Bag of Bones CHAPTER FOUR

The phone was ringing when I walked in my front door. It was Frank asking me if I'd like to join him for Christmas. Join them, as matter of fact; all of his brothers and their families were coming. I opened my mouth to say no the last thing on earth I needed was a Irish Christmas with everybody drinking whiskey and waxing sentimental about Jo while perhaps two dozen snotcaked rugrats crawled around the floor and heard myself saying I'd come. Frank sounded as surprised as I felt, but honestly delighted. ‘Fantastic!' He cried. ‘When can you get here?' I was in the hall, my galoshes dripping on the tile, and from where I standing I could look through the arch and into the living room. There was no Christmas tree; I hadn't bothered with one since Jo died. The room looked both ghastly and much too big to me . . . a roller rink furnished in Early American. ‘I've been out running errands,' I said. ‘How about I throw some in a bag, get back into the car, and come south while the still blowing warm air?' ‘Tremendous,' Frank said without a moment's hesitation. ‘We can have us a sane bachelor evening before the Sons and Daughters of East Malden start arriving. I'm pouring you a drink as soon as I get off the telephone.' ‘Then I guess I better get rolling,' I said. That was hands down the best holiday since Johanna died. The only good holiday, I guess. For four days I was an honorary Arlen. I drank too much, toasted Johanna's memory too many times . . . and knew, somehow, that she'd be pleased to know I was doing it. Two babies spit up on me, one dog got into bed with me in the middle of the night, and Nicky Arlen's sister-in-law made a bleary pass at me on the night after Christmas, when she caught me alone in the kitchen making a turkey sandwich. I kissed her because she clearly wanted to be kissed, and an adventurous (or perhaps ‘mischievous' is the word I want) hand groped me for a moment in a place where no one other than myself had groped in almost three and a half years. It was a shock, but not an entirely unpleasant one. It went no further in a houseful of Arlens and with Susy Donahue not quite officially divorced yet (like me, she was an honorary Arlen that Christmas), it hardly could have done but I decided it was time to leave . . . unless, that was, I wanted to go driving at high speed down a narrow street that most likely ended in a brick wall. I left on the twenty-seventh, very glad that I had come, and I gave Frank a fierce goodbye hug as we stood by my car. For four days I hadn't thought at all about how there was now only dust in my safe-deposit box at Fidelity Union, and for four nights I had slept straight through until eight in the morning, sometimes waking up with a sour stomach and a hangover headache, but never once in the middle of the night with the thought Manderley, I have dreamt again of Manderley going through my mind. I got back to Derry feeling refreshed and renewed. The first day of 1998 dawned clear and cold and still and beautiful. I got up, showered, then stood at the bedroom window, drinking coffee. It suddenly occurred to me with all the simple, powerful reality of ideas like up is over your head and down is under your feet that I could write now. It was a new year, something had changed, and I could write now if I wanted to. The rock had rolled away. I went into the study, sat down at the computer, and turned it on. My heart was beating normally, there was no sweat on my forehead or the back of my neck, and my hands were warm. I pulled down the main menu, the one you get when you click on the apple, and there was my Word Six. I clicked on it. The pen-and-parchment logo came up, and when it did I suddenly couldn't breathe. It was as if iron bands had clamped around my chest. I pushed back from the desk, gagging and clawing at the round neck of the sweatshirt I was wearing. The wheels of my office chair caught on little throw rug one of Jo's finds in the last year of her life and I tipped right over backward. My head banged the floor and I saw a fountain of bright sparks go whizzing across my field of vision. I suppose I was lucky to black out, but I think my real luck on New Year's Morning of 1998 was that I tipped over the way I did. If I'd only pushed back from the desk so that I was still looking at the logo and at the hideo us blank screen followed it I think I might have choked to death. ‘When I staggered to my feet, I was at least able to breathe. My throat the size of a straw, and each inhale made a weird screaming sound, but I was breathing. I lurched into the bathroom and threw up in the basin with such force that vomit splashed the mirror. I grayed out and my knees buckled. This time it was my brow I struck, thunking it against the lip of the basin, and although the back of my head didn't bleed there was a very respectable lump there by noon, though), my forehead did, a little. This latter bump also left a purple mark, which I of course lied about, telling folks who asked that I'd run into the bathroom door in the middle of the night, silly me, that'll teach a fella to get up at two A.M. without turning on a lamp. ,'When I regained complete consciousness (if there is such a state), I was curled up on the floor. I got up, disinfected the cut on my forehead, and sat on the lip of the tub with my head lowered to my knees until I felt confident enough to stand up. I sat there for fifteen minutes, I guess, and in that space of time I decided that barring some miracle, my career was over. Harold would scream in pain and Debra would moan in disbelief, but what could they do? Send out the Publication Police? me with the Book-of-the-Month-Club Gestapo? Even if they could, what difference would it make? You couldn't get sap out of a brick or blood out of a stone. Barring some miraculous recovery, my life as a writer was over. And if it is? I asked myself. What's on for the back forty, Mike? You can play a lot of Scrabble in forty years, go on a lot of Crossword Cruises, drink a lot of whiskey. But is that enough? What else are you going to put on your back forty? I didn't want to think about that, not then. The next forty years could take care of themselves; I would be happy just to get through New Year's Day of 1998. When I felt I had myself under control, I went back into my study, shuffled to the computer with my eyes resolutely on my feet, felt around for the right button, and turned off the machine. You can damage the program shutting down like that without putting it away, but under the circumstances, I hardly thought it mattered. That night I once again dreamed I was walking at twilight on Lane Forty-two, which leads to Sara Laughs; once more I wished on the evening star as the loons cried on the lake, and once more I sensed something in the woods behind me, edging ever closer. It seemed my Christmas holiday was over. That was a hard, cold winter, lots of snow and in February a flu epidemic that did for an awful lot of Derry's old folks. It took them the way a hard wind will take old trees after an ice storm. It missed me completely. I hadn't so much as a case of the sniffles that winter. In March, I flew to Providence and took part in Will Weng's New England Crossword Challenge. I placed fourth and won fifty bucks. I framed the uncashed check and hung it in the living room. Once upon a time, most of my framed Certificates of Triumph (Jo's phrase; all the good phrases are Jo's phrases, it seems to me) went up on my office walls, but by March of 1998, I wasn't going in there very much. When I wanted to play Scrabble against the computer or do a tourney-level crossword puzzle, I used the Powerbook and sat at the kitchen table. I remember sitting there one day, opening the Powerbook's main menu, going down to the crossword puzzles, then dropping the cursor two or three items further, until it had highlighted my old pal, Word Six. What swept over me then wasn't frustration or impotent, balked fury (I'd experienced a lot of both since finishing All the Way from the Top), but sadness and simple longing. Looking at the Word Six icon was suddenly like looking at the pictures of Jo I kept in my wallet. Studying those, I'd sometimes think that I would sell my immortal soul in order have her back again . . . and on that day in March, I thought I would sell my soul to be able to write a story again. Go on and try it, then, a voice whispered. Maybe things have changed. Except that nothing had changed, and I knew it. So instead of opening Word Six, I moved it across to the trash barrel in the lower righthand corner of the screen, and dropped it in. Goodbye, old pal. Weinstock called a lot that winter, mostly with good news. Early in March she reported that Helen's Promise had been picked as one half of the Literary Guild's main selection for August, the other half a legal thriller by Steve Martini, another veteran of the eight-to-fifteen segment of the Times bestseller list. And my British publisher, Debra, loved Helen, was sure it would be my ‘breakthrough book.' (My British sales had always lagged.) ‘Promise is sort of a new direction for you,' Debra said. ‘Wouldn't you say?' ‘I kind of thought it was,' I confessed, and wondered how Debbie respond if I told her my new-direction book had been written a dozen years ago. ‘It's got . . . I don't know . . . a kind of maturity.' ‘Thanks.' ‘Mike? I think the connection's going. You sound muffled.' Sure I did. I was biting down on the side of my hand to keep from howling with laughter. Now, cautiously, I took it out of my mouth and examined the bite-marks. ‘Better?' ‘Yes, lots. So what's the new one about? Give me a hint.' ‘You know the answer to that one, kiddo.' Debra laughed. †You'll have to read the book to find out, Josephine,† she said. ‘Right?' ‘Yessum.' ‘Well, keep it coming. Your pals at Putnam are crazy about the way you're taking it to the next level.' I said goodbye, I hung up the telephone, and then I laughed wildly for about ten minutes. Laughed until I was crying. That's me, though. Always taking it to the next level. During this period I also agreed to do a phone interview with a Newsweek writer who was putting together a piece on The New American Gothic (whatever that was, other than a phrase which might sell a few magazines), and to sit for a Publishers Weekly interview which would appear just before publication of Helen's Promise. I agreed to these because they both sounded softball, the sort of interviews you could do over the phone while you read your mail. And Debra was delighted because I ordinarily say no to all the publicity. I hate that part of the job and always have, especially the hell of the live TV chat-show, where nobody's ever read your goddam book and the first question is always ‘Where in the world do you get those wacky ideas?' The publicity process is like going to a sushi bar where you're the sushi, and it was great to get past it this time with the feeling that I'd been able to give Debra some good news she could take to her bosses. ‘Yes,' she could say, ‘ he's still being a booger about publicity, but I got him to do a couple of things.' All through this my dreams of Sara Laughs were going on not every night but every second or third night, with me never thinking of them in the daytime. I did my crosswords, I bought myself an acoustic steel guitar and started learning how to play it (I was never going to be invited to tour with Patty Loveless or Alan Jackson, however), I scanned each day's bloated obituaries in the Derry News for names that I knew. I was pretty much dozing on my feet, in other words. What brought all this to an end was a call from Harold Oblowski not more than three days after Debra's book-club call. It was storming out-side a vicious snow-changing-over-to-sleet event that proved to be the last and biggest blast of the winter. By mid-evening the power would be off all over Derry, but when Harold called at five P.M., things were just getting cranked up. ‘I just had a very good conversation with your editor,' Harold said. ‘A very enlightening, very energizing conversation. Just got off the in fact.' ‘Oh?' ‘Oh indeed. There's a feeling at Putnam, Michael, that this latest of yours may have a positive effect on your sales position in the market. It's very strong.' ‘Yes,' I said, ‘I'm taking it to the next level.' ‘Huh?' ‘I'm just blabbing, Harold. Go on.' ‘Well . . . Helen Nearing's a great lead character, and Skate is your best villain ever.' I said nothing. ‘Debra raised the possibility of making Helen's Promise the opener of a three-book contract. A very lucrative three-book contract. All without prompting from me. Three is one more than any publisher has wanted to commit to 'til now. I mentioned nine million dollars, three per book, in other words, expecting her to laugh . . . but an agent has to start somewhere, and I always choose the highest ground I can find. I think I must have Roman military officers somewhere back in my family tree.' Ethiopian rug-merchants, more like it, I thought, but didn't say. I felt the way you do when the dentist has gone a little heavy on the Novocain and flooded your lips and tongue as well as your bad tooth and the patch of gum surrounding it. If I tried to talk, I'd probably only flap and spread spit. Harold was almost purring. A three-book contract for the new mature Michael Noonan. Tall tickets, baby. This time I didn't feel like laughing. This time I felt like screaming. Harold went on, happy and oblivious. Harold didn't know the bookberry-tree had died. Harold didn't know the new Mike Noonan had cataclysmic shortness of breath and projectile-vomiting fits every time he tried to write. ‘You want to hear how she came back to me, Michael?' ‘Lay it on me.' ‘Well, nine's obviously high, but it's as good a place to start as any. We feel this new book is a big step forward for him.' This is extraordinary. Extraordinary. Now, I haven't given anything away, wanted to talk to you first, of course, but I think we're looking at seven-point-five, minimum. In fact ‘ ‘No.' He paused a moment. Long enough for me to realize I was gripping the phone so hard it hurt my hand. I had to make a conscious effort to relax my grip. ‘Mike, if you'll just hear me out ‘ ‘I don't need to hear you out. I don't want to talk about a new contract.' ‘Pardon me for disagreeing, but there'll never be a better time. Think about it, for Christ's sake. We're talking top dollar here. If you wait until after Helen's Promise is published, I can't guarantee that the same offer ‘ ‘I know you can't,' I said. ‘I don't want guarantees, I don't want offers, I don't want to talk contract.' ‘You don't need to shout, Mike, I can hear you.' Had I been shouting? Yes, I suppose I had been. ‘Are you dissatisfied with Putnam's? I think Debra would be very distressed to hear that. I also think Phyllis Grann would do damned near anything to address any concerns you might have.' Are you sleeping with Debra, Harold? I thought, and all at once it seemed like the most logical idea in the world that dumpy, fiftyish, balding little Harold Oblowski was making it with my blonde, aristocratic, Smith-educated editor. Are you sleeping with her, do you talk about my future while you're lying in bed together in a room at the Plaza? Are the pair of you trying to figure how many golden eggs you can get out of this tired old goose before you finally wring its neck and turn it into pat? ¦? Is that what you're up to? ‘Harold, I can't talk about this now, and I won't talk about this now.' ‘What's wrong? Why are you so upset? I thought you'd be pleased. Hell, I thought you'd be over the fucking moon.' ‘There's nothing wrong. It's just a bad time for me to talk long-term contract. You'll have to pardon me, Harold. I have something coming out of the oven.' ‘Can we at least discuss this next w ‘ ‘No,' I said, and hung up. I think it was the first time in my adult life I'd hung up on someone who wasn't a telephone salesman. I had nothing coming out of the oven, of course, and I was too upset to think about putting something in. I went into the living room instead, poured myself a short whiskey, and sat down in front of the TV I sat there for almost four hours, looking at everything and seeing nothing. Outside, the storm continued cranking up. Tomorrow there would be trees down all over Derry and the world would look like an ice sculpture. At quarter past nine the power went out, came back on for thirty seconds or so, then went out and stayed out. I took this as a suggestion to stop thinking about Harold's useless contract and how Jo would have chortled the idea of nine million dollars. I got up, unplugged the blacked-out TV so it wouldn't come blaring on at two in the morning (I needn't have worried; the power was off in Derry for nearly two days), and went upstairs. I dropped my clothes at the foot of the bed, crawled in without even bothering to brush my teeth, and was asleep in less than five minutes. I don't how long after that it was that the nightmare came. It was the last dream I had in what I now think of as my ‘Manderley series,' the culminating dream. It was made even worse, I suppose, by unrelievable blackness to which I awoke. It started like the others. I'm walking up the lane, listening to the crickets and the loons, looking mostly at the darkening slot of sky overhead. I reach the driveway, and here something has changed; someone has put a little sticker on the SARA LAUGHS sign. I lean closer and see it's a radio station sticker. WBLM, it says. 102.9, PORTLAND'S ROCK AND ROLL BLIMP. From the sticker I look back up into the sky, and there is Venus. I wish her as I always do, I wish for Johanna with the dank and vaguely smell of the lake in my nose. Something lumbers in the woods, rattling old leaves and breaking a branch. It sounds big. Better get down there, a voice in my head tells me. Something has taken out a contract on you, Michael. A three-book contract, and that's the worst kind. I can never move, I can only stand here. I've got walker's block. But that's just talk. I can walk. This time I can walk. I am delighted. I have had a major breakthrough. In the dream I think This changes everything! This changes everything! Down the driveway I walk, deeper and deeper into the clean but sour smell of pine, stepping over some of the fallen branches, kicking others out of the way. I raise my hand to brush the damp hair off my forehead and see the little scratch running across the back of it. I stop to look at it, curious. No time for that, the dream-voice says. Get down there. You've got a book to write. I can't write, I reply. That part's over. I'm on the back forty now. No, the voice says. There is something relentless about it that scares me. You had writer's walk, not writer's block, and as you can see, it's gone. Now hurry up and get down there. I'm afraid, I tell the voice. Afraid of what? Well . . . what if Mrs. Danvers is down there? The voice doesn't answer. It knows I'm not afraid of Rebecca de Winter's housekeeper, she's just a character in an old book, nothing but a bag of bones. So I begin walking again. I have no choice, it seems, but at every step my terror increases, and by the time I'm halfway down to the shadowy sprawling bulk of the log house, fear has sunk into my bones like fever. Something is wrong here, something is all twisted up. I'll run away, I think. I'll run back the way I came, like the gingerbread man I'll run, run all the way back to Derry, if that's what it takes, and I'll never come here anymore. Except I can hear slobbering breath behind me in the growing gloom, and padding footsteps. The thing in the woods is now the thing in the driveway. It's right behind me. If I turn around the sight of it will knock the sanity out of my head in a single roundhouse slap. Something with red eyes, something slumped and hungry. The house is my only hope of safety. I walk on. The crowding bushes clutch like hands. In the light of a rising moon (the moon has never risen before in this dream, but I have never stayed in it this long before), the rustling leaves look like sardonic faces. I see winking eyes and smiling mouths. Below me are the black windows of the house and I know that there will be no power when I get inside, the storm has knocked the power out, I will flick the lightswitch up and down, up and down, until something reaches out and takes my wrist and pulls me like a lover deeper into the dark. I am three quarters of the way down the driveway now. I can see the railroad-tie steps leading down to the lake, and I can see the float out there on the water, a black square in a track of moonlight. Bill Dean has put it out. I can also see an oblong something lying at the place where driveway ends at the stoop. There has never been such an object before. What can it be? Another two or three steps, and I know. It's a coffin, the one Frank Arlen dickered for . . . because, he said, the mortician was trying to stick it to me. It's Jo's coffin, and lying on its side with the top partway open, enough for me to see it's empty. I think I want to scream. I think I mean to turn around and run back up the driveway I will take my chances with the thing behind me. But before I can, the back door of Sara Laughs opens, and a terrible figure darting out into the growing darkness. It is human, this figure, and yet it's not. It is a crumpled white thing with baggy arms upraised. There is no face where its face should be, and yet it is shrieking in a glottal, loonlike voice. It must be Johanna. She was able to escape her coffin, her winding shroud. She is all tangled up in it. How hideously speedy this creature is! It doesn't drift as one imagines ghosts drifting, but races across the stoop toward the driveway. It has been waiting down here during all the dreams when I had been frozen, and now that I have finally been able to walk down, it means to have me. I'll scream when it wraps me in its silk arms, and I will scream when I smell its rotting, bug-raddled flesh and see its dark staring eyes through the fine weave of the cloth. I will scream as the sanity leaves my mind forever. I will scream . . . but there is no one out here to hear me. Only the loons will hear me. I have come again to Manderley, and this time I will never leave. The shrieking white thing reached for me and I woke up on the floor of crying out in a cracked, horrified voice and slamming my head repeatedly against something. How long before I finally realized I was no longer asleep, that I wasn't at Sara Laughs? How long before I realized that I had fallen out of bed at some point and had crawled across the room in my sleep, that I was on my hands and knees in a corner, butting my head against the place where the walls came together, doing it over and over again like a lunatic in an asylum? I didn't know, couldn't with the power out and the bedside clock dead. I know that at first I couldn't move out of the corner because it felt safer than the wider room would have done, and I know that for a long time the dream's force held me even after I woke up (mostly, I imagine, because I couldn't turn on a light and dispel its power). I was afraid that if I crawled out of my corner, the white thing would burst out of my bathroom, shrieking its dead shriek, eager to finish what it had started. I know I was shivering all over, and that I was cold and wet from the waist down, because my bladder had let go. I stayed there in the corner, gasping and wet, staring into the darkness, wondering if you could have a nightmare powerful enough in its imagery to drive you insane. I thought then (and think now) that I almost found out on that night in March. Finally I felt able to leave the corner. Halfway across the floor I pulled off my wet pajama pants, and when I did that, I got disoriented. What followed was a miserable and surreal five minutes in which I crawled aimlessly back and forth in my familiar bedroom, bumping into stuff and moaning each time I hit something with a blind, flailing hand. Each thing I touched at first seemed like that awful white thing. Nothing I touched felt like anything I knew. With the reassuring green numerals of the bedside clock gone and my sense of direction temporarily lost, I could have been crawling around a mosque in Addis Ababa. At last I ran shoulder-first into the bed. I stood up, yanked the pillowcase off the extra pillow, and wiped my groin and upper legs with it. Then I crawled back into bed, pulled the blankets up, and lay there shivering, listening to the steady tick of sleet on the windows. There was no sleep for me the rest of that night, and the dream didn't fade as dreams usually do upon waking. I lay on my side, the shivers slowly subsiding, thinking of her coffin there in the driveway, thinking that it made a kind of mad sense Jo had loved Sara, and if she were haunt anyplace, it would be there. But why would she want to hurt me? Why would my Jo ever want to hurt me? I could think of no reason. Somehow the time passed, and there came a moment when I realized the air had turned a dark shade of gray; the shapes of the furniture in it like sentinels in fog. That was a little better. That was more it. I would light the kitchen woodstove, I decided, and make strong coffee. Begin the work of getting this behind me. I swung my legs out of bed and raised my hand to brush my sweat-hair off my forehead. I froze with the hand in front of my eyes. I must have scraped it while I was crawling, disoriented, in the dark and to find my way back to bed. There was a shallow, clotted cut across the back, just below the knuckles.

Cognitive Effects of Early Bilingualism Essay

The American educational system has fallen behind other leading nations in the world in many respects, one of which is in bilingual instruction. This has traditionally been overlooked in the United States until the high school level. Children in today’s society should be made more prepared for the growing globalism and technological advances throughout the world instead of losing educational opportunities due to economic downfall and lack of resources. This includes a second language acquisition introduced earlier in the program. On top of political reasons, the positive effects to the cognitive development of the brain when introduced to a second language are many. The age of acquisition is crucial due to the plasticity of the brain which, according to the critical period hypothesis, begins to plateau after five years of age. The current policy in early education limits greatly the amount of extracurricular lessons provided in accordance with government policies such as No Ch ild Left Behind, which restricts school funding based on standardized testing only in certain subject areas. School programs, realistically beginning in elementary education, should include foreign language study due to the strong evidence that bilingualism in children can develop higher cognitive abilities which can be enhanced with proficiency and positively influence skills in other areas. Old arguments suggest that, â€Å"children who are instructed bilingually from an early age will suffer cognitive or intellectual retardation in comparison with their monolingually instructed counterparts† (Diaz 24). Much of the research from the past supporting this argument focused on older bilinguals, mostly adults who may have shown competent abilities in a second language but who had much later ages of acquisition and who usually acquired the second language outside of the home. Many early studies in this field worked with children of immigrants who showed lower abilities in cognitive tasks most likely because of the lack of proficiency in the second language (L2) and lack of proper schooli ng in relation to this deficiency (Kovà ¡cs 307). In correlation with poorly chosen test subjects, the studies were typically done with orthographic representations of words that would have been more difficult for younger test subjects to work with. For example, a study done by Ton Dijkstra, Professor of Psycholinguistics and Multilingualism at the Donders Institute, which focused only on adult English/Dutch bilinguals–the youngest being fifteen years old, all of whom studied their L2 in a middle or high school level. This study included only written examples of words and had the subjects determine if the word was English or Dutch. The results were able to somewhat prove Dijkstra’s theory of Bilingual interactive activation (BIA) which underlines the effects orthography has on L1 and L2 word retrieval that is â€Å"assuming, of course, that the same orthography is used in the input† (Dijkstra 217). If this study were done on younger children, it is sure they would not have performed as well since children are typically less familiar with the written language than with the spoken. Older language learners would make more use of the written approach to learning, such as a textbook, while younger learners typica lly learn more from a speech-based approach, like conversationally in the home. The textbook approach is a symbolic processing which differs from the more embedded cognitive retrieval of the speech-based learning approach utilized by younger children to understand the two languages. There have been many studies over the past few years that have proven the opposite of these older arguments. Many of the studies have tested the cognitive abilities of young children, usually aged six and under in accordance with the critical period hypothesis, with both monolingual and bilingual proficiency. These experiments are concerned with cognitive tasks including false-belief tasks and grammar testing to determine the ability to hold abstract thought in the L2 as well as phonemic testing in order to find if there is an ability to distinguish between the phonemes of the different languages. The majority of these studies have tested subjects using visual representations and vocal experiments with proctors who have experience working with children and are trained in both languag es being tested. The more useful subjects are usually taught implicitly, or passively in the home. Although some make use of explicitly taught subjects, meaning they learned actively in a class setting. It has been proven that an infant of four months has the incredible linguistic discrimination abilities to distinguish languages with different prosody and phonemes (Kovà ¡cs 303). An infant is then better equipped to attain more native-like proficiency later in life when exposed this early to the sounds and rhythm of the L2. Doctor in Communication Sciences, Karsten Steinhauer explains, â€Å"that late L2 learners stabilize at some point short of native-like attainment [which] most recently has been discussed in terms of phonological/prosodic interference from L1† (Steinhauer 15). When a young child is introduced to two separate languages, the mechanisms of attention, selection, and inhibition become more fine-tuned due to the experience of attending to one language and ignoring the other (Kovà ¡cs 303, 308). The training in encoding and the association of two correspondi ng words with a common concept underlines the superior representational abilities a bilingual retains especially when the L2 is entrenched in the brain the way early acquisition allows. Linguist à gnes Melinda Kovà ¡cs presents research proving that monolinguals typically attain these abilities at the age of four years while young bilinguals gain these skills much earlier (Kovà ¡cs 316). The brain’s plasticity allows the young child to hold and use the two languages without interference and with continued usage the child will be more likely to attain full native-like proficiency in both languages. Kovà ¡cs also explains that since the brain remains active during demanding tasks, the brain may take on the extra load of two languages as a constructive challenge. The young, malleable brain may possibly â€Å"greatly adapt to [the challenge], for example, by changing its morphology† (Kovà ¡cs 308). A type of adaptation has been proven in studies done by neuroscientist Andrea Mechelli, which were concerned with the grey matter surrounding the left inferior parietal cortex, the general area associated with language use containing the Broca’s are a. These studies confirmed that the grey matter in this area is denser in early-acquired bilinguals. The density decreases in correlation with proficiency in the L2 with monolinguals having the least dense matter (Mechelli 757). This may be the case because a later acquired L2 is held at a more surface level of the brain and requires the use of the declarative memory instead of the procedural memory. Many tests have been done to determine the amount of brain activity associated with language in the left inferior parietal cortex through the use of event-related brain potential, or ERPs. Dr. Steinhauer describes ERPs as â€Å"reflecting the real-time electrophysiological brain dynamics of cognitive processes with an excellent time resolution in the range of milliseconds,† and that ERPs â€Å"have been hypothesized to be linked to rule-based automatic parsing† (Steinhauer 16). Measurements of ERPs are taken while subjects perform syntactically poignant tasks. Since it is thought that syntactic processes are generally automatic or a part of â€Å"implicit grammar processi ng† (Steinhauer 17), the ERP components would be more difficult to elicit in later acquired bilinguals. Steinhauer et al. performed several studies in this area, working with many real and one artificial language labeled BROCANTO 2. In each case, the subjects were given grammaticality judgment tasks in the given language, such as subject-verb agreement violations and lexical anomalies. For each group, the early acquired or implicitly taught subjects educed the same type of ERP responses as native speakers. Late-acquired or explicitly instructed subjects showed more shallow responses, if any at all in this area. These findings show that â€Å"syntactic processes appear to be sensitive to delays in L2 acquisition† (Steinhauer 19). One of the most prominent issues in L2 proficiency is attaining the phonemic boundary between the two languages. Monolinguals are usually unable to distinguish the sounds of a language other than their own. The more proficient a bilingual is in their L2, the more able they are to perceive the two types of phonemes and to determine which is correct in a given phonological circumstance. The phonemic boundary is the least likely area to be fossilized in a late-acquired bilingual. There have been several studies done which have proven this, including a 2008 study done by Adrian Garcia-Sierra, professor of Communications at the University of Texas. In this study, the voice onset time, or VOT, of thirty college students was tested. Half of the students were English monolinguals while the other half were English/Spanish bilinguals who described themselves as fluent speakers of both languages and who learned their L2 at home. This study was done in Austin, Texas where some Spanish is integrated into the daily culture. The results showed that the more fluent bilinguals were more apt to â€Å"a perceptual shift†¦associated with high level of confidence in English and Spanish†¦[and] that highly confident L2 bilinguals are more likely to possess a double phonemic boundary† (Garcia-Sierra 378). This shows that more proficient bilinguals will have a stronger ability to determine different phonemes, which also underlines the effects bilingualism has on a dvanced discrimination and attention skills. Another recent study performed on early bilinguals was done by a group of psychologists headed by Michael Siegal. The experiments tested the pragmatic skills of 41 children in northeastern Italy. All were between the ages of three and six years old, with 19 Italian monolinguals and 22 Italian/Slovenian bilinguals who attended the same preschool taught only in Italian. The children were tested on the Gricean maxims of conversational understanding. These are four basic rules which provide a foundation for pragmatic competence including quality, quantity, relevance, and politeness. The groups of children were shown cartoons with characters having conversations that contained one response created in order to break one of the maxims. The children were then asked which of the characters said something strange or rude and to provide a more appropriate response when the statement was positively identified. The main thesis in this study was that bilingualism requires â€Å"the capacity for flexibility in the representation of language and objects [which] suggests that early bilingualism should be accomp anied by advanced meta-pragmatic skills† (Siegal 115). This theory was upheld by the results of these tests in which the bilingual children outperformed the monolinguals by much more than a chance margin, especially in the maxims of politeness and quality even though many bilinguals had a delayed vocabulary in their L2. The psychologists behind this study suggest that bilingualism can be â€Å"accompanied by an enhanced ability to appreciate effective communicative responses† (Siegal 115). The results of this research seem to highlight the idea that the acquisition of a second language allows a child to remove themselves from the comfortable context of their native language and to realize that it is more necessary to provide useful information and use polite tones for more a successful exchange in both languages. Recently, studies have been performed concerning the effects and importance of early-acquired bilingualism in patients with neuropsychiatric disorders such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. Research in this area shows that it is less likely for a bilingual individual to be affected by these types of diseases. The majority of the hypotheses behind this statistic pertain to the activity in the brain that is needed to think and speak bilingually. This constant activity exercises the brain in a way that is counterintuitive to the deterioration involved with these disorders (Paradis 216). The research behind Parkinson’s disease explains that the procedural memory is affected greatly sometimes causing a loss of the L1. This is partnered with a tendency to â€Å"produce a smaller portion of grammatical sentences†¦and exhibit deficits in comprehension of complex syntactic forms† (Paradis 217). This is likely linked to the deterioration of the left inferior parietal cortex, the same area in the brain discussed earlier, which is associated with syntactic processes and holding the L1. On the other hand, bilingual patients with Alzheimer’s show a loss in t heir L2 as well as in semantic abilities and a gradual loss of pragmatic, phonological, and syntactic structures. More common in this type of dementia is a puzzlingly inappropriate mixture of the two languages (Paradis 222). This is due to the break down of the declarative memory caused by the dementia. The declarative memory is involved with metacognition, which is why it affects such things as the less familiar language, pragmatic skills, and the selective attention abilities of bilinguals. The major finding in these studies is that â€Å"the differences observed in psychotic conditions as well as in dementias are caused by the increased reliance on declarative-memory-based (and hence consciously controlled) explicit metalinguistic knowledge† (Paradis 222). The advances made in early bilingual research have been great over the past few decades. Through these studies and so many more, it has been made clear that bilinguals with early ages of acquisition not only achieve more native-like proficiency but also tend to have more advanced cognitive abilities than their monolingual peers. These include but are not exclusive to increased analytical, representational, selective, and control abilities. Bilingualism also implies more developed metalingustic awareness and mental flexibility. Early bilinguals have also shown greater abilities in pragmatics and phonemic discrimination. In opposition to old arguments, Kovà ¡cs writes, â€Å"The bilingual condition could be stimulating for the highly plastic developing mind of the child, and induces specific changes in the brain and cognitive systems† (Kovà ¡cs 317). The higher development has been seen in ERP testing and in the density of grey matter involved in the linguistically apt area of the brain. Educators and policy makers should consider this information when planning early education programs. Those enriched with the benefits of a bilingual education are not only better off cognitively, but in the modern world, would be more prepared for the global society and workplace. Works Cited Diaz, R â€Å"Thought and Two Languages: The Impact of Bilingualism on Cognitive Development.† Review of Research in Education 10 (1983): 23-54 Dijkstra, Ton. â€Å"Task and Context Effects in Bilingual Lexical Processing.† Cognitive Aspects of Bilingualism (2007): 213-235. Garcia-Sierra, Adrian, Randy L. Diehl, and Craig Champlin. â€Å"Testing the double phonemic boundary in bilinguals.† Speech Communication 51 (2009): 369-378. Kovacs, Agnes Melinda. â€Å"Beyond Language: Childhood Bilingualism Enhances High- level Cognitive Functions.† Cognitive Aspects of Bilingualism (2007): 301-323. Mechelli, A., Crinion, J. T., Noppeney, U., O’Doherty, J., Ashburner, J., Frackowiak, R. S., and Price, C.J. 2004. Structural plasticity in the bilingual brain. Nature. 431: 754. Siegal, Michael, Laura Iozzi, and Luca Surian. â€Å"Bilingualism and conversational understanding in young children.† Cognition 110 (2009): 115-122.

History of State and Federal Prisons Essay

The history of state and federal prisons have similar ideals; the state and federal systems have to rely on each other at times for housing each others criminals. A state prison is usually run by that particular states government and they house individuals that have committed crimes against the rules and sanctions of the each state also known as blue collar criminals; the federal prisons house individuals that have committed crimes against the rules and sanctions of the federal government and are called a white collar criminal. State and federal prison systems more or less have the same levels of security; low, minimum, high, max, and super-max. Before federal prisons were created prisoners that were on a federal level had to be housed within state and local prisons. The Federal Bureau of Prisons confines felons convicted of federal crimes and in several large cities pretrial defendants are held in federal jails pending trial (Foster, 2006). The federal prison system began in the 1930’s when President J. Edgar Hoover passed and signed a bill that gave permission for the federal prison system to have a building or federal facility to house it’s prisoners. The first federal U.S. Penitentiary was created in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas this prison was constructed out of an old military prison prison (Foster, 2006). The state prison system was based and founded on the legal reforms of the 18th century â€Å"Age of Enlightenment, (Foster, 2006);† in the 19th century the state prison systems continued to base themselves around the Auburn model (Foster, 2006). Most states began with one state prison and now each state consists of more than 20 prisons, with the exception of the state of Texas that has 100 prison facilities. When state prison systems started men, women, and juvenile offenders were housed together up until it was determined that women, men, and children should have separate facilities to prevent s exual abuse, pregnancy, assault, and the impressionable surroundings of hardened criminals on juveniles. The State facilities offer halfway houses for offenders to be able to go to work then come back to the house on a daily basis for a certain amount of time until the director of the halfway house History of State and Federal Prisons Page 2 and the courts feel as though a person is ready to be put back into society; rehabilitation facilities are also available to help criminals that are drug offenders, or any substance abuse offender kick their habit and give them mental support to stay on the straight and narrow. Overcrowding and funding are the biggest problems in the Department of Corrections today; I think that if we could go back to letting convicts do jobs while in prison and making them pay for their own crimes both with time and money earned from working while in prison this would cut down on the overcrowding as well as funding issues. History of State and Federal Prisons References Foster, B. (2006). Corrections: The fundamentals. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Creating a New Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Creating a New Society - Essay Example The cosmic architecture of the society should be based on some form of numerology since it seems that has interested philosophers such as the Pythagoreans and others who considered numbers to be important. For example, seven heavens, seven skies, seven important stars (brightest ones to represent seven important prophets) and other astronomical ideas which connect with the number seven can be used as the basis of the cosmic architecture. Of course, the number can even be five or eleven but it should be a prime number since that would give the philosophers of the realm plenty to think about and keep them busy for eons to come. The main Gods and Goddesses will not exist in this society since the society would be monotheistic. There is a very good reason for this and it is because a monotheistic society could be less likely to go to war based on religion if everyone believes in the same god. That god will only have one name and there will only be one holy city in that world while there could be other important monuments i.e. burial places of ancient prophets, memorials for great philosophers etc. However, the idea of a single god has to be a paramount concern since it is likely that different gods could lead to their followers trying to convert one another and thus start warring with each other. That god will not be like the god of the Old Testament which comes across as being angry, vengeful, or even jealous. In fact, that god will be a kind and merciful god who provides for the people with things such as rain which grow crops, fruits that grow on trees and animal that can be eaten when necessary. The god is not strictly vegetarian but s/he has ordered not to harm animals until there is no option except to eat meat. Further, the god likes things such as charity, caring for others, creating peace, development of knowledge and considers all of these to be positive things. On the other hand, being miserly, selfishness, offensive war, suppression

THE LAW OF TORT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

THE LAW OF TORT - Essay Example is any act, omission, establishment, business, condition of property, or anything else which: (a) Injures or endangers the health or safety of other; or (b) Annoys or offends the senses; or (c) Shocks, defies or disregards decency or morality; or (d) Obstructs or interferes with the free passage of any public highway or street, or any body of water; or (e) Hinders or impairs the use of property. The nature of nuisance is nuisance per se or at law or nuisance per accidens or in fact. The scope of a nuisance can be public, private or mixed. Nuisance per se (nuisance at law) is an act, occupation, or structure which is a nuisance at all times and under any circumstances, regardless of location or surroundings. Whereas, nuisance per accidens (nuisance in fact) is one that becomes a nuisance by reason of circumstances and surroundings. Public nuisances causes hurt, inconvenience, or injury to the public, generally, or to such part of the public as necessarily comes in contact to it. While a private nuisance is one which violates only private rights and produces damages to but one or a few people. The liability of the creator of the nuisance as a general rule is that he who creates a nuisance is liable for the resulting damages and ordinarily, his liability continues as long as the nuisance continues. It implies therefore that the person whose duty it is to abate a nuisance should answer for the consequences resulting from its continuance. No one is to be held liable for a nuisance which he cannot All persons who join or participate in the creation or maintenance of a nuisance are liable solidarily. The abatement of a nuisance does not preclude the right of any person injured to recover damages for the past existence. Lapse of time cannot legalize any nuisance, whether public or private. The creation and maintenance of a public nuisance is punishable criminally hence, the element of criminality, which characterizes the acts of creating the nuisance, should

Toyota Motor Company Marketing Plan Research Paper

Toyota Motor Company Marketing Plan - Research Paper Example January 2013: After the budget has been identified and team research tasks have been allocated, the teams will conduct their research and compile reports for top management and for marketing decisions and product management and decisions. At this point the planning stage begins. As Moorman and Miner (1998) inform, a marketing strategy beings with a â€Å"careful review of environmental and firm information† which is then followed by planning (p. 1). At this point all of the necessary research would have been completed and the budget identified for execution of the launch of the product. The month of January 2013 will therefore be set aside for planning marketing, production/manufacturing, promotion and distribution strategies and time tables will be established for each process. Teams will be formed for managing and putting these strategies into action. February 2013: At this stage, Toyota will have to appoint a design and mechanic team who will design and plan the mechanics o f the super car respectively. The design team will plan and design the physical architecture of the car. The mechanic team will plan the engine and other mechanical functions of the car. At this point the design and engineering/mechanic teams will also have information from technological experts informed by research and development as to the desired specifications for the super car. Technological, mechanical knowledge and knowledge of all the specifications that appeal to super car enthusiast will go into the design and mechanics of the new Toyota super car. After all when Ferrari Maserati Group launched its new Maserati MC in 2004, it was Ferrari’s knowledge in the construction of super cars and its knowledge of Formula 1 technology that drove the design and mechanics of the Maserati MC (Arema, 2010). March 2013: The finished vehicle will have to be tested for durability, safety, efficiency, speed and generally whether or not the super car is fit for purpose (Weitz & Wensley , 2002). Obviously, if there are any defects in the product design, those defects will have to be rectified. Thus the month of March is set aside for identifying any defects and rectifying defects and otherwise ascertain whether or not the design, style and performance of the super car can be improved before putting the car on the market. April 2013: Once a model is satisfactorily built, the marketing team will likely decide that they would like to test the market. This is usually the case with the launching of a new automobile (Weitz & Wensley, 2002). Thus the marketing team will be required to know, what needs to be done in order to sell the new super car. Thus an estimation of the funds and other resources needed for advertising, creating incentives for dealers, and promotions generally. Although, a research was conducted in the initial stages, this research was done in advance of an actual car. Now that a car has been designed and it is ready to be launched the promotional and m arketing aspects can be planned more specifically. It will be necessary to know how many cars will be produced with specific features such as mapping, colors, sound systems, etc. Toyota might want to conduct a search of global markets to determine compatibility of features to specific markets (Wietz & Wensley, 2002

David Cole Interviews Dr. Franciscek Piper Term Paper

David Cole Interviews Dr. Franciscek Piper - Term Paper Example According to Cole’s interview with Alicia, the tour guide, the gas chamber was in its original state. However, Dr. Piper contradicts this claim by stating that there were reconstructions made in the original gas chamber, which was later converted to air raid shelters. Another confusing information presented by Cole was about the use of Zyklon B. According to Dr. Piper, the traces of Zyklon B differed from those in the gas chamber and the disinfection chamber due to the difference in the number of hours both chambers were being used. At the end of the interview, Cole still did not come up with a conclusive view of the reality of the gas chamber in Auschwitz. The interview just leaves his audience with more questions. One was not enlightened on what is real and what is not. The history that we know is also based mostly on eyewitness accounts without much written documentation. One thinks that Cole failed in giving the documentation needed to debunk the Holocaust. A visit at the Auschwitz camp and interview with is Director was simply not enough to persuade the audience about Cole’s belief that everything was a

History assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

History assignment - Essay Example e men were involved in British imports boycott campaigns during the revolutionary period and started demanding for more economic roles and political power after the revolution. Feminist writers such as Judith Murray demand for equal voting rights and representation of women in government (Foner 99). The white men were the least beneficiaries of American Revolution since a large population was now involved in the voting process and public officials were now elected by the people. The participation of smaller artisans, farmers and laborers in legislative matters diminished the power of the elite white men (Foner 177). The Native Americans tried to maintain neutrality at the onset of the Revolution, but an independent America posed a danger to their interests since American Westward expansion would affect their way of life. The revolutionary War divided the Indian tribes due to various treaties signed with British and dissatisfaction with settlements allocated in Appalachian mountain. The Native Americans lost substantial part of their land and were condemned for allying with Britain (Foner 58). The American Revolution changed the attitudes of the groups since marginalized groups such as women and slaves drew their inspirations from the revolutionary sentiments to demand for equality and inclusion in the society. The White men lost political power while Native Americans lost their land to the new United

Roles Within a Group Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Roles Within a Group - Essay Example And the later are the ones who make the work slower and distract the other people as well. The group is effective when they achieve their target and meet the deadline. The individual roles in a group matters a lot and it affects the overall performance of the group and the results of their efforts. Compromiser: Group member is loyal to the group and can do the things which may not be beneficial for him but are good for the group. They can change their position for the betterment of the group and can take extra responsibilities. Expediter: He or she makes sure that all members of the group are participating in the conservation and are learning from the group activity. He or she encourages the shy and quiet members and can set the rules for the assertive members, so that they can not overshadow the quiet members. Observer: He or she observes the activities of the group. It helps the group members to be on track and he or she provides the feedback to the group, which helps in improving the standards of the group. Self-confessor: These members use the group meetings to confess and disclose their personal feelings, which are irritating at times. They give comments on everything, which is going on, and their comments usually are in guise of relevance, for example "my children also fight like this", or "my elder is same like our boss". These comments distract the member's attention from the topic. A situation where Negative roles were Operating In a family, all siblings were planning to go out on a picnic without their parents or any other elder. The siblings are aged between 11-15 years. The elder one is the dominating person in the family and he wants his younger brother and sister to obey him in every matter. The middle one is a rebel, which is opposite to the eldest one. This makes the whole situation really complex, and this ends in their failure to go to the picnic, because the eldest one keeps on ordering the others but the middle one never listens to him. This makes their plane to meet the failure and it results in their fight as well. A situation where Positive roles were Op

The power of psychological time in poetry Essay Example for Free

The power of psychological time in poetry Essay Poetry is always connected to various time representations. Poets replace real time with different psychological visions and ideas of past or future events. We frequently find ourselves in a situation, when we cannot completely understand the time implications of a specific poem. Thomas Hardy and T. S. Eliot were well known for their poetic skills in representing various dimensions of time. In their works, time has become a symbol, and their â€Å"instinctive mode as writers was figurative, not analytic; their most habitual method was symbolism, not argument. † In Hardy’s â€Å"Wessex Heights†, and Eliot’s â€Å"Rhapsody on a Windy Night†, time acquires new meaning. It is no longer the clock measurement of our actions; it is a psychological dimension which creates the virtual space in which we live. Our memories signify the power of psychological time; in their poems, Eliot and Hardy underline the significance and power of psychological time and oppose it to the clock or seasonal time, under the impact of which we traditionally live. â€Å"Wessex Heights† and Hardy’s meaning of psychological time Hardy’s â€Å"Wessex Heights† is invariably linked to the way Hardy interprets the meaning of philosophical and psychological notions of time and space. Evidently, temporal subject is central to â€Å"Wessex Heights†, and the poet creates a conjunction of numerous elements, which ultimately form what we call â€Å"psychological time†. There are some heights in Wessex, shaped as if by a kindly hand For thinking, dreaming, dying on, and at crises when I stand, Say, on Ingpen Beacon eastward, or on Wylls-Neck westwardly, I seem where I was before my birth, and after death may be. (Hardy 1989, 23). This trope becomes the beginning of a reader’s journey to Hardy’s representation of psychological time and the continuity of human emotions. It is not surprising that the poet uses the exact geographical names, and seems to determine the exact geographical location for the reader. This â€Å"geographical† character of the poem is initially deceptive. Moreover, Hardy uses these names to oppose the reality to psychology of time, and geography serves the instrument of such opposition. â€Å"It is not surprising that â€Å"Wessex Heights† uses the title of a specific locality only to emphasise dislocation, moving the speaker in and out of abstracted spaces that have, as it turns out, little connection to physical place. † The first stanza actually becomes the start of the reader’s journey into the depth of Hardy’s psychological time. The dislocation, about which Richards writes, is one of the most prominent characteristics to emphasise the power of psychological time, which makes memories and feelings eternal. The first stanza smoothly moves the reader into the clearer representations of the psychological time. It seems that the poet was preparing us to what we would later see after we move to virtual lowlands: â€Å"Down there I seem to be false to myself, my simple self that was, / And is not now, and I see him watching, wondering what crass cause / Can have merged him into such a strange continuator s this†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The reader seems to appear in the center of an action, where the past plays with the present, and where one sees one’s self as a separate being. Hardy evidently opposes reality of time to its psychology, underlining the effects which psychological time may cause on a person. In order to strengthen the effect, Hardy presents the second stanza in a more structured metrical form than the first one. As a result, â€Å"the past self, the chrysalis, encloses the present subject in the same paradoxical way that rhyme enfolds Hardy’s chaotic language, so that these structures play against other as the poem progresses. † Hardy uses the notion of locality, and exact geographical names to emphasise the mixture of the geographical and the aesthetical. In his work, geography loses its meaning when the poet speaks about ghosts in the third stanza: â€Å"There is a ghost at Yell’ham Bottom chiding loud at the fall of the night. † The ghosts represent the circulation of the psychological time. In distinction from the real clock or seasonal time, in psychological time a person has an opportunity to return to the past memories. In this aspect psychological time is evidently stronger than the real one. As the reader retreats from these ghosts in the first stanza, he meets them again in the third passage; â€Å"the conventional ghosts of the lowlands repeat their presence in a form that revises their past forms. This repetition constitutes human temporality in a particular way: time is movement toward a future which will be, but never yet is, the perfected assumption of the past. † The psychological time, in which the reader appears when reading â€Å"Wessex Heights† creates favourable conditions for separating the self and analyzing it through the prism of the past events. In Hardy’s vision, this separation and the absence of a psychological line between the past and the present creates an incredible emotional atmosphere, in which any person can find a key to oneself. â€Å"Rhapsody on a Windy Night†: Eliot and Bergson The first impression from reading Eliot’s â€Å"Rhapsody on a Windy Night† is in that the poet creates a kind of â€Å"coherent imaginative vision of time. † Eliot has brilliantly incorporated Bergson’s understanding of time into his poetic work . As with Hardy’s â€Å"Wessex Heights†, Eliot underlines the impossibility to measure time in traditional clock or seasonal terms. The poet clearly keeps to the idea of time being more psychological than seasonal. As a result, the reader acquires additional opportunities to return to the past, and to analyze the future actions through the prism of the past events. The major difference between â€Å"Wessex Heights† and â€Å"Rhapsody on a Windy Night† is in that Hardy creates a vision of unlimited time through the use of geographical names and localities. In his turn, Eliot emphasises the opposition between the clock time and psychological time. His poem takes the reader away from traditional clock measurements which do not give any space for the analysis of the self and the continuity of time: Twelve o’clock. Along the reaches of the street Held in a lunar synthesis, Whispering lunar incantations Dissolve the floors of memory And all its clear relations Its divisions and precisions, Every street lamp that I pass Beats like a fatalistic drum†¦ (Eliot 1991, 16) Eliot starts each stanza in a similar way: the passing of the clock time symbolises its irrelevance and insignificance towards the relations, divisions, and precisions of the psychological time. It is not a secret, that Eliot’s creative work was dramatically influenced by the works of Henri Bergson in terms of time concept. In his works, Bergson distinguished the two different types of time: real and mathematical. In Bergson’s view, real time was indivisible and continuous, while mathematical time could be measured. In Eliot’s poem, the reader faces the challenge of distinguishing real time from mathematical time measurements. Real time in Eliot’s view stands in the form of indivisible psychological continuum, which is broken by mathematical measurements in the form of clock time at certain regular intervals. There is a persistent impression that Eliot’s â€Å"Rhapsody†¦Ã¢â‚¬  continues the logical time line of Hardy’s â€Å"Wessex Heights† by mixing past with present, and recognising the insignificance of â€Å"mathematical† measurable time: â€Å"The past exists in the present, which contains the future. The concrete and ever present instance of duration is life, for each of us living in his own time. † Eliot speaks about memories, which do not change with time. He speaks of time as psychological notion, which cannot be measured. â€Å"Half-past three. / The lamp sputtered, / The lamp muttered in the dark. / The lamp hummed: / â€Å"Regard the moon†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The moon, and not the clock is the sign of the reality of time, but even the moon can lose memory: â€Å"The moon has lost her memory. † Through the whole poem, Eliot seems to seek the means of time measurability: he tries to use lamps, moon, and clock to divide his time into separate passages. Yet, these measures only confirm the continuity of psychological time, and the continuity of memories which actually constitute this psychological time. In his â€Å"Rhapsody†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , Eliot â€Å"adds the influence of time and its inescapable nature. Memory and the past bring into focus relationships and lack of personal fulfillment. † As psychological time cannot be measured, it serves a measure in itself: the measure of Eliot’s passion, emotiveness, and the memory which is the key to eternity. Conclusion Poetry is inherently separated from any traditional measurements of time. In their works, Hardy and Eliot were trying to create a border between the clock (seasonal) and psychological time. Both were striving to mix past with future, and to show the futility of traditional time measurements against the power of memories and psychological time. Both have incorporated either geographical names or traditional measures of time to emphasise their irrelevance towards people’s emotions. Bergson says that â€Å"reality has extension as well as duration. However, space is not a void or vacuum which is filled by reality. Things are not in space, space is in things. † As a result, psychological time is not an objective reality: it is extremely subjective and stems from the personal memories and interpretations. Subjective notions cannot be measured, and both poets were trying to deliver this essence to the reader. Ultimately, after reading the two poems, the reader finds oneself in a new environment, which breaks traditional limits of time and produces a completely new vision of the self. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bergson, H. The Creative Mind: An Introduction to Metaphysics. New York: Kensington Publishing Group, 1946. Eliot, T. S. â€Å"Rhapsody on a Windy Night. † In Collected Poems, 1909-1962, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1991, p. 16. Hardy, Thomas. â€Å"Wessex Heights. † In Thomas Hardy: Wessex Heights, ed. N. Philip, London: Bloomsbury Pub Ltd, 1989. , p. 23. Maxwell, D. E. S. The Poetry of T. S. Eliot. Routledge Kegan, 1960. Richards, J. â€Å"The History of Error: Hardy’s Critics and the Self Unseen. † Victorian Poetry 45 (2007): 24-29. Siebenschuh, William R. â€Å"Hardy and the Imagery of Place. † Studies in English Literature 39 (1999): 101-103. Thomson, E. T. S. Eliot: The Metaphysical Perspective. Southern Illinois University Press, 1963.

Background of the Amway Business Venture

Background of the Amway Business Venture Amway was co-founded in 1959 by Jay Van Andel and Rich Devos, they worked together in a variety of small entrepreneurial ventures since their teens whereby they found that they shared many common values, interest and aspiration. Amway is well known for direct selling, and it started by developing and selling their own product line of high quality, high concentrated home care products. Multipurpose Liquid Organic cleaner, known as L.O.C. product line was the first companys product(httl://www.amway.com). Amway is a part of the Alticor group of companies (parent company) with headquarters in Ada, Michigan, USA. Company has wide range of products which reaches to some where around 450 quality of products. Amway has always been at the centre of Global market for the last 50 years hence their phrase Think Global, Act Local Amway is good at direct selling where they sell their product person to person manner generally in their home or home of others or other places away from permanent retail location whereby direct sales occur through explanation or demonstration by salespersons normally referred as Direct Sellers. This has proven successful, with direct selling in 2007 alone generating an annual turnover of close to 111 billion US $ worldwide. Amways trend has shown significant growth from when the company was founded. In 1960s its first years sales reached an impressive US$500,000 while the business continued to grow in United States, where Co-founders decided to expand to Canada in 1962. In 1989 Amway was recognised as a corporate leader in promoting environmental awareness and education when it received the United Nations Environmental program Achievement Award. In 1990s Amway saw a dramatic international expansion. In just half of the decade, Amway doubled the number of its international affiliates. Annual sales kept growing, by the end of decade more than 3 million sales people in some 80 countries and territories were involved in the Amway business worldwide and the retail sales reached and estimate US$5 billion. Around the world Amway affiliates continued to support their distributors with the launch of e-commerce sites that extends the Amway Business opportunity into cyberspace. The web-based Amway business around the globe, supported by the local distribution and manufacturing and warehousing facilities, has assured on time and accurate order processing and delivery of products. Amway today still remains under the parent company Alticor Inc.(www.alticor.com) today Alticor has net sales of US$7.1 billion (fiscal year 2007) sales force of more than 3 million independent business owners and contracting agents more than 13,000 worldwide em ployees, 160 distribution centre and among other developments. Amway has a long-standing tradition of Corporate Citizenship which since the company started has been an important goal. Amway is subjected to different laws in different countries and Amway goes beyond mere compliance with applicable legal requirements and always places importance on maintaining the highest ethical standards. This is ensured through; treating employees with due respect, maintaining a relationship with Amway Business Owners, which is based on trust and partnership, ensuring trustful relationship with customers, providing high quality products, caring for the environment through the conservation of resources committing themselves to the wider community. Social Responsibility since the founding days has always been an integral part of the company with its Global One by One campaign, Amway wants to provide children with a chance to live a better life, and to achieve this aim the company supports various projects promoting education and health as well as cultural advancement among children in more than 50 countries.. Amway have been successful because of their clear vision of the business, it has formulated strategies which has helped them achieve their goals and objective and also assist them in meeting their stakeholders needs and promoting corporate social responsibility in a global way and also acting in an ethical way, all these drives have enabled them in becoming one of the most successful direct selling company in the world. Cited on (www.amway.co.uk) LITERATURE REVIEW STRATEGY: It is important for any organisation to have a long term plan in order to achieve their objective. Hence strategy can be defined as long term objectives and general means by which an organisation/business intends to achieve them, it is an area of management that is concerned with general direction and long term policy of the business as distinct from short term tactics and day-today operations (Karami, 2007) according to one American Business historian, he defined strategy as the determination of the basic long term goals and objectives of an enterprise, and the adaptation of causes of action and the allocation of resources for carrying out those goals (Chandler, 1962). Strategy as both position and perspective can be compatible with strategy as plan and or pattern although these definitions can be involved more than just stating what a strategy is, in relation to these definitions Johnson and Scholes (1993) describe the strategy as concerned with: Full scope of an organisations activities Strategic Management: Mainly Strategies are created and designed for the whole organisation by senior managers therefore managing strategy should start from the top to bottom. Effective strategies involve discussion and communication. Strategic management focuses on integrating managerial abilities and techniques such as; marketing, financial/accounting, human resource management, production management, research development to achieve organizational success. (David 1995). Corporate Strategy: organisations should be able to sustain competitive advantage in a discrete and identifiable market, It is the way a company creates value through the configuration and co ordination of its multimarket activities. When all these are carefully managed then the organisation is able to achieve its competitive or corporate advantage. Corporate strategy involves the following; vision which is the ambitious aspiration of a company, for example; Amways CSR global strategic vision is to make life better for children, Goals and Objectives; short and medium-term quantitative targets e.g. Amway raising funds for good causes, resource; these are skills assets and capabilities of the firm, business; this is the industry by which the firm operates, Amway sells health and beauty products and it has extended its product portfolio to household. Structure; the way the corporation is divided into discrete units Systems; set of formal policies and routine and Processes; informal elem ents of the organizational activities. (Bower, 1970). Corporate Advantage results from a harmonious combination of the above elements which work together to create value of the company. The Strategic Planning Process The top down model which has a structure of top down is followed my quite a few big companies in the year 1970. According to this model the process in which strategic planning takes place became deliberate which involves high level managements who constructs the company strategy and further they push is over to organization for execution.(Nolan 1993). . The following is a flowchart model of this process: Mission | V Objectives | V Situation Analysis | V Strategy Formulation | V Implementation | V Control Organizational Mission The mission of the company is basically reason of its existence. Mission is generally presented in the form mission statement, which mainly explains the reasons for employee and work also the companies market image to customer. In the process of strategic formulation, this statement decides where company basically wants to go. Organizational Objectives Objectives are fixed targets that the organization wants to reach, generally in terms of most of organization its earning profit. The objectives is always challenging but should be reachable. The objective is countable enough for company as it can keep a track on its progress and also areas in which improvement needed. Organizational Situation Analysis Once firm has decided its target, it starts with its existing situation to make a strategic plan to reach those targets. Modification in the surrounding environment normally creates new opportunities and new ways to reach the targets. An environmental scan is performed to identify the available opportunities. The firm should know its own merits and demerits in order to select the scope that it can pursue with a more chances of success. The external surrounding consist of two aspects: the macro-environment which generally has affects on all companies and a micro-environment that impacts only the companies in a specific industry. The macro-environmental analysis consist of political, economic, social, and technological factors and sometimes is considered as a PEST analysis. ( Ansoff,1987) The situation analysis can produce huge amount of data, which is not mainly related to strategy building. To create the information and make it more manageable, it sometimes is beneficial to separate the internal factors of the company as strengths and weaknesses, and the external environmental factors as opportunities and threats. Such an analysis often is referred to as a SWOT analysis.( Brooksbank,1996) http://www.marketingteacher.com/Lessons/lesson_swot.htm Organizational Strategy Formulation Once a clear image of the company and its surrounding is with you, particular strategic alternatives can be produced. While multiple company having multiple options differing from their situation. Michael Porter identified cost leadership, differentiation, and focus as three generic strategies that may be considered when defining strategic alternatives. Porter advised against implementing a combination of these strategies for a given product; rather, he argued that only one of the generic strategy alternatives should be pursued.( MIcheal Porter,2004) Organizational strategic Implementation The strategies are mostly shown in top-level specific terms and priorities. The existence of strategy in functional policies mainly highlights all the topics which are not easily visible or even accessible at higher level. Generally the strategy are shifted to particular policies in functional domain like Marketing, R D, Procurement, Production, Human resources, Information systems. The one of the important task involved in this process is identifying all the available resources and then further arranging them at right place in the company. Organizational Control After any strategy being implemented then further ahead at each stage the strategy gets measured and recalculated in order to make changes subject to requirement. The special control system is generally being facilitate to look after this. Performance is generally standardized to particular level and every individual performance is cross checked to ensure the success of the objective. The whole process and the end result of success generally can be seen via tools such as Dashboard etc STAKEHOLDERS: Stakeholders is generally a person, group or company which has direct or indirect share in an cmpany. The concept stakeholder was developed by R. Edward Freeman in year 1980. They can be either external or internal to the organisation. There are various types of stakeholders which can be one of the following: Employees, Communities, Shareholders, Investors, Government, Suppliers, Labour Unions, Government regulatory Agencies, Industry Trade Groups, Professional Associates, NGOs, Prospective employees, Prospective customers, Local communities, National Communities, Public (Community), and Competitors. Further more internal stakeholders are the ones who are generally a members of the business organisation and they can also inclusive of Owners and shareholders, managers, staff and employees Mainly External stakeholders are not considered as a part of the company; where as few groups has both internal and external stakeholders. Such as staff or shareholders who are also local residents. Also External stakeholders present outside the company but has a direct interest in what it does. All stakeholders are not essentially equal and are entitled to different considerations. First is to establish who exactly your stakeholders are. Communication of Strategy With stake holders Amway have a wide range of stake holders, whereby each one of them have interest in the company. These are as follow: Global headquarters Amway Europe; they are interested in the growth of the business and want to see the CSR strategy matches with the company strategy as a whole. Amway regularly communicates with them through publications and updating their sites regularly. ABOs; the main interest is that they want to see the company (Amway UK) being a responsible caring organization at the same time as helping them earn some money. Communication is through face to face i.e. regular meetings example in 2005 they organized a joint briefing for ABO leaders, printed materials and Emails Customers; they are more interested in good quality products which meet their needs as well as being efficient. Normally Amway uses direct selling for their product which is door to door hence they are able to meet them face to face. Staff; it is at interest of any staff in a company to work for an organ ization which does the right thing and which make them feel comfortable at work place, this could be in terms of having good training in place among other needs. Main method of communication is face to face either with their managers etc. AMWAYS Business Strategy Amway being a global direct sales company, works with around three million ABOs in over 80 countries. These ABOs form the links with consumers and the communities in which they operate by offering and selling them a wide range of Amways own branded products. ABOs are stakeholders in Amway. Amway manufactures and then distributes a range of their branded products to the ABOs worldwide, the typical products that ABOs sell include: Skin care and cosmetics, Personal care, e.g.; fragrances, body care, etc, Clothing and footwear, Cookware, Water treatment systems and Nutrition and wellness products such as food supplements, food and drinks. The ABOs are self employed and are highly motivated people, hence the Amways support in enabling people to have their own businesses. The ABOs operate their business independently as small businesses and develop direct supply channels and sell the products to people who they know or meet. They also introduce others to the Amway business, this chain is shown in a simple diagram on the following page: Source: www.thetimes100.co.uk The ABOs work to Amways rules of conduct and code of Ethics, which are about being honest and responsible in trading, Amway places strong emphasis on the ABOs since they are more able to focus on individual customers and their needs, hence serving them better and building lasting relations with them. They work in a self regulatory environment, and should also have a flexible approach to business. However as mentioned earlier they sign a contract to work within Amways rules of conduct and code of Ethics, since they are the final and the most influential contact with the end consumers in the supply chain, and if they do not operate within the set rules it could bring a bad impression on the company. CONCLUSION: Base on our findings we have been able to find out how Amway have been successful in doing their business. Amway have been able to succeed in developing hundreds of product they sell through direct selling, though they engage in direct selling method they have few retail outlet whereby customers can purchase their products. Stakeholders are integral part of the business today and their contribution shape the success of the business as a whole, clearly Amway ensures that by meeting their needs at all aspects of their business. Today many businesses need to have a Strategy the way they do their business it is important because it reinforces the strength between the business owners and the stakeholders at large. Amway take this aspect seriously in the way they do their business and tries to be ethical in what they do especially when they are conducting business in different countries it is important to respect rules and regulation of each country. Good communication is important in any business today, either internally or externally, Amway have strategic communication in place and this enables them to be able to do business and they continue to improve on their communication through innovation and development of software and communication networks. All this have helped to shape Amway and enabled them to be one of the best Corporation Globally today.

Marriage Without Love in Henrik Ibsens A Dolls House Essay -- Henri

Marriage Without Love in Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House In his play, 'A Doll?s House,' Henrik Ibsen shows a marriage built only on appearances, and not love. Both Nora the wife, and Torvald the husband, pretend they are in love throughout the story. However, love should be patient and kind, and their love is anything but that. Nora treats her husband as a father figure. Her feelings towards Torvald are more about dependence than love. Torvald treats Nora like a child or a pet. He gets very angry and frustrated with Nora, and he does not truly love her. True love is perfect, not angry, controlling, and dependent as Nora and Torvald are to each other. Throughout the story, Torvald is constantly angry with Nora. He also tries to control everything she does. At the beginning of the story, Torvald accuses Nora of eating sweets. He says to her, ' Surely my sweet tooth hasn't been running riot in town today has she?'(Ibsen 874). He continues to pester her after she denies it several times. Later on Nora tells Kristine, . Torvald had forbidden them. You see, he?s worried they?ll ruin my teeth?(Ibsen 883). If Torvald really loved Nora, he would not care about petty things like that. If he truly loved her, he would not care if her teeth were ruined. He likes Nora for her looks and beauty, not her personality or character. Not only is he controlling of Nora, but also very angry towards her. When he finds out about her taking out a loan to save his life, he explodes on her. Torvald says to her, ? Oh what an awful awakening! In all these eight years- she who was my pride and joy ? a hypocrite, a liar ? Worse, worse ? a criminal?(Ibsen 916). Torvald does not truly love Nora if he can speak to her that way. Even after he say... ...t based on true love. Bibliography: Works Cited Gosse, Edmund. ?Ibsen?s Social Dramas.? The Fortnightly Review (January 1, 1889): 107-21. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism 37. Eds. Kepos. Detroit: Gale, 1991. 220-221. Isben, Henrik. ?A Doll?s House.? Making Literature Matter. Eds. John Schilb and John Clifford. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin?s, 2000. 872-921. Salome, Lou. ?Ibsen?s Heroines.? Black Swan Books (1985) 42-55 Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism 37. Eds. Kepos. Detroit: Gale, 1991. 226-231. Scott, Clement. ?Review of a Doll?s House.? The Theater (July 1889): 19-22 Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism 37. Eds. Kepos. Detroit: Gale, 1991. 221-222. Shaw, Bernard. ?The Quintessence of Ibsenism.? B.R. Tucker (1891): 82-86 Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism 37. Eds. Kepos. Detroit: Gale, 1991. 225-226.

Stress Essay -- essays research papers

Stress is the combination of psychological, physiological, and behavioral reactions that people have in response to events that threaten or challenge them. Stress can be good or bad depending on the situation which someone is facing. Sometimes, stress can be helpful, providing people with the extra energy or alertness they need. This type of stress is called eustress. Unfortunately, most stress does not fall under that catagory and can become harmful when not managed effectively. This is known as distress and is what most people are referring to when they mention stress. Distress can increase the risk of developing health problems, such as cardiovascular disease and anxiety disorders. Stress can be thought of in terms of stressors and stress responses. Stressors are events that threaten or challenge people. They are the sources of stress, such as having to make decisions, getting married, and natural disasters. Stress responses are psychological, physiological, and behavioral reacti ons to stressors. Anxiety, depression, concentration difficulties, and muscle tension are all examples of stress responses. You can test your stress by taking many different stress tests or exercise electrocardiography, a test that evaluates the performance of the heart by subjecting it to controlled amounts of physical stress. An example of a stress test would be the B.U. Medical Scholl stress test which I personally scored relatively low on. I attribute this to my paying to my attitude and my he...

The 1945 Truman Proclamation relating to the right to explore and explo

September 28, 1945 marked the time when the U.S. ventured in the exploitation of sea resources such as oil and gas. President Truman issued a proclamation in favour of the country to explore and exploit these minerals under United States policy (Frazier 2009, p.3). The Truman Proclamation firmly consolidated the distinction between the question of the legal regime governing fisheries resources beyond the territorial sea and the regime governing mineral resources. As far as the legal concept of the continental shelf was concerned, its main characteristics were established as a natural prolongation of the state’s land territory (Currie, Forces & Oosterveld 2007, p.403). The Proclamation established a clear separation between the territorial sea and shelf, in which the coastal state could not extend its sovereignty, but only under its jurisdiction and control. According to Byers (1999, p.91), the Truman Proclamation had been linked to the end of the social and economi c needs of World War II where the development of technology in the United States began to generate national interest in exploration and exploitation of off-shore oil fields. This had very significant legal implications, bearing in mind that for hundreds of years, sea resources had not been exploited under any regulation by any state. Following this proclamation, the U.S. Congress enacted legislation in 1953 in the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), which addressed the control of resource exploitation at the continental shelf by both the federal and state authorities. By so doing, the government wanted to ensure that natural resources at the coast and in the sea were exploited but in the right and legal manner. This perhaps would lead t... ...conomic fishing zone (EFZ) and 24 nm for contiguous coastal zones by the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea (Currier, Forcese & Oosterveld 2007, p.404). This saw the eventual transmission of U.S. views to other parts of the world since the UN had adopted the same laws. In conclusion, the regime of law on the continental shelf convention in regards to exploitation of natural resource was historically developed from President Truman Proclamation. After the US proclaimed it sovereignty to utilize sea’s natural resources, the country embarked on coming up with new laws that sought to ensure control of these sea portions. The Truman Proclamation can be said to have affected many legislative initiatives all over the world with regard to use of the sea subsoil and the waters in general. Most of these legal effects are still felt to hitherto.

Strategies by Apple for Successful Change

Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs recently described apple as a mobile device company. Apple once considered a desktop computer company is slowly moving towards mobile devices. This statement shows how apple’s strategy has changed significantly in past few years. Challenges faced in the past – The major challenge Apple faced in the past was the isolation it has created from other products and companies in the market. Apple users had very limited options. The other challenge faced by the Apple was the compatibility of its product with the other products available in the market. Core Competency – Apple’s core competency is to provide exceptional experience through superb user interface. Apple provide this experience along with very large ecosystem of various online distribution system (App stores) where user can find almost every application they need. Strategy – Apple’s strategy is to provide superior product in the market through innovation. Apple also charges premium price for these product and keeps high margins. Strategy Execution – Moving towards mobile products -Apple identified the customer behavior of moving away from desktop computers towards mobile products at the very early stage. Apple realized it much earlier then any other computer manufacture or software company. In last few years Apple created two superior mobile products, iPhone and iPad. iPhone was superior then any other mobile phone product in the market and because of that Apple captured the big percentage of smartphone market. iPad had the first mover advantage in the market backed by superb marketing of the product and created a new market space for product. Ecosystem Creation – Apple also created a very effective ecosystem of apps store for their products. This ecosystem gave Apple more acceptances in the market and among the customers. Apple also created the ecosystem for developers to develop the application for their products, which help them to get continuous supply of very good application for their products. High Margins – Apple charge premium price for its products and makes big profits since manufacturing cost is considerable low once product is designed and developed. Apple also charges a big percentage of the data plan price from the mobile service provider and big percentage from apps store application and it is another big source of profits for them. Also by managing and keeping tight control on these distribution channels, Apple dictates the terms to their suppliers. Timing for implementation – Apple’s timing of the implementation in last few years has been very good. They understood the need of the customers in the market in advance and developed the products to meet that need much in advance then any other competitors.

WW DBQ

Additionally, the Triple Entente expended about 1 00 million pounds and est. mated about 225 million during the year of the war (Doc C). The two alliances spent a large ammo nut on their militia for several reasons. Foremost, if one country used money to make thee r military power erupts others, the neighboring provisions felt compelled to do the same, an d perhaps even exceed the surrounding nations in order to not become underdeveloped com pared to the rest.For example, Below of Germany announced that, â€Å"We don't ever want to become ‘the slaves of humanity. † (Doc D) Moreover, as the countries with more powerful militaries became increasingly more dominant, smaller countries, such as Germany, were forced to make a decision to become â€Å"a hammer or an anvil† (Doc D) and soon focused on strengthening g their defense and opposing British power, all of which they could not do without multiplying mill tart costs (Doc C).This alarmed the largest countries and d ue to the fact that they possessed a prepared force and a stock of arms, the leaders refused to seek more a more reasonable late ruminative in favor of Anonymous. â€Å"Militarism. † Dictionary. Com, 2014. Web, 14 Deck 2014. Http://en. Wisped. Org/wick/Militarism war. By the time World War I began in 1914, all of Europe was modernized an d troops fully prepared as a result Of the armaments race and militarism.

How to Make a Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Tiayna Bradford BRADFORD 1 Mary Jo M. Keiter English 051 Oct 18, 2012 How to make a grilled cheese sandwich on an electric stove. First you need to make sure that you have all the things needed for this process. 1. Frying pan 2. Bread 3. Butter or Margarine 4. Butter knife 5. Cheese 6. PlateFirst you take out two pieces of bread and lay them on your plate. Then you open up the butter, get the butter knife; put some butter on the knife, then spread it on one side of the bread. Make sure that the side you put the butter on is the side down. The other side of the bread that is faces up; put two slices of cheese on it. After you put the cheese on it; put piece bread on it, then spread butter on that side too.When that part is done, turn the stove on number four; so that it is not up to high; or to low. Place the frying pan on the eye that you turned on. Once it gets hot put the sandwich in the pan. You can put a lid on it to make it cook faster or just leave it open. Let it cook for lik e two minutes and then turn it to the other side and repeat the same thing. Once you see that the bread is brown a little, you can take it out using a spactula. It is then ready to eat. How to Make a Grilled Cheese Sandwich My Recipe For Grilled Cheese Sandwiches Topic: How to make grilled cheese sandwiches. Audience: Parents that need to cook something quick for there children. Purpose: To teach someone how to make a grilled cheese sandwich. Format: An expository paragraph. ——————————————————————————————————————— You will need: An electric frying pan, 2 slices of bread (preferably white), (softened) butter, and some cheese of your choice Step 1.Plug in and pre-heat the electric frying pan to 400 degrees fahrenheit. Step 2. Take your butter and spread it on one side of both pieces of bread. Step 3. Then you need the cheese (if you are cutting it of a block, 1 eighth of an inch is my recommended thickness) But I like to use singles chee se slices with mine. Step 4. Place your cheese in-between the un-buttered sides of your bread so that the buttered sides are facing out. Step 5. When your electric frying pan is fully heated, place the sandwich on it. Step 6.Let it sit for around 3 minutes, if you want a panini style sandwich, then you can lightly press on the sandwich with a a spatchula while it's cooking. Step 7. Then flip it and let the other side sit for only about 2 and a half minutes. Step 8. Then it's done! Step 9. If you want to make it better, try adding Ketchup on the side, along with a pickle. Step 10. Part of the process of making anything is the clean up so don't forget to put away everything, including turning off and unplugging the electric frying pan. Step 11. Eat up! By: Adam Brice