The Blue Sword CHAPTER FIVE

Corlath was on the ground at once, calling orders that sent long-robed figures scurrying in all directions. Harry sat alone on the big bay horse, who stood quite still; to her tired and befuddled gaze there were dozens of tents and hundreds of people. Men came forward from the mouths of tents and out from shadows, to make their bows to their king – to congratulate him on the success of his venture? Harry thought. Was it successful? Some were sent at once on errands, some faded back into the darkness from which they had emerged. The two men who had ridden with the king dismounted also, and stood a little behind him as he looked around his camp. Harry didn't move. She didn't quite believe that they had arrived – and besides, where was it they were? She didn't feel that she had arrived – or didn't want to. She thought wistfully of her despised bed far away in the Residency, and of fat dull busybody Annie. She wished she were home, and she was so tired she wasn't sur e where home was. When Corlath turned back to her she woke up enough to slither down from the horse's tall back before he tried to help her; this time she did no fancy sliding, but turned to face the horse's shoulder, and kept her hands on the saddle till her feet touched the ground. It was a long way down. She was sure it had gotten longer since the last time she dismounted. Fireheart stood as patiently as the fourposter pony as she leaned against him, and she patted him absently, as she might have patted her own horse, and his nose came round to touch her forearm. She sighed, and thought of Jack Dedham, who would give an arm to ride a Hill horse, even once. Perhaps it didn't count if you were riding double with a Hillman. Harry had her back toward Faran and Innath as they led the horses away. Faran said, â€Å"That was a longer ride than I enjoy, at my age,† and Innath replied laughing: â€Å"Indeed, Grandfather, you had to be tied to your saddle with your long white beard.† Faran, who was a grandfather several times over, but looked forward to being a king's Rider for many years yet, and wore his dark-grey beard short, grinned and said: â€Å"Yes, I long for a featherbed and a plump young girl who will admire an elderly warrior for his scars and his stories.† His eyes slid round, and he looked straight at Harry for the first time since Corlath had carried her, a black-wrapped bundle lying so bonelessly quiet in his arms that it was difficult to believe it contained anything human, to the shadow where two men and three horses awaited him. But Harry was frowning at her dirty feet and did not notice. â€Å"The Outlander girl,† Faran said slowly, with the air of an honest man who will be just at any cost. â€Å"I did not know the Outlanders taught their children such pride. She has done herself honor on this ride.† Innath considered. To do yourself honor is high praise from a Hillman; but as he thought of the last two days, he had to agree. He was almost a generation younger than his fellow Rider, however, and had viewed their adventure differently. â€Å"Do you know, I was most worried that she might weep? I can't bear a woman weeping.† Faran chuckled. â€Å"If I had known that, I would have advised our king – strongly – to choose another Rider. Not that it would have mattered much, I think: she would merely have had the sleep laid on her again.† He pulled a tent flap aside, and they and the horses disappeared from Harry's sight. She had recognized the Hill word for â€Å"Outlander,† and wondered dejectedly what Corlath's companions, who had so pointedly ignored her during their journey together, were saying. She wiggled her grubby toes in the sand. She looked up and noticed that she was standing only a few feet from the – what does one call it on a tent? Door implied hinges and a frame – front of the grandest tent of all. It was white, with two wide black stripes across its peak from opposite directions, meeting and crossing at the center, and extending to the ground like black ribbons. A black-and-white banner flew from the crossed center, the tallest point in the camp, as the tent was the biggest. â€Å"Go in,† said Corlath at her side again; â€Å"they will take care of you. I will join you presently.† As she approached, a man held aside the golden silk rectangle that served the great tent for a door. He stood to attention with as much dignity as if she were a welcome guest, and perhaps a queen in her own country. This amused her, with a stray thought that the Hill-king seemed to have his followers well schooled, and she smiled at him as she went inside; and was gratified by the startled look that crossed his face when she managed to catch his eye. At least they aren't all inscrutable, she thought. One of Dedham's subalterns might have looked like that. It was also comforting to have succeeded at last in catching someone's eye. What she did not know was that the honor guard at the door, who stood to attention because he was an honor guard and it would have been beneath him to be less than courteous to anyone who had the king's grace to enter the king's tent, was saying to himself: She walks and smiles at me as if she were a grand lady in her own home, not a prisoner of – of – He stumbled here, since neither he nor anyone else knew exactly why she had been made a prisoner, or an involuntary guest, or whatever it was that she was, except that it was the king's will. And this after a journey that made even old Faran, who was not flesh at all but iron, look a little weary. This was a story he would tell his friends when he was off duty. Inside Harry looked around her with awe. If the camp from the outside was white and grey and dun-colored, as dull but for the black-and-white banner flying from the king's tent as the sand and scrub around it and brightened only by the robes and sashes some of the men wore, inside this tent – she was sure it was Corlath's own – there was a blaze of color. Tapestries hung on the walls, and between them were gold and silver chains, filigree balls and rods, bright enameled medallions – some of them big enough to be shields. Thick soft rugs were scattered on the floor three or four deep, each of them gorgeous enough to lie at the foot of a throne; and over them were scattered dozens of cushions. There were carved and inlaid boxes of scented red wood, and bone-colored wood, and black wood; the largest of these were pushed against the walls. Lanterns hung on short chains from the four carved ribs that crossed the high white ceiling to meet at the center peak, above whi ch the banner flew outside, and below which a slender jointed pillar ran from floor to ceiling. Like pillars stood at each of the four corners of the tent, and four more braced the ribs at their centers; and from each pillar a short arm extended which held in its carven cupped hand another lantern. All were lit, bathing the riot of deep color, shape, and texture in a golden glow which owed nothing to the slowly strengthening morning light outside. She was staring up at the peak of the roof and feeling impressed at the smooth structure of the tent – her own knowledge of tents was limited to stories of the Homelander military variety, which involved ropes and canvas and much swearing, and leaks when it rained – when a slight noise behind her brought her back again to her presence in a Hill camp. She turned around, nervously, but not so nervously as she might have; for there was a graciousness and – well, humanity, perhaps, if she tried to think of a word for it – to the big white-walled room that set her at ease, even against her own better judgment. Four white-robed men had entered the tent. They brought with them, carrying it by handles set round the rim, an enormous silver basin: bath-sized, she thought. It had a broad base and sides that flared gently. The metal was worked in some fashion, but the play of the lantern light over the patterns prevented her from deciding what the designs might be. The men set the great basin down at one end of the tent, and turned to leave, one after the other; and each, as he passed her standing uncertainly near the center, bowed to her. She was made uneasy by the courtesy, and had to stop herself from taking a step or two backward. She stood with her arms at her sides, but her hands, invisible in the long full sleeves of her battered dressing-gown, closed slowly into fists. As the four men passed in front of her on their way out, several more were coming in, with silver urns on their shoulders; and the urns, she found when the carriers emptied them into the silver bath – it had to be a bath – were full of steaming water. No drop was spilled; and each man bowed to her as he left. She wondered how many of them there were engaged in water-carrying; there were never more than a few in the tent at once, yet as soon as one urn was empty the man behind was there to pour from another. It took only a few soft-footed minutes, the only sound that of the water falling into the basin, for it to be full; and the stream of men stopped likewise. She was alone a moment, watching the surface of the water glint as the last ripples grew still; and she saw that some of the design on the bath was simply the presence of hinges, and she laughed. This was a traveling camp, after all. Then four men entered together and ranged themselves in a line – like horse-herders, she thought, presented with an animal whose temper is uncertain – and looked at her; and she looked at them. She rather thought these were the four who had brought the bath in to begin with; but she wasn't sure. What she did notice was something else, something that hadn't quite registered while the steady shuffle of men and urns had gone past: that each of these men had a little white mark that looked like a scar on his forehead, in the center of the brow, above the eyes. She wondered about this; and then she wondered about what looked like towels lying over the shoulders of three of the men; and then the fourth one came toward her with a motion so swift and polite, and somehow unthreatening, that he slipped the Hill cloak off her shoulders and folded it over his arm before she reacted. She spun around then and backed away a step; and was almost certain that the look on this man's face was surprise. He laid the cloak down very gently on a wooden chest, and motioned toward the bath. She was grateful that at least he didn't bow to her again, which probably would have made her leap like a startled rabbit. It wasn't, she thought, that the gesture held any unpleasant servility. But it felt like an indication that she was somehow in command of the situation – or ought to be. The lack of servility was therefore alarming, because these men were too capable of observing that she didn't feel in the least as if she were in command. They looked at one another a moment longer. She thought then incredulously: Surely they're not expecting to give me a bath? – and noticed with the sides of her eyes that the other three men were standing behind the bath now, and one of the towels when unfolded was revealed as a robe, with a braided gold cord at the waist. The man directly in front of her, who had removed her cloak, reached out and laid his hands on the belt of her dressing-gown, and she suddenly found that she was angry. The last two days had been one indignity after another, however politely each had been offered; and to preserve what self-respect she could – and what courage – she had preferred not to think about them too closely. But that she wasn't even to be allowed to bathe without a guard – that she should be expected to submit tamely to the ministrations of four men – men – like a – like a – Her imagination chose to fail her here, far from home, with the terror of the unknown, and of the captured, only barely kept at bay. She threw off the man's polite fingers with as much violence as she could and said furiously: â€Å"No! Thank you, but no.† There are enough of them, for God's sake, to stand me on my head if they want to force the issue, she thought. But I am not going to cooperate. There was a ripple of golden silk at the sound of her voice, and a new shadow appeared in the lantern light. Corlath, who had been hovering just outside to see how his Outlander was going to behave, entered the tent. He spoke two or three words and the men left at once; each bowing, first to her and then to their king. A corner of Harry's mind, which refused to be oppressed by the dreadfulness of the situation, noticed that the bows were of equal depth and duration; and the same mental corner had the impertinence to think this odd. There was another little silence after the four men had left, only this time it was the king she was facing down. But she was too angry to care. If she said anything she would say too much, and she hadn't quite forgotten that she was at the mercy of strangers, so she bit her tongue and glowered. Why was this all happening? The bit of her mind which had commented about the equality of bows presently observed that anger was preferable to fear, so the anger was encouraged to carry on. Evidently Corlath had already had his bath; his black hair was wet, and even his sun-brown skin was a few shades lighter. He was wearing a long golden robe, stiff with elegant stitching, open at the front to show a loose cream-colored garment that fell almost to his sandaled feet. In her own country she would have been inclined to call it a nightshirt under an odd sort of dressing-gown – although nobody ever wore a scarlet cummerbund over one's nightshirt – but it looked very formal here. She mustn't forget to glower or she might feel awed. And then, inevitably, afraid. She recognized the quality of his silence when at last he spoke: the same feeling she had had when she first spoke to him, at the small campsite between the arms of a sand dune, that he chose and arranged his words very carefully. â€Å"Do you not wish to bathe, then? It is a long ride we had.† He was thinking, So I have managed to offend her immediately. It is done differently where she comes from; she can't know and must not be able to guess – but how could she guess? – that in the Hills it is only the men and women of the highest rank that may be waited on by household servants of both sexes. I feared – but for what good? We know nothing of each other's customs, and my household men have only done as they ought: treated the king's Outlander with the greatest honor. Harry in her turn had unbent slightly at the â€Å"we.† It was friendlier than the accusatory â€Å"you† she'd been expecting. She hadn't unbent so far, though, as to prevent herself from saying coldly, â€Å"I am accustomed to bathe alone.† Ah. Yes. I don't suppose I should mire myself with involved explanations at this point? She doesn't look to be in the mood for them. He said, â€Å"These are men of my household. It was to do you †¦ courtesy.† She glanced away and felt her anger begin to ebb; and so she was unprepared when he took a sudden stride forward as she dropped her eyes. He grabbed her chin and forced it up, turning her face to the light and staring down at her as if amazed. Her abrupt reversion to existence as an object to be bundled about, turned this way and that at another's will, made the anger boil up again at once; and her eyes glittered back at him without a trace of fear. He was staring into those eyes, as the light played full across them, and thinking, That's why. I don't understand it, but this must be why – the first step to why. He had just caught a glimpse, a suspicion, when she turned her head, the way the light fell, and he had put his hand out before he thought. Her eyes, under his gaze, shimmered grey to green with bubbles of amber that flickered like lightning in the depths and floated up to break like stars on the surface: bottomless eyes, that a man or beast fool enough to look at long would fall into and drown. He knew – he was one of the very few who need have no fear – that she did not know. She met his eyes too clearly: there was nothing in her eyes but simple and forthright fury – and he couldn't blame her for that. He wondered if she'd learned by accident not to focus her anger, or whether people she hated had a habit of falling downstairs or choking on fishbones – or if perhaps she had never hated . One doesn't generally look into mirrors when one is especially angry; one has better things to do, like pace the floor, or throw things. Perhaps no one had ever noticed, or been in a position to notice. And the thought came to him vaguely, for no particular reason, that she couldn't ever have been in love. If she had ever turned the full intensity of her kelar-brilliant eyes on any average mortal, they would both have had a shock; and she would never again have had the innocence to meet anyone's eyes as she now met his. He dropped his hand from her chin and turned away. He looked a little ashamed, she thought; and he said, â€Å"Forgive me,† as if he meant it. But he looked more thoughtful than anything else, and, she realized with surprise, relieved, as if he had made – or had made for him – some important decision. What can be wrong with my face? she thought. Has my nose turned green? It has always been crooked, but it never astonished anybody before. He offered her no explanation for his behavior, but after a moment's silence he said, â€Å"You will have your bath alone, as you wish,† glanced at her again as if to be sure she was real, and left her. She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered; and then thought, Very well, I do want a bath, the water's cooling off, and how long is a bath expected to take before someone else comes trotting in? She took the fastest bath of her life, and was bright red with scrubbing but quite clean when she tumbled out again, dried off, and slithered into the white robe left for her. The sleeves came to her elbows, and the hem nearly to her ankles. There were long loose trousers to go underneath, but so full as to seem almost a skirt, and they rippled and clung as she moved. The clothing all was made from something adequately opaque, but when she had tied the golden rope around her middle she still felt rather embarrassingly unclad; Homelander garb for its women involved many more layers. She looked at her dusty dressing-gown, but was reluctant to put it back on; and she was still hesitating over this as she dried her hair on the second towel and tried to part the tangle with her fingers, when Corlath returned, carrying a dark red robe very much like his golden one – and a comb. The handle of it was wide and awkward in her hand, but it had familiar teeth, and that was all that counte d. While she watched through her wet hair, the bath was half-emptied as it had been filled, and the rest carried out still in the silver basin. The four men at its handles walked so smoothly the water never offered to slop up the sides. Then there was a pause and one of the men of the household – or so she supposed the forehead mark indicated – entered carrying a mirror in a leather frame and knelt before her on one knee, propped the mirror on the other, and tipped it back till she could see her face in it. She looked down, bemused – the man's eyes were on the floor. Did household servants of the Hills all take lessons in tipping mirrors to just the right angle, relative to the height and posture of the person to be served? Perhaps it was a specialty, known only to a few; and those few, of course, would be preserved for the royal household. She parted her hair gravely and shook it back over her shoulders, where it fell heavily past her hips. The deep red of her robe was very handsome; the shadows it cast were as velvety as rose petals. â€Å"Thank you,† she said in Hill-speech, hoping that she remembered the right phrase; and the man stood up, bowed again, and went away. Meanwhile a long table was being erected under the peak of the tent, next to the central pillar. It consisted of many square sections, with a leg at each corner of each square, set next to each other in a long single row; she wondered how they managed to stand so level on the whimsical layers of carpet. Corlath was pacing up and down the end of the tent opposite her, head bent and hands behind him. Plates were arranged on the table – each setting, she saw, was given a plate, one of the curious flat-bowled spoons, two bowls of different sizes, and a tall mug. The table was very low, and there were no chairs; some of the cushions scattered all over the tent were gathered up and heaped around it. Then large bowls of bread and fruit and – she thought – cheese were brought in, and the lamp that hung from the wooden rib over the table was lowered till it hung only a few feet from the plentiful food. It was just a little above her eye level as she stood watching. The la nterns that hung from the ceiling beams were suspended on fine chains which were attached to slender ropes looped around a row of what looked very much like belaying-pins on a ship lined up against one wall. Corlath had stopped pacing, and his eyes followed the lowering of the lamp; but the expression on his face said that his thoughts were elsewhere. Harry watched him covertly, ready to look away if he should remember her; and as the lamp was fixed in its new position she saw him return to himself with a snap. He walked a few steps forward to stand at one end of the long table; then he looked around for her. She was not in a good position for judging such things, but she felt that he recalled her existence to his mind with something of an effort, as a man will recall an unpleasant duty. She let him catch her eye, and he gestured that she should take her place at his left hand. At that moment the golden silk door was lifted again, and another group of men filed in. She recognized two of them: they were the men who had ridden with Corlath to assist at her †¦ removal. She was a little surprised that she should recognize them so easily, since what she had mostly seen of them was the backs of their heads when they averted their faces, or the tops of their heads or hoods when they stared at the ground. But recognize them she did, and felt no fear about staring at them full-face now, for they showed no more inclination than they ever had for looking back at her. There were eighteen men all told, plus Corlath and herself; and she was sure she could have recognized them as a group, as belonging together and bound together by ties as strong as blood or friendship, even if they had been scattered in a crowd of several hundred. They had an awareness of each other so complete as to be instinctive. She knew something of the working of this sort of camaraderie from watching Dedham and some of his men; but here, with this group of strangers, she could read it as easily as if it were printed on a page before her; and their silence – for none bothered with the kind of greeting Harry was accustomed to, any Hill version of hello and how are you – made it only more plain to her. Rather than finding their unity frightening, and herself all alone and outside, she found it comforting that her presence should so little disturb them. That instinctive awareness seemed to wrap around her too, and accept her: an outsider, an Outlander and a woman, a nd yet here she was and that was that. She sat when everyone else sat, and as bowls and plates were passed she found that hers were filled and returned to her without her having to do anything but accept what was given her. Knives appeared, from up sleeves and under sashes and down boot tops, and Corlath produced an extra one from somewhere and gave it to her. She felt the edge delicately with one finger, and found it very keen; and was faintly flattered that the prisoner should be allowed so sharp an instrument. No doubt because any one of these men could take it away from me at my first sign of rebellion, without even interrupting their chewing, she thought. She began to peel the yellow-skinned fruit on her plate, as the man opposite her was doing. It seemed years since she had faced Sir Charles across the breakfast table. She didn't notice when the conversation began; it proceeded too easily to have had anything so abrupt as a beginning, and she was preoccupied with how to manage her food. From the tone of their voices, these men were reporting to their king, and the substance of the reports was discussed as a matter of importance all around the table. She understood no word of it, for â€Å"yes† and â€Å"no† and â€Å"please† and â€Å"good† are almost impossible to pick out when talk is in full spate, but it was a language she found pleasant to listen to, with a variety of sounds and syllables that she thought would well lend themselves to any mood or mode of expression. Her mind began to wander after a little time. She was exhausted after the long ride, but the tension of her position – I will not say that I am utterly terrified – served admirably to keep her awake and uneasily conscious of all that went on around her. She wondered if any of these men would give it away by look or gesture if the conversation turned to the Outlander in their midst. But after a bath, and clean clothes, even these odd ones, and good food, for the food was very good, and even the company, for their companionship seemed to hold her up like something tangible, her mind insisted on relaxing. But that relaxation was a mixed blessing at best, because as the tension eased even a little, her thoughts unerringly reverted to trying to puzzle out why she was where she found herself. Something to do with that abortive meeting at the Residency, between the Hillfolk and the Outlanders, presumably. But why? Why me? If I could be stolen from my bed – or my window-seat – then they could steal somebody from some other bed – and Sir Charles seems a lot more likely as a political figure. She repressed a grin. Though a very unlikely figure for riding across a saddlebow. There had to be a better reason than that of physical bulk for the choice of herself over †¦ whoever else was available. She had been spirited out of her own house, with the doors locked and the dogs out, and Sir Charles and Lady Amelia asleep only a few steps away. It was as if Corlath – or his minions – could walk through walls: and if they could walk through the Residency walls and over the Residency dogs, probably they could walk through any other walls – at least Homelander walls – that they chose. It was uncanny. She remembered that Dedham, whose judgment she trusted above all others' at the station, and who knew more than any other Homelander about his adopted country, believed in the uncanniness of certain of the Hillfolk's tactics. Which brought her back to square one of this game: Why her? Why Harry Crewe, the Residency's charity case, who had only been in this country at all for a few months? There was one obvious answer, but she discarded it as soon as it arose. It was too silly, and she was convinced that, whatever failings Corlath and his men might be capable of, silliness wasn't one of them. And Corlath didn't look at her the way a man looks at a woman he plans to have share his bed – and his interest would have to be very powerful indeed for him to have gone to so much trouble to steal her. He looked at her rather as a man looks at a problem that he would very much prefer to do without. She supposed it was distinction of a sort to be a harassment to a king. She also swiftly, almost instinctively, discarded the idea that her Homelanders would mount any successful expedition to find her and bring her home again. The Hillfolk knew their desert; the Homelanders did not. And the Residency charity case would not warrant extraordinary efforts. She thought wryly: If Jack guesses where I am, he'll think I don't need rescuing †¦ but poor Dick; he'll manage to convince himself that it's his fault, he brought me out here in the first place †¦ She blinked hastily, and bit her lips. Her crossed legs were asleep, and the small of her back hurt. She was accustomed to sitting in chairs. She began surreptitiously to thump her thighs with her fists till they began to tingle painfully to life again; then she began on her calves. By the time she could feel when she wiggled her toes, the hot stiff feeling around her eyes had ebbed and she could stop blinking. The men of the household entered the royal tent again, and cleared the table. The bread and fruit were replaced by bowls of something dark and slightly shiny. When she was offered a bit of it she discovered it to be sticky and crunchy and very sweet, and by the time she had eaten most of her generous serving, and what remained was adhering to her face and fingers, she noticed that a bowl of water and a fresh napkin had been placed at each person's elbow. There was a momentary lull while everyone sighed and stretched; and Corlath said a few words to the men of the household, which caused one of them to leave the tent and the other three still present to go around the walls extinguishing the lanterns, all except the one lamp that hung low over the table. The heavy woven walls shone in the daylight so the inside was palely lit; and the lamp over the table burned like a small sun, casting half-shadows in the quiet corners of the glowing white walls and in the hollows of eyes. None spoke. Then the man returned, carrying a dark leather bag bound with brass in the shape of a drinking-horn. A thong hung from its neck and base, and this the man had looped over his shoulder. He offered it first to Corlath, who gestured to the man at his right. The man of the household handed it gravely to him, bowed, and left; there were none in the tent now but those twenty who sat round the table. The first man drank – one swallow; she could see him letting it slide slowly down his throat. He balanced the bag on the table and stared at the burning lamp. After a moment an expression passed over his face that was so clear Harry felt she should recognize it immediately; but she did not. She was shaken both by its strength and by her own failure to read it; and then it was gone. The man looked down, smiled, shook his head, said a few words, and passed the horn to the man sitting on his right. Each man took one mouthful, swallowed it slowly, and stared at the lamp. Some of them spoke and some did not. One man, with skin sunburned as dark as cinnamon but for a pale scar on his jaw, spoke for a minute or two, and words of surprise broke from several of his audience. They all looked to Corlath, but he sat silent and inscrutable, chin in hand; and so the drinking-horn was passed on to the next. One man Harry remembered in particular: he was shorter than most of the company, while his shoulders were very broad and his hands large. His hair was grizzled and his expression grim; his face was heavily lined, but whether with age or experience or both she could not guess. He sat near the foot of the table on the side opposite her. He drank, stared at the light, spoke no word, and passed the horn to the man on his right. All the others, even the ones who said nothing, showed something in their faces – something, Harry thought, that was transparent to any who had eyes to see beyond – some strong sensation, whether of sight or feeling – she could not even guess this much. But this man remained impassive, as opaque as skin and blood and bone can be. One could see his eyes move, and his chest heave as he breathed; there was no clue for further speculation. She wondered what his name was, and if he ever smiled. As the leather bag rounded the bottom of the table and started up the other side, and Harry could no longer see the faces of the drinkers, she dropped her eyes to her hands and complimented herself on how quietly they lay, the fingers easy, not gripping each other or whitening their knuckles around her mug. The mug was still half full of a pale liquid, slightly honey-sweet but without (she thought she could by now conclude) the dangers of the gentle-tasting mead it reminded her of. She moved one finger experimentally, tapped it against the mug, moved it back, rearranged her hands as a lady might her knitting, and waited. She was aware when the drinking-horn reached the man on her left, and was aware of the slight shudder that ran through him just before he spoke; but she kept her eyes down and waited for Corlath to reach across her and take the waiting horn. This was not something an Outlander would be expected to join in – and just as well. Whatever the stuff was, watching the men's faces when they drank made her feel a little shaky. And so she was much surprised when one of Corlath's hands entered her range of vision and touched the back of one of her hands with the forefinger. She looked up. â€Å"Take a sip,† he said. She reached out stiffly and took the brass-bound bag from the man who held it, keeping her eyes only on the bag itself. It was warm from all the hands that had held it, and up close she could see the complexity of the twisted brass fittings. It carried a slight odor with it: faintly pungent, obscurely encouraging. She took a deep breath. â€Å"Only a sip,† said Corlath's voice. The weight of the thing kept her hands from trembling. She tipped her head back and took the tiniest of tastes: a few drops only. She swallowed. It was curious, the vividness of the flavor, but nothing she could put a name to †¦ She saw a broad plain, green and yellow and brown with tall grasses, and mountains at the edge of it, casting long shadows. The mountains started up abruptly, like trees, from the flatness of the plain; they looked steep and severe and, with sun behind them, they were almost black. Directly in front of her there was a small gap in those mountains, little more than a brief pause in the march of the mountains' sharp crests, and it was high above the floor of the plain. Up the side of the mountain, already near the summit, was a bright moving ribbon. Horsemen, no more than forty of them, riding as quickly as they could over the rough stony track, the horses with their heads low and thrown forward, watching their feet, swinging with their strides, the riders straining to look ahead, as though fearing they might come too late. Behind the riders were men on foot, bows slung slantwise over their backs, crossed by quivers of arrows; there were perhaps fifty of them, and they followed the horses, with strides as long as theirs. Beside them were long brown moving glints, supple as water, that slid from light to shade too quickly to be identified; four-footed, they looked to be; dogs perhaps. The sunlight bounced off sword hilts, and the metal bindings of leather arms and harness, and shields of many shapes, and the silver strings of bows. The far sides of the mountains were less steep, but no less forbidding. Broken foothills extended a long way, into the hazy distance; a little parched grass or a few stunted trees grew where they could. Below the gap in the mountains by any other path but through the valley would be impossible, at least for horses. The gap was one that a small determined force would be able to defend – for a time. The bright ribbon of horsemen and archers collected in the small flat space behind the gap, and became a pool. Here there was a little irregular plateau, with shallow crevasses, wide enough for small campsites, leading into the rocky shoulders on either side, and with a long low overhanging shelf to one side that was almost a cave. The plateau narrowed to a gap barely the width of two horsemen abreast, where the mountain peaks crowded close together, just before it spilled into the scrub-covered valley, and the rock-strewn descending slopes beyond. The horsemen paused and some dismounted; some rode to the edge and looked out. At the far edge of the foothills something glittered, too dark for grass, too sharply peaked for water. When it spilled into the foothills it became apparent for what it was: an army. This army rode less swiftly than had the small band now arranging themselves in and around the pass, but their urgency was less. The sheer numbers of them were all the tactics they needed. But the little army waiting for them organized itself as seriously as if it had a chance of succeeding in what it set out to do; and perhaps some delay of the immense force opposing it was all that it required. The dust beyond the foothills winked and flashed as rank after rank approached the mountains †¦ †¦ and then time began to turn and dip crazily, and she saw the leader of the little force plunging down into the valley with a company behind him, and he drew a sword that flashed blue in his hand. His horse was a tall chestnut, fair as daylight, and his men swept down the hill behind him. She could not see the archers, but she saw a hail of arrows like rain sweeping from the low trees on either side of the gap. The first company of the other army leaped eagerly toward them, and a man on a white horse as tall as the chestnut and with red ribbons twisted into its long tail met the blue sword with one that gleamed gold †¦ †¦ and Harry found herself back in the tent, her throat hoarse as if from shouting: standing up, with a pair of strong hands clamped on her shoulders; and she realized that without their support she would sag to her knees. The fierce shining of the swords was still in her eyes. She blinked and shook her head, and realized she was staring at the lamp; so she turned her head and looked up at Corlath, who was looking down at her with something – she noticed with a shock – like pity in his face. She could think of nothing to say; she shook her head again, as if to shake out of it all she had just seen; but it stayed where it was. There was a silence, of a moment, or perhaps of half a year. She breathed once or twice; the air felt unnaturally harsh on her dry throat. She began to feel the pile of carpets pressing against her feet, and Corlath's hands slackened their grip. They stood, the two of them, king and captive, facing one another, and all the men at the table looked on. â€Å"I am sorry,† Corlath said at last. â€Å"I did not think it would take you with such strength.† She swallowed with some difficulty: the lovely wild flavor of the mad drink she had just tasted lingered in the corners of her mouth, and in the corners of her mind. â€Å"What is it?† Corlath made some slight gesture – of denigration or of ignorance. â€Å"The drink – we call it Meeldtar – Seeing Water, or Water of Sight.† â€Å"Then – all that I saw – I really saw it. I didn't imagine it.† â€Å"Imagine it? Do you mean did you see what was true? I do not know. One learns, eventually, usually to know, to be able to say if the seeings are to be believed or are †¦ imagined. But imagined as you mean it – no. The Water sends these things, or brings them.† There was a pause again, but nobody relaxed, least of all herself. There was more to it than this, than a simple – simple? – hallucination. She looked at Corlath, frowning. â€Å"What else?† she said, as calmly as if she were asking her doom. Corlath said, â€Å"There is something else,† as if he were putting it off. He hesitated, and then spoke a few words in a language she did not recognize. It wasn't the usual Darian she heard the natives around the Residency speak, or the slightly more careful tongue that Dedham and Mr. Peterson used; nor did it sound like the differently accented tongue the Hillfolk spoke, which was still recognizable to those who were fluent in Darian. This was a rougher, more powerful language to listen to, although many of the sounds – strange to her Homelander ears – were common with the Darian she was accustomed to. She looked at Corlath, puzzled, as he spoke a little further. She knew nothing of this language. â€Å"It is not familiar to you?† Corlath said at last; and when she shook her head, he said, â€Å"No, of course not, how could it be?† He turned around. â€Å"We might sit down again,† and sat down with great deliberateness. She sat down too, waiting. The look she had seen before on his face, that of a man facing a problem he would far rather avoid, had returned, but it had changed. Now his look said that he understood what the problem was, and it was much more serious than he had suspected. â€Å"There are two things,† he said. â€Å"The Water of Sight does not work so on everyone. Most people it merely makes ill. To a few it gives headaches; headaches accompanied by strange colors and queer movements that make them dizzy. There are very few who see clearly – we nineteen, here tonight, all of us have drunk the Water of Sight many times. But even for us, most of us see only a brief abrupt picture – sometimes the scene lasts so little time it is hard to recognize. Often it is of something familiar: one's father, one's wife, one's horse. There is a quality to these pictures, or memories, that is like nothing else, like no voluntary memory you might call up yourself. But often that is all. â€Å"Occasionally one of the people of our Hills sees more. I am one. You have just proven yourself another. I do not know why you saw what you did. You told us something of what you saw as you were seeing it. You may have seen a battle of the past – or one that never happened – or one that may yet happen; it may occur in Damar, or – in some other country.† She heard may yet happen as if those three words were the doom she had asked for; and she remembered the angry brilliance of the yellow-eyed Hill-king as he stood before the Residency far away. â€Å"But – † she said, troubled, hardly realizing she spoke aloud – â€Å"I am not even of your Hills. I was born and bred far away – at Home. I have been here only a few months. I know nothing of this place.† â€Å"Nothing?† said Corlath. â€Å"I said there were two things. I have told you the first. You told us what you saw as you saw it. But this is the second thing: you spoke in the Old Tongue, what we call the Language of the Gods, that none knows any more but kings and sorcerers, and those they wish to teach it to. The language I just spoke to you, that you did not recognize – I was repeating the words you had said yourself, a moment before.†

Food Macromolecules

â€Å"Macromolecules are a source of fuel. There are four major types of macromolecules-proteins, carbohydrates, nucleic acids, and lipids. This process plays important roles in the life of a cell. (Macromolecules, 2002). The macromolecules that was present in the packaged food product Lipids which are fats. According to (Alters & Alters 2009, p. 49) Fats also provide more energy in our diets that do equivalent amounts of carbohydrates or protein. Protein was also present on the packaged food. Proteins transport and rovide muscle contraction. Alters & Alters 2009, p. 51) Proteins build, maintains, and replaces the tissue in our body. Tissue meaning: muscles, organs, and your immune system. They are also important for the movement of lungs, legs, and protecting you from disease. (Learning about proteins,2008). How much protein do we need each day? Adults should get a minimum of 0. 8 grams of protein for every kilogram of body weight per day. Increasing protein intake helps reduce the risk of heart disease. (The Nutrition Source: Protein, 2011). Carbohydrates are also present in the packaged food. Carbohydrates provide the body with fuel for physical activity and proper organ function. The best sources of carbohydrates -whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and beans- promote good health. (The Nutrition Source: Carbohydrates, 2011) Lipids are also present in the packaged food. Lipids are a group of molecules that consist of fats, phospholipids, and cholesterol. This packaged food is a part of a heart healthy diet because it has carbohydrates, low saturated fats, and proteins. Carbohydrates are important for fuel, breaking these bonds and releasing energy to sustain life (Alters & Alters, 2009, p. 47). Large amounts of saturated fats may lead to clogged arteries and risk of heart disease. (Alters & Alters, 2009, p. 50). The product I have chosen to use is Quaker Oatmeal. I consider carbohydrates to be the most important thing listed on the label. Knowing the amount of carbohydrates is important because carbohydrates turn into sugar, and there is only one gram of sugar in this product. When carbohydrates turn into ugar this increases the risk of diabetes if there is to much carbohydrates in your diet. I have never been a health fanatic, but after doing this essay I need to be a little cautious of what I am eating. I have found that reading labels helps us to eat healthier and to make the right choices our life style. I never really understood how carbohydrates work. Now I know the understanding of good and bad carbohydrates. Heart disease runs in my family. I do have a healthy heart but after doing the research for this essay I hope to continue to stay healthy. Reference http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/.carbohydrates

College Board ACT Release Official Concordance Tables

If you’re planning to apply to most colleges in the United States, you’ll need to take at least one of the two major standardized tests of college readiness: the ACT and the SAT. Since most colleges accept both tests and treat them equally, a typical applicant pool will consist of students who took either test, or even both. These variations in testing present a problem for colleges evaluating applicants, especially since the two tests have completely different scoring systems. If one student takes only the SAT and receives a score of 1400, for example, and another student takes only the ACT and receives a score of 32, how is a college to decide which student had the stronger test performance? That’s where concordance tables become important. The overarching ACT organization and the College Board (which administers the SAT) come together regularly to create these tables, which offer an official basis for comparison between SAT and ACT scores. As of June 14, 2018, this newest edition of the ACT/SAT concordance tables has been released to the public, and you can view the report online here . In this post, we’ll cover the differences between the SAT and the ACT, how to read the official concordance tables, and what you need to know about how this report might affect your college admissions process. As you probably know, the ACT and the SAT are both standardized tests that are intended to measure your readiness for college on a scale that allows for comparisons with high school students throughout the United States. While the two tests have the same basic purpose, they go about it in slightly different ways. We’ve covered this before in our post   SAT vs ACT: Everything You Need to Know , but we’ll go over a few of the most notable differences here. One visible difference between these standardized tests is that the ACT has a science section, while the SAT does not. Another is that your answers on the ACT are translated into a scoring scale that goes up to 36, while the SAT’s scoring system goes up to 1600. You may have heard that the SAT’s approach to testing is more about logic and problem-solving, while the ACT is more focused on learning specific content. In the past, this has been true, but after many years of changes, the current versions of the two tests don’t show much of a difference in this area. Historically, the ACT has been more popular in the Midwest and Southern regions of the U.S., while the SAT was more often preferred by students and colleges on the East and West Coasts. Nowadays, however, colleges in the U.S. will generally accept either test to meet application requirements, and many students choose to take both. Since colleges consider the SAT and the ACT equally, your choice of which test to take won’t in itself give you an advantage in the admissions process. However, you may find that you’re better suited to one test’s approach than to the other’s, and can achieve a comparatively higher score. The ACT/SAT concordance tables can help you make this comparison, or simply estimate how well you’re likely to do on the other test. Concordance tables are exactly what they sound like: tables where you can look up your score on either the SAT or the ACT and find out what score would be roughly equivalent on the other test. This is an estimate, based on the average performance of a large number of past test-takers, but it can provide you with some useful information about your test performance. The ACT/SAT concordance tables are updated every time changes are made to one of the tests involved. This 2018 report was triggered by changes made to the SAT in 2016. In the past two years, the College Board and the ACT have gathered and analyzed data from real test-takers and come to an updated set of conclusions about how, on average, the two tests compare. Our students see an average increase of 250 points on their SAT scores. All colleges have access to these concordance tables and are encouraged to use them in the admissions process. Colleges can use concordance tables to compare students who only took the SAT to students who only took the ACT as one of many factors in making admissions decisions. The tables are officially sanctioned by both testing organizations, which also helps to ensure consistency in how different colleges across the U.S. evaluate your scores. Official concordance tables are available broken down by test section, but most students will primarily be interested in the table that compares overall ACT composite scores (out of 36) to total SAT scores (out of 1600). Since the scales are so different, a range of corresponding SAT scores is given for each ACT composite score. We’ve reproduced part of that concordance table below for your convenience. As you can see, in most cases, an increase of one point on the ACT scoring scale typically corresponds to an increase of about 30 points on the SAT scoring scale. However, the concordance table shows that this isn’t consistent across the entire score range, so it’s important to refer back to the chart for the most accurate comparison. The Guide to the 2018 ACT/SAT Concordance from the College Board and the ACT also includes more detailed concordance tables for specific ACT and SAT test sections as well as information and instructions for interpreting and using these results. For the full report as posted on the College Board’s website, click here. There are a few different ways that you as a student can use concordance tables during the college admissions process. Concordance tables can be helpful as a predictive tool; if you know your score for one test, the table can show you roughly what to expect for the other test. Finding the score that corresponds to what you’ve already received on one test can also help you set score goals for an upcoming testing session. When you’re researching colleges, concordance tables can help you understand how you compare to the average applicant. If, for example, you can only find information on the average SAT score of successful applicants to a particular school, but you took the ACT, you can easily convert your score to roughly determine where you stand. You can also use concordance tables to recognize if you perform markedly better on one test over the other after taking both. Since the vast majority of colleges accept either or both, this can help you decide which test scores to submit to colleges. (Remember, certain scholarship and recognition programs are still tied to specific tests, so always do your research in advance to figure out what tests you’ll need to take.) While concordance tables can be helpful, it’s also important that you recognize their limitations. They are only estimates based upon the average test performance of students across the U.S., and if you actually sit down and take both tests, you may very well find that your own results don’t match up exactly to the official table. It’s very difficult to make exact comparisons between two entirely different tests developed by entirely different organization. In addition to the structural differences, your individual testing experiences will vary in ways that may affect your performance. How you feel the day of the test and what exact questions you happen to receive may sway your score in either direction. Finally, you should keep in mind that standardized test scores are only one of many different factors that colleges use to make their admissions decisions. Scoring well on these tests is a necessity for admission to many top schools, but it won’t get you in on its own; your scores must be part of a competitive and cohesive overall application that showcases all your best qualities and engages admissions officers. Preparing and studying for standardized tests is a must, and it’s well-established that doing so raises scores. However, your attention shouldn’t be focused solely on your test scores. If you balance your test prep with work on other areas of your applicant profile and application form, you’re much more likely to catch a college’s eye—and to find a college that’s truly a good fit for you. For more guidance about understanding your SAT and ACT scores and deciding which test(s) to take, check out these posts from the blog. Looking for more personal assistance in preparing for your standardized tests? ’s experienced tutors are here to help you improve your scores and get ready for test day. To learn more about the services we offer, visit ’s Online SAT Tutoring Program on our website.

Expanding the Oral Care Group in India Case Study

Expanding the Oral Care Group in India - Case Study Example et into global operations within four geographic divisions, including Latin America, North America, Europe, Africa, and the Greater Asia (Gupta, 2015). By 2009, Cottle Company accrued revenues worth $11.5 billion, and its products were sold in over 200 nations worldwide. Approximately 50% of the revenues came from the business’ emerging markets. However, to meet its customers’ demands, the company maintains its manufacturing and business operations only in about 80 countries. The company believes in the provision and supply of quality products across the globe in order to cope with the competitive market and emerge the victor amongst its competitors. Currently, Cottle strives to strengthen its market base and presence within the Middle-East nations. This paper thereby analyses the company’s endeavors to market its oral care products and strengthen or broaden its market base in India (Jason, Jindal & Seth, 2014). It thereby considers the regional market challenges within India, as well as the possible alternatives and strategies for the challenges.For the success of its operations and product sales, the company must then consider the regional challenges within India between urban and rural consumers, as well as their willingness, ignorance, or reluctance to adopt the modern approaches to dental care (Quelch&Zalosh, 2012). A business strategy is the main focus of every organization’s practice and the one that organizations use to gain a competitive advantage. It is use to attract customers, strike out a market position, and achieve the objectives of the organization. Cottles situation of is not bad, and it just needs to follow its strategy and change a few things such as differentiation of its products. A review of Cottle strategy can help it to diagnose few problem areas that are present in the company. There is a need for alternative solutions. The strategic issues for Cottle will be discussed in order to craft alternative business

Theater Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Theater Art - Essay Example He has let himself in using a killing machine, i.e, a gun. The picture on the wall shows a painting of a forest where the trees cast long, dark shadows, in tune with the general atmosphere of threat radiated by the character in the frame. The frame of the painting is dark, the back of the door behind the hitman is dark and the overall lighting is focused upon the character, showing his progress into the dark room. The darkness could hide many secrets, the darkness associated with the character in every aspect from the clothes to his dark hair, are all suggestive of evil. . The painting of the forest and the darkness of the shadows appears to be only the external reflection of the evil raging inside the character. In this particular shot, as the killer enters the room, his stance and posture suggest his state of mental readiness for action. His glance veers towards the left, towards the wall and TV, as of seeking out in advance, anything or anyone that could be hiding there. The facia l expression and stance suggest a cold ruthlessness, an impression that is conveyed without the use of any overtly threatening signs or gestures, other than the large gun in his hand. The evil emanates from the character in a quietly menacing way.

The Art of Lucid Dreaming Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Art of Lucid Dreaming - Essay Example I was moving slowly into the forest. My eyes were blackened by the energy around me, and all I could see were flashbacks of my time there, some time ago. As I moved forwards and reached the hill, I started visualizing empty spaces as a part of my trekking adventure. It took me further into it, and now, fully aware that I was in an array of infinite time and space, I started juggling with my visuals. I used the force of my memory and consciousness to forge a mountain, albeit a different one to where I was, and through this mountain I entered a cave, where I met my match, a tiger waiting for me, with his sprawling features and unfettered look, like a warrior, ready to fight me. I found him and finally entered into a battle scene, where with my superior confidence managed to kill the tiger. By doing so, I won the cave to myself, where in the coming days and weeks, I spend time in chilling inside it.I found myself in my hotel room. I was awake there, smoking with my friends. I was laughi ng and enjoying myself. There was no room for any negativity, any sort of bad trip. Suddenly, I realized that it was not real, and I was in a dream, very subconsciously I realized this and then I immediately triggered the dream to a beach, where I was chilling with the same group of people I was with. At this time, I decided to drop LSD. And all these emotions and actions were happening inside my mind by not out of chance, but out of a conscious energy present inside the dream, which was making it happen by force and awareness. Probably this was my sucbsciousness coming out in full picture and dictating the use of LSD, something it felt was beautiful and it had to try during the dream. As I found out later, this was a good chance to go back to the old glory days with my friends, to live those days again, although in a dream, but still real from the perception with respect to where I was at that time. Lucid dreaming often tends to be on the level of a man walking in the sky, while at the same time he knows that he is in bed and is going through a different parallel universe of space and time. It is the open awareness of the man which is crucial to the fast that he can go through lucid dreaming.

New Topic Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

New Topic - Personal Statement Example One of the challenges is creating communities with active facilitators and contributors. This can be resolved through forming a culture where learning communities are established. These communities allow people to take risks in developing and sharing their ideas. Another challenge is rewarding KM practices, and this can be done by embedding KM goals into performance management systems. The last component is making a unified knowledge network (Dalkir & Liebowitz, 2011, p.328). People and technology are needed to continue operating KM practices. Some of the main issues are continuity in tools, conflict management, and diversity management. They can be resolved through IT audits that accompany KM audits, and ensuring that there are suitable policies and processes that provide guidelines for conflict management and diversity management. It is important to set up a clear and practical KM system that legitimizes KM goals, directions, and strategies. The KM system must be supported by the management and constantly evaluated for further

Project Statistics Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Statistics Project Example When the organizations’ infrastructure or environment is organized aptly, it will positively influence the employees. Employees are the crucial â€Å"cog† for the organizational functioning and success. This significance of employees was put forward by Mayhew (2014) who stated that the objective of any organization is profitability; and that profitability and thereby organizations success depends on the employees performance, with poor performance by the employees being detrimental to the companys success. Employees work in an organization on full-time basis as well as short-term basis. Although, full-time employees are the majority in any organization, employment of short-term employees are also on the rise. â€Å"The use of temporary workers is growing rapidly, with the number of companies using temporary workers on the increase as global competition increased and the urge to cut down on costs of undertaking businesses in order to remain competitive rises† (Wan dera 2011). This role of both full-time and short-term workers brings in focus the number of hours they contribute to the organization (Simeon 2013). So, the report will focus on the data collected from 400 fashion stores located in the Netherlands thereby discussing those stores’ infrastructure, employees including full-timers and part-timers, the hours contributed by them and others. As above-mentioned, the data is regarding the study of direct annual sales of 400 Dutch fashion stores in the year 1990. The quantitative variables used are: Total Sales (tsales), Sales per square meter (sales), Number of full-times (nfull), Number of part-times (npart), Total number of hours worked (hoursw) and Sales floor space of the store in square metres (ssize). Since all of them are quantitative variables, the Karl Pearson correlation coefficient for continuous variables is calculated and tested for its significance. â€Å"Karl Pearson correlation coefficient measures quantitatively the extent to which two variables

Spinozas Conception of God Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Spinozas Conception of God - Essay Example In his writings, especially The Ethics, Benedict de Spinoza logically defined existence and provided logical proof of his definitions. He used logical progressions and relationships among those statements he considered to have been proven to make his conclusions. In the readings consulted, Spinoza did not really argue for or against the existence of God, though he stated that the existence of God was a logical conclusion. He took that as a given. What Spinoza was attempting was a definition of the nature of God and of all existence. What he finally proved to his satisfaction was that God is everything which exists, that God is infinite and eternal and that everything else proceeds from the mind of God, that is, all existence is thought in the mind of God.In the translated work â€Å"Of God† Spinosa began with simple precepts which he related, such as: â€Å"PROP. VII. -- Existence belongs to the nature of substance.DEMONSTR. -- The production of substance is impossible (by Coroll. to preceding Prop.). Substance, therefore, is the cause of itself; that is (by Def. 1), its essence necessarily involves existence; or, in other words, existence belongs to its nature. Q. E. D.PROP. VIII. -- All substance is necessarily infinite.†(Spinoza 7)This proof is at the beginning of his writing, and it identifies â€Å"substance† (something which exists) as being infinite and states the conservation of matter theorem very simply.

How ratio analysis provides a meaningful comparison of a company to Essay

How ratio analysis provides a meaningful comparison of a company to its industry, chief competitors, or to any other well run firm - Essay Example These techniques help to compare a company’s performance with its chief competitors in same industry as well as monitor the company’s progress over time. Accounting ratios is an important tool for financial statement analysis. A ratio is defined as relation between two numbers expressed as fraction or as percentage. When such relationships are derived from the financial statements, they are called accounting ratios (Kim & Ayoun, 2005, p.2). Accounting ratios have immense application in interpretation of financial statements by helping perform both intra-firm and inter-firm comparison. Intra-firm comparison helps to measure the performance of the company on Y-O-Y basis while inter-firm comparison helps to evaluate Company’s performance with its competitors. Ratios can be broadly classified into income statement ratios (derived from income statement), balance sheet ratios (derived from balance sheet) and composite ratios (one item from balance sheet and another from income statement). They help to evaluate the firm’s ability to honor its short term or current obligations. It is an indicator for the measure of working capital management. The firms’ short term obligations include carrying out day to day operations, payments to creditors for purchase of raw materials, payment of daily wages of laborers, outstanding expenses and bills payables, etc. These current liabilities are financed by current assets (Bragg, 2012, p.73). It is the ratio of total long-term debt to total asset. While a low ratio provides security to creditors a high ratio helps the management to trade on equity. Hence it is also called the leverage ratio (Drake, 2008, p.9). It is the ratio of long term debt to shareholders’ fund (Equity shares, retained earnings, preference shares, and fictitious assets). Form the investors’ point of view a

Institutional Racism and Racial Discrimination in the U.S. Health Care System Essay Example for Free

Institutional Racism and Racial Discrimination in the U.S. Health Care System Essay Institutional racism and racial discrimination in the U.S. health care system has been part of a long continuum dating back over 400 years. After hundreds of years of active discrimination, efforts were made to admit minorities into the mainstream health system but these efforts were flawed. Colin Gordon in his book Dead on Arrival portrays a very strong stance towards this issue when he states, â€Å"The American welfare state has always been, at root, a Jim Crow welfare state – disdainful of citizenship claims of racial minorities, deferential to a southern-controlled Congress, and leery of the racial implications of universal social programs† (172). It is evident that throughout the history of U.S. health care that race has shaped health provisions in a number of ways, most noticeably in private and public health care institutions. Gordon throughout his books discusses the ways in which institutional racism, specifically in the field of healthcare, has manifested itself throughout history. One of the most prominent manifestations of institutional racism in the healthcare field comes to light when examining past (and sometimes present) policies regarding admission (to healthcare facilities) and discrimination of minorities. It is evident when observing the adoption, administration, and implementation of these policies in the past that they were purposefully constructed to be exclusive of minority citizens (specifically African Americans and Latinos). Gordon gives an example of such policies in 1939 under the Social Security reforms. In the formative years of the New Deal southerners in Congress pushed for and won for the exclusion of agricultural and domestic labor from coverage under the National Recovery, Agricultural Adjustment, Social Security, National Labor Relations, and Fair Labor Standards act, this affectively excluded 90 percent of the southern black workforce (185). The implications of this act of agricultural exclusion are most clearly evident in the South and Southwest—regions whose economies were dominated by agriculture, who agriculture systems were peculiarly labor intensive, and whose agricultural labor markets were organized around low wages, tenancy, harsh legal controls, and violence. Gordon argues that segregation  persisted in medicine and hospitals longer than in any other public institution or facility partly due to the fact that Southern Congressmen pushed for local control of any federal expenditure; and later on this pushed Southern and Southwestern leaders into a partnership with doctors, employers, and insurers to keep racial minorities excluded from the health system. Southern interests led to a push for job-based private insurance, locally administered subsidies for hospital construction, and penurious charitable programs for those left behind, â€Å"southerners persistently worked to exclude African Americans from coverage, tap into federal funds without sacrificing local practices, and ensure that charity programs remained under local control† (174). Employment-based benefits, initially developed as a surrogate for national policy, was successful in leaving behind the majority of African Americans and Latinos due to the fact that they were grossly underrepresented in the unionized industrial economy, and in part because benefits such as these did not extend to casual or domestic or agricultural workers. Private health benefits came to be looked upon by many Americans as a â€Å"wage of white-ness† (176). Federal agencies, both out of practical and political necessity, consistently surrendered control over federal funds and standards over to state and local administration, â€Å"states set their own standards for care and eligibility and controlled the pace and scope of federal matching funds. Local political and medical authorities wielded considerable informal power and discretion† (187). In 1948 the Brookings Institution published a book-length assault on health reform. The conclusion of this publication was that higher black mortality rates are â€Å"predominately the result of economic, cultural and social differences† although, the research for this publication based cost estimates off of the ordinary expenditures of white families and confined comparative mortality rates to the white population, this led to them to conclude that the United States was among one of the most healthful nations in the world (188). Seconding this conclusion and also asserting that higher rates of non-white mortality were due to such things as poor sanitation, housing, education, and the lack of ordinary individual and community common sense was the AMA. The partnership between these two organizations is evident. At the root of the hospital issue in the South was not only professional and patient segregation but also the way in which it was countenanced by federal efforts  to address the region’s dearth of facilities. What is shown here is the long-standing political strategy to try and appease reformers by granting federal funds but to simultaneously placate opponents by relinquishing control to local or private interests; federal aid to hospitals both in 1940 and under the 1946 Hill-Burton Act â€Å"avoided any commitment to maintenance: once built, hospitals would reflect local control and local custom† (193). This however did nothing to prevent segregation seeing as in order to be considered nondiscriminatory a hospital was only required to grant equal access to the portion of the hospital that was built with federal funds. Perhaps the most compelling public health issue during the formative years of the American welfare state was the dismal status of rural services. In places in the South and Southwest and the nation’s inner cities basic services such as a hospital, public health clinic, and a doctor accepting Medicaid patients did not even exist. Gordon offers the example in Mississippi in 1948, there were only five general hospital beds for every 100,000 blacks in the state—at a time when four beds for every 1,000 citizens was considered adequate (175). It is evident that health care in the twentieth century has been shaped by a myriad of â€Å"direct and indirect discrimination, strong southern interests and local administration, the uneasy intersection of public and private (job-based) benefits, and the sharp political distinctions routinely drawn between contributory and charitable programs† (209). According to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Despite the existence of civil rights legislation equal treatment and equal access are not a reality for racial/ethnic minorities and women in the current climate of the health care industry. Many barriers limit both the quality of health care and utilization for these groups, including discrimination. Importance of Health Care Access to comprehensive, quality health care services is important for the achievement of health equity and for increasing the quality of a healthy life for everyone. Access to health services entails the timely utilization of personal health services in an effort to achieve the best possible health outcomes. The utilization of and access to health care has many substantial impacts on a person’s life. A person’s overall physical, social and mental health statuses are all impacted by the ability to be examined and treated by a medical professional. Health care also plays a significant role in the prevention of disease and disability, the detection and treatment of health conditions and a person’s quality of life. A structured healthcare system assists in providing a foundation for a healthy lifestyle for both individuals and their families. Without access to healthcare, minor health issues have the potential to escalate either permanently affecting living standards or worse resulting in death. The health care sector also has an impact on the local economy. Health care facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes provide jobs and income to people in the community. As these employees spend their income in the community, a ripple spreads throughout the economy, creating additional jobs and income in other economic sectors. Also, providing healthcare may also be a business incentive to companies. Healthy employees can mean a healthier, happier, more productive workplace. A company’s decision to invest in and offer health care to their employees not only filters back into the economy but also may help them to recruit and retain quality employees, improve employee satisfaction, and reduce absenteeism due to sickness. Business that offer health insurance as part of their employee benefits package are probably better able to attract more qualified applicants than those who dont. Also, offering health insurance coverage is a way of keeping operating costs low, because employees are generally more apt to take a position at a lower salary when health insurance benefits are provided. This is because it generally costs more for someone to obtain an individual or family health insurance policy than to get employer-sponsored coverage, making the difference of a lower salary negotiable. Businesses offering health insurance can deduct their portion of the contribution toward their employee plan as a business expense and get a tax advantage. If the business is incorporated, the business owners insurance and the coverage paid for employees are deductible. Access to health care services and insurance plays a vital role in individual and families lives along side society as a whole.

Spanglish & Linguistics Essay Example for Free

Spanglish Linguistics Essay Spanglish is a well-known term that describes the linguistic behaviors on Spanish speakers, who’s Spanish is uniquely influenced from the English language. Spanglish can also be defined as a â€Å"mixed-code vernacular that includes a range of linguistic phenomena, most notably code-switching†. Despite the fact that Puerto Rican linguist, Salvador Tio, coined the term ‘Spanglish’ in the late 1940’s, this language contact phenomena has actually been used over the past 150 years, since the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed. Some would consider Spanish a 3rd language and some would dismiss it as unorganized slang. In modern society, Spanglish is classified as a popular term, not a technical one. Although many variations of Spanglish do exist and is widely denounced for being a form of slang, Spanglish has proven, to hold its own flexible syntax, grammar interface, and switching rules. Spanglish can be found in the speech of the Hispanic population of the United States, especially in communities located near the border, such as Southern Texas, and communities with significant Latin influence, like Miami and New York City. Every Hispanic group has its own variant of Spanglish (Cuban, Dominican, Puerto Rican, Boricuan, Mexican,  e. t. c) and can differ depending where the region is located. San Diego, for example, borders Mexico where many Spanish and Spanglish-speaking citizens currently reside. Historically, the United States and Mexico were both seeking land near the border during the mid 1800’s, but both countries spoke opposing languages (English and Spanish). â€Å"They were TWO RADICALLY DIFFERENT COUNTRIES IN TERMS OF SOCIAL CONDITIONS, ECONOMICS, POLITICS, AND CULTURE. † (5. JESUS VELASCO-MARQUEZ). AMERICAN AND MEXICAN POLITICIANS WERE FORCED TO USE CODE SWITCHING TO COMMUNICATE WITH ONE ANOTHER AND EACH SIDE. ATTEMPTED TO ACQUIRE THE OPPOSING COUNTRY’S LANGUAGE. EVENTUALLY, THE TREATY OF GUADALUPE, SIGNED IN 1848, ENDED THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN WAR AND BEGAN AN ERA OF PEACE BETWEEN BOTH COUNTRIES. THE PEACE TREATY ALSO ESTABLISHED THE BORDER BETWEEN BOTH COUNTRIES, ATTRACTING COLONIES TO VILLAGES ALONG THE BORDER FOR TRADE AND STOCK ROUTES. THE CULTURE OF THESE VILLAGES, WHOSE RESIDENTS HAIL FROM BOTH AMERICA AND MEXICO, CREATED ‘SPANGLISH’ AS A RESULT. DURING THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PANAMA CANAL IN 1881-1914, AMERICANS NOW HAD ACCESS TO TRAVEL DEEPER INTO SOUTH AMERICAN, WHICH MADE SPANGLISH AND CODE SWITCHING A  VITAL FORM OF COMMUNICATION. ASIDE FROM THE MEXICAN BORDER, SPANGLISH HAS ALSO FOUND ITS WAY ONTO THE TONGUES OF CUBAN-AMERICANS AND CUBANS, WHO’VE MIGRATED FROM CUBA during the 1953-1959 Cuban Revolution. During the early to mid-1900s, New York City was also experiencing a similar wave OF MIGRATION, AS MANY PUERTO RICANS WERE SETTLING IN NEW YORK FOR ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL REASONS. †¢Spanglish can be divided into three subdivisions: 1. Adapting lexical items (â€Å"loan words†) from one language into the other on a phonological or morphological (roots/affixes) level. (e. g, ‘saying updatear’ [to update]  instead of the Spanish alternative â€Å"actualizar†). Borrowed verbs tend to carry the borrowing language’s inflections (e. g. parquear [to park]). 2. Calques: Words or phrases in one language whose semantic components are directly translated from another language. (e. g. â€Å"to call back† becomes â€Å"llamar para atras† which is the literal word-for-word translation. Although the translation was entirely in Spanish, the grammar influence was due to English. 3. Code-switching: The phenomenon that occurs when adapting loan words from one language into the other in the same utterance or conversation. Two main types of code switching can be identified. Internsentential code-switching occurs when the switch is made at a clause boundary (e. g. I’m extremely tired, me voy a domir), Intrasentential code-switching occurs when the switch is made within a clause (e. g. Mi abuela le gusta cooking). Intersentional code switching tends to be more popular than Intrasentential code switching, as speakers tend to â€Å"alternate among multiple CONSTITUENTS WITHOUT ERROR (TORRES 330)†. THE FLEXIBLE, YET RULE GOVERNED, LINGUISTIC PHENOMENA OF SPANGLISH INCLUDE SIMILAR (YET MORE COMPLEX) COMPONENTS OF SPANISH-ENGLISH CODE SWITCHING. ANGLICISMS/LOAN WORDS ARE BORROWED WORDS (OR PHRASES) FROM THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND INCORPORATED INTO SPANISH (OR ANY LANGUAGE). AN EXAMPLE OF THIS BEHAVIOR IN SPANGLISH WOULD BE THE TERM â€Å"TROCA† (WHICH TRANSLATES TO â€Å"TRUCK† IN ENGLISH AND â€Å"CAMIONETA† IN SPANISH) OR THE WORD â€Å"PARQUEADERO† (WHICH TRANSLATES TO â€Å"PARKING LOT† IN ENGLISH AND â€Å"ESTACIONAMIENTO† IN SPANISH). NEITHER ONE OF THESE WORDS CAN BE CLASSIFIED AS CODE SWITCHING NOR CAN BE PROPERLY DEFINED AS ENGLISH OR SPANISH. IN FACT, SOME LINGUISTS BELIEVE THAT IN ORDER TO  USE PROPER CODE SWITCHING, THE SPEAKER MUST ATTAIN A HIGH COMPETENCY IN EITHER LANGUAGE, AND THEREFORE SHOULD NOT EVEN BE COMPARABLE TO SPANGLISH. THESE LOAN WORDS TEND TO FOLLOW A SET OF LINGUISTIC PATTERN IN SPANGLISH, SUCH AS ADDING THE SPANISH INFINITIVE ENDING OF â€Å"-AR† TO ENGLISH WORDS, LIKE: MAPEAR (TO MOP), TEXTEAR (TO TEXT), CHANGEAR (TO CHANGE), LINKEAR (TO LINK), AND RELESEAR (TO RELEASE). ‘FREE MORPHEME CONSTRAINT’ AND ‘EQUIVALENT CONSTRAINT’ ARE TWO LINGUISTIC CONSTRAINTS IN SPANGLISH. FREE MORPHEME CONSTRAINTS STATE THAT SWITCHING BETWEEN BOUND MORPHEMES IS  PROHIBITED (E. G. ESTAMOS TALK-ANDO OR YO ESTOY EAT-IENDO). EQUIVALENT CONSTRAINTS STATE THAT NO SWITCH CAN BE MADE IF THE RESULT IS UNGRAMMATICAL, AND MUST BE GRAMMATICAL TO BOTH LANGUAGES (E. G. I SAW LO INSTEAD OF I SAW HIM). IN NEW YORK CITY, PUERTO RICANS HAVE BEEN OBSERVED TO SWITCH FORM CLASS WORDS, SUCH AS NOUNS AND PRONOUNS, AND RARELY SWITCH AUXILIARIES AND ADJECTIVES. MANY SOCIOLINGUISTS, SUCH AS ILLANA STAVANS), ARGUE AGAINST ‘FREE MORPHEME CONSTRAINTS’ BY USING LEXICAL WORDS LIKE â€Å"JANGEAR† EVEN THOUGH â€Å"-EAR† IS A BOUND MORPHEME IN SPANISH USED TO CREATE VERBS. STAVANS ARGUMENT DECLARES THAT EVEN THOUGH ‘FREE BOUND MORPHEME’ RULES STATE THAT SWITCHING BETWEEN BOUND MORPHEMES IS PROHIBITED, EXCEPTIONS CAN BE MADE IF THE LEXICAL WORD IS PHONETICALLY INTEGRATED INTO THE BOUND MORPHEME’S LANGUAGE. CALQUES, OR LOAN TRANSLATIONS, GO FURTHER THAN JUST BORROWING WORDS OR PHRASES. THE SPEAKER CREATES A LITERAL TRANSLATION OF THE SENTENCE WITHOUT CHANGING THE GRAMMAR FORMAT; UNGRAMMATICAL TRANSLATION. ‘FALSE COGNATES’ FOLLOW A SIMILAR FORMAT AS THEY BORROW WORDS FROM ENGLISH TO SPANISH BUT PROVIDE A ROOT WORD THAT TRANSLATES INTO A DIFFERENT MEANING (E. G.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"CARPETO† IS INDEED A SPANISH WORD, BUT THE SPEAKER WOULD BE INCORRECT IF THEY WERE USING IT TO DESCRIBE A â€Å"CAR PET†, AS â€Å"CARPETO† ACTUALLY MEANS â€Å"FOLDER† IN SPANISH. BECAUSE ROOT WORDS TEND TO BRANCH ACROSS MULTIPLE LANGUAGES, ‘FALSE COGNATES’ ARE THE MOST COMMONLY USED DEVICES IN SPANGLISH. Based on public literature, specifically Spanglish: The Making of a New American Language (2003) by Illan Stavans, each Spanglish speaker has their own regional dialect depending on their heritage, social lass, and age. Some of these include, â€Å"Cubonics† (Cuban-Americans), â€Å"Nuyorrican† (Puerto Rican spoken in New York  City) and â€Å"Dominicanish† (Dominican-Americans). Stavans explains that there’s no such thing as one Spanish, and each group has its own speech pattern. His view on â€Å"Chicano Spanish†, (which he considers Mexican-American Spanglish), contrasts opposing views from another sociolinguist, Carmen Fought. Fought studies Chicano Spanish, and believes that is â€Å"neither Spanglish nor a version of nonstandard Spanish but, rather, is a unique dialect used by speakers who are typically not bilingual. † Fought even challenges Chicano Spanish stating the speakers are likely to not even know  Spanish at all, and because of their high vowel pronunciation on the letter â€Å"I† (words like â€Å"going† are spoken as â€Å"go-WEEN† or â€Å"talking† becomes â€Å"talk-EEN†) other people might believe what they’re hearing is â€Å"the accent of a native Spanish speaker†, which is false. Cubonics however, uses many loan words like ‘pulover’, which is literally almost spelled the same as the English word it borrows from (‘pullover’), but the Cubonics definition is referring to a â€Å"shirt† whereas â€Å"camiseta† would be the proper Spanish translation. Social motivation for code switching

The Opening Sequence Of Mary Poppins Film Studies Essay

The Opening Sequence Of Mary Poppins Film Studies Essay The opening sequence of Mary Poppins shows a backdrop of the city of London. Credits scroll by as the camera pans from right to left on the backdrop until it zooms in on Mary Poppins, (Julie Andrews), sitting on a cloud. A medley of songs: Feed the Birds, A Spoonful of Sugar, and Chim, Chim, Cher-ee play in the background. Finally, the camera pans down to a park where Bert, (Dick Van Dyke) sings and plays a one-man-band to a crowd of onlookers. He begs a tip from an affluent audience and then leads the viewer to Cherry Tree Lane. This introduces the story, characters, and location of the film. Bert tells of a changing wind, which suggests that Mary Poppins is arriving. Using the same backdrop of London at the beginning and the end brings the movie full-circle when the wind changes again and Mary returns to the clouds. At the end of the movie, Mary leaves while the Banks family flies kites together. Bert says goodbye to Mary on her way back to the clouds over London. The song, Lets Go Fly a Kite plays as credits roll past. The movies theme is that only a tuppence of change can make a difference. Mary Poppins brings that change when she teaches the Banks family that little things like a tuppence for feeding birds, making chores fun when the children clean their rooms, and going for imaginary outings in the park can make a difference in the their lives. The opening scene sets up this theme when Bert expects a tip from his well-dressed audience. Some give generously to help him, but others dont give anything at all. Did you find the aforementioned film to be satisfying and/or entertaining? Did it make an impact that will be lasting? Will you or will you not recommend it to others? Why? Mary Poppins is an entertaining childrens movie, although I dont care for other musicals. It reiterates how I feel about doing small things that make a difference to help others. I recommend this movie to parents of young children because I think it would appeal to a young audience. It has great music like A Spoonful of Sugar, animated scenes of penguin waiters, and colorful carousel ponies that children would like. Isolate a five-to-ten minute continuous stretch of the required film from Lesson 4 or Lesson 5. As an exercise, turn off the sound and watch for every cut in a scene(s). Briefly describe a number of editing cuts you see. Be explicit about what film stretch you observed and what editing cuts are evidenced. Is the cutting conspicuous or inconspicuous, rapid or slow, smooth or jarring? What is the point of the cutting in each scene(s)? To clarify? Lyricize? Create suspense? Explore an emotion or idea in depth? Explain. Describe how the action is pictured in these cuts. In scene 13, Mary and the children visit Uncle Albert. They walk down an alley to a building. The camera cuts to a low angle shot of Mary at the door. After Bert opens the door for them to come inside, the scene cuts to a shot inside Uncle Alberts home. A medium shot shows Bert, Mary, and the children (Mat Garber, Karen Dotrice) standing by a stairway. The camera pans and follows them through another doorway. The scene cuts to another room they all go in. The camera pans to an establishing long shot of everyone in the room including Uncle Albert (Ed Wynn) who sits in the air near the ceiling. The next cut is a high angle shot from Uncle Alberts point of view looking down to Mary, Bert, and the children. It cuts to a close-up of Uncle Albert laughing and gesturing with his hands. Then a cut to a high angle reaction shot of the childrens faces as they see Uncle Albert. Several reaction shots, low or high angle shots, and close-ups cut back and forth from Uncle Albert laughing and tumbl ing in the air, to the children laughing, to Bert trying to keep from laughing, and Mary admonishing them. A cut to a long shot for reestablishing everyones place in the room keeps viewers focused. Finally, all four characters join Uncle Albert in the air for tea. The conspicuous and classical cuts jump back and forth quickly, but they are smooth and give emotional details of the facial expressions of the characters and physical details of where everyone is in the room. For instance, one can see that Mary disapproves when she rolls her eyes, glares down at the children, or looks crossly at Bert in several two shot cuts. In other cuts the camera shows disorienting shots of Uncle Albert near the ceiling, or follows him as he tumbles around. Using the required film viewed from Lesson 2, 4, or 5, concentrate on sound effects in one scene with quite a bit of movement. Describe the different sounds/noises in the scene and how they are used. Watch this one scene again without sound. How do sound effects contribute to the impact of the scene? As with #3, be explicit about what scene you observed for sounds and movement. In the Step in Time dance number of scene 19, chimney sweeps dance on rooftops. Dancers keep time with the rhythmic music, but no tapping feet are heard. The music seems to tap the beat for them. When the songs lyrics say, act like a birdie, a shrill whistle mimics a birds sound. When Admiral Boom (Reginald Owen) fires on the dancers, the audience hears hissing, pops, and booms of rockets soaring through the air with whizzing sounds. Without sound, the chimney sweeps appear to be marching to war. This might be confusing when Admiral Boom fires rockets across the sky, but the cheerful vocals and the beat of the music soften the scene so the viewer is entertained instead of misinterpreting it as a war scene or being bored by its length. Using the required film viewed from Lesson 2, 4, or 5, describe how music is employed. What type of musical score does the film feature-orchestral music, jazz music, ballroom music, vocals, etc.? What types of musical instruments are heard? List several instruments. Is music used to underline speech or is it employed only for action or dance scenes? What precise songs, tunes, or vocal performances are prominent? The music in Mary Poppins sets the tempo of the movie and allows characters to sing what is happening instead of using boring dialogue. For instance, Mrs. Banks (Glynnis Johns) sings about her role in helping Womens Votes, and Mr. Banks (David Tomlinson) sings about keeping his home on schedule. The film uses vocals and orchestra music throughout the movie. Violins, cellos, drums, flutes, trombones, harps, cymbals, and tubas can be heard in the orchestra. The movie depends on vocals and music to underline speech and tell its story; however the chimneysweep Step in Time sequence uses the music for action and dance. Other favorite songs of the movie are A Spoonful of Sugar, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, and Chim, Chim, Cher-ee. Now a Disney classic, Mary Poppins is a favorite of children and adults.

Beneath the Skin :: Make up Fashion Personal Narrative Papers

Beneath the Skin I bought new makeup yesterday. It’s a new kind from Almay called ‘Nearly Naked,’ which is supposed to hide the wearer’s imperfections but still let her skin show through. Obviously the idea is to make it seem like there is no makeup and that yes, this is how I look when I roll out of bed. Isn’t that what it’s about, though? Hiding one’s imperfections from the world while trying to convince the world that it’s the â€Å"real you†? So here I sit, face freshly washed and devoid of makeup, ready for examination to see what can be discovered about my life from my facial features. Let’s start at the top: the forehead. Not too big, not too small (though I’m sure if I stare at it long enough that sentiment will change). Two little indents serve as a reminder to when I had the chicken pox, age eleven. During the sixth grade, all the kids in my class got chicken pox, and I was one of the last to get it. At the time we were living in England, and my mother’s friend was visiting from the U.S. I didn’t want her to see me with all these terrible little marks on my skin. I wanted to hide in my bed for two weeks. There were pictures of me during that time—I’m holding my hamster and not looking at the camera—but I cut out the little part of the photos with my hamster in them and threw the rest of the photos out. I wanted no reminder of how sick I looked during that time. So now, years later, small bumps and irregularities are scattered across the once smooth surface. My shaggy eyebrows should be plucked in order to banish those tiny strays under the brow, but I can’t be bothered. I used to have very high-maintenance eyebrows back in high school. They were arched and tapered to a beautiful finish at just the right spot a little further out than where my eye ends. But I was a different person then—someone I’m not now. While those eyebrows were fun they represent someone else—perhaps someone who was not as comfortable with herself as she is now. Someone who was just coming into her own and feeling slightly awkward, and decided to make her eyebrows as pretty as possible, to give the illusion of maturity.

Blessed Luke :: Saint Luke Stiris Essays

Blessed Luke Background of Saint Luke ? Saint Luke was born in 896 A.D. most likely in Delphi or in nearby Kastri in Central Greece.[1]? He is known today as Blessed Luke, Luke the Younger, St. Luke of Stiris, and Luke the Wonderworker (Thaumaturgus in Greek).? ?His parents were farmers in Thessaly.?[2]? Originally from Egina, St. Luke?s parents fled the island when the Saracens attacked it. Saracens was the name that Medieval Europeans used to describe the Arabs and all Muslims in general.? As a youth, St. Luke was prone to give to charity, even though his parents were not very wealthy or happy about their son?s giving.[3]? St. Luke was also noted for his healing/special powers from an early age.? ?One of his legendary wonders was to make his parents? crops yield more than anyone else?s? despite only planting half of the seeds he was supposed to.[4] Life of Saint Luke ?As a teenager, St. Luke ran away from home after his father died.[5] However, another source said that he ran away from home because his parents were mad at him for wanting to enter into a monastery.[6] Unfortunately, soldiers mistook St. Luke for a runaway slave and put him in prison.? After he was freed, his mother finally gave her permission to allow Luke to enter a monastery outside of Athens.[7] He did not stay there long.? At the age of eighteen, St. Luke built a place on Mount Joannitsa near Corinth in Greece.[8] There he became a hermit.? St. Luke was credited with predicting the liberation of Crete, which happened within ten years after he died.[9]? Thus, he could predict the future as well as perform miracles.? It was also said that he settled in the village of Stiri.[10] According to different sources, he died either in the year 946 A.D. or 953 A.D.? His Saint?s Day is on February seventh of the Christian calendar.? The Orthodox Church declared Luke a Hossios and his reli cs were kept in the original church until the crypt was built in the Katholikon. Ossios Loukas ?The name means Blessed Luke and the site contains two monastic churches: Holy Luke and Our Lady.? Alternate spellings of its name include Osios Loukas and Hosios Loukas.? The first church built on the site between 941 to 944 A.D. was built for St. Barbara originally.[11]? Holy Luke is called the Katholikon in Greek and was built over the crypt dedicated to St.

Death and Time in Slaughterhouse-Five Essay -- Slaughterhouse-Five Ess

Death and Time in Slaughterhouse-Five We all wish we could travel through time, going back to correct our stupid mistakes or zooming ahead to see the future. In Kurt Vonnegut's novel Slaughterhouse-Five, however, time travel does not seem so helpful. Billy Pilgrim, Vonnegut's main character, has come unstuck in time. He bounces back and forth between his past, present, and future lives in a roller coaster time trip that proves both senseless and numbing. Examining Billy's time traveling, his life on Tralfamadore, and the novel's schizophrenic structure shows that time travel is actually a metaphor for our human tendency to avoid facing the unpleasant reality of death. Because he cannot control time travel, Billy is forced to relive again and again some of the most painful parts of his life. For example, Edgar Derby, his wartime father-figure, is senselessly executed by the Germans for stealing a teapot, while Valencia Pilgrim, his own wife, dies accidentally from carbon monoxide poisoning after her car's exhaust system is damaged in an accident. Barbara Greeley has observed that the effect of having to witness these events over and over is that "Billy becomes emotionally desensitized to human suffering and death, and is thus robbed of compassion" (3). Her point is well taken, for without this human emotion Billy is reduced to the level of an unfeeling machine. On the planet Tralfamadore where Billy is taken after he is kidnapped by extraterrestrials, his machine-like response to suffering and death grows only worse. Like Billy, the Tralfamadorians have no sense of chronological order; they see time as an earthling might "see a stretch of the Rocky Mountains" (85-86), with... ...ound by time, which includes the ultimate reality of death. Although death limits us by limiting our experiences, our lives are made more meaningful precisely because they are so short. Unlike Tralfamadorians, who cannot change history, we can look back in time and learn from the mistakes of the past. Only in this sense can we truly be time travelers: that we reflect on the past and incorporate its lessons into our present lives so that the future will be more productive. Sources Greeley, Barbara. "New Insights into Vonnegut's Thinking: Slaughterhouse-Five and The Sirens of Titan." Psychology Today June 1990: 1+. Marten, Stephen Edward. "Why We Read Vonnegut Today." Twentieth Century Interpretations of Kurt Vonnegut. Ed Russell Baker. New York: Norton, 1988. 8-25. Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse-Five. New York: Dell Publishing, 1988.