Highly Assimilated Cherokee

DON HUNT LESSON 5 CHAPTER 9 Writing Assignment Questions How would you describe Jackson’s attitude toward the Indians? Jackson felt the Indians deserved to have land of their own, but land that the government would set aside for them. He still felt that they should be taught the arts of civilizations so they could co-exist with the white man. To what extent was the removal â€Å"voluntary,† as Jackson suggested? The removal was â€Å"voluntary† only if they wanted to be displaced from their homelands and where their forefathers were buried. If they decided to stay, they would have to obey the laws of the States. What kind of life did the Cherokee writer expect to find in the western territory? The Cherokee writer did not expect to find a very fruitful life in the western territory. He mentioned that they were not of there; they knew nothing of the land. He also mentions that there are others that are there now, and they would see them as intruders. Those that are not from there, are awaiting in the dark and will pounce on them as prey for they are no longer interested in an abundance life, but into stripping another of theirs. Why does Jackson believe that Indians and whites cannot live together? Jackson believes though the Indians are human they are not White and will not conform as the Whites want, thus, making it hard for the Indians and the Whites to live harmoniously together. Is his position borne out by the history of the Cherokee? No, his position is not out of the history of the Cherokee, but of the history of the White inflicting their laws on the Cherokee. Do Budinot’s arguments in favor of removal make sense? Budinot’s arguments make sense for removal only if you are looking to give the Cherokee tribes their pride back. Do you find it curious that Budinot, an educated and highly assimilated Cherokee, would argue for removal in the name of preserving the Cherokee people? No, Budinot, is arguing for their removal so that he can preserve the Cherokee Nation. Without preservation, there will be no Cherokee Nation. What does he fear if the Cherokee remain? Budinot fears that the Cherokee will not only lose what they have now, but all that is to become, they will be no more. What does this say about his attitude towards his own people? In Budinot’s argument, you can hear his pride for his people. His attitude towards his people is that he wants them to survive and to make that happen, certain things may need to be done, removal from the States. To what extent does his opinion of the prospects for Cherokee and whites living together coincide with Jackson’s? Budinot’s opinion is very similar, Budinot’s feels the Cherokee will not survive they way they are now, and Jackson will not allow them to survive the way they are now.

Wal-Mart Sex Discrimination

RUNNIG HEADER: WAL-MART SEX DICRIMINATION â€Å"Always low prices,† is the clever motto used by Wal-Mart to lure its customers into the supermarket. Wal-Mart serves customers and members more than 200 million times per week. They operate under 69 different banners in 27 countries (Frank, 2006). With fiscal year 2012 sales of approximately $444 billion, Wal-Mart employs 2. 2 million associates worldwide. Wal-Mart has created a facade declaring that their low prices have benefited all Americans.However, under its disguise of generosity, Wal-Mart has become an unethical workplace from which the workers, the society, and Americans are suffering. Wal-Mart Sex Discrimination: Dukes vs. Wal-Mart Inc. History of Walmart In the late 1940’s, Sam Walton had a simple but momentous idea. Walton was always looking for deals from suppliers. He realized he could do better than other retailers by passing on the savings to his customers and earning his profits through volume (Frank, 2006 ). This formed a cornerstone of Walton’s business strategy when he launched Wal-Mart in 1962.The decade that began from the 1970s was period of substantial economic growth, in the history of Wal-Mart. In 1971, it started off a huge expansion by opening a gigantic center and also a home office in Bentonville, Arkansas (â€Å"Sam Walton†). The 70s decade saw a substantial rise in the number of employees which amounted to about 1500 associates. 1975 the company had expanded to 7500 associated and had 125 operational stores. In 1977, in a massive takeover, Wal-Mart acquired the Hutcheson Shoe Company and also introduced a branch for pharmaceuticals by the name Wal-Mart pharmacy.By the end of the decade, Wal-Mart had become a giant in the American retail industry with a turnover of more than 1. 248 billion dollars in sales and 276 stores managed massive yet efficient staff of 21, 000 associates. When Walton died in 1992, the adjustment to a post-Sam environment proved diffi cult (â€Å"Sam Walton†). Although Wal-Mart executives had emphasized for years that their company depended on a set of principles and habits more than it did on any one person, Walton's death wound up marking a fateful shift in how the company was perceived.Before his death, Walton witnessed the rise of Wal-Mart becoming the biggest corporation of this nation and the world. However, he was unable to see the steady path of its destruction. Throughout its path to success, Wal-Mart has turned into a selfish vendor who has forgotten morals, ethics, and mainly America (Frank, 2006). However, the dependency of customers on Wal-Mart is so high that it is impossible to challenge their ways. Walton’s Wal-Mart has turned into dominating supermarket by crushing the rights of their employees, by destroying the jobs of many Americans, and by changing of the quality of life in the American societies.Sex Discrimination According to our book, surface-level diversity is the observable demographic and other overt differences in people, such as their race, ethnicity, gender, age, and physical capabilities (McShane ; Von Glinow, 2011, p. 21). Sex discrimination is part of surface- level diversity. Discrimination usually occurs when actions of an employer, supervisor or coworkers â€Å"deny to individuals or groups of people equality of treatment which they may wish. â€Å"( Stainback, Ratliff, ; Roscigno, 2011) Dukes vs. Wal-Mart Inc.In 1986, Walton was sensing some pressure to appoint a woman to Wal-Mart's all-male board (Frank, 2006). So he offered the job to Arkansas' first lady, one Hillary Clinton, who accepted. She would later quote Walton's pitch: â€Å"I think I need a woman; would you like to be her? † Today, Wal-Mart's challenges in the field of gender equality are not so easily addressed. The company keeps its payroll costs down by paying women less than their male counterparts for performing the same work. Evidence also exists that it fails to promote women at the same rate as men.In 1995, Betty Dukes took a job at a Wal-Mart near San Francisco, working as a cashier and greeter for $5 an hour (Frank, 2006). A â€Å"greeter† represents the face of the company as consumers walk through the door. Little did Dukes and Wal-Mart know that Dukes would ultimately become a face of Wal-Mart nationally, under much different circumstances. In 2000, Dukes found herself denied promotions filed a sex-discrimination suit. â€Å"The suit alleges that Wal-Mart violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), is the biggest employment discrimination case in the history of the United States.Furthermore, the suit hastens an eventual trial for women, who are seeking billions of dollars from Wal-Mart† (Hagen, 2011). The case now involves nearly two million women, and, in 2004, it was certified by Judge Martin J. Jenkins, of the United States District Court in San Francisco as a class action. Title VII prohibits empl oyment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. When the victim suffers a tangible economic detriment, such as termination or demotion, the employer is strictly liable under Title VII. (Lavin ; DiMichele, 2012).Discrimination is a difficult thing to prove. According to numbers compiled in 2003 by the plaintiffs, female store managers average slightly under $90,000 in annual income, while their male counterparts average slightly over $100,000. And while women make up 79 percent of the store's department heads (an hourly position), only 15. 5 percent are store managers. When the Supreme Court dismissed Dukes vs. Wal-Mart due to the complexity of proving such a large number of claims to be true, Wal-Mart likely believed that it could close the door on that decade-long (Levine, 2008) .However, Dukes and her peers haven’t given up, almost 2,000 current and former female employees across the country have filed gender discrimination complaints w ith the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Of the 1,975 EEOC complaints, the largest number of complaints came from Florida, with 284 filings, followed by Alabama with 142 filings and Georgia with 119 filings. The EEOC complaints preserve the women’s right to sue Wal-Mart for gender discrimination in pay and promotions, despite the dismissal of the Dukes class.Till this day, the women are still fighting this long battle and hoping it gets settled soon. Wal-Mart is Labeled as â€Å"Cheap† Wal-Mart is legendary for its cheapness across its operations. Wal-Mart forces its executives to share hotel rooms when they travel at their expense. The allegations do seem to whole some kind of truth to it. Wal-Mart single-minded devotion to lower prices, one might predict that they would only engage in employment discrimination to the extent that it serves efficiency goals. â€Å"A company that prioritizes low prices might lawfully provide limited benefits and pay low wages across the board.Such a company might also commit widespread, nondiscriminatory labor violations if it thought that the benefits of such violations would outweigh the probability and costs of detection. Thus, the charges of overtime violations that led to Wal-Mart's federal and state settlements are fairly unsurprising† (Wexler, 2011) A company desiring low labor costs might also engage in so-called rational discrimination by excluding or disfavoring workers who are accurately forecasted to raise costs for the company (Wexler, 2011). Some evidence suggests that Wal-Mart does in fact engage in such practices.In particular, Wal-Mart settled several disability discrimination cases in which it was charged with using pre-employment questionnaires to screen out employees with medical or other disability-related issues. Even after the entry of a 2004 consent decree in a class action disability discrimination case, over one-hundred plaintiffs have filed new charges contending th at Wal-Mart fails to provide reasonable accommodations, fires disabled employees, and uses a â€Å"leave of absence† bait-and-switch to force disabled employees out. ConclusionEthics plays a huge role in this decade long battle. One ethical principle that stands out to me is Distributive Justice. It’s a principle which suggests that people who are similar to each other should receive similar benefits and burdens; those who are dissimilar should receive different benefits and burdens in proportion to their dissimilarity (McShane ; Von Glinow, 2011, p. 53). The case, deals with distributive justice. I believe that everyone should be paid the same if doing the exact same job, regardless of gender.Women works just as hard a man if not harder in the corporate world. References. Awards. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://corporate. walmart. com/our-story/awards Hagen, W. (2011). Dissection and Analysis of the Recent Cases on Employment Discrimination Under Title VII of the Civi l Rights Act of 1964. Employee Responsibilities ; Rights Journal, 23(3), 171-186. doi:10. 1007/s10672-010-9163-x Frank, T. A. (2006, April). Everyday low vices. Retrieved from http://www. washingtonmonthly. com/features/2006/0604. frank. html McShane, S.L. , and Von Glinow, M. A. (2010) Organizational Behavior, 5th Edition, McGraw-Hill/Irwin, New York. Lavin, H. S. , ; DiMichele, E. E. (2012). Are You My Supervisor? : The Scope of Supervisory Authority Under Title VII. Employee Relations Law Journal, 38(3), 89-94. Levine, D. (2008, September 21). Walmart gender discrimination lawsuit allowed to proceed, judge says. Retrieved from http://www. huffingtonpost. com/2012/09/22/walmart-gender-discrimination_n_1905204. html Sam walton. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://corporate. almart. com/our-story/heritage/sam-walton Stainback, K. , Ratliff, T. N. , ; Roscigno, V. J. (2011). The Context of Workplace Sex Discrimination: Sex Composition, Workplace Culture and Relative Power. Social Forces, 89(4), 1165-1188 Wexler, L. (2011). WAL-MART MATTERS. Wake Forest Law Review, 46(1), 95-121. Appendix * In the past 5 years at Walmart stores in the U. S. : * Female co-managers have increased by 143% * Female store managers have increased by 46% * Female market managers have increased by 49%

Response Paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Response Paper - Assignment Example Edward Fairfax Rochester but they face some challenges. While reading the novel, I envision an old Jane writing about her memoirs by looking back at her life from her childhood to where she is currently. The narrative helps me in understanding both sides of Jane such as the more passionate and loving woman who loves Rochester and a coldly dispassionate individual (Brontà « Web). These make this narrative more of nonfiction than fiction. Although Jane is unimpressed by the inhuman acts, no one seems ready to help her out of the situation. In fact, she feels lonely and unsupported. I think this is a good example of what happens in both fictional work and in reality. In fictions, an individual or a subject would first undergo several sufferings before emerging victorious. However, nonfiction would also highlight such kind of stories that either concerns the authors or an individual they know about. The narrator says that she is always reminded of her poor status in the family (Brontà « Web). I think this is a very sad sentiment to make to a young person especially considering that she was always on the receiving end. Being humble is regarded as undergoing sufferings and inhuman acts without raising even a voice. This kind of act is only common in fictions that are intended to pass certain information. Staying useful and pleasant is an irony in this book because despite the sufferings that the narrator goes through, i t is still felt that she is not pleasant and that she is not helpful. I envision such irony in fiction although there are some authors who have attempted to tie their sufferings as the cause of success in their nonfiction. The presence of the red room where Mr. Reed died is believed to have been guarded from frequent intrusion by a sense of dreary consecration. The issue of spell and myths is only found in fictions but not in the nonfictions. Jane

Essay .... Pay As You Go Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

.... Pay As You Go - Essay Example He supports the government legislation that credit card amounts given to college students should be limited. I think Estrada is right. Students at their tender age have a tendency to be impulsive buyers, therefore their credit card usage and access should be limited. However, in my opinion, credit card companies should not be the only ones that are to be blamed upon for causing these problems. However, as a whole, the students themselves, their parents and the legislators should also be held responsible for the same. As the disadvantages of using credit cards weigh more than its advantages, it should be used wisely without abuse. (Can you give some more details? Not required to expand the catchy introduction) Is it clearly state the thesis statement?) And did you clearly state these points in the body paragraph?) (Is the topic sentence here, connect to the body paragraph, and also clearly show in the Introduction-Yes up to a great extent) The ease and comfort of using credit cards is what lures the young and financially inexperienced students into debt. According to Estrada in his article, â€Å"Pay as You Go†, it is so easy for people to go into debt and that young people, particularly the students for example, can take out a loan of $3,000.00 to spend on a top-of-the-line laptop. Although they may need the computer, this is too much waste of money. Estrada further states that young people under the age of 21 are not responsible enough to borrow money, wisely. They do not realize that they have to pay this back at a certain time and if they are not able to do so, they will only end up one day with bad credit. They are too inexperienced to understand the long term financial consequences. This becomes a burden on them which I think, is true because, I can relate to this situation and m ay be for other students too. I remember that when I graduated from high school, I did not know anything about credit cards. When I received my first credit card, I bought

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E-Commerce Strategies - Essay Example The strategies used are comparable to those used by companies that sell to businesses, having both similarities and differences. Apart from using the above strategies they companies are benefitted because an organization or business can easily locate more customers, the best suppliers and the most suitable business partners across the globe. The shipment is often in large quantities, and heavy machinery may be required to package products into bulks. This is because websites following B2B business model sell their products to intermediate buyers, and then they sell their products to the final customer, which can be any wholesaler’s retail outlet (Haag & Cummings 2013). The IT mechanisms used by both are similar. Payment for both involves transaction systems use non-cash payment including PayPal, Gift Cards, and VISA etc. Security mechanisms make use of SSL (Security Socket Layer) which uses encryption and authentication which prevents large business and thus large companies being part of an external hack or

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Psychology Report - memory for text - Essay Example Results showed that the group in which context was given before reading the passage had performed better in comprehension and recall than the two groups in which no difference on recall was found and that comprehension and recall is significantly correlated when context was given prior to the introduction of material. The procedure is really quite simple. Â  First, you arrange things into different groups depending on their makeup. Â  Of course, one pile may be sufficient depending on how much there is to do. Â  If you have to go somewhere else due to lack of facilities that is the next step, otherwise you are pretty well set. Â  It is important not to overdo any particular endeavor. Â  That is, it is better to do too few things at once than too many. Â  In the short run this may not seem important, but complications from doing too many can easily arise. Â  A mistake can be expensive as well. Â  The manipulation of the appropriate mechanisms should be self-explanatory, and we need not dwell on it here. Â  At first the whole procedure will seem complicated. Â  Soon, however, it will become just another facet of life. Â  It is difficult to foresee any end to this task in the immediate future, but then one never can tell. (Bransford & Johnston, 1972, p. 722.) Bransford and Johnston used this passage in their study of comprehension and recall. Two groups of subjects listened to the passage, and were asked to understand and remember it. Â  One group was made to listen to this passage right away while the second group was informed beforehand that the passage was about washing clothes. Â  Bransford and Johnston found that people in the second group were much better at understanding and remembering the passage than those in the first group. Â  The first group had no context in which to incorporate the passage; the second group could readily integrate it into their prior knowledge of washing clothes. Prior knowledge is a factor in

Police academy or Finger printing or Federal, state local agency Essay

Police academy or Finger printing or Federal, state local agency qualifications chose one of the three topic that you feel comfortable with - Essay Example cted the practice of law enforcement, the history of the technique, legal and ethical issues involving the use of the technique, practical implications of the technique for law enforcement personal at various levels, and future prospects for fingerprinting must be analyzed. Finger prints have had many definitions throughout history, and have been used in art, science, and law enforcement. The contemporary definition of a fingerprint states that a finger print can be defined as the unique pattern created by the friction ridges on all or part of a digit, or finger (â€Å"Glossary†, 2009). The term friction ridge is not intuitive. Friction ridges rare the scientific name for the raised portion of the outermost layer of skin, called the epidermis, that forms the unique shapes found in fingerprints (â€Å"Glossary†, 2009). Friction ridges form on the fingers, palm, toes, and soles of the feet of the fetus before it is born (Cowger, 1992, p.1). Despite the growth that occurs in childhood and adolescence, the patter of the friction ridges does not change, and thus provides the only physical characteristic of human kind with the specificity to identify an individual. Human beings first noticed fingerprints in prehistoric times. The earliest fingerprints are included as decorative elements in cave paintings found in Nova Scotia that date back thousands of years (German, 2006). In ancient Babylon, merchants recognized that though many people have similar patterns, no two individuals have the same exact fingerprint. These merchants used fingerprints as official seals on business agreements, much as contemporary merchants would use a Federal Identification or Social Security number (German, 2006). Similar methods of using fingerprints to identify merchants and government officials were found in fourteenth century Persia and China (German, 2006). These cultures made use of the impressions left by fingerprints as a tool for identification on documents, but did little

Stem Cell Research - Stem cell research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Stem Cell Research - Stem cell research - Essay Example There are a number of sources for obtaining human stem cells. The first is IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) treatment, where surplus embryos (and unfertilized eggs for creating embryos) are donated for research with the consent of the donor rather than being destroyed following treatment. The second source is aborted tissues, which are used as stem cells taken from the aborted foetus. Another is umbilical cord blood, rich in stem cells. These cells are harvested following the baby's birth. The most controversial is perhaps therapeutic cloning, where cells are created for research that is genetically identical to the donor (patient). This is done by removing the nucleus of an egg and fusing this egg with any enucleated cell from the donor. This will create an embryo genetically identical to the donor. Cells can then be harvested from this embryo for treatment. Being an exact replica, there is potentially less chance of rejection following transplantation. The US President's Council on Bioethics recently published a whole white paper on Alternate Sources of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells (www.bioethics.gov). Sometimes these cells could be taken from the recipient patients themselves, avoiding any immune-rejection difficulties. At other times they are taken from donors. There are even proposals to create new non-embryonic organisms which can produce human stem-cells. What all these 'adult' stem-cells have in common is that they are derived from people without harming anyone. Umbilical cord blood, the placenta and even the amniotic fluid have in fact been found to be rich in stem-cells (McGuckin et al 245-255). Stem-cells have also been found in all the tissues found in our bodies such as the brain, pancreas, liver, skin, fat, muscle, blood, bone marrow, lungs, nose and tooth pulp. There is substantial opposition from various religious groups on the ethical issues. One of the most important concerns is that embryonic stem-cells are taken from human embryos. It basically involves killing the embryos which is destined to become a complete human being if it is allowed to. These embryos are taken in the very early stages of their development and hence are very small, having only developed to the stage of 120 cells or so since their creation by IVF or, more recently, by cloning. They are still young-approximately 5 to 6 days old-and grown in a culture in some Petri dish; they might even be a few years old, having been stored in some freezer soon after their manufacture (Fisher 2005). The main area of controversy surrounding this research arises from the harvesting of cells for research. The most flexible stem cells are obtained from embryos owing to their ability to become any type of tissue cell in the body. In fact it is a proven fact that adult stem cells also have similar possibilities. An embryonic stem cell is derived as follows- A fertilized egg forms a blastocyst 4 days after conception. This blastocyst has two types of cells; an outer layer (which becomes the placenta and other supporting tissues needed for foetal development) and an inner cell mass (the stem cells). In order to harvest these cells, they are removed from the blastocyst, a

Critically analyse how culture and nonverbal communication are Essay

Critically analyse how culture and nonverbal communication are connected - Essay Example Universally, there is a set of psychological problems that various groups of individuals must solve to survive which highly connect with the biological imperatives. In essence, both groups and individuals must design ways of addressing the universal problems. The means developed by people and groups essentially become their culture. Therefore, culture can be referred to in this context as a shared system of socially transmitted behaviour that defines, describes and guides our ways of life, communicated from one generation to another. Every culture can be said to have its unique language, with its grammar, vocabulary, pragmatics and phonology. The specific way in which every culture develops its non-verbal language differs from that of another. The connection between culture and non-verbal communication is a reality that the essay endeavours to analyse critically. Just like the case with verbal communication, culture significantly influences the various forms of non-verbal communication in profound ways. The application of gestures, facial expressions, the interpersonal space, gaze, touch and body postures impacted on by cultural behaviours that differ significantly. There is a great connection between culture and gestures. The examination of the interrelationship between culture and gestures dates back to the 1936 and 1941 studies by David Efron (Berko, Rosenfeld and Samovar, 2013). In these studies, David examined the use of gestures among the Lithuanian and Sicilian Jewish immigrants who lived in the New York City. In his findings, Efron established that there were different gestures between the traditional Italians and Jews which gradually kept disappearing as people got assimilated into the American culture. Other studies by Ekman et al. in 1976 produced a documentation of the cultural differences in the use of emblematic gestures betwee n the Americans, Japanese, and the New Guineans. It is worth noting,

Wl-Mrt Expnsion to Chinese mrket Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Wl-Mrt Expnsion to Chinese mrket - Assignment Example The choice of the mrket entry will depend on mny fctors such s politicl, economic, technologicl, nd socio-culturl. With this in mind, the reserch discusses ech of those fctors while conducting PEST nlysis. Expnsion to Chin is gret opportunity for Wl-Mrt to gin profits nd dditionl mrket shre on the world mrket of retil. Opertion in Chin brings $1 billion in sles nnully. It is through Wl-Mrt Chin's 46 stores tht result in 450,000 trnsctions dy tht such high profit is possible (Hoopes, 2006). Expnsion into Chin is n opportunity tht Wl-Mrt cn not fford to miss. Chinese mrket is one of the biggest in the world nd the need to expnd beyond its 46 stores is logicl strtegic step the Wl-Mrt should undertke. Strong competition with Crrefour, the biggest retil in Frnce nd second biggest retil store in the world, is thret for the compny to stop being the first on the mrket. The need to expnd to Chin is wy to sty the leder in the world mrket s it hs been for long time of the retil store history. Wl-Mrt is excited bout Chin becuse it considers the size of the economy of this country, t the consistent growth over 20 yers, nd t the increse in individul nd fmily income nd spending power. s Beth Keck, Wl-Mrt director of interntionl corporte ffirs, sid in n interview. "In the lst 10 yers, you've seen the development of [forml] retil. So it's gret opportunity" (Nelson, 2006). By contrst to the second lrgest supermrket in the world, Crrefour, Wl-Mrt is Chin's 19th-lrgest retiler. Wl-Mrt Chin's SuperCenters lg their U.S. counterprts in revenues, generting on verge $35 million nnully, compred with $80 million to $120 million in the U.S. So there re lot of opportunities to expnd to Chinese mrket, more of which will be discussed lter in this pper long with mrketing nlysis of the compny (Hoopes, 2006). II. SWOT nlysis This nlysis is wy of looking t the Wl-Mrt s business, where the strengths nd weknesses of the orgnistion cn be contrsted with the threts nd opportunities of the outside business environment. The identifiction of the mjority of the SWOT fctors re intended to be derived through the erlier use of PEST nlysis s prt of the overll situtionl nlysis process. Tble1 SWOT nlysis Internl Strengths Weknesses Good loction of stores Trined stuff to operte the stores Estimted rise of revenues Chep lbor costs on Chinese mrket Good service nd employee pckge Very low number of trnsctions on the comprtively lrge territory Shky infrstructure in mny plces Development of rods, wter nd sewge brely keeps up in cities exploding with growth. Externl Opportunities Threts Further expnsion into Chinese mrket Possibilities of high benefits from Chinese mrket Mintining the growth on Chinese mrket Intensive competition from Frnce's Crrefour Competition from locl supermrkets Gtrengths Good loction of stores Wal-Mart China has a very good location t 12 Fenghung Rod which is in the hert of Shenzhen, Chin. Here people come just for a walk, a meeting at the corner restaurant or to see a movie in the cinema located not far. In this neighborhood of high-rise prtments, most customers rrive on foot or by bicycle. bout 12,000 shoppers visit this SuperCenter ech dy,

A Look at Early American Indian History Essay Example for Free

A Look at Early American Indian History Essay In analyzing early American history before the 1870s, it’s vital to have a picture of the lives and lifestyles of the native American Indian people, who have witnessed the immigration of Europeans and other foreign people from a completely different perspective as many of the people who consider themselves to be mainstream Americans today. The American Indian population and tribes have dwindled and suffered at the expense of the influx of migrating peoples into what was once their own land, and First Peoples, a book by Colin Calloway, takes a closer look at the history of Americans who were truly native, who freshly walked the shores and farmed the countryside of the great American continent. First Peoples is a documentary survey of the history of the first Americans, the Indian tribes who first roamed the American lands. The introduction and chapters of the book are broken down into several intriguing parts, including American Indians in American history, American History before Columbus, The Invasions of America, Indians in Colonial and Revolutionary America, American Indians and the New Nation, Defending the West, Kill the Indian and Save Man (which begins the area of the book which analyses the Native American experience after 1870), From the Great Depression to Self Determination, and Nations within a Nation. In introduction and first chapters of First Peoples, a total of six large sections of Calloway’s book, go into much detail about the experience of the Native American people in early America before the 1870s, from the roots of Native American life dating back as far as possibly 11,500 BC with the finding of the oldest Clovis spear points to the exploration of the varied tribal journeys until the mid 1800s AD. The introduction of the book gives a general overview of the theme of the book, the topics related to Native American history in the Americas and the documentation and sources used to feed knowledge into the introduction. References noted in the introduction as well as references noted throughout Calloway’s documentary include the several noted here as well as many more: Abler, T. Einhorn, A. â€Å"Bonnets, Plumes, and Headbands in West’s Painting of Penn’s Treaty. † American Indian Art Magazine 21, 1996: 46. Banner, S. How the Indians Lost Their Land: Law and Power on the Frontier. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2005. Brown, J. Vibert, E. Reading Beyond Words: Contexts for Native History. Peterboro, Ontario: Broadview Press, 1996. DuBois, M. McKiernan, K. â€Å"In the Spirit of Crazy Horse. † PBS series Frontline, 1990. Kipp, D. Fisher, J. â€Å"Transitions: Destruction of A Mother Tongue. † Native Voices Public Television Workshop, 1991. Lesiak, C. â€Å"In the White Man’s Image. † PBS series American Experience, 1992. Steckler, P. Welch, J. Killing Custer: The Battle of Little Big Horn and the Fate of the Plains Indians. New York: W. W. Norton, 1994. Usner, D. (1985). â€Å"American Indians on the Cotton Frontier: Changing Economic Relations with Citizens and Slave in the Mississippi Territory. † Journal of American History 72, 1985: 297-317. In First Peoples, Calloway has utilized a large number and variety of sources, from scholarly books to journals, magazines to films, and the references are noted at the end of every chapter and at the end of the book. On can see that it is through the use of varied and substantial amounts of references and study that Calloway has been able to craft such a detailed and powerful documentary of American Indian life and history. The first chapter of First Peoples focuses on the very early migration and creation theories related to American Indian tribes and the settlement of the first people who migrated across the bearing straight many thousands of years ago, the findings and studies of early fossils and civilizations, and the emergence over time of the Apalachee, Caddos, Chickasaws, Chocktaws, Cheyennes, Cherokee, Creeks, Hurons, Natchez, Iroquois, Mohawks, Neutrals, Petuns, Senecas, Shawnees, Timucua and other tribes. Calloway discusses the hunting and farming ways of life of the native tribes, including the first buffalo hunters of the plains, the farmers of the southwest, the mound builders and farmers of the eastern woodlands, and the affluence of the West Coast. Finally, the chapter ends with a look at the arrival of the European colonists into a world which was already burgeoning with the cultures, battles, celebrations and struggles of the native peoples. In summarizing the second chapter of First Peoples, one notes that Calloway analyses the confrontations of the American Indians with the early European settlers from 1492 to 1680. Through the influx of new people into America, the cultural landscape of America begins to shift and change around the new immigrants even more than it had between the tribal peoples. The Indians face off with the Spanish, French, and English colonists, aiming to balance survival with the struggle for power known as gold, god, commerce, priests, empires, and pelts. The economic and religious impact on the American Indians after the arrival of the Europeans was profound, and both cultures, Indian and European, learned new ways of being and living, were educated by one another in their vastly differing stock holds of cultural history and backgrounds, and clashed together when the trade of goods and ideas seemed tipped too far in favor of one over the other. The balance of power was not easy to manage, and more often than not, American Indians suffered more at the hands of the Europeans than vice versa. The chapter three, Indians in Colonial and Revolutionary America, Calloway takes a look at both Indians in colonial society and colonists in Indian society as they both draw together more closely and clash more violently. The impact of the fur trade and other economic industries brought a reduced capacity to hunt and live off the land, bringing peoples together in tighter communities, resulting in the loss of European and tribal languages for the minority people pressing into the mainstream, the stealing and returning of captives, division within tribal communities, peace treaties, the removal of Indian tribes, and the banding together of tribes and colonists to fight against the most recent invading immigrating force. In reading this chapter, one is able to more clearly understand the attempts at peace and unity merging and contrasting vividly with harsh battles and banishment of peoples. This era of American history is strewn with the movement of individuals, with change and newfound placement, with horrifying prejudice and necessary cooperation. In reading the American Indians and the New Nation, the fourth chapter of First Peoples, one is able to better understand the nation as it gained independence and began working together and a more unified system. Although the emergence of a truly independent America involved new statehood and politics which banded together people from across the vast country, it also brought with it new laws aimed at cleansing Indian people from European and mainstream America. With the populations of American Indians ever dwindling and racism and prejudice haunting the beginnings of American history as an independent nation, the American Indians suffered the loss of political battles as well as the loss of tribal people to death and disease, alcoholism and suicide. Chapter five, the last chapter focusing on American history before 1870, sees only further aggression against the American Indian people and tribes. Policies of detribalization find their ways onto the desks of politicians even as American Indian statehood is granted to Oklahoma. Indian children are removed from their tribes and forced in to state schools across the nation, even to the point of stripping Indian children from their families to live in permanent boarding schools for the effective Americanization or Europeanization of the Indian children. The divisions and suffering within the American Indian families, cultures, and lifestyles during this time are still felt to this day. Although this chapter ends with a look at new American Indian leaders and furthering active attempts to overcome the racism and unfair practices of the European people against the American Indians, it’s important to note the devastation suffered by the American Indians at the hands of the European Americans and the troubling ripple effects of hate crimes against Indians which are still felt within American society today. Overall, First Peoples is a wonderful book for the in depth study of historical life for the American Indian people and tribes, lending insight to the wellness and status of American Indians today in modern America. The creation of America as an independent nation is rife with struggles and diversity, with clashes and vibrancy. The coming together of various peoples has often dealt the people with the most differences a worse deck, however, it is important to view the coming together of our patchwork of American cultures and to know what has happened before, so that people can make informed judgments about the history of yesterday and the future of tomorrow. Luckily, the harsh barbarianism of the past is less and less a part of present society, and prejudice and racism less and less a prominent fixture of modern society worldwide. Although there are still differences to accept and divisions to heal, the world grows more peaceful with every passing decade. First Peoples lend true insight into the well researched history of the American Indians and shines light on what has gone before and what still goes onward in this changing and evolving American culture. Works Cited Calloway, C. First Peoples: A Documentary Survey of American Indian History. Macmillan, 2007.

Natural resources Curse or blessings

Natural resources Curse or blessings Abstract: The resource curse refers to a complex phenomenon that resource rich countries fail to take the advantages from their natural resources. According to this term countries with abundance of natural wealth are unable to gain the benefits of having the resources that they are supposed to get in comparison to the countries with fewer natural resources. This paper describes the existence of resource curse, how to deal with this curse and its implication to development of Middle East. Introduction Even though a country with plenty of natural resources should progress in terms of GDP and economic growth at far more pace as compared to countries with far less resources or with no resources at all as compared to them, studies and experiments do tend to suggest otherwise. True, natural resources reserves do help a country raise individual living standards, economic growth, nevertheless, unless made full use of it can result in a negative GDP too. Experiments after being carried out in this regard has shown that in some countries despite resources being available in plenty their progression was not in line with it. On the contrary, countries which should have struggled to make their way through, as they had little resources or none at all, in reality have out-performed countries with abundant resources through the help of their service and manufacturing industries. While on the other hand some natural-resources rich countries have done exceptionally well as they utilized their wealth with perfection. To sum up, it can neither be said having less natural resources will mean a country can not progress nor can it be said that having enough of it will prevent a country from moving further forward. The whole thing has got to do more with whether proper utilization of it was made or not. Is there a resource curse? If a closer look is taken at some countries in the Middle Mast, for example, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran and Iraq, it can be seen that they all share some things in common. These countries have more oil reserves than any other countries in the world; they are governed by Islamic laws, the fate of the people lies at the hand of their leaders, and where democracy is not present at all. General people have nothing to say as to how the country would be run and armed forces are often used as a weapon by the leaders to ensure that power does not come out of their hands. Despite having natural wealth, these countries have not performed as per expectation. Still they have slow population growth and poor life expectancy than average, low quality education and health care, low market diversification, poor socio-political development indices. There are some other natural resource-rich countries, where natural resources could not bring blessings. In some African countries civil war occurred over the control of the resources which may lead to separatism. People from natural resource areas want to keep control over their resources. Thus they get engaged in conflict with their Government. The Governments abilities to perform go down badly. For instance, in Angola and Sierra Leone, some rebel groups in the area where natural recourses like diamond, gold etc are located, are engaged in different forms of crimes like extortion, drug dealing, kidnapping foreign executives of multinational companies for ransom. The revenues from natural resources can go up and down. When the prices of the natural resource rise the economy of the countries dominated by natural resources booms and again if the price falls down the economy also plummets. For instance, the price of crude oil shot up from $10 per barrel in 1998/1999 to $140 per barrel in the middle of 2008. Again in December 2008 the price plunges to $40 per barrel. On 29th of December 2009 the price was $76.19 per barrel. The wild fluctuation of the price of natural resource can have a great impact in the Governments annual development budget if the economy depends absolutely or mostly on natural resources. In the resource rentier countries, the Government does not tax the citizens because they have fixed sources of income from resource rent. They do not have to explain about their policies, rules, and laws to the public. People also do not or can not complain about their living standard, health, Government policies etc even though they are poorly served by the Government. As a result, the relationship between the rulers and public collapses. In the Middle East people can not protest against any Government policy. In fact the rulers, dependent on natural resource rent, tend to be repressive, corrupt and poorly managed. In the resource abundant countries human resources are often ignored. Instead of investing in the development of education, health and research, Government make huge expenditure on buying luxurious products, military, police from which the only rulers or elite societies get benefited. The countries which have natural resource, the giant multinational companies gather there. They want to get control over the resource to mine it by paying a token money. They try to get the control either by bribing money or other forms of gifts to the rulers of that country, or by creating pressure from their own country to the resource owner country. If the Government is not accountable to its citizens, it is very tough to avoid such pressure or the greed of bribe. Thus the multinational companies are spreading corruption in the poor, but with natural resource, countries. For example, Niko, a Canadian company is in charge of gas exploration in Bangladesh. In 2005 because of the incompetence, technical fault of Niko, two huge blowouts of gas occurred. Bangladesh faced a loss of tk7.4650 billion in local currency ($1=tk70 approximately) including gas and environmental damages. But instead of paying the compensation they gave a luxurious car which cost 10 million in local currency to the state minister for energy as a bribe to avoid compensation. There are many countries with little or no natural resources at all, which have been able to develop. Resource-rich countries like Middle East could not perform well in terms of economic growth. Even the growth of some countries with ample natural resources was negative. On the other hand countries with low natural resources performed extremely well. Most of the resource poor countries like Singapore, Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong grew rapidly during the period. They achieved rapid economic growth from export industries based on manufactured products. Lack of natural resources could not be an impediment in their development. Some countries with affluent natural resources used this wealth effectively and thus they became developed. USA for example, was a resource rich country. But unlike others it used its mineral resources as a ladder of progression. Natural resources played an important role in the technological and industrial development. US made a huge investment in exploration, geological knowledge, transportation and the technologies of mining, refining and utilization. US excelled other countries in the world in mineral sector. Mineral sector contributed a lot to enhance the knowledge and technological capabilities. In the way to leadership in manufacturing, the mineral sector of the USA was an important issue. According to Wright (2004) resource extraction in the United States was more fundamentally associated with ongoing processes of learning, investment, technological progress, and cost reduction, generating a manifold expansion rather than depletion of the nations resource base. It had a great effect in the progress of education. By the nineteenth century, the education system of the US in mining engineering and metallurgy came out as the world leader. Columbia School of Mines which was opened in 1864 became the leader. Later University of California at Berkeley developed into worlds largest mining college. Wright (2004) wrote in his journal that The most famous American mining engineer, Herbert Hooverà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬an early graduate of Cals cross-bay arch rival, Stanfordà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬maintained that the increasing assignment of trained engineers to positions of combined financial and managerial, as well as technical, responsibility was a distinctive contributing factor to U.S. leadership in this sector. In 1917 a survey was conducted which found there were 7500 mining engineers in the USA. Thus natural resources contributed in the progress of law, investment and education which led to overall development in America. Considering all the evidences, it can be said that natural resource is neither a vital element of development nor a curse. Development depends on lots of factors like Government policies, accountabilities, human resource development, education, fiscal policy, manufacturing industries etc. When a Government can not rule the country properly, it becomes authoritarian and repressive. It uses the rent from natural resource to dominate the public and avoid accountability, transparency. At that time resource becomes a curse. But for this natural resource can not be blamed rather the mismanagement can be blamed. If the natural resource is utilized appropriately, it can be blessing. How can a state overcome the resource curse? Some evidences suggest that there is a negative relationship between natural resources and growth. So resources were called a curse by many researchers. But it is not always true. A country can get rid of this curse by taking some steps. The guaranteed income from natural wealth can be used as a source of investment rather than a source of public disbursement. The transformation of natural assets into manufacturing capital can lead to break the curse. The country can use the resource rent to develop the infrastructure. The country can invest the rent in different sectors like manufacturing, health, education, development of law and order, human rights. If the country can manufacture goods in a large volume, it can export them. Income from exports will reduce the dependence on natural resource. The government can launch a comfortable taxation system. It will establish the relationship between the ruler and the public. Whenever government will take money from the citizens, it will have to explain the incomes and expenses of the country. It will provide accountability and transparency. The Government can share the revenue with the local people. When the local community was given the power to handle resources of the country, it not only motivates long-term investment but also takes the pressure off the shoulder from central government, and also helps to alleviate poverty. Through the proper management of natural resources, a government can sustain the welfare of the country; can raise the life standards of the people living below the poverty line and thus make the natural resources as a blessing. The Middle East will not develop until its oil reserves run out. Discuss. Most countries in Middle East, if not all, have some things in common such as monarchy system, oil reserves, no accountability and transparency, absence of democracy, repressive. Economy of these countries relies on their oil income. As they do not rely on tax from its people, they can avoid accountability and other responsibilities to the people. Because of oil being present there in plenty and the income the government extracts from selling them to other parts of the world being more than enough for them to run their country, the government do not feel it important to build manufacturing industries in their country. But at some point down the line this oil reserve will come to an end. Then these countries will be forced to find other sources of income and only then they will really start thinking to build other service and manufacturing industries. This may open the doors for private sector. When the private sectors thrive, it will bring investments from different places which will also in turn create plenty of job opportunities. Government will have to invest for the development of human resource to cope with demand for skilled people. As a result there will be a literate society. The rulers will loose legislation blocks to investment, private employment, exorbitant regulatory barriers, poor enforcement of commercial contracts and dispute resolution, taxation barriers. The multinational companies (other than Oil companies) will be attracted to these countries to expand their businesses. Huge investment will come that will contribute to the development of the countries. Another thing, when rulers will tax the citizens, they will have to explain their policies, incomes and expenses. As a result accountability and transparency will grow up. It can lead to democracy. When the rulers will start thinking of the welfare of the public, it will help to sustain the democracy and development of the country. The example of UAE can be taken. It is expected that the oil reserve of UAE will run out in twenty years. The rulers realised this. So they are trying to move to other sectors, for example tourism. Now Dubai is one of the most lucrative tourist places. Every year millions of tourists from all over the world visit Dubai. Government are earning a substantial amount of revenue from tourism sector. Dubai is attracting the business companies from the western world. Currently Dubai is one of the best places for business. Almost all of the international companies have branches in Dubai. Thus the Government of UAE is reducing dependence from oil. Another example is Kuwait. They are utilizing the rent from oil for off-shore investment. This way they are trying to stabilize the economy. As long as the countries of Middle East will get revenue from oil, they will remain averse to make changes. They will stay in vicious circle until the oil reserve will be depleted. The sooner they realize that oil reserves are not unlimited, they will move to the way to development. Conclusion: Though some of the evidences identify natural resources as a curse, but the resources themselves are not a curse. Mismanagement of the resources makes them a curse. But there is no short term option to get out of the curse. Oil in the Middle East is a sensitive issue. When the Government will decide to use the resource for the development of the living standards of citizens, they will transform into a good government from authoritarian rulers. International pressure and internal pressure can shake the rulers. But because of having a large oil reserve, the rulers can avoid all forms of pressure. This paper has illustrated all the facts related to natural resources. According to Kirk Hamilton and Giovanni Ruta, (2006) Whatever the level of government, good management is a precondition for good performance. Natural resources are governance-intensive. Sound management of these natural resources can support and sustain the welfare of poor countries, and poor people in poor countries, as they move up the development ladder. Bibliography: Class Lecture Journals Moore, M. (2004) International Political Science Review. Revenues, State Formation, and the Quality of Governance in Developing Countries, 25(3), pp. 297-319 Sachs Jeffrey D. and Warner Andrew M. (2001) European Economic Review. Natural Resources and Economic Development The curse of natural resources, 45, pp. 827-838 Wright, G. and Czelusta, J. (2004) WHY ECONOMIES SLOW. The Myth of the Resource Curse, 47(2), pp.6-38 Online Resources Bannon, I. and Collier, P. (2003) HUMAN SECURITY IN CONFLICT SITUATIONS. Natural resources and violent conflict: options and actions [Online]. Pp.242-245. Available from [Accessed 2nd January 2010] Hamilton K. and Ruta, G. (2006) Environment Matters. From Curse to Blessing Natural Resources and Institutional Quality [Online]. pp. 24-27. Available from [Accessed 2nd January 2010]. Humphreys, M., Sachs Jeffery D. and Stiglitz Joseph E. (2007) Escaping the Resource Curse. USA: Columbia University Press. [Online] Available from [Accessed 2nd January 2010]. Sachs Jeffrey D. and Warner Andrew M. (2001) European Economic Review. Natural Resources and Economic Development The curse of natural resources, 45, p. 829

Impact of Normans Conquest on Ireland

Impact of Normans Conquest on Ireland Daragh Mc Mullan    Use archaeological, historical and literary evidence to assess the impact of the Norman conquest on Irelands political, social, economic and cultural systems. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_invasion_of_Ireland Introduction The Norman conquest of Ireland commenced in 1169, the immediate aftermath saw Ireland under a rotation of control by Anglo Norman lords and the King of England with challenge from the Irish.   Up to this point, Ireland had seen recurrent conflict between provincial kingdoms who strived for High King status and the arrival of the Normans would throw what structure the Irish had into disarray.   The invaders had a long history with conquering foreign lands but this time there were numerous distractions and troublesome conquests elsewhere to deal with.   These distractions would almost result in a loss of control in Ireland and defeat to the native Irish. (http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irlkik/ihm/ire1100.htm, n.d.) Political Impact In the mid-12th and early 13th century there was major political change for the Irish.   The King of England made Ireland a Lordship of his own empire and because of this the Irish went from securing title by defeat of local rivals to battling for possession of their own land from foreigners.   The formation of the Parliament of Ireland in 1297 allowed the Anglo-Norman Lords to exercise control and implement their politics.   At this time the island was politically divided into several overkingdoms, the main focal point was the Abbey.   The Irish legal system known as the Brehon Law continued outside the controlled area but prisons were established as per Henry IIs reforms. Overall the Norman political impact was substantial but it lacked structure and more importantly continuity, and the troublesome times during the early and mid-14th century resulted in a loss of control and Ireland was far from under complete control of the British for over the two centuries that followed. Social Cultural Impact The social and cultural landscape of Ireland experienced changes, some events were devastating namely the famine and the Black Death.   Some events, while chaotic, had good intention.   The invasion by Robert the Bruce brought fierce battle against the English lords, there was extensive destruction and eventually the Scot was defeated but during the clash Irish families regained control of lands lost to them in previous combat.   During the settlement period the Normans living outside Dublin and the area known as The Pale embraced the Irish language and their customs, they married into the clans, and coincidentally the native Irish also became like the Normans in many ways.   Even today we still have evidence of this in the provinces of Munster and Leinster with many Norman origin surnames, Power, Roche and Burke. Towns were perhaps the Normans greatest contribution to their new conquest.   The increase in population saw the nobles invest in the construction of walled towns, numerous castles and churches changed Ireland and a system of counties commenced in 1297.   The Church made a move to centre the congregation diocese . (http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irlkik/ihm/ire1300.htm, n.d.) Economic Impact The Norman invasion brought a lot of changes to the economic situation in Ireland.  Ã‚   The economy was mainly based on cows, sheep, pigs, goats and the products they produced.   Cattle was the main asset as it provided milk, butter, cheese and meat.   A herd of any type was considered a wealth and had the added benefit that it could be moved to safety in times of war.   The Normans began to import tenants to occupy and work their newly acquired lands, horticulture was practiced prior to the Norman settlement, the main crops being oats, wheat and barley, but this increased during this time.   This would boost the agricultural trade and was one of the many changes brought by the Norman invasion and occupation of Ireland.   They introduced feudalism to the existing native tribal-dynastic crop-sharing system.   Feudalism was intended to introduce cash payments into farming.   Money was rarely used in medieval Gaelic society, as payment was normally made in goods or serv ice. (http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irlkik/ihm/ire1400.htm, n.d.) Conclusion The transition from a nation to being part of the Tudor conquest was a turbulent road for the Irish.  Ã‚   In the end the continuous rebellion was not enough to free them from the grasp of the expanding British Crowned forces.   They co-existed to a certain extent with the placed nobles and later with the Hiberno Normans but the Monarchy expected a respect from the Gaelic Irish that just would not be given.   The decline of the Monastic Abbeys and then the pressure on Christianity by newly founded rival churches and the implication of surrender and regrant where the Irish had to abandon their land, culture and religion in exchange for an English earldom meant that the ordinary native Irish people stood little chance at retaining their identity against the Tudor expansion. (http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irlkik/ihm/ire1500.htm, n.d.) Barry, T. (1987). The Archaeology of Medieval Ireland. London: Routledge. Ellis, S. G. (1998). Ireland in the Age of the Tudors 1447-1603. London: Longman. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irlkik/ihm/ire1100.htm. (n.d.). http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irlkik/ihm/ire1200.htm. (n.d.). http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irlkik/ihm/ire1300.htm. (n.d.). http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irlkik/ihm/ire1400.htm. (n.d.). http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irlkik/ihm/ire1500.htm. (n.d.). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Ireland_(1169%E2%80%931536)#cite_note-2. (n.d.).

Effective Use of Conflict in Shakespeares As You Like It Essay

As You Like It: Effective Use of Conflict It is easy enough to discount the presence of conflict within As You Like It, swept away as we are by the sparkling wit of the play, its numerous songs, and the use of stage spectacle (such as the masque of Hymen). But precisely what enables Arden to have such a profound effect on the visitors (Rosalind, Orlando, Duke Senior et al.) is the fact that it is a retreat from the "painted pomp" of the "envious court". The twisted morality of the court, where Duke Frederick hates Rosalind for her virtue, is very much necessary for the purpose of the drama of the play; it is only through the disparity between the court and the Forest of Arden that there is dramatic significance in the movement to Arden and the play of Arden. So while the world of As You Like It is one of reduced intensity (even while the cynic Jacques is loved by the Duke Senior, who loves to "cope him in his sullen fits"), it would be too glib to dismiss conflict from the play. Admittedly, much of the charm of the play lies not in the perfunctory plot: the news told by Charles, about Duke Senior's banishment to a place where he and his followers "fleet the time carelessly" like Robin Hood and his merry men, is so old that its only purpose seems to be to speed up the exposition. As You Like It entices us because it is willing to sacrifice plot considerations and credibility -- for instance, in the sudden transformations of Oliver and Duke Frederick -- to pursue seemingly pointless moments such as the songs. The sheer number of musical interludes, from "Blow, blow, thou winter wind" to "What shall we ... ...ibutes to the play's charms as William is summarily dismissed by Touchstone (using his wit as usual); this satire of the pastoral convention of overcoming obstacles to love is humorous. Likewise, Phebe's insults of Silvius and Ganymede's chiding of Phebe draws laughter from the audience. To conclude, therefore, conflict is not absent from the play totally. It is As You Like It's knowledge and recognition of the dangers of love "Men have died from time to time, and worms have eaten them, but not for love" and is still capable of being love struck: the affection being like "Bay of Portugal", and how it plays off that against the comedic exuberance of its interludes, verbal sparring and digressionary expositions, that provides the drama of the play. "Sweet", indeed, "are the uses of adversity".

Story of a Different Hour :: Essays Papers

The Story of a Different Hour Mrs. Millard just found out that Mr. Millard was killed in a tragic train wreck. Because of a heart condition, Josephine (Mrs. Millard's sister) was hesitant to tell her what happened. Richard (Mr. Millard's good friend) was also there to comfort the newly widowed Mrs. Millard. Josephine was concerned for her sister. To everyone?s surprise Mrs. Millard was rather joyful rather than devastated of the tragic news about her husband. ?Free! Free! Free!?, ?Free! Body and free soul?. Everyone was a bit confused, why Louise was jumping for joy when she just received that her husband passed away few minutes ago. Something smells fishy in this story and who really is Richard? Is he a good friend of Mr. Millard or he is a lover of Louise?.. Well, we will modify some sentences in this story. We all knew what happened in the end. Mrs. Millard was having the time of her life because she just found out that her husband just died. Was Louise happy because of the hefty insurance money that her husband left her? We can?t tell. So as the door was being opened by a latchkey everyone ran through the long stair case and found ?Brently Millard who entered, a little travel-stained, composedly carrying his grip-sack and umbrella?, then Louise was so flabbergasted that she had a heart attack and eventually died. In my opinion the story could use a better ending than Louise dying at the end of the story. If only Chopin talked to me about this story before she published it in 1894 it would probably be a little different. We left of where before Brently opened the door. After Brently died, Louise was alone in her huge plantation. She asked Josephine to move in with her because she can?t bear to be alone any longer. One day Richard dropped by to check on Louise and to drop the title of the house, Richard is a prominent lawyer nowadays. Richard stayed for supper, and Louise told him ?

Analysis Of Sir Gawain Essay -- essays research papers

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight contains many themes. Some of these themes are more obvious than others. Love, lust, loyalty, deceit, trust, courage, virtue, and righteousness are most of the themes within the poem. There are some more that are hidden within the concepts of the ideas that the poem presents. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, translated by John Gardner, many different themes are addressed throughout the story. The translation by John Gardner portrays these themes by using specific characters, medieval symbolism, and various settings within the story.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a great work of medieval literature. The story is considered to be verse romance. There are not many solid facts on the story. The story was composed in the second half of the fourteenth century. It is likely that Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was written around 1375. The author of the piece remains unknown, but we do know of the northwestern dialect of Middle English with which he wrote the poem. The unknown author also consciously wrote in an old-fashioned style. The author is usually referred to as the Gawain poet or the Pearl poet. Three poems were included with Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. â€Å"Pearl†, â€Å"Patience†, and â€Å"Purity† were all with Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in the same manuscript. This is the reason the author is named as the Pearl poet, in addition to the Gawain poet. All four poems were uniquely named Cotton Nero A.X. This is due to the manuscript’s previous owner , Sir Robert Cotton. Cotton supposedly acquired the manuscript from Yorkshire bibliophile Henry Savile (1568-1617), but its whereabouts before then are unknown (Grolier).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was first edited and published in 1839 by Madden, whose entire name in uncertain. He called the untitled poem Syr Gawayn and the Grene Knyyt. The poem did not receive much attention at all until the beginning of the twentieth century. In 1916, George Lyman Kittredge’s ongoing study of the poem contained extremely valuable research of the sources and analogues of the poem. Many other authors focused on the text, language, and possible authors of the work. In the 1930s and ‘40s there was a rise of mythic criticism of the poem, as many scholars sought to interpret Sir Gawain and the Green Knight with new knowledge of medie... ...ces, and the most complex in intention, exhibiting a subtlety of presentation and density of implication which we have only begun to appreciate.† In other words, we have only skimmed the thoughtful and meaningful intentions of the Gawain poet. We have only started to appreciate and understand the poem. All in all, there is so much more to find within the piece, more lessons to be learned, and morals to be taught. Gardner, John. â€Å"Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.† Elements of Literature. Orlando,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Florida: Harcourt Brace and Company, 1997: 161-172. Gibbons, Frances Vargas. Sir Gawain’s Mentors. London, England: Landmark Press,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1998: articles 1-2. Samuels, Jonathan. The Gawain Poet: Criticism and Symbolism in SGGK. Ed. Harold   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Morgan. New York, New York: Johnston Press, 1987. â€Å"Gardner, John Champlin, Jr.† The New Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. Dallas,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Texas: Grolier Inc. CD-ROM. Disc 1. â€Å"Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.† Galenet. Gale research 1999   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

The company’s clothing and shoe designs typically feature Essay

Adidas was founded in 1948 by Adolf Dassler, following the split of Gebrà ¼der Dassler Schuhfabrik between him and his older brother Rudolf. Rudolf later established Puma, which was the early rival of Adidas. Registered in 1949, Adidas is currently based in Herzogenaurach, Germany. Puma is also based in Herzogenaurach. The company’s clothing and shoe designs typically feature three parallel bars, and the same motif is incorporated into Adidas’s current official logo.The company revenue for 2012 was listed at â‚ ¬14.48 billion. History Gebrà ¼der Dassler Schuhfabrik Christoph Von Wilhelm Dassler was a worker in a shoe factory, while his wife Pauline ran a small laundry in the Bavarian town of Herzogenaurach, 20 km (12.4 mi) from the city of Nuremberg. After leaving school, their son, Rudolf â€Å"Rudi† Dassler, joined his father at the shoe factory. When he returned from fighting in World War I, Rudolf received a management position at a porcelain factory, and later in a leather wholesale business in Nuremberg. Adolf â€Å"Adi† Dassler started to produce his own sports shoes in his mother’s wash kitchen in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria after his return from World War I. In July 1924, his brother Rudolf returned to Herzogenaurach to join his younger brother’s business, which became Gebrà ¼der Dassler Schuhfabrik (Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory) and prospered. The pair started the venture in their mother’s laundry,[6]:5 but, at the time, electricity supplies in the town were unreliable, and the brothers sometimes had to use pedal power from a stationary bicycle to run their equipment. By the 1936 Summer Olympics, Adi Dassler drove from Bavaria on one of the world’s first motorways to the Olympic village with a suitcase full of spikes and persuaded U.S. sprinter Jesse Owens to use them, the first sponsorship for an African American. Following Owens’s haul of four gold medals, his success cemented the good reputation of Dassler shoes among the world’s most famous sportsmen. Letters from around the world landed on the brothers’ desks, and the trainers of other national teams were all interested in their shoes. Business boomed and the Dasslers were selling 200,000 pairs of shoes each year before World War II. World War II and company split Both brothers joined the Nazi Party, but Rudolf was slightly closer to the party than Adolf. During the war, a growing rift between the pair reached a breaking point after an Allied bomb attack in 1943, when Adi and his wife climbed into a bomb shelter that Rudolf and his family were already in: â€Å"The dirty bastards are back again†, Adi said, referring to the Allied war planes, but Rudolf was convinced his brother meant him and his family.[9] After Rudolf was later picked up by American soldiers and accused of being a member of the Waffen SS, he was convinced that his brother had turned him in. The Dassler factory, used for production of anti-tank weapons during the war, was nearly destroyed by US forces in April 1945, but was spared when Adi Dassler’s wife, Kà ¤the, convinced the GIs that the company and its employees were only interested in manufacturing sports shoes. American occupying forces subsequently became major buyers of the Dassler brothers’ shoes. The brothers split up in 1947, with Rudi forming a new firm that he called Ruda – from Rudolf Dassler, later rebranded Puma, and Adi forming a company formally registered as Adidas AG from Adi Dassler on 18 August 1949. Although it is popularly claimed that the name is an acronym for All Day I Dream About Soccer, that phrase is a backronym; the name is actually a portmanteau formed from â€Å"Adi† (a nickname for Adolf) and â€Å"Das† (from â€Å"Dassler†). Early years and rivalry with Puma Puma and Adidas entered a fierce and bitter rivalry after the split. The town of Herzogenaurach was divided on the issue, leading to the nickname â€Å"the town of bent necks†Ã¢â‚¬â€people looked down to see which shoes strangers wore. Even the town’s two football clubs were divided: ASV Herzogenaurach club supported Adidas, while 1 FC Herzogenaurach endorsed Rudolf’s footwear. When handymen were called to Rudolf’s home, they would deliberately wear Adidas shoes. Rudolf would tell them to go to the basement and pick out a pair of free Pumas.The two brothers never reconciled, and although both are buried in the same cemetery, they are spaced apart as far as possible.[citation needed] In 1948, the first football match after World War II, several members of the West German national football team wore Puma boots, including the scorer of West Germany’s first post-war goal, Herbert Burdenski. Four years later, at the 1952 Summer Olympics, 1500 metres runner Josy Barthel of Luxembourg won Puma’s first Olympic gold in Helsinki, Finland. The original Adidas logo until 1997, it is now used on Adidas Originals At the 1960 Summer Olympics Puma paid German sprinter Armin Hary to wear Pumas in the 100 metre sprint final. Hary had worn Adidas before and asked Adolf for payment, but Adidas rejected this request. The German won gold in Pumas, but then laced up Adidas for the medals ceremony, to the shock of the two Dassler brothers. Hary hoped to cash in from both, but Adi was so enraged he banned the Olympic champion.

Digital Fortress Chapter 33

Tokugen Numataka stared out his window and paced like a caged animal. He had not yet heard from his contact, North Dakota. Damn Americans! No sense of punctuality! He would have called North Dakota himself, but he didn't have a phone number for him. Numataka hated doing business this way-with someone else in control. The thought had crossed Numataka's mind from the beginning that the calls from North Dakota could be a hoax-a Japanese competitor playing him for the fool. Now the old doubts were coming back. Numataka decided he needed more information. He burst from his office and took a left down Numatech's main hallway. His employees bowed reverently as he stormed past. Numataka knew better than to believe they actually loved him-bowing was a courtesy Japanese employees offered even the most ruthless of bosses. Numataka went directly to the company's main switchboard. All calls were handled by a single operator on a Corenco 2000, twelve-line switchboard terminal. The woman was busy but stood and bowed as Numataka entered. â€Å"Sit down,† he snapped. She obeyed. â€Å"I received a call at four forty-five on my personal line today. Can you tell me where it came from?† Numataka kicked himself for not having done this earlier. The operator swallowed nervously. â€Å"We don't have caller identification on this machine, sir. But I can contact the phone company. I'm sure they can help.† Numataka had no doubt the phone company could help. In this digital age, privacy had become a thing of the past; there was a record of everything. Phone companies could tell you exactly who had called you and how long you'd spoken. â€Å"Do it,† he commanded. â€Å"Let me know what you find out.†

A Clean Well Lighted Place †Theme and Setting Essay

A clean well lighted place by Ernest Hemingway has a few themes that stand out clearly but the one theme that stands out to me is despair. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, despair means to lose all hope or confidence. In the story, the older waiter and the old deaf man somehow share a common bond of despair. Both men are of age and like to be out, late at night, alone. Asides from the story alone, the theme of the story can be brought out by the setting. The setting contributes to the story’s theme in different ways. The setting contributes to the mood of the story, to the structure of the story, and to the lesson of the story. The cafe represents salvation for despair which is shown through the setting of the story. First, the setting contributes to the mood, from the quote â€Å"It was very late and everyone had left the cafe except an old man who sat in the shadow the leaves of the tree made against the electric light. †(107) sets a mood of a person in sadness. As a regular, at a cafe, late at night alone reveals the character’s personality with the help of the setting. The setting reveals the story’s mood because it visualizes the scene along with emotions of the story. Obviously the old man is not the type of drunk to get violent or rough because the mood seems to be calming as the setting had described â€Å"but at night the dew settled the dust and the old man liked to sit late because he was deaf and now at night it was quiet and he felt the difference. †(107) Even though the old man is deaf, the setting intensified the mood of peacefulness that the old man enjoys nice quiet drinks at a clean place. Later in the story the older waiter had no place to go for a drink so, he had gone to a bar/bodega for a drink; however, the mood of the bar/bodega compared to the cafe was not as peaceful nor comfortable. The waiter mentioned â€Å"It was the light of course but it is necessary that the place be clean and pleasant. You do not want music. Certainly you do not want music. Nor can you stand before a bar with dignity although that is all that is provided for these hours. †(109) The mood clearly shows a difference within a different setting. If the old man were to drink in that bar then the story’s mood could have been perceived in a different way. Furthermore, the setting contributes to the structure of the story, like cartilages in a human body. The cafe can be viewed as a workplace and also as a place of peaceful socialization. Each person deals with despair differently. Having the setting at a cafe where it was mentioned that it was quiet help structure the story that it is neither a depressing story nor, a happy story. The two waiters who were gossiping about the old man mentioned that he had committed suicide but, he was saved. Being in a cafe is different than rather being in a bar or anywhere else. The cafe signifies a place for space or time, depending on the person. The old man is not trying to cure his despair but rather subdue it. The setting could have taken place anywhere but it also could have affected the structure of the story differently. For example, when the older waiter was out trying to kill time due to insomnia, he went to a bar but, it was not soothing; therefore, he went home. This proves how the setting was able to support its main structure of having a cafe rather than a different place. Finally, the lesson of the story is that do not be impatient. The setting contributed to how the lesson of the story was delivered. The old deaf man was not harming anyone and the cafe was not to close ‘til two-thirty in the morning but, the young waiter wanted to close early because he wanted to go home to his wife. The setting is pleasing and comfortable for those who need a place late at night yet, it was taken away from someone who needed it. Even though the old man left quietly, it was obvious he was not done drinking. If the setting were to be elsewhere like a bar, it would mean that the old man was looking for a good time but, that was not the case. The setting contributed to the lesson like a book to a lecture. Overall, the setting contributes to the theme. The cafe represents salvation, its cleanliness and good lighting suggest peace and relaxation, whereas a bar is chaotic and loud. The older waiter describes it as a refuge from the despair felt by those who are aware of the nothingness. In a clean well-lighted cafe, despair can be managed and even temporarily forgotten. When the older waiter describes the nothingness that is life, he says, â€Å"It was only that and light was all it needed and a certain cleanness and order. †(109) The â€Å"it† in the sentence was not defined, but we can speculate about the waiter’s meaning: although life and man are nothing, light, cleanliness, and order can serve as substance. They can help counter off the despair from anyone. As long as a clean, well-lighted cafe exists, despair can be kept in check. This shows how the setting contributes to the theme through the mood, the structure, and the lesson of the story shaped by the setting.

Coyote Blue Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22 Sprinkling the Son of the Morning Star Santa Barbara After almost twenty years as a salesman, Sam found that when he was confused his head filled with homilies that pertained to the profession. Win an argument, lose a sale. If you look hungry, you will be. You can't sell if you don't pitch. There were hundreds of them. He'd been running them through his mind for hours, trying to find some clue as to what he should do. The one that kept returning was Never confuse motion with progress. To leave the house in search of Calliope without a clue as to where she might be would be movement for the sake of movement. Progress would be actually finding a clue to her whereabouts. He had no idea where to start looking for clues, so he lay on his bed and smoked, and tried to convince himself that he didn't want her. She's probably found some other guy, he thought. Losing the kid is just an excuse, a cowardly Dear John letter. It was just a one-night stand and I refuse to let it mean more to me than it meant to her. I've got my life back, intact, and there's no room for a young girl and a child. Nope. I'll rest up today and get back to work tomorrow. After I close a couple of deals, this week will just seem like a bad dream. It was a good rationalization. Unfortunately, he didn't believe a word of it; he was worried about her. Sam closed his eyes and tried to imagine the pages of his appointment book. It was a visualization he used to relax, a salesman's version of counting sheep. He saw the days and weeks spread out in front of him, and he filled in the blanks with lunches and prospects. By each of the names he made mental notes on how he would approach the pitch. Before long he was lost in a world of presentations and objections; the image of the girl faded away. As he started to doze off he heard the sound of heavy breathing. He rolled on his side and steamy hot dog breath hit him in the face. He didn't open his eyes. There was no need to. He knew Coyote had returned. Perhaps if he feigned sleep the trickster would go away, so he lived there in the land of dog breath. A wet nose prodded his ear. At least he hoped it was a nose. With Coyote's sexual habits it could be†¦. No, he still smelled the breath. It was the nose. I'm asleep, go away. I'm asleep, go away, he thought. He'd seen opossums try the same method to fool oncoming semi trucks, and it was working about as well for him. He felt the coyote climb onto the bed. Then he felt a paw on each of his shoulders. He groaned as he thought a truly sleeping guy might groan. Coyote whimpered and Sam could feel the canine nose press against his own. Dog breath, Sam mused, seems to have no distinction to it, yet it is distinctly dog breath. You could be at the cologne counter at Bloomingdale's, and someone could mist your wrist with an atomizer, and a single whiff would reveal the elusive scent to be dog breath as surely as if it had been squozen straight from the dog. Yet, what a wide spectrum of foulness dog breath can span, both in odor and humidity. This particular version of dog breath, he felt, is especially steamy, and carries a top note of stale cigarettes and coffee, as well as the usual fetid meat and butthole smells found in more common dog breath. This, he thought, is supernatural dog breath. I'm not likely to be breathed upon by another dog in my lifetime that has recently enjoyed a Marlboro over a cup of Java. Despite his effort to distract himself with dog breath aesthetics, Sam's tolerance was wearing out and he thought he might sneeze or throw up any second. Coyote licked him on the mouth. â€Å"Yuck!† Sam sat upright and wiped his mouth on his arm. â€Å"Ack!† He shivered involuntarily and looked at the big coyote, who grinned at him from the end of the bed. â€Å"There was no need for that,† Sam said. Coyote whimpered and rolled over on his back in submission. Sam got up from the bed and grabbed his cigarettes from the nightstand. â€Å"Why are you back? You said you were gone for good.† Coyote began to change into his human form. No longer afraid, Sam watched the transformation with fascination. In a few seconds Coyote sat on the bed in his black buckskins wearing the coyote-skin headdress. â€Å"Got a smoke?† he asked. Sam shook one out of the pack and lit it for the trickster. Sam took a small plastic box from his shirt pocket and held it out to Coyote. â€Å"Breath mint?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"I insist,† Sam said. Coyote took the box and shook out a mint, popped it in his mouth, and handed the box back to Sam. â€Å"The girl is going to Las Vegas.† â€Å"I don't care.† The lie tasted foul in his mouth. â€Å"If she tries to take her child from the biker she will be hurt.† â€Å"It's not my problem. Besides, she'll probably find another guy to help her out.† Sam felt both righteous and cowardly for saying it. This role he was playing no longer fit. Quickly he added, â€Å"I don't need the trouble.† â€Å"In the buffalo days your people used to say that a wife stolen and returned was twice the wife she had been.† â€Å"They aren't my people and she's not my wife.† â€Å"You can be afraid, just don't act like it.† â€Å"What does that mean? You're worse than Pokey with your fucking riddles.† â€Å"You lost Pokey. You lost your family. You lost your name. All you have left is your fear, white man.† Coyote flipped his cigarette at Sam. It hit him in the chest and hot ashes showered on the bed. Sam patted out the embers and brushed himself off. â€Å"I didn't ask for you to come here. I don't owe the girl anything.† But he did owe her. He wasn't sure what for yet, except that she had cut something loose in him. Why couldn't he cut loose the habit of fear? Coyote went to the bedroom window and stared out. Without turning he said, â€Å"Do you know about the Crows who scouted for General Custer?† Sam didn't answer. â€Å"When they told Custer that ten thousand Lakota and Cheyenne warriors were waiting for him at the Little Bighorn he called them liars and rode on. The Crow scouts didn't owe Custer anything, but they painted their faces black and said, ‘Today is a good day to die. â€Å" â€Å"The point?† Sam bristled. â€Å"The point is that you will never know what they knew – that courage is its own reward.† Sam sat down on the edge of the bed and stared at Coyote's back. The red feathers across the buckskin shirt seemed to move on the black surface of Coyote's shirt. Sam wondered if he might not be light-headed from prolonged dog breath inhalation, but then the feathers drew a scene, and in a whirl of images and feathers, Sam was back on the reservation again. There were three of them: boys hiding in the sagebrush by the road that led into the Custer Battlefield National Monument. Two were Crow, one Cheyenne. They were there on a dare that had started in ninth-grade gym class. The largest boy, the Cheyenne, was from the Broken Tooth family – descendants of a warrior who fought with Crazy Horse and Red Cloud on this very land. â€Å"You going to do it?† said Eli Broken Tooth. â€Å"Or are you full of shit like all Crows?† â€Å"I said I'd do it,† Samson said. â€Å"But I'm not going to be stupid about it.† â€Å"What about you, breed?† Eli asked Billy Two Irons. â€Å"You a chickenshit?† Broken Tooth had been taunting Billy about his mixed blood for the whole school year and citing his own â€Å"pure Indian† lineage. The fact was that in buffalo days the mortality rate had been so high for young plains warriors that a woman might have three or four husbands in her lifetime, and have children by them all. Sometimes one of the husbands was a white man, yet since they all traced their kinship through their mother's line, the white ancestor could easily be forgotten. Billy said, â€Å"I'll bet you got a few whiteys in your wigwam you don't even know about, Broken Dick.† Samson laughed and the others shushed him. The security guard was making a pass by the monument's high wrought-iron gate. They ducked their heads. A flashlight beam passed over them, paused, and moved on as the guard turned to walk up the hill toward the Custer burial site. â€Å"You going to do it?† Eli asked. â€Å"Once he's past the grave he has to go check on the Reno site. He'll take the jeep for that. When we hear the jeep, we'll go.† â€Å"Sure you will,† said Eli. â€Å"You coming?† Samson asked. He was more than a little afraid. The monument was federal land, and this was a time when an Indian causing trouble on federal land was something the government was going to great lengths to discourage after the Alcatraz takeover and the killings at Pine Ridge. â€Å"I don't have to go,† Broken Tooth said. â€Å"My people put him there. I'll just sit here and twist up a doobie while you girls do your thing.† He grinned. â€Å"The gate will be the bitch,† Billy said. They looked at the fifteen-foot iron spears suspended between two stone pillars. There were only two cross members they could use as footholds. They watched the guard amble the hundred yards down the hill to the visitor center. When they heard the jeep fire up, Samson and Billy took off. They hit the gate at the same time. The gate swung with the impact and clanged against the chains and padlock that held it closed. They scrambled up the bars, then hung over spearpoints and dropped to the asphalt. As they let go the chain sent a loud clang ringing down the valley. They both landed on their butts. Samson looked to Billy. â€Å"You okay?† Billy jumped to his feet and dusted off his jeans. â€Å"How come the Indians in the movies can do this shit in complete stealth?† â€Å"Vocational training,† Samson said. He started running up the hill toward the monument. Billy followed. â€Å"Snake ahead,† Samson said as he ran. â€Å"What?† â€Å"Snake,† Sam repeated breathlessly. He leapt into the air over the big diamondback rattler that was lying in the road, warming itself on the asphalt. Billy saw the snake in time to pull up and slide on some loose gravel within striking distance. When he heard Billy's shoes sliding he stopped and turned. Billy said, â€Å"You were saying ‘Snake, right?† â€Å"Back away and go around, Billy.† Samson was so out of breath he could hardly talk. The rattler coiled. â€Å"I thought you were saying ‘Steak. I was wondering, Why is he yelling ‘Steak' at me?† â€Å"Back away and go around.† â€Å"‘Snake. Well, I guess this explains it.† Billy backed slowly away, then once out of striking distance ran a wide arc around the snake and up the hill. Samson fell in beside him. The monument was still a hundred yards away. â€Å"Pace yourself,† he said. â€Å"Did you say ‘Snake' again?† Billy said between pants. Rather than answer, Samson fell into a trot. The monument was a twenty-foot granite obelisk set on a ten-foot base at the top of a hill that overlooked the entire Little Bighorn basin. â€Å"Let's do it,† Samson said, heaving in breaths. The hill had been longer and steeper than he'd thought. Billy unzipped his pants and stood beside Samson, who had already bared his weapon. â€Å"You know,† Billy said, â€Å"it would have been easier to gang up on Eli and beat the shit out of him.† â€Å"I think I hear the jeep coming back,† Samson said. A long yellow stream arced out of Billy and splashed the side of the monument. â€Å"Then you better get going.† Samson strained. â€Å"I can't.† Billy grunted, trying to force his urine to run faster. â€Å"Go, man. That's headlights.† â€Å"I can't.† Billy finished and zipped up, then turned to face Samson. â€Å"Think rivers, think waterfalls.† â€Å"It won't come.† â€Å"Come on, Samson. He's coming. Relax.† â€Å"Relax? How can-â€Å" â€Å"Okay, relax in a hurry.† Samson pushed until his eyes bugged. He felt a trickle, then a stream coming. â€Å"Push it, Samson. He's coming.† Billy began to back down the hill. â€Å"Push it, man.† The jeep's headlights broke over the hill and descended toward the monument. â€Å"Duck!† Billy said. Samson squatted by the base of the monument and managed to stream urine down both pant legs before he got himself reaimed. Billy dove for cover next to Samson. â€Å"Did you say ‘Duck'?† Samson whispered. â€Å"Shut up,† Billy snapped. Despite his fear, the adrenaline had made Samson giddy. He grinned at Billy. â€Å"I thought you were saying ‘Truck, which would have made more sense, but-â€Å" â€Å"Would you shut up?† Billy risked a peek at the road. The jeep was coming toward them, rather than returning to the visitor center where it had started. As the jeep approached the monument, they worked their way around its base, keeping the obelisk between themselves and the guard. â€Å"He won't stop, will he?† Billy said. Samson could hear the jeep slowing as it passed the monument on the other side of them, not twenty feet away. They held their crouch until the jeep descended the hill and stopped halfway to the gate. â€Å"He sees footprints,† Billy said. â€Å"On asphalt?† â€Å"He saw us. I'm going to end up in jail like my brother.† â€Å"No, look, it's the fucking snake. He's waiting for it to get out of the road.† Indeed, the guard was inching the jeep forward slowly enough for the rattler to slither off into the grass. When the snake was gone the jeep revved up and continued down the hill, by the iron gate, and back around to the back of the visitor center. â€Å"Let's go,† Billy said. They ran down the road, Samson almost falling while trying to zip his pants and run at the same time. As they reached the gate Samson grabbed Billy's shoulder and pulled him back. â€Å"What the fuck?† Billy said. Samson pointed to the chain. Billy nodded in understanding. The clanging. Samson went to the center of the gate and grasped it. â€Å"Go,† he said. â€Å"When you get over, hold it for me.† Without hesitation Billy leapt to the gate and climbed over, sliding down the opposite side instead of dropping as before. He held the gate and Samson started over. As Samson reached the top of the gate and was working his feet between the spearpoints, he heard Eli's laughing from down the road and he looked up. A second later he heard a metal fire door slam at the visitor center. The quick turn took his balance and he tried to jump, but one of the spearpoints caught his jeans leg and he was slammed upside down into the gate. Billy held the chain, but there was a dull clank as Samson's forehead hit the bars. It took Samson a second to realize that he was still hanging from the gate, his head still eight feet off the ground. â€Å"Unhook your leg,† Billy said. â€Å"I'll catch you.† In this position Samson was facing the visitor center. He could see some lights going on inside. He struggled to push himself up on the bar, but the spearpoint was barbed. â€Å"I can't get it.† â€Å"Shit,† Billy said. He held the gate with one hand and drew a flick knife from his back pocket with the other. â€Å"I'll come up and cut you down.† â€Å"No, don't let go of the gate,† Samson said. â€Å"Fuck it,† Billy said. He let go of the gate and it clanged with Samson's swinging weight. Billy jumped on the bars and as he climbed Samson could hear the fire door open and slam again, then footsteps. Billy stood at the top of the stone pillar and put the knife to Samson's pant leg. â€Å"When I cut, keep hold of the bars.† Billy pulled the knife blade through the denim and Samson flipped over and slammed the bars again, this time right side up. The gate clanged again. Samson heard the jeep starting and saw the beams of the headlights come out from behind the visitor center. He looked to Billy. â€Å"Jump!† Billy leapt from the fifteen-foot pillar. As he hit the pavement he yowled and crumpled. â€Å"My ankle.† Samson looked to the visitor center, where the jeep was pulling out. He grabbed Billy under the armpits and dragged him down into the ditch. They waited, breathlessly, as the jeep stopped and the guard, gun drawn, checked the lock and chain once again. After the guard left they crawled down the ditch toward Eli. When he came into view, Samson helped Billy to his feet and supported him while he limped up to the big Cheyenne, who was taking a deep hit on a joint. â€Å"Want a hit?† he croaked, holding the joint out to Billy. Billy took the joint, sat down in the grass, and took a hit. Eli let out a cloud of smoke and laughed. â€Å"That was the funniest fucking thing I've ever seen in my life.† Then he spotted the wet streaks on Samson's pants. â€Å"What happened, Hunts Alone? I thought you were going to piss on Custer's grave. You get so scared you wet yourself?† He threw back his head to laugh and Samson wound up and tagged him on the jaw with a vicious roundhouse punch. Eli dropped to the ground and didn't move. Samson looked at his damaged fist, then at Eli, then at Billy Two Irons. He grinned. Billy said, â€Å"You couldn't have done that twenty minutes ago and saved us all this trouble, could you?† â€Å"You're right,† Samson said. â€Å"I couldn't have done that twenty minutes ago. Let's get out of here before he comes to.† Samson helped Billy to his feet, then out of the ditch onto the road. As they headed toward Crow Agency it seemed to get darker as they walked, then darker still, until there was no light at all and Sam was in his bedroom staring at the back of a black buckskin shirt trimmed with red woodpecker feathers. â€Å"It was a stupid thing to do,† Sam said. â€Å"It was brave,† Coyote said. â€Å"It would have been stupid if you had failed.† â€Å"We found out later that Custer wasn't even buried there. His body was taken to West Point, so it was all for nothing.† â€Å"And what about the night on the dam? Was that all for nothing?† â€Å"How do you know about that?† Coyote turned and stared at Sam with his arms crossed, his golden eyes shining with delight. â€Å"That was nothing but trouble,† Sam said finally. â€Å"Would you do it again?† â€Å"Yes,† Sam said without thinking. â€Å"And the girl is nothing but trouble?† Coyote said. Sam heard the words echoing in his mind. Going after the girl was the right thing to do. After all the years of doing the safe thing, it was time to do the right thing. He said, â€Å"You really piss me off sometimes, you know that?† â€Å"Anger is the gods' way of letting you know you are alive.† Sam got up and stood face-to-face with the trickster, trying to read something in his eyes. He moved forward until their noses almost touched. â€Å"All you know is that she's going to Las Vegas? No address or anything?† â€Å"Not so far. But if she misses them there, the biker is going on to South Dakota. She'll follow. I'll tell you the rest on the way.† â€Å"I don't suppose you could change into a Learjet or something practical.† Coyote shook his head. â€Å"Just living things: animals, bugs, rocks.† Sam reached into his shirt pocket, pulled out the box of breath mints, and handed them to Coyote. The trickster raised his eyebrows in query. Sam said, â€Å"Eat those. I can't handle dog breath through an eight-hour drive.†