Analysis of Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies

In history, we are given continuous documents that consist of only facts. Facts are pleasant, but facts cover only general Ideas that are given. History texts completely Ignore and are too blind to concluded what Is behind the facts, the emotions of those who have level/experienced those specific events. Not only that, but by only allowing people to understand one side of a story logically or emotionally is bias and creates a single story. Creating a single story would be unbalancing because it allows people to only understand things through one perspective, and the importance of perspective is very vital.By including more than Just the facts [emotions] will allow readers to have a better understanding of the significance of how emotions can impact and change an entire logos based document. Authors have motives to tell stones, and In the process of doing so, being able to do It In a creative way. But, by only including those basic things that they already know [logos] Is uncreative, and this would make them Just Like those who have written historical documents. If these authors Introduce a wider Idea, that would make them creative.One author, Julia Olivarez has achieved in doing so, in her book, â€Å"In the Time f The Butterflies. † Julia Olivarez introduces this idea of how fiction is her way of understanding history when attempting to recreate the story of the Miramar sisters. When Julia Olivarez creates her novel, she says, â€Å"l wanted to immerse my readers in an epoch in the life of the Dominican Republic that I believe can only finally be understood by fiction, only finally be redeemed by the imagination†(IPPP).As Julia Olivarez states this, we can get a visual of her motive as an author, being able to recreate history, but by using her imagination to allow readers to understand beyond the facts that are given. She continues to say how, â€Å"In historical fiction, truth Is often based on emotional validity rather than factual reality. à ¢â‚¬  Julia strives to create her novel with â€Å"truth† that consists of â€Å"emotional validity' rather than keeping her novel â€Å"factual† Like any other historical document. She attempts to expand her novel In ways that not only will be educating, but so that it will be understood with desire from the readers.Being given a book, you don't always think that the book will contain true evidence of the truth of history. But, Julia Olivarez believes that â€Å"a novel is not, after all, a historical comment, but a way to travel through the human heart† (IPPP). When Olivarez says this, she Is trying to allow the reader to understand that through her book, her motive is to be creative but also being able to teach history. Julia believes by including emotions of those who have undergone the true struggle, would be understanding the truth. Which leads to Skirt Jumbo's Idea of â€Å"lived history. Because those are the Olivarez has this idea of how novels are à ¢â‚¬Å"a way to travel through the human heart† (IPPP). Because her main motive of writing her novel is to allow readers to become one' with the characters and reading a novel with emotions is a way to know the character at a much deeper level. She continues by saying, â€Å"Because once I'm in a novel, I'm in character—the truth according to character. † Julia allows the readers to understand the truth according to the characters in her book, â€Å"l [Patria] looked in his face.He was a boy no older than Norm's [her son]. Maybe that's why I cried out, â€Å"Get down, son! Get down! â€Å"(IPPP) When Julia wrote this, she wrote it to allow the reader to be more than Just a spectator, but to understand the feeling that Patria had when he was on her trip to Constants for her spiritual retreat. She connects it to how the real â€Å"truth† can only be found â€Å"according to the character. † The truth which is only found through the perspectives of t he person/people who has experienced the history which the events took place.Although, Vladimir Nabob, who wrote an except from, â€Å"Good readers and Good Writers,† would disagree because he questions how novels are capable of telling historical documents. Because historical documents contain vast amounts of informational texts. He questions, â€Å"Can we expect to glean information about places and times from a novel?. Insisting that novels aren't meant to tell history or can't in general, he continues to explain how novels are truly represented, that although â€Å"great novels are great fairy tales– the greater the novel, the more supreme its fairy tale qualities.These great novels create their own world; they do not tell historical truth. † Many times, people assume that the truth' is found from scientific texts, but what kind of truth are they searching for exactly? A scientific truth that consisted of knowledge which only these ‘educated' Caucasia ns possessed? In the Yellow Rain controversy, there were many times when pathos and logos conflicted. During the potash of Yellow Rain, the Radiology cast admitted that they were in search of the â€Å"truth. They were in search of the truth,' and they based their truth on facts only. Although Robert specifically requested of Eng Yang's experienced knowledge, his perspective of truth was ignored. In the potash, Aka Lila Yang says, â€Å"what we know has been questioned again and again†¦ We have lost too much heart, and too many people in the process. † When Aka Lila says this, she was filled with emotions and because of these emotions, it sparked an interest into the human ear. Emotions tend to interest readers/people more because its indulging.Even though the use of factual evidence is one of the main strategies that people use to tell history, emotions tend to be a better and more engaging way to truly understand history. In many times, people can be taught a certain historical event, but with only facts people usually don't see to care to remember what is taught to them. But when there's more to the facts such as the emotions, people are interested and tend to desire to hear, read, or even seek for more information. Including emotions rather than the facts alone allows readers to have a better understanding document/discussion.

Madonna Case Study

Question 1 Described and explain the strategy being followed by Madonna in term of the explanation of competitive strategy given in Chapter 6. Answer 1 Table 2: Bowman’s strategy clock Based on the Bowman’s strategy clock above, we identify strategies been used in her albums through the years below; Lucky Star 1982 Trashy pop – lace tops, skirts over capri pants, fishnet stockings, jewelry bearing the Christian cross, and bleached hair. Young wannabe girls, dovetailing from fading disco to emerging ‘club scene’influential among young girls and women 1. ‘No frills’ – combines a low price, low perceived product/service benefits and a focus on a price- sensitive market price Like a Virgin- Like a Prayer(first number one album on the U. S. lbums chart) 1984 Originally a Marilyn glamour image, then became a saint and sinner She performed the song at the first MTV Video Music Awards – trademark â€Å"Boy Toy† belt and cruc ifix jewelry More grown-up rebellious fan base, more critical female audience and male worshippers – featured role in â€Å"Desperately Seeking Susan† – embarked on her first concert tour in the U. S. in 1985 titled The Virgin Tour, with the Beastie Boys. 2. Low price – risk of price war and low margins; need to be cost leader Vogue Erotica Bedtime Stories (eighth U. S. umber-one single -Academy Award-winning song) 199019921994 Erotic porn star, sadomasochistic, sexual control, more minelli in Cabaret than Monroe signed an endorsement deal with soft drink manufacturer Pepsi debuted her new song, â€Å"Like a Prayer†, in a Pepsi commercial and also made a music video for it. Peculiar mix of target audiences: gay club scene, 1990s’ women taking control of their own lives, also pure male titillation -Madonna's first publication Sex, a book consisting of sexually provocative and explicit images – caused media controversy but sold 500,000 copies in the U.S. 3. Hybrid – seeks simultaneously to achieve differentiation and a price lower than that of competitors Something to Remember Evita (won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Original Song From a Motion Picture also won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy) 1995 Softer image, ballads preparing for glamour image of Evita film role Broadest audience target, picking up potential film audiences as well as regular fan base – designed to appeal to the mature audience that would be the target of Evita. Most conventional image.Max Factor later used this mixture of Marilyn and Eva Peron to market its glamour image 4. Differentiation – seek to provide products or services that offer benefits that are different from those of competitors and that are widely valued by buyers. Ray of Light – (U. S. top 5 singles – won three Grammy Awards – won a Grammy for â€Å"Best Short Form Music Video. â€Å") 1998 E arth mother, Eastern mysticism, dances music fusion – album influenced by electronica, techno, and trip-hop, thereby updating her classic dance-pop sound for the late '90s. â€Å"Most adventurous record. â€Å") Clubbing generation of the 1990s, new cohort of fans plus original fan base of now 30somethings desperately staying trendy – used by Microsoft in its advertising campaign to introduce Windows XP. 5. Focus differentiation – strategy seeks to provide high perceived product/service benefits justifying a substantial price, usually to a selected market segment (niche) Music 2000 Acid rock, tongue in cheek Miss USA/cow girl, cool Britannia – having a video which depicts murders by car, was banned by MTV and VH1.Managing to hit the changing club scene and 30-something Brits – starred in the film Swept Away a commercial and critical failure and released straight-to-video in the UK. 6. Increased price/standard value – higher margins if comp etitors do not follow; risk of losing market share American Life 2003 Militaristic image Che Guevara Anti-consumerism of American dream – Madonna kissed the heirs to her throne, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera — and then got the two of them to make out with each other.Unclear audience reliant on existing base – sold 4 million copies, the lowest selling album of her career. The release of Madonna's successful children's book, -The English Roses, which was followed by several more novels in future years. 7. Increase price/low price – only feasible in monopoly situation Confession on a Dance Floor 2005 Retro-1980’s disco imagery, high-motion dance-pop sound Strong gay-icon audience, pop-disco audience, dance-based audience – radio stations were boycotting Madonna's singles because she publicly spoke of disapproval against the war n Iraq. 8. Low value/standard price – loss of market share Hard Candy (Most successful release from the album, reaching #1 in twenty-seven countries worldwide including the United World Chart and becoming one of Madonna's biggest-selling singles. ) 2008 ‘M by Madonna' clothes collection, which was designed by Madonna for H&M consist of classic designs and accessories which reflect Madonna’s timeless, unique and always glamorous style. Madonna sliced away at genre straightjackets like a surgeon, opening the doors for the future hip-hop explosion. U. S. Canada, North & South America and European concert tour â€Å"Sticky and Sweet† in promoting her new album – Madonna's adding a new twist to a whole new distribution model the mobile handset Samsung and Sony Ericson. Focus differentiation – strategy seeks to provide high perceived product/service benefits justifying a substantial price, usually to a selected market segment (niche) Madonna’s new album Hard Candy 2008 has rebuild her strategy from ultimate failure to focused differentiation as her new album has an urban vibe, while remaining a dancepop record at heart.Stuart Price, the producer of Confessions on a Dance Floor, described the new album as moving in an urban direction. It had initially been defined as having â€Å"a lot of producers from a lot of genres in there. † The Sun proclaiming that â€Å"it could be her most ambitious project yet†, while The New York Times reviewed the album as â€Å"a set of catchy, easily digestible, mass-appeal songs†. (Wikipedia 2008) Question 2 Why has she experienced sustained success over the past two decades?Answer 2 For stay maintaining in entertainment industry Madonna has use a ways of attempting to sustain advantage through differentiation ; Create difficulties of imitation – Factors that can make strategies difficult to imitate. ? Music genre Madonna always changed her music genre in her new album and her music genre never been the same genre from one album with other album. For example in her ear ly career the music genre her bring is Trashy pop and for current album the genre was urban vibe. Targeted audiences Madonna always set her target audience with her new album release in market and her target audience is different for each album. For example in album Ray of Light her target audience was Clubbing generation of the 1990s and for album Confession on a Dance Floor the target was Strong gay-icon audience. ? Style or Image Madonna style and image always changed with her new album release in market and not many celebrities willing to do the same thing with Madonna because its take a higher cost.For example that we can give here about Madonna style or image is in her album name Music here image was Acid rock, tongue in cheek Miss USA/cow girl and in album Like a Virgin like a Prayer her image is originally a Marilyn glamour image. ? Trademark The trademark of Madonna was her dance, which is her dance for all albums is different from one and other and for all album Madonna ha s set her own dance. For example in album Ray of Light the dance step was a classic dance pop and for album hard candy the dance step is more to hip hop. Sex appeal As what we know Madonna like to show her sex appeal to public and it’s was her attraction to make her fans buy her album or watch her movie. Her sex appeal is hard to imitate by other celebrity because her has her own persona of sex appeal that other artist didn’t has and also Madonna really confident with her sex appearances in public. Create a situation of imperfect mobility – The capabilities that sustain differentiation cannot be traded. Her self Something that cannot being change or imitate by other celebrity is Madonna voice. Even her now already 25 years in entertainment industry but she still can maintain her vocal establish and didn’t has any singer have a similar voice like Madonna, ever her singing style also cannot be imitate by other singer and it never change until now. ? Tradema rk As we know Madonna trademark was her dance, and Madonna dance step is difference from other celebrity because it has an own style and persona while her dance.Madonna and dance is something that we cannot change because Madonna started her career in entertainment industry with dance and until now she still with her interesting in dance. ? Sex appeal Sex and Madonna is one of the thing that we cannot change because Madonna always come out with her sexuality story in media and it’s like something compulsory to Madonna in this entertainment industry. Most of Madonna fans also know her because of her sex appeal story and not because her talent in music.Establish a lower cost position – Competitors can allow an organization to sustain better margins that can be reinvested to achieve and maintain differentiation. ? Album All Madonna album was receive a good feed back from her fans and most of her albums are sold more than what she expected because a price of her album was an affordable and anybody can buy it. Not just that, the quality of her album also appropriate with the price given and make her fans feel satisfied. Tour / Concert In all Madonna tour most of the ticket is sold out and it’s proving to us that Madonna concert get an excellent reception from her fans. Her ticket price also affordable and the place divided also make all her fans can watch her performances in suitable situation. Not just that, Madonna basically has a surprise to her fans in her performance. Question 3 What might threaten the sustainability of her success? Answer 3 There have several factors that can be threatening the sustainability of Madonna successful in entertainment industry and the factor is: ?Her own self Her own self can be the biggest threat for her future career in show business because with her habit like to present the controversy in media will arrive the negative impact for her in long term. After 25 years in music industry she always makes the nega tive controversy and it will make the fans keep bored with the bad story about their idol. If that happen, Madonna career also will goes down and it’s hard for her to wake up again after that. ? Criticism Madonna gets too many criticisms along her career because of the controversy that her always make when her new album need to release in market.Maybe for her it’s just the trick to promote her new song and just a part of her marketing strategy, but for the other parties who give the critic to her will feel that Madonna is wrong icon for them because don’t know how to care her fans sensitivity. ? New artists with new talents Now days too many new talent or star came out in entertainment industry and it will give bad impact to Madonna because most of the new generation likes to watch and give their support to new artists compare than the oldies.Most of the new artist now has a new talent that we can’t see from the previous evergreen generation. So that Mado nna should work harder to make sure her reputation will not go down and can become a diva forever. ? Reality shows The reality show also can be the biggest threat for Madonna in music industry because of too many reality shows playing in television now and the contestant for the program also has a big talent and their idea also new and fresh. When the new talented star will come out from that reality shows, it will give pressure to Madonna to stay in entertainment industry for a long term. Sex appearances Madonna and sex appeal is synonym in entertainment industry because her always like to show her sex appearance to public more compare to promoted her album or films. Most of her story in magazine or from paparazzi is about her sex appeal is too much and have a one time her well known as a sex icon more than a singer or movie star and it’s can become a threats to her because her sex story more than her album or movie story. ? Competitor As we know all celebrity has their own competitor in entertainment industry and it’s goes same to Madonna.For her latest competitor in music industry was a Britney Spears. It is because Britney and Madonna do a come back in music industry almost in the same time and when the time that downfall of Madonna, Britney also face the same situation as Madonna. Not just that, Madonna and Britney also well known as a celebrity who like to do a controversy and always come out with their sex appearance in public. Conclusion Madonna rocketed to stardom so quickly in 1984 that it obscured most of her musical virtues.Appreciating her music became even more difficult as the decade wore on, as discussing her lifestyle became more common than discussing her music. However, one of Madonna's greatest achievements is how she manipulated the media and the public with her music, her videos, her publicity, and her sexuality. Arguably, Madonna was the first female pop star to have complete control of her music and image. Madonna named al so list as a one of People Magazine's '50 Most Beautiful People of 1991†², and '25 Most Intriguing People of 2001†².It is because Madonna has her own Image, music genre and targeted audiences for each albums that been produced in market. She also was the first global brand name to make content delivered to mobile phones seem downright dope. Not just for consumers in Asia and Europe, who'd long been exposed to any number of mobile content and marketing campaigns, but to mobile newbie’s who just happen to be the ultimate arbiters of pop culture cool: America's teenagers. Madonna has been dubbed â€Å"one of the greatest pop acts of all time† and dubbed â€Å"The Queen of Pop† by some media.She is ranked by the Recording Industry Association of America as the best-selling female rock artist of the twentieth century and the second top-selling female artist in the United States with 63 million certified albums. Guinness World Records list her as the world's most successful female recording artist of all time and the top-earning female singer in the world with an estimated net worth of over US$400 million, having sold over 200 million records worldwide. On March 10, 2008, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

A Biographical Sketch of Arnold Schoenberg Research Paper

A Biographical Sketch of Arnold Schoenberg - Research Paper Example The artist composed music in different styles attracting a mixture of reactions from the audience including students, friends, and other Viennese audiences. Some of his works later contributed to hatred from his musical enemies. The early life and music Arnold Schoenberg was born to a merchant Samuel Schoenberg and Pauline in Vienna, Austria, on September 13, 1874 (ThinkQuest, para.1). Schoenberg was born in a family that had no particular musical history (Rovi Corporation, para.2). His father died in 1890 when he was aged 16 after which he became an apprentice with some bank shortly. As such, he had to learn much of the music styles through self-teaching and reliance on friends. The artist learnt to play violin and began to compose at the early age of eight years (ThinkQuest, para.1). He had shown aptitude for music composition at the early age. He also began to learn and acquire skills from his friends. One of the artists who helped him develop his talents was Oskar Adler, who gave him rudimentary instructions in harmony and counterpoint (Rovi Corporation, para.2). In 1891, Schoenberg joined the orchestra â€Å"Polyhymnia† and met Alexander von Zemlinsky, the conductor of the orchestra; they would be friends throughout their lives (ThinkQuest, para.1). Zemlinsky, who would later be his brother-in-law, taught Schoenberg composition skills. This was the only formal instruction of this nature that the artist received in music. The early works of the artist in this career involved teaching privately and in other institutions and occasionally orchestrating operettas. He was a conductor of the metalworker-choir. Schoenberg got married to Zemlinsky’s sister, Mathilde, in 1901 and he moved with his wife to Berlin. The marriage was shaken at one point whereby Mathilde got married to another artist. They reunited later before her death in 1923. Schoenberg later got married ten months later to another woman, a sister to another artist. Music styles Schoenb erg developed his first original composition, some few piano pieces, at the age of twenty. The early musical compositions by this artist bore the image of the German Romanticism. This was particularly evident in his first composition Verklarte Nacht, Op.4 composed in 1899. This work was romantic and rich in harmony and color making this earlier work to be easy to comprehend and listen to (ThinkQuest, para.7). In the later developments, the artist concentrated in atonal music that did not have the structure of the traditional tonality. This formed the basis of criticism from his detractors. Nonetheless, the style attracted a large faithful following. He became an instructor in music. Some of the active followers would later become his pupils after establishing his private institution. The two most identifiable pupils of the artist are Alban Berg an Anton Webern. The two pupils developed their skills in music and would later match their trainer in style and composition ability. Workin g together, the three musical composers were the corner stones in the development of the atonal and 12-tone music that rocked the music industry in the first half of the twentieth century While in Berlin, Schoenberg was appointed to teach at Stern Academy in Berlin (ThinkQuest, para.3). In 1903, he returned to Vienna and established a private teaching academy. Berg and Webern became his first pupil. Schoenberg received further support from Zemlensky and another friend, Gustav Mahler, towards the real composition of atonal pieces (ThinkQuest) Gustav Mahler was the director of court opera. Schoenberg had now begun to move away from tonality towards atonal composition. He later composed some works and performed in a legendary in

Are there benefits to attending a single-sex school Essay

Are there benefits to attending a single-sex school - Essay Example In relation to this, results of many studies show that boys and girls in coeducation tend to perform better. This essay will argue whether the advantages of coeducation outweigh the disadvantages. The information provided by the University of Michigan shows that students who attend single schools perform better than those in coeducation schools because of the challenges that occur in coeducation1. Single-sex schools reduce gender inequality that is very common in coeducation schools. In support of this claim, Hughes say that most teachers support the opinion raised by yelling male students in the classroom and ignore the girls who are raising their hand waiting for the opportunity for answering a question3. Alonsoand his friendsclaim that male dominance make girls become more silent in single-sex schools than coeducation schools4. Some of the teachers also have the habit of valuing girls more than boys in the classroom, as well as the field. Such diversion of attention to gender is the main contributor to poor performance in co-education  and high performance in single schools. In connection with this argument, Alonso and his colleagues say that single-sex schools protect s tudents from gender stereotypes4. For instance, it is evident that girls perform well in male-dominated subjects like mathematics and science better in single-sex schools than coeducation schools because of the competition pressure from male students. Boyson the other hand, do subjects that were done in the past by females such as music and poetry in single-sex schools than co-education. In other words, single-sex schools contribute to the increase of student’s confidence in some academic subjects. The performance of girls and boys in coeducation is also affected by their age. According to Morin, students in high school develop some characters because of peer pressure and adolescence5. For instance, male students may compete against each other over some girls in the classroom or

Women and poverty Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Women and poverty - Research Paper Example The United Nations in its recent measurement of poverty levels in societies has defined poverty as a condition in which people live in less than one dollar in a day. Coulter (24) defined poverty as the nature in which certain individuals or groups of people in the society are deprived of resources and are denied opportunities to improve their lives. Poverty is the lack of basic needs by people such as food, clothing, and shelter. Poverty in women therefore, is the lack of the basic needs by women that are essential for them to live good lives. The lack of opportunities as well as women’s inability to live long, healthy and creative lives indicates that they face a poverty problem. They do not have the choice to live according to their own wish and standards since they cannot afford the necessities. Additionally, the lack of freedom and failure to live according to their desires takes away their dignity, making the society down look upon them. The biological and sociological pr ocesses that affect both men and women have varying effects on the two genders, affecting each one of them in their own unique way. While these differences positively affect men, women on the other hand are negatively affected. The gap even becomes bigger in areas with minimal legislations that focus on women development. Social structures and roles assigned to women and men by the society too affect their poverty levels. The cultural expectation of men to be the providers of their families makes the society give them more opportunities. Paper Outline 1. Feminization of poverty 2. Nature and extent of poverty in women 3. Causes of poverty among women (a) Wage gap between men and women (b) Low salaries among women (c) Lack of job opportunities for women (d) Inequality in distribution of resources (e) Social exclusion of women by the society (f) Lack of credit and loan facilities for women (g) Negative effects of credit (h) Traditional beliefs and practices (i) Poor farming methods (j ) Poor legislations 4. Conclusion and Recommendations In conclusion, poverty in women is real and women are suffering from lack of opportunities and enough income to sustain decent lifestyles. This has resulted to feminization of poverty, which is an association of women with poverty. The factors that contribute to the high poverty levels among women are both social and legislative related. High wage gaps between men and women, low salaries, lack of job opportunities, inequality in distribution of resources, social exclusion of women by the society, lack of credit and loan facilities for women, negative effects of credit, traditional beliefs and practices, poor farming methods for women, working in agriculture and poor legislations all contribute to the women’s poverty levels. Annotated bibliography Townson, Monica. A Report Card on Women and Poverty, The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, 2000. Web. 29 May 2013 In the paper, â€Å"A Report Card on Women and Povertyâ⠂¬ , Townson gives a clear analysis of the different causal factors of escalated levels of poverty among Canadian women. Feminization of poverty as she points out is by its construction a societal and legislative concern. From her study, she explores the various contributing factors to the high poverty levels among women in the Canadian society. Townson believes that women have unjustly been associated with poverty, tracing the issue of women poverty to a historical point of view. This problem as she observes has been around the society for a long time. According to her, the biggest contributing factor to escalating poverty levels among women in Canada is the huge wage gap between me

The Presidency of Abraham Lincoln Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Presidency of Abraham Lincoln - Essay Example Abraham Lincoln was a fierce opponent of slavery. He joined the newly formed Republican Party due to its anti-slavery platform. As a U.S. Senator from Illinois, Lincoln was concerned about the institution of slavery being expanding into newly formed states in the west. In June of 1858 he gave the famous â€Å"house divided† acceptance speech following his election to the Senate affirming his belief that â€Å"this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free.† (Hubbard, 1998). Because of his very public stance against the institution of slavery, his election as president was not acceptable to southern states, seven of which broke off from the Union prior to the inauguration. Lincoln’s first act as president was to call up 75,000 soldiers to stop the Southern revolt. Refusing to send troops that would fight their southern neighbors, claiming Lincoln has exceeded his constitutional authority; Tennessee, Arkansas and Virginia seceded as well joini ng the Confederate States of America. Lincoln did not know much about military matters so he educated himself on the subject by reading books on military history. He had no formal education but was a learned man and became a lawyer by reading books so this was an effective method for him. Lincoln sent a supply ship to Fort Sumter located in South Carolina to fortify Union troops stationed in what Southerners now considered a different country, their own. The Civil War officially began when southern troops fired on the ship and fort. Two months later, in an effort to quickly end the war, Lincoln ordered the army to capture Richmond, Virginia, the Confederate capital but the Union was badly defeated on their way in the small town of Manassas, Virginia. Lincoln then realized the war would be protracted so signed a bill into law that called for the enlistment of half a million more troops for a three year period. Lincoln proved to be a capable military tactician and, for the most part, chose effective field commanders. Gener al George McClellan, commander of the biggest Union army, was a favorite of the troops but not Lincoln who was frustrated with McClellan’s unwillingness to advance against the Confederate army. Lincoln relieved McClellan of his command when he did not pursue the retreating Confederates following the 1862 Union victory at Antietam. (â€Å"Abraham,† 2012). Lincoln created a great deal of controversy when he suspended the right of habeas corpus (due process of law) in 1861 when Congress was not in session. He had already ended civil law in some areas but regarded these drastic, many correctly called unconstitutional, measures as necessary steps in the war effort. Lincoln revealed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 following the Battle of Antietam which freed the slaves but Southern states ignored it at the time. Two significant Union successes in the summer of 1863 at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and Vicksburg, Mississippi finally gave the Union an advantage. Lincoln made General and future president Ulysses S. Grant the Union forces Supreme Commander in 1864 due to his decisive victory at Vicksburg. General George Meade had been expected to receive the title but missed his opportunity when the troops under his command did not deliver a decisive

Critical Review Literature Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Critical - Literature review Example Thus there is no room for religion in the study and understanding of human behaviour and the natural science in today’s academic world and in particular in psychology. Nelson (2006) argues that these developments are unfortunate since, since science is not capable of explaining every human or worldly phenomenon. Science leaves a number of knowledge gaps that not only renders science as much a statement of ideas as religion does. Therefore religion has value in terms of understanding the natural world and human behaviour and thus is valuable to psychology (Nelson, 2006). Nelson’s (2006) argument that religion has value in terms of providing an understanding of the natural world and human behaviour is decidedly logical. Certainly, science is based on natural world realities, but it does not explain everything and thus leaves open the possibility of supernatural forces which can be explained by religion just as logically as any other untested or unverified scientific theor y. Summary Nelson (2006) argues that during the Middle Ages, there was an integration of science and religion in the formation of a â€Å"body of knowledge† (p. 205). ... Nelson (2006) starts out by defining integration as the combining of at least two disciplines for forming a consensus on the same issue. However, integrating religion and science has become increasingly difficult. The difficulties can be traced back to philosophical thinking prior to Socrates in which materialism influenced philosophical conceptualization of the world as a purely physical entity (Nelson, 2006). In other words, the world as a physical entity was only capable of explanation via physical evidence of facts and its nature. This is known as materialism (Nelson, 2006). The materialism approach is at odds with the naturalism approach which obviously accepts religion because naturalism holds that certain things about the world are natural facts and do not require physical proof. Naturalism also adheres to the concept that much of the world can be explained by reference to physical evidence (Nelson, 2006). It therefore follows that from the naturalist perspective, religion is relevant for explaining the supernatural while science is relevant for proven that which can be physically observed, tested and measured (Nelson, 2006). During the 1500s, Sir Francis Bacon, while supporting the value of religion, advocated for the separation of science and religion on that grounds that integration was an obstacle to learning (Nelson, 2006). By the 1800s, during the Enlightenment, positivism grew out of â€Å"anti-religious† agendas â€Å"shaped by centuries of state-church repression† and â€Å"the effects of religious wars and intolerance† (Nelson, 2006, p. 210). Science emerged as based on hard facts and physical proof of the existence of those facts. Psychologists such as Sigmund Freud were determined to establish

MGT answer the question in the attachment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

MGT answer the question in the attachment - Essay Example ses of the company include massive debt and overheads from now defunct brands whose discontinuation will be reflected positively through lower expenses on their income statement and other financial statements in the next financial cycle. The Liz Claiborne Company’s plan of action has been to trim down on organizational size with respect to work force and brands. The three brands which were retained were all priced as high end, affordable apparel which is currently safe from the disinterest of the consumers. It’s actually the middle tier apparel industry which was taken aback with penny wise consumers and so Liz Claiborne decided to sell those unprofitable brands to companies like J.C. Penney Co. and Bluestar Alliance. Yes, the action being taken by Liz Claiborne is most definitely strategic. They’ve given a lifeline to the company by trimming its burden of many loss-enduring brands and thus shaking off massive amounts of debt. These moves have also touched investors the right way. Share price of Liz Claiborne rose by 32 cents, equivalent to 3.8%, to $8.59 after the sale of Liz Claiborne and Monet Brands to J.C. Penney Co. was completed on the 2nd of November, 2011. Also, the company has announced that it will be renamed following the sale of the Liz Claiborne brand itself. This move is aimed to give fresh wind to the company, both in lieu of investor and consumer relations

Teachers and Ethics Responsibilities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Teachers and Ethics Responsibilities - Essay Example On the other hand, this contravenes school policy, which gives the child’s parents a right to participate in such decisions. Part 2: Application of different ethical approach theories Each of the options that present themselves to Elizabeth in this situation has an ethical value if assessed using different perspectives. Choosing to proceed with counseling sessions without the parents’ consent can be validated as ethical under the consequential view. This will have a likely positive outcome, as it will eliminate Trevor’s misconduct. In addition to this, it protects him from abuse by his parents who would more likely than not exact their own means of punishment on learning about Trevor’s behavior. The fact that prior evidence indicates a sustained trend of such response from Trevor’s parents gives the ethical value of this option much substance. On the other hand, this option cannot be justified under the non-consequential view of professional ethics. This is because the very act in itself undermines the rights of Trevor’s parents to choose a suitable method of discipline for their child. There are non-consequential ethics with the second approach to inform Trevor’s parents about the stealing incident and counseling sessions. ... The non-consequential approach The non-consequential theory evaluates the ethical nature of an action based on its value (Freakly & Burgh, 2000). The assessment of the act is on terms of what it directly implies. Certain kinds of acts are immediately dismissed as unethical and others as ethical. There is a static and clear classification in this case since there are some merits in taking the non-consequential approach to judge ethical value. One advantage of the non-consequential approach is that it preserves the importance of professional duty. In a sense, it puts a set of unchanging values that come with taking up a certain professional position forward (Preston, 2007). Allowing exceptional cases to have alternative consideration creates room for past reference in the future, which may complicate the judgment of similar cases once they arise. Another advantage is the protection of the rights and freedoms of people. In a non-consequential scenario, the rights of an individual are co nsidered values that bear as much weight as the gain construed from seeking a positive outcome from a decision. Though the non-consequential theory has advantages of a static nature, it prevents progress on many levels. The creation of a system to uphold rights is essentially going to give precedence of such rights over social development, which would include changing the child’s behavior and changing the parents’ view on non-violent discipline. The consequential approach The consequential approach judges an action’s rightness based on the outcomes of its implementation. If the outcomes of taking an action prove to be positive, then that action is judged as right, and if it is negative, then it is

The Millenium Dome Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

The Millenium Dome - Essay Example A project is not something that is part of the normal operations of the business. Most of the times a projects are typically created only once, besides being temporary, and specific. A project just like the Millennium Dome consumes a lot resources and it has funding limits. In project management it requires the application of techniques, knowledge, and skills to efficiently and effectively execute the project. Therefore, project management is a competency strategy for most organizations; this enables them to tie the project results to the goals and objectives of the business (Kousholt, 2007:90). In addition, many projects have funding limits and a projected budget unto which it must operate from. This creates the need to have a project manager. Project management process During the project management process of Millennium Dome, it was done in five (5) phases. Project initiation; during this phase an idea of the project to be undertaken is carefully examined to establish if it is bene ficial to the organization. A decision making team is formed to determine whether the project can be realistically be completed. Project definition and planning; a project plan is put in writing giving an outline of the work that is to be performed. It is at this stage that the list of deliverables to be presented and also the potential outcome of a set of specific activities (Meredith & Mantel, 2011:455-7). During project planning the requirements of completing the project are defined. The project manager of Millennium Dome identified how many people and also how much expense was to be involved in the project and any other requirements necessary for the completion of the project. According to Haughey (2013:55) reported that a project manager is to make sure that he manages the assumptions and risks that are related to the project. In addition, he also determined the constraints of the project. The constraints accrued in the Dome were related to budget, scope, schedule, and resource s. It was found out that a small change in one constraint typically affected the other constraints. Project launch or execution; Resources and tasks are distributed and the teams were informed of their responsibilities. This was a good time as any other information related to the project was welcomed so as to make adjustments to the project. The project manager in this phase is to know how many resources and how much budget he had to work with for the project. The Dome cost ?789 million. He was able to assign those resources and allocated the budget to the various tasks of the project. Moreover, he is to ensure that the project team works in harmony. Project performance and control; the incorporation of project managers was tantamount for the Millennium Dome project as there was need to compare the status of the project to the actual plan, as the resources performed the scheduled work. The project managers were tasked with adjusting schedules in addition to doing what was necessary so as to keep the project on track (Meredith & Mantel, 2011:468). The project manager is in charge of updating the plans of the project to reflect on the actual time elapsed for each task. Project closure; this is when the project manager, owner of the project, and any other person having interest in the project, pulls together to analyze the final outcome of the project. Project closure is when the Millennium Dome was completed and the client approved the outcome which was the government of the United Kingdom. Project manager The project manager works with the sponsor of the business who wants to have the

Comparaison Between Mcmxiv & Anthem for Doomed Youth Essay Example for Free

Comparaison Between Mcmxiv Anthem for Doomed Youth Essay In both of these poems Anthem For Doomed Youth and MCMXIV talking about war, Wilfred Owen and Philip Larkin try in different ways to engrave in their readers minds the atrocious actions that war provoked with different language, voice but also form. First of all, the poems are written in a different way. Anthem For Doomed Youth with his ABAB CDCD ABBACC rhyme scheme is in fact a sonnet. However, a sonnet is usually used to glorify love and romance whereas Anthem For Doomed Youth focuses on the First World War. We can assume that Wilfred Owen surely wanted to contrast these two opposite subjects to create an ironic atmosphere. We can already guess the poem is going to be powerful and memorable. On the other hand, the second poem, MCMXIV,is composed of 4 stanzas containing each 8 lines but which don’t have a rhythmic pitch. For me, it looks like Philip Larkin is narrating a tale or a story. In my opinion, the sonnet gives a rhythm to the poem and catches more the reader’s attention even if it seems shorter than Larkin’s poem. Secondly, we know both of these poems are talking about the First Wold War. But if we look a little bit closer, we can clearly feel a difference in the choice of words and language. After reading the first poem, we feel a mix of disgust, revulsion and unfairness whereas after reading Philip Larkin’s one, melancholia, emptiness and sadness invade us. How can two poems with the same subject can lead to such different feelings? The sonnet looks like it is divided in two parts, both of the ‘stanzas’ start with a question: â€Å"What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?†, â€Å"What candles may be held to speed them all?† Then, the following lines answer to the questions. For me, it seems it’s like a speech with two rhetorical questions. The poet asks the questions but already has the answers and responds to it very precisely in a very negative way: ‘no’, ‘nor’, ‘not’ are used at the beginning of a line following the question. Anthem For Doomed Youth is a small but efficient poem. Any word is present for a particular reason. The vocabulary used is snappy and harsh one such as â€Å"monstrous anger† â€Å"nor any voice of mourning† â€Å"who die as cattle†. It sounds like Wilfred Owen wants to shock us. He plunges us in the horror of the war: we can almost sound the â€Å"stuttering rifles†, see â€Å"the holy glimmers of goodbyes†. He definitely wants to express his disgust toward war. Indeed, we are not facing a ‘peaceful’ war as the whole population expected in 1914, these young boys do not bravely die for their nation: it’s a horrific battle which ravage both sides but both stubbornly do not make any move to stop this carnage. Owen makes us feel the constant fear, the incomprehension of this pointless ravage Withal, the second poem has a more smooth way of approach. Philip Larkin wants to have an affective impact. He doesn’t use striking a vocabulary like Wilfred Owen but a melancholic one. There is this feeling of confinement and reclusion; â€Å"shut shops†, â€Å"sunblinds†, â€Å"shadowing Doomsday lines†. Whereas we could almost hear the ‘stuttering rifles’ in Anthem For Dommed Youth, here, in MCMXIV, silence is the only tolerable sound. No one should make noise, in honour of all the dead soldiers who fought naively for a cause that wasn’t even directly linked to their nation. Wilfred Owen expresses the horror of the trench warfare whereas Philip Larkin enters in the impact on social consequences that War leaded to. Life will never be the same again after this tragedy. Not only will the soldiers be shell-shocked, but the whole population will be too. Even though women and children were not on the battlefront, they still experienced the war at home fronts. Owen also uses repetitions to emphasize some specific phrases. The second and third lines both start with the word ‘only’ and are followed by personifications of weapons like ‘the monstrous anger of the guns’ and ‘stuttering riffles’ rapid rattle’; it is almost like the poet cannot even distinguish the human beings and machines. The men do not kill each others anymore, the machines do. The repetition of the ‘no’, ‘nor’, ‘not’ is also a strong sign: there isn’t any hope in anything, we cannot see positive anymore. There is a constant anxiety in the soldiers’ eyes. The word ‘choirs’ is also written two times. The reference in music could be positive but here, it is not. It is a music which leads to an inevitable death. It could also refer to the heartbeat of soldiers. A worrying rhythm that could stop anytime. There is also a repetition in MCMXIV in the last stanza: â€Å"never† (thee times). But once again, we cannot feel anger; only a strong sorrow. Humans can never be innocent again after the terrible massacre of this War. Larkin accepts with resignation what happened: what is done is done. The dead people will not come back. The only thing we can do is remember them and commemorate them. On the contrary, Owen cannot tolerate this thought and he feels obliged to relate the catastrophic event harshly to prevent people to never do that again. The human loss is literally and psychologically intolerable. Finally, we can discuss about the poet’s choice of title of their poems. An anthem is a choral composition having a sacred or moralizing text. So, this poem is aimed to all the heroes who died fighting. Nevertheless, the adjective ‘doomed’ comes to spoil the word anthem. Doomed is just ‘fate’, something inevitable. It is true we cannot win over death but at least, we can delay it as much as we can, whereas the following word ‘youth’ has a tragic connotation. Young people are not supposed to die, their fate is to enjoy life as much as they can but this war comes to destroy all their dreams and hopes. MCMXIV is the number 1914 in ancient roman. We can assume it is a reference to the past, Roman letters still exist after hundreds of years, maybe Larkin wants his poem to be remembered as much as these numbers? To conclude, we can say that even if Wilfred Owen and Philip Larkin did have different ways of approach to talk about war, they both caused very strong feelings. One used an aggressive and impulsive pen whereas the other provoked sadness and respect toward the fallen soldiers. In fact, they definitely agree in one similar point: First World War was a tragedy that no one should ever forget.

Family Law Answers to Problem Questions

Family Law Answers to Problem Questions Family Law Introduction The law of divorce is governed under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 where it provides the sole ground for divorce, namely that the marriage between Jason and Sandra has broken down irretrievably.[1] Nevertheless, in order to establish irretrievable breakdown, Jason will have to show that one of the five facts listed in section 1(2) of the MCA 1973 has been established on proof (Richards v Richards)[2]. Meanwhile, it is notably that the court in England and Wales is given a wide power in determining the arrangement of children between the Jason and Sandra. Since Jason and Sandra are married, they both have parental responsibility for Joyce and Tom[3]. Their parent responsibilities will not be terminated even if the court grants them a decree of divorce. By virtue of CA 1989, the focus is on the welfares of the children[4] and thus the welfare checklist set out in section 1(3) of CA 1989 will be taken into account by the court in deciding whether to grant share residence to Jason and Sandra and to limit Sandra’s contact with Joyce and Tom. Divorce between Jason and Sandra Since the marriage between Jason and Sandra has lasted seven years, Jason is not restricted by the absolute bar on the presenting of petition for divorce within one year of marriage imposed by section 3(1) of the MCA 1973. Jason is allowed to petition for divorce if he is able to establish one of the five facts set out in section 1(2) of the MCA 1973. Adultery and Intolerability: section 1(2)(a) The first possible fact that Jason would rely on is that if adultery and intolerability contained in section 1(2)(a) of MCA 1973. In order to successful in this claim, Jason would have to show that Sandra has committed adultery and he finds it intolerable with her. In Dennis v Dennis[5], adultery is defined as a voluntary act of sexual intercourse between Sandra and another person who is of the opposite sex. On the fact, Jason’s brother saw Sandra and Craig having dinner at a local restaurant and then leaving the restaurant together late at night, holding hands and getting into the car. According to Sapsford v Sapsford[6], It is unlikely that this incident is sufficient to constitute a ground of adultery as there is no evidence of sexual intercourse between Sandra and Craig. However, following the case of Farnham v Farnham[7], Jason would want to raise a rebuttable presumption that Sandra has committed sexual intercourse with Craig by using the circumstantial evidence of incli nation and opportunity. However, it is unlikely this claim will be successful as the circumstances does not in any sense suggest that Sandra and Craig have indulged in sexual intercourse. Further, it must be noted that, adultery is a serious accusation to make and thus the courts have always insisted on strong evidence to allow such accusation.[8] Even if adultery can be established, Jason would have to show that he finds it intolerable to live with Sandra while the intolerability need not follow from Sandra’s adultery (Clearly v Clealy)[9]. According to Goodrich v Goodrich[10], the intolerability test is to be accessed subjectively and thus Jason could rely on the fact that he cannot cope with Sandra’s increasingly volatile behaviour and claims that it is intolerable to live with Sandra. Unreasonable Behaviour: section 1(2)(b) A more realistic option for Jason is section 1(2)(b) of MCA 1973, where it provides that Jason can rely on the ground of ‘unreasonable behaviour’ if he can establish that Sandra’s behaviour is such that it is unreasonable for him to continue living with her. According to Livingstone- Stallard[11], the focus is not on the gravity of the behaviour per se but on its impact on Jason. Following O’Neill v O’Neill[12], the test under s.1(2) is to be accessed both objectively and subjectively, the objective aspect concerns whether Jason is reasonably expected to stay with Sandra , while the subjective part takes into account the personalities of Jason and Sandra. Since we are told that Sandra’s behaviour becomes increasingly volatile, the chance that Jason will succeed in this claim would increase. It is likely that Sandra’s unreasonable behaviour can be established, it is then necessary to look at the character of Jason and Sandra and decide whether they can be expected to stay together reasonably (Ash v Ash)[13]. It can be pointed out that Sandra is having an adulterous relationship with Craig and this it might not be reasonable to expect Jason to live with her. At this point, it is arguable that the court will grant a decree of divorce on the ground of s.1(2)(b) based on Sandra’s behaviour that makes Jason cannot be reasonably expected to stay with her. Arrangements in relation with Joyce and Tom By virtue of section 2(1) of CA 1989, both Jason and Sandra owe parent responsibilities toward Joyce and Tom. Such responsibility is defined in section 3(1) as ‘all rights, duties, powers and responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and its property’. This right continue even after Jason and Sandra divorce. Nevertheless, under section 1(5) if CA 1989, Jason and Sandra are required to file a statement of arrangements for the children, detailing the measures that have been resolved between them and also the unresolved issues. On the facts, there are two issues to be considered in regards with Joyce and Tom: who should the children stay with and the extent of Sandra’s contact with the children. In regards with these unresolved issues, the court is able to make the child arrangements order under section 12 of the Children and Families Act 2014 which replaces the orders previously knowns as residence orders and contact orders contained in section 8 of Children Act 1989. The change of terminology supposed to move away from emphasis of ‘resident’ and ‘non-resident’ parent and shift the focus onto the children’s welfare[14]. In the other words, the court will take into account the welfare checklist set out in section 1(3) of the CA 1989. The Welfare checklist includes the ascertainable wishes feelings of Joyce and Tom; their physical, emotional and educational needs; the likely effect on Joyce and Tom in their circumstances; Joyce and Tom’s ages, sex, backgrounds and other relevant characteristics; any harm which they have suffered or are at risk of suffering; and how capable Jason and Sandra and Craig are meeting Joyce and Tom’s needs. We are told that Joyce is five years old and Tom is at an age of three. They are still young and might not be able to express their true wishes and feelings with regards to the issue of residence and contact and thus it is unlikely that the court will give weight to their wishes (Stewart v Stewart)[15]. In regards with their needs, even though there no presumption that a child’s emotional and physical needs are best met by the mother, the case law has showed a preference for keeping young children with their mother [Re S (a minor) (Custody)][16]. However, in Re H (A Minor)[17], it was held that the time has changed and that many fathers were as capable as mother of looking after small children and this may lead to a decision that in favour of Jason. Further, the facts that Sandra is under depression and her plan to move in with Craig, who is also has anger management issues will be taken into consideration under section 1(3)(e) by the court. Lastly, the capabilities of Jason a nd Sandra in meeting Joyce and Tom’s needs will be considered as well. Here, it is likely that Jason would have a good chance of obtaining a residence order as the facts that Sandra and Craig is starting a new relationship and there is no evidence that Craig seems to fit the stereotype of the replacement father. However, even if the court grants a residence order in favour of Jason, the parental responsibility of Sandra towards Joyce and Tom will not be terminated. According to Re R (A Minor)(Contact), Sandra will be granted a generous contact with Joyce and Tom because the court is on the view that ‘it is a right of a child to have a relationship with both parents wherever possible’.[18] The fact that both Sandra and Craig are under anger management course will deny Jason’s claim that Sandra has a mental condition that makes her inappropriate to be in contact with Joyce and Tom. (1500 words) Part 2 Introduction In 1956, the concept of no-fault divorce was first put forward by the Morton Commission in their report on the basis that the divorce law prior to that date has encouraged acrimony between the parties.[19] Such approach was taken by a series of Law Commission reports and led to the Introduction of Divorce Act 1969, which was later consolidated to the legal provision in use today, namely the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. Section 1(1) of MCA 1973 provides that irretrievable breakdown of marriage is the only ground for divorce and this can only be established if one of the five facts listed in section 1(2) of the MCA 1973. There are two no fault facts that can be relied to establish divorce, namely the two years’ separation with the respondent’s consent to the divorce [section 1(2)(d)] and the five years’ separation [section 1(2)(e)]. However, the facts that the number of petition under these no-fault facts are much lesser than the fault facts of adultery [section 1( 2)(a)] and unreasonable behaviour [section 1(2)(b)] raises a question that whether the law of divorce in England and Wales can really be described as one of ‘no-fault’? This essay will argue that identifying who is at ‘fault’ is still very much a feature of the divorce system in Wales and such element can be proved decisive in determining issues such as division of financial assets, child contact and residence. Such approach was also put forward by John Eekelaar that the law that the current law of divorce is ‘deeply corrupting by the law itself’ as the individuals are prevented from accessing to their legal rights conferred on them by law.[20] Application of ‘no-fault’ divorce In order to obtain a speedy divorce, it is more likely that the parties to a relationship would be more willing to rely on fault- based divorce. The courts have taken a strict approach in allowing a non-fault divorce and the degree of separation does not limit to the normal notion of physical contact but it also involves mental element. For instance, in Mouncer v Mouncer, regardless the facts that the parties were slept in separate bedrooms, it was held that they were living apart as they continued to spend time with their children together.[21] At this point, it can be concluded that the law has failed to provide an effective method of no-fault divorce and this forces the party to a relationship to initiate a divorce claim by alleging fault on the part of the other party. In the other words, the law has failed to fulfil its original objective that to enable the parties of a marriage to end their relationship with minimum bitterness and hostility. Fault remains as an important exists that dominate the law of divorce in England and Wales today. Despite its decisive role in establishing a ground for divorce, the courts have also emphasised ‘fault’ of the parties in determining the consequences of a relationship breakdown. Division of financial assets and Child contact and residence According to Thorpe J in Dart v Dart, the court are given wide discretion to make orders which suits the needs of individual cases, albeit guided by the various factors set out in the statutory framework. With regards to the financial distribution on marriage breakdown, section 25(1) of the MCA 1973 required the court to take into account to all circumstance of the case, whereby section 25(2)(g) provides that the conduct of the parties is one of the factors that should be considered. Even though, it is arguably that the introduction of no-fault divorce by MCA 1973 reduced the significance of fault in determining the distribution of property, but by reviewing the case law, the outcome of the reform is somehow disappointing. In K v K, the court held that the husband was not entitled to his wife’s assets due to the facts that he had sexually abused his wife’s grandchildren.[22] Also, in H v H (Financial Relief: Attempted Murder as conduct), the wife was given a greater pri ority in the financial distribution because the husband had attacker her with knives and was convicted of attempted murder.[23] It is apparent that the fact that a spouse has behaved very badly will inevitably affect his or her entitlement to a greater priority in the financial distribution, and this encourages further animosity between the parties. As a result, section 25(2)(g) was highly criticised as it undermines the aim of the law to remove incentive to make allegations of fault in order to divorce peacefully. On the other hand, it must be noted that, by virtue of section 2(1) of Children Act 1989, the parental responsibility of the parties remains even after divorce. In determining the issue in relation to child contact and residence, the welfare checklist set out in section 1(3) of CA 1989 plays a prominent role in the decision making. Within the checklist, there is no reference to the ‘fault’ element at the part of the parents, but the courts are tend to grant the relevant order in favour of the ‘innocent’ parent with the conception that it will be the children’s best interest not to stay or even in contact with the ‘fault’ parent, particularly in the cases of domestic violence. Conclusion In conclusion, it is undeniably that the approach to divorce in England and Wales cannot be described as one of ‘no-fault’ as the ‘fault’ element is still playing a prominent role in relation with the issues of divorce and its consequences. Nevertheless, we are not arguing a reform towards a purely no-fault divorce because, as according to Deech, this will give too much freedom to the individual and give them a wrongful thought that divorce something can be obtained easily.[24] Instead, we are saying that the system of divorce should be balanced between a mixed mechanism with both ‘fault’ and ‘no-fault’ ground for divorce[25] but not letting the ‘fault’ feature dominate the whole system alone. (1041 words) Bibliography Table of Cases Ash v Ash [1972] 1 All ER 582 Clearly v Clealy [1974] 1 All ER 498 Dennis v Dennis [1955] P 153 Farnham v Farnham [1925] 133 LT 320 Goodrich v Goodrich [1971] 2 All ER 1340 H (A Minor), Re (1980) 2 FLR 253 H v H (Financial Relief: Attempted Murder as conduct) [2006] 1 FLR 990 K v K [2010] EWCA Civ 125 Livingstone- Stallard v Livingstone- Stallard [1974] Fam 47 Mouncer v Mouncer [1972] 115 SJ 327 O’Neill v O’Neill [1975] 1 WLR 1118 R (A Minor)(Contact), Re [1993] 2 FLR 762 Richards v Richards [1972] WLR 1073 S (a minor) (Custody), Re [1991] 2 FLR 388 Sapsford v Sapsford [1954] P 394 Serio v Serio (1983) 4 FLR 756 Stewart v Stewart [1973] 1 Fam 107 Table of Legislation Children Act 1989, s.1 Children Act 1989, s.2 Children Act 1989, s.3 Children Act 1989, s.8 Children and Families Act 2014, s.12 Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, s. 1 Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, s. 3 Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, s. 25 Secondary Sources Books Gilmore S and Glennon L, Hayes and Williams’ Family Law (4th edn, OUP 2014) Articles Deech R, ‘Divorce- A Disaster?’ [2009] FLR 1048 Eekelaar J, ‘Family Law- Keeping us â€Å"On Message†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ [1999] CFLQ 387 Law Commission, Family Law: The Ground for Divorce (Law Com No 192) [1] Matrimonial Causes Act, s.1(1). [2] [1972] WLR 1073. [3] Children Act 1989, s.2(1). [4] Ibid, s.1. [5] [1955] P 153. [6] [1954] P 394. [7] [1925] 133 LT 320. [8] Serio v Serio (1983) 4 FLR 756. [9] [1974] 1 All ER 498. [10] [1971] 2 All ER 1340. [11] [1974] Fam 47. [12] [1975] 1 WLR 1118. [13] [1972] 1 All ER 582. [14] Children Act 1989, s.1(1). [15] [1973] 1 Fam 107. [16] [1991] 2 FLR 388. [17] (1980) 2 FLR 253. [18] [1993] 2 FLR 762, Butler- Sloss LJ. [19] Royal Commission on Marriage and Divorce (Cmd 9878, 1956). [20] John Eekelaar, ‘Family Law- Keeping us â€Å"On Message†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ [1999] CFLQ 387. [21] [1972] 115 SJ 327. [22] [2010] EWCA Civ 125. [23] [2006] 1 FLR 990. [24] Ruth Deech, ‘Divorce- A Disaster?’ [2009] FLR 1048. [25] Law Commission, Family Law: The Ground for Divorce (Law Com No 192).

The impact of culture on economic behaviour

The impact of culture on economic behaviour Most modern neoclassical economists have ignored the important role played by culture in explaining fluctuations in economic behaviour, hence, they were more concerned about economic variable such prices, output, interest rate etc. However, culture (values, norms, believes and religions) have a profound influence on economic behaviour (Hogeland 2003:2). In contrast those interested in the matter, consider that culture explain differences in economic outcomes however, they face challenges of finding a credible technique to show that the influence of culture can be separated from institutions and economic variables (Tabellini 2007). In the recent two decades economists became seriously concerned about the effects of culture on economic behaviour and found that culture (religious beliefs, values and preferences) has a significant positive relationship to economic growth. However, the economists find it difficult to explain because they are mainly concerned about economic measurements and because of the broad complexity of culture that makes it difficult to measure and test. Therefore, to overcome the situation variables that include normative values (beliefs, religious, ethnicity, etc) were included in the model as proxy variables. The results suggest that causality between culture and economics is likely to go two way directions, that is, culture may influence economic behaviour and economic behaviour may also affect the culture (Qin, Shuhao, Heerink, Futian 2008). In common sense or stylized facts also suggest that culture indeed influence economics behaviour. Thus, government policy toward economic growth may be successful or a failure in different geographical areas dues due individual behaviours influenced by cultural backgrounds. Therefore, if we can not test the role of culture in economics we cannot assure its implications on economic behaviour (Greif 1994). However, in recent years better techniques have been put in place to identify systematic differences in individual values, beliefs and preferences. These new techniques are now able to measure and test the influence of culture on economics behaviour. This paper examines the effects of culture on economic behaviour by using proxy variables of culture such as trust, respect, self determination and religious beliefs. The paper will try to answer the question does culture influence economic behaviour? To answering this question the paper will provide some theoretical back ground including: definitions of terms in section two, section three discuss empirical evidence, relationship between culture and institutions etc. Definition of terms The definition of culture is very broad and complex. However, according to Tabellini (2007) culture is defined as individual values and convictions about the scope of application of norms of good conduct, is an important channel through which distant political history influences the functioning of current institutions. Similarly, Qin, Shuhao, Heerink, and Futian (2008) define culture as customary beliefs and values that ethnic, religious, and social groups transmit fairly unchanged from generation to generation. In other words, culture is a system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviour, and artefacts that the members of a society use to cope with their world and with one another, and that are transmitted from generation to generation through learning. However, culture that is inherited by an individual from previous generations rather than voluntarily accumulated, such as religion and ethnic background, can largely be treated as exogenous for that individuals life. A Religion is defined by Nath (2007) as a set of common beliefs and practices generally held by a group of people, often codified as prayer, ritual, and religious law. Religion also encompasses ancestral worshiping or cultural traditions, writings, history, and mythology, as well as personal faith and mystic experience. However in this paper culture will be referred as the customary beliefs and values that ethnic, religious, and social groups transmit fairly unchanged from generation to generation. Historical Perspectives on Economics and Culture The debate on culture as influencing economic behaviour started with the classical economist such as Adam Smith and John Mill who used culture to explaining economic phenomena. The former in the Theory of Moral Sentiment advocated that culture is an important factor in explaining the Wealth of Nations and the later regarded cultural behaviour as more important than the pursuit of personal interest. In contrast Karl Marx advocated that the technology changes determine the kind of structure dominant in the culture. That is the hand mill produces feudal society and steam mill produces capitalism (Marx 1859). Moreover, Weber (1905) regarded religions as a key factor for economic development. He defended that protestant religious taught that the creation of wealth should be regarded as a duty. Weber also recognized that culture plays an important role in influencing in pursuing wealth through production and establishment of markets. Other researchers non economists such as Hirschman (1967) also found a link between culture and economics, and culture causes differences in economic output within and across countries. Banfield (1958) suggests that culture is reason for underdevelopment in Southern Italy, that is, the pursuit of narrow self interest by the population contributes to underdevelopment of the region. Consequently the Italian government imposed identical forms of governance within the country, however, the areas with poor government intervention continued to perform poorly. In the late 1990s and early 2000s neoclassical economist went beyond the formal institutions into informal ones and started considering explicitly culture as a key factor to explaining economic phenomena. Therefore, Fukuyama (1996), Landes (1998) and Guiso, Sapienza Zingales (2006) emphasized the link between culture and economic outcomes. In their studied they found that cultural factors such as honesty, trust, tenacity and tolerance drive to success of countries economies. Empirical evidence Studies conducted by Guiso, Sapienza Zingales (2005) found that beliefs and religious are highly correlated to trust, thus, when it is associated with savings, taxation or trade it turnout to impact positively the economic outputs. Similarly, Tabellini (2007) studied the effects of culture on economic development in Europe and found that religious values and beliefs have a significant impact on economic success. Weber advocated that culture have a significant influence on economic performance. He further argued that protestant religious contributes greatly to the capitalist accumulation. Likewise, Landes (1998) and Putnam (2000) found that culture (beliefs and values) explain the differences in economic performance across countries. However the later put more emphases in the role played by social capital (trust) in stimulating trade and government efficiency. Carroll, Rhee, and Rhee (1994), studied the effects of emigrant culture on savings in Canada and fund that culture affects savings behaviour. Barro Mc Cleary (2003), Tabelline (2009) studied the effects of culture on economic growth. The former stressed more on the degree of religiosity by capturing the church attendance and religious beliefs in hell and heaven, they found that the magnitude of church attendance and the degree of religious beliefs explain significantly the differences in growth performance across countries. Thus, the religious belief matter to explaining growth. The later, emphasised on the degree of trust across European countries and found that regional variation on trust explain differences in growth rate. Algan Cahuc (2007) demonstrated that cultural behaviour toward families has an impact on employment patterns of different regions in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. They also show that civic culture and ethnicity has an influence on the structure of the labour market institutions including employment benefits and protection. Relationship between culture and economics behaviour In general most of the studies done on culture and economics found a relationship between culture and economics, however, they confronts with the problem of causality since it is likely to go in both directions. According to Becker (1996:16) Individuals have less control over their culture than over other social capital. They cannot alter their ethnicity, race or family history, and only with difficulty can they change their country or religion. Because of the difficulty of changing culture and its low depreciation rate, culture is largely a given to individuals throughout their lifetimes. likewise, religious practices respond slowly to economic conditions (Botticini Eckstein 2005). Culture affects economic behaviour in different ways, however, this paper will focus on production, institutions. Culture and Production Norms and values of groups or individuals varies significantly not only within or across cultures but also within regions, industries or sectors, that is, countries can be more open to trade or be more flexible in decision making than others, and can also allow external influence. Firms may have more or less hierarchical structure than others, for example the British economy had a decline in the growth rate in 20th century due to the fact that the middle an upper class values did not consider practical education and technological innovation (Fernà ¡ndez 2006). In Latin America, the population was characterised as having the culture of poverty, thus, the poverty was not a result of structural economic problems but caused by social beliefs that dominated the groups, they would prefer not to engage into economic activities (Barro Mc Cleary (2003). Similar cases occur in some areas Mozambique where although the population grow and hundreds of cows and goats they would prefer not to eat or even sell due to cultural beliefs. Other studies focussed on studying how culture of elite are as compared to poor and found that some elites would prefer leisure to investment thus, impacting economic outcomes. Culture and Institutions Studied found that social capital or culture affect the way institutions in different countries are set and managed that is institutions are dependent on the problem faced by each societal groups including cultural beliefs and preferences, individualists or collectivists (Greif 1994) . For example in post war Japan and Korea engaged into industrial policy to encourage economic growth whereas adopted economic planning bureaucracy, however this kind of institutions are not inclusive to the entire populations and is vulnerable to promote rent seeking. Similarly, institutions set in Latin America and Africa were also not effective compared to the North America counterparts. However, empirical results suggest that causality effect is likely to go in both directions. That is culture affects institutions and institutions also affects the evolution of the culture (Fernà ¡ndez, 2006). Conceptual Link of Culture to Growth Performance Hypothesis 0: Culture impacts on economic behaviour of societies with high degrees of trust, respect, and self-determination. Hypothesis 1: Culture has no impact on economic behaviour of societies with low degrees of trust, respect, and self-determination. The above definite of culture (section 3) helps in understanding how would culture affect economic outcomes. According to Porter (2000:14) economic culture are the beliefs, attitudes, and values that bear on economic activities of individuals, organizations, and other institutions. Therefore, the variables that compose the culture (trust, respect, self determination and religion) can constrain the economic behaviour and function as rules governing the interaction between individuals, employment, market operations. Trust Trust influences economic performance in different ways. According to Boettke (2009: 437), Knack Zak, (2001), trust affects economic outcomes through decrease in transaction cost, thus when an individual is trustworthy he reduces the monitoring cost and secures property rights. Moreover, high degrees of trust are consistent with high economic performance and development. In contrast lower degrees of trust would result in lesser trading networks and small market operations caused by the increased monitoring and transaction costs. For example trust is mostly relevant when the transaction involves unknown counterparts (Fukuyama 1996, Francois Zabojnik 2005). Using data on relative trust within the European countries Guiso, Sapienza Zingales (2006) studied the effects of trust for bilateral trust among the European counties and found that, countries that trust each other tend to trade more goods and financial assets as well as engage more in direct investment compared to other countries, thus, impacting in the economic performance of the countries. In summary, under circumstances of good environment (trustworthiness) individual would dedicate their time in economic activities whereas under poor environment (untrustworthiness) individual engage into unproductive activities due to lack of incentives. Self determination and Respect Self determination is a measure of control over individual determination of their actions. If individual can control their choices, that is, predict success or failure as a result of own actions, then, they will be more innovative, and would invest and work more hard and carefully for greater returns. Therefore, high degrees of innovation combined with high levels of productivity would lead to high growth performance as well as economic growth (Tabellini 2009, Coyne Williamson 2009) Respect, is also an important factor since it measures the morality within individuals and societies. High degrees of respects imply high levels of tolerance and lower level of respect would result in poor interaction within individuals and societies. Therefore, high degrees of tolerances connote acceptable attitudes towards trade partners, thus, boosting and increasing the market and increasing economic performance. In contrast lower tolerance would reduce economic interactions and trade can be hindered (Platteau 2000). Moreover, Coyne Williamson (2009:13) state that in societies with lower levels of social capital, and hence lower levels of respect, the extent of the market will be limited to close kin and friendship networks. Clearly, higher degrees of respect should increases economic outcomes. Religion The impact of religious on economic can me measured by the rate of church attendance and the religious belief about afterlife in hell or heaven. Individual who attend churches at regular bases tend to build better economic attitudes (respect and self determination and trustworthiness), thus impacting positively on economic outcomes. Similarly, those groups who believe in heaven and hell also tend to participate effectively in church services so as to build confidence on heaven, thus influencing positively economics outcomes through trust, respect and self determination (Barro and Mitchell 2004). Weber in his study on the rise of the capitalism found that the industrial capitalism developed rapidly in the protestant Europe and North America. He also fund that Hinduism and Buddhism were promoting asceticism, thus, hindering technical innovation and impeding adaptation of foreign innovation, therefore not promoting economic growth and development of these groups. Similarly, Williamson (2009) asserts, that the failure of India to achieve a successful development rate was due to laws of Hinduism that do not allow individual motivation and commitment to perform secular roles. However, there were some Hindu who did not abide with the rules of the Hinduism and show an inclination to economic activities. These minorities are the ones who boosted the modern Muslim in Indonesia. Moreover, religion also affects economic behaviour through, honest, work ethics and openness to people. For most religious hard work is a norm and should be done diligently. Additionally, work helps people to stay away from immorality, unproductive activities so that they maximize their time in economic activities. Being unproductive is connoted to evils. That is religion increases economic growth through promotion of positive attitudes towards, trust honest and self determination, and reduction of corruption and criminality (Guiso et al. 2003). Religions may also impact negatively on economic behaviour through restriction on credit markets, profit, resources accumulation, as well as interest. Some religious may allocated massive time and resources on church activities including the construction of cathedrals, thus, deviating resources from economic activities (McCleary 2008). Similarly Beed and Beed (1999) argue that some fundamental Christian and Islamic terrorists promote violent and intolerant behaviour and civil unrest among Christians and non Christians, which impact negatively on the values and norms of secular economics. Conclusion This paper attempts to answer the question does culture influence economic behaviour? The paper found that yes Culture affects significantly the economic behaviour. Cultural behaviour also shapes the structure of institutions in a country. Culture affects positively economic performance through trust, respect, self determination religious and institutions. However, it faces problems of causality, thus it is likely to go in both directions from culture to economics and from economics to culture. Trust affects economic behaviour through decrease in transaction cost, thus when an individual is trustworthy he reduces the monitoring cost and secures property rights. Moreover, high degrees of trust are consistent with high economic performance and development. In contrast lower degrees of trust would result in lesser trading networks and small market operations caused by the increased monitoring and transaction costs. Self determination promotes innovation, investment and hard work and diligence for greater returns. Therefore, high degrees of innovation combined with high levels of productivity would lead to high growth performance as well as economic growth. Moreover, high degrees of respects imply high levels of tolerance and lower level of respect would result in poor interaction within individuals and societies. Therefore, high degrees of tolerances connote acceptable attitudes towards trade partners, thus, boosting and increasing the market and economic performance. Religious beliefs also have a causal relationship with economic behaviour. It promotes economic growth through teaching of positive attitudes towards productive activities including hard work, trust, respect and self determination and absenteeism from unproductive activities. For example Barro and McCleary found that religious beliefs are important factors to explaining economic behaviour and to a certain extent why some nations develop than others. For example Protestantism in Europe and North American has boosted economic growth in these regions through promotion of capitalism. In contrast other studied found a negative effect of religion on economic. Thus, Beed and Beed found that Hinduism and Islam hindered growth and development of South Asia through promotion of violent behaviour.

Camelot: Merlin :: essays research papers fc

Camelot: Merlin We all at one point or another dream. Imagine you are in another place or a another time, the future maybe, even maybe the past where years, days, centuries, minutes all irrelevant if you have imagination. I now dream of a time and place were men have such things as bravery and honor. I now speak of Camolot. The legendary castle wear Merlin the priest, Merlin the magie, and Merlin the wise is supposed to have lived. I am not the only person to dream this dream, many play writers and actors have shared this wonderful trip through time and space to where we may all interpret an event as we see fit. I will now show you who the real Merlin was and whom actors have made him out to be. I will then draw a parallel between the two times. I shall also tell you how merlin him self became part of this dream... Merlin, a man, or just stories to amuse everyone , myths, legends, or tall tails such as Santa Clause or the Easter bunny. Like the real King Arthur who was (really a 6th century ruler) transported through time to better fit the needs of the populas. The "transporting" begins in and around the 15th century. A man by the name of Thomas Malory felt the extreme need to give France, his country, a hero(s) in a time of great disappear. He felt it necessary to do this because the feudalist time in which he was living in, was slowly dying. He thought that if he could show people how many great hero(s) came out of this time period it would revive and flourish once more. He then turned to history to find such a hero. As needed to remedy the situation he found King Arthur of Britain. Even though a English man or a Britainian, he was said to be the best ruler to date (1500's.) Now that King Arthur has been chosen and changed a little to fit in with chivalry, part of feudalism he now needed a teacher. Researching even further he found a Druid priest by the name of Merlin. Druidism is and was a religion that delt with nature. There temple, church, meeting place, what ever you would like to call it, was a grove or thicket. They made sacrifice of animals and offered wheat, rice, and other grains. It was believe that Druid people were magical or even demons and monsters of some sort. Merlin was (as said before) infact a Druid priest. Merlin was a thinker and a very wise man.

Hesters Ambivalence in The Scarlet Letter :: Scarlet Letter essays

Hester's Ambivalence in The Scarlet Letter Throughout Nathaniel Hawthorne's book The Scarlet Letter, Hester's attitudes toward her adultery are ambivalent. This ambivalence is shown by breaking the book into three different parts. In each part her attitudes change significantly. Hester starts by seeing her act as a sin that she is sorry for committing. She changes and no longer feels sorry for the sin. Finally, Hester sees the act as not sinful, but she regrets committing it. In the first part, covering the first six chapters, Hester thinks of her action as a sin. In chapter four she tells her husband that it was her fault for committing adultery when she says, "I have greatly wronged thee" (79). In chapter six Hawthorne writes that Hester knows "her deed had been evil" (92). This evil deed, in Hester's eyes, causes Pearl to act sinful, so Hester feels overwhelming guilt. At this point Hester feels that her actions were evil and were her fault, therefore she is sorry for committing adultery. In chapter five Hester's attitudes are the same but Hawthorne shows that these attitudes are not stable and are susceptible to change. Hester moves to a cottage on the outskirts of Boston, but because her sentence does not restrict her to the limits of the Puritan settlement, Hester could return to Europe to start over. She decides to stay because she makes herself believe that the town "has been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment" (84). This belief gives the impression that she views her action as a sin and feels a need to further punish herself. But this belief only covers her actual feelings. To the contrary, as Hawthorne describes, her real reason for staying is that "There dwelt, there trod the feet of one with whom she deemed herself connected in a union, that, unrecognized on earth, would bring them together before the bar of final judgment, and make their that marriage altar, for a joint futurity of endless retribution" (84). This comment means that the real reason for her staying is that Reverend Dimmsdale, the father of her child, lives there and she hopes to someday marry him.

The Media and Violent Crime :: Media Argumentative Persuasive Argument

The Media and Violent Crime An issue that many corporate executives ignore is the possibility that aggressive people seek reinforcement for their own destructive acts. Television violence, for instance, and the widespread public concern accompanying it have led to calls for strict controls on the depiction of violent programs. In their decision making, some producers do not take responsibility for the equally important minority. Instead, they may gear their content toward the masses, who crave sexually explicit and violent action. Fortunately, this group has the ability to disseminate violent action rationally, realizing that in reality, people who commit acts of violence have to compensate for their actions by taking full responsibility for the harm they cause others. Not everyone can distinguish fact from fantasy. Not only is it the irrational people who commit the crimes in our country, but our own children who may errantly be learning from day one that nothing bad will happen to them if they shoot their brother in the head with Daddy's pistol. Studies show that in one week of content analysis of prime-time output on seven New York City channels, there were 3,421 acts and threats of violence observed. Children's fictional entertainment programs had three times the frequency of violent acts or threats recorded in adult programs. (Gunter, p.13). many of these acts were committed without any compensation for the action without responsibility, then it must be acceptable behavior. Similarly, aggressive adults are seeking reinforcement for their own anti-social behavior from seeing attractive television characters behave in the same way. Behavioral evidence has indicated that the anti-social effects of violent television portrayals are strongest and are most likely to occur among individuals who are already aggressive. (Palmer, p. 10). The ethical question is, should television submit to mass appeal or take into consideration the affects on certain members of society, including children? The consequences of televising violence are not only harmful to some viewers but concurrently affect the television stations in the form of loss of viewers and possibly gaining a bad reputation. There are many sources, including viewers' associations and popular journalism, which have been condemning the depiction of violence in television programs as a potentially dangerous and anti-social act on the part of those who make and transmit programs. (Gunter p. 2). Still, even though these associations have been condemning television violence, their efforts have had little effect on the large money-making corporations. Therefore, the decision, on the part of those in charge of the programs, should be one of social responsibility. In his article, "Sex and Violence", Joe Saltzman states, "If, as producers

Iron Crowned Chapter 11

â€Å"Cute,† I said. Kiyo turned to me, giving me the same assessment I'd just given him. â€Å"You okay?† â€Å"A little venom and probably some bruising tomorrow.† He nodded, relieved, and then did a double take. â€Å"You're bleeding.† â€Å"Am I?† I asked, almost as surprised as he was. He hurried over to me. â€Å"Your shoulder.† â€Å"Oh, shit,† I said, craning my neck to look back. â€Å"That's the table injury.† â€Å"Take off your shirt. And don't even start with some ridiculous modesty spiel,† he added, seeing me start to protest. I knew he was right and gingerly lifted off the M;tley Cre shirt. He helped me part of the way, saving me from raising my arms too far. Examining the shirt, I saw blood soaked in it. â€Å"Bad?† I asked. â€Å"I'll know once I take the bandages off. Please tell me you have more and that we don't have to reuse these.† â€Å"I've got more. I told you I brought supplies.† Carefully, he peeled off the gash's cloth coverings and tossed them to the ground. In the firelight and dim glow of sunrise, I could see the fabric was completely red with blood. â€Å"You broke some stitches,† he said wearily. â€Å"I don't have the tools to fix it.† I'd once been kind of freaked out that he used his veterinarian skills to patch battle wounds, but now I kind of took it in stride. â€Å"Pain aside, is that going to matter?† I asked. â€Å"You'll bleed more, though I'll wrap it as much as I can. You'll risk a scar too if you don't get it stitched again. Once we finish this craziness up, I can do it for you back in Tucson if you don't want to explain it to your doctor.† â€Å"My regular one's kind of used to this,† I said. He snorted. â€Å"I imagine so.† I fetched my pack, and we both sat on the ground. The light was increasing, making it easier for him to work as he tidied up my back. The old bandages were tossed away, and I winced as he swabbed everything with antiseptic wipes. â€Å"I thought the danger didn't start until we were in the crown's cave,† I muttered. â€Å"As often happens, mistress, you've made an incorrect assumption,† said Volusian. â€Å"The legends say the path to the crown is perilous. We are on the path. Your testing has begun.† â€Å"Fantastic. Ow!† â€Å"I'm saving you from infection,† chastised Kiyo. That seemed to be the last of the sanitizing, thankfully, and from there he began layering gauze and tape. What he did was far from erotic, but it amazed me how gentle and steady his hands could be after seeing him savagely fight and rip things apart. I glanced over at Deanna, who had simply observed the fight. She'd said nothing, but I thought I caught a glimpse of relief on her face. My death would have put a serious hitch in our bargain. â€Å"How long until the entrance? When we lose you guys?† I asked. Annoying or not, Volusian would be missed – especially if these snakes were just the warm-up act. â€Å"A few hours,† said Deanna. I frowned, unsure if I should dread it or not. We'd lose our backup but be that much closer to finishing this anti-vacation. â€Å"I suppose it'd be too much to hope you've brought any painkillers?† asked Kiyo, still layering me up. I felt like I had a quilt on my back. â€Å"Vicodin probably isn't the best asset for impending battle.† â€Å"I was thinking more like aspirin.† â€Å"Nope.† But it did remind me I was due for another antibiotic dose. I'd arrogantly thought I didn't need them but now was glad for my mom's vigilance. Not that I wanted to admit any of this to Kiyo. The thing about dating a doctor was that he'd always been on me about taking better care of myself. I didn't want to hear any I-told-you-so's now. And unsurprisingly, there was more advice to come. He finished the last of the tape and helped me put on the clean shirt I'd packed. â€Å"Eugenie, wrapping this is a nuisance, but any gentry healer could have fixed this up in their sleep. Dorian's got great healers. Why didn't he have one of them take care of this? He should know better.† I shifted around so I faced him. â€Å"How on earth did this suddenly become Dorian's fault? Why is he responsible for everything evil? Of course he offered to get a healer. I refused because I figured other people needed it more.† I'd also totally forgotten to ask Shaya. Kiyo's expression relaxed and actually grew apologetic. He looked away. â€Å"Of course you did. I'm sorry.† â€Å"Sorry for accusing Dorian or for forgetting I'd be foolishly altruistic?† Kiyo turned back, a small smile on his lips. â€Å"What do you think? There's very little I feel apologetic for when it comes to Dorian, especially when I'm still convinced he wants to father Storm King's heir.† I smiled back. â€Å"I'm sure he does too. But it's a moot point. I've still got birth control pills. I still don't want any kids. My life's stressful enough.† Belatedly, I recalled his adoration of Luisa. â€Å"No offense.† â€Å"None taken,† he said, still smiling. â€Å"Really †¦ I should be better about trusting you. I just keep thinking †¦Ã¢â‚¬  The smile dimmed a little. â€Å"Thinking what?† â€Å"I don't know. That one day this will all get to you. And I don't mean about Storm King. I mean just †¦ everything. You'll totally give yourself over to this world. I'll lose the Eugenie I know.† I grabbed his hand without thinking and squeezed it. â€Å"Hey, stop that. You said it yourself: trust me. I'm the same Eugenie. Still split between identities †¦ but nothing can change that.† â€Å"I know.† He continued holding my hand. The touch of his fingers, which had been so objectively medical minutes ago, now took on another feel †¦ something warmer. Something that made my body feel strange, as those dark eyes stayed fixed on me. I found myself falling into them like I used to, into those sexy, smoky depths†¦. I abruptly stood up, breaking that dangerous touch. â€Å"Well,† I said awkwardly, â€Å"seeing as it's already light out and we're up, we might as well get going. Breakfast in the saddle?† Kiyo rose too, looking troubled. â€Å"Sure. The sooner we're moving, the sooner we're past any snake threats.† As we packed up and got back on the horses, I wondered if we were riding toward something much worse than snakes. Don't get me wrong: they'd been bad. But I fought supernatural creatures all the time. There'd been so much hype about the crown. Was it simply going to involve a monster buffet? I kept those thoughts to myself as we traveled, having plenty of other things to preoccupy me. My meager breakfast. Kiyo's presence. The pain in my back. The meaning behind the scattered holes in the terrain. On the road went, just as it would through any part of the Otherworld. I wondered how far it went. To infinity? Or would a traveler simply fall off the edge, like on those maps made back when people believed the world was flat? â€Å"This is it.† Deanna's voice, though soft, seemed harsh in the emptiness around us. We came to a halt, and I glanced around, searching for what she'd found. At last, I spotted a small, dark opening tucked in one of the iron mountains. â€Å"That's it? It seems so †¦ small.† â€Å"Out here it does,† said Kiyo. â€Å"We don't know what's inside †¦ except that it's going to completely enclose us in iron. Remember – that'd kill most gentry. It's a test you're lucky enough to skip. Hopefully.† â€Å"True,† I murmured. I still felt no ostensible effects from this land, but what would happen inside the mountain? â€Å"I can't go inside,† said Deanna. â€Å"I'll just wait here for you to come out.† â€Å"I too shall wait,† said Volusian, â€Å"in the hopes that you meet your death and that it is your spirit that emerges, so that I may torment it for all eternity.† I pushed away the desire to order him away. Even if he couldn't follow us, I'd feel better having him right here for defense when we came out. And we would come out, I decided fiercely. There was no if here. I left my bag and gun outside, seeing as I had no ammunition left. Fucking snakes. Surveying the rest of my arsenal, I left the iron athame in my belt, putting the silver athame in my right hand and the wand in my left. I glanced at Kiyo. â€Å"Ready?† He nodded. â€Å"I'll go first.† It was a very manly thing to do. I let him lead and faintly heard Deanna wishing us luck. The cave we entered was pitch black and cramped. I could just barely get through without ducking and knew Kiyo had to walk slightly hunched. We followed the twists and turns, scraping against the close, rough walls. We spoke occasionally to check location, and I'd sometimes touch his back as well. The deeper we went, the more I could feel the iron around us. Again, I had no indications of weakness †¦ just an awareness. â€Å"Light,† said Kiyo suddenly. I blinked. He was right. I saw no light source, but something farther ahead was casting light down the tunnel. It started as only faint illumination, just giving me a glimpse of his silhouette. Soon, the light increased †¦ as did the heat. A roaring sound came to my ears. â€Å"I have a bad feeling about this,† I said. We rounded a corner, and my jaw nearly dropped. The path ahead was blocked by fire. To be precise, it was blocked by sheets of very neatly contained fire, giving the impression of giant blades – particularly since they swung from the ceiling. Magically flattened into sheets or not, the flames burned intensely, and the heat radiating through the corridor left no doubt that these bastards would incinerate us. â€Å"I think I saw this in a video game,† I muttered. Kiyo's gaze was fixed unwaveringly on the fire blades. There were five of them. His face was blank, but the concentration in his eyes told me what he was doing. He was timing them, studying their patterns. â€Å"They're staggered in a way that would let us get through,† he said. â€Å"We just have to watch the timing.† â€Å"You can get through. I don't know about me.† I wasn't being defeatist; I was just stating the truth. Kiyo possessed reflexes I didn't have. I could sit here for hours and probably not learn their patterns like he could. He frowned. â€Å"Maybe I can just hold your hand. Or put you on my back.† â€Å"What? No. That's ridiculous. It'd affect your speed – throw you off.† I studied the flames, hypnotized by the swinging patterns. There were spaces between each sheet. â€Å"Maybe I can wing it, take them one at a time.† â€Å"Now that's a ridiculous idea.† Frustration lined his brow. â€Å"And to think, I would have given anything for heat last night. We should have camped in here†¦.† My joke trailed off as an idea came to me. â€Å"I'll just walk through.† The look he gave me required no words to convey his opinion. â€Å"Seriously,† I said. I put my weapons away and drew on the magic within me. The iron wasn't affecting me. I toyed with the elements of air and water, testing and weaving them like a scarf. Kiyo could feel the shift in temperature near us. â€Å"What are you thinking?† â€Å"I can protect myself,† I said. â€Å"The cave's damp enough – aside from here – for me to draw water. I'll make a shield for me and use air to blow out against the fire.† â€Å"The air could feed the flames.† â€Å"Not if I do it right.† Our eyes met. He didn't like this idea, not at all. â€Å"This'll work,† I told him. â€Å"I know for a fact it will.† â€Å"For a fact, huh? I still think I should carry you.† â€Å"And I still think that's idiotic. You've gotta trust me, Kiyo. I can do this. I can feel it.† He didn't answer immediately, but I knew I had him. â€Å"If I watch you get burned alive, I'm not going to be happy.† â€Å"Volusian'll be happy,† I said. â€Å"At least someone comes out on top.† â€Å"Eugenie!† â€Å"Sorry.† I gave Kiyo what I hoped was a reassuring smile. â€Å"This'll work. You go first.† He hesitated a few moments more and then transformed into a fox. For fighting, he often chose a powerful, larger than life one. Now, he was small and quick like any ordinary red fox. He turned toward the flames, the human part – and probably animal too – again gauging timing. Then – he sprang forward. I'd piled assurances on him, but it was my own breath that caught while watching him. He ran without stopping, stride smooth and consistent as he flawlessly ran through empty space caused by the flames' swinging to the opposite side of the cave. In seconds, he reached the end, on the other side of the fifth sheet. I exhaled. He transformed back to Kiyo and peered at me through the sporadic gaps, worry all over him. I gave him another confident smile, hoping my earlier argument would hold true. I stared at the flames, not to time them but simply to muster my own courage. Magic welled up within me as I pulled moisture around my body, creating a spinning, almost cyclone-like cocoon – that instantly soaked me. That was the least of my worries. Then, I called on the air, drawing it to me and forcing it to blast away from my body. As I stepped forward, my mind suddenly ran through a hundred other scenarios. Maybe I could have just sucked out the oxygen here and killed the fire. Of course, that'd likely render me unconscious. And would ordinary physics even work against magic fire? That question came to me too late, along with the realization that magic fire might similarly be immune to air and water. Woosh! I lacked Kiyo's timing. The first fiery sheet flew at me – and went around me. My fan-effect blew it away and the scalding heat that would have still reached me was mitigated by the water. I picked up my pace, walking through the second one in a similar way. Lucky timing made me miss the third altogether. The fourth nailed me – or would have – and then I just barely sidestepped the fifth. I reached Kiyo's side and dropped the magic. â€Å"Three out of five ain't bad,† I said cheerfully. To my surprise he hugged me, in spite of my dripping clothes and hair. â€Å"Jesus Christ that was scary, Eug. When I saw you walk through that first wall †¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"†¦ you thought it was pretty cool?† He pulled back and shook his head, watching as I wrung water from my shirt. â€Å"You sure are making an awful lot of jokes about some pretty serious stuff.† â€Å"Hey, you're the one who made the Dune reference.† I sighed and let my hands fall to my sides. â€Å"Besides, if I wasn't making jokes, I'd probably come to my senses and be running straight back to the Thorn Land.† I drew air to me, taking along some of the heat, to sort of blow-dry me off. I stopped when I was semi-dry, not wanting to use up the magic. â€Å"I understand,† he said. He gently touched my arm, smiled weakly, and then tilted his head toward the darkness ahead. â€Å"Ready for more?† I nodded, following him once again. We walked farther and farther from the flames, losing the light as we did. A strange flashback came to me, a trip to the Underworld where I'd walked through similar caves and faced tests to bring back Kiyo's soul. How could I have nearly forgotten about that? I'd loved him so much, I'd faced Death herself. How did love like that change? More tunnel crawling followed, and I wondered if perhaps this was a test for claustrophobic gentry. Gradually, though, the tunnel began to expand and expand until it suddenly dead-ended into a large cavernous room. Much like the tunnel, everything here was simply rough rock with occasional glimpses of iron. A few torches lit the chamber, revealing its centerpiece: an elegant marble pedestal with an iron crown sitting on it. â€Å"Seriously?† I said. Kiyo and I hovered near the room's opening, wary of entering. Yet, as I stared at the crown, it wasn't any potential trap that sent a chill down my spine. Another test in my trip to the Underworld replayed in my mind: I'd been forced to wear my father's crown, despite my protests. That crown had been platinum, but it and the one before me both had a similar silvery sheen. Both were adorned with purple jewels. Both had a harsh, martial feel to them. The one in the vision had been a little more delicate, though, with a bit more artistic flair. Designer planning had also clearly gone into this one, with its circle of jeweled spikes alternating in size, but my feel was that it was meant to be impressive, not pretty. â€Å"It's an illusion,† I said to Kiyo. â€Å"We can't have reached it already. We've hardly done anything.† He didn't take his eyes off the crown as he spoke. â€Å"Snakes and walking through fire are nothing?† â€Å"Well, no. But I expected more, considering all the hype.† â€Å"The iron,† Kiyo reminded me. â€Å"You used magic to get through the fire. Most gentry would too – but imagine what it would be like for them in all this iron. If they even got this far. You're †¦ not cheating, exactly, but you're bypassing a lot of the challenges here.† â€Å"If it's meant to be for gentry, then maybe the crown is too. Maybe I'm too human and won't be able to claim it.† Man, that would suck. â€Å"One way to find out.† I stared at the crown, noticing how little light reflected off it. Was this it? Did I really just go up and claim it? Time to find out. I took a few steps forward †¦ and the room abruptly became cold. A dark feeling, a feeling of power and pure evil filled the small space. What does evil feel like? You just know. I hastily returned to Kiyo's side, but it was too late. A male figure materialized before us, clad in beautiful purple velvet robes, embroidered and tailored in a way Dorian might have envied. This guy's hair was nearly as beautiful, a pale white blond that shone in the torchlight and grazed his shoulders. Yes, definitely an impressively attired figure. The only thing that really detracted from it all was that he was a skeleton. â€Å"Oh, fuck,† I said. â€Å"What is it?† asked Kiyo, moving close to me. â€Å"A lich. Like a †¦ I don't know. An undead necromancer or magic user.† My mind was frantically spinning. Liches used magic before their deaths to purposely keep themselves from the Underworld. It made them very hard to banish, according to Roland. I'd only ever heard of them in stories. â€Å"Like a zombie?† â€Å"No. Smarter. And they can also do – duck!† Kiyo, always a hair faster than me, had already dropped down and taken me with him as the lich hurled a ball of blue fire at us. It hit the wall above us, dispersing and blasting us with heat but otherwise doing no harm. More of that fire was already forming in its skeletal hand, and I knew it would aim low. Kiyo transformed to his largest fox form and leapt at the lich, attacking the best way he knew how. His jaws started to close around the lich's robe-encased leg, but a small gesture from the lich sent Kiyo flying. He hit a wall, shook it off, and growled, pacing and planning what to do next in light of this new development. During their split-second encounter, I had just enough time to send my senses out through the wand. I touched the Underworld and attempted to form a connection. The butterfly on my arm burned like the snake's venom, but I couldn't open the way. It was like beating on a heavy locked door. More effort might have helped me break through, but I had no chance to try before another fireball came toward me. I dodged and rolled away. Seeing the lich deflect Kiyo again made me think an athame attack wasn't going to be much help either. The lich seemed to recognize my problems and laughed, a low, guttural sound that echoed unnaturally in the chamber. â€Å"You will not wear the Iron Crown. You do not possess the power to wear the Iron Crown.† I was ready to evade another fireball, but a flick of the lich's hand threw me back against the wall. I didn't even have time to process the agony that caused to my wounds because the unseen force that pinned me there hurt too much. It was like a million invisible needles were piercing my skin, going straight through me, and lodging in the stone to hold me in place. I screamed at the pain, and Kiyo instantly raced toward the lich again. The larger the fox form, the more animal he was, and I had a feeling this was just a gut reaction at seeing me attacked. The lich threw him off again with that invisible force – only harder this time. Kiyo slammed against the wall, slumping down to the cave's floor. Weakly, he tried to stand up on all four legs but was too disoriented and injured. The lich turned back to me, and I saw death in his eyes. Had I really joked about this being easy? The only one this had been easy for was the lich. He'd taken us out with just a few spells, and now I would die. This was why those who wore the Iron Crown were feared. If you could survive this, you could survive anything. â€Å"You will not wear the Iron Crown,† he repeated, lifting his hands for the final spell. â€Å"You are not worthy.† I summoned my magic, despite the pain. A gale force wind blasted into him, making him stagger back. So. He wasn't totally impervious to physical force. Calling the magic was difficult, but when Dorian had first trained me, we'd practiced casting spells in a number of uncomfortable positions. I increased the force of the wind, pushing the lich back a couple more steps. The Iron Crown didn't budge, but the wind had pinned Kiyo up against the wall, almost making him go flat. I nearly hesitated, fearing I'd hurt him. He was still alive from the last hit. Surely he could handle this. And that added force was a good call. It distracted the lich so that when I mentally pushed back against his spell, he couldn't hold it. The invisible pins vanished, and I slid to the floor, landing shakily but upright. I still hurt and already felt worn out but held strong to my magic. It kept the lich away, but it also didn't knock him into the walls the way he could us. His skull-face wore a perpetual grin, making this all that much more annoying. â€Å"You don't have the power,† he said, seeing I couldn't do much more with the wind. â€Å"You are not worthy of the crown.† White light began glowing between his hands. No fireballs this time. It was lightning. It flew from his hands with incredible speed – say, like, the speed of light – but I evaded it, with almost no thought. Lightning was in my skill set. My body was attuned to it, able to anticipate and avoid it even with its speed. Nonetheless, the lightning blasted away half of the cave wall and the thunder that accompanied the bolt nearly left me deaf. Rocks and debris from the shattered stone were swept up in my windstorm, flying around the room like shrapnel. A few of them hit me. One cut my arm. In spite of it all, I laughed, sounding slightly crazy even to myself. â€Å"You're going to fight me with lightning?† I yelled above the raging wind, which I had managed to kick up a notch after all. â€Å"Do you know who I am?† â€Å"I know you will never have the crown,† the lich replied, summoning more lightning. His words dug into me, and not just because my life was on the line here. It was the meaning behind them. You are not worthy. A dismissal of me. Of my power. He really didn't know who he was dealing with, though. He had no idea of the power I could wield, even in this iron dungeon. No one would say it directly, but I was beginning to suspect I was the most powerful magic user since my father. This bastard lich was about to find that out. He'd see my power. I'd destroy him and take his fucking crown. â€Å"You call that lightning?† I yelled, after dodging the next bolt. My magical senses touched the molecules in the room, the positive and negative charges. The scent of ozone was everywhere. â€Å"This is lightning.† I didn't need my hands. I could create lightning from the air. It blasted into the lich and should have disintegrated him. He stayed intact, unfortunately, but the way he wobbled and didn't instantly go for another bolt told me I'd made progress. The magic burned within me, filling every ounce of my being as I held onto the surrounding air. The wind still blew, the ions stayed readied. In the center of it all was the crown, the crown I was going to walk out of here with. I would stop this war and show Katrice and everyone else not to screw with me. But first, I needed to finish this. I considered continually blasting the lich with bolts, but another idea came to mind. It would bring all of this to an end quickly. Scientists have long debated the existence of ball lightning, but I knew it was real. I'd never really used it in a serious way but had experimented. Some of the principles of its formation were like those of â€Å"regular† lightning, but a few quirks were what made it unique – and so hard to study. I knew how to summon it. I knew what it could do in here. Whereas the magically created bolts the lich and I had wielded had been shaped and controlled, ball lightning was huge and radiating. It would fill this cave, incinerating the lich. I wouldn't be surprised if it melted the walls. And the crown? The crown would survive – as would I, being the magic's mistress. The power blasted out of me, lightning forming an orb in the cave that exploded outward, blinding even my eyes. The walls shook, heat washed over me, and a roaring filled my ears. I heard the lich scream, a horrible, raspy sound. I didn't let go of the spell until his cry faded to silence. The ball lightning disappeared instantly, almost startlingly so. My own control of such power surprised me a little. My ears rang in the silence. The crown stood unharmed, as expected. The pile of bones I'd expected was not there, however. Instead, a small, wizened man stood before me, dressed in the same purple robes. I reached out and readied my magic for this new threat. He didn't move, though. To my astonishment, he smiled and gave me a small bow. â€Å"Congratulations,† he said. He gestured to the crown. â€Å"You are worthy – if you can wear it, of course. And something tells me you can, if you've survived this much iron.† I glanced back and forth between him and the crown, unbelieving. â€Å"I did it†¦. I won through. Won the crown. I defeated the lich †¦ er, you †¦ or whatever.† â€Å"Certainly the lich was part of the test. It takes great magic to defeat one. But the test was about more than your power,† said the old man slyly. â€Å"It was about your determination. Your will. Your ruthlessness to get to the crown, no matter the cost.† He stepped aside, waving his hand over at the cave's side. I gasped. Kiyo – in human form – lay against the wall. His dark eyes were open, and I saw no obvious injuries. He was simply watching the interaction. I flew to his side, kneeling down. â€Å"Oh my God. Are you okay?† I asked, helping him sit up. His breathing was even, though he looked a little addled. â€Å"Please †¦ talk to me. Kiyo. Are you okay?† â€Å"Yeah, yeah †¦Ã¢â‚¬  He lightly touched his forehead and winced. â€Å"Hell of a headache.† I could scarcely breathe. I felt numb all over. â€Å"You shouldn't be alive,† I whispered. â€Å"You should have died.† That ball lightning had eradiated the room. That had been my plan, after all. Destroy everything except me and the crown – and everything would have included Kiyo. In the moment, I had forgotten. I had forgotten all about him. I'd been too fixated on the crown, on proving to the lich who the real badass around here was. Kiyo hadn't mattered in that moment, and it had nothing to do with our rocky relationship. I had the horrible, terrifying feeling that it wouldn't have mattered who was in the room. â€Å"Oh, God,† I said again, pulling his head against my chest. Tears stung my eyes. â€Å"Oh God oh God. I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I don't know what †¦ I don't know what I was thinking†¦.† A nasty voice spoke inside my head. Didn't you? â€Å"Hey, Eug, calm down,† said Kiyo, patting the back of my head. â€Å"I'm okay, don't worry. You did it. You defeated it.† He didn't get it. He didn't get what I'd done – or nearly done. Clearly, whatever crazy, powerful magic was involved here had protected him for the sake of the test. But if it hadn't †¦ â€Å"Seriously,† said Kiyo, still not understanding my distress. â€Å"I'm fine. Just got tossed around too much. Now go get the crown. He said it's yours.† I pulled away and looked into Kiyo's eyes, eyes full of fondness and pride. I didn't deserve that look, but we needed the crown, and we needed to get out of here. I rose unsteadily and walked over to the pedestal. The crown sat there ominously, and I glanced at the old man. He nodded encouragingly. If you can wear it. I supposed there was one more test, one I might fail. When my fingers touched the crown, I felt nothing, only cold metal. I lifted it gingerly, almost afraid of what I did. It was heavy – far heavier than my crown of state or fashionable ones. Yet, it fit my head perfectly, which was weird. When I'd first seen it, I'd been overwhelmed by its size. I'd been certain it would fall right off. The old man beamed and bowed again. â€Å"And now it is yours. Its powers are yours. You can make armies tremble. You can rip away lands and subdue them. The world can be yours.† Hoping I'd proven myself, I removed the crown. â€Å"I just hope I can end a war.† Kiyo rose shakily to his feet. He no longer smiled. â€Å"What do you mean she can rip away lands?† The old man spread his hands out wide. â€Å"That is the crown's power.† â€Å"The crown has no power,† I said, frowning. â€Å"It's a prize, a status symbol for enduring all this.† â€Å"A prize?† The old man's eyebrows rose, and he gave a great belly laugh. â€Å"Do you believe all of that was just for a prize? For some bauble?† Kiyo and I exchanged uneasy looks. â€Å"Then what does it do?† I asked. â€Å"The Iron Crown allows you to break the bond between a monarch and his or her kingdom, thus freeing it. If you have the strength, you can then claim it.† The old man shrugged. â€Å"Why, with enough power, you could control half the kingdoms in this world.†