Saturday, May 23, 2020

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - 1718 Words

Upon exploring multiple modalities for the treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy by far was the most interesting. What intrigued the most about this therapy was that it is directed at decreasing a client’s avoidance strategies when coping with unwanted thoughts and emotions while increasing acceptance of the past events causing anxiety. Normally when clients are experiencing unwanted thoughts and memories of traumatizing events, they avoid behaviors and places that remind them of those memories. However, with the use of ACT these once avoided behaviors can finally be relieved. The main focus of the therapy is not solely focused on symptom reduction; it is mainly used to create a commitment to†¦show more content†¦This process takes the focus off the so-called â€Å"symptoms† and places emphasis on more psychological freedom.A client’s progression in therapy is measured by decreasing experiential avoidance, i ncreasing the acceptance of internal experiences and the traumatizing event. By targeting experiential avoidance, I think ACT will be more affective being that experiential avoidance is mainly correlated as a PTSD symptom. Techniques/Interventions The techniques for treating PTSD with ACT are outlined by six distinct essential methods (Thompson, Luoma, and LeJeune, 2013). The primary target to ACT therapy is improving psychological flexibility. In other words a technique used in this therapy involves enhancing the individuals ability to psychologically present and participate in valued activities or behaviors. Moreover, an individual whom is a victim of PTSD usually has a lower level of psychological flexibility, due to trauma related experiences that affects their current behavior. With ACT, a client can practice acceptance and mindfulness techniques to encourage more valued patterns of behaviors by implementing effective actions (Thompson et al, 2013). For example, if a client’s valued pattern of behavior was to not feel anxiety when being in a claustrophobic area, we can implement mindfulness strategies to reinforce positive feelings to relax the individual’s anxieties. The first step in ACT process is to create comfort with the thought ofShow MoreRelatedPost Traumatic Stress Disorder980 Words   |  4 PagesToday we are here to figure out why is it that past events are the triggers that cause Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is an anxiety disorder that some people get after seeing or undergoing a dangerous event. There are various symptoms that begin to show or actions that can give a clear answer whether one may be diagnosed with this disorder. One of the many problems is that no age range is safe from suffering PTSD. One must ask themselves what set of events happenedRead MorePost Traumatic Stress Disorder851 Words   |  3 PagesPost Traumatic Stress Disorder Introduction â€Å"There are currently over 400,000 Veterans in treatment for PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and it is estimated that with the Iraq and Afghanistan wars there is an additional 33% increase in our returning soldiers.† Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has become a severe issue for veterans returning from overseas. One of the most effective, yet unused resources given to veterans to help them cope with their disorder is specially trained dogs. TheseRead MorePost Traumatic Stress Disorder884 Words   |  4 Pagesof traumatic incidents, such as mugging, rape, torture, being kidnapped or held captive, child abuse, car accidents, train wrecks, plane crashes, bombings, or natural disasters such as floods or earthquakes.† (NIMH) Families of veterans struggle to help their loved ones. â€Å"Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder caused by a person’s exposure to life-threatening or otherwise traumatic circumstances.† (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder affectsRead MorePost-Traumatic Stress Disorder1630 Words   |  7 Pagesare now accessing mental health services for the treatment of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) defined by DSM-IV-TR is â€Å"characterised by the re-experiencing of an extremely traumatic event accompanied by symptoms of increased arousal and by avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma† (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 2000). There are many impacts and effects this disorder has on refugees requiring treatment, interventions, education andRead MorePost Traumatic Stress Disorder1004 Words   |  5 Pagescurrent criteria of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has changed since the DSM-IV. In the DSM-V, the diagnostic criteria draws a clearer line when detailing what establishes a traumatic event. The DSM-V pays more attention to the behavioral symptoms that accompany PTSD and proposes four distinct diagnostic cluster s instead of three. They are described as re-experiencing, avoidance, negative cognitions and mood, and arousal. Re-experiencing is the spontaneous memories of the traumatic event, recurrentRead MorePost Traumatic Stress Disorder1086 Words   |  5 Pagesfirst hand the effects of posttraumatic stress disorder. It is not possible to respond to emergency after emergency and not be subject to some of PTSD’s effects. When I saw this topic in the list I felt compelled to use this opportunity to learn more. My hope is by increasing my knowledge, of a disorder so prevalent in my career field; I can recognize the symptoms in others and myself before there effect becomes devastating. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD as it is more commonly referredRead MorePost Traumatic Stress Disorder ( Ptsd )944 Words   |  4 Pageswith Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD Stats). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a mental disorder common found in veterans who came back from war. We can express our appreciation to our veterans by creating more support programs, help them go back to what they enjoy the most, and let them know we view them as a human not a disgrace. According to the National Care of PTSD, a government created program, published an article and provides the basic definition and common symptoms of PTSD. Post-traumaticRead MorePost Traumatic Stress Disorder ( Ptsd ) Essay1550 Words   |  7 PagesPost Traumatic Stress Disorder â€Å"PTSD is a disorder that develops in certain people who have experienced a shocking, traumatic, or dangerous event† (National Institute of Mental Health). Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has always existed, PTSD was once considered a psychological condition of combat veterans who were â€Å"shocked† by and unable to face their experiences on the battlefield. Much of the general public and many mental health professionals doubted whether PTSD was a true disorder (NIMH)Read MorePost Traumatic Stress Disorder ( Ptsd ) Essay1401 Words   |  6 PagesAccording to the Mayo-Clinic Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, commonly known as PTSD is defined as â€Å"Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that s triggered by a terrifying event — either experiencing it or witnessing it. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event† (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2014). Post Trau matic Stress disorder can prevent one from living a normal, healthy life. In 2014, Chris Kyle playedRead MorePost Traumatic Stress Disorder ( Ptsd ) Essay1453 Words   |  6 Pages84.8% of those diagnosed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder still show moderate impairment of symptoms, even 30 plus years after the war (Glover 2014). As of today, the Unites States has 2.8 million veterans who served in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, of those it is estimated that 11 to 20% currently suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. As of 2013, a total of 12,632 veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars are currently diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Glover 2014). Of course it

Monday, May 18, 2020

Cyber Security And The Modern Age - 862 Words

Cyber Security in the Modern Age We are bombarded by threats all the time, most of the time we have no idea it is happening. We have to be cautious of the web sites we visit, the emails we read and the applications we install. Many of us do not want understand the danger we face every time we go online. Just look at the way we use social media, posting information for the whole world to see with little regard for the repercussion of these actions. Cyber security is not just the job of professionals, but everyone connected to the Internet. As we allow the Internet to become more and more embedded into our lives the topic of cyber security also need to become more embedded in our lives as well. Duncan Campbell, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Bankers Association, points out, â€Å"Now more than ever, the world is vulnerable to hacking, phishing, data breaches, malware attacks and denial of service attempts from bad actors and nation states who want to compromise individual ident ification data and wreak havoc on our economy,† (Campbell). Each year we here about these attacks, Target, T. J. Maxx, Home Depot just to name a few. More concerning then, the frequency of these attacks is the magnitude of the data lost in these attacks. But where does it end, some experts believe that your next attack could come from something as a simple copier. Brice Wallace quotes Kristen Dauphinais, â€Å"breaches can happen in many ways, including lost or stolen devices or intentional thefts byShow MoreRelatedThe World and The Age of Technology Essay731 Words   |  3 Pages through massive industrialization and undeniable advancements, the world stepped into the Age of Technology. In a much developed society today, the different companies compete for patents over technical skills, arousing so-called cyber war. In modern age, cyber-attack has been a continuous problem as it gets more advanced and harder to stop. As seen in the Chart on the side, the number of reported cyber-attack incidents grew continuously since 2006. It is no more an ignorable issue as it bringsRead MoreEssay On Automatic Detection Of Cyber-Recruitment By Violent Extremists1363 Words   |  6 Pagesdetection of cyber-recruitment by violent extremists Introduction The main objective of this research is to present data and analytic methods for automatically identifying the recruitment activities of violent groups within extremist social media websites like face book, twitter, what sup and so on. There is no doubt that in today’s modern era the use of information and computer technology (internet) is rapidly increasing. Due to the unregulated nature of Internet Communication cyber communities becomeRead MoreCyber Threat, Its Scope And Its Impact On National Security991 Words   |  4 Pageslives. It has become an ideal source for cyber criminals to remain active while preying on victims. Higher the number of cyberspace users’, higher is the opportunities for exploitation. So it is the need of the hour to protect our computers, networks, digital applications and our data from unintended or unauthorized source, change or destruction. This paper proposes a policy directed examination on cyber threat, its scope and its impact on national security. It includes a profile of cooperation amongRead MoreThe Threat Of Cyber Terrorism1093 Words   |  5 PagesSolution Q. No. 2 The possible threat posed by cyber terrorism has motivated considerable alarm. Many security experts have exposed the danger of cyber terrorists hacking into government and remote computer systems and service areas of progressive economies. The possible threat is, indeed, very disturbing. So far, despite all the gloomy pre-dictions, no single example of real cyber terrorism has been recorded. This increases the question: about the threat? Psychological, political, and economicRead MoreThe Internet And Its Effects On The Environment1538 Words   |  7 Pagesgovernment has published â€Å"Canada s cyber security strategy: For a stronger and more prosperous Canada†, a strategic platform to secure the Canadian cyberspace. However, although embracing cyber technology and obtain considerable advantages from it, the Canadian cyber security strategy does not reflect as a comprehensive strategic framework. This essay argues that the strategy lacks of substantial elements to deal with a wide range of cyber threats in today’s modern world. For this reason, this essayRead MoreComputer Security And The Technology1273 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction: As time has gone on, society has advanced and the age of the computer came about, bringing its own advantages and concerns. One such concern was the question of computer security and personal information staying safe. It seems there has always been some form of computer security, however this form is dynamic, always changing and advancing. This is due to the fact that the technology that is made to bypass security is changing and advancing just as rapidly. Such as the progressionRead MoreThe State Of Cyber Security1389 Words   |  6 PagesThe state of Cyber Security in 2016 is a grim one, every day on the news we hear about another bank or online service getting hacked and consumer information being sold on the darknet, an â€Å"invisible† part of the internet where hackers and criminals sell personal information among other items, or a presidential candidates emails being released. Being a part of the IT community, I am more aware of all these occurrences than the ave rage person who just uses the internet for checking email and seeingRead MoreDoxagram Effect Essay1740 Words   |  7 Pagesindividuals you trust or deem appropriate to share with? Finally, have you ever discussed this information via text, email, or social-media? If you answered yes to these questions, you are vulnerable to the Doxagram effect. Computer technology and security are at increased risk for being â€Å"hacked*.† (*Almost all of today’s computer or electronic related crimes are referred to as hacking which is not necessarily accurate.) Hypothetically envision yourself discussing sensitive information with anotherRead MoreCyber War : A New And Growing Realm Of Influence946 Words   |  4 Pagesways little imagined. Cyber, a broad term, means various things to many individuals throughout international communities. Cyber war, unlike the wars of the past, does not fit into current perceptions of war. Yet, a fifth warfighting domain known as cyberspace is a new and growing realm of influence. Various states have or are creating cyberspace units, warriors, strategies and conducting operations (both defensive and offensive). Only hints of what is and will become cyber war crosses the publicRead MoreCyberCrime: What is Hacking?985 Words   |  4 Pages Silent. Undetected. Life-changing. On (insert date), (insert name(s)) bypassed (insert company)’s security measures and gained access to the personal information, such as social security and credit card numbers, of millions of oblivious U.S. citizens, causing millions of dollars of damage and enormous amount of time to be spent making repairs and helping the citizens get their lives back. The rising popularity and availability of the personal computer also includes the rise of â€Å"potential opportunities

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Observations on What Is Language

Language—more specifically human language—refers to the grammar and other rules and norms that allow humans to make utterances and sounds in a way that others can understand, notes linguist  John McWhorter, an associate professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University. Or as Guy Deutscher said in his seminal work, The Unfolding of Language:  An Evolutionary Tour of Mankinds Greatest Invention, language is what makes us human. Discovering what is language, then, requires a brief look at its origins, its evolution through the centuries, and its central role in human existence and evolution. Greatest Invention If language is mankinds greatest invention, it is supremely ironic that it was actually never invented. Indeed, both Deutscher  and McWhorter, two of the worlds most renowned linguists, say the origin of language remains as much as mystery today as it was in biblical times. No one, says Deutscher, has come up with a better explanation than the tale of the  Tower of Babel,  one of the saddest and most significant stories in the Bible. In the biblical fable, God—seeing that people of the earth had become skilled in construction and had decided to build an  idolatrous tower, indeed an entire city, in ancient  Mesopotamia  that stretched to the heavens—infused the human race with a myriad of tongues so that they could no longer communicate, and could no longer build a massive edifice that would replace the almighty. If the tale is apocryphal, its meaning is not, as Deutscher notes: Language often seems so skilfully drafted that one can hardly imagine it as anything other than the perfected handiwork of a master craftsman. How else could this instrument make so much out of three dozen measly morsels of sound? In themselves, these configurations of the mouth—But, if you run these sounds through the cogs and wheels of the language machine, says Deutscher, arrange them in some special way and define how they are be ordered by rules of  grammar, you suddenly have language, something that an entire group of people can understand and use to communicate—and indeed to function and a viable society. Chomskyan Linguistics If languages mysterious origin sheds little light on its meaning, it can be helpful to turn to Western societys most renowned—and even controversial—linguist: Noam Chomsky. Chomsky is so famous that an entire subfield of linguistics (the study of language) has been named after him. Chomskyian linguistics is a  broad term for the principles of  language  and the methods of language study introduced and/or popularized by Chomsky  in such groundbreaking works as Syntactic Structures  (1957) and Aspects of the Theory of Syntax (1965). But, perhaps Chomskys most relevant work for a discussion on language is his 1976 paper, On the Nature of Language. In it, Chomsky directly addressed the meaning of language in a way that foreshadowed the later assertions of  Deutscher  and McWhorter. The nature of language is considered as a function of knowledge attained...[T]he language faculty may be regarded as a fixed function, characteristic of the species, one component of the human mind, a function which maps experience into grammar. In other words, language is all at once a tool and the mechanism that determines how we relate to the world, to each other, and, even to ourselves. Language, as noted, is what makes us human. Expressions of Humanity Famed American poet and existentialist, Walt Whitman, said that language is the sum total of all that humans experience as a species: Language is not an abstract construction of the learned, or of dictionary makers, but is something arising out of the work, needs, ties, joys, affections, tastes, of long generations of humanity, and has its bases broad and low, close to the ground. Language, then, is the sum of all human experience since the beginning of humankind. Without language, humans would be unable to express their feelings, thoughts, emotions, desires, and beliefs. Without language, there could be no society and possibly no religion. Even if Gods wrath at the building of the Tower of Babel led to a plethora of tongues throughout the world, the fact is that they are still tongues, languages that can be deciphered, studied, translated, written, and communicated. Computer Language As computers communicate with humans—and with each other—the meaning of language may soon change. Computers talk through the use of  programming language. Like human language, computer language is a system of grammar, syntax, and other rules that allow humans to communicate with their PCs, tablets, and smartphones, but also allows computers to communicate with other computers. As  artificial intelligence  continues to advance to a point where computers can communicate with each other without the intervention of humans, the very definition of language may need to evolve also. Language will still always be what makes us human, but it may also become the tool that allows machines to communicate, express needs and wants, issue directives, create, and produce through their own tongue. Language, would then, become something that was initially produced by humans but then evolves to a new system of communication—one that has little or no connection to human beings.

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Judith Beveridge Speech Essay - 1092 Words

Judith Beveridge is a poet of great detail. Her poems are written with strong use of language. Strong imagery of her observations and contrasts of her views help create her poems meaning and effect on the reader. Beveridge’s texts are valuable to the understanding of human and nature’s precious life, and her appreciation for life in all. Through her two poems ‘the domesticity of Giraffes’ and ‘the streets of Chippendale’ these both communicate her ideas and values the strongest. One of Beveridge’s strongest values is of life, in ‘the domesticity of giraffes’ this is displayed from the first sentence of the second stanza. ‘I think of her graceful on her plain’ Beveridge puts herself into the poem, her thoughts of the giraffe in her natural†¦show more content†¦Life in Chippendale is rough, alcoholic and sad. Beveridge uses juxtaposition to contrast the names of the streets with what they sound to be. ‘Abercrombie sounds like the eccentric unmarried third cousin’ ‘but Abercrombie’s different’. Beveridge personifies the street as though it is a grumbling, alcoholic, causing trouble and disturbance. There is so much violence, as though men are fighting in their drunken confident state to up their lacking self esteem. ‘Sad daughter of the ruined slipper’ violence sexual abuse nothing of what is accepted in society. The community of Chippendale has no value anymore, no society morals exist. Life is not valued or precious, there seem to be no happy memories to ever come from this place ‘ streets go to wall like families’ ‘ ivy vine rose and myrtle not one of your descendants mourns your loss’ the people of Chippendale don’t want to remember this place at all. Though above the grime and run down nature, ‘Thomas and Edward have climbed to new heights, incomes and renovations, things are slightly looking up in one small part of town. The streets of Chippendale are very male dominated. Beveridge particularly portrays this with certain lines, images in our minds from the words beer mates drunks and work boot bruises come together to create the image of a man after work, in his late nightShow MoreRelatedDomesticity of Giraffes and Fox in a Tree Stump1422 Words   |  6 PagesTHE DOMESTICITY OF GIRAFFES AND FOX IN A TREE STUMP SPEECH. Good morning/Afternoon class, in my speech I will be discussing my understanding of the poems Domesticity of Giraffes and Fox in A Tree Stump by Judith Beveridge. Moral values and meanings are portrayed through these two poems by expressing and clarifying the value of life and exploring humanitys relationship with animals. The two poems clarify the value of life through both active and passive roles. In Fox in a tree stump an activeRead MoreMarketing Mistakes and Successes175322 Words   |  702 PagesUniversity; Joan Lindsey-Mullikin, Babson College. Also: Barnett Helzberg, Jr. of the Shirley and Barnett Helzberg Foundation, and my colleagues from Cleveland State University: Ram Rao, Sanford Jacobs, Andrew Gross and Benoy Joseph. From Wiley: Judith Joseph, Kimberly Mortimer, Carissa Marker. Robert F. Hartley, Professor Emeritus College of Business Administration Cleveland State University Cleveland, Ohio R.Hartley@csuOhio.EDU ABOUT THE AUTHOR Bob Hartley is Professor Emeritus

The Amber Spyglass Chapter 25 Saint-Jean-Les-Eaux Free Essays

The cataract of Saint-Jean-les-Eaux plunged between pinnacles of rock at the eastern end of a spur of the Alps, and the generating station clung to the side of the mountain above it. It was a wild region, a bleak and battered wilderness, and no one would have built anything there at all had it not been for the promise of driving great anbaric generators with the power of the thousands of tons of water that roared through the gorge. It was the night following Mrs. We will write a custom essay sample on The Amber Spyglass Chapter 25 Saint-Jean-Les-Eaux or any similar topic only for you Order Now Coulter’s arrest, and the weather was stormy. Near the sheer stone front of the generating station, a zeppelin slowed to a hover in the buffeting wind. The searchlights below the craft made it look as if it were standing on several legs of light and gradually lowering itself to lie down. But the pilot wasn’t satisfied; the wind was swept into eddies and cross-gusts by the edges of the mountain. Besides, the cables, the pylons, the transformers were too close: to be swept in among them, with a zeppelin full of inflammable gas, would be instantly fatal. Sleet drummed slantwise at the great rigid envelope of the craft, making a noise that almost drowned the clatter and howl of the straining engines, and obscuring the view of the ground. â€Å"Not here,† the pilot shouted over the noise. â€Å"We’ll go around the spur.† Father MacPhail watched fiercely as the pilot moved the throttle forward and adjusted the trim of the engines. The zeppelin rose with a lurch and moved over the rim of the mountain. Those legs of light suddenly lengthened and seemed to feel their way down the ridge, their lower ends lost in the whirl of sleet and rain. â€Å"You can’t get closer to the station than this?† said the President, leaning forward to let his voice carry to the pilot. â€Å"Not if you want to land,† the pilot said. â€Å"Yes, we want to land. Very well, put us down below the ridge.† The pilot gave orders for the crew to prepare to moor. Since the equipment they were going to unload was heavy as well as delicate, it was important to make the craft secure. The President settled back, tapping his fingers on the arm of his seat, gnawing his lip, but saying nothing and letting the pilot work unflustered. From his hiding place in the transverse bulkheads at the rear of the cabin, Lord Roke watched. Several times during the flight his little shadowy form had passed along behind the metal mesh, clearly visible to anyone who might have looked, if only they had turned their heads; but in order to hear what was happening, he had to come to a place where they could see him. The risk was unavoidable. He edged forward, listening hard through the roar of the engines, the thunder of the hail and sleet, the high-pitched singing of the wind in the wires, and the clatter of booted feet on metal walkways. The flight engineer called some figures to the pilot, who confirmed them, and Lord Roke sank back into the shadows, holding tight to the struts and beams as the airship plunged and tilted. Finally, sensing from the movement that the craft was nearly anchored, he made his way back through the skin of the cabin to the seats on the starboard side. There were men passing through in both directions: crew members, technicians, priests. Many of their daemons were dogs, brimming with curiosity. On the other side of the aisle, Mrs. Coulter sat awake and silent, her golden daemon watching everything from her lap and exuding malice. Lord Roke waited for the chance and then darted across to Mrs. Coulter’s seat, and was up in the shadow of her shoulder in a moment. â€Å"What are they doing?† she murmured. â€Å"Landing. We’re near the generating station.† â€Å"Are you going to stay with me, or work on your own?† she whispered. â€Å"I’ll stay with you. I’ll have to hide under your coat.† She was wearing a heavy sheepskin coat, uncomfortably hot in the heated cabin, but with her hands manacled she couldn’t take it off. â€Å"Go on, now,† she said, looking around, and he darted inside the breast, finding a fur-lined pocket where he could sit securely. The golden monkey tucked Mrs. Coulter’s silk collar inside solicitously, for all the world like a fastidious couturier attending to his favorite model, while all the time making sure that Lord Roke was completely hidden in the folds of the coat. He was just in time. Not a minute later a soldier armed with a rifle came to order Mrs. Coulter out of the airship. â€Å"Must I have these handcuffs on?† she said. â€Å"I haven’t been told to remove them,† he replied. â€Å"On your feet, please.† â€Å"But it’s hard to move if I can’t hold on to things. I’m stiff – I’ve been sitting here for the best part of a day without moving – and you know I haven’t got any weapons, because you searched me. Go and ask the President if it’s really necessary to manacle me. Am I going to try and run away in this wilderness?† Lord Roke was impervious to her charm, but interested in its effect on others. The guard was a young man; they should have sent a grizzled old warrior. â€Å"Well,† said the guard, â€Å"I’m sure you won’t, ma’am, but I can’t do what I en’t been ordered to do. You see that, I’m sure. Please stand up, ma’am, and if you stumble, I’ll catch hold of your arm.† She stood up, and Lord Roke felt her move clumsily forward. She was the most graceful human the Gallivespian had ever seen; this clumsiness was feigned. As they reached the head of the gangway, Lord Roke felt her stumble and cry out in alarm, and felt the jar as the guard’s arm caught her. He heard the change in the sounds around them, too; the howl of the wind, the engines turning over steadily to generate power for the lights, voices from somewhere nearby giving orders. They moved down the gangway, Mrs. Coulter leaning heavily on the guard. She was speaking softly, and Lord Roke could just make out his reply. â€Å"The sergeant, ma’am – over there by the large crate – he’s got the keys. But I daren’t ask him, ma’am, I’m sorry.† â€Å"Oh well,† she said with a pretty sigh of regret. â€Å"Thank you anyway.† Lord Roke heard booted feet moving away over rock, and then she whispered: â€Å"You heard about the keys?† â€Å"Tell me where the sergeant is. I need to know where and how far.† â€Å"About ten of my paces away. To the right. A big man. I can see the keys in a bunch at his waist.† â€Å"No good unless I know which one. Did you see them lock the manacles?† â€Å"Yes. A short, stubby key with black tape wound around it.† Lord Roke climbed down hand over hand in the thick fleece of her coat, until he reached the hem at the level of her knees. There he clung and looked around. They had rigged a floodlight, which made the wet rocks glisten brilliantly. But as he looked down, casting around for shadows, he saw the glare begin to swing sideways in a gust of wind. He heard a shout, and the light went out abruptly. He dropped to the ground at once and sprang through the dashing sleet toward the sergeant, who had lurched forward to try and catch the falling floodlight. In the confusion Lord Roke leapt at the big man’s leg as it swung past him, seized the camouflage cotton of the trousers – heavy and sodden with rain already – and kicked a spur into the flesh just above the boot. The sergeant gave a grunting cry and fell clumsily, grasping his leg, trying to breathe, trying to call out. Lord Roke let go and sprang away from the falling body. No one had noticed: the noise of the wind and the engines and the pounding hail covered the man’s cry, and in the darkness his body couldn’t be seen. But there were others close by, and Lord Roke had to work quickly. He leapt to the fallen man’s side, where the bunch of keys lay in a pool of icy water, and hauled aside the great shafts of steel, as big around as his arm and half as long as he was, till he found the one with the black tape. And then there was the clasp of the key ring to wrestle with, and the perpetual risk of the hail, which for a Gallivespian was deadly: blocks of ice as big as his two fists. And then a voice above him said, â€Å"You all right, Sergeant?† The soldier’s daemon was growling and nuzzling at the sergeant’s, who had fallen into a semi-stupor. Lord Roke couldn’t wait: a spring and a kick, and the other man fell beside the sergeant. Hauling, wrestling, heaving, Lord Roke finally snapped open the key ring, and then he had to lift six other keys out of the way before the black-taped one was free. Any second now they’d get the light back on, but even in the half-dark they could hardly miss two men lying unconscious – And as he hoisted the key out, a shout went up. He hauled up the massive shaft with all the strength he had, tugging, heaving, lifting, crawling, dragging, and hid beside a small boulder just as pounding feet arrived and voices called for light. â€Å"Shot?† â€Å"Didn’t hear a thing – â€Å" â€Å"Are they breathing?† Then the floodlight, secure again, snapped on once more. Lord Roke was caught in the open, as clear as a fox in the headlights of a car. He stood stock-still, his eyes moving left and right, and once he was sure that everyone’s attention was on the two men who had fallen so mysteriously, he hauled the key to his shoulder and ran around the puddles and the boulders until he reached Mrs. Coulter. A second later she had unlocked the handcuffs and lowered them silently to the ground. Lord Roke leapt for the hem of her coat and ran up to her shoulder. â€Å"Where’s the bomb?† he said, close to her ear. â€Å"They’ve just begun to unload it. It’s the big crate on the ground over there. I can’t do anything till they take it out, and even then – â€Å" â€Å"All right,† he said, â€Å"run. Hide yourself. I’ll stay here and watch. Run!† He leapt down to her sleeve and sprang away. Without a sound she moved away from the light, slowly at first so as not to catch the eye of the guard, and then she crouched and ran into the rain-lashed darkness farther up the slope, the golden monkey darting ahead to see the way. Behind her she heard the continuing roar of the engines, the confused shouts, the powerful voice of the President trying to impose some order on the scene. She remembered the long, horrible pain and hallucination that she’d suffered at the spur of the Chevalier Tialys, and didn’t envy the two men their waking up. But soon she was higher up, clambering over the wet rocks, and all she could see behind her was the wavering glow of the floodlight reflected back from the great curved belly of the zeppelin; and presently that went out again, and all she could hear was the engine roar, straining vainly against the wind and the thunder of the cataract below. The engineers from the hydro-anbaric station were struggling over the edge of the gorge to bring a power cable to the bomb. The problem for Mrs. Coulter was not how to get out of this situation alive: that was a secondary matter. The problem was how to get Lyra’s hair out of the bomb before they set it off. Lord Roke had burned the hair from the envelope after her arrest, letting the wind take the ashes away into the night sky; and then he’d found his way to the laboratory and watched as they placed the rest of the little dark golden curl in the resonating chamber in preparation. He knew exactly where it was, and how to open the chamber, but the brilliant light and the glittering surfaces in the laboratory, not to mention the constant coming and going of technicians, made it impossible for him to do anything about it there. So they’d have to remove the lock of hair after the bomb was set up. And that was going to be even harder, because of what the President intended to do with Mrs. Coulter. The energy of the bomb came from cutting the link between human and daemon, and that meant the hideous process of intercision: the cages of mesh, the silver guillotine. He was going to sever the lifelong connection between her and the golden monkey and use the power released by that to destroy her daughter. She and Lyra would perish by the means she herself had invented. It was neat, at least, she thought. Her only hope was Lord Roke. But in their whispered exchanges in the zeppelin, he’d explained about the power of his poison spurs: he couldn’t go on using them continually, because with each sting, the venom weakened. It took a day for the full potency to build up again. Before long his main weapon would lose its force, and then they’d only have their wits. She found an overhanging rock next to the roots of a spruce tree that clung to the side of the gorge, and settled herself beneath it to look around. Behind her and above, over the lip of the ravine and in the full force of the wind, stood the generating station. The engineers were rigging a series of lights to help them bring the cable to the bomb: she could hear their voices not far away, shouting commands, and see the lights wavering through the trees. The cable itself, as thick as a man’s arm, was being hauled from a gigantic reel on a truck at the top of the slope, and at the rate they were edging their way down over the rocks, they’d reach the bomb in five minutes or less. At the zeppelin Father MacPhail had rallied the soldiers. Several men stood guard, looking out into the sleet-filled dark with rifles at the ready, while others opened the wooden crate containing the bomb and made it ready for the cable. Mrs. Coulter could see it clearly in the wash of the floodlights, streaming with rain, an ungainly mass of machinery and wiring slightly tilted on the rocky ground. She heard a high-tension crackle and hum from the lights, whose cables swung in the wind, scattering the rain and throwing shadows up over the rocks and down again, like a grotesque jump rope. Mrs. Coulter was horribly familiar with one part of the structure: the mesh cages, the silver blade above. They stood at one end of the apparatus. The rest of it was strange to her; she could see no principle behind the coils, the jars, the banks of insulators, the lattice of tubing. Nevertheless, somewhere in all that complexity was the little lock of hair on which everything depended. To her left the slope fell away into the dark, and far below was a glimmer of white and a thunder of water from the cataract of Saint-Jean-les-Eaux. There came a cry. A soldier dropped his rifle and stumbled forward, falling to the ground, kicking and thrashing and groaning with pain. In response the President looked up to the sky, put his hands to his mouth, and uttered a piercing yell. What was he doing? A moment later Mrs. Coulter found out. Of all unlikely things, a witch flew down and landed beside the President as he shouted above the wind: â€Å"Search nearby! There is a creature of some kind helping the woman. It’s attacked several of my men already. You can see through the dark. Find it and kill it!† â€Å"There is something coming,† said the witch in a tone that carried clearly to Mrs. Coulter’s shelter. â€Å"I can see it in the north.† â€Å"Never mind that. Find the creature and destroy it,† said the President. â€Å"It can’t be far away. And look for the woman, too.† The witch sprang into the air again. Suddenly the monkey seized Mrs. Coulter’s hand and pointed. There was Lord Roke, lying in the open on a patch of moss. How could they not have seen him? But something had happened, for he wasn’t moving. â€Å"Go and bring him back,† she said, and the monkey, crouching low, darted from one rock to another, making for the little patch of green among the rocks. His golden fur was soon darkened by the rain and plastered close to his body, making him smaller and less easy to see, but all the same he was horribly conspicuous. Father MacPhail, meanwhile, had turned to the bomb again. The engineers from the generating station had brought their cable right down to it, and the technicians were busy securing the clamps and making ready the terminals. Mrs. Coulter wondered what he intended to do, now that his victim had escaped. Then the President turned to look over his shoulder, and she saw his expression. It was so fixed and intense that he looked more like a mask than a man. His lips were moving in prayer, his eyes were turned up wide open as the rain beat into them, and altogether he looked like some gloomy Spanish painting of a saint in the ecstasy of martyrdom. Mrs. Coulter felt a sudden bolt of fear, because she knew exactly what he intended: he was going to sacrifice himself. The bomb would work whether or not she was part of it. Darting from rock to rock, the golden monkey reached Lord Roke. â€Å"My left leg is broken,† said the Gallivespian calmly. â€Å"The last man stepped on me. Listen carefully – â€Å" As the monkey lifted him away from the lights, Lord Roke explained exactly where the resonating chamber was and how to open it. They were practically under the eyes of the soldiers, but step by step, from shadow to shadow, the daemon crept with his little burden. Mrs. Coulter, watching and biting her lip, heard a rush of air and felt a heavy knock – not to her body, but to the tree. An arrow stuck there quivering less than a hand’s breadth from her left arm. At once she rolled away, before the witch could shoot another, and tumbled down the slope toward the monkey. And then everything was happening at once, too quickly: there was a burst of gunfire, and a cloud of acrid smoke billowed across the slope, though she saw no flames. The golden monkey, seeing Mrs. Coulter attacked, set Lord Roke down and sprang to her defense, just as the witch flew down, knife at the ready. Lord Roke pushed himself back against the nearest rock, and Mrs. Coulter grappled directly with the witch. They wrestled furiously among the rocks, while the golden monkey set about tearing all the needles from the witch’s cloud-pine branch. Meanwhile, the President was thrusting his lizard daemon into the smaller of the silver mesh cages. She writhed and screamed and kicked and bit, but he struck her off his hand and slammed the door shut quickly. The technicians were making the final adjustments, checking their meters and gauges. Out of nowhere a seagull flew down with a wild cry and seized the Gallivespian in his claw. It was the witch’s daemon. Lord Roke fought hard, but the bird had him too tightly, and then the witch tore herself from Mrs. Coulter’s grasp, snatched the tattered pine branch, and leapt into the air to join her daemon. Mrs. Coulter hurled herself toward the bomb, feeling the smoke attack her nose and throat like claws: tear gas. The soldiers, most of them, had fallen or stumbled away choking (and where had the gas come from? she wondered), but now, as the wind dispersed it, they were beginning to gather themselves again. The great ribbed belly of the zeppelin bulked over the bomb, straining at its cables in the wind, its silver sides running with moisture. But then a sound from high above made Mrs. Coulter’s ears ring: a scream so high and horrified that even the golden monkey clutched her in fear. And a second later, pitching down in a swirl of white limbs, black silk, and green twigs, the witch fell right at the feet of Father MacPhail, her bones crunching audibly on the rock. Mrs. Coulter darted forward to see if Lord Roke had survived the fall. But the Gallivespian was dead. His right spur was deep in the witch’s neck. The witch herself was still just alive, and her mouth moved shudderingly, saying, â€Å"Something coming – something else – coming – â€Å" It made no sense. The President was already stepping over her body to reach the larger cage. His daemon was running up and down the sides of the other, her little claws making the silver mesh ring, her voice crying for pity. The golden monkey leapt for Father MacPhail, but not to attack: he scrambled up and over the man’s shoulders to reach the complex heart of the wires and the pipe work, the resonating chamber. The President tried to grab him, but Mrs. Coulter seized the man’s arm and tried to pull him back. She couldn’t see: the rain was driving into her eyes, and there was still gas in the air. And all around there was gunfire. What was happening? The floodlights swung in the wind, so that nothing seemed steady, not even the black rocks of the mountainside. The President and Mrs. Coulter fought hand to hand, scratching, punching, tearing, pulling, biting, and she was tired and he was strong; but she was desperate, too, and she might have pulled him away, but part of her was watching her daemon as he manipulated the handles, his fierce black paws snapping the mechanism this way, that way, pulling, twisting, reaching in – Then came a blow to her temple. She fell stunned, and the President broke free and hauled himself bleeding into the cage, dragging the door shut after him. And the monkey had the chamber open – a glass door on heavy hinges, and he was reaching inside – and there was the lock of hair: held between rubber pads in a metal clasp! Still more to undo; and Mrs. Coulter was hauling herself up with shaking hands. She shook the silvery mesh with all her might, looking up at the blade, the sparking terminals, the man inside. The monkey was unscrewing the clasp, and the President, his face a mask of grim exultation, was twisting wires together. There was a flash of intense white, a lashing crack, and the monkey’s form was flung high in the air. With him came a little cloud of gold: was it Lyra’s hair? Was it his own fur? Whatever it was, it blew away at once in the dark. Mrs. Coulter’s right hand had convulsed so tightly that it clung to the mesh, leaving her half-lying, half-hanging, while her head rang and her heart pounded. But something had happened to her sight. A terrible clarity had come over her eyes, the power to see the most tiny details, and they were focused on the one detail in the universe that mattered: stuck to one of the pads of the clasp in the resonating chamber, there was a single dark gold hair. She cried a great wail of anguish, and shook and shook the cage, trying to loosen the hair with the little strength she had left. The President passed his hands over his face, wiping it clear of the rain. His mouth moved as though he were speaking, but she couldn’t hear a word. She tore at the mesh, helpless, and then hurled her whole weight against the machine as he brought two wires together with a spark. In utter silence the brilliant silver blade shot down. Something exploded, somewhere, but Mrs. Coulter was beyond feeling it. There were hands lifting her up: Lord Asriel’s hands. There was nothing to be surprised at anymore; the intention craft stood behind him, poised on the slope and perfectly level. He lifted her in his arms and carried her to the craft, ignoring the gunfire, the billowing smoke, the cries of alarm and confusion. â€Å"Is he dead? Did it go off?† she managed to say. Lord Asriel climbed in beside her, and the snow leopard leapt in, too, the half-stunned monkey in her mouth. Lord Asriel took the controls and the craft sprang at once into the air. Through pain-dazed eyes Mrs. Coulter looked down at the mountain slope. Men were running here and there like ants; some lay dead, while others crawled brokenly over the rocks; the great cable from the generating station snaked down through the chaos, the only purposeful thing in sight, making its way to the glittering bomb, where the President’s body lay crumpled inside the cage. â€Å"Lord Roke?† said Lord Asriel. â€Å"Dead,† she whispered. He pressed a button, and a lance of flame jetted toward the tossing, swaying zeppelin. An instant later the whole airship bloomed into a rose of white fire, engulfing the intention craft, which hung motionless and unharmed in the middle of it. Lord Asriel moved the craft unhurriedly away, and they watched as the blazing zeppelin fell slowly, slowly down on top of the whole scene – bomb, cable, soldiers, and all – and everything began to tumble in a welter of smoke and flames down the mountainside, gathering speed and incinerating the resinous trees as it went, until it plunged into the white waters of the cataract, which whirled it all away into the dark. Lord Asriel touched the controls again and the intention craft began to speed away northward. But Mrs. Coulter couldn’t take her eyes off the scene; she watched behind them for a long time, gazing with tear-filled eyes at the fire, until it was no more than a vertical line of orange scratched on the dark and wreathed in smoke and steam, and then it was nothing. How to cite The Amber Spyglass Chapter 25 Saint-Jean-Les-Eaux, Essay examples

Power Corrupts In Kindred Essay Example For Students

Power Corrupts In Kindred Essay Power itself contains two sides,depending on the indiviudal who possesses it. Power is like a plague, very contagious. Power in the right hands creates freedom, peace and fairness. Power in the wrong hands induces despotism, tyranny and persecution. In the novel â€Å"Kindred†, composed by Octavia Butler, power corrupted characters constantly. Power corrupts human emotions and turns friends into foes. Power leads and individual to feel very superior. Most of the times possessing the power can destroy the freedom of others. Power corrupts human feelings. Whenever an individual achieves the power, he/she becomes a different person. Rufus, the main character in the novel, possessed the power after his father’s death. He became very possessive, even to Dana. The first time when Rufus met Dana he had a good reputation and liked her very much. Later on as he became mature and powerful his platonic love to Dana changed to possessive love. He became very jealous of Kevin and was eager to destroy him. Whenever Dana asked if he had received a response from Kevin, he would deny it. That did not last long, she soon found out that Rufus betrayed her. Power can corrupt human emotions entirely. Power can turn allies into enemies. Friendship can last for a long time but can easily be broken. Alice and Rufus were friends since childhood. Later Alice fell in love with Isaac, but Rufus did not like it because he loved Alice too. He attempted to destroy him but they both ran away from the Weylin plantation. Few days later they were cought, whipped and beaten by dogs. Rufus took Alice back to the plantation and healed her with Dana’s help, on the other hand Isaac was being sold to a place where Alice can not see him. As soon as Alice heard this dreadful news, she collapsed. From that moment on she disliked Rufus more than anything else in the world. Power can corrupt good friendship. Power satisfies a need to feel superior. After his father’s death, Rufus wields the power over the whole plantation. Nobody had the strength to say anything that was against his say. Rufus became very malicious and oppressive. He thought he possessed all the slaves on the plantation and started selling people he disliked and thought was not useful. He was flaunting with his power to others so that the slaves would respect him and also would be scared of him. Power leads an indiviudal to feel too proud. Power is like a disease, very epidemics. Power can be a success or a failure, depending on the indiviudal. Power in the right hands creates justice. Power in the wrong hands creates injustices. It corrupts vigorous human feelings and inverts friends into enemies. Power leads a person to feel very conceited . Possessing the power often times lacks the freedom of others.

Sunday, May 3, 2020

I Like That EP and concert by Before You Exit free essay sample

The lights come up, and Orlando based Before You Exit jumps into a high energy pop song that immediately has the crowd pulsing with energy. With a sound that is a unique blend of current boy band stardom with a hint of hits from the 90s such as N SYNC, Before You Exit is up and coming but destined for success. Crowd favorites include their Dangeroussingle, Soldier,I Like That,and Three Perfect Days from their I Like That EP. BYEs covers of popular songs such as Fun.s Some Nights and John Legends All of Me are harmonic renditions that the audience also loves. The bands harmonies are just a small part of their musical dexterity. Lyrics are primarily written by Riley, while Connor contributes his musical genius.The members of BYE continuously trade off vocals and various instruments, which provides a refreshing musical experience for the audience and shows off their well- rounded musical abilities. We will write a custom essay sample on I Like That EP and concert by Before You Exit or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Brothers Connor (20), Riley (18), and Toby (16) keep the audience engaged during the entire concert, not just with their harmony filled songs and heartfelt lyrics (Soldier opens with Youve got holes in your jeans, and a few in your heart, you dont know what it means to me to watch you fall apart) but with their fan interactions as well. Before the show, VIP pass holders took pictures with the boys and watched them perform during the sound check. During the show, a few songs were chosen by audience members who were called up onto the stage to pick a ping pong ball out of a hamster ball, which then had the song name on it. The boys connection to their fan base is also seen in their conversations with audience members between songs and their social media following. One Direction definitely has some competition! Before You Exits show was a vibrant display of talent that has left me wanting more. I already have my ticket for a show in June! There are several chances to see them in concert on the East Coast during the summer of 2014.