Act 2- Proctor’s house Essay

The crucible is set in the early 1920’s in a place called Salem in Massachusetts America. The story is based on the problem of witchcraft; to be a witch or warlock in those days was unforgivable. The people living in Salem were all strict Puritans and anything un-natural was said to be wrong. Anyone with any evidence of another being â€Å"in contact with the devil† was immediately taken to court for a case, they could be imprisoned for many years or worse killed. As you can imagine this arose a great deal of problems including people’s greed or jealousy taking over their moral beliefs. People would accuse others to get what they wanted e.g. land. Act 2- Proctor’s house. Role of Elizabeth  Elizabeth- â€Å"What keeps you so late? It’s almost dark.†Ã‚  At this point in the story Elizabeth still has a slightly higher status than her husband, and has done for quite a while this is because he is the one that has sinned and still needs to watch his step if he wants to keep her as his wife. As she walks in from singing to the children, she will be looking at her husband at first, then look out side swiftly when she says â€Å"It’s almost dark.† She asks a question about his work to be polite, not necessarily interested so will be busy with something on the table, e.g. a candle stick. When she has to respond to Proctor asking if the boys are asleep she will look up from what she is doing and answer while walking quickly over to the fireplace. She answers vaguely to Proctors wishing for a â€Å"fair summer.†Ã‚  When Proctor asks if she â€Å"is well today† She turns around with the plate of his food and smiles kindly and responds â€Å"I am† Although not returning the question. She then nods at the plate and tells him it is rabbit. She then pulls out a chair and sits by him watching him sit down to eat. Her eyes never leave him apart from to look at the rabbit describing how painful it was for her to â€Å"strip her.† While she watches him taste it, there is a look of slight anticipation on her face to see his respond. She is still sitting up right facing him, perfect posture. It is at this point that their statuses are equal, she wants praise from him. Which when she gets she blushes and smiles, but asks for more; so asks- â€Å"it’s tender?† Maybe leaning slightly further forward, closing the distance that is between them. After proctor tells her that he means to please her, the eye contact becomes more intense for a split second but soon disappears. Her facial expression is of fake happiness maybe even slight sadness. As she replies she looks at Proctor for the beginning of the line â€Å"I know it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  but then looks down when she says â€Å"John.† Indicating it is very hard for her to say. When Proctor tries to kiss her she does not lean in towards it but sits very still and up right in her chair, looking away. She receives it but does not return it. After he has sat down she continues to look at him, which is when he sullenly says â€Å"Cider.† In a thanking sort of way, for changing the subject she quickly stands replying â€Å"Aye!† The subject back onto the farm, Elizabeth still shows that there is something still annoying her. She walks quickly back with the cider and places it by him, and sits back down. Proctor then introduces the idea of flowers in the house, she answers quickly, and looking around, hands on the table and feet perfectly together on the floor. She says that she has forgotten, but this is not top on her list, so says it rather quickly, with the air of not really caring about it. Proctor then suggests that they go on a walk together one day to look at the flowers; he finishes the sentence with saying how beautiful Massachusetts is in the spring. Elizabeth only responds to this, not the walk through the wood together. Her answer is short and quick, and as she says it has a knowing look upon her face and nods slightly but it is obvious that she doesn’t care and this is not what she is thinking about at the moment. There is a pause and she continues to watch him for a short while, with a look of enquiry and un-knowing on her face. When he does not say anything she gets up and picks up his plate and cutlery. She does this briskly not saying a word. She stands by the basin, after placing the plate and cutlery in it. She has her back to him and does not move, but waits.  Proctor then says â€Å"I think you’re sad again, are you?† She doesn’t reply immediately and still doesn’t turn round, as if holding back words. She soon does however and when she speaks it is slowly, this is because she does not want an argument so she makes it look as if she is the one in the wrong asking herself a stupid question in her mind. This immediately lowers her status ever so slightly. His reply is harsh and sudden, which doesn’t strike her, if anything makes her slightly more frightened, she rubs her hands around each other nervously but subtly, yet still stands tall. â€Å"You did speak of going, earlier this week.† As if reminding him, that she had good reason to think that he might have gone Salem that day.  When she tells him that Mary Warren had gone that day, she looks at him directly; she still does not move her body though, she announces it very clearly. After his reply she has weakened a little, she knew that by telling him this it would get to him, now she can see that he is holding back from shouting. This still gives her the upper status. So when she says â€Å"I couldn’t stop her.† She shakes her head slightly but still watches him. She then goes on to say how Mary Warren frightened all her strength and power away from her, at this she will step forward, it’s now that she begins to use her body to express, all the way so far her torso has stayed upright. As she steps forward she looks Proctor in the eye. And she moves her arms forward, which shows her weakness breaking through.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"It is a mouse no more. I forbid her to go, and she raises up her chin like the daughter or a prince and says to me, ‘I must go to Salem, Goody Proctor, I am an official in the court!†

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Seen in Advertisements

Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a important aspect to understanding a company to implement the proper marketing methods. Seeing the consumers needs will allow the organization to appeal to that need. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs starts with the most basic physiological needs, followed by safety, social, self esteem, and topped with self-actualization needs in ascending order (Tanner, 2011). The physiological and safety needs tend to be more tangible or sustainable. While the center levels may have more of an emotional or rational payoff. Then the peak or self actualization is more transformational or even spiritual mindset (Conley, 2007). Looking at each advertisement you can tell the marketer is appealing to society’s needs as humans. This is because society is stimulated for disappointment if their expectations or needs are not met (Conley, 2007). Looking at the Pepsi commercial, they are addressing the social needs of humans (Blink967, 2007). The young boy enters the monastery looking for acceptance, he goes through years of training eventually mastering monasticism. Then the entire monastery pulls out Pepsi’s and drinks the whole can. Once the young boy sees the foreheads of all other monks, he smashes the can with his forehead becoming a true member of the monastery. Pepsi petitions the humanistic needs in everyone to be feel accepted, loved, and befriended by others with this commercial (Tanner, 2011). Volkswagen implores a need for safety. In their commercial they go even further in protecting one’s offspring in a humorous way. It features a young family who is taking their newborn baby from the hospital to his home for the first time. As he is put comfortably in a Volkswagen, his dad almost crashes the car. A short glimpse of life flashes before the baby’s eyes which is the funny part. Volkswagen marketers are appealing to a parents need to protect their children. Since most parents will sacrifice anything to ensure their child's physical well being. This is towards the bottom and more attainable goal on Maslow’s pyramid, thus attaining to a larger population (Tanner, 2011). The final advertisement are from McDonald’s. They advertise the same product to satisfy the same need but in different cultures. The need is to satisfy hunger; which is the most basics of needs from Maslow (Tanner, 2011). The advertisement shown in Arabic countries has very little dialogue compared to the one from the United States. Arab one makes use of the song, while using actions and expressions of the characters to advertise McDonald’s. The advertisers do not say explicitly how good McDonald’s is but instead, make clever use of lyrics from a song with a clever fight between loved ones to a it in a subtle way. On the other hand, the United States version is full of dialogue by this nerdy-looking guy. He tells how â€Å"sophisticated† and â€Å"worldly† he becomes after finding McDonald’s international mug and coffee offer. He then states all the meals on the great value meal. Everything is stated out clearly for the audience that McDonald’s meals are cheap and you can even get â€Å"good stuff† like the â€Å"international mug and coffee† at low price. Comparing the two advertisements, marketers should definitely pick the one advertised in Arabic nations because it conveys its message in a subtle way. This entices the audience before the ending punch line with the fight. The advertisement from the United States is definitely too boring with all the dialogue. Of course, presenting advertisements in a more creative and subtle way will capture the audience’s attention. However, it must be done correctly.

Attributes of entrepreneur

Attributes of entrepreneur Essay Confidence positive thlnklng is a major step In the direction of success 5. Positive thinker entrepreneur are positive thinkers. Wealth does not always come to the most intelligent or the most ambitious individuals. Patience -when one owns who his business, there will be times when feels like the roof of craving-in. 7. Decisiveness – one should go with his intuition and trust that he is doing the right thing 8. Experience component for growth – as a key 9. Information seeking – entrepreneur should seek information with client and competitors, seek advice. 10. Perseverance – must be willing to persevere during rough times 11. Drive – needs to be totally committed 12. Risk taking – prefer tasks, which provide them some challenges 13. Innovation creative, they do things in new and different ways 14. Opportunity-seeking – readily identifies opportunities for going into or to improve his business 15. Demand for efficiency and quality – entrepreneur always strives to find ways to do things better, faster and at a lower cost 16. Systematic planning and monitoring – introduces some system in achlevlng his goals by breaking this goal Into short term and long term goals 11. Persuasion and networking – easy establishes a network or personal and business contacts around them Attributes of entrepreneur. (2018, Oct 28).

WORLDVIEW ASSIGNMENT Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

WORLDVIEW - Assignment Example (Clooney, 2010). It is highly associated with the birth, life, death and resurrection of Christ Jesus and those who believe and follow his teachings. Christians are the followers Christ and Christianity is the religion. According to St. Paul, Christianity has a foundation in the body and the soul of Christ Jesus, believed to be the son of God. According St. John, Jesus is the Lamb of God who came down to salvage man from his sin. They also believe that, it is only through Christ that mankind will receive salvation and that Jesus has sat on the right of God. Christianity was mainly a religion of the West but has spread to the rest of the continent and become the main largest religion all over the world. In the New Testament, Christians identify themselves with Jesus Christ as their true savior and the only son of God. According to St. Matthew, Jesus is the lamb of light and He links human beings with God. They believe that, through Christ, man will able to see God. St Peter in his teachings encourages the gentiles to accept and identify themselves Christ Jesus the savior. They believe in forgiveness of sins through Christ. Modern Christians identify themselves with British Israelis, descendants of Israelites who taken to captivity by the army of Assyria. They believe that White Christians are still the God’s chosen race and that Christ is an Israelite from Judah. The meaning of Christianity derived from Christ and his followers the Christians, hence the name Christianity as a religion. The major purpose of the believers is to spread the Gospel to rest the world. They believe in a sacred book called the Bible as a true word of God. The Bible manifests the will and teaching of God to those ordained filled with the Holy Spirit. According to St. Paul, Jesus ordains his followers and gives authority to spread salvation to all. They had total faith in

ERP story Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

ERP story - Case Study Example Another big challenge was regarding the data definitions and standardization among the three member companies and their systems. The project should enable consistency in data. Also the data should be available to everyone on a real time basis unlike current situation. A big challenge was also identified in non-standardization of interfaces for different applications and companies. Similar interfaces were desired for all systems as a result of the project. This would enable rotation of employees and easier knowledge transition. A major desired characteristic of the project was to ensure that the accounting and financial systems of the 3 companies are in sync and there is minimal manual intervention and control. There is also a need to make the human resource management processes more efficient by realizing economies of scale and leverage the individual capabilities of the 3 companies to the advantage of the whole group. Another characteristic of the project would be to create a uniform sales and marketing environment for the 3 companies and to leverage the use of internet and social media. Jean Roberge has identified his challenges and characteristics in mainly 2 areas which are obviously very important. However, he seems to have neglected challenges in a very important area which is People Management. In such a huge ERP project, the implementation would change the entire way in which people are going to work. Therefore, the required change in the mindset of the people is a big challenge (Wong et. al.). Therefore, a desired characteristic of the project should be to have training and counseling sessions for people to enable a smooth transition. These sessions would also enable them to overcome their apprehensions regarding lay-offs and job-cuts. Another challenge which should be considered is data migration. Migration from old systems to new systems especially in case of huge historical data could be a big challenge and can take days or

Statistics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Statistics - Essay Example According to basic probability we divide the figure of favourable outcomes by the total number of possible outcomes in our sample space. If we're observing for the chance it will rain, this will be the number of days in our record that it rained divided by the total number of similar days in our record. If our meteorologist has data for 100 days with similar weather conditions, and on 80 of these days it rained (a favourable outcome), the probability of rain on the next similar day is 80/100 or 80%. In view of the fact that a 50% probability means that an experience is as likely to happen as not, 80%, which is greater than 50%, means that it is more likely to rain than not. But what is the probability that it won't rain Keep in mind that because the favourable outcomes represent all the possible ways that an event can occur, the sum of the different probabilities must equal 1 or 100%, so 100% - 80% = 20%, and the probability that it won't rain is 20%. The following scatter plot with a fitted line shows that there is a positive relationship b/w selected 15 student's maths and science scores. ... represent all the possible ways that an event can occur, the sum of the different probabilities must equal 1 or 100%, so 100% - 80% = 20%, and the probability that it won't rain is 20%. 2. The table below gives the marks of 15 students in tests in 2 subjects: Students 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Maths 29 45 27 19 39 46 25 38 39 43 49 21 38 46 37 Science 36 42 31 26 42 41 25 41 40 40 43 23 39 45 38 a. Scatter graph of the maths and science scores with best fitted line The following scatter plot with a fitted line shows that there is a positive relationship b/w selected 15 student's maths and science scores. Part 2b will be the evidence to prove this hypothesis that student's math scores will be positively related to their science scores. Correlation coefficient (r = + 0.936) this magnitude shows that it's highly correlated and the positive sign shows that there is a positive correlation between the variables. So we conclude that as one variable increases other one will also increases. b. Comment on the position of the line of best fit and any correlation between the scores. Although one objective of correlation is a line fitted to the data, this line is not used to predict an unknown value of one variable when given a value of the other variable; it simply shows the relationship between the two variables. This best-fit line is the one that minimizes the sum of squared deviations between the points and the line, measured vertically (along the Y axis). The Bivariate Correlations procedure computes Pearson's correlation coefficient. Correlations measure how variables or rank orders are related. Before calculating a correlation coefficient, screen your data for outliers (which can cause misleading results) and evidence of a linear relationship. Pearson's

NAFTA and Mexican Trucking Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

NAFTA and Mexican Trucking - Assignment Example These objectives are actually not fair, since, after a reported pilot study that allowed an initial 100 Mexican trucks to cross the U.S. borders within the stipulated safety standards, the results actually indicated that the Mexican drivers exhibited greater and higher conformity to safety regulations and standards, as compared to the counterparts in the U.S. Â  3. Does it make economic sense for the United States to bear the costs of punitive tariffs as allowed for under NAFTA, as opposed to letting Mexican trucks enter the United States? In evaluating the scenario, it could actually be more beneficial for the U.S. to bear the costs of tariffs rather than completely allow unrestricted entry of Mexican trucks to enter the U.S. If this is allowed, it could be perceived that a barrage of cheaper goods could create an oversupply in the American market which would destabilize the demand and supply of various products, and likewise affect costs and pricing structures. Imposition of the tariffs would at least ensure that American manufacturers and producers would still look for the local markets are a more sensible option to market their goods and to be consumed by the American citizens at significantly lower costs.

Corona beer Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Corona beer - Case Study Example The cause for unequal demand for alcohol is simply due to recessionary trails in the global economy. The soaring oil prices have caused a price rise for almost all the final goods and services. Though the money income has increased for buyers, the rising consumption expenses are putting downward pressure in the real income level. The beer and alcohol industry not only generates a significant share of many economies national product, but also spawns large employment opportunities. Thus, analysts and researchers are scared that the fall in production capacities of firms due to recession should not render more individuals jobless. At this juncture, it becomes rational to analyze the business of potential alcohol producing firms like Corona Beer. This essay will implicitly discuss the internal and external factors that determine the business of Corona Beer. The context of the research work will enumerate the different marketing strategies Corona beer has adopted to account for higher tur novers in future (DRUGSCOPE, n.d.). Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Introduction 4 SWOT Analysis 5 Strength 6 Weakness 6 Opportunities 6 Threats 7 Staying in Power 8 Porters Five Force Analysis 9 Bargaining Power of Buyers (low) 9 Bargaining Power of Suppliers (weak) 9 Rivalry in the Industry (high) 9 Threat of New Entrants (weak) 10 Menace of Substitutes (strong) 10 Summary and Conclusions 10 References 12 Introduction Corona Beer or Corona Extra is a famous pale larger that was first manufactured in Mexico by Cerveceria Modelo. The company was founded in the recent past at around 1925 in Mexico, but its unique quality and taste soon made it a famous beverage for a large customer base. Grupo Modelo always intended to extend the market of Corona Beer beyond the territories of Mexico. From its inception in 1925, by 1996 the company gained 32.7% share of the total market demand for alcohol in Mexico. The officials of the company first desired to export Cororna Beer to the prospe ctive economies of United States and then planned to enter the other markets. Europe, Latin America and Asian markets were secondary marketplaces for the company (UFL, n.d.). Figure 1: Words Top Beer Companies (Source: Ashok, 2009) The above table explains the market position of Corona in 2005 and 2006. The values are in terms of million barrels shipped. It is evident from the above schedule that the market performance of Corona was mediocre (1.9 of total market share) till 2006 when compared with the other top beer brands. Carlos Fernandez, the chairman of the company analyzed that what was most crucial for the company was to expand its market outside the domestic borders of Mexico. In 2007 the largest beer producer and manufacturing firm in Mexico (Corona) finally decided to enlarge its production capabilities. The company spends a wholesome amount of $300 million to suffice its growing market demand outside Mexico. The company first emerged in the U.S. market in 1979, its nonrefu ndable policy, unique packaging style and differential modes of marketing soon made it a potential competitor in the U.S. alcohol industry, especially in the Southern States. Although, the Federal excise tax rates in beer was increased in U.S., but the Modelo Group passed its incidence on the buyers. Figure 2:

Explain the role of the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause Essay

Explain the role of the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause regarding confessions - Essay Example A house refers to any structure that an individual’s uses as their residence. It may on a long-term basis such as a residential home or on a short-term basis such as a hotel. Other structures that are connected to a house such as a garage and a store also fall under this category in the Fourth Amendment but an open field that surrounds the house is out of this scope. Papers refer to an individual’s personal documents such as business records, diaries, letters, and certificates. On the other hand, effects refer to the other items that are not persons, houses, or papers. This may include weapons, contraband goods, clothing, and luggage. Almost all items fall under the Fourth Amendment but what is essential is the determination of whether their search or seizure is reasonable. In analyzing the role of the Fourth Amendment, it is critical to determine the police activities that trigger the protection of the Fourth Amendment. It is also essential to justify the reasons behind the police officers engaging in these activities. A search is referred to as an activity that is conducted with the intention of finding evidence to be used for criminal prosecution. When conducting a search, there should be concern whether the search is a product of a government action. There should also be concerns whether it violates the reasonable expectation of a person’s right to privacy. The term seizure usually refers to the keeping of custody of a property to be used as evidence in a criminal procedure. It commonly occurs because of a search. The Fourth Amendment focuses on the reasonableness of the search and seizures. It determines if the police were working along with its requirements. According to the Fourth Amendment, not every action of looking for evidence is referred to as a search. A search depends on who is looking for the evidence as well as where it occurs. Therefore, a

Application of Evidenced - Based Practice Essay Example for Free

Application of Evidenced Based Practice Essay Application of Evidenced-based Practice Regarding pediatric Patients and Otitis Media 1 Running head: Application of Evidenced -based Practice Application of Evidence-based Practice Regarding Pediatric Patients and Otitis Media Running head: Application of Evidence-based Practice 2 The nursing practice heavily relies on the evidence based clinical information to determine current standards of practice within the nursing scope of practice. A multitude of informational journals and peer reviewed articles are readily available to help guide the decisions placed into practice. The nurse is responsible for recognizing the quality of evidence collected to improve the standard of care patients receive. This paper will investigate four articles regarding the appropriate care and treatment of the pediatric population with otitis media. In addition, an appropriate recommendation for antibiotic therapy will be made based on information gathered during the research. To answer the question of whether a wait-and -see approach is recommended, an initial validation of the information collected must be determined. Four articles will be assessed based on the type of research collected as filtered, unfiltered, or general information. The source will be investigated as inappropriate or appropriate. Lastly, the articles will be classified as primary research evidence, evidence summary, or evidence-based guideline. In addition to the four articles, a study and interview from current patients of the clinic will be discussed. The first article by the American Academy of Pediatrics and American Academy of Family Physicians discusses the diagnosis and management of acute otitis media. This article i s a filtered resource as several large studies have been completed on the topic. The article is from a reliable and reputable source and is determined to be appropriate. The type of research is an evidence summary as well as providing evidenced based guidelines for practice. The second article by The Pediatric Infectious disease Journal provides unfiltered information. The author Dr. Block discusses evidenced collected within studies of her own as well as collected data from Running head: Application of Evidenced-based practice 3 previous studies and as a result the article is mainly primary research. This source would be considered inappropriate for a nurse evaluating a standard practice to recommend. The information presented within the article is too broad and does not recommend a best practice standard. The article is an unfiltered article based on the foundation of a multitude of studies and expert opinion presented. A physician may find this article useful if investigating which pathogen would best respond to a specific antibiotic. The third article is a general informative resource for the clinic to apply evidence based practice. The resource is a filtered article which provides appropriate information relating to general practice. The research is evidence summary as well as evidence-based guideline. This article provides general information regarding pain and treatment of ear problems. This article may by appropriate for the diagnosis of specific ear conditions and treatments however may not be approp riate to determine if a wait-and-see approach is supported. The last article reviewed discusses treatment of otitis media in an era of increasing microbial resistance. This is an unfiltered resource and appropriate for determining if a practice change should be implemented. The type of research is evidence summary and evidence-based guidelines. This article would support an evidenced based approach to support a change of practice within the clinic. Finally, interviews collected from patients who utilize the clinic is unfiltered information and inappropriate to base a clinical change of practice. The type of research is primary research evidence. This information may be helpful for determining the type of culture who utilizes the clinic and how accepting the community may perceive a change in practice. All pieces of information collected has valuable information, however from nursing standards an article should present current evidence based practice standards. Running head: Application of Evidenced-based Practice 4 The evidence presented within one article supports a watchful waiting approach to treating acute ear infections in children. Data is strongly supported with evidenced based practice guiding the appropriate course of treatment as prescribed by physicians. For example, The American Academy of Pediatrics and American Academy of Family Physicians have provided a practice guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of acute otitis media. This article should be considered the gold standard of practice for physicians and presents filtered information. The article clearly provided recommendations based on the presentation of the patient in addition to practice standards. The article is current and is supported by regulatory licensing agencies. Future research goals are also discussed along with current recommendations. This informative practice guideline should be reviewed with additional information to fully support a practice change within the clinic . However, additional current studies would be required to implement a change of practice with more supportive data. Considering multiple resources were obtained to investigate a change in practice, some articles were outdated and referenced studies which may not be applicable to modern practice. In conclusion, research does support a more watchful approach to treating patients; more supportive current data would be required so an informed decision can be made. To implement a policy change within a clinic, a committee should be established to review current evidence based literature to support a change in practice. A review of current recommendations for practices can be investigated along with a discussion with a larger pediatric medical facility. Having a better understanding of current trends from neighboring establishments can better prepare the facility for a change in practice. Educational information should be prepared for parents to establish a clear understanding of why a practice change has been implemented. Nursing will have a vital role in educating families and possibly reminding practitioners of practice Running head: Application of Evidenced-based practice 5 recommendations. By the nursing staff having the knowledge of best practice, they can advocate a higher quality of care for their patients. Ethical concerns and vulnerable populations should be considered when researching and changing clinical practice  guidelines. The practitioner and nursing staff must assure they are implementing practice changes to improve quality of care for their patients. Well supported and researched standards should only be implemented. The patient population of the clinic should not be uses as a test group or population without prior knowledge or informed consent. During the process of informed consent, all risks must be explained to the patient and family. Patients must be educated by the practitioners and nursing staff regarding the implementation of a new practice. The staff must be aware of credible resources for data collection and applications to practice. Reassurance of protecting patient privacy should be discussed with patients and parents. The nurses must continue to advocate for human rights during the research process by identifying vulnerable populations. These populations may include children, pregnant woman, elderly, and cultural differences. If any language barriers exist, the nursing staff should be p repared to have alternate communication methods. State and federal guidelines must be followed during any research process and advocate for those who cannot advocate for themselves. References Block, S.L. (2008). Causative Pathogens, Antibiotic Resistance and Therapeutic Considerations in Acute Otitis Media. Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, 15(4), 448-456. Hay, W.W., Levin, J.J, Sondheimer, Deterding, R.R. (2006). Current pediatric diagnosis and treatment. Ear, Nose and Throat. (pp. 159-492). Denver, Colorado: Lange. McCracken, G.H. (1998). Treatment of Acute Otitis Media in an Era of Increasing Microbial Resistance. Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, 17(6), 576-579. American Academy of Pediatrics. (2004). Diagnosis and Management of Acute Otitis Media, 113(5), 1451-1465.

The Potential Unreliability Of Eyewitness Criminology Essay

The Potential Unreliability Of Eyewitness Criminology Essay The potential unreliability of eyewitness testimony poses one of the most serious problems in the administration of criminal justice. Eyewitness testimony is very important for legal decisions. Eyewitnesses are central to most court cases (Kebbell Milne, 1999) and eyewitnesses accounts are the most common and significant testimonies that can potentially serve as the primary forms of evidence against a defendant. Moreover research shows that jurors exaggeratedly believe the testimony of eyewitnesses and this, can lead to possible miscarriages of justice (Cutler et al. 1990). The aim of this essay is to investigate, based on the literature, the reasons that may influence the memory process of eyewitnesses and also what can be done in order to ensure that eyewitnesses testimony worth the value. Eyewitness testimony is a legal term and it refers to an account given by a bystander in the courtroom, who describes what happened during a specific incident under investigation. This is the principal way in which the guilt of the accused is established through verbal witness evidence in court. It is considered to be a reliable accepted form that provides evidence and jurors tend to pay close attention to it. Recently forensics and psychologists declare that memories and individual perceptions are unreliable, can being easily manipulated and biased . As a result, inaccurate eyewitnesses identifications can have serious consequences leading to wrong convictions of innocent people (Wells et al., 1998). When scientific psychology was in its first steps, articles about mistaken eyewitness identifications started to appear in the field (Munsterberg, 1908). However, eyewitness evidence has made people to think if eyewitnesses testimonies are reliable or not. It would be said though that all people have the knowledge that they do not remember everything, and therefore they know that memory can be weak. On the other hand it is difficult to deny the importance of eyewitnesses testimony. Research has shown that people probably feel better about convicting an alleged criminal when an eyewitness claims I saw him do it than when there is no such claim. The hypothesis that inaccurate eyewitness identifications can lead to the conviction of innocent people is also accepted by Canadian legal professionals (Brooks, 1983). DNA testing in the United States has shown that mistaken eyewitness identifications are the reason for more false convictions than all other causes combined (Connors et al. 1996 ). Moreover, this statement about eyewitness misidentifications that is one of the most common causes of wrongful convictions ( Rattner, Sagarin, 1986). Borchard reported that eyewitness error occurred in 45% of 65 cases of wrongful convictions. Huff (1986) found eyewitness errors in nearly 60% of 500 wrongful convictions and Ruttner (1986) concluded that eyewitness error occurred in 52% of 205 wrongful convictions. All these wrongful convictions studies were conducted before the invention of DNA testing. In 1996 a study which analysed of the application of DNA technology to forensic issues in the United States, has revealed some significant facts (Connors, et al., 1996). More specifically 28 men who were found guilty for various criminal acts were exonerated through the analysis of DNA typing. Eyewitness identification was the single most common factor accounting for these erroneous convictions. Furthermore, Wells, et al., (1998) added some more cases to the list of DNA-related wi th false identifications. These cases revealed that one to up to five eyewitnesses made false identifications of innocent suspects. Nevertheless, the eyewitness evidence was presented by well-meaning and confident citizens it was highly persuasive but, at the same time it was at least partially responsible for the majority of wrongful convictions. More recently, The Innocence Project reported some significant facts. The Innocence Project is a national litigation and public policy organisation dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted individuals through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice. The findings of this project show that about 66% of 138 cases in which DNA could exonerate the accused, wrongfully eyewitness identification was involved (Wells, 2004). As eyewitness concerns the memory process it is undeniable that some memory trace exists and this could have important consequences for the course of justice (Wells, 1993). Few people would doubt that human memory is fallible. According to Haber (2000), people tend to believe that memories are like video recorders that faithfully record the things that people do and replay them back perfectly later. The fact is that sensory and perceptual experiences of an incident are not recorded in memory in a similar way to a videotape recorder (Yarmey, 1980). Human memory is constructed and reconstructed from stored bits and pieces of acquired information of what actually happened and what a person intuits, discovers from others, or infers must have happened'(Graham, 2008). Following the reconstructive view, memory can be divided into three stages: (1) acquisition or encoding of information; (2) retention or storage of information over time; and (3) retrieval of stored information through recal l and recognition. A lot of problems may occur in each of these three stages. Loftus (1979, 1996) has focused a lot in these three stages of memory in order to understand the problems that may occur and lead to false convictions. Thus in the first stage which is encoding, the information first goes into the memories. More specifically, if not enough attention is paid to what is going on the encoding stage, then events may not be encoded properly. For example the length of time an eyewitness is able to see the perpetrator, will affect the accuracy of his/her memory. That is, the longer an eyewitness can see the perpetrator, the more will be able to encode and retrieve later on the identification task. Thus, exposure time is a very important variable that can affects the accuracy of eyewitness identification ( Laugherty et al., 1971). Furthermore other problems that may influence the encoding stage are the event salience and the prior expectations of the eyewitness. Usually eyewitnesses pay more attention to some details than others and also recall expectation n ot necessarily the truth. As a result they give wrong identifications (Loftus, 1974). During the second stage which is storage, people keep the information in their memories to recall later. In this stage the factors that may influence the eyewitnesses testimony are the length of time or the exposure to new information. For example witnesses might read a new report about the incident, which can affect their original memory, or if the information is stored for a long time the natural processes of forgetting could further degrade the memory. For this reason, some witnesses are more susceptible than other to false memories. However, people appear more susceptible to post-event information if it occurs later in the interval before formal retrieval (Loftus, 2005). Moreover research suggests that witnesses from each end of the age spectrum may be less reliable on average than those in between. For example, elderly witnesses and young children were found to be poorer at identifying strange rs accurately than other age groups (Ceci Bruck, 1993). Moreover, according to Loftus (1974) another reason that may lead to false memories is the stress that might experiment different eyewitnesses. High levels of stress have been suggested to have a negative effect on a witnesss ability to encode and retrieve information (Kassin et al., 2001). Finally the retrieval stage which is when the information is released in peoples memories, perhaps as a response to questioning, it can create further changes. For example the way questions are asked can distort the original memory or the stressful circumstance may prevent accurate recall. Psychologists distinguish two types of retrieval, recall and recognition. Recognition is where, for example, a eyewitness may take part in a line-up and asked if they have seen it before. The recall equivalent of these tasks would be to ask the eyewitness to describe the suspects appearance or what they were wearing. Recall is usually considered to be mor e difficult because it involves more stages of processing, not only verification but also retrieval (Kebbell Wagstaff, 1999). Other factors that can lead to wrongful evidence are the confidence that eyewitnesses may have the different type of questioning and problems with line-ups. First of all confidence should always be taken into account when assessing the risk of misidentification. Research has shown that lawyers in general accept that confident witnesses are accurate (Leippe, Manion Romanczyk, 1992; Wells et al., 2000). It is suggested that people tend to be more confident when they are forced to choose answers which can cause difficulties in the criminal proceeding (Bornstein Zickafoose, 1999). Moreover badly worded questions, complex sentences and difficult vocabulary are all potentially problematic for witnesses (Kebell Johnson, 2000). Finally according to Busey and Loftus (2007) there are some problems with line-ups. These problems might be inadequate matched fillers, which means that the foils do not match the descriptions of the offender provided by eyewitnesses, bias and unconscious transfere nce which happens when the witness has seen the suspect before but not realise this. Eyewitness testimony is a topic that has a lot of limitations and need for further research is essential. The majority of studies designed to assess the validity of eyewitness have been conducted in laboratory and have used videotapes or live simulations of crime events. Only a minority of these researches have been field studies involving genuine victims and eyewitnesses of real crimes (Brigham et al., 1982; Krafka Penrod, 1985; Pigott, Brigham, Bothwell, 1990; Penrod Cutler, 1997). Of course, eyewitness identifications are made under all sorts of the adequate conditions, but these studies were based on conditions that made witnesses feel more comfortable. For example in several studies there was no psychological pressure for identifying the perpetrator, because in a laboratory study there is not any real risk of the defendant to be sentenced to forensic settings. Furthermore another factor that makes these studies inaccurate consists of the fact that witnesses were asked to iden tify photos rather than real people and there was no arousal for a lot of studies at the time of the encoding. Finally another element to take into consideration is the confidence of the witnesses. In some cases it has been shown to have a significant effect while other studies have shown that it does not. A factor that may increase the credibility of the eyewitness testimony is the expert testimony about eyewitness identification. Such expert testimony has already been allowed in numerous countries around the world (Fishman Loftus, 1978). Expert testimony is designed to provide scientific information. According to Loftus (1978), an expert psychologist can describe to the jurors the studies that have been conducted and the results from the experiments on peoples ability. Furthermore expert testimony about eyewitness behaviour takes part when a professional psychologist is admitted by the judge as an expert authority on eyewitness testimony who is presented in the court and informs the jurors about scientific studies related in memory and the variables that are known to influence memory and memory report (Vidmar Schuller, 1989). Research has shown that expert testimony is the only legal safeguard about the factors that affect the reliability of eyewitnesses accounts to perceive and re call complex events (Cutler Penrod, 1995). Thus the jurors can have enough information on which to evaluate the identification evidence correctly. However expert testimony is not always useful (Cutler Penrod, 1995), expensive time -consuming and there are limited number of experts (Wells, 1993). To summarise, eyewitness testimony is very important in the determination of various legal decisions and also eyewitness accounts are essential because they serve strong evidence against a defendant. However researches have shown that inaccurate eyewitness identifications can have serious consequences leading to wrong convictions of innocent people. The reasons which provoke these erroneous convictions may be problems in the three stages of memory or some types of physical features such as the age and the race of the witness, the behaviour of other witnesses, the presence or absence of expert testimony and the confidence of eyewitnesses. Moreover researches have revealed numerous limitations. The fact that research is mostly based on laboratories studies can be problematic when it comes to apply to real-life situations with precision. In addition a not well organised structure of the line-ups and the inappropriate questioning techniques can contribute to witnesses making mistakes. Ne vertheless, eyewitness testimony continues and will continue to have value because it is considered to be one of the most important factors of evidence in the court which provides vivid and virtual evidence of an incident. On the other hand witnesses are not automatically unreliable. There is much that can be done to promote good evidence both by the police and the courts. It is the forensic psychologists role to investigate further issues which lead to accurate as well as inaccurate accounts and to assist the criminal justice system in interpreting research findings for the benefit of all parties. New studies may help increase the value of the eyewitness testimony by enhancing judges and jurors knowledge of this type of testimony and this can reduce wrongful convictions. Judges and jurors will be more aware of the dangers of erroneous eyewitness testimony and more willing to permit legal safeguards, including expert testimony which informs them about the limitations that they have to be aware of and not to discount a testimony entirely in these limitations. Moreover increasing judges and jurors knowledge of eyewitness testimony is also essential because expert testimony is not a panacea for erroneous identifications. Finally, a dialogue between judges and researchers who specialise in eyewitness studies would be useful in increasing the value of the testimony. Reducing wrongful convictions is vital because the continual discovery of false convictions undermines the reliability of the legal system.

Acute Diverticulitis Essay -- Diseases, Disorders

On my third day of clinical course I had an African America patient age 72, female, a retired high school teacher who was admitted for an Acute Diverticulitis with Perforation. She is diabetic and had a medical and surgical history of diverticulitis, High Cholesterol, Non-Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (NIDDM), Hysterectomy, and Scoliosis. She has been on clear liquid diet since she was admitted then she was Nothing by Mouth NPO for the CT scan for that day. When I got the assignment that I was going to be taking care of a patient with an acute diverticulitis, the first thing on my mind was that she will be in a severe abdominal pain, high fever due to infection because my aunty had same disease. To my surprise, she claimed a 0 /10 on a 0-10 pain scale. Her blood sugar and vital signs were normal except for respiratory that was 22. All her laboratory test results were normal including WBC. Patient concern was that she couldn’t have a bowel movement. She was me dicated on Colace- a stool softener, morphine for pain, sulfran for nausea, and azactam an antibiotics. Diverticulosis is a disease from the diverticulum. This is when the colon wall is been outpunched through the mucosa. These are small mucosal herniation bulging via smooth muscle and layers of the intestine along vasa recta formed opening in colon’s wall. Diverticulitis causes is still unknown but develop after a micro or macro perforation of diverticulum. Peritonitis is an end result from an intestinal rupture in the case of a large perforation. Clinically, diverticulosis could be asymptomatic or symptomatic, they are uncomplicated with no evidence of bleeding or inflammation. Signs and symptoms includes palpable mass and tenderness mostly i... ...an seven 6-ounce of glasses of fluid each day most especially for patients on pharmaceutical fiber supplements. Works Cited Ferzoco, K.H. (2010). Small bowel diverticulitis. The New England Journal of Medicine. 327: 302-7 Juchems, A.A. (2010). Long-term management of diverticulitis in young patients. Diseases of the Colon & Rectum. 58:627-629. Marinella, L.B. et al: (2010). Acute Diverticulitis. The New England Journal of Medicine. 327: 1521-1526 Painter, P.V. (2009). Diverticulitis. Gastroenterology Clinics of North America. 18:357-385. Spivak, W.K., & deSouza, J.M. (2008). Diverticulitis of the right colon. Digestive diseases and sciences. 49: 350-358 Wilcox, C.V. (2009). Limitation in the CT diagnosis of acute diverticulitis: Comparison of CT, contrast enema, pathologic findings in 16 patients. American Journal of Roentgenology. 201:381-385.

Comparing Creation Myths of Ancient Egypt and The Christian Bible Essay

Comparing Creation Myths of Ancient Egypt and The Christian Bible Creation in Ancient Egyptian religion can be much different than the creation account taken from The Bible. Genesis has a set description of â€Å"The Beginning† while there are several different versions and variations in Egyptian mythology. The versions range from a â€Å"one god† myth (Ptah; see picture) to the more common creator out of Nun, which in itself has several derivations. The Ogdoad is a grouping of eight gods that existed before the creator and formed him. This version is taken from Middle Egypt at Hermopolis. The eight gods consisted of Amun, Huh, Kuk, and Nun and their counterparts (i.e. Nun and Naunet). They came together to create an egg that contains the creator (Baines, 1991). This is the point at which variations will occur. Inside the egg there could be gods (Re, Atum, or sometimes even Thoth) or a Blue Lotus. This Lotus would come forth from the egg and rise high into the darkness to a young god, Amen-Re. (The egg was surrounded by Nun which contained the Ogdoad. The Ogdoad consisted of four serpents and four frogs.)(Egyptian Creation Story, pg. 1) The child radiates light and banishes the darkness. He destroyed the silence with his Word and thus creation began. He then constructed a mound for which he could sit upon. (The Benben Stone, which was kept in Heliopolis, was said to have been the mound upon which the creator god, in this case Re, sat.(Redford)) In a different account the mound came forth from the waters of Nun bearing the egg and a falcon emerged. This falcon soared into the air and took its place as the sundisk (Redford). The falcon could also be represented by a winged insect such as a beetle or as a golden falcon. Another variat... ... is reality. If this type of thinking were to be followed one would come to realize that all the gods and goddesses did exist and so did the events told time and again in story. They were alive in the conscience of society. Creation did begin with Nun, yet it also began with God creating the heavens and the earth. Everything depends on time, place, and perception of reality. WORKS CITED Holy Bible. New International Version. Zondervan. Grand Rapids, Michigan. 1984. Genesis Chapter 1. John Baines, Leonard H. Lesko, David P. Silverman. Religion in Ancient Egypt. New York Cornell University Press 1991. Pages 92-100. Ancient Egyptian Religion. http://www.egypt-tehuti.com/religion.html. Pages 2 and 3 of 5. Egyptian Creation Story. http://members.aol.com/kheph777/mideast/mythos/egyptcrt.html. Page 1 of 3. Redford, Professor Donald. Oral Communication

Salvador Dali Essay -- Biographies Painter Artist Essays

Salvador Dali Salvador Dali, was born Salvador Felipe Jacinto Dali i Domenech at 8:45 a.m., Monday, 11 May 1904, in the small town, in the foothills of the Pyrenees, of Figueres, Spain, approximately sixteen miles from the French border in the principality of Catalonia. His parents supported his talent and built him his first studio, while he was still a child, in their summer home. Dali went on to attend the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid, Spain, was married to Gala Eluard in 1934 and died on 23 January 1989 in a hospital in the town he born. Dali did not limit himself to one particular style or medium. Beginning with his early impressionistic work going into his surrealistic works, for which he is best known, and ending in what is known as his classic period, it becomes apparent just how varied his styles and mediums are. He worked with oils, watercolors, drawings, sculptures, graphics and even movies. Dali held his first one-man show in Barcelona in 1925 where his talents were fir st recognized. He became internationally known when some of his paintings were shown in the Carnegie International Exhibition in Pittsburgh in 1928. The next year he joined the Paris Surrealist Group and began his love affair with Gala who became more than just his lover, she was his business manager, muse and greatest inspiration. Surrealism emerged from what was left of Dada in the early 1920’s and unlike Dada, a nihilistic movement, Surrealism held a promising and more positive view of art and because of this won many converts. It began as a literary movement in a Paris magazine. What they held in common was their belief in the importance of the unconscious mind and its manifestations, as was stressed by Freud. They believed that through the unconscious mind a plethora of artistic imagery would be unveiled. Both of these movements were also anti-establishment and they rejected the traditional Western Judeo-Christian beliefs and moral values and believed that reason and log ic had failed man’s quest for self-knowledge. The Surrealists differed from Dada in one other, ideological aspect. The Surrealists believed that man could indeed improve the human condition, the major difference between the two movements. A few years before his marriage to Gala in 1934, Dali emerged as a leader of the Surrealist Movement. Although Dali was intrigued with the Surrealist tech... ...n his childhood. This particular work is officially considered a work of surrealism but Dali’s shift from Surrealism through the very means that got him into surrealism, paranoiac-critical method, are apparent. Around the time Dali was working on his eighteen large canvases, he returned to his Catholic upbringing and renewed his vows with Gala in Spain. In 1974 Dali opened the Teatro Museo Dali in the town in which he grew up, Figueres. Gala died in 1982 and Dali’s health began to fail. There was later a fire in Gala’s castle in which Dali was severely and consequently his health deteriorated further. Two years later he had a pacemaker implanted and spent his life almost in total seclusion. On 23 January 1989, Salvador Felipe Jacinto Dali i Domenech died in a hospital in Figueres because of heart failure and respiratory complications. Works Cited Dali, Salvador. English translation by Haakon M. Chevalier. The Secret Life of Salvador Dali. New York, NY: 1942. De La Croix, Horst, Richard G. Tansey, Diane Kirkpatrick. Art Through The Ages. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers; New York, NY: 1991. Moorhouse, Paul. Dali. Brompton Books Corporation; New York, NY: 1993.

Internal factors for HR planning Essay

Organisational needs: A demand for goods and services in an organisation needs to be considered. If there is a high demand of good/services, the organisations’ staffs have to cope with the demand or they need to employ more staff. The organisation can use sales trends to help in planning. Technological changes: Where there is technology available, organisations can increase production without necessarily increasing in staff. Staff can be re-trained to use the technology but not all employees welcome technology and could be resistant to change. A skills audit can help to identify suitable staff for training. Skills requirements: In Newham General Limited the abilities of the present workforce is a crucial piece of HR arranging as it empowers a business to develop a profile of the preparation, experience and capabilities that representatives as of now have. This is critical whether the business is capital escalated or work serious. As the nature and kind of work changes inside of an association, so do the abilities basics. Location of production: Some organisations may look for areas where labour is cheap and move their businesses there. The final decision will be based on whether there are sufficient qualified staffs available to do the task. Workforce profile: A workforce profile is a description and analysis of the current staff. They could be questions in the profile such as the skills they have and how well they are performing. Also one of the questions could be what the age of the staff is. Teleworking: Teleworking is very important in HR planning and can save an expensive office cost. With Teleworking one desk is enough for a number of workers since they are all not in the office at the same time. External factors of HR planning: Supply of Labour: This enables the organization to know where labour is coming from. In the event that their arrangement shows labour is originating from outside of the organization then demand job/unemployment patterns and pay rate. Labour cost: In order to attract employees, an employer must provide pay and conditions to match those in comparable jobs elsewhere. If an organisation finds it labour cost expensive it might relocate to areas where labour is cheap. Government policy: With the presentation of new working environment agreeability benchmarks your HR office is always underweight to stay inside of the law. These sorts of regulations impact each procedure of the HR office, including employing, preparing, pay, end, and considerably more. Changing nature of business: A job for life used to be a standard thought in the working environment, yet now representatives require a more extensive scope of abilities and be willing to change head honcho and employment part to stay in work. Overnight meeting expectations, adaptable working hours and telecommuting are currently typical in the work environment. Level hierarchical structures mean workers may need to move to get advancement. Unit 16 P2 What are your skills? Carrying out a skills audit will help you to analyse the skills which you have developed during your research career and develop a skills profile. The profile created by the skills audit is a key instrument for CV building and confirming abilities at an interview. An abilities review will help you recognize gaps in your abilities set and organize any preparation needs you may have. When you know your preparation need you can arrange for how to meet them viably.

The Hunters: Phantom Chapter 35

Elena leaped backward as the phantom caught fire. She was so close that the heat of the flames burned her cheeks, and she could smel her own hair smoking. Shielding her face with her hands, she eased her way forward as silently and sneakily as she could, closer and closer to the phantom. Her legs shook, but she wil ed them stil and steady. She was consciously not letting herself look at or think about Stefan's body crumpled on the floor of the garage, in the same way she had kept herself from looking at Damon and Stefan's fight when she needed to think. Suddenly a burst of flames shot into the air, and for one dazzling second, Elena dared to hope that Damon had done it. The phantom was burning. Surely no creature of ice could withstand that. But then she realized that the phantom was not only burning. She was also laughing. â€Å"You fool,† the phantom said to Damon, in a soft and almost tender voice. â€Å"You think fire can hurt me? Jealousy can burn hotter than fire as wel as colder than ice. You of al people should know that, Damon.† She laughed her strange clinking laugh. â€Å"I can feel the jealousy, the anger that burns in you al the time, Damon, and it burns so hot I can smel the hatred and despair that live in you, and your little petty hurts and rages are meat and drink to me. You clutch them to you and pore over them like treasure. You may have succeeded in casting out a tiny piece of the multitudes of hurts that burden you, but you'l never be free of me.† Around the phantom's feet, tiny blue lines of flame ignited and spread quickly across the floor of the garage. Elena watched in horror: Were these burning traces of oil left by Mrs. Flowers's ancient car? Or was it simply the phantom's maliciousness made solid, spreading fire among them? It didn't real y matter. What mattered was that the garage was on fire, and while the phantom might be impervious to the flames, the rest of them weren't. Smoke fil ed the musty space, and Elena and her friends began to cough. She covered her nose and mouth with her hand. Streaking past Elena, Damon snarled and leaped for the phantom's throat. Even in their current dire situation, Elena couldn't help admiring Damon's speed and grace. He col ided with the phantom and knocked it to the floor, then recoiled, protecting his face with his leather-clad arm. Fire, Elena remembered with a frisson of terror. Fire is one of the few things that can kill a vampire. Her eyes watered from the smoke, but she forced them to stay open as she moved closer, circling around behind the phantom, who was back on its feet. She could hear her friends shouting, but she concentrated on the fight. The phantom was moving more awkwardly than it had been earlier, and did not immediately attack Damon. Through the flames, Elena could see that thick greenish fluid was stil trickling down its solid torso from the wound Meredith had given it. Where the liquid touched the flames, they flickered with a greenish blue tint. Damon lunged for the phantom again, and it flung him off with a shrug. Snarling, they circled each other warily. Elena skittered around behind them, trying to stay out of Damon's way, trying to see how she could help. A crackling from across the room distracted Elena for a second, and she glanced back to see fire climbing the far wal , reaching for the wooden shelves set around the room. She missed seeing what exactly happened next, but suddenly Damon was skidding across the floor on his back, an angry red burn glowing on his cheek. He was up again in a second and prowling back toward the phantom, but his eyes had a slightly wild glint to them that made Elena nervous. Even injured, the phantom was stronger than Damon, and, after his long fight with Stefan, Damon's reserves must be waning. He was growing reckless. Elena gathered her courage and moved closer to the phantom again, as close to the flames as she could stand. The phantom glanced back at her for a second and then away, focusing on the stronger threat. It sprang forward to meet Damon, its fiery arms spread wide and a savagely joyous smile on its face. And suddenly Meredith was there beside Damon. She looked solemn and pale as a young martyr, her lips tight and her eyes wary, but she moved as fast as lightning. Her stave sliced through the air almost too quickly to see, leaving another long cut across the phantom's stomach. The phantom howled, and the flames on its torso hissed as more greenish fluid gushed from the wound. But the phantom remained upright. It snarled and reached for Meredith, who danced rapidly backward, just out of range. Meredith and Damon exchanged a wordless look and moved to flank the phantom, one on either side, so that it couldn't watch both of them at once. Damon cuffed Jealousy, a short, intense blow, and pul ed back a reddish, blistering hand. Meredith swung her stave again, nearly catching the phantom on the arm but instead cleaving only a wisp of smoke. There was a crash as a burning shelf col apsed onto the floor. The smoke grew thicker. Away from the fight, Elena could hear Bonnie and Matt coughing. Elena moved closer stil , again coming toward the phantom from behind, safely out of Meredith and Damon's way. The phantom's heat was like a bonfire. Meredith and Damon were moving in tandem now, as smoothly as if they had rehearsed, dancing in and back, sometimes catching the phantom with a blow, more often passing through a curl of smoke or mist as the phantom transformed its parts from solid to airy shapes. A voice rang out. â€Å"Impera te desistere.† Mrs. Flowers leaned against the supporting arms of Matt and Alaric. But her eyes were clear and her voice was steady. Power crackled in the air around her. The phantom slowed only slightly in its fight, perhaps no more than a half second behind in its thrusts and transformations. But this was enough to make at least a little difference. More of Damon's and Meredith's blows landed, and they were able to dodge a few more of the phantom's. Was it enough, though? The phantom flinched when a punch hit home, and it bled horrible green goo where the stave cut it, but it was stil steady on its feet as Meredith and Damon hacked and choked in the smoke and stumbled away from the flames. The rose in Jealousy's chest pulsed a steady dark red. Elena exhaled in frustration and immediately began to cough again. The phantom wasn't staying in one place long enough for Elena to get a good shot at grabbing the rose-heart. Meredith sliced at it with her fighting stave, and this time the stave slid through smoke, and the phantom grabbed the stave in one hand, swinging Meredith toward Damon. Col iding, they both fel heavily to the ground, and the phantom, stil slightly hobbled by Mrs. Flowers's spel , strained toward them. â€Å"I've envied Meredith for her brains!† shouted Bonnie. Her face was smudged with smoke and tears, and she looked incredibly smal and fragile, but she was standing straight-backed and proud, yel ing at the top of her lungs. â€Å"I know I'l never be as good at school as she is, but that's okay. I cast my jealousy out!† The phantom's rose dimmed to a dark pink for a moment, and it staggered ever so slightly. It glanced at Bonnie and hissed. It was only a tiny pause in the phantom's advance, but it was enough for Damon to spring to his feet. He stepped in front of Meredith, shielding her as she clambered up. Without even looking at each other, Meredith and Damon began circling in opposite directions again. â€Å"I've been jealous that my friends have more money than I do!† Matt shouted, â€Å"but I cast the jealousy out!† â€Å"I envy the way Alaric truly believed in something unproven, and turned out to be right!† Celia yel ed. â€Å"But I cast it out!† â€Å"I've envied Elena's clothes!† Bonnie cried. â€Å"I'm too short to look good in lots of things! But I cast that out!† Damon kicked at the phantom, pul ing his smoldering leg back quickly. Meredith swung her stave. Mrs. Flowers chanted in Latin, and Alaric joined her, his low voice in counterpoint to hers, reinforcing her spel . Bonnie, Celia, and Matt kept shouting: dredging up smal jealousies and hurts that they were probably usual y hardly aware of, casting them out to pepper the phantom with tiny blows. And for the first time, the phantom looked†¦ baffled. It swung its head slowly from one to another of its opponents: Damon stalking toward it, fists raised; Meredith, her stave swinging surely as she watched the phantom with a cool and considering gaze; Alaric and Mrs. Flowers reciting strings of Latin words, hands lifted; Bonnie, Matt, and Celia shouting confessions as if they were throwing rocks at it. Jealousy's glassy eyes passed over Elena without real y seeming to notice her: Standing stil and quiet among the entire hubbub, she was not a threat. This was the best chance Elena was going to get. She nerved herself to move forward, then froze as the phantom turned toward her. Then, miraculously, Stefan was there. He grappled at the phantom's back, throwing one arm around its neck as the flames licked at him. His shirt caught fire. The phantom, briefly, was pul ed backward past Elena, its torso toward her, unprotected. Without hesitation, Elena plunged her hand into the fire. For a moment, she barely felt the flames, just a gentle, almost cool touch against her hand as the flames flickered around her. Not so bad, she had a moment to think, and then she felt the pain. It was pure and agonizing, and dark fireworks of shock went off behind her eyes. She had to fight to overcome the almost irresistible instinct to pul her hand back out of the fire. Instead, she groped at the phantom's torso, searching for the cut Meredith had made just above its rose. It was slippery and smooth, and her hand fumbled. Where is it? Where is it? Damon had thrown himself into the flames alongside Stefan, yanking at the phantom's arms and neck, keeping its torso clear for Elena, preventing the phantom from ripping free and throwing her across the room. Meredith beat at Jealousy's side with her stave. Behind her, her friends' voices rose in a babble of confessions and spel s as they did their part to keep the phantom off balance and disoriented. At last Elena's hand found the cut and she pushed inside. It was icy cold in the phantom's chest, and Elena yelped at the contrast – the cold was excruciating after the heat, and the flames stil licked at her wrist and arm. The freezing liquid inside the phantom's chest was so thick, it was like feeling through gelatin. Elena shoved and reached, and the phantom screamed with pain. It was a horrible sound and, despite al that the phantom had done to her and her friends, Elena could not help flinching in sympathy. A moment later, Elena's hand closed on the rose's stem and a thousand thorns pierced her burned flesh. Ignoring the pain, she pul ed the rose out of the freezing liquid, out of the fire, and staggered backward, away from the phantom. She didn't know what she'd expected to happen, exactly. For the phantom to melt like the Wicked Witch of the West, perhaps, leaving nothing but a puddle of vile greenish water. Instead, the phantom stared at her, its mouth open, its pointed, shining teeth on ful display. The tear in its chest had expanded, and fluid oozed rapidly, like an untended faucet. The flames burned low and green where the liquid tracked down its body and dripped to the floor. â€Å"Give it to me,† Stefan said, appearing at Elena's side. He took the rose from her hand and ripped at its petals, now fading to a lighter pink, and scattered the petals into the fire burning up the sides of the garage. The phantom watched with a stunned expression, and gradual y its blazing fire thinned to smoke, its solid form slowly vaporizing. For a moment, a smoky, malevolent image hung in the air before them, its eyes fixed sul enly upon Elena. And then it was gone.

The Story A View From The Bridge Film Studies Essay

Arthur Miller was a good cat he was a affluent concern adult male who inherited his male parent ‘s concern a adult female ‘s vesture store. Before a position from a span was written there was another drama called â€Å" the adult male who had all the fortune † this was a large hit in the theater, so large that it won the national theater award in 1940. His existent large interruption was in 1956 when he wrote a position from a span. The narrative â€Å" a position from the span † is set in a topographic point in New York called â€Å" Red hook † the full narrative is narrated by a adult male called Alfieri it is ill-defined who he is in my ain personal sentiment I think that he is person who watched over the narrative take topographic point like a falcon watching its quarry. But in the narrative it is now clear to me Alfieri is the attorney of the narrative. The existent topographic point where the narrative is set is by the docks near Broker Bridge the docks are wear all illegal immigrants flee in to the state from the boats at the clip the great depression was taking topographic point. The chief characters that are in the drama are: Eddie is Italian American and he is married to his married woman called Beatrice and Eddie has an orphaned niece called Catherin. Eddie is a truly nice household cat. Eddie ‘s usage of linguistic communication is informal he speaks Brooklyn slang and he is non educated. Beatrice is a common jurisprudence married woman to Eddie and he has an orphaned niece called Catherin she has a really happy relationship with Eddie and they both live merrily together Rodolfo is the immature good looking individual blonde she is an illegal immigrant to the state. CatherineA is the niece of Eddie Carbone and Beatrice. Catherine is a beautiful, smart, immature Italian miss who is really popular among the male childs in the community. MarcoA who is the cousin of Beatrice, Marco comes to the U.S. to work and do money to direct back to his married woman and kids in Italy. Marco is a difficult working Italian adult male. Marco ‘s usage of linguistic communication is in broken he speaks broken English These are non all the characters within the drama these are merely the chief 1s who make the narrative. The overall temper of the characters within the narrative â€Å" A position from a span â€Å" is really unagitated and relaxed within the first Acts of the Apostless but deeper into the narrative, flooring events take topographic point and everybody ‘s temper alterations into a more serious tone. The author has showed each characters droping towards each other are altering. â€Å" I want my name! I want regard. † Eddie ‘s demanding nature leads to him and Marco contending this shows how thing are traveling on in a bad manner. But every bit long as you owe them money, they ‘ll acquire plentifulness of work done † this is another scene where Rodolfo is egger to get down work this is another illustration of how the characters temper is come oning e.g. Eddie contending with the Italian community which are like Mafia. And Rodolfo off the boat and ready to work. The manner the narrative unfolds is when Catherin decides to get married Rodolpho. Eddie is really disapproves of this. So he goes to the great extent of describing him to US in-migration governments. He besides gets his attorneies involved in the instance so that the happy twosome do non get married, he truly did non desire them to be together he went to such great extent to do certain that they do non get married. â€Å" This is my last word, Eddie, take it or non, that ‘s your concern. Morally and lawfully you have no rights, you can non halt it ; she is a free agent † this is where Eddie is told about the matrimony and is told there is nil he could make about it, this brings bad tempers in to the scene and besides bad emotions are get downing to be created. There is a subject emerging out from all play and action taking topographic point and that subject is illegal immigrants because the new cats to New York think they can run this town tonight. But it ‘s non traveling to go on. As in the instance of Marco and Rodolfo they are new in town at the start of the narrative so subsequently on they want to acquire occupations. â€Å" He says we start tomorrow † this citation was by Rodolfo being eggar for her and Marco to get down doing money. Drama means in Grecian action and that ‘s what happened allot through the drama. Further on I will be speaking about the two dramatic scenes that take topographic point and how the emotions affect the scene. First the scene I have chosen is the portion in the drama where Marco shows Eddie how strong he is. â€Å" can you raise this chair said Eddie â€Å" from here â€Å" said Marco and Marco lifts the chair with one manus behind his dorsum, merely to demo how strong and manfully and tuff Marco truly is in forepart of Eddie. The emotions portrayed by the characters are sad and bad 1s like fright, perturbation and unhappiness. For my concluding scene I have chosen the most action packed scene in the full drama in my ain personal sentiment. It is the scene there is a battle taking topographic point non a shouting statement fight a existent battle with knifes and fists. You can see there is a fight brewing before it all boots ‘ off where Eddie is acquiring ready to contend Marco when he comes and Beatrice is stating material to Eddie like â€Å" I love you â€Å" and she says things like â€Å" The truth is non every bit bad as blood † as in stating Marco ‘s here do non acquire excessively angry Eddie, do non inquire for a battle merely inquire for the truth. Before the two work forces get ready to contend Rodolfo shows whose side she is on by running towards Marco. At this point the emotions created here are hatred ; the bad emotions are created by Eddie because Rodolfo chose to travel and stand by Marco. The consequence it had on Eddie was non good because ended up in fall backing to force. After a small slap talk to each other Marco work stoppages out at Eddie, Marco goes for a cervix shooting â€Å" Marco work stoppages Eddie beside the cervix â€Å" . Then the flood tide comes Eddie goes to stab Marco, Marco catches the dip and spins the knife about and goes for Eddie. Louis tries to interrupt so up but it was unhappily excessively late. Eddie has been stabbed. â€Å" Anima-a-al † screamed by Marco after he stabbed. At this point the temper, background and consequence all alterations. The usage of linguistic communication with in this dramatic scene is informal because Marco screened â€Å" anima-a-al † this show that the usage of linguistic communication within this scene is informal. All in all one think arther Miller has portrayed first-class emotions and used good imagination to convey the narrative to life By kiran Patel

Thorn Queen Chapter Twenty-Four

It tasted as bitter as always, but as I drank, Markelle lifted her eyes. There was nothing obvious in them, no wink, no expectation. Yet, somehow, I knew. I knew. It was the fake again. Satisfied that I'd swallowed it all, Abigail gave me a withering glance. â€Å"We need you cleaned up. That fool is coming for you again later tonight, and he did a number on that dress last time. He wants you looking good, though, so†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She gave a half-hearted shrug. Naturally, I couldn't tell her that my dress's rumpled and slightly torn state had nothing to do with Leith's sexual aggression, but, rather, an angry spirit bent on killing me. Markelle's eyes were downcast once more. â€Å"Should I get her a new dress?† â€Å"No. You've got to clean up too. Art's going to be here in a little while for you.† The girl flinched, but Abigail didn't seem to notice. But then, why would she? She didn't notice any of these girls, not really. And I knew what those words meant. Markelle's time had come. â€Å"I'll send in that freckled one, once she wakes up again.† I realized that she was me and that I should allegedly be going under. I sank back against the covers, blinking like I was trying to stay awake. The two of them left, Markelle giving me one last fleeting glance. There were a lot of things in her wide eyes as she looked at me. Fear. Hope. Anxiety. I exhaled once they were gone and sat up. Plan time. My muscles were still weak, but they reminded me more of what you'd feel after a hard run. What had Markelle said before? Twelve hours was the normal dose? I was at that point. The nightshade had to be significantly wearing off. Theoretically, my magic should be returning too and- â€Å"Why, hello,† I murmured. I'd sent my mind out into the room and had just barely-barely-felt the tingle of air and water. I wasn't going to be blowing anyone apart soon, but the magic was coming back. And when it did, these assholes were fucked. But I needed to wait this out. I wasn't going to jump the gun like I had with Volusian. Every minute brought the magic and my strength back. I had to use this downtime to assess the situation. Abigail was in the house still. Art and Leith were eventually coming back-together or apart, I didn't know. The one thing I felt confident of was that I did not want to face all of them at the same time. That meant Abigail had to be taken out first, but I was going to need help. In what must have been a little over an hour, Cariena slipped in with a pink silk dress. It reminded me of something Maiwenn would wear. Apparently, no one had gotten the memo that redheads don't wear pink. I stood up and took the dress from Cariena, promptly tossing it on the bed. She looked aghast that I'd gotten up without falling over. Considering all that had happened recently, I couldn't blame her. â€Å"Your m-majesty, what-â€Å" â€Å"Cariena, we're getting out of here.† â€Å"We can't!† â€Å"Oh, we can, and we are. Where's Markelle?† I had a feeling I was going to need an accomplice with a bit more boldness. â€Å"And Raina?† I rarely saw the third gentry girl around here and had no clue to her attitude, but she needed to be accounted for. â€Å"Raina's in her room. She was-disrespectful. And Markelle is preparing herself.† Preparing herself for a lifetime as a sex slave. I grimaced. â€Å"And Abigail?† â€Å"She's upstairs. Watching†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Cariena groped for the unfamiliar word. â€Å"†¦the television.† â€Å"Okay, okay.† My mind was spinning now. It seemed to be recovering faster than my body. â€Å"Here's the deal. I need a weapon. Is there anything you've seen that would work as one?† â€Å"We can't do this. We can't-â€Å" â€Å"We can,† I ordered, making my voice hard and fierce. This girl had been beaten into weakness, and if those shamans scared her, I would make sure that I-her queen-scared her more. â€Å"And you will obey me. You're my subject. You'll get out of this alive-I swear it. You'll see your family.† She was still scared out of her mind, but she gave a weak nod. â€Å"I see Abigail and the Red Snake Man carry weapons, but there are none around. I couldn't touch them anyway.† â€Å"Alright. We'll make do with†¦hey, is the garage attached to the house?† â€Å"Garage?† â€Å"Another building. One where they keep cars.† I recalled the garage but didn't know if it connected directly to the house. Surely she knew what a car was. She nodded. â€Å"Yes. They go in and out of it sometimes. It's attached to the kitchen.† â€Å"When you come down here, whose room do you pass first out there in the hall? Mine or Markelle's?† â€Å"Yours†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Cariena was clearly puzzled now. â€Å"Perfect. I know what we're going to do. Take me to Markelle.† There was a moment's hesitation, and I knew this was the turning point of whether she could help or not. The door was unlocked; I didn't need her. But if I didn't have her assistance, I'd have to knock her out to keep her out of the way. â€Å"This way,† she said at last. Markelle nearly threw herself into my arms when we walked into her room. â€Å"Your majesty! I knew you'd do it. I knew you could†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She wore a strappy little red sundress and had been applying makeup. Funny. I got dressed up like gentry royalty, and the girls here were dressed like human whores. â€Å"Shh,† I said. â€Å"We're not out of here yet.† I hastily whispered my plan to them. Markelle understood instantly, and although Cariena still seemed terrified, she also appeared determined. I returned to my room, body tensed for action as I waited for my plan to unfold. Pressing my ear to the closed door, I listened as Cariena's feet thudded up the stairs. Presumably she spoke to Abigail, but I couldn't hear anything. A few moments later, two sets of feet came downstairs, walked past my room, and went to Markelle's. I opened my door a crack to make sure the hall was empty. Next door, I could hear Markelle having the nervous breakdown we'd planned-saying she was afraid to leave, afraid to meet this man, didn't know what to wear†¦. Abigail, clearly irritated, began to scold her, much as she had responded to Leith's whining. I waited to hear no more and turned in the opposite direction, heading for the stairs. When I reached the main floor, I did a double-take. The house was beautiful, all new construction and designer decorating as befitted the neighborhood Art lived in. The gentry sex dungeon below us kind of detracted from the maple cupboards and crown molding, though. All the curtains were closed, the windows covered with iron grating, and outside I could just barely make out the Sleeping Beauty hedges blocking the windows too. Art's lawn maintenance had been about more than aesthetics. The patio drapes I'd so admired weren't laced with silver thread. It was iron. The garage was adjacent to the kitchen, just as Cariena had said. The top half of the door leading out to it had a window covered with more iron grating. I turned the doorknob. Locked. There were no signs of keys anywhere, which meant I'd have to do it the hard way. First, I double-checked the kitchen and living room, looking for any other weapon options. On a good day, I could have taken Abigail with my own fists. This was not a good day. Kitchen drawers revealed butter knives, nothing sharper. With a sigh, I returned to the garage door. This was it. The grating was loosely bolted, enough to keep it up and prevent the girls from touching it. Hoping I'd gained enough strength, I gripped the sides of it and tried to jerk it off. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, in one movement, it ripped from the wood. I froze, waiting to see if anyone downstairs had heard, but the deed appeared to have been performed fairly silently. The next part, I knew, would not be so quiet. I dragged a chair up to the door and then grabbed a smaller stool used to get into high cupboards. It was metal and had some heft to it. Would it be enough? I stood on the chair and swung the stool forward into the door's window. Yup. Enough heft. More than half of the glass broke. One more swing got the rest of it out, and I climbed through the hole into the garage. The whole maneuver was a bit awkward on my part; I wasn't in that good of shape yet. But, I made it through, incurring only a few cuts on my arms and legs. I knew, however, I was seconds away from Abigail's arrival. There was no way that breaking glass had gone unnoticed. Small patches of light streamed into the darkened garage from narrow windows as I peered around. Yes, it was a normal garage-albeit it one with a Jaguar in it. I guessed that was why Art had to keep the SUV in the driveway. Part of me wanted to go kick in the car's door, but there was no time. I had to assess the garage's other contents. Scattered tools. Bags of fertilizer. Art's gardening equipment. A heavy metal wrench held my attention for a moment, but then I decided I needed more leverage with my weakened state. I selected a shovel from Art's gardening stash, its scoop heavy metal and wooden handle sturdy. From inside the house, I could hear shouting. It wasn't going to take Abigail long to figure out where I'd gone when she saw the glass. Grateful for the darkness, I darted over to the side of the door that led into the house, pressing myself as flat as I could against the wall. There was a click as the door from the kitchen opened, but no one came out right away. I could picture Abigail standing there, looking around for any sign of me. After several heavy seconds, I saw a hand holding a blade-an athame-come out the door first, defensively positioned in case I came charging at her. That wasn't my intent, though. I wanted to get her from behind. She took one step out, still cautious and slow, looking around everywhere. I had to give her credit for that. She didn't just barrel forward; she knew I might be waiting by the door. And in fact, when she looked in my direction, that's exactly what I was doing. My shovel hit her in the side of the head before she could react. She crumpled to the ground, athame clattering against the concrete floor as it fell from her hands. I knelt down and immediately scooped it up and left the shovel. There was a bloody mark where I'd struck her, and her eyes were only half-open. My hand checked her pulse and found she wasn't dead yet. She was going to have a hell of a headache or concussion when she woke up-which wasn't something I could allow to happen any time soon. I left her lying there on the garage floor and stepped back into the kitchen. I opened a few cupboards and found what I'd hoped I would: the household's stash of medicine. Tylenol, multivitamins, et cetera. Behind them were a couple of prescription bottles. One I didn't recognize, but I thought it was some sort of heart medication. The other was Ambien, and I smiled. Just like me, a lot of shamans were insomniacs. I popped a pill out of the bottle, reconsidered, and grabbed a second. I then propped up Abigail and managed to shove the pills down her throat, with the help of a glass of water and some acrobatics with my fingers. â€Å"Payback's a bitch,† I said when her reflexes kicked in and she swallowed the pills the rest of the way. She wouldn't be waking up any time soon. I stepped back into the kitchen and saw all three gentry girls standing there and staring at me. Cariena and Raina looked afraid. Markelle, though she bore a red slap mark on her face from the confrontation earlier with Abigail, looked excited and defiant. I ordered them to carry Abigail downstairs and lock her in one of the rooms. I didn't know which way Art would enter the house and couldn't risk him finding her on the garage floor. Of course, if he did come in through the garage, the shattered glass was going to be a dead giveaway that something was up. Before they took Abigail away, I frisked her, hoping to find another weapon. Nope. Just the athame I'd already taken. I did, however, discover something nearly as useful: a set of keys. On the ring were several tiny keys, the ones that opened up the iron cuffs and bracelets the girls wore. Once they'd stashed Abigail away, I removed all the iron. Relief flooded the girls' faces, and I scowled when I saw the welts and bruises left from where iron reacted with gentry skin. â€Å"You should have your magic back,† I said, reaching for the phone. â€Å"We can use it when we get out of here. What can you guys do?† I was dialing Roland's cell phone, and the girls described their magic to me as the line rang. Cariena had a knack for helping plants grow, kind of like Shaya. Raina had some healing ability. Markelle could summon beams and balls of light. I disconnected when I got Roland's voice mail and promptly dialed Kiyo. â€Å"Son of a bitch,† I muttered. None of the girls' powers were going to help us. And honestly? It wasn't a surprise. If I were Leith and had wanted to catch girls who would make docile servants, I too would have picked ones with little or no offensive magic. Kiyo's phone rang only once before going to voice mail, meaning it was off or he was in the Otherworld. I hung up and prepared to dial my parents' home number. If Roland hadn't answered his cell, he likely wasn't home either, but I had to try. Before I could punch in the numbers, I heard the sound of keys at the front door on the far side of the house. I turned to the girls. â€Å"Downstairs!† I hissed. â€Å"Now!† Markelle looked like she would have stayed, but a stern glance from me sent her scurrying down with the others. Meanwhile, Art's voice rang through the house. â€Å"Abigail?† I'm not sure how he knew something was wrong. For all he knew, Abigail could have just been downstairs. Maybe it was just some sixth sense, but I heard him hurrying down the hall toward the kitchen, footsteps fast on the hardwood floor. I had a split second to react, no chance to find a hiding spot as I had with Abigail. Surprise was my greatest weapon now. As soon as he entered the room, I leapt on him with the athame. The thing that gave me a fighting chance was that he'd armed himself too well in his wariness, a gun in one hand and an athame of his own in the other. Full hands prevented him from fully deflecting my attack, though in many ways, the strength of his arms were more than good enough to block the worst of it. I got a swipe in on his face, however, gaining a fair amount of satisfaction in seeing the blood it produced. â€Å"You bitch,† he said, circling with me in the kitchen as we each sized each other up for an attack. â€Å"Where's Abigail?† â€Å"Taking a nap,† I said. I gave him a wicked smile, hoping I sounded stronger than I felt. With that one shove alone, I'd been painfully reminded that I was not in peak condition quite yet. I couldn't let him know how weak I was. â€Å"Don't worry. You can join her.† â€Å"I knew I shouldn't have let him keep you here,† Art growled. â€Å"I should have made him drag you back by your hair to your own fucking world like a caveman. But he was too afraid they'd find you.† â€Å"It's too late. They know I'm here already. See the phone? I got a call in just before you arrived.† A lie, but an effective one as it turned out. Art's eyes flicked to the portable phone lying on the kitchen floor. It had come open when I dropped it, and the battery lay nearby. With that slight distraction, I tried again, lunging toward him. I got a kick in-not as strong as one of my usual ones, particularly since I was still in that fucking gentry dress-but enough to throw him off-balance. He was still stronger and faster, though. He'd dropped the athame earlier and grabbed me with that free hand, wrenching my arm painfully to get me to drop my athame. In his other hand, he held the gun but seemed hesitant to use it. At last, his hand was too strong, and my fingers unclenched, releasing the blade and leaving me defenseless. Triumphant, Art slammed me back against the cupboard and tried to turn me around, probably to bind my hands. I'd noticed a glitter near his pocket earlier and suspected he had handcuffs on him. I fought him the whole time, refusing to turn around, and with only one hand free, he had a bit of difficulty in maneuvering me. â€Å"Stop struggling, or I'll blow your head off,† he yelled. â€Å"No one's coming, and you know it. Play nice, or there's nothing that Leith can offer me to keep you alive.† â€Å"I doubt that. Your whoring operation seems to bring in a lot of money. Are you going to give that up so easily?† â€Å"There are other ways to get gentry girls,† he grunted, still trying to shove me around and subdue me. The unfortunate thing was, he was getting closer. My strength was rapidly fading. â€Å"Other people will make deals. I don't need Leith or his half-breed whore to-ah!† I saw the chair before I saw Markelle. It was the one I'd used to climb through the garage door. Abigail had shoved it aside when she went outside, and now Markelle had snuck up and clobbered Art with it from behind. It was hardly a blow to render him unconscious, but it caused him to release me and stagger back. Markelle immediately scrambled away, but Art's attention wasn't on her. His eyes were back on me. Weak or not, I knew I had to use that opening to take him down. I surged forward again, fists ready and- He shot me. So help me, that bastard shot me. The bullet took me in the right shoulder, and I flew back against the cupboards, sinking down to the floor as my left hand instinctively flew to the wound to stop the blood. Art walked swiftly toward me, gun pointed down. â€Å"The next one goes through your heart,† he said. â€Å"Now turn around and put your hands behind your back.† â€Å"I'm kind of fucking bleeding here,† I snapped back. My shoulder was on fire, and I couldn't even really move my arm. â€Å"How much more incapacitated could I get?† His smile was bitter. â€Å"Eugenie, you won't be incapacitated enough until you're dead.† I saw Markelle come up behind him again. Her chair was gone, but her fists were out as she pounded him on the back, desperately trying to get him away from me. It was noble and tugged at my heart, but I wanted to yell at her to get the hell out of here. She was no more than a mosquito to him. With ease, he turned around and backhanded her, and I swear, she hit the floor harder than I had when I was shot. In those fleeting seconds, I snaked one of my feet out as hard as I could manage and hit Art in the shin. He stumbled, leg buckling, but didn't fall. The gun, however, did fall from his hands. It hit the floor with a clatter and slid far out of my reach-but not out of Cariena's. She'd apparently been standing on the far side of the kitchen this entire time. When the gun slid up to her, the timid girl didn't hesitate. She picked it up-screaming as her fingers made contact with the metal and polymers-and slid it back across the floor to me. I grabbed it. All the while, Art's eyes had been following the gun's journey, so when it came to my hand, he was facing me. I had the gun aimed in a flash, and while I wasn't a great shot with my left hand, I wasn't horrible either. No hesitation: I fired. The bullet bit into his chest, and he fell backward, blood immediately pouring from the wound. I'd hit the mark. Markelle and Cariena ran up to me, Raina following moments later. â€Å"Are you all right?† exclaimed Markelle. â€Å"Me?† I asked incredulously. â€Å"He smacked you across the room.† She shrugged. â€Å"They've done worse since I've been here.† Between the three of them, they managed to help me to my feet without putting too much pressure on the wounded shoulder. Raina attempted some of her healing magic-maybe I'd been too quick to dismiss their powers after all-and we found bandages to wrap the wound. Her power only lessened the pain; she could do nothing more extensive. â€Å"It's made of iron,† she said apologetically. Of course it was. Art would have had it loaded for wayward gentry. â€Å"It's okay. I'm fine.† We were back in the kitchen, and I was leaning against the counter, attempting to straighten the bandage. We were all kind of trying to ignore Art's body. â€Å"Okay. I can try to call for help again, but I think we need to get out of here on foot. I know where the gateway is, and it's kind of a long ways, but we should be able to-â€Å" â€Å"Eugenie? What's going on?† I'd set the gun on the counter while tugging my bandages straight, but in the blink of an eye, the revolver was back in my left hand, pointed toward the new addition in the kitchen. I knew the voice before I saw the face. How could I not? I'd been listening to that voice over and over this whole week, both sleeping and awake. A voice that was a contradiction because it promised love and devotion while only delivering pain and humiliation. I'd numbed out the worst of it with sheer will and the nightshade's effects. But now, pumped full of adrenaline, on the verge of escape and in control of my senses, the true magnitude of it all slammed into me. The horror. The terror. The helplessness. Emotion after emotion burned through me, but in the space of a breath, my mind immediately dispatched any feelings that wouldn't help me right now. That left only the dark ones. Rage. Fury. Malice. I tightened my hold on the gun and narrowed my eyes at the man I hated most in the world. â€Å"Hello, Leith.†