Peyotism Essays - Native American Church, Native American Religion

Peyotism ?The white man's world are his lanes with their banks, shops, neon lights and traffic, boulevards loaded with cops, prostitutes, and tragic confronted individuals in a rush to punch a period clock. In any case, this is stunning. The genuine the truth is underneath this. Granddad Peyote causes you discover it.? - Crow Dog Peyote, a stimulating plant that is regularly utilized as a recreational medication, has an a lot more noteworthy significance for individuals from the peyote religion. By analyzing the impacts of peyote alongside its job in the customs and convictions of the Native American Church it becomes evident why it is such a fundamental piece of the religion. The exchange and information on this consecrated plant was at that point very much characterized in areas of Mexico a long time before European success and its formal use was at that point in progress in the clans of the territory wherein it developed. This strict utilize in the end spread through North American districts. Alongside its movement, the essential customs and functions changed en route. The association of religion including peyote and the guideline ceremonies had gotten generally polished among the Comanche and Kiowa clans by the mid-eighteen hundreds. The Native American Church shaped in 1921, starting in Oklahoma. Not long after this underlying arrangement, state and neighborhood joining followed in numerous spots and keep on doing as such right up 'til the present time. (Aberle, 19) Now, some type of peyote religion is regular to most clans of the North American landmass. Peyote (Lophophora williamsii) is a little, low developing, fluffy sort of desert flora. The vast majority of the prickly plant is in reality underground in a long root. Both the fragile living creature and roots can be eaten. When dried the substance takes after earthy colored jacket catches, which is the place the term peyote ?catches? originated from. Peyote isn't discovered just anyplace. It develops in the wild over just a little segment of the Southwestern United States known as the Peyote Garden. Correctly, Corpus Christi, Texas, Deming, New Mexico, Durango, Mexico and Puebla , Mexico tie the territory where this plant can be found and gathered. (Aberle, 5) Containing eight unique alkaloids, the most significant being mescaline, peyote causes various impacts. The experience starts with an euphoric quality. It elevates the sensations to sound, shading, structure and surface. Further into the experience, ?dreams? start to happen. These dreams can incorporate point by point, sensible pictures and sounds. The translation of these dreams as opposed to the dreams themselves are what peyotists consider generally significant. The peyote experience is described by a solid sentiment of individual essentialness of the inside and outer upgrades experienced during the experience. Many wind up asking, ?What does this intend to me The Native American Church went to the Indians during their breaking point. It was around when the remainder of the wild ox had vanished from the fields. They were left starving, powerless and with little of their previous lifestyles staying to stick to. In the expressions of an individual from the NAC, Mary Crow Dog, ?The Native American Church turned into the religion of the least fortunate of poor people, the vanquished, the plundered. Peyote caused them to comprehend what was going on and caused them to persevere. It was the main thing that invigorated them in those, our darkest days.? Clearly an aggressor religion couldn't have made due under white strength. The development of this religion was a reaction to the debased status on Native Americans. It's objective inside harmony and congruity as opposed to rivalry. This thought was exceptionally pertinent to the financial circumstance that these indigenous individuals were being confronted with. For some, this was actually what they expected to forge ahead. Since the start, there has been solid resistance to the Native American Church by a few gatherings. The conventionalist Indians contradicted it accepting that it was a danger to customary innate culture. Innovator Indians just as whites restricted the religion additionally saying that it was heathenistic and in reverse. In the beginning periods, peyote gatherings were unlawful not for the utilization of peyote, but since Native American customs all in all were banned. In any case, in 1934, under John Collier, the Bureau of Indian Affairs ordered an arrangement of non-impedance with peyotism. There have been state laws forbidding the ?deal, use or ownership of peyote?, however all such laws have

Legal Research Memorandum

Question: Examine about theLegal Research Memorandum. Answer: Presentation To: Walter White From: Agent Date: September 25, 2016 Re: Firm Director Issues The significant issue for this situation is whether Walter can embrace crafted by his cousin according to the Class FA Visitor (Subclass 600) allowed to him, on the conditions expressed in 8101, 8201, 8503 and 8531. Enactment The legitimate section and remain of a non-resident in Australia is represented by the standards expressed in the Migration Act, 1958[1]. The Regulations contains the techniques and rules which must be met by the non-residents. The organization of this Act is finished by the Commonwealth Department and the organization of the Regulations is finished by the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. The Department has delivered the direction for approach in going with archives to the Act and the Regulations which are known as the PAM3 (Procedure Advice Manual) and the MSIs (Migration Series Instructions)[2]. The visa under subclass 600 is conceded to such candidates, who apply for a Business Visitor steam visa. Such candidates need to satisfy the essential rules expressed in Subdivisions 600.21 and 600.24[3]. For this situation, the Class FA Visitor (Subclass 600) was conceded with certain conditions[4]. These conditions were, 8101, which expresses that the holder of such visa ought not take part in work in Australia. The condition expressed in 8201 contains, that the holder of such visa ought not be occupied with any kind of preparing or studies for in excess of a time of 3 months, in the wake of entering Australia. The conditions expressed in 8503 states that once the holder enters the nation, such holder would not be qualified for an award of any meaningful visa, till the time such holder is in Australia. This condition isn't pertinent for an assurance visa. In conclusion, the 8531 condition forbids a holder of such visa from remaining in Australia, after the finish of the allowed time of remain. The guideline 1.03 of the Migration Act, 1958[5], characterizes function as a movement which ordinarily pulls in compensation in Australia. According to the Section 116 of this Act, the Minister has the ability to drop a visa if the Minister is fulfilled that the holder of visa has neglected to agree to the states of the visa[6], among different arrangements. Segment 245AG of the Migration Act, 1958[7], contains the arrangements with respect to the importance of work and permits to work. According to subsection 1 of this section[8], work implies any kind of work whether it is accomplished for a prize or something else. Further, the subsection 2[9] gives that, an individual permits other individual to work, just on the off chance that one individual utilizes or connects with the other individual, according to an agreement of administration, other than in a residential setting. On account of Amandeep v Minister for Immigration Anor[10], the Court depended on the meaning of work given in Regulation 1.03. The Court likewise depended on the test in regards to the movement which is performed by an individual and whether such action regularly draws in compensation, in the nation (Australia). The Court likewise depended on the setting of help which was given as far as social, business, benevolent inspirations or residential. The Court held that the candidate was for sure working and thus, the application was excused with costs. Application In the current case, the work which Walter needs to attempt for his cousin is business in nature. According to the states of his visa, 8101, he is precluded from taking part in work in Australia. Further, according to the meaning of work given in the Regulation 1.03, just as the understanding of the Court on account of Amandeep v Minister for Immigration Anor, the action proposed to be embraced by Walter is secured under work as such work pulls in compensation in Australia. Additionally, his cousin needs to utilize Walter as a contractual worker, which unmistakably derives the movement as work. In this way, it is prudent to Walter, to not take part in the movement of building a deck and arranging for his cousin, as this would be considered as work and his Visa may get dropped, because of taking part in such action. End In this way, it very well may be inferred that Walter should avoid offering the types of assistance to his cousin, Jesse Pink; in any case his visa might be dropped by the Minister for an inability to conform to the conditions, while award of the Class FA Visitor (Subclass 600) visa. References Cases Amandeep v Minister for Immigration Anor [2011] FMCA 757 (30 September 2011) Enactment Movement Act, 1958 Movement Regulations, 1994 Movement Amendment Regulation, 2013 Other Reasonable Work Ombudsman, Australian Government, Migration Regulations, 1994 2010 https://www.fairwork.gov.au/ArticleDocuments/757/Fair-Work-Ombudsman-v-Centennial-Financial-Services-Ors.pdf.aspx

Is ECT Used for Borderline Personality Disorder

Is ECT Used for Borderline Personality Disorder BPD Treatment Print Electroconvulsive Therapy in Treating BPD A Psychiatric Treatment With a Controversial History By Kristalyn Salters-Pedneault, PhD Kristalyn Salters-Pedneault, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and associate professor of psychology at Eastern Connecticut State University. Learn about our editorial policy Kristalyn Salters-Pedneault, PhD Updated on November 28, 2019 Martin Dimitrov / Getty Images More in BPD Treatment Diagnosis Living With BPD Related Conditions Electroconvulsive therapy (or ECT) is a psychiatric treatment with a long and controversial history. The treatment involves briefly passing an electrical current through the brain. This procedure is not used to treat borderline personality disorder (BPD), but it is used to treat severe depression that has not responded to adequate medication trials and under other clinical circumstances. Since many people with borderline personality disorder also suffer from depression, some people who receive electroconvulsive therapy have BPD. Using ECT Effective for Borderline Personality Disorder Even though electroconvulsive therapy is used to treat severe depression in people who have borderline personality disorder, there is research that suggests that ECT is not as effective in treating depression for people who also have BPD. One study, published in 2004, looked at the effects of ECT in 139 patients, all of whom had major depression and 20 of whom also had borderline personality disorder. The study found that eight days following treatment, those with borderline personality disorder didnt score as well on a depression symptom measurement scale as those who didnt have a personality disorder or those who had a different type of personality disorder. The patients in that study who had borderline personality disorder were more likely to be women, to be younger, and to have medication-resistant depression, but the study authors noted that these factors didnt account for their poorer response to electroconvulsive therapy. Researchers have agreed that ECT doesnt seem to work as well in patients with borderline personality disorder, although the reasons for this arent clear. The Bottom Line The research literature in this area is small and inconsistent, so it does not mean that people who have both depression and borderline personality disorder should not receive ECT. However, it is something to consider when you are weighing the risks and benefits. While ECT does have a long and controversial history, it is recognized as an effective treatment for severe depression by the American Psychiatric Association (APA). The APA has issued guidelines for the use of ECT that ensure that the procedures are carried out with your safety and well-being in mind. Some people do experience unwanted side effects from electroconvulsive therapy (for example, memory loss), so you should talk about the risks and benefits with your provider if you are considering ECT.

The Video Game Industry Is A Billion Dollar Industry With...

Research Paper Draft Bhavan Vaidya Full Sail University Introduction The video game industry is a billion dollar industry with an ever-growing fan base. Nowadays, video games production companies are investing high amount of money in this business to develop games for fan. They also need people working and they are hiring employees that can help a game to produce a batter example for future. Thus, management and leadership is an important factor to lead a team. Lead a team of creative people in not an easy task. It contains lot of intelligence and leadership qualities. In this conditions, several problems related to team and leadership acquires. This research will elaborate some of the main problem, topic, theories and some of solution towards video games production teams. In my view, most of the time, companies faces the issue of conflict within their team to produce a game. I would like to explain the question of conflict that how it took place within a creative team and how it could be resolve. Conflict is a major impact on a team. It could lead a team to a batter solution or disordered team. Where it could also be commendable with leadership. Conflict is co-related to team and leadership. It can be seen as an issue where some of resolution could be used to make it right and lead a way to a creative idea and immerge into a batter performance in team. Conflict take place into this field often because creative minds always represents some sort of pureShow MoreRelatedCase2200 Words   |  9 Pagesorganization in which develops markets and distributes the so called EA games. The man behind Electronic Arts Inc is Trip Hawkins who hired designers and programmers to develop EA games as early as 1982. During that time, the company developed only home computing games that laid the foundation of today’s EA games which include the Battlefield series and Need for Speed. EA essentially had a smooth run to become a successful video game business compared to other companies such as Activision who struggledRead MoreThe J apanese Music Software Company Crypton1616 Words   |  7 Pagesand professional music producers were able to buy this software and use the pre-packaged synthetic vocals to make songs of their own, which were sung by the virtual character Hatsune Miku. Through the years and massive sales, hundreds of thousands of fans began creating not only songs, but artwork and animation involving this character and sharing it online through Facebook, YouTube, and Crypton created site Piapro. Hatsune Miku is the company’s biggest success by far. This success however broughtRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Night Before A Major Movie 1985 Words   |  8 PagesGroups of people like these compose a fandom. A fandom is a collection of people from across the world that obsess over any kind of cultural phenomenon, leading to various types of fan-made adaptations and consumption of material related to that spectacle. Amongst the top ten most dedicated fandoms in the world is the fan base for the Harry Potter series (Helling et. al, p. 25). Harry Potter was originally a seven-book series written by British author J.K Rowling. Rowling first took readers through theRead MoreAn Overview On The Creative Industry2725 Words   |  11 Pagescreative industry, my aims in this report are to inform and explain the major projects, key players, trends, innovative technologies that are prominent in the industry and review how they are being implemented. The purpose is to convey the progress and growth that the industry is making. Additionall y I aim to focus on the film industry as it is such massive part of the creative industries and is currently verge of huge change and technological advancements. What are creative industries? The creativeRead MoreWhy Women Should Not Be Sexualized And Objectified The Way They Are Video Games3095 Words   |  13 PagesDavid Dale 1 Why women should not be sexualized and objectified the way they are in video games today: Most of us would already know that women’s representation in the media is highly sexualized and that women are regularly portrayed in a sexual manner and are objectified in all forms of media whether it be in magazines, online, television, movies, music videos, and of course video games (Wu, 2014). Many people derive gratification from what they read and hear every day without thinking about theRead MoreEquity Valuation Analysis Report - Tencent Holdings Limited8305 Words   |  34 PagesTsang Team members Name Student ID Winnie Yam 1155025593 Sherry Zhang 1155023131 Fiona Tong 1093644801 Tommy Wu 1155021510 Robert Pun 1155026071 21 November 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 Executive summary [3] 2.0 Industry overview [4] 3.0 Company overview [6] 4.0 Financial statement analysis [12] 5.0 Profitability analysis [23] 6.0 Company valuation [27] 7.0 Concerns beyond financials [32] 8.0 RecommendationsRead MoreLady Gaga case study11446 Words   |  46 PagesCHRISTENSEN Lady Gaga (A) â€Å"Let’s get everyone in a room to discuss what to do,† said Troy Carter, manager of up-and-coming pop star Lady Gaga, to his assistant as he walked into his Santa Monica office. It was September 2009, a week after the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) ceremony that had seen Gaga win a coveted Best New Artist award and that had featured a spectacular performance of her hit song Paparazzi—ending with the singer-songwriter, covered in fake blood, dangling from the ceiling—butRead MoreNike Football: World Cup 2010 South Africa12246 Words   |  49 Pages511-060 Nike Football: World Cup 2010 South Africa Nike Football revenue had grown from $40 million in 1994 to more than $1 billion in 2008. In just under 15 years, it had reached a sales level that took some of its competitors over 50 years to achieve. Although not the end goal, the 2010 World Cup was another unique moment in time for Nike to create separation between the company and its competitors. Edwards knew he had to seize this opportunity and pull his team together to deliver aRead MoreRed Bull Cool Factor7077 Words   |  29 Pagesthe United states in 1997 and into Middle East by 2000. Growth: In 2011 they sold 4,6 billion cans and what makes it the top energy drink is that a company that started off in 1987 with only 1million dollars had a net worth of four billion dollars in 2008. From 1987 untill 2008 they had grown from 1 million dollars to a net worth of 4 Billion dollars in 2008. Today Red Bull has annual sales of approx. 4 billion cans in more than 160 countries. Red Bulls growth strategy has always been about the wayRead MoreRed Bull Cool Factor7088 Words   |  29 PagesUnited states in 1997 and into Middle East by 2000. Growth: In 2011 they sold 4,6 billion cans and what makes it the top energy drink is that a company that started off in 1987 with only 1million dollars had a net worth of four billion dollars in 2008. From 1987 untill 2008 they had grown from 1 million dollars to a net worth of 4 Billion dollars in 2008. Today Red Bull has annual sales of approx. 4 billion cans in more than 160 countries. Red Bulls growth strategy has always been about the

Progressivism A Wide And Varied Movement Essay - 1332 Words

Progressivism was a wide and varied movement that changed American values and lifestyles having everlasting impact on American history. Progressivism, ranging from 1880 to 1920, was a well-planned and well-organized movement in the United States having wide as well as diversified goals. Leaders of progressivism movement focused on humanity element and tried to make advancements by promoting liberation to stimulate human force along with exploiting human potential to remove restraints imposed by contemporary liberalization. The paper will present an overview of Progressivism as a wide and varied movement. It will also discuss the goals of movement and mention some of the prominent people who took part in it. At the end, the significance of Progressivism to America will also be highlighted. Progressivism expanded in American cities and confronted political mechanism full of monopolies and corrupt leaders. For the resolution of diversified problems existing at the local and state levels, progressivism focused on promoting idea of public ownership of government run by professional city bosses. Leaders of the movement strived to resolve the issues created by the wave of industrialization. At the time of movement the main problems confronted by the American society was the gigantic growth of cities and industries. Hundreds of thousands of African Americans started migrating to the northern cities. This huge wave of migration being main cause of growth coupled with disastrousShow MoreRelatedThe Progressive Era in America1086 Words   |  4 Pagesthat touched every aspect of American life. The progressivism movement centered on elements of humanity and promoted liberation in order to stimulate human force as well as human potential to remove the restraints of liberalization. By the late nineteenth century, after decades of expansion due to the push westward and years of growth due to the Industrial Revolution, the United States had truly become a modern nation. Just like any other movements or revolutions in the history of any country onRead MorePopulist and Progressive Reform in American History1763 Words   |  8 Pagesprogressive movements were a response to the changing climate in American society due to rapid industrialization, an ethnically diverse personality of a young nation, and birth of American imperialism. Disgruntled American farmers that wished to advance their economic position initiated the Populist movement. Progressives pushed to improve urban labor conditions, dismantle trusts and monopolies, conserve of environment, and to install an active government. Populism and Progressivism had many similaritiesRead MoreThe Importance of Considering Philosophical and Psychological Foundations in Developing a Curriculum.9983 Words   |  40 Pagescomprehensive view of the curriculum requires a consideration of the nature and needs of the individual, the aspirations and requirements of society, and the process by which the individual incorporates experience. As the study on curriculum is very wide, the audience chosen should be from all walks of life. As proposed by Golan Steven (1982); Interviews were conducted with a state director of business and office education, superintendent, curriculum director, director of vocational education, principalRead MoreEssays for the American Pageant, 14th Ed.11068 Words   |  45 Pagesthere were three different approaches to governing the United States. By that time, the right to vote had been extended to most men who were free, white, and at least twenty-one years of age. This meant that candidates had to learn how to deal with a wide range of men before they could be important in government. John Marshall, Andrew Jackson, and Henry Clay illustrate the different approaches. As the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Marshall did not need to run for office. He had been aRead MoreLesson Plan10685 Words   |  43 Pages†¦ Daily Time Record†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Chapter Six- Appendices†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ My Career Plan†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Resume†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Acknowledgement I acknowledge my mentors who really helped a lot in order to have a wide range of knowledge in terms of teaching. They gave me the vivid understanding of what teaching is. They supported me every time that I need help of somebody. They mold me how to an effective, creative, resourceful, enthusiastic, friendly, lovable,Read MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagesmode of escape from oppression and poverty and, in many instances, as an avenue toward advancement for an unprecedented number of people that soared well into the hundreds of millions by century’s end. But for a clear majority of these migrants, movement was coerced by flight from war and oppression or was enticed by labor recruiters who preyed on the desperately poor. The prospects for the great majority were almost invariably lives of drudge labor in urban sweatshops, on tropical plantations

My Antonia Free Essays

Willa Cather is an American writer. She started her literary career by writing short-stories, but later started to write novels – her main genre. She expresses mood and ideology of middle-class American farmers and that’s why she doesn’t like the image of modern capitalistic America. We will write a custom essay sample on My Antonia or any similar topic only for you Order Now Cather is against capitalism with its exploitation of ordinary people, but she doesn’t express great protest to such a system – her way of writing is more dramatic, than based on some action; she remains only objective observer. Industrial city doesn’t interest her and she is quite conservative. Cather opposes ‘dying’ patriarchal way of life in the village to capitalism and modern reality; she opposes people with creative thinking to businessmen. Her main themes for creative works are taken from life of pioneers-farmers in the West, the first people, who moved from Europe and Eastern states and from life of artists, musicians and other creative and gifted people. I think that strength of Cather’s novels is in depiction of characters; the plot of her novels is quite simple. Heroes of Cather are trying to realize all their abilities and skills. No wonder that novel â€Å"My Antonia† touches with its simplicity and brightness of characters. I will not speak about summary – you can read the novel and you’ll not regret – it is really interesting and exciting drama, but I’ll try to discuss about themes of changes and stasis in this novel. As for me, Cather’s realism is often combined with romanticism. â€Å"My Antonia† is not an exception. Life of Antonia is constant chain of changes: she is like lightning – bright, quick and rapidly changing girl, who has her own opinion for everything she hears or sees. Even when she didn’t know English language yet (let’s remember that her family moved to the United States from Czech Republic) she had her own way of thinking and wasn’t afraid to show it. The girl lives as a nature prompts to her, by instinct. Her own world is a world of vivid and naà ¯ve natures, but not a world of dissolute society. She is a strong girl and when her father dies and she has to spend all the day long in the farm working hard, she changes from a small girl into a grown-up woman, which is strong enough to overcome any difficulties the life presents. Jim Burden, being a boy, has very good heart and is an open-hearted person. Still, he is not so naà ¯ve, like Antonia and her family – those two cultures are a bit different. Antonia’s family doesn’t hesitate to share everything they have (let’s remember episode, when the family is hungry, and Antonia’s mother gives to Jim’s mother the mushrooms, they gathered still in Czech and were keeping for a long time). Jim’s family is more practical. I should say it is more conforming. It lives in accordance with rules, which are last and all the time established in the society they belong. A kind of stasis – without any changes. When Jim is a boy, he can do almost whatever he wants, but when he becomes a grown-up, he has to listen to society he belongs. And he obeys, because he doesn’t have strength enough to move against the current. Antonia creates her life as she wants, even when she falls on evil days and experiences misfortune, almost all she makes is by her own will. She doesn’t want to obey the society and rules, which determine behavior – she changes her life in her own way. Jim, on the contrary, lives as it â€Å"should be† – he chooses a career and enters a college, He doesn’t like the company of young people and dedicates his time to college and university.  Ã‚   Jim conforms expectations of his family, receiving education and finally, marrying successfully. Although he wasn’t lucky in that marriage, for the other people he was quite successful in his life. He became a lawyer and even knowledge of prairies helped him in his work. The stasis is also seen in society of those times. Hard conditions of life, constant work in the farm, all this influenced Antonia greatly. She wanted to go to the school, but instead of that she had to work hard in order to supply her family with food for a long winter period not to die from hunger. When Jim comes to Antonia, asking whether she will go to school, Antonia says that she is already a grown-up and she doesn’t have time for such stupid childish stuff. But her words are only words – being a clever and curios girl she hates working hard – she wants to learn new things. It seems to her that she is dying in that farm or she is dead alive. Antonia wants to change everything. When Antonia started work as a hired girl in Harling’s family, she found the model of life for her in Mrs. Hurling. Actually, they had much in common: both of them were strong and independent natures, both of them knew what do they like and didn’t try to look like somebody else. They never imitated somebody’s actions or had the same opinion as majority. They were different from ordinary people, who lived in society stasis. They laughed at haughty people and helped to unlucky. Both of them had in the heart never-ending quantity of joy and good mood, which made other people to feel the same. In spite all the difficulties in her life, Antonia doesn’t want to change her life by loosing freedom. Freedom and constant ability to change by her will are the main character features of this girl. She loves dancing, and soon she becomes very popular. Members of Hartling family don’t like her hobby and asking her to refuse form dancing, because it can spoil her reputation. Still, Antonia doesn’t want to leave dancing, although she has to stop working for Hartling’s. She refuses to sacrifice her independence. From the very beginning of her life till the end she leaves self-sufficient person. This novel shows us contradictions in society of those times there are rules, according to which society lives, and you should obey the rules. Limitations of social mobility, for example in differences between city girls and so-called â€Å"hired girls† are clearly seen. For example, a girl, who lives in the city has her own â€Å"life-program†, which is stipulated by society and is determined by her family: she has to get education (optionally) and to become a wife and a mother. That’s all. The girls, which come to the city from the villages, have much more opportunities in the life, – they have freedom and choice – they have possibility for changes. They don’t experience the stasis in society. Those girls are able to get rid of those traditional constraints, existing between man and woman in society, but they can loose social privileges. City girls also are able to choose, but they don’t want to loose respectability and social standing. Actually, all this forms theme of change and stasis in the novel of Cather â€Å"My Antonia†. Works Cited: 1. â€Å"My Antonia† by Willa Sibert Cather (1918) [online] http://www.americanliterature.com/MA/MAINDEX.HTML How to cite My Antonia, Essay examples My Antonia Free Essays The book, My Antonia, by Willa Cather is a superlative piece of realism and vivid storytelling. The novel relates, through the eyes of narrator, Jim Burden, the fact-based story of a Bohemian girl, Antonia Shimerda, thrown into rugged farm life. The colorful and sensible traits of the title character, combined with a memorable theme, endear this book to all who open its cover. We will write a custom essay sample on My Antonia or any similar topic only for you Order Now The first of these traits is the virtue of caring. Antonia watched over the children of her employer as if they were her own. She frequently acquainted them with the vibrant stories from her childhood and comforted them in their time of trouble. Additionally demonstrating her loving qualities, she was never ashamed of her illegitimate child and was always an exceptional mother. Finally, Antonia fiercely defended her family against insult, even to the points of vowing never to again notice one of her friends. Clearly, Antonia was the epitome of this virtue. Perseverance is the next attribute which had been perfected by this young Bohemian. She always did the constant manual labor that was necessary to run the farm well. On the other hand, insisting to go to the â€Å"dances† every night, Antonia started neglecting her work. Also, she persisted in seeing boys whom she hardly knew; this habit eventually cost Antonia her job. Antonia is surely an example that persevering is not always a first-class quality of character. Another personality characteristic of Antonia is her naivety. She persisted in traveling to Denver to marry a flighty young man, who, shortly after, left her and their unborn child. Additionally, trying to fit in, Mrs. Shimerda began to always dress like the other girls. Through this sample, it is obvious that this Bohemian, although mature in some ways, was ignorant of the seriousness of life. How to cite My Antonia, Papers

North American Free Trade Agreement Essays - International Relations

North American Free Trade Agreement In December of 1992, President Salinas of the Government of the United Mexican States, President Bush of the Government of the United States of America, and Prime Minister Brian Mulroney of the Government of Canada signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); however, it was not ratified and fully effective until 1 January 1994. NAFTA, which established a free trade area among the aforementioned nations, consistent with the previously instituted General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), eliminates tariffs on goods produced by the signatory nations by 2005, removes most barriers to cross-border investment and to the movement of goods and services, and improves intellectual property protection. The specific objectives contained in NAFTA are as follows: a) eliminate barriers to trade in, and facilitate the cross border movement of goods and services between the territories of the Parties; b) promote conditions of fair competition in the free trade area; c) increase substantially investment opportunities in their territories; d) provide adequate and effective protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights in each Party's territory; e) create effective procedures for the implementation and application of this Agreement, and for its joint administration and the resolution of disputes; and f) establish a framework for further trilateral, regional, and multilateral cooperation to expand and enhance the benefits of this Agreement. Proponents of NAFTA claim that the accord will increase trade throughout the Americas, moderate product prices, and create new jobs in all three countries. Critics claim just as adamantly that the proposed accord will degrade blue-collar employment wages and environmental standards throughout North America. Moreover, they claim that jobs will move to Mexico due in part to the wide disparity in labor market regulations and wages existing between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. In addition to worker displacement, the prospect of environmental problems stemming from Mexico's lax enforcement of environmental standards has led critics to disagree with the institution of the NAFTA. The NAFTA agenda is divided into six areas: market access (tariffs and nontariff barriers, rules of origin, government procurement, automobiles, and other industrial sectors); regulations (safeguards, subsidies, trade remedies, and standards); services (principles of services, financial services, insurance, land transportation, telecommunications, and other services); investment; intellectual property; and dispute settlement. A major issue addressed in NAFTA negotiations is whether capital should move between the neighboring countries, and how and under what conditions such increased trade and investment should take place. NAFTA was initiated to promote a climate of fair marketing, improve investment opportunities, protect industrial and intellectual property rights, as well as establish procedures for the resolution of disputes. However, NAFTA has introduced increased bureaucracy in each country and more regulations and rules for businesses to contend with. The move toward NAFTA by the United States Government can be attributed as a response to the decline in U.S. productivity growth. Since the 1970s, output per worker has slowed in its growth rate dramatically. Due to this decline, the United States had to look for ways to either stimulate growth in the service sector or rely on international trade to further American progress and growth. Prior to NAFTA's enactment, conducting business and investing in Mexico was a difficult process. Investors needed the Mexican Government's approval and were also required to meet specific investment guidelines. These requirements forced investors to export a set level of goods and services, utilize domestic goods and services, and transfer technology to competitors. Under NAFTA, investors and business professionals no longer need government approval to invest and are treated as domestic investors. NAFTA has increased intellectual property rights and allowed companies to obtain patents in Mexico and Canada. In the past, companies were hesitant to export research and development intensive goods because of the need of increased intellectual property protection; however, exports of these goods has shown a definite increase. As a result of better trading conditions, exports and imports of most other goods have increased along with sensitive research and development goods. Another related trade agreement conveying the benefits of international trade is the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT). It was created in 1947, and like NAFTA, GATT promotes international trade through the reduction of tariffs. Today, GATT encompasses over one hundred countries and 90% of the world's trade goods. There have been eight

How an Extended Response Item Can Enhance Learning

How an Extended Response Item Can Enhance Learning Extended response items have traditionally been called essay questions. An extended response item is an open-ended question that begins with some type of prompt. These questions allow students to write a response that arrives at a conclusion based on their specific knowledge of the topic. An extended response item takes considerable time and thought. It requires students not only to give an answer but also to explain the answer with as much in-depth detail as possible. In some cases, students not only have to give an answer and explain the answer, but they also have to show how they arrived at that answer. Teachers love extended response items because they require students to construct an in-depth response that proves mastery or lack thereof. Teachers can then utilize this information to reteach gap concepts or build upon individual student strengths. Extended response items require students to demonstrate a higher depth of knowledge than they would need on a multiple choice item. Guessing is almost completely eliminated with an extended response item.  A student either knows the information well enough to write about it or they do not. Extended response items also are a great way to assess and teach students grammar and writing. Students must be strong writers as an extended response item also tests a students ability to write coherently and grammatically correct. Extended response items require essential critical thinking skills. An essay, in a sense, is a riddle that students can solve using prior knowledge, making connections, and drawing conclusions.  This is an invaluable skill for any student to have. Those who can master it have a better chance of being successful academically.  Any student who can successfully solve problems and craft well-written explanations of their solutions will be at the top of their class.   Extended response items do have their shortcomings. They are not teacher friendly in that they are difficult to construct and score.  Extended response items take a lot of valuable time to develop and grade.  Additionally, they are difficult to score accurately.  It can become difficult for teachers to remain objective when scoring an extended response item. Each student has a completely different response, and teachers must read the entire response looking for evidence that proves mastery. For this reason, teachers must develop an accurate rubric and follow it when scoring any extended response item. An extended response assessment takes more time for students to complete than a multiple choice assessment.  Students must first organize the information and construct a plan before they can actually begin responding to the item.  This time-consuming process can take multiple class periods to complete depending on the specific nature of the item itself. Extended response items can be constructed in more than one way. It can be passage-based, meaning that students are provided with one or more passages on a specific topic. This information can help them formulate a more thoughtful response. The student must utilize evidence from the passages to formulate and validate their response on the extended response item.  The more traditional method is a straightforward, open-ended question on a topic or unit that has been covered in class.  Students are not given a passage to assist them in constructing a response but instead must draw from memory their direct knowledge on the topic. Teachers must remember that formulating a well written extended response is a skill in itself.  Though they can be a great assessment tool, teachers must be prepared to spend the time to teach students how to write a formidable essay.  This is not a skill that comes without hard work.  Teachers must provide students with the multiple skills that are required to write successfully including sentence and paragraph structure, using proper grammar, pre-writing activities, editing, and revising.  Teaching these skills must become part of the expected classroom routine for students to become proficient writers.

Study for a Literature Final Using a Concept Map

Study for a Literature Final Using a Concept Map When you study for a big exam in literature class, youll soon find its easy to become overwhelmed as you review all the works that youve covered during the semester or the year. You must come up with a way to remember which authors, characters, and plots go with each piece of work. One good memory tool to consider is a color-coded concept map. Using a Concept Map to Study for Your Final As you create the memory tool, you should keep a few things in mind to assure the best study results: 1). Read the material. Don’t try to rely on study guides such as Cliff’s Notes to prepare for a literature exam. Most literature exams will reflect the specific discussions you had in class about the works that you covered. For instance, a piece of literature may have several themes, but your teacher may not have focused on the themes covered in a study guide. Use your own notesnot Cliffs Notesto create a color-coded mind map of each piece of literature you read during your exam period. 2). Connect authors with stories. One of the big mistakes that students make when studying for a literature exam is forgetting which author goes with each piece of work. It’s an easy mistake to make. Use a mind map and be sure to include the author as a major element of your map. 3.) Connect characters with stories. You might think that you’ll remember which character goes with each story, but long lists of characters can be easy to confuse. Your teacher might decide to focus on a minor character. Again, a color-coded mind map can provide a visual tool to help you memorize characters. 4.) Know antagonists and protagonists. The main character of a story is called the protagonist. This character may be a hero, a person coming of age, a character involved in a journey of some sort, or a person seeking love or fame. Typically, the protagonist will face a challenge in the form of an antagonist. The antagonist will be the person or thing that acts as a force against the protagonist. The antagonist exists to prevent the main character from achieving his/her goal or dream. Some stories can have more than one antagonist, and some people disagree on the character who fills the role of antagonist. For example, in Moby Dick, some people view the whale as the non-human antagonist for Ahab, the main character. Others believe that Starbuck is the main antagonist in the story. The point is that Ahab faces challenges to overcome, no matter which challenge is perceived by the reader to be the true antagonist. 5). Know the theme of each book. You probably discussed a major theme in class for each story, so be sure to remember what theme goes with what piece of literature. 6). Know the setting, conflict, and the climax for each work that you have covered. The setting can be a physical location, but it can also include the mood that the location evokes. Make note of a setting that makes the story more foreboding, tense, or cheerful. Most plots center around a conflict. Keep in mind that conflict can take place externally (man against man or thing against man) or internally (emotional conflict within one character). The conflict exists in literature to add excitement to the story. The conflict works like a pressure cooker, building up steam until it results in a big event, like an explosion of emotion. This is the climax of the story.

Cryptographic overhead of IPsec Protocol suit Research Paper

Cryptographic overhead of IPsec Protocol suit - Research Paper Example The reality that the Internet is deficient in security is still undeniable. So to solve this issue researchers are trying to increase the network security at each layer by designing a range of security protocols. The designed protocols include PGP, S/MIME, and SET which are specifically designed to ensure the security of the application layer. In this scenario, SSL/TLS are used on the transport layer. In this race, IPSec is one of the most important security protocol, which is designed for dealing with the network layer security, ensuring the availability of security services like that data source authentication, access control, data confidentiality and integrity and processing data packages on the IP packet layer (Zheng & Zhang, 2009; Meng, et al., 2010). This report presents a detailed analysis of IPSec and associated aspects. IPSec IPSec is a complete suite of protocols, which carry out specific tasks. As discussed above, the basic objective of IPSec is to provide a variety of sec urity facilities to traffic transmitting between a source and destination. In this scenario, a source or destination can be a host or a router. In addition, these facilities can be used for all packets sent or received, or simply to a particular kind of transmission such as FTP or telnet. Figure1 demonstrates how IPSec ensures the security of data transmission between a host and a destination (Clark, 2002): Figure 1IPSec Operation, Image Source: (Clark, 2002) In this diagram a red line is used to demonstrate that IPSec is implemented on the path between the Host B and Router 1. Basically, IPSec provides a variety of security mechanisms for securing transmissions over a network and these mechanisms can be implemented in different ways. Additionally, IPSec can perform operations on particular kind of traffic at the same time as remaining traffic is moved on a defenseless path. This process is clearly mentioned in the figure, in this figure 1 black links are used to demonstrate this ki nd of communication. A number of separate IPSec protected connections can be established between the two routers and between Host B and Router 1 (Clark, 2002). Implementation of security through IPSec In their paper, (Zheng & Zhang, 2009) provides a detailed discussion on the working of IPSec and the way it ensures the surety of transmission over a network. According to their viewpoint, IPSec implements the security in a network by maintaining the security associations (SAs). In this scenario, a security association is used as a basis to identify the security parameters that will be utilized in data transmission to make it protected, for instance IPSec security protocol, encryption algorithm, hash function and encryption key. Additionally, each security association is typically specified by an exclusive set of parameters such as destination IP address, security parameter index and security protocol. In addition, these associations are established after the negotiation between the co mmunicating hosts in the networks. IPSec is also responsible for maintaining a Security Policy Database (SPD). In fact, a network interface that is established using the IPSec, possesses a pair of Security Policy Database and Security Association Database, which help in processing incoming and outgoing IP packets. One entry of Security Association Database is equal to a security association, on the other hand, Security Policy Database entry refers to a security policy. In this scenario,

Comparison of Venus of Willendorf and the Lady of Auxerre Term Paper

Comparison of Venus of Willendorf and the Lady of Auxerre - Term Paper Example Artwork traces its origin back from the ancient days. The use of symbols by man has been in existence since time immemorial. Signs and symbols were used as a form of communication as they represented different objects, ideas, and even events. For example, the dove was used as a symbol of peace while the anchor represented hope. Symbols have also been used for confidentiality purposes; there are cases where some communities used symbols to preserve their secrets so that only members of the particular community would understand the message being conveyed and have any outsiders excluded from understanding. It has been argued that these symbols are not just mere fantasies and imaginations by man but contain some fragments of truth in them. The use of symbols has also received appreciation among Christians. This is evident from the writings of a Catholic scholar one Father Martin C. Darcy. From one of his books â€Å"The meaning and matter of history,† he appreciates the existence of poetic insight and myth and insists that they should not be written off. He goes ahead to note that myths and symbols created a link between the old age dry facts and the present day civilization. This, therefore, indicates that the signs and symbols that have always existed from time immemorial are of great significance to mankind and need to be studied in the depth to get to understand what they actually stand for. These sign and symbols convey important messages and lessons from the ancient times and should therefore not be ignored.   The Venus of Willendorf is artwork in the form of sculpture. This artwork is a statuette of an obese female figure approximately 11 cm high that is about 4.3 inches. Conspicuously, the feet supporting the obese figure are quite small and the ankles are not easily visible. The artwork behind the sculpture portrays vast knowledge in the field of anatomy.  

Gender Construction of Roles and Social Learning Theory

Gender Construction of Roles and Social Learning Theory Contextualizing- Gender and Social Background to the Private and Public livelihoods of African women in the Diaspora (Case study -Gothenburg, Sweden). Introduction People in every community are ascribed to gendered attributes that shape and impact their life styles. Darly and Rake (2003) contend that such gendered attributes involve sex relations encompassing resources, social roles and power relations. Hence, the perception and doing of gender is very subjective and much so inferred according to social contexts and history (Gruber and Stefanov, 2002). The implication here is that the significance and consequence of gender construction and the way it is practiced is discrete upon background and contextual factors. The baffle often comes when individuals and groups of people settle on willful or involuntary choices to relocate to new places that have distinctive gender constructions and practices. How are they likely to cope; are their interpretations likely to change and embrace new ones-thereby turning out to be totally transformed? Would their gender norms be inflexibly maintained? Or would people consolidate and get lost between different cu ltures? Gendered research into migration demonstrates that migrant women (particularly those who originate from the developing world) as a rule experience troubles grappling with their changed gender roles as they settle in other countries (Gavanas, 2010; Sawyer,2008; Deacon, 2009). This is on the account that gender roles in the diaspora tend to differ from those of their original nations. This is especially so in the Western World where these tend to give more autonomy, self-determination and freedom (Deacon, 2009). This study sought to examine and clarify how the gender divisions of roles influence the status and position of a group of African women (living in Gothenburg) inside their families as well as their general participation in the Swedish society. The research was conducted between January to June 2012, as part of the fullfullment for my master study at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. The main research question was; How does the gender division of roles affect the s tatus and position of a group of African women (living in Gothenburg), within and outside their families? The current report will discuss the analysis outcome of three interviews with African women. The process of analysis Analysis can take various approaches including, literal; interpretive; and reflexive (Welsh, 2002; Miles and Huberman,1994). Miles and Huberman (1994) identify three types of activities that make up the analysis process. First, is data reduction. This refers to the process of selecting, focusing, simplifying, abstracting and transforming the data that appear in written-up field notes or transcriptions (Miles and Huberman 1994, p.10). This procedure may likewise be known as data familialisation (Fielding Lee,1991), indicating a process of condensing and consolidating of the data to make it sensible. The second activity is data display.This refers to an organised, compressed assembly of information that permits conclusion drawing and action (Miles and Huberman 1994, p.11). This includes transforming expanded writings into instantly available, minimal frames of reference so that the researcher can perceive what is occurring and either reach defended determinations or proceed onward to the following phase of investigation.This can als be known as the decriptive (Fielding Lee,1991) stage of data analysis. The final activity of data analysis is conclusion drawing and verification. Drawing conclusions relates to deciding on the actual meaning of phenomenon, in otherwards data is explained. On the other hand, verification means testing meaning for their plausibility, their sturdiness, and their confirmability (Miles and Huberman 1994, p.11). These procedures happen persistently and iteratively and feed into each other, for the entire duration of the research. Advantages and disadvantages of Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software (CAQDAS). There are different software packages ranging from text retrievers, code and retrieve packages as well as theory building software (Gibbs, Friese and Mungabeira, 2002; Fielding Lee,1991). This section discusses the importance and shortcomings of using CAQDAS sduch as Nvivo. Utilizing CAQDAS can save time and energy of a qualitative researcher. This is mainly because CAQDAS can help with the mechanical aspects of qualitative data analysis which include marking up the highlighted text with the codes, generating reports, searching the text for key terms (Gibbs, Friese and Mungabeira, 2002) which would be time consuming, inconvenient and fatiguing (Lee and Fielding, 1995) for the researcher. Besides, this also decreases the mistakes which could lead to some aspects of data being ignored by the researcher perhaps due to some bias or omission. Despite this though, the art and interpretation depends on the individual researcher. As Gibbs, Friese and Mungabeira (2002) have argued that conceptual aspects of the analysis such as reading the text, interpreting it, creating coding schemes and identifying useful searches and reports all depend on human art ( p.4). CAQDAS can enable teamwork and exchange of ideas throughout the whole analysis process which can thus reduce on delays and also help with member checking as ideas develop. The research team does so by uploading all filed notes into the software and these may be easily shared among them electronically (Lee and Fielding, 1995). The only challenge with this way of working is that attention paid to issue salience or uniqueness of cases and situations may be reduced as teams try to share ideas. CAQDAS such as NVivo decreases boredom which might be experienced in the repetitive procedure of transcribing and creating codes all through to the report writing stage. This is possible because other than the ordinary style working with just plain texts, these programs allow for incorporation of rich text, audio, videos and any multimedia data (Gibbs, Friese and Mungabeira, 2002) which can make the entire process of analysis interactive and engaging for researchers. The risk associated with this is ambiguity because as researchers attempt to deal with a blend of information, consideration might be moved to videos and the richness of content might be ignored. This may lessen the sort of depth of interpretation which they can give to any of the material. Aside from that, the software is not free, one may likewise require extra training in order to have the capacity to utilize it effectively. CAQDAS can also help to make the analysis process more effective and transparent more than the manual method. This helps to improve the quality of the research that is produced. Gibbs, Friese and Mungabeira (2002 ) argue that while in quantitative research there can be techniques for checking authenticity, this might be hard for qualitative researchers.The counter contention by Welsh (2002) is that validity and reliability difficulties still exist notwithstanding when the analysis is done using a software, as a result of the fluid and creative routes through which the themes emerge; suggesting that the human analysist is especially vital and cannot be separated from this process. Additionally, the theoretical lens through which the researcher uses to approach the phenomena, the strategies that the researcher uses to collect and construct data and his or her epistemological understandings about what might be relevant in answering the questions are all analytic process and influence da ta (Thorne 2000, p.68). Hence, the analytic process may not be entirely distinguishable from the actual data produced (Thorne, 2000). That said, we cannot deny the fact that CAQDAS provides an efficient and smarter way of sorting and organizing data for proper management and analysis; much as it is critical to reflect on how much the software can be able to do. The software is not capable of undertaking the intellectual and conceptual procedures which are necessary for transforming data into useful research (Welsh, 2002; Thorne, 2000; Fielding Lee,1991). Process of analysis First, I uploaded the transcripts into NVivo 11 software. After that, I started developing general codes according to the study goals (Bazeley Richards,2000). However, as I read the transcripts over and over again, new nodes kept on emerging. With a full list of numerous nodes, I realised that some nodes actually expressed the same idea and could be merged, so I categorised and classified the related nodes, cut and pasted them into the parent nodes and came up with broader and expanded nodes. Bazeley Richards (2000) assert that codes can are essential for identifying topics, themes or issues and unite the data segments. Categorising the nodes helped me to get rid of the redundant nodes. And actually a few redundant nodes which I had formulated earlier on, have been excluded from the analysis since they could not add up to any thick description of the data. This exercise involved an iterative and reflective process of working back and forth through the transcripts so as to avoid mer ging nodes that expressed different ideas. I also made descriptions and memos as I coded which helped me to reflect on the nodes afterwards. This was also important in developing a deeper analysis of the data. Interview transcripts were analyzed through induction following a phenomenological approach. An analytic induction explores patterns and relationships in the data and uses such to generate tentative hypotheses or ideas so as to develop general conclusions or theory.I will borrow a few features from Grounded theory approach advanced by Strauss and Corbin (1990) and Miller (2000). The grounded theory approach allows for continuous and repetitive working with the findings in order to develop themes which can be built into models arising from the data. mechanisms of women towards addressing their health needs. The grounded theory approach was useful to draw comparisons (Thorne, 2000) between married women and the single woman. Thus, much as there are elements of grounded theory within my analytical approach, my research took a more inductive and phenomenological approach. All interview data were be analyzed using a phenomenological approach done in stages as proposed by (Hycner 1985,p.28 0-293). Firstly, Interview were transcibed verbatim and literally in the way it was it will be presented by respondents. In addition, all nonverbal and para- linguistic communications (Hycner, 1985) from the interviews were noted so as to draw meaning from them.Secondly, I engaged in bracketing and phenomenological reduction. Bracketing involves suspension of the researchers meanings and interpretations and entering into the unique world of the individual who was interviewed while (Hycner 1985). , Keen (1975, p.38 in Hycner 1985) alludes that: The phenomenological reduction is a conscious, effortful, opening of ourselves to the phenomenon as a phenomenon. And since, I already had the transcripts,I read through them with openness to derive meaning.The third stage involves listening to the interview or reading the transcription several times to get a sense of the whole. Hycner 1985 states that as you listen or read, its imporatnt to make memos; which aid in delineating the units of general mea ning. This fourth stage is about crystallization and condensation of the what the respondents said leading to a unit of general meaning while referring to the reseacrh question (p.282).This involves paying attention to the actual content of the findings while referring to the initial research question to see if the collected data is relevant and at this point irrelevant findings might be excluded from the analysis. Next is to have independent judges to verify the units of relevant meaning to see if the findings are authentic, then redundancies are taken out, depending on both the literal content and looking at the number of times and the way meanings were mentioned. The other step is clustering units of relevant meaning. This is an iterative process of working through the units of meaning through examining their essence. This also depends on the context under which a unit was mentioned. Next is to determine central themes from these clusters of meaning. This also involves interrogating the clusters as well as working through the segments of the transcript. After this, next a summary of individual interviews is done while trying to incorporate the themes, this also gives a sense of the whole. After this, Hycner recommends to do validity check with our interviewees to see if what we have actually represents what they tried to bring forward. In my research this process will be done retrospectively, that is, immediately after interviewing. After this then, themes are modified and then general and unique themes are identified for all the interviews. This step looks out for common themes in all the interviews as well as individual variations or uniqueness and these clustered under general themes. This step requires patience so as not to merge themes that do not match or are somewhat unique without which the significance of some themes may be lost. Finally, is the contextualization of themes. This step requires that all the general and unique themes from the rigorous process are placed back into the initial contexts from which they developed so as to get a deeper understanding of the phenomenon under investigation. As such the analysis is presented with evidence from the actual words of the interviewees. Hycner (1985) alludes that the process takes fourteen steps but in this research, some of these were done simultaneously as the research progressed. The phenomenological approach is not without limitations. For example, phenomenological analysis is associated with of the following challenges; Phenomenological analysis may be very exhausting if you are dealing with large amounts of data and since it is suitable for few cases, the data may be difficult to generalise. This holds water but does not eliminate the value of the findings since these usually represent the experience of individuals which is itself unique and informative (Hycner 1985). Secondly, there is the issue of randonmness and the subjective influence of the resaercher. The citisim is that respondents are selected because of who they are, or depending on their experienece with the phenomena. As result there might be subjective influence in both interviewing and in analysing data. The women were chosen purposefully to provide their experince, but the analysis has undergone a thoruogh process. Findings Gender and gender role formation Gender refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women (WHO, 2017). Gender categorization portrays cultural values and norms and is therefore an outcome of extensive interactions between individual socialization processes inside families and broader social-cultural order (Becker-Schmidt 1993, cited in Gruber and Stefanov, 2002). Buckingham-Hatfield (2000, p. 67) contends that the gender identity that individuals acquire over time infers two types of connections, that between the two genders and that between gender and society Gender roles thus allude to the degree to which standards and practices are social and patterned for women and men (Darly and Rake, 2003). The data shows that women mainly predominate in the traditional gender roles like cooking, taking care of children, doing laundry work and making their homes neat. I dont even relax in the evening, I come back directly in the kitchen, starts cooking and then we eat around six oclock then we see homework and what happened at school and then you prepare them for bed (Married woman) Womanly in my view, I mean taking care of the home, having meals done and checking on the childrens work and following up to see that their home works are done, (Single woman) In addition, all the women indicated that they are bread winners. Contrastingly, the married women work mainly to supplement their husbands income but not necessarily to enhance their positions. As such, the married women take on part time work so that they can balance that with home assignments while the single woman labours to sustain her family. Kunovich and Kunovich (2008) contrasts that married women have less egalitarian attitudes toward housework and childcare compared with single women; that even in nations with more noteworthy gender equality (like Sweden) only have more libertarian attitudes toward separate spheres of work, yet not toward housework or childcare. On this account, Gavanas (2010) demonstrates that in European settings, care and household labor have been traditionally viewed as womens domaincarriedout for free as a labor of love. Determinants of womens roles The Swedish values and laws emerged as some of the factors that determine womens roles. According to the Swedish Ministry of Integration and Gender Equality (2009), the Swedish gender equality policy is aimed at fighting and changing systems that preserve the sex-based appropriation of power and resources in society; and, guaranteeing that women and men appreciate similar power and chances to shape their own lives. Such impacts however usually stream less to the immigrants henceforth Swedens gender equality discourse is dominated by various leveled classification of the population into Swedes and immigrants with representations of gender unequal immigrants being eminent(Towns 2002, p.157). Additionally, numerous migrant women are utilized in the informal economy, especially as domestic workers, mind specialists, nurses or entertainers- henceforth, reinforcing conventional gender segregation and inequalities in the labor market (Anja and Andrea 2010, p.48). None the less, Brettell (20 08) has put light to the new changes which happen in family and kinship patterns as an outcome of migration and highlighted the feeling of control that women gain as immigrants. To some extent, the women I interviewed have adopted the Swedish values of equality in their homes. This is partially because they are married to Swedish partners who are used to the values of equality and thus, occasionally accept to take on household chores flexibility. Yeah thats something special for Sweden. And also then taking paternity leave, its very special for Sweden because also a dad participates (Married woman) he earns more than me and he makes more decisions than me but also being in Sweden and being married to a Swedish person, they are very much about equality (Married woman) Further on, women have adopted equality values because of the demands on women. Women have familial roles yet they also have to work outside the home. Metz-Gckel (1993) and Becker-Schmidt and Knapp (1995) contended that the structural significance of gender is attached to the dual role of women in society from one perspective in the private reproductive sphere controlled by patriarchal power structures and then again in the market initiated societal sphere under the control of the profit-oriented organization of the productive sphere (cited in Gruber and Stefanov 2002, p. 3). Yeah its because I have changed, I have changed. I came to understand that its very important to help each other especially in this, this Europe. (Married woman) Aside from demands, the women have also been influenced by the Swedish women whom they see as autonomous and independent in the way they live their lives. These relationships have made African women to reflect on their positions within their families. Again being here and looking at Swedish women here, the way they are independent, the relationships between a man and a woman (Married woman) Yeah in one way I think, I have friends, I have Swedish friends and you see how people live, and you see them in the homes, how things are done, when I talk to my friends they say I did this, and it can a little bit yeah it can help you out (Married woman) The challenge however is that because of the hierarchical gender relationship, male dominance controls the private and public spheres (Gruber and Stefanov, 2002; LeVine, 1966). Despite that, adopting the Swedish values of equality has empowered the women to be able to discuss their grievances with their husbands. Norms also determine what women do inside their families and in general society circles. Each of the respondents battled that there are specific obligations which should be for women and others for men. In their view, the light tasks and those which are less stressful like dealing with the little things in the house are feminine. Male duties are those that need skill like fixing bulbs and those that require monetary assets like dealing with bills. This was alluded to irrespective of marital status. For stance, the single woman was content with the freedom she has-being the major decision maker for her children and family yet communicated trouble with taking care of bills. I think Im comfortable, they are moments when I sit and I think, now I think I need a husband in my life who is going to pay for the rent, I dont want to pay rent, I mean there are times, when I really have this mind that I need to turn down and also feel like a woman (Single woman) once my mother called and then she asked me where I was and I said ok- Im in the living room watching TV, and your husband? I said he is in the kitchen doing dishes so my mother was very hungry on the phone. What! You are sitting and your husband is in the kitchen doing dishes, I didnt teach you that. I was like ok, mama, this is Europe. Yeah its Europe but you are not European (Married woman) Social role theory deduces that people occupy positions in social structures associated with roles that may either be attributed or achieved (Payne, 1997). The model clarifies that the societal division of work produces diffuse gender roles for specific genders and in this way confers broad expectations depending on each gender (Diekman and Schneider, 2010). This sort of development implies that men and women take part in different household assignments to demonstrate and reaffirm their gendered selves as expected of them by others. Personality also emerged as an imperative component that determines womens roles and workload inside their families. For example, one woman insinuated the way she appreciates doing the family tasks yet for some, they are perfectionists trusting that they know best what is useful for their families. All these decide the workload of women and additionally whether they are ready to request for support from their partners and friends. But I sometimes feel that I take too much also and that way Patrick balances me and he tells me I dont think you need to do this, although you have made a commitment here and there. Its personality. (Married woman) I would say that I as a person Im a strong person who would really like to take on what Im not unable to do (Single woman) On the other hand, personality decides womens engagement in the public sphere. Women who are open and ready to connect with the wider society say, through welcoming friends to their homes really have a bigger network or social contacts and a number of social activities to engaged in. I mean naturally Im born, Im a social person. So I easily create social contacts and through that I see that Im reaching out more to others So in that way I have more activities than I really want. (Single woman) like I said, Swedes are very cold people, very difficult to have, its hard to have a relationship with a Swede, I remember I really worked on it because I wanted to meet them. I remember I was calling, inviting people home and all the friends we have now are from me, I mean from my efforts. I did really effort to have them (Married woman) Socialisation is the other factor that determines womens roles. Women implied the way they were raised and indicated pride for their social childhood. The Social learningtheory explains how gender roles are produced in everyday lives particularly in childhood depending on the setting. The model is grounded on three main concepts including, observational learning, imitation, and modeling (Ormrod, 1999). This theory deduces that behavior is acquired through re-enforcements and modeling; however, in the absence of these, social learning may occur through observation and imitation of others (Golombok and Fivush 1994, p.76). Subsequently, gender role practices are acquired through the same procedures as every other conduct (Bandura, 1977, cited in Golombok and Fivush 1994, p.76).Miller (2011) demonstrates that the interplay between cognitive, affective, biological, and socio structural aspects influence the process of gender role development. Many women alluded to their childhood and the qualities they saw and learnt as children. I think its me. I think its also has to do with African upbringing and being the eldest. (Married woman) You have to help your parents. Because I remember when my dad told us about that. We were there not to just lay back and sleep but we were there to help our mum (Married woman) Interestingly these women are married to Swedish partners but one of them maintained that her Swedish partner emphasised the patriarchal structure through encouraging her to maintain her African thing. Now this is not known if this particular husband is really happy with the so called African thing or if it is a strategy for him to relax as the woman takes on the donkey work. Like I said from the beginning my husband is more African than- I mean more Congolese than me, he says to me E, I feel you are losing that African thing when I tell him my husband help me he says that E, men in Africa are not in the kitchen. (Married woman) In the African tradition, family and kinship are the most imperative institutions and social life is mainly structured on norms (Therborn, 2004); thus gender is generally a collective classification with regard to general norms and values (Adkins and Lury 1995, in Gruber and Stefanov, 2002). Therborn (2004, p.118) alludes that African custom is for male control of women and that wifely subordination is still a major phenomenon of African social life. Spirituality is likewise critical in determining what roles women take on as well as the decisions they make for themselves and their families. All the women said that they are Christians and that God is an essential figure in whatever they do. As one of them described, Of course Prayer is the foundation that builds a home. Indeed, they all specified congregational activities as a major aspect of the social activities they take an interest in. One of them recounted, I devoted my life ever since I came to Sweden to do Gods work and that I can do, normally when you are doing dishes, you dont clash with any one. When you are doing your cleaning or dishes (Single woman) These responses mirror Foucaults elucidation of the social distribution of roles by referring to nature. He alludes that gods directly prepared the womans nature for indoor works and the man for works of the open air. Thus, the natural oppositeness of man and woman and the specificity of their aptitudes are indissociably tied to the good order; and inversely, order demands them as obligations (Foucault 1984, in p.158-159). Impact of roles on the status of women One of the effects of gender roles on women has to do with sacrifice. The dual role of women, makes it is inevitable for women to make sacrifices. They need to negotiate between seeking after their careers or to tend to their families. For instance, all the women perceived the significance of education and actually disclosed that they had enrolled for training courses. However, this meant negotiations on the priorities, they felt that they needed to deal with their family demands to start with, before they could consider undertaking courses or even pursue careers. Moreover, women do take on part time jobs as a sacrifice for their families particularly when they have little children. The less priority which women ascribe to activities outside the family further suggests that in the meantime, they forfeit their own economic progress. Family reasons, I mean my children are still young and I had to settle down in my job and I mean, somehow have a base in my working life and also balance it with the children at home, because now being a single mother in Sweden, it takes up all the energy and everything that I have so then I havent been able to take on extra studies beyond what I can do on a normal day. (Single woman) I dont work full time. From the beginning we decided with my husband that I will not do full time. He did- doing full time. We felt like I was needed home (Married woman) These discoveries are not unique to these women. Research elsewhere demonstrates that women are more committed to the private sphere as moms, carers and domestic workers while men are more concentrated in the public circles (Buckingham-Hatfield, 2000; Donato et al, 2006). For instance, in a survey of European women, it was discovered that 90 percent of women valued the family as the most significant sphere of their life (Gruber and Stefanov 2002, p.21). Besides, women are also not completely accepted in the public arena but are rather permitted to participate there just on sufferance (Buckingham-Hatfield, 2000). Thus, for majority of partnerships in Central Europe, housework and caring for children are undertakings performed principally by women while fathers primarily play and only share their leisure activities with the children; yet women who struggle to be productive need to sacrifice child care and much more house work to the formal paid employment (Esping-Andersen, 2009; Grube r and Stefanov, 2002). Finally, power developed as one of the advantages that women derive from the sort of roles they undertake. Because women take care of the homes and children, they are more required in basic leadership and decision making particularly in matters regarding household welfare. This is for both the married and the single woman. In any case, the reasons behind this control are distinctive. The single woman derives her power from the reality that she is the sole provider in the home; whereas for the married women, it is mostly in light of the fact that their spouses tend to distance themselves from family unit matters. I have freedom of independence that at times I feel in myself and say thank you Lord, Im able to make decisions on my own whether I make wrong decisions I come back to myself and say I did that wrongà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Independent in every way economic, social, independent woman, very powerful. (single woman) Keeping in mind the end goal to see how gender roles, impinge on the societal position and prosperity of women in the private and open circles; it is reasonable to consider the measure of assets at womens disposal and also power relations (Sen, 2001). Such viewpoints explain the agency aspects (like, womens earning power, ability to act, economic role outside the family, literacy and education, property rights) which exceptionally contribute to womens voice, independence and empowerment (Sen ,2001). For example, working outside the home and acquiring an autonomous wage enhances and upgr

A Game of Thrones Chapter Twenty-two

Arya Her father had been fighting with the council again. Arya could see it on his face when he came to table, late again, as he had been so often. The first course, a thick sweet soup made with pumpkins, had already been taken away when Ned Stark strode into the Small Hall. They called it that to set it apart from the Great Hall, where the king could feast a thousand, but it was a long room with a high vaulted ceiling and bench space for two hundred at its trestle tables. â€Å"My lord,† Jory said when Father entered. He rose to his feet, and the rest of the guard rose with him. Each man wore a new cloak, heavy grey wool with a white satin border. A hand of beaten silver clutched the woolen folds of each cloak and marked their wearers as men of the Hand's household guard. There were only fifty of them, so most of the benches were empty. â€Å"Be seated,† Eddard Stark said. â€Å"I see you have started without me. I am pleased to know there are still some men of sense in this city.† He signaled for the meal to resume. The servants began bringing out platters of ribs, roasted in a crust of garlic and herbs. â€Å"The talk in the yard is we shall have a tourney, my lord,† Jory said as he resumed his seat. â€Å"They say that knights will come from all over the realm to joust and feast in honor of your appointment as Hand of the King.† Arya could see that her father was not very happy about that. â€Å"Do they also say this is the last thing in the world I would have wished?† Sansa's eyes had grown wide as the plates. â€Å"A tourney,† she breathed. She was seated between Septa Mordane and Jeyne Poole, as far from Arya as she could get without drawing a reproach from Father. â€Å"Will we be permitted to go, Father?† â€Å"You know my feelings, Sansa. It seems I must arrange Robert's games and pretend to be honored for his sake. That does not mean I must subject my daughters to this folly.† â€Å"Oh, please,† Sansa said. â€Å"I want to see.† Septa Mordane spoke up. â€Å"Princess Myrcella will be there, my lord, and her younger than Lady Sansa. All the ladies of the court will be expected at a grand event like this, and as the tourney is in your honor, it would look queer if your family did not attend.† Father looked pained. â€Å"I suppose so. Very well, I shall arrange a place for you, Sansa.† He saw Arya. â€Å"For both of you.† â€Å"I don't care about their stupid tourney,† Arya said. She knew Prince Joffrey would be there, and she hated Prince Joffrey. Sansa lifted her head. â€Å"It will be a splendid event. You shan't be wanted.† Anger flashed across Father's face. â€Å"Enough, Sansa. More of that and you will change my mind. I am weary unto death of this endless war you two are fighting. You are sisters. I expect you to behave like sisters, is that understood?† Sansa bit her lip and nodded. Arya lowered her face to stare sullenly at her plate. She could feel tears stinging her eyes. She rubbed them away angrily, determined not to cry. The only sound was the clatter of knives and forks. â€Å"Pray excuse me,† her father announced to the table. â€Å"I find I have small appetite tonight.† He walked from the hall. After he was gone, Sansa exchanged excited whispers with Jeyne Poole. Down the table Jory laughed at a joke, and Hullen started in about horseflesh. â€Å"Your warhorse, now, he may not be the best one for the joust. Not the same thing, oh, no, not the same at all.† The men had heard it all before; Desmond, Jacks, and Hullen's son Harwin shouted him down together, and Porther called for more wine. No one talked to Arya. She didn't care. She liked it that way. She would have eaten her meals alone in her bedchamber if they let her. Sometimes they did, when Father had to dine with the king or some lord or the envoys from this place or that place. The rest of the time, they ate in his solar, just him and her and Sansa. That was when Arya missed her brothers most. She wanted to tease Bran and play with baby Rickon and have Robb smile at her. She wanted Jon to muss up her hair and call her â€Å"little sister† and finish her sentences with her. But all of them were gone. She had no one left but Sansa, and Sansa wouldn't even talk to her unless Father made her. Back at Winterfell, they had eaten in the Great Hall almost half the time. Her father used to say that a lord needed to eat with his men, if he hoped to keep them. â€Å"Know the men who follow you,† she heard him tell Robb once, â€Å"and let them know you. Don't ask your men to die for a stranger.† At Winterfell, he always had an extra seat set at his own table, and every day a different man would be asked to join him. One night it would be Vayon Poole, and the talk would be coppers and bread stores and servants. The next time it would be Mikken, and her father would listen to him go on about armor and swords and how hot a forge should be and the best way to temper steel. Another day it might be Hullen with his endless horse talk, or Septon Chayle from the library, or Jory, or Ser Rodrik, or even Old Nan with her stories. Arya had loved nothing better than to sit at her father's table and listen to them talk. She had loved listening to the men on the benches too; to freeriders tough as leather, courtly knights and bold young squires, grizzled old men-at-arms. She used to throw snowballs at them and help them steal pies from the kitchen. Their wives gave her scones and she invented names for their babies and played monsters-and-maidens and hide-the-treasure and come-into-my-castle with their children. Fat Tom used to call her â€Å"Arya Underfoot,† because he said that was where she always was. She'd liked that a lot better than â€Å"Arya Horseface.† Only that was Winterfell, a world away, and now everything was changed. This was the first time they had supped with the men since arriving in King's Landing. Arya hated it. She hated the sounds of their voices now, the way they laughed, the stories they told. They'd been her friends, she'd felt safe around them, but now she knew that was a lie. They'd let the queen kill Lady, that was horrible enough, but then the Hound found Mycah. Jeyne Poole had told Arya that he'd cut him up in so many pieces that they'd given him back to the butcher in a bag, and at first the poor man had thought it was a pig they'd slaughtered. And no one had raised a voice or drawn a blade or anything, not Harwin who always talked so bold, or Alyn who was going to be a knight, or Jory who was captain of the guard. Not even her father. â€Å"He was my friend,† Arya whispered into her plate, so low that no one could hear. Her ribs sat there untouched, grown cold now, a thin film of grease congealing beneath them on the plate. Arya looked at them and felt ill. She pushed away from the table. â€Å"Pray, where do you think you are going, young lady?† Septa Mordane asked. â€Å"I'm not hungry.† Arya found it an effort to remember her courtesies. â€Å"May I be excused, please?† she recited stiffly. â€Å"You may not,† the septa said. â€Å"You have scarcely touched your food. You will sit down and clean your plate.† â€Å"You clean it!† Before anyone could stop her, Arya bolted for the door as the men laughed and Septa Mordane called loudly after her, her voice rising higher and higher. Fat Tom was at his post, guarding the door to the Tower of the Hand. He blinked when he saw Arya rushing toward him and heard the septa's shouts. â€Å"Here now, little one, hold on,† he started to say, reaching, but Arya slid between his legs and then she was running up the winding tower steps, her feet hammering on the stone while Fat Tom huffed and puffed behind her. Her bedchamber was the only place that Arya liked in all of King's Landing, and the thing she liked best about it was the door, a massive slab of dark oak with black iron bands. When she slammed that door and dropped the heavy crossbar, nobody could get into her room, not Septa Mordane or Fat Tom or Sansa or Jory or the Hound, nobody! She slammed it now. When the bar was down, Arya finally felt safe enough to cry. She went to the window seat and sat there, sniffling, hating them all, and herself most of all. It was all her fault, everything bad that had happened. Sansa said so, and Jeyne too. Fat Tom was knocking on her door. â€Å"Arya girl, what's wrong?† he called out. â€Å"You in there?† â€Å"No!† she shouted. The knocking stopped. A moment later she heard him going away. Fat Tom was always easy to fool. Arya went to the chest at the foot of her bed. She knelt, opened the lid, and began pulling her clothes out with both hands, grabbing handfuls of silk and satin and velvet and wool and tossing them on the floor. It was there at the bottom of the chest, where she'd hidden it. Arya lifted it out almost tenderly and drew the slender blade from its sheath. Needle. She thought of Mycah again and her eyes filled with tears. Her fault, her fault, her fault. If she had never asked him to play at swords with her . . . There was a pounding at her door, louder than before. â€Å"Arya Stark, you open this door at once, do you hear me?† Arya spun around, with Needle in her hand. â€Å"You better not come in here!† she warned. She slashed at the air savagely. â€Å"The Hand will hear of this!† Septa Mordane raged. â€Å"I don't care,† Arya screamed. â€Å"Go away.† â€Å"You will rue this insolent behavior, young lady, I promise you that.† Arya listened at the door until she heard the sound of the septa's receding footsteps. She went back to the window, Needle in hand, and looked down into the courtyard below. If only she could climb like Bran, she thought; she would go out the window and down the tower, run away from this horrible place, away from Sansa and Septa Mordane and Prince Joffrey, from all of them. Steal some food from the kitchens, take Needle and her good boots and a warm cloak. She could find Nymeria in the wild woods below the Trident, and together they'd return to Winterfell, or run to Jon on the Wall. She found herself wishing that Jon was here with her now. Then maybe she wouldn't feel so alone. A soft knock at the door behind her turned Arya away from the window and her dreams of escape. â€Å"Arya,† her father's voice called out. â€Å"Open the door. We need to talk.† Arya crossed the room and lifted the crossbar. Father was alone. He seemed more sad than angry. That made Arya feel even worse. â€Å"May I come in?† Arya nodded, then dropped her eyes, ashamed. Father closed the door. â€Å"Whose sword is that?† â€Å"Mine.† Arya had almost forgotten Needle, in her hand. â€Å"Give it to me.† Reluctantly Arya surrendered her sword, wondering if she would ever hold it again. Her father turned it in the light, examining both sides of the blade. He tested the point with his thumb. â€Å"A bravo's blade,† he said. â€Å"Yet it seems to me that I know this maker's mark. This is Mikken's work.† Arya could not lie to him. She lowered her eyes. Lord Eddard Stark sighed. â€Å"My nine-year-old daughter is being armed from my own forge, and I know nothing of it. The Hand of the King is expected to rule the Seven Kingdoms, yet it seems I cannot even rule my own household. How is it that you come to own a sword, Arya? Where did you get this?† Arya chewed her lip and said nothing. She would not betray Jon, not even to their father. After a while, Father said, â€Å"I don't suppose it matters, truly.† He looked down gravely at the sword in his hands. â€Å"This is no toy for children, least of all for a girl. What would Septa Mordane say if she knew you were playing with swords?† â€Å"I wasn't playing,† Arya insisted. â€Å"I hate Septa Mordane.† â€Å"That's enough.† Her father's voice was curt and hard. â€Å"The septa is doing no more than is her duty, though gods know you have made it a struggle for the poor woman. Your mother and I have charged her with the impossible task of making you a lady.† â€Å"I don't want to be a lady!† Arya flared. â€Å"I ought to snap this toy across my knee here and now, and put an end to this nonsense.† â€Å"Needle wouldn't break,† Arya said defiantly, but her voice betrayed her words. â€Å"It has a name, does it?† Her father sighed. â€Å"Ah, Arya. You have a wildness in you, child. ‘The wolf blood,' my father used to call it. Lyanna had a touch of it, and my brother Brandon more than a touch. It brought them both to an early grave.† Arya heard sadness in his voice; he did not often speak of his father, or of the brother and sister who had died before she was born. â€Å"Lyanna might have carried a sword, if my lord father had allowed it. You remind me of her sometimes. You even look like her.† â€Å"Lyanna was beautiful,† Arya said, startled. Everybody said so. It was not a thing that was ever said of Arya. â€Å"She was,† Eddard Stark agreed, â€Å"beautiful, and willful, and dead before her time.† He lifted the sword, held it out between them. â€Å"Arya, what did you think to do with this . . . Needle? Who did you hope to skewer? Your sister? Septa Mordane? Do you know the first thing about sword fighting?† All she could think of was the lesson Jon had given her. â€Å"Stick them with the pointy end,† she blurted out. Her father snorted back laughter. â€Å"That is the essence of it, I suppose.† Arya desperately wanted to explain, to make him see. â€Å"I was trying to learn, but . . . † Her eyes filled with tears. â€Å"I asked Mycah to practice with me.† The grief came on her all at once. She turned away, shaking. â€Å"I asked him,† she cried. â€Å"It was my fault, it was me . . . â€Å" Suddenly her father's arms were around her. He held her gently as she turned to him and sobbed against his chest. â€Å"No, sweet one,† he murmured. â€Å"Grieve for your friend, but never blame yourself. You did not kill the butcher's boy. That murder lies at the Hound's door, him and the cruel woman he serves.† â€Å"I hate them,† Arya confided, red-faced, sniffling. â€Å"The Hound and the queen and the king and Prince Joffrey. I hate all of them. Joffrey lied, it wasn't the way he said. I hate Sansa too. She did remember, she just lied so Joffrey would like her.† â€Å"We all lie,† her father said. â€Å"Or did you truly think I'd believe that Nymeria ran off?† Arya blushed guiltily. â€Å"Jory promised not to tell.† â€Å"Jory kept his word,† her father said with a smile. â€Å"There are some things I do not need to be told. Even a blind man could see that wolf would never have left you willingly.† â€Å"We had to throw rocks,† she said miserably. â€Å"I told her to run, to go be free, that I didn't want her anymore. There were other wolves for her to play with, we heard them howling, and Jory said the woods were full of game, so she'd have deer to hunt. Only she kept following, and finally we had to throw rocks. I hit her twice. She whined and looked at me and I felt so ‘shamed, but it was right, wasn't it? The queen would have killed her.† â€Å"It was right,† her father said. â€Å"And even the lie was . . . not without honor.† He'd put Needle aside when he went to Arya to embrace her. Now he took the blade up again and walked to the window, where he stood for a moment, looking out across the courtyard. When he turned back, his eyes were thoughtful. He seated himself on the window seat, Needle across his lap. â€Å"Arya, sit down. I need to try and explain some things to you.† She perched anxiously on the edge of her bed. â€Å"You are too young to be burdened with all my cares,† he told her, â€Å"but you are also a Stark of Winterfell. You know our words.† â€Å"Winter is coming,† Arya whispered. â€Å"The hard cruel times,† her father said. â€Å"We tasted them on the Trident, child, and when Bran fell. You were born in the long summer, sweet one, you've never known anything else, but now the winter is truly coming. Remember the sigil of our House, Arya.† â€Å"The direwolf,† she said, thinking of Nymeria. She hugged her knees against her chest, suddenly afraid. â€Å"Let me tell you something about wolves, child. When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. Summer is the time for squabbles. In winter, we must protect one another, keep each other warm, share our strengths. So if you must hate, Arya, hate those who would truly do us harm. Septa Mordane is a good woman, and Sansa . . . Sansa is your sister. You may be as different as the sun and the moon, but the same blood flows through both your hearts. You need her, as she needs you . . . and I need both of you, gods help me.† He sounded so tired that it made Arya sad. â€Å"I don't hate Sansa,† she told him. â€Å"Not truly.† It was only half a lie. â€Å"I do not mean to frighten you, but neither will I lie to you. We have come to a dark dangerous place, child. This is not Winterfell. We have enemies who mean us ill. We cannot fight a war among ourselves. This willfulness of yours, the running off, the angry words, the disobedience . . . at home, these were only the summer games of a child. Here and now, with winter soon upon us, that is a different matter. It is time to begin growing up.† â€Å"I will,† Arya vowed. She had never loved him so much as she did in that instant. â€Å"I can be strong too. I can be as strong as Robb.† He held Needle out to her, hilt first. â€Å"Here.† She looked at the sword with wonder in her eyes. For a moment she was afraid to touch it, afraid that if she reached for it it would be snatched away again, but then her father said, â€Å"Go on, it's yours,† and she took it in her hand. â€Å"I can keep it?† she said. â€Å"For true?† â€Å"For true.† He smiled. â€Å"If I took it away, no doubt I'd find a morningstar hidden under your pillow within the fortnight. Try not to stab your sister, whatever the provocation.† â€Å"I won't. I promise.† Arya clutched Needle tightly to her chest as her father took his leave. The next morning, as they broke their fast, she apologized to Septa Mordane and asked for her pardon. The septa peered at her suspiciously, but Father nodded. Three days later, at midday, her father's steward Vayon Poole sent Arya to the Small Hall. The trestle tables had been dismantled and the benches shoved against the walls. The hall seemed empty, until an unfamiliar voice said, â€Å"You are late, boy.† A slight man with a bald head and a great beak of a nose stepped out of the shadows, holding a pair of slender wooden swords. â€Å"Tomorrow you will be here at midday.† He had an accent, the lilt of the Free Cities, Braavos perhaps, or Myr. â€Å"Who are you?† Arya asked. â€Å"I am your dancing master.† He tossed her one of the wooden blades. She grabbed for it, missed, and heard it clatter to the floor. â€Å"Tomorrow you will catch it. Now pick it up.† It was not just a stick, but a true wooden sword complete with grip and guard and pommel. Arya picked it up and clutched it nervously with both hands, holding it out in front of her. It was heavier than it looked, much heavier than Needle. The bald man clicked his teeth together. â€Å"That is not the way, boy. This is not a greatsword that is needing two hands to swing it. You will take the blade in one hand.† â€Å"It's too heavy,† Arya said. â€Å"It is heavy as it needs to be to make you strong, and for the balancing. A hollow inside is filled with lead, just so. One hand now is all that is needing.† Arya took her right hand off the grip and wiped her sweaty palm on her pants. She held the sword in her left hand. He seemed to approve. â€Å"The left is good. All is reversed, it will make your enemies more awkward. Now you are standing wrong. Turn your body sideface, yes, so. You are skinny as the shaft of a spear, do you know. That is good too, the target is smaller. Now the grip. Let me see.† He moved closer and peered at her hand, prying her fingers apart, rearranging them. â€Å"Just so, yes. Do not squeeze it so tight, no, the grip must be deft, delicate.† â€Å"What if I drop it?† Arya said. â€Å"The steel must be part of your arm,† the bald man told her. â€Å"Can you drop part of your arm? No. Nine years Syrio Forel was first sword to the Sealord of Braavos, he knows these things. Listen to him, boy.† It was the third time he had called her â€Å"boy.† â€Å"I'm a girl,† Arya objected. â€Å"Boy, girl,† Syrio Forel said. â€Å"You are a sword, that is all.† He clicked his teeth together. â€Å"Just so, that is the grip. You are not holding a battle-axe, you are holding a—† â€Å"—needle,† Arya finished for him, fiercely. â€Å"Just so. Now we will begin the dance. Remember, child, this is not the iron dance of Westeros we are learning, the knight's dance, hacking and hammering, no. This is the bravo's dance, the water dance, swift and sudden. All men are made of water, do you know this? When you pierce them, the water leaks out and they die.† He took a step backward, raised his own wooden blade. â€Å"Now you will try to strike me.† Arya tried to strike him. She tried for four hours, until every muscle in her body was sore and aching, while Syrio Forel clicked his teeth together and told her what to do. The next day their real work began.