Mark Twain, The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn Essay -- essays researc

In the novel by Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the two main characters, Huck and Jim, are strongly linked. Their relation is portrayed by various sides, some of them good and some others bad. But the essential interest of that relation is the way that uses the author to describe it. Even if he had often been misunderstood, Twain always implied a message behind the themes developed around Huck and Jim. The first encounter between Huck Finn and Jim is at the beginning of the book, when Huck’s friend, Tom Sawyer, tries to fool Jim, Miss Watson’s slave. Huck and Jim still don’t know each other, but Huck isn’t biased against the old slave. It’s an important point because, as racism was a widely held mentality in the South, we can learn that that young boy was more open-minded than most people there. Later, they find themselves in the same situation. As they were escaping from the civilized world, they take refuge in the Jackson’s Island, on the Mississippi river. Huck is running away from a bad father and Jim has leaved Miss Watson because he didn’t want to be sold to New Orleans. Soon after joining Jim on the island, Huck begins to realize that Jim has more talents and intelligence than Huck has been aware of. Jim knows "all kinds of signs" about the future, people's personalities, and weather forecasting. Huck finds this kind of information necessary as he and Jim drift down the Mississippi on a raft. As important, Huck feels a comfort with Jim that he has not felt with the other major characters in the novel. With Jim, Huck can enjoy the best aspects of his earlier influences. Jim's meaning to Huck changes as they proceed through their adventure. He starts out as an extra person just to take on the journey, but they transform into a friend. "It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger."(chap. XV) Huck tries to squeal on Jim but can't because he remembers that Jim called him "de bes' fren' I ever had;...de on'y white genlman dat ever kep' his promise to ole Jim."(chap. XVI) Huck reali zes that he can not turn Jim in since they both act as runaway outcasts on the river. The support they have for each other sprouts friendship. As does the Widow, Jim allows Huck security, but Jim is not as confining as is the Widow. Like Tom Sawyer, Jim is intelligent but his intelligence ... ...cial bigot, Tom. In addition, both sacrifices have as a consequence a life of everlasting hell. When Huck sacrifices himself for Jim, he accepts a literal hell (that is truly the path to heaven). Jim, on the other hand, accepts a life of figurative hell in slavery, when he is in fact free all along. Finally, each sacrifice shares irony, in that they were both based on unknown pieces of unknown, but significant pieces of information. Huck is unaware that his decision of accepting "hell" will actually lead to his salvation and ironically decides on doing what the thinks is "wrong." Likewise, Jim is unaware that he is free, and is not risking his freedom in saving Tom. In making these two brave sacrifices, Huck and Jim achieve a higher character than if they had chosen easier paths. Huck's willingness to face hell to protect Jim and Jim's willingness to face capture and slavery to save Tom, both contribute to the overall theme of racial equality/inequality present throughout the book. Huck and Jim's journey down the Mississippi River has led them to look past colour boundaries, and discover that "all me are created equal."

The African-American Nightmare Exposed in Black Literature Essay

African-American Nightmare Exposed in Olaudah Equiano, Narrative of Frederick Douglass, Song of Solomon, and Push    The American Dream was founded on the concept that "all men are created equal"(Jefferson 729) and that everyone has the capability and resources to "pull themselves up by their bootstraps." The Declaration of Independence was written so Americans could achieve this dream, but was not written with the African slave in mind. The African slave was never intended to be a part of this American Dream, therefore, not capable of obtaining it. These slaves were beaten up and/or lynched by their massas with these bootstraps instead of being "pulled up" by them.    Even after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, Blacks still did not have access to all of the privileges of the white world. The Jim Crow laws of 1877 constantly reminded Blacks of their second-class citizenship and also limited them to certain areas and to very few resources. Signs reading "Whites Only" or "Colored" hung over restroom doors, drinking fountains and other public places.    The dominant American Dream narrative involves voluntary participation, forgetting the past, and privileging the individual while the alternative Dream narrative of American minorities involves forced participation, connecting tot the past, and privileging the group-the traditional (extended) or alternative families. So, clearly, to the African-American, there were and still are many restrictions that go along with the American Dream.    The great civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King in his famous speech, "I Have a Dream," delivered August 28, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington, D.C., supports these limi... ...Life of Frederick Douglass. 1845. The Classic Slave Narratives. Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. New York: Penguin Group, 1987. Equiano, Olaudah. The Life of Olaudah Equiano. 1814. The Classic Slave Narratives. Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. New York: Penguin Group, 1987. Hughes, Langston. "Dream Deferred". Literature, Reading Fiction, Poetry, Drama & the Essay. 4th Edition, Published by McGraw Hill, 1998. Jefferson, Thomas. The Declaration of Independence. 1776. The Norton Anthology of American Literature, 4th ed. v.1,ed. Nina Baym et al (NY: Norton, 1994), 729. King, Jr., Martin Luther. "I Have a Dream." A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings of Martin Luther King Jr., Ed. J. M. Washington. Harper & Row, 1986. 217, 219. Morrison, Toni. Song of Solomon. New York: The Penguin Group, 1977. Sapphire. Push. New York: Vintage Contemporaries, 1996.   

Teacher Cadet Essay

Often times we do not consider how a teacher has influenced us. Teachers influence whether we realize it or not can alter a student’s perspective on life. A great many of my previous teachers have left a lasting impression on me that will never be forgotten. I do admit there were much contentment, anguish and memorable things that directly connects me to them. Without my teachers, it is highly impossible for me to stand and be here today. One name in particular stands firm among others and that is Mr. Jesse L. Barrett. Mr. Barrett was my English II Honors teacher my sophomore year in high school. Sadly, he was only my English teacher for one year. I honestly could not have asked for a better teacher. At the same time as making me smile and laugh, he ultimately helped me to be successful in life. Initially, I did not enjoy English as much anymore due to a bad string of teachers who lectured endlessly on random topics other than English. He changed my outlook on life and helped me regain my passion for English. Mr. Barrett motivated me to not settle for mediocre work and to do my absolute best in anything I strived for. I never imagined that I would encounter a teacher that was as meticulous as Mr. Barrett. Everything he did had a specific place and order. He never accepted late work because we were in an honors class that required you to be punctual. This taught me how to be prompt, a skill that will help when I attend college next fall. Mr. Barrett honestly loved teaching and you could hear it in his voice; the way he would sound so excited when we read the Great Gatsby. He creates this atmosphere that causes students to feel comfortable and at ease. Everyone anticipated going to class and were quick to engage in current book discussions. Conveying information to students so they will fully comprehend the standard is his specialty. Although he was very kind and helpful when any issue developed, he was a very strict and concerned educator. Discipline was highly enforced in his classroom which influenced me to be the best student I could possibly be. Mr. Barrett has this method where he asks for input and invites the student to participate in class activities. For example, He would divide the class into groups according to our grade averages. Using this method, I quickly discovered that students in the group are in fact helping one another in answering the questions. It is a very exceptional way in learning English. During the activity, students can consult him and ask questions as well. Before the class ends, he would take out 10 to 20 minutes to summarize his teaching and sometimes even motivate us with stories that he encounters during his days outside of school. Whether he knows it or not, Mr. Barrett has influenced me tremendously. It is amazing how one individual can have such an impact on students. He simply guided me to success and I am honored to have been in such a rigorous and competitive class. Challenging me was really the driving force that connected me to him because I never felt as if the work was too easy or vague. Today, I honestly still believe he has helped me in such a way that it will follow me into my post-secondary career.

Critique of Alexander Pope by Carole Fabricante Essay

â€Å"Defining Self and Others: Pope and Eighteenth Century Gender Ideology† – Carole Fabricante. This is an in depth critique by Carole Fabricante of eighteenth century gender ideologies in which Fabricante uses the poet Alexander Pope’s poetry as an example of changing thoughts towards gender roles. In particular, or as a specific argument, Fabricante warns about the use of ‘active voices’ to relate the situations, circumstances and feelings of the ‘passive’. Herein she discusses the dangers of allowing others who attempt to empathise with the voiceless, to become the main petition for the said people. The eighteenth century being a time in which women were largely relegated to the ‘seen and not heard’ caste, Fabricante examines Pope’s position not only as a protagonist for the ‘unspoken’, but also as devils advocate. She describes Pope’s own history as a crippled and deformed individual whose own identity is compromised by his inability to conform to the socialized standards of masculinity. This would naturally grant Pope a greater ability to empathize with the underdog. â€Å"Deformed, dwarfish, sickly, and probably impotent as a result of having contracted spinal tuberculosis in infancy, Pope was someone whose â€Å"manhood† was continually being called into question both by his enemies in print and by the women in his life, not to mention by his own ironic perceptions of himself. † (Fabricante). As a result of his own deformity, Fabricante asserts that his own idea of patriarchal power hierarchy and that this may at some level give him a greater lease to speak for those who ‘cannot’. Pope is by no means a passive voice, although speaking as a women in poems such as â€Å"Eloisa to Abelard† and â€Å"Epistle to Miss Blount†, Fabricante does question whether Pope uses a form of political satire to direct is ideas. However Fabricante does admit the following: â€Å"Pope’s ambiguous and contradictory position in society affords us the opportunity to explore the dialectical interaction between the voices of marginality and dominance as these vye, not only among different groups in society, but also within a single personality and consciousness. †(Fabricante). The paper as a whole questions the usage over time of writers, artists and activists in order to speak for others, believing that this is not a clear or authentic view of those individuals. She compares Pope’s representation of women to that of Swift, another eighteenth century poet. In this comparison she examines the subtlety with which Pope describes women as a victim of choice-less marriages and breeding stock as opposed to Swifts considerably less authentic identification. She also explores the use of objectification of women as an entity for which the primary necessity it fulfils, are men. As an exploratory paper, Fabricante does touch on a great deal of the effects of subjugation of women as the ‘other’ over time. This is particularly important in an era such as the eighteenth century where the socialized acceptance by women of their fate, was beginning to disintegrate. Following the Renaissance, reading the likes of Shakespeares Othello and Romeo and Juliet, the discomfort faced by women was already rearing its head. However, it took centuries for this transformation to come into fruition. I feel that at times Fabricante attacks the wrong people though. In the beginning her main focus is on the Foucauldian perception of the voiceless being incarcerated by those intent on speaking for them. In many ways this practice does rob the recipient even further of their own right to be heard, however, those who can identify say for instance with abortion, may not be able to speak for themselves. This leads in the end, to no one getting anywhere. The point, I believe of people speaking for others, is not to precipitate further oppression, but to give them the strength to speak for themselves. Foucault, as Fabricante uses for an example, was himself a minority, being outwardly gay and questioning the idea of transgression as perceived by society, makes a good representation of those previously voiceless speaking out. As a sociological argument, Fabricante is eloquent and aggressive and may strike the reader as being decidedly feminist, although this may be a misconception on the part of the reader. Fabricante makes many interesting and pertinent points although she is not easy to read. For this reason it necessary to remember that the paper is not a poetic analysis, but a personality one. In the greater scheme of social theory, Fabricante displays all the downfalls and assets of social study particularly that of the need to label people as ‘other’. Describing another group or individual as ‘other’ is a social truth, as all things that can be defined, must by all intents and purposes possess an opposite. I believe Fabricante’s dissertation to be insightful, if at times a little aggressive. The paper sometimes appeared a little confused, perhaps because she uses a number of external which are placed within her own ideas.

You Suck: A Love Story Chapter 8

Chapter Eight She Walks in Beauty Jody moved down Columbus Avenue with long, runway-model strides, feeling the windblown fog brush by her like the chill ghosts of rejected suitors. What she could never teach Tommy, what she could never really share with him, was what it felt like to move from being a victim – afraid of attack, the shadow around the corner, the footsteps behind – to being the hunter. It wasn't the stalking or the rush of taking down prey – Tommy would understand that. It was walking down a dark street, late at night, knowing that you were the most powerful creature there, that there was absolutely nothing, no one, that could fuck with you. Until she had been changed and had stalked the city as a vampire, she never realized that virtually every moment she had been there as a woman, she had been a little bit afraid. A man would never understand. That was the reason for the dress and the shoes – not to attract a minion, but to throw her sexuality out there on display, dare som e underevolved male to make the mistake of seeing her as a victim. Truth be told, although it had come down to confrontation only once, and then she'd been wearing a baggy sweatshirt and jeans, Jody enjoyed kicking ass. She also enjoyed – every bit as much – just knowing that she could. It was her secret. Without fear, the City was a great sensual carnival. There was no danger in anything she experienced, no anxiety. Red was red, yellow didn't mean caution, smoke didn't mean fire, and the mumbling of the four Chinese guys standing by their car just around the corner was just the click and twang of empty swinging dick talk. She could hear their hearts speed up when they saw her, could smell sweat and garlic and gun oil coming off them. She'd learned the smell of fear and imminent violence, too, of sexual arousal and surrender, although she'd have been hard-pressed to describe any of that. It was just there. Like color. You know†¦ Try to describe blue. Without mentioning blue. See? There weren't a lot of people out on the street at this time of night, but there were a few, spread up the length of Columbus: barhoppers, late diners just wrapping it up, college boys heading down to the strip clubs on Broadway, the exodus from Cobb's Comedy Club up the street, people giddy and so into the rhythm of laughing that they found one another and everything they saw hilarious – all of them vibrant, wearing auras of healthy pink life, trailing heat and perfume and cigarette smoke and gas held through long dinners. Witnesses. The Chinese guys weren't harmless, by any means, but she didn't think they'd attack her, and she felt a twinge of regret. One of them, the one with the gun, yelled something at her in Cantonese – something sleazy and insulting, she could tell by the tone. She spun as she walked, smiled her biggest red carpet smile, and without breaking stride, said, â€Å"Hey, nano-dick, go fuck yourself!† There was a lot of bluster and shuffle, the smart one, the one with fear coming off him, held his friend Nano-dick back, thus saving his life. She must be a cop, or just crazy. Something's wrong. They clustered around their tricked-out Honda and huffed out great breaths of testosterone and frustration. Jody grinned, and detoured up a side street, away from traffic. â€Å"My night,† she said to herself. â€Å"Mine.† Now off the main drag, she saw only a single old man shuffling ahead of her. His life aura looked like a burned-out bulb, a spot of dark gray around him. He walked stooped over, with a dogged determination, as if he knew that if he stopped, he would never start again. From what she could tell, he never would. He wore baggy, wide-wale corduroys that made the sound of rodents nesting when he walked. A wisp of breeze off the Bay brought Jody the acrid smell of failing organs, of stale tobacco, of despair, of a deep, rotting sickness, and she felt the elation leave her. She slipped comfortably into the new slot the night had made for her, like tumblers of a lock slipping into place. She made sure that she made enough noise so that he could hear her approaching, and when she was beside him, he paused, his feet still moving in tiny steps that turned him to the side, as if his motor was idling. â€Å"Hi,† she said. He smiled. â€Å"My, you are a lovely girl. Would you walk with me?† â€Å"Sure.† They walked a few steps together before he said, â€Å"I'm dying, you know.† â€Å"Yeah, I kind of figured,† Jody said. â€Å"I'm just walking. Thinking, and walking. Mostly walking.† â€Å"Nice night for it.† â€Å"A little cold, but I don't feel it. I got a whole pocketful of painkillers. You want one?† â€Å"No, I'm good. Thanks.† â€Å"I ran out of things to think about.† â€Å"Just in time.† â€Å"I wondered if I'd get to kiss a pretty girl once before the end. I think that would be all I'd want.† â€Å"What's your name?† â€Å"James. James O'Mally.† â€Å"James. My name is Jody. I'm pleased to meet you.† She stopped and offered her hand to shake. â€Å"The pleasure is all mine, I assure you,† said James, bowing as best he could. She took his face in her hands, and steadied him, then kissed him on the lips, softly and for a long time, and when she pulled away they were both smiling. â€Å"That was lovely,† James O'Mally said. â€Å"Yes it was,† Jody said. â€Å"I suppose I'm finished now,† James said. â€Å"Thank you.† â€Å"The pleasure was all mine,† Jody said. â€Å"I assure you.† Then she put her arms around his slight frame, and held him, one hand cradling the back of his head like an infant, and he only trembled a little when she drank. A little later, she bundled his clothes together under her arm, and hooked his old wing tips on two fingers. The dust that had been James O'Mally was spread in a powdery-gray pile on the sidewalk, like a negative shadow, a bleached spot. She brushed it flat with her palm, and wrote, Nice kiss, James, with her fingernail. As she walked away, an hourglass trickle of James trailed out of his clothes behind her and was carried off on the chill bay breeze. The guy working the door of the Glas Kat looked like a raven had exploded on his head, his hair plastered out in a chaos of black spikes. The music coming from inside sounded like robots fucking. And complaining about it. In rhythmic monotone. European robots. Tommy was a little intimidated. ‘Sploded raven-head guy had better fangs than he did, was paler, and had seventeen silver rings in his lips. (Tommy had counted.) â€Å"Bet it's hard to whistle with those in, huh?† Tommy asked. â€Å"Ten dollars,† said ‘Sploded. Tommy gave him the money. He checked Tommy's ID and stamped his wrist with a red slash. Just then a group of Japanese girls dressed like tragic Victorian baby dolls breezed by behind Tommy, waving their wrist slashes like they'd just returned from a joyful suicide party instead of smoking cloves on the street. They, too, looked more like vampires than Tommy did. He shrugged and entered the club. Everyone, it appeared, looked more like a vampire than he did. He'd bought some black jeans and a black leather jacket at the Levi's store while Jody was off finding something hideous for her mother for Christmas, but evidently he should have been looking for some black lipstick and something cobalt- or fuchsia-colored to weave into his hair. And in retrospect, the flannel shirt may have been a mistake. He looked like he'd shown up at the sacrificial mass of the damned ready to fix the dishwasher. The music changed to an ethereal female chorus of Celtic nonsense. With a techno beat. And robots complaining. Grumpy robots. He tried to listen around it, the way Jody had taught him. With all the black light, strobes, and black clothing, his newly heightened senses were overloading. He tried to focus on people's faces, their life auras, look through the haze of heat, hairspray, and patchouli for the girl he'd met at Walgreens. Tommy had felt alone in a crowd before, even inferior to everyone in a crowd, but now he felt, well, different. It wasn't just the clothes and the makeup, it was the humanity. He wasn't part of it. Heightened senses or not, he felt like he had his nose pressed against the window, looking in. The problem was, it was the window of a donut shop. â€Å"Hey!† Someone grabbed his arm and he wheeled around so quickly that the girl nearly tumbled over backwards, startled. â€Å"Fuck! Dude.† â€Å"Hi,† Tommy said. â€Å"Wow.† Thinking, Ah, jelly donut. It was the girl from Walgreens. She was nearly a foot shorter than he, and a little skinny. Tonight she'd gone with the waifish look, wearing striped stockings with holes ripped in them and a shiny red PVC miniskirt. She'd traded in her Lord Byron shirt for a tank top, black, of course, with dripping red letters that read got blood? and fishnet gloves that went halfway up her biceps. Her makeup was sad-clown marionette: black tears drawn streaming down either side of her face. She crooked her finger to get him to bend down so she could shout into his ear over the music. â€Å"My name's Abby Normal.† Tommy spoke into her ear; she smelled of hairspray and what was that? Raspberry? â€Å"My name is Flood,† he said. â€Å"C. Thomas Flood.† It was his pen name. The C didn't really stand for anything, he just liked the sound of it. â€Å"Call me Flood,† he added. Tommy was a stupid name for a vampire, but Flood – ah, Flood – there was disaster and power there, and a hint of mystery, he thought. Abby smiled like a cat in a tuna cannery. â€Å"Flood,† she said. â€Å"Flood.† She was trying it on, it seemed to Tommy. He imagined that she'd have a black vinyl binder at school and she'd soon be writing Mrs. Flood surrounded by a heart with an arrow through it on the cover in her own blood. He'd never seen a girl so obviously attracted to him, and he realized that he had no experience in dealing with it. For a moment he flashed on the three vampire brides of Dracula who try to seduce Jonathan Harker in Stoker's classic novel. (He'd been studying all the vampire fiction he could get his hands on since meeting Jody, since it didn't appear that anyone had written a good how-to book on vampirism.) Could he really deal with three luscious vampire brides? Would he have to bring them a kid in a sack the way Dracula does in the book? How many kids a week would it take to keep them happy? And where did you get kid sacks? And although he hadn't discussed it with Jody, he was pretty sure she was not going to be happy sharing him with two other luscious vampire brides, even if he brought her sacks and sacks full of kids. They'd need a bigger apartment. One with a washer and dryer in the building, because there'd be a lot of bloodstained lingerie to be washed. Vampire logistics were a nightmare. You should get a castle and a staff when you got your fangs. How was he going to do all of this? â€Å"This sucks,† Tommy finally said, overwhelmed by the enormity of his responsibilities. Abby looked startled, then a little hurt. â€Å"Sorry,† she said. â€Å"You want to get out of here?† â€Å"Oh, no, I didn't mean – I mean, uh, yes. Let us go.† â€Å"Do you still need to get your heroin?† â€Å"What? No, that matter is taken care of.† â€Å"You know, Byron and Shelley did opiates,† Abby said. â€Å"Laudanum. It was like cough syrup.† Then, for no reason that he could think of, Tommy said, â€Å"Those scamps, they loved to get wrecked and read ghost stories from the German.† â€Å"That is so fucking cool,† Abby said, grabbing his arm and hugging his biceps like it was her newest, bestest friend. She started pulling him toward the door. â€Å"What about your friend?† Tommy said. â€Å"Oh, someone made a comment about his cape being gray when we first got here, so he went home to redye all of his blacks.† â€Å"Of course,† Tommy said, thinking, What the fuck? Out on the sidewalk, Abby said, â€Å"I suppose we need to find somewhere private.† â€Å"We do?† â€Å"So you can take me,† Abby said, stretching her neck to the side, looking more like a stringless marionette than ever. Tommy had no idea what to do. How did she know? Everyone in that club would have scored higher on the â€Å"are you a vampire?† test than he would. There needed to be a book, and this sort of thing needed to be in it. Should he deny it? Should he just get on with it? What was he going to tell Jody when she woke up next to the skinny marionette girl? He hadn't really understood women when he was a normal, human guy, when it seemed that all you had to do was pretend that you didn't want to have sex with them until they would have sex with you, but being a vampire added a whole new aspect to things. Was he supposed to conceal that he was a vampire and a dork! He used to read the articles in Cosmo to get some clue to the female psyche, and so he deferred to advice he'd read in an article entitled â€Å"Think He's Just Pretending to Like You So You'll Have Sex with Him? Try a Coffee Date.† â€Å"How 'bout I buy you a cup of coffee instead,† he said. â€Å"We can talk.† â€Å"It's because I have small boobs, isn't it?† Abby said, going into a very practiced pout. â€Å"Of course not.† Tommy smiled in a way he thought would be charming, mature, and reassuring. â€Å"Coffee won't help that.† As Jody pushed the bundle of clothes into the storm sewer, a silver cigarette case slid out of the jacket pocket onto the pavement. She reached for it and felt a light shock – no, that wasn't it. It was a warmth that moved up her arm. She kicked the clothes into the opening and stood under the streetlight, turning the silver case in her hands. It had his name engraved on it. She couldn't keep it, like she had the folding money from his pockets, but she couldn't throw it away either. Something wouldn't let her. She heard a buzz, like an angry insect, and looked up to see a neon  «Open » sign flickering above a shop called Asher's Secondhand. That was it. That's where the cigarette case had to go. She owed it to James. After all, he'd given her everything, or at least everything he'd had left. She quick-stepped across the street and into the shop. The owner was working the counter at the back by himself. A thin guy in his early thirties, with a look of pleasant confusion not unlike the one she'd first noticed on Tommy's face. Normally, this guy would be prime minion material, or at least based on her minion recruitment of the past he would, except apparently, he was dead. Or at least not alive like most people. He had no life aura around him. No healthy pink glow, no crusty brown or gray corona of illness. Nothing. The only time she'd ever seen this before was with Elijah, the old vampire. The shopkeeper looked up and she smiled. He smiled back. She moved to the counter. While he tried not to stare at her cleavage, she looked more closely for some life aura. There was heat, or at least there appeared to be some heat coming off him. â€Å"Hi,† said the shopkeeper. â€Å"Can I help you?† â€Å"I found this,† she said, holding up the cigarette case. â€Å"I was in the neighborhood and something made me think that this belonged here.† She set the case down on the counter. How could he have no life aura? What the hell was he? â€Å"Touch me,† she said. She held out her hand to him. â€Å"Huh?† He seemed a little frightened at first, but he took her hand, then quickly let go. He was warm. â€Å"Then you're not one of us?† But he wasn't one of them either. â€Å"Us? What do you mean us?† He touched the cigarette case and she could tell that this was exactly why she had brought it here. It was supposed to be here. Whatever part of James O'Mally had been left in that cigarette case had led her here. And this thin, confused-looking guy was supposed to have it. He took what was left of people all the time. It's what he did. Jody felt some of the confidence she'd felt earlier draining away. Maybe the night wasn't hers after all. Jody backed away a step. â€Å"No. You don't just take the weak and the sick, do you? You take anyone.† â€Å"Take? What do you mean, take?† He was furiously trying to push the cigarette case back to her across the counter. He didn't know. He was like she was when she'd awakened that first night as a vampire and had no idea what she had become. â€Å"You don't even know, do you?† â€Å"Know what?† He picked up the cigarette case again. â€Å"Wait a second, can you see this thing glowing?† â€Å"No glow. It just felt like it belonged here.† This poor guy, he didn't even know. â€Å"What's your name?† She asked. â€Å"Charlie Asher. This is Asher's.† â€Å"Well Charlie, you seem like a nice guy, and I don't know exactly what you are, and it doesn't seem like you know. You don't, do you?† He blushed. Jody could see his face flush with heat. â€Å"I've been going through some changes lately.† Jody nodded. He really would have been perfect as a minion – if he hadn't been some bizarre supernatural creature. She'd just gotten used to the idea of vampires being real, and it took some serious blood drinking to drive that reality home, and now there were other – other – things? Still, Jody felt bad for him, â€Å"Okay,† she said. â€Å"I know what it's like, uh, to find yourself thrown into a situation where forces beyond your control are changing you into someone, something you don't have an owner's manual for. I understand what it is to not know. But someone, somewhere, does know. Someone can tell you what's going on.† And hopefully they aren't just fucking with you, she wanted to add, but thought better of it. â€Å"What are you talking about?† he asked. â€Å"You make people die, don't you Charlie?† She didn't know why she said it, but as soon as she said it, she knew it was true. Like when all her other senses had been dialed to eleven, she could sense something new, like noise on the line, and it was telling her this. â€Å"But how do you – ?† â€Å"Because it's what I do,† Jody said. â€Å"Not like you, but it's what I do. Find them, Charlie. Backtrack and find whoever was there when your world changed.† She shouldn't have said that, she knew it as she was saying it. She'd just handed him an item that had been owned by someone she'd taken not twenty minutes ago. But even as regret for passing out incriminating evidence hit her, she also realized that she had left Tommy out there to wave in the wind just like this guy. Even if it was only for a few hours, Tommy had no idea how to go about being a vampire – truth be told, he hadn't really been that good at being a human. He was just a doofy guy from Indiana and she'd abandoned him to the merciless city. She turned and ran out of the shop. â€Å"Cocoa?† Tommy said. â€Å"You look cold.† He'd given her his jacket out on the street. He's so gallant, Abby thought. He probably wants me to drink cocoa to get my blood sugar up before he sucks the life from my veins. Abby had lived much of her life waiting for something extraordinary to happen. No matter where she had been, there was a world somewhere that was more interesting. She'd progressed from wanting to live in a fantastic, kawaii-cute plastic world of Hello Kitty, to being a Day-Glo, Manga lollipop space girl in platform sneakers, and then just a couple of years ago she had moved into the dark gothic world of pseudo vampires, suicidal poets, and romantic disappointment. It was a dark, seductive world where you got to sleep really late on the weekends. She'd been true to her dark nature, too, trying to maintain an aspect of exhausted mopeyness while channeling any enthusiasm she felt into a vehicle for imminent disappointment, and above all, suppressing the deep-seated perkiness that her friend Lily said she'd never shed when she'd refused to throw away her Hello Kitty backpack or let go of her Nintendog virtual beagle puppy. â€Å"He has virtual parvo,† Lily had said. â€Å"You have to put him down.† â€Å"He doesn't have parvo,† Abby had insisted. â€Å"He's just tired.† â€Å"He's doomed, and you're cute, and hopelessly perky,† Lily taunted. â€Å"I am not. I'm complex and I'm dark.† â€Å"You're perky and your e-dog has i-parvo.† â€Å"As Azrael is my witness, I will never be perky again,† said Abby, her wrist set tragically to her forehead. Lily stood with her as she threw her Nintendog cartridge under the tire of the 91 midnight express bus. And now she had been chosen by a real creature of the night, and she would be true to her word: she had shed her perkiness. She sipped her hot chocolate, and studied the vampire Flood across the table. How clever, that he could appear as just a simple, clueless guy – but then, he could probably take many shapes. â€Å"I could be a slave to your darkest desires,† Abby said. â€Å"I can do things. Anything you want.† The vampire Flood commenced a coughing fit. When he had control again, he said, â€Å"Well, that's terrific, because we have a lot of laundry piled up and the apartment is a wreck.† He was testing her. Seeing if she was worthy before bringing her into his world. â€Å"Anything you desire, my lord. I can do laundry, clean, bring you small creatures to quench your thirst until I am worthy.† The vampire Flood snickered. â€Å"This is so cool,† he said. â€Å"You'll do my laundry, just like that?† Abby knew she had to tread carefully here, not fall for his trap. â€Å"Anything,† she said. â€Å"Have you ever gone apartment hunting?† â€Å"Sure,† she lied. â€Å"Okay, you can start tomorrow first thing. You need to find us an apartment.† Abby was horrified. She hadn't really tried on the idea of leaving her old life so quickly. But all that would mean nothing when she became immortal, and ran with the children of the night. But her mom was going to be pissed. â€Å"I can't move in right away, my lord. I have affairs to put in order before I make the change.† The vampire Flood smiled, his fangs barely visible now. â€Å"Oh, it's not for you. There's another.† He paused and leaned across the table. â€Å"An elder,† he whispered. There was another? Was she to become the sacrifice to a whole coven of the undead? Well, whatever. Lily would be so jealous. â€Å"As you please, my lord,† she said. â€Å"You might want to chill with the ‘my lord' stuff,† Flood said. â€Å"Sorry.† â€Å"It's okay. You know this all has to be completely secret, right?† â€Å"Right. Secret.† â€Å"I mean, I'm okay with it, but the other, the elder, she has a terrible temper.† â€Å"She?† â€Å"Yeah, you know, an Irish redhead.† â€Å"A Celtic countess, then? The one who was with you at Walgreens?† â€Å"Exactly.† â€Å"Sweet!† Abby blurted out. She couldn't help it. She immediately tried to hide her latent perkiness by biting the edge of her cocoa cup. â€Å"You've got chocolate, here.† The vampire Flood gestured to her lip. â€Å"Kind of a marshmallow mustache.† â€Å"Sorry,† Abby said, wiping her mouth furiously with the back of her fishnet glove, smearing her black lipstick across the side of her face. â€Å"It's okay,† said the vampire Flood. â€Å"It's cute.† â€Å"Fuck!† Abby said.

Critiquing Internet Sources Essay

The internet is filled with information. Podcasts, videos, and blogs are the most used forms of information on the internet. Three factors that need to be used when evaluating internet sources for use in research are authority, can the speaker be authenticated, and is he qualified to speak on the subject, accuracy, can the information be found in other credible sources, and currency is the information current or when was the last revision to the page? The topic is Elder Abuse, a blog, video, and podcast, have been evaluated pertaining to the subject to show the credibility and reliability of the sources. A blog is a website containing a writer’s or group of writers’ own experiences, observations, opinions, etc., and often having images and links to other websites (Oxford Dictionaries, 2015). The blog Elder Care and Technology is written by a group of writers’ in the Walton Law Firm. The blog explains in detail the impact of modern technology on Elder Abuse. The law firm based in San Diego, California specializes in court cases representing abused elders and their families. The Law firm can be authenticated and has been successful in prosecuting and retaining damages against nursing homes and personal care homes for years (Walton Law Firm, 2014). The blog does show some bias against people and organizations accused of elder abuse. The information in the blog is accurate and valid, because there are links to the law firm site that confirm the blog’s content. The information is current and applicable to the topic of Elder Abuse. A video is the recording, reproducing, or broadcasting of moving visual images (Oxford Dictionaries, 2015). The video Elder Abuse: the Crime of the Twenty-First Century, was produced by The Stein Institute for Research on Aging. The guest speaker is Deputy District Attorney of San Diego County; Paul Greenwood J.D. Attorney Greenwood has prosecuted over  four-hundred felony cases of Elder Abuse, both physic al and financial. The video gives a detailed explanation of what is being done in the state of California to combat Elder Abuse. The speaker is biased towards the prosecuting of those who mistreat the elderly. Attorney Greenwood is a valid source and the information he shares in the video is applicable to this research. The video shares information that can be found in other resources and is just one in a series offered by The Stein Institute for Research on Aging to show the new ideas that the state of California is implementing to fight elder abuse. District Attorney Greenwood is a credible source for information because of his background in the fight against elder abuse. The video is informative and the speaker is clear and concise in his reporting of the facts. A podcast is a digital audio file made available on the internet for downloading to a computer or portable media player, typically as a series, new installments of which can be received by subscribers automatically (Oxford Dictionaries, 201 5). The New York City Elder Abuse center has a series of podcasts about Elder Justice. The center was erected in 2009 to improve professional, organizational, and system responses to elder abuse (NYCEAC, 2013). The most current podcast in the aging series is Ageism, Elder Justice, and The Legacy Project, each podcast has a guest speaker and the speaker on this podcast is Professor Karl Pillemer, a noted author, Director of Bronfenbrenner’s Center for Translational Research, Hazel E. Reed Professor in the Department of Human Development, Professor of Gerontology in Medicine at the Weill Cornell Medical Center, and a collaborator on the Legacy Project (Cornell University, 2015). Professor Pillemer is an expert on the issues of the elderly, and his qualified to express his opinions though somewhat biased in favor of the elderly. He uses his bias in a way that expresses the deep concern for the elderly and their treatment, which tends to sway one to favor his arguments. The podcast is one in a series of valid podcasts and the information is easily applied to this research. The information can also be found in other credible sources on the internet. The information given in blogs, videos, and podcasts are great examples of web-based information. Web-based information has a major influence on how students gather information for research, global citizenship, and multicultural understanding. Web-based information helps develop intercultural literacies that students, parents,  educators, and leadership groups need to live and work as a diverse and globalized population. Web-based information gives the user awareness of the interconnectedness with people and environments around the globe (Department of Education, 2013). Web-based information is being infused in today’s global history classroom curriculum to enable students to have access to the global network of multimedia information while being engaged in self-directed learning activities (Scheidel, 2003). Web-based information influences the understanding of global citizenship and multicultural understanding, because people are able to put themselves in the position of the citizens of foreign countries, which helps them broaden their understanding of the different cultures that they meet right here in the United States, and helps us understand the complexities of ethnicity and culture (Hickling, 2012). Elder Abuse is a subject that has recently been raised by different organizations and advocates that fight for the elderly and their rights. The different blogs, videos, and podcasts, are ways that a researcher can find the relevant information they need to learn more about the subject and the policies being used to combat elder abuse. The internet is the leading source of information in society today. The information by way of blogs, videos, and podcasts are all perfect ways to get and exchange information. The credibility and relevance of the information should be easy to prove and sh ould always be authenticated when using these methods for research. References Ageism, Elder Justice & The Legacy Project (April 22, 2014). Retrieved from: http://podgallery.org/elder-justice-podcast-series/ January10, 2015 Cornell University College of Human Ecology (2015). Karl Pillemer-Bio Retrieved from: http://www.human.cornell.edu/bio.cfm?netid=kap6 January 11, 2015 Department of Education and Early Childhood Development Education for Global and Multicultural Citizenship: A Strategy for Victorian Government Schools 2009-2013. Retrieved from: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/studentlearning/programs/multicultural/default.htm. January 11, 2015. Elder Abuse: The Crime of the Twenty-First Century? – Research on Aging MAY 5, 2014 University of California Television (UCTV) Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JoUapRfjZw January 10, 2015. Elder Care and Technology By Walton Law Firm http://www.nursinghomeabuselawyerblog.com/2014/05/elder-care-technology.html Hickling, F.W. (2012). Understanding Patients in Multicultural Settings: A Personal Reflection on Ethnicity and Culture in Clinical Practice. Ethnicity & Health, 17(1/2), 203-216. Doi:10. 1080/ 13557858.2012 655266. Retrieved from: Ashford University Library, January 14, 2015. Oxford University Press (2015) http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/ Scheidet, R.A. (2003). Improving Student Achievement by Infusing a Web-Based Curriculum into Global History. Journal Of Research on Technology in Education. International Society for Technology in Education, 36(1), 77-94. Retrieved from: Ashford University Library, January 14, 2015.

The Power of Social Media and Its Impact on the Current Business Environment

The number of internet users has increased over the last decade due to the development of new technologies, internet availability and improved connectivity. Various online communications platforms have been invented and are widely used for both personal and business purposes world wide and social networking is the latest communication platform helping people connect to each other across different places. Its introduction has changed the way groups of people are connecting and communicating in business via online communities and professional networks. In business, many multi-national companies are currently moving beyond traditional media channels and using social network sites as a medium to reach their targets consumers instead. There is no argument that social networking is the key player driving new media communications in the digital era and its benefits and functions are impacting business considerably. There are hundreds of social networking platforms that have been introduced to the market but currently there are only two major sites recognised as the world's most powerful platforms attracting millions of users to participate. Firstly there is Facebook, a social network service that allows users to create their own profile, status, interest and preferences and also share information with friends and contacts. According to Trimpe (2011), reported that Facebook's active user base is 519 million which equates approximately to 1 in 13 of every person on earth. In the Facebook world millions of pieces of content, links and event invitations are shared every 20 minutes indicating the enormous power of Facebook as a social media tool. Secondly there is Twitter, a social network platform that allows users to generate and share messages, or â€Å"Tweets†, up to a maximum of 140 characters. According to Chiang (2011), claimed that there are nearly 200 million Twitter's users worldwide. The most common use is to promote business information about products and services or sometimes to educate industry on a business products or services. Due to the fact that these two social networking services possess millions of people's profiles, demographics and personal interests, thousands of multinational companies have turned their focus on new social media strategy to reach their target online. The term ‘social media’ has become the most recent area focused on by marketers, advertisers and public relations professionals in various business sectors and many experts have studied and tried to understand the benefits and functions of the term social media. According to Turner (2011), the Chief Content Officer of the 60 Second marketer reported that social media is about creating and having conversations among networks in online forums, blogs, and social networking sites. The key fundamental function is to use them as a medium for contacting, sharing and promoting data and contents. But when it comes to business, the main objective of operating social media is far beyond that. In business, social media is currently claimed to be the best tool in helping a company gain larger numbers of their target consumers just by providing a digital experience related to their products and services. Social media is also playing an important role in driving consumers brand engagement. According to Schmitt (2009), studied about digital brand experience and the result indicated that consumers who have a chance to engage with a brand in social networking sites can evolve from passive reactors to support the brand almost instantaneously. Creating a brand presence in social media can create not only opportunities for a company to gain more customers but also help marketers to understand more deeply what their potential target customers think towards their products and services thanks, for example, to Facebook that first invented the â€Å"Like† application that allows users to express their interest towards other websites, links or even competitors brands and share across networks. Thanks considerably to the advantages of social media, and its large numbers of potential target consumers, it is no surprise that many global companies have selected social networking as a key medium to start launching their campaign. According to Parsons (2011), reported that recently, Kellogg’s, the cereal manufacturer, launched a new range of Krave cereal and used Facebook as a medium to communicate and offer free sample packs to around 80,000 consumers on their Facebook fan page. The brand also developed video content to engage their 16-24 year old target age group to create interaction in Facebook. Additional examples show that Dell also gained a major success generating $3 million in sales after it launched its online outlet through Twitter and Starbucks has achieved the top ranking of Facebook brand pages, with nearly 4 million friends, by just offering fans coupons for free pastries and ice cream. Additionally, Whole Foods has topped Twitter with 1. million followers by broadcasting weekly specials and shopping tips (Schmitt 2009, p. 26). Companies in the FMCG industry are not the only sector that is involved in social media. Currently Honda, the Japanese automotive manufacture, is implementing their new marketing initiative from budget-led to customer-led by moving beyond traditional advertising and using social media as a tool to understand, manage and encourage open communication and conversation among their customers (Fisher 2011). In this point, the decision to buy a durable good like a car is a lengthy process, so to ensure that their brand will be in front of mind of consumers, Honda then focuses through a combination of data analytics using, and social influence methodologies, to engage and change consumer perception and increase brand awareness at the same time. In other words the role of social media, in this case, is to help maximise the goodwill and favourable mentions of company and brands. Moreover, not only can a platform of social networking provide a benefit to communicate with customers but it also enhances the capability of internal communications amongst staff as it has benefits of real-time discussion, response and speed to spread out information or opinions internally and reduce the time spent in meetings and it is enormously useful for companies with teams/staff members who working in different locations or time zones. For instance, according to Willson (2011) reported that AT&T, a US telecommunications company, launched a new tool aimed at providing their staff the opportunity to have discussions, brainstorm and refine ideas through its own internal social media platform. Employees have opportunities to be involved by voting their opinion on the company's ideas and strategies. As a result of this implementation, and in just 6 months, there are more than 200 topics that have been discussed with great outcomes and many fresh ideas generated without wasting time in meetings. Undoubtedly, social media platforms help a company communicate to both customers and staff faster and easier, however, the easy access of shared data can be a risk to a company’s confidential products and information. Many companies to date have suffered from the secret leaking of their products before its launch to market and it is not only bloggers or online journalists who cannot keep the information secret but also staff who are caught, sometimes by mistake, sharing confidential information. As recent examples, Coggan (2011), reported that Renault has suspended three senior executives allegedly for passing on blueprints for electric cars, Facebook’s corporate privacy settings went wrong when some of the social network’s finances were published and a strategy document from AOL came to light revealing that the internet and media firm’s journalists were expected to write five to ten articles a day. As a result of this type of leak information many companies, especially in the USA, do not allow employees to use their own computers or use memory sticks for certain online services. Accordingly Robert Half Technology also found in 2009 that more than half of chief information officers in America blocked the use of networking sites such as Facebook at work to prevent leaking of information. In the digital era, today's business is borderless with mobile devices, smartphone and computers helping the world connect with the internet. Social networking is a new communications platform that enhances this borderless world providing users with an ability to contact one another and spread information. Many companies use these social networks as a key strategic media to reach their target consumers or adapt its platforms for internal communications purposes to enhance the productivity of its members. However, with its easy access and ability to disperse information rapidly, social networking is becoming a big challenge for todays businesses on how to control data leaking and to protect information assets whilst, at the same time, sharing data without affecting the company's competitiveness. Ultimately, the challenge of gaining benefit from social media is to operate it in a balanced way and in the same way a company has always managed its confidential information. A company must know what it wants to achieve from spreading information about its products and services and also what information it needs to protect . A businesses staff who are involved in the management, operation and control of these platforms should be trained to know how to add accurate data in an online social context and be able to understand what information is acceptable to share.