Outsourcing To India And China Essay

Outsourcing can be defined as transferring the jobs from the UK to India, China and other third world or low –wage countries. There are many advantages of outsourcing. The following paragraphs explain the relationship of outsourcing and the supply and demand economics theory(Cooke, 2005; pp 173 -180). BODY It is good business senses for multinational companies now outsource from many developing countries (like China and India). In fact, many organizations in the United Kingdom have outsourced their operations, set –up, maintenance of their computer systems and networks and production to other countries. A survey done on 162 European firms showed that half of the interviewed companies had outsourced most of their information technology jobs. These outsourced contracts form only 24 percent of Information Technology jobs. Definitely this had climbed up to 36 percent in 1998 in the United Kingdom alone. The main reason for the increase in outsourcing is the corporate priority to reduce labor and material costs. For, it costs higher to pay a European worker to do the same jobs in the United Kingdom (Bounfour 2003; pp. 84 -92). Likewise, production, call center and other jobs outsourced to China or India would cost less in terms of labor and raw materials (Richardson 1999; pp. 74-94). Evidently, it is good business senses for multinational companies now outsource from many developing countries. (Domberger 1998; p. 84 -90). It is good and bad for the UK economy for multinational companies now outsource from many developing countries (like China and India). Outsourcing is good because the public can buy the same quality products at lower prices. It is also good because lower labor cost will increase net profits. It is bad for the UK labor sector. Outsourcing has changed the labour demand in the UK. Outsourcing has caused the labour jobs especially in the manufacturing sector to decline in the UK and other European Union member states such as France and Germany according to the study by Hijzen et al in 2005. Thus, the imported products and raw materials from low –wage third world countries has greatly affected the UK companies’ demand for European manufacturing and Information Technology workers for the period 1995 to 2000. Also, outsourcing has caused a . 6 percent employment in the European Union countries. Obviously, it is good and bad for the UK economy for multinational companies now outsource from many developing countries (Barrell, Choy and Kirby 2006; pp 63 -67). There are gainers and losers from outsourcing UK jobs. First, the people hired to do the outsourcing jobs in India, China and other third world and low –wage countries will gain from outsourcing contracts. The companies that outsource the jobs will gain because now they will pay lesser labour wages for the same quality job. And, it costs lesser to outsource to China, India and other countries because the raw materials there are definitely cheaper. Further, the biggest gainers here are the entire UK and EU market because they can now buy the goods at lower prices as a result of some outsourcing companies’ reduction of their selling prices brought about by the lower labour and materials costs and expenses(Lever, 1997; pp. 37-42. The losers are the workers in the United Kingdom and the European Union member states because they are fighting a losing battle to the low wage workers in outsourcing country recipients. But the biggest losers are the competitors in the UK and EU market because the UK company that has outsourced production and IT jobs can now lower their selling prices and still earn the same old profit margins which their competitors in the same industry cannot afford to for fear of losing money(Maromonte, 1998; pp. 13-25). Economics’ supply and demand theory states that as the prices of goods decrease, then the demand for the products will increase. Glaringly, there are gainers and losers from outsourcing UK jobs. Outsourcing has many advantages and disadvantages.  The supply and demand theory explains that outsourcing jobs will increase demand for products being sold because prices of goods will decline. The competitors and UK work workers are the greatest losers from outsourcing. The UK and EU market(customers) and the company that have outsourced jobs are the greatest winners from outsourcing. Conclusively, outsourcing will benefit more people (market) than if it is not implemented. UK business, including the competitors must now jump into the boat of outsourcing to survive until the next century.

Mass communication

In a face-to-face communication, the source or the person who started talking to you expresses himself through the message in Aramaic. The encoding process involves his motor skills. These are his vocal mechanisms, the movement of his lip and tongue, his lungs, his vocal cords and the face muscles.   But what if the source had his vocal cords removed because of throat cancer? He may be able to encode his message verbally through artificial aid. But he may have difficulty doing so, nonverbally with the use of intonation, pitch and volume. That may cause the message to be encoded inappropriately or insufficiently. The channels through which you, as the receiver, receive his message are your five senses. The problem is you cannot understand the Aramaic language. Though there are channels through which people send information, there could be a possibility that it can’t be decoded. We cannot assure that you will be able to decode what the source sent, the same way he sent it.   This difference between your use of codes is an example of noise. (www.cultsock.ndirect.co.uk, 2003) An example of a distance communication is through the telephone. For instance, you have a job from a faraway place. But due to a lot of work and the other people waiting in line to use the pay phone, you only have a few minutes to call a friend, the receiver. You are the source here. You express your message through the mouthpiece of the telephone, â€Å"which transmits the signal through the telephone-wire channel†. The signal acquires static noise as it goes. This distorted signal is once again converted so it can be received at the destination or at the other end, to the receiver. Loss of information may occur, causing the message to be quite different from what you sent. The possible problem in distance communication, like in this example is, whether or not the telephone system will work properly. (Griffin,1997) In public communication, the source utilizes machines, which transmits public messages that sent to large audiences, who may be at different places at the same time. The channels are media like TV and movies. The audiences are the receivers. (University of South Florida, 2005) The Shannon-Weaver, though offering an efficient analysis, does not involve much consideration of the traces of the emotional and psychological drive of humans behind the messages they send. (Buddenhagen, 1994) Generally speaking, the model is helpful in understanding the interrelatedness of the elements in a communication process. Works Cited: Buddenhagen, E.   (1994). Communication. Retrieved August 31, 2006, from http://www.explorit.org/science/bytes/communication.html Griffin, E. (1997) Information Theory of Claude Shannon & Warren Weaver.[Electronic version] A First Look at Communication Theory.   Retrieved August 31, 2006, from http://www.afirstlook.com/archive/information.cfm?source=archther Communication: Mass, Interpersonal, and Machine-Assisted (2005). Retrieved August 31, 2006, from University of South Florida, College of arts and sciences Website: http://www.cas.usf.edu/lis/lis6260/lectures/shannon.htm The Shannon-Weaver Model. (2003). Retrieved August 31, 2006, from http://www.cultsock.ndirect.co.uk/MUHome/cshtml/introductory/sw.html               

Multinational Car Manufacturing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Multinational Car Manufacturing - Assignment Example Due to the company started manufacturing motorcycles. One of its models R32 is also known for its speed during 1930's. Though not allowed to produce aircraft the BMW company entered automobile business by taking over Eisenach vehicle factory. Later it went on developing large touring cars and sports cars one of the model 328 sports car which was highly successful. The ending of World War II also witnessed the dismantling the company by the Allied forces. Though the company was dismantled it recouped and started making automobiles, and again came to the marked in 1950's it rose to success after it begun manufacturing sports seadens and turning cars. It was giving a tough competition to mercedez benz in luxury segment. The other two competitors like Toyota and Nissan gave tough competition and sales started steeply falling. Collapse of Berlin wall led B.M.W to outsold Mercedez Benz in Europe for the first time. An establishment in any country whether an industry or a Car manufacturing unit or for that matter any other plant shall give innumerable benefits that may be enjoyed by the countrymen as well as by the Government. There may be employment potentiality for the skilled and unskilled people which being the direct employment. People's standard of living and the lifestyle would grow above for the pleasant environment and the economical growth. The government would also derive financial and economical benefits out of the revenue they get by the way of taxes. Indirectly as a result the subsidiary industries will boom and the production units also would start producing more number of product items. There are still some bottlenecks, which may hamper the very growth as the Iceland country is having less population and because of the prevailing weather climate dipping to Sub 0 level it is just about difficult to live a normal life. So the citizens may prefer to shift to other places with the effect. Hence it may give adverse effects related to absence of the manpower and the productivity may hinder. A company or a manufacturing unit intending to set up its own plant in any country has to look up, analyze and study the respective location then plan to take up the initiative. It has to take into consideration - all the aspects related to starting a unit, develop it and to see it turn into a successful, lucrative unit, in its own terms. When the matter concerns to a car-manufacturing unit there arise two kinds of firms vying for the plant to set up. 1. Domestic Firms 2. Foreign firms. 1. Domestic Firms: Domestic firms have good foothold on the area, climatic conditions, contact ability, without any language barriers, they have access at a much more faster rate than expected. Even then domestic firms also have a sort of impulsive effect on a few problems with regards to setting up of the unit as well as benefits. The firm has to incur a heavy capital at the initial stages like acquisition of land or lease /purchase of land. It has to take steps to tie up with the countries, government and its states. Capital is the most important factor and is to be kept aside apart from other things more than what is actually expected. Man Power, recruitment, talents and skills is where the ultimate spice of the life lies. As the perfect personnel managing all the departments with utmost dedication

One Concept, One Reading, and One Application Essay

One Concept, One Reading, and One Application - Essay Example This concept has been refined over a period of time based on the experience gained by television professionals and the public in dealing with the social issues. This audience engagement is more pronounced in TV debates than in any other programs on television. It doesn’t exist only at the ‘moment of reading’ but, the subject lingers in the minds of the audience which might prompt them to react later. Therefore, effectiveness of communication at this stage, if at all it is intended, can be measured by its impact on the public subsequently. In any other case, the impact of a good debate is expected to form a public opinion or shape up the public’s attitude in social issues of various kinds. Social subjectivity argument is more amenable than textually produced subjectivity especially in the political setup prevailing in most of the countries that is predominantly democratic with liberal views on freedom of speech and expression. Convergence of technology It is also interesting to note that the technological developments took place over years have enhanced the role of media as a means of mass communication in societies. The earlier boundaries in information and communications technology have vanished under convergence of technology. Television networks offer phone service and Internet television. Mergers between media and telecommunication firms gave rise to faster technological developments and their applications for commercial exploitation. Mobile phones with plethora of facilities including Wi-Fi have made the media more interactive. Ernesto Schmitt (2013) said â€Å"Our Android users have been very vocal about wanting a full-featured tablet version of zeebox,† Technological developments have enabled increased connectivity between the audience and television. Zeebox CTO Anthony Rose stated: "The future of broadcast TV is about synchronicity between the TV and the second-screen. zeebox’s platform connects TV context with u sers and content owners, enabling a deeper connection between broadcast TV and its fans." John Fiske has not mentioned about the impact of technological developments, since most of the developments took place later. Applications in real life The author has pointed out â€Å"that Morley found that Hall, in following Perkin (1772), had overemphasised the role of class in producing different readings and had underestimated the variety of determinants of reading† (61-62) especially ideologies. But, ethnography as a valid method of studying television and its viewers based on culture has its own limitations though it takes into account the diversity in social formation and culture. For example, debates on important subjects like ‘employment in call-centre’, ‘Diversity in workplace’ or ‘outsourcing’ would be more useful not only to the employees, but also to the employers, students and public who have vested interest in the discussions on the subject. For instance, the need for diversity in work force, its impact on culture or its benefits could lead the people to introspection and change their opinions or views in the light of the debate. While focussing the differences among viewers, revaluation of the text is also necessary for paying

Ethic and critical thinking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Ethic and critical thinking - Essay Example The movie unconditionally showed that the financial crisis experienced globally was certainly caused by ethical practices that were perpetuated by financial services industry. The film further indicated that the immoral practices in the financial service industry were contributed by the general public, entrepreneurs, and government officials. This means that these groups participated in perpetuating these unprofessional activities in the face of economic meltdown in the world (Fergusson 46). From the film, it is also clear that the financial crisis experienced in the world was caused by the unethical practices in the business environment. The film was understandably irritating because financial institutions concentrated more on undertaking dubious business practices that had serious implications on the economy of the nation. The financial institutions at this time abandoned their responsibility of ensuring that the stakeholders were not exploited by greedy individuals and organizations. These greedy individuals and companies were guided by their individuals’ interests and greed that made them turn into unprofessional practices (Greenspan 98). The financial service industry was no longer interested in promoting strategies that would boost the standard of the economy via increasing the capital for other companies within and outside the industry. The increase in the market capital lowered the unemployment rate and consequently, boosted the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The industry had in the recent reduced capital for some of the firms, thus impacting negatively on the economy of the country. The government, through financial institutions gave capital to few selected companies thus favoring some companies. This created unequal financial implications to these companies. These companies, who were allocated capital, benefited few individuals thus compromising

Cadbury and Mobil Management Organization Case Study

Cadbury and Mobil Management Organization - Case Study Example But as the technology evolved and organization faced more competition in the marketplace then the need for the new system implementation has increased. This new project for the implementation of the SAP R/3 will completely change the structure for the working of organization and also provide them the competitive edge. The second company is the Mobil Oil Australia Limited that is previously using Sap system for the data processing and as a core back-office system. But the company is not feeling well with this system implementation because the present working is still heavily paper-based. So they have aimed to implement the SAP R/3 project for the better organizational working and management. The most common factor in both companies’ projects is the renovation of the old organizational working environment to a new and efficient ERP system. In this scenario, both companies are aimed to implement the new fully automatic system for the better organizational information management. They also have the common aim regarding the gaining the competitive adage through the technology-based organizational system. Another common goal settled by both organizations is the adaptation of new IT-based system as a tool to transform our business processes. They want to the implementation of mySAP.com to create a standard IT platform and in doing so develop new transparent organizational processes. Another of the similarities in both companies project is the implementation of the process re-engineering for their already SAP based organizational management system. This re-engineering process will change and improve the functionalities of the already present SAP-based system to enhance the organizational working. Now I will discuss the main dissimilarities in both organizational projects.

Marketing strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Marketing strategy - Essay Example The pharmaceutical industry is highly concentrated and only a few companies are doing well in the industry. The main aim of this study is to analyze the marketing strategies adopted by GlaxoSmithKline Plc; a London based pharmaceutical company (Chaffey et al., 2008). The study would also analyze the factors affecting the marketing strategies implemented by GlaxoSmithKline Plc. Since, the company is a UK based company it would also analyze its strategic position in UK as well as in other countries. An analysis of the marketing mix of the company would help in highlighting the key elements of the marketing strategies adopted by the company (Zhou et al., 2010). Introduction Medicines form an integral part of a human’s life because the discovery and invention of medicines have improved the health and quality of life of human beings. The consumption of drugs has increased rapidly. Every year, around 650 million prescriptions are written by the General practitioners alone in UK (Hou se of Commons, 2005). The National Health Service, UK sells medicines worth ?7 billion annually and 80 percent of which is spent on branded products. In UK, it is the most profitable sector after Tourism and Finance. USA has the largest pharmaceutical market and most of the research and development of leading pharmaceutical companies is done in USA itself. UK accounts for 10 percent of the global research and development expenditure. The medical products manufactured by the companies have not only improved the health of the people but has also reduced the need of surgical operations to a large extent (House of Commons, 2005). One of the leading pharmaceutical companies in the world is GlaxoSmithKline Plc, a company which produces effective medicinal drugs for various diseases. It also has a separate healthcare division which produces popular oral healthcare and nutritional products like Sensodyne, Horlicks, Lucozade, Boost, and Gaviscon. The company sells prescription medicines and over the counter medicines. Most of the company’s revenue is generated from the healthcare product divisions which include toothpaste and energy drinks. The company’s top selling prescription medicine includes Avandia and Paxil which are anti depressant pills (GlaxoSmithKline Plc, 2013a). The company believes in complying with the national health guidelines of UK and providing beneficial treatment to the medicine users. Currently, the pharmaceutical industry is facing a number of challenges like slow economic recovery, high cost of development of drugs and stricter health regulations imposed by government etc. Pfizer, a leading pharmaceutical company of the world has announced plan to close down its research and development wing in UK to curb down operational costs (Gallagher, 2012). GlaxoSmithKline Plc had been witnessing a steady growth even amidst this economic slowdown. In the year 2012, the company spent ?4 billion dollars in the research and development of new me dicines, consumer products and new medicines (GlaxoSmithKline Plc, 2013b). Most of the company’s revenue comes from the USA because the sale of prescription drugs is a subject to price control policies of the respective country. The USA is the only industrialized nation where there is no price control

Aging and Health Among the Senior Population Essay

Aging and Health Among the Senior Population - Essay Example These items were reviewed individually and then summed up as a total to establish an assessment about the driver. The covariates of the study were age, gender, race, health status, physical functioning, vision and driving exposure. Driving exposure was calculated by the DHQ assessment, among other things. Further covariates were self-filled by the drivers. The sample included participants from an ongoing Senior Driver Research Project, which was designed to examine the validity and reliability of the OFOV test. There was collaboration with State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, and licensed drivers aged 75 and above who live in Alabama were chosen. The potential participants were contacted via a letter, were given a toll-free number to return to, and those who had agreed to participate were met by trained staff at 11 designated locations. There they were tested in the UFOV and performed satisfactorily in the test and were eligible for the study. A total number of 1,543 people participated, their mean age was 79.73. 41.7% were women, 2.7% were non-Caucasian. The University of Alabama approved all the procedures, and participants signed on consent to the study (Ozioma, Okonkwo, Virginia & Karlene, 2008). The study found that drivers of over 75 avoided driving in bad weather more than they avoided any other type of situation. Other avoidance situations were driving at night, at traffic roads, in unfamiliar territories and making left-hand turns. Another important find of this study was that drivers with higher risks for motor vehicle accidents due to deficits in visual attention reported greater avoidance relative to those who had a lower risk of being involved in car crashes. This was fairly the same in all the situations (Ozioma, Okonkwo, Virginia & Karlene, 2008).. These findings were consistent with previous ones,

Economic analysis of the current residential housing market in Houston Essay

Economic analysis of the current residential housing market in Houston - Essay Example Houston realtor’s housing data indicates that demand for houses increased by 29% as January 2013 representing a sales increase of 4680 units as compared to the previous year. Additionally, the housing prices were ranging from $500,000 on January 2012 to million dollars. For instance, the highest price were recorded on January 2012 was $200296 (Bivins, paras7-8). The data further indicates that prices of single family houses increased by 9.6% between 2012 and 2013. This indicates that there was a 22.45% increase in housing prices this year as compared to the last year. Additionally, the sale of condominiums was reported to be 422 residential units as at February this year while on February last year the sales of condominiums was 313 units. This indicates that there was an increase in demand for condominiums and mansions by 109 units as at February 2013. According to Eaton, Paras 2-4, higher demand for houses caused an increase in demand for mortgages. For example, demand for mortgage loans increased from 11.4% on January 2009 to 18.6% on January 2011.Therefore, study aims to explain three factors that increase or decrease demands for residential housing in Houston as well as those factors that increase or decrease supply of residential housing. In above connection, the study will put forth demand three examples that explain areas where demand or supply based market failure can be anticipated. Additionally, the study will put forth three examples that explain demand or supply based market failures and how the government can address such failures in a free market. Connectively, graphs will utilize to explain the concepts that are going to be discussed. Economic analysis of the current residential housing market in Houst on Numerous factors have been attributed to an increases demand for housing in Houston, among those factors includes: change in consumer’s disposable income, change in demographic, availability of substitutes to mention just but a few (Arnold p.65). Changes in consumer’s disposable income may involve increase or a decrease in income. Whereby, an increase income caused an increase in demand for houses in Houston as many consumers could afford to pay for houses despite having a higher price. This in turn caused a movement from point A to point B causing a right ward shift demand curve from D1D1 to D2D2 as indicated in 1.1. Additionally, change in population demographics such; as increase in population, could have contributed to an increase in demand for houses (Gwartney p.61). Whereby, as birth rates increases, demand for houses increase causing a rightward shift in demand curve as indicated in diagram 1.1. In above connection, availability of houses that could have been used as substitute contributed significantly to a high demand of houses in Houston. This means that better houses were readily available and therefore, most people were able to substitute their old houses with a new and better residential house depending on their needs. On the other hand, those factors that decrease demand for housing include: changes in consumers future expectations. Whereby, future anticipations that houses prices might fall in the future they may make consumers postpone their current demand for houses in order to purchases those houses in the future at a lower price (Hall p.60). This in turn leads to a decrease in demand for houses and hence causing a leftward shift in demand curve as indicated in diagram 1.2 at the end of the essay. Additionally, a fall in consumer’

Task 10-7 Education Technique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Task 10-7 Education Technique - Essay Example The observed instructions entail conversation with the students for them to acknowledge the essence of the lesson. Furthermore, the utilization of identifiers limits confusion amongst the group members as evident in the color and shapes. Eventually, this creates a classroom where there is proper learning. The environment has enabled the creation of a positive environment where there is a good relationship between the students and their teacher. From the engagement of students in conversation and good relationship in class, the students are expected to learn to express themselves with confidence. For students’ higher understanding, they have to know what the teacher is saying, and ask questions or give their opinions. For example, the teacher asks, â€Å"do you have to work?†, while the students answer â€Å"yes† thus increasing the students’ engagement in class. The purpose of engaging students in class is to upgrade their performance and the entire school ’s performance. The level of student engagement is high. There is the participation in group-work and this allows all learners to contribute in class for them to learn from their classmates and the educator. These students are involved in all activities and that makes them feel more encouraged to partake in the class and learn. This is evident as they move towards the objects that facilitate learning.As evident in the lesson, students are allowed to move during the beginning of the class in a manner that is not fashioned.

Examples of Discipleship Essay Example for Free

Examples of Discipleship Essay I believe that Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Christian Aid are two prime examples of discipleship in this century, Bonhoeffer as an individual and Christian Aid as an organisation. Bonhoeffer was a German preacher born in 1906 to a medical professor and his wife in Breslau, a small town. From an early age he wanted to serve God, and so he studied theology at university and taught and preached in both Germany and America. He returned to his homeland in 1933 to protest against the newly elected Nazi party, and joined the new Confessing Church, having rejected his previous Protestant church for bowing to Hitlers demands. He worked in a secret training centre for new pastors, run by the confessing church, for four years, as the Gestapo closed it down in 1937. After that, and with the signs of the oppression soon to be felt by the German people becoming clearer, Bonhoeffer took a more active role in his campaigning against the Nazis, eventually leading him to a cell in a prison and the hangmans noose in 1945. One of the main tenants of Christian discipleship is Jesus teaching on the mountain: pacifism and love for enemies. Bonhoeffer was an avid believer in these ideals, and wrote his still-relevant book, The Cost of Discipleship, based around those thoughts. He interpreted the maxim of If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also as a call for pacifism and working out disagreements by reasoning rather than force. But Bonhoeffer was forced to challenge his own morals when the news of the violent anti-Semitism ignited by Hitler spread and several of his friends joined the German resistance. Most of those opposed to the Nazis saw that the only way to end the suffering caused by Hitler was to kill him. Public meetings were banned, and the press were heavily censored. The huge propaganda departments of the government would not allow any attempt by Bonhoeffer to spread his Christian teaching. So Bonhoeffer felt that he could be quiet, and wait until the war finished, and congratulate those that ended it, or he could play an active role in a plot to kill Hitler. Firstly he helped smuggle Jews out of Germany, but was caught and forced to give up any legitimate teaching. Forsaking any hope of reaching a peaceful end to the conflict, Bonhoeffer helped the bomb plot to assassinate Hitler. When it failed he was incarcerated, and he contemplated his deviance from Christian law. Bonhoffer had to make, on his own, one of the main questions that hangs over all belief systems: Whether the moment dictates what a person should do, or if people should always keep constant what they believe in. In his case it was between fighting evil and helping those in need or staying true to his pacifist roots. He chose to take a drastic step against some of Christs teachings to implement others, leading to his arrest and execution. This inevitable question still hangs over the church, and a viable answer has yet to be suggested. Christian Aid is a charity funded by numerous churches in the UK and Ireland. Although it is funded and staffed by Christians, Christian Aid will support any people in need, regardless of religion or race, and does not attempt to convert those it helps to Christianity. Although it combats poverty and need immediately and continually in global trouble areas, it also tries too stop poverty at its root, and was a large part of the Jubilee 2000 campaign to abolish third world debt. Christian aid has interpreted Jesus teaching on Discipleship and concentrated on the aid and help parts of his teaching. It would look to examples from his life: When the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying hands on each one, he healed them (Luke 4:40) This sort of passage, frequent in the gospels, shows that Jesus cared greatly for the needy, rejecting the idea that they somehow deserved their punishment, and was not afraid to get dirty and ritually unclean to help. In the same way, Christian Aid was set up by Christians who do not judge those they help, and will go to any lengths to re-enact Christs good work. They also follow the teaching laid down by Jesus in his parables, such as the parable of the Good Samaritan: He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own Donkey, brought him to an Inn and took care of him. (Luke 10:34) The idea of this parable, where one man steps in where others fear to tread, inspires Christian Aid a lot, as they are physically helping the needy of the world while other members of society just stand back and watch, sometimes nodding approvingly. They see this following of Jesus as being true to one of Jesus main teachings, Love your neighbour as yourself And seek to harmonise the lot of people around the world by abolishing suffering through war, poverty and disasters. As Christian Aids motto goes; We believe in life before Death, Christian Aid is rejecting the traditional view of the churches preaching yet not acting, and are playing an active role in the reduction of suffering. They see Jesus message not just as an instruction to put up with life until you die, but also as a chance to help the needy, and prove before God their faith as Christians.

The influence of the media: Canadian elections

The influence of the media: Canadian elections Mao ZeDong once said that power comes out of the barrel of a gun. While that is still true, power also comes out of the manipulated images created to change ones thinking process and behaviour. Through the world of third person communication, technologies have generated various types of media. This paper will be discussing the effects and influential powers exercised by media in Canadian elections. During this complex process, understanding the brief history of media organizations as well as some information on Canada will provide a steppingstone for a deeper knowledge of the concepts and practices. Practically, in every attitude of the election campaign will engage the media. In fact, media is the ultimate platform where all political parties will be fighting on. Whether by budging through television and news reports or by purchasing time and space on mass media, parties must always use media to hype voters for support. Media organizations have their own agenda. They tend to sell themselves to the audiences with their star reporters, journalists, and as much as they can cover over the course of election. Inevitably, news will be discriminately selected, stories will be twisted, and they will be promoted with personal views and reactions. Mass media, therefore, will have powerful influences on voters. Canada, the country with the highest per capita immigration rate in the world, is far more familiar to multiculturalism than any other countries. Citizens are more social and less religious, while at the same time, keeping less class oriented and less partisan, than Americans who are more troubled by racial issues. As stated by Ian McAllister: Partisan dealignment implies that fewer voters begin the election cycle with such predisposition, making them more susceptible to the short-term issues and themes of the campaign. In other words, Canadians tend to have less political attachments and therefore consumers have greater effects on broadcast media. First Canadian media is the invention of newspaper. It is developed in the eighteenth century as gazettes. The official publications at that time are restricted only to edicts and laws, and some news from the home country; editorial materials are highly prohibited. Reporters are often beaten, threatened or jailed by the authorities. Until 1820s and 1830s, after William Lyon Mackenzie and Joseph Howe have fought and won the important court battle on in the area of publications materials, the right to publish freely can finally be ensured. Since then, various types of media have surfaced within citizens lives. Consumers are able to acquire contents that can be accessed through newspaper, television, radio, magazine, video product, or the internet. A new market has been innovated. Yet, the ownership of this new product remains in relatively few hands. These privately owned corporations, controlled by very wealthy people, dominate the Canadian media business. The effects are quite obvious, as Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky state: they are closely interlocked, and have important common interest with other major corporations, banks and government. Reporters keep close contact with the government as they could be benefited greatly from these close relationships. They could boost their popularity and influential ratings, as they were often given important scoops and leads, and they were known to have key connections to important backstage information. In the recent years of Canadian newspaper industries, some of the most significant changes were that the family-owned newspaper sold to newspaper chains owned by large business organizations. While reducing the production cost, newspapers became within reach of ordinary people, whereas, in the nineteenth century, newspapers were relatively expensive and available only to the elites. One of the biggest newspaper companies, Canwest, now under the control of Shaw Media, owns thirteen newspapers in Canada, which together control over thirty percent of Canadas newspapers circulation. Another large communications company is Sun Media, which issues thirty six different newspapers, making it the most number of papers per company. The two companies cover up to fifty one percent of the total number of newspaper and take over fifty-four percent of Canadas total newspapers circulation, thus, creating a concentrated ownership. With dominate powers; these two companies are in much lesser competiti on forces. They will feel unnecessary needs on the range of media information than do the need to make profits and the organizational structure of news-gathering and reporting. As a result, concentrated ownership is seen as limiting the range of ideas and information that reach the public. The limitation on the range of ideas and information was further explained by Walter Lippman who first proposed that the function of news is to signalize an event. The concept can be understood more in details by the argument made by Bernard Cohen after his research during the 1960s, The press is significantly more than a purveyor of information and opinion, it may not be successful much of the time in telling people what to think, but it is stunningly successful in telling its readers what to think about. During the elections of 1988, as one of the major campaign themes, the New Democratic Party (NDP) constructed the following message (audio): The job is hard work. I love it and Im good at but Canadas good Medicare is being threatened by the Mulroney free trade deal. In the United States Ive seen whole families wiped out by one illness. We cant let that happen here in Canada. The New Democrats started Medicare and I know I can trust Ed Broadbent to fight for it. This time, Ed Broadb ent. The short commercial, highlighting a nurses fear on the health care system of Canada, have created the NDPs most successful election in the history, a 20.4 percent of votes with 43 district seats in the House of Commons. Media plays a role in social learning. The first appearance of this effect can be extracted from the World War I; when tens of millions of people being entertained, and influenced by the latest Hollywood films, and when large numbers of population were being subjugated and manipulated by the propagandas created by Hitler and Stalin. The first research on such effects was conducted in 1920s and 1930s, and sometimes called the magic bullet theory. The hypothesis behind was that media images could directly penetrate peoples conscious and unconscious thoughts. In a study of 1,800 children and adolescents, Herbert Blumer concluded that when his subjects saw behaviours of the actors in the films that were beyond their own experiences, subjects behaviours were altered primarily based on what they had been seen at the movies. To be effective and influential, political parties must find consistent association between media viewing and an increase in changing behaviour. Effective broadcast of media is like the shadow striker; it hits the viewer anonymously. Agenda-setting and priming can be adopted for an effective broadcast to influence viewers. Various researches on agenda-setting involved relationship between the priorities on a particular issue set by the media and by the public. McCombs whom first started researches on agenda setting noted that the media influence what people believe before they reach a decision, particularly and election decision. If candidate is able to lead voters to a realization on a particular issue, and set it to top priority, then they may have an effective advantage. With a condition that the voter is not a partisan, in which something Canada tends to have less of. Priming the audience is identified by Iyengar and Kinder as a phenomenon that they described as by calling attention to some matters while ignoring others, television news influences the standards by which governments, presidents, policies, and candidates fo r public office are judged. If the television news broadcast the environmental issues over a significant time period as lead items, then environmental issues will be the deciding factors to the government for viewers. When it comes to television advertising, these techniques can be very effective. Another important finding on media effect is the role of repeated messages which was studied by Rothschild and Ray(1974). In an experiment using short ads about candidates, 20 percent of the subjects remembered the candidates after the message had been presented once; 55 percent of the subjects could name the candidates after it had been presented six times. The experience can be summarized into; message repetition is an important factor in familiarizing voters with candidates and issues. In Canada, the current election laws give the governing party enormous advantage in the media campaign. During each election campaign, each broadcaster must have a certain amount of minutes made available for political parties to purchase for advertising based on the number of seats that each party has in the House of Commons, the percentage of the vote in the last election, and the number of each party candidates running for election. In 2008 election campaign, 396 minutes in total were allocated; the governing party, the Conservative Party, had 95.5 minutes, the runner up, the Liberal Party, had 82.5 minutes, and the New Democracy Party only had 45 minutes. The result of the 2008 election was the Conservative Party won 143 seats with 37.6 percent in vote, the Liberal Party has 77 seats with 26.2 percent in vote, and the New Democracy Party has 37 seats with 18.2 percent in vote.In concept, with the datatand advertisers at least as much as they cover the election.

Teacher Misconduct Cases

Teacher Misconduct Cases Abstract Where do we draw the line between acceptable and unacceptable behavior for a teacher? District policies on conduct have been notoriously vague so as to give the district the necessary leeway to judge a broad range of potential behaviors that may fall under the umbrella of misconduct. Unfortunately, what we find with this is that line is so undefined that good teachers may believe they are conducting themselves appropriately only to find that their private conduct off school grounds can land them in hot water and cause them to lose their jobs or teaching licenses. To further complicate matters, school districts may have different definitions of moral behavior based on the personal experiences of those who are applying the law. I will illustrate in my paper how society has changed over the years about what it views as immoral and what it views as acceptable. Some of the conduct that I will be discussing in my research paper will cover activities that, had the teachers carried them out in a different time, would not have been regarded as breaches of moral code and that the attitudes toward their behavior are purely the result of social constructs that are subject to change as society changes. What constitutes as bad behavior may, in certain, cases may be colored by the perceptions of society. What we considered appropriate in the past, such as whipping the hands of small children with a ruler in the classroom, would be regarded as abuse today, and the teacher could possibly be brought up on criminal charges for such an offense. Dan Coleman writes in his article, Rules for Teachers in 1872 1915, that teachers were not permitted to leave their homes between the hours of 8:00 pm and 6:00 am, and could not engage in any social activities other than those sponsored by the school or the local church. Male teachers had restrictions on how often they could court a woman and female teachers were not even allowed to be courted by a man, or even to be married (Coleman). Rules were so restrictive that it was not uncommon to lose teachers in the middle of the school year. According to an article One Room Schools, published by the Clark Library in Michigan, one district had employed n inety-nine new teachers in their one-room school house over a period of eighty-six years (Boles). Teacher conduct can indeed be very harmful to the children theyre charged with teaching, and there is something to be said about expecting that teachers will conduct themselves appropriately in public, where students or parents may be watching. But throughout our history as a nation, we have held our teachers to a higher standard of morality and, as evidenced in the article above, high turnover rates and reluctance to enter the teaching profession may be the result. Our society has recognized this flaw and has taken steps to ease off of prying into the most private aspects of our teachers personal lives and shift focus from what or who our teachers are as individuals, to how they perform as teachers and how they conduct themselves in the classroom and, to a lesser extent, in public. Morrison v. State Board of Education Marc S. Morrison was, in early 1960s, a typical American man with a wife and a job. Mr. Morrison carried a General Secondary Life Diploma and a Life Diploma to Teach Exceptional Children in the state of California and he was employed as a teacher in the Lowell Joint School District in Whittier, California. According to an article written by J. Tobriner for the Stanford Law School Library, Mr. Morrison maintained his employment with no record of complaints or misconduct in the classroom and only a minor incident which regarded his conduct outside of the school. His record reflected that he was a near perfect employee until he was asked to resign in 1963 over a brief romantic encounter with another man. During his employment at the Lowell Joint School District, Mr. Morrison had befriended a fellow teacher, Fred Schneringer, who was also married at the time. In response to a period of financial stress that Mr. Schneringer experienced in 1963, Mr. Morrison offered his council and support to his friend. This resulted in an emotional closeness between the two men that ultimately led them down a more romantic path in their long-time friendship. The two men engaged in what was described by Arthur S. Leonard in his book, Sexuality and the Law: An Encyclopedia of Major Legal Cases, as being pseudo-sexual in nature, likely limited to cuddling or even self-gratification in one anothers company. There was no evidence or testimony to support that actual homosexual acts had been performed (Leonard). Bear in mind that in the State of California in the 1960s, homosexual activities were legitimately illegal, and regarded as immoral on a social level. If a teacher engaged in illegal or immoral activ ity, the school board would be justified in looking into the case and potentially revoking the teaching certification on the grounds of criminal activity or immoral behavior, but Mr. Morrison was never arrested for homosexuality, and he carried out his actions in a private setting with what he believed was a trusted partner. Legal or illegal, Mr. Morrison was ultimately forced to resign from his teaching position when Mr. Schneringer reported the incident one year after the fact to Mr. Morrisons supervisor. Over a year and a half after his resignation (two and a half years after the incident), the Lowell Joint School District had received notification that the incident had occurred with a former teacher, and they sought to revoke Mr. Morrisons life diplomas for his immoral and willful homosexual acts. (Tobriner) Mr. Morrison took the school district to court of the matter and the Supreme court of California ultimately ruled that the Lowell Joint School Districts policies specified that the conduct worthy of revoking certification was limited to immoral acts which render the teacher unfit to teach. Mr. Morrison did not repeat his homosexual behaviors, did not engage in criminal homosexual acts, and his personal sexual leanings -which he did not further act upon- did not render him unfit to teach. For that reason, the school boards order to revoke Mr. Morrisons diplomas and certifications was vacated and Mr. Morrison retained his diplomas (Tobriner). Pettit v. State Board of Education In another court case in California, Elizabeth K. Pettit was an elementary school teacher in Los Angeles from 1957 until her arrest in 1967, which resulted in her pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges in connection to an act of indecency. According to an article in the Stanford Law Library, in 1967, Pettit and her husband had applied to a private swingers club in Los Angeles, California for the purpose of engaging in sexual acts with different partners. The club involved a formal application and approval process for the purpose of protecting club members from the public eye (Burke). On December 2, 1967, the Pettits attended a gathering held at the private residence of one of the members of the swingers club. Also in attendance that evening was a Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Berk, who had gained admittance to the club under false pretenses and was conducting a sting operation to catch and arrest party goers who were engaged in acts of indecency. Sergeant Berk witnessed Mrs. Pettit performing oral sex on three different men other than her husband, in the full view of many spectators. She was arrested and charged with three counts of criminal oral copulation, but pleaded guilty to a lesser, misdemeanor offense of public indecency and was fined and placed on probation (Burke). Mrs. Pettit was dismissed from her teaching position and stripped of her teaching certifications. She sued the school board to have her certifications reinstated, arguing that the precedent set with the Morrison case, as mentioned above, provided precedent that sexual conduct, when engaged privately, should be disregarded when determining the fitness of an individual to teach children. The courts did not see the Pettit case as being similar enough to the Morrison case to warrant its consideration because it was ruled that Mrs. Pettit did not necessarily maintain a totally private sexual life as Mr. Morrison did, and she did engage in sexual activities that were illegal in the state of California. Additionally, Robert Willet writes in his 1973 law review, Unfitness to Teach: Credential Revocation and Dismissal for Sexual Conduct, that it was revealed in the trial proceedings that Mrs. Pettit and her husband had participated in two televised interviews in which they donned masks and sp oke frankly about their non-traditional sexual lives. In spite of their efforts to disguise themselves, Mrs. Pettit was recognized by a fellow teacher and the school officials were notified. Mrs. Pettit was judged to have engaged in illicit sexual activity and immoral behavior and this rightly gave cause to the school board to revoke her teaching certification (Willett). In todays social climate, it may seem irrational to intrude on the private sexual affairs of a teacher, especially when those affairs were intended to be kept private. The Pettit and Morrison cases display uninvited and unwelcome intrusions into the most private aspect of a persons life. Mr. Morrison and Mrs. Pettit took care to conceal their immoral acts from the public view, and were victims of conservative social values being applied in obtuse ways to their careers as teachers. American values have since changed, and while many may view these cases as being gross breaches of privacy, in the midcentury American era in which they occurred, these teachers did indeed violate the ethics code established by their school systems. Attitudes over social morality change over time and I could see that very plainly when I challenged myself to find modern cases of teachers getting fired for their private sexual affairs. I found a handful of cases where teachers had the unfortunate experience of being terminated when their private sex tapes were sent to parents or posted on the internet against their wishes, but overwhelmingly, I found that my search results were dominated by instances of sexual discrimination in Catholic and Christian private schools. One instance that stood out was a case reported by the Montana Standard in which a Catholic middle school teacher who is a lesbian, was fired from her position in Butte, Montana because she had become pregnant (Montana Standard). After teaching at the school for 10 years and having a satisfactory performance record, Ms. Shaela Evenson received notice that she was being terminated after she had announced the happy news of her pregnancy on Facebook. In posting her news, she revealed to parents and students that she had become pregnant out of wedlock and would be an unmarried mother. This is not in keeping with the morality standards outlined by the Central Catholic School District in Montana, and as such, Ms. Evenson was marked as a teacher who has engaged in conduct unfitting for an educator for this particular school system. There are so many instances of blatant teacher misconduct where children are placed in danger or influenced negatively by an educator. With all of these bad teachers in the school system, can we really afford to alienate good teachers whose primary offenses are being different and engaging in counter-culture behaviors in their own private time, away from the school and the children? By and large, our culture is moving away from dictating the private lives of our teachers, as we can see a clear progression from the policies teachers were held to in the 1800s, when the minutia of their personal lives was scrutinized, through a period of time when teachers tested the boundaries of the moral clauses of their contracts and fought for ground in the pursuit of freedom to maintain the private life of their choosing. I believe the hard-earned ground these teachers fought for the 1960s is providing the foundation for teachers today to be allowed to live their lives as they see fit. The social change that has taken place will help citizens maintain a barrier and have respect not to pry into a teachers personal life. This will especially come into play when teachers have the unfortunate experience of having embarrassing media publically posted without their consent. We cannot support an environment that demonizes teachers and allows people to launch witch-hunts to ferret out any teachers who, behind the privacy of closed doors, enjoy their lives on their own personal time. References: Coleman, Dan. (n.d.). Rules for Teachers in 1872 1915. Retrieved March 16, 2017, from http://www.openculture.com/2013/09/rules-for-teachers-in-1872-1915-no-drinking-smoking-or-trips-to-barber-shops-and-ice-cream-parlors.html Boles, Frank. (1998). One Room Schools. Retrieved March 16, 2017, from https://www.cmich.edu/library/clarke/ResearchResources/Michigan_Material_Statewide/One_Room_Schools/Pages/Teachers.aspx Brady, Josie. (n.d.). Education in the 1800s. Retrieved March 16, 2017, from https://www.education.ne.gov/nebooks/ebooks/Education_in_the_1800s.pdf Tobriner, J. (n.d.). Stanford Law School Robert Crown Law Library. Morrison V. State Board of Education. Retrieved March 16, 2017, from http://scocal.stanford.edu/opinion/morrison-v-state-board-education-27498 Leonard, Arthur. S. (2013). Sexuality and the law: an encyclopedia of major legal cases. New York, NY: Routledge. Burke, J. (n.d.). Stanford Law School Robert Crown Law Library. Pettit V. State Board of Education. Retrieved March 17, 2017, from http://scocal.stanford.edu/opinion/pettit-v-state-board-education-27763 Willett, Robert. E. (1973). Unfitness to Teach: Credential Revocation and Dismissal for Sexual Conduct. California Law Review, 61(6), 5th ser. Retrieved March 16, 2017, from http://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2571context=californialawreview Montana Standard Staff (2014, August 23). Teacher fired for pregnancy sues Butte Catholic schools. Retrieved March 16, 2017, from http://mtstandard.com/news/local/teacher-fired-for-pregnancy-sues-butte-catholic-schools/article_9f3df7ce-29a7-11e4-805b-001a4bcf887a.html

Study Abroad :: essays research papers

Going on this fourteen day Caribbean Cruise was the best time of my life! It was so much fun socially and it was extremely educational. This trip gave me the opportunity to experience things I never would have imagined. Touring the hotels and resorts made me want to pursue this major even more than I previously had. Now that I have had the behind-the-scenes and up close look at the career I am positive I made the right career decision.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Whether it be swimming with Sting Rays, snorkeling with exotic fish, or even just staring off into the endless ocean, each and every one thing I received the opportunity to do on this trip I am thankful for. All are things I have not really previously experienced and really did not even expect to. Not only were these experiences incredible but witnessing first hand $125,000 dollar a night hotel rooms and touring the most luxurious resorts in the world are all experiences that not many people get to do. Those that do get to do these amazing things are very lucky. Only seeing and learning half of what we did on this study abroad would have made me content. I honestly do not think I could have asked for a more educational yet extremely great and fun experience.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The one day that specifically sticks out in my head was the day in Atlantis when we toured several hotels and resorts. I enjoyed this because it was such a learning experience. Comparing all of the different resorts really helped me to pinpoint what it is exactly I want to do in the industry. This tour consisted of four tours through some of the most popular hotels and resorts in the Bahamas. Actually, some of the most respected hotel resorts in the world. The hotel resorts that we explored were the, Radisson Cable Beach and Golf Resort, The Nassau Beach Hotel, The Wyndham Nassau Resort and Sandals Resort.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Nassau Beach Hotel seemed to be geared more toward teens and college students. There were a lot of younger people there and there were even some other college groups there. Also the hotel had brochures and signs about Spring Break and group packages for students. Wyndham Nassau Resort I feel directed a lot of attention toward their convention area and their conference areas, so that makes me think they target some company and group markets.

Images and Imagery in Macbeth Essay -- Macbeth essays

Imagery in Macbeth    The Bard of Avon considers imagery one of many elements in his tragedy Macbeth which give underpinning to the theme of the drama. The imagery might be said to be not a goal in itself but a means to an end. In Fools of Time: Studies in Shakespearean Tragedy, Northrop Frye shows how the playwright uses imagery to reinforce the theme: This theme is at its clearest where we are most in sympathy with the nemesis. Thus at the end of Macbeth, after the proclamation "the time is free," and of promises to make reparations of Macbeth's tyranny "Which would be planted newly with the time," there will be a renewal not only of time but of the whole rhythm of nature symbolized by the word "measure," which includes both the music of the spheres and the dispensing of human justice [. . .]. (94-95) In his book, On the Design of Shakespearean Tragedy, H. S. Wilson interprets the imagery of Macbeth: Macbeth is a play in which the poetic atmosphere is very important; so important, indeed, that some recent commentators give the impression that this atmosphere, as created by the imagery of the play, is its determining quality. For those who pay most attention to these powerful atmospheric suggestions, this is doubtless true. Mr. Kenneth Muir, in his introduction to the play - which does not, by the way, interpret it simply from this point of view - aptly describes the cumulative effect of the imagery: "The contrast between light and darkness is part of a general antithesis between good and evil, devils and angels, evil and grace, hell and heaven . . . and the disease images of IV, iii and in the last act clearly reflect both the evil which is a disease, and Macbeth himself who is the disease from which his country suffe... ...e's Tragic Heroes: Slaves of Passion. New York: Barnes and Noble, 1970. Frye, Northrop. Fools of Time: Studies in Shakespearean Tragedy. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press, 1967. Kermode, Frank. "Macbeth." The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1972. Knights, L.C. "Macbeth." Shakespeare: The Tragedies. A Collectiion of Critical Essays. Alfred Harbage, ed. Englewwod Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1964. Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. http://chemicool.com/Shakespeare/macbeth/full.html, no lin. Warren, Roger. Shakespeare Survey 30.   N.p.: n.p., 1977. Pp. 177-78. Rpt. in Shakespeare in the Theatre: An Anthology of Criticism. Stanley Wells, ed. England: Oxford University Press, 2000. Wilson, H. S. On the Design of Shakespearean Tragedy. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press, 1957.

Romance and Anti-Romance in Shakespeares The Tempest Essay -- Tempest

Romance and Anti-Romance in The Tempest      Ã‚  Ã‚   The specific genre classification that one may give to a piece such as The Tempest is often thought to be highly confusing. This is because so many of the qualities of a romance and a realism can be applied to it's words and actions, but at the same time pull away from the very sense of the genre that it is trying to achieve. A romance has many specific qualities, most of which rely on the fancy and imagination of the viewer or the reader. In some circles, it is even known as escapist. Not to the extreme of escapist drama, but certainly free from the boundaries of the mortal world as we know it. In reading the critical essay entitled "The Tempest as Romance and Anti-Romance by Richard Hillman," I found many important points arguing both for and against the idea that it is a romance. He states quite plainly at the beginning that in any romance audiences expect to move and travel widely to exotic places, different times, and widely throughout the realm of imagination. In his opinion, The Tempest takes these principles farther than any previous works in order to destroy them (Hillman 141). In other words, Shakespeare goes to immense trouble to simply set us up for a great fall. The elements that produce fantasy in this work and make it known that it is a specific genre basically prove to be as insubstantial as Prospero's spirit actors. Hillman claims that these elements can simply vanish into thin air and leave quite disturbing resonances with the audiences after their departure. The Tempest is certainly a play of confinements, contortions, and problems (Hillman 142), that much is fairly obvious from the beginning. The island itself is exotic and fantastic in the beginning, pr... ...Restoration Tragicomedy." ELH 51.3 (Fall 1984): 447-64. Eichner, Hans. "The Rise of Modern Science and the Genesis of Romanticism." PMLA 97 (1982): 8-30. Hillman, Richard   The Tempest as Romance and Anti-Romance Shakespeare Quarterly. 34 (1983), 426-432. Langley, Michael. The Appropriation of the Tempest, 1700-1800." Shakespeare Survey 43 (1990): 99-109. Maguire, Nancy Klein. Regicide and Restoration: English Tragicomedy, 1660-1671. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1992. Nicoll, Allardyce. Dryden as an Adapter of Shakespeare. London: Shakespeare Society, 1922. Palmer, D.J. Shakespeare's Later Comedies: An Anthology of Modern Criticism. Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1971. Peterson, Douglas L. Time, Tide, and Tempest Berkeley: U of California P, 1970. 1-103. Spencer, Christopher, Shakespeare: Dream and Tempest.   Urbana: U of Illinois P, 1965. 109-99. Romance and Anti-Romance in Shakespeare's The Tempest Essay -- Tempest Romance and Anti-Romance in The Tempest      Ã‚  Ã‚   The specific genre classification that one may give to a piece such as The Tempest is often thought to be highly confusing. This is because so many of the qualities of a romance and a realism can be applied to it's words and actions, but at the same time pull away from the very sense of the genre that it is trying to achieve. A romance has many specific qualities, most of which rely on the fancy and imagination of the viewer or the reader. In some circles, it is even known as escapist. Not to the extreme of escapist drama, but certainly free from the boundaries of the mortal world as we know it. In reading the critical essay entitled "The Tempest as Romance and Anti-Romance by Richard Hillman," I found many important points arguing both for and against the idea that it is a romance. He states quite plainly at the beginning that in any romance audiences expect to move and travel widely to exotic places, different times, and widely throughout the realm of imagination. In his opinion, The Tempest takes these principles farther than any previous works in order to destroy them (Hillman 141). In other words, Shakespeare goes to immense trouble to simply set us up for a great fall. The elements that produce fantasy in this work and make it known that it is a specific genre basically prove to be as insubstantial as Prospero's spirit actors. Hillman claims that these elements can simply vanish into thin air and leave quite disturbing resonances with the audiences after their departure. The Tempest is certainly a play of confinements, contortions, and problems (Hillman 142), that much is fairly obvious from the beginning. The island itself is exotic and fantastic in the beginning, pr... ...Restoration Tragicomedy." ELH 51.3 (Fall 1984): 447-64. Eichner, Hans. "The Rise of Modern Science and the Genesis of Romanticism." PMLA 97 (1982): 8-30. Hillman, Richard   The Tempest as Romance and Anti-Romance Shakespeare Quarterly. 34 (1983), 426-432. Langley, Michael. The Appropriation of the Tempest, 1700-1800." Shakespeare Survey 43 (1990): 99-109. Maguire, Nancy Klein. Regicide and Restoration: English Tragicomedy, 1660-1671. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1992. Nicoll, Allardyce. Dryden as an Adapter of Shakespeare. London: Shakespeare Society, 1922. Palmer, D.J. Shakespeare's Later Comedies: An Anthology of Modern Criticism. Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1971. Peterson, Douglas L. Time, Tide, and Tempest Berkeley: U of California P, 1970. 1-103. Spencer, Christopher, Shakespeare: Dream and Tempest.   Urbana: U of Illinois P, 1965. 109-99.

Arts and pornography Essay

?No-one ever asks ‘When does art become realistic? ‘, or ‘When does art become abstract? ‘, or ‘When does art become literary? ‘, although questions like these make as much sense because art can be all or any of these things. This is because we can usually distinguish an abstract work from a realistic or literary one, whereas what pornography is, is unclear in the minds of most people. Pornography derives from two Greek words: porne, which means harlot, and graphos, which refers to writing; however, we use the term today to describe much more than stories about prostitutes. And when we use it, it is as more than the definition of a class of writing and visual art: it has an ethical (usually pejorative) connotation also. And, like most ethical and aesthetic terms, its use is intensely personal. Just as beautiful really means no more than ‘I like it (although I cannot clearly explain why)’, pornographic means ‘I find this offensive (although I cannot really explain why)’. There is no generally agreed meaning for either of these terms – which bedevils our discussion of both. Art exists in many different forms. Sculpture, paintings, graphics, drawings and such are part of the visual art. Dance, film, music and theater, as well as literature, are also forms of art. Throughout the years, art has, in all of its forms, interpreted, presented, or made allusion to nudity. Many famous masterpieces or important art represent nude people, and sometimes even persons making love; yet, it is recognized as beautiful art by many people. What difference is there, if any, in the interpretation and importance that we humans give to nude art and pornography? So it leads to my first knowledge issue: When does art become pornography? Here is a real life example. As we all know, our school invites some nude models for art class, they expose their nude bodies to the art students. I am not sure if it is the reason why many guys take art. Do you think it is art, nasty art, performance art or pornography? Art, nudity and pornography are different, and every individual’s sense perception of what these are will also be different. The area of knowledge of art is one of the most subjective of all the areas of knowledge, which explains why persons interpret it differently. Nudity may or may not be included in the AoK of Art, but it is a part of many art pieces. Nudity is present in many forms, for example, the famous sculpture of David by Michelangelo Buonarroti. This 5. 17 meter tall statue represents the biblical King David, nude, and it is recognized by many as a masterpiece, and some even consider it a symbol of the defense of civil rights. Vitruvian Man, by Leonardo Da Vinci, is the drawing of a nude man, legs and arms stretched. Michelangelo did not limit himself to sculpting nude man, but also painted many important figures nude on the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling, such as Adam, Eve, Jesus, and others. All these art pieces, famous and important, widely recognized masterpieces include nudity. Of course, the importance and recognition of these art pieces is debatable and can be argued, but many people and important art communities consider them to be masterpieces. These art pieces illustrate both, men and women, sometimes together, other times separated, but share many things in common. All of these art pieces include nudity, and are recognized by many as important art. But then, when does art become pornography? Is it just like crossing a line, on one side its art and the closer you get to that line, it becomes less art until you cross that line and it becomes pornography? If that is the case, what if you stand on the line, would it be neither art nor pornography, or both? Every single person can interpret it as they want, but as I see it, many factors affect the decision of whether it is art or pornography. I see it as a line, on one side it is art, and on the other it is pornography, because I don’t think that an art piece can be both art and pornography at the same time for a single person. I emphasize on the fact that it is for a single person, as this is very subjective. Although this is very subjective, as mentioned before, it is also very cultural. In most of Western Europe, nudity is seen in a very different way than in the Middle East, due to cultural and historical differences. In the Middle East, for example, Muslim women must wear the burkha, while in Western Europe there are many semi-nudist or nudist beaches that anyone, regardless of age and gender, can enjoy. This, however, does not justify or imply anything else than the fact that there are higher chances for western Europeans to have higher limits and Middle Eastern people to have lower. It only means higher chances, because as mentioned before, although culture is a factor that affects where the individual puts the limit, it still is subjective, based on beliefs, ideals, past experiences, and many other factors. The Ways of Knowing apply to this judgment or decision of whether it is art or pornography in different ways for each individual. Sense perception, which includes the five senses, is the main element that allows the interpreter to perceive the art piece, whether it is through hearing, seeing, or touching. The other two senses, smelling and tasting, are not as relevant for the interpretation of the forms of art mentioned earlier. With the three senses mentioned (sight, hear and touch), a person can interpret a work of art and decide what it is, give an interpretation, a symbol, a meaning to it. Then, through emotions, the person can associate feelings and ideas to the work of art. If the person feels shocked or offended (emotions) from seeing (sense perception) a nude sculpture, he or she might decide it is pornography. Finally language is very important as it is one of the most important filters affecting the decision between art and pornography. The simple definitions of what is art and what is pornography are evidences of the implications of language. Art can be defined as â€Å"the quality, production, expression or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance† in other words, something exceptional according to a set of principles (decided by a majority of people). According to this definition, the masterpieces mentioned before are still art. Pornography is more difficult to define. The first definition (from dictionary. com) describes pornography as â€Å"obscene writings, drawings, photographs especially those having little or no artistic merit†. The definition states â€Å"obscene† materials, but obscenity is very subjective and varies from person to person, just like the limit at which art becomes pornography. The second part of the definition is very interesting, and I would agree with it: materials with â€Å"little or no artistic merit† so that would mean that is not exceptional according to the set of principles previously mentioned, which again supports the idea that it’s subjective. Another definition of pornography (from The American Heritage ® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition) states it is â€Å"sexually explicit [material] whose primary purpose is to cause sexual arousal†. This definition is more ambiguous then the first mentioned. According to this definition, two factors are needed in order for something to be pornography: it needs to be sexually explicit, and it needs to primarily cause sexual arousal. The problem with this definition is that anything containing nudity is sexually explicit, so all the masterpieces mentioned above have at least the first factor needed to be considered pornography (according to this definition). The second part of the definition is very subjective, because we cannot know what the purpose of the nude sculpture, drawing or painting was unless the author tells us. To conclude, in my personal point of view, art cannot â€Å"become† pornography, it is either born as art, or born as pornography, and this depends on each individual’s interpretation of the material in question. Not only the visual arts, but other forms of arts, especially Medias, have many influences on young people. Anyone who watches television, goes to the movies, or picks up a magazine today knows sex is prominent across all media. Discussions regarding the early sexualization of children and young people are an increasingly hot topic with celebrities and politicians alike having something to say. An analysis of use of the term sexualisation published on the Global Media Insight blogspot showed that in early 2010 use of the term ‘sexualisation’ in both mainstream and social media more than doubled (fig. 1). This is not to say that the concerns behind the idea of sexualised childhood are new ones; it does however suggest that this is a concept which is increasingly in the collective public consciousness. Although the effects of sexual content have received little attention from researchers in the 1980s, there are strong theoretical reasons to believe that media may play an especially important role in the socialization of sexual knowledge, attitudes and behavior. These were well summarized by Elizabeth Roberts (1982): â€Å"(1) the adult nature of most programming children watch; (2) children’s limited access to or experience with countervailing information or ideas; (3) the ‘realism’ with which roles, relationships, and lifestyles are portrayed; and (4) the overwhelming consistency of the messages about sexuality that are communicated† (Roberts, 1982, p. 209). Each of these points is even more pertinent in 1998 than in 1982. Children watch a great deal of adult programming, and there has been a steady increase in the frequency and explicitness of sexual content on broadcast television. Young people have access to a much wider range of video content as well as to other entertainment media than they did in the early 1980s. Movies Adolescents see movies in theaters, and the same movies are soon available on pay TV channels and video tape. Many of these movies are â€Å"R-rated. † They contain more frequent and more explicit portrayals of sexual behavior than broadcast TV – an average of 17. 5 per film in one analysis (Greenberg, Siemicki, Dorfman, Heeter, Stanley, Soderman, &Linsangan, 1993). Like TV, the most frequent sexual activity shown is unmarried sexual intercourse. Sex is often in the context of profanity, alcohol and drug use, and nudity. Not only have the movies, music world confronted similar problem as well. Let’s see a real example. Modern music is becoming increasingly pornographic. It is not about being old-fashioned. It’s about keeping values that are important in the modern world. We can’t watch modern stars like Britney Spears or Lady Gaga with a two-year-old. 99 percent of the charts in R&B and 99 percent of that is soft pornography. Children and young people are being forced to grow up too young. A researcher named Larson (1995) used an experience sampling technique to analyze the relationship between emotional states and the use of television and other media. He argues that adolescents experience increased emotionality and that such emotionality may be related to increased use of music because â€Å"it both speaks to adolescents’ personal issues and helps them create a separate experiential space at home†¦ music is also important to adolescents because it helps define their public self outside the family†. Private, solitary use of both music and television use by adolescents is important in providing them an opportunity to deal with the stress and emotionality of this stage of development. Young people select media which entertain them, contribute to their identity formation, help them cope with their problems and emotional mood states, and form the basis of their selection into youth subcultures. Today’s generation of youth has easier access to sexual content. From television, movies, magazines, and advertisements (billboards, print, and electronic), to music (on radio and in music videos) and the Internet, youth who are interested in nudity, sexual role models, romance and depictions of sex and intercourse, have a range of media options readily available. Media provide perhaps the least embarrassing way to get information about sex and romance.

Bag of Bones CHAPTER THIRTEEN

I caught the measles when I was eight, and I was precise ill. I position you were pass to die, my fuss t anile me formerly, and he was not a musical composition given to exaggeration. He t middle-aged me ab app interrogative how he and my arrest had dunked me in a tub of frosty modify iodine and both(a) darkness, deuce of them at to the lowest degree half-convinced the shock of it would s vertex my heart, neertheless two of them comp allowely convinced that Id burn up before their eyeb both if they didnt do mostthing. I had begun to speak in a loud, monotonously discursive utterance ab place the intelligent figures I truism in the path angels suffice to bear me a modality, my terrified m originator(a) was sure and the lead while my father took my temperature before the frosty plunge, he vocalize that the mercury on the darkened Johnson & Johnson rectal thermometer had stood at a hundred and cardinal degrees. After that, he said, he didnt induce for granted take it invariablyy to a greater extent(prenominal).I dont conceive any b practiced figures, save I remember a strange period of clipping that was standardised being in a fun crime syndicate cor relieveor w present s eeral different movies were showing at once. The public grew elastic, bulging in places w present it had neer bulged before, wavering in places where it had always been solid. slew ab turn stick by by of them put ane of entirely snipyplaceming impossibly t bothdarted in and come forward of my room on scissoring, cartoonish legs. Their sm alto leaseher-armner of speaking wholly came out booming, with instant echoes. some corpse shook a p shine of baby-shoes in my boldness. I masterm to remember my brother, Siddy, sticky his authorise into his shirt and making reiterate arm- ut intimatelyt noises. Con canuity broke trim. Everything came in segments, preternatural wieners on a poison string.In the socio-economic classs betwixt ac cordingly and the summertime I re dark to Sara Laughs, I had the usual sicknesses, infections, and insults to the body, only when never anything give care that feverish interlude when I was eight. I never anticipate to believing, I suppose, that such experiences are verbalizeular to children, people with malaria, or maybe those deplorable catastrophic mental break devours. But on the wickedness of July s tied(p)th and the morning of July eighth, I lived finished a period of time remarkably same(p) that childhood delirium. Dreaming, waking, wretched they were every unmatched. Ill tell you as outflank I can, only when postal code I say can convey the unfamiliarity of that experience. It was as if I had appoint a secret passage hidden safe beyond the wall of the world and went weirdy along it.First thither was music. non Dixieland, because at that place were no horns, but analogous Dixieland. A primitive, reeling kind of bebop. Three or four acoustic guitars, a harmonica, a stand-up bass (or maybe a pair). Behind all of this was a hard, talented drumming that didnt sound as if it was advent from a real drum it sounded as if some ace with a lot of percussive talent was whopping on a bunch of boxes. past a wo art objects division joined in a accountertenor voice, not quite humannish, roughing all over the blue notes. It was laughing and urgent and ominous all at the same time, and I knew at once that I was auditory sense Sara Tidwell, who had never cut a record in her life. I was hearing Sara Laughs, and man, she was rocking.You manage were sacking keyst cardinal to MANderley,Were gonna dance on the SANderley,Im gonna sing with the BANderley,We gonna ball all we CANderley Ball me, baby, yeaThe basses yes, thither were two broke out in a barnyard shuffle analogous the break in Elviss version of minor Lets P flummox House, and hence on that point was a guitar solo Son Tidwell p readying that chickenscratch thing.Lights gleamed in the toss removehearted, and I mentation of a poetry from the fifties Claudine Clark telling Party Lights. And here they were, Japanese lanterns hung from the trees above the path of railroad-tie travel arouse from the house to the water. Party debiles stamp mystic circles of radiance in the dark red blue and green.Behind me, Sara was singing the bridge to her Manderley song florists chrysanthemum likes it nasty, mama likes it strong, mama likes to party all night long but it was fading. Sara and the Red-Top Boys had set up their bandstand in the driveway by the sound, about where George Footman had parked when he came to hang me with Max Devores subpoena. I was descending toward the lake through circles of radiance, past party lights surrounded by soft-winged moths. ace had found its way at bottom a lamp and it cast a monstrous, batlike shade off against the riblayer paper. The f press down-boxes Jo had put be berth the step were secure of night-bloom ing roses. In the light of the Japanese lanterns they looked blue. straight off the band was only a frail murmur I could hear Sara cheering out the lyric, laughing her way through it as though it were the funniest thing shed ever comprehend, all that Manderley-sanderley-canderley stuff, but I could no longer make out the individualistic words. Much clearer was the lap of the lake against the rocks at the institution of the steps, the hollow clunk of the cannisters low the swim blow, and the cry of a loon go out of the darkness. Some unrivaled was stand up on The Street to my dependable, at the edge of the lake. I couldnt see his face, but I could see the br stimulate sportcoat and the tee-shirt he was vesture chthonic it. The lapels cut off some of the letter of the message, so it looked like thisORMAEROUNI knew what it said anyway in dreams you most always get by, dont you? NORMAL SPERM COUNT, a Village Cafe yuck-it-up special if ever there was wizard.I was in the nitrogenernmost crinkleroom dreaming all this, and here I woke up enough to k promptly I was dreaming . . . except it was like waking into other dream, because Bunters bell was anchor ring madly and there was someone standing(a) in the hall. Mr. Normal Sperm find out? No, not him. The keister-shape falling on the portal wasnt quite human. It was slumped, the arms indistinct. I sit up into the silver move of the bell, clutching a loose puddle of sheet against my bleak waist, sure it was the shroud-thing out there the shroud-thing had jazz out of its grave to get me. enthrall dont, I said in a dry and trembling voice. Please dont, please.The nighttime on the thres resist raised its arms. It aint nuthin but a barn-dance scratch line Sara Tidwells laughing, furious voice sang. It aint nuthin but a round-and-roundI lay screen overthrow and pulled the sheet over my face in a infantile act of denial . . . and there I stood on our piddling lick of b for each one, wearing fair my undershorts. My feet were ankle-deep in the water. It was fond(p) the way the lake gets by midsummer. My dim shadow was cast two ways, in one direction by the scantling lunar month which rode low above the water, in another by the Japanese lantern with the moth caught inside it. The man whod been standing on the path was departed but he had left a plastic owl to mark his place. It stared at me with frozen, gold-ringed eyes.Hey IrishI looked out at the fluid float. Jo stood there. She must exact on the button clim provide out of the water, because she was unruffled dripping and her tomentum cerebri was plastered against her cheeks. She was wearing the two- put in bathing costume from the photo Id found, gray with red piping.Its been a long time, Irish what do you say?Say about what? I called tooshie, although I knew.About this She put her dig over her breasts and squeezed. Water ran out amongst her fingers and trickled crossways her knuckles.Come on, Irish, she said from beside and above me, come on, you bastard, lets go. I mat up her strip round off the sheet, pulling it easily out of my repose-numbed fingers. I shut my eyes, but she took my flip over and place it between her legs. As I found that velvety seam and began to stroke it open, she began to tour the lacunaet of my neck with her fingers.Youre not Jo, I said. Who are you?But no one was there to answer. I was in the woods. It was dark, and on the lake the loons were crying. I was walking the path to Jos studio. It wasnt a dream I could feel the self-possessed air against my skin and the occasional hustle of a rock into my bare touch on or heel. A mosquito buzzed around my ear and I waved it away. I was wearing chouse shorts, and at every step they pulled against a huge and throbbing erection.What the hell is this? I asked as Jos little barn gameboard studio loomed in the dark. I looked throne me and axiom Sara on her hill, not the char but the house, a long lodge j utting toward the nightbound lake. Whats mishap to me?Everythings all right, Mike, Jo said. She was standing on the float, observation as I swam toward her. She put her hands behind her neck like a calendar model, lifting her breasts more than fully into the go halter. As in the photo, I could see her nipples poking out the cloth. I was swimming in my underpants, and with the same huge erection.Everythings all right, Mike, Mattie said in the north bedroom, and I clear my eyes. She was sit beside me on the bed, calm and naked in the weak strike of the nightlight. Her hair was down, hanging to her shoulders. Her breasts were tiny, the size of teacups, but the nipples were large and distended. Between her legs, where my hand chill out lingered, was a powderpuff of blonde hair, down as down. Her body was wrapped in shadows like moth-wings, like rose-petals. thither was something urgently attractive about her as she sit down there she was like the prize you know youll never wi n at the carny wound gallery or the county fair ringtoss. The one they turn prickle on the top shelf. She reached under the sheet and folded her fingers over the stretched material of my undershorts.Everythings all right, it aint nuthin but a round-and-round, said the flying saucer voice as I climbed the steps to my married womans studio. I stooped, fished for the key from on a lower floor the mat, and took it out.I climbed the ladder to the float, wet and dripping, preceded by my englut sex is there anything, I wonder, so unintentionally comic as a sexually aroused man? Jo stood on the boards in her wet bathing beseem. I pulled Mattie into bed with me. I opened the admittance to Jos studio. All of these things happened at the same time, interweave in and out of each other like strands of some exotic circle or belt. The thing with Jo felt the most like a dream, the thing in the studio, me crossing the floor and tone down at my old green IBM, the least. Mattie in the north bedroom was somewhere in between.On the float Jo said, Do what you want. In the north bedroom Mattie said, Do what you want. In the studio, no one had to tell me anything. In there I knew exactly what I wanted.On the float I band my leave and put my lip on one of Jos breasts and sucked the cloth-covered nipple into my mouth. I tasted break out fabric and dank lake. She reached for me where I stuck out and I slapped her hand away. If she touched me I would come at once. I sucked, drinking back trickles of cotton-water, groping with my own hands, early-year caressing her ass and indeed yanking down the bottom half of her suit. I got it off her and she dropped to her knees. I did too, finally getting rid of my wet, clinging underpants and tossing them on top of her bikini panty. We go about each other that way, me naked, her almost.Who was the guy at the game? I panted. Who was he, Jo?No one in particular, Irish. secure another dish of bones.She laughed, because leaned back on her haunches and stared at me. Her navel was a tiny pitch blackness cup. thither was something queerly, attractively snakelike in her posture. Everything down there is death, she said, and press her cold palms and white, pruney fingers to my cheeks. She turned my head and wherefore(prenominal) curing it so I was looking into the lake. under the water I saw decomposing bodies slithering by, pulled by some deep current. Their wet eyes stared. Their fish-nibbled noses gaped. Their tongues lolled between white lips like tendrils of waterweed. Some of the brain light trailed pallid balloons of ship of the line guts some were little more than bone. Yet not yet the piling of this floating charnel parade could eliminate me from what I wanted. I shrugged my head plain of her hands, clitorised her down on the boards, and finally cooled what was so hard and litigious, sinking it deep. Her moon-silvered eyes stared up at me, through me, and I saw that one pupil was larger than th e other. That was how her eyes had looked on the TV monitor when I had identified her in the Derry County Morgue. She was dead. My wife was dead and I was fucking her corpse. Nor could even that actualization stop me. Who was he? I cried at her, covering her cold flesh as it lay on the wet boards. Who was he, Jo, for Christs pursuit tell me who he wasIn the north bedroom I pulled Mattie on top of me, relishing the feel of those lessened breasts against my office and the length of her entwining legs. Then I turn her over on the farther side of the bed. I felt her hand compass for me, and slapped it away if she touched me where she meant to touch me, I would come in an instant. Spread your legs, hurry, I said, and she did. I close my eyes, shutting out all other sensory input signal in favor of this. I pressed forward, then stopped. I make one little ad dearment, pushing at my englut penis with the side of my hand, then furled my hips and slipped into her like a finger in a silk-lined glove. She looked up at me, wide-eyed, then put a hand on my cheek and turned my head. Everything out there is death, she said, as if only explaining the obvious. In the windowpane I saw Fifth route between Fiftieth and Sixtieth all those trendy storages, Bijan and Bally, Tiffany and Bergdorfs and Steuben Glass. And here came Harold Oblowski, northbound and swinging his pigskin briefcase (the one Jo and I had given him for Christmas the year before she died). Beside him, carrying a Barnes and Noble al-Qaeda by the handles, was the bountiful, beauteous Nola, his secretary. Except her bountifulness was bygone(a). This was a smilingning, yellow-jawed skeleton in a Donna Karan suit and alligator pumps scrawny, beringed bones preferably of fingers gripped the bag-handles. Harolds odontiasis jutted in his usual agents grin, now extended to the point of obscenity. His favorite suit, the doublebreasted charcoal from Paul Stuart, flapped on him like a sail in a unfer mented breeze. All around them, on both sides of the street, walked the living dead mommy mummies leading baby corpses by the hands or wheeling them in expensive prams, snake god doormen, reanimated skateboarders. Here a rangy black man with a last few strips of flesh hanging from his face like cured deer-hide walked his skeletal Alsatian. The cab-drivers were rot to raga music. The faces looking down from the passing buses were skulls, each wearing its own version of Harolds grin Hey, how are ya, hows the wife, hows the dupes, writing any straightforward books lately? The peanut vendors were putrefying. Yet none of it could quench me. I was on fire. I slipped my hands under her buttocks, lifting her, biting at the sheet (the pattern, I saw with no surprise, was blue roses) until I pulled it free of the mattress to keep from biting her on the neck, the shoulder, the breasts, anywhere my teeth could reach. Tell me who he was I shouted at her. You know, I know you do My voice was so muffled by my mouthful of bed-linen that I doubted if anyone but me could acquit understood it. Tell me, you bitch On the path between Jos studio and the house I stood in the dark with the typewriter in my arms and that dream-spanning erection quivering infra its metal bulk all that repair and nothing willing. Except maybe for the night breeze. Then I became aware I was no longer alone. The shroud-thing was behind me, called like the moths to the party lights. It laughed-a brazen, smoke-broken laugh that could belong to only one woman. I didnt see the hand that reached around my hip to grip me the typewriter was in the way but I didnt convey to see it to know its color was brown. It squeezed, easily derisoryening, the fingers wriggling.What do you want to know, sugar? she asked from behind me. Still laughing. Still teasing. Do you authentically want to know at all? Do you want to know or do you want to feel?Oh, youre cleanup spot me I cried. The typewriter thirty or so pounds of IBM Selectric was shaking back and forth in my arms. I could feel my muscles twanging like guitar strings.Do you want to know who he was, sugar? That nasty man?Just do me, you bitch I screamed. She laughed again that crude laughter that was almost like a cough and squeezed me where the squeezing was best.You hold still, now, she said. You hold still, pretty boy, less you want me to take fright and yank this thing of yours right out by the . . . I helpless the rest as the whole world exploded in an orgasm so deep and strong that I intellection process it would simply tear me apart. I snapped my head back like a man being hung and ejaculated looking up at the stars. I screamed I had to and on the lake, two loons screamed back.At the same time I was on the float. Jo was gone, but I could faintly hear the sound of the band -Sara and fella and the Red-Top Boys tearing through Black can Rag. I sat up, dazed and spent, fucked hollow. I couldnt see the path lead ing up to the house, but I could discern its switchback feast by the Japanese lanterns. My underpants lay beside me in a little wet heap. I picked them up and started to put them on, only because I didnt want to swim back to brink with them in my hand. I stopped with them stretched between my knees, looking at my fingers. They were slimed with decaying flesh. puffing out from to a lower place several of the nails were clumps of torn-out hair. Corpsehair.Oh Jesus, I moaned. The strength went out of me. I flopped into wetness. I was in the north-wing bedroom. What I had landed in was hot, and at first I thought it was come. The dim glow of the nightlight showed darker stuff, however. Mattie was gone and the bed was full of blood. Lying in the heart of that dripping pool was something I at first glance took to be a clump of flesh or a piece of organ. I looked more close and saw it was a stuffed animal, a black-furred endeavor matted red with blood. I lay on my side looking at it , wanting to bolt out of the bed and flee from the room but ineffectual to do it. My muscles were in a dead swoon. Who had I sincerely been having sex with in this bed? And what had I done to her? In Gods name, what?I dont believe these lies, I heard myself say, and as though it were an incantation, I was slapped back together. That isnt exactly what happened, bur its the only way of saying that seems to come close to whatever did. there were one-third of me one on the float, one in the north bedroom, one on the path and each one felt that hard slap, as if the wind had grown a fist. There was hot bag blackness, and in it the steady silver shaking of Bunters bell. Then it faded, and I faded with it. For a little while I was nowhere at all.I came back to the occasional chatter of birds on summer vacation and to that peculiar red darkness that kernel the sun is shining through your unsympathetic eyelids. My neck was stiff, my head was canted at a weird angle, my legs were fol ded awkwardly beneath me, and I was hot.I lifted my head with a wince, knowing even as I opened my eyes that I was no longer in bed, no longer on the swimming float, no longer on the path between the house and the studio. It was floorboards under me, hard and uncompromising.The light was dazzling. I squinched my eyes closed again and groaned like a man with a hangover. I eased them back open behind my cupped hands, gave them time to ad besides, then cautiously uncovered them, sat all the way up, and looked around. I was in the upstairs hall, lying under the broken air conditioner. Mrs. Meserves note still hung from it. Sitting orthogonal my office door was the green IBM with a piece of paper rolled into it. I looked down at my feet and saw that they were dirty. yearn needles were stuck to my soles, and one toe was scratched. I got up, staggered a little (my right leg had gone to sleep), then braced a hand against the wall and stood steady. I looked down at myself. I was wearing t he Jockeys Id gone to bed in, and I didnt look as if Id had an cerebrovascular accident in them. I pulled out the waistband and peeked inside. My cock looked as it usually did small and soft, curled up and asleep in its thatch of hair. If Noonans Folly had been adventuring in the night, there was no sign of it now.It sure felt like an adventure, I croaked. I gird sweat off my forehead. It was stifling up here. Not the kind I ever read about in The brazen Boys, though.Then I remembered the blood-soaked sheet in the north bedroom, and the stuffed animal lying on its side in the middle of it. There was no sense of relief machine-accessible to the memory, that thank-God-it-was-only-a-dream feeling you get after a particularly nasty nightmare. It felt as real as any of the things Id experienced in my measles fever-delirium . . . and all those things had been real, just distorted by my overheated brain.I staggered to the stairs and limped down them, holding tight to the bannister in case my chill leg should buckle. At the foot I looked dazedly around the living room, as if seeing it for the first time, and then limped down the north-wing corridor.The bedroom door was ajar and for a moment I couldnt bring myself to push it all the way open and go in. I was very badly scared, and my promontory kept trying to replay an old episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, the one about the man who strangles his wife during an alcoholic blackout. He spends the whole half hour looking for her, and finally finds her in the pantry, bloated and open-eyed. Kyra Devore was the only kid of stuffed-animal age Id met recently, but she had been sleeping peacefully under her cabbage-rose coverlet when I left her generate and headed home. It was loggerheaded to think I had control all the way back to white Anglo-Saxon Protestant Hill Road, probably wearing nothing but my Jockeys, that I had What? Raped the woman? Brought the child here? In my sleep?I got the typewriter, in my sleep, didnt I? Its sitting right upstairs in the deuced hallway.Big difference between liberation thirty yards through the woods and cinque statute miles down the road to I wasnt deprivation to stand out here earshot to those quarrelling voices in my head. If I wasnt crazy and I didnt think I was listening to those contentious assholes would probably send me there, and by the express. I reached out and pushed the bedroom door open.For a moment I actually saw a spreading octopus-pattern of blood soaking into the sheet, thats how real and focused my terror was. Then I closed my eyes tight, opened them, and looked again. The sheets were rumpled, the bottom one mostly pulled free. I could see the quilted satin hide of the mattress. cardinal pillow lay on the far edge of the bed. The other was scrunched down at the foot. The throw rug a piece of Jos kick the bucket was askew, and my water-glass lay overturned on the nighttable. The bedroom looked as if it force have been the site o f a brawl or an orgy, but not a murder. There was no blood and no little stuffed animal with black fur.I dropped to my knees and looked under the bed. Nothing there not even dust-kitties, thanks to Brenda Meserve. I looked at the ground-sheet again, first passing a hand over its rumpled topography, then pulling it back down and resecuring the elasticized corners. Great invention, those sheets if women gave out the Medal of Freedom instead of a bunch of white politicians who never made a bed or rinse a load of clothes in their lives, the guy who thought up fitted sheets would undoubtedly have gotten a piece of that tin by now. In a bloom Garden ceremony.With the sheet pulled taut, I looked again. No blood, not a single drop. There was no stiffening patch of semen, either. The former I hadnt really expected (or so I was already telling myself), but what about the latter? At the very least, Id had the worlds most creative wet-dream a triptych in which I had screwed two women and g otten a handjob from a third, all at the same time. I thought I had that morning-after feeling, too, the one you get when the previous nights sex has been of the headbusting variety. But if there had been fireworks, where was the burnt gunpowder?In Jos studio, most likely, I told the empty, sunny room. Or on the path between here and there. Just be glad you didnt leave it in Mattie Devore, bucko. An affair with a post-adolescent widow you dont need.A part of me disagreed a part of me thought Mattie Devore was exactly what I did need. But I hadnt had sex with her last night, any more than I had had sex with my dead wife out on the swimming float or gotten a handjob from Sara Tidwell. Now that I saw I hadnt killed a skilful little kid either, my thoughts turned back to the typewriter. Why had I gotten it? Why disoblige?Oh man. What a silly question. My wife world power have been keeping secrets from me, maybe even having an affair there might be ghosts in the house there might be a rich old man half a mile south who wanted to put a sharp stick into me and then break it off there might be a few toys in my own humble attic, for that matter. But as I stood there in a fulgent shaft of sunlight, looking at my shadow on the far wall, only one thought seemed to matter I had gone out to my wifes studio and gotten my old typewriter, and there was only one reason to do something like that.I went into the bathroom, wanting to get rid of the sweat on my body and the dirt on my feet before doing anything else. I reached for the shower-handle, then stopped. The tub was full of water. any I had for some reason alter it during my sleepwalk . . . or something else had. I reached for the drain-lever, then stopped again, remembering that moment on the shoulder of Route 68 when my mouth had filled up with the taste of cold water. I realized I was delay for it to happen again. When it didnt, I opened the bathing tub drain to let out the standing water and started the shower. I could have brought the Selectric downstairs, maybe even lugged it out onto the deck where there was a little breeze overture over the surface of the lake, but I didnt. I had brought it all the way to the door of my office, and my office was where Id work . . . if I could work. Id work in there even if the temperature beneath the roofpeak built to a hundred and twenty dollar bill degrees . . . which, by three in the afternoon, it just might.The paper rolled into the machine was an old pink-carbon receipt from Click, the photo shop in Castle Rock where Jo had bought her supplies when we were down here. Id put it in so that the blank side faced the Courier type-ball. On it I had typed the names of my little harem, as if I had tried in some struggling way to report on my three-faceted dream even while it was going onJo Sara Mattie Jo Sara Mattie Mattie Mattie Sara Sara Jo Johanna Sara Jo MattieSaraJo.Below this, in lower casenormal sperm count sperm norm alls rosyI opened the office door, carried the typewriter in, and put it in its old place beneath the add-in of Richard Nixon. I pulled the pink slip out of the roller, balled it up, and tossed it into the wastebasket. Then I picked up the Selectrics taxi and stuck it in the baseboard socket. My heart was whacking hard and fast, the way it had when I was xiii and climbing the ladder to the high board at the Y-pool. I had climbed that ladder three times when I was twelve and then slunk back down it again once I turned thirteen, there could be no chickening out I really had to do it.I thought Id seen a fan hiding in the far corner of the closet, behind the box tag GADGETS. I started in that direction, then turned around again with a molest little laugh. Id had moments of confidence before, hadnt I? Yes. And then the iron bands had clamped around my chest. It would be stupid to get out the fan and then discover I had no line of work in this room after all. school it easy, I said, take it easy. But I couldn t, no more than that narrow-chested boy in the ridiculous purple bathing suit had been able to take it easy when he walked to the end of the diving board, the pool so green below him, the upraised faces of the boys and girls in it so small, so small.I readiness to one of the drawers on the right side of the desk and pulled so hard it came all the way out. I got my bare foot out of its landing zone just in time and barked a blow of loud, humorless laughter. There was half a ream of paper in the drawer. The edges had that faintly sharp look paper gets when its been sitting for a long time. I no more than saw it before remembering I had brought my own supply stuff a good deal fresher than this. I left it where it was and put the drawer back in its hole. It took several tries to get it on its tracks my hands were shaking.At last I sat down in my desk chair, hearing the same old creaks as it took my tilt and the same old rumble of the casters as I rolled it forward, snugging my legs into the kneehole. Then I sat facing the keyboard, sweating hard, still remembering the high board at the Y, how springy it had been under my bare feet as I walked its length, remembering the echoing select of the voices below me, remembering the smell of atomic number 17 and the steady low throb of the air-exchangers fwung-fwung-fwung-fwung, as if the water had its own secret heartbeat. I had stood at the end of the board enquire (and not for the first time) if you could be paralyzed if you hit the water wrong. belike not, but you could die of fear. There were attested cases of that in Ripleys Believe It or Not, which served me as science between the ages of eight and fourteen.Go on Jos voice cried. My version of her voice was usually calm and collected this time it was shrill. Stop dithering and go onI reached for the IBMs rocker-switch, now remembering the sidereal day I had dropped my Word Six broadcast into the Powerbooks trash. Goodbye, old pal, I had thought.Please let t his work, I said. Please.I lowered my hand and flicked the switch. The machine came on. The Courier ball did a preliminary twirl, like a concert dance dancer standing in the wings, waiting to go on. I picked up a piece of paper, saw my sweaty fingers were leaving marks, and didnt care. I rolled it into the machine, centered it, then wroteChapter Oneand waited for the storm to break.