Is The Secret Sharer an appropriate title for this short story? Essay

1. Is The Secret Sharer an appropriate title for this short story? Support your ideas with detail from the text. In The Secret Sharer, a captain escapes his ship where he was held captive after murdering a member of the crew. He swims to another ship and admits the whole truth to the captain. Both captains have bad relationships with their crew and they empathise with each other. Legatt, who came from the other ship, is to be kept secret from the crew as his life depends on it. They have to keep quiet and whisper. An intense relationship is built up between the two of them. The captain always refers to Legatt as my â€Å"other self†, â€Å"my double† or â€Å"my second self†. This indicates that they belong together such as lovers. It implies that they are one person and are bound together. Legatt tells the captain immediately that he just killed a man and the captain just accepts it without question. He understands why he did it. They trust each other totally. Between them they know everything about each other, they knew each other before their eyes met. For Legatt to expose himself to a complete stranger there would have to be a bond. It is a twisted love at first sight. Another aspect of the title’s secretively is brotherhood. The two captains conspire together like brothers. â€Å"Whispering side by side, with our dark heads together and our backs to the door, anybody bold enough to open it stealthily would have been treated to the uncanny sight of a double captain busy talking in whispers with his other self.† They both look alike and are conversing in whispers. They are even sitting the same way. Like two little twin brothers making up some plan, which will guarantee that they get into trouble. This comes before sharing a secret; this is the creation of a secret, which will only be between those two, so effectively they are sharing the secret. Legatts existence is so secret that the captain starts to doubt he even exists. He is so secret that he cannot exist. â€Å"An irresistible doubt of his existence flickered through my mind. Can it be, I asked myself, that he is not visible to other eyes than mine?† He begins to think that Legatt is so secret, that he is imagining him. This shows us that the relationship is so secret and fantastic, that he cannot believe it. Legatt is barely described; we know only that he has dark hair, is pale and resembles the captain. In the beginning he was glowing phosphorescently, which reminds us of ghost. So he is almost spirit like. This reflects the title in that the secrectness of his existence cannot be shared. The captain describes Legatt to be like himself, he is a mirror. The captain can understand Legatt instantly as if he were in his shoes. He shares his very soul with Legatt, which is so unreal he can’t believe it. It’s double secret, materialistically he cannot tell the crew and has to hide him, and spiritually because he has shared his heart with Legatt. In conclusion, â€Å"The Secret Sharer† is an appropriate title for this account. The title can be interpreted into different meanings all of which can be associated directly to the story. The title focuses wholly on the relationship between the captain and Legatt.

Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story Chapter 19~20

Chapter 19 Judy's Delicate Condition For the first few weeks Tommy was uncomfortable having a dead guy in the freezer, but after a while the dead guy became a fixture, a familiar frosty face with every TV dinner. Tommy named him Peary after another arctic explorer. During the day, after he came home from work and before he crawled into bed with Jody, Tommy puttered around the loft talking first to himself, then, when he became comfortable with the idea, to Peary. â€Å"You know, Peary,† Tommy said one morning after he had pounded out two pages of a short story on his typewriter, â€Å"I am having a little trouble finding my voice in this story. When I write about the little farm girl in Georgia walking barefoot to school on the dirt road, I sound like Harper Lee, but when I write about her poor father, unjustly sentenced to a chain gang for stealing bread for his family, I start to sound a little like Mark Twain. But when the little girl grows up to become a Mafia don, I'm falling into more of a Sydney Collins Krantz style. What should I do?† Peary, safe with his lid closed and his light off, did not answer. â€Å"And how am I supposed to concentrate on literature when I'm reading all these vampire books for Jody? She doesn't understand that a writer is a special creature – that I'm different from everyone else. I'm not saying I'm superior to other people, just more sensitive, I guess. And did you notice that she never does any of the shopping? What does she do all night while I'm at work?† Tommy was making an effort to understand Jody's situation, and had even devised a series of experiments from his reading to try and discover the limitations of her new situation. In the evening when they woke, after they shared a shower and a tumble or two, the scientific process would begin. â€Å"Go ahead, honey, give it a try,† Tommy said, shortly after he'd read Dracula. â€Å"I am trying,† Jody said. â€Å"I don't know what I'm supposed to try to do.† â€Å"Concentrate,† Tommy said. â€Å"Push.† â€Å"What do you mean, push? I'm not giving birth, Tommy. What am I supposed to push on?† â€Å"Try to grow fur. Try to make your arms change into wings.† Jody closed her eyes and concentrated – strained, even – and Tommy thought a little color came into her face. Finally she said, â€Å"This is ridiculous.† And it was determined that Jody could not turn into a bat. â€Å"Mist,† Tommy said. â€Å"Try to turn into mist. If you forget your key sometime, you can just ooze under the door to get in.† â€Å"It's not working.† â€Å"Keep trying. You know how your hair gathers in the shower drain? Well, if it gets clogged, you can just flow down there and dig out the clog.† â€Å"There's some motivation.† â€Å"Give it a try.† She tried and failed and the next day Tommy brought some Drano home from the store instead. â€Å"But I could take you to the park and throw a Frisbee for you.† â€Å"I know, but I can't.† â€Å"I'll buy you all kinds of chew toys – a squeaky duck if you want.† â€Å"I'm sorry, Tommy, but I can't turn into a wolf.† â€Å"In the book, Dracula climbs down the castle wall face down.† â€Å"Good for him.† â€Å"You could try it on our building. It's only three stories.† â€Å"That's still a long way to fall.† â€Å"You won't fall. He doesn't fall in the book.† â€Å"And he levitates in the book, doesn't he?† â€Å"Yeah.† â€Å"And we tried that, didn't we?† â€Å"Well, yeah.† â€Å"Then I'd say that the book is fiction, wouldn't you?† â€Å"Let's try something else; I'll get the list.† â€Å"Mind reading. Project your thoughts into my mind.† â€Å"Okay, I'm projecting. What am I thinking?† â€Å"I can tell by the look on your face.† â€Å"You might be wrong, what am I thinking?† â€Å"You'd like me to stop badgering you with these experiments.† â€Å"And?† â€Å"You want me to take our clothes to the Laundromat.† â€Å"And?† â€Å"That's all I'm getting.† â€Å"I want you to stop rubbing garlic on me while I'm sleeping.† â€Å"You can read thoughts!† â€Å"No, Tommy, but I woke up this evening smelling like a pizza joint. Stop it with the garlic.† â€Å"So you don't know about the crucifix?† â€Å"You touched me with a crucifix?† â€Å"You weren't in any danger. I had a fire extinguisher right there in case you burst into flames.† â€Å"I don't think it's very nice of you to experiment on me while I'm sleeping. How would you feel if I rubbed stuff on you while you were sleeping?† â€Å"Well, it depends. What are we talking about?† â€Å"Just don't touch me while I'm sleeping, okay? A relationship is based on mutual trust and respect.† â€Å"So I guess the mallet and the stake are out of the question?† â€Å"Tommy!† â€Å"Kmart had a sale on mallets. You were wondering if you were immortal. I wasn't going to try it without asking you.† â€Å"How long do you think it will take for you to forget what sex feels like?† â€Å"I'm sorry, Jody. Really, I am.† The question of immortality did, indeed, bother Jody. The old vampire had said that she could be killed, but it was not the sort of thing that you could easily test. It was Tommy, of course, after a long talk with Peary while trying to avoid working on his little Southern-girl story one morning, who came up with the test. Jody awoke one evening to find him in the bathroom emptying ice cubes out of a tray into the big claw-foot tub. He said, â€Å"I was a lifeguard one summer in high school.† â€Å"So?† â€Å"I had to learn CPR. I spent half the summer pumping pissy pool water out of exhausted nine-year-olds.† â€Å"So?† â€Å"Drowning.† â€Å"Drowning?† â€Å"Yeah, we drown you. If you're immortal, you'll be fine. If not, the cold water will keep you fresh and I can revive you. There's about thirty more trays of ice stacked up on Peary. Could you grab some?† â€Å"Tommy, I'm not sure about this.† â€Å"You want to know, don't you?† â€Å"But a tub of ice water?† â€Å"I've run all the possibilities down – guns, knives, an injection of potassium nitrate – this is the only one that can fail and not really kill you. I know you want to know, but I don't want to lose you to find out.† Jody, in spite of herself, was touched. â€Å"That's the sweetest thing anyone ever said to me.† â€Å"Well, you wouldn't want to kill me, would you?† Tommy was a little concerned about the fact that Jody had been feeding on him every four days. Not that he felt sick or weak; on the contrary, he found that each time she bit him he was energized, stronger, it seemed. He was throwing twice as much stock at the store and his mind seemed sharper, more alert. He was making good progress on his story. He was starting to look forward to being bitten. â€Å"Come on then,† he said. â€Å"In the tub.† Jody was wearing a silk nighty that she let drop to the floor. â€Å"You're sure if this doesn't work†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"You'll be fine.† She took his hand. â€Å"I'm trusting you.† â€Å"I know. Get in.† Jody stepped into the cold water. â€Å"Brisk,† she said. â€Å"I didn't think you could feel it.† â€Å"I can feel temperature changes, but they don't bother me.† â€Å"We'll experiment on that next. Under you go.† Jody lay down in the tub, her hair spread across the water like crimson kelp. Tommy checked his watch. â€Å"After you go under, don't hold your breath. It's going to be hard, but suck the water into your lungs. I'll leave you under for four minutes, then pull you out.† Jody took deep breaths and looked at him, a glint of panic in her eyes. He bent and kissed her. â€Å"I love you,† he said. â€Å"You do?† â€Å"Of course.† He pushed her head under the water. She bobbed back up. â€Å"Me too,† she said. Then she went under. She tried to make herself take in the water but her lungs wouldn't let her and she held her breath. Four minutes later Tommy reached under her arms and pulled her up. â€Å"I didn't do it,† she said. â€Å"Christ, Jody, I can't keep doing this.† â€Å"I held my breath.† â€Å"For four minutes?† â€Å"I think I could have gone hours.† â€Å"Try again. You've got to inhale the water or you'll never die.† â€Å"Thanks, coach.† â€Å"Please.† She slipped under the water and sucked in a breath of water before she could think about it. She listened to the ice cubes tinkling on the surface, watched the bathroom light refracting through the water, occasionally interrupted by Tommy's face as he looked down on her. There was no panic, no choking – she didn't even feel the claustrophobia that she had expected. Actually, it was kind of pleasant. Tommy pulled her up and she expelled a great cough of water, then began breathing normally. â€Å"Are you okay?† â€Å"Fine.† â€Å"You really did drown.† â€Å"It wasn't that bad.† â€Å"Try it again.† This time Tommy left her under for ten minutes before pulling her up. After the cough, she said, â€Å"I guess that's it.† â€Å"Did you see the long tunnel with the light at the end? All your dead relatives waiting? The fiery gates of hell?† â€Å"Nope, just ice cubes.† Tommy turned around and sat down hard on the bathroom rug with his back to the tub. â€Å"I feel like I was the one that got drowned.† â€Å"I feel great.† â€Å"That's it, you know. You are immortal.† â€Å"I guess so. As far as we can test it. Can I get out of the tub now?† â€Å"Sure.† He handed her a towel over his shoulder. â€Å"Jody, are you going to leave me when I get old?† â€Å"You're nineteen years old.† â€Å"Yeah, but next year I'll be twenty, then twenty-one; then I'll be eating strained green beans and drooling all over myself and asking you what your name is every five seconds and you'll be twenty-six and perky and you'll resent me every time you have to change my incontinence pants.† â€Å"That's a cheery thought.† â€Å"Well, you will resent it, won't you?† â€Å"Aren't you jumping the gun a little? You have great bladder control; I've seen you drink six beers without going to the bathroom.† â€Å"Sure, now, but†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Look, Tommy, could you look at this from my point of view? This is the first time I've had to really think about this as well. Do you realize that I'll never have blue hair and walk with tiny little steps? I'll never drive really slow all the time and spend hours complaining about my ailments. I'll never go to Denny's and steal all the extra jelly packets and squirrel them away in a giant handbag.† Tommy looked up at her. â€Å"You were looking forward to those things?† â€Å"That's not the point, Tommy. I might be immortal, but I've lost a big part of my life. Like French fries. I miss eating French fries. I'm Irish, you know. Ever since the Great Potato Famine my people get nervous if they don't eat French fries every few days. Did you ever think about that?† â€Å"No, I guess I didn't.† â€Å"I don't even know what I am. I don't know why I'm here. I was made by some mystery creature and I don't have the slightest idea why, or what he wants from me, or what I am supposed to be doing. Only that he's messing with my life in ways I can't understand. Do you have any idea what that is like?† â€Å"Actually, I know exactly what that's like.† â€Å"You do?† â€Å"Of course, everybody does. By the way, the Emperor told me that they found another body today. In a Laundromat in the Tenderloin. Broken neck and no blood.† Chapter 20 Angel If Inspector Alphonse Rivera had been a bird, he would have been a crow. He was lean and dark, with slick, sharp features and black eyes that shone and shifted with suspicion and guile. Time and again his crowlike looks landed him in the undercover role of coke dealer. Sometimes Cuban, sometimes Mexican, and one time Colombian, he had driven more Mercedes and worn more Armani suits than most real drug dealers, but after twenty years in narcotics, on three different departments, he had transferred to homicide, claiming that he needed to work among a better class of people – namely, dead. Oh, the joys of homicide! Simple crimes of passion, most solved within twenty-four hours or not at all. No stings, no suitcases of government money, no pretense, just simple deduction – sometimes very simple: a dead wife in the kitchen; a drunken husband standing in the foyer with a smoking thirty-eight; and Rivera, in his cheap Italian knock-off suit, gently disarming the new widower, who could only say, â€Å"Liver and onions.† A body, a suspect, a weapon, and a motive: case solved and on to the next one, neat and tidy. Until now. Rivera thought, If my luck could be bottled, it would be classified a chemical weapon. He read through the coroner's report again. â€Å"Cause of death: compression fracture of the fifth and sixth vertebrae (broken neck). Subject had lost massive amounts of blood – no visible wounds.† On its own, it was a uniquely enigmatic report, but it wasn't on its own. It was the second body in a month that had sustained massive blood loss with no visible wounds. Rivera looked across the desk to where his partner, Nick Cavuto, was reading a copy of the report. â€Å"What do you think?† Rivera said. Cavuto chewed on an unlit cigar. He was a burly and balding, gravel-voiced, third-generation cop – six degrees tougher than his father and grandfather had been because he was gay. He said, â€Å"I think if you have any vacation time coming, this would be the time to take it.† â€Å"So we're fucked.† â€Å"It's too early for us to be fucked. I'd say we've been taken to dinner and slipped the tongue on the good-night kiss.† Rivera smiled. He liked the way Cavuto tried to make everything sound like dialogue from a Bogart movie. The big detective's pride and joy was a complete set of signed first-edition Dashiell Hammett novels. â€Å"Give me the days when police work was done with a snub nose and a lead sap,† Cavuto would say. â€Å"Computers are for pussies.† Rivera returned to the report. â€Å"It looks like this guy would have been dead in a month anyway: ‘a ten-centimeter tumor on the liver. Malignancy the size of a grapefruit.† Cavuto shifted the cigar to the other side of his mouth. â€Å"The old broad at the Van Ness Motel was on her way out too. Congestive heart disease. Too weak for a bypass. She ate nitro pills like they were M&M's.† â€Å"The euthanasia killer,† Rivera said. â€Å"So we're assuming this was the same guy?† â€Å"Whatever you say, Nick.† â€Å"Two killings with the same MO and no motive. I don't even like the sound of it.† Cavuto rubbed his temples as if trying to milk anxiety out through his tear ducts. â€Å"You were in San Junipero during the Night Stalker killings. We couldn't take a piss without tripping over a reporter. I say we lock this down. As far as the papers are concerned, the victims were robbed. No connection.† Rivera nodded. â€Å"I need a smoke. Let's go talk to those guys that got hit at the Laundromat a couple of weeks ago. Maybe there's a connection.† Cavuto pushed himself out of the chair and grabbed his hat off the desk. â€Å"Whoever voted for nonsmoking in the station house should be pistol-whipped.† â€Å"Didn't the President sponsor that bill?† â€Å"All the more reason. The pussy.† Tommy lay looking at the ceiling, trying to catch his breath and extricate his right foot from a hopeless tangle in the sheets. Jody was drawing a tic-tac-toe in the sweat on his chest with her finger. â€Å"You don't sweat anymore, do you?† he asked. â€Å"Don't seem to.† â€Å"And you're not even out of breath. Am I doing something wrong?† â€Å"No, it was great. I only get breathless when†¦ when I†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"When you bite me.† â€Å"Yeah.† â€Å"Did you†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Are you sure?† â€Å"Are you?† â€Å"No, I faked.† Tommy grinned. â€Å"Really?† Jody looked at the wet spot (on her side, of course). â€Å"Why do you think I'm so winded? It's not easy to fake the ejaculation part.† â€Å"I, for one, was fooled.† â€Å"See.† He reached down and unwrapped the sheet from his foot, then he lay back and stared at the ceiling. Jody began to twist the sweaty locks of his hair into horns. â€Å"Jody,† Tommy said tentatively. â€Å"Hmmm?† â€Å"When I get old, I mean, if we're still together†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She yanked on his hair. â€Å"Ouch. Okay, we'll still be together. Have you ever heard of satyriasis?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"Well, it happens to real old guys. They run around with a perpetual hard-on, chasing teenage girls and humping anything that moves until they have to be put in restraints.† â€Å"Wow, interesting disease.† â€Å"Yeah, well, when I get old, if I start to show the symptoms†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Yeah?† â€Å"Just let it run its course, okay?† â€Å"I'll look forward to it.† Rivera held a plastic cup of orange juice for the mass of plaster and tubes that was LaOtis Small. LaOtis sipped from the straw, then pushed it away with his tongue. The body cast ran from below his knees to the top of his head, with holes for his face and outgoing tubes. Cavuto stood by the hospital bed taking notes. â€Å"So you and your friends were doing laundry when an unarmed, redheaded woman attacked you and put all three of you in the hospital? Right?† â€Å"She was a ninja, man. I know. I get the kick-boxing channel on cable.† Cavuto chomped an unlit cigar. â€Å"Your friend James says that she was six-four and weighed two hundred pounds.† â€Å"No, man, she was five-five, five-six.† â€Å"Your other buddy† – Cavuto checked his notepad for the name – â€Å"Kid Jay, said that it was a gang of Mexicans.† â€Å"No, man, he dreamin'; it was one ninja bitch.† â€Å"A five-and-a-half-foot woman put the three of you big strong guys in the hospital?† â€Å"Yeah. We was just mindin' our own bidness. She come in and axed for some change. James tell her no, he got to put a load in the dryer, and she go fifty-one-fifty on him. She a ninja.† â€Å"Thank you, LaOtis, you've been very helpful.† Cavuto shot Rivera a look and they left the hospital room. In the hallway Rivera said, â€Å"So we're looking for a gang of redheaded, ninja Mexicans.† Cavuto said, â€Å"You think there's a molecule of truth in any of that?† â€Å"They were all unconscious when they were brought in, and obviously they haven't tried to match up their stories. So if you throw out everything that doesn't match, you end up with a woman with long red hair.† â€Å"You think a woman could do that to them and manage to snap the neck of two other people without a struggle?† â€Å"Not a chance,† Rivera said. His beeper went off and he checked the number. â€Å"I'll call in.† Cavuto pulled up. â€Å"Go ahead, I'm going back in to talk to LaOtis. Meet me outside emergency.† â€Å"Take it easy, Nick, the guy's in a body cast.† Cavuto grinned. â€Å"Kind'a erotic, ain't it?† He turned and lumbered back toward LaOtis Small's room. Jody walked Tommy up to Market Street, watched him eat a burger and fries, and put him on the 42 bus to work. Killing the time while Tommy worked was becoming tedious. She tried to stay in the loft, watched the late-night talk shows and old movies on cable, read magazines, and did a little cleaning, but by two in the morning the caged-cat feeling came over her and she went out to wander the streets. Sometimes she walked Market among the street people and the convention crowds, other times she took a bus to North Beach and hung out on Broadway watching the sailors and the punks stagger, drunk and stoned, or the hookers and the hustlers running their games. It was on these crowded streets that she felt most lonely. Time and again she wanted to turn to someone and point out a unique heat pattern or the dark aura she sensed around the sick; like a child sharing the cloud animals flying through a summer sky. But no one else could see what she saw, no one heard the whispered propositions, the pointed refusals, or the rustle of money exchanging hands in alleys and doorways. Other times she crept through the back streets and listened to the symphony of noises that no one else heard, smelled the spectrum of odors that had long ago exhausted her vocabulary. Each night there were more nameless sights and smells and sounds, and they came so fast and subtle that she eventually gave up trying to name them. She thought, This is what it is to be an animal. Just experience – direct, instant, and wordless; memory and recognition, but no words. A poet with my senses could spend a lifetime trying to describe what it is to hear a building breathe and smell the aging of concrete. And for what? Why write a song when no one can play the notes or understand the lyrics? I'm alone. Cavuto came through the double doors of the emergency room and joined Rivera, who was standing by the brown, City-issue Ford smoking a cigarette. â€Å"What was the call?† Cavuto asked. â€Å"We got another one. Broken neck. South of Market. Elderly male.† â€Å"Fuck,† Cavuto said, yanking open the car door. â€Å"What about blood loss?† â€Å"They don't know yet. This one's still warm.† Rivera flipped his cigarette butt into the parking lot and climbed into the car. â€Å"You get anything more out of LaOtis?† â€Å"Nothing important. They weren't doing their laundry, they went in looking for the girl, but he's sticking with the ninja story.† River started the car and looked at Cavuto. â€Å"You didn't rough him up?† Cavuto pulled a Cross pen out of his shirt pocket and held it up. â€Å"Mightier than the sword.† Rivera cringed at the thought of what Cavuto might have done to LaOtis with the pen. â€Å"You didn't leave any marks, did you?† â€Å"Lots,† Cavuto grinned. â€Å"Nick, you can't do that kind of – â€Å" â€Å"Relax,† Cavuto interrupted. â€Å"I just wrote, ‘Thanks for all the information; I'm sure we'll get some convictions out of this, on his cast. Then I signed it and told him that I wouldn't scratch it out until he told me the truth.† â€Å"Did you scratch it out?† â€Å"Nope.† â€Å"If his friends see it, they'll kill him.† â€Å"Fuck him,† Cavuto said. â€Å"Ninja redheads, my ass.† Four in the morning. Jody watched neon beer signs buzzing color across the dew-damp sidewalks of Polk Street. The street was deserted, so she played sensory games to amuse herself – closing her eyes and listening to the soft scratch of her sneakers echoing off the buildings as she walked. If she concentrated, she could walk several blocks without looking, listening for the streetlight switches at the corners and feeling the subtle changes in wind currents at the cross streets. When she felt she was going to run into something, she could shuffle her feet and the sound would form a rough image in her mind of the walls and poles and wires around her. If she stood quietly, she could reach out and form a map of the whole City in her head – sounds drew the lines, and smells filled in the colors. She was listening to the fishing boats idling at the wharf a mile away when she heard footsteps and opened her eyes. A single figure had rounded the corner a couple of blocks ahead of her and was walking, head down, up Polk. She stepped into the doorway of a closed Russian restaurant and watched him. Sadness came off him in black waves. His name was Philip. His friends called him Philly. He was twenty-three. He had grown up in Georgia and had run away to the City when he was sixteen so he wouldn't have to pretend to be something he was not. He had run away to the City to find love. After the one-night stands with rich older men, after the bars and the bathhouses, after finding out that he wasn't a freak, that there were other people just like him, after the last of the confusion and shame had settled like red Georgia dust, he'd found love. He'd lived with his lover in a studio in the Castro district. And in that studio, sitting on the edge of a rented hospital bed, he had filled a syringe with morphine and injected it into his lover and held his hand while he died. Later, he cleared away the bed pans and the IV stand and the machine that he used to suck the fluid out of his lover's lungs and he threw them in the trash. The doctor said to hold on to them – that he would need them. They buried Philly's lover in the morning and they took the embroidered square of fabric that was draped on the casket and folded it and handed it to him like the flag to a war widow. He got to keep it for a while before it was added to the quilt. He had it in his pocket now. His hair was gone from the chemotherapy. His lungs hurt, and his feet hurt; the sarcomas that spotted his body were worst on his feet and his face. His joints ached and he couldn't keep his food down, but he could still walk. So he walked. He walked up Polk Street, head down, at four in the morning, because he could. He could still walk. When he reached the doorway of a Russian restaurant, Jody stepped out in front of him and he stopped and looked at her. Somewhere, way down deep, he found that there was a smile left. â€Å"Are you the Angel of Death?† he asked. â€Å"Yes,† she said. â€Å"It's good to see you,† Philly said. She held her arms out to him.

Dbq Analysis

* ————————————————- Madison Markey * ————————————————- AP US History, P. 2 * ————————————————- 30 September 2012 * ————————————————- DBQ Homework #1 * ————————————————- * ————————————————- Question Analysis: The question is asking to explain how the French and Indian War affected the three main principles that were important during the time frame of 1740-1766.The writer could include both positive and negative sides of the war through each of the three categories. They could also list the causes and effects of the war. The question is also asking to highlight/paraphrase the provided documents as well as outside facts to support the well developed thesis. The question is telling the writer to describe the outcome of the relationship between Britain and it’s American colonies through the political, economic, and ideological relations. A potential problem could be forgetting to include the outcome of the war while strictly focusing on the issues and battles during the war.Another problem could be discluding the events preceding the war which is extremely vital, not only for support of thesis, but also to lay down an array of background information in the intro paragraph, in order to create the funnel affect. * ———————————à ¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€- * ————————————————- Intro: Before the French and Indian War, four other colonial wars were fought between French and British forces during the time period of 1689 and 1763.However, the French and Indian War, later known as the Seven Year’s War was the most pivotal because it ultimately destroyed the relationship between Britain and the American colonies. The main conflict aroused during the 1600’s and early 1700’s when the British began their pursuit of Salutary Neglect which provided each of Britain’s American colonies with an overabundance of freedom. Later, Britain tried to regulate the colonists lifestyle and trade routine with the Navigation Law yet, they never truly administered any of the correlating rules.The colonists enjoyed the lack of limitation midst the Salutary Neglect and when Britain bega n imposing laws and taxes, it infuriated them. From 1740-1766, amid the French & Indian War, Britain’s greed for land, control, and restriction against the American colonies eventually caused major debt in England, harsh treatment toward their own British soldiers, and a negative aftermath of political, economic, and ideological crisis involving the American colonists * ————————————————- * ————————————————-Essay #1: The first sample essay completely deserves their score. The introduction paragraph supplies a nice background and setting. The thesis is very strong and clear. It provides a specific example of each of the three categories from the prompt. There is nothing that I would not include in this essay because everything is relevant to the topic. For t he intro, they organized it by utilizing the funnel method. In the first sentence of each body paragraph, she refers back to a piece of her thesis. The anonymous states the opinion of both sides: Britain and the American colonies.She provides each of their perspectives while including her own opinion. She includes the documents by lightly referencing them and not incorporating too much of the source or not enough. While effectively utilizing the documents, anonymous fully supports the detail with her own information. Other information involving the church and state relationship could have been included because as the war progressed, the Great Awakening occurred and because of political and religious leaders, the separation of church and state was desired in many of the colonies.The anonymous restated the reference that they already used and they made the simple mistake of writing document C when it was actually a different document. Besides that, there is not much more I would have included because the essay was close to perfect and the anon completely nailed the prompt right down to a nice conclusion. Hence, the writer deserves the score of a 9. * ————————————————- * ————————————————-Essay#2: In the opening sentence, anonymous wrote that there were exactly three wars fought between the British and their rival French forces yet, there were actually a total of four wars fought. The introduction paragraph does not provide a well-developed thesis. It is very vague and unclear however, it does address the prompt. The parenthesis that they use within the first body paragraph do not fit well and they appear awkward but they do not interfere with comprehension of the essay. They provide a decent setting but not enough detail about specific events that precede the war in order to spark the war.Next, anonymous squeezes three different documents into one small paragraph with about five sentences. They should have spaced out the sources and actually explained the documents to show their understanding of the point of view and the significance. They did attempt to organize it by specifically talking about the economic aspect and how it affected the political and ideological aspects together. They begin a sentence by using a reference which I would not have included because it sounded like the paragraph was being written around the document.I would have started with a topic sentence to build up to the reference. They include a lot of minor and superficial events which are irrelevant therefore, unnecessary to include. However they do attempt to mention that of the three categories, ideological relations were the least important which is a nice way to include the category. Overall, I believe the essay deserves a little under a seven. * ————————————————- * ————————————————- Essay#3 The intro in the third essay does not include much background preceding the thesis.It strictly states that â€Å"the war had great effects† on each of the three categories it does not say whether they were positive or negative effects. The thesis is limited and poorly written and only restates the question without any other specific facts or examples. I would not have included so many [sic] symbols in my prompt because they interrupt the flow of the essay. The essay resembles a standard english essay because it is organized with an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Each body paragraph is about one of the three categories from the thesis.In the political paragraph anonymous states very br oad information and fails to cite the information about Braddock or any information at all. She contains little understanding of the documents and merely tells what events happened in each of the paragraphs but does not describe them with appropriate outside information. She also fails to include a time frame and dates for the events. In the economy paragraph she talked about unity yet failed to mention the severe debt that britain faced which was a huge economic crisis. Anonymous should have thought of the questions such as why and how while she was writing.They could have arranged their essay a little differently instead of organizing it so that with each new category comes a different time period they should have just put the events in chronological order and wrote about how it affected each of the three categories during and after the was. Anonymous also had a few conventional errors such as commas. They also use first person point of view in the third to last sentence of the th ird paragraph. The third paragraph is confusing and presents a lack of understanding of history because it just lists vague facts.It does not include a lead-in or transition to the conclusion. The anonymous nearly ignored the documents and failed to include 50/50 ratio. The conclusion simply restates the thesis and ends with an unspecific sentence of how the war caused change but they never argued whether it was for the worse or the better. Nor did they summarize their essay or show the reader they know that there is additional significance. In my opinion, the errors in the third essay seriously detract from the quality of the prompt ergo, the essay does deserves less than a five. ————————————————- * ————————————————- By reading the essays, I learned that mistake s are easily made when writing in a constricted time period so it is important to utilize the given time wisely. I found that some of the documents are probably tough to use but it is important to have a 50%-50% ratio of information because that is what truly proves your knowledge of history and sometimes the documents will help you recall information. Also, one should always cite the document because it looks and sounds horrible if otherwise.I learned that all information must go toward improving the case or it should not be included. Lastly, I found that developing a thesis is not that hard especially if you take a moment to analyze the question but it could ruin your entire essay if you get on the wrong track and it is extremely vital in determining the score that you end up with. I now understand that by following the strategies in the book and practicing more often, writing a DBQ will begin to come natural. * ————————†”———————- * ————————————————- * ————————————————-

Marketing Strategies of Goodbar and its Impact on Consumer Behavior Research Paper

Marketing Strategies of Goodbar and its Impact on Consumer Behavior - Research Paper Example This research would help in identifying the areas where mr.Goodbar’s marketing strategies are effective and where they are lacking in order to influence consumer behavior. Research Methods Comparison For this research paper, three different indepth qualitative research techniques were utilized, i.e. focus group interviews, face to face individual interviews and online research interviews. These three qualitative research techniques are discussed in this section along with their difference with each other, effectiveness in achieving the research objectives and goals, difficulties that might arise by using each of these techniques and their effectiveness in achieving the goals and objectives of present research study. Focus Group Focus group interviews enables a Researcher to act as a moderator and present a situation or case in front of limited number of respondents sitting together. Critics are of the view that focus groups are not an interview rather a discussion that provides handy information and point of views from the respondents’ side to the Researcher. It’s a general perception that the information retrieved from focus group interviews can not be used to conclude the study but it can be used for generating more useful ideas that can be utilized for concluding the research study. Majority of the Researchers use focus group interviews to achieve understanding of general ideas and thoughts about a product that is to be launched in the market and how useful respondents think, the product will be in providing solutions to customers’ needs and wants. The biggest advantage of focus group interviews is that they help the Researcher to observe the reaction of the responses under given conditions and make note of high and low points of responses within the group2 (Blankenship, Breen and Dutka 1998). Face to Face Individual Interviews Face to face individual interviews enables the Researcher to communicate personally with the respondents and collect more in-depth information regarding respondents’ personal vies regarding the topic under discussion. The biggest advantage of conducting face to face individual interviews is that it helps the Researcher to collect information in greater detail and allows him or her to ask counter questions in order to create detailed understanding regarding the issues. Face to face interviews also creates easiness for the respondents to share their views in detail and elaborate their responses according to the tone of the discussion shaping up. Researcher also can acquire further information from the body language of the respondents. One of the major disadvantages of face to face interviews is that they are time consuming and requires more money as compare to other methods3 (Muise and Olson 2007). Online Research

The Feast of the Goat By Mario Vargas Llosa Research Paper

The Feast of the Goat By Mario Vargas Llosa - Research Paper Example Most of the Latin American countries assumed the authoritarian governance (Duiker and Spielvogel 732). One of the dictators during that time was General Rafael Trujillo of the Dominican Republic. He ruled from 1930 to 1961 and used all means to acquire and gain more wealth even with the expense of the Dominicans. He controlled every aspect of the Dominican Republic and also controlled the economic resources of the country, which in return brought him personal wealth. Nonetheless, Trujillo’s regime ended, but the fear that it had inculcated in the minds of the Dominicans lingered longer. This was depicted during the stay of Mario Vargas Llosa in the country. In the span of eight months, Vargas Llosa witnessed the fear that Trujillo left to the Dominican Republic which inspired him to write The Feast of the Goat in 2000 (Vedovato 25; Kristal and King 212). 2.0 Mario Vargas Llosa Mario Vargas Llosa is considered as one of the most famous Latin American authors. His ability to inc orporate the past and present in his works affixes the reader from the beginning to the end. Vargas Llosa is considered as a keen observer of societal events and activities in relation to corruption of the government (Benson, Hellander, and Wlodarski 45). In addition, Vargas Llosa considered three life experiences that had brought him to writing his literary pieces. The first one is his experience of violence on the hands of his father, which brought him to distaste his relationship with him. He also considered his unpleasant experience at the military academy in Lima as a window in understanding the injustice and brutal acts of the party-colored under the military regime of General Odria during 1948 to 1956. The second life-changing experience that molded him was during the time when Heberto Padilla, a Cuban poet undergone a shameful trial. This was during the regime of Fidel Castro and was done in order for other leftist writers, like Vargas Llosa, to end their protest against the government. The turning point was when Vargas Llosa’s cowriters succumbed to the demand of Castro, and they left him. For this reason, Vargas Llosa decided to shift his literary genre to erotic and humorous novels. Lastly, the final turning point in Vargas Llosa’s life was when he ran for the presidency in Peru against Alberto Fujimori in 1990. He did not win during the election, but this did not upset him. According to him, he was saddened because of the fact that his fellow citizens chose another authoritarian to govern and lead them. Nonetheless, despite these experiences, he still has an interest in politics while adding that he considers himself as a liberal, and that he believes in every individual’s freedom. According to him, being a liberal is the freedom of a person to define his or her own nationality (Foley 3-4; Zapata 62). Aside from his political interests, Vargas Llosa is also concerned of the presence of political extremism in Latin America. This was also one of the reasons why he ran for the presidency because he was alarmed of the political extremism of the Right and Left. This has even been supplemented with violent movements by the Shining Path Socialist. Moreover, he also opposes the dictatorship of the nationalism of the Right and the collectivism of the Left. He strongly believes in democracy and freedom from which he declares himself as a liberal (Foley 4-5). 3.0 The Feast of the Goat 3.1 Genre and Theme The novel The Feast of the Goat by Vargas Llosa focuses on the theme of a society that is

Client brief Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Client brief - Essay Example The whole administration of ACRES determinedly trust in advertising group inclusion in tending to creature assurance issues and in building associations with all related bodies to enhance creature welfare. A measurable quality demonstrates that around 2,264 creatures have been protected since August the year 200911. The mission of ACRES is to make a minding and socially mindful social order where creatures are dealt with as aware creatures. All the more along these lines, its desire is decided beforehand to drive advance a community oriented and supportable creature assurance development in Asia. More, ACRES fundamental objectives and goal could be encouraging admiration and sympathy for all creatures, enhancing the living conditions and welfare of creatures in bondage and instructing individuals on lifestyle decisions, which dont include the ill-use of creatures and which natures turf amicable. Sections of land association are a creature insurance association, determined by our sympathy toward creatures. We receive exploration ventures on the utilization of creatures in different fields. Research discoveries are then used to instruct the general population to push animated group association in the creature assurance development, and additionally strive towards synergistic organizations with powers and related gatherings. The ACRES association decidedly trust in pushing group inclusion in tending to creature insurance issues and in building organizations with all related bodies to enhance creature welfare. All the more along these lines, ACRES association point for the exploration to bring about reasonable progressions for the creatures since they accept as methodology is Scientific, Creative, Practical and Positive 22. Sections of land, together with the SPCA, at present are supporting a battle by the Change for Animals Foundation (CFAF) to wipe out the hide exchange Singapore: an exchange that includes amazing

The Selection of Suppliers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The Selection of Suppliers - Essay Example Having done the reviews, considered the more subtle differences among the criteria and then developed a table containing all key criteria for selecting the suppliers The selection of the four projects was aimed to analyze the application of various criteria and consequently check the effectiveness of results in each case. Last but not least it was found that a developing a proper strategy in connection with selecting the suppliers is equally important to building any other business strategy. I conclude by referring to one of the diversification strategies – i.e. â€Å"Vertical Integration† introduced by Igor Ansoff. The vertical integration refers to either becoming your own supplier or become a distributor. It shows that sometimes suppliers become so problematic for a firm that it has to take such a turnaround strategy for buying a supplier. Introduction: In this competitive global market, every organization desires to accomplish its projects successfully. To ensure th e timely and successful completion of a project, firms need to analyze all possible pros & cons and then opt for the best solution – right from procurement to production of finished goods. It is a myth that in manufacturing supply chain management is not only the lifeline of any project but also decides a success or failure thereof.. Selection of suppliers, being a part of supply chain management, involves many criteria that govern the selection of suppliers. These criteria include quality of raw material, lead time required by the supplier, cost of raw material, delivery time, resources/ability for delivery, supplier’s reputation, etc. etc.. This paper intends to discuss these supplier selection criteria by analyzing the practical projects. The four different projects chosen include the production of electronic products, construction of a retail outlet, manufacturing glass containers and construction of residential buildings. The criteria for selection of suppliers fo llowed by these projects include quality of raw material, delivery time, cost of material and supplier’s reputation, respectively. Having analyzed these criteria, a comparison has been presented along with critiques and finally identified the best method to be opted for selecting the suppliers. Literature Review: Every business, in one way or other, is impacted due to stiff competition, increased globalization and unabated technological advancements. In such a prevailing hyper-competition, effective supply chain management has become not only important but also become a core of corporate strategy. Coyle, Bardi, and Langey (2003) pointed out that in order to cope-up with such a crucial business trend, it has become mandatory for the logistics managers to concentrate more on suppliers’ capabilities, conceptualizing, designing, and implementing the supply process. Traditionally, only a few criteria used to be followed in a supplier’s selection – i.e. materi al cost, delivery time and quality of goods (Smith et al. 1963).

Chicago Bulls Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Chicago Bulls - Case Study Example The law on privacy of medical information requires extreme confidentiality of individual medical information. Individual sensitive medical information should remain with the involved party and confidential. The employment act requires employers to bargain in good faith over any terms that address a mandatory subject such as working conditions. An employer requiring an employee to undergo a DNA test is likely to use the test results as a basis for employment discrimination. As much as the employer is concerned about the wellness of the employee, it is not ethical for him or her to insist on a DNA test for an unwilling employee since it is infringement of his or her privacy. Unless such a requirement was included in the collective bargaining and agreed upon by all parties, it is not ethical. An employer may request an employee to undergo a DNA test if the employee is operating dangerous machinery or piloting a plane due to his concern to identify any genetic illness that may pose the employee and other people in danger. Such request should be made in reasonable grounds since its invasion of individual privacy. The employee’s actions may be unethical to the extent that he does not respect the employee’s privacy and employment law that is against discrimination on genetic basis. Unless there is collective bargaining among all involved parties and consent is given, it is unfair to the employee, but also a good ground to show employer’s concern on employee’s safety in the work place but not the most

FBI Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

FBI - Essay Example Department of Justice 1). FBI is one of the powerful and the largest agency in the world that not only deals with the law enforcement but also aim to end terrorism. Its official mission is upholding the law through investigating violation of the criminal law, protecting the United States from external attacks such as terrorists’ activities, and providing leadership and support to both local and international authorities (U.S. Department of Justice 1). The FBI performs its responsibilities in accordance to the constitution and in line with the public needs. The FBI does have the power to prosecute or take charge of any case from the local agencies. FBI also has different divisions that are in charge of processing information and handling different incidents under the justice department. The three FBI divisions include the IT Management Division, the IT Services Division, and the IT Engineering Division (U.S. Department of Justice 1). The FBI operates on a culture that seeks to serve America and its citizens. FBI Agents cannot wiretap suspects unless they have a court order to do so and it is regarded as felony incase wiretapping is done without a court order. Director James Comey is the current head of the FBI department (U.S. Department of Justice

Multicultural topic questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Multicultural topic questions - Essay Example This would shatter the counselee’s confidence in the counselor and render the counseling ineffective. Also, such factors as linguistic barriers may hinder the counseling process. 2. What are the indigenous alternatives to counseling in a non-Western culture? There are several methods that are commonly employed in place of counseling in many non-Western cultures that are directed to achieve the effect of counseling. Many of such alternatives to counseling have religious significance. For examples, Hindus associate the river of Ganges with spirituality and believe that it has positive effect on one who takes bath in it. Prayer is considered as a means to contact God. Therefore, people from different religions openly discuss their problems with God and seek help in prayer. After praying, they feel relieved and counseled. In many Eastern countries, there is very little trend of attending formal counseling sessions. Instead, people restrain themselves to religious teachings, lectur es and parental guide to achieve the effect of counseling. 3. How do psychological problems vary with culture of clients? Clients may be equipped with various psychological problems that differ from client to client depending upon the cultures they belong to. Human psychology is greatly shaped and influenced by the cultural trends and practices. Some cultures require their followers to be extrovert and yet there are other cultures, that encourage their followers to remain introvert in all aspects of life. The level to which an individual socializes and the people he/she socializes with is also determined to much an extent, by the culture he/she belongs to. Daily experiences that people go through in their life are influenced by their culture, and the experiences impact their psychology. 4. Outline the essential issues involved in counseling international students? Many international students come to foreign countries with pre-formed conceptions about the nature and attitude of the i ndigenous people in general, which or may not be true. Students form their perceptions according to the experience of others that have been to foreign countries they intend to go to for studies. Those preformed conceptions are usually so ingrained in the minds of the international students that it becomes very difficult for a counselor to change their false perceptions. In addition to that, cultural issues as discussed before may also hinder the counseling of international students. 5. Describe value orientation conflicts. Personal perceptions of an individual are defined by his/her value orientation. Value orientation tells what an individual deems right and what to him/her is wrong. People vary in their opinions, beliefs and views. There are a lot of principles that were considered wrong by people from older generations and yet today, they are considered as right. The conflict of rationality of principles gives rise to the value orientation conflicts. In order to make the counseli ng effective, it is imperative that the counselor understands or studies the value orientation of the counselee. 6. Describe stages of black racial identity development. The four stages of the black racial identity development model proposed by Cross (1971, 1978 cited in Alston, Bell, and Price, 1996) were pre-encounter stage, encounter stage, immersion/emersion stage and internalization stage.

Culture of Dissent Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Culture of Dissent - Essay Example Muto Ichiyo is well known in Japan as a scholar of contemporary Japanese politics and society, and for his involvement in peace movements and people’s movements. He was a prominent member of the 1960s anti-Vietnam War movement.Ichigo begins his article, â€Å"Asian Peace Movements and Empire† with a summary of events beginning in Oct. 2001 and the establishment of the Asian Peace Alliance. As part of that network, it was hoped to create a response to the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan that was representative of all Asian people. Ichigo goes into more detail about Asia’s own problems: the nuclear confrontation between Indian and Pakistan, fundamentalist fighting in India, and human rights violations among others. But in analyzing the conference on Asian Peace he acknowledges that 40% of the discussion revolved around â€Å"the American War†, with the majority of participants concluding that the ensuing violence against civilians had nothing to do with the wis hes of the American populace, but was rather the imperialists justifying a global pacification scheme. He uses the term neoliberal globalization and states the war was integral to that process, and as a result, it â€Å"wreaked havoc† on the world.One of the most forceful voices in clarifying what all of these writers are saying is that of Arundhati Roy in â€Å"The Algebra of Infinite Justice†. Infinite Justice was originally the name for Operation Enduring Freedom until complaints were made by Muslims, who stated only Allah could mete out infinite justice.

Healthy Eating Essay Example for Free

Healthy Eating Essay I conducted research on a chosen topic for me to gain my secondary data, I research article on my chosen topic, printed them off and highlighted them in my appendix. I got the articles from books and online websites. I then produced a literature review of my articles. I also had to gain primary information which I got from my observations on 30 children at placement and 30 questionnaires send out to the parents but in order for me to do this I had to send out permission letters but before I was ale to do this I had to created my questionnaire and provision letter. Once I had all my permission letters and questionnaires back (managed to get 20 back), I collated my data and the produced charts by using bar charts, pie charts and tally charts. I was also able to carry out my observations because I had my permission slips and with this information I produced my data using bar charts, pie charts and tally charts. After producing all my charts, I had to analyse and summarise the date and find out the mode, range and median of each chart. I also produced my methodology, put into my appendix example of my questionnaire and permission letters as well as the printed out PowerPoint, say what topic I picked and why, the aims of my topic, what my sample target was and how many, who piloted my questionnaire and how I produced it, the ethical issues throughput my research project and confidentiality. An action plan was produced on each section in my research project by a grid which I filled out the dates of target completion and actual completion date. The last thing I did in my research project was state the strengths and weakness throughout the project, conclude what I have found out and reflect on the whole research project as well as having my bibliography which includes all the article I printed off, highlighted and reviewed. From carrying out this research project I found out that 13 children are healthy and 7 children are unhealthy out of the 20 children aged 4-5 years old. I also found out from my data that 4 year old boys are healthier than girls of that age and 5 year old girls are healthier than boys of that age. Another thing I found out was that 15 parents don’t follow the at well plate when providing their child with food however children are eating a variety of food from different food groups that are recurred for them to have a healthy diet. I also found out that children do eat fruit and the majority of parents don’t struggle to provide their child with a healthy diet as this can be seen in my data. Another thing I found out was that 15 parents don’t follow the at well plate  when providing their child with food. I chose to research the subject healthy eating because I believe it is important to give children a healthy lifestyle to help prevent and reduce their risk of anaemia, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis and obesity in the future. My research will be carried out by observing 30 children at placement between the age of 4-5 years and questionnaires on the parents. In order for me to carry out observations and questionnaires I will need permission from the parents of the children. I will gain permission by writing permission letters to the parents and get the signatures back to say whether they will complete my questionnaire and allow their child to be observed. I will get any secondary data/ literature information on healthy eating from books, articles, pictures and online websites which I use to help me back up my research and results. The type of data that will be used in my project is qualitive and quantitive data. My primary data will be shown by bar charts, pie chart and tally chart. I will select my participants by using every parents and child’s observation and questionnaire in order for me to gain the best information and results possible. The one and most important thing I will need to consider when collecting any data id to make sure it is valid and reliable and I will check whether this is by investigating the source to see if it is relevant. The problems that might arise during this research project maybe the lack of information and relevance of information. The ethical issues that I have to consider are confidentiality; keeping my observations and questionnaire anonymous a the way through my research project, person may withdraw their participants at anytime during my project, some parents may not want to provide the information in the questionnaire and therefore will not take part or want their child to contribute in the observation, remember to value and not judge the participants and allow them all to take part by sticking to equal opportunities and be sensitive to the children and their needs by balancing their rights of needs to protection and participants through applying the Children Act 1989 and 2004 as well as the UNCRC 1989 to this. I found that the strengths of my chosen methodology were that I could have a wide range of the sample target, the person doesn’t feel pressured into answering any questions, it was easy to generate quantitative date and easy to analyse. I found that the weaknesses of my chosen methodology were that not all people could have told the truth when answering the questions, people obtained different interpretations of some questions. When observing the children the strength I found was that it was easy to record down what I wanted to gain my information on and the weakness I found was that not all children were present at the day that I wanted to observe them therefore I had to carry out the observation on a day where all the children were present. I managed to receive back all 30 copies that were sending out to the parents which had all been completed the correct way. I had to stick to confidentiality all the way throughout my research project and in order for me to do this, I kept all my questionnaire and observations anonymous. I kept my questionnaires anonymous. I kept my observations anonymous by not including any child’s name when gaining my information. I recorded my information in bar charts, tally charts and pie charts. The recording methods I used were very useful because I was able to read the information from it need in order for me to gain my results. The figures which show this are that 13 children are healthy and 7 children are not healthy in chart 12. It also shows on chart 29 that only 4 children are unhealthy from the ethnicity groups; 1 child is unhealthy out of the 7 British children, 1 Polish child is unhealthy out of the 3 Polish children, the 1 Spanish child is unhealthy and the 1 Jewish person is unhealthy which meant that the other 16 children all together from each ethnicity group were healthy. This could have an impact on how many children understood what a healthy diet is or what a balanced diet is as seen in chart 13 which shows that 9 children understand what a healthy diet is or what a balanced diet is, 6 ch ildren don’t understand what a healthy diet is or what a balanced diet is, 1 child only know what a healthy diet is, 1 child understand what a healthy diet is or what a balanced diet is sort of, 1 child is only understood some of it and the other one child should do. Another thing that could have an impact on how healthy children are is chart 21, showing that 17 parents do the household shopping and 3 parents don’t therefore could have an outcome in how healthy the children eat because the parents are buying the food that  they will provide for their child to eat and these children could be given healthier food to eat e.g.: fruit and vegetables meaning they are eating a healthy diet. The fact that on 17 more children prefer to drink fizzy drinks to water didn’t have an impact on the majority of the 4-5 year olds having a healthy diet because we can see on chart 21 that 23 parents do the household shopping out of the 30 in the class and therefore these children could be given healthier food to eat e.g.: fruit and vegetables meaning they are eating a healthy diet. From chat 20 we see that 15 children mange to eat 5 fruit and vegetables per day and 5 children don’t eat 5 fruit and vegetable, however they many still mange to have some fruit during the day and this is than seen in chart 9 that 11 children have fruit and vegetable in their lunch boxes and on a daily basis. One thing that influenced the outcome of my research was most of the parents have jobs that enquire them to work with children or to look after peoples health, therefore because parents were doing this in their jobs, they know about why it is important to provide their child with a healthy diet and their children than was being encouraged to eat healthy and had a healthy diet. Another thing that influenced the outcome of my research is that the majority of parents provided their child with freshly cooked food meaning that the children were getting a variety of food to make up the healthy diet. 85% of the children were having a lot of energy during the day which had an influence on the outcome because if children eat a healthy food they are more likely to grow and develop better and don’t feel so sleepily during the day as seen in chart 23 that 16 children don’t feel sleepily during the day. The action plan that is in my appendix helped me complete my project as I was able to record the dates of completion on each section in the project and stick to it. It also helped me to manage my time effectively. I produced a questionnaire that links to my chosen topic healthy eating, where I wrote open-ended questions, yes and no questions and multiple answer questions in order for me to gain the information I want. I numbered each question 1 to 28 because the more questions in my questionnaire would give me more valid data to produce my charts and get reliable results. Once I had my questionnaire produced, a Level3 student in Health and Social Care piloted my questionnaire and found that there were no issues in my questionnaire. I therefore typed up my questionnaire and printed 30 copies for my sample target. I predict that if children aged 4-5 years old eat healthy, we should than find that they are having a healthy diet. If the reason for them having a healthy diet is eating a variety of food and getting the intake of mutations required from different food groups e.g.: fruit and vegetables. I expect to find that if parents provide their children with a healthy diet than they are more likely to eat healthy and have a healthy diet and if parents provide children with an unhealthy diet they are more likely to eat unhealthy and have an unhealthy diet. I expect to find the type of food that children eat on a daily basis to have an effect on how healthy they eat. I predict that if children are involved in helping with any type of preparing of food at home they are more likely to want to eat different kinds of food which means they will than be eating healthy. I expect to find, the ethnicity of children will not have an affect on how healthy they eat. I predict that if children have older siblings they will be influenced by their eating habits and they maybe passed down onto the younger sibling. I expect children who manage to have 5 fruit and vegetables per day will be  seen to have a healthier diet. From carrying out this research project on healthy eating I found out those 13 children are healthy out of the 20 children aged 4-5. I also found out that children do eat fruit and the majority of parents don’t struggle to provide their child with a healthy diet as this can be seen in my data. Another thing I found out was that 15 parents don’t follow the at well plate when providing their child with food however children are eating a variety of food from different food groups that are recurred for them to have a healthy diet. My research findings will help in my practice and support the development of my own practice when working with children and parents because I can be a good role model for the children and encourage the children that are not eating healthy to eat healthier, it gives me a better understanding of why children need to eat healthily and have 5 a day and I can back up my practice with evidence from NHS choices, The British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) and Food Standards Agency and I can also gain knowledge on anything I may not know. The perditions and expectations in my hypothesis about the findings of my research seem to be shown as testable statements because the whole outcome of the project gave me the results which i was hoping to find. Books: Bruce. T and Meggitt (2002) Child Care and Education Third Edition, Italy: Hodder Stoughton Tassoni. P et al (2007) Child care and education 4th edition, London: Heinemann Websites: ETC Network (2011) Healthy Lifestyle for Children [Online] available at: http://everychildhealthy.com/blog/healthy-lifestyle-for-children Accessed on: 18th March 2012 NHS Choices (2011) – 5 A Day and your family [Online] available at: http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/5ADAY/Pages/Family.aspx Accessed on: 18th March 2012 KidsAndNutrition (2000-2012) How Many Calories Does Your Child Need? [Online] available at: http://www.kidsandnutrition.co.uk/how-many-calories-does-your-child-need.html Accessed on: 12th May 2012 BBC (2012) Nutritional needs in children [Online] available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/treatments/healthy_living/nutrition/life_children.shtml Accessed on: 4th June 2012 Department of heath (2004) – 5 A Day Made Easy: Just Eat More (fruit Veg) [Online] available at: http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/@dh/@en/documents/digitalasset/dh_4088835.pdf Accessed on: 4th June 2012 British Nutrition Foundation (2009-2012) – Nutrition throughout life: School age children [Online] available at: http://www.nutrition.org.uk/nutritionscience/life/school-children Accessed on: 4th June 2012 Oliver (2008) Jamie’s manifesto (part II) [Online] available at: http://www.jamieoliver.com/news/jamie-s-manifesto-part-ii Accessed on: 15th June 2012 Weight Loss Resources (2000-2012) Good Nutrition for children [Online] available at: http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/children/nutrition_calorie_needs.htm Accessed on: 4th June 2012

Research into motivation in sport

Research into motivation in sport This reviewed research is on motivation in sport. A variety of definitions and approaches to the study motivation will be discussed. One of the forms of motivation being discussed will be intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivations are very important for promoting satisfaction and long term participation in sport. There are three academic approaches to the study of intrinsic motivation: behavioral, cognitive, and motivational. Researchers have found that the intrinsic motivation of athletes seems very important for continuing participation, and elite performance in sport. Extrinsic motivation refers to motivation that an individual has that comes from outside sources. The motivating forces are external or exterior rewards such as money or awards. These rewards supply fulfillment and satisfaction that the mission itself may not supply. Another form of motivation has to do with gender. Researches have determined that there are motivational differences among male and femal e sports. Its also been determined that male and female athletes possess different strengths and weaknesses within the motivational climate. Some detailed differences stated were that men had higher levels of motivation in competition, social acknowledgment, strength and endurance, where women had stronger motivation to control weight. The last factor I will cover is cultural effect on motivation. Introduction to your Research Topic Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations are both adaptable and adjust in reaction to specific situations. While not easy to define, intrinsic motivation can be explained as an internal drive to perform an activity. While extrinsic motivation is known as an external motivating source that drives action. It is said that people attribute their behavior either to an internal or external source. Intrinsic motivation correlates positively when people attribute their motivation to internal sources, while extrinsic motivation is correlated to belief in an external source for their behavior (Wiersma, U. J., 1992). Extrinsic motivation, by definition, is changeable since it is an external motivator one can change the reward or external. Meta-analysis of intrinsic and extrinsic motivational research by Deci, Koestner and Ryan (1999) found that intrinsic motivation is negatively affected when tangible extrinsic motivation is attached to the behavior. This undermining of intrinsic motivation is post ulated to be the result of a perceived decrease in autonomy and competency by the individual receiving the extrinsic reward. Self-determination Theory states that humans have three innate needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Of these, autonomy and competence are the key drivers of intrinsic motivation (Franken, 2002). As a result we see that intrinsic motivation can be changed by adding an extrinsic motivating component. Background of the Research Topic When you start discussing the nature of motivation of sport through gender, you have to ask yourself a question. Has the perceptions of sports progressed in ways that reflect participation in sport? Additional contribution in media exposure of high action sports has increased considerably since the earlier studies had examined attitudes toward gender-appropriate sports. Motivation in sports and exercise has been studied over the last century but only in recent decades has motivation by gender been analyzed. Studies in the area of motivation by gender in these sports and exercise fields: individual and team sports and exercise, martial arts, basketball, volleyball, track and field, and general sports participation and exercise (Kilpatrick, Hebert, Bartholomew, 2005). These results were the most consistent throughout the reports with other similarities and differences noted with each study. Deci, et al. (1999) stated that intrinsic motivation can also be improved by increasing an individuals perceptions of autonomy and ability. Deci, et al. (1999) also showed that research supported the notion that extrinsic motivations impact on intrinsic motivation was influenced by the controlling nature of those extrinsic rewards. For example, positive feedback that is not measured as controlling would likely add to a persons perceived ability to have a positive effect on their intrinsic motivation. Vallerand (2000) looks at motivation in a multidimensional approach that changes more than the differences in intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. He states that motivation for both is on a scale that ranges from a high to low level of willpower and that operates on three distinctive levels: global which is an individuals overall general motivation in a specific domain or field such as education or sports. Situational or the here and now. For each of these levels individuals can have dive rse motivation levels both intrinsic and extrinsic way. For instance, a person can be greatly intrinsically motivated to participate in sports, but less intrinsically motivated concerning education (global). However, if a person is feeling sick or tired, they may not have the equal intrinsic motivation to participate in sports activities that day (situational). Extrinsic rewards can be useful to both and impact situational motivation in both the short and long term. For example, that individual might be highly motivated to do well on a test and receive a good grade (extrinsic motivation) so that they can be eligible to play on their sports team (intrinsic motivation). Vallerand (2000) postulates that repeated levels of low levels of situational intrinsic motivation will likely have a diminishing effect on the larger contextual intrinsic motivation. He highlights research done on motivation to play basketball where intrinsic motivational levels were affected by situational motivation al levels during tournament games. This research has many implications for organizations and educational situations. While understanding that extrinsic motivation is one of the main drivers of the business world, compensation and other incentive packages need to address their impact on intrinsic motivation and be developed in ways that will reduce the adverse affects or possibly even add to the intrinsic motivational levels. More research on real life situations would be beneficial. Impact on sports Gender: Even though the experiences of many girls and women in the United States point to the opposite, research demonstrates that media always present sports as the a male dominated field (Duncan Sayaovong, 1990; Hardin, Lynn, Walsdoff, Hardin, 2002; Pedersen, 2002). Several studies have established that female athletes have been greatly underrepresented in the media (Bernstein, 2002; Pedersen, 2002). The rationale for this may possibly be that the mainly accepted sports in the country are those looked upon to be masculine sports (Messner, 2002). However, since Title IX, the progress of women into various sports that are not considered feminine has been extraordinary. Women participate in practically all types of sport, including those used to display the ultimate masculinity. Even though gender-role differences are natural in accepted perception, research has extensively demonstrated that, as an alternative, most are publicly constructed (Bandura, 1986; Messner, 2002). Gender stereotypin g is everywhere, unseen regulators of relationships and opportunities. Banduras social cognitive theory is a key in understanding the factors in socialization. The theory argues that behavior, environmental actions, and cognitive factors work to form attitudes and action. Individuals consider action and its result, projecting cost and adjusting accordingly. Therefore, action is not a result of imprinted histories as much as it is a result of cognized futures (Bandura, 1986, p. 19). Bandura emphasizes the role of the media in social learning so much that, he argues; television persuade has dethroned the primacy of interpersonal experience. As a result, life models the media (Bandura, 1986, p. 20). Findings of previous research Gender Motivation is a crucial factor within the sport and exercise field. Understanding what and how motivation works is equally important. Based on these reviews gender also plays a role within the motivational climate. Studies have revealed variations in motivational factors within each gender. In Chie-der, Chen, Hung-yu, and Li-Kangs journal 87 male and 87 female basketball players from the HBL were selected for the research. Four research questionnaires were used to measure four phenomena: participants goal orientation, the motivational climate they perceived, perceived personal athletic ability, perceived personal sport-related confidence (Chie-der, Chen, Hung-yu, Li-Kang,2003). Using a t test gender differences were detected. Males tended to record higher scores than females for sports related confidence variables. Males scored higher within ego orientation, perceived ability, and in physical performance. Females tended to score higher in task orientation, perceived task climate, and leadership styles (Chie-der, Chen, Hung-yu, Li-Kang,2003).   In Kilpatrick, Hebert, Bartholomews study 233 students were studied, 132 women, 101 men. The purpose behind this study was to compare sports participation and exercise motivation through a highly differentiated scale of physical activity. The second objective was to investigate the impact of gender on motivation. This study determined that men were more highly motivated then women when it came to endurance and strength, social recognition, challenge, and most notably competition, where women were more motivated by weight management (Kilpatrick, Hebert, Bartholomew, 2005). It was further suggested in this analysis that motivations to engage in sports differed from motivators to engage in exercise. It was also noted that more of the health related motives were linked to exercise opposed to sports participation thus indicating that sports participation are more closely related to intrinsic motives. It was suggested that ba sed on these findings that men leaned more closely to intrinsic motivation then women. This study further implied that men viewed exercise and fitness opportunities as a means to achieve ego related goals that support their sports participation where as women seemed to enjoy exercise and sports participation equally (Kilpatrick, Hebert, Bartholomew, 2005). Conclusions section It is concluded that it is important for coaches, teachers and parents to stress to young athletes the need to improve skills, teamwork and sportsmanship over the win at all costs attitude. Terms/concepts Self-determination Goal orientations Motivational climate Perceived competence Behavioral Cognitive Motivational Global motivation Situational motivation Perceptions References page JAM Murcia,(2008) Relationships among Goal Orientations, Motivational Climate and Flow in Adolescent Athletes: Difference by Gender,The Spanish Journal of Psychology, volume 11, number 1, 181-191. Kilpatrick, Hebert, and Bartholomew, (2005) College Students Motivation for Physical Activity: Differentiating Mens and Womens Motives for Sport Participation and Exercise, Journal of American College Health, volume 54, number2 Gareth W. Jones, Ken S. Mackay, and Derek M. Peters, (2006) Participation Motivation in Martial Artists in the West Midlands Region of England, Journal of Sports Science and Medicine CSSI, 28-34 Dongfang Chie-der, Steve Chen, Chou Hung-yu, and Chi Li-Kang, (2003), Gender Differential in the Goal Setting, Motivation, Perceived Ability, and Confidence Sources of Basketball Players, The Sport Journal ISSN 1543-9518 Gillison, Standage, Skevington, (2006), Relationships among adolescents weight perceptions, exercise goals, exercise motivation, quality of life and leisure-time exercise behavior: a self-determination theory approach, Oxford Journals, Vol. 21, no. 6 Deci, E. L., Koestner, R., and Ryan, R. M., (1999). Meta-analytic review of experiments examining the effects of extrinsic reward and intrinsic motivation. Psychological Bulletin (125). Retrieved on November 13, 2010 from EBSCOhost. Franken, R. E., (2002). Human Motivation. Wadsworth, Belmont, CA. Vallerand, R. J., (2000). Deci and Ryans Self-Determination Theory: A view from the Hierarchical Model of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Wiersma, U. J., (1992). The effects of extrinsic rewards in intrinsic motivation: A meta-analysis. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology (65). Retrieved on November 13, 2010 from EBSCOhost.

Interactive Hypertext for Interactive Readers :: Hypertext Internet Reading Essays

Interactive Hypertext for Interactive Readers With every new advancement in technology the roles of the writer and the roles of the reader are changed; sometimes it is a small change and other times it can be a drastic transformation. In this modern age it seems the role that the reader or the audience plays is shifting significantly. I don’t think there has ever been a point in history where there was as much interactivity as there is currently. The main reason for this change in the reader’s role is the rapidly growing amount of hypertext being used. In the 1960’s, Ted Nelson was the first person to coin this popular term â€Å"hypertext† but I prefer to reference Bolter’s description. Hypertext, as described by Jay Bolter in Writing Space, is layered writing and reading, where you can click on links within a narrative or article. These links work as reference points and can work as footnotes or as references to what you were reading. They can also take you to an entirely different type of webpage all together. Bolter also points out that it is important to realize that the second webpage you are linked to is not always subordinate to the first. On page 33, Bolter describes hypertext as being similar to â€Å"prewriting† which kids learn to do in school. I think prewriting is what I’ve always called a mind map, which is just a map drawn out like a spider web to show how each idea is interconnected to all the other ideas. Hypertext can be related to, but is not the same as, intertextualit y(178). Intertextuality is the interrelation of all text on the same topic, language or culture, while hypertext is references within a text and allusions between texts. I think it is important to see the changes in the role of reader in hypertext fiction and reference web pages that incorporate hypertext. The reference web pages that use hypertext give the reader more interaction and power, and which in turn, gives the author much less supremacy. Hypertext in reference websites can be very helpful, it enables someone to click on one website and have numerous links to an unlimited amount of information and knowledge. This makes me wonder if the people who have ready access to the internet will become smarter, over time, due to the accessibility of hypertext.

Inventory :: essays research papers

Name: Job #: # of APPLIANCES ft ³ TOTAL # of BEDROOM1/2/3/4/5 ft ³ TOTAL Air Cond. / Window Lg. 20 0 Bed Waterbed Base 10 0 Air Cond. / Window Sm. 15 0 Bed, Bunk (Set 2) 70 0 Dehumidifier 5 0 Bed, King 70 0 Dishwasher 20 0 1 Bed, Queen 65 65 1 Dryer 11 11 Bed, Rollaway 20 0 Freezer, 10' or less 30 0 Bed, Single/Hollywood 40 0 Freezer, 11' to 15' 45 0 2 Bed, Std/Dbl./Full 60 120 Freezer, 16' or more 60 0 Book Box 6 0 Range, 20" Wide 10 0 Chair, Boudoir 10 0 Range, 30" Wide 15 0 2 Chair, Straight 5 10 Range, 36" Wide 30 0 Chaise Lounge 25 0 Refrig. 11 ft ³ or more 60 0 3 Chest of Drawers 25 75 Refrig. 7 to 10 ft ³ 45 0 Chest, Armoire 30 0 2 Refrig. 6 ft ³ or less 30 60 Chest, Batchelor 12 0 1 ShopVac 5 5 Chest, Cedar 15 0 Stackable Washer / Dryer 35 0 Day Bed / Captains Bed 50 0 1 Vacuum Cleaner 5 5 Dresser, Double 40 0 1 Washing Machine 25 25 Dresser, Single 30 0 # of DINING ft ³ Dresser, Triple 50 0 Baker's Rack 15 0 Dresser, Vanity 20 0 Bench, Harvest 10 0 Dresser/Vanity Bch 3 0 1 Buffet (Base) 30 30 Floor Lamp 3 0 Cabinet Corner 20 0 1 Futon 25 25 7 Dining Chair 5 35 3 Lamp 3 9 1 Dining Table 30 30 Mirror 6 0 Hutch (Top) 20 0 2 Night Table 5 10 2 Lamp 3 6 4 Picture 3 12 0 Mirror 6 0 Student Desk 15 0 0 Picture 3 0 3 Trunk 5 15 Tea Cart 10 0 1 Wardrobe Closet,LG 40 40 # of KITCHEN ft ³ 1 Wardrobe Closet,SM 20 20 Baker's Rack 15 0 # of NURSERY ft ³ Breakfast Suite, Chairs 5 0 Baby Carriage 4 0 1 Bread Maker 3 3 Bassinet 5 0 Breakfast Table 10 0 Bed, Youth 30 0 Chair, High 5 0 Chair, Child`s 3 0 High Chair 5 0 Changing Table 25 0 1 Ironing Board 2 2 Chest 12 0 Kitchen Cabinet 30 0 Chest, Toy 5 0 Lamp 3 0 Child`s Rocking Chair 3 0 Microwave Oven 5 0 Crib, Baby 10 0 Microwave Stand 10 0 Playpen 10 0 Mirror 6 0 Rocking Chair 7 0 3 Picture 3 9 Table, Child`s 5 0 Serving Cart 15 0 # of PORCH/OUTDOOR ft ³ 1 0 1 BBQ Grill, Large 10 10 Barstool 3 0 1 BBQ Grill, Small 2 2 1 Toaster Oven 1 1 Bird Bath 10 0 Utility Cabinet 10 0 3 Chair, Plastic 1 3 # of LIVING ROOM ft ³ Chairs, Aluminum 1 0 Bar, Portable 15 0 4 Chairs, Metal 3 12 Bench, Frsd/Piano 5 0 Chairs, Wood 5 0 Bookcase 20 0 Garden Hose & Tools 10 0 Bookshelves, Sect. 5 0 Glider or settee 20 0 Cabinet, Curio 10 0 1 Golf Clubs / Bag 8 8 Chair, Occasional 15 0 Ladder 6' Step 3 0 Chair, Overstuffed 25 0 Ladder, 8' Metal 2 0 Chair, Rocker 12 0 1 Ladder, Extension 8 8 Chair, Straight 5 0 Lawn Mover, Rider (HP) 35 0 Clock, Grandfather 20 0 1 Lawn Mower, Hand 5 5 Desk, Secretary 35 0 Lawn Mower, Power 15 0 Desk, SM/Winthrop 22 0 1 Leaf Blower 5 5 Fireplace Equip. 5 0 Outdoor Child Gym 20 0 Footstool 2 0 Outdoor Child Slide 10 0 Hall Tree Large 12 0 Outdoor Swings 30 0 Hall Tree Rack 2 0 Picnic Bench 5 0 Lamp, Floor/Pole 2 0 Picnic Table 20 0 Lg. Wicker Chair 4 0 Plastic Chair 1 0 Lg. Wicker Sofa 15 0 Roller, Lawn 15 0 Magazine Rack 2 0 Skis / Poles 8 0 Mirror 4 0 Snow Blower 15 0 Music Cabinet 10 0 Spreader, Lawn 2 0 Ottoman 5 0 Statue 0 Papasan Chair 4 0 1 Table, Large 4 4 Phone Stand 4 0 Table, Plastic 2 0 Piano, Baby Gr/Upr 70 0 Table, Small 2 0 Piano, Parlor Gr. 80 0 Trampolene 0 Piano, Spinet/Console 60 0 Umbrella 5 0 3 Picture 3 9 1 Wheelbarrow 8 8 1 Recliner 25 25 # of OFFICE/MISC ft ³ Room Divider 10 0 2 Dr File Cab. Dbl. Wide 20 0 Rugs, Lg. Roll/Pad 10 0 3 Drawer File Cab. 30 0 Rugs, Sm. Roll/Pad 3 0 3 Drawer File Cab. 30 0 Sm. Wicker Chair 2 0 3 Dr File Cab. Dbl. Wide 60 0 Sm. Wicker Sofa 10 0 4 Dr File Cab. Dbl. Wide 40 0 Sofa, Hide, 4 Cush. 60 0 Barbells lbs. 0 1 Sofa, Loveseat 35 35 Basket (Clothes) 5 0 Sofa, Sectional (per sec.) 30 0 1 Bicycle 5 5 1 Sofa, 3 Cushion 50 50 Bowling Ball/Bag 3 0 Table Lamps 3 0 Chairs, Folding 1 0 3 Tables, Coffee/End 5 15 1 Clothes Hamper 5 5 Tables, Drop/Occas 12 0 Cot, Folding 10 0 # of ELECTRONICS ft ³ 1 Desk, Office 30 30 Ceiling Fan 7 0 1 Exercise Machine 20 20 Chair 5 0 Exercycle 5 0 Computer Desk 20 0 Fan 5 0 1 Computer printer 5 5 Fern/Plant Stands 2 0 Copier 40 0 1 Filing Cab. 2 Drawers 10 10 1 DVD 3 3 Filing Cab. 4 Drawers 20 0 Entertainment Ctr. 20 0 Filing Cab.Crdbd 3 0 1 Fax 5 5 Footlockers 5 0 Floor Speaker 5 0 1 Heater, Gas/Electric 5 5

Free Oedipus the King Essays: Hamartia in Oedipus Rex :: Oedipus the King Oedipus Rex

Hamartia in Oedipus the King According to the Aristotelian characteristics of good tragedy, the tragic character should not fall due to either excessive virtue or excessive wickedness, but due to what Aristotle called hamartia. Hamartia may be interpreted as either a flaw in character or an error in judgement. Oedipus, the tragic character in Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, certainly makes several such mistakes; however, the pervasive pattern of his judgemental errors seems to indicate a basic character flaw that precipitates them. Oedipus’ character flaw is ego. This is made evident in the opening lines of the prologue when he states "Here I am myself--you all know me, the world knows my fame: I am Oedipus." (ll. 7-9) His conceit is the root cause of a number of related problems. Among these are recklessness, disrespect, and stubbornness. Oedipus displays an attitude of recklessness and disrespect throughout the play. When he makes his proclamation and no one confesses to the murder of Laius, Oedipus loses patience immediately and rushes into his curse. Later, he displays a short temper to Tiresias: "You, you scum of the earth . . . out with it, once and for all!," (ll. 381, 383) and "Enough! Such filth from him? Insufferable--what, still alive? Get out--faster, back where you came from--vanish!" (ll. 490-492) If an unwillingness to listen may be considered stubbornness, certainly Oedipus would take advice from no one who would tell him to drop the matter of his identity, among them Tiresias, the shepherd, and even Jocasta. Even after Oedipus thinks he has received a reprieve from the fate he fears when he hears that Polybus is dead, he does not have the sense to keep still. "So! Jocasta, why, why look to the Prophet’s hearth . . . all those prophesies I feared . . . they’re nothing, worthless," he says. (ll.1053-1054, 1062, 1064) To the shepherd, Oedipus certainly has no respect for the man’s age when he tortures him. Oedipus’ cruelty indeed literally squeezes his own demise out of the shepherd: "You’re a dead man if I have to ask again . . . I’m at the edge of hearing horrors, yes, but I must hear!" (ll. 1281, 1285) After his recognition and reversal, Oedipus exclaims "The hand that struck my eyes was mine, . . . I did it all myself!" (ll. 1469, 1471) He is not only referring to his self-inflicted mayhem, but also the chain of events that led to his demise.