The Return: Midnight Chapter 17

Meredith and Matt were sitting at the breakfast table, which seemed sadly empty without Bonnie. It was amazing how much space that slight body had seemed to fil , and how much more serious everyone was without her. Meredith knew that if Elena had done her best, she could have offset it. But she also knew that Elena had one thing on her mind above al others, and that was Stefan, who was stricken with guilt for al owing his brother to abduct Bonnie. And meanwhile Meredith knew that both she and Matt were feeling guilty too, because today they would be leaving the other three, even if only for the evening. They each had been summoned home by parents who demanded to see them for dinner. Mrs. Flowers clearly didn't want them to feel too badly. â€Å"With the help you've given, I can make our urns,†she said. â€Å"Since Matt has found my wheel – â€Å" â€Å"I didn't exactly find it,†Matt said under his breath. â€Å"It was there in the storage room al the time and it fel on me.† † – and since Meredith has received her pictures – along, I'm sure, with an email from Mr. Saltzman – perhaps she could get them enlarged or whatever.† â€Å"Of course, and show them to the Saitous, too, to make sure that the symbols say the things we want them to,†Meredith promised. â€Å"And Bonnie can – â€Å" She broke off short. Idiot! She was an idiot, she thought. And, as a hunter-slayer, she was supposed to be clear-minded and at al times maintain control. She felt terrible when she looked at Matt and saw the naked pain in his face. â€Å"Dear Bonnie wil surely be home soon,†Mrs. Flowers finished for her. And we al know that's a lie, and I don't have to be psychic to detect it, Meredith thought. She noticed that Mrs. Flowers hadn't weighed in with anything from Ma ma. â€Å"We'l al be just fine here,†Elena said, final y picking up the bal as she realized that Mrs. Flowers was looking at her with ladylike distress. â€Å"You two think we're some kind of babies who need to be taken care of,†she said, smiling at Matt and Meredith, â€Å"but you're just babies too! Off you go! But be careful.† They went, Meredith giving Elena one last glance. Elena nodded very slightly, then turned stiffly, mimicking holding a bayonet. It was the changing of the guard. Elena let Stefan help her clean up the dishes – they were al letting him do little things now because he looked so much better. They spent the morning trying to contact Bonnie in different ways. But then Mrs. Flowers asked if Elena could board up the last few of the basement windows, and Stefan couldn't stand it. Matt and Meredith had already done a far more dangerous job. They'd hung two tarps from the house's ridgepole, each one hanging down one side of the main roof. On each tarp were the characters that Isobel's mother put on the Post-it Note amulets she always gave them, painted at an enormous scale in black paint. Stefan had been al owed only to watch and give suggestions from the widow's walk above his attic bedroom. But now†¦ â€Å"We'l nail up the boards together,†he said firmly, and went off to get a hammer and nails. It wasn't real y such a hard job anyway. Elena held the boards and Stefan wielded the hammer and she trusted him not to hit her fingers, which meant that they got on very quickly. It was a perfect day – clear, sunny, with a slight breeze. Elena wondered what was happening to Bonnie, right now, and if Damon was taking care of her properly – or at al . She seemed unable to shake off her worries these last days: over Stefan, over Bonnie, and over a curious feeling that she had to know what was going on in town. Maybe she could disguise herself†¦ God, no! Stefan said voicelessly. When she turned he was spitting out nails and looking both horrified and ashamed. Apparently she'd been projecting. â€Å"I'm sorry,†he said before Elena could get the nails out of her mouth, â€Å"but you know better than anyone why you can't go.† â€Å"But it's maddening not knowing what's happening,†Elena said, having gotten rid of her nails. â€Å"We don't know anything. What's happening to Bonnie, what state the town's in – â€Å" â€Å"Let's finish this board,†Stefan said. â€Å"And then let me hold you.† When the last board was secure, Stefan raised her from the lower embankment where she was sitting, not bride-style, but kid-style, putting her toes on top of his feet. He danced her a little, whirled her a couple of times in the air, and then nabbed her coming down again. â€Å"I know your problem,†he said soberly. Elena looked up quickly. â€Å"You do?†she said, alarmed. Stefan nodded, and to her further alarm said, â€Å"It's Love-itis. Means the patient has a whole slew of people she cares about, and she can't be happy unless each and every one of them is safe and happy themselves.† Elena deliberately slipped off his shoes and looked up at him. â€Å"Some more than others,†she said hesitantly. Stefan looked down at her and then he took her in his arms. â€Å"I'm not as good as you,†he said while Elena's heart pounded in shame and remorse for ever having touched Damon, ever having danced with him, ever having kissed him. â€Å"If you are happy, that's al I want, after that prison. I can live; I can die†¦peaceful y.† â€Å"If we're happy,†Elena corrected. â€Å"I won't tempt the gods. I'l settle for you.† â€Å"No, you can't! Don't you see? If you disappeared again, I'd worry and fret and fol ow you. To Hel if I had to.† â€Å"I'l take you with me wherever I go,†Stefan said hastily. â€Å"If you'l take me with you.† Elena relaxed slightly. That would do, for now. As long as Stefan was with her she could stand anything. They sat and cuddled, right under the open sky, even with a maple tree and a clump of slender waving beeches nearby. She extended her aura a little and felt it touch Stefan's. Peace flooded into her, and al the dark thoughts were left behind. Almost al . â€Å"Since I first saw you, I loved you – but it was the wrong kind of love. See how long it took me to figure that out?†Elena whispered into the hol ow of his throat. â€Å"Since I first saw you, I loved you – but I didn't know who you real y were. You were like a ghost in a dream. But you put me straight pretty quickly,†Stefan said, obviously glad that he could brag about her. â€Å"And we've survived – everything. They say long-distance relationships can be pretty difficult,†he added, laughing, and then he stopped, and she could feel al his faculties fixed on her suddenly, breath stopping so he could hear her better. â€Å"But then, there's Bonnie and Damon,†he said before she could say or think a word. â€Å"We have to find them soon – and they'd damn well better be together – or it had better have been Bonnie's decision to part.† â€Å"There's Bonnie and Damon,†agreed Elena, glad that she could share even her darkest thoughts with someone. â€Å"I can't think about them. I can't not think about them. We do have to find them, and very fast – but I pray that they're with Lady Ulma now. Maybe Bonnie is going to a bal or gala. Maybe Damon is hunting with that Black Ops program.† â€Å"As long as nobody's real y hurt.† â€Å"Yes.†Elena tried hard to tuck herself closer to Stefan. She wanted to – be closer to him, somehow. The way they had when she had been out of her body and she had just sunk into him. But of course, with regular bodies, they couldn't†¦ But of course they could. Now. Her blood†¦ Elena real y didn't know which of them thought of it first. She looked away, embarrassed at even having considered it – and caught the tail end of Stefan looking away too. â€Å"I don't think we have the right,†she whispered. â€Å"Not to – be that happy – when everyone else is miserable. Or doing things for the town or for Bonnie.† â€Å"Of course we don't,†Stefan said firmly, but he had to gulp a little first. â€Å"No,†Elena said. â€Å"No,†Stefan said firmly, and then right in the middle of her echoing â€Å"no,†he went and pul ed her up and kissed her breathless. And of course, Elena couldn't let him do that and not get even. So she demanded, Stillbreathless, but almost angry, that he say â€Å"no†again, and when he did it she caught him and kissed him. â€Å"You were happy,†she accused a moment later. â€Å"I felt it.† Stefan was too much of a gentleman to accuse her of being happy because of anything she might do. He said, â€Å"I couldn't help it. It just happened by itself. I felt our minds together, and that made me happy. But then I remembered about poor Bonnie. And – â€Å" â€Å"Poor Damon?† â€Å"Well, somehow I don't think we need to go so far as to cal him ‘poor Damon.'But I did remember him,†he said. â€Å"Well done,†Elena said. â€Å"We'd better go inside now,†Stefan said. And then hastily, â€Å"Downstairs, I mean. Maybe we can think of something more to do for them.† â€Å"Like what? There's not a thing I can think of. I did meditation and Attempt to Contact by Out-of-Body Experience – â€Å" â€Å"From nine thirty to ten thirty A.M.,†Stefan said. â€Å"And meanwhile I was trying al frequency telepathic cal s. No response.† â€Å"Then we tried with the Ouija board.† â€Å"For half an hour – and al we got was nonsense.† â€Å"It did tel us the clay was coming.† â€Å"I think that was me bumping it toward ‘yes.'† â€Å"Then I tried to tap into the ley lines below us for Power – â€Å" â€Å"From eleven to around eleven thirty,†Stefan recited. â€Å"While I tried to go into hibernation to have a prophetic dream†¦.† â€Å"We really tried hard,†Elena said grimly. â€Å"And then we nailed the last few boards up,†Stefan added. â€Å"Bringing us to a little after twelve thirty P.M.† â€Å"Can you think of a single Plan – we're down to G or H now – that might al ow us to help them any more?† â€Å"I can't. I just honestly can't,†Stefan said. Then he added, hesitantly, â€Å"Maybe Mrs. Flowers has some housework for us. Or† – even more hesitantly, testing the waters – â€Å"we could go into town.† â€Å"No! You're definitely not strong enough for that!†Elena said sharply. â€Å"And there's no more housework,†she added. Then she threw everything to the wind. Every responsibility. Every rationality. Just like that. She began to tow Stefan to the house so they could get there quicker. â€Å"Elena – â€Å" I'm burning my bridges! Elena thought stubbornly, and suddenly she didn't care. And if Stefan cared she would bite him. But it was as if some spel had suddenly come over her so that she felt she would die without his touch. She wanted to touch him. She wanted him to touch her. She wanted him to be her mate. â€Å"Elena!†Stefan could hear what she was thinking. He was torn, of course, Elena thought. Stefan was always torn. But how dare he be torn about this? She turned around to face him, blazing. â€Å"You don't want to!† â€Å"I don't want to do it and then find out I've Influenced you into it!† â€Å"You were Influencing me?†shouted Elena. Stefan threw out his hands and yel ed, â€Å"How can I know when I want you so much?† Oh. Well, that was better. There was a little glitter in Elena's side-eye and she looked at it and realized that Mrs. Flowers had quietly shut a window. Elena darted a glance at Stefan. He was trying not to blush. She doubled over, trying not to laugh. Then she stood on his shoes again. â€Å"Maybe we deserve an hour alone† – dangerously. â€Å"A whole hour?†Stefan's conspiratorial whisper made an hour sound like eternity. â€Å"We do deserve it,†Elena said, enthral ed. She began to tow him again. â€Å"No.†Stefan pul ed her back, lifted her – bridal-style – and suddenly they were going straight up, fast. They shot up three stories and a little more and landed on the platform of the widow's walk above his room. â€Å"But it's locked from inside – â€Å" Stefan stomped on the trapdoor – hard. The door disappeared. Elena was impressed. They floated down into Stefan's room amid a shaft of light and motes of dust that looked like fireflies or stars. â€Å"I'm a little nervous,†Elena said. She heeled her sandals off and slid out of her jeans and top and into bed†¦only to find Stefan already there. They're faster, she thought. As fast as you think you are, they're always faster. She turned toward Stefan in the bed. She was wearing a camisole and underwear. She was scared. â€Å"Don't,†he said. â€Å"I don't even have to bite you.† â€Å"You do so. It's al that weird stuff about my blood.† â€Å"Oh, yeah,†he said, as if he'd forgotten. Elena would bet that he hadn't forgotten a word about her blood†¦al owing vampires to do things they couldn't otherwise. Her life energy gave them back al their human abilities, and he wouldn't forget that. They're smarter, she thought. â€Å"Stefan, it's not supposed to be like this! I'm supposed to parade in front of you in a golden negligee designed by Lady Ulma, with jewels by Lucen and golden stilts – which I don't own. And there are supposed to be scattered flower petals on the bed and roses in little round bubble bowls and white vanil a candles.† â€Å"Elena,†Stefan said, â€Å"come here.† She went into his arms, and let herself breathe in the fresh smel of him, warm and spicy, with a trace of rusty nails. You're my life, Stefan told her silently. We're not going to do anything today. There's not much time, and you deserve your golden negligee and your roses and candles. If not from Lady Ulma, from the finest Earth designers that money can provide. But†¦kiss me? Elena kissed him wil ingly, so glad that he was wil ing to wait. The kiss was warm and comforting and she didn't mind the slight taste of rust. And it was wonderful to be with someone who would provide exactly what she needed, whether that was a slight mind probe, just to make her feel safer, or†¦ And then sheet lightning hit them. It seemed to come from both of them at once, and then Elena involuntarily clamped her teeth on Stefan's lip, drawing blood. Stefan locked his arms around her, and barely waited for her to back off a little, before deliberately taking her lower lip in his own teeth and†¦after a moment of tension that seemed to last forever†¦biting down hard. Elena almost cried out. She almost then and there unleashed the Still-undefined Wings of Destruction on him. But two things stopped her. One, Stefan had never, ever hurt her before. And, two, she was being drawn into something so ancient and mystical that she couldn't stop now. A minute of finessing and Stefan had the two little wounds aligned. Blood surged from Elena's bleeding lip and, in direct connection with Stefan's less serious wound, caused a backflow. Her blood into his lip. And the same thing happened with Stefan's blood; some of it, rich with Power, rushed into Elena. It wasn't perfect. A bead of blood swell ed and stood gleaming on Elena's lip. But Elena couldn't have cared less. A moment later the bead dropped down into Stefan's mouth and she felt the sheer staggering power of how much he loved her. She herself was concentrating on one single tiny feeling, somewhere in the center of this storm they'd cal ed up. This kind of exchange of blood – she was sure as she could be – this was the old way, the way that two vampires could share blood and love and their souls. She was being drawn into Stefan's mind. She felt his soul, pure and unconstrained, swirling around her with a thousand different emotions, tears from his past, joy from the present, al open without a trace of a shield from her. She felt her own soul lift to meet his, herself unshielded and unafraid. Stefan had long ago seen any selfishness, vanity, over-ambition in her – and forgiven it. He'd seen al of her and loved al of her, even the bad parts. And so she saw him, as darkness as tender as rest, as gentle as evensong, wrapping black protective wings around her†¦ Stefan, I†¦ Love†¦I know†¦ That was when someone knocked on the door.

The Ship of Theseus

ABSTRACT: Endurantism and perdurantism are theories that describe how objects can persist through time. These theories will be used in an effort to solve a puzzle that has been dated all the way back to the first century: the Ship of Theseus. It will be determined that the two theories fail in solving the Ship of Theseus puzzle. According to Brian Garrett of Australian National University, metaphysics is concerned with the nature and identity of objects. 1 In order to increase understanding of the identity of objects, puzzles of constitution and identity are used by philosophers.There is a puzzle common in metaphysics: the Ship of Theseus, which was believed to be recorded by Plutarch in the late first century2. It is complex puzzle that consists of three different scenarios. The first scenario depicts a ship being dismantled and then rebuilt. The second scenario portrays the ship being completely remodeled. The third scenario is a mixture of the previous ones that have the ship bein g completely remodeled, but the removed planks are used to construct another ship. In order to solve this puzzle, one must be able to identify which ship is the Ship of Theseus.Philosophical theories can be used to solve philosophical puzzles such as this one and there are two theories that exist that help one understand how objects persist through time: endurantism and perdurantism. According to endurantism, ordinary objects are wholly present at each moment of time at which they exist3. In perdurantism, objects are four dimensional entities that consist of temporal and spatial parts and these objects persist by having different temporal parts at different times4. Once one has knowledge of endurantism and perdurantism, the theories can be used to solve puzzles such as the Ship of Theseus.However, in this paper, it will be shown that the puzzle of the Ship of Theseus cannot be solved using endurantism and perdurantism. This is because attempts made by endurantists and perdurantists result in unintuitive consequences. This will be done first by explaining and assessing endurantism and perdurantism. Then it will be shown that the two theories fail in solving the Ship of Theseus because of problems that are encountered. After that, the Extensionality Principle will be discussed, which is used by perdurantists as a criterion for identity.It will be determined that this principle is also flawed and is also unable to give an account for the identity of objects. Firstly, endurantism is the view that physical objects are three-dimensional and move through time. They are wholly present at each moment of time at which they exist. For example, if a man was born in 1975, attended kindergarten class in 1980, and graduated from high school in 1993, endurantists would claim that this man was wholly present at each of those different times. He will continue to wholly exist in the future as well.Primary motivation for this theory is that it is a more conventional view and is m ore in conjunction with believed upon ideas about the world. For example, when a woman is talking to someone, she believes that she is talking to that person as a complete object, wholly present; as opposed to just a temporal part of an object. The theory of endurantism has been explained. It must be noted, however, that this theory holds that two numerically distinct, but wholly present objects can co-exist for some of the time or at all times.Brian Garrett says that this hinders the authenticity of endurantism because the statement is strange5. Perdurantism does not have this problem. The theory of perdurantism is the view that ordinary objects are four-dimensional and are composed of temporal parts. An object is not wholly present at every possible time at which it exists because only its temporal parts exist. In the previous example, when the man is born, or attends kindergarten, or graduates from high school, the man is not wholly present according to perdurantism.Instead, it i s the man’s temporal parts that existed during those events; the man itself exists as a four-dimensionally extended whole. Primary motivation for perdurantism is that this theory is able to account for change within a physical object because the objects are four-dimensional. On the contrary, endurantism does not have this luxury. Perdurantism is also primarily motivated by how it better accommodates Albert Einstein’s theory of special relativity. There are problems that arise if both endurantism and special relativity are true. According to Steven D. Hales and Timothy A.Johnson of Bloomsburg University, â€Å"it would be misguided to argue† for endurantism because special relativistic effects â€Å"are negligible at human speeds†. 6 The theory of special relativity does not allow for endurantism because of how it requires objects such as humans to move through time at a slower speed than the speed of light. Given that special relativity is a widely accept ed theory, perdurantists have strong motivation to prove their view7. Secondly, even though endurantism and perdurantism help explain the persistence of objects over time, neither view is able to solve the puzzle of the Ship of Theseus.In the Ship of Theseus, there are three different scenarios. In the first scenario, the Ship of Theseus is dismantled and then rebuilt with each plank being returned to its original location— we’ll call this ship Y1. In the second scenario, the ship is completely remodeled with an entirely new set of planks— we’ll call this ship X1. In the third scenario, two ships are involved. The ship from the second scenario (now called ship X) is present, but an entirely different ship that is being constructed out of the planks that had been removed (called ship Y) is also present.In order to solve this puzzle, the Ship of Theseus must be identified. However, flaws in endurantism are shown by how the endurantist must deny that Y1 is e qual to Y. This is done in order to respect the necessity of identity and non-identity which states that if x = y, then necessarily x = y8. However, what this entails is that one could claim that if the removed planks had not been replaced in the third scenario, then ship Y would not have existed and instead ship Y1 would have existed. This means that the existence of ship Y or Y1 entirely depends on whether or not the removed planks were replaced.Brian Garrett refers to this consequence as â€Å"strange† because â€Å"we don’t think that the existence of a particular ship (or of anything else in space and time) depends on what happens in a region of the universe which exerts no causal influence on it†9. This is a flaw for the endurantism theory because it denotes that an object’s existence is dependent on an event that has no direct influence on it. Furthermore, perdurantism also fails in correctly solving the Ship of Theseus. According to perdurantism, the third scenario involves the presence of two ships prior to the repair of the Ship of Theseus.They are overlapping one another. This represents that the ships have a common temporal segment where they are basically one and the same ship. After the repair, the two ships separate with one being ship X and the other being ship Y. The problem, however, is that one cannot think that there are three possible outcomes anymore. One cannot think that the future of the Ship of Theseus will be the same as that of the ship in the first scenario, the ship in the second scenario, or the ships in the third scenario because each of the ships are distinct from one another.This is a problem, according to Garrett, because people â€Å"could sensibly wonder† if the future for the Ship of Theseus will be like any of the three scenarios when it is being constructed10. He means that ordinary people should be able to think about the Ship of Theseus and think about what future it might behold. How ever, the theory of perdurantism must deny that three possible futures are available for the ship. As a result, we are left with either believing that people are not able to wonder about the ship’s future (which cannot be true) or perdurantism is unable to solve the puzzle of the Ship of Theseus.Moreover, perdurantism fails in solving the puzzle because of the name: ‘Ship of Theseus’. It has been discussed that the Ship of Theseus has a temporal part where there are two overlapping ships. However, which of the two overlapping ships is the actual Ship of Theseus when the name is being called? This is a problem because both ships cannot be called the Ship of Theseus. Perdurantism cannot account for this confusion. This shows that perdurantism is unable to solve the puzzle of the Ship of Theseus.Overall, the theories of endurantism and perdurantism have been explained and it has been shown that both theories are unable to solve the puzzle of the Ship of Theseus. How ever, there are criterions for identity that exist that could provide a criterion of identification for objects through time. One criterion for identity that will be talked about is the Extensionality Principle; it is used by perdurantists because it is a criterion of identity for four-dimensional objects11. The Extensionality Principle, according to Garrett, states: if x and y are objects with the same proper parts, then x=y.This means that if two different objects have the same properties, then the two objects are the same12. However, there are flaws in the Extensionality Principle that causes it to fail in providing a criterion of identification. According to Lecture notes, in order for objects to be identical, it is not enough for the object to have all the same parts. This is because the parts of identical objects must be related to each other or arranged in a certain order13. Therefore, a problem arises regarding temporal parts of an object. How do the temporal parts have the proper order?As a result of this problem, the Extensionality Principle must be revised. But if it is revised, according to lecture notes, the principle will no longer be an extensional principle14. Furthermore, there is no explanation as to why time would provide the correct order for temporal parts of an object. These problems show that the Extensionality Principle fails in providing a criterion of identification; and this harkens back to how the puzzle of the Ship of Theseus cannot be solved. It has been shown that the puzzle of the Ship of Theseus cannot be solved.This was first determined by explaining the theories of endurantism and perdurantism and revealing the primary motivation for each of them. These theories depict how objects persist through time; yet, the theories cannot be used to correctly solve the Ship of Theseus puzzle. Lastly, the Extensionality Principle was described and it was shown that the principle was unable to solve the Ship of Theseus puzzle. As one can s ee, the Ship of Theseus is a difficult puzzle to solve and it has been around since the late first century. Will there ever be a theory that correctly identifies the Ship of Theseus once and for all?

US Economy

The Jan aura release of the most current GAP became available showing that the fourth quarter GAP was 4. 1 . While with recent government regulation they lowered the first quarter GAP to 2. 5 percent. However, following the report will include a statement about my personal prediction for the remainder of the 2014 fiscal year using sets of very complex variables and skilled opinions. Unemployment Rating: The unemployment rate in the United States as anticipated by the IIS Federal Bureau of Economic Analysis is around 6. 7 percent as of the beginning of the 2014 in February as demonstrated on the graph pictured above.This number s estimated using the numbers given for persons in the United States that have been actively looking for job opportunities as a percentage of the labor force. This number has been gradually decreasing since July 201 2 and will continue to decline as the job market continues to expand with new technologies and education. Although, during the holiday seasons the unemployment always goes down, but as soon as they end, such as after Christmas and thanksgiving the number increases by almost 2 percent. The number of federal employees in 201 2 decreased to almost 22 million jobs which is . Percent less than the year before. Due to the fact that these numbers are only compiled every five years, this . 5 percent decrease is quite shocking to many people. These employees include policemen, nurses, and teachers along with many more. While the number of unemployment among the youth continues to increase, the percentage of adult men and women without health insurance will also continue to rise with the execution of Obama care. Unemployment Rate February 2014 Month/Month Year/Year National 6. 7% +0. 1 Florida 6. 2% 0. -17 As shown in the chart above, the unemployment rate of Florida is demonstrated versus the rest of the United States. Governor of Florida, Rick Scott announced that Florist's statewide unemployment rate for May 2013 dropped to 7. 1 perc ent, the lowest rate since September 2008. Florist's rate was down O. 1 percentage point from Aprils rate of 7. 2 percent and continues to fall below the national average, which went up to 7. 6 percent in May. As Florida continue to distance itself from the national unemployment rate it is clear that the state government will succeed in growing opportunities for Florida families.Due to the incredible successes that Florida communities had experienced, Florist's unemployment rate is well below the national average. Gross Domestic product (GAP)I The gross domestic product (GAP) measures of national income and output for a given country's economy. The gross domestic product (GAP) is equal to the total expenditures for all final goods and services produced within the country in a stipulated period often. The Gross Domestic Product (GAP) in the Lignite States was worth 15684. 80 billion US dollars in 2012. The GAP value of the United States represents 25. 30 percent of the world economy. GAP in the United States is reported by the The World Bank Group. From 1960 until 201 2, the united states GAP averaged 5725. 9 USED Billion reaching n all time high of 1 5684. 8 USED Billion in December of 2012 and a record low of 520. 5 USED Billion in December of 1960. At the beginning of the first quarter of 2014 the GAP was 2. 4 percent due to the recent government sanctions to promote businesses and services locally instead of internationally. Although, the US Federal Bureau of Economic Analysis states that the United States represents 25. 30 percent of the world's economy.The increase in real GAP in 201 3 primarily reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PACE), exports, residential fixed investment, nonresidential fixed investment, and private inventory investment that were partly offset by a negative contribution from federal government spending The deceleration in real GAP growth in 201 3 primarily reflected a deceleration in nonresidential fixed investment, a larger decrease in federal government spending, and decelerations in PACE and in exports that were partly offset by a deceleration in imports and a smaller decrease in state and local government spending.

Online learning bibliography Annotated Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Online learning - Annotated Bibliography Example For instance, knowledge construction via collaborative discussion is vital since collaboration methods sequence, define, and assign learning activities to distinct learners and can in turn facilitate activities such as construction of arguments during discussions. Leer, R., & Ivanov, S. (2013). Rethinking the future of learning: The possibilities and limitations of technology in education in the 21st century. International Journal of Organizational Innovation, 5(4), 14-20. In this article, the author argues that technology is very important in data analysis. By the use of computers, one can assess quantitative data of great magnitude and at a very fast speed much faster than any person can accomplish. Moreover, technology saves on time in data analysis with certain appropriate software in that one can easily analyze data by just entering it in a computer specifying the characteristic to be checked and within no time, the results are ready. Therefore, via online learning, students will be able to access important data at a fast rate and easily. Marchetti, C., & Long, G. (2011). The Importance of Interaction for Academic Success in Online Courses with Hearing, Deaf, and Hard-of-Hearing Students. Retrieved 16 March 2014 from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1015/1952 In this article, the authors state that online learning is rapidly growing because of advancement in technology. The authors argue that online learning is the best method of learning since it gives a student more interaction options. For instance, online learning promotes student-student interaction and student-instructor socialization, which increases quality of information dissemination. Via online learning, students are in a position to talk directly to their teachers and fellow students using discussion forum features and chat messaging of

Administrative law in Britain Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Administrative law in Britain - Essay Example British Administrative Law is a part of British public law. It involves law pertaining to the control and authority of British departmental agencies or those agencies that are given constitutional power by the administration (Leyland and Anthony, 2008, 45) There is great popularity of such law reforms in most of the countries, however, they have been extensively criticised too. Main constituents of British Administrative Law are Ombudsmen, Tribunals, Judicial review and Freedom of Information. Ombudsman According to the Administrative law post of Ombudsman is connected to the Parliament of Westminster and some other posts at the Parliament of Scotland, some of the government institutions and Welsh Assembly. The main responsibility of Ombudsman is to inspect problems of malpractices of administration. Tribunals This constituent of British Administrative Law includes numbers of local public bodies, which are also called non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs). Judicial review This conte nt of British administrative law includes supervision of implementation of general public power by the Administrative Courts. If someone feels that an act of a government body, for instance his/ her local council or a constitutional court, is against the law, or it has dishonoured his/her civil rights, they may register a complaint at the Administrative Court (which is a branch of High Court) for legal reassessment of the decision and get their problem solved or perhaps take compensation. (Leyland and Anthony, 2008, 35) ... Nevertheless, the basic aim and objective of both these Acts is well indistinguishable – same sort of public bodies that are included in Britain, Northern Ireland and Wales are also included in Scotland Act. . (Leyland and Anthony, 2008, 42) Moreover, its basic terms and conditions are very closed to each other, despite the fact that the Freedom of Information Act of Scotland is a little stronger than English Act in support of disclosing information. But Freedom of Information Act 2000 is not applicable for public bodies in the foreign territories. (Barnett, 2004, 221) The former Prime Minister Tony Blair who actually brought main idea of the Freedom of Information Act, showed his disappointed from the Act afterwards. According to him, this Act obstructs the capacity of government officials to act under a sensible level of privacy. Implementation of the Administrative Law is seen as a major constitutional change that has been implemented in the course of past few years. Number s of changes have also taken place within British House of Commons too, like pre-legislative trials are now given much more importance, select committees have been made much stronger, change in work hours etc. This is not possible to do justice to all the reforms, however this is a major thing that it is an obligation for the British Prime Minister to present himself at the Liaison Select Committee of the House two times in every year to be questioned about any subject whatsoever. Critics have shown their reservations on the commitment to this sort of well-planned constitutional programme. UK Administrative and Constitutional Law have remarkably changed since year 1997. (Barnett, 2004, 225) There are several public bodies too, whose resolutions can also be

Race Relations (Black and White) on the Homefront during World WarII Research Paper

Race Relations (Black and White) on the Homefront during World WarII - Research Paper Example Race, racism and race relations have thus been a complicated issue in the history of the United States. This is drawn from the strange institution that slavery created all the way into the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Even during the time America was supposed to be joined as one, in the World War 2, these scarred relations still popped their head, not only abroad on the battle fields but also back home at the home front (Parsons, & O’Brien, 9). One significant factor during the Second World War on the Home front was the Fair Employment Practices (FEPC) implemented in the United States by the US Executive Order number 8802. This required companies with contracts from the government not to discriminate on the basis of religion or race. It was a move intended to help Mostly African Americans, but other minorities to obtain jobs in the home front industry. It was signed by President Roosevelt and stated that there was not supposed to be discrimination in the employment of w orkers in the government or the defense industry based on their race, or creed or color, or the nation from which they draw their ancestry. This order led to numerous strikes and challenges from irate white workers who so it as an infringement on their rights (Garfinkel, 37). African Americans It was later greatly enhanced by another order. Considered one of the most significant breakthroughs for Blacks and women on the job front, it also facilitated great industry in the country at the home front during the war. It was about the same time that the African American Community established the Double V Campaign. It was a campaign based not only on the war on fascism overseas during the war, but also on racism too at home. There was a large number of mostly poor Southerners who moved to munitions centers for the recruitment process. The tension that was at these centers was very high. Cities like Detroit, Chicago and Harlem were mostly the focal points of this tension. In 1943, they exp erienced very violent race riots. It was at this time that the Pittsburgh Courier came up with the Double V Campaign (Wynn, 60). The gist of the problem back home was mostly based on the complaints by the soldiers at war overseas that they were being treated as second class citizens even during wartime. The Detroit Race riots that broke out in Detroit, Michigan in 1943 took about three days before troops could return order. It was majorly a riot between blacks and whites and caused a lot of destruction. During around this time, the World War II was still on, and tension between blacks and whites in this city had escalated to very high levels. It is ironical that at such times, patriotism is usually said to be at the highest of levels. Since the war began, the populations of the city had gradually grown as a result of the booming defense industries intended to supply the resources for the war at the home front. A lot of African Americans arrived, mostly from the South (Capeci, & Wilk erson, 47). The riots were started by an innocent fight between a black man and a white man. It became a brawl that involved several groups of black men and white men that spilled over to the rest of the city. This confrontation started from a rumor that a black woman had been assaulted by a white man, whereas there was another rumor that stated it was a white woman who had been raped and killed by a black man. Either

Marketing management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Marketing management - Essay Example As marketing strategy, Slick has chosen to use the song â€Å"Sharp Dressed Man† to popularize its products. Slick’s products will be endorsed by the band, ZZ Top. Slick chose this band and that specific song because; its lyrics depict how a smart man should look like. In this song, ZZ Top talks about how a man puts on a silk suit, a clean shirt, a black tie, cufflinks, and new shoes (Beard, Hill, & Gibbons 1983). As the song goes, every girl likes a man who is sharp dressed. All this encompasses the essence of Slick, which is to give working class men that enviable look. It is important to know one’s competition in business (Berry, 2012). Slick’s major competitor is â€Å"Masculine†, a mall that also specializes in men’s wear. Located a few meters from Slick, Masculine puts pressure on Slick to ensure proper service delivery to customers. Unless Slick meets customer needs, then the latter may decide to leave for Masculine. Both Slick and Masculine are one-stop shopping areas, where their customers can shop for both clothes, and shoes. Just like Slick, Masculine targets middle-class working men. Both enterprises also offer matching accessories to accompany their clothes. However, one major difference between Slick and Masculine is that, Slick conducts promotions for their goods after every six months, while Masculine does not have any promotions on their products. Another difference is in service delivery, where Slick offers home deliveries for purchased products, whereas Masculine’s customers pick up the products

The break-up Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The break-up - Essay Example This relationship leads to development of hilarious events in the couple’s life which generates good amount of laughter from the audience. Hence, even though the movie The Break-Up discards some regular genre conventions of a romantic/screwball comedy through its romantic setting, eccentric characters and humorous situations, it still fulfills the genre requirements of romantic/screwball comedy. Genre requirement Screwball comedy movies are the movies that are based on the hilarious situations that arise from the interactions or the encounters between the people who are ‘opposite’ to each other in various ways. For a film to be categorized in the genre of screwball comedy, it requires to have the clash of the ‘opposites’, humorous situations, eccentric characters, and a storyline involving romantic and comedy themes. The movie The Break-Up has all these aspects. Clash of the ‘opposites’ The movie The Break-Up tells the story of two charac ters, Gary and Brooke, whose romantic relationship starts to fall apart due to the unfulfilled expectations from each other. The two lead characters in the movie, Gary and Brooke, are completely opposite to each other. Their personalities, their choices, their lifestyle, etc. differ drammatically. For example, Brooke is a perfectionist and conscious about cleanliness. On the other hand, Gary is least bothered about cleanliness and has the habit of leaving his clothes, accessories and video game stuff all around the house. While Brooke is perfect in her dressing, weight and appearance, Gary is careless about his appearance and is overweight and dresses casually. The ‘opposite’ patterns are visible in their behavior also. Brooke is physically active and ambitious person while Gary is extremely lazy and has a laid back attitude. Brooke cares about emotional support while Gary is zero in emotional quotient. He spends most of his time playing his video game and is irresponsi ble about his duties in house and in the relationship. These differences in their personalities give a comic feel to the movie. There are many funny situations in the movie which arise due to incompatibility between Brooke and Gary. For example, when Brooke asks Gary to help her in arranging the table and complaints about bringing just three lemons when she had asked for twelve, he alludes to her art profession and says that Michelangelo ended up doing a masterpiece as he worked alone and did not ask anyone else to help. Also, he says that when he was making the sixteenth chapel, he did not ask other guys to help him saying that he did the first fifteen chapels and now he needs their help. Gary tries to suggest to Brooke that she is a super achiever and she does things perfect when she does it alone. On this comment, Brooke reminds him that it was not the ‘sixteenth’ chapel, but ‘Sistine’ chapel that Michelangelo painted. This generates a great laughter. Th e incident where Brooke asks him to bring twelve lemons to decorate a vase and he brings only three also generates laughter. Criticizing Gary for bringing just three lemons, she says that Michelangelo was able to do a perfect job because when he asked for twelve brushes, he was given twelve brushes and not three. This conversation shows that Gary has absolutely no knowledge about art and painting world, which is passion of Brooke’s life. This shows the conflict in their likings. Also, Gary feels that

Reflective paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Reflective paper - Essay Example Similarly, developments in the fields of Humanist theories, Learning theories, Cognitive theories, and behavioral theories have also opened new horizons of knowledge for the psychologists in dealing with their clients. This paper reflects on the major human development theories and analyses how far they have contributed in identifying and resolving the mental, Psychological, behavioral and physical problems of clients. To begin with, one can never undermine the contributions made by the Psycho Analytic theorists in understanding human development and problems associated with the developmental stages of clients. G. Stanley Hall, who tried to make a detailed study on Darwin’s evolutionary theory attempting to correlate childhood with previous ages of mankind, made his greatest achievement in his child centered research. His seminal book The contents of children’s minds, published in 1883, tried to resolve the history and the means of progress of mankind by the findings of what children know and when they learn it. Hall also accepted Sigmund Freud’s sexuality theory and believed that the sexualized energies of boys have to be promoted, channeled and managed. He is known as ‘the father of adolescence.’ Though his work has been considered outdated his ideas are still applicable in education, scouting and team sports. (G. Stanley Hall (1844-1924)). Similarly, psychologi sts draw conclusions from Hall’s theories have which facilitated in identifying adolescent problems and in treating them. Hall’s theories are widely applied in the field of special education and they have proved to be highly beneficial in offering â€Å"individualized services for adolescents in grades 6-12 who have experienced depression, withdrawal, low self-esteem, socialization problems, learning disabilities, post traumatic stress disorder, or self-injurious behaviors† (G. Stanley Hall School). The term psycho analytic theory is originated with study of the great psychologist

Healthcare Costs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Healthcare Costs - Essay Example The health insurance policies play a significant role in determining the cost of care. This is depicted by the reality that there are differences in the cost of health insurance by the government and private providers (Weeks, 2012). For example, the private insurance policy has resulted in increased costs of health insurance and health care in private hospitals than public hospitals. The private insurance policy provides that individuals can take personal insurance which includes ambulance cover, general treatment cover and hospital cover (West, 2014). Disparities in access to ambulatory services are ambulatory services are attributed to the high costs, which are associated with private ambulance covers (Leigh & Wheatley, 2010). The cost of care is described as the main factor which affects the delivery of health care services (Bodenheimer & Grumbach, 2012). The costs of health insurance are spelled out within the insurance policies. High costs of health insurance cause individuals that cannot afford it to wait with illnesses until the point when they are less treatable (Wood, 2013). The private insurance policy limits the services that can be covered. For instance, there are inclusions and restrictions to specific services, which mean that patients incur greater personal expenses. Optional treatments, which are not covered by Medicare, are also based on the personal expenses of patients. Long stay patients also pay more because long term care is not covered by Medicare (Weeks, 2012). These are provisions within the public and private health insurance policies, which contribute to the high costs that are, associated with care processes within US health facilities (West, 2014). The Affordable Health Care policy as provided within the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act also plays a role in influencing health

A Nationalize Healthcare system is the right thing to do for all Research Proposal

A Nationalize Healthcare system is the right thing to do for all Americans; but can Americans afford it - Research Proposal Example A report issued by the advocacy group Families USA described that the age of the people who are without healthcare coverage is below 65, while those who are 65 and up are covered by government Medicare program. Thirty-three percent of 265 million Americans under 65 have been uninsured for two years. This includes 60.1 million adults and 26.6 million children and teens up to 18 years old. This amount may have been different from the statistic given above by the Census Bureau. This discrepancy indicates one of the weaknesses of the market because it relies on data from the third or forth party as it emphasizes on cost saving. Americans obtain health insurance through a combination of private coverage under employers’ contribution scheme, out of pocket private contribution, and those who are unemployed, without employers’ contribution or unable to purchase insurance under out of pocket schemes are under government Medicare program. The recent bankruptcy cases, such as the mortgage corporations Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which operate under public private partnership scheme, have affected millions of Americans. People abandon their homes (Rucker, 2009) and become homeless (The National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2009; DeLuz, 2006; Rydstrom, 2007). The massive lay off and bankruptcies of the giant automakers Chrysler and General Motor, the Wall Street Journal, the renewable energy corporations, the AIG insurance, and million other bankruptcies of private corporations, all have caused the number of Americans without health insurance to be doubled, from 47 million to 86.7 million people.3 This number represents one-third of the nation’s total population. Peter Jennings, the ABC television anchor presented his documentary entitled Breakdown: America’s Health Insurance Crisis, described the capitalistic attitude of the insurance providers. He said one of the reasons why Americans are now without health insurance is the

Tennyson wrote In Memoriam Essay Example for Free

Tennyson wrote In Memoriam Essay Tennyson wrote In Memoriam for a dear lost friend of his. The poems span the length of 17 years. When Tennyson writes of the way of the soul, is most definitely referring to that metaphysical aspect of a person’s spirit – that thing which travels beyond death. Tennyson’s fear however, is that he cannot write about the soul, as he says, â€Å"For words, like Nature, half reveal/And half conceal the Soul within. † (Tennyson lines 3-4 poem V. ) In short, Tennyson writes of the loss of his friend’s soul. Tennyson’s fear becomes that he will not know his friend any longer in his mortal form (perhaps Tennyson fears he will not recognize his friend’s soul should they meet again); such desire is shown in poem XII, ‘Is this the end? Is this the end? ’ (Tennyson line 16 XII). However, Tennyson forgoes his fears and finds a certainty as expressed in these lines, â€Å"And I perceived no touch of change,/No hint of death in all his frame,/But found him all in all the same,/I should not feel it to be strange. † (Tennyson lines 17-20 poem XIV) thereby proving that his friend is not altogether lost to him, nor should Tennyson feel sorrow for one who is not lost. 2. Tennyson wrote Mariana as a character taken from Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure. In the poem Tennyson illustrates the woman’s waiting for her lover; the ambiance of the poem illustrates the woman’s vain waiting with word choices such as, â€Å"rusted nails† â€Å"broken sheds† and hinges that â€Å"creak† (Tennyson). Such elements of dilapidation reveal the psychology of the main character’s actions; thus Tennyson uses environment as revelation to the person’s psychological makeup. In Browning’s My Last Duchess the reader is exposed to a subjective reality in which the Duke reveals to the emissary that, â€Å"[he] gave commands; / Then all smiles stopped together. † (Browning). Thus, the reader is left to believe he killed her, or had the Duchess killed because of her flirtatious (according to the Duke) wanderings. Browning’s use of enjambment instead of the metered revelry of Tennyson’s poem stand as stark contrast to one another: Tennyson’s work is pleasing to the ear, affecting the reader to follow the meter and its revelations of grief and love for the grieved while Browning’s enjambment give the reader a jilted session of reading making the reader disquieted and not all together comfortable in reading the poem, a technique that makes them wonder about the ease with which the Duke mentions that he murdered his wife. 3. Edward Fitzgerald’s Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam is a work of hedonistic texture because of its many references to love or lust of earthly delights, as in the lines â€Å"Here with a Loaf of Bread beneath the Bough,/A Flask of Wine, a Book of Verse and Thou/Beside me singing in the Wilderness -/And Wilderness is Paradise enow† (Fitzgerald Quatrain XI). Thus, in order to be human, to feel human, Omar must indulge in earthly pleasures or else what is the point of eating bread? Drinking wine? Reading and singing? It is these components that make up the pleasures of humanity. In Fitzgerald’s translation of the poem, wine is almost a character which comes up and is referenced again and again, supporting the thesis of hedonism being the theme and design of the poem. The poet uses this device to escape the more sordid details of living such as â€Å"punishment and pain† as well as â€Å"dirty wind, fire, and water† (Fitzgerald). 4. Matthew Arnold’s poetry showed a heaviness of doubt: Doubt of self, doubt of love, doubt of God and the ever-after. In To Marguerite—Continued this doubt is plainly illustrated with lines such as, â€Å"†¦then a longing like despair†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Arnold line 13) when speaking about the nightingales who sing sweetly, but their song becomes distorted in the poet’s ears as he feels as though their song is soured because the birds could remember a time when the continents were together instead of separated. This line represents a stance on lovers – how lovers are once together but separated and thus the longing of the past is bred into the poem through the songs of the birds. Also, as much beauty as Arnold places on the importance of the ocean, he overshadows this sentiment by making the ocean a divider with the line, â€Å"Now round us spreads the watery plain—† (Arnold line 17). And of love, Arnold gives no reverence but merely paints love out to be intermittent moments in a bleak world as in the poem The Buried Life he states, â€Å"Alas! is even love too weak† (Arnold line 12). This bleakness spreads into Arnold’s poem Dover Beach in which the sea again plays a vital part in expressing Arnold’s joyless life through the metaphor of a melancholy ocean. 5. One theme that runs through Arnold’s poems is that of doubt, concurrent with this theme is the image of an ocean. This ocean or â€Å"estranging sea† (Arnold line 24) as is described in To Marguerite—Continued is also read in his poem The Buried Life. He uses the ocean as a metaphor of a juggernaut of loneliness and separateness in which his doubt resides. The ocean is used to illustrate how he is alone from humanity as well as love in these two poems and how it is this unnamable force, this feeling as big as an ocean which makes his life miserable. Although he uses poetic metaphors, Arnold’s poems do not illustrate anything of the joyful hedonism of Edward Fitzgerald’s Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. One may postulate that such lack of hedonism is puritanical in comparison to Tennyson’s love illustrated in his In Memoriam however the reader may conjecture that perhaps Arnold had been loved or had loved at one point in his life because the suffering of his soul is in each poem he writes. Arnold’s theme is doubt and loneliness and in this doubt arises the question the reader must ask themselves, Is love worth such misery? For Arnold, perhaps it wasn’t.

Impact Of Economic Globalisation On Communication English Language Essay

Impact Of Economic Globalisation On Communication English Language Essay Global trade is a complex structure. Two-thirds of international trade are connected with Translational corporations. The biggest TNCs are a part of chemical, energy and the communication industry. International activities of those corporations promote English. TNCs are based on joint ventures and they usually choose English as their lingua franca. Agreements that they make are written in English. Those legal documents sometimes demand specialist English language training. Staff associated with tehnology transfer has to know English as well as the staff of secondary entrprises ( hotels, tourist facilities, etc.) connected with the TNCs. Changes More and more people are being employed in service industry, and this shift from producing goods towards services is visible also in English language. Material goods are becoming more valuable because of branding, and English is the primary language of advertising and marketing. Working at home while communicating with office by telephone or a computer, became very popular. Every day the number of those that sit in front of the computer gets bigger. Labour has become screen based. A shift towards knowledge-intensive industries is happening. Culture Language has been regarded since the Renaissance in terms of territory. Statistics about language, culture and economy, collected by international bodies, have been based on nation states, populations of speakers and relative sizes of economies. But chaos theory suggests the concept of ow may be better suited to understanding language in a borderless world.'(pp36) English is seen as a complex system. It flows into other languages, which adopt English words and phrases. But at the same time it is under the influence of those languages that It is effecting. As a result new language varieties in second-language-speaking are appearing. The ultimate drivers of language are the people who use it.'( Graddol 36) Every day people are moving. Sometimes it is because of education or business, and in other cases they are in a role of a tourist or maybe an imigrant. Where ever they go they take their languages and cultural values with them. International travel has a globalising effect; the impact on the use of English is noticable. Cmmunication People communicate with the help of the telephone and the internet. English is the dominant language of intercontinental communication, but some say that this dominance is unlikely to continue. With improving communications infrastructures, telephone conversations will be held on other languages more often; regional lingua francas will appear. Inequalities Proficiency in English may be one of the mechanisms for dividing those who have access to wealth and from those who do not.The global spread of English may also be associated with decreased use of endangered languages.'( Gradol 37) Some see English as a language of power, language that brings success, while others say it brings inequality; that it brings poverty. In the past, being extremely poor was connected with geography and ethnicity, but now it seems to be linked to the lingua franca. It has been claimed that English is associated with the loss of other languages. The fact is that a lot of languages are dissapearing. Usually those with least political or cultural power die faster and easier but the big languages are also likely to suffer from language shift. English is rarely the main, or direct cause of this.'(Graddol 39 ) The Internet is also a good example for inequality. There are a lot of materials on English, and the amount of the same on other languages cannot be compared; so access to information technologies makes a difference between the information poor and the information rich. English medium education is one of the mechanisms of spreading social and economic power but, spreading of English skills could influence the balance of power between ethnic groups. Study of gender balance at university in Brunei Darussalam showed that more women than men are graduating with science degrees and obtaining higher grades. Men, on the other hand, form the majority for literature courses. -This phenomena can be explained by the fact that science is taught through English a subject in which, from early secondary school, more Brunei girls than boys have excelled whilst literature is taught through the medium of Malay. (Graddol 39 ) Impact on English Everyday use of English is affected by trends; demographic, tehnological and economic ones. The work place- There are two tipes of working English; first one deals with communication between other professionals; workers use specialised language, and a specific vocabulary. The second type is linked to communication with people who are not members of the trade. Workers have to adopt a wide variety of language styles so demands on an employees competence in English are rising. Education- One of the most significant educational trends world- wide is the teaching of a growing number of courses in universities through the medium of English. (Graddol 44 ) At this point English is the most widely studied foreign language and there are no clear rivals. It is a part of languages curriculum in Europe, and pupils are starting to learn it at a really early stage. There are some factors that could stand in a way of English being the first foreign language in the worlds schools. Firstly there is growing competition from other languages. Secondly, The education system in multilingual country has to provide for some amount of languages used within that country. Thirdly, regionalisation could encourage the use of non-english lingua franca. And finaly, study of languages from neighbouring countries could be supported instead of those from a different cultural and economic region. The main reason why English did not take over the worlds schools is lack of teachers. There is not enough primary school teachers with the necessary language skills. Those that have the essential knowledge usually decide to work in a higher education system, like secondary school and college, or they start working in some better payed job. When talking about colleges one has to mention the rising number of courses held on English. It became the need. English became more suitable than the national one for some subjects. Take science, for example, all up-to-date materials can be found in English but one would probably have some dificulties with finding it in some smaller language. This shift towards English-medium education is having some long-term consequences. The number of people using English as a second language is rising , they are starting to use it more often for social communication between themselves, and some even raise their children speaking English as a first language. The knowledge that university students have may not be sufficient for other enterprises, so education of adults is neccessary. It could be done in some conventional way, like taking coursess, but there is also an idea of electronic education. Training through the virtual universities The global media The media is an international industry. It is competing to reach audiences all around the world. Until the 1990s, the BBC World Service was one of the few broadcasting institutions with worldwide reach.'(Graddol 46) In Europe satellite TV is encouraging the use of English but it is also moving into languages other than English. Profit is the most important, so networks adjust the material for a specific market. They show comercials, series and other in a language that is best suitable for te target country. One of the oldest forms of adjusting these materials are dubbing and sub-titling. Dubbing has a linguistic effect and it maximise the profits of the English language media industry. Dubbing English is emerging as a relay language for the marke ting of films: a Hong Kong action movie, for example may be dubbed into English to show at an international festival. It will then be bought and translated into a third language.'(Graddol 47 ) So as you can see this technology could develop linguistic and cultural diversity; instead of creating a homogenus product it could become more supportive towards local languages. Youth culture Young people are the target of the globalised industry. They are the ones that shape the world, they are the new driving force. Some of them see them selves as a part of a certain group, that may not belong to their culture. These sub-cultures as well as the culture effect life in general. Changes are also visible in the language. English is not a unitary language. There are a lot of forms of it. The basis for all of those is the standard form. Native-speakers experiment with social identities. (In English speaking countries Black English has developed) Non-native speakers promoted the use of foreign-language varieties.(e.g.German and Italian English accents) Internet communication The Internet is regarded by many as the agship of global English.'( Graddol 49) Most of the informations that are stored in the worlds computers are on English, and internet brings it to almost every country of the world, in almost every home. Users working in other languages depend on their knowledge of English, which they have to use to communicate in cyberspace. This situation might be explained with the fact that 90% of the worlds computers ,connected to the Internet, are based in English-speaking countries. If more countries get the possibility to connect on the Internet the profile of the users will change. And with the new customers, demands will become different and therefore the number of languages presented on the Internet will rise. It will be normal that a page existing in English automatically appears in the language of the user. Time and place The World is divided into three major time zones on the base of geographical location. These time zones could cause adventages as well as disadventages for some countries. It will bring some into closer integration and others will have problems. Differences in distance can be solved by technology but those in time present a problem. Those countries that will rise in term of economics, they will become the source of skills and technology for neighbouring countries. Also, those neigbouring countries, will be used for production because it will be cheaper to do it there. A symbiotic relationship will be developed. Conclusion Globalisation has a great Effects of Globalisation, as mentioned, can be seen in economy, but also in politics and culture. Hybrid formas of those are being developed. Will hanging out on the Internet become as formative as hanging out on the street? Electronic media will become not just a means of communication, but a generator of global style Works cited Graddol, D. The Future of English? London: The British Council, 2000. YourDictionary Avaliable http://www.yourdictionary.com/globalization

Deformations of the Deformed :: Creative Writing Essays

Deformations of the Deformed In my search of inspiration for creative writing projects I was sent to this Website by a professor. This was not just any Website it was THE Website for creative writers of any kind. From Andy Warhol to the boy next door their work is on this site and it’s quite different than what you find in any book at the local Borders. The site is ubu.com it’s dedicated to experimental writing with mixed media. The writers combine sound, images, and text to create works of literature that may change the face, or cover if you will, of any book ever made. The most unique aspect of this genre is that there can be very little actual writing. While yes, you can go on this site and see works you find in any book there are a vast number of projects that could never be in a book for various reasons most being sound. When I first came to this site I thought, wow how cool, I could look at this stuff forever. Then I read and read and listened and looked and read some more until s uddenly I realized my eyes killed. Not only that but I couldn’t really remember what the hell I just read. I had spent approximately three hours staring at my computer screen and could not grasp anything I took in. I also found the whole time I was reading I wanted to hold on to something; there was even a point when I grabbed the sides of my laptop to give the work a physical feeling. How awful! These were really good works of literature and I had just skimmed over them. No matter how hard I tried to read them in depth my mind would have nothing to do with it. Could this be an epidemic? Am I so conditioned to having books, physical entities I can smell, feel, and yes taste, that I cannot comprehend art on a screen? Or worse have I become one of those old people who refuse to adapt to new technology and cherish the way things used to be? I’m beginning to think so. I tried to fix this problem quickly. I thought of printing everything off and reading it that way but I’m not rich.

18th and 19th century view on nature :: essays research papers

Through the ingenious works of poetry the role of nature has imprinted the 18th and 19th century with a mark of significance. The common terminology ‘nature’ has been reflected by our greatest poets in different meanings and understanding; Alexander Pope believed in reason and moderation, whereas Blake and Wordsworth embraced passion and imagination. The 18th century was known as the Age of Reason, where the focus was on the search for truth and clarity in the world of disorder through reason. Alexander Pope displays his views and beliefs on world through his infamous poem "Essay on Man." Pope depicts the role of nature in the 18th century by setting the poem in a garden. Not only does the garden parallel John Milton's "Paradise Lost," the garden symbolize the limitations of man. Pope wants to convey the importance of how man must accept his own limitations and lead his life to "vindicate the ways of G-d to man." However, we must yield to our pride and take responsibilities of our actions by not blaming G-d. â€Å"Cease then, nor order imperfection name: Our proper bliss depends on what we blame.† Through the poems of Blake and Wordsworth, the meaning of nature expands far beyond the earlier century's definition of nature. "The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom." The passion and imagination portrayal manifest this period unquestionably, as the Romantic Era. Nature is a place of solace where the imagination is free to roam. Wordsworth contrasts the material world to the innocent beauty of nature that is easily forgotten, or overlooked due to our insensitivities by our complete devotion to the trivial world. â€Å"But yet I know, where’er I go, that there hath passed away a glory from the earth.

Society and Government Essay -- Philosophy, Hobbes, Locke

Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan and John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government have produced two definitive and vastly different theories of government. Though both philosophers seem to be embedded in the concept of a natural law, why do Hobbes and Locke seem to come to two opposing conclusions about society and government? The answer lies in critical distinctions between their interpretations on the state of nature, including their conjectures on human nature, their perceptions of freedom and equality, and their ultimate reasoning for civil society. Human nature is an integral part of the state of nature theory. Hobbes’ theorizes that human nature is flawed, with men being naturally selfish and hedonistic: â€Å"of the voluntary acts of every man, the object is some Good to himselfe† (Hobbes, 1996, p. 93). This suggests that in a natural state, humans are only guided by their own needs and wants. As a result, Hobbes believes that the only law that governs the state of nature is maintenance of self-preservation. This gives rise to a clashing of desires, which compels man to undermine any concern for others and put oneself above all else. The extent to which man is able to undermine others for the sake of self-benefit is also limitless according to Hobbes: â€Å"in this law of Nature for where no covenant hath preceded, there hath nor Right been transferred and every man had right to everything; and consequently, no action can be Unjust† (Hobbes, 1996, p. 100). There is a clear Hobbesian view of morality that begins to take form. Good and evil seem to be relative to Hobbes. Because of this, each individual in the state of nature has varying perceptions of morality, which often conflict, creating disagreement that only incites violence. This pr... ...have consent in order to act. This essentially gives sovereign power to the people. This philosophy is also consistent with Locke’s favor for a republican structure of government. The apparent difference seen between the political theories of Hobbes and Locke can be attributed to their differing views on the state of nature. The development of mankind as a selfish being living in a state of war and violently attempting to obtain equality naturally lead Hobbes to conclude that an authoritative power is needed to instill order to chaos. On the other side of the spectrum, Lock molds the state of nature to be a state of peace, and attributing men to Reasonable creatures and consequently creates a representative government where the people hold sovereign power. Essentially, these theories seem are a result of a pessimistic and optimistic framing of nature and humanity.

Insanity vs Cleverness

Insanity and cleverness are defined as the state of being seriously mentally ill; madness and mentally bright; having sharp or quick intelligence. In this essay I will analyze the similarities Insanity and murder versus cleverness and murder as demonstrated in â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† and â€Å"Twins†. The information being examined will convey how insanity and cleverness are proven by the two characters the wife, Lucy, and the narrator, how both murders are planned and viewed in both perspectives, and the reactions towards their murders. To begin, insanity and cleverness are proven by the characters in a variety of ways.In â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† the narrator displays insanity by the characters desire to eliminate the eye, due to his mental instability. It was not his intentions to rob the old man nor kill him, it was his perceived threat and his obsession that consumed him and Influenced actions. â€Å"You should have seen how wisely I proceeded – with what caution – with what foresight – with what dissimulation I went to work! † (Poe, 1) the narrator, at this point had it planned in his mind that he needed to pursue his impulse and eliminate the eye. With precession and caution he knew exactly how he anted to proceed with this madness.The constant obsession of the eye demonstrated that in fact he was insane, shown by his periodic observations of the old man at night through the crack of his door, and his fixation with destroying the eye. The narrators frequent reassurance to himself that he was not mad rationalize his abnormal behaviors. The wife In â€Å"Twins† demonstrated cleverness by remaining calm about her husbands plan to murder her. As a result of her intuition it resulted in her survival. Lucy had no plan to react towards her husbands madness until he recorded with making his story come to life. â€Å"It wasn't a game.She said, it wasn't going to work† (Eric, 3) At this point she k new that her husband was going to shoot her, and with the advantage of knowing he had a gun she had unloaded it in order to save her life. This proves that she was clever by her removing the bullets out of the gun, and how she reacted to the gun being pointed at her. Due to her applied intelligence and understanding of the situation allowed for a positive outcome. Both murderers, Lucy and the narrator, had two deferent ways of proceeding with heir actions. The narrator displays madness when planning his murder by evolving the suspicion that he wanted to kill the evil eye.This was demonstrated by him changing his actions to be perceived as being pleasant towards the old man. With that, in his perspective he wasn't doing anything wrong but eliminating the eye, which increased his level of insanity. Also he appreciates the thought of murdering the evil eye to end the horror It put him through. â€Å"l made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye fore ver† (Poe, 1) this quote hill Lucy didn't. She had waited to see if her husband would re-load the gun when the time came to kill her.Lucy had listened to her husbands story and it allowed her to be intuitive and manipulated how the story was going to end. She had found the gun and unloaded it and waited in anticipation for her husband to pull out the gun and try to shoot. As she said â€Å"if she had not long known about the lady in the condominium, and if she had not come across his fishing tackle box with a loaded gun, the wig, the makeup kit, packed ready to go, while she was searching for a pair f pliers, she would never have wondered what he was up to† (Eric, 3), when the wife had found everything she did not allow the gun to make her react differently.As her husband pointed the gun at her she was confident that the bullets were not in the gun and had shot him her self. When the time came for the cops to find him she would be sure that a story could be made up. Fin ally, Lucy and the narrator had individual reactions towards their murders which caused them to be clever and insane. The narrator had woken the old man and had to make his move or there wouldn't be another chance † I placed my hand upon the earth and held it there many minutes. There was no pulsation. He was stone dead. His eye would trouble me no more. At this point his conscience had taken over and created a heart beat that only he could hear. The heart beat had made him panic and give in and admitted to the murder â€Å"Villains! † I shrieked, â€Å"dissemble no more! I admit the deed! ?tear up the planks! ?here, here! ?it is the beating of his hideous heart! â€Å". This proves his insanity for the reason that he continuously heard a heart beat that was boisterous. When Lucy was at gun point and she noticed there were no lets, her response was to kill her husband with the knowledge that her husband would try to kill her.Lucy had remained calm and collected and co ntinued his story however the story flipped and he was killed. In addition, she used her cleverness to wait until she called the cops to report her husband missing. When the cops had been called she was positive towards her reactions and her husband would not be found until spring. â€Å"When the first snow fell she knew they wouldn't find him until spring at the earliest, and then what would they find? A body, with no money in the allot, and the gun that killed him. She had used her cleverness to overpower her husbands murder plan and to her advantage her husband had already arranged the murder. The evidence above shows that the wife, Lucy and the narrator demonstrate insanity and murder versus cleverness and murder by the two characters the wife, Lucy, and the narrator, how both murders are planned and viewed in both perspectives, and the reactions towards their murders. As you can see with the evidence provided you are able to determine the differences between insanity and murde r versus cleverness and murder.

Abraham Lincoln: Civil War President Essay

â€Å"I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.† Abraham Lincoln What seems to be very superficial about the nature and character of Abraham Lincoln proves to be quite profound after an extensive investigation of his life. Mystifying his contemporaries and modern historians alike, the numerous volumes of scholarly research over the past 150 years is evidence of the challenges incidental to unraveling the complexities of the man many refer to as the â€Å"great emancipator.† Richard Carwadine’s Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power and William Gienapp’s Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America present excellent biographical research that contrast and compliment their subject and describe the extenuating circumstances that only adds to Lincoln’s complexity. Carwadine’s research â€Å"covers familiar ground but sets itself apart by focusing closely on questions about Lincoln’s political ambition and agenda and his exercise of power.† See more: The stages of consumer buying decision process essay The American public is quick to judge their presidents while assessing their achievements critically and without reserve. Carwadine argues that Lincoln’s â€Å"great achievement was to set ambitious but realizable political goals; to fathom the thinking of ordinary citizens and to reach out to them with uncommon assurance; and to hone his impressive skills as a manager of the often unstable and fractious elements that made up the political parties to which he belonged.† [2] Gienapp’s â€Å"primary ambition is to show how the green, upstart president handled the four years of crisis†¦and how he became such an extraordinary war leader.†[3] The transformation from his humble origins as a rail-splitter to masterful politician and leader of the nation appears to simply defy explanation. However, Lincoln remains and enigma for many people. He is confusing, difficult to understand, and by many accounts, appears to be incapable of executing the simplest of tasks. Yet, this is the wonder of Lincoln’s character and what makes him appealing to so many. â€Å"His ambition—and particularly his hunger for public recognition—had been evident from his young manhood in the early 1830s.† [4] Obviously, in order to develop a greater understanding of who Abraham Lincoln was, one must take a brief look into his childhood. Modern psychologists might suggest that Lincoln’s family was very dysfunctional. His father’s constant relocation of the family and never seeming to be satisfied to become more than a simple farmer, only contributed to the strained relationship between Lincoln and his father. Most prominent people throughout history have often cited a parent, sibling, or other close relative or friend as having been a great influence on their life. Not so for Lincoln who upon losing his mother to milk sickness, went on to form a constructive and enduring bond with his stepmother. A remarkable woman, Sarah Bush Lincoln exerted an enormous influence on Abraham†¦who he called â€Å"Mama.† He later said that â€Å"she had been his best Friend in this world and that no Son could love a Mother more than he loved her.† [5] The same cannot be said of Lincoln’s relationship with his father, which at best was superficial and distant. When Lincoln received word of his father’s failing health and was requested to return home at once, Lincoln declined to come to his father’s side. When his father passed on, Lincoln did not attend the funeral. It was a testament to his feelings toward his father. And, if Lincoln had ever harbored any ill will or inner hatred about his father, he never let it be known. Lincoln seldom discussed his relationship with his father, let alone his family, and his reticence was quite characteristic of the man who would someday maintain the same trait as president. I would argue that their troubled relationship was the primary reason that â€Å"throughout his life, Abraham Lincoln keenly regretted the lack of educational opportunities in his youth.† [6] Lacking the stability of a consistent family life, Lincoln was not afforded the type of educational opportunities that most of his contemporaries enjoyed. On the upside, Lincoln possessed the strong individualistic spirit that was epitomized by the frontier that served to enhance his image. Most would consider his constant reading as idleness, or simply being down right lazy. But for Lincoln, spending time in his books not only gave him time alone, which he craved, it also provided him the opportunity to learn and instill the all important characteristic of self-improvement. Not being one to hold grudges, â€Å"Lincoln’s own experience of getting on in life tended to sharpen rather than to blur his meritocratic vision, though the process was complex.† [7] This philosophy would become the foundation for Lincoln’s outlook on life and would eventually transcend his presidency. Many of Lincoln’s contemporaries, and modern historians, have suggested his views of self have contributed to his melancholic approach to life in general and the fatalistic view that pervades his thought process. Lincoln believed â€Å"there was no freedom of will, that men had no free choice.† [8] Perhaps this explains Lincoln’s indifference toward his father and family. It may even further explain his apparent negativism and melancholy perspective on life’s events. Contrary to popular belief, however, â€Å"fatalism†¦did not always show itself negatively in Lincoln, since it sometimes seems to have given him the assurance he needed to persist in whatever course of action he believed had been thus ordained.† [9] While some scholars might determine Lincoln’s fatalist outlook would be a detriment to his abilities to lead the nation, especially during the Civil War, I would argue to the contrary; I believe it forced Lincoln to become more aware, more conscious, of his own ambitions and how he might individually impact society. Lincoln could become easily frustrated and moody, I believe, because of his strong desire to surpass his father’s legacy. Not only was he a man of convictions, Lincoln would continually strive to become someone of significance. Politics would become the avenue by which he could do just that. Gienapp argues â€Å"Lincoln’s greatest ambition had always been to serve in the Senate.† [10] He possessed a strong desire to serve humankind and had the fortune to establish himself as a politician. It was during his time in the Illinois legislature, and later, through his debates with Stephen Douglas over the extension of slavery, that Lincoln developed his political ideals that would aid him during the tumultuous times in the White House. Lincoln seemed to possess an innate sense for the understanding of his constituency and direction of public opinion. With the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, he sensed a new moral outrage that existed not only in his home state of Illinois, but also throughout much of the northern United States. Although Lincoln had always maintained his distaste for the institution of slavery, â€Å"his moral passion now ran deeper as he shifted his primary focus from economic issues to slavery.† [11] The adoption of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854 would give rise to the formation of a new anti-slavery party that would eventually become the Republican Party. When discussion over the repeal of the Missouri Compromise surfaced, Lincoln â€Å"avoided any discussion in his speeches of nativism, prohibition, or even economic issues†¦instead, he focused exclusively on the Kansas-Nebraska Act.† [12] It was at this time in his career that Lincoln was becoming a well-known and popular orator among the Illinois populace and was often invited to speak outside his congressional district. Lincoln used these opportunities to begin to formulate and promote his thoughts on slavery. Although much of his argument was based on earlier anti-slavery leaders, such as Salmon P. Chase, Lincoln presented them in an unusually effective manner. [13] I believe it was during this time period that Lincoln also began to sense that he was destined to accomplish something great for mankind. I do not, however, believe he had intentions of becoming president, or ending slavery outright, but there seems to have existed a spark that ignited a unique passion within Lincoln that had not existed previously. I believe he began to formulate his most inward thoughts and outwardly transform them to conform to public opinion. I must point out, however, that this did not mean Lincoln simply told the public what they wanted to hear, rather he possessed a unique skill in knowing when to reveal his opinions to the public and present them in a way that appealed to their common senses. Although not a charismatic speaker, Lincoln was enchanting and knew how to move a crowd. â€Å"It was at this point in his career that the Declaration of Independence became a significant component of Lincoln’s thought. Hailing it as the first precept of our ancient faith, he henceforth designated it (rather than the Constitution) as the nation’s founding charter.† [14] This change of direction would become instrumental in Lincoln’s upward advancement through the American political process and explain the reasons why, as president, he would expand the constitutional powers of the presidency through the justification that his actions were out of necessity for the preservation of the Union. Just how did Lincoln become president? For many students of history Lincoln is an enigma. By modern standards, his humble background, gangly physical features (altogether homely as described by some), and irritating speech would hardly present the kind of credentials necessary to win a party nomination, yet alone, presidential election. However, in 1860, presidents were normally selected based on their potential to govern. A candidate’s skills and abilities along with previous governmental experience were paramount to winning the party’s nomination, and hopefully, national election. Supporters were drawn to Lincoln’s nomination for the Republican Party as president. Lincoln was not a front-runner by any means. Yet his national notoriety and speeches on slavery, the 1858 Senatorial debates with Douglas, and pragmatic and humble nature manifest itself a grass-roots appeal among the party’s delegates that would help to propel him to the presidency. â€Å"America’s new mass democratic forms had put a premium on the electable, or available, candidate. A sequence of nominations in every presidential race since 1840 had shown that national political standing and proven executive ability came in a poor second to supposed electoral availability.† [15] There are several avenues of research to follow regarding Lincoln’s presidency. I will conclude my paper by looking at the constitutional issues surrounding his decision to emancipate the slaves in 1863. â€Å"One of Lincoln’s strengths as a war leader was that he always kept his focus on the larger questions, rather than becoming embroiled in personal disputes.† [16] From the onset, Lincoln made it clear that his intentions toward the Confederacy were to not interfere with slavery where it existed. He consistently maintained his opposition to the extension of slavery into the Western Territories. Despite his claims, eleven Southern states would secede from the Union and form the Confederacy. The question now before the president was what course of action is required to end the state of rebellion that existed in the Southern part of the United States. â€Å"The steps that Lincoln took during the early stages of the war showed an impressive and instinctive grasp of strategic essentials. He had three main objectives. He must nourish and sustain northern political support†¦do all in his power to strengthen the Unionist elements in the upper tier of slave states†¦prevent the war from becoming an international conflict.† [17] The slave question was the most difficult issue before the president. â€Å"Because he had no constitutional power to interfere with slavery in the states, and because he needed to retain the support of Border States and Democrats, Lincoln†¦repeatedly defined his policy as restoration of the Union—which of course meant a Union with slavery.† [18] The issues over emancipation were complex. The Confederacy was already using slaves as laborers in their war effort. If Lincoln were to emancipate escaped slaves that reached Union lines, they too could be used for service in the Union army and navy. However, Lincoln was reluctant to adopt such a policy for fear of losing the Border States. Secessionist movements already existed in Maryland and in the war’s early months, threatened to envelop Washington, D.C. and thus separate the nation’s capitol from the North. But as the war became a prolonged affair, Lincoln began referring to the term â€Å"indispensable means† to preserve the Union. [19] Determining what exactly this meant was left to Lincoln’s interpretation that his actions, or â€Å"means that under normal conditions would be deemed unnecessary, even extraconstitutional, might in extremis become an indispensable necessity to achieve a lawful end† [20] and as â€Å"field hands and military laborers, slaves gave the Confederates formidable strength. Extraordinary measures—emancipation by proclamation—had become the indispensable means to preserve the national existence.† [21] Unfortunately for Lincoln, the issuance of the proclamation was also political. Without any major Union victory on the battlefield, emancipation might appear to be a last-ditch effort at winning the war. By mid-1862, when Lincoln first formed the basis of the proclamation, the Union army had yet to win a decisive battle against the Rebels in the Eastern Theater. The president would appear to have no real backing for issuing the emancipation proclamation until a decisive victory had been won. That opportunity came in mid-September when Lee’s army was forced to retreat from Maryland after the battle of Antietam. Lincoln then took advantage of the Union â€Å"victory† and formally announced the proclamation on September 22, 1862. The emancipation proclamation would go into effect on January 1, 1863 and would only affect those slaves residing in Southern states that remained in rebellion. â€Å"With a stroke of the pen, Lincoln had changed the nature of the war. Both sides understood that the war had been fundamentally transformed, that the Union was no longer fighting to restore the old Union but to create a new one.† [22] Gienapp and Cawardine hold similar viewpoints in their overall assessment of Abraham Lincoln, however, their focus varies. In the scope of the Civil War, Gienapp concludes that Lincoln â€Å"became an accomplished and extraordinary president†¦had a sure sense of timing, knew when to stand firm and when to compromise, and displayed an absolute genius for getting individuals of diverse viewpoints to work together.† [23] There is nothing profound about his assessment and accurately represents the humble nature of Lincoln. Cawardine’s conclusion transcends Lincoln’s death that is embraced by what Henry Ward Beecher described as â€Å"a new impulse of patriotism.† [24] Furthermore, he â€Å"bequeathed an enhanced and ambitious nationalism to his successors†¦whose†¦practical policy grew from a strong sense of moral purpose and his course as president was shaped not by impulsive, self-aggrandizing action or self-righteousness, but by deep thought, breadth of vision, careful concern for consequences, and a remarkable lack of pride.† [25] Even though Lincoln may remain an enigma to modern historians, one is hard pressed to fail to recognize the fortitude and courage of a man so humble, so simple, so unqualified to be president, but to recognize he truly arrived at his life’s ambition—to be a humble servant of his fellow man. What a powerful testament and legacy Lincoln left for posterity. [1] Rasmussen, R. Kent. Library Journal. Vol. 131, Issue 20 (Dec., 2006), p. 181. [2] Carwardine, Richard. Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power. (New York: Knopf Publishing), 2003, p. x. [3] Gienapp, William. Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America. (New York: Oxford University Press), 2002, p. xi. [4] Carwardine, p. 3. [5] Gienapp, pp. 4-5. [6] Ibid., p. 5. [7] Carwardine, p. 19. [8] Guelzo, Allen. â€Å"Abraham Lincoln and the Doctrine of Necessity†. The Journal of Abraham Lincoln Association. Vol. 18, No. 1 (Winter, 1997), p. 57. [9] Ibid., p. 58. [10] Gienapp, p. 53. [11] Ibid. p. 50. [12] Ibid. [13] Ibid., p. 51 [14] Ibid. [15] Carwardine, p. 111. [16] Gienapp, p. 97. [17] Carwardine, p. 164. [18] McPherson, James. â€Å"How President Lincoln Decided to Issue the Emancipation Proclamation†. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. No. 37 (Autumn, 2002), p. 108. [19] Carwardine, p. 198. [20] Ibid. [21] Ibid., p. 207. [22] Gienapp, p. 125. [23] Ibid., p. 192. [24] Carwardine, p. 321. [25] Ibid. BIBLIOGRAPHY The journal articles and essays listed below provided a deeper understanding of Abraham Lincoln and were complimentary to the primary research materials for my paper. Each reading provided additional insight on Lincoln and served to enhance my completed paper. I’ve only cited direct quotes and ideas from individual articles while inferring generalizations from the complete works listed below. The following essays provide critical analysis of Lincoln’s overall approach to the political process through the examination of his personal views and attitudes to the political climate during the antebellum and Civil War years. Carwardine, Richard. â€Å"Lincoln, Evangelical Religion, and American Political Culture in the Era of the Civil War†. Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association. Vol. 18, No. 1 (Winter, 1997), pp. 27-55. Rawley, James. â€Å"The Nationalism of Abraham Lincoln Revisited†. Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association. Vol. 22, No. 1 (Winter, 2001), pp. 33-88. Siemers, David. â€Å"Principles Pragmatism: Abraham Lincoln’s Method of Political Analysis†, Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 34, No. 4 (Dec. 2004), pp. 804-827. The following essays offer a concise overview of Lincoln’s handling of emancipation and the issue of civil liberties for blacks; and the complications associated in dealing with the abolitionist movement and retention of Border States during his tenure in office. Berwanger, Eugene. â€Å"Lincoln’s Constitutional Dilemma: Emancipation and Black Suffrage. Papers of the Abraham Lincoln Association. Vol. 5 (1983), pp. 25-38. Gienapp, William. â€Å"Abraham Lincoln and the Border States†, Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association. Vol. 13 (1992), pp. 13-46. Guelzo, Allen. â€Å"Lincoln and the Abolitionists†, The Wilson Quarterly (1976-), Vol. 24, No. 4 (Autumn, 2000), pp. 58-70. McPherson, James. â€Å"How President Lincoln Decided to Issue the Emancipation Proclamation†, The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, No. 37 (Autumn, 2002), pp. 108-109. An in-depth examination of Lincoln’s alternative to the law of war is masterfully presented in Burrus Carnahan’s Act of Justice: Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and the Law of War. (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky), 2007. Although there exists a great deal of scholarship on the question of constitutional authority and executive power, these listed below offered a succinct overview of the manner in which Lincoln answered his critics and charges of extending executive power beyond what was historically granted the president and its impact on the modern executive. Balz, Herman. â€Å"Abraham Lincoln and American Constitutionalism†, The Review of Politics. Vol. 50, No. 2 (Spring, 1988), pp. 169-197. Fehrenbacher, Don and Tudor, Jacob. â€Å"Lincoln’s Wartime Leadership: The First Hundred Days†, Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association. Vol. 9 (1987), pp. 1-18. Guelzo, Allen. â€Å"Abraham Lincoln and the Doctrine of Necessity†, Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association. Vol. 18, No. 1 (Winter, 1997), pp. 57-81. Hyman, H. M. â€Å"Abraham Lincoln, Legal Positivism, and Constitutional History†, Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association. Vol. 13 (1992), pp. 1-11. Kleinerman, Benjamin. â€Å"Lincoln’s Example: Executive Power and the Survival of Constitutionalism†, Perspectives on Politics. Vol. 3, No. 4 (Dec., 2005), pp. 801-816. McLaughlin, Andrew. â€Å"Lincoln, the Constitution, and Democracy†, International Journal of Ethics. Vol. 47, No. 1 (Oct., 1936), pp. 1-24. Underwood, James. â€Å"Lincoln: A Weberian Politician Meets the Constitution†, Presidential Studies Quarterly. Vol. 34, No. 2 (Jun., 2004), pp. 341-365. Obviously, no study on Lincoln would be complete without the investigation into the conduct of the Civil War itself. The works listed below presented valuable insight into the challenges facing the newly elected president, the issues surrounding the restoration and Reconstruction of the nation, the origins of the development of the Union policy of total war, and lastly, the unique perspective of the manner in which the Southern soldier fought during the war. Donald, David. â€Å"The Confederate as a Fighting Man†, The Journal of Southern History. Vol. 25, No. 2 (May, 1959), pp. 178-193. Kaczorowski, Robert. â€Å"To Begin the Nation Anew: Congress, Citizenship, and Civil Rights after the Civil War†, The American Historical Review. Vol. 92, No. 1 (Feb., 1987), pp. 45-68. Ramsdell, Charles. â€Å"Lincoln and Fort Sumter†, The Journal of Southern History. Vol. 3, No. 3 (Aug., 1937), pp. 259-288. Sutherland, Daniel. â€Å"Abraham Lincoln, John Pope, and the Origins of Total War†, The Journal of Military History, Vol. 56, No. 4 (Oct., 1992), pp. 567-586. Scholarly research on the life and political career of Abraham Lincoln is nothing new. For my paper, the primary books selected for my research are not extraordinary, but serve to compliment the volumes of works dedicated to our nation’s sixteenth president. A well-known Civil War historian wrote one of my selected books while a non-American authored the second. I thought this would enhance my research that might present two varying biographical perspectives on Lincoln. I can honestly state that I was not disappointed by either work. Gienapp, William. Abraham Lincoln and Civil War. (New York: Oxford University Press), 2002. Carwardine, Richard. Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power. (New York: Knopf Publishing), 2003.