Bag of Bones CHAPTER FIVE

Once, when I was sixteen, a plane went supersonic directly over my head. I was walking in the woods when it happened, thinking of some story I was going to write, perhaps, or how great it would be if Doreen Fournier weakened some Friday night and let me take off her panties while we were parked at the end of Cushman Road. In any case I was travelling far roads in my own mind, and when that boom went off, I was caught totally by surprise. I went flat on the leafy ground with my hands over my head and my heart drumming crazily, sure I'd reached the end of my life (and while I was still a virgin). In my forty years, that was the only thing which equalled the final dream of the ‘Manderley series' for utter terror. I lay on the ground, waiting for the hammer to fall, and when thirty seconds or so passed and no hammer did fall, I began to realize it had just been some jet-jockey from the Brunswick Naval Air Station, too eager to wait until he was out over the Atlantic before going to Mach 1. But, holy shit, who ever could have guessed that it would be so loud? I got slowly to my feet and as I stood there with my heart finally slowing down, I realized I wasn't the only thing that had been scared witless by that sudden clear-sky boom. For the first time in my memory, the little patch of woods behind our house in Prout's Neck was entirely silent. I stood there in a dusty bar of sunlight, crumbled leaves all over my tee-shirt and jeans, holding my breath, listening. I had never heard a silence like it. Even on a cold day in January, the woods would have been full of conversation. At last a finch sang. There were two or three seconds of silence, and then a jay replied. Another two or three seconds went by, and then a crow added his two cents' worth. A woodpecker began to hammer for grubs. A chipmunk bumbled through some underbrush on my left. A minute after I had stood up, the woods were fully alive with little noises again; it was back to business as usual, and I continued with my own. I never forgot that unexpected boom, though, or the deathly silence which followed it. I thought of that June day often in the wake of the nightmare, and there was nothing so remarkable in that. Things had changed, somehow, or could change . . . but first comes silence while we assure ourselves that we are still unhurt and that the danger if there was danger is gone. Derry was shut down for most of the following week, anyway. Ice and high winds caused a great deal of damage during the storm, and a sudden twenty-degree plunge in the temperature afterward made the digging out hard and the cleanup slow. Added to that, the atmosphere after a March storm is always dour and pessimistic; we get them up this way every year (and two or three in April for good measure, if we're not lucky), but we never seem to expect them. Every time we get clouted, we take it personally. On a day toward the end of that week, the weather finally started to break. I took advantage, going out for a cup of coffee and a mid-morning pastry at the little restaurant three doors down from the Rite Aid where Johanna did her last errand. I was sipping and chewing and working the newspaper crossword when someone asked, ‘Could I share your booth, Mr. Noonan? It's pretty crowded in here today.' I looked up and saw an old man that I knew but couldn't quite place. ‘Ralph Roberts,' he said. ‘I volunteer down at the Red Cross. Me and my wife, Lois.' ‘Oh, okay, sure,' I said. I give blood at the Red Cross every six weeks or so. Ralph Roberts was one of the old parties who passed out juice and cookies afterward, telling you not to get up or make any sudden movements if you felt woozy. ‘Please, sit down.' He looked at my paper, folded open to the crossword and lying in a patch of sun, as he slid into the booth. ‘Don't you find that doing the crossword in the Derry News is sort of like striking out the pitcher in a baseball game?' he asked. I laughed and nodded. ‘I do it for the same reason folks climb Mount Everest, Mr. Roberts . . . because it's there. Only with the News crossword, no one ever falls off.' ‘Call me Ralph. Please.' ‘Okay. And I'm Mike.' ‘Good.' He grinned, revealing teeth that were crooked and a little yellow, but all his own. ‘I like getting to the first names. It's like being able to take off your tie. Was quite a little cap of wind we had, wasn't it?' ‘Yes,' I said, ‘but it's warming up nicely now.' The thermometer had made one of its nimble March leaps, climbing from twenty-five degrees the night before to fifty that morning. Better than the rise in air-temperature, the sun was warm again on your face. It was that warmth that had coaxed me out of the house. ‘Spring'll get here, I guess. Some years it gets a little lost, but it always seems to find its way back home.' He sipped his coffee, then set the cup down. ‘Haven't seen you at the Red Cross lately.' ‘I'm recycling,' I said, but that was a fib; I'd come eligible to give another pint two weeks ago. The reminder card was up on the refrigerator. It had just slipped my mind. ‘Next week, for sure.' ‘I only mention it because I know you're an A, and we can always use that.' ‘Save me a couch.' ‘Count on it. Everything going all right? I only ask because you look tired. If it's insomnia, I can sympathize, believe me.' He did have the look of an insomniac, I thought too wide around the eyes, somehow. But he was also a man in his mid- to late seventies, and I don't think anyone gets that far without showing it. Stick around a little while, and life maybe only jabs at your cheeks and eyes. Stick around a long while and you end up looking like Jake La Motta after a hard fifteen. I opened my mouth to say what I always do when someone asks me if I'm all right, then wondered why I always felt I had to pull that tiresome Marlboro Man shit, just who I was trying to fool. What did I think would happen if I told the guy who gave me a chocolate-chip cookie down at the Red Cross after the nurse took the needle out of my arm that I wasn't feeling a hundred percent? Earthquakes? Fire and flood? Shit. ‘No,' I said, ‘I really haven't been feeling so great, Ralph.' ‘Flu? It's been going around.' ‘Nah. The flu missed me this time, actually. And I've been sleeping all right.' Which was true there had been no recurrence of the Sara Laughs dream in either the normal or the high-octane version. ‘I think I've just got the blues.' ‘Well, you ought to take a vacation,' he said, then sipped his coffee. When he looked up at me again, he frowned and set his cup down. ‘What? Is something wrong?' No, I thought of saying. You were just the first bird to sing into the silence, Ralph, that's all. ‘No, nothing wrong,' I said, and then, because I sort of wanted to see how the words tasted coming out of my own mouth, I repeated them. ‘A vacation.' ‘Ayuh,' he said, smiling. ‘People do it all the time.' People do it all the time. He was right about that; even people who couldn't strictly afford to went on vacation. When they got tired. When they got all balled up in their own shit. When the world was too much with them, getting and spending. I could certainly afford a vacation, and I could certainly take the time off from work what work, ha-ha? and yet I'd needed the Red Cross cookie-man to point out what should have been self-evident to a college-educated guy like me: that I hadn't been on an actual vacation since Jo and I had gone to Bermuda, the winter before she died. My particular grindstone was no longer turning, but I had kept my nose to it all the same. It wasn't until that summer, when I read Ralph Roberts's obituary in the News (he was struck by a car), that I fully realized how much I owed him. That advice was better than any glass of orange juice I ever got after giving blood, let me tell you. When I left the restaurant, I didn't go home but tramped over half of the damned town, the section of newspaper with the partly completed crossword puzzle in it clamped under one arm. I walked until I was chilled in spite of the warming temperatures. I didn't think about anything, and yet I thought about everything. It was a special kind of thinking, the sort I'd always done when I was getting close to writing a book, and although I hadn't thought that way in years, I fell into it easily and naturally, as if I had never been away. It's like some guys with a big truck have pulled up in your driveway and are moving things into your basement. I can't explain it any better than that. You can't see what these things are because they're all wrapped up in padded quilts, but you don't need to see them. It's furniture, everything you need to make your house a home, make it just right, just the way you wanted it. When the guys have hopped back into their truck and driven away, you go down to the basement and walk around (the way I went walking around Derry that late morning, slopping up hill and down dale in my old galoshes), touching a padded curve here, a padded angle there. Is this one a sofa? Is that' one a dresser? It doesn't matter. Everything is here, the movers didn't forget a thing, and although you'll have to get it all upstairs yourself (straining your poor old back in the process, more often than not), that's okay. The important thing is that the delivery was complete. This time I thought hoped the delivery truck had brought the stuff I needed for the back forty: the years I might have to spend in a No Writing Zone. To the cellar door they had come, and they had knocked politely, and when after several months there was still no answer, they had finally fetched a battering ram. HEY BUDDY, HOPE THE NOISE DIDN'T SCARE YOU TOO BAD, SORRY ABOUT THE DOOR! I didn't care about the door; I cared about the furniture. Any pieces broken or missing? I didn't think so. I thought all I had to do was get it upstairs, pull off the furniture pads, and put it where it belonged. On my way back home, I passed The Shade, Derry's charming little revival movie house, which has prospered in spite of (or perhaps because of) the video revolution. This month they were showing classic SF from the fifties, but April was dedicated to Humphrey Bogart, Jo's all-time favorite. I stood under the marquee for several moments, studying one of the Coming Attractions posters. Then I went home, picked a travel agent pretty much at random from the phone book, and told the guy I wanted to go to Key Largo. Key West, you mean, the guy said. No, I told him, I mean Key Largo, just like in the movie with Bogie and Bacall. Three weeks. Then I rethought that. I was wealthy, I was on my own, and I was retired. What was this ‘three weeks' shit? Make it six, I said. Find me a cottage or something. Going to be expensive, he said. I told him I didn't care. When I came back to Derry, it would be spring. In the meantime, I had some furniture to unwrap. I was enchanted with Key Largo for the first month and bored out of my mind for the last two weeks. I stayed, though, because boredom is good. People with a high tolerance for boredom can get a lot of thinking done. I ate about a billion shrimp, drank about a thousand margaritas, and read twenty-three John D. MacDonald novels by actual count. I burned, peeled, and finally tanned. I bought a long-billed cap with PARROTHEAD printed on it in bright green thread. I walked the same stretch of beach until I knew everybody by first name. And I unwrapped furniture. A lot of it I didn't like, but there was no doubt that it all fit the house. I thought about Jo and our life together. I thought about saying to her that no one was ever going to confuse Being Two with Look Homeward, Angel. ‘You aren't going to pull a lot of frustrated-artist crap on me, are you, Noonan?' she had replied . . . and during my time on Key Largo, those words kept coming back, always in Jo's voice: crap, frustrated-artist crap, all that fucking schoolboy frustrated-artist crap. I thought about her long red woods apron, coming to me with a hatful of black trumpet mushrooms, laughing and triumphant: ‘Nobody on the TR eats better than the Noonans tonight!' she'd cried. I thought of her painting her toenails, bent over between her own thighs in the way only women doing that particular piece of business can manage. I thought of her throwing a book at me because I laughed at some new haircut. I thought of her trying to learn how to play a breakdown on her banjo and of how she looked braless in a thin sweater. I thought of her crying and laughing and angry. I thought of her telling me it was crap, all that frustrated-artist crap. And I thought about the dreams, especially the culminating dream. I could do that easily, because it never faded as the more ordinary ones do. The final Sara Laughs dream and my very first wet dream (coming upon a girl lying naked in a hammock and eating a plum) are the only two that remain perfectly clear to me, year after year; the rest are either hazy fragments or completely forgotten. There were a great many clear details to the Sara dreams the loons, the crickets, the evening star and my wish upon it, just to name a few but I thought most of those things were just verisimilitude. Scene-setting, if you will. As such, they could be dismissed from my considerations. That left three major elements, three large pieces of furniture to be unwrapped. As I sat on the beach, watching the sun go down between my sandy toes, I didn't think you had to be a shrink to see how those three things went together. In the Sara dreams, the major elements were the woods behind me, the house below me, and Michael Noonan himself, frozen in the middle. It's getting dark and there's danger in the woods. It will be frightening to go to the house below, perhaps because it's been empty so long, but I never doubt I must go there; scary or not, it's the only shelter I have. Except I can't do it. I can't move. I've got writer's walk. In the nightmare I am finally able to go toward shelter, only the shelter proves false. Proves more dangerous than I had ever expected in my . . . well, yes, in my wildest dreams. My dead wife rushes out, screaming and still tangled in her shroud, to attack me. Even five weeks later and almost three thousand miles from Derry, remembering that speedy white thing with its baggy arms would make me shiver and look back over my shoulder. But was it Johanna? I didn't really know, did I? The thing was all wrapped up. The coffin looked like the one in which she had been buried, true, but that might just be misdirection. Writer's walk, writer's block. I can't write, I told the voice in the dream. The voice says I can. The voice says the writer's block is gone, and I believe it because the writer's walk is gone, I'm finally headed down the driveway, going to shelter. I'm afraid, though. Even before the shapeless white thing makes its appearance, I'm terrified. I say it's Mrs. Danvers I'm afraid of, but that's just my dreaming mind getting Sara Laughs and Manderley all mixed up. I'm afraid of ‘I'm afraid of writing,' I heard myself saying out loud. ‘I'm afraid to even try.' This was the night before I finally flew back to Maine, and I was half-past sober, going on drunk. By the end of my vacation, I was drinking a lot of evenings. ‘It's not the block that scares me, it's undoing the block. I'm really fucked, boys and girls. I'm fucked big-time.' Fucked or not, I had an idea I'd finally reached the heart of the matter. I was afraid of undoing the block, maybe afraid of picking up the strands of my life and going on without Jo. Yet some deep part of my mind believed I must do it; that's what the menacing noises behind me in the woods were about. And belief counts for a lot. Too much, maybe, especially if you're imaginative. When an imaginative person gets into mental trouble, the line between seeming and being has a way of disappearing. Things in the woods, yes, sir. I had one of them right there in my hand as I was thinking these things. I lifted my drink, holding it toward the western sky so that the setting sun seemed to be burning in the glass. I was drinking a lot, and maybe that was okay on Key Largo hell, people were supposed to drink a lot on vacation, it was almost the law but I'd been drinking too much even before I left. The kind of drinking that could get out of hand in no time at all. The kind that could get a man in trouble. Things in the woods, and the potentially safe place guarded by a scary bugbear that was not my wife, but perhaps my wife's memory. It made sense, because Sara Laughs had always been Jo's favorite place on earth. That thought led to another, one that made me swing my legs over the side of the chaise I'd been reclining on and sit up in excitement. Sara Laughs had also been the place where the ritual had begun . . . champagne, last line, and the all-important benediction: Well, then, that's all right, isn't it? Did I want things to be all right again? Did I truly want that? A month or a year before I mightn't have been sure, but now I was. The answer was yes. I wanted to move on let go of my dead wife, rehab my heart, move on. But to do that, I'd have to go back. Back to the log house. Back to Sara Laughs. ‘Yeah,' I said, and my body broke out in gooseflesh. ‘Yeah, you got it.' So why not? The question made me feel as stupid as Ralph Roberts's observation that I needed a vacation. If I needed to go back to Sara Laughs now that my vacation was over, indeed why not? It might be a little scary the first night or two, a hangover from my final dream, but just being there might dissolve the dream faster. And (this last thought I allowed in only one humble corner of my conscious mind) something might happen with my writing. It wasn't likely . . . but it wasn't impossible, either. Barring a miracle, hadn't that been my thought on New Year's Day as I sat on the rim of the tub, holding a damp washcloth to the cut on my forehead? Yes. Barring a miracle. Sometimes blind people fall down, knock their heads, and regain their sight. Sometimes maybe cripples are able to throw their crutches away when they get to the top of the church steps. I had eight or nine months before Harold and Debra started really bugging me for the next novel. I decided to spend the time at Sara Laughs. It would take me a little while to tie things up in Derry, and awhile for Bill Dean to get the house on the lake ready for a year-round resident, but I could be down there by the Fourth of July, easily. I decided that was a good date to shoot for, not just the birthday of our country, but pretty much the end of bug season in western Maine. By the day I packed up my vacation gear (the John D. MacDonald paperbacks I left for the cabin's next inhabitant), shaved a week's worth of stubble off a face so tanned it no longer looked like my own to me, and flew back to Maine, I was decided: I'd go back to the place my subconscious mind had identified as shelter against the deepening dark; I'd go back even though my mind had also suggested that doing so would not be without risks. I would not go back expecting Sara to be Lourdes . . . but I would allow myself to hope, and when I saw the evening star peeping out over the lake for the first time, I would allow myself to wish on it. Only one thing didn't fit into my neat deconstruction of the Sara dreams, and because I couldn't explain it, I tried to ignore it. I didn't have much luck, though; part of me was still a writer, I guess, and a writer is a man who has taught his mind to misbehave. It was the cut on the back of my hand. That cut had been in all the dreams, I would swear it had . . . and then it had actually appeared. You didn't get that sort of shit in the works of Dr. Freud; stuff like that was strictly for the Psychic Friends hotline. It was a coincidence, that's all, I thought as my plane started its descent. I was in seat A-2 (the nice thing about flying up front is that if the plane goes down, you're first to the crash site) and looking at pine forests as we slipped along the glidepath toward Bangor International Airport. The snow was gone for another year; I had vacationed it to death. Only coincidence. How many times have you cut your hands? I mean, they're always out front, aren't they, waving themselves around? Practically begging for it. All that should have rung true, and yet somehow it didn't, quite. It should have, but . . . well . . . It was the boys in the basement. They were the ones who didn't buy it. The boys in the basement didn't buy it at all. At that point there was a thump as the 737 touched down, and I put the whole line of thought out of my mind. One afternoon shortly after arriving back home, I rummaged the closets until I found the shoeboxes containing Jo's old photographs. I sorted them, then studied my way through the ones of Dark Score Lake. There were a staggering number of these, but because Johanna was the shutterbug, there weren't many with her in them. I found one, though, that I remembered taking in 1990 or '91. Sometimes even an untalented photographer can take a good picture if seven hundred monkeys spent seven hundred years bashing away at seven hundred typewriters, and all that and this was good. In it Jo was standing on the float with the sun going down red-gold behind her. She was just out of the water, dripping wet, wearing a two-piece swimming suit, gray with red piping. I had caught her laughing and brushing her soaked hair back from her forehead and temples. Her nipples were very prominent against the cups of her halter. She looked like an actress on a movie poster for one of those guilty-pleasure B-pictures about monsters at Party Beach or a serial killer stalking the campus. I was sucker-punched by a sudden powerful lust for her. I wanted her upstairs just as she was in that photograph, with strands of her hair pasted to her cheeks and that wet bathing suit clinging to her. I wanted to suck her nipples through the halter top, taste the cloth and feel their hardness through it. I wanted to suck water out of the cotton like milk, then yank the bottom of her suit off and fuck her until we both exploded. Hands shaking a little, I put the photograph aside, with some others I liked (although there were no others I liked in quite that same way). I had a huge hard-on, one of those ones that feel like stone covered with skin. Get one of those and until it goes away you are good for nothing. The quickest way to solve a problem like that when there's no woman around willing to help you solve it is to masturbate, but that time the idea never even crossed my mind. Instead I walked restlessly through the upstairs rooms of my house with my fists opening and closing and what looked like a hood ornament stuffed down the front of my jeans. Anger may be a normal stage of the grieving process I've read that it is but I was never angry at Johanna in the wake of her death until the day I found that picture. Then, wow. There I was, walking around with a boner that just wouldn't quit, furious with her. Stupid bitch, why had she been running on one of the hottest days of the year? Stupid, inconsiderate bitch to leave me alone like this, not even able to work. I sat down on the stairs and wondered what I should do. A drink was what I should do, I decided, and then maybe another drink to scratch the first one's back. I actually got up before deciding that wasn't a very good idea at all. I went into my office instead, turned on the computer, and did a crossword puzzle. That night when I went to bed, I thought of looking at the picture of Jo in her bathing suit again. I decided that was almost as bad an idea as a few drinks when I was feeling angry and depressed. But I'll have the dream tonight, I thought as I turned off the light. I'll have the dream for sure. I didn't, though. My dreams of Sara Laughs seemed to be finished. A week's thought made the idea of at least summering at the lake seem better than ever. So, on a Saturday afternoon in early May when I calculated that any self-respecting Maine caretaker would be home watching the Red Sox, I called Bill Dean and told him I'd be at my lake place from the Fourth of July or so . . . and that if things went as I hoped, I'd be spending the fall and winter there as well. ‘Well, that's good,' he said. ‘That's real good news. A lot of folks down here've missed you, Mike. Quite a few that want to condole with you about your wife, don't you know.' Was there the faintest note of reproach in his voice, or was that just my imagination? Certainly Jo and I had cast a shadow in the area; we had made significant contributions to the little library which served the Motton-Kashwakamak-Castle View area, and Jo had headed the successful fund drive to get an area bookmobile up and running. In addition to that, she had been part of a ladies' sewing circle (afghans were her specialty), and a member in good standing of the Castle County Crafts Co-op. Visits to the sick . . . helping out with the annual volunteer fire department blood drive . . . womaning a booth during Summerfest in Castle Rock . . . and stuff like that was only where she had started. She didn't do it in any ostentatious Lady Bountiful way, either, but unobtrusively and humbly, with her head lowered (often to hide a rather sharp smile, I should add my Jo had a Biercean sense of humor). Christ, I thought, maybe old Bill had a right to sound reproachful. ‘People miss her,' I said. ‘Ayuh, they do.' ‘I still miss her a lot myself. I think that's why I've stayed away from the lake. That's where a lot of our good times were.' ‘I s'pose so. But it'll be damned good to see you down this way. I'll get busy. The place is all right you could move into it this afternoon, if you was a mind but when a house has stood empty the way Sara has, it gets stale.' ‘I know.' ‘I'll get Brenda Meserve to clean the whole shebang from top to bottom. Same gal you always had, don't you know.' ‘Brenda's a little old for comprehensive spring cleaning, isn't she?' The lady in question was about sixty-five, stout, kind, and gleefully vulgar. She was especially fond of jokes about the travelling salesman who spent the night like a rabbit, jumping from hole to hole. No Mrs. Danvers she. ‘Ladies like Brenda Meserve never get too old to oversee the festivities,' Bill said. ‘She'll get two or three girls to do the vacuuming and heavy lifting. Set you back maybe three hundred dollars. Sound all right?' ‘Like a bargain.' ‘The well needs to be tested, and the gennie, too, although I'm sure both of em's okay. I seen a hornet's nest by Jo's old studio that I want to smoke before the woods get dry. Oh, and the roof of the old house you know, the middle piece needs to be reshingled. I shoulda talked to you about that last year, but with you not using the place, I let her slide. You stand good for that, too?' ‘Yes, up to ten grand. Beyond that, call me.' ‘If we have to go over ten, I'll smile and kiss a pig.' ‘Try to have it all done before I get down there, okay?' ‘Coss. You'll want your privacy, I know that . . . just so long's you know you won't get any right away. We was shocked when she went so young; all of us were. Shocked and sad. She was a dear.' From a Yankee mouth, that word rhymes with Leah. ‘Thank you, Bill.' I felt tears prickle my eyes. Grief is like a drunken house guest, always coming back for one more goodbye hug. ‘Thanks for saying.' ‘You'll get your share of carrot-cakes, chummy.' He laughed, but a little doubtfully, as if afraid he was committing an impropriety. ‘I can eat a lot of carrot-cake,' I said, ‘and if folks overdo it, well, hasn't Kenny Auster still got that big Irish wolfhound?' ‘Yuh, that thing'd eat cake til he busted!' Bill cried in high good humor. He cackled until he was coughing. I waited, smiling a little myself. ‘Blueberry, he calls that dog, damned if I know why. Ain't he the gormiest thing!' I assumed he meant the dog and not the dog's master. Kenny Auster, not much more than five feet tall and neatly made, was the opposite of gormy, that peculiar Maine adjective that means clumsy, awkward, and clay-footed. I suddenly realized that I missed these people Bill and Brenda and Buddy Jellison and Kenny Auster and all the others who lived year-round at the lake. I even missed Blueberry, the Irish wolfhound, who trotted everywhere with his head up just as if he had half a brain in it and long strands of saliva depending from his jaws. ‘I've also got to get down there and clean up the winter blowdown,' Bill said. He sounded embarrassed. ‘It ain't bad this year that last big storm was all snow over our way, thank God but there's still a fair amount of happy crappy I ain't got to yet. I shoulda put it behind me long before now. You not using the place ain't an excuse. I been cashing your checks.' There was something amusing about listening to the grizzled old fart beating his breast; Jo would have kicked her feet and giggled, I'm quite sure. ‘If everything's right and running by July Fourth, Bill, I'll be happy.' ‘You'll be happy as a clam in a mudflat, then. That's a promise.' Bill sounded as happy as a clam in a mudflat himself, and I was glad. ‘Goingter come down and write a book by the water? Like in the old days? Not that the last couple ain't been fine, my wife couldn't put that last one down, but ‘ ‘I don't know,' I said, which was the truth. And then an idea struck me. ‘Bill, would you do me a favor before you clean up the driveway and turn Brenda Meserve loose?' ‘Happy to if I can,' he said, so I told him what I wanted. Four days later, I got a little package with this laconic return address: DEAN/GEN DELIV/TR-90 (DARK SCORE). I opened it and shook out twenty photographs which had been taken with one of those little cameras you use once and then throw away. Bill had filled out the roll with various views of the house, most conveying that subtle air of neglect a place gets when it's not used enough . . . even a place that's caretook (to use Bill's word) gets that neglected feel after awhile. I barely glanced at these. The first four were the ones I wanted, and I lined them up on the kitchen table, where the strong sunlight would fall directly on them. Bill had taken these from the top of the driveway, pointing the disposable camera down at the sprawl of Sara Laughs. I could see the moss which had grown not only on south wings, as well. I could see the litter of fallen branches and the drifts of pine needles on the driveway. Bill must have been tempted to clear all that away before taking his snaps, but he hadn't. I'd told him exactly what I wanted ‘warts and all' was the phrase I had used and Bill had given it to me. The bushes on either side of the driveway had thickened a lot since Jo and I had spent any significant amount of time at the lake; they hadn't exactly run wild, but yes, some of the longer branches did seem to yearn toward each other across the asphalt like separated lovers. Yet what my eye came back to again and again was the stoop at the foot of the driveway. The other resemblances between the photographs and my dreams of Sara Laughs might only be coincidental (or the writer's often surprisingly practical imagination at work), but I could explain the sunflowers growing out through the boards of the stoop no more than I had been able to explain the cut on the back of my hand. I turned one of the photos over. On the back, in a spidery script, Bill had written: These fellows are way early . . . and trespassing! I flipped back to the picture side. Three sunflowers, growing up through the boards of the stoop. Not two, not four, but three large sunflowers with faces like searchlights. Just like the ones in my dream.

Lesson Plan – Pop Art

LESSON PLAN for 8F: Pop Art – Roy Lichtenstein P4&5| CLASS: 8F| DATE: 07/06/12| LEARNING OBJECTIVE/S: * To create a piece of pop art in the style of Roy Lichtenstein. * To be able to understand what pop art is and recall information about Roy Lichtenstein. * To be able to make positive comments on your own and others work to boost confidence and self-esteem. EXTENSION TASK: Begin to create your own piece of Pop Art representing something you enjoy or a person you idolise.Success Criteria: * Students will be able to show a basic attempt at producing a piece of work with some similarity to the original (Level 4) * Students will be able to show a satisfactory attempt at the task with good similarity to the original and appropriate choice of colour and technique (Level 5) * Students will show a strong attempt at the task with strong similarity and technique. A personal touch may be applied to the end product to improve it’s appearance. Level 6)| RESOURCES REQUIRED * PowerPo int on Roy Lichtenstein and his Pop Art (True or false quiz for starter) * White boards, pens, board rubbers * Working SmartBoard and remote * 3 sets of colour images of Roy Lichtenstein’s work for reference * Pre-outlined images on cartridge paper plus photocopies for other students. * Plain cartridge paper * Pencils, felt tips, rubbers, scissors (+2 left handed pairs for AB and JC) * Coloured paper| LESSON OUTLINE:| Structure| Groupings| Activities|Starter(10 – 15 mins)Introduction(5 mins)Main(first part)2nd partBreak(2 period lesson)1st part(5 mins)MainPlenary (20 mins at end of lesson)| Whole ClassWhole ClassIndividual workWhole ClassWhole classIndividual workingWhole class| True or false fact quiz on Roy Lichtenstein and Pop Art. Ask students to write their answer on their whiteboard and hold up in the air when prompted to compare with each other. Ask students to recall a fact for a merit. When starter completed ask LSA to collect equipment to avoid distraction du ring explanation of main task.Put pictures of Roy Lichtenstein’s work up on the board and ask students to tell me what is different about these pieces (composed of dots and lines). What do they like about them? What don’t they like? Discuss as a group. Show students example piece (created by me) to show what their end product may look like. Explain equipment used and techniques, varying ways to approach and variants in colour. Refer back to work on Andy Warhol and how the use of colour is reflective in the overall product. Offer outlines to students but discuss how to approach completing task from scratch also.Remind students to refer to colour copies for inspiration Answer any questions, begin task. Circulate the room, ask LSA to do this also so that any questions can be answered. Focus on SB and AB to ensure they are feeling confident and are aware of what they need to do. Monitor approaches and understanding by allowing students to discuss ideas. Line all students u p and allow time for quick toilet break Ask students if they have any questions regarding the task and remind them to ask if they need anything.Continue to circulate, spending extra time with SB and AB to ensure focus. Check on BE, CA and SS to make sure they are remaining focussed on the task. If any students are near completion, explain extension task. Bring focus back to front of the class by asking students to come up in twos and place their art work on the board in an exhibition for reviewing. Once all pieces up, ask the class to walk around and decide one thing they like about someone else’s work on the board. Once seated, ask each student to share their compliment with the rest of the class.Ask students if they can recall a fact from our earlier PowerPoint and finish by asking for a thumbs up/middle/down approach to the task they completed today. | ASSESSMENT/DIFFERENTIATION:Where does diff. occur? What learning, and whom, will be assessed? Differentiation will take pl ace in a number of ways throughout the lesson: * Teacher and TA interaction with pupils – helping those who are finding the work difficult, asking extension questions to more able pupils. * Teacher to take in to account some short term memory issues within the group and allow time to recall facts with hints where needed. Pre-drawn outlines for all students to access if they feel unable to complete a piece from scratch which several members will. Assessment will take place informally with the teacher noting how well the students can complete the task, and more formally through peer and self assessment. | Strategies to ensure effective learning takes place: * Ensure all students are aware of and understand the task in hand by asking the class on a whole and then walking around the room (LSA also) once the task is set to answer any questions one on one. Make sure students have correct equipment available for the task. * Refer back to the facts learned at the beginning of the les son by offering merits as reward for recollection of facts. * Allow time at the end of the lesson to see how students felt overall about the task. * Tackle any behavioural issues if they occur without disruption to the rest of the class. * Discuss the new technique with students and how they are finding it. |

Help Desk Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Help Desk - Essay Example The frequent responses are irritation, tension, lack of concentration, headache and palpitation among others. .There is vital distinction in the way that people interact with their surroundings and as a result, it has extensive consequences in terms of survival. Stress is an implication that the pressures of the outside world are disturbing a person. The response to stress by an individual is often in such a way that it influences not only him/her but the surrounding as well. Due to the excessive stress in today's lifestyle, people usually perceive stress to be a harmful experience, whereas biologically, stress may be positive or neutral, not just negative. (Panzareno, 1) It is a natural response from a human that upon encountering a danger, the body starts to gear up by handling it through 'Fight or flight' principle. As a result of this, certain purposeful modifications take place in the body. Consequently, these changes continue until the danger continues. After the threat is gone, the body resumes its normal state and functioning. Such instantaneous, transitory effects are the 'short term effects of stress'. But when stress is constant or recurring, the body continues to secrete pertinent hormones as a result of which, the blood level stays constantly at an above normal point and thus the related modifications continue. The body then goes through stress along with an overburden which is because of the side effects of the steadily high level of stress hormones. As a result of this mechanism, certain irretrievable physiological costs in the brain and relevant physical indications such as organ damage take place. The long term symptoms among others include chronic head ache, mood swings, anxiety disorder, memory disturbances, heart attack, stroke, weight loss and sleeplessness. After the stress factor vanishes, it often happens that the manifestations of stress continue till the time that treatment is done for it. (SF, 1) Stressful Environment in Support Centre Users contact support centre very now and then with their technical issues. The anger and irritation of the users' often find Help desk agents as their targets, where they are vented out. Due to experiencing technical issues, users require a channel for their stress since it can't be taken out on a computer or a software. As a result, either deliberately or subconsciously, users victimize those who are assigned the task of making efforts to find solutions for their problems. This makes the agents, recipient of the stress to which they are exposed to. This situation is worsened even more when the help desk agents objectify the user while finding a technical problem solution; agents forget the fact that usually a "difficult" user is behaving in such a manner due to the stress which they are facing, it may often be termed as temporary insanity. When faced with moments of stress arising due to technical breakdown, users turn impolite and misbehave with the agents, even though their anger is about the problem

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz - Case Study Example Starbucks has embraced a differentiation strategy at its business level of strategies (Geereddy, 2012). It provides products that cater for the needs of a specific targeted group of customers. The company offers tailor-made varieties of goods and services, and the premium prices. The company has more ways of differentiating products than most of its competitors since a customer gets an experience when he shops for coffee. They can thus charge a premium price. Starbucks focuses on innovation by continually introducing new products and coffee such as â€Å"instant coffee† Via. The instant coffee earned the company a sales growth of over 200 million. The new products are the force behind Starbuck’s evolution into a company that provides unique customer experience. The company tries to understand its target customers. Hence, they have grown globally as a number one choice for many clients. They provide a superior coffee to its clients. They value branding the image and product through word of mouth. As a result, they ensure their clients get a maximum experience in order to spread the word. They seek to understand the particular needs of an individual customer and serve him appropriately. For instance, they can allow customers to pay online or via phone if it is convenient for them (Starbucks Corporation, 2015). Starbucks applies demographic segmentation (categorizing markets by gender, age, ethnicity, income, and family life cycle). The company’s main target is men and women aged between 25-44 years. The market accounts for about a half of its total business. The company targets this group by offering special drinks that appeal to them. It further creates its business to be the third place to go between work and home by establishing unique and relaxing atmosphere. The next large group that Starbucks targets consist of young adults aged 18-24 years old. They account for about 40% of the company’s sales. Starbucks entice the young adults through the

Law and Order Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Law and Order - Essay Example Basically every country needs a sequence and order to operate its functions properly. In order to make all the tasks of the country go smoothly law and order is implied. Law and order also make sure that a country has peaceful conditions and every one is treated equally. Law and order make sure that every person of the country has its share of rights. If a country lacks stableness in Law and order than it deteriorates economically, its neighbor countries avoid major communications with the country and the conditions of the country meaning peace is not maintained. If a country’s law and order is not imposed properly than automatically it loses political stability. In order to maintain Law and order in a country certain aspects need to be given special importance and it should be made sure that ignorance is avoided. The major factor for an efficient Law and order is to have a good balanced Lawsuit. Other factors include an effective check system on the Law imposers in order to check their credibility and the ratio of police to citizens. Another important factor is the role of the citizens in maintaining Law and order in their country. It’s important for the citizens to abide by law and obey every lawful order.

Innate Intelligence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Innate Intelligence - Essay Example Evaluating intellectual, logical, analytical and rational skills and capacities, the IQ measurement and scoring paradigm was perceived of by society as the definitional competence measurement methodology and the predictor of performance and success potentialities. Those who scored high on the IQ measurement were assumed to possess the requirements for success and leadership. This assumption, predicated on belief in the scientific accuracy and comprehensiveness of the IQ test and measurement, sustained the usage of IQ measurements for several decades. Perceptions regarding IQ as the ultimate, and most comprehensive, measurement of intelligence and as the predictor of success and leadership potentiality began to wanes, consequent to the intervention of psychologists and psychological research. The arguments raised maintained that while IQ could function as a partial predictor of success, it was hardly a predictor for leadership potentiality or, for that matter, long-term sustainable success. Long term, sustainable success and leadership potentiality were determined by the possession of the "ability to tune into the world, to read situations and connect with others while taking charge of their own life". Emotional intelligence has been popularly portrayed as critical to human success and sometimes even more important than IQ (D. Goleman, 1995), yet sparse evidence exists supporting such a claim. A considerable amount of research has been conducted on the construct of intelligence during this century, but especially during the past 50 years. The examination of specific abilities that extend beyond the concept of general undifferentiated intelligence has been especially important. In the 1960s, in particular, a growing number of cognitive theorists studied neuropsychology, neuroscience, and higher mental processes. These efforts, described as the cognitive revolution (Miller, Galanter & Pribram, 1960), had a substantial influence on theoretical psychology and more recently in applied psychology. The cognitive revolution has impacted the way intelligence is conceptualized and measured. Spearman (1904), who invented the technique of factor analysis and applied it to the measurement of intelligence, defined intelligence in terms of the over arching construct of "ease or rapidity of problem-solving ability." More specifically, according to Spearman, an intelligent person apprehends experience (i.e., recognizes and understands the various elements that constitute a given situation), understands the salient interrelations among elements of the situation, and has the capacity to extrapolate those interrelations to new and unfamiliar situations. Spearman's (1904) factor analytic data suggested that various measures of intelligence loaded on a single factor, labeled Intelligence. Thurstone (1938) proposed seven reasonably distinct primary mental abilities (verbal comprehension or understanding word meanings; facility with numbers; perceptual speed or ability to rapidly discriminate between complex visual presentations; word fluency or rapid and flexible usage of words, such as making rhymes or

Performance Measurement System in Julphar Company Term Paper

Performance Measurement System in Julphar Company - Term Paper Example RAK Ceramics is a company based in United Arab Emirates (UAE). The company was established in 1989 by Abdallah Massaad. The Company has been able to establish itself as the world’s largest ceramic manufacturing companies in a span of 20 years. The factory is however situated in the Arabian dessert. The products that RAK Ceramics has been offering consist of tableware, porcelain tiles, sanitary ware, bath ware, fittings, adhesive and faucets (Attwood â€Å"Racking up Miles for Tiles†). The Company operates in several countries of Asia as well as Middle-East such as, Bangladesh, Iran, India, Sudan, China, etc. In this study the performance of this company would be measured and analysed with respect to its customer satisfaction ability, improvement activities, internal process, employee satisfaction, competition handling, and innovation (â€Å"Company Profile†). Problem Statement It not necessary that every research study is developed to discuss problems and challen ges. Sometimes even they are even designed to evaluate and analyse situation, such as performance of a company. As in this case, the performance management system of the ceramic manufacturing company, RAK Ceramic would be analysed through statistical tools. ... Internal Process The internal process of RAKCeramics is mainly based on its technology integrated business model. The strength lies in the speed of improvement that the company manages and supplies the product to the market as soon as customers demand. The company owns 10 factories, which is well equipped with the most modern machineries. 8000 bath wares are manufactures every day in three plants in the similar location. Production and distribution is well-managed through IT based supply chain (â€Å"Corporate Profile†). Innovation RAK Ceramics’ core competency is offering innovative products and unique designs to its customers using technology. The strategy of the company is to innovate and introduce new designs for the customers is a strategy for improving performance. They are also utilising scan coding system for allowing customers to utilise their smart phones for scanning the QR code in the advertisement and directly visit the website of the company. They are also developing a mobile tool called iDesign, where customers can design their incorporate their own designs for customisation (Hankir â€Å"RAK Ceramics CEO Sees No Slowdown in U.A.E; Plans India IPO to Build Plant†). Improvement activities The demand for RAK Ceramics is continuously rising, so the company is looking forward to improve their manufacturing capacity by augmenting its power infrastructure. Several new power plants is planned to be launched in emirates in order to utilise sustainable sources of energy to respect the environmental concerns and maintain efficiency. The requirement for more power capacity was also identified in summers by the company

Armani Hotel (Dubai) - Managing Customer Service Essay

Armani Hotel (Dubai) - Managing Customer Service - Essay Example The world of 21st century is an arena that promotes fast growth, tremendous development and high competition. The high level of internet connectivity in various corners of the world, along with the existence of the open economies has provided the platform for demand of products and services of international standards. The luxury sector, especially the hospitality sector always demands international standards and qualities of services mostly because of its need to maintain a homogenous quality and standard of high level of customer service at all of its location of presence. It is important to say that in the steady cycle of economic peaks and troughs that has continued to affect the business prospects of various countries in the recent times; the luxury hospitality sector has always maintained a steady level of growth all the time. The reason behind it can be attached to the fact that the luxury sector always experiences an inelastic demand mostly because of its significant choosing of its target audience, which are mostly comprised of the elite and extremely rich people. Brief on Service Marketing Services can be defined as a concept which represents intangible actions and attributes that are performed by individuals or a team of individuals for the purpose of providing superior level of value perception to the consumers in regards to their individual requirements of value of tangible or intangible nature (Rao, 2011, p. 5). Talking a little more about services, it can be said that because of its characteristics, services are a little different from the products. In case of services, the characteristics like the intangibility, homogeneity, inseparability and perishability exists. (Shanker, 2002, p. 36). While talking about marketing of services, it is important to mention that it surely includes the marketing features associated with the highly popular 4P’s concept. For the purpose of attaining success in a highly competitive environment, the value of services needs to be created, communicated, distributed and captured for the right target audience. However, it is very important to mention that there are three other variables that help in the process of providing value to the customers. The factors of people, process and physical evidence has to be mentioned without ignorance (Bhattacharya, 2006, p. 117). The existence of the three new variables is very important as it helps in a great way in the process of communication of value of the services to the consumers (Zeithaml & et.al, 2011, p. 21). It can be said that for the purpose of providing high level of services to generate superior customer satisfaction and hence increase profitability of the serv ices, analysing of the services in regards to its ability to meet customers’ expectations is very important on a regular basis. For developing a successful analysis of the services, the GAP model can be used (Lamb, Hair and McDaniel, 2008, p. 354). It is important to mention in these regards that the GAP model of service quality tries to analyze the service offerings of any enterprise from the perspectives of both the customer as well as the service provider. Source: Lamb, Hair and McDaniel, 2008, p. 354 Overview of customer relationship marketing (CRM) It has to be said that in the case of customer relationship marketing, it belongs to the division of marketing of services. In the context of marketing of products as well as services, it has often been realized that retaining of customers helps in increasing the profitability of the organization at a comparatively lower costs, rather than aggressive acquisition of new customers on a regular basis

Interprofessional Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Interprofessional Practice - Essay Example This paper shall discuss what it means to act professionally, based on my career as a nurse. Firstly, this paper will define professionalism in the context of health and human services delivery. Secondly, it will present an explanation of what it means to provide quality nursing care and services within a safe, ethical and legal context, in an individual and interprofessional framework. Finally, it will identify the mechanisms by which nurses’ behaviours are monitored, and how they may contribute to quality improvement mechanisms. Professionalism is defined in different ways. According to Bhugra (2010, p. 103) professionalism â€Å"may be defined as a conglomerate of separate elements, such as honesty, empathy, reliability, self-awareness, competence, and so forth†. In this instance, professionalism is described as a combination of various elements and attitudes which are often needed in order to successfully establish a beneficial relationship between clients and nurses. In some ways, professionalism is also viewed as a complete ethical concept with almost no boundaries. With the different issues which nurses currently face, especially those which relate to conflicts of interest and market-place competition, professionalism helps ensure the competence â€Å"across an enlarging corpus of medical knowledge and technical skills† (Bhugra, 2010, p.103). In considering its more specific applications to health care delivery, a health professional is one who has a primary technical and specialized knowledge and who advances and implements standards based on service rather than profit (Reiff, 2010). The health professional has cognitive and moral characteristics which can be familiarly couched in the Hippocratic Oath through the words, â€Å"I will practice my art with purity and holiness and for the benefit of the sick† (as cited Orme-Smith & Spicer, 2001, p. 251). Professionalism in nursing largely implies a responsibility to serve and care for others,

Multiple Intelligence Essay Example for Free

Multiple Intelligence Essay 1) How would you compare and contrast constructs of intelligence and achievement? Though often linked with each other, intelligence and achievements are neither the same thing nor does possessing intelligence automatically results in a person being an achiever. Intelligence is only a part of the entire package and process that allows one to reach his or her goals. Success or achievements are met with the mixture of intelligence, hard work, and the right opportunities. At the same time, a person may have the passion and the willingness to work for a particular goal, but still not make it. One still needs the inborn talent that will enable him or her to do the work needed. Thus, intelligence is one of the many yet essential factors for achieving. It may be inborn, but it still needs to be developed to its full extent. If intelligence goes un-nurtured, then it is useless. One’s environment and learning are interdependent with one’s genes for the development of his or her intelligence, and ultimately with his or her capability to achieve. 2) How would you describe Gardner’s theory of intelligence? Do you agree with Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences? Why or why not? Gardner believed that intelligence is multi-faceted and flexible. He attacked the idea that intelligence is a single immutable entity created by just one source and is easily measurable with math and language IQ tests (Smith, 2008; Benson, 2003). Gardner proposed humans have seven types of intelligence: â€Å"linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, and intrapersonal kinds of intelligence† (Smith, 2008, n.p.). I agree with Gardner that there is no single, accurate way of measuring people’s intelligence because people have different talents or intelligence. Humans have their own unique mix of intelligence; they may excel in areas where others do not and vice versa. Gardner’s theory does not limit intelligence into a single box. I believe that to be true since it is unfair to judge a kind of talent as better as or more rewarding than others. People ought to know that there are different realms of intelligence. They ought to realize theirs for the sake of forming their personality, building up confidence, and nurturing their competence. Gardner wrote that people need to know what they can do to understand themselves and live productively and effectively (cited in Smith, 2008). In conclusion, Gardner recognizes that there is no single construct of intelligence. Intelligence goes beyond classrooms and report cards, and this, I think, is the most important for people to understand.

Mauritius Economy Overview

Mauritius Economy Overview Introduction Some of the Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries have managed to establish a higher standard of living over the past twenty years. It is good to note that Mauritius has been an exception to the rule, thereby showing an outperformance among the African countries. Without any natural resources, a small domestic market and open to trade economy, Mauritius exhibited several characteristics very typical compared to the African Economies namely a monocrop economy, development in the manufacturing sector and diversification towards the services sector. Contradicting the predictions of Nobel Prize recipient James Meade, who famously predicted that Mauritius would be bounded by poor development in 1961 due to its weaknesses pertaining to both weather and price instabilities and a high concentration of the labour force in the sugar sector, Mauritius has transformed itself from a poor sugar-based economy into a country with one of the highest per capita incomes among African countries. Today, th e small island nation is one of Africa’s most prosperous and stable economies and is considered as The Mauritian Miracle. According to Larry W. Bowman, experts in Mauritius, there have been four development aims of the economy into the 1990s, namely: modernising the sugar sector, expanding and diversifying manufacturing infrastructure, diversifying agriculture, and developing tourism. Arguably, between 1977 and 2009, real GDP in Mauritius grew on average by 5.1 percent annually, compared with 3.2 percent for SSA countries. Overview of the Mauritian Economy Since its independence on 12th March 1968, Mauritius has been through several phenomenal evolutions. The Mauritian economy has now moved from a primary sector characterised by unemployment and faced because exportation has been only for sugar which has contributed to a reasonably flourishing economy. In 1975, the Sugar Protocol has come to an end with the price for raw sugar being at its highest ever recorded price of  £648 and this price was thrice as that proposed by the European Commission. Consequently, as nearly all concerned economies favour to diminish its quantity it employs to supply to the UK in accordance to the Commonwealth Sugar Agreement, the economy of Mauritius, on the other hand determines in augmenting 100,000 tones of its supply of raw sugar. This has been a planned policy decision for Mauritius to gain on longer-term expected and steady export earnings whilst sacrificing shorter-term decidedly vulnerable world market conditions. Apart from the sugar boom, other poles of development such as the manufacturing and tourism sectors have been the next target for the continuous growth of the nation. However, in the late 1970s, worsening of the economic conditions began. Petroleum charges escalated, the sugar boom took its end and the balance of payments deficit progressively climbed as imports outpaced exports. By 1979, the BOP shortage totaled to a shocking US$111 million. Accordingly, Mauritius came up to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank for financial aids whereby the state furthermore arranged for some measures, like cutting food subsidies, devaluing the currency, and limiting government wage augmentations, thus causing a big break in the Mauritian trade. During the 1970s, the government passes the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) Act whereby it grants incentive and concessions to businesses sending abroad their commodities. The EPZ has been a successful one, proving better than the sugar sector as being the most important export-earning sector. The employment rate rises due to the fact of more people being employed that in the sugar sector. Mauritius experiences its first trade surplus in 1986. There has been a parallel increase in the number of hotel beds and air flights as tourism expands. There was this feel of optimism in the atmosphere at the same time the nations economic success encouraged comparisons with other Asian economies which were vigorous too, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and the Republic of Korea (South Korea). While Mauritius loses sugar preferences in 2004, the Multi fibre agreement ends in 2005 while African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) preferences phases out in 2012. The Mauritian economy has been somewhat victorious in expanding its economic activities by shifting from its dependence on mainly sugar and textiles into a nation supplying financial intermediation, management consultancy and Information Communication Technology (ICT) services. Agriculture may be imperative to the Mauritian economy but it no longer governs around. Its share in real GDP has fallen from around 12% in 1990 to approximately 4% at present. On the other hand, the service sector is heavily composed of tourism along with financial services which is now the most important pillars in the economy of around 74% of real GDP. Another area of concentration is the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which refers to eight international development goals that have been launched following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations. On the 8th September 2000, Mauritiusalong with other 188 Member States of the United Nations, agree upon the United Nations Millennium Declaration, which exemplifies eight precise goals as well as eighteen targets to develop civilisation for a better future.These objectives are to be accomplished by the year 2015, using year 1990 as a baseline. During the Financial crisis impacting in the middle of 2007 and into 2008 in the US, Ramlall (2009) finds that the main index of the Mauritius stock market has been affected whereby SEMDEX happens to be more vulnerable to changes in international stock markets. He additionally explains on the retreat by foreigners done throughout the crisis on the back of undermined international portfolio diversification. Nonetheless, risks deepen as the crisis persistently lead to an economic instability. Consequently, the banking sector remains susceptible to drop in income and debt servicing capacities in addition to difficulties faced by the sectors which are pillars to the economy. Mauritius being a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has joined in through August 2005 along with several other African nations whereby the latter has approved to macroeconomic convergence criteria and goals for nations in the region. It has been noted that convergence goals have been positio ned for 2008, 2012, 2015 and 2018, with demanding goals set for the other periods whereby the Ministers of Finance being member of the SADC have approved of this. For 2008, SADC forecasts its members to have single-digit inflation rates, budget deficit being less than 5% of GDP, nominal value of public and publicly guaranteed debt as a ratio of GDP should not go beyond 60%, foreign reserves equating to three months’ imports and central bank credit to the state being less than 10% of the preceding year’s tax income –Mboweni (2003). Next, Mauritius is as well a member of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) along with other 18 African countries. It is known that the COMESA Treaty, setting the agenda for COMESA, envelops a great figure of sectors and activities. Nonetheless, the realisation of the whole COMESA mandate is seen as being a long-term objective. Adding more, for the latter to be greatly effective as an organisation, it has characterised its main concerns within its mandate such that the Promotion of Regional Integration through Trade and Investment. The aims and objectives of COMESA are, consequently, to aid in the elimination of the structural and institutional flaws of member States to permit them to accomplish collective and continued development. Mauritius has held up well against the unrelenting global economic crisis, even though its growth momentum has alleviated where the real GDP growth rate projected at 3.3% in 2012 down from 3.8% in 2011. Anticipations for 2013 and 201 4 show a slow but sure improvement with growth rates mounting to 3.8% and 4.2% respectively. Public Finance Management (PFM) systems and institutions are normally strong however more reforms are required to deal with emerging challenges associated to public sector competence and recent transparency concerns. Social and human capital progress is elevated and supported by healthy economic freedoms and a strong social welfare system. Nonetheless, further developments in education superiority and importance are looked for to boost the nation`s competitiveness. Trade Openness Strategy Mauritius has been subject to numerous developments be it on economic or infrastructural grounds among others. The award goes to the level of openness to international horizon as well as to FDI that comes in and goes out of the country. As a matter of fact, this boost the competitiveness of Mauritius as a trading partner within each and every association that it belongs to. We measure trade openness by the ratio of exports plus imported divided by GDP ((X+M)/GDP) throughout our study. In the mid-1980s, the volume of imports grew at a rate of 8.7% as compared to that of exports which grew at a rate of only 5.4%, thus illustrating that Mauritius is an economy which heavily depends on the imports of goods. It is good to note that Mauritius is also known as a Net Food Importing Developing country. Figure 3.1: Computed Trade Openness Ratio, 1980-2012 Mauritius has been an economy protected by tariffs and quotas in the 1970’s and the early 1980’s. On average, the rate of protection has been high and pretty much dispersed. This is inferred from the rather poor openness ratio of 0.9325 in 1983 as is shown in Figure 3.1 above. Following an openness strategy towards the world, an overall improvement in the openness ratio has been noted. However, fluctuations still exist. A rise in import for petroleum products results in the period 2004-2005 which contributes to a deficit in the trade balance. High oil prices in the world market and the depreciation of the rupee vis-à  -vis the US dollar contributed massively towards the trade deficit. Today, our small island is actively participating in the multilateral trading system and is a member of various economic groupings and trade agreements. Participation in regional agreements is crucial for Mauritius because such an act allows exploitation of comparative advantages and economies of scale, improves Mauritian’s competitive edge, allows diversification of exports and finally facilitates easy integration into the world economy. Trade Performance Mauritius is known to have been running deficit in the visible trade balance which has been offset at  times by surpluses on invisible trade account. Bulk exports of Mauritian goods (namely  70% of the total value) comprise of manufacturing products. Though decreasing in share,  clothing remains the main manufactured export (from 57% in 2001 to 36% in recent years). Sugar has remained the main agricultural export, contributing around 16% to total merchandise  trade. Imports as well continued to be dominated by manufactured goods. Leading imports include  machinery and transport equipment, radio/television transmission apparatus, textile and  chemicals. The share of textiles has decreased from 20% in 2001 to 7% in recent years. Nevertheless, textiles remain an important import item. The EU is the major destination for most of the Mauritian export. The bulk of Mauritian sugar   and a large share of its textiles and clothing are destined to the EU. The UK remains the major  single destination followed by France and the US. On import grounds, the EU supplies around  one third of the total value of Mauritius’ merchandise imports. Other major suppliers include  China, South Africa, France, India and Germany. The share of Middle East countries (Bahrain,  Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates) has considerably increased, reflecting mainly the  increase of oil prices. Economic Performance Figure 3.2: GDP (in million US$) for Mauritius, 1980-2012 Figure 3.3: Inflation Rate (%), 1980-2012 Figure 3.4: Unemployment Rate (%) in Mauritius, 1983-2012 Figure 3.5: Computed FDI to GDP Ratio, 1980-2012

Alice Walkers The Color Purple Essay -- Race, Color Purple Essays

Rape, incest, sex, forced labor, and a little reefer on the side. These are all of the components of a novel by Alice Walker. All of these views are illustrated proficiently in Alice Walker’s third novel, â€Å"The Color Purple.† Each one of these aspects had a lasting impression upon the ideals and notions of the time. Walker's writing's helped to break the racial barrier that existed in some people's minds. One way that the barrier was destroyed was through Walker's depiction of an imperfect black person. If a white person wrote about a less than perfect black person than it was considered racist. Now that a black person is writing about other blacks that are foretaking in acts that are, in their eyes, immoral and corrupt, the subject is brought into a new light. These actions are discussed out in the open, and the idea that all people have their own "flaws", is thought to be more fisable. Walker combines all of these issues in her story in a deceptive way. They all are linked together by way of a semi-believable story line with one major overlaying theme. Prescott sums it up nicely, "Love redeems, meanness kills"(p74). This is illustrated in many ways in Walker's novel. One perfect example of this is Mr. _____. Mr. _____, as he is called throughout the novel, was a wife beater, who, having been denied Celie's sister, marries Celie to look after his children. He beats her and rapes her and is just plain nasty to her. Finally, one day, after Celie discovers another mean thing that Mr. ____ did to her, she leaves with her girlfriend to start a new life. Mr. _____ is left all alone. He starts to fall apart. He becomes afraid of the dark, and just gives up on life. That was his meanness that started to destroy his life. Now, just as Mr. ____ is nearing death, his son Harpo, starts to take care of him. Mr.___ starts to love him again. Now Mr.____'s life takes a toward revival. He becomes a new man. Once he starts to love his life starts to look up again. His and his son's love redeemed him. "The more I wonder, he say, the more I love. And people start to love you back, I bet, I say. They do, he say, surprise. Harpo seem to love me." (Walker, pg. 290) Walker's novel is very unique in regards to style. Her use of black idiom is very effective and adds the extra fragment of actuality and authenticity to the story line.... .... Shug tells Celie about how one must forget all other issues they have and stop to notice God’s creations. Celie says, â€Å"Now that my eyes opening, I feels like a fool. Next to any little scrub of bush in my yard, Mr.______’s evil sort of shrink... You have to get a man off your eyeball before you can see anything a’tall.† (204). Celie has been too caught up in her troubles to see the beauty in life right before her. The burdens in her life seem like nothing compared to the splendor of Gods creation. Celie is a good example of how certain qualities of different people can form a strong woman. Unlike Shug, Celie doesn’t need men in her life and doesn’t have to confront that burden. Celie learns to be valorous and stick up for herself from both Sofia and Shug. She always had the power to love and trust but Shug makes it stronger by telling Celie to look past her hardships and notice the gifts that God has given her. By gaining this knowledge Celie transforms into a whole new woman and she is finally happy with her life. She has a high self-esteem and is surrounded by the people she loves. Work Cited: Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. New York: Harcourt, 1982. Alice Walker's The Color Purple Essay -- Race, Color Purple Essays Rape, incest, sex, forced labor, and a little reefer on the side. These are all of the components of a novel by Alice Walker. All of these views are illustrated proficiently in Alice Walker’s third novel, â€Å"The Color Purple.† Each one of these aspects had a lasting impression upon the ideals and notions of the time. Walker's writing's helped to break the racial barrier that existed in some people's minds. One way that the barrier was destroyed was through Walker's depiction of an imperfect black person. If a white person wrote about a less than perfect black person than it was considered racist. Now that a black person is writing about other blacks that are foretaking in acts that are, in their eyes, immoral and corrupt, the subject is brought into a new light. These actions are discussed out in the open, and the idea that all people have their own "flaws", is thought to be more fisable. Walker combines all of these issues in her story in a deceptive way. They all are linked together by way of a semi-believable story line with one major overlaying theme. Prescott sums it up nicely, "Love redeems, meanness kills"(p74). This is illustrated in many ways in Walker's novel. One perfect example of this is Mr. _____. Mr. _____, as he is called throughout the novel, was a wife beater, who, having been denied Celie's sister, marries Celie to look after his children. He beats her and rapes her and is just plain nasty to her. Finally, one day, after Celie discovers another mean thing that Mr. ____ did to her, she leaves with her girlfriend to start a new life. Mr. _____ is left all alone. He starts to fall apart. He becomes afraid of the dark, and just gives up on life. That was his meanness that started to destroy his life. Now, just as Mr. ____ is nearing death, his son Harpo, starts to take care of him. Mr.___ starts to love him again. Now Mr.____'s life takes a toward revival. He becomes a new man. Once he starts to love his life starts to look up again. His and his son's love redeemed him. "The more I wonder, he say, the more I love. And people start to love you back, I bet, I say. They do, he say, surprise. Harpo seem to love me." (Walker, pg. 290) Walker's novel is very unique in regards to style. Her use of black idiom is very effective and adds the extra fragment of actuality and authenticity to the story line.... .... Shug tells Celie about how one must forget all other issues they have and stop to notice God’s creations. Celie says, â€Å"Now that my eyes opening, I feels like a fool. Next to any little scrub of bush in my yard, Mr.______’s evil sort of shrink... You have to get a man off your eyeball before you can see anything a’tall.† (204). Celie has been too caught up in her troubles to see the beauty in life right before her. The burdens in her life seem like nothing compared to the splendor of Gods creation. Celie is a good example of how certain qualities of different people can form a strong woman. Unlike Shug, Celie doesn’t need men in her life and doesn’t have to confront that burden. Celie learns to be valorous and stick up for herself from both Sofia and Shug. She always had the power to love and trust but Shug makes it stronger by telling Celie to look past her hardships and notice the gifts that God has given her. By gaining this knowledge Celie transforms into a whole new woman and she is finally happy with her life. She has a high self-esteem and is surrounded by the people she loves. Work Cited: Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. New York: Harcourt, 1982.

Lender Liability and the Duty of Good Faith :: essays research papers

Lender Liability and the Duty of Good Faith I.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Introduction From time to time, lenders and their attorneys announce that lender liability is no longer an issue with which the lending community needs to be concerned. What usually prompts this proclamation of the death of lender liability is a recent case in which a court has summarily rejected a borrower’s claim that the lender violated the duty of good faith and fair dealing. Many courts have rejected borrowers’ lawsuits which are based on allegations of the violation of the lender’s duty of good faith. Nevertheless, lender liability should continue to be an area of concern to lenders. Although courts often dismiss cases based on a borrower’s claims of lender bad faith, in other cases courts find that lenders have indeed engaged in conduct that constitutes bad faith. Most courts carefully examine the unique facts of each case, consider the testimony of experts, and listen to the ever-inventive arguments of counsel. A loan agreement, like every other contract governed by the Uniform Commercial Code (the â€Å"U.C.C.†), imposes on both the borrower and the lender â€Å"an obligation of good faith in its performance or enforcement.† This simple good faith performance obligation may appear to be an uncontroversial codification of a basic, minimal standard of human behavior. It is proving, however, to be problematic to commercial lenders. Some courts have been quick to hold that, under certain circumstances, a lender, which believed it was merely exercising its contractual rights, nevertheless may have breached the duty of good faith performance obligation. For example, in 1985 the Sixth Circuit, invoking the good faith performance obligation, affirmed a jury verdict awarding $7,500,000 to a borrower whose lender refused to advance funds under a loan agreement, which specifically and unequivocally permitted the lender to exercise sole and absolute discretion to refuse to advance additional funds. The Alaska Supreme Court, likewise invoking the good faith performance obligation, held that a borrower could recover both actual and punitive damages from a lender who had taken possession of collateral without notice, notwithstanding the unambiguous terms of the loan and security agreement authorizing such repossession. On the other hand, many courts have abandoned the imposition of good faith obligations on the lender beyond what is set forth in certain loan agreements. In 1987, the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts held that the holder of a demand note does not need a good faith reason or any reason at all to demand payment.

Negative Effects of Social Media Essay

As technology advances it becomes a big part of our lives and has changed the way the world communicates. Being a teen in this generation we have basically grown up with cell phones and social media. Some say that these two things have greatly impacted us in a negative way. According to Alive. com a study showed that 73% of teenagers use some type of social networking and along with the usage of social media, teens today are at risk of anything from cyber bullying to affecting the development of teenagers. Social media has become very popular and is causing a lot of problems in today’s teens. â€Å"Many teens learn the hard way once they hit â€Å"send,† there is no such thing as an â€Å"erase† button. † Pat Etheridge A former CNN correspondent specializing in children’s health and family issues said this. In this case we can look at a cause in effect in lack of communication when communicating over the Internet or text messaging we miss out on other important ways of communication such as body language being an important part. see more:social media causes isolation Simple messages can be miscommunicated into something else, and can lead to hurt feelings or even the loss of friend ship without even seeing someone’s body language or hearing the tone of their voice. In the â€Å"real world† when face to face with a co-worker or your boss body, language it is very important It defines a part of who you are and your identity. Now social networking is not just Facebook, Twitter, MySpace it also encompasses online dating sites as well. Teens use Social dating sites and that will blur the boundaries by mixing the elements of the two together. There are a lot of heartwarming story’s on those dating sites but let’s just get real for a moment, how many other people tried to contact that person, how many dates or people did that person see before they found the â€Å"right one† . This eliminates the interaction that people have to experience between one another such as the â€Å"icebreakers† there are been many cases of bad things happening take for example the most recent Christian mingle. There have been many reports of date rape victims; it’s easy to lie about the way you look or who you are over the Internet. Dating sites are also linking up with popular sites like Facebook and twitter, allowing you to connect through them, and intern shares more information about yourself that you might not want other people to know about. Many have argued that social media has more positive effects on teens than negative. Some of these people say that social media actually helps engage teens in more activities like volunteer work and can help a enhance teen’s communication, but it’s just the opposite. Social media does have some benefits but we need to think about how it affects the developing mind of teenagers. Since teens are known to give into peer pressure easier, they can easily find themselves participating in risky behaviors and in tougher situations than normal. A lot of social media users also use sites like Facebook to rekindle old relationships and create new ones by messaging. This is a good thing that people are more outgoing but if this is the only way people talk it could create a lack of communication skills instead of enhancing them. Communication skills are necessary for almost everything and are especially needed for things like job interviews and just meeting new people. Overall Social media has its ups and downs but in the long run the effects are for the most part negative. It’s obvious that we can’t and won’t stop using social networking sites but we can prevent things like cyber bullying and internet sex crimes by blocking or protecting your social page but as for the social skills, depression, and overall development can be helped by limiting your time/our time on things like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter.

Literary analysis of the crucible Essay

Arthur Miller is a great author that uses many forms of syntax, figurative language, and diction to enhance his writing throughout The Crucible. Miller uses figurative language throughout The Crucible, to put emphasis on certain ideas and things. Miller also uses diction in The Crucible to show that the story is taking place in the past and to give the story a more biblical feel to it. One other thing that Arthur Miller does really well is his use of syntax. He uses syntax throughout The Crucible to show the intelligence levels of different characters. Miller uses these three different things in combination throughout The Crucible to enhance the story and to tell the story of the witch craft trials in an insightful way. Miller uses diction, all through The Crucible, to show that the story being told is taking place in the past and to make the story have a biblical effect to it. In Act three, John Proctor begs for his name to not be blotted out and says, â€Å"Tell them I confessed myself; say proctor broke his knees and wept like a woman†. Through, using the word woman instead of baby, which most of people would use in this time period, he uses the word woman, which gives the reader a feeling of being in the past, because in that time woman were looked upon as second class citizens. When Proctor and Abigail speak with each other in Act one, Abigail explains to Proctor that Elizabeth is talking bad about her and that she is ruining her name in the community. She explains this to him by saying, â€Å"She is blackening my name in the village†. From, the diction that Miller uses by using the word blackening, it puts an old feeling to the story and it also puts a biblical feel to the story, which enhances the story by making you feel like you are in the 1690’s. Another great example of Miller using diction to make the story feel old and biblical is in Act two when, Elizabeth explains to Proctor that it is not her that judges him, but he judges himself. She says to him, â€Å"The magistrate that sits in your heart that judges you†. By, using these words to simply say â€Å"I’m not judging you; you’re judging yourself† Miller makes it feel as if The Crucible was written in the 1690’s when, in actuality it was written in the 1950’s. Arthur Miller also uses Figurative language in The Crucible very well, to  put emphasis on things and make them seem more important. In Act two of The Crucible Proctor explains to Elizabeth that she is being cold hearted and having no mercy by saying: â€Å"oh, Elizabeth, your justice would freeze beer†. Beer has a very low freezing point; by using this figurative language Miller puts emphasis on how cold hearted Elizabeth is being. In Act two of The Crucible Francis Nurse defends his wife against her accusation of witchcraft by saying, â€Å"My wife is the very brick and mortar of the church.† This use of figurative language by Miller puts great emphasis on how important his wife is to the church. Not only is she important to the church, but this quote emphasizes her importance, by telling the reader that the church would be nothing without her. Another great use of figurative language used by Miller is in Act two when Proctor says: â€Å"I will curse her hotter than the oldest cinder†. This is said when, Proctor, discovers that Abigail is accusing his wife of witch craft. By, Miller using figurative language he puts a great emphasis on something that simply means â€Å"go to hell†. By, Miller putting emphasis on his writing he makes it much more entertaining and dramatic, to read The Crucible. Throughout The Crucible Miller uses syntax to show the education levels of different characters. The character Tituba, a slave from Barbados, says, â€Å"He say Mr. Parris must be kill! Mr. Parris no goodly man, Mr. Parris, mean man and no gentle man.† She says this in Act one, when explaining how she was possessed, by the devil. Miller uses the word order of Tituba to show that she is not very well educated. On the other hand, he uses the word order of what Danforth, in Act three says, â€Å"I am amazed to find you in such uproar. I have only good report of your character.† to show that Danforth is educated. Arthur Miller’s, peculiar, use of diction gives the readers the feeling of the story taking place in the 1690’s. He also uses figurative language to exaggerate and put emphasis on things. One other thing that Miller does really well is use syntax to show how some characters are educated more than others. Arthur Miller uses these three things to tell the story of The Crucible in an exciting and eventful way. Because, he does this he makes a story that could be as boring as watching paint dry, and turns it into a  very intriguing story.

Life in the Slums Essay

Life In The Slums Plan Intro: Life is tough living in the slums, but I’m used to it now so it’s not as hard as it was when we first moved here. Especially considering we were looking to come to the city for a better lifestyle, and to have a better chance for my parents to get a job, and for my siblings and I to go to school. My name is Anikal and I’m 13, I have 3 older brothers, and one younger sister. Para 1: living conditions and hygiene and population density Moved to Mumbai 4 years ago looking for a better life- ended up in slums It is basically a tip where we live It’s so crowded- 56% of residences have 3 or more people living in a single room It’s so dirty, it smells (although we are used to it now) People evacuating their bowls in the middle of the streets- 5 million residents don’t have access to toilets We don’t have showers we have to find little pools to clean off in- they’re generally dirty water It is a tough life to get used to- nothing is easy We were playing cricket on a big stretch of concrete and the police came chasing after us- we had to run and weave through the slums Para 2: work and employment opportunities and school and exploitation of children We originally moved to the city for the reasons of work and schooling My siblings and I get to go to school twice a week as that’s all we can afford We all have to work to get enough money for our family to eat, and to go to school It can be tough labor a lot of the time for little amounts of money We are working towards starting a business selling stuff- we aren’t sure what yet There aren’t many opportunities in the slums for work, so you have to take anything you can get We thought there would be a lot of opportunities in Mumbai There are in the main city, but very few in the slums We have to go around asking everyone if there’s anything we can do for them to earn a little bit of money We don’t get to keep that money for ourselves, we give it to mum and dad, and they use it for all the things we need Para 3: buildings and structures and infrastructure and police and security There are so many buildings in a small area in our slum Over half the population lives on 12% of the land When you are walking around there is only a small gap for sunlight to get through All the buildings are right together and the roofs hang over the footpath- if you can even call it a foot path There are some buildings that are more than one story, but they aren’t very safe For some people it doesn’t matter how unsafe it is, they just need somewhere to live The security isn’t all that great in the slums The police are sort of against us, when ever we go places we aren’t supposed to they’re straight onto us and will chase us for ages With people in the main city, they will politely tell them off, but us, straight into a full chase. Our house is substandard When it rains torrentially it sometimes leak We have hardly any access to hospitals and medical attention Conclusion: Life in the slums is tough. We moved to the city with the intention of starting fresh, and having more opportunities but we ended up in the slums. We’ve been here for four years and it’s been hard. I’m used to it now though. It is very unhygienic and packed. The population density is ridiculous. It’s been a hard run in terms of work and school, we only get a small education, and don’t have a job, we just have to try help out with same labor work for some money. There are so many buildings in such a small area, and we don’t have any security, and the police are just out to catch us doing the wrong thing. Our house is very small and squishy, but it’s the life I’m now used to, whether I like it or not, it’s how it is. Essay Life is tough living in the slums, but I’m used to it now so it’s not as hard as it was when we first moved here. Especially considering we were looking to come to the city for a better lifestyle, a chance for my parents to get a job, and for my siblings and I to get an education. My name is Anikal, I’m 13, I have 3 older brothers, and one younger sister. I’m live in the slums of Mumbai. My family and I moved to Mumbai looking for a better lifestyle, but ended up in the slums pretty quickly. It is basically like a tip where we live, it’s terrible. It is so crowded, people everywhere, and in 56% of the residences there are three or more people living in just one room! It is all so dirty, and smells (although we are used to the smell now). People just go to the toilet in the streets, 5 million people don’t have access to toilets, and in Dharavi there is one toilet per 1440 people. We don’t have access to showers- not many people do, but we have to use the water we have, or find pools of water we can clean off in. It’s a tough life to get used to in the slums, nothing comes easy. We were just playing cricket out the back of the slums on the concrete on someone else’s land, but no one was there, we weren’t affecting anyone, and the police just chased us on motorbikes with sticks and all, and we had to run back into the slums, on the roofs trying to get away. We eventually got away then ran back the other way passed them on the roof, we saw them though the gap in between two houses. We originally moved to the city of Mumbai in search of better work and schooling opportunities. My siblings and I only get to go to school twice a week, and get a small education as that’s all we can afford on our very small budget. My whole family has to work as much as we can helping people out, doing laboring work just to get enough money for the things we need. We are working towards trying to start up our own small business, and hopefully then have a steady income that we can live off. There aren’t many opportunities in the slums of Mumbai, so we have to take any work we can get. There are many opportunities if you’re in the main part of Mumbai, but unfortunately we’re in the slums. My siblings and I don’t get any pocket money, any money we go out and earn goes straight to our parents so that they can buy all the things we need, like food. There are so many buildings and other structures in our small area of the slums. It is packed, over half of the population lives on only 12% of the land. When you are walking around through the slums, there is only a small gap for any sunlight to get through between the roofs of buildings, over the footpaths- if you can even call it a footpath. There are some buildings in our slum that are more than one story, they aren’t very safe though, but for some people, thats their only option. We don’t really have any security in our slums, and the police are just out to catch us, whenever we are doing anything wrong, even the smallest thing that would normally just be a warning for others, they chase us all through our slums trying to catch us. They’re just constantly out to get us. Our house is very substandard, it’s just like a little hut, with two rooms that we’re all squished into. When there is torrential rain it can sometimes get in, but it’s u sually pretty good. We have hardly any access to any sort of medical care, and hospitals, so when we get sick or injured, we just have to hope its not too bad and that we can get through and come out better in time. Life in the slums is tough. We moved to the city with the intention of starting fresh, and having more opportunities but we ended up in the slums. We’ve been here for four years and it’s been hard. I’m used to it now though. It is very unhygienic and packed. The population density is ridiculous. It’s been a hard run in terms of work and school, we only get a small education, and don’t have a job, we just have to try help out with same labor work for some money. There are so many buildings in such a small area, and we don’t have any security, and the police are just out to catch us doing the wrong thing. Our house is very small and squishy, but it’s the life I’m now used to, whether I like it or not, it’s how it is. Bibliography: â€Å"Living conditions in the slums.† Sites.google. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Apr. 2013. . Marotta, Stephen. â€Å"Slums – mumbaiindias jimdo page!.† Introduction – mumbaiindias jimdo page!. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Aug. 2013. . Slumdog millionaire. Dir. Danny Boyle. Perf. Jamal Malik. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2009. DVD. hallam, james. â€Å"Dharavi – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.† Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Aug. 2013. .

Tokyo ben and Kansai ben – Japanese has many local dialects

Japanese has many local dialects. The two dialects with the largest number of speakers are the eastern and western dialects. The eastern dialect is called â€Å"Tokyo ben† which is equivalent to standard Japanese and the western dialect is called â€Å"Kansai ben† which is spoken in western Japan such as Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe. There are four main differences between Tokyo ben and Kansai ben affecting vocabulary, spelling, pronunciation and grammar. The first difference is vocabulary. Different dialects use different words for the same things. For example, â€Å"arigato†(thank you) is used in Tokyo ben while â€Å"maido ookini†(thank you) is used in Kansai ben instead (Rie-Higuchi,2002). The easterners say â€Å"yano-assatte†(the day after tomorrow), â€Å"shoppai†(salty) and â€Å"-nai†(not) whereas the westerners use â€Å"shi-asatte† (the day after tomorrow), â€Å"ka-rai†(salty) and â€Å"-n† or â€Å"-nu† (not) (Shibatani,2002). The second difference between two dialects is spelling. The numbers of syllables decrease in Kansai ben. Many words in Tokyo ben are shorten when are used in Kansai ben. For example, he word â€Å"yoku†(very well) in Tokyo ben become â€Å"yo†(very well) in Kansai ben(Shibatani, 2002). â€Å"Omoshiroi† (interesting) is spelled in Tokyo ben while Kansai ben spells â€Å"omoroi†(interesting) ( Shibatani,2002). The most obvious difference between two dialects is pronunciation. Tokyo ben has such features as â€Å"z†, â€Å"chi† and â€Å"ku† are pronounced like â€Å"j† and â€Å"gu† in Kasai ben. For example, â€Å"0† (zero) is changed into â€Å"dero† or â€Å"jero†( Long,2002). â€Å"1†(ichi) is pronounced as † iji† (Long,2002). â€Å"6†(roku) is pronounced â€Å"rogu† in Kasai ben(Long,2002). Moreover, the first syllable is more emphasized in Tokyo ben while the second syllable is more carefully pronounced in Kasai ben. For example, â€Å"tabako† is pronounced like â€Å"tabako† in Kansai ben (Shibatani,2002). It is the same as in the case of the name of a person. â€Å"Mr. Tekeda† is pronounced in Tokyo ben while Kansai ben pronounces as † Mr. Tekeda†(Shibatani,2002). The last difference includes grammar which is concerned with the particle. The particle â€Å"-su† is omitted from verbs in Kansai ben. Therefore, â€Å"masu ka† in Tokyo ben (standard Japanese) ecome â€Å"makka† and † desu ka† become â€Å"dekka† in Kansai ben. For example, the verb â€Å"tabemasu ka†(eat) in Tokyo ben is changed into â€Å"tabemakka†(eat) in Kansai ben(Shibatani,2002). Also, â€Å"nan desu ka†(what's it? ) become â€Å"nan dekka†(what's it? ) in Kansai ben(Shibatani,2002). Furthermore, the particle â€Å"da†, which is thought to function as the verb â€Å"to be† or † to do†, is replaced by particle â€Å"ya† in Kansai ben. For example, â€Å"uso da†(you're kidding) in Tokyo ben is replaced by â€Å"uso ya† and † So dattara†(if it's true) is changed into † So yattara†(if it's true) in Kansai ben(Palter,2002).