The language and structure of poem Essay Example for Free

The language and structure of poem Essay The language and structure of poem two Warning is, as with Old Man, Old Man, fairly simple with only four stanzas all but two of which are different lengths. I expect this is because in stanza one, the longest verse, she says all the things she has planned to do in her future as an older woman these of course are all the things that she wants to do so of course there are lots of them. Stanza two says all the things she could do this is not as long because it would have come under the first verse if it was something that she really wanted to do. Stanza three is also a short one as it is about all the things she has to do now which are all boring and tedious. The last stanza is the shortest as it is, in my opinion, what she is thinking but she has to stop herself in her thoughts as she might have thought it was not appropriate at this time to act like an old woman. There is no rhyme or rhythm as with poem one or any complicated language. I also suspect this is because it is a straightforward subject and needs no complications. The two poems are very similar as they are both very easy to understand, as there is no complicated words or English techniques, like similes. The message and tone of poem one is very grim. It takes a pessimistic view of old age saying how your senses deteriorate and how you almost become incompetent. It basically says, you, as someone who is capable and in control will deteriorate to someone who can not do as much as you want to do as you will not be able to see well, you pretty much will not like it! The message and tone of poem two is almost completely contrary to that of poem one. It takes a very optimistic view of old age saying how you can let go of old barriers in life and be able to do what you want. The story is when you are young you must be responsible and set an example. When you get old you can become irresponsible and careless and be able to do the little things that are silly just for the sake of doing it. My personal response to the poem Old Man, Old Man is that it makes me think about my grandparents who were able and active and now have become retired and have their illnesses, this is why the poem makes me think of them. The old man in the poem was a capable man and has now become very dependant. It also makes me think that family is very important because one day you may end up with a dreadful disease and if you cannot turn to your family who can you turn to? My personal response to poem two is somewhat murky. I do not know how to put it but although it is an optimistic view of old age are the things this women wants to do that much to look forward to? I think we can do most of these things now, even as adults, but we do not because it is not advantageous and some of the things are just silly. For instance spending your pension and say weve no money for butter. Is that logical? This is where Im unclear may be shes saying let go out of logic! This poem also reminds me of the great Indian circle of life. This is where the native Americans believed we went round in a circle in our life. We would start life from the ground or mother, progress through childhood to become an adult then revert to being a child again, then the part to the ground.

Examining The Definition Of Western Orientalism Cultural Studies Essay

Examining The Definition Of Western Orientalism Cultural Studies Essay Orientalism transfigures the study of Middle East. Edward Said defines, Orientalism as the ethnocentric way Europe approaches the Asian regions.  Europeans looked upon the people of the Orient or the East and Arabic states as gullible and devoid of energy and initiative.   The invasion of European nations proved a radical decline in the natural prosperity of every nation they stumbled upon. The matters of the European sense of superiority and interest in control can also be seen in orientalist scholarship. Backward and barbaric, fundamentally incapable of social, political, or technological modernization, these were the descriptions of the non-western societies given to them by the people of west. Orientalism is the term that signifies the existing dislike and discrimination at the bottom of the political, economic, social and cultural discourses that were created to justify the imperialist Wests invasion and domination over the non-West. In other words, Orientalism was brought o ut as a matter of historical judgment. He illustrates Asian and Islamic Cultures during European imperialism and Europes goals of maintaining power and domination of non-Europeans.He argued that Europe used the Orient and imperialism as a symbol of its strength and superiority. Said suggested that Orientalists are treated as others-in this case, Muslims and Asians-and as objects defined not in terms of their own discourses, but solely in terms of standards and definitions imposed on them from outside. Among the influences underlying these definitions was, in Saids view, a long-standing Western concern with presenting Islam as opposed to Christianity. Said divided orientalism into two categories, one is the latent Orientalism which  is the unconscious, untouchable certainty about what the Orient is. Its basic content is static and unanimous. The Orient is seen as separate, eccentric, backward, silently different, sensual, and passive. It has a tendency towards despotism and away from progress. It displays feminine penetrability and supine malleability. Its progress and value are judged in terms of, and in comparison to, the West, so it is always the other, the conquerable, and the inferior whereas manifest Orientalism  is what is spoken and acted upon. It includes information and changes in knowledge about the Orient as well as policy decisions founded in Orientalist thinking. It is the expression in words and actions of Latent Orientalism. Any humanist would see that before the west intervened, each individual culture followed to their habitat, past experiences, and past knowledge.   Even though they were not modernized they still would have survived on their own just as they had been doing it for centuries.  Ã‚   However, a race of people could not be heartless enough to admit their destruction with a clear conscious and no remorse.   They would not pack their bags and leave a deserted crippled country. Orientalism and Western domination of the rest of the world. Understanding Orientalism is useful in the context of South Asia, as it enables us to understand the relationship between political hegemony and knowledge. Said says Orientalism exposes the European will to domination to create an orderly discipline of study a set of institutions, a latent vocabulary a subject matter, and subject races. It represents the power to make philological distinctions and the institutional force to make statements about Oriental mentality, the inscrutable Oriental, the unreliable and degenerate Oriental. The concept of Orientalism is useful in analysing prevailing literature, generalised and essentialised ideas such as Hinduism and Islam. It is also important in understanding womens movements and feminist discourses in South Asia. Many South Asian women used the criticism of Orientalism to criticise literature, imaginations and situations affecting women. Yet, the idea of Orientalism and the Western imagery of the Orient can be used ideologically by extremis t nationalists and fundamentalists who suppress the freedom of thought under the pretence of defending the Orient and fighting with the West. Misunderstanding the project of Orientalism may increase hostility between people and glorify myths such as West and Orient. It is no longer desirable, in our globalised world, to say that only South Asians can talk about South Asia, or only Hindu can talk about Hinduism and explain Indian religious traditions. For example, Tibetan Buddhism was scorned again during the Victorian period, when Buddhist studies were growing into an academic discipline. As depicted by Prof Lopez, The nineteenth-century constructions of Tibetan Buddhism are part of the heritage of Orientalism, described by Edward Said as a European mode for gaining authority over the Orient, a mode whereby Orientals were controlledpolitically and epistemologicallyby scholars in Europe and colonial officials in Asia. An important part of this scholarship was the self-aggrandizing ab ility of European scholars to write histories of Oriental civilizations that identified their origins, their classical periods, and their decline. The last of these (also called the modern period) was marked by decay and impotence. The modern period was also contemporaneous with European colonialism, one of whose products for the West was knowledge about the East. According to the exponents of this new field of knowledge, the facts and artefacts of the classical period were rescued by the emergent Western scholarship from the custody of the Orientals, who failed to recognize them for what they were and hence lost any right to them. The Orientalist would henceforth speak for the Oriental through heredity of scholarship whose task it was to represent the Orient because the Orient was incapable of representing itself. This representation of the East by the West carried with it the valuation of what was true and what was false, what was worthy and what was worthless. Furthermore, accord ing to Edward Saids  Orientalism, the texts produced by European Orientalists had the power to create not only knowledge but also the very reality they appear to define by delimiting the object of knowledge. Said argues that Orientalism also had more directly political effects: its representations of the Orient provided a justification for imperialism and a foundation for colonial policies and institutions. (Prof Donald S. Lopez Jr, 1994) Iraq is the ultimate illustration of how Orientalist conventional wisdom had it wrong.   Arguing that this Orientalism has driven America to contempt and discriminate against the Orient, and eventually to invade Afghanistan and Iraq as well as arousing certain public opinion against North Korea, may be criticized for its ignorance or exaggeration, especially when the world has observed the events of September attack (9/11) and the North Korean nuclear weapon issue.During the past two centuries Europe has ideologically constituted Asia in relation to itself with the purpose of putting its hand in it. In the past decade, Asian music and culture has spread throughout the West like poppies. The problem is that this Orientalism is still present, long after the imperialist invasions. Bushs policies are the evidence for the existence of Orientalism. The Bush administration invaded Iraq claiming that Iraq had Weapon of Mass destruction (WMD) and that Saddam Hussein was an unforgivable dict ator. As the supposed Weapon of mass destruction (WMD) have not yet been found and as Hussein was the representative of Iraq, chosen by its people, it is natural that the Iraqi people pronounce curse against Bush. With the amount of west intervention in Iraq, it was not possible for the US military force to occupy Iraq forever. During the Bush administration, he announced that the US military force will be withdrawn upon the establishment of a democratic government in Iraq, the US will probably still try to dominate Iraq in one way or another as long as they have an oil interest in Iraq. Their dominance, however, will not last for long, and the US army cannot help but leave Iraq. This is just a matter of time. Americans or people in the world felt over 9/11 attack. Nobody can deny that 9/11 was an atrocity that aroused anger around the world. The world, however, is aware that the broad antagonism of the west especially Americans against the Arab world was one of the main causes of 9 /11, and that the terrorist Bin Laden himself was, in the past nurtured by the US to fight against the USSR. In other words, 9/11 was a trap set by the US themselves then. The war in Iraq, perceptions have proven particularly relevant to the conduct of military operations. However, because Western outlook of this critical region, and forming the personal collection of most Westerners, are predetermined by each individuals experience within his/her culture. This experience is mostly shaped by the images, ideas and impressions retained from exposure to popular culture, media and more or less elaborate programmes or readings, and depending on ones educational accomplishments, personal or professional interests. The common characteristic between all these individual experiences, as far as the Middle-East is concerned, is that they are all immersed in a predominant consensus or discourse about the representation of this critical region of the world. Likewise, the launch of the Arabic lan guage Al-Jazeera satellite channel nearly ten years ago, transformed the television landscape in the Middle East. And over the past three years the channel has gained global reputation and became a name which governments and decision-makers across the world can hardly ignore. Even, In  The Lord of the Rings  film trilogy, the costumes of the Haradrims, a human race who allies itself with the enemy, are Middle-Eastern in style. When children are fed this kind of negative bias against the Middle-East, the subliminal cultural consciousness of whole generations is enduringly and profoundly impacted. The normality of such bad depictions clearly illustrates what several Western intellectuals qualify at best as acceptable political in correctness directed against Middle-Easterner The war declared on terrorism after the massacre of 9/11 in New York, with the subsequent military operations in Afghanistan and in Iraq, revives this tradition of improving interventionism by carrying on the old orientalist-related topic. Far from destroying the Great Divide between the West and the Rest, the wars of a new type support and separate the division between civilized and barbaric in the era of globalization. The explanation of ideology of the American, according to which there would no longer be outside or inside, because no country would now be released from terrorism. What now prevails is a sober vision of globalization, that of a fight to the death between two worlds, extending over all continents, between America, and the Islamic terrorism. But this originality goes back to schemes that are as old as the United States itself, insofar as this self-proclaimed exceptional, autonomous and providential imperial republic has an idealistic or ideal component qualified as es sential. Edward Said also refers to the medias ability to control and filter information as an invisible screen, releasing what it wants people to know and blacking out what it does not want them to know. To accomplish his goal Said sets up a methodological argument within which he addresses three main concepts. First, that imperialism is not about a specific moment in history, but rather a continuing interdependent dialogue between subject peoples and the dominant hegemony of the empire. Secondly, through the production of popular western literature authors have maintained a sense of continued supremacy upon subject peoples. This theorization that postcolonial domination has been institutionalized within western literature is a reference to the idea of a continuing interchange of ideas between dominant culture and oppressed peoples. Lastly, Saids comparison of colonialism to racism is integral to his argument about the continuation of oppression in a postcolonial environment. Throughout his analysis of culture, he focuses on the limitations of subjugated peoples within western culture and the reasons for their continued oppression. In Covering Islam (1997), Said postulates that, if knowledge is power, those who control the modern Western media (visual and print) are most powerful because they are able to determine what people like or dislike, what they wear and how they wear it, and what they should know and must not know about themselves. Said claims that untruth and falsehood about Islam and the Muslim world are consistently propagated in the media, in the name of objectivity, liberalism, freedom, democracy and progress Conclusion In this contemporary world, there is at least more than fifty percent intervention of the west towards the rest of the world. Edward Said argues in Orientalism, his landmark 1978 study of the relationship between the production of knowledge and the exercise of imperial power, the attitudes and images created by this tradition compose a closely bound system of created knowledge, of willed human work, about the Eastern other which the imperial powers of Europe and North America have historically used to invite and justify political and economic intervention and imperialism. Critics who have studied Orientalism in Europe, especially in nineteenth-century literature, have pointed out that there is much that can be learned about the Wests image of itself through the way Western writers have depicted the Orient. The influential popular magazine, The National Geographic, established in 1988 used to represent a window on the world for millions of middle class Americans at a time when movies and televisions were either not yet invented or in their infancy. The plain picturesque coverage of the Middle-East, by this magazine, showed the Arabs as exotic Orientals Mass media and movie industry developed throughout the twentieth century to become the main spreader of information, images and attitudes about the region to the public at large. The Arab Muslim progressively became a figure in American popular culture. No one can deny that orientalism has made great contributions to the study of Arab culture and history, and to the religion of Islam. Orientalists were and still are standing as experts in Arab-Islamic culture. They accumulated very rich knowledge and experience in this field of inquiry. In fact they made tremendous contribution to research, translation, and ultimately to the preservation and indexing of Arab-Islamic heritage.

LEADING CHANGE: Analysing The Change Agents Role

LEADING CHANGE: Analysing The Change Agents Role This essay focuses on introducing change in the organization. It looks into the change agents role; the positives and negatives on the personal front. It also critically analyses how much power lies in the hands of the senior management in implementing change in an organization. A case study has been incorporated into the report to understand how managers implement changes or imbibe them into the organization in real life. CHANGE AGENT According to the Oxford Dictionary, Change is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦to make or become differentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Recently, multinational corporations (MNCs) have been facing a lot of changes in their strategic direction as well as their day to day activities. (Stone, 2008) Generally, corporations have experienced a lot of resistance to change from their employees. In order to ensure that the change is incorporated smoothly into the organization, the recognition of a Change Agents role becomes essential. A change agent, by definition is, A person who acts as a catalyst for change. (Stone, 2008) There is a deep connection between leading and changing the organization. As Ahn rightly put it; The avoidance of change has been described as the opposite of leadership. (Jick et al, 2003) Leadership involves motivating a group of people and aligning their interests towards a common goal in the aim of achieving it. Change agents could be anyone in the organization who is the driving force behind the change. For Instance, the CEO of the company would be recognized as a change agent on several occasions or a consultant may be hired; who acts as the agent as well. (Jick et al, 2003). The change agents competitive advantage lies at his/her ability to act in response to the change. There are three general types of responses one can expect from a change agent. (Ulrich et al, 1997) Initiative Changes, whereby the change agent responds by bringing into the organization; new procedures or projects. This is basically done at the strategic level. The second type of response is Process Change. This occurs more at the operational level; where the change agent focuses on how the task is being carried out; and whether the work can be simplified or distributed; based on the organizational structure. The last type of response is the Cultural Change. It transforms the organizations way of thinking. (Ulrich et al, 1997) POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF A CHANGE AGENTS JOB Change agents are most susceptible to change themselves. (Jick et al, 2003) The agents go through a variety of positive and negative emotions and issues while dealing with implementing change in the organization. Firstly, the most obvious issue change agents face will be the resistance to change by the employees. This occurs irrespective of how well/not the agent handles his job. Someone, somewhere, at some point in time during the implementation will have a thought process which does not align to that of the others. This leads us to the secondary issue, which is frustration. In case the change introduced by the agent backfires, he would be the first person the organization will blame. The agent would feel isolated and might even get de-motivated at the thought that the plan he introduced did not work out. (Jick et al, 2003) Though the negative issues do seem to give an impression that the change agents job is always dreary, its often counteracted by positive challenges and emotions. The adrenaline rush of having transformed an organization successfully because of that change is a huge plus point. Change cannot be decided by one person; hence requiring the agent to involve himself in a lot of interaction with his employees by which new relationships develop. Often, when the agents look in retrospect, they find that they have gone a long way, and the factor of self fulfillment shows up. With every step, the agents would have utilized their strengths, opportunities and overcome their weaknesses and threats. (Jick et al, 2003) POWER AND CHANGE Power is defined as; The ability to influence various outcomes. (Bowditch and Buono, 2005: 195). This statement makes it clearer there is a close relationship between power and change in the organization. French and Raven (1959) came with a power base table which can be applied to change management. (Graetz et al 2002: 242-3) This basically deals with power and change in terms of top down approach. There are five types of powers of which one or two of them might lie with the management responsible for the change. Reward Power, whereby the managers reward the employees for their co-operation; Coercive Power, which means the employees get punished for non compliance; Referent Power, where personal relationships are used against them to follow the change; Expert Power, where specialist knowledge is required to understand the change procedures and reason for attempting them. The last power is the Legitimate Power, where change is decided by the senior staff and seems necessary for success. (Jick et al, 2003) This approach lays emphasis on implementation, and is a lot faster. The major disadvantage here is that resistance will arise from employees and middle level managers. Organizations generally rely on internal managers or external consultants to introduce change. Consultants are preferred since they have a neutral attitude towards the situation; and may be a lot more skilled and knowledgeable in the area. It would be a good idea to combine both of them i.e.; have internal managers as well as external consultants. (Stone, 2008) In contrast to the French and Raven power base, another strategy might be to hand over the power to the employees. This is the bottom up approach. While it encourages employee participation and reduces uncertainty on their part; it is very time consuming. (Stone, 2008) CASE STUDY Dennis Hightower was Disneys newly elected vice president for Europe. He was required to develop a different business strategy that was something totally different than what had been done in the past. He was given a time limit of three months. Walt Disney started off as a small company in the entertainment industry and emerged as one of the top most in recent times. They reported overall revenue of $3 billion dollars. A particular division in the company; Disney Consumer Products (DCP) reported $167 million of division revenue. Soon after, this division was involved in international licensing. The market was very diverse with complex environments. Hightower had formulated a certain strategy in mind. This report focuses more on the way he implemented it across the organization. He followed the Squeaky Wheelchair Theory; which meant he got involved into the situation only when there was a problem. Rather than ordering his team members on how its done; he persuaded them to see the logic and how each of their contributions added value to it. Loyalty was a key factor in his method. He trusted his team enough to let them make their own decisions to a great extent. This helped him ensure he had his teams support and all their goals were on the same track. Disney underwent a radical change, where fundamental changes were produced in the organization. Its generally more threatening than an incremental change. (Where the changes involved are on a small scale; for example, modifications in the day to day operations, etc.) This change was planned as well; which meant the change was implemented in an organized manner by the change agent. In essence, Hightower was the change agent; who tackled the above stated issue in a way which led to higher profits for the company. (Jick et al, 2003) CONCLUSION A change agent is thus very important in the introduction, leading and managing the change in the organization. Its very important to find the right person at the right time as it can make or break the situation. Positive and negative issues occur in every job and the change agent is no exception. Its important for the change agent to take up challenges such as resistance and try and make them work in his/her favor. The relationship between power and change is debatable, but finally, what counts is what exact change the organization is planning to undertake; if its a situation which is of strategic importance, its better for the top management to decide. The case study showed us one of the real life examples of change management.

Biblical Essay: Analysis of Pauls Letter To The Galatians

Biblical Essay: Analysis of Paul's Letter To The Galatians When Paul attended the Jerusalem Conference in 48 or 49, a decision was made that gentiles would be allowed to become Christians without becoming Jews first (ie. have a circumcision, and follow the Jewish Laws). Paul, being the one that defended the gentile's right to be Christians, became the apostle to the gentiles. Why would Paul, a Jew, want to be an apostle to gentiles? According to him, Jesus appeared to him in AD 32 or 36, and told him to preach the good news to the gentiles (Gal 1:16). Paul uses scripture to explain why gentiles should not be required to be circumcised, or obey Jewish Law; however, there are no direct quotes in scripture that say this. One would wonder why Paul, someone who grew-up in a "good" Jewish family, would not follow in the footsteps of Jewish Christian Missionaries, and require Christian converts to become Jews first. He certainly had to fight to have his belief accepted! In my opinion, Paul tried to follow the example of the original apostles (who knew Jesus) by "converting the multitudes." I think Paul understood human nature better than the other apostles preaching circumcision to the gentiles. Perhaps he thought that gentiles would accept Christianity more easily if it was natural to their lifestyle --I'm sure that the thought of circumcision, and strict dietary laws scared gentiles from Christianity! It seems that the "Judaziers" preached a God that was hard to please. Paul's major problem confronted in his letter to the Galatians is the preachings of the Judaziers. Apparently, men who preach circumcision and the Law had been trying to "pervert" the Galatians, and change their belief... ...is area is full of rules/laws for the Galatians to live by. Of course, he justifies that Christians live by these laws because they "Walk in the Spirit of Christ." (Gal 5:16) If Christians are to "imitate" Jesus' actions & morals, then why should they decide to follow some, and not others? This is more evidence of Peter trying to create a "convenient" religion. The problem of acceptance of Jewish Law, I believe, is the fundamental split in Christianity. It can still be seen today: Catholicism represents Paul's view of Christianity, while Seventh Day Adventist Christians keep Jewish Law. However, if Paul had preached the Law, I don't believe that Christianity would even be present today (especially among the gentiles). He did much to advance Christianity; however, Gentile Christianity became a religion of Paul, rather than a religion of Jesus.

Language in Haiti Essay -- Linguistics

Language in Haiti Language is a major issue in Haiti. Our language is both one of our greatest belongings and one of our greatest baggages. On one hand, it represents the mainstay of our culture, the unique pathway to our true nature; on the other, it sometimes restricts and casts us out by putting us in a box and preventing us from accessing two prime universal bases of knowledge and culture: French and English. Our people, in Haiti and throughout the world, sometimes need to use Creole, French, and English at different times, in different places, to respond to different needs. Creole as mainstay and restriction is Haiti’s current and, most likely, our future reality, and I believe that Creole should be valued and fully integrated in the educational system in Haiti. The two official languages of Haiti are French and Creole. All Haitians speak Creole, while only a very small part of the population can be considered bilingual in French and Creole. Traditionally, the two languages served different functions, with Creole being the informal everyday language of all the people, regardless of the social class, and French considered as the language of formality used in situations such as newspapers, schools, the law and the courts, and official documents and decrees. Nevertheless, because the great majority of Haitians only speak Creole, many efforts have been made in recent years to expand its usage. A language is conventionally composed of arbitrary signals such as voice sounds, gestures, and written symbols; such a system uses its own rules for combining its components, which makes every language unique. Haitian Creole highly relies on proverbs, metaphors, and sublime imagery. Here are a few of these pro... ...ole, and I wish to take part in it. Works Cited Baldwin, James. â€Å"If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?† The Composition of Our â€Å"Selves.† 2nd ed. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt. 2000. 123–6. Curtis, Marcia. Preface. The Composition of Our â€Å"Selves.† 2nd ed. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt, 2000. 103–9. Jordan, June. â€Å"Nobody Mean More to Me Than You.† The Composition of Our â€Å"Selves.† 2nd ed. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt. 2000. 157–163. Katz, Stacey. â€Å"Near-Native Speakers in the Foreign-Language Classroom: The Case of Haitian Immigrant Students†. The Sociolinguistics of Foreign-Language Classrooms. EBSCO. 2003. 08 Nov. 2005 http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db= eric&an=ED481793. White, Michael and David Epston. â€Å"Story, Knowledge, and Power†. The Composition of Our â€Å"Selves.† 2nd ed. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt, 2000. 64–77.

The Return: Nightfall Chapter 21

â€Å"It actually makes a horrible kind of sense,† Meredith said. They were in Isobel's family room, waiting for Dr. Alpert. Meredith was at a beautiful desk made of some black wood ornamented with designs in gilt, working at a computer that had been left on. â€Å"The Salem girls accused people of hurting them – witches, of course. They said they were pinching them and  ¡Ã‚ ®pricking them with pins.'† â€Å"Like Isobel blaming us,† Bonnie said, nodding. â€Å"And they had seizures and contorted their bodies into  ¡Ã‚ ®impossible positions.'† â€Å"Caroline looked as if she were having seizures in Stefan's room,† said Bonnie. â€Å"And if crawling like a lizard isn't contorting your body into an impossible position†¦here, I'll try it.† She got down on the Saitous' floor and tried to stick her elbows and knees out the way Caroline had. She couldn't do it. â€Å"See?† â€Å"Oh, my God!† It was Jim at the doorway of the kitchen, holding – almost dropping – a tray of food. The smell of miso soup was sharp in the air, and Bonnie wasn't sure if it made her feel hungry or if she was too sick to ever be hungry again. â€Å"It's okay,† she told him hastily, standing up. â€Å"I was just†¦trying something out.† Meredith stood up too. â€Å"Is that for Isobel?† â€Å"No, it's for Obaasan – I mean Isa-chan's grandma – Grandma Saitou – â€Å" â€Å"I told you to call everybody whatever comes out naturally. Obaasan is fine, just like Isa-chan,† Meredith said softly and firmly to him. Jim relaxed a hair. â€Å"I tried to get Isa-chan to eat, but she just throws the trays at the wall. She says that she can't eat; that somebody's choking her.† Meredith glanced significantly at Bonnie. Then she turned back to Jim. â€Å"Why don't you let me take it? You've been through a lot. Where is she?† â€Å"Upstairs, second door on the left. If – if she says anything weird, just ignore it.† â€Å"All right. Stay near Bonnie.† â€Å"Oh, no,† Bonnie said hastily. â€Å"Bonnie is going with.† She didn't know if it was for her own protection or Meredith's, but she was going to stick like glue. Upstairs, Meredith turned the hall light on carefully with her elbow. Then they found the second door on the left, which turned out to have a doll-like old lady in it. She was in the exact center of the room, lying on the exact center of a futon. She sat up and smiled when they came in. The smile turned a wrinkled face almost into the face of a happy child. â€Å"Megumi-chan, Beniko-chan, you came to see me!† she exclaimed, bowing where she sat. â€Å"Yes,† Meredith said carefully. She put the tray down beside the old lady. â€Å"We came to see you – Ms. Saitou.† â€Å"Don't play games with me! It's Inari-chan! Or are you mad at me?† â€Å"All thesechans . I thought ;;Chan' was a Chinese name. Isn't Isobel Japanese?† whispered Bonnie from behind Meredith. One thing, the doll-like old woman was not, was deaf. She burst into laughter, bringing up both hands to cover her mouth girlishly. â€Å"Oh, don't tease me before I eat.Itadakimasu! † She picked up the bowl of miso soup and began to drink it. â€Å"I thinkchan is something you put at the end of someone's name when you're friends, the way Jimmy was sayingIsa-chan ,† Meredith said aloud. â€Å"AndEeta-daki-mass-u is something you say when you start eating. And that'sall I know.† Part of Bonnie's mind noted that the â€Å"friends† Grandma Saitou had just happened to have names starting withM andB . Another part was calculating where this room was with relation to the rooms below it, Isobel's room in particular. It was directly above it. The tiny old woman had stopped eating and was watching her intently. â€Å"No, no, you're not Beniko-chan and Megumi-chan. I know it. But they do visit me sometimes, and so does my dear Nobuhiro. Other things do, too, unpleasant things, but I was raised a shrine maiden – I know how to take care ofthem .† A brief look of knowing satisfaction passed over the innocent old face. â€Å"This house is possessed, you know.† She added,†Kore ni wa kitsune ga karande isou da ne.† â€Å"I'm sorry, Ms. Saitou – what was that?† Meredith asked. â€Å"I said, there's a kitsune involved in this somehow.† â€Å"A kit-su-nay?† Meredith repeated, quiz-zically. â€Å"A fox, silly girl,† the old woman said cheerfully. â€Å"They can turn into anything they like, don't you know? Even humans. Why, one could turn intoyou and your best friend wouldn't know the difference.† â€Å"So – a sort of were-fox, then?† Meredith asked, but Grandma Saitou was rocking back and forth now, her gaze on the wall behind Bonnie. â€Å"We used to play a circle game,† she said. â€Å"All of us in a circle and one in the middle, blindfolded. And we would sing a song.Ushiro no shounen daare? Who is standing behind you? I taught it to my children, but I made up a little song in English to go with it.† And she sang, in the voice of the very old or the very young, with her eyes fixed innocently on Bonnie all the while. â€Å"Fox and turtle Had a race. Who's that far behind you? Whoever came in Second place Who's that near behind you? Would make a nice meal For the winner. Who's that close behind you? Lovely turtle soup For dinner! Who's that right behind you?† Bonnie felt hot breath on her neck. Gasping, she whirled around – and screamed. Andscreamed . Isobel was there, dripping blood onto the mats that covered the floor. She had somehow managed to get past Jim and to sneak into the dim upstairs room without anyone seeing or hearing her. Now she stood there like some distorted goddess of piercing, or the hideous embodiment of every piercer's nightmare. She was wearing only a pair of very brief bikini bottoms. Otherwise she was naked except for the blood and the different kinds of hoops and studs and needles she had put through the holes. She had pierced every area Bonnie had ever heard that youcould pierce, and a few that Bonnie hadn't dreamed of. And every hole was crooked and bleeding. Her breath was warm and fetid and nauseating – like rotten eggs. Isobel flicked her pink tongue. It wasn't pierced. It was worse. With some kind of instrument she had cut the long muscle in two so that it was forked like a snake's. The forked, pink thing licked Bonnie's forehead. Bonnie fainted. Matt drove slowly down the almost invisible lane. There was no street sign to identify it, he noticed. They went up a little hill and then down sharply into a small clearing. â€Å" ¡Ã‚ ®Keep away from faerie circles,'† Elena said softly, as if she were quoting. â€Å" ¡Ã‚ ®And old oaks†¦'† â€Å"What are you talking about?† â€Å"Stop the car.† When he did, Elena stood in the center of the clearing. â€Å"Don't you think it has a faerie sort of feeling?† â€Å"I don't know. Where'd the red thing go?† â€Å"In here somewhere. I saw it!† â€Å"Me, too – and did you see how it was bigger than a fox?† â€Å"Yes, but not as big as a wolf.† Matt let out a sigh of relief. â€Å"Bonnie just won't believe me. And you saw how quickly it moved – â€Å" â€Å"Too quickly to be something natural.† â€Å"You're saying we didn't really see anything?† Matt said almost fiercely. â€Å"I'm saying we saw somethingsuper natural. Like the bug that attacked you. Like the trees, for that matter. Something that doesn't follow the laws of this world.† But search as they would, they couldn't find the animal. The bushes and shrubs between the trees reached from the ground up in a dense circle. But there was no evidence of a hole or a hide or a break in the dense thicket. And the sun was sliding down in the sky. The clearing was beautiful, but there was nothing of interest to them. Matt had just turned to say so to Elena when he saw her stand up quickly, in alarm. â€Å"What's – ?† He followed her gaze and stopped. A yellow Ferrari blocked the way back to the road. They hadn't passed a yellow Ferrari on their way in. There was only room for one car on the one-lane road. Yet there the Ferrari stood. Branches broke behind Matt. He whirled. â€Å"Damon!† â€Å"Whom were you expecting?† The wraparound Ray-Bans concealed Damon's eyes completely. â€Å"We weren't expectinganyone ,† Matt said aggressively. â€Å"We just turned in here.† The last time he'd seen Damon, when Damon had been banished like a whipped dog from Stefan's room, he'd wanted to punch Damon in the mouth very much, Elena knew. She could feel that he wanted it again now. But Damon wasn't the same as he'd been when he'd left that room. Elena could see danger rising off him like heat waves. â€Å"Oh, Isee . This is – yourprivate area for – privateexplorations,† Damon translated, and there was a note of complicity in his voice that Elena disliked. â€Å"No!† Matt snarled. Elena realized she was going to have to keep him under control. It was dangerous to antagonize Damon in this mood. â€Å"How can you even say that?† Matt went on. â€Å"Elena belongs to Stefan.† â€Å"Well – we belong to each other,† Elena temporized. â€Å"Of course you do,† said Damon. â€Å"One body, one heart, one soul.† For a moment there was something there – an expression inside the Ray-Bans, she thought, that was murderous. Instantly, though, Damon's tone changed to an expressionless murmur. â€Å"But then, why areyou two here?† His head, turning to follow Matt's movement, moved like a predator tracking prey. There was something more disquieting than usual about his attitude. â€Å"We saw something red,† Matt said before Elena could stop him. â€Å"Something like what I saw when I had that accident.† Prickles were now running up and down Elena's arms. Somehow she wished Matt hadn't said that. In this dim, quiet clearing in the evergreen grove, she was suddenly very much afraid. Stretching her new senses to their utmost – until she could feel them distending like a gossamer garment pushed thin all around her, she felt the wrongness there, too, and felt it pass out of the reach of her mind. At the same time she felt birds go quiet all that long distance away. What was most disturbing was to turn just then, just as the birdsong stopped, and find Damon turning at the same instant to look at her. The sunglasses kept her from knowing what he was thinking. The rest of his face was a mask. Stefan, she thought helplessly, longingly. How could he have left her – with this? With no warning, no idea of his destination, no way of ever contacting him again†¦It might have made sense to him, with his desperate desire not to make her into something he loathed in himself. But to leave her with Damon in this mood, and all of her previous powers gone – Your own fault, she thought, cutting short the flood of self-pity. You were the one who harped on brotherhood. You were the one who convinced him Damon was to be trusted. Now you deal with the consequences. â€Å"Damon,† she said, â€Å"I've been looking foryou . I wanted to ask you – about Stefan. You do know that he's left me.† â€Å"Of course. I believe the saying goes, for your own good. He left me to be your bodyguard.† â€Å"Then you saw him two nights ago?† â€Å"Of course.† And – of course – you didn't try to stop him. Things couldn't have turned out better for you, Elena thought. She had never wished more for the abilities she'd had as a spirit, not even when she'd realized Stefan was really gone and beyond her all-too-human reach. â€Å"Well, I'm not just letting him leave me,† she said flatly, â€Å"for my own good or for any other reason. I'm going to follow him – but first I need to know where he might have gone.† â€Å"You're askingme ?† â€Å"Yes. Please. Damon, I have to find him. I need him. I – † She was starting to choke up, and she had to be stern with herself. But just then she realized that Matt was whispering very softly to her. â€Å"Elena, stop. I think we're just making him mad. Look at the sky.† Elena felt it herself. The circle of trees seemed to be leaning in all around them, darker than before, menacing. Elena tilted her chin slowly, looking up. Directly above them, gray clouds were pooling, piling in on themselves, cirrus overwhelmed by cumulus, turning to thunderheads – centered exactly over the spot where they stood. On the ground, small whirlwinds began to form, lifting handfuls of pine needles and fresh green summer leaves off saplings. She had never seen anything like it before, and it filled the clearing with a sweet but sensuous smell, redolent of exotic oils and long, dark winter nights. Looking at Damon, then, as the whirlwinds lifted higher and the sweet scent encircled her, resinous and aromatic, closing in until she knew it was soaking into her clothes and being impressed into her very flesh, she knew she had overstepped herself. She couldn't protect Matt. Stefan told me to trust Damon in his note in my diary. Stefan knows more about him than I do, she thought desperately. But we both know what Damon wants, ultimately. What he's always wanted. Me. My blood†¦ â€Å"Damon,† she began softly – and broke off. Without looking at her, he held out a hand with the palm toward her. Wait. â€Å"There's something I have to do,† he murmured. He bent down, every movement as unconsciously and economically graceful as a panther's, and picked up a small broken branch of what looked like ordinary Virginia pine. He waved it slightly, appraisingly, hefting it in his hand as if to feel weight and balance. It looked more like a fan than a branch. Elena was now looking at Matt, trying with her eyes to tell him all the things she was feeling, foremost of which was that she was sorry: sorry that she had gotten him into this; sorry that she'd ever cared for him; sorry that she'd kept him bound into a group of friends who were so intimately intertwined with the supernatural. Now I know a little bit of what Bonnie must have felt this last year, she thought, being able to see and predict things without having the slightest power to stop them. Matt, jerking his head, was already moving stealthily toward the trees. No, Matt.No .No! He didn't understand. Neither did she, except to feel that the trees were only keeping their distance because of Damon's presence here. If she and Matt were to venture into the forest; if they left the clearing or even stayed in it too long†¦Matt could see the fear on her face, and his own face reflected grim understanding. They were trapped. Unless – â€Å"Too late,† Damon said sharply. â€Å"I told you, there's something I have to do.† He had apparently found the stick he was looking for. Now he raised it, shook it slightly, and brought it down in a single motion; slashing sideways as he did. And Matt convulsed in agony. It was a kind of pain he had never dreamed of before: pain that seemed to come frominside himself, but from everywhere, every organ in his body, every muscle, every nerve, every bone, releasing a different type of pain. His muscles ached and cramped as if they were strained to their ultimate flexion, but were being forced to flex farther still. Inside, his organs were on fire. Knives were at work in his belly. His bones felt the way his arm had when he had shattered it once, when he was nine years old and a car had broadsided his dad's. And his nerves – if there was a switch on nerves that could be set from â€Å"pleasure† to â€Å"pain† – his had been set to â€Å"anguish.† The touch of clothes on his skin was unbearable. The currents of air passing were agony. He endured fifteen seconds of it and passed out. â€Å"Matt!† For her part, Elena had been frozen, her muscles locked, unable to move for what seemed like forever. Suddenly released, she ran to Matt, pulled him up into her lap, stared into his face. Then she looked up. â€Å"Damon,why ? Why?† Suddenly she realized that although Matt wasn't conscious, he was still writhing in pain. She had to keep herself from screaming the words, to only speak forcefully. â€Å"Why are youdoing this? Damon!Stop it .† She stared up at the young man dressed all in black: black jeans with a black belt, black boots, black leather jacket, black hair, and those damned Ray-Bans. â€Å"I told you,† Damon said casually. â€Å"It's something I need to do. To watch. Painful death.† â€Å"Death!†Elena stared at Damon in disbelief. And then she began gathering all her Power, in a way that had been so easy and instinctual just days ago while she had been mute and not subject to gravity, and that was so difficult and so foreign right now. With determination, she said, â€Å"If you don't let him go – now – I'll hit you with everything I've got.† He laughed. She'd never seen Damon really laugh before, not like this. â€Å"And you expect that I'll even notice your tiny Power?† â€Å"Notthat tiny.† Elena weighed it grimly. It was no more than the intrinsic Power of any human being – the Power that vampires took from humans along with the blood they drank – but since becoming a spirit, she knew how to use it. How to attack with it. â€Å"I think you'll feel it, Damon. Let him go – NOW!† â€Å"Why do people always assume that volume will succeed when logic won't?† Damon murmured. Elena let him have it. Or at least she prepared to. She took the deep breath necessary, held her inner self still, and imagined herself holding a ball of white fire, and then – Matt was on his feet. He looked as if he'd beendragged to his feet and was being held there like a puppet, and his eyes were involuntarily watering, but it was better than Matt writhing on the ground. â€Å"You owe me,† Damon said to Elena casually. â€Å"I'll collect later.† To Matt he said, in the tones of a fond uncle, with one of those instantaneous smiles that you could never be quite sure you saw, â€Å"Lucky for me that you're a hardy specimen, isn't it?† â€Å"Damon.† Elena had seen Damon in hislet's-play-with-weaker-creatures mood, and it was the one she liked least. But there was something off today; something she couldn't understand. â€Å"Let's get down to it,† she said, while the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck rose again. â€Å"What do youreally want?† But he didn't give the answer she expected. â€Å"I was officially appointed as your caretaker. I'm officially taking care of you. And for one thing, I don't think you should be without my protection and companionship while my little brother is gone.† â€Å"I can handle myself,† Elena said flatly, waving a hand so they could get down to the real issue. â€Å"You're a very pretty girl. Dangerous and† – flash smile – â€Å"unsavory elements could be after you. I insist you have a bodyguard.† â€Å"Damon, right now the thing I need most is to be protected fromyou . You know that. What is this really about?† The clearing was†¦pulsing. Almost as if it were something organic, breathing. Elena had the feeling that beneath her feet – beneath Meredith's old, rugged hiking boots – the ground was moving slightly, like a great sleeping animal, and the trees were like a beating heart. For what? The forest? There was more dead wood than live here. And she could swear that she knew Damon well enough to know that he didn't like trees or woods. It was at times like this that Elena wished she still had wings. Wings and the knowledge – the hand motions, the Words of White Power, the white fire inside her that would allow her to know the truth without trying to figure it out, or to simply blast annoyances back to Stonehenge. It seemed that all she'd been left with was being a greater temptation to vampires than ever, and her wits. Wits had worked up until now. Maybe if she didn't let Damon know how afraid she was, she could win a stay of execution for them. â€Å"Damon, I thank you for being concerned about me. Now would you mind leaving Matt and me for a moment so that I can tell if he's still breathing?† From inside the Ray-Bans, she thought she could discern a single flash of red. â€Å"Somehow I thought you might say that,† Damon said. â€Å"And, of course, it's your right to have consolation after being so treacherously abandoned. Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, for example.† Elena wanted to swear. Carefully, she answered, â€Å"Damon, if Stefan appointed you as my bodyguard, then he hardly  ¡Ã‚ ®treacherously abandoned' me, did he? You can't have it both – â€Å" â€Å"Just indulge me in one thing, all right?† Damon said in the voice of one whose next words are going to beBe careful orDon't do anything I wouldn't do . There was silence. The dust devils had stopped whirling. The smell of sun-warmed pine needles and pine resin in this dim place was making her languid, dizzy. The ground was warm, too, and the pine needles were all aligned, as if the slumbering animal had pine needles for fur. Elena watched dust motes turn and sparkle like opals in the golden sunlight. She knew she wasn't at her best right now; not her sharpest. Finally, when she was sure her voice would be steady, she asked, â€Å"What do you want?† â€Å"A kiss.†

Robert Frost: Lessons of Life

Robert Frost: Lessons of Life Robert Frost has over fifty poems circulating throughout the world. Frost’s career can be separated between flashes of insight and deeper wisdom. Individuality, love, religion, and nature are all things that can be learned from Frost. His mental, emotional, and spiritual equipment all blend together to form poems which can teach people things about their own life. Love can be learned from Robert Frost’s poetry. Frost’s poem, â€Å"Reluctance†, is a representation of love becoming a positive force. It teaches how things from the heart are irrational, but people cannot be reluctant to how they respond to these feelings. There is note of realistic affirmation that accepts the challenge for the human conditions (Isaacs 42). Love should dominate all to Frost. In the conclusion of â€Å"Wild Grapes†, love is the theme that dominates the attitude towards life. â€Å"All of my poems are love poems,† Frost said (Thompson 185). Love is the strongest expression of forces. There are different levels which suggest the types of love. In â€Å"A Prayer in Spring†, there is specific emphasis on the present. There are no problems about the future and what comes after death. It ends with an emphasis on the need to fulfill actions controlled by love (Thompson 189). Nature is something that anyone can learn from every single day. Frost uses references to nature in almost all of his poems. In â€Å"Once by the Pacific†, Frost speaks of water and woods. The water is representational of power and how much the water eats away at the woods and the cliffs. This can be translated into many things, but one idea is that God is the water. He is the power. People are the woods and cliffs. God constantly is eating away at people. He wants us to follow Him. A lesson that can be learned from this is to follow and trust in Him and His ways. In â€Å"Desert Places†, nature is used to illustrate the thoughts and feelings of the speaker. The entire poem takes place outside on a dark, snowy night. Nothing can be seen. The speaker is alone and upset that the animals can go and escape from their everyday lives. He fears the loneliness of life. The fear is not of the places that the loneliness will take him but of the anguish that will take place in his mind. This teaches how to overcome difficult situations. It shows how to defeat stress and worry in everyday situations. The mind is one of the most dangerous things and Frost’s poetry can help focus in on what is truly mportant so that one stays focus in his or her goals and plans. Throughout Frost’s works, there are references to a higher God. People can learn about God and His power through Frost’s poems about creation and design. In â€Å"Acquainted with the Night†, he uses images of loneliness in the night, however, the speaker indicates his spiritual tormenting as he overlooks his physical anxieties. People have to learn that they must overcome what is of themselves and focus on that which is of God. With â€Å"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening†, there are images of a need for spiritual investment. Reason is not enough in life, but faith can bring a compromise between the two so that they can work together to create a harmonious lifestyle. In â€Å"Design†, there is a focus on a creator. It opens man’s thinking to go beyond reason and look at the aspect of faith (Isaacs). Another idea is hope. Frost plays a lot of importance on staying hopeful in life. In â€Å"Peril of Hope†, there is the concept that no matter how things are at one minute in time, they can always change. Nothing is ever promised, but everything can be hoped for in the future. Hope is constantly there and will always be there. It is endless. Hope can be found anytime and any place. There are no limitations on it. This teaches that one should always have hope. Situations can always change for the better at any time. Works Cited Isaacs, Elizabeth. An Introduction to Robert Frost. New York City: Haskell House, 1972. â€Å"On â€Å"The Road Not Taken†Ã¢â‚¬  Welcome to English  « Department of English, College of LAS, University of Illinois. 10 Apr. 2010. http://www. english. illinois. edu/maps/poets/a_f/frost/road. htm. Thompson, Lawrance. Fire and Ice: The Art and Thought of Robert Frost. New York City: Russell & Russell, 1961.