The War Of The Aesir And The Vanir - 935 Words

Jordan Root Ms.Takash Mythology 3rd Hour April 4th, 2016 The War of the Aesir and the Vanir In Norse mythology, gods and goddesses usually belong to one of two tribes: the Aesir and the Vanir. Throughout most of the Norse tales, deities from the two tribes get along fairly easily, and it’s hard to pin down firm distinctions between the two groups. But there was a time when that wasn’t the case. The War of the Gods The Vanir goddess Freya was always the foremost practitioner of the art of seidr, a form of magic principally concerned with discerning and altering the course of destiny. Like historical seidr practitioners, she wandered from town to town plying her craft for hire. Under the name Heià °r (â€Å"Bright†), she eventually came to Asgard, the home of the Aesir. The Aesir were quite taken by her powers and zealously sought her services. But soon they realized that their values of honor, kin loyalty, and obedience to the law were being pushed aside by the selfish desires they sought to fulfill with the witch’s magic. Blaming Freya for their own shortcomings, the Aesir called her â€Å"Gullveig† (â€Å"Gold-greed†) and attempted to murder her. Three times they tried to burn her, and three times she was reborn from the ashes. Because of this, the Aesir and Vanir came to hate and fear one another, and these hostilities erupted into war. The Aesir fought by the rules of plain combat, with weapons and brute force, while the Vanir used the subtler means of magic. The war went on for someShow MoreRelatedNorse Mythology vs. Greek Mythology Essay1069 Words   |  5 Pagesnon-human creatures: the Aesir and Vanir (gods), the Jotnar (giants), the à lfar (à lfar), Svartà ¡lfar (dark à lfar), and the Valkyries. The Aesir and the Vanir are your basic extraordinary immortals, though in Norse mythology the gods were thought to be mortal, only kept immortal by eating the apples of Idun. However, they could be slain even if they ate the apples. The Jotnar were giants or the Norse equivalent to the Greek titans, but the Jotnar did not fight with the gods in a war like the titans didRead MoreHow Asatru Is A Religion That Has Close Ties With Norse Mythology1060 Words   |  5 PagesModern Asatru is a folk or trib al religion. In the 20th century an Icelandic sheep farmer named Sveinbjà ¶rn Beinteinsson created an Asatru organization. The proper term for it is, à slenska à satrà ºarfà ©lagià ° which translates to Icelandic fellowship of Aesir faith. Beinteinsson even petitioned for Asatru to be a recognized religion in the early 1970s. After about a year of petitioning, Asatru became a known religion in Iceland. 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The Aesir and the Vanir are your basic extraordinary immortals, though in Norse mythology the gods were thought to be mortal, only kept immortal by eating the apples of Idun. However, they could be slain even if they ate the apples. The Jotnar were giants or the Norse equivalent to the Greek titans, but the Jotnar did not fight with the gods in a war like the titans didRead MoreNorse Mythology : Norse Myth Essay1711 Words   |  7 Pagesin turn could receive nutrients by licking the salt in the ice. While continuously licking the ice, Audhumbla slowly uncovered the first god of the Aesir, known as Buri. Buri had a son named Bor, who then went on to have three children with Bestla, the daughter o f another giant. These three half-god, half-giant children were Odin; chief of the Aesir gods, Vili, and Ve (Schomp 28). The three brothers decided to kill Ymir and use pieces of his corpse to create the world. His blood became the oceansRead MoreThe Gods Of The Norse2093 Words   |  9 Pagestongue. Next, a handsome man and his son appeared. The son, Borr, married a jotun maiden, Bestla. Together they had three sons who were so fair that they lit up the darkness around them. These three sons- Odin, Hoenir and Lodur were the first of the Aesir gods. They had the power to create a world. To do this the brothers had to kill Ymir first. Successfully, the brothers killed Ymir and pushed his body into Ginnungagap. Brine flowed from his wounds and flooded over the rim, creating the sea and killingRead MoreMisconception of the God of Lighting Marvels Version1610 Words   |  7 Pagesdestruction (Norse Mythology UXL Encyclopedia of World Mythology). The world of Norse Mythology was nine worlds all connected by the World Tree Yggdrasill. Each world had different families resided in each of them- Asgard (World of Aesirs), Vanaheimr (World of Vanirs), Helheim (World of the Dead), Midgard (World of Man), Svartalfahemir (World of Dwarves), Jotunheimr (World of Giants), Alfehmir (World of Elves), Niflhemir (Primordial Ice World of the Frost Giants), and Muspellshiemr (Primordial FireRead MoreHistorical And Textual Data Of The Mesopotamian Religion1973 Words   |  8 Pagesorganized colleges for the priests, appointed the leader of rites and the priests, and made up a calendar of festivals. There were three high gods that included Jupiter, Mars, and Quirinus. Jupiter was the god of thunder and the sky, MArs was the god of war and Quirinus was the legendary founder of Rome. Then there was Janus who originally was the god of the home’s doorway, later became identified with the power of the state. 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An Abstract on the Hubble Telescope - 792 Words

A Brief Examination of the Hubble Telescope Abstract The Hubble Telescope is a piece of technology that has affected human history. This paper will offer concise description of the telescopes history, function, and contribution to society. The Hubble Telescope is due to land within the next decade, approximately. We can only imagine what scientists will discover once the telescope is back on Earth and they prepare for the next generation of telescopic, deep-space gathering. Technology has made vast gains since 1990, the year the Hubble Telescope launched. The paper will be a brief, yet comprehensive discussion of the Hubble Telescope. Keywords: Hubble Telescope, Edwin Hubble, Goddard Space Flight Center, astronomy, astrophysics, telescope, photography A Brief Examination of the Hubble Telescope The Hubble Telescope, named after astronomer Edwin Hubble, has been in orbit over Earth for over thirty years. The telescoped launched in 1990. 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Bloodlines Chapter Eighteen Free Essays

â€Å"WHAT DO YOU MEAN ‘MISSING’?† I asked. â€Å"She was supposed to meet us a couple hours ago,† Eddie said, exchanging glances with Micah. â€Å"I thought maybe she was with you. We will write a custom essay sample on Bloodlines Chapter Eighteen or any similar topic only for you Order Now † â€Å"I haven’t seen her since PE.† I was trying hard not to kick into panic mode yet. There were too many variables at play and not enough evidence to start thinking crazy Moroi dissidents had kidnapped her. â€Å"This is a really big place – I mean, three campuses. Are you sure she isn’t just holed up studying somewhere?† â€Å"We’ve done a pretty exhaustive search,† said the security officer. â€Å"And teachers and workers are on alert looking for her. No sightings yet.† â€Å"And she isn’t answering her cell phone,† added Eddie. I finally let true fear overtake me, and my face must have shown it. The officer’s expression softened. â€Å"Don’t worry. I’m sure she’ll turn up.† It was the kind of conciliatory thing people in his profession had to say to family members. â€Å"But do you have any other ideas of where she might be?† â€Å"What about your other brothers?† asked Micah. I’d been afraid it would come to that. I was almost one hundred percent sure she wasn’t with Keith, but he should still probably be notified about her disappearance. It wasn’t something I looked forward to because I knew there’d be a lecture in it for me. It would also be a sign of my failure in the eyes of other Alchemists. I should have stayed by Jill’s side. That was my job, right? Instead, I’d – foolishly – been helping someone run errands. Not just anyone – a vampire. That’s how the Alchemists would see it. Vamp lover. â€Å"I was just with Adrian,† I said slowly. â€Å"I suppose she could’ve somehow gotten to Clarence’s and waited for him. I didn’t actually go inside.† â€Å"I tried Adrian too,† said Eddie. â€Å"No answer.† â€Å"Sorry,† I said. â€Å"We were doing his interviews, so he must have turned his phone off. Do you want to try him again?† I certainly didn’t want to. Eddie stepped aside to call Adrian while I talked with Mrs. Weathers and the officer. Micah paced around, looking worried, and I felt guilty for always wanting to keep him from Jill. The race thing was a problem, but he really did care about her. I told the officer all the places Jill liked to frequent on campus. They confirmed that they’d already checked them all. â€Å"You got ahold of him?† I asked when Eddie returned. He nodded. â€Å"She’s not there. I feel kind of bad, though. He’s pretty worried now. Maybe we should’ve waited to tell him.† â€Å"No†¦ actually, it might be a good thing.† I met Eddie’s eyes and saw a spark of understanding. Adrian’s emotions seemed to intrude on Jill when they were running strong. If he was panicked enough, she’d hopefully realize people were concerned and show back up. That was assuming she was just hiding out or had gone somewhere we couldn’t find. I tried not to consider the alternative: that something had happened where she couldn’t contact us. â€Å"Sometimes students just sneak off,† said the officer. â€Å"It’s inevitable. Usually they try to sneak back in before curfew. Hopefully that’s just the case now. If she doesn’t show up then – well, then we’ll call the police.† He walked off to radio the rest of security for a status check, and we thanked him for his help. Mrs. Weathers returned to the front desk, but it was clear she was worried and agitated. She came across as gruff sometimes, but I had the feeling she actually cared about her students. Micah left us to find a few friends of his who worked on campus, in case they’d seen anything. That left Eddie and me. Without conferring, we turned toward some chairs in the lobby. Like me, I think he wanted to stake out the door in order to see Jill the instant she showed up. â€Å"I shouldn’t have left her,† he said. â€Å"You had to,† I said reasonably. â€Å"You can’t be with her in classes or her room.† â€Å"This place was a bad idea. It’s too big. Too hard to secure.† He sighed. â€Å"I can’t believe this.† â€Å"No†¦ it was a good idea. Jill needs some semblance of a normal life. You could’ve locked her in a room somewhere and cut her off from all interaction, but what good would that do? She needs to go to school and be with people.† â€Å"She hasn’t done much of that, though.† â€Å"No,† I admitted. â€Å"She’s had a rough time with it. I kept hoping it’d get better.† â€Å"I just wanted her to be happy.† â€Å"Me too.† I straightened up as something alarming hit me. â€Å"You don’t think†¦ you don’t think she would’ve run away and gone back to her mom, do you? Or Court or somewhere?† His face grew even more bleak. â€Å"I hope not. Do you think things have been that bad?† I thought about our fight after the shower incident. â€Å"I don’t know. Maybe.† Eddie buried his face in his hands. â€Å"I can’t believe this,† he repeated. â€Å"I failed.† When it came to Jill, Eddie was usually all fierceness and anger. I’d never seen him so close to depression. I’d been living with the fear of my own failure since coming to Palm Springs but only now realized that Eddie had just as much on the line. I recalled Adrian’s words about Eddie and his friend Mason, how Eddie felt responsible. If Jill didn’t come back, would this be history repeating itself? Would she be someone else he’d lost? I’d thought this mission might be redemption for him. Instead, it could turn into Mason all over again. â€Å"You didn’t fail,† I said. â€Å"You’ve been in charge of protecting her, and you’ve done that. You can’t control her happiness. If anything, I’m to blame. I gave her a lecture for the shower incident.† â€Å"Yeah, but I destroyed her hopes when I told her the modeling idea Lee had wouldn’t work.† â€Å"But you were right about – Lee!† I gasped. â€Å"That’s it. That’s where she is. She’s with Lee, I’m certain of it. Do you have his number?† Eddie groaned. â€Å"I’m such an idiot,† he said, taking out his cell phone and scanning for the number. â€Å"I should’ve thought of that.† I touched the cross around my neck, saying a silent prayer that this would all be solved easily. As long as it meant Jill was alive and well, I could’ve handled her and Lee eloping. â€Å"Hey, Lee? It’s Eddie. Is Jill with you?† There was a pause as Lee responded. Eddie’s body language answered the question before I heard another word. His posture relaxed, and relief flooded his features. â€Å"Okay,† said Eddie a few moments later. â€Å"Well, get her back here. Now. Everyone’s looking for her.† Another pause. Eddie’s face hardened. â€Å"We can talk about that later.† He disconnected and turned to me. â€Å"She’s okay.† â€Å"Thank God,† I breathed. I stood up, only then realizing how tense I’d been. â€Å"I’ll be right back.† I found Mrs. Weathers and the security officer and relayed the news. The officer immediately spread the word to his colleagues and soon left. To my surprise, Mrs. Weathers almost looked like she was on the verge of tears. â€Å"Are you okay?† I asked. â€Å"Yes, yes.† She turned flustered, embarrassed at being so emotional. â€Å"I was just so worried. I – I didn’t want to say anything and scare you all, but every time a student’s missing†¦ well, a few years ago, another girl disappeared. We thought she’d just sneaked off – like Matt said, it happens. But it turned out†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Mrs. Weathers grimaced and looked away. â€Å"I shouldn’t be telling you this.† As if she could stop with that kind of intro. â€Å"No, please. Tell me.† She sighed. â€Å"The police found her a couple days later – dead. She’d been abducted and killed. It was terrible, and they never caught her killer. Now I just think of that whenever someone disappears. It’s never happened again, of course. But something like that scars you.† I could imagine so. And as I returned to Eddie, I thought about him and Mason again. It seemed like everyone was carrying baggage from past events. I certainly was. Now that Jill’s safety wasn’t a concern, all I kept thinking was: What will the Alchemists say? What will my father say? Eddie was just hanging up his phone again when I approached. â€Å"I called Micah to tell him everything’s okay,† he explained. â€Å"He was really worried.† All signs of Mrs. Weathers’s past trauma vanished the instant that Jill and Lee walked through the door. Jill actually looked upbeat until she saw all of our faces. She came to a halt. Beside her, Lee already looked grim. I think he knew what was coming. Eddie and I hurried forward but didn’t have a chance to speak right away. Mrs. Weathers immediately demanded to know where they’d been. Rather than cover it up, Jill confessed and told the truth: she and Lee had gone off campus, into Palm Springs. She was careful to make sure Lee didn’t get accused of any kidnapping charges, swearing he didn’t know she could only leave with approved family members. I confirmed this – though Lee was hardly off the hook in my opinion. â€Å"Will you wait outside?† I asked him politely. â€Å"I’d like to speak to you privately later.† Lee started to obey, flashing Jill a look of apology. He lightly brushed her hand in farewell and turned away. It was Mrs. Weathers who stopped him. â€Å"Wait,† she said, peering at him curiously. â€Å"Do I know you?† Lee looked startled. â€Å"I don’t think so. I’ve never been here before.† â€Å"There’s something familiar about you,† she insisted. Her frown deepened a few moments more. At last, she shrugged. â€Å"It can’t be. I must be mistaken.† Lee nodded, met Jill’s eyes in sympathy again, and left. Mrs. Weathers wasn’t done with Jill. She launched into a lecture about how dangerous and irresponsible they’d been. â€Å"If you were going to sneak off and break rules, you could’ve at least confided in your siblings. They’ve been scared to death for you.† It was almost funny, her advising on â€Å"responsible† rule-breaking. Considering how panicked I’d been, I couldn’t find anything amusing just then. She also told Jill that she’d be written up and punished. â€Å"For now,† said Mrs. Weathers, â€Å"you are confined to your room for the rest of the night. Come see me after breakfast, and we’ll find out if the principal thinks this warrants suspension.† â€Å"Excuse me,† said Eddie. â€Å"Can we have a few minutes alone here with her before she goes upstairs? I’d like to talk to her.† Mrs. Weathers hesitated, apparently wanting Jill’s punishment immediately enforced. Then she gave Eddie a double take. The look on his face was hard and angry, and I think Mrs. Weathers knew there was punishment of a different sort coming from Jill’s big brother. â€Å"Five minutes,† said Mrs. Weathers, tapping her watch. â€Å"Then up you go.† â€Å"Don’t,† said Jill, the instant we were alone. Her face was a mixture of fear and defiance. â€Å"I know what I did was wrong. I don’t need a lecture from you guys.† â€Å"Don’t you?† I asked. â€Å"Because if you knew it was wrong, you wouldn’t have done it!† Jill crossed her arms over her chest. â€Å"I had to get out of here. On my own terms. And not with you guys.† The comment rolled right off of me. It sounded young and petty. But to my surprise, Eddie actually looked hurt. â€Å"What’s that supposed to mean?† he asked. â€Å"It means that I just wanted to be away from this place without you always telling me what I’m doing wrong.† That was directed to me. â€Å"And you jumping at every shadow.† That, of course, was to Eddie. â€Å"I just want to protect you,† he said, looking hurt. â€Å"I’m not trying to smother you, but I can’t have anything happen to you. Not again.† â€Å"I’m in more danger from Laurel than any assassins!† Jill exclaimed. â€Å"Do you know what she did today? We were working in the computer lab, and she ‘accidentally’ tripped over my power cord. I lost half my work and didn’t finish in time, so now I’m going to get a lower grade.† A lesson on backing up work probably wouldn’t be useful just then. â€Å"Look, that’s really terrible,† I said. â€Å"But it’s not in the same category as getting yourself killed. Not by a long shot. Where exactly did you go?† For a moment, she looked as though she wasn’t going to give up the info. Finally, she said, â€Å"Lee took me to Salton Sea.† Seeing our blank looks, she added, â€Å"It’s a lake outside of town. It was wonderful.† An almost-dreamy expression crossed her features. â€Å"I haven’t been around that much water in so long. Then we went downtown and just walked around, shopping and eating ice cream. He took me to that boutique, with the designer who’s looking for models and – â€Å" â€Å"Jill,† I interrupted. â€Å"I don’t care how awesome your day was. You scared us. Don’t you get that?† â€Å"Lee shouldn’t have done this,† growled Eddie. â€Å"Don’t blame him,† said Jill. â€Å"I talked him into it – I made him think you guys wouldn’t mind. And he doesn’t know the real reason I’m here or the danger.† â€Å"Maybe dating was a bad idea,† I muttered. â€Å"Lee’s the best thing that’s happened to me here!† she said angrily. â€Å"I deserve to be able to go out and have fun like you guys.† ‘†Fun’? That’s kind of an exaggeration,† I said, recalling my afternoon with Adrian. Jill needed a target for her frustration, and I won the honor. â€Å"Doesn’t seem like it to me. You’re always gone. And when you aren’t, you just tell me what I’m doing wrong. It’s like you’re my mom.† I’d been wading through all of this calmly, but suddenly, something about that comment made me snap. My finely tuned control shattered. â€Å"You know what? I kind of feel that way too. Because as far as I can tell, I am the only one in this group behaving like an adult. You think I’m out there having fun? All I’m doing is babysitting you guys and cleaning up your messes. I spent my afternoon – wasted my afternoon – driving Adrian around so that he could blow off the interviews that I set up. Then I get here and have to deal with the aftermath of your ‘field trip.’ I get that Laurel’s a pain – although maybe if Micah had been warned off from the beginning, these problems with her never would’ve happened.† I directed that last comment at Eddie. â€Å"I don’t get why I’m the only one who sees how serious everything is. Vampire-human dating. Your lives on the line. These aren’t the kinds of things you can screw around with! And yet†¦ somehow, you all still do. You leave me to do the hard stuff, to pick up after you†¦ and all the while, I’ve got Keith and the other Alchemists breathing down my neck, waiting for me to screw up because no one trusts me since helping your pal Rose. You think this is fun? You want to live my life? Then do it. Step right up, and you start taking responsibility for a change.† I hadn’t yelled, but my volume had certainly gone up. I’d pretty much delivered my speech without taking a breath and now paused for some oxygen. Eddie and Jill stared at me, wide-eyed, as though they didn’t recognize me. Mrs. Weathers returned to us just then. â€Å"That’s enough for tonight. You need to go upstairs now,† she told Jill. Jill nodded, still a little stunned, and hurried away without saying goodbye to any of us. Mrs. Weathers walked her to the stairs, and Eddie turned to me. His face was pale and solemn. â€Å"You’re right,† he said. â€Å"I haven’t been pulling my share.† I sighed, suddenly feeling exhausted. â€Å"You’re not as bad as they are.† He shook his head. â€Å"Still. You might be right about Micah. Maybe he’ll keep some distance if I talk to him, and then Laurel will lay off Jill. I’ll ask him tonight. But†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He frowned, choosing his words carefully. â€Å"Try not to be too hard on Adrian and Jill. This is stressful for her, and sometimes I think a little of Adrian’s personality is leaking into her through the bond. I’m sure that’s why she ran off today. It’s something he’d do in her situation.† â€Å"No one forced her to do it,† I said. â€Å"Least of all Adrian. The fact that she coaxed Lee and didn’t tell us shows that she knew it was wrong. That’s free will. And Adrian has no such excuses.† â€Å"Yeah†¦ but he’s Adrian,† said Eddie lamely. â€Å"Sometimes I don’t know how much of what he does is him and how much is spirit.† â€Å"Spirit users can take antidepressants, can’t they? If he’s worried about it becoming a problem, then he needs to step up and take charge. He has a choice. He’s not helpless. There are no victims here.† Eddie studied me for several seconds. â€Å"And I thought I had a harsh view on life.† â€Å"You have a harsh life,† I corrected. â€Å"But yours is built around the idea that you always have to take care of other people. I was raised to believe that’s necessary sometimes but that everyone still needs to try to take care of themselves.† â€Å"And yet here you are.† â€Å"Tell me about it. You want to come talk to Lee with me?† All apology vanished from Eddie’s face. â€Å"Yes,† he said fiercely. We found Lee sitting on a bench outside, looking miserable. He jumped up when we approached. â€Å"You guys, I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have done it. She just sounded so sad and so lost that I wanted to – â€Å" â€Å"You know how protective we are of her,† I said. â€Å"How could you have not thought that this would worry us?† â€Å"And she’s a minor,† said Eddie. â€Å"You can’t just take her away and do whatever you want with her!† I admit, I was a little surprised that the threat to Jill’s virtue was what he chose to bring up. Don’t get me wrong – I was also conscious of her age. But after he saw her literally die, it seemed like Eddie would be worried about more than making out. Lee’s gray eyes went wide. â€Å"Nothing happened! I would never do anything like that to her. I promise! I’d never take advantage of someone so trusting. I can’t ruin this. She means more to me than any other girl I’ve dated. I want us to be together forever.† I thought being â€Å"together forever† was extreme at their ages, but there was a sincerity in his eyes that was touching. It still didn’t excuse what he’d done. He took our lecturing seriously and promised there would never be a repeat. â€Å"But please†¦ can I still see her when you’re around? Can we still do group things?† Eddie and I exchanged glances. â€Å"If she’s even allowed to leave campus after this,† I said. â€Å"I really don’t know what’s going to happen.† Lee left after a few more apologies, and Eddie also returned to his dorm. I was walking upstairs when my phone rang. Glancing down, I was startled to see my parents’ number in Salt Lake City on the caller ID. â€Å"Hello?† I asked. For a frantic moment, I hoped it was Zoe. â€Å"Sydney.† My father. My stomach filled with dread. â€Å"We need to talk about what’s happened.† Panic shot through me. How had he found out about Jill’s disappearance already? Keith jumped out as the obvious culprit. But how had Keith found out? Had he been at Clarence’s when Eddie called Adrian? Despite his flaws, I couldn’t imagine Adrian telling Keith what had happened. â€Å"Talk about what?† I asked, playing for time. â€Å"Your behavior. Keith called me last night, and I must say, I’m very disappointed.† â€Å"Last night?† This wasn’t about Jill’s disappearance. So what was it about? â€Å"You’re supposed to be coordinating efforts for that Moroi girl to blend in. You aren’t supposed to be out socializing with them and having a good time! I could hardly believe it when Keith said you took them out bowling.† â€Å"It was mini-golf, and Keith okayed it! I asked him first.† â€Å"And then I hear you’re helping all these other vampires run errands and whatnot. Your duty is only to the girl, and that is to do only what’s necessary for her survival – which I also hear you aren’t doing. Keith tells me there was an incident where you didn’t properly handle her difficulties in the sun?† â€Å"I reported that immediately!† I cried. I’d known Keith was planning to use that against me. â€Å"Keith – † I paused, thinking about the best way to handle this. â€Å"Misunderstood my initial report.† Keith had blown off my initial report, but telling my father his protege had lied would just put my father’s defenses up. He wouldn’t believe me. â€Å"And Keith’s one to talk! He’s always hanging out with Clarence and won’t say why.† â€Å"Probably to make sure he remains stable. I understand the old man isn’t all there.† â€Å"He’s obsessed with vampire hunters,† I explained. â€Å"He thinks there are humans out there that killed his niece.† â€Å"Well,† said my father, â€Å"there are some humans out there who catch on to the vampire world, those whom we can’t dissuade. Hardly hunters. Keith’s doing his duty by enlightening Clarence. You, however, are misguided.† â€Å"That’s not a fair comparison!† â€Å"Honestly, I blame myself,† he said. Somehow I doubted that. â€Å"I shouldn’t have let you go. You weren’t ready – not after what you went through. Being with these vampires is confusing you. That’s why I’m recalling you.† â€Å"What?† â€Å"If I had my way, it’d be right now. Unfortunately, Zoe won’t be ready for another two weeks. The Alchemists want her to undergo some testing before she gets her tattoo. Once she does, we’ll send her in your place and get you†¦ some help.† â€Å"Dad! This is crazy. I’m doing fine here. Please, don’t send Zoe – â€Å" â€Å"I’m sorry, Sydney,† he said. â€Å"You’ve left me no choice. Please don’t get into trouble in your remaining time.† He disconnected, and I stood in the hall, my heart sinking. Two weeks! Two weeks and they were sending Zoe. And me†¦ where were they sending me? I didn’t want to think about it, but I knew. I needed to stop this from happening. Wheels were already in motion. The tattoos, I suddenly thought. If I could finish my tests on the stolen substances and find out info about the blood supplier, I would earn the Alchemists’ regard – hopefully enough to take away the taint that Keith had put on me. And why had he done it? Why now? I knew he’d never wanted me along. Maybe he had just been biding his time, building up evidence against me until he could get me ousted in one fell swoop. I wouldn’t let him, though. I’d bust open this tattoo case and prove who the stellar Alchemist was. I had enough evidence now to get their attention and would simply turn in what I had if nothing new came to light within a week. The decision filled me with resolve, but I still had trouble sleeping when I went to bed later. My father’s threat hung over me, as did my fear of the reeducation centers. After about an hour of tossing and turning I finally dozed off. But even that was fitful and troubled. I woke up after only a few hours and then had to fall asleep all over again. This time, I dreamed. In the dream, I stood in Clarence’s living room. Everything was neat and in place, the dark wood and antique furniture giving the space its usual ominous feel. The details were surprisingly vivid, and it was like I could even smell the dusty books and leather on the furniture. â€Å"Huh. It worked. Wasn’t sure if it would with a human.† I spun around and found Adrian leaning against the wall. He hadn’t been there a moment ago, and I had a flash of that childhood fear of vampires appearing out of nowhere. Then I remembered this was a dream, and these kinds of things happened. â€Å"What weren’t you sure about?† I asked. He gestured around him. â€Å"If I could reach you. Bring you here into this dream.† I didn’t quite follow what he meant and said nothing. He arched an eyebrow. â€Å"You don’t know, do you? Where you are?† â€Å"At Clarence’s,† I said reasonably. â€Å"Well, in reality I’m asleep in my bed. This is just a dream.† â€Å"You’re half right,† he said. â€Å"This is a spirit dream. This is real.† I frowned. A spirit dream. Since most of our information about spirit was sketchy, we had hardly anything on spirit dreams. I’d learned most of what I knew about them from Rose, who had been frequently visited by Adrian in them. According to her, the dreamer and the spirit user were actually together, in a meeting of the minds, communicating across long distances. It was hard for me to fully grasp that, but I’d seen Rose wake up with information she wouldn’t have otherwise had. Still, I had no evidence to suggest I was really in a spirit dream now. â€Å"This is just a regular dream,† I countered. â€Å"Are you sure?† he asked. â€Å"Look around. Concentrate. Doesn’t it feel different? Like a dream†¦ but not like a dream. Not quite like real life either. Call it what you want, but the next time we see each other in the waking world, I’ll be able to tell you exactly what happened here.† I looked around the room, studying it as he’d suggested. Again, I was struck by the vividness of even the smallest details. It certainly felt real, but dreams often did†¦ right? You usually never knew you were dreaming until you woke up. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to still my mind. And like that, I felt it. I understood what he meant. Not quite like a dream. Not quite like real life. My eyes flew open. â€Å"Stop it,† I cried, backing away from him. â€Å"Make it end. Get me out of here.† Because in accepting that this really was a spirit dream, I’d had to acknowledge something else: I was surrounded in vampire magic. My mind was ensnared in it. I felt claustrophobic. The magic was pressing on me, crushing the air. â€Å"Please.† My voice grew more and more frantic. â€Å"Please let me go.† Adrian straightened up, looking surprised. â€Å"Whoa, Sage. Calm down. You’re okay.† â€Å"No. I’m not. I don’t want this. I don’t want the magic touching me.† â€Å"It won’t hurt you,† he said. â€Å"It’s nothing.† â€Å"It’s wrong,† I whispered. â€Å"Adrian, stop it.† He reached out a hand, like he might try to comfort me, and then thought better of it. â€Å"It won’t hurt you,† he repeated. â€Å"Just hear me out, and then I’ll dissolve it. I promise.† Even in the dream, my pulse was racing. I wrapped my arms around myself and backed up against the wall, trying to make myself small. â€Å"Okay,† I whispered. â€Å"Hurry.† â€Å"I just wanted to say†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He stuffed his hands in his pockets and glanced away uncomfortably before looking at me again. Were his eyes greener here than in real life? Or was it just my imagination? â€Å"I wanted to†¦ I wanted to apologize.† â€Å"For what?† I asked. I couldn’t process anything beyond my own terror. â€Å"For what I did. You were right. I wasted your time and your work today.† I forced my mind to dredge up memories from this afternoon. â€Å"Thank you,† I said simply. â€Å"I don’t know why I do these things,† he added. â€Å"I just can’t help it.† I was still terrified, still suffocating in the magic surrounding me. Somehow, I managed to echo my earlier conversation with Eddie. â€Å"You can take control of yourself,† I said. â€Å"You aren’t a victim.† Adrian had been gazing off, troubled by his thoughts. He suddenly jerked his gaze back to me. â€Å"Just like Rose.† â€Å"What?† Adrian held out his hand, and a thorny red rose suddenly materialized there. I gasped and tried to back up farther. He twirled the stem around, careful not to prick his fingers. â€Å"She said that. That I was playing the victim. Am I really that pathetic?† The rose wilted and crumpled before my eyes, turning to dust and then vanishing altogether. I made the sign against evil on my shoulder and tried to remember what we were talking about. â€Å"Pathetic’s not the word I’d use,† I said. â€Å"What word would you use?† My mind was blanking. â€Å"I don’t know. Confused?† He smiled. â€Å"That’s an understatement.† â€Å"I’ll check a dictionary when I wake up and get back to you. Can you please end this?† The smile faded to an expression of amazement. â€Å"You really are that scared, aren’t you?† I let my silence answer for me. â€Å"Okay, one more thing, then. I thought of another way I can get out of Clarence’s and get some money. I was reading about college and financial aid. If I took classes somewhere, do you think I could get enough to live on?† This was a concrete question I could deal with. â€Å"It’s possible. But I think it’s too late. Classes have started everywhere.† â€Å"I found a place on the internet. Carlton. A college on the other side of town that hasn’t started yet. But I’d still have to act fast, and†¦ that’s what I don’t know how to do. The paperwork. The procedures. But that’s your specialty, right?† â€Å"Sad but true,† I said. Some part of me thought Carlton sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it. He took a deep breath. â€Å"Will you help me? I know it’s making you babysit again, but I don’t know where to start. I promise I’ll meet you halfway, though. Tell me what I need to do, and I will.† Babysit. He’d been talking to Jill or Eddie or both. That was reasonable, though. He’d want to know that she was okay. I could only imagine how my tirade had been paraphrased. â€Å"You were in college before,† I said, recalling his record. I’d scoured it when putting together the ill-fated resume. â€Å"You dropped out.† Adrian nodded. â€Å"I did.† â€Å"How do I know you won’t this time? How do I know you aren’t just wasting my time again?† â€Å"You don’t know, Sage,† he admitted. â€Å"And I don’t blame you. All I can ask is that you give me another chance. That you try to believe me when I say I’ll follow through. That you believe I’m serious. That you trust me.† Long moments stretched out between us. I’d relaxed slightly, without even realizing it, though I remained up against the wall. I studied him, wishing I was better at reading people. His eyes were that green in real life, I decided. I just usually didn’t look at them so closely. â€Å"Okay,† I said. â€Å"I trust you.† Total shock filled his features. â€Å"You do?† I was no better at reading people than I had been ten seconds ago, but in that moment, I suddenly gained a flash of understanding into the mystery that was Adrian Ivashkov. People didn’t believe in him very often. They had low expectations of him, so he did as well. Even Eddie had sort of written him off: He’s Adrian. As though there was nothing to be done for it. I also suddenly realized that, as unlikely as it seemed, Adrian and I had a lot in common. Both of us were constantly boxed in by others’ expectations. It didn’t matter that people expected everything of me and nothing of him. We were still the same, both of us constantly trying to break out of the lines that others had defined for us and be our own person. Adrian Ivashkov – flippant, vampire party boy – was more like me than anyone else I knew. The thought was so startling that I couldn’t even answer him right away. â€Å"I do,† I said at last. â€Å"I’ll help you.† I shivered. The fear of the dream returned, and I just wanted this to be over. I would’ve agreed to anything to be back in my non-magical bed. â€Å"But not here. Please – will you send me back? Or end this? Or whatever it is?† He nodded slowly, still looking stunned. The room began to fade, its colors and lines melting like a painting left in the rain. Soon, all dimmed to black, and I found myself waking up in my dorm room bed. As I did, I just barely caught the sound of his voice in my mind: Thank you, Sage. How to cite Bloodlines Chapter Eighteen, Essay examples

Rapid Application Development free essay sample

Thesis statement. In a rapid changing environment, software systems must be delivered quickly in order to meet business delivery schedules. Spending months and years developing systems to high standards is fruitless if over time requirements change beyond recognition. Software development must serve its customers. Simple value-for-money systems that work are better than expensive and complex ones delivered late, over-budgeted and difficult to maintain. Abstract. Rapid Application Development (RAD) has long been promised to be a boon to the computing community. The idea is to develop a method of designing software so that the whole process is quick, painless and nearly effortless. RAD appears to have first become topical with the publication of a text by James Martin with the same title (Martin, 1992). In his publication Martin defines the main objectives of RAD as: high quality systems, fast development and delivery and low costs. RAD is an object-oriented approach to system development that includes a method of development as well as software tools. We will write a custom essay sample on Rapid Application Development or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page RAD is very similar to prototyping. Conceptually, their main purpose is to shorten the time in a traditional SDLC (system development life cycle) between the design and implementation. RAD is a helpful approach in new e-commerce web- based environments to make the difference by delivering an application to the web before their competitors. ? Hierarchical Structure of Topics: 1. History. 2. Essential aspects of RAD. 3. When to use RAD. 4. Disadvantages. 5. Conclusion. ? 1. History: Traditional lifecycles devised in the 1970s, and still widely used today (cascading, one-way steps of Stage wise or Waterfall), are based upon a structured step-by-step approach to developing systems. These old methods required revision and approval from the user before continuing with the next phase of development. This process can take too long and the customer’s requirements can change during the development cycle. Also it takes a long time before the user can see the results and is able to use the final product. In response to these rigid models of development Barry Boehm, Chief SW Engineer at TRW, introduced his Spiral Model. Through his model, Boehm first implemented software prototyping as a way of reducing risk. Other pioneer, Tom Gilb created another approach called Evolutionary Life Cycle. This one is based on an evolutionary prototyping rationale where the prototype is grown and refined into the final product. The work of Boehm and Gilb paved the way for the formulation of the methodology called Rapid Iterative Production Prototyping (RIPP) at DuPont in the mid-to-late 1980s. Then James Martin extended the work done at DuPont and elsewhere into a larger, more formalized process, which has become known as Rapid Application Development (RAD). ? Rapid Application Development is a term originally used to describe a software development process introduced by Martin in 1991. Martins methodology involves iterative development and the construction of prototypes. RAD compresses the step-by-step development of conventional methods into an iterative process. The RAD approach thus includes developing and refining the data models, process models, and prototype in parallel using an iterative process. More recently, the term and its acronym have come to be used in a broader, generic sense that encompasses a variety of techniques aimed at speeding application development, such as the use of web application frameworks and other types of software frameworks. . Essential aspects of RAD. RAD is normally seen with three or four phases and users are involved in all the phases. The first Phase The planning phase. Users and analysts need to identify the objectives of the application or system to identify information requirements arising from those objectives. This phase requires intense involvement from both groups not just signing a proposal. It may involve users from di fferent levels of the organization. The orientation in this phase is to solve business problems and the main purpose is to reach business goals. The second phase The design workshop. It is a design and refine phase. This phase is normally hands-on for all the participants. During the design workshop users respond to actual working prototypes and analysts refine the design models based on the user responses. If during this process, experienced users and analyst are part of the process, there is no doubt that this meeting can propel development forward at an accelerated rate. The third phase The implementation phase. In this phase, analysts and users are working together intensively to design the business or non-technical aspects of the system. When these aspects are agreed on, the systems are built and refined, the new systems or part of them are tested and introduced to the organization. The cutover phase If your team follows Martin’s approach normally because your team is replacing and old system with your RAD you will see this phase. In the cutover phase the new application is run in parallel with the old one in order to be tested, train the users and make any changes to the organizational procedures before the replacement of the old system occurs. If your project is implementing a completely new system you won’t have this phase there is no old system to run in parallel That’s why sometimes you only see three phases in RAD. Martin’s phases of RAD General Phases of RAD and the outputs of each phase Rapid Application Deployment Key Deliverables / Outputs RAD Development Phases RequirementsDesign / DevelopTest / Implement ?System Architecture / Preliminary Design Document ?Final Design Document ?System Code ?Test Plan / Scenarios ?Test Results ?User Documentation? Training Classes ?Final Service Level Agreement ?Operational Readiness USER IRM Sign-Off ?Project Closure Sign-Off Software tools for RAD The RAD methodology uses both computerized tools and human techniques to achieve the goals of high-speed and high quality. The success of any Rapid Application Development project is primarily dependent on the tools used. The power tools utilized in RAD are Computer-Aided Systems Engineering (CASE) tools. CASE tools have come a long way over the last two decades, helping us to overcome a lot of the software development problems through process innovations such as Rapid Application Development. Powerfully integrated CASE software is now available, as well as software that goes beyond traditional CASE limitations. CASE Maker’s Totem 5. 0 is one such product. Also software tools for RAD are often newer and often they are object-oriented tools, they include familiar programs such as: Microsoft Access, Microsoft Visual Basics, Microsoft Visual C++, and Microsoft Net. Most RAD applications have stayed on the small, PC-based side, although their true power may be for client/server applications that need to run across multiple platforms. The tools used should be easy to learn, powerful and allow the designers to interface their freshly minted application with other applications, databases and file types. Key objectives The key objectives of RAD are high quality systems, fast development and delivery and low costs. These objectives can be summed up in one sentence: the commercial need to deliver working business applications in shorter timescales and for less investment. A number of people see RAD as a complete approach to information systems development in that it covers the entire lifecycle, from initiation through to delivery. 3. When to use Rapid Application Development (RAD) Corporations have found that work organized stepwise incurs in unavoidable delays and errors as paper is handed off from person to person. Information Technology is one of the most powerful tools for breaking with traditional assumptions and rules about today’s business. One of the most innovative and successful change in IT business practices today is RAD. This new process takes advantage of automated tools and techniques to restructure the process of building information systems. RAD replaces hand-design and coding processes. These two processes depend a lot on the skills of isolated individuals. This slows down the process of development plus if the communication between these individuals is not good this will enormously affect the outcome of the team. Rapid Application Development is a better process, as it is much faster and less error prone than hand coding. Now days most organizations are faced with a large backlog of new systems to be developed. Over 65% of the typical Information System’s budget is spent on the maintenance of existing systems. Most of the time, these systems have little to no documentation and were developed with programming languages and database systems that are difficult and time consuming to change. There are two options for these companies upgrading their aging systems or building new applications. Conventional development lifecycles, however, are too slow and rigid to meet the business demands of today’s e-commerce. A new methodology must be implemented, one that allows organizations to build software applications faster, better, and cheaper. As an analyst, you will learn that certain applications and systems work will call for certain methodologies and that there is not a one size fits all. You can consider using RAD when: 1. Your team includes programmers and analysts who are experienced with RAD. 2. The project has pressing business reasons for speeding up a portion of an application development. 3. Your team is working with a novel e-commerce application and your development team believes that the customer’s business can sufficiently benefit over their competitors if as an innovator his application is among the first to appear on the Web. 4. The users are sophisticated and highly engaged with the organizational goals of the company. RAD enables analysts and developers the use of powerful CASE software which makes it possible for developers to create systems much faster than ever before. These new integrated CASE toolsets are breaking out of the bubble of traditional software development thought. They take application development beyond generation coding, just as generation, many years ago, surpassed textual coding. These tools enable a developer to drag-and-drop previously generated code, saving that developer the time and effort of individually hand-coding the text of the application. Common components The following appear to be the common components of RAD approaches: joint application design (JAD). RAD seems to be characterized by small development teams of typically four to eight persons. Such teams are made up of both developers and users who are empowered to make design decisions. This means that all RAD team members must be skilled both socially and in terms of the business. JAD workshops are usually expected to take place away from the business and developer environments in ‘clean’ rooms, that is, places free from everyday work interruptions and full of requisite support facilities such as flip charts, post-its, coffee, computers, etc. The emphasis is on highly focused problem solving. RAD projects seem to be typically of relatively small-scale and of short duration. Also, two to six months is frequently discussed as being a normal project length. The main rationale being that any project taking more than six months to complete is likely to be overtaken by business developments. Project control is seen to involve scoping the project by prioritizing development and defining delivery deadlines or’ time-boxes’. If the projects start to slip, the emphasis will be on reducing the requirements to fit the time-box. RAD is frequently discussed in terms of incremental prototyping and phased deliverables. Prototyping is essentially the process of building a system in an iterative way. Mostly these projects are conducted on applications that are highly interactive, have a clearly defined user group and are not computationally complex. 4. Disadvantages of RAD. RAD is a useful tool for analysts and developers but like everything in life, it also has Pros (advantages) and Cons (disadvantages). It is a faster way of producing applications since the users are involved from the beginning; therefore, the system is created faster. Those are good things for fast-paced businesses but it also has Cons. Some of these might make you think if RAD is actually as good as it looks and sounds. Some analysts still believed RAD is not as good as it sounds because the method may not be useful for large or highly complex projects. It also requires a very motivated team, capable of work cohesively together. The cost of the project is hard to estimate at the beginning of the project. It also requires a lot of commitment from the users involved in the project and that might be very difficult for important users to commit (managers, VP’s and so) which is necessary for the success of the project. Among other concerns some are: 1. For large (but scalable) projects, RAD requires sufficient resources to create the right number of RAD teams. 2. RAD projects will fail if there is no commitment by the developers or the clients to rapid-fire activities necessary to get a system complete in a much abbreviated time frame. 3. If a system cannot be properly modularized, building components for RAD will be problematic. 4. Agile methods produce very little written documentation and require a significant amount of post-project documentation. 5. The client may create an unrealistic product vision and request extensive gold-plating, leading the team to over- or under-develop functionality. 6. Product may lose its competitive edge because of insufficient core functionality and may exhibit poor overall quality. Other major concerns with RAD include the costs of maintaining clean rooms and of funding the extensive user involvement required for prototyping. Many organizations have found that the culture changes required for RAD are sometimes impossible to achieve either within the business as a whole or within project teams. Software engineers, too, are reluctant to embrace a development ethos that necessitates leaving their comfort zones and subjecting themselves to the intense periods of activity and accountability required for RAD . Conclusion Since 1992, when James Martin developed the idea of RAD, this new approach is been gaining momentum and is one of the tools in today’s tool box for analysts and developers. RAD and prototyping are pushing together to move the field forward on creating high quality applications on a short period of time. Today’s computer business has the option of being at the edge of their competitive market because they don’t have to wait for years to implement new technology to increase productivity. It all looks so good but after reviewing all the literature there is still a lot of places for improvement. For example: Some developers understand RAD to mean incrementally speeding up each stage of the traditional software life cycle. To others, RAD is primarily about automation and the extensive use of software development productivity tools. Many believe RAD is only suitable for small, relatively low-key projects. Others argue that RAD principles and techniques (joint Application Development, time-boxing, prototyping, and clean rooms, to name a few) can be applied to any software project but still RAD is accused of being anti-quality. It is commonly believed speed and quality are incompatible in software development. You can have one or the other but not both at the same time. In my opinion RAD is good for small projects where the users have the capability of commit their time with the developing team.

The Power of Poetry Essay Example For Students

The Power of Poetry Essay Studies in Poetry 5 August 2013 The Power of Poetry Poetry can be cathartic for both the writer and the reader. The art expression in poetry allows the writer to heal continually over time. The reader gets to experience Ms. Silicons life chronologically through her poetry. We get to feel full-circle the wounds, the scab, the debarment and finally the healing that happens after one exposes truths. Ms. McCollum shows a contrast approach to her past by taking a mythical route. Instead of taking a more personal approach, the reader may still connect through Ms. Macaulays approach by the self-absorbed mother that is exposed in her myths. We will write a custom essay on The Power of Poetry specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Ms. Clifton is able to say a lot with little words, especially in forgiving my father. The poem consists of 3 stanzas addressing her fathers ineptness. In the first stanza the reader sees that during Ms. Silicons childhood her family was financially unstable. In this poem she gives recognition to her mother because of the mental and physical abuse she had to live with. In an interview with Ms. Clifton and Michael S. Glasses, Ms. Clifton says: l knew that she was an unhappy woman (Glasses 314). In forgiving my father Ms. Clifton shows heartache for her mother during this time. Ms. Clifton has neither the ability nor authority to speak up to her father; therefore she hopelessly waits in vain for him to change and take care of their family. Ms. Clifton encourages students to write to help heal heartaches in life: To write because you need it. It will somehow help you get through a difficult life (Glasses 312). The first stanza reads: It is Friday. We have come to the paying of the bills. All week you have stood in my dreams like a ghost, asking for more time but today is payday, payday old man; my mothers hand opens in her early grave and I hold it out like a good daughter. 08) In the second stanza, Ms. Clifton graciously gives her father the benefit of the doubt by addressing that her father is the way he is because of his upbringing. When Ms. Clifton refers to him as daddy the reader can sense that this was going on during her childhood. In an interview with Ms. Clifton and Michael S. Glasses, Ms. Clifton says: My mission is to heal Lucille if I can, as much a s I can (Glasses 312). The second stanza reads: there is no more time for you. There will never be time enough daddy daddy old lecher old liar. Wish you were rich so I could take it all ND give the lady what she was due but you were the son of a needy father, the father of a needy son; you gave her all you had which was nothing. You have already given her The ay Catcher Nines r f-et -ret Juju all you had. (208) In the third stanza Ms. Clifton is forgiving her father, she realizes the parents covenant not hers. She has reconciliation that while she an were dealt this hand, her fathers shortcomings were his alone an not have it in him to rise above his lot in life, and come up empty a also acknowledges that she had no control over decisions that were was born. Now that her father has died, she is able to look at the sit greater perspective. It was her parents choices that created that life although she was a product of that life, the future and what she doe choice. The last line of the poem reads: and no accounting will pop possibly meaning that overthrowing the past and rehashing decision and that she never had control over is a waste of her time and memo you are the pocket that was going to open and come up empty any Friday. You were each others bad bargain, not mine. daddy old pauper old prisoner, old dead man what am I doing here collecting? U lie side by side in debtors boxes and no accounting will open them up. (208) Ms. McCollum is inspired by Louise Cluck whom also rewrites Greek Persona, the Personal in Poetry by Sahara McCollum, Ms. McCollum of Ms. Clucks poems: In her poems, these stories have provided a and out of the themes that are her core concerns as an artist: moth other familial relationships (McCollum 1). Ms. McCollum t akes a d on the relationship between Persephone and Demeter. An unusual approach to the mother daughter relationship, the reader finds Ms. Wowing disloyalty in Demeter towards her daughter Persephone. Interesting but unique approach on the way she copes with events the self, the self that writes, Ms. McCollum addresses what poetry h Poetry has allowed me to live these and other hybridism spaces, the conflict, and to move away from the sentimental tragedy of the mull figure of exile (McCollum 154). In the first stanza instead of Deem because of Persephone absence, she is embracing the attention of bad for her. Persephone is left feeling alone and rejected by her m recognizes her selfishness. .u571eb2d9e25fc3adb98bcae7e8f8e95b , .u571eb2d9e25fc3adb98bcae7e8f8e95b .postImageUrl , .u571eb2d9e25fc3adb98bcae7e8f8e95b .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u571eb2d9e25fc3adb98bcae7e8f8e95b , .u571eb2d9e25fc3adb98bcae7e8f8e95b:hover , .u571eb2d9e25fc3adb98bcae7e8f8e95b:visited , .u571eb2d9e25fc3adb98bcae7e8f8e95b:active { border:0!important; } .u571eb2d9e25fc3adb98bcae7e8f8e95b .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u571eb2d9e25fc3adb98bcae7e8f8e95b { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u571eb2d9e25fc3adb98bcae7e8f8e95b:active , .u571eb2d9e25fc3adb98bcae7e8f8e95b:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u571eb2d9e25fc3adb98bcae7e8f8e95b .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u571eb2d9e25fc3adb98bcae7e8f8e95b .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u571eb2d9e25fc3adb98bcae7e8f8e95b .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u571eb2d9e25fc3adb98bcae7e8f8e95b .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u571eb2d9e25fc3adb98bcae7e8f8e95b:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u571eb2d9e25fc3adb98bcae7e8f8e95b .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u571eb2d9e25fc3adb98bcae7e8f8e95b .u571eb2d9e25fc3adb98bcae7e8f8e95b-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u571eb2d9e25fc3adb98bcae7e8f8e95b:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Those Winter Sundays Robert Hayden EssayPersephone shows sarcasm by mocking pity on Demeter, when in reality she is being a selfish, careless mot main is multi-faceted; the realization that her mother does not have nurturing but also that she is self-absorbed and self-serving. In the senses not only pain but intense anger. You are all the rage these d mother. Everywhere I turn, I hear Demeter in mourning, Demeter grieving Poor Demeter. (33) In Writing the self, the self that Writes written by Ms. McCollum, Ms. Addresses her right of creative expression stating that, If I need to c the story upon which a poem is based in order to have the poem us right, I do it (McCollum 15 4). Ms. McCollum writes about her parents upbringing in Writing the self, the self that Writes, and many times she is giving her parents the benefit of the doubt. She mentions how she doesnt know what it was like to grow up in a Jamaican society, therefore she cannot understand why her mother is the way she is. In the second stanza Persephone is making it clear that her mother set her up for rape. Ms. Macaulays mother also grew up without a father figure; this may be an explanation for the need for attention. Whatever the reason Ms. Macaulays mother needed to be the center of attention, it was significant enough that Ms. McCollum included it in her works, albeit mythical. Always craving the spotlight, I know this is what you wanted: your face on the front page of all the papers; gossip columns (33) The third stanza shows more Demeter getting more and more attention as she suffers during the winter without her daughter. Persephone shows the way Demeter is abusing attention by letting her flowers go as if she is mourning her lost child. Could it be that Ms. McCollum felt that her mothers priorities were not in line with suitable motherhood? Oiled with Juicy tidbits on what life was like before winter, old hags in the grocery store, whispering, how shes let the flowers go, and (33) Even though myths are retold, they can still offer truth and reasoning. In Myth, Persona the Personal in Poetry, Ms. McCollum addresses the differences between todays poetry and poetry during the mid-20th century: That poetry might stil l reveal and speak out of the details of the writers life is not a particularly popular idea in the wake of the Confessional movement of mid-20th century American poetry (McCollum 3). In stanza five, Persephone gets ignored when confronting her mother. Demeter expends to Persephone by brushing off her question, and covering up her actions by showing interest in Persephone life, trailblazing the real issue. You still wont come clean. Passing me iced tea, instead you ask, WOWS the redecorating? Are you expanding (33) In stanza six, Demeter goes on to show interest in Persephone life, but cannot look her daughter in the eyes. To make room for little ones? Fanning away flies, you avoid my eyes, saying, Vive so longed to be a grandma, (33) In the last three stanzas Persephone reveals how she was put in the field by her mother. Persephone goes on to show Demeter covering up the evidence as if it meant nothing to leave her daughter behind. The last three stanzas also reveal Diameters Jealousness towards her daughter. In the poems forgiving my father by Ms. Clifton, and Persephone Sets The Record Straight, the daughter figure has power that cannot be tamed. In both poems, the results were the same in the end. In Ms. Silicons poem, the child (her) somehow knew that her words would not be heard by her father and chose to keep silent, except to the paper. Ms. Clifton, like Persephone felt neglected, lonely and unfortunate in their respective situations but her pain was contained inside hers Persephone tried to confront her mother and came away even more disheartened after her mother adds insult to injury by further dismissing petitions. Both poem are about our individual coping during our Journey through trials. Regardless of path, there can be no wrong door or wrong road to recovery. .u009ca22a30e66ead2be3cbb08ac8e8cd , .u009ca22a30e66ead2be3cbb08ac8e8cd .postImageUrl , .u009ca22a30e66ead2be3cbb08ac8e8cd .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u009ca22a30e66ead2be3cbb08ac8e8cd , .u009ca22a30e66ead2be3cbb08ac8e8cd:hover , .u009ca22a30e66ead2be3cbb08ac8e8cd:visited , .u009ca22a30e66ead2be3cbb08ac8e8cd:active { border:0!important; } .u009ca22a30e66ead2be3cbb08ac8e8cd .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u009ca22a30e66ead2be3cbb08ac8e8cd { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u009ca22a30e66ead2be3cbb08ac8e8cd:active , .u009ca22a30e66ead2be3cbb08ac8e8cd:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u009ca22a30e66ead2be3cbb08ac8e8cd .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u009ca22a30e66ead2be3cbb08ac8e8cd .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u009ca22a30e66ead2be3cbb08ac8e8cd .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u009ca22a30e66ead2be3cbb08ac8e8cd .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u009ca22a30e66ead2be3cbb08ac8e8cd:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u009ca22a30e66ead2be3cbb08ac8e8cd .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u009ca22a30e66ead2be3cbb08ac8e8cd .u009ca22a30e66ead2be3cbb08ac8e8cd-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u009ca22a30e66ead2be3cbb08ac8e8cd:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: "Goblin Market" and "The Lady of Shallot" EssayJust as each of us is unique in our reaction to lifes challenges, our expression of that Journey is even more unique. In Ms. Silicons poem, she as the child had come full circle and was reaching closure. In Ms. Macaulays poem Persephone was still in beginning stag of realizing that the mother she wanted was not what she had. The similarity is t while they were not at the same place in their recovery, they both were heading o the same trajectory that would ultimately lead them to the same conclusion, that never had any control over the situation and that they are only responsible for the own behavior. Ms. Clifton showed her expression of recovery early, thus building foundation that would allow her to eventually come to an understanding that all her to finally forgive her father. Persephone attempted to confront her mother a her actions and wound up being even more frustrated. While this initially seems a setback, Persephone was strong enough to have the courage to stand up to mot Her resilience might come from the knowledge that even though her attempt was met with failure, initially she did have the fortitude to challenge her mothers cacti and behavior. Attempting to change anyone is difficult, attempting to stop some addiction or cure their mental illness is impossible. Even in the best situations, a person has to want to change their behavior or get help and even then there are any challenges and hurdles. Through living, and by acknowledging that change difficult to achieve even within ourselves, perhaps we can somehow be more empathetic to those who hurt us. This is not to say that one should accept pain caused by others, but rather choose not to be a victim and to realize that it is our and our choice. Hopefully by the time one gets to the point in their life when the are making choices that are life altering, such as marriage or having children the will have the experience needed to make choices that will be beneficial not only f hem, but for those who depend on them to provide love and stability. Unfortunate in their respective situations but her pain was contained inside herself. After her mother adds insult to injury by further dismissing petitions. Both poems are about our individual coping during our Journey through trials. Regardless of the reaching closure. In Ms. Macaulays poem Persephone was still in beginning stages of realizing that the mother she wanted was not what she had. The similarity is that while they were not at the same place in their recovery, they both were heading on he same trajectory that would ultimately lead them to the same conclusion, that they never had any control over the situation and that they are only responsible for their own behavior. Ms. Clifton showed her expression of recovery early, thus building the foundation that would allow her to eventually come to an understanding that allowed her to finally forgive her father. Persephone attempted to confront her mother about her actions and wound up being even more frustrated. While this initially seems like a setback, Persephone was strong enough to have the courage to stand up to mother. Et with failure, initially she did have the fortitude to challenge her mothers actions and behavior.

Hares and Rabbits - Leporidae - The Animal Encyclopedia

Hares and Rabbits - Leporidae - The Animal Encyclopedia Hares and rabbits (Leporidae) together form a group of lagomorphs that includes about 50 species of hares, jackrabbits, cottontails and rabbits. Hares and rabbits have short bushy tails, long hind legs and long ears. In most of the ecosystems they occupy, hares and rabbits are the prey of numerous species of carnivores and predatory birds. Consequently, hares and rabbits are well-adapted for speed (necessary for outrunning their many predators). The long back legs of hares and rabbits enable them to launch into motion quickly and sustain the fast running speeds for considerable distances. Some species can run as fast as 48 miles per hour. The ears of hares and rabbits are generally quite large and well suited to efficiently capture and locate sounds. This enables them to take notice of potential threats at the first suspicious sound. In hot climates, large ears offers hares and rabbits an additional benefit. Due to their large surface area, the ears of hares and rabbits serve to disperse excess body heat. Indeed, hares that live in more tropical climates have larger ears than do those that live in colder climes (and thus have less need for heat dispersal). Hares and rabbits have eyes that are positioned on either side of their head such that their field of vision includes a complete 360 degree circle around their body. Their eyes are large, enabling them to take in ample light in the dim conditions present during the dawn, dark and dusk hours when they are active. The term hare is generally used to refer only to true hares (animals belonging to the genus Lepus). The term rabbit is used to refer to all remaining subgroups of the Leporidae. In broad terms, hares tend to be more specialized for rapid and sustained running while rabbits are more adapted for digging burrows and exhibit lower levels of running stamina. Hares and rabbits are  herbivores. They feed on a variety of plants including grasses, herbs, leaves, roots, bark and fruits. Since these food sources are difficult to digest, hares and rabbits must eat their feces so that food passes through their digestive tract twice and they can extract every last nutrient possible from their meals. This double digestive process is in fact so vital to hares and rabbits that if they are prevented from eating their feces, they will suffer malnutrition and die. Hares and rabbits have a nearly worldwide distribution that excludes only Antarctica, parts of South America, most islands, parts of Australia, Madagascar, and the West Indies. Humans have introduced hares and rabbits to many habitats they otherwise would not naturally inhabit. Hares and rabbits reproduce sexually. They exhibit high reproductive rates as a response to the high mortality rates they often suffer at the hands of predation, disease and harsh environmental conditions. Their gestation period averages between 30 and 40 days. Females give birth to between 1 and 9 young and in most species, they produce several litters per year. The young wean at about 1 month of age and reach sexual maturity quickly (in some species, for example, they are sexually mature at just 5 months of age). Size and Weight About 1 to 14 pounds and between 10 and 30 inches long. Classification Hares and rabbits are classified within the following taxonomic hierarchy: Animals Chordates Vertebrates Tetrapods Amniotes Mammals Lagomorphs Hares and Rabbits There are 11 groups of hares and rabbits. These include true hares, cottontail rabbits, red rock hares, and European rabbits as well as several other small groups. Evolution The earliest representative of hares and rabbits is thought to be Hsiuannania, a ground dwelling herbivore that lived during the Paleocene in China. Hsiuannania is know from just a few fragments of teeth and jaw bones but scientists are quite certain that the hares and rabbits originated somewhere in Asia.

Customer relationship management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Customer relationship management - Essay Example means that businesses need to reorganize their focus by implanting a strategy geared toward success factors of process, technology, people, and environment. Management process will need to be examined and reviewed in order to make sure that wonderful and effective customer service is being provided (Jones, 2002, p. 11). Businesses can gain an edge nowadays if they are able to form management that focuses on good customer relationship skills. This is often referred to as customer relationship management, or CRM. The notion with CRM is to make sure the focus of the organization is the customer (Denton, 1992, p. 34). Therefore, in order to make the company more customer-centered, it is important to ensure that all employees in the business contribute to the customer in the end. Businesses that have been able to use this concept with success bring together the processes of people and technology. Making this happen requires the company to have a dedicated and focused management process that focuses its end goal on the customer. (Jones, 2002, p. 12). Effective customer relationship management requires much more from the business than paying attention to customer satisfaction. Satisfaction is really just a moderate goal for a business. In order to make customers happy and impressed with the business, they want to feel that the businesses realizes that their individual business is important to the business. In order to do this, the business will need to constantly review their customers’ needs in regards to customer relationship management (Denton, 1992, p. 54). If this is done correctly, the business can retain its customers, and also build up an excellent customer-centered reputation (Kennedy, 1995, p. 78). A good example of this type of strategy is Amazon.com, which uses an individual type feature for each customer’s account, suggesting different books or other items that customers might be interested in. This shows that the company is taking the

African American contribute for NBA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

African American contribute for NBA - Essay Example The game that was once played dominantly by whites has seen roles reversing, with 75% of the NBA players being African American. The game is nowadays associated with the Black Americans culture, especially those in the lower classes insides cities of Americai. In regards to basketball and African Americans, one team is outstanding in both the contexts: Los Angeles Lakers. Lakers are basketball team playing in the professional category in the National Basketball Association.The Lakers are among the most successful NBA teams of all times, having bagged 16 championships in the league. The recent win was in 2010. Currently, the Lakers are the second most richest NBA teams with close to 645 million US dollars. Nevertheless, the team did not begin from a smooth start. According to NBA and sports records, the current Lakers’ team was a purchase from the then poor performing Detroit Gems. After the purchase, the team adopted the name Lakers, an inspiration from Minnesota’s nick name â€Å"The Land of ten thousand Lakes†. The team relocated to Minneapolis in 1947. The Lakers won the NBL championship with great help from George Mikan.This success ensured that the team jumped to the next level, Basketball association of America (BAA). In their first season of 1948-49, the Lakers won the BBA championship.This was great success as the team had transformed from having the worst record in NBL to become the best almost instantly after being sold to Morris Chalfen and Ben Bergerii. The team’s future was bright. The year 1947 saw the birth of NBA from a merger of BBA and NBL. The Lakers proved they were the true champions by winning five NBA championships in six years. This was a record at the time. The achievements of the Los Angeles team were made possible by a rich component of talent at the team between 1949 to 1955. Hall of fame players for the Lakers included an all white list of George Mikan, Jim Polland, Clyde Lovellete, and Slater martin. Very few blacks were playing in the league at that time. Bob Williams was the first African American player for the Lakers, after signing a contract with the team in 1954. In 1960, the team further relocated to Los Angeles with a strong team comprising of two black star players: Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain, and two white players: Jerry West and Gail Goodrich. Despite this excellent combination, the Lakers lost six finals to Boston Celtics in only eight years. The 1960-1970 decade was bad for the Lakers. Lakers losing streak prolonged until 1972 when Bill Sharman took over as the team’s head coach. Lakers still holds the NBA title for the longest winning streak with 33 consecutive wins during the 1971-72 seasonsiii. In the years after the success, another African American player came to dominate the team. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the team’s backbone for approximately seven seasons. Abdul-Jabbar remains the all-time leading NBA scorer with an amazing 38,387 points. He w on six consecutive titles for the Most Valuable Player of the NBA season. At the time of retirement, Abdul-Jabbar was still holding almost all the records; points scored, time played, defensive rebounds, games played, blocked shots, and even personal fouls. Despite these achievements, Lakers did not win an NBA championship until the arrival of Earvin Johnson, or â€Å"Magic† Johnson in 1979. Then a rookie player, Johnson was playing for Abdul-Jabbar after the latter was injured. Johnson put up an MVP performance in the game against Philadelphia. Magic Johnson was an African American professional player, and together with Abdul-Jabbar, assisted the team to reach for eight NBA championship finals winning five in the 1980s decade. Magic Johnson won the coveted NBA’

Response Strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Response Strategies - Essay Example In risk assessments i.e. interviews should be founded on the basis of the organizations or projects objectives. This is so as to determine which risks and opportunities are available that can affect the realization of the objective. This makes it easier to be able to identify any strengths or weaknesses in the area of study. It gives more insight about recent developments in the area of study which might positively or negatively affect the venture. Help also determine the legal and policy requirements that might post any risk to the entity (Fan, 2008). Following discovery and analysis of risks, appropriate action in response to the identified risks must be taken focusing on risks of most significance. The risks may be in form of opportunities or threats. The response actions to an opportunity may include; exploitation, sharing and enhancement. These actions aim at realizing that the available opportunities are realized. Responses to threats include avoidance, transferring and mitigation of threats. It is necessary therefore to start with the handling of the high-priority opportunities since they foster the growth of a certain project. The opportunities action strategy will insure a positive impact is realized, and maximizing the benefits realized for the project. Unlike the threats which may involve the incurring of costs or termination of a project even before it is realized. Hence, it’s quite appropriate to maximize on the opportunities

Concept of collective identity

Concept of collective identity Introduction: Although the concept of collective identity is a post-colonial phenomenon, a few nations would describe themselves under a collective identity before the modern times. In fact, Europe is historically unique in terms that it has been the people living in the continent of Europe who have persistently described themselves as Europeans since the 17th Century (Pagden, 2002). Indeed, European Union emerged as the most important attempt for creating a supranational entity in the Continent and the best example of a Pan-European common identity as even the words Europe and the European Union are being used as synonyms by millions of people every day. Nevertheless, an uncertainty of a common identity has always been the case for Europeans throughout history and the physical as well as social borders of Europe has never been distinctly known for centuries which are full of wars, confrontation competition and blood. Today, the same problem continues to exist and many believe that it is the major factor blocking the efforts for achieving a fully integrated Europe, as the definition and frontiers of a common European identity is still unknown. Indeed, one of the most important issues of the European integration from a socio-political perspective is the vague concept of a common European identity including prospects of European Union Citizenship. Although a common European identity has been long around for centuries, these are fairly new issues in relevance to the half a century long history of todays European Union. However, I believe how the common European identity is defined is very important for the future steps of the European integration project, as nowadays the EU is undergoing transformation towards a political union with an aim to become a global actor in the international political arena. What shall be the elements of a common European identity, how shall it be formulized if it is to bec ome a successful construct which would define Europe correctly to end the efforts that lasted for such a long time? I believe a triumphant common European identity must include the concrete and symbolic realities and it must be rooted to the diversity of cultures which had been created by the long history of Europe (DAppollonia, 2002). Otherwise, if it remains as a form of thin identity suggested by Habermas (2006), the problems and uncertainties of European identity as well as the poorly functioning European Union citizenship is most likely to exist in the Unions foreseeable future. In fact, a common European identity can only be successfully constructed by taking into account all the ambiguities, contradictions and developments in form of a unity in diversity principle which can be applied to the reality of Europe rather than building a shallow and artificial construct as it seems to be today. Theoretically, a united Europe in political terms is made possible if a united Europe in cultural terms is established through formulating a collective common identity which may only be conceived as a coll ection of multiple and complex values created by complicated dynamics of Europes long history. Nevertheless, a united Europe in cultural terms shall not mean to enforce a homogenous and strictly ordered European society; rather the European identity shall celebrate Europes long tradition of diversity. Another important question is how should European Union citizenship be defined and what should be the frontiers of cultural implications of such a political formulation. Considering the wide cultural diversity and long history that the individual members of the European Union had share in the European continent, a collective identity may prove to be far too complex to construct, so one may argue that a common European identity is still an illusion. Although Europeans have a successfully formed a common economic and increasingly political union, they are still far away from the desired level of cultural unity and a common identity which seems to be an alarming factor for the next stages of the European integration. Nonetheless, European Union citizenship is an area open to developments and it might be used as a critically important tool by the European Union leaders to accumulate a common European identity, only if it is formulized correctly. The critical point on the debate of Europe an Union citizenship is that the dominant Classical Model of Citizenship is based on the structures of nation-state and that is why this model cannot be applied to the European Union, as it is a whole different level of organization which cannot be compared to a nation-state. On the other hand, Post-National citizenship is a modern approach to the issue of European identity and my evaluation shows that it is a feasible solution suitable for todays Europe in order to reach its goals of unification and deepening through building a stronger common identity in the 21st Century. This paper is organized in several sections. European identity from a historical perspective is analyzed in the first part; nationalist responses to the current status of European identity and the issue of national identities in contrast to the common European identity is discussed in the following part; a new European identity and suggestions for a new understanding of common European identity is suggested in the third part; a brief history of European Union efforts and progress on building a common identity is examined in the fourth part; the current status of European Union Citizenship is discussed in the fifth part and finally, Post-National citizenship as a model for European Union citizenship is proposed in the last part of this paper. After all, this paper argues that a common identity in form of a collective European identity is clearly necessary for the Union at this stage of integration, and it is a crucial element for the future of the European integration project especially as our world is getting smaller as well as more fragmented simultaneously due to the complex dynamics of international relations every day at the age of globalization. European citizenship is very much connected to the issue of European identity and it is the key to achieving such a strong common and collective identity when it is formulized as a Post-National phenomenon. The Europeans must derive their power from the diversity of their cultures by building a thick identity for Europe rather than a thin identity which consists of merely political rights; yet the Europeans shall not overlook the uniqueness of the Continent and the similarities they share in comparison to the rest of the world emphasized by the Unity in Diversity principle. Today, it is time for the Europeans to unite under one roof in socio-political terms, complete the long standing task of defining the boundaries of the European civilization by establishing a common and collective European identity in order to carry on the progress of the European integration project in a globalized world. Nonetheless, the question of possibilities of the Europeans to achieve such a high level of cultural as well as political unity remains a question and it is subject to a whole different level of research. However, often seen as a regional product of globalization itself, I believe the European integration project cannot progress any further without achieving a common European identity which is more critical than ever today in order to overcome the challenges of globalization in the 21st Century. What is Identity? Identity has always been a problematic concept because it is uncertain, fluid and highly flexible. Identity is the way to define ones self and to differentiate from the others. If taken literally, identity means equal; identical. Identity is not static but dynamic, and it can be defined in different ways in different circumstances. Identity is construct, which cannot be constructed immediately but only in time. It is not a fixed, constant and pre-given entity; while identity formation is heavily dependent on how one is perceived by the others. Identification implies belonging or membership, in turn which implies the exclusion of non-members (Bretherton Vogler, 1999: 236). In other words, the sole purpose of identity is to separate self from the other in a sense. Moreover, identities are multiple in nature, or even kaleidoscopic. A person may have a single identity, but it will be made up of many levels of loyalty and identification (Von Benda-Beckmann Verkuyten, 1995: 18). Meanwhil e, identities change, because they are based on perceptions, which themselves change over time and environment; as it is possible to identify ones self with more than one thing at a time such as class and gender, or religion and age. Therefore there are various elements of ones identity and which operate at different levels and these various elements in an identity may well be contradictory (Von Benda-Beckmann Verkuyten, 1995: 12). On the other hand, a collective identity means the attitudes, which all members of that group have in common in their thoughts and behavior; which differentiates them from the other (Munch, 2001: 137). Collective identities can provide existential meaning for people, thus they are primary means of unity in a society which give additional stability especially during periods of upheaval. Collective identities can generate a degree of continuity between individuals and their social environment, and can provide social recognition and approval (Von Benda-Beckmann Verkuyten, 1995: 24). Therefore, collective identities are defined mainly by culture from a historical point of view rather than biological genes, ethnicity, nationalism or simple political rights. Finally, they are used to construct community and feelings of cohesion and holism, a concept to give the impression that all individuals are equal in the imagined community (Strath, 2002: 387). From the perspective of political scienc e; there are two types of political identities: a civic identity and a cultural identity. The cultural definition of political identity entails a sense of belonging of an individual towards a particular group which can mostly defined by its uniform cultural or ethnic values. On the other hand, the civic definition of political identity involves with the identification of an individual mostly in form of citizenry with a political structure, which includes political institutions, rights, duties and rules (Bruter, 2004: 26). Therefore, a cultural European identity implies a reference to Europe as a continent, a civilization and a cultural entity whereas a civic European identity implies a reference to the political and institutional aspects of European Union identity largely in the form of EU citizenship. European Identity throughout History: Europe has always been more of a mental construct than a geographical or social entity (Lowenthal, 2000: 314). Europe has no natural frontiers both in geographic and sociological terms. Therefore it had never been easy to acquire a singular definition of European identity because the borders of Europe had always been dynamic, and no one knew where Europe started and Europe ended (Pagden, 2002). A European identity is an abstraction and a fiction without essential proportions (Strath, 2002: 387). The concept of a European identity is an idea expressing artificial notions of unity rather than an identity of equality. In this sense, the concept of European identity is inscribed in a long history of political reflection on the concept of Europe. From the perspective of history, Europe has been united as a singular entity in various settings for a number of times in its past such as the Roman Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, the Napoleonic Empire, and arguably the Nazi Third Reich. However, identity was only conceptualized as a macro-level collective phenomenon by the intellectual elites of Europe; on the other hand, for the rural masses of Europe, identity was a local term associated with the micro-level, rarely the nation and never an incident as large as the continent of Europe (Pagden, 2002). In different period of history, a common European identity had been defined on different basis. In the Middle Ages, Christianity was the main defining characteristic of European identity, whereas in modern times, the emergence of the nation state, periods of nationalism and afterwards democracy and secularism has been the common characteristic of the Europeans. Meanwhile, Christianity lost its dominance yet it arguably remained as one of the important components of European identity. Today, the European Union similar to the continent of Europe can be characterized by overlapping and unclear boundaries. From a geographical perspective, the EU has fuzzy boundaries due to the ongoing enlargement processes since the 1970s (Risse, 2003: 490). Although the geographical borders of Europe are not objectively defined particularly in the East, a state without a geographical relevance to the European continent cannot become a part of the European Union, even if it shares the EUs collective values and norms. Moreover what adds to the uncertainty of Europes borders is that boundaries of the EU may change according to different policy fields such as the Schengen includes the non EU member Norway but at the same time it does not include the EU member state the United Kingdom. Therefore, before anything else the lack of solid geographical boundaries weaken efforts of the EU to be seen as a singular entity by its own people (Castano, 2004). Meanwhile, the geographic boundaries of Europe have suffered dramatic changes within time and even the recent years provide an image of changing boundaries in Europe considering the reunification of Germany, the break-up of Yugoslavia and collapse of the Soviet Union. Therefore, Europe cannot be defined solely as a geographical space. On the contrary, Europe cannot be defined in cultural space either, unless European culture is associated with the Continents long history of diversity itself. Indeed, diversity shall be the main characteristic of European identity from a cultural point of view. Religious and cultural heritages including Roman law, political democracy, parliamentary institutions, Renaissance humanism, rationalism, romanticism characterize the common identity of the Europeans (Smith, 1992). On the other hand, there are undeniable socioeconomic, cultural, national and ethnic differences among the member states of the European Union. Nevertheless, the motto of the EU, unity in diversity, reflects this fact from a positive point of view and proposes a common identity for Europeans based on their peaceful diversity as a fundamental character of the European society at large. A collective political culture is an important feature of the common European identity. The Greeks gave Europe the science and philosophy and the Romans gave it the idea of single continent and unity which created Europes strong cultural and political origins. The diverse and multiple cultures of the ancient Europe shared a single identity as they were brought together under a common system of Roman law. The people of Europe also shared a common language, Latin, and after Europe slowly converted to Christianity they acquired a common religion as well. Christianity has been a crucial part of the European identity and it played a key role to create its internal cohesion and to designate its relationship with the rest of the world. Further references are made to Europes identity besides its heritage of Greco-Roman civilization and Christianity; such as the ideas of the Enlightenment, Science, Reason, Progress, Industrialization, Democracy and Individualization as the core elements of th is claimed European legacy (Wintle, 1996: 13-16). Hellenism, Romanticism, welfare society and cross-fertilization of diversity can be added to this list (Garcia, 1993: 7-9), while one may argue that Europes core values include its commitments to an undivided continent, to individual freedom, and to the universalism of humanity (Havel, 1996). However, this unity never reached to the point of sharing a common European culture up to this point in history of the Continent. In fact, a single body of citizenry or a common cultural identity could not be reached even in the peak of Europes history of unity and solidarity. When the differences within Europe are emphasized, they are often in the form of unity in diversity; religious differences such as Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox Christianity, and linguistic differences including Romance, Germanic and Slavic languages are obvious; yet they are seen as correlated, Catholic-Romance, Protestant-Germanic, Orthodox-Slavic, and essentially are underlying the major ethnic cleavages and conflicts in the history of Europe (Wintle, 1996). Anthony Smith is among the scholars who are skeptical of the possibility of a common European identity because they could not find a common culture across the European continent, and even more critically they claim that Europe lacks of a shared set o f myths, experience and symbols; these elements which they find crucial to create post-national identity (Smith, 1992: 72-73). Furthermore, Europe lacks of a shared historical and cultural content as which is the largest source of division among Europeans. Other obstacles to a common European identity include linguistic diversity and its tripartite religious division. In fact, a major difference among EU countries is the persistence of linguistic diversity, even though in practical level English has become the dominant language in Europe. Language does not only have an instrumental but also an emotional dimension and peoples sense of nationality is often tied up with their mother tongue (Guibernau, 2001: 192). Finally, confrontation, wars and the effort to establish clear differences between peoples of the continent dominate the history of Europe, which is the exact opposite of what the European Union seeks to achieve today. On the other side of the debate, scholars such as Michael Wintle are more optimistic on the possibility of creating a European identity. Indeed, the existence of the EU identity in the form of converging education standards, educational exchanges, and the organization of a European civil society is already established in most parts of Europe. Wintle argues that a European identity was previously already created during the high Middle Age (Wintle, 1996: 19-22), and it can be easily established today considering the forces of globalization. For now, the major success of the EU in fostering its identity has been limited with the increasing free movement of people across European borders, which has accelerated since the 1985 and formalized in 1990 Schengen accords parallelly correlated with the rising impact of globalization. Increased interaction among peoples of Europe would also encourage cultural exchanges and this could foster a stronger sense of a shared community. Education and hi gh culture shall play a key role in European Unions cultural policy which has critical importance for building a thick European identity, because these two factors have an important effect on the creation as well as promotion of the EU identity. Education is obviously one of the crucial dimensions in any attempt to develop the future identity of the EU or at least more understanding and convergence among Europeans; high culture unites Europeans against the low culture which separates them. After all, the development of the EU identity will be the outcome of a long process in which bottom-up as well as top-down initiatives are likely to be employed (Guibernau, 2001: 183-184). The idea of Europe as well as the identity of Europeans are constructed over time with processes of contention and bargaining. Gerard Delanty argues that a European Culture is not an entity with cohesion and fixed boundaries, but a floppy concept, with no clear borders and with internal opposition and contradictions, discursively shaped in contentious social bargaining processes (Delanty, 1995; 1999). In other words, the images of Europe do not exist as a natural phenomenon but are discursively shaped by internal as well as external forces (Strath, 2002). A basic step in the process of creating a collective identity is to defining itself in relation to the other. Central to ones identifications are images of others. Likewise any identity, European identity necessarily contains an element of separation from the non-European. The boundaries of Europe can only be drawn and the identity of Europe can only be realized in the mirror of others. Indeed, Europe does not exist without non-Euro pe and that non-Europe does not exist without Europe (Wintle, 1996). Many centuries ago, the Europeans defined people living in the north as uncivilized and people living in the south as oriental (Pagden, 2002). Furthermore, the Greeks labeled the non-Greek speaking people as barbarians, even if that word would surely have a different meaning by that time. In nearer times, although the Russians shared many features with a European society including the same religion, it could not reach the formal limits of a Romanized civilization thus perceived as a barbaric empire or the orient, depending on the time. Moreover, European belief of its superiority relied on the common features of European societies such as science and liberal arts. Thus the rest of the world could only be portrayed as actors in relation to Europe, in other words always remained as the other. According to Delanty, Europe has been always invented and reinvented on the basis of division and strategy for the construction of difference from the other starting from Christian identity against Islam in the Middle-Ages, after that in the colonial politics to the New World, and to the ethnic minorities in the contemporary European Union (Delanty, 1995). Therefore, historical experience suggests that the new European identity may be constructed on the other which may be the United States, the East, Islam or the European past itself. Samuel Huntington has argued that religion provides the best common means of historically distinguishing between Europeans and the other, especially in terms of the confrontation between the Judeo-Christian tradition and Islam (Huntington, 1996). However, at the same time, the separation between Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Western variations of Christianity has, for a long time, been crucial in establishing a division between Western and Eastern E urope; partially reinforced in the Cold War, divisions between Catholicism and Protestantism and separation between North and South (Guibernau, 2001). Therefore, history shows that peoples of Europe has been united against peoples of other civilizations at times such as global upheaval and wars while at other times Europeans get divided and separated due to the face that they may perceive the other internally. Today, the European Union is frequently argued to be a fortress for the other and the EU is often referred to as a Christian Club, because historically all states on the continent of Europe had Christian societies. The Ottoman Empire was the greatest enemy of European states as well as Christianity in the Middle Ages; which made Islam the primary characteristic of the other for Europeans from the perspective of history. Today, the accession dialogues of Turkey into the European Union raise wide public opposition in Europe while the European Union officials make constant efforts to prove their allegiance to non-religious, non-ethnic but solely liberal and non discriminatory Copenhagen Criteria independent from historical aspects of the other which has actually been extensively used to define the European identity. Finally, Europe is unique because it has possessed an identity as a cultural space which gave birth to political unions throughout its history; however, it has never succeeded to constitute a single nation-state or a unified ethnic group. Although the European Union with its single currency and supranational political and legal institutions changed these historical facts to an extent, it is only possible with the means of a common European identity which will carry Europe to the next stage of integration that it always aimed but failed to achieve during its long history. Nevertheless, history has already proved that it will surely be hard to overcome uncertainties of a common European identity at the level of the masses. Over the past millennium, the advancements of European civilization gave rise to the elites living on the continent of Europe who feel increasingly attached to Europe as a whole and shared dreams of a united continent. However, Europe as a realm sharing a common history as well as a common destiny has been largely abandoned by fixed prejudices on often nationalistic and ethnic grounds. National interests and biases at local, national, and global levels have prevented the masses of European people from viewing themselves collectively (Lowenthal, 2000: 315). However today, forces of globalization, advancements in communications technologies and popular culture now promote the sense of being European among larger segments of society other than the European elites. Although a truly trans-European society is still far away, many of its essential elements are already in place this time largely due to the forces of globalization. Most European states are increasingly democratic; their econo mies are for the most part market driven; their popular culture grows more homogeneous as communication technologies expand under the forces of globalization in the 21st Century (Waterman, 1999: 23). Therefore, Europe is at the stage of defining its identity today; however which criteria are being deployed to define Europe, Europeans, Europeanness and their respective boundaries is critically important. A common European identity must be constructed by defining and understanding the historical roots of outstanding features of the European society in relation to the notion of citizenship, which will be discussed in depth in the following parts of this paper; developed in the past over the land of Europe. For sure, Europe is being redefined as a result of a complex set of processes, but an important question is what sort of Europe is emerging from them? Nationalist Responses to European Identity: There is certainly a structured symmetry in the perception of the European Union as the coincidence of a homogenized socio-political space, a unified regulatory space of an EU super-state, a singular European civil society surpassing existing national and regional differences in culture and identity (Hudson, 2000). In some respects there has been progress towards such an ideal of European common European cultural and a trans-national civil society. For example, the Council of Europe and the European Convention on Human Rights have had an important role in defining acceptable standards across Europe. The issue of European identity and the criteria used to denote Europeans is clearly a critical one for the political and social integrity of the European Union. Europe will exist as an unquestionable political community only when European identity permeates peoples lives and daily existence (Demos 1998). Identity is a key issue which is continuously changing and thats the reason why it is so hard to define especially in a world of fast changes in the 21st Centurys globalization. The member states of todays enlarged EU have become multi-ethnic and multi-cultural societies with various structural phenomenon ranging from the immigrant community of France to Post-Communist yet ethnic communities of the Central and Eastern European states. As the EU expanded eastwards in the last two rounds of enlargements, the issue of defining a European identity became even more critical for sake of integrity and stability of the Union. One conception of a singular European identity would see it constructed through a process similar to that involved in the creation of national identities in the 19th and the 20th Centuries. Ironically, while the aim was to create those national identities in the past, the challenge that Europeans face today would be to transcend them for the creation of a trans-national understanding of Europeannes. However, the current trends at local European level are quite different from the interests of Europeanists at the supranational level. There are pressures from nation-states and their citizens to resist any further transfer of national sovereignty as well as erosion of national identity (Hudson, 2000). In fact, the success of extreme right wing political parties in important European countries such as Austria and France in recent years may be seen as a sign of the reappearance of dangerous nationalist and racist ambitions which the peoples of Europe have most probably experienced more tha n any other continent in the world history. Eric Hobsbawm has proclaimed that nationalism is dead (Hobsbawm, 1990). On the contrary, Llobera argues that national identities are certainly not eternal, but the time of their demise has not yet arrived (Llobera, 2003). In fact, national identities are still dominant in Europe as recent Eurobarometer surveys show that people in Europe prefer maintaining their national identity and sovereignty; but increasing number of people have accepted European identity in addition to their national identities. Therefore, European nationalism is another important component of a common European identity and it has been a major ideological tool for unifying nation states as well as the Europeans as a whole throughout Europes history. To start with, the European Union, with its both intergovernmental and supranational characteristics represents a far different type of state-organization than a classical nation state. The main distinguishing characteristics of the EU from the nation-state are the ab sence of a shared language, a uniform media, common education system and most importantly a central state structure (Shore, 2000: 64). Furthermore, the powers of the EU rely on the sharing of sovereignty of its member states which may often have conflicting national interests. Indeed, the European integration project has mainly served as a tool for progressively limiting individual nation-states to practice any kind of harmful nationalism and this makes up an important part of the European identity. At this point, nationalist Euroskeptics may argue that building a common Europe and an identity for it means destroying nations. However, a general feeling of Europeanness and loyalty to Europe in a cultural sense, does not need to conflict with national identities (Andreani, 1999). A successful construct of European identity must include the concrete and symbolic realities created within history of the Continent but exclude nationalist ambitions of the past. Surely, the European states have not always been nationalist through Europes long history. The definition of nationalism counts on the idea of nation and territory; while the definition of a European nationalism depends on the historical and ideological evolution of the European nation states and aspirations for a post-national Europe. In fact, the aspirations that underlie in the roots of the foundation of the European Union are parallel to European cosmopolitanism in the 18th and the 19th centuries. From the Enlightenment to the beginning of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) after the Second World War; European nationalism found two separate meanings: one as an antinational Pan-European idea of a new united Europe that limits the sovereignty of the nation states, and the other as a pro-national ideology to create or legitimate new nation states (DAppollonia, 2002). Historically, cosmopolitanism reflected intentions for a European unity, and gave rise to anti-national European nationalism. European nationalism was characterized by the will to protect the European interests and its supremacy from non-Europeans as well as protecting Europe from itself by creating a federation. It can be argued that economic development, comme