Mercy Among Children

Benevolence Among Children recounts to the account of Sydney, a man who was isolated from his family for different reasons and who needed to discover available resources to battle off the forlornness that was starting to expend him. Publicizing We will compose a custom paper test on Mercy Among Children †The Story About Homesick explicitly for you for just $16.05 $11/page Learn More He had a feeling of trouble that originates from the pit of the stomach, that hurting for commonality that he knew to be pining to go home. It was hard for him to be away from his family for such a long time. It was later on that he found that by understanding books, he could feel that he was not, at this point alone. He was a glad man. He could never admit to others that he missed his family, nor that he needed to return home. Rather, he concealed his yearning to go home by understanding books. The books broke his feeling of separation. His character clarified inside the story that when one is under standing books: †¦ you are not the only one †even along this wrecked tractor street. You have to know nothing else. (Leniency Among The Children) Whether he let it out to himself or not, he missed his family. To cite from the story itself: †¦ he was all set home. He would walk nine miles out to the interstate and catch the transport back to the Miramichi. Tomorrow evening he would be with Elly once more. he would hold and kiss Percy. He thought of the miles in front of him and they appeared to be an affront; he needed them to be gone in a second. (Kindness Among The Children) The aching for the love and care of his family was the wellspring of his pining to go home. However he attempted to remain away for three long years so he could give a superior future to them. He relinquished his own bliss for them. Publicizing Looking for paper on brain science? We should check whether we can support you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Homesickness was a perpetual sickness for him and he realized that the main fix was to at long last return home to the individuals he thought about and cherished him back. Presently, Sydney wound up prepared and especially eager to return home, and return home he did. Being an understudy who is right now living in an outside land, I find mysel ffully relating to the bitterness that Sydney felt. Some of the time, pining to go home gets horrendous,. Despite the fact that I realize that I am doing this for my and my family’s future, it doesn't diminish the pining that I have for my family. This was another world for me. It was world where I scarcely communicated in and comprehended the language, nor did I have any companions. Time has not changed my yearning for the nearness of my family in my every day life. Presently I understand that the idiom â€Å"You never recognize what you had till you lose it† is valid. I used to underestimate my mom and father’s care for conceded. I got so used to ha ving them there for me all the time that it has gotten practically unthinkable for me to change in accordance with existence without them, without the common luxuries that home offered me. In this world, I manage with calls to my family, hearing their uplifting statements and solace that are intended to keep me solid †yet just debilitate my purpose not to miss them all the while. Nowadays, I don't have the unlimited help of my family to depend on. I am continually encircled by individuals but then I feel so alone and forlorn. I get it is as of now evident that simply like Sydney in the story, I am devoured by achiness to go home and wish to no end more than to at last return home to the caring grasp of my mom and father. The main thing that invigorates me the to go on with my life here, is the information that in the end, I will be back home in Cambodia, and my nostalgia will at last reach a conclusion. It is difficult to be nostalgic. It requires a ton of exertion to get past the day when you are managing it. Yet, much the same as Sydney, you will figure out how to cause the dejection to disappear. At that point it won’t hurt so a lot and you can have a similarity to a real existence. Until the opportunity arrives when you can at long last go home.Advertising We will compose a custom paper test on Mercy Among Children †The Story About Homesick explicitly for you for just $16.05 $11/page Learn More This paper on Mercy Among Children †The Story About Homesick was composed and put together by client Lorenzo Pierce to help you with your own investigations. You are allowed to utilize it for exploration and reference purposes so as to compose your own paper; in any case, you should refer to it likewise. You can give your paper here.

Definition and Examples of Meronyms and Holonyms

Definition and Examples of Meronyms and Holonyms In semantics, aâ meronym is a word that signifies a constituent part or an individual from something. For instance, apple is a meronym of apple tree (here and there composed as appleapple tree). This part-to-entire relationship is called meronymy. Descriptive word: meronymous. Meronymy isn't only a solitary connection yet a heap of various part-to-entire connections. Something contrary to a meronym is a holonym-the name of the entire of which the meronym is a section. Appletree is a holonym of (apple treeapple). The entire to-part relationship is called holonymy. Descriptive word: holonymous. EtymologyFrom the Greek, part name Models and Observations [I]n one setting finger is a proper meronym of hand, and in different cases tissue is a fitting meronym of hand. Finger and tissue, notwithstanding, are not co-meronyms of hand, since various social measures (practical part versus material) are applied in each case.(M. Lynne Murphy, Semantic Relations and the Lexicon: Antonymy, Synonymy and Other Paradigms. Cambridge University Press, 2003)​ Kinds of Meronym Relationships At one level meronyms can be isolated into two types:â necessary and discretionary (Lyons 1977), in any case called accepted and facilitative (Cruse, 1986). A case of an important meronymy is eyeface. Having an eye is a vital state of a very much framed face, and regardless of whether it is evacuated, an eye is as yet a face part. Discretionary meronymy incorporates models like cushionchair-there are seats without pads and pads that exist autonomously of seats. (Compact Encyclopedia of Semantics, ed. by Keith Allan. Elsevier, 2009)Meronymy is a term used to depict a section entire connection between lexical things. Hence spread and page are meronyms of book. . . .Meronyms differ . . . in how important the part is to the entirety. Some are essential for typical models, for instance, nose as a meronym of face; others are common yet not required, similar to neckline as a meronym of shirt; still, others are discretionary like basement for house.(John I. Saeed, Semantics, second ed. Wiley-Blackwell, 2003)In numerous ways, meronymy is fundamentally more confounded than hyponymy. The Wordnet databases determine three sorts of meronym relationships:(Jon Orwant, Games, Diversions, and Perl Culture. OReilly Associates, 2003) Part meronym: a tire is a piece of a carMember meronym: a vehicle is an individual from a traffic jamSubstance (stuff) meronym: a wheel is produced using rubber​ Synecdoche and Meronym/Holonymy The two commonlyâ acknowledged variations of synecdoche, part for the entire (and the other way around) and family for species (and the other way around), discover their correspondence in the phonetic ideas of meronymy/holonymy and hyponymy/hypernymy. A meronym signifies a word or other component that along with different components establishes an entirety. In this manner, bark, leaf, and branch are meronyms of the holonym tree. A hyponym, then again, signifies a word that has a place with a subset whose components are all things considered summed up by a hypernym. In this way, tree, blossom, bramble are hyponyms of the hypernym plant. A first perception to be made hereâ is that these two ideas portray connections on various levels: meronymy/holonymy depicts a relationship betweenâ elements of material objects. It is the referential article leafâ which in extralingual realityâ forms a piece of the entire tree. Hyponymy/hypernymy, by contrast,â refers to a connection between ideas. Blossoms and trees are mutually named plants. however, in extralingual reality, there is no plant that comprises of blossoms and trees. In different words, the primary relationship is extralingual, the subsequent relationship is theoretical. (Sebastian Matzner, Rethinking Metonymy: Literary Theory and Poetic Practice From Pindar to Jakobson. Oxford University Press,â 2016)

Entrepreneurship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Business enterprise - Essay Example Palmer is found to treat the individuals selected as general accomplices who might assist him with managing the assets. In the event that he would have regarded his accomplices as restricted, the whole weight of reserve the executives had fallen on him. In this way, he can be taken for instance of a genuine business person in advancing a decent collaboration. The contextual investigation of Maclean Palmer can be viewed as a perfect model for business enterprise in the Venture Capital market. Maclean Palmer by deficiency in the field of private value speculation is discovered fruitful in recognizing a business opportunity and working out an arrangement to investigate the open door refered to. His choice to plan the 200 million US Dollars on Equity Investment originated from his enthusiasm to take a shot at the territory of minority business advancement. To this end, Palmer supposedly invites recommendations from Wanda Felton of Credit Suisse First and David Mazza of Grove Street Advisors to pick up business mastery. Palmer considers the mix of aptitude of the researcher minds with his rich experience of the value showcase as an effective alternative in business enterprise. It is seen that the majority of the minority business chiefs selected were from business colleges like Wharton and Harvard. Besides, with the proposal of Felton senior b usiness officials were additionally taken in. Felton in this setting watches the marriage of the youthful and researcher minds with experienced individuals will absolutely make ready to business achievement. Palmer is found to give more significance on his kin as opposed to on the experience and capability parameters. He is seen to give extensive worry to shape a situation of unconstrained collaboration. Concerning the open door refered to by Maclean Palmer, David Mazza of Grove Street Advisors expresses that the choice to move into non-conventional speculation sources was a productive business choice taken by Maclean Palmer. It is on the grounds that as Mazza

The Culture Industry, The Machine of X-Factor - 3025 Words

The Culture Industry, The Machine of X-Factor (Term Paper Sample) Content: Do you agree with Adorno that the "culture industry" produces standardized commodities? If you do agree with Adornoà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬s claim, what would art works or photographs have to do to avoid becoming commodities? If you disagree, give examples of artifacts/forms of cultural production/types of photographic practice which, to your mind, are "popular" yet resistant to or critical of the dominant (capitalist) mode of production.[Name of Student][Name of Institution][Date]Theodor Adorno- An IntroductionTheodor Adorno is considered as one of the leading philosophers and thinkers of 20th century. Although Adorno has written on an extensive range of different topics and subjects, but his primary and major concern was to deal with the subject matter of human deterioration and suffering. CITATION Bri13 \l 1033 (O'Connor, 2013) He has deeply researched the effect of advances societies upon the condition of human beings. Adorno was prominently impressed by personalities such as Marx, Hegel and Nietzsche. He was majorly associated with The Institute for Social Research, located in Frankfurt School. CITATION And \l 1033 (Fagan, n.d.)Adorno is more famous across the globe for his analysis of the culture industry. He has noticed that the societyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬s entertainment business is day by day getting formulaic, mechanical and dominating, just like any other regular workplace. Adorno has further asserted that the individuals of the advanced society are highly organized at their work places as well as in their idle hours. CITATION Lam11 \l 1033 (Zuidervaart, 2011) Undoubtedly these individuals are highly willing to avoid the boredom and uniformity of their organizations; these people are simply altering to one more part of machine, which is from a manufacturer to a consumer. So according to Adorno, there is not a little bit of chance left for those individuals, to become free and independent individuals and thus participate in forming their societies; both a t play or at their workplaces.Production of Standardized Commodities by the Culture IndustryThe Culture IndustryThe different objections and the criticism of Theodor Adorno regarding the culture industry are highly valid in reference to the present culture of the consumers. The expression of culture industry was adopted by Adorno for arguing the means by which several items of a culture were being manufactured. The production of those items was very much similar to the way in which some other large industries produce huge amount of goods for their consumers. So, the culture industry was also displaying the character of some production line, which can highly be viewed in the planned and synthetic method of producing the cultural products. CITATION Fab10 \l 1033 (Durao, 2010)The Machine of X-FactorThe concept of culture industry has been linked by Adorno to a particular model of culture which was extensively publicized with the help of mass media. In such model of culture, the cultur al manufacturing was a standardized and a repetitive practice. As a result of this practice, many undemanding and unpleasant cultural products were being produced. The overall effect of this situation was that, a particular type of utilization came into existence. This utilization was also distracted, standardized and passive in nature. CITATION Owe13 \l 1033 (Hatherley, 2013)Who is in Commanding PositionAdornoà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬s concept of cultural manufacturing has frequently been displayed by many critics as a pessimistic moaning of a cultural pretender, who was highly shocked at what he detected to be the uniformity and obscenity of the taste of majority of society. CITATION Deb96 \l 1033 (Cook, 1996) Many critics had condemned Adorno that he was primarily concerned with the fact that the capability for artistic imagination and innovation in music, painting and literature had been corrupted and co-opted by different methods of production and various administrative systems of industri al and factory capitalism.But the reality is that a supreme form of authority is being enjoyed by the capitalist business. The innovative artists as well as the consumers cannot be distinguished from this capitalist business. In fact they are directly related to this production system. So, Adorno has emphasized the economic possession and economic control structures of the ways by which several cultural commodities are manufactured. Adorno has asserted that it also immediately forms the activities of innovative artists and their buyers. CITATION WES13 \l 1033 (Phillips, 2013)Everything Uncommon Thing should be RejectedThe way in which the culture industry worked is very much similar to several other production industries. The culture industry has also adopted the sole mission of forming money. The each and every work done in the culture industry is formalized and the industry is producing commodities according to the justified organizational policies. The symbol of the production line was utilized to emphasis the routine and repetitive status of cultural manufacturing. CITATION Lea13 \l 1033 (Leannacatherina, 2013)StandardizationEvery single commodity belonging to the culture industry displayed features that are pretty much uniformed and standardized. It gives strength to the argument that now there is nil originality and authenticity in the system of producing cultural commodities. The cultural manufacturing can now easily be called a regular and an unexceptional operation. It is simply just a routine action that is performed at a work place by applying a particular formula. CITATION Dav11 \l 1033 (Darbyshire, 2011)Even the ever green and the most popular songs were also frequently mentioned as benchmarks, a group that evidently dragged curiosity to their conventional character. A huge number of songs were grounded on monotonous sequences and commonly repeated refrains. The logic behind all such repetitions was the commercial reasoning, as it will help th e song to establish itself on listenerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬s mind and hence stimulate the purchase.This argument is regarded as extremely relevant and valid even today. There are a lot of songs that are very much predictable as compared to other songs.Pseudo IndividualityThe image of the key and the lock was also evoked by Adorno- a commodity that is produced in mass quantity, but its individuality consists in slight modifications. Adorno presented a critical analysis of the term Pseudo Individuality. It means the different ways by which the culture industry manufactures commodities. All of these commodities claim to be highly original and unique. But a critical analysis of these commodities clearly shows little more than cosmetic differences. CITATION Dav06 \l 1033 (Khabaz, 2006)Adorno maintains that culture industry can be very easily exploited by the undemocratic governments and the capitalist organizations. The culture industry also permits people to convert into masses. Thus a very stro ng argument related to the culture arises. When culture is controlled by the structure and the capitalist organizations, then it just turns into a formulaic, standardized and a repetitive component of that sort of culture which is extensively propagated by means of the mass media. CITATION Mar08 \l 1033 (Danesi, 2008) This type of culture does not contain any pleasant value and it results in a very particular sort of consumption which is obedient, passive and can easily be exploited for achieving the cause of advertising or propaganda.Photography- A CommodityIn recent times, many critics are of the opinion that the phenomenon of commodification is occurring in the world of photography too. The commodity can be defined as a product which contains similar attributes and it is of no importance that who has produced it. CITATION Cat08 \l 1033 (Waters, 2008) The thought of commodification is a frightening one. CITATION Wha12 \l 1033 (Anon., 2012) It clearly means that people are conte sting upon price and are rushing towards the bottom. But this fact has to be accepted that commodification canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬t be stopped, as it is a real market procedure. It has to be understood that when a particular productà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬s improvement overshoots the clientà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬s needs, the phenomenon of commodification takes place. In recent times, most of the clients give very little importance to the superior photography techniques and better photography equipment, except for a few art lovers. The process of commoditization always demolishes an organizationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬s capability to acquire profits by compromising differentiability, while o the other hand; de- commoditization provides several opportunities for capturing and creating potentially gigantic wealth.This gives rise to the question that, does the art of photography still possess any worth for its spectators? But how it is possible for someone to regard photography as a commodity? For instance, the image of every singl e photographer who takes picture of Delicate Arch will be unique and absolutely different from each other. So it can be said that it is the structure of the pricing, the marketing and the sense of value, which have turned the photography into a commodity.Do Buyers Possess a Real Value Sense?The modern day buyers are obviously smart enough, and that is the reason they rush towards the low priced models which are royalty free. No price swapping, the image can be used for every single campaign and most importantly on the expiration of the license; there is no fees for reuse. CITATION Cha10 \l 1033 (Borland, 2010)Should Buyers Be Blamed?One model example is Time Magazineà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬s notorious cover of spring 2009. The prediction is that the Time Magazine mostly pays 3000 Dollars for the image on its cover page, but in spring 2009, the magazine has given 30 Dollars for such image. This situation has ...

Child Transmission Of Human Immunodeficiency Virus ( Hiv )...

Introduction Prevention of mother to child transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (PMTCT) has been a documented burden on HIV infected expectant mothers and their infants and nowhere is such a burden more felt than in areas with limited resources – particularly in low income countries and communities (3,4). Once a woman becomes pregnant, HIV screening is strongly recommended. Upon screening and being identified as HIV positive, it is advised that the mother begin a lifetime regime of antiretroviral therapy (ART), as without ART, HIV transmission from mother to child is between 15% - 45% (3,4). The prophylactic use of ART in the prenatal and postpartum stages is crucial in preventing transmission of the virus from mother to child during labour and while breastfeeding (11). It is also crucial that the newborn be treated with ART for at least six weeks or longer if the infant is being breastfed (11). The aim of the evaluation is to determine the effectiveness of an intervention which introduced a satellite maternal care clinic into a remote area. Healthcare outcomes in some remote communities in Canada are well below the national average health outcomes. As a result, a cluster of remote towns surrounding Lac Seul in Northern Ontario, Canada has recently had a satellite clinic implemented with the hope to improve healthcare outcomes. Of interest, is the introduction the clinic into the community, with a primary focus on maternal health and the uptake of anShow MoreRelatedHuman Immunodeficiency Virus Type 21523 Words   |  7 PagesHuman Immunodeficiency Virus Type 2 HIV-II Discovered and Isolated In 1985, serological evidence was presented which suggested a virus closely related to simian T-lymphotropic virus type III (STLV-III) infected a man in Senegal West Africa (Barin, M’Boup, Denis 1985). At that time, Senegal, West Africa was a region where AIDS and AIDS-related diseases had been observed (Barin, M’Boup, Denis 1985). The results of the serological evidence suggested that certain healthy Senegalese people were exposedRead MoreHuman Immunodeficiency Virus And The Body s Natural Defense System1688 Words   |  7 Pages12/12/15 Mrs. Tucci Human Immunodeficiency Virus â€Å"HIV also known as human immunodeficiency virus is a virus that attacks the immune system, the body s natural defense system.† When a person has a weak immune system as oppose to a strong immune system the body has a hard time fighting off the disease. The HIV virus and the infection that it causes is called HIV. White blood cells are an important part of the immune system. One of the major symptoms and by far the worst is when HIV infects and destroysRead MoreThe Human Immunodeficiency Virus Is A Serious Infectious Disease1374 Words   |  6 Pages There is currently no cure for HIV. 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And since then, the virus has marked many continentsRead MoreEssay on HIV/AIDS and Modern Medical Inventions1399 Words   |  6 Pagesis a rapid advancement in medical inventions, still the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is the most challenging virus that will drag the human lives to the deadly disease acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It spreads its wings all over. HIV cannot be cured, but it can be prevented. It has become the greatest life threatening disease and affects unbelievably high percent of human beings. Nowadays, besides other deadly diseases, HIV/AIDS becomes more complex and cr ucial health issue thatRead MoreAids : A Relatively New Disease1743 Words   |  7 Pagesliving with HIV and around 370 000 new cases a year, according to the UNAIDS Global report from 2013. Though major cities like Jonesburg are vastly developed, much of the country still remains rural, which aids in the spread of the disease. 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Jfk, An American Thriller Directed By Oliver Stone

JFK, an American thriller directed by Oliver Stone, arrived in theaters in December of 1991. The movie scrutinizes the series of events that culminated in the shooting of President John F. Kennedy and the ensuing cover-up perceived through the eyes of former New Orleans District Attorney, Jim Garrison, who is played by renowned American actor, Kevin Costner. Some years following President Kennedy’s assassination, Jim Garrison filed charges against New Orleans entrepreneur Clay Shaw, who is played by actor Tommy Lee Jones. Clay Shaw was accused of allegedly conspiring against and contributing to a plot to murder President John F. Kennedy, for which Lee Harvey Oswald, portrayed by Gary Oldman, was found to be the assassin by two government†¦show more content†¦JFK was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won two awards, one for best cinematography and the other for best film editing. The opening of the film starts off with media footage, including the farewell address in 1961 of outgoing President Dwight Eisenhower warning about the build-up of the military-industrial complex. Following thereafter, a summary of John F. Kennedy’s years as president, emphasizing the events that, in Stone s thesis, would lead up to his assassination. As the movie progresses it builds to a reconstruction of the assassination on November 22, 1963. New Orleans District Attorney, Jim Garrison had doubts about the events that led up to and followed John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Garrison learned about possible leads that could have participated in the assassination of Kennedy through mutual acquaintances but he and his team were forced to abandon further investigation into those leads because Lee Harvey Oswald was detained as the assassin that killed the President. Unfortunately, before any real truth could be revealed about Oswald’s part in the assassination he wa s shot and killed by Jack Ruby. After Lee Harvey Oswald was killed, Jack Ruby was detained by the FBI and was not allowed to have visitors. Jim Garrison and his team decided to cease the investigation despite the fact that they felt uneasy about how the events revolved around President Kennedy’s

Civil War Flags Essay Example For Students

Civil War Flags Essay The Color Bearer Tradition The War Between the States was the heyday of American battleflags and theirbearers. With unusualhistorical accuracy, many stirring battle paintings showthe colors and their intrepid bearers in the forefront of the fray or as arallying point in a retreat. The colors of a Civil War regiment embodied itshonor, and the men chosen to bear them made up an elite. Tall, muscular menwere preferred, because holding aloft a large, heavy banner, to keep itvisible through battle smoke and at a distance,demanded physical strength. Courage was likewise required to carry a flaginto combat, as the colors â€Å"drew lead like a magnet.† South Carolina’sPalmetto Sharpshooters, for example, lost 10 out of 11 of its bearers andcolor guard at the Battle of Seven Pines, the flag passing through four handswithout touching the ground. Birth and Early Life in Charleston Born in Charleston in 1824, Charles Edmiston and his twin sister, Ellen Ann,were the third son and s econd daughter, respectively, of newspaper editorJoseph Whilden and his wife, Elizabeth Gilbert Whilden. The births of twomore sons, Richard Furman in 1826 and William Gilbert in 1828, would completethe family, making seven children in all. Young Charles’ roots ran deep intothe soil of the lowcountry. His Whilden ancestors had settled in theCharleston area in the 1690’s, and an ancestor on his mother’s side, the Rev. William Screven, had arrived in South Carolina even earlier, establishing theFirst Baptist Church of Charleston in 1683, today the oldest church in theSouthern Baptist Convention. Like many Southerners who came of age in thelate antebellum period, CharlesWhilden took pride in his ancestors’ role in the American Revolution,especially his grandfather, Joseph Whilden, who, at 18, had run away from hisfamily’s plantation in Christ Church Parish to join the forces underBrigadier General Francis â€Å"Swamp Fox† Marion fighting the British. At the time of Charles’ birth, the family of Joseph and Elizabeth Whildenlived comfortably in their home on Magazine Street, attended by their devotedslave, Juno Waller Seymour, a diminutive, energetic black woman known asâ€Å"Maumer Juno† to four generations of the Whilden family. Raisedby Maumer Juno from the cradle, Charles soon developed a strong attachment tothe woman an attachment that would endure to the end o f his life. Theprosperity of Joseph Whilden and his family would prove less enduring,however, and business reversals, beginning in the late 1820’s, combined withJoseph’s stroke a few years later and his eventual death in 1838, wouldreduce his family to genteel poverty. To help make ends meet, Maumer Junotook in ironing. Despite a lack of money for college, young Charles managedto obtain a good education. Details about Charles’ schooling are sketchy, butthe polished prose of his surviving letters reflects a practiced hand and acultivated intellect. Charles’ admission to the South Carolina bar atColumbia in 1845 is further evidence of a triumph of intellect and effortover financial adversity. In the closing decades of the antebellum period, when Charles Whilden wasgrowing up in Charleston, the city was the commercial and cultural center ofthe lowcountry as well as South Carolina’s manufacturing center and mostcosmopolitan city. By the time Charles Wh ilden reached adulthood, however,the Charleston economy was in decline, and the city’s population wouldactually diminish during the decade of the 1850’s. Not surprisingly, after abrief attempt to establish a law practice in Charleston, Attorney Whildenchose to seek his fortune outside his home town. But the practice of law inthe upcountry town of Pendleton also failed to pan out for Whilden. Confronted with a major career decision, Whilden elected not only to leavethe law but also to leave the Palmetto State for the north. The 1850 federal censustakers found Charles Whilden living in a boardinghouse in Detroit, Michigan, where he worked as a clerk, probably in anewspaper office. Speculation in copper stocks and land on Lake Superior soonleft Charles deeply in debt to his youngest brother, William, who had builtup a successful merchandising business back home in Charleston. Desperate toget out of debt, and perhaps longing for adventure, in the spring of 1855Charles Whilden signed on as a civilian employee of the U.S. Army. After anarduous two-month trek from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Whilden arrived in theold Spanish city of Santa Fe, New Mexico Territory, on August 27, 1855, wherehe took up his duties as civilian private secretary to the local garrisoncommander, Colonel John Breckinridge Grayson of Kentucky, who would laterserve the Confederacy as a brigadier general in Florida. Life in New Mexico Territory When Whilden arrived in Santa Fe, the city had been under U.S. jurisdictionfor only a few years, and the population was overwhelmingly Hispanic andRoman Catholic, causing the Baptist Whilden to complain, in an early letterto his brother William in Charleston, that â€Å"there are so many Saints daysamong these Hottentots, that it is hard to recollect them.† So isolated wasSanta Fe from the U.S. that mail reached the city only once a month fromMissouri. Looking on the bright side of his cultural and geographic isolationin New Mexico Territory, in a letter written in May 1856 Charles expressedhis intention to William to remain in New Mexico until â€Å"I have paid up all mydebts, for I can do it better out here, than in the States, as there are noconcerts, Theatres, White Kid Gloves, Subscriptions to Charities or churches,or gallivanting the ladies on Sleigh rides and c to make a man’s money fly.† Whilden’s duties as Co lonel Grayson’s secretary were relatively light,leaving him ample time for other pursuits perhaps too much time for his ownfinancial good. His April 30, 1857 letter home to Charleston states: â€Å"Inaddition to the offices I hold in this Territory of Warden of a MasonicLodge, President of a Literary Society, member of a Territorial DemocraticCentral Committee c †¦, I have lately added that of Farmer.† Dreaming ofmaking enough money to satisfy his debts to William and to establish a lawpractice in Texas, Charles had purchased a 16 acre truck farm near Sante Fe,establishing his claim as a â€Å"farmer.† Alas, the farm would prove to beunprofitable. In his spare time, Whilden also occasionally edited the Santa Fe newspaperwhen the regular editor was busy. During the Presidential election campaignof 1856, Whilden penned an editorial supporting the renomination of PresidentFranklin Pierce, a pro-Southern Democrat, and he expressed the hope in aletter to Willia m that Pierce would be re-elected and â€Å"give me a fat office.†Whilden’s hope for a political sinecure also proved to be a dream. Marriage was another unrealized dream. After his own marriage in 1850,William Whilden badgeredhis elder brother to end his bachelorhood and tosettle down. In December 1854, when he was stillin Detroit and aged 30, afriend had tried to interest Charles in marrying his fiftyish, red-headedaunt. Seizing the opportunity to turn the tables on William, Charles wrote toWilliam not to be surprised if he married the woman and took up William onhis standing offer to permit Charles to honeymoon at William’s stylish newhome in Charleston. Whatever romantic aspirations Charles may haveentertained when he arrived in New Mexico, the dearth of eligible women inthe territory soon quashed. In a letter to William written seven months afterhis arrival in Santa Fe, Charles could count only six unmarried Americanladies in all of New Mexico, none of whom , however, lived in Santa Fe. However boring it may have been, life in Santa Fe also afforded Whilden timefor puffing his meerschaum pipe, reading his subscriptions to the pepperyCharleston Mercury newspaper and thehighbrow Russells Magazine and reflectingon the mounting sectional tensions of the prewar years. In a letter toWilliam dated March 26, 1856, Charles complained that the â€Å"Government isbecoming more abolition every day† and he predicted that the â€Å"Union may lasta few years longer, but unless a decided change takes place in Northernpolitics, it must at last go under.† The War Begins Events would prove Whilden correct. On December 20, 1860, delegates to theso-called Secession Convention, meeting in Institute Hall in downtownCharleston, only a short distance from Charles Whilden’s boyhood home onMagazine Street, unanimously adopted the Ordinance of Secession, taking SouthCarolina out of the Union. The bombardment of Fort Sumter in CharlestonHarbor four months later heralded the beginning of the shooting war. A lesser man than Charles Whilden might have been content to sit out the warin New Mexico Territory. After all, Whilden had been gone from the South formore than a decade. He was fast approaching 40. Whilden’s frequentdenunciations of abolitionism in his letters were based on principle, notpolitical expediency or financial self-interest. Apart from a nominal,undivided interest in his beloved Maumer Juno that he shared with hissiblings, Charles held no slave property. Furthermore, he was more than 1,000miles from South Carolina, with little money for travel. But Charles Whildenwas no ordinary man. Undeterred by the obstacles confronting him, Whildenresolved to answer South Carolina’s call to arms. According to a reminiscencewritten in 1969 by his grand niece, Miss Elizabeth Whilden Hard ofGreenville, South Carolina, the â€Å"only way he could get back to Charleston wasby the Bahamas, and on his way back to Charleston the ship was wrecked,he spent some time in an open boat, suffered sunstroke, and as a result hadepileptic attacks.† The date of Whilden’s harrowing return to Charleston is conjectural, as noneof his correspondence from the early war years has survived, but the likelydate is late 1861 or early 1862. Whilden’s Confederate service records in theNational Archives in Washington, D.C. commence with his enlistment in 1864,but Miss Hard’s reminiscence may be correct that her Great Uncle Charlesâ€Å"enlisted a number of times, but when he had an epileptic attack would bedischarged. Then he would go somewhere else and enlist again.† Confederateservice records are notoriously incomplete, and it stands to reason thatCharles Whilden would not have risked life and limb returning to Charlestononly to avoid military service once home. Irrespective of whether or not he had seen prior service, Whilden demonstrably enlisted â€Å"for the war† at C harleston on February 6, 1864, as aprivate in Company I (known as the Richardson Guards) of the 1st Regiment,South Carolina Volunteers. Lieutenant Wallace Delph enlisted Whilden, and thelieutenant can be forgiven if he looked askance at his new recruit. By moststandards, Whilden was a marginal recruit. Though intelligent and patriotic,Whilden was also in his 40th year, the red hair of his youth turned grey. Hisurban background and string of sedentary occupations better suited him fora Richmond clerkship than active service in the field. On top of everythingelse, Whilden was epileptic. Whilden’s new regiment was a proud outfit. The 1st Regiment, South Carolina Volunteers, was known popularly as â€Å"Gregg’s lst SouthCarolina† after its first colonel, Maxcy Gregg, in order to distinguishthe regiment from several other South Carolina infantry regiments alsoidentified numerically as the â€Å"lst Regiment.† The successor to a regimentorganized by Col. Gregg in December 1860 for six-months service, the 1stRegiment, SCV, was arguably the very first Rebel infantry regiment. At thetime of Whilden’s enlistment, the regiment was part of Brigadier GeneralSamuel McGowan’s brigade in the Army of Northern Virginia. At one time partof A.P. Hill’s vaunted Light Division, McGowan’s South Carolinians had won areputation for hard fighting on many a bloody field. That reputation wasshortly to be put to its sternest test at a strategic Virginia crossroadsvillage known as Spotsylvania Court House. The Fight at the Mule Shoe Following his repulse at the Wilderness on May 5 and 6, 1864, Union Generalin Chief Ulysses S. Grant ordered the Army of the Potomac to move southeastabout 12 miles to the vicinity of Spotsylvania Court House (NPS Web Site),hoping to get between the Army of Northern Virginia and Richmond. GeneralRobert E. Lee, however, was quicker, and elements of the Confederate FirstCorps arrived at Spotsylvania Court Ho use just ahead of the Federals. Overthe next few days a series of collisions in the area occurred as both sidestook up positions and brought up additional units. The Army of NorthernVirginia settled into a defensive line at Spotsylvania that bulgednorthward in the center to form a salient or â€Å"mule-shoe,† with elements ofLieutenant General Richard Ewell’s Second Corps defending the mule-shoe. At first light on May 12, nearly 19,000 men of the Union II Corps, takingadvantage of ground fog, attacked the tip or apex of the mule-shoe, quicklyoverwhelming Major General Edward Johnson’s 4,000-man division defending theapex. Once inside the mule-shoe, the Federals threatened to advance southwardlike a tidal wave. Only their own disorganization and a series of desperateConfederate counterattacks halted the Union advance before it resulted in ageneral rout. With most of Johnson’s Division dead or prisoners, a considerable segment ofthe works inside the apex of the mule-shoe was unoccupied by any Confederatetroops. To correct this, General Lee forwarded two brigades from the ThirdCorps, Harris’s Mississippians and McGowan’s South Carolinians, during themid-morning hours of the 12th. With a cheer and at the double quick,McGowan’s Brigade advanced towards the tip of the mule-shoe in support ofHarris’s Brigade, sloshing through rain and mud and under heavy fire. At the head of each of the brigade’s five regiments, two soldiers carried theregimental state flag and the national battleflag. The blue silk state flagfeatured a palmetto tree encircled with a wreath of oak and laurel leaves;the national battleflag displayed the familiar blue, starred St.Andrew’scross dividing a red field. When the regular color bearer was shot, Whildeninsisted upon bearing his regiment’s national colors into the fight, althoughhe was not a member of Company K, the regiment’s color company. LieutenantJames Arms trong, the commander of CompanyK and Whilden’s messmate, relented,though, according to Armstrong’s postwar account, Whilden was â€Å"feeble inhealth and totally unfitted for active service†¦. In fact, he was stumblingat every step.† Watching Whilden struggle to keep up with his command,Armstrong offered to relieve Whilden of the flag and to carry it himself. Frees - The Metamorphosis of Holden in Salli EssayGiven to Whilden when he was furloughed to Charleston in August 1864, theflag was in his possession when he died about two years thereafter. About 15 years after the war, Edward McCrady, Jr., a prominent Charlestonlawyer who had captained the color company of Gregg’s 1st South Carolinaearly in the war and had later risen to the rank of lieutenant colonel of theregiment, petitioned William Whilden to turn over the battleflag that he hadinherited from his brother Charles. McCrady had possession of the regiment’sblue state colors, and he professed a desire to reunite the two flags. In aletter written on New Year’s Day, 1880, McCrady pled his best case, pointingout that his regiment had carried the battleflag â€Å"in every battle until May1864? and that, for years during the war, he had â€Å"lived with the flag inhis tent, and slept with it by his side in the bivouac.† After consultinghis three surviving b rothers, two of whom were Baptist ministers, WilliamWhilden declined McCrady’s request, essentially on the grounds thatMcCrady had no higher claim to the flag than any other veteran of theregiment. In declining, however, Whilden indicated a willingness to entrustthe flag to a collection of Confederate relics. Following William Whilden’s death in 1896, custody of the battleflag passedto William’s daughter, Mrs. Charles Hard of Greenville. In 1906, Mrs. Harddelivered up the flag to her Uncle Charles’ old friend and messmate, JamesArmstrong, a postwar harbor master of Charleston who had commanded the colorcompany of Gregg’s 1st South Carolina at Spotsylvania. In his letter to Mrs. Hard expressing his appreciation for the flag, Armstrong promised toâ€Å"communicate with the other officers of the Regiment in regard to sending theflag to the State House to be placed alongside of the blue State flag.†Armstrong assured Mrs. Hard that, â€Å"until sent there it will be kept in afire proof vault.† Time passed, and the battleflag remained with the aging Armstrong. Finally,in 1920, Mrs. Hard wrote to Armstrong about the flag. Rose McKevlin,Armstrong’s nurse, responded, informing Mrs. Hard that Armstrong’s leg hadbeen amputated the prior month as a result of a wound he had suffered atSpotsylvania more than half a century previously. The letter explained thatArmstrong had tried to convene a meeting of the surviving officers to discussthe flag but that he had failed to do so, and it concluded with the promisethat Armstrong, being the senior of the two surviving officers of theregiment, would send the flag to the Secretary of State in Columbia to beplaced alongside the blue state colors of the regiment already there. Although the evidence is not conclusive, the old soldier evidently made goodon his nurse’s promise on his behalf by turning over the battleflag tothe state before he died. . PRINCIPAL SOURCESused in preparing this essay1. James Armstrong and Varina D. Brown, â€Å"McGowan’s Brigade at Spotsylvania,†ConfederateVeteran, vol. 33 (1925), pp. 376-379. 2. J.F.J. Caldwell, The History of a Brigade of South Carolinians, KnownFirst as â€Å"Gregg’s,† andSubsequently as â€Å"McGowan’s Brigade† (Dayton, Ohio: Morningside Press, 1984reprint of 1866ed.). 3. Compiled Service Record of CharlesE. Whilden, 1st Regiment, South CarolinaVolunteers,Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizationsfrom the State ofSouth Carolina, War Department Collection of Confederate Records, RecordGroup 109, NationalArchives, Washington, D.C. 4. Fairfax Downey, The Color-Bearers (Mattituck, NY: J. M. Carroll Company,1984). 5. William D. Matt er, If it Takes All Summer, the Battle of Spotsylvania(Chapel Hill: University ofNorth Carolina Press, 1988). 6. John Hammond Moore, editor, â€Å"Letters From aSanta Fe ArmyClerk, 1855-1856, CharlesE. Whilden,† New Mexico Historical Review, vol.40,no.2 (April 1965),pp. 141-164 (relating to letters from CharlesE. Whilden to his brother,WilliamG. Whilden, orMrs.WilliamG. Whilden, the originals of which are in the South CarolinianaLibrary). 7. John Belton O’Neall, Biographical Sketches of the Bench and Bar of SouthCarolina(Spartanburg, SC: The Reprint Company, Publishers, 1975), Vol.II, at p.614. 8. Noah Andre Trudeau, Bloody Roads South, the Wilderness to Cold Harbor,May-June 1864(Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989). 9. U.S. Bureau of the Census, Seventh Census of the United States, 1850, Cityof Detroit, WayneCounty, Michigan, Schedule1-Free Inhabitants, National Archives MicrofilmPub. No.T-6, ReelNo.146, p.8 (reverse). 10. CharlesE. Whilden Letters, 1855-1856, MSS in the South CarolinianaLibrary, University ofSouth Carolina, Columbia, SC. 11. CharlesE. Whilden Letters, 1854-1920, MSS in the South CarolinaHistorical Society,Charleston, SC (which collection also includes letters of Edward McCrady,Jr., WilliamG. Whilden,Mrs. Charles Hard and Rose McKelvin respecting the battleflag of Gregg’s 1stSouth Carolina and atypescript of Ella Hard’s October23, 1969 letter to the Director of Archives,Columbia, SC,respecting her great uncle). 12. Ellen Whilden, Life of Maumer Juno of Charleston, S.C., A Sketch ofJuno (Waller) Seymour(Atlanta, GA: Foote Davies, 1892).

Technology and the Evolution of Communication Essay Example

Technology and the Evolution of Communication Essay Technology and the Evolution of Communication Technology, driven by innovation, provided people with the ability to communicate with other people all over the world. Some would say this technology helped the masses to become more introverted as it has the potential to separate individuals from the neighbors across the street. The online environment was once used infrequently as cyberspace remained relatively unknown to the public. Individuals received their bills in the mail and in turn, wrote a check to pay the amount due, added a stamp to the return envelope, and returned it through the mail service. In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau created the World Wide Web while working on hypertext systems (Groff Pollermann, 1992). Technology by definition, is the means or activity by which man seeks to change or manipulate his environment (History of technology, 2010). As long as man has existed on earth, advancement has been accomplished by some type of technology. Dating back to the stone age, it is evident that technology existed in the simplest form as a spear or bow and arrow, which were used throughout most of the populated earth. Innovation provided a way for the weapons to be sharper and faster. Evidence of these innovations exists in the form of cave paintings spanning from Australia to areas in southern France and northern Spain. Although the date of the invention of the potters wheel, the bow drill, and the pole lathe is unknown, some speculate that it was in the Late Neolithic Period. These invented and refined items helped the people of that period to fish, hunt game, and gather food. These people developed basic tools and weapons created by using the raw materials they had at their disposal. We will write a custom essay sample on Technology and the Evolution of Communication specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Technology and the Evolution of Communication specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Technology and the Evolution of Communication specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer These weapons were then used to hunt for food, and the tools were needed to help with the development of food production. The basic need to eat generated innovations through the years and the gathering of food meant there was a need for planting, harvesting, and creating an irrigation system that worked to water the crops. Technology was at work as they created tools to help them plant, grow, and harvest their crops (History of technology, 2010). Giving consideration to these facts, humans moved forward in history. From the beginning stages of technology and the events during the Stone Age, to what people presently know and use in the world of technology, historians recognize that there may have been phases when technology developed at a diminished pace. Even through all this, the evolution of the concept was never completely halted. In the 19th century, the industrial revolution had a direct affect on the economic development of the United States as well as Britain and Europe. Four major inventions developed during this time, set the stage for future events. These included improvements made in the manufacturing processes within the textile industry, the invention of the telephone, the harnessing of electricity, and the expansion of transportation across the country into areas that previously took days and weeks to reach (Kelly, 2010). As one of the most recognized times for technology pushing innovation, this period in history provided man with the understanding and capability to invent new and faster ways of producing, developing, and traveling. During this same period, three inventors made a lasting change on the way in which people continue to communicate, even today. Thomas Edison was the first of the most recognized inventors of the time. His inventions, which included the phonograph, the light bulb, and the motion picture, had a direct affect on Americas growth as well as its history. The second of the inventors, celebrated for his lasting contributions to communication, was Samuel F. B. Morse, recognized for how he changed the public communication system through the use of the telegraph. Morses invention revolutionized the transmission of messages, not to mention the means and distance by which they were sent and received. It allowed the public to move information at a much more rapid pace than they had previously experienced. Finally, the heralded inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, deserves equal credit among the inventors for his powerful invention that, again, altered the realm of communication (Kelly, 2010). The importance of these inventions celebrated during the industrial revolution remains apparent. The modes of communication and social interaction that began in the 19th century laid the foundation for the social networking cycle that would rapidly evolve throughout history. In reviewing the timeline below (Table one), it is apparent that there has been an on-going push for advancement within the realm of communication. Table one Hewlett Packard (HP) foundedCompuServe introduces online serviceE-mail introducedComputers introduced to publicCyberspace term coinedWorld Wide Web introduced to publicE-mail becomes more popular than postal mailWeblogs begin to appearMySpace is foundedFacebook is foundedYouTube is foundedSocial networking is one of the most influential modes of communication 193919691972197719841991199619982003200420052010 Computers enable the public to utilize the world wide web as a social networking tool Note. History timelines of events, 2006, history-timelines. org. uk/events The article, Social Networking (Coyle, Vaughn, 2008), supports the ideas that social networking has evolved at a rapid pace. This type of communication has been used for many reasons and has slowly and steadily evolved over the years to include such things as basic networking, discussion of common hobbies, and finding lost friends and loved ones via the computer. Over the course of many years, technology, and thus the very civilization, has progressed from the introduction of more advanced and challenging online services, to the World Wide Web of social networking. In this arena, the average individual can expect to quickly and easily conduct everyday business that may include such luxuries as online work meetings or alternate methods for paying bills. With these advancements in technology, e-mail steadily became more convenient and gradually gained popularity, replacing services once provided by the postal service. In considering the goods and services readily available to ordinary people via the World Wide Web, not to mention the ease and convenience of such services, one must marvel at the evolution of technology and what it has afforded us, all in such a short timeframe. Most recently, innovations in the world of social networking have made it a giant in the world of advanced online communications. As the public gains familiarity with cyberspace, the popularity of these available resources has become more prominent in the everyday world. The year 2010 has seen social networking become one of the most influential modes of communication. MySpace, introduced in 2003, remains one of the most visited sites on the web today, with sites such as Facebook and Twitter close on its heels and rapidly gaining popularity. Even with the obvious advancements and advantages technology offers everyday individuals, skepticism remains. Many believe that the evolution of technology has been a necessary component when addressing advancement and considering new ways to live our lives. Critics contend that, even with the convenience and practicality associated with the use of the innovations and technology, pitfalls exist. Sherry Turkle raised concerns pertaining to the Internet. She invested considerable time and energy engaged with her team in observations and studies focused on the negative aspects of technology and the important place that it holds in our society. Based upon their findings, Sherry and her team concluded that too many people are spending too much time online creating imaginary identities, living in a virtual reality, and spending too many hours living in parallel worlds. Sherry believes that we need to take a second look at the consequences of living in virtual worlds and how individuals can quite possibly lose their identity. She contends that we must step back and consider these dangers before aggressively moving into the future. In addition to arguments that contend that we have become victims of parallel worlds, there exists the reality that schools and classrooms have access to the Internet and have been affected by the ease and availability of technology and communication. Some would caution that the information available on computer programs and the Internet, though helpful for students living and working in today’s society, may have its disadvantages. An example of this type of concern is found when one considers such media as a PowerPoint presentation used in today’s classrooms. Although the creation of this format lends itself to more effectively presenting information, it is also a means that limits the challenge a student is afforded. One study found that although this format was successful in presenting the necessary information for students, the bullet-point outline seemed to discourage the amount of give-and-take during discussions (Turkle, 2003). One may consider that we have quite possibly become too caught up with these computer generated programs, and argue our society has gone past the point of no return. Is this the point of no return, or are we learning to live in an Internet based, computerized generation? Both our future and the future of technology are hinged on the necessity to comprehend and master cyberspace. This includes the World Wide Web and all its qualities, both good and bad. People looking for an escape or trying to find a new reality can easily find it on the web. The Internet provides a wide range of resources spanning from basic gaming to running a business. Each person who logs onto the Internet has the choice between meaningful and trivial content. This is one of the freedoms afforded us through the World Wide Web. Social networking sites are gaining popularity for their convenience and ease, making life less complicated for many. Table two Note. Top five Social Networking Sites ranked according to Retention Rate, April 2006 Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, May 2006 Table two shows the gaining popularity of social networking and the retention rates achieved up to April 2006. The chain of events that has led up to our societys ability to lose themselves online began with an invention. The invention of the computer was the beginning of the information age. This invention, followed shortly thereafter by online service, public access to the Internet, and finally, the development of the World Wide Web, were steps in a progressive chain that would eventually take people into the future. Once the public understood how to access the web, communication took on a new look. E-mail became a major communication tool, weblogs became a venue for people to chat and speak their minds, and then websites such as MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube began to catch on as people used these sites to communicate as well as locate one another. The negative aspect of this new venue seems to be the amount of time spent on their computers and less time interfacing with other humans. Technology and innovation are necessary for humans to advance. Although some would argue that this is creating a society of introverts, I would argue otherwise. The technology that we use today is driven by innovation, and innovation is the key ingredient necessary for people to recognize a need, and then fill it. One could argue that they go hand-in-hand. The leaders of tomorrow will be mastering this very technology. We are not creating introverts, but merely reaching out and grasping what tomorrow will bring. References Coyle, C. , Vaughn, H. (2008). Social networking: Communication revolution or evolution?. Bell Labs Technical Journal, 13(2), 13-17. Retrieved February 7, 2010, doi:10. 1002/bltj. 20298. Groff, J. , Pollermann, B. (1992). World wide web (WWW) history Software engineering, artificial intelligence and expert systems for high energy and nuclear physics. La LondelesMaures, France (retrieved February 10, 2010). History of technology. (2010). In Encyclop? dia Britannica. Retrieved February 10, 2010, from Encyclop? dia Britannica Online:   http://www. britannica. com/EBchecked/topic/1350805/history-of-technology  History timelines of events. (2006). Retrieved February 16, 2010, from Google: http://www. istory-timelines. org. uk/events-timelines/index. htm. Kelly, M. (2010). Top 10 significant industrial revolution inventors (American History). Retrieved Feb 16, 2010, http://americanhistory. about. com/od/industrialrev/tp/inventors. htm McMillin, K. (1999, April 1). Technology advancements driven by scientists or artists. Retrieved February 16, 2010 from Offshore,59, 3/8. Turkle, S. (2003). Technology and Human Vulnerability. Harvard Business Review, 81(9), 43-50. Retrieved February 16, 2010, from Business Source Complete database. Technology and the Evolution of Communication Essay Example Technology and the Evolution of Communication Essay Technology and the Evolution of Communication Technology, driven by innovation, provided people with the ability to communicate with other people all over the world. Some would say this technology helped the masses to become more introverted as it has the potential to separate individuals from the neighbors across the street. The online environment was once used infrequently as cyberspace remained relatively unknown to the public. Individuals received their bills in the mail and in turn, wrote a check to pay the amount due, added a stamp to the return envelope, and returned it through the mail service. In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau created the World Wide Web while working on hypertext systems (Groff Pollermann, 1992). Technology by definition, is the means or activity by which man seeks to change or manipulate his environment (History of technology, 2010). As long as man has existed on earth, advancement has been accomplished by some type of technology. Dating back to the stone age, it is evident that technology existed in the simplest form as a spear or bow and arrow, which were used throughout most of the populated earth. Innovation provided a way for the weapons to be sharper and faster. Evidence of these innovations exists in the form of cave paintings spanning from Australia to areas in southern France and northern Spain. Although the date of the invention of the potters wheel, the bow drill, and the pole lathe is unknown, some speculate that it was in the Late Neolithic Period. These invented and refined items helped the people of that period to fish, hunt game, and gather food. These people developed basic tools and weapons created by using the raw materials they had at their disposal. We will write a custom essay sample on Technology and the Evolution of Communication specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Technology and the Evolution of Communication specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Technology and the Evolution of Communication specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer These weapons were then used to hunt for food, and the tools were needed to help with the development of food production. The basic need to eat generated innovations through the years and the gathering of food meant there was a need for planting, harvesting, and creating an irrigation system that worked to water the crops. Technology was at work as they created tools to help them plant, grow, and harvest their crops (History of technology, 2010). Giving consideration to these facts, humans moved forward in history. From the beginning stages of technology and the events during the Stone Age, to what people presently know and use in the world of technology, historians recognize that there may have been phases when technology developed at a diminished pace. Even through all this, the evolution of the concept was never completely halted. In the 19th century, the industrial revolution had a direct affect on the economic development of the United States as well as Britain and Europe. Four major inventions developed during this time, set the stage for future events. These included improvements made in the manufacturing processes within the textile industry, the invention of the telephone, the harnessing of electricity, and the expansion of transportation across the country into areas that previously took days and weeks to reach (Kelly, 2010). As one of the most recognized times for technology pushing innovation, this period in history provided man with the understanding and capability to invent new and faster ways of producing, developing, and traveling. During this same period, three inventors made a lasting change on the way in which people continue to communicate, even today. Thomas Edison was the first of the most recognized inventors of the time. His inventions, which included the phonograph, the light bulb, and the motion picture, had a direct affect on Americas growth as well as its history. The second of the inventors, celebrated for his lasting contributions to communication, was Samuel F. B. Morse, recognized for how he changed the public communication system through the use of the telegraph. Morses invention revolutionized the transmission of messages, not to mention the means and distance by which they were sent and received. It allowed the public to move information at a much more rapid pace than they had previously experienced. Finally, the heralded inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, deserves equal credit among the inventors for his powerful invention that, again, altered the realm of communication (Kelly, 2010). The importance of these inventions celebrated during the industrial revolution remains apparent. The modes of communication and social interaction that began in the 19th century laid the foundation for the social networking cycle that would rapidly evolve throughout history. In reviewing the timeline below (Table one), it is apparent that there has been an on-going push for advancement within the realm of communication. Table one Hewlett Packard (HP) foundedCompuServe introduces online serviceE-mail introducedComputers introduced to publicCyberspace term coinedWorld Wide Web introduced to publicE-mail becomes more popular than postal mailWeblogs begin to appearMySpace is foundedFacebook is foundedYouTube is foundedSocial networking is one of the most influential modes of communication 193919691972197719841991199619982003200420052010 Computers enable the public to utilize the world wide web as a social networking tool Note. History timelines of events, 2006, history-timelines. org. uk/events The article, Social Networking (Coyle, Vaughn, 2008), supports the ideas that social networking has evolved at a rapid pace. This type of communication has been used for many reasons and has slowly and steadily evolved over the years to include such things as basic networking, discussion of common hobbies, and finding lost friends and loved ones via the computer. Over the course of many years, technology, and thus the very civilization, has progressed from the introduction of more advanced and challenging online services, to the World Wide Web of social networking. In this arena, the average individual can expect to quickly and easily conduct everyday business that may include such luxuries as online work meetings or alternate methods for paying bills. With these advancements in technology, e-mail steadily became more convenient and gradually gained popularity, replacing services once provided by the postal service. In considering the goods and services readily available to ordinary people via the World Wide Web, not to mention the ease and convenience of such services, one must marvel at the evolution of technology and what it has afforded us, all in such a short timeframe. Most recently, innovations in the world of social networking have made it a giant in the world of advanced online communications. As the public gains familiarity with cyberspace, the popularity of these available resources has become more prominent in the everyday world. The year 2010 has seen social networking become one of the most influential modes of communication. MySpace, introduced in 2003, remains one of the most visited sites on the web today, with sites such as Facebook and Twitter close on its heels and rapidly gaining popularity. Even with the obvious advancements and advantages technology offers everyday individuals, skepticism remains. Many believe that the evolution of technology has been a necessary component when addressing advancement and considering new ways to live our lives. Critics contend that, even with the convenience and practicality associated with the use of the innovations and technology, pitfalls exist. Sherry Turkle raised concerns pertaining to the Internet. She invested considerable time and energy engaged with her team in observations and studies focused on the negative aspects of technology and the important place that it holds in our society. Based upon their findings, Sherry and her team concluded that too many people are spending too much time online creating imaginary identities, living in a virtual reality, and spending too many hours living in parallel worlds. Sherry believes that we need to take a second look at the consequences of living in virtual worlds and how individuals can quite possibly lose their identity. She contends that we must step back and consider these dangers before aggressively moving into the future. In addition to arguments that contend that we have become victims of parallel worlds, there exists the reality that schools and classrooms have access to the Internet and have been affected by the ease and availability of technology and communication. Some would caution that the information available on computer programs and the Internet, though helpful for students living and working in today’s society, may have its disadvantages. An example of this type of concern is found when one considers such media as a PowerPoint presentation used in today’s classrooms. Although the creation of this format lends itself to more effectively presenting information, it is also a means that limits the challenge a student is afforded. One study found that although this format was successful in presenting the necessary information for students, the bullet-point outline seemed to discourage the amount of give-and-take during discussions (Turkle, 2003). One may consider that we have quite possibly become too caught up with these computer generated programs, and argue our society has gone past the point of no return. Is this the point of no return, or are we learning to live in an Internet based, computerized generation? Both our future and the future of technology are hinged on the necessity to comprehend and master cyberspace. This includes the World Wide Web and all its qualities, both good and bad. People looking for an escape or trying to find a new reality can easily find it on the web. The Internet provides a wide range of resources spanning from basic gaming to running a business. Each person who logs onto the Internet has the choice between meaningful and trivial content. This is one of the freedoms afforded us through the World Wide Web. Social networking sites are gaining popularity for their convenience and ease, making life less complicated for many. Table two Note. Top five Social Networking Sites ranked according to Retention Rate, April 2006 Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, May 2006 Table two shows the gaining popularity of social networking and the retention rates achieved up to April 2006. The chain of events that has led up to our societys ability to lose themselves online began with an invention. The invention of the computer was the beginning of the information age. This invention, followed shortly thereafter by online service, public access to the Internet, and finally, the development of the World Wide Web, were steps in a progressive chain that would eventually take people into the future. Once the public understood how to access the web, communication took on a new look. E-mail became a major communication tool, weblogs became a venue for people to chat and speak their minds, and then websites such as MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube began to catch on as people used these sites to communicate as well as locate one another. The negative aspect of this new venue seems to be the amount of time spent on their computers and less time interfacing with other humans. Technology and innovation are necessary for humans to advance. Although some would argue that this is creating a society of introverts, I would argue otherwise. The technology that we use today is driven by innovation, and innovation is the key ingredient necessary for people to recognize a need, and then fill it. One could argue that they go hand-in-hand. The leaders of tomorrow will be mastering this very technology. We are not creating introverts, but merely reaching out and grasping what tomorrow will bring. References Coyle, C. , Vaughn, H. (2008). Social networking: Communication revolution or evolution?. Bell Labs Technical Journal, 13(2), 13-17. Retrieved February 7, 2010, doi:10. 1002/bltj. 20298. Groff, J. , Pollermann, B. (1992). World wide web (WWW) history Software engineering, artificial intelligence and expert systems for high energy and nuclear physics. La LondelesMaures, France (retrieved February 10, 2010). History of technology. (2010). In Encyclop? dia Britannica. Retrieved February 10, 2010, from Encyclop? dia Britannica Online:   http://www. britannica. com/EBchecked/topic/1350805/history-of-technology  History timelines of events. (2006). Retrieved February 16, 2010, from Google: http://www. istory-timelines. org. uk/events-timelines/index. htm. Kelly, M. (2010). Top 10 significant industrial revolution inventors (American History). Retrieved Feb 16, 2010, http://americanhistory. about. com/od/industrialrev/tp/inventors. htm McMillin, K. (1999, April 1). Technology advancements driven by scientists or artists. Retrieved February 16, 2010 from Offshore,59, 3/8. Turkle, S. (2003). Technology and Human Vulnerability. Harvard Business Review, 81(9), 43-50. Retrieved February 16, 2010, from Business Source Complete database.

World Wrestling Federation Essay Example

World Wrestling Federation Essay Example World Wrestling Federation Paper World Wrestling Federation Paper The World Wrestling Federation (WWF) become the worlds dominant international entertainment business by the creative management of Vince McMahon. Wrestling used to be restricted to perform only in its territory and respect other domain, but McMahon neglected the rules and started to monopolise the business. McMahon was a brilliant promoter who innovate the WWF as varities wrestling show. The WWF joined with music, movie and television business. Many merchandises were produced under the WWF brand. After several years of the WWF domination, the WCW were established and started to be a big threat for McMahon.Many of his wrestlers were recruited to the WCW under new management of Eric Bischoff. The competition was getting worse for the WWF when Bret Harts contact was about to expire. However, retaining Hart in the WWF couldnt change the situation. Finally, Hart was released to the WCW. Strategy alalyse. 1. Medias such as television and cable networks were effective in order to expose a new product (the WWF) to aware American consumers. Providing varieties of the WWFs wrestlers distinguish this crowd from others. 2. McMahon put a lot of effort to create characteristic for his wrestlers. These produced charmful wrestlers for the fans.In the other word, they are qualities product from the WWF. Scripts and costumes were neatly selected for each character, emphasizing attractive persona. 3. Leaving the Georgia territory was the biggest mistake of McMahon. To monopolise the business, it is very important to make sure that the business is difficult for anyone to enter. But the WWF abondoned the territory leaving a chance for Ted Turner to enter the business. 1. Introduction 1. 1 Background of Wrestling World Wrestling Federation (WWF) is one of the most well known association in the world, especially, among men and boys.Many people may misunderstand that it is a gentlemen fighting club as well as other ones such as WBA, WBF or K-1. However, according to its owner, Vince McMahon Jr. , WWF is in an entertainment business, not wrestling one. The wrestling, originally showed in circus, has long history in American entertainment business. There are several regional wrestlers and promoters. Their domains are clearly divided and the gentlemens agreement to respect their domain and others had ruled for two decades, until Vince McMahon Jr. entered into the business.About Vince McMahon Vince McMahon Jr. followed his father footsteps became a wrestling promoter after he had struggled in bitter life with his stepfathers. Despite his father firstly discourage him to join the business, McMahon Jr. was fulled with inspiration and ambition to succeed in this business. Being trained by his father provided him valueable experiences which cannot be acquired through other promoters espectially the McMahons domain covered big cities like Washington, D. C. , Boston and New York City.Operating wresting matches in Madison Square Garden would be a great classroom for young McMahon, and also had a chance to study the television side of the operation. One fortunate day, he had a chance to try ring announcer because an absence of his fathers ringside announcers and his talent was recognised. By taking up this position full time, McMahon started to understand viewers wants. When McMahon Sr. was retiring as a result of cancer, McMahon Jr. had to buy the WWF outright instead of take it over from his father.The first move of McMahon was harsh and beyond the line of wrestling promoters that borders are no longer respected. 1. 3 Rising of the WWF In the first year of taking control the WWF, McMahon started to create next generation fans focusing on kids in town and tried to eliminate the border idea which had ruled wrestling for years. Television is the strongest and most effective influnce in such big country like the U. S. Soon, half of the country on the eastern coast could see the WWF at home. Certainly, McMahons breach of borders caused conflicts with other promoters.However, to win the competition was not as tough as it seemed. McMahon accurately estimated his competitors were lack of business experience. Most of them were former wrestlers and overestimated McMahon by the tremendous presence of the WWF in TV. As a result, these rivals gave up their territories and the WWF now broadcast across the country. After TV media achieved the WWF to counquer national territory, McMahon then move forward to cable network with a vision that this can increase revenues by pay-per-view, at the same time, it extends fan-club base.Merchandises and licensing revenues such as action figures, foam fingers, cereals and many other toys generated enomous amount of money from the popularity of the WWF. The WWF was not about only wrestling things anymore, opening the matches with rock concerts, explosions and excitement of speculators fascinate speculators and attracted millions of viewers at home. Growing together with the cable, the WWF became world-wide wrestling team. Japanese, Mexican and Canadian wrestlers were imported to the WWF and these contenders dared to do more dare-devil actions for fames and fortune.WCW: A New Challenger Ted Turner owned a cable television empire and broadcasted the WWF programme in his TBS station. Turner wanted to join the business with McMahon but the agreement could not happen, followed by the move away of the WWF from TBS and McMahon sold a territory out. Ted Turner then bought the territory and established the World Championship Wrestling (WCW). The WCW was an out-of-leage competitor at the first, but with capital reserve, cable networks and patience, he turned up to be a dangerous competitor McMahon ever faced.Eric Bischoff was a hero brought the WCW to superior the WWF. Bischoff attcked the weak point of the WWF which, at that time, struggled with the governments investigation of a steroid drug distribution scandal. As a result, many of WWF wrestlers were recruited to the WCW camp, started from former WWF superstars like Hogan and Savage, then stars on the stage like Lex Luger. The competition was getting intense for the WWF when a contract of its greatest wrestler, Bret Hart, was about to expire. McMahon offered an undenieable contract to Bret Hart to keep majority of the WWFs fans.Unfortunately, the outcome of the contract did not pay out. Fans strangely started to like a vilainous wrestler and Harts popularity was declining. Bret Hart turned not to be as worth as his paid. Hart could be neither a perfect hero nor a horrible villain. McMahon decided to cut the losses by shifting Hart to the WCW. Worse than that, conflicts between Hart and Shawn Michaels got too far to be just scripted. The competition between the WWF and the WCW had points to analyse and learn from it. 2. Case Analyses 2. 1 How did vince McMahon Build the WWF?Wrestling used to be stricted by a gentlemens agreement that not to invade other promoters domain. But Vince McMahon was a liberated promoter who started to break the agreement. McMahon took advantages of medias, his weak opponents and his territory was likely giving him better oppotunity. 1. Medias Firstly, he convinced a regional television station to broadcast his shows. The taped programme is possibly more attractive than live program because the shows is more intense, scenes are selected and exciting point can be replayed, zoom up or even re-filmed to make it better.In addition, almost everyhouse in the U. S. has television. Wrestling can be seen in by every one in the area, as easy as push a remote-control button. McMahon had a vision to use cable network to broadcast the WWFs shows. Cable was not only to extend the WWFs domain to oversea, but also unexpectedly bring back dare-devil wrestler from oversea. In addition, television was common way all over America to enter the others domain. Regardless of differences in states, American people are likely addicted to television. RAW, a Monday Night programme, was the extended programme from McMahon to tide fans with the WWF.Weak Opponents McMahon analysed his opponents correctly. Because he had been trained with his father before, this provided him deep understanding of other promotors background. In every competition, well understanding of opponent are crucial in order to defeat rivals. Most of promotors were former wrestler, lack of business experience. Moreover, at that time, wrestling was not the business generate revenues for the promotors so much thus low capital reserve was the other factor reduced endurance to compete in the business.McMahons opponents might think that it was not worth to compete with big promoter like McMahon for a low-income business, plus, they might not have knowledge to compete. 3. His territory McMahon had such a resourceful territory where cover major metropolitan on the eastern coast. Firstly, McMahons income would be relatively higher than other promoters due to a great number of population in the area. Dealing events with large corporates in New York City would give him incredibly greater experience than other promoters to organise business in environment that competition is cruelly intense.McMahon learned to use medias to manipulate market trend as same as other companies in New York do. McMahon had opportunities to learn, try and develop his business strategy. So, with his vision to dominate the business, his position provided him abundant resources to do so. Innovatively, the WWF presented viewers more than typical wrestling like others. McMahon carefully created fascinasting characters for his wrestlers. Each character has its own distinctive charisma. Wrestlers are clearly seperated into two groups: babyface (good guy) and chief heel (bad guy).Matches were about competing between good and evil, full of enthusiasm spectators cheered their wrestler. Regardless of the fact that the result of the fight were decided by McMahon, viewers were still keen to watch it because of charmful characters. Costumes also accent the characters personality. And the WWF was not only about wrestlers on the ring any more, but also the WWF wrestlers lifestyle were broadcasted, showing ordinary people participated in their life to show on TV, helping fans keeptrack of the alliances.This strategy wisely increased enthusiasm in the WWF fans, and create brand loyalty. McMahon expose wrestlers in his camp variously in other entermaint business such as movies and music. On the other hands, celebrities in these business were brought to present in the WWFs matches opening. The WWF matches provided more exciting shows than others: started with the rock concert, explosions, elevated platforms and breathtaking matches that everyone waiting for.Many wrestlers in the WWF becomes rock stars or movie stars. Hulk Hogan was a famous one and the recent one is the Rock who has several movies in Hollywood. Sometimes, the wrestlers were invited to present in talk shows, telling fans about their private life. This marketing strategy is to repeatedly shows the product (the WWF wrestlers) to consumers, generating familarity and increase visibility of product which increase purchasing possibility, in the other words, viewers become the WWF fans.

Participant observation assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Participant observation assignment - Essay Example The employees are rushing up and down to ensure the increasing number of customers is served to satisfaction. The coffee shop is set up in cool and attractive environment with a relaxed ambiance convenient for all kinds of people. The sense of hygiene can be easily noticed by the clean floor made of stained concrete with further decorations of blue and magenta runner at the entrance. Towards the front are set four small round wooden tables each with two wooden chairs that have attractive brown cushions. At the back, one cannot fail to notice a leather couch that provides a perfect position to watch the television situated above the counter. Further relaxing environment is provided by the outside sitting place. Through the corridor leading to the outside place, there are posters and samples in small wooden shelves for the customers to take home. Two beautiful women converse in a low tone as they are waiting to be served at the counter. One of the ladies seems to be in her early thirties is wearing a short black skirt and a plain white blouse and carrying a brown handbag. The other lady is simple and seems to be in her late twenties. She is wearing blue jeans with college jacket that was buttoned not letting anyone see what she was wearing inside. "Next please" the barista whose name is Cristabel said in a soft, friendly voice. The two ladies moved close and made their order. At the couch, there are seated two men, Santi and Costa. They are talking in Spanish, and it is clear that they are speaking about what is in the news as they keep pointing to the television. They are workmates as they are wearing what seems to be work uniform with name tags on them. "Good morning guys, how is the coffee today?" One of the female workers was asking Santi and Costa as he was clearing their table. "It is great as usual. I will come for th e secret ingredient so that I can surprise my wife with an awesome

Gluten free diet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Gluten free diet - Essay Example The gluten containing substances should be known for sure because common food items that we consume in our everyday life which include pizza, pasta, sauces, cakes, cookies, soups and candies might also contain gluten. Certain sauces as well as wafers and chips are also known to contain gluten. Hence it is essential that before these items are consumed it should be checked if they are gluten free or not. This care should also be taken in the case of certain medications because vitamin supplements and medicines are also known to contain this substance gluten. To assist people in finding the appropriate food items for themselves the American Dietetic Association provided the names of items which were free from gluten. These include rice, potatoes, corn and nuts. It is also known that fruits and green vegetables are free from gluten. To further assist in this process the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) in the United States was created in the year 2006. This ac t required the food processing companies to clearly mention the name of allergens on the bottles so that the consumer might be sure about the presence of gluten. The disease states in which a strict gluten free diet is recommended are known as celiac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis. It is also known that for children who suffer from autism it is helpful to recommend a gluten free diet for them. Celiac disease results due to the disturbances that occur in the intestine when gluten comes in contact with the lining. It leads to the initiation of an inflammatory process which damages the lining of the intestine and hence results in poor absorption form the small intestine. The patient complains of symptoms related to the gastrointestinal tract which include pain in the abdomen, vomiting, constipation and weight loss. In long standing cases the patient develops anemia which results due to the deficiency of anemia. Dermatitis herpetiformis are skin lesions that occur with or

Alice Munro the Found Boat Essay Example for Free

Alice Munro the Found Boat Essay At the end of Bell Street, McKay Street, Mayo Street, there was the Flood. It was the Wawanash River, which every spring overflowed its banks. Some springs, say one in every five, it covered the roads on that side of town and washed over the fields, creating a shallow choppy take. Light reflected off the water made every- thing bright and cold, as it is in a lakeside town, and woke or revived in people certain vague hopes of disaster. Mostly during the late afternoon and early evening, there were people straggling out to took at it, and discuss whether it was still rising, and whether this time it might invade the town. In general, those under fifteen and over sixty-five were most certain that it would. Eva and Carol rode out on their bicycles. They left the road-it was the end of Mayo Street, past any houses- and rode right into a field, over a wire fence entirely flattened by the weight of the winters snow. They coasted a little way before the long grass stopped them, then left their bicycles lying down and went to the water. We have to find a log and ride on it, Eva said. Jesus, well freeze our legs off. Jesus, well freeze our legs off said one of the boys who were there too at the waters edge. He spoke in a sour whine, the way boys imitated girls although it was nothing like the way girls talked. These boys-there were three of them- were all in the same class as Eva and Carol at school and were known to them by name (their names being Frank, Bud and Clayton), but Eva and Carol, who had seen and recognized them from the road, had not spoken to them or looked at them or, even yet, given any sign o f knowing they were there. The boys seemed to be trying to make a raft, from lumber they had salvaged from the water. Eva and Carol took off their shoes and socks and waded in. The water was so cold it sent pain up their legs, like blue electric sparks shooting through their veins, but they went on, putting their skirts high, tight behind and bunched so they could hold them in front. Look at the fat-assed ducks in wading. Fat-assed f****. Eva and Carol, of course, gave no sign of hearing this. They laid hold of a log and climbed on, taking a couple of boards floating in the water for addles. There were always things floating around in the Flood-branches, fence-rails, logs, road signs, old lumber; sometimes boilers, washtubs, pots and pans, or even a car seat or stuffed chair, as if somewhere the Flood had got into a dump. They paddled away from shore, heading out into the cold take. The water was perfectly clear, they could see the brown grass swimming along the bottom. Suppose it was the sea, thought Eva. S he thought of drowned cities and countries. Atlantis. Suppose they were riding in a Viking boat-Viking boats on the Atlantic were more frail and narrow than this log on the Flood-and they had miles of clear sea beneath them, then a spired city, intact as a jewel irretrievable on the ocean floor. This is a Viking boat, she said. I am the carving on the front. She stuck her chest out and stretched her neck, trying to make a curve, and she made a face, putting out her tongue. Then she turned and for the first time took notice of the boys. Hey, you sucks! she yelled at them. You’d be scared to come out here, this water is ten feet deep! Liar, they answered without interest, and she was. They steered the log around a row of trees, avoiding floating barbed wire, and got into a little bay created by a natural hollow of the land. Where the bay was now, there would be a pond full of frogs later in the spring, and by the middle of summer there would be no water visible at all, just a low tangle of reeds and bushes, green, to show that mu d was still wet around their roots. Larger bushes, willows, grew around the steep bank of this pond and were still partly out of the water. Eva and Carol let the log ride in. They saw a place where something was caught. It was a boat, or part of one. An old rowboat with most of one side ripped out, the board that had been the seat just dangling. It was pushed up among the branches, lying on what would have been its side, if it had a side, the prow caught high. Their idea came to them without consultation, at the same time: You guys! Hey, you guys! We found you a boat! Stop building your stupid raft and come and took at the boat! What surprised them in the first place was that the boys really did come, scrambling overland, half running, half sliding down the bank, wanting to see. Hey, where? Where is it, I dont see no boat. What surprised them in the second place was that when the boys did actually see what boat was meant, this old flood-smashed wreck held up in the branches, they did not understand that they had been footed, that a joke had been played on them. They did not show a moments disappointment, but seemed as pleased at the discovery as if the boat had been whole and new. They were already barefoot, because they had been wading in the water to get lumber, and they waded in here without a stop, surrounding the boat and appraising it and paying no attention even of an insulting kind to Eva and Carol who bobbed up and down on their log. Eva and Carol had to call to them. How do you think you’re going to get it off.? It wont float anyway. What makes you think it will float? Itll sink. Glub-blub-blub, you’ll all be drownded. The boys did not answer, because they were too busy walking around the boat, pulling at it in a testing way to see how it could be got off with the least possible damage. Frank, who was the most literate, talkative and inept of the three, began referring to the boat as she, an affectation which Eva and Carol acknowledged with fish-mouths of contempt. Shes caught two places. You got to be careful not to tear a hole in her bottom. Shes heavier than youd think. It was Clayton who climbed up and freed the boat, and Bud, a tall fat boy, who got the weight of it on his back to turn it into the water so that they could half float, half carry it to shore. All this took some time. Eva and Carol abandoned their log and waded out of the water. They walked overland to get their shoes and socks and bicycles. They did not need to come back this way but they came. They stood at the top of the hill, leaning on their bicycles. They did not go on home, but they did not sit down and frankly watch, either. They stood more or less facing each other, but glancing down at the water and at the boys struggling with the boat, as if they had just halted for a moment out of curiosity, and staying longer than they intended, to see what came of this unpromising project. About nine oclock, or when it was nearly dark-dark to people inside the houses, but not quite dark outside-they all returned to town, going along Mayo Street in a sort of procession. Frank and Bud and Clayton came carrying the boat, upside-down, and Eva and Carol walked behind, wheeling their bicycles. The boys’ heads were almost hidden in the darkness of the overturned boat, with its smell of soaked wood, cold swampy water. The girls could took ahead and see the street lights in their tin reflectors, a necklace of lights climbing Mayo Street, reaching all the way up to the standpipe. They turned onto Burns Street heading for Clayton’s house, the nearest house belonging to any of them. nis was not the way home for Eva or for Carol either, but they followed along. The boys were perhaps too busy carrying the boat to tell them to go away. Some younger children were still out playing, playing hopscotch on the sidewalk though they could hardly see. At this time of year the bare sidewalk was still such a novelty and delight. These children cleared out of the way and watched the boat 90 by with unwilling respect; they shouted questions after it, wanting to know where it came from and what was going to be done with it. No one answered them. Eva and Carol as well as the boys refused to answer or even took at them. The five of them entered Clayton’s yard. Me boys shifted weight, as if they were going to put the boat down. You better take it round to the back where nobody can see it, Carol said. That was the first thing any of them had said since they came into town. The boys said nothing but went on, following a mud path between Clayton’s house and a leaning board fence. They let the boat down in the back yard. Its a stolen boat, you know, said Eva, mainly for the effect. It mustve belonged to somebody. You stole it. You was the ones who stole it then, Bud said, short of breath. It was you seen it first. -It was you took it. It was all of us then. If one of us gets in trouble then all of us does. Are you going to tell anybody on them? said Carol as she and Eva rode home, along the streets which were dark between the lights now and potholed from winter. â€Å"It’s up to you. I won’t if you won’t. † â€Å"I won’t if you won’t† They rode in silence, relinquishing something, but not discontented. The board fence in Clayton’s back yard had every so often a post which sup, ported it, or tried to, and it was on these posts that Eva and Carol spent several evenings sitting, jauntily but not very comfortably. Or else they just leaned against the fence while the boys worked on the boat. During the first couple of evenings neighborhood children attracted by the sound of hammering tried to get into the yard to see what was going on, but Eva and Carol blocked their way. Who said you could come in here? Just us can come in this yard. These evenings were getting longer, the air milder. Skipping was starting on the sidewalks. Further along the street there was a row of hard maples that had been tapped. Children drank the sap as fast as it could drip into the buckets. The old man and woman who owned the trees, and who hoped to make syrup, came running out of the house making noises as if they were trying to scare away crows. Finally, every spring, the old man would come out on his porch and fire his shot- gun into the air, and then the thieving would stop. None of those working on the boat bothered about stealing sap, though all had done so last year. The lumber to repair the boat was picked up here and there, along back lanes. At this time of year things were lying around-old boards and branches, sodden mitts, spoons Hung out with the dishwater, lids of pudding pots that had been set in the snow to cool, all the debris that can sift through and survive winter. The tools came from Clayton’s cellar-left over, presumably, from the time when his father was alive- and though they had nobody to advise them the boys seemed to figure out more or less the manner in which boats are built, or rebuilt. Frank was the one who showed up with diagrams from books and Popular Mechanics magazines. Clayton looked at these diagrams and listened to Frank read the instructions and then went ahead and decided in his own way what was to be done. Bud was best at sawing. Eva and Carol watched everything from the fence and offered criticism and thought up names. Me names for the boat that they thought of were: Water Lily, Sea Horse, Flood Queen, and Caro-Eve, after them because they had found it. The boys did not say which, if any, of these names they found satisfactory. The boat had to be tarred. Clayton heated up a pot of tar on the kitchen stove and brought it out and painted slowly, his thorough way, sitting astride the overturned boat. The other boys were sawing a board to make a new seat. As Clayton worked, the tar cooled and thickened so that finally he could not move the brush any more. He turned to Eva and held out the pot and said, You ran go in and heat this on the stove. Eva took the pot and went up the back steps. The kitchen seemed black after outside, but it must be light enough to see in, because there was Claytons mother standing at the ironing board, ironing. She did that for a living, took in wash and ironing. Please may I put the tar pot on the stove? said Eva, who had been brought up to talk politely to parents, even wash-and-iron ladies, and who for some reason especially wanted to make a good impression on Claytons mother. You’ll have to poke up the fire then, said Clayton’s mother, as if she doubted whether Eva would know how to do that. But Eva could see now, and she picked up the lid with the stove-lifter, and took the poker and poked up a flame. She stirred the tar as it softened. She felt privileged. Then and later. Before she went to sleep a picture of Clayton came to her mind; she saw him sitting astride the boat, tar painting, with such concentration, delicacy, absorption. She thought of him speaking to her, out of his isolation, in such an ordinary peaceful taking-for- granted voice. On the twenty-fourth of May, a school holiday in the middle of the week, the boat was carried out of town, a long way now, off the road over fields and fences that had been repaired, to where the river flowed between its normal banks. Eva and Carol, as well as the boys, took turns carrying it. It was launched in the water from a cow-trampled spot between willow bushes that were fresh out in leaf. The boys went first. They yelled with triumph when the boat did float, when it rode amazingly down the river current. The boat was painted black, and green inside, with yellow seats, and a strip of yellow all the way around the outside. There was no name on it, after all. The boys could not imagine that it needed any name to keep it separate from the other boats in the world. Eva and Carol ran along the bank, carrying bags full of peanut butter-and- jam sandwiches, pickles, bananas, chocolate cake, potato chips, graham crackers stuck together with corn syrup and five bottles of pop to be cooled in the river water. The bottles bumped against their legs. They yelled for a turn. If they dont let us theyre bastards, Carol said, and they yelled together, We found it! We found it! The boys did not answer, but after a while they brought the boat in, and Carol and Eva came crashing, panting down the bank. Does it leak? It dont leak yet. We forgot a bailing can, waited Carol, but nevertheless she got in, with Eva, and Frank pushed them off, crying, Heres to a Watery Grave! And the thing about being in a boat was that it was not solidly bobbing, like a log, but was cupped in the water, so that riding in it was not like being on some- thing in the water, but like being in the water itself. Soon they were ll going out in the boat in mixed-up turns, two boys and a girt, two girls and a boy, a girl and a boy, until things were so confused it was impossible to tell whose turn came next, and nobody cared anyway. They went down the river-those who werent riding, running along the bank to keep up. They passed under two bridges, one iron, one ceme nt. Once they saw a big carp just resting, it seemed to smile at them, in the bridge-shaded water. They did not know how far they had gone on the river, but things had changed- the water had got shallower, and the land flatter. Across an open field they saw a building that looked like a house, abandoned. They dragged the boat up on the bank and tied it and set out across the field. Thats the old station, Frank said. Thats Pedder Station. The others had heard this name but he was the one who knew, because his father was the station agent in town. He said that this was a station on a branch line that had been tom up, and that there had been a sawmill here, but a long time ago. Inside the station it was dark, cool. All the windows were broken. Glass lay in shards and in fairly big pieces on the door. They walked around finding the larger pieces of glass and tramping on them, smashing them, it was like cracking ice on puddles. Some partitions were still in place, you could see where the ticket window had been. There was a bench lying on its side. People had been here, it looked as if people came here all the time, though it was so far from anywhere. Beer bottles and pop bottles were lying around, also cigarette packages, gum and candy wrappers, the paper from a loaf of bread. The walls were covered with dim and fresh pencil and chalk writings and carved with knives.