Free Essay: 17th century Life Exposed in Nathaniel Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter :: Scarlet Letter essays

17th century Life Exposed in The Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne expresses the aspects of relationships, religion, community, discipline and punishment in the puritan community of 17th century Boston. Relationships between men and women were very constrained and that is what made adultery such a bad sin in the eyes of everyone in the community. Religion seemed to govern over all, people would look up to reverends and the community believed that fate was their destiny. Public discipline and punishment were used to discourage everyone else from committing the same crime or sin as the offending "criminal" did. The community was to follow the beliefs of god and to do their duties the best they could, yet were there to criticize and punish all who disobeyed the religion or laws. In 17th century Boston every thing was very strict and everyone was expected to follow the laws, which makes Hester's sin such an excellent example of the beliefs of that time period. The first scaffold scene is very important because the scene sums up the beliefs of the general public at that time, and gives a prospective of what Hester Prynne must deal with. In the beginning of chapter two the scene is descri bed as "it could have betokened nothing short of the anticipated execution of some noted culprit,"(47) showing that the whole town was there for a ruthless public punishment. The crowd was not there for an execution though, but there for a public punishment of Hester Prynne who had committed adultery. A townsman describes Hester's punishment to a stranger as, "they have doomed Mistress Prynne to stand only a space of three hours on the platform of the pillory, and then thereafter, for the remainder of her natural life, to wear a mark of shame upon her bosom."(58) This scene shows the weight of values and morals upon society in the 17th century and how public punishment was not only used as punishment but as a way to discourage others from committing the same crime. The community was key in this punishment because it helped alienate Hester and further her pain. The punishment brings forth Hester's underlying pain, "[Hester] sent forth a cry she turned her eyes downward at the scarlet letter, and even touched it with her finger, to assure herself that the infant and the shame were real.

Kuwait Parliment Misunderstands democracy for women :: essays research papers fc

The Kuwait Parliament Misunderstands Democracy for Women With the upcoming elections in the United States approaching this November, the thought came to mind of voting rights in other countries. As an American citizen, I have lived in Kuwait for over 19 years. When I went to the U.S. Embassy to submit my absentee ballot, it came to mind that I live in a country where women are not allowed to exercise the right to vote. Women's suffrage in America took 70 years of discrimination until the 19th Amendment was passed on August 26, 1920, allowing women to vote. The suffragists undertook action through lobbying, petition gathering, lectures and writings. Kuwaiti women have been fighting for 40 years and are still fighting for the right to vote. Kuwait is a country about the size of New Jersey and it is a very modern society by western standards. It is considered one of the richest nations in the world, since it has the third largest oil reserves. Kuwait being a social welfare state is highly developed with a free market economy. The monarchy government rules the country and has the only elected Parliament in the Persian Gulf countries. What does all this mean? Being a Kuwaiti national has its benefits, including free education from primary school to university. Statistics showed that over 70% of the total graduates at the local university are women studying engineering and medicine. Health care for Kuwaiti's is free, but for expatriates, small fees are applied to some services. Taxes are not imposed in Kuwait, and electricity is subsidized 80% by the government, so as not to burden residents. This means electricity and water are included in the rent cost, and phone service inside the country is free. Fast, expensive cars ar e something of the norm and shopping malls with the latest fashions from around the world are abundant. The population of Kuwait is about 2.5 million however only 27% are Kuwaiti nationals. From this figure there are 1.5 men to every Kuwaiti woman. The voting rights for eligible Kuwaiti men who have been citizens for over 20 years are allowed to contest in elections. Presently, all Kuwaiti men having the nationality over 20 years are allowed to vote, except men in the military and police force. Under the 1961 constitution, the following articles support equality among genders. Article 6 provides "the system of government in Kuwait shall be democratic, under which sovereignty resides in the people, the sources of all powers.

Monsters Are Due on Maple Street

Twilight Zone The series Twilight Zone is a show that combines science fiction with society. Every episode ends with a shocking, unexpected twist. â€Å"The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street† is an episode that informs society about the fear of prejudice and hysteria. In this episode, a loud shadow in the sky passes through Maple Street. The shadow is actually a meteor. Unexpected and strange things start to happen like the electricity and cars turning off. The people who live on Maple become very curious on what the meteor has done to the neighbors living on the street.A young boy named Tommy tells the adults that everything weird happening is because of the aliens from outer space, which he read about in a comic book. First the adults refuse to believe a child, but then they unconsciously start pointing fingers at who can and cannot be aliens. People were getting blamed for doing normal things such as insomnia, looking at stars, and experimenting on a radio, but then the neig hbors would exaggerate and make it sound suspicious, strange and unusual. As the episode continues, the adults become paranoid and start to lose their minds.This twilight zone episode reveals to us that the real monsters in society are ourselves. The neighbors were very eager to figure out who and what was the cause of the power outage. Neighbors would blame other neighbors for the outage because they believed that one person was an alien. Even though they had no proof or evidence, they used their words to blame the suspects. A ruckus of mass paranoia occurs and everyone believes that everyone is an alien. Tommy compares the real life situation to a similar problem he read in a comic book about aliens taking over a town.The power outage that happened in the comic book is also occurring in real life. The adults do not believe him at first, but then they begin to slowly and senselessly start blaming other people for being an alien because they are afraid. Just like the media nowadays, mass paranoia affects everyone. The media exaggerates how something â€Å"might† happen and society makes it a big deal before anything is really happening. They cause concern and stress upon themselves because of what the media says. The central theme that exists within the episode is that words are mankind’s reatest weapon. I believe that words may not be able to physically hurt someone, but they can emotionally. Emotional pain is sometimes harder to endure than physical pain. In the neighborhood, some of the neighbors like Les Goodman are accused of being a suspect because his car randomly turned on, while everyone else’s didn’t start. Though he has no effect on the aliens, a woman claims that she has seen him look up at the sky late at night, as though he is waiting for something. She thinks he is waiting for the aliens or something from outer space.Therefore Goodman becomes an immediate suspicion to all the neighbors. Everyone in the neighborhood is now more aware of him, claiming that his family isn’t human, but aliens. The woman was being the real monster to society because she had no idea what she was talking about and jumps to conclusion about Les Goodman. Since she made a comment that didn’t have supported evidence, she dug Les Goodman into a hole, making people think he is an alien because everyone starts to believe her. This episode conveys propaganda to the audience. Everyone is following everybody else’s opinion, and they are all being biased.Just like in real life situations, propaganda occurs in the media. We are informed about a particular person’s point of view and their idea soaks up into our brain. Towards the end of the episode, all the neighbors are at their highest point of terrorization and fear. The mob starts to panic as they see a shadow figure approaching their neighborhood. Charlie assumes the shadow to be a monster. Therefore, he starts to act malicious and grabs a gun to sh oot the shadow. Everyone comes near the monster and it turns out to be Pete Van Horn, who was one of the neighbors coming home from town.The lights in Charlie’s house randomly turns on and everyone starts to tell him that is he held responsible for the death of Pete. He is now accused of being a monster because of the electricity in his house turning on, and a murder of an innocent man. Charlie was trying to protect his people, but he ends up accidently shooting a person. Everyone starts to blame him for being a monster and throws rocks at him. He did something to help, but since someone said that he is a monster for killing and having his light turn on, he is evil.This shows that all of society is influenced to have the same viewpoint of a specific person, and sometimes they tend to follow counter-information. This episode challenges social convention because society expects us to have the same perception as what the government wants us to think. The people living on Maple w ere so afraid of what was happening that they believed anything anyone said. Steve has a radio in his garage which he has been working on by himself, and they assume that he is working on an odd electronic related to the aliens. Steve was one of the first to be suspicious of Les Goodman.When Steve was blamed of being an alien, he becomes hypocritical and yells at the neighbors and tells them they are all standing out on the street to crucify someone, and that they are all set to find a scapegoat. Steve knows the only thing that will happen to the neighbors is that they will all become obsessed with finding a scapegoat, and in result they are going to eat each other up alive. Out of fear and panic, they all ruin themselves and each other. Like social convention, Steve and Les have done something odd and different, so they have been frowned upon.In the beginning of the episode, everyone on Maple Street seems happy and cheerful. It is sunny outside and kids are playing in the streets. Once it gets darker at night, the power is still out and there is no more light outside or inside. Everyone is using candles for light, there are no more children around, and the streets seem very dark and mysterious. The neighbors are portrayed as mobs. They all stick together and follow each other wherever one goes. This shows society believing one person’s point of view. The people in the back of mob don’t have much to say.Instead they just stand there and agree with the main person speaking because they are weak and do not have anything to say. Their faces have a shadow and it is dark surrounding all of them leaving making it very suspenseful. The darkness adds a more mysterious effect. The secretive aura of the darkness represents a hidden truth behind society’s lies that are spoken to us. In the end, no one living on Maple Street was an alien. Though there really was an alien, the aliens believe that stopping a few machines, putting the street in darkness will ruin the neighbors without the aliens even being round the humans. The aliens assume that all the neighbors will pick on the most dangerous enemy and be prejudice towards the enemy and to others. But as this all happens, the neighbors’ most dangerous enemy is actually themselves. They destroy themselves by panicking and finding a scapegoat. Everyone is torn apart and no one knows or believes the truth. â€Å"There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices, to be found only in the minds of men† is said at the end of the episode. I believe this quote sums up the people living on Maple Street perfectly.Their suspicion destroyed the neighborhood to a point where an innocent life was taken. The people are all thoughtless and frightened and are lying just to protect themselves. Community and society are easily manipulated when they are terrorized. The government tries to takeover some of society’s weak minds and influences them to believe what i s right and what is wrong. The community and society speaks before they think, even though sometimes it is not true. They create a monster to themselves because they are creating false facts for everyone to be concerned about.

Themes in Things Fall Apart

In Chinua Achebe's acclaimed novel, Things Fall Apart, there are various themes which make up the complexity and richness of the story. Although it is a work of fiction, Achebe touches upon contemporary issues involving Africa and colonialism. Colonialism is defined as political control over another country. Often this means exploiting its resources and tampering with the precious culture of the people. Post- colonial Africa is still trying to recover, by trying to adapt a mindset of what it truly means to be an African.Achebe explores these issues through his own African roots nd portrays what he believes is the true essence of African culture. One major theme of the novel is language. Language is the most effective and prominently used tool for communicating to other people. It is clear that speech is used in a different form depending on who is addressed. For example, when addressing an Igbo god or an ancestral spirit, one uses a formal tone of speech. This is to show a sign of re spect.Similarly, when people of the tribe approach and speak to Okonkwo, they use a similar tone. They respect Okonkwo for his many feats including beating Amalinze the cat. For this reason, they reflect their feeling in their speech. A significant speech barrier occurred between the Christian Missionaires. In order to communicate with the people they were required to use an interpretor. An interpretor does not always deliver the message precisely, causing severe lines of miscommunication.Eventually, these unclear communication lines could lead to ignorance among the two peoples. Another form of communication in the tribe are the folktales and proverbs. This is the Igbo peoples way of communicating their values to the younger generations. Language plays a very important role in their society, and the loss of their language is a tremendous loss of their culture. Another important theme in the novel is the theme of gender. Gender roles are central to Igbo society. To understand Igbo w orldview it is essential to understand the cultural gender roles.Even the crops are separated by male and female; in example, the yam is said to be a male crop. Males are expected to be masculine in every sense of the word. They should be physically strong and equally as violent. They are not to show emotion because that is considered a sign of weakness. For instance, Okonkwo rarely shows affection towards his children because that would be a weak sign of emotion. Due to this fact, men in the Igbo culture are assigned the role of warriors and hunters.The men do all of the hard labor and interact largely within the public sphere. On the other hand, women are viewed as weak because they do not physically compare to men. In a similar way, woman display emotions which supposedly diminishes their strength. However, women dominate the private sphere. Their role is to raise the family, clean the home, cook, etc. It is a bit ironic that the mportant Job of raising the children is given to t he â€Å"weaker† sex; Achebe touches upon this fact.The character of Okonkwo takes the idealology of masculinity too far. He suffers from patrophobia because he does not want to be like his father who was lazy and weak. For this reason he is cold towards his children and eventually kills his adoptive son Nwoye. Achebe makes it clear that these actions are not acceptable within the community. There must always be a balance between feminine and Additionally, the theme of religion is one prominently discussed within the novel. The Igbo people have a religion that is based upon the earth.Their entire culture revolves around agriculture and the mystery of nature and the seasons; therefore, they worship gods and goddesses which will help them in this dominating aspect of their lives. The people are fearful that if they commit a sin against their god that they will be punished by way of crop elimination or natural disaster. Also, considering the central role of family, ancestral spi rits are extremely important to the Igbo people. It is imperative that the people do not forget their ancestors, for they believe that if they give thanks to them, then they in spirit will reward them in return.The ancestral spirits are respected to the point that Judges in trials (masked elders) represent the ancestors who were wise and Just in decision making. During colonialism, Christian missionaries pushed the idea of a singular monolithic God. This idea was very foreign to the people and seemed irrevelvent to Igbo lifestyle. Some Igbo people accepted this new idea, however others remained firm in their beliefs. This shows the Igbo peoples open-mindedness when it comes to the spiritual world. To demean their spiritual nature would be to degrade their culture.

Best Practices and the SDLC

It has long been accepted that constant change is fundamental to IT. While most IT managers understand that change is part of the norm, the organizations that employ them often resist it. Successful IT development calls for having a clear blueprint for proper IT direction of an organization. By using a System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) model and sound best practice methods, an IT manager can define that blueprint and make the best possible IT decisions. According to http://www. bigpedia. comthe SDLC relates to models or methodologies that people use to develop systems, generally computer systems.A number of SDLC models have been created: waterfall, fountain, spiral, build and fix, and rapid prototyping. There is not a definitive correct model, but most models will include the following steps or at least a variation. The first step is the projects planning stage, in this stage the project manager (PM) decides which SDLC model to use. The PM will also survey and gather information i n regards to the current team’s skill and experience, any concerns or issues perceived by upper management, such as cost, and a process for following up the work agreement. The next step is the analysis of the system.During the system analysis the PM breaks down the entire project in to small pieces and assigns each department their applicable tasks. This step is where the plan is finalized and the PM begins to move onto the systems design. Understanding the systems design is essential to developing the system. At this step, each department head devises a plan on how their section can help develop the system. In the third step, the architectural design, these individual plans are spliced together to form the completed plan. Also during this step the work of building the system takes place.The PM’s focus shifts from planning the project to managing the development of the project. During the next step, the testing of the system takes place. This will ensure that all the bugs and flaws are removed before the deployment of the system. During the deployment step the system is used for its intended purpose. As with all systems the final step, is the maintenance of the system, which last for as long as the system is used. During this step, routine maintenance is performed to include updates. Either during or after the development of a system, certain methods or techniques are discovered to be better than other nes. In the IT industry, these ideas are sometimes called best practices. In a book titled â€Å"Electronic Government† by Jack Rabin best practices are described as an idea that suggests that there is a technique, method, or process that is more effective at delivering a desired outcome. The idea is that with proper processes, procedures, and testing, a desired outcome can be delivered with fewer problems. Best practices can also be defined as the most proficient and effective way of accomplishing a task, based on principles used repeatedl y by numerous people.Best practices are a way for a company to create standardization within their operating procedures. A great example of a best practice was displayed by Sprint recently. In August of 2008, Sprint created a guide to the infrastructure management layer to automate and speed the production of resources from within their data centers. By creating this guide, they were able to quickly manage, back up, and produce their data sets associated with each test environment build. As a result, Sprint has improved customer satisfaction, reducing the time it takes to fill requests.Another example of a best practice was in 2004 the Air Force decided that it need it network administrators (admins) to pass quality checks before allowing them to operate on Air Force domains. Each Air Force base decided to test their network admins differently. This created a lot of confusion and large amounts of money for each Air Force base because they acted independently. Therefore, the Air Forc e decided to open a best practice suggestion program, which allowed each Air Force base to submit their procedures for quality checking their network admins.Less than six months after the process started, the best practice tag was awarded to Eglin Air Force Base in Fort Walton Beach, Fl. They were allowed to implement their procedures Air Force wide. In the end, Eglin saved the Air Force six million dollars with its best practice procedures. As the term best practice has become more popular, some organizations have begun using best practices to refer to what are in fact rules, causing creativity to hamper. This will never be the case with Google.Google believes that giving their employees freedom to move about the company without middle management following them around has actually prompted creativity. In a interview with CBS News Sunday Morning, Google CEO Sergey Brin explained that Google provides free gourmet breakfast, lunch and dinner—all prepared by gourmet chefs. They get free medical care, daycare, and there is even a massage chair in the lobby. All of these benefits spur creativity, which has made Google one of the World Wide Web pioneers.Google does not use best practice because they are too rigid and do not allow employees to â€Å"think outside the box†. Some best practices are needed though. This was the case with Microsoft and Netscape. They used a synchronize and stabilize method created by David Yoffie and Michael Cusumano to orchestrate a massive overseeing and managing of source code. This method allowed the two corporations to work efficiently in a parallel. During their research, they found that both companies were doing very similar tasks nightly.By creating a best practice model both companies could use they reduced production time by 15 %. Best practices along with the SDLC can help lay a great foundation for IT development. There are no set rules or guidelines for IT development. However, there is a certain structure that most successful IT projects have in common. The first step to planning a good IT project is the project selection. During this process the PM must analyze if there is a need for the system. Does someone already have a system similar that the team could use or buy?After this step if the justification for the system is still necessary, then the team must move onto the next step, which is the planning of project controls. According to the paper Indentifying Best Practices in Information Technology Project Management, project controls are defined as an estimate, estimating, and budgeting. The estimate considers how many resources are needed to accomplish this project, the act of estimating is combining the results of post project reviews, metrics, consultation, and informed assessment to arrive at time and resource requirements for an activity, and budgeting is the total cost of the project.Following this evaluation, you should assemble the team. It is important to compile a team that w ill be effective to the specific project. The team must understand the project goals and expectations. The next step is accessing the stakeholder’s involvement in the project. The stakeholder can be anyone from the management of the company to an actual customer. Some stakeholders will want as much control as the PM while other, will be hands off allowing the PM to make all the decisions.These guidelines are not all inclusive but they are a start to developing a successful IT project. Designing a good IT development project takes time and an excellent PM. There are many good models to follow, like the Arkansas best practices model. These models give a small or unorganized company the structure it needs to develop a good plan. If you follows these models along with a good SDLC you will be well on your way to creating a solid project. These two models can lay the foundation you need for a successful blueprint.

Succubus Revealed Chapter 13

Roman was impossible to live with after that. He refused to tell me any more details, only that Seth needed to undergo hypnosis and that more would be revealed once that happened. â€Å"But don't you think I should know now?† I demanded, for what felt like the hundredth time the following day. â€Å"I don't want to influence either of you,† came the response. â€Å"Just in case I'm wrong.† â€Å"I thought you said you'd figured it out! You're saying now that there's a chance you might be wrong?† â€Å"There's always a chance,† he said pragmatically. â€Å"But I don't think I'm wrong.† And with that infuriating response, there was nothing I could do except wait and speculate. I couldn't figure out what exactly Roman planned on doing with hypnosis, but at least it seemed relatively safe. I wouldn't have put it past Roman to say, â€Å"Let's stage a trap for some demons and use Seth as bait.† There were worse things than being hypnotized into clucking like a chicken, I supposed. It took a number of days to get an answer. The delay came from finding a time when both Seth and Hugh were available. Despite his many formidable skills, hypnosis apparently wasn't in Roman's repertoire. It was, however, in Hugh's, which I found kind of surprising. When I asked him about it, he explained that he'd once been at a medical conference, during which participants were required to take a certain number of seminars. He'd chosen hypnosis because he thought it would be a blow-off class. â€Å"It was actually harder than it seemed,† he remarked. â€Å"I did some more follow-up on it after the conference. Dabbled here and there. Haven't put it to much use since then, aside from an ill-fated date last year.† â€Å"Are you going to be able to do what Roman needs you to today?† I nodded toward my living room, where Roman was pacing like a caged animal. We were all waiting on Seth to show up, and Roman kept obsessing over small details necessary to create â€Å"the perfect hypnotic environment.† He was constantly adjusting the lighting and moving the recliner. Sometimes he'd put it in the center of the room. Other times, he'd drag it to the side, where there were more shadows. We'd given up on trying to advise him. He was too irritable and wound up. Hugh frowned, watching Roman. â€Å"I don't know. What he asked me to do . . . well, it's pretty basic, as far as technique goes. It's what he wants me to do with it that's kind of wacky. I've read up on it a little this week, and honestly . . . I don't know if it's going to work.† I still didn't know what â€Å"it† was and had resigned myself to patience. Seth arrived shortly thereafter, mood bright and optimistic. Andrea's improvement after Carter's visit had been remarkable, and it was affecting everyone in the household. I crossed my fingers every day that Hell wouldn't send someone back to undo what Carter had done. Seth gave me a half hug and kissed me on the lips, a further sign of his good mood since he was usually so reserved in front of others. â€Å"You missed a good time,† he told me. He was wearing a Princess Bride shirt today. â€Å"I took Kendall and the twins Christmas shopping. They got Ian some used copies of The Metamorphosis and Candide.† â€Å"He's into those?† I asked. â€Å"I mean, they're great books, but I just never thought of them as his thing.† â€Å"Well, they aren't mainstream best sellers – like some people's sellout books – so he's into the elitist appeal. He likes to go to coffee shops – obscure ones that you've never been to, naturally – and pretend to read counterculture literature. He'll be glad to have the new material.† Seth's amusement faded as he took in the living room, with all its drawn shades and Roman carefully arranging the recliner (again). Noticing our attention, Roman paused and glanced between the three of us. â€Å"I wasn't sure what background noise would work best, so I loaded a few different things onto my iPod. I've got ocean waves, wind chimes, and white noise.† Hugh shrugged. â€Å"Makes no difference to me. I'm not the one being hypnotized.† â€Å"I'm still not sure I can be hypnotized,† said Seth. â€Å"But if it doesn't matter . . . hmm, are there seagulls with the ocean waves?† â€Å"Yes,† said Roman. â€Å"Then let's go white noise.† Roman obligingly started it up, filling the room with what sounded more like faulty radio reception than soothing neutral sounds. â€Å"Maybe you should keep it at a low volume,† I suggested delicately. â€Å"You know, you don't want it to be so soothing that Seth falls asleep.† Roman looked dubious, but at a nod from Seth, the volume decreased. I might not understand how hypnotizing Seth was going to play into Hell's greater plans, but so long as Roman believed it was necessary, Seth got to call the shots. Seth gave me a quick hand squeeze and a smile that was meant to be reassuring. He didn't like immortal affairs but had accepted this crazy venture for me. Following Roman's direction, Seth settled himself into the recliner and eased it back. Hugh pulled up a stool near Seth, but Roman and I sat on the periphery of the living room. Hypnosis required a minimum of distractions, which we clearly were. I'd even had to lock the cats up in my bedroom earlier, to make sure Aubrey and Godiva didn't decide to jump on Seth's lap mid-session. â€Å"Okay,† said Hugh, after clearing his throat. â€Å"Are you ready?† He took out a small notepad, filled with his illegible writing. It was the most low-tech thing I'd seen him use in a while. â€Å"Ready as I'll ever be,† said Seth. Hugh glanced at Roman and me briefly, perhaps in case we had a last-minute change of heart, and then returned to the notepad. â€Å"Okay, close your eyes and take a deep breath. . . .† I was familiar with some of the basics of hypnosis, and the exercises that Hugh began with were pretty standard. Although Seth had been joking, I too honestly wondered if he could be hypnotized. Part of his nature as a writer was to focus on all the details of the world, making it difficult to hone in on one thing sometimes. Of course, he could also show single-mindedness for his work, and that was the attribute that soon came out. After a few minutes of guided breathing, it became clear that Seth was definitely growing more and more relaxed. I almost thought he'd actually fallen asleep, until Hugh began asking him questions. Seth responded, eyes closed, voice perfectly steady. â€Å"I want you to go back,† said Hugh. â€Å"Back in your memories. Go past your thirties, into your twenties. From there, think about your college years. Then high school.† He allowed a pause. â€Å"Are you thinking about high school?† â€Å"Yes,† said Seth. â€Å"Okay. Go further back in time, back to middle school. Then elementary school. Can you remember a time before then? Before you started school?† There was a slight delay before Seth spoke. Then: â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"What is your earliest memory?† â€Å"In a boat, with my father and Terry. We're on a lake.† â€Å"What are they doing?† â€Å"Fishing.† â€Å"What are you doing?† â€Å"Watching. Sometimes I get to help hold a pole. But mostly I just watch.† I felt a knot form in my stomach. I didn't fully understand Roman's strategy here, but there was something terribly personal and vulnerable about what we were doing, listening to these memories. Seth rarely spoke of his father, who had passed away when Seth was in his early teens, and it seemed wrong to â€Å"make† him do it in this state. â€Å"Go back even further. Can you remember anything before that? Any earlier memories?† asked Hugh. He seemed uneasy, a sharp contrast to Seth's utter calmness. † No. â€Å" â€Å"Try,† said Hugh. â€Å"Try to go back further.† â€Å"I . . . I'm in a kitchen. The kitchen at our first house, in a high chair. My mom's feeding me, and Terry's walking through the door. He runs to her and hugs her. He's been gone all day, and I don't understand where he's been.† School, if I had to guess. I tried to put an age on this memory, using what I knew of the age difference between the brothers. How long did kids stay in high chairs? And how young would he have to be to not understand the concept of school? Three? Two? â€Å"That's great,† said Hugh. â€Å"That's really great. Now keep going even more. Go back to something even earlier.† I frowned, thinking they were kind of pushing it now. I was no expert in human memory, but I thought I'd once read about how two was the age when memories really began forming. Seth seemed to struggle with this as well, frowning despite his otherwise calm exterior. â€Å"Okay,† he said. â€Å"I've got one.† â€Å"Where are you?† said Hugh. â€Å"I don't know.† â€Å"What do you see?† â€Å"My mother's face.† â€Å"Anything else?† â€Å"No. That's all I remember of that.† â€Å"That's okay,† said Hugh. â€Å"Now find something else before that. Any memory. Any image or sensation.† â€Å"There's nothing,† said Seth. â€Å"Try,† said Hugh, not looking nearly as confident as he sounded. â€Å"It doesn't matter how vague it is. Anything you can remember. Anything at all.† â€Å"I . . . there's nothing,† said Seth, the frown deepening. â€Å"I can't remember anything before that.† â€Å"Try,† repeated Hugh. â€Å"Go further back.† This was getting ridiculous. I opened my mouth to protest, but Roman caught hold of my arm, silencing me. I glared at him, hoping I could convey all my frustrations at what they were doing to Seth in one look. Roman simply shook his head and mouthed Wait. â€Å"I remember . . . I remember faces. Faces looking at me. Everyone's so much bigger than me. But they're mostly shadows and light. I can't see . . . can't comprehend much detail.† Seth paused. â€Å"That's it. That's all there is.† â€Å"You're doing good,† said Hugh. â€Å"You're doing great. Just listen to the sound of my voice, and keep breathing. We need to go back even earlier. What do you remember before that? Before the faces?† â€Å"Nothing,† said Seth. â€Å"There's nothing there. Just blackness.† Roman shifted in his chair, going rigid. He leaned forward, eyes bright and excited. Hugh glanced over questioningly, and Roman gave an eager nod. Swallowing, Hugh turned back to Seth. â€Å"I need you . . . to go past the blackness. Go to the other side of it.† â€Å"I can't,† said Seth. â€Å"It's a wall. I can't cross it.† â€Å"You can,† said Hugh. â€Å"Listen to my voice. I'm telling you, you can. Push back in your memories, past the memories of this life, to the other side of the blackness. You can do it.† â€Å"I . . . I can't – † Seth cut himself off. For a moment, there was no other sound save the white noise on Roman's iPod, though it was a wonder I couldn't hear the pounding of my own heart. The frown that had been intensifying on Seth's face abruptly smoothed out. â€Å"I'm there.† Hugh shifted awkwardly, disbelief registering on his face. â€Å"You are? What are you doing? Where are you?† â€Å"I . . .† The frown returned, but it was different in nature. It was distress from the memory itself, not the effort. â€Å"I'm bleeding. In an alley.† â€Å"Are you . . . are you Seth Mortensen?† Hugh's voice was a whisper. † No. â€Å" â€Å"What's your name?† â€Å"Luc.† The frown smoothed again. â€Å"And now I'm dead.† â€Å"Go back to the alley,† said Hugh, regaining his courage. â€Å"Before you . . . before, um, Luc died. How did it happen? Why were you bleeding?† â€Å"I was stabbed,† said Seth. â€Å"I was trying to defend a woman. A woman I loved. She said we couldn't be together, but I know she didn't mean it. Even if she didn't, I still would've died for her. I had to protect her.† It was about that point that I stopped breathing. â€Å"Where are you?† Hugh reconsidered his question. â€Å"Do you know the year?† â€Å"It's 1942. I live in Paris.† Roman reached across me to a stray catalog on a chair. Producing a pen, he scrawled something on the catalog's cover and then handed it to Hugh. Hugh read it and then gently placed it on the floor. â€Å"Tell me about the woman,† he said to Seth. â€Å"What's her name?† â€Å"Her name is Suzette.† Someone let out a strangled gasp. Me. I stood up then, and Roman jerked me back down. A million protests sprang to my lips, and he actually had the audacity to clamp a hand over my mouth. He shook his head sharply and hissed in my ear, â€Å"Listen.† Listen? Listen? He had no idea what he was asking. He had no idea what he was hearing. For that matter, I wasn't sure either. All I knew was that there was no way this could be happening. Much like the night I'd gotten into bed with Ian, I had the surreal feeling that the only way any of this could be real was if I'd accidentally stumbled into someone else's life. â€Å"Tell me about Suzette,† said Hugh. â€Å"She has blond hair and blue eyes,† said Seth levelly. â€Å"She moves like music, but none of the music I make can compare to her. She's so beautiful . . . but so cruel. Not that I think she means to be. I think she believes she's helping.† â€Å"Go back now,† said Hugh. â€Å"Back to your childhood, Seth – I mean, Luc. Go back to your earliest memories as Luc. Are you there?† â€Å"Yes,† said Seth. â€Å"What do you see?† â€Å"My mother's funeral, though I don't understand it. She was sick.† â€Å"Okay. I need you to go back again, younger and younger, back until you hit more blackness. Can you do that? Can you find it again?† Again, the rest of us held our breath, waiting for Seth to respond. â€Å"Yes,† he said. Hugh exhaled. â€Å"Go to the other side of that blackness, back before Luc. You can cross it. You did it before.† â€Å"Yes. I'm there.† â€Å"What is your name now?† â€Å"My name is Etienne. I live in Paris . . . but it's a different Paris. An earlier Paris. There are no Germans here.† â€Å"What do you do for a living?† â€Å"I'm an artist. I paint.† â€Å"Is there a woman in your life? Girlfriend? Wife?† â€Å"There's a woman, but she's none of those. I pay to be with her. She's a dancer named Josephine.† I began to feel ill. The world was spinning, and I lowered my head, willing everything to settle back to its rightful order. I didn't need to hear Seth next describe Josephine. I could've done it down to the last curl. â€Å"Do you love her?† Hugh asked Seth. â€Å"Yes. But she doesn't love me back.† â€Å"What happens to her?† â€Å"I don't know. I ask her to marry me, but she says she won't. That she can't. She tells me to find someone else, but there is no one else. How can there be?† Hugh had no answer for that, but he had his rhythm now. He kept repeating the pattern, pushing Seth back further and further through impossible memories, always crossing that black wall, always asking Seth's name and location, where he was, and if there was a woman who'd broken his heart. â€Å"My name is Robert. I live in Philadelphia, the first of my family born in the New World. We run a newspaper, and I love a woman who works for us. Her name is Abigail, and I think she loves me too . . . but she disappears one night without a word.† â€Å"My name is Niccol. I'm an artist in Florence. It's 1497 . . . and there's this woman . . . this amazing woman. Her name is Bianca, but . . . she betrays me.† â€Å"My name is Andrew. I'm a priest in southern England. There's a woman named Cecily, but I can't allow myself to love her, not even when the plague takes me. . . .† On and on it went, and with each step Hugh helped Seth take back, part of my heart broke. All of this was impossible. Seth couldn't have lived all these lives and times he was describing – and not just because of the obvious problems of life and death as we knew them. Seth wasn't just describing his lives. He was describing mine. I had lived every one of these lives that Seth described. I had been Suzette, Josephine, Abigail, Bianca, Cecily . . . They were all identities I'd assumed, people I'd become when Hell had transferred me to new places over the centuries. I would reinvent myself, take on a new name, appearance, and vocation. For every one of my identities Seth mentioned, I had lived a dozen more. But the ones he talked about . . . the ones he claimed to know as well, they were the ones that stuck out to me. Because although I'd had countless lovers, in countless places, there were a handful who had struck some part of my soul, a handful whom I had truly loved, despite the impossibility of our situations. And Seth was touching upon every one of them, checking them off like items on a grocery list. Only, he wasn't just talking about these men I'd loved. He was talking about being them. Whereas I had created these lives, he was acting as though he'd been born into them, born as these lovers I'd had, only to die and be reborn again in some other place with me. . . . It was impossible. It was terrifying. And eventually, it stopped. â€Å"That's it,† said Seth at last. â€Å"I can't go back further.† â€Å"You know you can,† said Hugh. â€Å"You've done it before. Are you at the blackness again?† â€Å"Yes . . . but it's different than before. It's not like the others. It's more solid. Harder to cross. Impossible to cross.† â€Å"Not impossible,† said Hugh. â€Å"You've already proven that. Cross back to the next life.† â€Å"I can't.† The thing was, I was beginning to agree with Seth. I didn't think there was anything else he could go back to, not if he was paralleling my lives. I'd jumped ahead of him at one point and made some educated guesses on what he would say, and I'd been right each time. I knew how many great loves I'd had as a succubus, and there were none left. Before Seth, there had been eight. â€Å"Push through,† urged Hugh. â€Å"I can't,† said Seth. â€Å"They won't let me. I'm not supposed to remember.† â€Å"Remember what?† â€Å"That life. The first life.† â€Å"Why not?† â€Å"It's part of the bargain. My bargain. No, wait. Not mine. Hers, I think. I'm not supposed to remember her. But how can I not?† It was another of those rhetorical questions, and Hugh looked to Roman and me for help. The imp had been confident there for a while, once the lives began rolling off so easily, but this was something different. Seth wasn't making a lot of sense, not that this had all been particularly crystal clear so far. Roman made gestures that seemed to be both encouraging and impatient, with a general notion that Hugh should improvise. â€Å"Who's this bargain with?† asked Hugh. â€Å"I . . . I don't know. They're just there, waiting for me in the blackness. After the first life. I'm supposed to go on to the light, but I can't. There's something missing. I'm incomplete. My life has been incomplete . . . but I can't remember why. . . .† Seth furrowed his brow, straining with the effort of remembering. â€Å"I just know I can't move on. So they make a bargain.† â€Å"What's the bargain?† â€Å"I can't remember.† â€Å"Yes, you can,† said Hugh, surprisingly gentle. â€Å"You were just talking about it.† â€Å"I don't remember the details.† â€Å"You said it was about you being incomplete. Something was missing.† â€Å"No . . . someone. My soul mate.† Seth's breathing, which had been so steady throughout all of this, grew a little shaky. â€Å"I'm supposed to go on with her, into the light. I can feel it. I wasn't supposed to live that life alone. I wasn't supposed to go to the light afterward alone. But she's not there. She's not anywhere I can get to now. They say they'll give me a chance to find her, a chance to find her and remember. They say I can have ten lives to be with her again but that one is used up. Then I have to go with them forever.† â€Å"This life that you can't remember,† prompted Hugh. â€Å"You said it's your first life, right? The one that's on the other side of this, uh, extra thick wall of blackness? The life they say you've already used?† â€Å"Yes,† said Seth. â€Å"That's the first. The one I'm supposed to forget.† â€Å"You can remember it,† said Hugh. â€Å"You're already remembering parts of it, things you aren't supposed to. Go to the other side of the blackness, before the bargain, before your death. What do you remember?† â€Å"Nothing.† â€Å"Do you remember a woman? Think about the bargain. The soul mate. Can you remember her?† Seth's silence stretched into eternity. â€Å"I . . . yes. Kind of. I feel her absence, though I don't understand it at the time.† â€Å"Have you made it back yet?† asked Hugh. â€Å"To the first life?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"What is your name?† â€Å"Kyriakos.† â€Å"Do you know where you are? Where you live?† â€Å"I live south of Pafos.† The name meant nothing to Hugh, but it meant everything to me. I began to slowly shake my head, and Roman gripped hold of my arm again. I'm not sure what he was afraid I'd do. It seemed to be an all-purpose attempt to keep me from interrupting the nightmare unfolding before me, either with word or movement. He needn't have worried. The rest of me was frozen. â€Å"Do you know the year?† asked Hugh. â€Å"No,† said Seth. â€Å"What do you do?† Hugh asked. â€Å"What's your job?† â€Å"I'm a musician. Unofficially. Mostly I work for my father. He's a merchant.† â€Å"Is there a woman in your life?† † No. â€Å" â€Å"You just said there was. Your soul mate.† Seth considered. â€Å"Yes . . . but she's not there. She was, and then she wasn't.† â€Å"If she was, then you must be able to remember her. What's her name?† He shook his head. â€Å"I can't. I'm not supposed to remember her.† â€Å"But you can. You're already doing it. Tell me about her.† â€Å"I don't remember,† said Seth, the faintest touch of frustration in his voice. â€Å"I can't.† Hugh tried a new tactic. â€Å"How do you feel? How do you feel when you think of her?† â€Å"I feel . . . wonderful. Complete. Happier than I ever believed possible. And yet . . . at the same time, I feel despair. I feel horrible. I want to die.† â€Å"Why? Why do you feel both happiness and despair?† â€Å"I don't know,† said Seth. â€Å"I don't remember.† â€Å"You do. You can remember.† â€Å"Roman,† I breathed, finding my voice at last. â€Å"Make this stop.† He only shook his head, eyes riveted on Seth. Roman's entire body was filled with tension and eagerness, anxiously straining forward for the last pieces of info to fill out the theory he'd put together. â€Å"She . . . I loved her. She was my world. But she betrayed me. She betrayed me and tore my heart out.† â€Å"Her name,† said Hugh, catching some of Roman's excitement. â€Å"What was her name?† â€Å"I can't remember,† said Seth, shifting uncomfortably. â€Å"It's too terrible. They made me forget. I want to forget.† â€Å"But you didn't,† said Roman, suddenly standing up. â€Å"You didn't forget it. What is it? What is the woman's name?† Seth's eyes flew open, either because of his own inner turmoil or from Roman breaking the trance. Either way, the calm state of relaxation was gone. Raw emotions played over Seth's features: shock, sorrow, hate. And as he gazed around and reoriented himself to his surroundings, his eyes – and all of those dark, terrible feelings – focused on me. â€Å"Letha,† he gasped. â€Å"Her name is Letha.†

Basket Exercise Essay Example for Free

Basket Exercise Essay Georgina Ryan, HR Director SUBJECT: Speaking engagement next week Ms. Williams, Mr. Armstrong has been transferred to a new location, earlier than expected. My apologies, however, if you would allow me to fill in for Mr. Armstrong, I would be honored to address the Business Club It is common for a large number of calls to come in all at once. When this happens, the customer relations–contact employee is supposed to take the customer’s phone number and get back to him or her within an hour. We’ve found in the past that this is a reasonable target since, after a big rush of calls, things usually settle down for a while. But when we check up on the contact employees, we find that they get back to the customer within an hour only about one-third of the time. Sometimes they don’t get back to the customer until the next day! I sent a memo to all contact employees about a month ago reminding them of the importance of prompt responses on their parts, but it did very little good. We need a training program from your department to improve this critical performance area. Can we get together early next week? MEMO TO: Ralph Herzberg, Manager of Customer Relations From: Georgina Ryan, HR Director. New Training Program Ralph, we will definitely have to address this situation. Let me get with my training program administrator and work out a training session/schedule for your department. I will get back with you on a date and time for next week. Basket Exercise. (2018, Oct 25).