9-11 and how it affected the United States Essay

Tuesday, September 11, 2001 was a day that devastated our entire nation and changed the lives of every American in some way. This was one of the most horrible tragedies in our nations history, because of all the lives lost and the twin towers that were demolished. The events that took place on September 11 had an outstanding effect on our country. The 9-11 tragedy was terrible yet unforgettable event. One year after this tragedy feels like a very short period of time. There was Pearl Harbor, Oklahoma City, and now 9-11 is added to the list of American tragedies. With all the deaths of 9-11 almost everyone knows someone or knows someone who knows someone that was either in the World Trade Center and survived or died in the World Trade Center. This is an extremely sad but true way to look at it. Our country now tries to move on from this terrible experience, but will never forget it. 9-11 affected everyone as a whole as well as personally. See more:Â  Social Satire in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay For better or for worse the September 11 tragedy changed America. Besides taking thousands of lives and knocking down the Twin Towers this tragedy has brought our nation closer together. We will now have another topic to add to the history books and pass on to prevent something like this from happening again. All Americans will remember where they were when the Twin Towers went down. Another affect anyone can see all around our country is patriotism. Everyone now has new pride in the United States. Although the events of 9-11 took so much away from us it made our country stronger as a whole.

My Theory on Personality

My Theory of Personality Personality refers to a combination of long-lasting and distinctive behaviors, thoughts, motives, and emotion that typify how we react and adapt to other people and situations. (Plotnik, 2012) Many psychologists, like Freud, theorize that it is a combination of many factors that affect the personality. Many of these factors ranging from early childhood development and unconsciousness to rewards and punishments. I have chosen four concepts that I believe contribute the most to the development of the personality and will explain why.The concepts I have chosen to be part of my very own personality theory are: childhood experiences, interpretation of experiences, and observable behavior. Alfred Adler, an Austrian medical doctor and psychologist, once said that we develop our desires and drives during our childhood then our whole adulthood becomes affected by these childhood experiences. People keep striving during their adulthood to fulfill the desires they have developed during childhood. (Radwan, 2008) Childhood experiences are the first lessons you learn, the first observations you see, and are what I believe to be the basis of personality in adulthood.For example, if a child grows up with an overprotective family, she/he will learn to fear strangers and have a lot of insecurities. But in adulthood they will have to deal with that fear, in such a way that it might transfer to another fear like a fear of taking risks or trying new things. Growing up, there are always situations when you have to meet new people or interact with strangers, and sooner or later you get over the insecurities you have about meeting new people and become friendlier, or you keep your anthropophobia and become very isolated.Personality traits you learn at a young age sticks with you throughout your life even if you forget about them, you're unconscious mind still puts them in to effect on a daily basis. Interpretation of experiences very from person to person. â⠂¬Å"Kids need to feel badly sometimes,† says child psychologist David Elkind, professor at Tufts University. â€Å"We learn through experience and we learn through bad experiences. Through failure we learn how to cope. † Some people might take overbearing parents as a sign of love and affection.While on the other hand a different person might see it as suffocating and annoying. Depending on how they interpret these situations of over-protection by their parents will build on their personality. (Marano, 2004) The child who sees the overbearingness as love will embrace and project it as an adult. But the child who sees the protectiveness as suffocating will want to take more risks and be more outgoing as an adult. A real question I have is why do we interpret these situations the way we do.Most of the time I realize the way I react to certain situations is the same as the way my mother would have reacted. Maybe it is because we spent a lot of time together in my teen year s. Observable behavior is basically what you see people do and how they act. There is a phase people say to one another that, in its simplest form, means take note and execute. â€Å"Pay it forward†. Paying it forward is when you notice someone going out of their way to do something nice for you. And in return you do the same for someone else.In a way it is supposed to start a chain reaction and sooner or later more and more people will be kinder to strangers. But after a while the chain end due to someone not paying it forward. Maybe they didn't notice or they were not paying attention. And when it comes time for them to pay it forward they think nobody has done it for them, so why should they do it for someone else? So, they do not help this person out. That is observable behavior, people learn by watching, and it can change them to be friendlier or ruder.In my theory of personality, childhood experiences, interpretation of experiences, and observable behavior all contribut e to it. Each has its very own contribution towards a person's personality. Weather it is from early childhood and how the child is treated or young adulthood observing your environment and learning from your environment. Even how you see certain situations, you can see the positive side or the negative side. Just one behavior cannot be the only reason for a person's personality. It takes many different events to establish it.

Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure

The novel Jude the Obscure, by Thomas Hardy, was first published unabridged in 1896. It narrates the doomed existence of the protagonist, Jude, from the moment he is still a boy at Marygreen and is inspired by a rural schoolmaster to think of a university education, to the moment in which he dies, alone and unattended. It tells the story of a man whose dreams and ambitions are gradually destroyed, and end up being shattered. Jude lives an enternal cyclical movement, in which he never gets any closer to whaever he is looking for, due to forces which seem to be operating against him all the time.In this essay, I will conduct an analysis of these social forces, in order to show that Hardy did create a realistic depiction of ninteenth century British society. According to Brooks [1], a realistic depiction is similar to the vision we have if go up a high tower and remove the housetops of the houses, to show what is really happening in the rooms exposed. It is a duty of the realistic write r, to dismantle appearances and not to reproduce the facade, and â€Å"to give us not only the world viewed, as well as the world comprehended . Hardy shows us that Jude is making choices at a certain level, referring to his personal life, but there are social and economic forces which operate on him so he does not take decisions, once these circumstances limit his choices. Early on in the novel, we see Jude struggling against the circumstances. The village of Marygreen is set in opposition to the university town of Christminster. The young Jude sees Christminster as an enlightened place of learning, relating it to his dreams of higher education and his vague notions of academic success.Yet while Jude lives quite close to Christminster and knows a man who is going to live there, the city is always only a distant vision in his mind. It is nearly within his reach but at the same time unattainable. This physical distance is a metaphor for the abstract distance between the impoverished Jude and the privileged Christminster students. For the first time in the novel we see Jude heading towards a destination, and being unable to reach it. At the start of the novel, Jude is portrayed as a determined and innocent young man who aspires to things greater than his background allows.He resists succumbing to the discouragement of those around him and does not fear the gap he is creating between himself and the other people of his village. He is seen as eccentric and perhaps impertinent, and his aspirations are dismissed as unrealistic. These circumstances might have led him to marry Arabella. All through his young adult life, he avoids going to Christminster. He appears to be afraid of the failure he might encounter there. In Arabella, he sees something attainable and instantly gratifying, as opposed to the university life, of which he fears he may never become a part.In this way Jude tries to avoid disappointment, but finds that he cannot live within the confines of an un happy marriage. The freedom he receives after Arabella leaves is only partially liberating: It lets him be independent in a physical sense, but because he is still married, it forbids him to achieve legitimate romantic happiness with someone else. Jude is attracted to Christminster because of Sue, who he seeks with a strange devotion, despite his aunt's warning that he should stay away from he.Taken together with her warning that marriages in their family never end well and with the fact that they are cousins, Jude's haste to find and fall in love with Sue creates a sense of foreboding about his fate. He finds that the Christminster colleges are not welcoming toward self-educated men, and when he accepts that he may not be able to study at the university after all, he starts drinking. â€Å" He began to see that the town life was a book of humanity infinitely more palpitating, varied, and compendious than the gown life.These struggling men and women before him were the reality of C hristminster, though they knew little of Christ or Minster. That was one of the humours of things. The floating population of students and teachers, who did know both in a way, were not Christminster in a local sense at all. † The narrator tells us how big the distance between his aspirations and his relaity is, since Jude works so hard that he can no longer dedicate himself to his studies at night: â€Å"So fatigued was he sometimes after his day's work that he could not aintain the critical attention necessary for thorough application. He felt that he wanted a coach – a friend at his elbow to tell him in a moment what sometimes would occupy him a weary month in extracting from unanticipative, clumsy books. † The episode in the pub, in which he recites Latin to a group of workmen and undergraduates, shows the contrast between Jude's intellect and his appearance. Christminster will not accept him because he belongs to the working class, yet he is intelligent and well-read through independent study, he is advised to remain in his own sphere.The realization that his learning will help him only to perform in pubs sits heavily with Jude, as we can tell from his reaction at the pub: â€Å"`You pack of fools! ‘ he cried. `Which one of you knows whether I have said it or no? It might have been the Ratcatcher's Daughter in double Dutch for all that your besotted heads can tell! See what I have brought myself to – the crew I have come among! ‘† He looks for consolation with Sue and shows her what he considers to be his worst side†: â€Å"†¦ `I am so wicked, Sue – my heart is nearly broken, and I could not bear my life as it was!So I have been drinking, and blaspheming, or next door to it, and saying holy things in disreputable quarters – repeating in idle bravado words which ought never to be uttered but reverently! Oh, do anything with me, Sue – kill me – I don't care! Only don't hat e me and despise me like all the rest of the world! ‘† Jude is comforted only by the idea of becoming a clergyman. Once again, he does have the ability to make a decision, but he only chooses to become a clergyman because his choices were limited by the conventions and prejudices of society.The moral implications of the friendship and romance between Jude and Sue emerge as an important issue. Jude's doomed existence is also shaped by other people's indecision. Sue shows herself to be both radical in her intellectual views and conservative in her social practices. She leaves the Training College because she discovers that its rules are intolerably strict, and she cannot conform to the rules of her establishment in Melchester either. She comes to see Jude as a protector, and reveals to be quite an impulsive character, and not to care much about Jude's intense feelings for her and the implications of her actions: Suddenly, however, quite a passionate letter arrived from Sue . She was quite lonely and miserable, she told him. She hated the place she was in; it was worse than the ecclesiastical designer's; worse than anywhere. She felt utterly friendless; could he come immediately? – though when he did come she would only be able to see him at limited times, the rules of the establishment she found herself in being strict to a degree. It was Mr. Phillotson who had advised her to come there, and she wished she had never listened to him. † †¦ Phillotson's suit was not exactly prospering, evidently; and Jude felt unreasonably glad. He packed up his things and went to Melchester with a lighter heart than he had known for months. † When they meet, the narrator describes her as unhappy and changed, but not anxious and desperate as she was when she wrote the letter, since Jude is the only one overcome by emotion: â€Å"Though she had been here such a short while, she was not as he had seen her last. All her bounding manner was gone; her curves of motion had become subdued lines. The screens and subtleties of convention had likewise disappeared.Yet neither was she quite the woman who had written the letter that summoned him. That had plainly been dashed off in an impulse which second thoughts had somewhat regretted; thoughts that were possibly of his recent self-disgrace. Jude was quite overcome with emotion. † â€Å"†¦ she had altogether the air of a woman clipped and pruned by severe discipline, an under-brightness shining through from the depths which that discipline had not yet been able to reach. † Sue makes it clear that she doesn't see Jude as a lover, and is annoyed by the fact that he is love with her.She goes back and forth in her protests, sometimes wanting to enter into a romantic relationship with Jude and sometimes believing it to be misguided. When he confesses that he is married, she accuses him of dishonesty, but there is a hint of disappointment in her tone because his marriage o nly adds a further obstruction to their possible romance. She marries Phillotson in this state of anger and frustration, and Jude feels that he cannot and should not dissuade her. By doing so, Sue hopes to protect her reputation and achieve the traditional lifestyle of a married woman.After Jude spends the night with Arabella, Sue tries to push him away again, then invites him to her home soon after. Sue does not know what she wants, but is slowly realizing that she finds Phillotson repulsive. She does not admit to loving Jude, but still turns to him to be her protector. She recognizes her own intellect and her potential for a satisfying career in teaching, and marries Phillotson partly out of a desire for a pleasant work environment. She resists a romantic relationship with Jude, but falls in love with him despite her misgivings.However, when it comes time to marry, she does not wish to enter into a legal contract in which she would again be confined and their financial difficultie s push them into a wandering life. The uncertainty surrounding their status foreshadows difficulties to come, as there is a sense of illegitimacy lingering in their relationship. Society dispproves of it, and the children and Sue's pregnancy only add to that. The tragic conclusion of the novel arises as the inevitable result of the difficulties faced by the two cousins.When Father Time kills himself and the other children, Sue is the one who cannot handle it and start regarding their relationship as sinful and the death of the children as punishment. She thinks the child of a legitimate union had punished the ones of an illegitimate one, as the result of her transgressions against the institution of marriage. She marries Philoston again in an act of hopelessness, almost masochistic behaviour, once she feels repulse for him and knows she will never love him. This action may be seen as an attempt to conform, but it is also a selfish act. Sue could have left Jude and lived on er own, k ept struggling against conventions as a divorced woman.She finds a solution which is, at the same time emotionally torturing and financially comortable for her, while Jude remains lonely and poor, having had both his academic and his romantic aspirations destroyed. Jude then enters a state of self mutilation and acceptance of the suffering. He goes back to Arabella, who once again represents the last and worse of his options, and an act of desistance. After Jude gets sick she imediatelly starts looking for another possible husband, and slowly reveals, throughout the novel, to be quite an animalistic character.She personifies the danger of a bad marriage, and is heartless to the point of being unable to sacrifice a boat race to be with him while he is dying or even to take care of his body after he dies. The Jude we see in the last chapter is a handicapped vesion of the young, ambitious one from the beginning of the novel. He is depicted as a man who is exhausted after having spent h is life fighting against a strong opponent, represented by nineteenth century British society. It ended up mutilating him and left him with nothing, longing for his death.The lack of conflicts' resolution and the sense of vagueness in Arabella's suggestion about Sue's miserable future reveal the modernity of the novel. Accroding to Schweik, Hardy successfully images life as first impulsive passion and confidence leading to disappointments, collapse of hopes, and death. [2] With its open ending, Jude the Obscure turns out to be a novel in which the relationship between form and content becomes the form itself.Bibliography: Brooks, Peter. Realist Vision. New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 2005. Hardy, Thomas. Jude The Obscure. Penguin Popular Classics, England,1994. Schweik, Robert C. â€Å"The Modernity of Hardy in Jude the Obscure†. In: A Spacious Vision: Essays on Hardy. Newmill, The Patten Press, 1994, p. 49-64. Stern, J. P. â€Å"On Realismâ€Å". In: Concepts of Literature. Routledge ; Kegan Paul, 1973. Watt, Ian. â€Å" Realism and the Novelâ€Å". In: Essays in Criticism II, p. 376-396, 1952. ———————– [1] Brooks, Peter. Realist Vision. New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 2005. [2] Schweik, Robert C. â€Å"The Modernity of Hardy in Jude the Obscure†. In: A Spacious Vision: Essays on Hardy. Newmill, The Patten Press, 1994, p. 49-64.

Employment Values of Cadbury Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Employment Values of Cadbury - Essay Example The company had become popular because of its employee friendly nature and the workforce increased from 230 to 2685 during the period 1879 to 1899. Traditionally it was believed that labour was a cheap source of capital but Cadbury believed that economizing on labour was unethical and the workers should be regarded as invaluable asset of the company (Price, 2007). Till now Cadbury has taken certain human resource initiatives like sharpening of employee learning skills by imparting extensive training program and conducting managing by value programs (Kozami, 2002). The program focused on interacting and understanding the values of the employees. The company was a member of organizations like Business in the Community and Institute of Business Ethics (Simms, 2005). Cadbury Schweppes believed that for a successful company a set of business ethics is very important because it improves the productivity of the workers and employees. Cadbury Schweppes was taken over by Kraft Foods Group Inc in the year 2010 by  £11.5 billion (House of Commons, 2011). The takeover of Cadbury over Kraft Foods was disapproved largely by the employees of Cadbury and the Britishers. The employees of Cadbury were unsure about the security of their jobs. The management of Kraft had claimed that after the acquisition they would not shut down any of the Cadbury’s plants and had made some commitments to employees. Kraft had failed to keep its commitment by closing down the Somerdale factory which was one of the major chocolate manufacturing industries of Cadbury (House of Commons, 2010). Some economist believed that the management of Kraft lacked sufficient knowledge and expertise to operate the Somerdale Factory.

The major challenges for China; Why the past successful export-led Essay

The major challenges for China; Why the past successful export-led growth model cannot continue; How the Chinese economy should be further reformed - Essay Example Despite all these down turns, there is hope for the resurgence of this economy; the Chinese government has re-embarked on strategic plans that would enable resurrection of its previously steadily growing economy. A country with settled political situations, democracy and that is well equipped in terms of technology has all the privileges to kick start the road to an impressive economy. The Chinese economy has been one of the most consistent and swiftly growing with a sustainability growth rate of 10% (Naughton, 2007). China has portrayed a dynamic and unrivaled density; however, it is still transforming from two transitions as first, it â€Å"is still completing its transition away from bureaucratic socialism and toward a market economy† (Naughton, 2007, p. 4). Naughton further explains the second transformation with which China is transforming, which is the fact that â€Å"China is in the middle of the industrialization process, the protracted transformation from a rural to an urban society† (2007, p. 4). These two transitions are still far from completion and therefore China still has challenges. The Chinese economy can now be compared to those of developing nations. While this economic similarity exists, so do the challenges. One of the crucial challenges that have been faced recently due to the transition is the shift from the socialist type economy to the market based economy. This challenge was however fixed but again, it led to the rise of another challenge related to development. According to Naughton, these challenges are â€Å"the need to invest in human skills and physical infrastructure, the need to create effective institutions, and the need to protect underprivileged and vulnerable sections of the population† (2007, p. 5). Although there are many positives related to the growth such as improved living standards, many Chinese have fallen in the hands of uncertainties marred with risks. Majority

Tanglewood Stores case study Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Tanglewood Stores case study - Term Paper Example the representation of women and minorities in various job categories of the company in view of the affirmative action plan that the company has undertaken. Staffing in the organisation takes into account both the number and quality of people who are recruited, moved within the firm and finally retained in the firm that are moving in and out (Mc Grow Hill Higher Education, â€Å"Staffing Organisations†). Historical data as presented in the transition probability matrix throws light on the forecast of HR availabilities. It has been found that the immediate labour supply for the company is the labour working within the organisation. It can be achieved with the help of internal labour market. According to the Markov analysis, it is seen that the company has used the method of internal promotions in order to fill up certain posts. Such phenomena are more common in positions like department manager, assistant store managers and also store managers. According to estimates, 16% of the shift leaders in the organisation would be promoted to the post of department manager. 6% of the department managers are expected to be promoted to the po sition of assistant store managers. 8% of the store managers are expected to be promoted to the position of store managers. However, estimates also predict that apart from these, there will be extensive requirement for workforce which can only be supplemented by labours from outside the organisation. Hence, there is plenty of scope for external recruitment and hiring. This is mainly because of the fact that only 52 to 66 percent of the employees remain in the same position for a single year. However, the company is expected to recruit new employees because tremendous unemployment prevails in the labour market, despite the fact that increase in the number of managerial and professional jobs will somewhat reduce the number of jobseekers for managerial position in the company. The work strategies in the organisation are extremely streamlined

Choose the tittle depending on the option you pick Essay

Choose the tittle depending on the option you pick - Essay Example Locke has insisted greatly on human beings having equaled rights towards land available based on type and amount of labor that they can invest in such property. Provided this notion, retail developers of today’s economy have better probability of having property rights to land development in South Florida (Section 28). However, before reaching to the conclusion, it is important to analyze the repercussions of excessive land development in this region. Also, it is significant to identify if Locke is a supporter of capitalism or not. Furthermore, whether private ownership principles defined by Locke give rise to morally just or contentious behavior in private owners over private ownership of land is another question that needs to be answered in the light of Locke’s principles. Real estate industry in South Florida has shown robust development in the times of economic booms in late 1920s and in 2000s. Thousands of acres were acquired by real estate developers to build cond os, apartments and artificial office parks etc which were greatly overpriced due to high demand. Due to such transformation in real estate market, other peripheral industries i.e. rented property, railway services etc, suffered. The same land had different utilities for different segments of consumers i.e. necessity for a working force and leisure for occasional hotel visitors. After the economic collapse in 2008, there were thousands of acres available with no buyer for over-priced property (Lunsford n.p). Furthermore, similar development also caused damage to local fauna and flora by causing harm to local wetlands, water reservoirs and natural life diversity (McPherson and Halley 41). This outlook of South Florida’s local industry in the light of Locke’s principles cannot justify if the development always provide rational results. It can be seen that excessive demand of property has increased the price of real estate property whereas its utility cannot be justified a ccordingly. Since land is given to the mankind freely having equal rights of property, money in any form cannot equate with the value of such property since money i.e. currency, gold and silver have relatively less utility than the land. Therefore, users of money in free economy do not really add much value to the land gifted by nature. Furthermore, after the economic boom in 2000s, much of the land is owned by builders and realtors whereas this land is sitting idle due to low buying power of consumer and not providing any benefit to the common man. Such state also contradicts with Locke’s rule of no wastage. Locke proposes ‘no spoil or destroy’ policy which supports the idea of better property appropriation. Hence, those who can make better use of the property should have access to it which gives full property rights to today’s realtors. However, Locke also insisted that one must not take part in an activity that causes harm to other’s interest. Ex cessive land development deprives local residents of their right to own land due to superficially high prices and damage to local environment hence, also affecting natural ecological environment. Furthermore, Locke’s condition of equal opportunity to appropriate land also negates excessive land development. Since present real estate development encourages development of expensive property which gives preference to more affluent segment, it serves rich more than a middle class or lower segment. Locke

English Literature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

English Literature - Essay Example into the treatment of femininity/masculinity in the film, it is clear that Asaji (Lady Macbeth) in the film is with more calculations and ambitious than the real character of Lady Macbeth in the play. Here, Asaji is the driving force behind most of the actions in the play. She is more cruel and masculine than the Washizu (Macbeth), the protagonist. Besides, in the play, it is clear that Lady Macbeth is completely devoid of the loving and tender qualities which are associated with femininity and motherhood. In addition, it is unambiguous that Shakespeare attempted to represent the character of Macbeth as feminine and Lady Macbeth as masculine. Thesis statement: Analysis of femininity in Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Akira Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood, and discussion on the feminine/masculine character of Lady Macbeth. The play Macbeth begins with the total destruction of order and by the climax this order is restored. Almost all the main characters get involved in this destruction and restoration process of the order or the restoration of the kingdom of Scotland from the control of Macbeth. Here, the female characters show more power and determination than male but both these characters are forced to face more critical situations in their lives. Besides, they are forced to wear the mask of masculinity of cover their feminine qualities of tenderness and caring. Shakespeare developed his characters by interchanging the gender identity of the main characters like Macbeth and his wife Lady Macbeth. Besides, the main male character is with feminine behaviour and the main female character is with masculine behaviour. To influence the Victorian Viewers, it was important for Shakespeare to develop this cross border gender identity. For instance, the character of Lady Macbeth is with male characteristics and her husband Macbeth fails to personify/prove his masculinity in most of the scenes in the play. James L Calderwood in the work- ‘Shakespeare & the denial of death,’

Austrian and Post-Keynesian Criticisms of the Standard Neoclassical Essay - 1

Austrian and Post-Keynesian Criticisms of the Standard Neoclassical View of the Competitive Process - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the neo-classical view of the competitive process believes that the perfectly competitive approach it describes the essence of capitalist competition in the market. The attributes of the process are viewed as exceptional and typically arising from government intervention, which includes protection and nationalization. The criticism points out that the basic motivator of the capitalist process, competition, ensures that if any firm enjoys super-normal profits, rivals will soon enter to bid away those profits. They will succeed to undermine any temporally market dominance that the incumbent enjoys. According to Nolan, Post Keynesians school of thought has been criticized by many schools on the issue of economic policies of the evolution of power operating in the capital market. They argue that the changes in the strength of demand cause changes in the level of prices with the respect to costs. These changes tend to have a strong influenc e on the society propensity to save or to consume and thereby changing the level of effective demand to make it correspond with the available supply. Thus, capitalism naturally initiates full employment level provided the income distribution adjustment is allowed to adjust itself to the economy. In the short run, some kind of Keynesian policies will be required but the process will be essentially governed by price flexibility relatively to wage costs. The post-Keynesian believes that the changes in the strength of demand cause changes in the level of prices with the respect to costs. These changes lead to the great influence on the consumer propensity to save or to consume and thereby changing the level of effective demand to make it correspond with the available supply. On the other hand, the Austrian school of thoughts has received criticism on the way they view the strength of demand. They argue that market participants who obtain more and more on accurate and complete perfect kn owledge depend on potential demand and supply preferences.

Leadership Styles of of the Royal Bahamas Police Force and its Impact Research Paper

Leadership Styles of of the Royal Bahamas Police Force and its Impact on the employees and the country - Research Paper Example Leadership entails provision of divine directions by an authoritative individual or body, having been mandated by a functional body. Distinct entities have earlier practiced different leadership styles due to organizational or institutional settings in use. The royal Bahamas police force is a relevant example of variation in leadership styles, thereby experiencing different effects at distinct times and seasons. Leadership transitions are also a source of varying impacts among organizational employees as well as the entire leadership. Every country, however, usually has a security-keeping body that is charged with the responsibility of guarding the state as per the law requirements. Security bodies are usually in the leadership of royal commissioners, ordained by the minister for security in a nation, and serving under a president or rather the country’s overall leader, always the commander of the armed forces. The most commonly identified leadership styles within an organizat ion or a state are democratic or autocratic. The democratic leadership is one where decision-making is not entirely for the overall leader, but provides a chance for the employees to demonstrate their participation in every activity of the institution. Mainly, the leadership management within a security body should distinctly differ from the leadership of business organization or any economic boosting corporation. Every form of leadership, however, has its benefits in addition to disadvantages, depending on its realms of practice. Most countries have long faced conflicts emanating from poor leadership as well as leadership misuse in the security institutions (Griffith, 1993). The discussion in this paper addresses leadership styles that have taken preeminence in the earlier years at the royal Bahamas police force, owing to the frequent change of the institutional commissioners. To enhance this understanding, it is ample to investigate into the impact of the styles of leadership at t he royal Bahamas police force. It is also important to look into a comparative analysis of the RBFP with the Bahamas Electicity Corporation (a private corporation) as well as that of the RBFP with the Royal Customs (a public corporation). The Royal Bahamas Police Force The royal Bahamas police force is an entity that is charged with law enforcement in the Bahamas commonwealth. The Ministry of National Security portfolio is the main location of the RBPF in Bahamas. Its inception dates back in the 1840,s, with its initial stages comprising of only sixteen people, who were then under the leadership of General John Pinder. It also comprised of night guards as well as slaves who were willing to provide extra security to their nation. The inception of the force was not aimed at provision of military services, but rather patrolling the New Providence Island for twenty-four hours a day. Its progress was awesome and lasts for several years, which saw some members of the group being transferr ed to other neighboring islands to take patrol charge. The end of the 1840 saw the patrol consist of the Inspector General in addition to thirty Sergeants and Privates, as well as Corporals (Griffith, 1993)

The Glass Menagerie Essay Example for Free

The Glass Menagerie Essay Throughout â€Å"The Glass Menagerie† Tennessee Williams creates an intricate dynamic between the three main characters, as well as symbols and symbolic language in order to exemplify the fragility of livelihood. Without a single one of the members of the Wingfield family the other’s lives would be dramatically different. Much as the collection of glass menagerie would not be the same collection without one of its pieces. As many collectors know the presence or absence of one item can drastically change the value of the whole collection. So also is a family unit, as one member affects the others, they form an identity they become accustomed to and often cling to. Amanda exemplifies how vital it is that a family unit stay loyal. After Mr. Wingfield disappeared her life has become a constant struggle in order to survive, a far cry from the Blue Mountain setting she idolizes in her past. Amanda symbolizes a downfall, but she also symbolizes drive for her children, encouraging Laura to blossom into something that they can both be proud of and encouraging Tom to keep his job and support his family until they can fend for themselves at least. Laura symbolizes fear and instability through the first five acts. She failed out of her class, that was a hope for a better future, because of her fear and doesn’t let herself actually try to engage in social interactions for fear that she will be inadequate in another’s eyes. Without Laura to feel sorry for and take care of Tom most likely would have left Amanda on her own in Mr. Wingfield’s footsteps a long time ago. Tom represents unrest and boredom, but he also provides the money and stability for the family to keep living in its present state. Though Tom is uneasy he still gets up in the morning and performs his duties knowing that he is a key member of their family unit, or the most valuable piece in the collection. When Tom and Amanda’s fight breaks some of the pieces of the Glass menagerie it symbolizes the breaking of a family unit, making it less valuable. As the pieces are easy to break so is the bond that holds the  family together as Mr. Wingfield showed how easy it was to separate this bond. As Tom distances himself the strength of the bond becomes less and less strong and it is only a matter of time before it breaks if it is not mended.

Taking the Wild Out Of the Wild Animal Essay Example for Free

Taking the Wild Out Of the Wild Animal Essay Grabbing the audiences’ attention Going to the zoo seems completely normal and extremely fascinating for most families, but what happens behind the scenes is where going to the zoo doesn’t seem all that realistic. Thesis There are many reasons why it is not right for wild animals to be caged up and taken away from their homes and put into a zoo for public display. MP1 The animals inside of zoos are not in their â€Å"natural habitat†. Detail 1 Wild animals are meant to be free and roam across their homelands. Detail 2 These animals are not catching their own food, they are being fed like pets. This interrupts their skills to hunt their meals and learn how to survive out on their own. Detail 3 Wild animals are meant to live on their own, not to be on a zookeepers schedule to be fed and played with. MP2 Wild animals should not have any human contact. Detail 1 Out in the wild, there are no humans to help catch any predator’s food, not to mention giving it to them on a dinner plate. Detail 2 Wild animals are built and raised to hunt and kill, not be served like a human being. Detail 3 Human interactions are slim to none for most animals out in the wild. Detail 4 Wild animals don’t need assistance giving birth to their young nor do they need help raising and teaching them the necessities for everyday living out in the wild. MP3 When locked up, these animals become depressed and suffer from anxiety. Detail 1 Some signs of depression and anxiety are: pacing back and forth, isolating themselves in corners, abnormal behavior, and swaying from side to side. Detail 2 â€Å"Captive animals are deprived of everything that is natural and important to them, and as a result, they become bored and lonely and many even suffer from a condition called â€Å"zoochosis.† If you’ve ever witnessed a captive animal rock and sway back and forth, you’ve seen the disease firsthand. This condition is so rampant in zoos that some zoos give animals a mood-altering drug, such as  Prozac, because the public has started to catch on.† (Carr.) Detail 3 Wild animals are not supposed to be locked up and fed medication to cure their diseases of depression or anxiety. MP4 Some people say that the zoo provides great information on wild animals and their â€Å"natural habitat† when clearly they are sending the wrong message across to people by keeping them locked up and barricaded in little prison cells. Detail 1 Showing people these animals the way they are is wrong and cruel. Detail 2 It gives people the wrong impression on how these wild animals live their life. Detail 3 There are better resources that people could use instead of going to the zoo and experience something that is not true of nature. For instance, documentaries, books, or even schooling for people that want to make it as a career, are better than taking these animals away from their homes and locking them up in small spaces. These options don’t involve taking the animal out of the wild. Detail 4 â€Å"One reason why some zoos have not done a better job in educating people is that many of them make no real effort at education. In the case of others the problem is an apathetic and unappreciative public.† (Jamieson.) MP5 Animals inside of zoos are not getting the amount of exercise, as they would out in the wild. Detail 1 â€Å"Elephants typically walk up to 30 miles in just one day.† (Carr.) Detail 2 Giving this some thought, when elephants are put into zoos, they only get so much room to roam, which doesn’t allow them to get their adequate exercise. Detail 3 In most cases, a lot of these animals are becoming under coordinated by huge percentages which makes them not fit for being released. This also shortens the lifespan of many animals. Thesis There are several explanations of why zoos are not okay for wild animals. Conclusion No true understanding is being accomplished by anyone who visits a zoo. These animals are not in their natural habitat, and if they were, they would most defiantly be considered â€Å"wild animals.† Some aren’t use to having any human interactions at all. Many animals suffer from diseases caused by being inside of a zoo. There are always other ways to learn about these immaculate creatures besides keeping them locked up with no â€Å"wild† to experience. These animals need freedom of time and space to learn how to survive adequately, or at least be able to walk as far as they would like to walk. Amber Wharton WRI 95.01 Professor Goodman March 11, 2014 Argumentative Essay Zoos: Taking The WILD Out of Animals Going to the zoo seems completely normal and extremely fascinating for most families, but what happens behind the scenes is where going to the zoo doesn’t seem all that realistic. The animals inside of zoos are not in their â€Å"natural habitat†. Wild animals usually are not use to having any human contact, at least out in the wild they don’t. When locked up, these animals become diseased and suffer from depressed and anxiety. Some people say that the zoo provides great information on wild animals and their â€Å"natural habitat† and use â€Å"going to the zoo† as a resource for learning more information on these amazing animals. Animals inside of zoos are not getting the right amount of exercise, as they would be getting out in the wild. There are many reasons why it is not right for wild animals to be caged up and taken away from their homes and put into a zoo for public display. Wild animals are meant to have their freedom and roam across their homelands without limitations or boundaries. These animals inside of zoos are not in their â€Å"natural habitat†. They have limited amount of space that they can walk around in and are most likely not anything like their natural habitat. These animals are not even catching their own food; they are being fed like pets. This interrupts their skills to hunt their meals and learn how to survive out on their own. These animals have insufficient knowledge of actually being a wild animal. They probably think it’s normal for them to be locked up because they were born inside of a zoo. Better yet, the food that they do eat is more likely not what they would eat out in the wild or it’s already dead. Wild animals are meant to live life and kill their food on their own, not to be on a zookeepers schedule to be fed and played with. Wild animals usually are not use to having any human contact. Out in the wild, there are no humans to help catch any kind of animals’ food, not to mention giving it to them on a dinner plate would be completely out of the ordinary out in the wild. Wild animals are built and raised to hunt and  kill, not to be served like a human being. Human interactions are slim to none for most animals out in the wild. Wild animals don’t even need assistance giving birth to their young nor do they need help raising and teaching them the necessities for everyday living out in the wild, not that they need that knowledge inside of a zoo. When locked up, these animals become depressed and suffer from anxiety. Some signs of depression and anxiety are: pacing back and forth, isolating themselves in corners, abnormal behavior, and swaying from side to side. â€Å"Captive animals are deprived of everything that is natural and important to them, and as a result, they become bored and lonely and many even suffer from a condition called â€Å"zoochosis.† If you’ve ever witnessed a captive animal rock and sway back and forth, you’ve seen the disease firsthand. This condition is so rampant in zoos that some zoos give animals a mood-altering drug, such as Prozac, because the public has started to catch on.† (Carr.) Wild animals are not supposed to be locked up and fed medication to cure their disease of depression or anxiety that was caused by being inside of a zoo. Some people say that zoos provide a great deal of information on wild animals and their â€Å"natural habitats† when clearly they are sending the wrong message across to people by keeping them locked up and barricaded in little prison cells. Showing people these animals the way that they are presenting them to the public is wrong and cruel, not to mention it is not at all accurate to how they would be out in the wild. It gives people the wrong impression on how these wild animals live their life. There are better resources that people could use instead of going to the zoo and experience something that is not true of nature. For instance, documentaries, books, or even schooling for people that want to make it as a career, are better than taking these animals away from their homes and locking them up in small spaces. These options don’t involve taking the animal out of the wild. â€Å"One reason why some zoos have not done a better job in educating people is that many of them make no real effort at education. In the case of others the problem is an apathetic and unappreciative public.† (Jamieson.) Animals inside of zoos are not getting the amount of exercise, as they would out in the wild. â€Å"Elephants typically walk up to 30 miles in just one day.† (Carr.) Giving this some thought, when elephants are put into zoos, they only get so much room to roam, which doesn’t allow them to get their adequate exercise. This  also shortens the lifespan of many animals. In most cases, a lot of these animals are becoming under coordinated by huge percentages that make them not fit for be ing released. â€Å"Zoos breed animals in an effort to keep drawing in paying visitors—yet often, there’s nowhere to put the offspring as they grow. Breeding programs serve no true conservation purpose because giraffes and other animals born in zoos are rarely, if ever, returned to their natural habitats.† (PETA) In my opinion, I think all zoos should be closed permanently for the sake of the animals’ freedom. Animals are not supposed to be paired up and stuck together by what a human thinks is okay for their environment. They are supposed to roam their land and eat the food that they catch. Even learning instincts are a huge factor of being a wild animal. These wild animals are not supposed to be taken care of by humans like an infant human baby would be. No true understanding is being accomplished by anyone who visits a zoo. These animals are not in their natural habitat, and if they were, they would most defiantly be considered â€Å"wild animals.† Some aren’t use to having any human interactions at all. Many animals suffer from diseases caused by being inside of a zoo. There are always other ways to learn about these immaculate creatures besides keeping them locked up with no â€Å"wild† to experience. These animals need freedom of time and space to learn how to survive adequately, or at least be able to walk as far as they would like to walk. There are several explanations of why zoos are not okay for wild animals. Works Cited Carr, Michelle. â€Å"The Reality of Zoos.† People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.. PETA. Web. 11 March, 2014. Jamieson, Dale. Against Zoos. In Defense of Animals, New York: Basil Blackwell, 1985, (108-117) 11 March, 2014. Print. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. PETA. 10 Feb, 2014. Web. 11 March, 2014.

Gender differences when attending a mirror tracing task

Gender differences when attending a mirror tracing task The purpose of this study was to test the hypotheses of speed and accuracy when practicing Mirror Tracing between men and women as well as the difference between genders with skill transferring when completing this task. The sample consisted of 243, 170 females and 73 males online and on campus university students who participated in the Mirror Tracing task for one week. Results indicated that as predicted, men were more accurate and faster than women when attending to the Mirror Tracing task. They also scored higher on skill transferring than women. It was concluded that men score higher on spatial tasks than women do, however the differences in spatial skills between men and women can be credited to learning. Each hemisphere of the brain specialise in different tasks, the left hemisphere is mostly responsible for linguistic functions while the right hemisphere is mainly responsible for complex visuo spatial analysis (OBoyle, Hoff Gill, 1995). The Mirror Tracing task has been studied for many years and is considered to be a study of trial and error (Ketterlinus, Sep31, Vol. 2 Issue 3, p200). Mirror Tracing has been used to study the differences between men and women, however as indicated by), the difference in spatial ability with genders can be attributed to learning (Halpern, 2000 Kimura, 1999). On average, females perform not as well as males in spatial abilities Spence et al. (2009), mirror tracing has become a very important and popular study to use when determining differences in abilities. Each spatial task focuses on different aspects of it, some focus on problem solving skills where others focus on mental orientation Spence et al. (2009). Mirror Tracing focuses on repetitive motions as participants are required to draw the same shape or shapes over a period of time by only looking in the mirror at it. Mirror Tracing has its limitations as it focus is mainly on a limited amount of shapes which with time and practice either gender can perform well. However it does measure the speed and accuracy of how the each gender (OBoyle, Hoff Gill, 1995). Past studies, such as O Boyle, Hoff Gill (1995), have come to a conclusion that males have excelled in spatial tasks more than females and determined that males are able to attend to this task with more accuracy than females. In this study the aim is to determine whether speed and accuracy differs between genders and to measure the differences in skill transferability of participants of different genders. It was predicted that males will be faster and more accurate when practising mirror tracing compared to females. It was also hypothesised that males will have a higher score with regards to skill transferability in terms of speed compared to females. Method Participants The sample consisted of 243, 170 females and 73 males online and on campus University students. The mean ages was 21.85 (SD = 5.8). All participants participated in the Mirror Tracing task for one week. Materials Mirror tracing skills transferability of this skill in males and females was determined using a Mirror Tracing exercise. Each participant was provided with instructions on how to complete the Mirror Tracing exercise and experimental material with star and face shapes in it. Each participant had to use a mirror, pen or pencil, cardboard or similar to block the view and a clock or stopwatch. Finally each participant was also provided a summary of results sheet to note down their individual results. To accurately score and record the results, participants had to count how many times they touched the line and count that as one error, each time they went over the line was counted as two errors and any breaks in the line were counted as one error. Procedure Before filling out the summary of results sheet, all participants were informed of the following: the purpose of the study, nature of the study, anonymity and provided with information of how to do the Mirror Tracing task. Participants completed the task either online or on a paper copy and returned it to the tutor. The experimental material used was star and face shapes to measure speed, accuracy and skill transferability between men and women. Each participant had to trace one star and one face with each hand on day 1. For the next five days each participant had to trace four star using each hand and on day 7 trace a final face and star with each hand. To complete this task, the participants had to place the sheet with the shape on it on a table with a mirror in front of it still being able to see their hand in it. They then had to hold the cardboard above the shape, check and record the time and start tracing it. This had to be done with both hands. The participants had to record the time it took them to complete the activity on the Summary of Results sheet and return it to the tutor once completed. Results There was very little mean difference in the mirror tracing exercise for day 2 day 6 between men and women in regards to speed and errors, however the results indicate that men tend to be quicker and more accurate than women in this spatial task. The results indicate that as predicted, men were slightly quicker and accurate than women when attempting the mirror tracing exercise as indicated in Table 1 and 2 below. Initially on day 2, women were quicker at the exercise than men and for both participants, the speed did increased and errors decreased as the days went on, however the results for males are somewhat higher than females. The Standard Deviation for both is also very similar as indicated in Table 1 and 2 below. Table 1 Means and Standard Deviation of the Mirror Tracing Task Day 2 Day 6 for speed between men and women Report Gender practice2_time practice3_time practice4_time practice5_time F Mean 112.8293 100.7399 91.6370 84.5834 N 167 167 167 167 Std. Deviation 75.29216 64.04660 58.79142 49.88509 M Mean 130.1631 107.9093 100.1247 86.8376 N 72 71 72 71 Std. Deviation 82.41461 76.36392 82.37136 54.71729 Total Mean 118.0512 102.8787 94.1940 85.2558 N 239 238 239 238 Std. Deviation 77.74119 67.86959 66.70926 51.26775 Notes: F = Females; M = Males Table 2 Means and Standard Deviation of the Mirror Tracing Task Day 2 Day 6 for accuracy between men and women Report Gender practice2_errors practice3_errors practice4_errors practice5_errors F Mean 30.4850 24.7425 20.7844 18.1138 N 167 167 167 167 Std. Deviation 19.70134 15.14626 14.24574 13.26624 M Mean 29.0833 25.1408 22.0000 20.2394 N 72 71 72 71 Std. Deviation 21.73512 19.37546 17.47916 15.56137 Total Mean 30.0628 24.8613 21.1506 18.7479 N 239 238 239 238 Std. Deviation 20.29945 16.48019 15.26442 13.99079 Notes: F = Females; M = Males The results for males for skill transferability in terms of speed when drawing the star shape were longer on day 1 however became shorter on day 7 compared to the females results. When drawing the face shape, males only have a slight difference in speed compared to women. The Standard Deviation and mean does not appear to have much of a difference in both results for both genders. The Tables below will demonstrate the results for both genders and both shapes. The results indicate that males score higher than females for skill transferability in terms of speed. Table 1 Means and Standard Deviation of the Mirror Tracing Task Day 1 Day 7 for speed between men and women Star Shape Report Gender Star_day1_time F Mean 155.9722 N 168 Std. Deviation 80.94931 M Mean 183.7635 N 72 Std. Deviation 94.60747 Total Mean 164.3096 N 240 Std. Deviation 86.02650 Notes: F = Females; M = Males Table 2 Means and Standard Deviation of the Mirror Tracing Task Day 1 Day 7 for speed between men and women Face Shape Report Gender day1_eyes_time DAY7_EYES_TIME day1_beard_time DAY7_BEARD_TIME day1_lips_time F Mean 68.9262 44.2241 50.1544 34.7455 39.1005 N 170 169 169 168 170 Std. Deviation 69.00433 33.65402 50.52303 35.44573 60.49047 M Mean 73.8775 43.9458 51.7029 32.9751 37.2300 N 72 72 73 73 72 Std. Deviation 38.01924 20.52175 28.36886 20.76469 24.18248 Total Mean 70.3993 44.1410 50.6215 34.2092 38.5440 N 242 241 242 241 242 Std. Deviation 61.40059 30.28893 44.94811 31.69008 52.33488 Notes: F = Females; M = Males Discussion The results of the study support both of the hypotheses for speed, accuracy and skill transferability between men and women. There are slight differences that are noticeable in mean and Standard Deviation in both men and women. The accuracy has improved over time for both genders however there was not a noticeable difference between them. Both genders also improved on their speed over the course of this task, however males did become faster than women when completing this task. As per Spence et al. (2009), the differences in spatial abilities between genders can be credited to learning. As identified by Voyer, Voyer and Bryden (1995), men tend to do better in performing some spatial tasks compared to women Spence et al. (2009), and according to this study men did perform better than women. Women tend to do better than men in tests of perceptual speed (Kimura 1992), verbal fluency and precision motor control, while males excel on some spatial tasks (OBoyle, Hoff Gill, 1995). The aim of this study was to determine whether speed and accuracy differs between genders and whether the difference in skill transferability of participants is different between genders. The results indicate that there is a difference in speed and accuracy between men and women when attending to spatial tasks. Men also tend to be able to score higher on skill transferability compared to women. These findings support the findings of O Boyle, Hoff and Gill (1995). There were some issues identified with this study that may have affected the results. The data was collected after a week with no guarantee that the off campus students have not falsified their results. There is no way of tracking who actually did the task accurately and who made up their results. Another issue that was identified was that the results were due on a certain date and were then extended, however the submission area was not changed and all results were to be sent to the Tutor. Some students were late with their submissions and the results were released late, which minimised the time other students got to write up the report. Overall, the results supported both hypotheses which indicated that men would generally be faster and more accurate than women when attending to the Mirror Tracing task as well as score higher on the skill transferability with spatial tasks. The aims of this report were also met as it has demonstrated the differences in gender with regards to speed and accuracy as well as the differences with skill transferability in genders.

Agriculture for Mars Colonization :: Environment Mars Planet Life Essays Papers

As the world population grows at an astonishing rate, our mother earth is getting very crowded. Our natural resources are being overused and the land available for life is getting smaller and smaller. Farmers have to find ways to make what land they have usable and profitable. Farmers in general are a shrinking population. How does this relate to the general public? Without farmers we would not have food, without food we will all die. The world is realizing this problem and the best way to solve it is to find more land for habitat. We can not tack on a few million acres to earth and start using that, so we have to find somewhere else to go. Mars, the beautiful red planet, is the most similar planet to earth. The terrain in general is very close to what we are used to on earth, minus the vegetation. Earth and Mars both contain polar ice caps. Mars also has water throughout the planet, but it is mostly subsoil. Water is a very important part of agriculture. The water on Mars is a little different than the water here on earth. If we tried using the polar ice caps, we would have to do many things to make it worth out time. The location of the ice caps is in an area with â€Å"permafrost.† This means that the water remains frozen unless we do something to melt it. The bad part is that we don’t know what the water is actually like. When we get the contained water free, we will then have to test it and see what is needed to make the water useful. The water underneath the soil is already free, but there are many unanswered questions about that water also. The water contained under the soil has had some various effects on the Mars terrain. When the robots were on mars collecting samples, they found some rocks that looked like rocks from prehistoric life here on earth. When analyzing these samples, the scientists deemed that the water was very acidic and salty. This is similar to some of the earlier times in the Australian area.

FAHRENHEIT 911 Essay -- essays research papers

The title of "Fahrenheit 9/11" is a play on the title of the famous Ray Bradbury novel, "Fahrenheit 451" in which society has been transformed into an authoritarian, repressive regime, in which subversive ideas are crimes and books are burned. In the book, a lonely protagonist is awakened to this reality and joins the struggle to keep underground dissidence alive. In Michael Moore's movie, he leads an above-ground assault on the Bush Presidency, questioning his legitimacy, his character, abilities and, most of all, his attempt to fight terror through the war in Iraq. And similarly, his method of attack is by trying to bring to light the facts that those in power have tried to suppress. Just like every Moore movie, it shows people looking stupid to humorous effect and it shows the heroic tales of common people who have suffered tragedy. And Moore blames their plight on the rich and powerful. In his other movies, the presidents of General Motors and the National Rifle Association, for instance, bear the brunt of his blame. In this movie, it's George W. In its best moments, the movie is a strong, anti-war documentary. It has truly moving moments of bereaved loved ones, mangled bodies in the streets, incredulous soldiers in Iraq, angry Iraqis and innocent teenagers being manipulated into enlisting. In this way, the movie presents a version of the war on Iraq that isn't shown much in the media. It improves our understanding of the war by giving it a human face. Asking members of Congress to enlist their children in the war was a good idea, as it emphasized an important point of his: that it's the poor and uneducated that fight the wars that politicians vote for. But it was probably one of those things that should have remained just a neat idea - the actual confrontations are just embarrassing for Moore, the politicians and the audience. Perhaps it's an embarrasing reality we all ought to face, but maybe it's just tasteless. Either way, the point remains forceful: the heroism of all these disadvantaged young people should only be used as a last resort. But Moore's movie isn't just an anti-war movie. Part of the movie is an attempt to question and expose the political images being projected. This starts off with a dreamy sequence of Al Gore celebrating victory in Florida that, Moore says, was manipulated by Fox television into a Bush vict... ... understandable to a wide audience, inviting citizens from all walks of life and levels of education to be engaged. But his arguments are, without a doubt, simplifications and he doesn't even bring up arguments that challenge his own, let alone take them seriously. Moore insists that all his facts are correct and even hired an old fact checker for the New Yorker to make sure. But this, of course, doesn't come to grips with the fact that much of the Bush statements he objects to are also, strictly speaking, factually correct. The truth about facts is not self evident, as he knows; the significance of facts can be manipulated by those with just a camera just as easily as by those in power. In an era of mass-media politics-a far cry from the original political debates in Athens-"Fahrenheit 9/11" is an uneasy compromise between populism and propaganda. The things it has to say are relevant and important and should be heard - but hopefully, they are just part of a larger, more even-handed discussion. Perhaps, the success of this movie is a recognition of the fact that the way this discussion gets carried out in the modern age is by turning it into a form of entertainment.

Justifying Philosophy and Paideia in the Modern World :: Philosophical Essays

Justifying Philosophy and Paideia in the Modern World ABSTRACT: If Paideia means education in the classical sense, that is, education of the whole person, then authentically justifying such education in the modern world is extremely problematic. We are first drawn to practical defenses of a liberal education, that it is in itself of service and useful, both to society and to the individual. However, a practical defense of Paideia in the classical sense simply comes across as feeble and even a bit desperate (that is, if it escapes sounding pompous) and every savvy student knows it. Far better, it seems, to take courses aimed at general problem solving, or at honing critical thinking skills, or at developing socio-political sophistication, than to read Shakespeare or Plato. If Paideia means education in the classical sense, that is, education of the whole person, then authentically justifying such education in the modern world is extremely problematic. We are first drawn to practical defenses of a liberal education, that it is in itself of service and useful, both to society and to the individual. However, a practical defense of Paideia in the classical sense simply comes across as feeble and even a bit desperate (that is, if it escapes sounding pompous) and every savvy student knows it. Far better, it seems, to take courses aimed at general problem solving, or at honing critical thinking skills, or at developing socio-political sophistication, than to read Shakespeare and Plato. A similar problem plagues the justification of the pursuit of philosophy itself, and this is where the fundamental motivations behind both Paideia and philosophy converge. What is in fact the purpose of philosophy? One basic function of philosophy appears to be a kind of service of clarification and justification. Yet this cannot be philosophy's only purpose, any more than the mere development of skills and professional acumen are the primary goals of a liberal education. Yet similar notions of service to the state are given as primary justifications for becoming educated, beyond simple material gain. Surely this does not justify even very much of what we put students through in humanities classes around the world. Why, then, philosophy as the pursuit of wisdom, and why, then, Paideia? The answer, I think, is that the justification for both philosophy and Paideia has an ethical grounding, and can only really be articulated, if indeed it still can be, in virtue-based terms.

Chapter 9 Grim Defeat

Professor Dumbledore sent all the Gryffindors back to the Great Hall, where they were joined ten minutes later by the students from Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin, who all looked extremely confused. â€Å"The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle,† Professor Dumbledore told them as Professors McGonagall and Flitwick closed all doors into the hall. â€Å"I'm afraid that, for your own safety, you will have to spend the night here. I want the prefects to stand guard over the entrances to the hall and I am leaving the Head Boy and Girl in charge. Any disturbance should be reported to me immediately,† he added to Percy, who was looking immensely proud and important. â€Å"Send word with one of the ghosts.† Professor Dumbledore paused, about to leave the hall, and said, â€Å"Oh, yes, you'll be needing†¦Ã¢â‚¬  One casual wave of his wand and the long tables flew to the edges of the hall and stood themselves against the walls; another wave, and the floor was covered with hundreds of squashy purple sleeping bags. â€Å"Sleep well,† said Professor Dumbledore, closing the door behind him. The hall immediately began to buzz excitedly; the Gryffindors were telling the rest of the school what had just happened. â€Å"Everyone into their sleeping bags!† shouted Percy. â€Å"Come on, now, no more talking! Lights out in ten minutes!† â€Å"C'mon,† Ron said to Harry and Hermione; they seized three sleeping bags and dragged them into a corner. â€Å"Do you think Black's still in the castle?† Hermione whispered anxiously. â€Å"Dumbledore obviously thinks he might be,† said Ron. â€Å"It's very lucky he picked tonight, you know,† said Hermione as they climbed fully dressed into their sleeping bags and propped themselves on their elbows to talk. â€Å"The one night we weren't in the tower†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I reckon he's lost track of time, being on the run,† said Ron. â€Å"Didn't realize it was Halloween. Otherwise he'd have come bursting in here.† Hermione shuddered. All around them, people were asking one another the same question: â€Å"How did he get in?† â€Å"Maybe he knows how to Apparate,† said a Ravenclaw a few feet away, â€Å"Just appear out of thin air, you know.† â€Å"Disguised himself, probably,† said a Hufflepuff fifth year. â€Å"He could've flown in,† suggested Dean Thomas. â€Å"Honestly, am I the only person who's ever bothered to read Hogwarts, A History?† said Hermione crossly to Harry and Ron. â€Å"Probably,† said Ron. â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Because the castle's protected by more than walls, you know,† said Hermione. â€Å"There are all sorts of enchantments on it, to stop people entering by stealth. You can't just Apparate in here. And I'd like to see the disguise that could fool those Dementors. They're guarding every single entrance to the grounds. They'd have seen him fly in too. And Filch knows all the secret passages, they'll have them covered†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"The lights are going out now!† Percy shouted. â€Å"I want everyone in their sleeping bags and no more talking!† The candles all went out at once. The only light now came from the silvery ghosts, who were drifting about talking seriously to the prefects, and the enchanted ceiling, which, like the sky outside, was scattered with stars. What with that, and the whispering that still filled the hall, Harry felt as though he were sleeping outdoors in a light wind. Once every hour, a teacher would reappear in the Hall to check that everything was quiet. Around three in the morning, when many students had finally fallen asleep, Professor Dumbledore came in. Harry watched him looking around for Percy, who had been prowling between the sleeping bags, telling people off for talking. Percy was only a short way away from Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who quickly pretended to be asleep as Dumbledore's footsteps drew nearer. â€Å"Any sign of him, Professor?† asked Percy in a whisper. â€Å"No. All well here?† â€Å"Everything under control, sir.† â€Å"Good. There's no point moving them all now. I've found a temporary guardian for the Gryffindor portrait hole. You'll be able to move them back in tomorrow.† â€Å"And the Fat Lady, sir?† â€Å"Hiding in a map of Argyllshire on the second floor. Apparently she refused to let Black in without the password, so he attacked. She's still very distressed, but once she's calmed down, I'll have Mr Filch restore her.† Harry heard the door of the hall creak open again, and more footsteps. â€Å"Headmaster?† It was Snape. Harry kept quite still, listening hard. â€Å"The whole of the third floor has been searched. He's not there. And Filch has done the dungeons; nothing there either.† â€Å"What about the Astronomy tower? Professor Trelawney's room? The Owlery?† â€Å"All searched†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Very well, Severus. I didn't really expect Black to linger.† â€Å"Have you any theory as to how he got in, Professor?† asked Snape. Harry raised his head very slightly off his arms to free his other ear. â€Å"Many, Severus, each of them as unlikely as the next.† Harry opened his eyes a fraction and squinted up to where they stood; Dumbledore's back was to him, but he could see Percy's face, rapt with attention, and Snape's profile, which looked angry. â€Å"You remember the conversation we had, Headmaster, just before — ah — the start of term?† said Snape, who was barely opening his lips, as though trying to block Percy out of the conversation. â€Å"I do, Severus,† said Dumbledore, and there was something like warning in his voice. â€Å"It seems — almost impossible — that Black could have entered the school without inside help. I did express my concerns when you appointed –â€Å" â€Å"I do not believe a single person inside this castle would have helped Black enter it,† said Dumbledore, and his tone made it so clear that the subject was closed that Snape didn't reply. â€Å"I must go down to the Dementors,† said Dumbledore. â€Å"I said I would inform them when our search was complete.† â€Å"Didn't they want to help, sir?† said Percy. â€Å"Oh yes,† said Dumbledore coldly. â€Å"But I'm afraid no Dementor will cross the threshold of this castle while I am Headmaster.† Percy looked slightly abashed. Dumbledore left the hall, walking quickly and quietly. Snape stood for a moment, watching the headmaster with an expression of deep resentment on his face; then he too left. Harry glanced sideways at Ron and Hermione. Both of them had their eyes open too, reflecting the starry ceiling. â€Å"What was all that about?† Ron mouthed. ******** The school talked of nothing but Sirius Black for the next few days. The theories about how he had entered the castle became wilder and wilder; Hannah Abbott, from Hufflepuff, spent much of their next Herbology class telling anyone who'd listen that Black could turn into a flowering shrub. The Fat Lady's ripped canvas had been taken off the wall and replaced with the portrait of Sir Cadogan and his fat gray pony. Nobody was very happy about this. Sir Cadogan spent half his time challenging people to duels, and the rest thinking up ridiculously complicated passwords, which he changed at least twice a day. â€Å"He's a complete lunatic,† said Seamus Finnigan angrily to Percy. â€Å"Can't we get anyone else?† â€Å"None of the other pictures wanted the job,† said Percy. â€Å"Frightened of what happened to the Fat Lady. Sir Cadogan was the only one brave enough to volunteer.† Sir Cadogan, however, was the least of Harry's worries. He was now being closely watched. Teachers found excuses to walk along corridors with him, and Percy Weasley (acting, Harry suspected, on his mother's orders) was tailing him everywhere like an extremely pompous guard dog. To cap it all, Professor McGonagall summoned Harry into her office, with such a somber expression on her face Harry thought someone must have died. â€Å"There's no point hiding it from you any longer, Potter,† she said in a very serious voice. â€Å"I know this will come as a shock to you, but Sirius Black –â€Å" â€Å"I know he's after me,† said Harry wearily. â€Å"I heard Ron's dad telling his mum. Mr. Weasley works for the Ministry of Magic.† Professor McGonagall seemed very taken aback. She stared at Harry for a moment or two, then said, â€Å"I see! Well, in that case, Potter, you'll understand why I don't think it's a good idea for you to be practicing Quidditch in the evenings. Out on the field with only your team members, it's very exposed, Potter –â€Å" â€Å"We've got our first match on Saturday!† said Harry, outraged. â€Å"I've got to train, Professor!† Professor McGonagall considered him intently. Harry knew she was deeply interested in the Gryffindor team's prospects; it had been she, after all, who'd suggested him as Seeker in the first Place. He waited, holding his breath. â€Å"Hmm†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Professor McGonagall stood up and stared out of the window at the Quidditch field, just visible through the rain. â€Å"Well†¦goodness knows, I'd like to see us win the Cup at last†¦but all the same, Potter†¦I'd be happier if a teacher were present. I'll ask Madam Hooch to oversee your training sessions.† ******** The weather worsened steadily as the first Quidditch match drew nearer. Undaunted, the Gryffindor team was training harder than ever under the eye of Madam Hooch. Then, at their final training session before Saturday's match, Oliver Wood gave his team some unwelcome news. â€Å"We're not playing Slytherin!† he told them, looking very angry. â€Å"Flint's just been to see me. We're playing Hufflepuff instead.† â€Å"Why?† chorused the rest of the team. â€Å"Flint's excuse is that their Seeker's arm's still injured,† said Wood, grinding his teeth furiously. â€Å"But it's obvious why they're doing it. Don't want to play in this weather. Think it'll damage their chances†¦Ã¢â‚¬  There had been strong winds and heavy rain all day, and as Wood spoke, they heard a distant rumble of thunder. â€Å"There's nothing wrong with Malfoy's arm!† said Harry furiously. â€Å"He's faking it!† â€Å"I know that, but we can't prove it,† said Wood bitterly, â€Å"And we've been practicing all those moves assuming we're playing Slytherin, and instead it's Hufflepuff, and their style's quite different. They've got a new Captain and Seeker, Cedric Diggory –â€Å" Angelina, Alicia, and Katie suddenly giggled. â€Å"What?† said Wood, frowning at this lighthearted behavior. â€Å"He's that tall, good-looking one, isn't he?† said Angelina. â€Å"Strong and silent,† said Katie, and they started to giggle again. â€Å"He's only silent because he's too thick to string two words together,† said Fred impatiently. â€Å"I don't know why you're worried, Oliver, Hufflepuff is a pushover. Last time we played them, Harry caught the Snitch in about five minutes, remember?† â€Å"We were playing in completely different conditions!† Wood shouted, his eyes bulging slightly. â€Å"Diggory's put a very strong side together! He's an excellent Seeker! I was afraid you'd take it like this! We mustn't relax! We must keep our focus! Slytherin is trying to wrong-foot us! We must win!† â€Å"Oliver, calm down!† said Fred, looking slightly alarmed. â€Å"We're taking Hufflepuff very seriously. Seriously.† ******** The day before the match, the winds reached howling point and the rain fell harder than ever. It was so dark inside the corridors and classrooms that extra torches and lanterns were lit. The Slytherin team was looking very smug indeed, and none more so than Malfoy. â€Å"Ah, if only my arm was feeling a bit better!† he sighed as the gale outside pounded the windows. Harry had no room in his head to worry about anything except the match tomorrow. Oliver Wood kept hurrying up to him between classes and giving him tips. The third time this happened, Wood talked for so long that Harry suddenly realized he was ten minutes late for Defense Against the Dark Arts, and set off at a run with Wood shouting after him, â€Å"Diggory's got a very fast swerve, Harry, so you might want to try looping him –â€Å" Harry skidded to a halt outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, pulled the door open, and dashed inside. â€Å"Sorry I'm late, Professor Lupin. I –â€Å" But it wasn't Professor Lupin who looked up at him from the teacher's desk; it was Snape. â€Å"This lesson began ten minutes ago, Potter, so I think we'll make it ten points from Gryffindor. Sit down.† But Harry didn't move. â€Å"Where's Professor Lupin?† he said. â€Å"He says he is feeling too ill to teach today,† said Snape with a twisted smile. â€Å"I believe I told you to sit down?† But Harry stayed where he was. â€Å"What's wrong with him?† Snape's black eyes glittered. â€Å"Nothing life-threatening,† he said, looking as though he wished it were. â€Å"Five more points from Gryffindor, and if I have to ask you to sit down again, it will be fifty.† Harry walked slowly to his seat and sat down. Snape looked around at the class. â€Å"As I was saying before Potter interrupted, Professor Lupin has not left any record of the topics you have covered so far –â€Å" â€Å"Please, sir, we've done Boggarts, Red Caps, Kappas, and Grindylows,† said Hermione quickly, â€Å"and we're just about to start –â€Å" â€Å"Be quiet,† said Snape coldly. â€Å"I did not ask for information. I was merely commenting on Professor Lupin's lack of organization.† â€Å"He's the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher we've ever had,† said Dean Thomas boldly, and there was a murmur of agreement from the rest of the class. Snape looked more menacing than ever. â€Å"You are easily satisfied. Lupin is hardly overtaxing you — I would expect first years to be able to deal with Red Caps and Grindylows. Today we shall discuss –â€Å" Harry watched him flick through the textbook, to the very back chapter, which he must know they hadn't covered. â€Å"– werewolves,† said Snape. â€Å"But, sir,† said Hermione, seemingly unable to restrain herself, â€Å"we're not supposed to do werewolves yet, we're due to start Hinkypunks –â€Å" â€Å"Miss Granger,† said Snape in a voice of deadly calm, â€Å"I was under the impression that I am teaching this lesson, not you. And I am telling you all to turn to page 394.† He glanced around again. â€Å"All of you! Now!† With many bitter sidelong looks and some sullen muttering, the class opened their books. â€Å"Which of you can tell me how we distinguish between the werewolf and the true wolf?† said Snape. Everyone sat in motionless silence; everyone except Hermione, whose hand, as it so often did, had shot straight into the air. â€Å"Anyone?† Snape said, ignoring Hermione. His twisted smile was back. â€Å"Are you telling me that Professor Lupin hasn't even taught you the basic distinction between –â€Å" â€Å"We told you,† said Parvati suddenly, â€Å"we haven't got as far as werewolves yet, we're still on –â€Å" â€Å"Silence!† snarled Snape. â€Å"Well, well, well, I never thought I'd meet a third-year class who wouldn't even recognize a werewolf when they saw one. I shall make a point of informing Professor Dumbledore how very behind you all are†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Please, sir,† said Hermione, whose hand was still in the air, â€Å"the werewolf differs from the true wolf in several small ways. The snout of the werewolf –â€Å" â€Å"That is the second time you have spoken out of turn, Miss Granger,† said Snape coolly. â€Å"Five more points from Gryffindor for being an insufferable know-it-all.† Hermione went very red, put down her hand, and stared at the floor with her eyes full of tears. It was a mark of how much the class loathed Snape that they were all glaring at him, because every one of them had called Hermione a know-it-all at least once, and Ron, who told Hermione she was a know-it-all at least twice a week, said loudly, â€Å"You asked us a question and she knows the answer! Why ask if you don't want to be told?† The class knew instantly he'd gone too far. Snape advanced on Ron slowly, and the room held its breath. â€Å"Detention, Weasley,† Snape said silkily, his face very close to Ron's. â€Å"And if I ever hear you criticize the way I teach a class again, you will be very sorry indeed.† No one made a sound throughout the rest of the lesson. They sat and made notes on werewolves from the textbook, while Snape prowled up and down the rows of desks, examining the work they had been doing with Professor Lupin. â€Å"Very poorly explained†¦That is incorrect, the Kappa is more commonly found in Mongolia†¦Professor Lupin gave this eight out of ten? I wouldn't have given it three†¦Ã¢â‚¬  When the bell rang at last, Snape held them back. â€Å"You will each write an essay, to be handed in to me, on the ways you recognize and kill werewolves. I want two rolls of parchment on the subject, and I want them by Monday morning. It is time somebody took this class in hand. Weasley, stay behind, we need to arrange your detention.† Harry and Hermione left the room with the rest of the class, who waited until they were well out of earshot, then burst into a furious tirade about Snape. â€Å"Snape's never been like this with any of our other Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, even if he did want the job,† Harry said to Hermione. â€Å"Why's he got it in for Lupin? D'you think this is all because of the Boggart?† â€Å"I don't know,† said Hermione pensively. â€Å"But I really hope Professor Lupin gets better soon†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Ron caught up with them five minutes later, in a towering rage. â€Å"D'you know what that –† (he called Snape something that made Hermione say â€Å"Ron!†) â€Å"– is making me do? I've got to scrub out the bedpans in the hospital wing. Without magic!† He was breathing deeply, his fists clenched. â€Å"Why couldn't Black have hidden in Snape's office, eh? He could have finished him off for us!† ****** Harry woke extremely early the next morning; so early that it was still dark. For a moment he thought the roaring of the wind had woken him. Then he felt a cold breeze on the back of his neck and sat bolt upright — Peeves the Poltergeist had been floating next to him, blowing hard in his ear. â€Å"What did you do that for?† said Harry furiously. Peeves puffed out his cheeks, blew hard, and zoomed backward out of the room, cackling. Harry fumbled for his alarm clock and looked at it. It was half past four. Cursing Peeves, he rolled over and tried to get back to sleep, but it was very difficult, now that he was awake, to ignore the sounds of the thunder rumbling overhead, the pounding of the wind against the castle walls, and the distant creaking of the trees in the Forbidden Forest. In a few hours he would be out on the Quidditch field, battling through that gale. Finally, he gave up any thought of more sleep, got up, dressed, picked up his Nimbus Two Thousand, and walked quietly out of the dormitory. As Harry opened the door, something brushed against his leg. He bent down just in time to grab Crookshanks by the end of his bushy tail and drag him outside. â€Å"You know, I reckon Ron was right about you,† Harry told Crookshanks suspiciously. â€Å"There are plenty of mice around this place — go and chase them. Go on,† he added, nudging Crookshanks down the spiral staircase with his foot. â€Å"Leave Scabbers alone.† The noise of the storm was even louder in the common room. Harry knew better than to think the match would be canceled; Quidditch matches weren't called off for trifles like thunderstorms. Nevertheless, he was starting to feel very apprehensive. Wood had pointed out Cedric Diggory to him in the corridor; Diggory was a fifth year and a lot bigger than Harry. Seekers were usually light and speedy, but Diggory's weight would be an advantage in this weather because he was less likely to be blown off course. Harry whiled away the hours until dawn in front of the fire, getting up every now and then to stop Crookshanks from sneaking up the boys' staircase again. At long last Harry thought it must be time for breakfast, so he headed through the portrait hole alone. â€Å"Stand and fight, you mangy cur!† yelled Sir Cadogan. â€Å"Oh, shut up,† Harry yawned. He revived a bit over a large bowl of porridge, and by the time he'd started on toast, the rest of the team had turned up. â€Å"It's going to be a tough one,† said Wood, who wasn't eating anything. â€Å"Stop worrying, Oliver,† said Alicia soothingly, â€Å"we don't mind a bit of rain.† But it was considerably more than a bit of rain. Such was the popularity of Quidditch that the whole school turned out to watch the match as usual, but they ran down the lawns toward the Quidditch field, heads bowed against the ferocious wind, umbrellas being whipped out of their hands as they went. just before he entered the locker room, Harry saw Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, laughing and pointing at him from under an enormous umbrella on their way to the stadium. The team changed into their scarlet robes and waited for Wood's usual pre-match pep talk, but it didn't come. He tried to speak several times, made an odd gulping noise, then shook his head hopelessly and beckoned them to follow him. The wind was so strong that they staggered sideways as they walked out onto the field. If the crowd was cheering, they couldn't hear it over the fresh rolls of thunder. Rain was splattering over Harry's glasses. How on earth was he going to see the Snitch in this? The Hufflepuffs were approaching from the opposite side of the field, wearing canary-yellow robes. The Captains walked up to each other and shook hands; Diggory smiled at Wood but Wood now looked as though he had lockjaw and merely nodded. Harry saw Madam Hooch's mouth form the words, â€Å"Mount Your brooms.† He pulled his right foot out of the mud with a squelch and swung it over his Nimbus Two Thousand. Madam Hooch put her whistle to her lips and gave it a blast that sounded shrill and distant — they were off. Harry rose fast, but his Nimbus was swerving slightly with the wind. He held it as steady as he could and turned, squinting into the rain. Within five minutes Harry was soaked to his skin and frozen, hardly able to see his teammates, let alone the tiny Snitch. He flew backward and forward across the field past blurred red and yellow shapes, with no idea of what was happening in the rest of the game. He couldn't hear the commentary over the wind. The crowd was hidden beneath a sea of cloaks and battered umbrellas. Twice Harry came very close to being unseated by a Bludger; his vision was so clouded by the rain on his glasses he hadn't seen them coming. He lost track of time. It was getting harder and harder to hold his broom straight. The sky was getting darker, as though night had decided to come early. Twice Harry nearly hit another player, without knowing whether it was a teammate or opponent; everyone was now so wet, and the rain so thick, he could hardly tell them apart†¦ With the first flash of lightning came the sound of Madam Hooch's whistle; Harry could just see the outline of Wood through the thick rain, gesturing him to the ground. The whole team splashed down into the mud. â€Å"I called for time-out!† Wood roared at his team. â€Å"Come on, under here –â€Å" They huddled at the edge of the field under a large umbrella; Harry took off his glasses and wiped them hurriedly on his robes. â€Å"What's the score?† â€Å"We're fifty points up,† said Wood, â€Å"but unless we get the Snitch soon, we'll be playing into the night.† â€Å"I've got no chance with these on,† Harry said exasperatedly, waving his glasses. At that very moment, Hermione appeared at his shoulder; she was holding her cloak over her head and was, inexplicably, beaming. â€Å"I've had an idea, Harry! Give me your glasses, quick!† He handed them to her, and as the team watched in amazement, Hermione tapped them with her wand and said, â€Å"Impervius!† â€Å"There!† she said, handing them back to Harry. â€Å"They'll repel water!† Wood looked as though he could have kissed her. â€Å"Brilliant!† he called hoarsely after her as she disappeared into the crowd. â€Å"Okay, team, let's go for it!† Hermione's spell had done the trick. Harry was still numb with cold, still wetter than he'd ever been in his life, but he could see. Full of fresh determination, he urged his broom through the turbulent air, staring in every direction for the Snitch, avoiding a Bludger, ducking beneath Diggory, who was streaking in the opposite direction†¦ There was another clap of thunder, followed immediately by forked lightning. This was getting more and more dangerous. Harry needed to get the Snitch quickly — He turned, intending to head back toward the middle of the field, but at that moment, another flash of lightning illuminated the stands, and Harry saw something that distracted him completely, the silhouette of an enormous shaggy black dog, clearly imprinted against the sky, motionless in the topmost, empty row of seats. Harry's numb hands slipped on the broom handle and his Nimbus dropped a few feet. Shaking his sodden bangs out of his eyes, he squinted back into the stands. The dog had vanished. â€Å"Harry!† came Wood's anguished yell from the Gryffindor goal posts. â€Å"Harry, behind you!† Harry looked wildly around. Cedric Diggory was pelting up the field, and a tiny speck of gold was shimmering in the rain-filled air between them†¦ With a jolt of panic, Harry threw himself flat to the broom handle and zoomed toward the Snitch. â€Å"Come on!† he growled at his Nimbus as the rain whipped his face. â€Å"Faster!† But something odd was happening. An eerie silence was falling across the stadium. The wind, though as strong as ever, was forgetting to roar. It was as though someone had turned off the sound, as though Harry had gone suddenly deaf — what was going on? And then a horribly familiar wave of cold swept over him, inside him, just as he became aware of something moving on the field below†¦ Before he'd had time to think, Harry had taken his eyes off the Snitch and looked down. At least a hundred Dementors, their hidden faces pointing up at him, were standing beneath him. It was as though freezing water were rising in his chest, cutting at his insides. And then he heard it again†¦Someone was screaming, screaming inside his head†¦a woman†¦ â€Å"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!† â€Å"Stand aside, you silly girl†¦stand aside, now†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead –â€Å" Numbing, swirling white mist was filling Harry's brain†¦What was he doing? Why was he flying? He needed to help her†¦She was going to die†¦She was going to be murdered†¦ He was falling, falling through the icy mist. â€Å"Not Harry! Please†¦have mercy†¦have mercy†¦Ã¢â‚¬  A shrill voice was laughing, the woman was screaming, and Harry knew no more. â€Å"Lucky the ground was so soft.† â€Å"I thought he was dead for sure.† â€Å"But he didn't even break his glasses.† Harry could hear the voices whispering, but they made no sense whatsoever. He didn't have a clue where he was, or how he'd got there, or what he'd been doing before he got there. All he knew was that every inch of him was aching as though it had been beaten. â€Å"That was the scariest thing I've ever seen in my life.† Scariest†¦the scariest thing†¦hooded black figures†¦cold†¦screaming†¦ Harry's eyes snapped open. He was lying in the hospital wing. The Gryffindor Quidditch team, spattered with mud from head to foot, was gathered around his bed. Ron and Hermione were also there, looking as though they'd just climbed out of a swimming pool. â€Å"Harry!† said Fred, who looked extremely white underneath, the mud. â€Å"How're you feeling?† It was as though Harry's memory was on fast forward. The lightning†¦the Grim†¦the Snitch†¦and the Dementors†¦ â€Å"What happened?† he said, sitting up so suddenly they all gasped. â€Å"You fell off,† said Fred. â€Å"Must've been — what — fifty feet?† â€Å"We thought you'd died,† said Alicia, who was shaking. Hermione made a small, squeaky noise. Her eyes were extremely bloodshot. â€Å"But the match,† said Harry. â€Å"What happened? Are we doing a replay?† No one said anything. The horrible truth sank into Harry like a stone. â€Å"We didn't — lose?† â€Å"Diggory got the Snitch,† said George. â€Å"Just after you fell. He didn't realize what had happened. When he looked back and saw you on the ground, he tried to call it off. Wanted a rematch. But they won fair and square†¦even Wood admits it.† â€Å"Where is Wood?† said Harry, suddenly realizing he wasn't there. â€Å"Still in the showers,† said Fred. â€Å"We think he's trying to drown himself.† Harry put his face to his knees, his hands gripping his hair. Fred grabbed his shoulder and shook it roughly. â€Å"C'mon, Harry, you've never missed the Snitch before.† â€Å"There had to be one time you didn't get it,† said George. â€Å"It's not over yet,† said Fred. â€Å"We lost by a hundred points.† â€Å"Right? So if Hufflepuff loses to Ravenclaw and we beat Ravenclaw and Slytherin†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Hufflepuff'll have to lose by at least two hundred points,† said George. â€Å"But if they beat Ravenclaw†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"No way, Ravenclaw is too good. But if Slytherin loses against Hufflepuff†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"It all depends on the points — a margin of a hundred either way –â€Å" Harry lay there, not saying a word. They had lost†¦for the first time ever, he had lost a Quidditch match. After ten minutes or so, Madam Pomfrey came over to tell the team to leave him in peace. â€Å"We'll come and see you later,† Fred told him. â€Å"Don't beat yourself up. Harry, you're still the best Seeker we've ever had.† The team trooped out, trailing mud behind them. Madam Pomfrey shut the door behind them, looking disapproving. Ron and Hermione moved nearer to Harry's bed. â€Å"Dumbledore was really angry,† Hermione said in a quaking voice. â€Å"I've never seen him like that before. He ran onto the field as you fell, waved his wand, and you sort of slowed down before you hit the ground. Then he whirled his wand at the Dementors. Shot silver stuff at them. They left the stadium right away†¦He was furious they'd come onto the grounds. We heard him –â€Å" â€Å"Then he magicked you onto a stretcher,† said Ron. â€Å"And walked up to school with you floating on it. Everyone thought you were†¦Ã¢â‚¬  His voice faded, but Harry hardly noticed. He was thinking about what the Dementors had done to him†¦about the screaming voice. He looked up and saw Ron and Hermione looking at him so anxiously that he quickly cast around for something matter-of-fact to say. â€Å"Did someone get my Nimbus?† Ron and Hermione looked quickly at each other. â€Å"Er –â€Å" â€Å"What?† said Harry, looking from one to the other. â€Å"Well†¦when you fell off, it got blown away,† said Hermione hesitantly. â€Å"And?† â€Å"And it hit — it hit — oh, Harry — it hit the Whomping Willow.† Harry's insides lurched. The Whomping Willow was a very violent tree that stood alone in the middle of the grounds. â€Å"And?† he said, dreading the answer. â€Å"Well, you know the Whomping Willow,† said Ron. â€Å"It — it doesn't like being hit.† â€Å"Professor Flitwick brought it back just before you came around,† said Hermione in a very small voice. Slowly, she reached down for a bag at her feet, turned it upside down, and tipped a dozen bits of splintered wood and twig onto the bed, the only remains of Harry's faithful, finally beaten broomstick.