Curleys Wife Character †of Men and Mice Essay

Of Men and Mice is not kind in its portrayal of women. In fact, women are treated with contempt throughout the course of the book. Steinbeck generally depicts women as troublemakers who bring ruin to men and drive them mad. Curley’s wife, who walks the ranch as a temptress seems to be a prime example of the destructive tendency. Despite the author’s rendering, Curley’s wife emerges as a relatively complex and interesting character. Although her purpose is rather simple in the book’s opening pages, she is the â€Å"tramp†, â€Å"tart† and â€Å"bitch† that threatens to destroy male happiness and longevity. The social setting of the novel is also important, as it could later explain characters attitudes towards other people. It is set in the U.S. in the 1930s; this is the time of the Great Depression. This was a result of the First World War. It affected the rich and poor alike, factory workers and farmers, bankers and stockbrokers. In s hort, it affected everyone; no one was left untouched. But of all the people hurt, farmers were the worst off. Curley’s wife is first introduced in person to us in a symbolic way; this is shown when George is talking to Lennie about the dream and when Curley’s wife first meets both men. â€Å"Both men glanced up, for a rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off.† The symbolic meaning of the word sunshine is hope, freedom, happiness and dreams. This foreshadows that she may cause trouble or come in the way and could ruin it all for Lennie and George. She is also described as a â€Å"girl†, which tells us that she is very playful, childish and vulnerable. Her appearance later in the novel becomes more complex. But even before this we are forewarned about her, Candy tells George and Lennie about her, making her out at the wrong type to begin with, â€Å"Married to weeks and got the eye? Maybe that is why Curley’s pants is full of ants,† giving us the impression she was a person not to socialis e with. Also tells us that the men on the ranch know that Curley knows that is wife looks at the rest of them, hoping for one of them to try and get close to her, so he can then create a situation for a fight. As Candy relaxes he also goes on to get them to have the same opinion as him about her by saying, ‘well, you look her over, mister. You see if she ain’t a tart†, and the reply from George, ‘Purty?’ making sure that we see her as ‘jail bait†. Then when we first get to see her she is dressed as if she is going out to a party, and Steinbeck also enforces the concept that she is trouble and a tart, by describing her appearance, â€Å"she had full rouged lips†, â€Å"red mules, on the insteps of which were little bouquets of red ostrich feathers†, using the colour red as a foreshadow that she is dangerous. This is the first time also that we see that she is attractive and that she knows it, also that she wants the men to look at her, â€Å"she put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward†, forcing the men to look at her curves. This first sign of nativity shows that she doesn’t understand her affect on men, showing her age as a teenager and her understanding of her sexual attractiveness. We also get an insight to her life with her husband and why she is always coming around the rest of the men. When Candy tells George and Lennie about Curley having his glove full of â€Å"Vaseline† and that he was keeping â€Å"that hand soft for his wife†, tells us that she was also being beaten up, and that nobody could see the bruises because Curley had softened his hand, or he hit her in places where we couldn’t see the bruises. This is the first time we see her as a victim needing help. We also see that see can be cruel, and willing to misuse power. When she confronts Lennie, Candy, and Crooks in the stable, she admits to feeling a kind of shameless dissatisfaction with her life. Her vulnerability at this moment and later when she admits to Lennie her dream of becoming a movie star makes her utterly human and much more interesting than the stereotypical vixen in fancy clothes. She seeks out even greater weakness in others, preying upon Lennie’s mental handicap â€Å"they left all the weak ones here†, Candy’s debilitating age, â€Å"tell an’ be damned. Nobody’d would listen to you, and you know it† and the colour of Crook’s skin â€Å"you know what I can do to you if you open your trap?† in order to steel herself against harm. Dreams are a major reoccurring theme, when Lennie tells Curley’s wife of his and George’s dream she just says â€Å"baloney†, but she has a dream of her own and she proceeds to talk Lennie about it. She has dreamt of being a movie star, which nearly came true when she encountered an actor. ‘He says I could go with that show†, but like most young girl s was forbade from her mother, ‘my ol’ lady wouldn’ let me†. So having her dream pulled out from underneath her she rebelled, and married Curley. However she always wanted to achieve something of herself and loved attention. â€Å"Curley’s wife lay with a half-covering of yellow hay. And the meanness and the planning and the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face. She was very pretty and simple, and her face was sweet and young. Now her rouged cheeks and her reddened lips made her seem alive and sleeping very lightly. The curls, tiny little sausages, were spread on the hay behind her head, and her lips were parted†, this is the first time we are shown her true self – she was a young, innocent, lonely young girl. When you take away all the walls she had erected you come back to a young girl wanting to be loved, who saw Lennie as a way out from Curley’s abusive relationship. As Lennie could hurt Curley, but not realising the danger she was ultimately putting herself into. So in conclusion Curley’s wife is the most depressed and lonely characters in the novel. She has no friends, no future, no respect; she doesn’t even deserve a name. All she wants is someone to talk to but in her mind the only way she can do this is by flaunting herself to the men to get noticed. This leads her to be perceived as a â€Å"tart† by the men. She represents absolute loneliness and desperation to achieve something better in life. Even though she is very lonely, she comes across as a very beautiful woman. She flaunts herself by dressing and acting in a â€Å"tart† like manner, but really she is just making use of her body to gain the attention of the workers to soothe her. If anyone would give her a break, treat her like a person, she would idolise them. Her craving for contact is immense but she, with her background is incapable of conceiving any contact without some sexual context, she is not particularly oversexed, but has been forced to recognise that her sexuality is the only weapon she has, and the only thing that gets her noticed. Consequently she is a little starved. She knows nothing about sex, except the mass information girls tell each other. All through the novel the men make out that Curley’s wife is trouble. But yet there was never any proof that Curley’s wife has ever caused any of the trouble or conflicts. The only trouble she caused was when she died.

Concept of Maqasid Al-Syariah Essay

1. In directly meaning Maqasid Al-Syariah can be define as the objectives of Islamic law. However, in linguistic meaning Maqasid is define as follow, a goal or as an inspiration meanwhile Al-Syariah is define as the law that God reveal to Muhammad involving all aspects of life such as family institution, in finance or it can say the way of a Muslims live their life. In together term Maqasid Al-Syariah carriers the meaning based on its constituent part, of the goal and objectives which are reason for legislation of the rule of Islam. As we known all law in Islam has wisdom behind them and not randomly legislated or without purpose. These terms are back bone to this concept. They are Illah and Hikmah. Illah; in linguistically has two meaning. A sickness and a reason or causes. In definition Illah is a law that exist because of the reason or it impact in bad ways. As an example is prohibition of drinking alcohol is due to it give bad effects to our health and mental stability. Allah prohibits us to drink Alcohol in order to avoid us losing our insanity and doing something immoral without our awareness. Hikmah; in linguistically means wisdom or intend. This mean Islamic law has it intend even though it is not clear why Allah make a rule like that. There are some rules in Shariah for which the reason for their legislation is not clear or apparent. We do not say that there is no reason, rather which it is hidden from us and Allah with His wisdom chose not to disclose it. As an Example prayer five times daily. That not to say there are no benefits. Only Allah knows best. 2.Sources of Islamic Law Several of sources Islamic law used by Islamic jurisprudence to clarify the Shariah. There are two main sources that can be consider as the core of Islamic law which is Al-Quran and Sunnah.However in some circumstances of jurisprudence different methods are used to judge the level of authencity which is comprise of Ijtima’ and Qias. The Quran Muslims believe the Quran to be the direct words of Allah, as revealed to and transmitted by the Prophet Muhammad. All sources of Islamic law must be in essential agreement with the Quran, the most fundamental source of Islamic knowledge. When the Quran itself does not speak directly or in detail about a certain subject, Muslims only then turn to alternative sources of Islamic law. The Sunnah Sunnah is the traditions or known practices of the Prophet Muhammad, many of which have been recorded in the volumes of Hadith literature. The resources include many things that he said, did, or agreed to — and he lived his life according to the Quran, putting the Quran into practice in his own life. During his lifetime, the Prophet’s family and companions observed him and shared with others exactly what they had seen in his words and behaviors — i.e. how he performed ablutions, how he prayed, and how he performed many other acts of worship. People also asked the Prophet directly for rulings on various matters, and he would pronounce his judgment. All of these details were passed on and recorded, to be referred to in future legal rulings. Many issues concerning personal conduct, community and family relations, political matters, etc. were addressed during the time of the Prophet, decided by him, and recorded. The Sunnah can thus clarify details of what is stated generally in the Quran. Ijma’ (consensus) In situations when Muslims have not been able to find a specific legal ruling in the Quran or Sunnah, the consensus of the community is sought (or at least the consensus of the legal scholars within the community). The Prophet Muhammad once said that his community (i.e. the Muslim community) would never agree on an error. Qiyas (analogy) In cases when something needs a legal ruling, but has not been clearly addressed in the other sources, judges may use analogy, reasoning, and legal precedent to decide new case law. This is often the case when a general principle can be applied to new situations. (See the article Smoking in Islam for an example of this process at work.) 3.Type and categories of riba and gharar The Islamic economic system as part of spiritual activities obtains its general rules from Al Qur’an and Sunnah. Therefore, its values consist of what is allowed and leaves out what is forbidden. Some values that are forbidden in Qur’an and Sunnah are Riba (Usury) and Gharar (Uncertainty). These values are the biggest differences between Islamic economics and Capitalism and Socialism economic systems. The following is the explanation of Riba and Gharar: A. Riba (Usury) Riba is literally translated from the Arab language and means ‘an increase, growth, augmentation or accretion,’ (Khir, Gupta, & Shanmugam, 2008, p.28), and ‘addition and expansion,’ (Al-Harran, 1993, p.16) although not all of increasing is forbidden in Islam. And as syari’ah term, it means ‘the premium’ that is paid by the borrower to the lender together with the principal of loan due to some condition and because of its addition time to maturity (Chapra, 1992). According to this definition, many scholars agree that the riba refers to ‘interest’ used commonly in economic conventional system. Types of Riba: Scholars have divided riba into two types: 1. Riba Duyun. This type of riba occurs in a loan or debt. Any kind of addition or increase above the amount of principal whether the addition or increase are inflicted by the lenders or willingness of the borrowers. Riba Duyun is divided in two types: a.RibaQardh This is all increments above the amount of the principal of the loan whose amount is imposed proportionately at the beginning of the lending agreement. The addition above the amount of the principal and is due in a certain amount of time based on the loan. b.Riba Jahiliyyah This occurs when the increment of the principal increases as the time of loan increases. At first, there is no such fix increment, but when the borrowers want to postpone the loan or to extend the time to maturity the lenders will compel the increase of the loan. However, this addition is due to the time of maturity and can also happen along with the riba qardh above. According to this explanation riba qard and riba jahiliyyah refer to ‘interest’ because they are associated with the ‘addition or increase’ and the ‘extension’ of time to maturity. For example: Loans from the banks, credit card etc. 1. Riba Buyun Riba buyun occurs in trading transactions. This kind of riba occurs in trading of two of the same product but in unequal amounts; or the same product in equal amounts but there is a postponement in delivery. Types of Riba Buyun are: a. Riba Fadhl Riba fadhl is products that are exchanged in different amounts, number, measurement or weight without the postponement in delivery of the product or the payment. According to Khir, Gupta, & Shanmugam (2008) it is also called Riba of Excess (p.31). Riba fadhl can happen in the purchase and sale of different products, but the quantity or the amount of products that is exchanged are different. The difference in the quantity or the amount is unjust and dishonest which is prohibited in Islam. Riba fadhl can be avoided if the goods exchanged are equal in amount, number, quantity, and measurement. b. Riba Nasi’ah (Riba Yad) According to Khir, Gupta, & Shanmugam (2008), this is a kind of riba happens in trading in same weight, measurement and number of products, but the delivery of products, or the payment of money are delayed. However, Chapra (1992) stated that Nasi’ah come from nasa’a means ‘to postpone, defer, or wait’ (p.35), and refers to the time the borrower returns the loan with the addition. And he argues that this is interest in a conventional system. Although there are some explanations and definitions about types of riba, basically the meaning is same; because in concluding knowledge, scholars is usually referred to as Ijma’ Ulama (the teaching from Scholars who have well known about their knowledge in Islamic Jurisprudence). Motivation in prohibition of Riba: Islam is very concerned with human prosperity. Therefore, it would not forbid something without any explanation for the prohibition. Although riba does not just refer to interest, but the term of riba is used to explain interest. The following is the reason why riba is prohibited in Islam: 1. An interest based system damages equity. Interest will force the borrowers to pay additional money above the principal; while the borrowers do not have a positive profit from their loan used in business. Therefore, the interest rate will increase the money of rich people. 2. Interest based systems dissuade people to open a new business. Interest rates will cause people to hesitate in finding something new or in opening a new venture because the new business does not yet have a positive return. On the other hand, the owner must pay definite payments to the lenders. 3. Interest based systems set profit to one side and ignores the other side. Much like banks, they are just concerned about their returns and don’t care about loss or profit of the borrowers. 4. Interest based systems depress investment activity. Interest will increase investment costs. 5. Interest based systems add securities to the lenders rather than participate in development. For example: For safety lending reasons, banks tend to provide loans to the most profitable business or company that have been in existence for a long time and are less concerned with small enterprises that are new in the market.

Guyana Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Guyana - Essay Example The more numerous coastal peoples are chiefly descendants of slaves from Africa and indentured workers from India, who were originally imported to work the coastal sugarcane plantations. Racial problems between the latter two groups have played a disruptive role in Guyanese society. Politically, Guyana has moved on a steady course toward socialism from the time of independence, although after the death of the first prime minister, Forbes Burnham, in 1985, ties with Western powers were strengthened (Encyclopdia Britannica, 2006) Moreover, Guyana is a democratic republic within the British Commonwealth. The nation is divided into 10 regions. The president, currently Bharrat Jagdeo, who serves as chief of state. The prime minister (Samuel Hinds) is appointed by the president and is head of government. All but 3 of the 68-seat National Assembly members are directly elected. The population of Guyana is estimated to be about 767,245.1 Emigration has kept the annual population growth rate well below 1 percent. About 37 percent of the population lives in urban areas, the largest of which are Georgetown, Linden, and New Amsterdam. The villages and fertile acres of the coastal lowlands are home to another 58 percent. The remaining 5 percent, mostly indigenous people, is scattered throughout the interior. As the country prides its ethnically diverse heritage, Guyana's largest group is made up of descendants of the East Indian immigrants and comprises nearly 50 percent of the country's population. Next are the Afro-Guyanese (36 percent) and American Indian indigenous peoples (7 percent).2 The remainder includes people of mixed race as well as small groups of ethnic Chinese, English, and Portuguese. Guyana is the third-smallest country in South America after Suriname and Uruguay, and substantial portions of its western and eastern territories are claimed by Venezuela and Suriname respectively. Warrau and Arawak Catholics fled to British Guiana from Venezuela in the 19th century to escape religious persecution. Their settlements, such as Santa Rosa, are protected reservations. Today's indigenous peoples are seeking title to the lands they occupy, as they feel increasingly threatened by local and international companies looking for mineral and timber wealth. At the same time, many indigenous people are taking jobs with these companies in hopes of overcoming poverty on the reservations (Daly 1975, p. 6). Little is known about the Guyana's early inhabitants, but historians speculate they gradually migrated from central South America as early as A.D. 1000. These people were divided into at least nine tribes, including the Warrau, Wapisiana, Machushi, Patamona, Arawak, and Carib. Before the arrival of Europeans, Carib and Arawak tribes called their region as "Guiana", which means "land of waters" (CultureGrams, 2006). The Dutch established the first European trading post in Guyana in 1580 and were soon joined by the English, French, and Spanish. In 1621, the Netherlands established the Dutch West India Company and gave it control of their colony, known as Essequibo. Dutch colonies were later established on the Berbice River (1627) and Demerara

The Last Flight of Space Shuttle Challenger Essay

The Last Flight of Space Shuttle Challenger - Essay Example This turned out to be the first blunder that led to the tragic incident. It happened to be the 10th mission for the Challenger Orbiter, while it was the 25th mission for the Space Transportation Systems (STS) and this proved a great challenge when considering the complexity of modern federal bureaucracy and relying on private contractors. The unfortunate Challenger seemed to take off normally, but after flying for about 73 seconds, the Mission Control did not receive any signal from it. Instead, just soon after the Challenger’s final radio signal, a blinding flash of light was seen by the people in the Mission Control room. This massive flash was actually the huge explosion and 2 destruction of the Orbiter and its fuel tanks, and its Solid Rocket Boosters that were blown into the air with the impact and hurtled down into residential areas. (Charles, T. pg. 110) The tragic disaster of the Space Shuttle Challenger, was considered to be the worst ever disaster that the United Sta tes space program experienced, because it had left all seven crew members dead including Christa McAuliffe, who was the â€Å"First Teacher in Space.† This financial loss of almost $ 2 billion left the world in a state of shock and made America lose their trust in NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Investigations on the disaster of Space Shuttle Challenger were carried out by the Presidential Commission who drew up the causes which were responsible. One of the chief findings of the Commission was that the pressure seal that joins the right solid Rocket Motor in the aft field had failed, causing the disaster. The faulty design was susceptible to many other factors which were unacceptable. These factors include – the quality and character of the material, physical wear and tear and the ‘reaction of the joint to dynamic loading.’ (Charles, T. pg.111) Besides finding out the technical fault, the Commission found that the process of decision m aking was to blame for the catastrophe, which could have easily been avoided if more caution was executed. Michael T. Charles’s study findings, further points to the lapse in the organizational setting which include such phenomena as pressured decision making, Congressional 3 funding, lucrative business contracts, the bureau- political discrepancies within and among NASA, including military and many other agencies of the government who are in competition for space dollars. Charles T. (pg. 111) points out that even though NASA, a governmental agency who has the responsibility of the development and management of this Space Shuttle Program and has such a good reputation, yet it became a part of the tragedy because the different departments are quite dependant on each other and therefore wrong interactions between them would have inevitably lead to the disaster. In addition, NASA is in collaboration with other private firm contracts to lend their support in the developing and de signing of the STS. However, the contract of constructing the Solid Rock Boosters was given to a company called ‘The Morton Thiokol Corporation where the flaw which caused the disaster was found. Managerial responsibility was another drawback pointed out by the Commission, which also contributed to the mishap. A team of managers was placed in charge for different parts of the

Tourism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Tourism - Essay Example However, scholars hold the view that to the profession requires specialised skills and knowledge, continuous education and be good to the society and community. According to Roberts (2007), corporate social responsibility (CSR) entails responsible business conduct causing no harm in the workplace, marketplace, the natural environment as well as the community they operate in. In the tourism sector, it would mean that it is the local, national and global community. CSR is not only vital in promoting business operations but also creates harmony and respect between the business and the community. To the business, CSR looks to ensure that the organisations keep on making profit while ensuring that her future is safe. Tourism industry’s management ought to understand that CSR, reduces general operational costs while improving the firm’s reputation. By extending services to the community, the firm’s dignity rises, resulting to not only a competitive advantage but also access to investment and funding opportunities. Notably, most NGOs prefer funding projects that improve the society’s welfare. Corporate social responsibility in the tourism industry is not a choice; it is a business obligation (Lyn 2009). To the society, CSR increases welfare as well as building a liking for the firm. Going green initiative, maintained by a firm via CSR improves he ecological conditions of the society. The result is reduced health hazards, better working conditions as well as better services and safe products. Involvement in charitable fundraising can improve the society’s education and possibly create equal opportunities. According to Lyn (2009), tourism managers who focus on short-term profits at the expense of the society and the environment are doomed to fail. For sustainability, a business ought to ensure that there is a bottom line that measures environmental, economic and social profits and losses. That goes a long way at maintaining customer

Literary Analysis of a text within a particular context Essay

Literary Analysis of a text within a particular context - Essay Example In a sense, her dominance over the male characters can be considered as her fantasy -of being free and to act freely- that continually shrinks due to the male expectation of loyalty from a wife. Hedda comes from a higher socioeconomic class. But her husband is much lower than her class and still depends on Aunt Julie for financial support. This sense of superiority provokes her internally to demand an equal play in the family that is obviously more than what male notion of a woman’s loyalty allows. In this regard, Hedenskooq comments, â€Å"In Hedda, we find a woman who is strong, brazen, and independent, yet is determined to live her life through the context of the society around her. She is a woman caught in a vicious cycle of expectation and disappointment.† (325) One of Ibsen’s motivations to juxtapose the husband-band wife patriarchal structure of modern family system is to show his readers how money matters in women’s loyalty to husband and how a woman reacts to this juxtaposition. What the society considers as women’s happiness, namely the material happiness in her husband’s house is merely emotional death by materialism. Also women continually go on to sacrifice their own share of equal play, to fulfill the male expectation, under the disguise of the social ideology of â€Å"loyalty of a wife†. Since in Jurgen Tessman’s household, the financial happiness is evidently not present, the crust of loyalty has simply melted down and Hedda seems to seek more of dominance or at least of an equal play than being subservient to him. Again as male dominated society will still not allow her to play an equal share, she exerts dominance on others in Jurgen Tessman’s family. Hedda was not willing to marr y Tessman since he is economically depended on his Aunt Julie and since he is a member of a social that is lower than Hedda’s. But for some reasons she was forced to marry him. Indeed Hedda is the product of patriarchal society. In it, she

President Barak Obama and the Health Care Bill Essay

President Barak Obama and the Health Care Bill - Essay Example When it comes to employers, the healthcare bill would excuse some employers. The bill would form independent departments through which start-up businesses can get insurance. However, there have been a lot of current reports criticizing the healthcare recommendation of President Obama. Both the Democrats and Republicans are fearful that it will negatively affect the future generation. The lower- and middle-class feared that being obliged to purchase a healthcare plan will give much pressure on their limited resources, since they will not be qualified to the ‘low income pass’ (Planinz 2009, para 2) of President Obama. Also, conservative health supporters are discouraged that the plan of the president does not involve insurance for a lot of kinds of similar medicine (ibid, para 2). Backers of the healthcare bill of the president say that millions of Americans with no health insurance are now being a burden to the economy of the government (Haddy 2010). As said by National C oalition on Health Care, â€Å"The United States spends nearly $100 billion per year to provide uninsured residents with health services, often for preventable diseases or diseases that physicians could treat more efficiently with earlier diagnosis† (Planinz 2009, para 6). The plan of the president only includes the uninsured. ... Most known is an urgent need for policy. Anyway, going back to the employer-based healthcare insurance, there are lots of findings showing that the purpose of generating profit has a part in creating healthcare expenses (Morman 2010). Insurance companies looking for revenues will try to cover individuals who are not sickly. Employers and doctors will, with no payment rules, try to give the highest amount of service they can give for the maximum price (Kinney 2010). There are lots of facts saying that all individuals involved in healthcare will and do act in response to payer regulations intended to lessen costs. Individual suppliers and providers will act towards appeals to create profits without interests to public policy (Haddy 2010). Regulations are developed to lessen price and use. The fact that is not sufficiently reported is how patients are influenced by the minimization in imaging services (Morman 2010). Questionably doctors had less evidence on which to make health-related choices. The major concern is whether they had adequate evidence. There are lots of facts showing the problematic business techniques of all persons involved in healthcare and that these techniques do a lot to ruin an active market for the goods and services of the healthcare sector. Under no situations should the sector of the economy so greatly supported by the taxes paid by the public be permitted to turn into a ‘cash cow’ (Kinney 2010, 407) for businesspeople who are not capable of giving first-rate goods and services at a cheap price in a highly competitive market. But, all the parties concerned appear to be facing lots of difficulties when it comes to agreeing on what actually should be done. Internet

The Cost of Justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Cost of Justice - Essay Example (Collins English Dictionary2011) Defining cost answers the question what is the cost of justice? Cost is defined as something that is not free. If something has a value it can be bought. In terms of being bought, can justice be bought? Justice is something that is supposed to be free to everyone. Everyone deserves the right to justice. In America justice does not live up to its definition. Justice can be bought for a cost. The cost can be money, freedom, discipline, or losing something. Many states offer justice for a cost. Justice can be very expensive when dealing on a statewide level. The cost is great for states wanting to keep justice free and well disciplined. The cost for justice in most states can be very expensive. The state of Virginia spends a great deal of funds on different expenditures. These expenditures can range anywhere from $10.00 to tens of thousands of dollars. justice may have out of pocket expenses. Some seeking justice have no way of paying and are required to seek justice from the state. Although that justice may be free to the individual, it is not free to the state or federal. Justice comes from somewhere at a specific cost. To make sure justice is served, states like the state of Virginia have costs. In 2005, â€Å"the average prisoner in a Virginia prison costs $31,200 for the year.† (Stephan.) If there are 500 prisoners, the costs for one year are well over ten million dollars. That is a lot of money to spend on justice for one year. That amount is only for prison expenditures. There is much other state expenditure that provides justice. Justice does come at other costs. Punishing others and sentencing them to prison is only one way to provide justice at a cost. Health care for corrections has an even bigger costs then keeping a prisoner. The state of Virginia, â€Å"spends over 4,333 million in corrections healthcare costs†. The costs for corrections are huge. After looking over some of the

Business Ethics, Ethic Dilemma, Manual of conduct Essay

Business Ethics, Ethic Dilemma, Manual of conduct - Essay Example The conflict mainly occurs when dubious decisions are made within an organization and these decisions can lead to major disputes that might even demand legal resolution. Therefore, the ethical requirements that organizations must abide by should be properly and clearly defined to give business owners the opportunity to properly follow them and avoid any legal repercussions that may otherwise result. Put simply, the ethical decision making process is therefore a set of well-established procedures within any given organization that helps in evaluating the best course of action among several options, while working within the ethical requirements of the industry in question.   For our research into ethics we have chosen Chiquita Brands. Chiquita Brands has, in the past, embarked upon ethically questionable actions that we have chosen for our case study dilemmas. These dilemmas include the child labor that Chiquita employs on their banana plantations in Ecuador and the funding of a right-wing paramilitary group in Colombia. Both of these predicaments are equally appalling acts that contain a number of loopholes that release Chiquita from guilt. Chiquita is a leading global produce company involved in the banana trade. Our company is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, but Chiquita Banana and our subsidiaries employ over 20,000 people located in over six continents. Although our company is now dedicated to our core values of Integrity, Respect, Opportunity and Responsibility, over the many years we have been in operation, like any other organization, we have been forced to deal with multiple ethical dilemmas in a business environment. These have even resulted in the organization having trouble with the law. Among such issues were the use of child laborers in our methods of production and the possible payment of multiples sums of money to criminal organizations in South American countries for protection. The last issue,

Applications of Total Quality Management Essay Example for Free

Applications of Total Quality Management Essay Total Quality Management (TQM) is a philosophy of management that strives to make the best use of all available resources and opportunities through continuous improvement. TQM means achieving quality in terms of all functions of the enterprise. Many researchers attempted to analyze how IT and TQM can jointly add value to organizations and the purpose of this first post on TQM is to evaluate the practicality of TQM in an IT service. In this evaluation, a balance of the service management needs with the reality of bottom-line effectiveness is provided. The post also provides a list of critical success factors to consider in a change management initiative engaged by an IT service. TQM in Practice : The essence of quality is to do it right the first time, and to satisfy customer requirements every time by involving everyone in the organization. The works of Crosby and his colleagues on the evolution of TQM cut across all pervasive philosophies of management. TQM has been a key business improvement strategy since the 1970s, as it has been deemed essential for improving efficiency and competitiveness. TQM aims to achieve an overall effectiveness which is higher than the individual outputs from the sub-systems such as design, planning, production, distribution, customer focus strategy, quality tools and employee involvement. This philosophy of management strives to make the best use of all available resources and opportunities through continuous improvement. As a management philosophy, TQM makes use of particular set of principles, practices, and techniques to expand business and profits and provides a bypass to enhanced productivity by avoiding rework, rejects, waste, customer complaints, and high cost. This can be achieved by emphasizing the organization’s commitment from data-driven, problem-solving approaches to quality accruing. The five basic pillars of TQM are : a) top management commitment for quality enhancement, b) customer centric advancements of processes and building a long-lasting trustworthy relationship between the organization and the customer, c) relentless development by setting goals and deadlines, d) benchmarking with several specific tools and quality-adding techniques, and e) strengthening the employee base by concentrating at any stage of a process on quality, where customer satisfaction is stationed. Table 1 provides a summary of the key dimensions that constitute TQM. TQM key dimensions : 1. Top management leadership : Top management commitment is one of the major determinants of successful TQM implementation. Top management has to be the first in applying and stimulating the TQM approach, and they have to accept the maximum responsibility for the product and service offering. Top management also has to provide the necessary leadership to motivate all employees. 2. Customer relationships : The needs of customers and consumers and their satisfaction should always be in the mind of all employees. It is necessary to identify these needs and their level of satisfaction. 3. Supplier relationships : Quality is a more important factor than price in selecting suppliers. Long-term relationship with suppliers has to be established and the company has to collaborate with suppliers to help improve the quality of products/services. 4. Workforce management : Workforce management has to be guided by the principles of: training, empowerment of workers and teamwork. Adequate plans of personnel recruitment and training have to be implemented and workers need the necessary skills to participate in the improvement process. 5. Product design process : All departments have to participate in the design process and work together to achieve a design that satisfies the requirements of the customer, which should be according to the technical, technological and cost constraints of the company. 6. Process flow management : Housekeeping along the lines of the 5S concept. Statistical and non-statistical improvement instruments should be applied as appropriate. Processes need to be mistake proof. Self-inspection undertaken using clear work instructions. The process has to be maintained under statistical control. 7. Quality data and reporting : Quality information has to be readily available and the information should be part of the visible management system. Records about quality indicators have to be kept, including scrap, rework, and cost of quality. TQM and Change Management Initiative for IT Performance : A business firm achieves world-class status when it has successfully developed operational capabilities through TQM to support the entire company in gaining a sustained overall performance over its competitors. Although there is insufficient statistical evidence to conclude significant simple relationships between TQM and IT services quality performance, many studies investigated the notion that TQM practices provide approaches to improve the economic position in the service sectors in general. Both IT and TQM had, and will continue to have a significant impact on most organizations. I only regret the lack of empirical research on the relationship between the two and how they both relate to business performance.

The Role Of Interactional Modification In Efl

The Role Of Interactional Modification In Efl The interaction hypothesis claims that interactional modification promotes language development through increasing comprehension. Owing to the fact that online interactive exchange offers learners many opportunities to use the target language to negotiate both meaning and form in a social context , this study is an attempt to compare the types and frequency of Interactional Modifications as employed by two groups of intermediate EFL students-one interacting via online communication and the other through regular oral class interaction to explore the potentials of text-based online chat in facilitating the development of question forms in English as a foreign language. To do so, while a total of eighteen paired intermediate EFL students used a synchronous chat program (Yahoo Messenger) over a seven week period to complete a series of communicative tasks outside their classroom time, the members of the comparison group did the same tasks using plain classroom oral interaction. The resul ts show that Iranian EFL learners in computer mediated communication (CMC) environment had over five times as many turns, and used a much greater variety of interactional modifications in comparison to the group in class environment. Data from this study also suggest that interactional modifications during online negotiation facilitate the development of question forms in English as a foreign language. Given that the current study only focused on online interaction among non- native speakers (NNSs), future studies on online negotiation including both NNSs and native speakers (NSs) are still needed. Key terms: Computer-Mediated Communication, Interactional modifications, question forms development Introduction Interaction is the key to second language learning. However one of the greatest challenges faced by the foreign language (FL) education is how to construct an interactive learning environment outside the classroom in which learners can exchange information and communicate ideas in the target language (TL). This challenge as Campbell (2004) truly mentioned is due to the fact that unlike ESL learners who communicate in TL outside of the classroom, the EFL learners re-enter a world talking their mother tongue as soon as they leave the classroom and consequently they dont have any opportunities to interact in TL and are left with little opportunity to use what theyve learned in the classroom. Many a researcher in the area of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) has suggested that text-based Synchronous Computer Mediated Communication (SCMC) is capable of providing an ideal learning environment which may be beneficial to second/foreign language learning. (Beauvois, 1992; Pellettieri, 1999; Chapelle, 2001). Pellettieri (2000) declared a logical relationship and argued that because oral interaction is considered by many to be important for second language development, and because Synchronous [CMC]. . . bears a striking resemblance to oral interaction, it seems logical to assume that language practice through [CMC] will reap some of the same benefits for second language development as practice through oral interaction.(p. ) While many studies investigated the role of oral negotiated interaction in second/foreign language development (Gass, 1997; Long, 1985; Mackay, 1995; Mackey Philp, 1998), the role of online negotiated interaction in facilitating language development has not yet been explored completely. Specifically, as far as the efficacy of SCMC medium in grammatical development is concerned, the previous findings are unsatisfactory and controversial. Moreover little research has yet been conducted into the effect of CMC in the EFL context. This study therefore, explores the role of interactional modifications during text-based SCMC in order to better understand the potential of text-based online chatting to facilitate the development of question formation in English as a foreign language. Literature review Interactional modifications in CMC environment In spite of the fact that a few studies has addressed the issue of interactional modifications in CMC environment (Lee, 2001, 2002; Kotter, 2003; Jepson 2005; Isharyanti, 2008), none of these studies have been conducted in naturalistic setting (e.g. outside of the classroom or language laboratory), thus ignoring the real potential of CMC technology which is beyond any temporal and spatial constraints. Although focusing on different categorization of interactional modifications, all of these studies have shown unanimously that CMC medium is capable of providing a conductive learning environment in which interactional modifications might be generated. Lee (2001, 2002) conducted two similar studies in which she explored the types of interactional modifications employed by Spanish Learners at intermediate level of proficiency. Considering both studies, a total of ten categories of interactional modifications were identified including Comprehension checks; Clarification checks; Confirmation checks; Use of English, Word invention; Request (for help); Use of approximation; Self corrections; Topic shift ,and Use of keyboard symbols as discourse makers. The result showed that request (for help) happened the most frequently followed by clarification checks self- correction and comprehension check (Lee, 2001, p. 238; Lee, 2002, p.280). Through a comparison of the result of her study with the literature on face-to-face communication Lee (2002) argued that the learners negotiated with each other using a variety of modification devices similar to face-to face communication (p. 280). Being one of the first studies in this area, the studies con ducted by Lee were subject to a number of limitations. For example the definitions used in coding categories are somewhat problematic (Thomas Reinders, 2010) since as Kotter (2003) stated there is substantial overlap between the definitions of clarification checks and requests (p. 157). Providing a more coherent classificatory system, the study by Kotter (2003) focused on eight types of interactional modifications including: Confirmation checks; Clarification request; Comprehension checks, Repetitions; Recasts, Overt indications of understanding; Overt indications of agreement; and Overt indications of non-agreement (p. 157). However, in contrast to Lees (2001, 2002) finding, Kotters (2003) study revealed a marked difference between conversational repair in spoken interactions and in the MOO-based exchange (p. 145). He discussed that these differences may due to a number of medium-specific factors (p.163). Jepson (2005) explored the types of repair moves used by NNSs in synchronous text-based chat in comparison to voice-based chat during 10, 5-minute sessions. (5 text-based chat sessions and 5 voice-based chat sessions). Although a number of new interactional modifications ( e.g. Self repetition/Paraphrase, Explicit Correction and Question)were identified, this study is also subject to a number of limitations. There was no information about the proficiency level of participants as this issue may affect the interaction and the interactional modifications generated during the process of negotiation. Furthermore, the duration of the sessions was limited (5 minutes). These two issues may question the external validity of the findings. In a more recent study, Isharyanti (in Marriott Torres, 2008) examined the types and frequency of interactional modifications employed by NNSs during synchronous text- based chat. Focusing on a more varied number of interactional modifications, Isharyantis study confirmed the potential of CMC environment in generating interactional modifications. The data showed that the participants engaged in online negotiation process and in order to understand and to be understood, they used a variety of interactional modifications among which confirmation check (24%) was the most frequent one followed by overt indication of agreement (21%) and clarification request (21%). Nevertheless, to examine the potential of CMC technology as a medium for negotiated interaction, the presence of a control a group (a typical class environment in which learners communicate face-to-face) would be helpful. L2 grammatical development and Text-based computer mediated communication The role of negotiated interaction in L2 development continues to be of great interest to researchers (see Pica, 1987; Gass and Varonis, 1989; Mackey, 1995). However, much of the research on the effect of negotiated interaction and interactional modifications used during negotiation process is based on data from face-to-face interaction in ESL context. Moreover, the few studies that have been conducted in CMC environment are unsatisfactory and controversial. There are three standà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.blue print Sotillo (2000) compared syntactic complexity of 25 learners output produced in synchronous versus asynchronous computer mediated communication (SCMC vs. ACMC). She claimed that because of the fast nature of interaction in SCMC, the participants did not pay any attention to form (accuracy) while negotiating meaning (97). In the meantime, due to the delayed nature of ACMC, this medium was capable of generating more syntactically complex structures. Nevertheless, as Fiori (2005) stated while Sotillo reported that grammatical accuracy may suffer in the SCMC environment, her data revealed that the synchronous groups interactions exhibited fewer errors than the asynchronous groups utterances (p. 569). Further investigation, therefore is needed to better understand the potential of SCMC environment in fostering the grammatical development. In the same vein of research, Lees studies (2001, 2002) admitted that although the participants did engage in negotiation of meaning, negotiation of form rarely happened among them. She argued that due to the rapidity of the interaction occurred in SCMC, participants produced brief utterances using simple sentence structures and ignored linguistic errors (Lee, 2001, p. 239). Thus she concluded that interaction mediated via SCMC technology fostered fluency rather than accuracy. Emphasizing on further studies on the effectiveness of CMC medium for the development of learners interlanguage, Lee (2001) suggested that students need to be advised of the need to write correctly to maintain a balance between function, content, and accuracy (p. 242). Blake (2000) examined the online discourse of 50 Spanish learners at intermediate level of proficiency in term of task type. By considering the potential of CMC environment for eliciting negotiation of meaning, Blake (2000) concluded that carefully crafted tasks stimulate L2 learners to negotiate meaning which. . . . appear to constitute ideal conditions for SLA, with the CMC medium being no exception (p. 133). However, his stand on the effectiveness of CMC medium for grammatical development is uncertain. According to Blake (2000) the predominance of incidental lexical negotiations, in contrast to the paucity of syntactic negotiations, leaves unanswered or unsatisfactorily addressed the issue of grammatical development (p. 120). Therefore, further research is to be conducted in order to declare this issue with certainty. On the contrary, Pellettieri (2000) claimed that bearing a striking resemblance to oral interaction, network based communication (NBC) is capable of facilitating grammatical development. She examined online discourse produced by 20 NNSs during 5 30-minute sessions. As far as the potential of CMC medium in stimulating negotiation of meaning is concerned, the results of her study echoed the findings reported in literature. She observed that, engaging in online negotiation process is as facilitative as it is typical to oral interaction. She also found that the learners seek mutual understanding and try to convey their meaning by using some communicative strategies. Adopting an interactionist perspective, she argued that Because through negotiation, interlocutors can zero in on the exact source of communicative problem they are trying to resolve, and because often at the root of the problem is some aspect of the L2 form, be it lexical, syntactic, or semantic, L2 learners are even more likely to notice the problem and attend to these very aspects of form in their output while negotiating meaning. (p.61) As Pellettieri reasoned, engaging in the process of negotiation of meaning, the interlocutors attention will be drawn on linguistic form and consequently they are able to notice the gap between their interlanguage and the target form. This process focus on form has been claimed necessary for grammatical development (Gass and Varonis, 1994; Schmidt, 1990; Spada Lightbown, 1993 as cited in Pellettieri, 2000). Finally Salaberry (2000) compared the efficacy of two environments: CMC environment versus face-to-face environment in fostering L2 morphosyntactic development. He analyzed the discourse produced by four NNSs qualitatively. The findings revealed that with respect to the use of past-tense verbal morphology across tasks, some initial changes in the development of morphological endings were more evident in the CMC session than in oral session (p. 17). According to Salaberry (2000), the outperforming of CMC environment over face-to-face environment in facilitating morphological development may due to medium-specific characteristic that is CMC provides a learning environment in which the learners attention will be drawn on both form and function (p. 19). Differences in the mixed findings regarding the effect of SCMC medium on the grammatical development may be due to the difference in target items used to measure development. In Sotillos (2000) study, the target feature was Syntactic complexity which was defined by Sotillos (2000) as the ability to produce writing that uses subordination and embedded subordinate clauses (p. 99). Lees (2001, 2002) measure of development was sentence structure (simple sentences versus complex ones) ,while Salaberry (2000) used past tense verbal endings as the target grammatical feature. However, as far as the researchers are aware, there is not a single study to address the effect of CMC environment on the development of grammatical development with regard question forms in English as a foreign language. Therefore, in the light of ongoing discussion as to the role of CMC in foreign language development, the present study was designed to answer the following research questions: Do Iranian EFL learners engage in meaning negotiation process through SCMC? What types and frequency of interactional modifications do Iranian learners employ in CMC environment versus of those in class environment? Is there a the relationship between group membership (Experimental group: CMC environment Vs. Control group: Class environment) and the production and development of question forms in English as a foreign language? Method Following the mixed methods approach, this study adopted both a qualitative perspective to provide an in-depth explanation of the types of interactional modifications and a quantitative view point via a pretest-posttest, delayed posttest design to explore the existing relationships. Participants A total of 36 EFL learners from a Language school in Rasht, Iran participated in the present study. Their Participation in the study was voluntary and involved a commitment of 50 to 60 minutes performing some communicative tasks with their assigned partners for one session per week for 7 weeks outside of the classroom. This study was held during study periods at the language school. All participants were native speakers of Persian who were receiving two 90-minute classes of English instruction weekly. There were 30 female and 6 male students. The age of participants ranged from 14 to 32 years, with an average of 17. To meet local ethics requirements, the participants and their parents consent to contribute to this project was secured through two forms a Contract Form with an explanatory statement according to which the researchers guaranteed that participants would receive some rewards (some English books on DVD) if they accomplished the expected tasks and Parental Consent Form, in P ersian, given to all participants and their parents to be signed. Instrument Yahoo! Messenger Chat Software The software used in this study was the Yahoo! Messenger, a free program available for public use. It allows for real time, synchronous Computer Mediated Communication in Internet chat rooms. Using the text mode, the participants could record all of the written transactions entered in a chat window, which provided the researchers with an instantaneous transcript of all user exchanges. Communication Tasks The tasks used in this study were selected and developed to (a) provide opportunities for the interactional modifications to take place and (b) provide context for the targeted structures to occur. Following Pica, Kanagy Faloduns typology (1993), information gap tasks were used in this study in order to make the participants exchange information and endeavor to gain a single outcome. The selection of the communicative tasks utilized for both treatment and tests-was motivated by previous studies such as Pellettieri, (1999), Blake, (2000) and Cheon (2003). Each task was photocopied and distributed to every participant. Table 1. presents a detailed description of each task. Table 1. Task materials used for test and treatment Task Task instruction given to participants Pretest Missing information Work with your partner. Ask and answer questions to find the missing information. Treatment Complete the drawing Below is a drawing of Richards room. He hasnt had time to put all his things where he wants them. Your partner has a complete drawing of his room. Ask him/her questions where to put all the things. Complete the drawing Below is a drawing of a kitchen. Your partner has the same drawing but with a number of objects. (E.g. glasses, pots, etc.). Ask him/her questions where to put all the things. Spot the differences You both have two similar photographs but taken at a slightly different time. Work with your partner to find as many differences between the two photos as you can. Spot the differences Work with your partner. You both have a drawing of a busy yard where you can see people doing different things. Your drawings are NOT the same. There are 9 differences. Ask and answer questions to find the differences. Posttest Missing information Work with your partner. Ask and answer questions to find the missing information. Delayed Posttest Missing information Work with your partner. Ask and answer questions to find the missing information. Procedures First, the researchers explained the project to the students and expressed the hope that the students would choose to participate. All participation was voluntary, however to encourage the students to take part in the study, the instructor guaranteed that participants would receive a DVD-pack including some English books as a reward. To meet local ethics requirements, through a Contract Form with an explanatory statement and a Parental Consent Form in Persian, the students were asked if they would like to participate in this research project. Afterwards, Participants in experimental group (n=18) were divided by self-selecting into nine pairs and were asked to chat online to do a series of communicative tasks for one session per week for 7 weeks outside of the classroom. The students completed 7 tasks in total over the duration of the study. There were no time limits imposed on tasks. And the students were told that they should send copies of their chat transcripts to the researchers e-mail address for further data analysis. The participants in control group (n=18), solved the same tasks face-to-face in the classroom within the limited time imposed by à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Data collection and analysis The data were collected from students weekly online chatting together with the scripts from face-to face conversation. In order to investigate whether Iranian learners engage in meaning negotiation through SCMC technology, the data collected from the written discourse were analyzed based on the typical scheme established by Varonis and Gass (1985). In accordance with Blakes (2000) study, the number of total turns and negotiations was calculated. Accordingly, negotiation routines were identified by means of their four components: trigger, indicator, response and reaction. The example below drawn from this study illustrates the model during lexical negotiation. Student A: Its on the drawer, near the edge of it. [Trigger] Student B: what do you mean by edge? [Indicator] Student A: side or lip. [Response] Student B: ok. Thanks. [Reaction] A ratio of negotiated turns to total turns was calculated in order to make the data comparable with previous studies. Additionally, to identify the type and frequency of interactional modifications, the data were coded based on the thirteen different interactional modifications using the criteria provided in Table 2. Using a selection of interactional modifications from a number of studies on internet chatting (Lee, 2001, 2002; Kotter, 2003; Jepson, 2005), the categorization of interactional modifications in Isharyanti, (n.d.) in Marriott Torres (2008) motivated the categorization system in this study. There were a number of modifications. Three items namely Explicit correction, use of Persian, and question were added to the aforementioned category. In order to establish inter-coder agreement, a trained independent coder recoded a randomly-selected 25% of the data. A Pearson product-moment correlation revealed an inter-rater correlation of .85 (P Table 2. Categories, definition and example of interactional modifications Code Type of IM Definition Example 1 CC Confirmation check A speakers attempt to confirm that he has understood an utterance via the (partial) paraphrase (as opposed to repetition, see below) of this turn, which can simply be answered with Yes or No. Did you mean? 2 CR Clarification request An explicit demand for an elaboration or a reformulation of an idea, which requires a rerun of the troublesome utterance in question. What do you mean by X? 3 C Comprehension check A speakers attempt to prompt another speaker to acknowledge that he has understood a particular utterance. Do you Understand? 4 SR/P Self Repetition The repetition, in isolation, of part of or an entire erroneous or otherwise problematic utterance. Where is the lamp?(*2) 5 SC Self-correction To correct errors made on lexical items or grammatical structure. This has been bee, I mean been. 6 R Recast A form-focused partner-related target-like reformulation of all or part of an incorrect utterance. A: I live Iran. B: Do you really live in Iran? 7 EC Explicit correction You should say X. 8 InU Overt indication of understanding An overt indication that a speaker has understood a particular message. Ok, I got it thanks. 9 InA Over indication of agreement An overt indication that a speaker agrees with what his partner said. Yes, I agree, youre right. 10 InNA Overt indication of non-agreement An overt indication that a speaker does not agree with what his partner said. No, I think choice B is better for him. 11 P Use of Persian To use Persian to substitute words or ideas in English. second tabagheh 12 KS Use of keyboard symbols as discourse markers To signal for uncertainty or to confirm an idea or agreement. à ¢Ã‹Å" º 13 Q Question Interlocutor asks a question in order to prompt the speaker to make a question Can you try that again? Note: Adopted from the categorization of Interactional Modifications described in Isharyanti (in Marriott Torres, 2008). There were a number of modifications to this classification as mentioned before. To answer the third research question-to examine whether there is a relationship between group membership (CMC environment Vs. Classroom environment) and development in question formationall the question forms produced by the participants during online negotiation and face-to-face interactions were collected for detailed study. Question development in this study is understood from two perspectives: (1) accuracy perspective and (2) developmental stage perspective. In analyzing accuracy, because participants took considerably greater time in online chat, and thus their language output in these two modes could have been different, the researchers converted the number of well-formed questions into standardized scores by computing the ratio of each participants number of well-formed questions to the total number of questions he or she produced. These accuracy-based scores were examined for further investigation. In addition to accuracy, the analysis concentrated on developmental stages. All the questions, produced by the participants, were coded in terms of the developmental stage it represented based on categorization of the developmental stages established by Pienemann et al. (1987), shown in Table 3. Accordingly, each students questions were studied individually and assigned to the appropriate stage category in each task. Stage assignment was based on the highest stage from which a participant produced two linguistically unique questions. Question development was operationalized as a stage increase on either posttest or delayed posttest. It was then possible to examine whether the learners had improved over time. Table 3. Examples of Question Forms and Developmental Stages Stage Description of stage Examples 2 SVO? Canonical word order with question intonation. Its a monster? Your car is black? You have a cat? I draw a house here? 3 Fronting: Wh/Do/Q-word Direct questions with main verbs and some form of fronting. Where the cats are? What the cat doing in your picture? Do you have an animal? Does in this picture there is a cat? 4 Pseudo Inversion: Y/N, Cop. In Y/N questions an auxiliary or modal is in sentence initial position. In Wh-questions the copula and the subject change positions. (Y/N) Have you got a dog? (Y/N) Have you drawn the cat? (Cop) Where is the cat in your picture? 5 Do/Aux 2nd Q-word->Aux/modal ->subj (main verb, etc.) Auxiliary verbs and modals are placed in second position to Wh-Qs ( Q-words) and before subject (Applies only in main clauses/direct Qs). Why (Q) have (Aux) you (sub) left home? What do you have? Where does your cat sit? What have you got in your picture? 6 Cancel Inv, Neg Q, Tag Qu Cancel Inv: Wh-Q inversions are not present in relative clauses. Neg Q: A negated form of Do/Aux is placed before the subject. Tag Q: An Aux verb and pronoun are attached to end of main clause. Can Inv) Can you see what the time is? (Can Inv) Can you tell me where the cat is? (Neg Q) Doesnt your cat look black? (Neg Q) Havent you seen a dog? (Tag Q) Its on the wall, isnt it? Note. This table is based on Pienemann and Johnston (1987) and Pienemann, Johnston, and Brindley (1988) as cited in Mackey and Philp (1998). Results and discussion The first research question addresses the engagement of Iranian learners in meaning negotiation through SCMC. As the participants took considerably greater time in online chat, and thus their language output in these two environments was expected to be different, it was necessary to provide an overview of the number of total turns for each environment. Table 4 shows the raw number of turns, negotiations, and relative number of negotiations to total turns for both CMC and Class environments. As shown in Table 4, online environment produced about six times more turns than the class environment (4445 vs. 778). Similarly CMC environment generated more negotiations than the class environment. The relative amount of negotiation in CMC environment (2.15 %) reveals that the learners engaged in negotiated interaction in CMC environment in comparison to class environment (.38 %), although negotiations encompassed a small part of total turns in both environment. This result echoed the findings in Blakes study (2000) that is the total number of negotiations comprises only a small fraction of the overall conversational turns, ranging from .3% to 3.8 % (p. 127). Interestingly, the participants in CMC environment engaged more in negotiation process than class environment. This may due to the absence of paralinguistic and nonverbal information together with sufficient practice time which provide the participants with a learning environment to negotiate meaning. Table 4. Total number of turns and negotiated turns in CMC environment and class environment Negotiations Total turns Negotiations/ Total turns CMC environment 96 4445 2.15 % Class environment 3 778 .38 % The second research question aimed to determine the type and frequency of interactional modifications in CMC environment versus Class environment. With regard to the efficacy of CMC technology in generating interactional modifications, the result of this study supported the findings in literature and admitted the potential of CMC medium in providing a conductive learning environment for Interactional modifications to occur. Synchronous online interaction did provide NNSs many opportunities to negotiate meaning using a variety of interactional modifications. According to Figure1 which presents the percentage of each IMs in both CMC and class environment, the participants engaged in online negotiation employed a much greater variety of interactional modifications in comparison with the face-to-face interaction. In CMC environment 12 types of interactional modifications occurred among which clarification request (25%), Confirmation check (15%), overt indication of understanding (14%), U se of keyboard symbols (12%) and Self Repetition/paraphrase (11%) were the most used interactional modifications for negotiation. However just 3 types of interactional modifications occurred in class environment. Clarification request (78%) occurred most frequently, followed by C

Henry Ford :: essays research papers

Transportation has become a major necessity in today’s society. Without the industrial revolution introducing the automobile, most people would find it very hard and frustrating to get around. Henry Ford had become a big part of starting this faster and safer â€Å"transportation era†. His brilliant thoughts and ideas brought about things including the â€Å"assembly line† and the â€Å"Model T†. It is because of him we can generally travel without any major problems. Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863 on a farm in Dearborn Michigan. Henry hated farm life and had a love and talent for running and fixing machinery. At the age of 15 he went to Detroit to train as a machinist. In 1888 he married Clara Bryant and had a son named Edsel Ford. In 1896, he completed his first automobile, the â€Å"Quadricycle† and in 1903 he founded the Ford Motor Company. Henry’s success was in fast motion and he was ready for anything that he was given. He was of ten known as â€Å"a little man challenging a monopoly†. This was just the beginning for Henry. He had no idea of how his name and how his product would take the industry to much higher heights. Clayton 2 In 1908 Henry brought about the Model T Ford. Henry’s company sold about 15 millions cars. This car is what Henry is best known for. Although Henry Ford was not the first man in history to create a vehicle with a motor, he was the originator of the â€Å"assembly line†. An assembly line is an arrangement of workers and tools in which the product passes from operation to operation until completed (Customs Dic. Microsoft Word). Although there are high tech. machines handling all the work in today’s factories, this assembly line was a brilliant idea for getting things done easier and quicker. Henry Ford started to age and realized that he could not run his business by himself. This is when he appointed his son, Edsel, to run the business for him. Unlike his father, Edsel went to Yale University and became very knowledgeable of machinery and the business behind it all. Henry Ford :: essays research papers Transportation has become a major necessity in today’s society. Without the industrial revolution introducing the automobile, most people would find it very hard and frustrating to get around. Henry Ford had become a big part of starting this faster and safer â€Å"transportation era†. His brilliant thoughts and ideas brought about things including the â€Å"assembly line† and the â€Å"Model T†. It is because of him we can generally travel without any major problems. Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863 on a farm in Dearborn Michigan. Henry hated farm life and had a love and talent for running and fixing machinery. At the age of 15 he went to Detroit to train as a machinist. In 1888 he married Clara Bryant and had a son named Edsel Ford. In 1896, he completed his first automobile, the â€Å"Quadricycle† and in 1903 he founded the Ford Motor Company. Henry’s success was in fast motion and he was ready for anything that he was given. He was of ten known as â€Å"a little man challenging a monopoly†. This was just the beginning for Henry. He had no idea of how his name and how his product would take the industry to much higher heights. Clayton 2 In 1908 Henry brought about the Model T Ford. Henry’s company sold about 15 millions cars. This car is what Henry is best known for. Although Henry Ford was not the first man in history to create a vehicle with a motor, he was the originator of the â€Å"assembly line†. An assembly line is an arrangement of workers and tools in which the product passes from operation to operation until completed (Customs Dic. Microsoft Word). Although there are high tech. machines handling all the work in today’s factories, this assembly line was a brilliant idea for getting things done easier and quicker. Henry Ford started to age and realized that he could not run his business by himself. This is when he appointed his son, Edsel, to run the business for him. Unlike his father, Edsel went to Yale University and became very knowledgeable of machinery and the business behind it all.

Organizational Behavior and Terminology Paper -- essays research paper

Organizational Behavior Terminology and Concepts Paper June 17, 2005 One major corporation that is affected by organizational behavior is the west coast based 24 Hour Fitness, Inc. The company operates and owns more than 300 fitness centers that offer aerobic, cardiovascular, and weight lifting activities to the company’s more than 2.7 million members. Some locations offer even more amenities than those listed. The fitness centers are located in 16 states as well as Europe and Asia (www.hoovers.com). In regards to organizational behavior, or the study and application of knowledge about how people, individuals, and groups act in organizations (www.nwlink.com), 24 Hour Fitness meets its organizational objectives by setting goals for its sales staff. The result is a profit for the company but most of all, a commission for the sales counselors themselves. In respect to human objectives, 24 Hour Fitness strives to meet the needs of all customers by customizing personal diet and workout plans, providing the most up to date fitness machines, staffing certified physical trainers, providing functioning and well-maintained equipment, competitive membership rates and promotions, and a clean and well kept environment for its patrons. Human needs involving the staff are met by employees receiving benefits such as medical and dental insurance, retirement, and other things like discounted personal training sessions and free memberships. Managers a...

Resolving Problem With Manager In The Workplace :: Organizational Management

Identification and definition of the problem. My workplace environment at one time was a pleasant place to be. All the employees got along and worked together very well. We were a team and liked to help each other out when one was in need. It was like clock work. We would go to work wanting to be there to do our jobs because we all knew we would have fun throughout the day while we were working. Then a new manager joined the team. It was not planned, we knew our store needed some help but the employees did not know for definite when we would be getting a new supervisor. The first day was like any usual first day. Meeting the employees, learning the names and a little bit about each person. After observing my new supervisor for a couple of hours I felt as if he was in a hurry to get the first day work out of the way and leave. He did not seem the least bit interested in the people he was going to be working with for over eight hours a day. I blew off my thoughts and felt it was too early to judge the situation. Well I was wrong to blow off my feelings, because I was right to think something was not quite right about this man. During his training he did not want any one below his position to help him out. If he was having troubles with the computer he had to go to the General Manager or another supervisor even though the employees probably know the computers just as well as managers because we use them all day long. He would look for thirty minutes for something in dry storage before he ever asked an employee. I personally thought that was unusual, not asking for help unless it was management. It seems like to me that it would have made him feel less superior if he had to ask one of his employees for help. At that point I knew working with this particular supervisor would not be pleasant. As time went on the situations got increasingly worse. He would scream at us employees for the most ridiculous things. Showing up to work without my name tag would be means for him sending me home.

The Importance of Deductive Reasoning

The Importance of Deductive Reasoning Kelly Douglas CRT/205 Alicia Mandolini October 7, 2012 We make decisions each and every day; everything we say and do is the result of a decision. For every choice, big or small, there is no easy formula for making the right decision. The best an individual can do is to approach it from as many perspectives as possible and then choose a course of action that is reasonable and balanced at that time. It is important to understand what is known prior to making a decision because an individual needs to know what the overall goal is before thinking about it.There are many steps to decision making which begin with identifying the problem. If the problem is not identified, the individual making the decision would not have a starting point where to begin. The role of deductive reasoning in critical thinking is to take information away from the conclusion to prove that the conclusion is true. Deductive arguments provide support for a conclusion. It makes the strong assertion that the conclusion must follow the premises out of necessity. Denying the conclusion means that at least one of the premises is self-contradictory and thus is not true.The key to the credibility of a deductive conclusion lies in the premises. The process of deductive reasoning aids in the understanding of an argument because it starts with a general statement and then arrives at a specific conclusion. Deductive reasoning is basically a guideline for using the premise to end at the conclusion. An example of this would be the following. All men are mortal. Socrates is a man. Therefore, Socrates is mortal. There is no room to stray from the argument and the premise follows through to the conclusion.All the information provided tells us what conclusion we need to reach. Deductive reasoning is reasoning that involves a hierarchy of statements or truths. The general statement or premise is made and then arguments are made that take away all uncertainty and arrive at the conclusion. Deductive reasoning is exactly the opposite of inductive reasoning which adds to the premise in order to support the conclusion. There is no right or wrong way to approach making a decision, however; decision making can be made easier depending on the method that an individual chooses to employ.

Appearance in My Military Uniform

Wear and appearance of army uniform is critical in the military today for the shear fact that were are downsizing and the military is looking for every excuse to get rid of someone. Wear and appearance means to me is that you should be in the right uniform at times when instructed or permitted, is should be clean and serviceable and be to military standards.The reason i am writing tho essay y is i simply got lazy towards the exercise in Graf and i decided that packing my gear and others things where more important then my appearance in my military uniform. i decided not to shave and therefore that action i was confronted by another NCO, who then asked me if i had shaven this morningrning, knowing i was in the wrong i decided not to lie that would make the situation words then it really was. From there that NCO let my NCO know the situation and that is why I'm writing this essay today. ith that out the way my choice not to shave was more so and unprofessional decision that i had made when i did not backwards plan which is a good tact to practice because it helps you learn ways to fix and issue before it happens and your left looking stupid. So that morning when i woke i decided to get changed first , then proceeded to latrine to relieve myself, then proceeded to brush my teeth, i glanced at my face and simply thought in my head † Aw no is hanna say shit there to busy thinking about getting home†. hen i walked out of the latrine without a second thought to it. Its always the times when i think aww its cool I'm fine thats when the worst happens or something goes wrong. wear and tear and appearance of army uniform simply consist of you must be shaven at all time s when on duty or conducting a military function you are solider 24-7 you are supposed to have a serviceable uniform at all time when being worn you are to have a hair cut in according to regulation . hough some people do not follow this regulation it does not make it right for me not to. i join ed the military for a reason there are rules and regulations in the military if i want to be apart of this military i have to obey these reals and regulations so b me not following these rules this show that Im not committed to the military life so if I'm not committed why am i hear. I'm hear because i want a better life for me and m family and the military was the best way to start. so if i can't oxide by the rules and customs why should i stay. o therefore i should start living up to the military way and binding by there rules and customs. wear and appearance means to me is that you should look professional at all times. Army Regulation 670-1 covers the wear and appearance of military uniforms. Wearing the military uniform is a privilege that not everyone has earned, and it is our responsibility as soldiers to uphold this standard. In this essay I plan to cover different aspects of the regulation and why it is important to meet and maintain the standards which are set forth in the regulation.The purpose of Army Regulation 670-1 as stated in chapter 1 paragraph 1-1 is as follows. â€Å"This regulation prescribes the authorization for wear, composition, and classification of uniforms, and the occasions for wearing all personal, clothing bag issue, optional, and commonly worn organizational Army uniforms. It also prescribes the awards, insignia, and accouterments authorized for wear on the uniform, and how these items are worn. General information is also provided on the authorized material, design, and uniform quality control system.The book answer to the purpose of the regulation only goes so far. If you look further into the regulation it states that the United States Army is a uniformed service that is judged, in part, by the way a soldier wears their uniform. This being said, if a soldier wears their uniform in a manner which is not clean and neat in appearance, and portrays the army poorly, the members of the United States Army would be viewed in a poor and undisciplined manner.Whereas if the members of the United States Army hold themselves to a higher standard, and maintain a neat and clean appearance, the members of the uniformed service will be viewed by the outside world as an organization which personifies what discipline is supposed to be. While we are on the subject of discipline, I think it would be good to explore it and it’s relation to the importance of Army Regulation 670-1. Discipline is one of the cornerstones of the United States Army. Discipline can set you above and beyond everyone else, and it can help you excel in everything you do.As stated in AR 670-1 Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia. The Army is a uniformed service where discipline is judged, in part, by the manner in which a soldier wears a prescribed uniform, as well as by the individual’s personal appearance. Therefore, a neat and well-groomed appearance by all soldiers is fundamental to the Army and contributes to building t he pride and esprit essential to an effective military force. A vital ingredient of the Army’s strength and military effectiveness is the pride and self-discipline that American soldiers bring to their Service through a conservative military image.It is the responsibility of commanders to ensure that military personnel under their command present a neat and soldierly appearance. Therefore, in the absence of specific procedures or guidelines, commanders must determine a soldier’s compliance with standards in this regulation. Soldiers must take pride in their appearance at all times, in or out of uniform, on and off duty. Pride in appearance includes soldiers’ physical fitness and adherence to acceptable weight standards, in accordance with AR 600–9. †    By this, we can see the basic fundamentals and reasons behind the uniform policies that are currently in place.Therefore appearanc is everything in the military, perception is too if i look fucked up then people around me will assume that my NCO is fucked up then they will assume that my be your Chain Of Command is fucked up and shit does roll down hill. Look at it this way you come to work smelling like booze you've been up all night parting and and u just didn't care to iron you uniform or shave, nothing in the fact of the matter, you come into to work just looking trashed people will think that you just don't care about how you look of what people would think of you.

Nagel, Chisholm, and Locke †Metaphysics of the Mind Essay

It is very difficult to attribute characteristics to a mind when we know it does not actually exist in the physical realm. Though, personal identity has been connected to the mind. However, it is tricky to determine what exactly comprises one’s personal identity. Although it is a difficult concept to grasp, philosophers such as Nagel and Chisholm attempt to construct their own position on the characteristics of the mind. By comparing Nagel and Chisholm’s positions on personal identity, it is evident that identity is a development of both body and mind. Nagel shows that we cannot properly identify a mind, and if this is the case then it is impossible to attribute personal identity to a mind. In turn, he attacks the idea that personal identity can be defined in terms of physical attributes. Chisholm shows that although things are constantly changing, they still remain the same. He argues that it is the mind that holds our identity, regardless of physical alteration. In my view, the physicalist perspective of identity is the most logical when contrasted to the mentalist argument simply due to the fact that we do have a self-identity, and Nagel does not attempt to define what it is. Locke’s argument finds a middle ground between Nagel and Chisholm as he argues for a conscious and bodily continuity of the mind. In order to identify the mind-body problem and argue that identity is a development of the mind, Nagel’s position must be analyzed. Firstly, when addressing the mind-body problem, Nagel states that one cannot explain the mind body relationship through logic, functions, or intentions. He argues that these states can be ascribed to robots that may indeed behave like people, however robots do not experience anything, and it is experience that influences the mind (436). Nagel’s bat analogy helps solidify his position on experience which is that no one can experience the same thing as another. He claims that; â€Å"even to form a conception of what it is Kristen Biduk 6949215 like to be a bat†¦one must take up the bat’s point of view† (442). Meaning, one must have the same thinking patterns as the other which Nagel argues is impossible. He argues that it is our consciousness which provides the mind-body problem. Although one can relate to what it is like to be a bat, it is impossible to fully comprehend it because in order to become a bat, conscious-ness must be forgotten. For that reason, one cannot know that others have a mind, but one can perceive that they do. Chisholm opens his argument with providing an analysis of the Ship of Theseus and explains that identity is transitive, meaning that it is always changing. Similarly, he uses the example of the river and how although it is the same exact river, it is given different identities based on geographical location. The identity of the river is changing. Based on his view of alteration, Chisholm suggests three possibilities for alteration and identity. Firstly, we can deny the transitivity of identity, but he proves this to be a problem. His second suggestion is that nothing alters, but this too proves to be problematic. For example, if one was to cross the border of the United States of America and the border patrol officer asked if he was the same as the person in the photo, he would say no. Because, when that photo was taken he had certain characteristics, and now, x amount of years later he has different characteristics, and is therefore a different person. Clearly this is an issue. Thirdly, he analyzes Butler’s position on the misuse of the word ‘is’ in that, for example; there exists something at a certain place (P) at a certain time (t) that is identical with same thing at a different place (Q) at a different time (t1). By saying identical, he means they exist in together, however it is mathematically impossible. He concludes that such things are entia per alio (made of). Entia per alio is something that exists because a Kristen Biduk 6949215 mind makes it up. For example, a pencil is entia per alio because without a mind, it is simply an object. The mind makes the pencil an object for writing. Without a mind giving meaning to something, that something has no identity. In regards to self-identity, I find it difficult to agree with the mentalist perspective. Nagel’s writing, â€Å"What is it like to be a Bat? † does not provide sufficient insight to the development of self and self-identity. He bases his writing solely based on defining the mind. It is true to say that we cannot properly identify a mind. How can we as a whole, understand something we do not actually know exists? We can assume it exists but it provides no understanding. Based on this belief, Nagel concludes that because we cannot properly identify a mind, we cannot connect personal identity to a mind. But where can we find our personal identity? He claims that our identity does not lie within our physical attributes which leaves identity suspending in the air. The mentalist perspective is limiting in the sense that it does not take in to account outside variables that can impact one’s identity. We are not born with an identity and I feel as though Nagel’s position is implying that we are. Additionally, our identity is developed from our consciousness, and we do not become conscious of ourselves at infancy. We develop our self-identity through time and it is consistently changing. Chisholm is much more realistic when it comes to defining personal identity. We cannot assume that our identity is purely based on our minds, for our minds are influenced by our physicality. In turn, our physicality is influenced by society. We identify with ourselves based on what others think of us. For example, if someone weighs three hundred pounds, they may identify themselves as unhealthy because that is what society has told them. Similarly, if that three hundred pound person lost weight and now weighed one hundred and thirty pounds, that Kristen Biduk 6949215 person may identify themselves as healthy. If they used diet and exercise as a method to lose the weight, they may identify as athletic. This proves that personal identity is indeed transitive. It will always be in a constant state of change depending on the influences around them. We have identity because others around us have provided us with our identity. One could argue then that if one was to lose only ten pounds then identity will not change because the change is only slight. If we analyze the Ship of Theseus once more, Chisholm argues that slight changes still have an impact on our identity because our identity is always changing. By using the problem of Theseus’s ship however, it gives us ideas of identity for inanimate objects. One could argue that it is not relatable to beings with consciousness however I would have to disagree. Our consciousness, or our memories are what hold our self-identity. If we lose an arm or leg, we are still the same person because our minds still hold our memory. While the mentalist perspective does not take into account physical impressions, and the physicalist perspective lacks some insight on our own consciousness, Locke provides an explanation that touches on both sides. Locke argues for a conscious continuity and not a bodily one. He begins with clarifying that all minds have a common structure wherein there are two qualities within our identity: primary and secondary. The primary quality consists of consciousness. I can identify with myself because I am conscious of my own existence. The secondary qualities consist of qualities that are changing, such as hair length or weight. He insists that our primary qualities are what provide us with identity however he agrees that secondary qualities must be analyzed. Our secondary qualities are always changing while our primary qualities are static. Without the secondary qualities, our identity would not change, Kristen Biduk 6949215 which Chisholm proved. In comparison to both Nagel and Chisholm, Locke’s argument holds the truest because he takes into account both perspectives and develops the most logical understanding of identity. Additionally, Locke states that there is a first and third person perspective on identity. The first person identity is what one makes of himself. The third person helps confirm one’s identity. Both of these together help form one’s true personal identity. For one without outside influences has nothing to base their identity on. For example, if one was to look at cases of people raised in isolation, it will be seen that they have no sense of reality or identity. They were left to their own thoughts with no outside stimulation. When they leave their isolated prisons, they rediscover their identity by identifying with their outside influences. In conclusion, it is almost impossible to justify the mind/body problem. Both Nagel and Chisholm’s perspectives on identity are fairly vague and both lack a deeper understanding of the mind. I truly believe that it is the mind that holds our identity. However an identity is highly structured by its outside influences. Without a body or without society, one would have no identity. Some can argue that there can be a mind without a body, but it just doesn’t make rational sense. If hypothetically, one was to have their mind switched into a different body, he would still identify as himself. For it is our mind that holds our identity, however our mind is within a body.

Succubus Shadows Chapter 7

â€Å"You're right,† said Roman the next morning, ruminating over what had happened with Gavin. â€Å"I didn't like that.† I was standing in the bathroom, going over my hair with a flat iron. It was a pain in the ass compared to shape-shifting, but I liked the challenge. Plus, I could always fine-tune the frizziness away afterward. â€Å"Not like it's the first time it's happened,† I pointed out, my eyes on the mirror rather than where he leaned in the doorway. â€Å"You used to never mind.† â€Å"Didn't I?† he asked dryly. â€Å"Well, being with him distracted me from wallowing in self-pity. Not that it made me feel that great either,† I admitted. â€Å"But it kept my†¦whatever†¦away. And hey, it couldn't have been as nasty as what you saw Simone do.† â€Å"True, but now that guy's just going to come trolling around all the time. He'll be showing up to borrow cups of sugar in the hopes he can score some more action.† â€Å"I'll deal with him. I've got a little practice in pushing guys away.† â€Å"Don't I know it.† I paused to shoot him a glare. â€Å"Will you lay off the attitude this morning? You're starting to sound like you're jealous or something.† Roman snorted. â€Å"Hardly. Why in God's name would I be jealous over the woman who got my sister killed and tried to unleash the forces of Heaven and Hell to destroy me?† Fair point. â€Å"It's a little more complicated than that.† â€Å"Oh, yes, I'm sure.† He crossed his arms and stared down at the floor. â€Å"But maybe the next time you're looking for distraction, we could rent a movie and microwave some popcorn instead of fucking the neighbors.† â€Å"You have horrible taste in movies,† I mumbled. But that closed the conversation, and Roman wandered off. A few moments later, I heard the TV turn on. I had to work today, but it was an afternoon shift. I was up and ready to go early because I wanted to visit Erik. I should have felt secure in Jerome's ability to figure out what was going on, as well as Roman's protection. But I'd had too much shit happen to me in the past to ever fully trust anyone. Erik had always proven a valuable resource. Roman went with me, covertly, but it took a while for me to actually get some quality time with Erik. He had customers in the store – which was great for him, but I could hardly discuss immortal affairs with others around. When the people finally thinned out, Erik turned his attention to me, ready with his typical friendly smile. His color looked better, and his movements weren't as jerky. He was still weak, just not as weak. â€Å"Your cold's cleared up,† I said. His smile grew. â€Å"Yes, I told you it was nothing. A mere cold isn't going to kill me off.† His voice was light, but I couldn't help a small frown. There had been something in his words – something I couldn't quite put my finger on – that made it sound like he did know what was going to kill him. A chill ran down my spine. I didn't like to think of those sorts of things. I sat down at his little table with him but declined tea. â€Å"I just wanted to see if you'd learned anything else.† It was a nervous impulse on my part. I knew he would have contacted me if he had discovered something. â€Å"No, but as I said, the information we have is vague enough for it to be any number of things.† â€Å"That's what Jerome said.† Erik looked pleased. â€Å"I'm glad he knows. I've always said that your own people are more likely to know better than me.† I couldn't help a small laugh. â€Å"Debatable. I might have something to make it a little less vague.† Briefly, I explained my recent encounter and how it had occurred to me that this force only visited when I was troubled and depressed. â€Å"It's like†¦it's like it's preying on my weakness. Trying to lure me in with promises of comfort.† â€Å"Then you must be careful not to give in.† If Roman had said that, I would have snapped at him for stating the obvious. â€Å"It's easy to say that now, in the cold light of logic, but when it happens†¦I don't know. I lose my grip on the world. Reason's gone. Hell, half the time I don't even know what's happening until afterward. It's like†¦sleeping. Sleepwalking. Whatever.† â€Å"And it always appears as a type of doorway?† I pondered this for several seconds. â€Å"I don't know†¦kind of. I don't know how to describe it – and I know I keep saying that. And how useless it sounds. I'm not sure if it's a door, exactly, but it's definitely trying to pull me into something.† Erik had made himself tea and sat for almost a minute sipping it, his brow knit in thought. â€Å"I'll think about all of this. In the meantime, I'd just advise†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He hesitated. â€Å"Well, let me put it this way. You are a delight, Miss Kincaid, and I always enjoy my time with you. However, you are also – how can I say this – someone frequently given to darker moods.† â€Å"Is that your polite way of saying I'm always down?† I teased. â€Å"No†¦not exactly. But if this thing is seeking out those in emotionally depressed states, then I'd say you are particularly susceptible. If it's at all possible, you should try to stay away from those moods.† I thought about it. One of my best friends was marrying my ex – an ex whom I was starting to fall for all over again. An ex whose soul I had inadvertently damned to Hell and who was now being stalked by another succubus. My own soul had long since been Hell-bound, and I was committed to an eternity of sleeping with men whom I often didn't like. Oh, yeah. Let's not forget that my roommate was given to sociopathic tendencies and had me on his hit list. â€Å"That might be easier said than done,† I told Erik. â€Å"I can imagine,† he said ruefully. â€Å"But it may be the only way to protect yourself. That and your own willpower – the strength of which I firmly believe in.† Erik's faith in me warmed up a piece of my heart, even though the rest of today's insight hadn't been all that insightful. I thanked him for his time and headed off to work, grateful Roman offered no â€Å"witty† commentary during our drive. At the bookstore, Seth worked alone in the caf? ¦. Simone was nowhere in sight, which was one bonus. The fact that it was Maddie's day off also improved my mood. Maybe staying away from my usual glum state wouldn't be as hard as I thought. â€Å"Yo, Kincaid.† Doug found me putting stickers on our rack of clearance books. They mostly consisted of out-of-print coffee-table books, things like Stone Arches of Tuscany and The Complete Book of Bridal Cross-stitch. I wasn't entirely sure what that last one was, but maybe it'd make a good wedding present for Seth and Maddie. The price was certainly a bargain. We'd reduced it three times now, and still no one wanted to buy it. â€Å"What's up?† I asked. â€Å"I've got news that's going to rock your world. And make you think I'm even awesomer than you already do.† â€Å"That's a bold statement.† He paused, apparently trying to decide if he'd been complimented or insulted. â€Å"I just found out that Gabrielle's a fan of Blue Satin Bra.† â€Å"She never struck me as that type. I figured all of her lingerie would be black.† Doug gave me a withering look. â€Å"No, Kincaid. I don't mean that she wears one. I mean that she likes the group. Haven't you heard of them?† â€Å"There's a group called Blue Satin Bra?† I shook my head. â€Å"Sorry. I can't keep up with every new garage band in Seattle.† â€Å"They aren't a garage band! They're the hottest thing to hit the metal scene. They're going to make it big.† I tried to hide my skepticism. Doug himself was in a band called Nocturnal Admission, and whenever he spoke about local bands, it seemed like everyone was on the verge of making it big. â€Å"What's this got to do with Gabrielle again?† Doug was clearly growing frustrated with me. â€Å"She's a huge fan – and they've got a concert tomorrow night. Unfortunately, it's all sold out. She was pretty bummed about it.† Despite his annoyance with me, I could sense the smugness within him. â€Å"Here it comes†¦.† Pride lit his features. â€Å"I'm friends with the bass player and managed to score some tickets. If your pal Cody approaches her with them†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I paused in my stickering. â€Å"You're right. You did just get awesomer.† â€Å"You've got to go too, you know.† â€Å"I – what?† Me trailing along didn't sound romantic in the least. Doug shrugged. â€Å"He can't just ask her out for an actual date. Not yet. He'll spook her.† â€Å"Then what exactly is he supposed to ask her out for?† â€Å"I do the asking. I'll just be all like, ‘Hey, Gabby, I got some extra tickets to the show. You want to go along with me and my friends?' Then she's off guard. She comes along, Cody's there, magic happens†¦.† â€Å"Wow,† I said. â€Å"Looks like you've got it all figured out. And I don't think she likes to be called Gabby.† â€Å"This is a good plan.† He was clearly very pleased with himself. â€Å"I've been around, Kincaid. When you get mad romantic skills like me, you'll understand.† I rolled my eyes. â€Å"We can only hope. So how many friends are going along exactly?† â€Å"I scored four tickets. So: you, me, Cody, and Gabrielle.† â€Å"Sounds suspiciously like a double date. You trying your mad romantic skills on me?† It wouldn't be the first time. â€Å"Hell no. Do I look suicidal? You're already claimed.† For a minute, Seth came to mind, then Doug added: â€Å"I'm not getting on the bad side of that guy you're shacked up with. I mean, I can hold my own in a fight, but he looks like he could seriously fuck someone up.† â€Å"You have no idea,† I muttered. No doubt Roman – lingering nearby invisibly – was loving this. â€Å"But we aren't involved. He's just my roommate.† â€Å"For now,† said Doug ominously. He began a retreat. â€Å"I'll go invite Gabs. You tell Cody the deal and that you're going to be his wing-woman.† I shook my head after Doug left, wondering what I'd gotten myself into. His absurd comments about mad skills and wing-women aside, the whole casual group thing might be a gateway outing to get Gabrielle closer to Cody. I just hoped word of his Goth getup the other day hadn't gotten around to her. I also wondered what kind of experience I was getting myself into with Blue Satin Bra. Doug's bizarre industrial alternative music had grown on me over the years, but I had a feeling this concert would be a very different experience. About an hour later, I was in my office when some unexpected guests popped their heads in. Well, one wasn't entirely unexpected. I'd found that even when Maddie wasn't working, there was never any real security. You couldn't count on her absence, not when her boyfriend and brother were often in the store. I could feel some safety when we didn't have the same shift, but I'd long accepted that Maddie could really show up at any moment. No, the real surprise was that Maddie was in my office with Brandy Mortensen, Seth's niece. He had five of them, and she was the oldest. When Seth and I had dated, I'd grown pretty attached to that brood. My longing for children and the girls' total adorableness made it easy for me to love them. They'd grown close to me too. Of course, at fourteen, I suspected Brandy wouldn't appreciate being called â€Å"adorable.† She stood with Maddie, who was holding a garment bag on a hanger. Brandy wore a surprisingly sullen teen expression. She seemed taller to me than when I'd last seen her. Just like with Erik, time was passing quickly for these humans. â€Å"Hey, guys,† I said, setting my paperwork aside. â€Å"What's up?† â€Å"More wedding errands,† said Maddie cheerfully. â€Å"We just came by to pick up Seth. We went back to that shop and got a dress for Brandy. She's a bridesmaid too.† Maddie lifted the edge of the bag, revealing the same dress Maddie had bought me the other day. â€Å"How embarrassing,† I told Brandy. â€Å"We're going to show up in the same outfit.† She gave me the ghost of a smile but stayed silent. â€Å"We also went and talked to some florists but didn't really come up with any ideas on what to get. If I get something purple, will it be too monochromatic? And if I get a different color, will it look weird?† â€Å"Hard questions,† I said solemnly. Ones I didn't want to answer. â€Å"Maybe you can come back with me and take a look at some of their books?† Maddie was giving me that hopeful, cheery smile that was so good at inspiring guilt in me. â€Å"I don't know,† I said vaguely. â€Å"Depends on my schedule.† â€Å"Well, let me know. Let me go grab Seth – maybe he has some ideas.† Good luck with that, I thought. Seth was notoriously awful at offering opinions, and he'd seemed particularly non-committal about this wedding stuff, no pun intended. Maddie left Brandy with me, and I gave her a genuine smile. â€Å"So how's it been going?† I asked. â€Å"Did you have fun shopping?† Brandy crossed her arms over her chest and tossed her blond hair over one shoulder. She was wearing a formfitting Rocky Horror Picture Show T-shirt. Really, I thought. She was one step away from turning into her uncle. â€Å"No,† she said bluntly. I arched an eyebrow in surprise. Last I'd known, shopping and having people buy you clothes was pretty sweet when you were a teenage girl. Maybe I was out of touch. â€Å"Why not?† â€Å"Because,† she said dramatically. â€Å"This wedding is a joke.† I cast an uneasy glance at the doorway. â€Å"Better not let them hear you say that.† Brandy looked unconcerned. She wasn't exactly scowling, but it was pretty close. â€Å"Uncle Seth isn't supposed to be marrying her.† â€Å"Why not? They've been dating for†¦well, a while.† That was kind of true, guilt-induced engagement or no. â€Å"He proposed. She accepted. Easy as that.† â€Å"She's not the one,† said Brandy stoutly. â€Å"He's supposed to be marrying you.† Yeah, I really wished the door was closed. â€Å"Brandy,† I said, pitching my voice as low as I could. â€Å"Your uncle and I broke up. That's how it is. People move on.† â€Å"You two weren't supposed to. You guys were in love.† â€Å"He loves her too.† â€Å"It's not the same.† This was not a discussion I'd ever expected to have. I'd known Seth's nieces still liked me, but I'd hardly thought I'd left this sort of impression. â€Å"Do you not like Maddie or something?† Brandy gave a half-hearted shrug and averted her eyes. â€Å"She's okay. But she's not you.† I didn't say anything for several moments. I wondered if Brandy's resentment toward the wedding was because she had greater devotion to me than Maddie – or if it was part of some romantic ideal girls her age often had about love and soul mates. â€Å"I'm sorry,† I said. â€Å"Love in the real world doesn't usually work out the way stories make us think it should. We don't always get fairy-tale endings. People split up and move on. Just because you love someone doesn't mean you can't love someone else.† I shivered. This was remarkably similar to a conversation Carter and I had once had, shortly after the (first) break-up with Seth. â€Å"It's still not right,† said Brandy obstinately. Seth and Maddie retrieved her shortly thereafter, for which I was grateful. I really didn't want to have to play devil's advocate and defend a marriage that I was hardly thrilled about myself. I felt that sorrow that always seemed to plague me when I thought about them surface†¦and then remembered Erik's comments. Don't give in to it. Stay away from it – that was what kept leading me into trouble. Easier said than done, just as I'd told him. Distraction seemed to be the key to it all, and I just didn't feel up to another liaison tonight. I certainly didn't need the energy. â€Å"Distract me,† I murmured when I was seated in my car. â€Å"Annoy me with your ‘wit,' or just make me outright mad.† No physical evidence of Roman appeared – no signature, no physical appearance – but his voice answered me back just as softly. â€Å"Go see your friends. Aren't they going to that bar tonight? You need to tell Cody he's going on a double date.† â€Å"It's not a double date,† I growled back. But Roman had a point. I probably should let the young vampire know what was in store tomorrow. I was also kind of curious how Roman even knew about the bar outing. I'd received a voice mail message earlier today that one would think would have been out of Roman's hearing range. He'd either been standing really close, or nephilim just had superhuman hearing. And, well, seeing as they were superhuman, I supposed that wasn't too far off. Another idea suddenly came to mind about tonight's social gathering, one that would most definitely provide a distraction – and possibly take care of a nuisance. â€Å"The bar it is,† I declared. I drove down to Pioneer Square, Seattle's historic district, and sought out the Cellar, a dive of a bar located in a basement akin to its name. It was a favorite place for immortals – well, hellish immortals. Since most angels didn't drink – Carter being the exception – you didn't usually find them hanging out in bars. They were more likely to be found at upscale coffee shops. For inexplicable reasons, a number of them also liked to hang out at the restaurant on top of the Space Needle. Maybe they thought it was bringing them closer to Heaven. And, indeed, as I walked down the stairs into the Cellar, I felt Carter's signature, along with those of my usual clique. Best of all, there was an additional signature I'd been hoping to find. â€Å"Hot damn,† I said, striding toward the table where Simone sat with my friends. She burned with the glow of energy that succubi stole from their victims. I hated to admit it, but hers was brighter than the one I still sported. I assured myself that it was just because she'd probably bagged someone today, rather than last night. Hugh scooted to make room for me, and I pulled up a chair from a neighboring table. â€Å"Didn't think you'd show tonight.† I waved a waiter over and ordered a vodka gimlet. â€Å"You know I can't stay away from you guys.† â€Å"You're just in time,† said Carter. His face was neutral, but I caught a mischievous glint in his eyes as he sipped his bourbon. â€Å"Simone was just regaling us with tales of the Underground Tour. Did you hear that Seattle burned to the ground and was rebuilt a century ago?† â€Å"Only every time I take the tour,† I replied. Which had been about a dozen times. It was a tourist hotbed, and I'd taken friends and out-of-town victims on it often. I gave Simone a curious look. â€Å"Did you do that today?† She nodded. â€Å"Figured I should take in the city while I'm here.† She was still using that librarian voice, but I had to admit she looked more like a succubus than the last time I'd seen her. Her neckline was cut so low, it was a wonder her nipples didn't show. Her lips were fuck-me red, and unless I was mistaken, her hair was longer and more voluminous than before. I couldn't decide if she looked like an angel or a beach bunny. And speaking of angels†¦Simone had her chair pushed right next to Carter's, so close that she couldn't help but brush her arm against his each time she reached for her drink. I suspected her leg was pressed up to his as well. He glanced over, giving her a look that wasn't exactly romantic but filled with deep interest I felt certain was feigned. â€Å"I find Seattle's history fascinating. I haven't been here that long, so it's great to keep learning new things.† Simone beamed. Across the table, Hugh choked a little on his drink. Carter had been in Seattle for a couple hundred years. True – not that long for an immortal like him, but he'd most certainly been here for the Seattle fire. Hell, considering how he'd once accidentally burned down my Christmas tree, he might have been the one who set the city ablaze, for all I knew. My gimlet appeared, and I took a long drink of liquid courage. â€Å"From what I hear, you've been checking out some of our local celebrities too,† I said sweetly. Simone dragged her adoring gaze from Carter and fixed me with a frown. â€Å"I don't think I've run into many celebrities.† â€Å"Well,† I said, still smiling like a fool. â€Å"I guess it depends on how you define ‘celebrity.' I certainly consider best-selling authors celebrities. You've been chatting up one quite a bit.† Immediately, Cody, Hugh, and Peter eagerly snapped to attention. They could sniff female conflict a mile away and were undoubtedly bracing themselves for a cat fight. â€Å"Oh, that,† she said dismissively. â€Å"I thought you meant like an actor or something. Yeah, he's just someone on my radar. One of many. Pretty cute. Nice enough.† â€Å"And a friend of mine,† I said. My voice was still cheerful, but I could see in her eyes that she was well aware of the escalating tension. â€Å"Still, fair game,† she replied with a shrug. â€Å"And what do you care? His soul's already tainted. He's not that good a catch. Not like I can do much more damage.† That wasn't true. Seth might currently be Hell-bound, but he wasn't beyond redemption – even though the odds of that were allegedly slim. If by some crazy chance Simone got him to cheat on Maddie again, his soul would grow darker and kill any lingering chances to save him. Plus, sin aside, Simone would shorten his life – which was something I was definitely against. â€Å"So, he's just a random guy you scoped out?† I asked. The politeness was fading from me. It was disappearing from her too. So. Bland Simone wasn't quite as oblivious as she played. â€Å"The fact that he's a friend of mine and someone I used to date makes no difference?† â€Å"You make it sound like I'm trying to get you back for something. I don't even know you. I'm just here on vacation. Getting guys is part of our life – and you don't have any territorial control like them.† She nodded toward the vampires, who had very well-defined hunting grounds. â€Å"Unless,† she added smugly, â€Å"you've got some kind of arrangement with Jerome.† I certainly didn't. In fact, my boss had made it extremely clear that he didn't care about what happened to Seth. â€Å"No, but I'd think you'd do it as a courtesy when you're visiting someone else's city. It's the nice thing to do.† My smile returned, filled with ice this time. â€Å"And it ensures that your visit stays nice too.† Maybe using her favorite adjective would drive home my message. Simone stiffened, attention totally on me now. â€Å"What is this, some kind of warning that you'll come after me if I don't back off?† I shrugged and finished my drink. â€Å"Just friendly advice.† She stood up and slung her purse over her shoulder with such force that it nearly hit Carter in the head. Apparently, he wasn't on the radar anymore. Well, at least for now. â€Å"I'm not going to stay and listen to thinly veiled threats. Especially ones over inconsequential men. If I want him, I'll get him.† â€Å"You'll be missed,† I muttered as she stalked away. â€Å"Oh,† said Hugh brightly. â€Å"There is nothing I like better than when succubi fight. Puts Dynasty to shame. You could have cleaned the floor with Tawny, but Simone might give you a match.† â€Å"Hardly,† I said. â€Å"And she'll have about as much luck with Seth as Carter.† Carter raised an eyebrow, apparently not agreeing with my statement. â€Å"She's really hitting on Seth?† asked Cody. â€Å"Yup. In a shy, starry-eyed fan girl kind of way.† â€Å"Isn't that how you won him over way back when?† asked Peter. I shot him a glare. â€Å"It's irrelevant. It won't work.† â€Å"Then why worry?† asked Hugh slyly. â€Å"Because an ounce of prevention – oh, never mind,† I groaned. â€Å"I need another drink.† Hugh and the vampires were clearly amused by all this and weren't particularly concerned. I think they too believed Seth would prove immovable; they just liked the idea of me making another succubus irate. The sad part was that I'd probably just encouraged Simone to try even harder. Two drinks later, I decided to head home. I was sufficiently angry that I didn't fear the siren song's comfort. Before leaving, I informed Cody about his impending date. Unsurprisingly, he freaked out. â€Å"What? I†¦I can't. What will I say? What will I do?† â€Å"Frankly, my dear†¦Ã¢â‚¬  began Hugh in an undertone. â€Å"You'll be fine,† I said. â€Å"Just stop stressing and be yourself.† â€Å"Sounds like a double date,† said Peter. â€Å"I can get more black hair dye.† â€Å"No,† I warned. â€Å"Do not even think about it.† I could still see faint streaks that hadn't entirely washed out from Cody's blond mane. â€Å"Just dress like you are now. I'll meet you at the club.† I started to turn, and then a thought came to me. â€Å"Carter, can I talk to you?† His lips twitched slightly. If that was his sign of surprise, I couldn't say. â€Å"Anything for you, Daughter of Lilith.† He followed me outside the bar, where we stood amid all the Pioneer Square partygoers. Once clear of the building's non-smoking interior, he promptly lit a cigarette. â€Å"If you're jealous of my relationship with Simone,† he said, â€Å"I can assure you, we're just friends.† â€Å"Oh, be quiet. You know that's not what this is about. Look, she was lying, right? About Seth being a coincidence?† Carter took a long drag before answering. Angels could tell when others were lying. â€Å"Yep. But she seemed pretty sincere in the last comment about going after him regardless.† I grimaced. â€Å"Why? Why would she target Seth? Is it some kind of way to assert dominance over the local succubus?† â€Å"Not sure. The ways of succubi – and all women – are a mystery to me.† â€Å"Jerome originally thought she'd come to spy. He had Roman follow her, but nothing came of it. She never reported in or anything. He pulled Roman from her – † I paused, suddenly turning over the events and analyzing them in a way I hadn't considered before. â€Å"But it wasn't until I told him Simone was hitting on Seth. It seemed like that was the moment Jerome pulled Roman. He seemed pretty adamant about leaving her alone.† â€Å"Did he now?† Carter inhaled on the cigarette again, but I could see thoughts churning behind his eyes. â€Å"What?† I asked. â€Å"Just a musing,† he said. A half-truth, typical of angels. â€Å"Did Jerome do anything else after that?† â€Å"Yeah, he put Roman on me.† This elicited surprise. â€Å"Why?† Apparently, Jerome and Carter hadn't been hanging out recently. I gave Carter the rundown on my latest bizarre situation. â€Å"That is weird,† he admitted. â€Å"Do you know what it could be?† â€Å"Any number of things.† He spoke flippantly, but I knew I'd piqued his curiosity – maybe even his concern. I sighed. â€Å"I wish people would stop saying that. No one's really helping.† â€Å"I'll help you,† he said, dropping the cigarette and stamping it out. â€Å"I'll follow Simone.† That was not at all what I had expected. â€Å"Why would you do that? Are you going to stop her from making the moves on Seth?† This earned his amusement. â€Å"You know I can't interfere with that kind of thing. But I am curious about Simone's activities.† An uneasy feeling bubbled within me, one that had troubled me since I'd first met Seth, and Carter had begun taking an active role in my life. â€Å"Why? Why do you care so much about Seth? You've always been curious about what he does – and how we interact.† â€Å"I'm interested in the creative process of a great artist. It's fun to watch.† â€Å"Another half-truth.† Like always, he answered the question without really answering it. I was astonished at the desperation in my voice when I spoke next. â€Å"I'm serious. Why, Carter? How does Seth – and me being with Seth – concern you?† He chucked me on the chin. â€Å"You've got better things to do than worry about the goings-on of a curious angel. Besides, wouldn't you feel better if someone was reporting back to you on Simone?† â€Å"Well, yeah,† I admitted. â€Å"But – â€Å" â€Å"Then it's settled. You're welcome.† He turned quickly away and disappeared into a crowd of partiers. I knew better than to go after him because he'd probably literally disappear once no one was paying attention. I sighed yet again. Fucking angels.