my role as an educator, I feel that I should welcome each and every form of change that occurs during my time. Whether I agree with it or not, the point is that one must give it a chance. I feel that our state and local governments, as well as national governments, will continue to do the best for our educational system as possible. Reform, to me, is just a transition from old to new. You should welcome the change no matter how difficult it may be.

Are Economic Policies of India Better Than That of China, Japan or Usa? Essay

Are economic policies of India better than that of China, Japan or USA? When we talk about the economic policy, USA and China forms the two extreme ends of a curve. USA has a free and liberal market where government interference is negligible and believes that market forces will cater to all needs of people in optimum quantity and price, as per Adam Smith’s theory. While, couple of decades ago China was a firm communist country. Though now, it has liberalized market, government has significant say and control over each and every activity. In comparison, India has balanced market where government interferes when needed. This kind of policy is way better than that of USA and China as it takes care of people along with market. Also, it stops the companies if they indulge into cartel or monopoly. Economic policy of a country consists of mainly two policies viz. a) Fiscal Policy – is determined by government and decides government expenditures, taxes, and debt. It is long term in nature and determines the progress path of economy. b) Monetary Policy – is generally determined by central bank of that country and uses instruments like Repo Rates and OMOs to control liquidity. It is short term in nature and used for controlling vital market rates. Fiscal Policy of USA: Till date the driver of US economy was high capital expenditure and Exports. However, after 2008 crisis there had been fall in exports. Also, there was cut in tax rate till 31st December 2012, tax rates cannot be increased as it might trigger recession. So due to increase in government borrowing, Fiscal deficit for the year 2007-08 was increased to 5.3% of the GDP. Before 2008 crisis fiscal deficit was controllable on account of revenue earned by capital expenditure and export in the economy. However, after crisis there has been very low investment in the economy of the country with very high Fiscal Deficit. Fiscal deficit for the year 2011-12 was 8.7 percent of GDP. Fiscal Policy of Japan: Japanese economy, of $ 5.86 trillion is third largest in the world, suffers from very high government debt. It has debt/GDP to ratio of 229.77% for the year 2010-11 which is very high with a debt of $13.64 trillion. Although, there had been attempts to reduce public debts by fiscal consolidation but they have never succeeded yet and debt continued to increase. Further, Japanese economy is under recession due to fall in its currency which had hit its exports. Also, the biggest markets for Japan exports are UK and US which had been hit by global slowdown. Fiscal Policy of China: China is the world’s second largest economy GDP of $ 8.20 trillion with growth rate of 7.8%. Chinese fiscal policy has been based mostly on manufacturing and exports but there is very low domestic consumption. Government spend highly in infrastructure and other capital expenditure projects to boost economy, But some of them failed due to lack of demand and results in â€Å"Ghost cities†. Being an export driven economy, it got affected by global slowdown as it depends highly on demand from western countries. Fiscal policy of India: In contrast, Indian direct tax rates are stable. Budget outlay by government has been increased from Rs.4.16 lacs crores for the year 2008-09 to Rs.5.92 lacs crores for the year 2011-12 which is very high considering that post 2008 world was suffering from crises. Indian Fiscal policies are changing in conformity with the current global requirement – FDI in retail, Aviation, Reforms in banking sector, proposing GST. Although, fiscal deficit of India is very high currently targeted at 5.3% of the GDP for the year 2012-13, fiscal consolidation measures have been planned to bring it down to 3% of the GDP for the year 2014-15. Following graphs show the trend in GDP and Fiscal deficit of different economies and how India is faring way better than with its economic policies. Graph 1: GDP growth Rates(in %) Data: worldbank.org Graph 2: Fiscal deficits (% of GDP) Data: worldbank.org Monetary Policy Currently the interest rate in USA is kept at 0.25 percent by Federal Reserve. Similarly in Japan, Bank of Japan is keeping the interest rate at 0 percent. Now as you can see both economies are developed one, but bank rates are lowered to minimum extent, hence they can’t be lowered more. So according to Keynesian theory these economies are in â€Å"liquidity trap†. Liquidity trap is a condition in which lower rates do not inspire borrowing for investments etc. Here by getting trapped in liquidity trap both countries lose one of the main weapons to fight against the recession and inflation. Now coming to developing countries like China and India. In China current interest rates is at 6%. Rates are controlled by The People’s Bank of China. Similarly in India interest rate is averaged at 6.55 percent for last decade, now standing at 7.50 percent. As Reserve Bank of India(RBI) has a sufficient cushion to work on, RBI used it very well first to increase liquidity by lowering it to 4.25% in Jan 2010 and then to curb inflation in later part of 2011 and early part of 2012 by increasing it to more than 8 percent. Clearly, India is using its economic tools efficiently and scores way above USA and Japan and if not above then at par with China. Though India has smaller economy than that of USA, Japan and China, it is more people oriented. Even if China is growing faster than India, you’ve to take into account the democracy in India vis-a-vis rule of communist party in China. It is performing well, by growing at one of the highest speed and keeping vital parameters in check. Also the India’s policy is of inclusive growth, and now even lower class is enjoying fruits of implementation of new economic policies rolled out in 1991 by trickledown effect. Thus economic policies of India are better than that of China, Japan or USA.

The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove Chapter 14~15

Fourteen Molly Pine Cove was a decorative town – built for show – only one degree more functional than a Disneyland attraction and decidedly lacking in businesses and services that catered to residents rather than tourists. The business district included ten art galleries, five wine-tasting rooms, twenty restaur-ants, eleven gift and card shops, and one hardware store. The position of hardware clerk in Pine Cove was highly coveted by the town's retired male population, for nowhere else could a man posture well past his prime, pontificate, and generally indulge in the arrogant self-important chest-pounding of an alpha male without having a woman intercede to remind him that he was patently full of shit. Crossing the threshold of Pine Cove Hardware and breaking the beam that rang the bell was tantamount to setting off a testosterone alarm, and if they'd had their way, the clerks would have constructed a device to at-omize the corners with urine every time the bell tolled. Or at least that's the way it seemed to Molly when she entered that Saturday morning. The clerks, three men, broke from their heated argument on the finer points of installing a wax toilet seal ring to stare, snicker, and make snide comments under their breath about the woman who had entered their domain. Molly breezed past the counter, focusing on an aisle display of gopher poison to avoid eye contact. Raucous laughter erupted from the clerks when she turned down the aisle for roofing supplies. The clerks, Frank, Bert, and Les – all semiretired, balding, paunchy, and generally interchangeable, except that Frank wore a belt to hold up his double knits, while the other two sported suspenders fashioned to look like yellow measuring tape – planned to make Molly beg. Oh, they'd let her wander around for a while, let her try to comprehend the arcane func-tion of the gizmos, geegaws, and widgets binned and bubble-wrapped around the store. Then she would have to come back to the counter and submit. It was Frank's turn to do the condescending, and he would do his best to drop-kick her ego before finally leading the little lady to the appro-priate product, where he would continue to question her into full humili-ation. â€Å"Well, is it a sheet metal screw or a wood screw? Three-eighths or seven-sixteenths? Do you have a hex head screwdriver? Well, then, you'll need one, won't you? Are you sure you wouldn't rather just call someone to do this for you?† Tears and/ or sniffles from the customer would signal victory and confirm superior status for the male race. Frank, Bert, and Les watched Molly on the security monitor, exchanged some comments about her breasts, laughed nervously after five minutes passed without her surrender, and tried to look busy when she emerged from the aisle carrying a five-gallon can of roof-patching tar, a roll of fiberglass fabric, and a long-handled squeegee. Molly stood at the counter, shifting her weight from foot to foot. Bert and Les squinted into a catalog set on a rotating stand while concentrating on sucking in their guts. Frank manned the register and pretended he was doing something complex on the keyboard, when, in fact, he was just making it beep. Molly cleared her throat. Frank looked up as if he'd just noticed she was there. â€Å"Find everything you need?† â€Å"I think so,† Molly said, taking both hands to lift the heavy can of tar onto the counter. â€Å"You need some resin for that fiberglass fabric?† Les said. â€Å"And some hardener?† Bert said. Frank snickered. â€Å"Some what?† Molly said. â€Å"You can't patch a trailer roof with that stuff, miss. You live down at the Fly Rod, don't you?† They all knew who she was and where she lived. She was often the subject of hardware store gossip and speculation, even though she'd never set foot in there before today. â€Å"I'm not going to patch a roof.† â€Å"Well, you can't use that on a driveway. You need asphalt sealer, and it should be applied with a brush, not a squeegee.† â€Å"How much do I owe you?† Molly said. â€Å"You should wear a respirator when you work with fiberglass. You have one at home, right?† Bert asked. â€Å"Yeah, right next to the elves and the gnomes,† Les said. Molly didn't flinch. â€Å"He's right,† Frank said. â€Å"Those fibers get down in your lungs and they could do you a world of harm, especially with those lungs.† The clerks all laughed at the joke. â€Å"I've got a respirator out in the truck,† Les said. â€Å"I could come by after work and give you a hand with your little project.† â€Å"That would be great,† Molly said. â€Å"What time?† Les balked. â€Å"Well, I, um†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I'll pick up some beer.† Molly smiled. â€Å"You guys should come along too. I could really use the help.† â€Å"Oh, I think Les can handle it, can't you, Les?† Frank said as he hit the total key. â€Å"That comes to thirty-seven sixty-five with tax.† Molly counted her money out on the counter. â€Å"So I'll see you tonight?† Les swallowed hard and forced a smile. â€Å"You bet,† he said. â€Å"Thanks then,† Molly said brightly. Then she picked up her supplies and headed for the door. As she broke the doorbell beam, Frank whispered â€Å"Crazy slut† under his breath. Molly stopped, turned slowly, and winked. Once she was outside, the clerks made miserable old white guy attempts at trading high-fives while patting Les on the back. It was a hardware store fantasy fulfilled – much better than just humiliating a woman, Les would get to humiliate her and get her naked as well. For some reason they'd all been feeling a little randy lately, thinking about sex almost as often as power tools. â€Å"My wife is going to kill me,† Les said. â€Å"What she don't know won't hurt her,† the other two said in unison. Theo Theo actually felt his stomach lurch when he went into his victory garden and clipped a handful of sticky buds from his pot plants. They weren't for himself this time, but the reminder of how much this little patch of plants ruled his life made him ill. And how was it that he hadn't felt the need to fire up his Sneaky Pete for three days? A twenty-year drug habit suddenly ends? No withdrawal, no side effects, no cravings? The freedom was almost nauseating. It was as if the Weirdness Fairy had landed in his life with a thump, popped him on the head with a rubber chicken, bit him on the shin, then went off to inflict herself on the rest of Pine Cove. He stuffed the marijuana into a plastic bag, tucked it into his jacket pocket, and climbed into the Volvo for the forty-mile drive to San Junipero. He was going to have to enter the bowels of the county justice building and face the Spider to find out what he wanted to know. The pot was grease for the Spider. He would stop by a convenience store on the way down and pick up a bag full of snacks to augment the bribe. The Spider was difficult, arrogant, and downright creepy, but he was a cheap date. Through the safety-glass window, Theo could see the Spider sitting in the middle of his web: five computer screens with data scrolling across them illuminated the Spider with an ominous blue glow. The only other light in the room came from tiny red and green power indicator lights that shone through the darkness like crippled stars. Without looking away from his screens, the Spider buzzed Theo in. â€Å"Crowe,† the Spider said, not looking up. â€Å"Lieutenant,† Theo said. â€Å"Call me Nailgun,† the Spider said. His name was Irving Nailsworth and his official position in the San Juni-pero Sheriff's Department was chief technical officer. He was five-foot-five inches tall, weighed three hundred and thirty pounds, and had taken to wearing a black beret when he perched in his web. Early on, Nailsworth had seen that nerds would rule the world, and he had staked out his own little information fiefdom in the basement of the county jail. Nothing happened without the Spider knowing about it. He monitored and con-trolled all the information that moved about the county, and before anyone recognized what sort of power that afforded, he had made himself indis-pensable to the system. He had never arrested a suspect, touched a firearm, or set foot in a patrol car, yet he was the third-highest-ranking officer on the force. Besides a taste for raw data, the Spider had weaknesses for junk food, Internet porn, and high-quality marijuana. The latter was Theo's key to the Spider's lair. He put the plastic Baggie on the keyboard in front of Nails-worth. Still without looking at Theo, the Spider opened the bag and sniffed, pinched a bud between his fingers, then folded the bag up and stuffed it into his shirt pocket. â€Å"Nice,† he said. â€Å"What do you need?† He peeled the marshmallow cap off a Hostess Sno Ball, shoved it into his mouth, then threw the cake into a wastebasket at his feet. Theo set the bag of snacks down next to the wastebasket. â€Å"I need the autopsy report on Bess Leander.† The Nailgun nodded, no easy task for a man with no discernible neck. â€Å"And?† Theo wasn't sure what questions to ask. Nailsworth seldom volunteered information, you had to ask the right question. It was like talking to a rotund Sphinx. â€Å"I was wondering if you could come up with something that might help me find Mikey Plotznik.† Theo knew he didn't have to explain. The Spider would know all about the missing kid. The Spider reached into the bag at his feet and pulled out a Twinkie. â€Å"Let me pull up the autopsy.† His fat fingers flew over the keyboard. â€Å"You need a printout?† â€Å"That would be nice.† â€Å"It doesn't show you as the investigating officer.† â€Å"That's why I came to you. The M.E.'s office wouldn't let me see the report.† â€Å"Says here cause of death was cardiac arrest due to asphyxiation. Suicide.† â€Å"Yes, she hung herself.† â€Å"I don't think so.† â€Å"I saw the body.† â€Å"I know. Hanging in the dining room.† â€Å"So what do you mean, you don't think so? â€Å"The ligature marks on her neck were postmortem, according to this. Neck wasn't broken, so she didn't drop suddenly.† Theo squinted at the screen, trying to make sense of the data. â€Å"There were heel marks on the wall. She had to have hung herself. She was depressed, taking Zoloft for it.† â€Å"Not according to the toxicology.† â€Å"What?† â€Å"They ran the toxicology for antidepressants because you put it on the report, but there was nothing.† â€Å"It says suicide right there.† â€Å"Yes, it does, but the date doesn't corroborate the timing. Looks like she had a heart attack. Then she hung herself afterward.† â€Å"So she was murdered?† â€Å"You wanted to see the report. It says cardiac arrest. But ultimately, cardiac arrest is what kills everyone. Catch a bullet in the head, get hit by a car, eat some poison. The heart tends to stop.† â€Å"Eat some poison?† â€Å"Just an example, Crowe. It's not my field. If I were you, I'd check and see if she had a history of heart problems.† â€Å"You said it wasn't your field.† â€Å"It's not.† The Spider hit a key and a laser printer whirred in the darkness somewhere. â€Å"I don't have much on the kid. I could give you the subscription list for his paper route.† Theo realized that he had gotten all he was going to get on Bess Leander. â€Å"I have that. How about giving me any known baby-rapers in the area?† â€Å"That's easy.† The Spider's fingers danced over the keyboard. â€Å"You think the kid was snatched?† â€Å"I don't know shit,† Theo said. The Spider said, â€Å"No known pedophiles in Pine Cove. You want the whole county?† â€Å"Why not?† The laser printer whirred and the Spider pointed through the dark at the noise. â€Å"Everything you want is back there. That's all I can do for you.† â€Å"Thanks, Nailgun, I appreciate it.† Theo felt a chronic case of the creeps going up his spine. He took a step into the dark and found the papers sitting in the tray of the laser printer. Then he stepped to the door. â€Å"You wanna buzz me out?† The Spider swiveled in his chair and looked at Theo for the first time. Theo could see his piggy eyes shining out of deep craters. â€Å"You still live in that cabin by the Beer Bar Ranch?† â€Å"Yep,† Theo said. â€Å"Eight years now.† â€Å"Never been on the ranch, though, have you?† â€Å"No.† Theo cringed. Could the Spider know about Sheriff Burton's hold over him? â€Å"Good,† the Spider said. â€Å"Stay out of there. And Theo?† â€Å"Yeah?† â€Å"Sheriff Burton has been checking with me on everything that comes out of Pine Cove. After the Leander death and the truck blowing up, he got very jumpy. If you decide to pursue the Leander thing, stay low-key.† Theo was amazed. The Spider had actually volunteered information. â€Å"Why?† was all he could say. â€Å"I like the herb you bring me.† The Spider patted his shirt pocket. Theo smiled. â€Å"You won't tell Burton you gave me the autopsy report?† â€Å"Why would I?† said the Spider. â€Å"Take care,† Theo said. The Spider turned back to his screens and buzzed the door. Molly Molly wasn't so sure that life as Pine Cove's Crazy Lady wasn't harder than being a Warrior Babe of the Outland. Things were pretty clear for a Warrior Babe: you ran around half-naked looking for food and fuel and occasionally kicked the snot out of some mutants. There was no subterfuge or rumor. You didn't have to guess whether or not the Sand Pirates ap-proved of your behavior. If they approved, they staked you out and tortured you. If they didn't they called you a bitch, then they staked you out and tortured you. They might release starving radioactive cockroaches on you or burn you with hot pokers, they might even gang-rape you (in foreign-release directors'cuts only), but you always knew where you stood with Sand Pirates. And they never tittered. Molly had had all the tittering she could handle for the day. At the pharmacy, they had tittered. Four elderly women worked the counter at Pine Cove Drug and Gift, while above them, behind his glass window, Winston Krauss, the dolphin-molesting pharmacist, lorded over them like a rooster over a barnyard full of hens. It didn't seem to matter to Winston that his four hens couldn't make change or answer the simplest question, nor that they would retreat to the back room when anyone younger than thirty entered the pharmacy, lest they have to sell something embarrassing like condoms. What mattered to Winston was that his hens worked for minimum wage and treated him like a god. He was behind glass; tittering didn't bother him. The hens started tittering when Molly hit the door and broke titter only when she came to the counter with an entire case of economy-sized Neosporin ointment. â€Å"Are you sure, dear?† they kept asking, refusing to take Molly's money. â€Å"Perhaps we should ask Winston. This seems like an awful lot.† Winston had disappeared among the shelves of faux-antidepressants when Molly entered the store. He wondered if he should have ordered some faux-antipsychotics as well. Val Riordan hadn't said. â€Å"Look,† Molly finally said, â€Å"I'm nuts. You know it, I know it, Winston knows it. But in America it is your right to be nuts. I get a check from the state every month because I'm nuts. The state gives me money so I can buy whatever I need to continue being nuts, and right now I need this case of ointment. So ring it up so I can go be nuts somewhere else. Okay?† The hens huddled and tittered. â€Å"Or do I need to buy a case of those huge fluorescent orange prelubricated condoms with the deely-bobbers on the tip and blow them up in your card section.† You never have to get this tough with Sand Pirates, Molly thought. The hens broke their huddle and looked up in terror. â€Å"I hear they're like thousands of tiny fingers, urging you to let go,† Molly added. Between the four of them it only took ten minutes more to ring up Molly's order and figure her change within the nearest dollar. As Molly was leaving, she turned and said, â€Å"In the Outland, you would have all been made into jerky a long time ago.† Fifteen Steve Getting blown up had put the Sea Beast in a deep blue funk. Sometimes when he felt this way, he would swim to the edge of a coral reef and lie there in the sand while neon cleaner fish nipped at the parasites and algae on his scales. His flanks flashed a truce of color to let the little fish know that they were safe as they darted in and out of his mouth, grabbing bits of food and grunge like tiny dental hygienists. In turn, they emanated an electromagnetic message that translated roughly to: â€Å"I won't be a minute, sorry to bother you, please don't eat me.† He was getting a similar message from the warmblood that was ministering to his burns, and he flashed the truce of color along his sides to confirm that he understood. He couldn't pick up the intentions of all warmbloods, but this one was wired differently. He could sense that she meant him no harm and was even going to bring him food. He understood that when she made the â€Å"Steve† sound, she was talking to him. â€Å"Steve,† Molly said, â€Å"stop making those colors. Do you want the neighbors to see? It's broad daylight.† She was on a stepladder with a paintbrush. To the casual observer, she was painting her neighbor's trailer. In fact, she was applying great gobs of Neosporin oint ment to the Sea Beast's back. â€Å"You'll heal faster with this stuff on you, and it doesn't sting.† After she had covered the charred parts of the trailer with ointment, she draped fiberglass fabric on as bandages and began ladling roof-patching tar over the fabric. Several of her neighbors looked out their windows, dismissed her actions as more eccentricities of a crazy woman, then went back to their afternoon game shows. Molly was spreading the roofing tar over the fiberglass bandages with a squeegee when she heard a vehicle pull up in front of her trailer. Les, the hardware guy, got out of the truck, adjusted his suspenders, and headed toward her, looking a little nervous, but resolved. A light dew of sweat shone on his bald head, despite the autumn chill in the air. â€Å"Little lady, what are you doing? I thought you were going to wait for me to help you.† Molly came down from her ladder and stood with the squeegee at port arms while it dripped black goo. â€Å"I wanted to get going on this before dark. Thanks for coming.† She smiled sweetly – a leftover movie star smile. Les escaped the smile to hardware land. â€Å"I can't even tell what you're trying to do here, but whatever it is, it looks like you mucked it up pretty bad already.† â€Å"No, come here and look at this.† Les moved cautiously to Molly's side and looked up at the trailer. â€Å"What the hell is this thing made of anyway? Up close it looks like plastic or something.† â€Å"Maybe you should look at it from the inside,† Molly said. â€Å"The damage is more obvious in there.† The hardware clerk leered. Molly felt him trying to stare through her sweatshirt. â€Å"Well, if that's what you think. Let's go inside and have a look.† He started toward the door of the trailer. Molly grabbed his shoulder. â€Å"Wait a second. Where are the keys to your truck?† â€Å"I leave 'em in it. Why? This town is safe.† â€Å"No reason, just wondering.† Molly dazzled him with another smile. â€Å"Why don't you go on in? I'll be in as soon as I get some of this tar off of my hands.† â€Å"Sure thing, missy,† Les said. He toddled toward the front door like a man badly in need of a rest room. Molly backed away toward Les's truck. When the hardware clerk laid a hand on the door handle, Molly called, â€Å"Steve! Lunch!† â€Å"My name isn't Steve,† Les said. â€Å"No,† Molly said, â€Å"you're the other one.† â€Å"Les, you mean?† â€Å"No, lunch.† Molly gave him one last smile. Steve recognized the sound of his name and felt the thought around the word â€Å"lunch† Les felt something wet wrap around his legs and opened his mouth to scream just as the tip of the serpent's tongue wrapped his face, cutting off his air. The last thing he saw was the bare breasts of the fallen scream queen, Molly Michon, as she lifted her sweatshirt to give him a farewell flash before he was slurped into the waiting maw of the Sea Beast. Molly heard the bones crunch and cringed. Boy, sometimes it just pays to be a nutcase, she thought. That sort of thing might bother a sane person. One of the windows in the front of the dragon trailer closed slowly and opened, a function of the Sea Beast pushing his meal down his throat, but Molly took it for a wink. Estelle Dr. Val's office had always represented a little island of sanity to Estelle, a sophisticated status quo, always clean, calm, orderly, and well appointed. Like many artists, Estelle lived in an atmosphere of chaotic funk, taken by observers to be artistic charm, but in fact no more than a civilized way of dealing with the relative poverty and uncertainly of cannibalizing one's imagination for money. If you had to spill your guts to someone, it was nice to do it in a place that wasn't spattered with paint and covered with canvases that beckoned to be finished. Dr. Val's office was an escape, a pause, a comfort. But not today. After being sent in to the inner office, before she even sat down in one of the leather guest chairs, Estelle said, â€Å"Your assistant is wearing oven mitts, did you know that?† Valerie Riordan, for once with a few hairs out of place, rubbed her temples, looked at her desk blotter, and said, â€Å"I know. She has a skin condition.† â€Å"But they're taped on with duct tape.† â€Å"It's a very bad skin condition. How are you today?† Estelle looked back toward the door. â€Å"Poor thing. She seemed out of breath when I came in. Has she seen a doctor?† â€Å"Chloe will be fine, Estelle. Her typing skills may even improve.† Estelle sensed that Dr. Val was not having a good day and decided to let the assistant in oven mitts pass. â€Å"Thanks for seeing me on such short notice. I know it's been a while since we've had a session, but I really felt I need to talk to someone. My life has gotten a little weird lately.† â€Å"There's a lot of that going around,† Dr. Val said, doodling on a legal pad as she spoke. â€Å"What's up?† â€Å"I've met a man.† Dr. Val looked up for the first time. â€Å"You have?† â€Å"He's a musician. A Bluesman. He's been playing at the Slug. I met him there. We've been, well, he's been staying at my place for the last couple of days.† â€Å"And how do you feel about that?† â€Å"I like it. I like him. I haven't been with a man since my husband died. I thought I would feel like, well, like I was betraying him. But I don't. I feel great. He's funny, and he has this sense of, I don't know, wisdom. Like he's seen it all, but he hasn't become cynical. He seems sort of bemused by the hardships in life. Not at all like most people.† â€Å"But what about you?† â€Å"I think I love him.† â€Å"Does he love you?† â€Å"I think so. But he says he's going to leave. That's what's bothering me. I finally got used to being alone, and now that I found someone, he's going to leave me because he's afraid of a sea monster.† Valerie Riordan dropped her pen and slumped in her chair – a very unprofessional move, Estelle thought. â€Å"Excuse me?† Val said. â€Å"A sea monster. We were at the beach the other night, and something came up out of the water. Something big. We ran for the car, and later Catfish told me that he was once chased by a sea monster down in the Delta and that it had come back to get him. He says he doesn't want other people to get hurt, but I think he's just afraid. He thinks the monster will come back as long as he's on the coast. He's trying to get a gig in Iowa, as far from the coast as he can get. Do you think he's just afraid to commit? I read a lot about that in the women's magazines.† â€Å"A sea monster? Is that a metaphor for something? Some Blues term that I'm not getting?† â€Å"No, I think it's a reptile, at least the way he describes it. I didn't get a good look at it. It ate his best friend when he was a young man. I think he's running away from the guilt. What do you think?† â€Å"Estelle, there's no such thing as sea monsters.† â€Å"Catfish said that no one would believe me.† â€Å"Catfish?† â€Å"That's his name. My Bluesman. He's very sweet. He has a sense of gallantry that you don't see much anymore. I don't think it's an act. He's too old for that. I didn't think I would ever feel this way again. These are girl feelings, not woman feelings. I want to spend the rest of my life with him. I want to have his grandchildren.† â€Å"Grandchildren?† â€Å"Sure, he's had his days with the booze and the hos, but I think he's ready to settle down.† â€Å"The booze and the hos?† Dr. Val seemed to have gone into some sort of fugue state, working on a stunned psychiatrist autopilot where all she could do was parrot what Estelle said back in the form of a question. Estelle needed more input than this. â€Å"Do you think I should tell the authorities?† â€Å"About the booze and the hos?† â€Å"The sea monster. That Plotznik boy is missing, you know?† Dr. Val made a show of straightening her blouse and assuming a controlled, staid, professional posture. â€Å"Estelle, I think we may need to adjust your medication.† â€Å"I haven't been taking it. But I feel fine. Catfish says that if Prozac had been invented a hundred years ago there wouldn't have been any Blues at all. Just a lot of happy people with no soul. I tend to agree with him. The antidepressants served their purpose for me after Joe died, but I'm not sure I need them now. I even feel like I could get some painting done – if I can find some time away from sex.† Dr. Val winced. â€Å"I was thinking of something besides antidepressants, Estelle. You obviously are dealing with some serious changes right now. I'm not sure how to proceed. Do you think that Mr., uh, Catfish would mind coming to a session with you?† â€Å"That might be tough. He doesn't like your mojo.† â€Å"My mojo?† â€Å"Not your mojo in particular. Just psychiatrist's mojo in general. He spent a little time in a mental hospital in Mississippi after the monster ate his friend. He didn't care for the staff's mojo.† Estelle realized that her vocabulary, even her way of thinking, had changed over the last few days, the result of immersion in Catfish's Blues world. The doctor was rubbing her temples again. â€Å"Estelle, let's make another appointment for tomorrow or the next day. Tell Chloe to add it on at the end of the day if I'm booked up. And try to bring your gentleman along with you. In the meantime, assure him that my practice is mojo-free, would you?† Estelle stood. â€Å"Can that little girl write with those oven mitts on?† â€Å"She'll manage.† â€Å"So what should I do? I don't want him to go. But I feel like I've lost a part of myself by falling in love. I'm happy, but I don't know who I am anymore. I'm worried.† Estelle realized that she was starting to whine and looked at her shoes, ashamed. â€Å"That's our time, Estelle. Let's save this for our next appointment.† â€Å"Right. Should I tell the constable about the sea monster?† â€Å"Let's hold off on that for now. These things have a way of taking care of themselves.† â€Å"Thanks, Dr. Val. I'll see you tomorrow.† â€Å"Good-bye, Estelle.† Estelle left the office and stopped at Chloe's desk outside. The girl was gone, but there were animal noises coming from the bathroom just down the hall. Perhaps she had caught one of the oven mitts on her nose ring. Poor thing. Estelle went to the bathroom door and knocked lightly. â€Å"Are you okay in there, dear? Do you need some help?† The answer came back in high moan. â€Å"I'm fine. Really fine. Thanks. Oh my God!† â€Å"You're sure?† â€Å"No, that's all right!† â€Å"I'm supposed to make an appointment for tomorrow or the next day. The doctor said to pencil it in late if you have to.† Estelle could hear thumping noises coming from the bathroom, and it sounded as if the medicine cabinet had dumped. â€Å"Oh wow! Wow! Oh wow!† The scheduling must really have been tight. â€Å"I'm sorry. I won't bother you anymore. Call me to confirm, would you, dear?† Estelle left Valerie Riordan's house even more unsettled than she had come in, thinking that it had been quite some time, half a day anyway, since she had had her skinny Bluesman between the sheets. Dr. Val Val had a break between appointments, time in which to reflect on her suspicion that by taking everyone in Pine Cove off antidepressants, she had turned the town into a squirrel's nest. Estelle Boyet had always been a tad eccentric, it was part of her artist persona, but Val had never seen this as unhealthy. On the contrary, the self-image of an eccentric artist seemed to help Estelle get over losing her husband. But now the woman was raving about sea monsters, and worse, she was getting involved in a relationship with a man that could only be construed as self-destructive. Could people – rational adult people – still fall in love like that? Could they still feel like that? Val wanted to feel like that. For the first time since her divorce, it occurred to her that she actually wanted to be involved again with a man. No, not just involved, in love. She pulled her Rolodex from the desk drawer and thumbed through it until she found the number of her psychiatrist in San Junipero. She had been in analysis all through med school and residency, it was an integral part of the training of any psychiatrist, but she hadn't seen her therapist in over five years. Maybe it was time. What sort of cynicism had come over her, that she was interpreting the desire to fall in love as a condition requiring treatment? Maybe her cynicism was the problem. Of course she couldn't tell him about what she had done to her patients, but perhaps†¦ A red light blinked on the tiny LED panel on her phone and the incoming call, screened by Chloe, who had obviously taken a short break from her self-abuse, scrolled across the screen. Constable Crowe, line one. Speaking of squirrels. She picked up the phone. â€Å"Dr. Riordan.† â€Å"Hi, Dr. Riordan, this is Theo Crowe. I just called to tell you that you were right.† â€Å"Thank you for calling, Constable. Have a nice day.† â€Å"You were right about Bess Leander not taking the antidepressants. I just got a look at the toxicology report. There was no Zoloft in her system.† Val stopped breathing. â€Å"Doctor, are you there?† All her worries about the drugs, this whole perverse plan, all the extra sessions, the long hours, the guilt, the friggin' guilt, and Bess Leander hadn't been taking her medication at all. Val felt sick to her stomach. â€Å"Doctor?† Theo said. Val forced herself to take a deep breath. â€Å"Why? I mean, when? It's been over a month. When did you find this out?† â€Å"Just today. I wasn't given access to the autopsy report. No one was. I'm sorry it took so long.† â€Å"Well, thank you for letting me know, Constable. I appreciate it.† She prepared to ring off. â€Å"Dr. Riordan, don't you have to get a medical history on your patients before you prescribe anything?† â€Å"Yes. Why?† â€Å"Do you know if Bess Leander had any heart problems?† â€Å"No, physically she was a very healthy woman, as far as I know. Why?† â€Å"No reason,† Theo said. â€Å"Oh yeah, I never got your thoughts on the information I shared at breakfast. About Joseph Leander. I was still wondering if you had any thoughts?† The whole world had flip-flopped. Val had stone-walled up to now on Bess Leander because she had assumed that her own negligence had had something to do with Bess's death. What now, though? Really, she didn't know much about Bess at all. She said, â€Å"What exactly do you want from me, Constable?† â€Å"I just need to know, did she suspect her husband of having an affair? Or give you any indication that she might be afraid of him?† â€Å"Are you saying what I think you are saying? You don't think Bess Leander committed suicide?† â€Å"I'm not saying that. I'm just asking.† Val searched her memory. What had Bess Leander said about her hus-band? â€Å"I remember her saying that she felt he was uninvolved in their family life and that she had laid down the law to him.† â€Å"Laid down the law? In what way?† â€Å"She told him that because he refused to put the toilet seat down, he was going to have to sit down to pee from now on.† â€Å"That's it?† â€Å"That's all I can remember. Joseph Leander is a salesman. He was gone a lot. I think Bess felt that he was somewhat of an intrusion on her and the girls' lives. It wasn't a healthy relationship.† As if there is such a thing, Val thought. â€Å"Are you investigating Joseph Leander?† â€Å"I'd rather not say,† Theo said. â€Å"Do you think I should be?† â€Å"You're the policeman, Mr. Crowe.† â€Å"I am? Oh, right, I am. Anyway, thanks, Doctor. By the way, my friend Gabe thought you were, uh, interesting, I mean, charming. I mean, he enjoyed talking with you.† â€Å"He did?† â€Å"Don't tell him I said so.† â€Å"Of course. Good-bye, Constable.† Val hung up and sat back in her chair. She had unnecessarily put an entire town in emotional chaos, committed a basketful of federal crimes as well as breaking nearly every ethical standard in her field, and one of her patients had possibly been murdered, but she felt, well, sort of excited. Charming, she thought. He found me charming. I wonder if he really said â€Å"charming† or if Theo was just making that up – the pothead. Charming. She smiled and buzzed Chloe to send in her next appointment.