Critical Thinking in Asking the Right Questions Research Paper - 1

Critical Thinking in Asking the Right Questions - Research Paper Example This is what will be attempted in the paper. The memo is written in response to the request made by director of operations regarding a leadership program for junior executives. The main issue discussed in the memo is the infeasibility of the proposed leadership program. The author argues that the proposed leadership program is not necessary because leaders are born and not made. Personal motivation of the direction of operations is questioned in the memo. The author concludes that a leadership program is not worth spending any money, and theories of leadership advocated by the director of operations are not in line with the culture of the company. Personal motivation behind the proposals is also highlighted in the conclusion. The reasons given in the memo for the infeasibility of the leadership program include selection issues, waste of money, ‘leaders are born not made’ view, leadership traits, and personal motivations of Miss Forsythe. Selection issues will be raised when many people will request for leadership training and this is something the company cannot afford, according to the memo. The leadership training will be a waste of money because the company has already fared well without such training in the past, and therefore the training is a waste of money. The philosophy of born leaders is used as a reason against leadership programs. The author argues that leaders are born and not made, and therefore leadership training will not help employees. Trait theory of leadership is used to dispel the idea of leadership training program in the memo. Another very important reason given against the leadership program is that the personal motivation of Miss Forsythe is to get the position of VP Human Resource. Ambiguity refers to the double meaning of words and phrases (Bach, 2012). There is ambiguity when the author talks about the company being prosperous

The Handmaidens Tale and 1984 Essay Example for Free

The Handmaidens Tale and 1984 Essay The government has the righteous duties to be a national defense for its citizens, to act as an administration of justice in providing law and order for its peoples, and to provide certain public goods and services to its people; though in these present epochs, the government fails to provide certain necessities to its citizens. The two books written in a similar century, both George Orwell’s 1984, and Margret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, display how the government can use violence as a means of control on its people. In 1984, the government controls its citizens’ lives through manipulating the language of Oceania; Syme, who is Winston’s colleague at the Ministry of Truth, was a lexicographer who developed the new dictionary of the Oceanic language: Newspeak. Also, similar in type, in Margret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, the government in Gilead uses policies that regulates and controls its women’s desires for sexual activity; the government acts in such a way, because the government has a procreative agenda in Gilead. To conclude, the government in both these novels uses violence as a means of controlling its citizens. In 1984, and The Handmaid’s Tale, both the citizens of Oceania and Gilead have their language distorted; this is in order for them to be infringed from certain goods and services. This language alteration is most evident when Syme informs Winston (the main protagonist in 1984) that by 2050, no individual will be able to understand their conversation; this meaning that the government of Oceania wants to control its citizens’ thoughts. This context can be understood when Syme is in a low-ceilinged canteen deep underground, and he refers to the beauty of the government’s means of controlling the local vocabulary, saying â€Å"Dont you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? †¦ Has it ever occurred to you, Winston, that by the year 2050, at the very latest, not a single human being will be alive who could understand such a conversation as we are having now? †¦The whole climate of thought will be different. In fact, there will be no thought, as we understand it now. Orthodoxy means not thinking—not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness† (Orwell, pg. 68). This quote elucidates to the Big Brother’s master plan in narrowing the range of thought to the Newspeak; it states that all human beings will not understand the conversation they are having, because the universal lexicon will devalue the purpose of thought. The fact that Syme uses words and phrases such as â€Å"thought will be different,† â€Å"there will be no thought,† and, â€Å"Orthodoxy means not thinking,† implies that the government of Oceania will infringe on the citizen’s right to the freedom of thought. Not only does the government of Oceania control the public through changing the vocabulary, but this happens also in the government of Gilead. This language manipulation is most evident when Offred was walking to the shop, and she noticed the written letters on the shop had been painted out, describing, â€Å"Almost all written words anywhere have been removed, even the shops have had the lettering painted out, when they decided that even the names of the shops were too much for us. Now places are known by their signs alone† (Atwood, pg. 1). This quotation refers to how the written words have been removed out of the language, in order for the government to control its citizens from certain services such as literacy. In this quotation, the words and phrases such as â€Å"all written words anywhere have been removed† â€Å"the lettering†¦ painted out,† and, â€Å"places are known by their signs,† means that the government has narrowed the language so m uch, that the citizens can only understand the important sections of the city, and not have the freedom to explore its vicinities. In this paragraph, it is clear that the government uses the manipulation of the local lexicon, subsequently infringing on the rights of its local citizens. In the other novel, 1984 written by George Orwell, the citizens of Oceania experience another form of control, which is the violation to rights of privacy. In this novel, Winston Smith described the conditions in the public square; mentioning that if an individual showed any miniscule sign of deceitfulness, then the government would arrest the criminal immediately, saying, â€Å"It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourselfanything that carried with it the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide. In any case, to wear an improper expression on your face ; was itself a punishable offence. There was even a word for it in Newspeak: facecrime (Orwell, pg. 79). In this quotation, Winston Smith refers to the Big Brother’s legislative policies in which telescreens would be set-up in order to have control over its citizens. From the author using words and phrases such as â€Å"terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen,† â€Å"the smallest thing could give you away,† and,† improper expression on your face†¦; was itself a punishable offence,† shows that it is even dangerous to express the slightest sign of abnormality in front of the telescreen. Not only does the government in Oceania violate the right to private and public privacy, but that in the government in Gilead the same occurrence ensues. This governmental violation of the right to private and public privacy, is most evident in the gymnasium, where Offred learned who to whisper almost without making a sound, explaining, â€Å"We learned to whisper almost without sound. In the semi-darkness we could stretch out our arms, when the Aunts werent looking, and touch each others hands across space. We learned to lip-read, our heads flat on the beds, turned sideways, watching each others mouths. In this way we exchanged names, from bed to bed: Alma. Janine. Dolores. Moira. June† (Atwood pg. 4). In this quotation, the handmaids exchange names through lip reading and through whispers. Through the words and phrases such as, â€Å"learned to whisper almost without sound,† â€Å"learned to lip-read,† and, â€Å"In this way we exchanged names,† means that because they had to lip-read and whisper, this shows the reader that the handmaids have no privacy to exchange names. In this paragraph, it is noticeable that the government’s legislation and policy mitigates the right to privacy. Furthurmore, in the same novel, 1984, it can be seen that the government subjugates its people from sexual activity. In the novel, Winston fantasizes about making live with Julia as she travels across the field, saying, â€Å"The girl with dark hair was coming towards them across the field. With what seemed a single movement she tore off her clothes and flung them disdainfully aside. Her body was white and smooth, but it aroused no desire in him, indeed he barely looked at it. What overwhelmed him in that instant was admiration for the gesture with which she had thrown her clothes aside. With its grace and carelessness it seemed to annihilate a whole culture, a whole system of thought, as though Big Brother and the Party and the Thought Police could all be swept into nothingness by a single splendid movement of the arm. That too was a gesture belonging to the ancient time† (Atwood, pg. 0). In this quote, Winston Smith dreams about Julia taking off her clothes as she runs across the field. Through the author using words and phrases such as, â€Å"she tore off her clothes,† â€Å"he barely looked at it,† and, â€Å"Big Brother and the Party and the Though Police,† shows that as Julia takes off her clothes on the field, Winston Smith barely looks at her body due to the Big Brother and the Parties legislation for the elimination of sexual p romiscuity. Not only does the government in Oceania take away the right to sexual activity, but that the government of Gilead also infringes on the right to sexual interest. This governmental infringement can also be seen in the ‘Handmaidens tale’ through Offred who makes it clear that throughout the narrative, she is apart of a collectively owned resource. She describes her tattoo as: â€Å"four digits and an eye, a passport in reverse. It’s supposed to guarantee that I will never be able to fade, finally, into another landscape. I am too important†¦. I am a national resource. † (Atwood 65). This quote said by Offred of her describing her tattoo acts as a symbol of the tattoo itself that the government subjugates its people from sexual activity that they would desire and that women are only used as a resource to repopulate. In conclusion, the two narratives in which were written in a similar century, both George Orwell’s 1984, and Margret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, clearly use their book as a means of foretelling the future of a society monopolized by corruption from future technology by displaying how their government uses violence as a means of control over its people.

Zara Fashion :: essays research papers

ZARA Fashion 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With which of the international competitors listed in the case is it most interesting to compare Inditexà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s financial results? Why? What do comparisons indicate about Inditexà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s relative operating economics? Its relative capital efficiency? Note that while the electronic version of Exhibit 6 automates some of the comparisons, you will probably want to dig further into them? The four companies shown above have very different business models. Inditex owned much of the production and most of its stores. Inditex is thus a vertically integrated company. This made Inditex gain a competitive advantage, which is quick response to the market requirements. On the other hand, The Gap and H&M have a different business model. They owned most of the stores, but outsourced all the production. Benetton had a third business model. It invested heavily in the production, but licensees ran its stores. The most interesting company to compare Inditex is The Gap. Although The Gap has much higher revenues than Inditex (almost five times Inditex), it incurred a net loss, as opposed to Inditex, which achieved a 23%, return in investment. This is due to the extremely high costs of good sold for The Gap. This could be caused -at least partially- by the complete outsourcing of the production. They do not have enough control over the production costs. Although The Gap has larger market share than Inditex and has equity almost double that of Inditex, Inditex is much more profitable. 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2) How specifically do the distinctive features of Zaraà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s business model affect its operating economics? Specifically, compare Zara with an average retailer with similar posted prices. In convenient to assume that on average, retail selling prices are about twice as high as manufacturersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ selling prices. Zara sources fabric, other inputs, and finished products from external suppliers. It has purchasing offices in Barcelona and Hong Kong. This gives Zara a competitive advantage towards the costs of goods sold, as it can purchase from both Europe and Asia according to prices. Buying more from China in the future might reduce even more the costs of goods sold. Inditex fully owns Comditel that managed dyeing, patterning and finishing of grey fabric of Inditexà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s chains, and supplied finished fabric to external as well as in-house manufacturers. This gave Zara further competitive advantage, in terms of both cost and control. Inditex also fully owned 20 factories for internal manufacture. These factories apply just-in-time production (JIT). Again, this gave Zara further competitive advantage, in terms of both cost and control.

21st Century Hero vs Beowulf Essay

Beowulf was an Anglo-Saxon hero who fought many battles and proved his physical strength. Today, in the 21st century, a hero can be described as someone who is strong willed or strong minded. In our comic books that are now becoming movies our heroes are strong and very brave. Heroes in the 21st century don’t necessarily have to be physically strong but they do have to be strong minded and strong willed. The heroes in our comics are extremely strong. Take Superman for example, his only weakness is kryptonite. He is big and strong and he always saves the world. He may have a lot of enemies but all super  heroes do. Then again he has super powers that make him strong. He survived an attack on his home Planet Krypton and because he gained his super strength. Because of his alien like super strength people didn’t know how to react to him until they found out that he was a good man. Now he is America’s favorite superhero. The same goes for other comic superheroes such as Batman, Spiderman and Ironman. They all have a super power. Spiderman is most like Superman because he had something ‘terrible’ happen to him and gained his super powers. Spiderman was bit by a radioactive spider and acquired spider like senses. He can ‘feel’ when something is wrong with the city and can shoot webs. Batman is most like a normal human being. He is just a rich man powered by the fear of a previous experience with bats. He disguises himself as a human-bat combination and he uses his father’s tools and resources to create everything he uses to save the world. Ironman is similar to Batman in that they both don’t have super powers and they’re both rich. Ironman made a suit of iron with many different ‘superpowers. ’ He can fly and shoot energy from his suit. Our real life 21st century heroes are those that don’t have a superpower that children dream of. Their superpower is that they have faith and they are strong willed or strong minded. The people you automatically think of are those who are battling a terrible life threatening disease but still stay happy and do all that they can at all times. People who have cancer are often the first of our thoughts when thinking of this type of heroes. On CMT’s Worlds Strictest Parents two high strung kids go and live with the Sheffield family. They help a close family friend, Brocker, who is battling cancer. The man has a 14year old daughter and lives on a huge farm. The kids were originally angry that they had to help him until they heard his story. The fact that he had such an illness and still works as much as he can on his farm and takes care of his daughter inspired the two kids. He said people were helping him and when he said they didn’t need to they would say â€Å"remember when you helped me with†¦this is for that. † The people who stay positive while in the worst possible condition are the real heroes. When everything is going wrong and they still keep their head up and smile and try to get through it, they show real and true inner strength and they are heroes. Beowulf is an Anglo-Saxon hero. He is strong according to the scops. They are the story tellers and poets. All of the scops use hyperboles and litotes to show exaggeration and understatement. A hyperbole is an exaggeration. An example of his strength in a hyperbole is on page 22 line 156 when â€Å"For hours he sank through the ways. † This describes the strength of his lungs while fighting Grendels mother. A litote is an understatement. An example of this is on page 293 line 202 saying â€Å"He was weary. † This understates how tired he must be after fighting a huge sea serpent like monster. Both of these statements describe how overall strong Beowulf is. Strong could have different meanings depending on what you mean and how you use it. Beowulf is physically strong in the Anglo-Saxon time period but the type of hero he is, is a fake one. He is just a man in a story saving the town. Beowulf is like the modern day heroes in our comic books. Not real and full of surprises. The real modern day heroes are those fighting for their life. Everything could be going wrong and they still are happy and stay strong and smiling. 21st century heroes don’t necessarily have to be physically strong but they do have to have a strong mind and heart.

Swot Analysis of Indian Economy

SWOT Analysis of various sectors of Indian Economy. The India economy, which is the 9th largest in the world in terms of nominal GDP, can be broadly classified into three sectors: 1) Primary Sector or Agriculture Sector, which contributes about 15% to the GDP and employs around 57% of the total workforce. 2) Secondary Sector or Industry sector, which contributes about 28% to the DP and employs around 14% of the workforce. 3) Tertiary Sector or Service Sector, which contributes the maximum of 57% to the GDP and employs around 29% of the workforce. SWOT analysis of Agriculture Sector: Strengths : – * The favourable Climate and terrain of the Indian sub-continent makes it suitable for producing a variety of crops. * As it employs majority of population, it enjoys a competitive labour force. * The agriculture sector in India is competitive and hence evolving, produces a large variety of crops, and enjoys a well demanded market as Indians prefer fresh farm produce over the processed food items. Weaknesses:- * As the majority of workforce is uneducated, they are not able to make the most out of the government policies. Moreover, though the government spends enough over the agricultural reforms, but due to the low level of execution on their part, it does not produce the desired results. * Due to the lack of proper storage facilities and road connectivity of the farms with the respective market, around 60% of the fresh farm produce like vegetables, fruits etc get wasted. * Since only 40% of the land under cultivation gets irrigated through canals, tube wells etc. , the farmers depend heavily upon the annual monsoons. Opportunities:- A growing population, availability of modern agricultural techniques, easy availability of banking finance, variety of pest resistance crops, coming up of retail chains and various government schemes and policies, would make both the demand and the production go up. * Rise in demand of pulses and grains in the Asian economies, and the production of fuels like ethanol from grains, provide more market opportunities. Threats:- * More and more of the agricultural land is bei ng taken up to meet with the demands of the housing and industrial sector, thereby reducing land under cultivation. With the increase in the purchasing power of the Indians, the packaged food industry is gaining importance in the Indian market, especially in the cities and among the youth. * Some of the government policies like MGNREGA, is diverting the farm labour to other employment avenues, which could affect the agriculture adversely as it depends heavily on manual labour. * Stiff competition from the international markets, if India opens up the trade barriers in the agriculture sector. SWOT analysis of Industrial Sector: Strengths:- With over half a billion population in the age group of 25-60 years, the industrial sector enjoys a competitive labour market. * Availability of natural resources, skilled and cheap manpower, liberal national policies provide the environment for industries to thrive. Weaknesses:- * Due to India being a democratic country and a mixed economy, the ind ustry has to adhere too many of the protectionist policies of the government, which affects the industry adversely. * The complex labour laws and other political barriers, prevents the industries to work at the best of their efficiency, thus effecting productivity. Opportunities:- * With the rise in the incomes of the Indians, especially the Indian middle class, promises a lucrative domestic market for all the industries. * With the slowdown of the European & American economies, Indian companies should towards the African countries like Ghana, Kenya etc. which are growing at a rate of 7-8%. Threats:- * Stiff competition from developing economies like China, Bangladesh, Indonesia because of lower cost of production. * Delay in policy decisions by Indian policy makers, corruption charges and scandals, hindering the ease to do business. Protectionist policies adopted by various European countries and America to safeguard their own interests. SWOT analysis of Service Sector: Strengths:- * With 64% of the Indian population being educated, the service industry has a large talent poll to work with. * Due to large and skilled work force, the labour market becomes competitive, providing cheap labour. * The Robust Banking and Financial system and regulat ions, provide stability not only to banking sector but also to the entire economy. Weaknesses:- Too much dependence on America and European economies for business. * The Indigenous base of the IT industry is not sufficiently developed to sustain software export. Opportunities:- * With the Increased computerization in various public and government organization, the Indian IT industry has ready-made domestic market. Threats:- * Stiff competition from developing economies like China, Bangladesh, Indonesia because of lower labour. * Due to the economic slowdown, countries like America are adopting policies to prohibit outsourcing, which will affect the IT industry. Swot Analysis of Indian Economy SWOT Analysis of various sectors of Indian Economy. The India economy, which is the 9th largest in the world in terms of nominal GDP, can be broadly classified into three sectors: 1) Primary Sector or Agriculture Sector, which contributes about 15% to the GDP and employs around 57% of the total workforce. 2) Secondary Sector or Industry sector, which contributes about 28% to the DP and employs around 14% of the workforce. 3) Tertiary Sector or Service Sector, which contributes the maximum of 57% to the GDP and employs around 29% of the workforce. SWOT analysis of Agriculture Sector: Strengths : – * The favourable Climate and terrain of the Indian sub-continent makes it suitable for producing a variety of crops. * As it employs majority of population, it enjoys a competitive labour force. * The agriculture sector in India is competitive and hence evolving, produces a large variety of crops, and enjoys a well demanded market as Indians prefer fresh farm produce over the processed food items. Weaknesses:- * As the majority of workforce is uneducated, they are not able to make the most out of the government policies. Moreover, though the government spends enough over the agricultural reforms, but due to the low level of execution on their part, it does not produce the desired results. * Due to the lack of proper storage facilities and road connectivity of the farms with the respective market, around 60% of the fresh farm produce like vegetables, fruits etc get wasted. * Since only 40% of the land under cultivation gets irrigated through canals, tube wells etc. , the farmers depend heavily upon the annual monsoons. Opportunities:- A growing population, availability of modern agricultural techniques, easy availability of banking finance, variety of pest resistance crops, coming up of retail chains and various government schemes and policies, would make both the demand and the production go up. * Rise in demand of pulses and grains in the Asian economies, and the production of fuels like ethanol from grains, provide more market opportunities. Threats:- * More and more of the agricultural land is bei ng taken up to meet with the demands of the housing and industrial sector, thereby reducing land under cultivation. With the increase in the purchasing power of the Indians, the packaged food industry is gaining importance in the Indian market, especially in the cities and among the youth. * Some of the government policies like MGNREGA, is diverting the farm labour to other employment avenues, which could affect the agriculture adversely as it depends heavily on manual labour. * Stiff competition from the international markets, if India opens up the trade barriers in the agriculture sector. SWOT analysis of Industrial Sector: Strengths:- With over half a billion population in the age group of 25-60 years, the industrial sector enjoys a competitive labour market. * Availability of natural resources, skilled and cheap manpower, liberal national policies provide the environment for industries to thrive. Weaknesses:- * Due to India being a democratic country and a mixed economy, the ind ustry has to adhere too many of the protectionist policies of the government, which affects the industry adversely. * The complex labour laws and other political barriers, prevents the industries to work at the best of their efficiency, thus effecting productivity. Opportunities:- * With the rise in the incomes of the Indians, especially the Indian middle class, promises a lucrative domestic market for all the industries. * With the slowdown of the European & American economies, Indian companies should towards the African countries like Ghana, Kenya etc. which are growing at a rate of 7-8%. Threats:- * Stiff competition from developing economies like China, Bangladesh, Indonesia because of lower cost of production. * Delay in policy decisions by Indian policy makers, corruption charges and scandals, hindering the ease to do business. Protectionist policies adopted by various European countries and America to safeguard their own interests. SWOT analysis of Service Sector: Strengths:- * With 64% of the Indian population being educated, the service industry has a large talent poll to work with. * Due to large and skilled work force, the labour market becomes competitive, providing cheap labour. * The Robust Banking and Financial system and regulat ions, provide stability not only to banking sector but also to the entire economy. Weaknesses:- Too much dependence on America and European economies for business. * The Indigenous base of the IT industry is not sufficiently developed to sustain software export. Opportunities:- * With the Increased computerization in various public and government organization, the Indian IT industry has ready-made domestic market. Threats:- * Stiff competition from developing economies like China, Bangladesh, Indonesia because of lower labour. * Due to the economic slowdown, countries like America are adopting policies to prohibit outsourcing, which will affect the IT industry.

Free Essays on Then And Now

Russia: Then and Now Russia or Russian federation, independent republic in Eastern Europe and northern Asia, the world’s largest country by area. Russia was once the largest and the most prominent republic of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR, or Soviet Union). In 1991 the USSR broke apart and Russia became an independent country. The USSR had a totalitarian political system in which the Communist Party leaders controlled all aspects of the government. The state used to own all the land, companies, and the government controlled production of goods and other aspects of the economy. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia began transforming itself into a more democratic society. Russia under went many changes since it became an independent country. Russia has gone through many struggles to rebuilt the country into a democratic political system and a to establish a free market economy to replace the strict system that was controlled by the communist party. Russia has made many suc cessful changes: There have been free elections at all levels of government; private ownership of property has been legalized; and large segments of the economy are now privately owned. The transformation is far from complete. The transformation has affected the people of Russia in a variety of ways. Under the Soviet system, Russians became accustomed to having the government define many aspects of their lives. For many, the collapse of the USSR and the Communist ideal created an ideological void, and Russians how have to learn how to live and run there own society. This change has left many people confused and turning to traditional and nontraditional faith for answers. Change of rule is never easy but Russia is trying to establish somewhat of a new nation. In this paper I’m going to explain what makes up Russia, and what different aspects make the country what it is today. The Russian Government a federation has seen a dramatic chang... Free Essays on Then And Now Free Essays on Then And Now Russia: Then and Now Russia or Russian federation, independent republic in Eastern Europe and northern Asia, the world’s largest country by area. Russia was once the largest and the most prominent republic of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR, or Soviet Union). In 1991 the USSR broke apart and Russia became an independent country. The USSR had a totalitarian political system in which the Communist Party leaders controlled all aspects of the government. The state used to own all the land, companies, and the government controlled production of goods and other aspects of the economy. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia began transforming itself into a more democratic society. Russia under went many changes since it became an independent country. Russia has gone through many struggles to rebuilt the country into a democratic political system and a to establish a free market economy to replace the strict system that was controlled by the communist party. Russia has made many suc cessful changes: There have been free elections at all levels of government; private ownership of property has been legalized; and large segments of the economy are now privately owned. The transformation is far from complete. The transformation has affected the people of Russia in a variety of ways. Under the Soviet system, Russians became accustomed to having the government define many aspects of their lives. For many, the collapse of the USSR and the Communist ideal created an ideological void, and Russians how have to learn how to live and run there own society. This change has left many people confused and turning to traditional and nontraditional faith for answers. Change of rule is never easy but Russia is trying to establish somewhat of a new nation. In this paper I’m going to explain what makes up Russia, and what different aspects make the country what it is today. The Russian Government a federation has seen a dramatic chang...

Critical Media Studies, Ott And Mack Book Example

Critical Media Studies, Ott And Mack Book Example Critical Media Studies, Ott And Mack Book – Book Report/Review Example Critical Media Studies An Analysis of Critical Media Studies: An Introduction To understand the influence of media on our society, one needs to studyeffect of mass media critically through a social science perspective. The aim of these readings is to understand the acquired information and its effects on society and human behavior. There are two types of information, first-hand and mediated (which came through a medium), therefore, studying the method through which information is transferred holds significant importance. Through television and other mass media, information is spread in the shortest span of time to the large number of audience, even in the remote areas. The wide spectrum of media studies and its access to broad spectators includes communication technologies covering the remote areas and providing information through internet and television broadcast. Print, motion, sound, broadcast and new media have been sub features of media. Digital computer technology and itâ€⠄¢s over powering effect on media for distribution and circulation in establishing information has changed the methodology of communication. Thus, the distinguishing quality of new medium from other four mediums can be meaningless, if it submerged those entire previous categories due to advancement. In the age of information, it is important to study media’s historical context for understanding the rapid change and development. When two diverse media modes use the same platform, the term is known as convergence. Mobility of media was made possible through digital technology when books were available in the form of e-books. Through which, the author has been trying to show the reader, how technology has taken charge and made evident changes in media. The presence of media almost everywhere makes its study imperative and its diverse affects on society makes it an ever expanding horizon. Mass media has manifested replacement of humans, existing values to modified version of its own, and acted as an educational institute and a platform for news from couple of decades.References:Top of FormOtt, Brian L, and Robert L. Mack.  Critical Media Studies: An Introduction. Chichester, U.K: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. Print.Bottom of Form

Academy of Art University Admissions-Acceptance Rate...

Academy of Art University Admissions-Acceptance Rate... Academy of Art University Admissions Overview: The Academy of Art University accepts students by open admissions. According to the schools website, applicants are required to submit an official copy of a high school transcript, verification of a high school diploma (or GED), an application fee, and the completed application form. While art portfolios are not required, they are strongly encouraged. Students can also apply for the schools online program which allows greater flexibility for students who do not live in the San Francisco area. Will You Get In? Calculate Your Chances of Getting In  with this free tool from Cappex Admissions Data (2016): Academy of Art University Acceptance Rate:  open admissionsTest Scores 25th / 75th PercentileSAT Critical Reading: - / -SAT Math: - / -SAT Writing: - / -Whats a good SAT score?ACT Composite: - / -ACT English: - / -ACT Math: - / -Whats a good ACT score? Academy of Art University Description: The Academy of Art University is a four-year, private, for-profit university located in San Francisco, California. Academics at the Academy are supported by a   to 15 to 1 student / faculty ratio. The school offers a long list of art and design-related programs, including majors like Jewelry and Metal Arts, Game Design, and Multimedia Communication. The Academy of Art University also has plenty of online classes available, and some which offer an Online Award of Completion. To keep students engaged outside the studio and classroom, the Academy of Art has a host of student clubs and organizations, including the Tea Time Animation Club, the Competitive Gaming Club, and the Sequential Imagery Consortium. For intercollegiate athletics, the Academy of Art competes in the NCAA Division II Pacific West Conference (PacWest) with sports like men’s and women’s soccer, track and field, and golf. Enrollment (2016): Total Enrollment: 12,608  (8,303 undergraduates)Gender Breakdown: 43  percent male / 57 percent female58  percent full-time Costs (2016 - 17): Tuition and Fees: $21,252Books: $1,790  (why so much?)Room and Board: $14,912Other Expenses: $3,280Total Cost: $41,234 Academy of Art University Financial Aid (2015- 16): Percentage of New Students Receiving Aid: 53 percentPercentage of New Students Receiving Types of AidGrants: 34 percentLoans: 44 percentAverage Amount of AidGrants: $8,417Loans: $7,346 Academic Programs: Most Popular Majors:  Animation and Visual Effects, Fashion, Illustration, Interior Architecture and Design, Motion Pictures and TelevisionWhat major is right for you?  Sign up to take the free My Careers and Majors Quiz at Cappex. Graduation and Retention Rates: First Year Student Retention (full-time students): 76 percentTransfer-out Rate: 18 percent4-Year Graduation Rate: 5 percent6-Year Graduation Rate: 34 percent Intercollegiate Athletic Programs: Mens Sports:  Soccer, Basketball, Golf, Baseball, Track and FieldWomens Sports:  Tennis, Basketball, Softball, Soccer, Volleyball, Track and Field Data Source: National Center for Educational Statistics If You Like Academy of Art University, You May Also Like These Schools: Applicants interested in attending a top art school may also be interested in  The New School, Bard College,  Massachusetts College of Art and Design, or Maryland Institute College of Art. All of these schools focus on visual and performing  arts, and are fairly accessible, with acceptance rates around 60%. For applicants that are looking for a larger school (with 10,000 or more students) in California, UC Berkeley, the University of San Francisco, UCLA, and San Diego State University are all great choices.

Oil controling the world Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Oil controling the world - Essay Example Whether they can't, or they simply don't want to, remains a matter of speculation. (NICOLA, 2008) The battle for energy is shaping many conflicts of the present century, and those of future, but soaring oil prices not only have an impact on industrial production, but pose a greater threat to the end consumer and economy at large by have indirect effects on food prices, global industry, travel expenses, famine as more and more land is used to grow bio fuels and world food production is decreasing, the list can be endless. 'Unlike the previous oil shocks, which were more and less blamed on the imbalance between demand and supply, the current rise in oil prices is more complicated than just instability of demand and supply. So if one probes into the factors that have played a part in rising oil prices, one comes to a conclusion that there are a number of reasons ranging from a weak dollar to tensions between the U.S. and Iran. At the heart of the problem, though, is the fact that global demand is currently outstripping global supply. Countries such as China and India are thirsty for oil to fuel their economic growth, yet the world's oil-producing regions are producing less oil. In Nigeria, tensions in the Niger Delta region have curtailed production by nearly a million barrels a day. Fears of war between the U.S. and Iran, one of the world's biggest oil producers, have driven up prices further. And some of the world's major oil fields, the Cantarell Field in Mexico, for instance, are yielding disappoin ting amounts of crude oil this year, for geological, not geopolitical reasons.' (Weiner, 2007) HIGH OIL PRICES: THE WINNERS AND LOOSERS OF THE GAME In the political game revolving around the rise and fall of oil prices, there are some profit makers, while some are at the losing end. While it is obvious that the oil companies must be making huge profits, owing the fueling demand and high prices, it is the companies that specialize in withdrawing crude oil, who are the major profit holders. 'Exxon-Mobil, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, recently reported a profit of $9.4 billion. Impressive, more money than any publicly traded company has made in U.S. history.' (Weiner, 2007) 'The traditional big-oil producers, such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other Persian Gulf nations, but also relative newcomers to the oil game, such as Kazakhstan and other nations that border the oil-rich Caspian Sea. Iran, Russia and Venezuela are also big winners. Higher oil prices might embolden leaders of those nations to play a more assertive role on the world stage and, in the case of Iran, deflect international pressure to dismantle its nuclear program.' (Weiner, 2007) 'At the losing end is any nation that is a net importer of oil, such as the U.S. and most European nations. The European pain, however, is blunted by the strong Euro and Europe's fuel-efficient transport systems. China is another loser. It's appetite for oil is seemingly insatiable, and it's already paying more for that addiction. India is potentially even more vulnerable: It uses less oil than China but imports 70 percent of it, compared with 50 percent for China.' (Weiner, 2007) ECONOMIC COSTS OF HIGH PRICES Recently, oil prices have leaped over $135 per barrel over night,

How Commercialization has changed the Music Industry Essay

How Commercialization has changed the Music Industry - Essay Example The objective of this essay is to critically analyze the process of commercialization of music. From the recent trends it is quite evident that the role of music with social systems has changed to a large extend. More than an artistic creation it has been commercially enhanced as a cultural commodity. The quality of music is often judged upon the extent of its consumption by masses. In other words, more popular a piece of music is, its quality is perceived to be proportionally high. Here, the reach of music, to be precise in commercial terms, its marketing strategies is the factor which would decide the perceived quality of music. For instance, a particular song is marketed heavily and manages to reach a lot of people; the public would perceive that it’s artistically great owing to its popularity. The role of music in the modern society has a fundamental nature. It is associated with the society ritualistically. Music plays important role in social activities and gatherings. T his association is further connected with the emotional affiliations of the society. Each genre of music can generate respective feelings in people. This ability was utilized by the earlier societies at a personal level or at closed social gatherings. Thus music used to connect with the personal music ears of people and also with the common feelings of communities. This power of music had an important role in the creation of music. However, with the commercialization of music it has taken a more general form. With this change, the aesthetics of music underwent unprecedented changes. The aesthetics started to depend largely on the technologies, new techniques and the latest trend in the societies. An example to this is Jazz music. This genre of music was considered to be Devil’s music at a point of time in the history. Later as other fashion statements of the society was commercialized in such a way that this genre of music became the music of the elite. Thus the larger commer cialization of the societal norms has direct connections with the trends in music. Fundamental critics would define this as degradation of the aesthetics of music. It is quite natural to have changes in the forms and aesthetics of music with changing norms of the society. However, these changes in music become dangerous, when the creation of music is defined by the commercial requirements of the society. In other words, it is not a healthy trend where the commercial elements would decide what the world should listen to. On the other side the music and its developments should respond to the changes in the society and its norms. The development the culture industry in the liberalized economy has a huge role in the commercialization of music. In a world where trade and export became faster and easier, people get exposed to newer things faster. This created a demand for cultural elements from different societies. As a result of this music of a particular society became global and broke its societal and geographic limitations. Thus the consumer base for music became large. For instance, for a particular genre of music from the streets of Pakistan, there could be large number of enthusiasts all around the world. Thus music in general has broken the cultural boundaries. The new definition of boundaries of culture in general is the marketability of it.

What are the social benefits of using lie detectors Research Paper

What are the social benefits of using lie detectors - Research Paper Example The danger of using lie detector is that innocent people will be mistakenly pronounced as being guilty since the test only measures physiological responses. Such responses may be caused by a number of emotions, for instance, fear and anger of which guilt is only one. The device has an equally unacceptable rate of falsely accusing innocent people. One question that is emerging is that; how reliable are the polygraph tests? Cheating is human. There has never been, nor ever be, an honest society. So long as human beings lack the means to quantify lies or weigh hypocrisies, there is no need of any individual or society, supposing that any other society is more dishonest than another. Various culture of the world can be distinguished on the basis of how it copes with deceit, the types of lies it denounces, the type of institutions it fashions to expose the deceits(Messer and Jones, p 108). The lie detector and its used have been great in the modern society. The instrument has become one of the greatest projects of the twentieth century, aiming at improving the effort to transform the central moral question of our collective life and how to fashion a just society. The instrument also drew its legitimization from two noble half-truths about our political life which states that: democracy depends on transparency in public life and that justice depends on equal treatment for all persons. As a society based on the political principles rather than a common history or shared kinship, the modern society has decided to resolve social conflicts with public rules regardless of any other factors taking place behind the scenes. Social rules are often in conflict and the society is quick to justify them in the name of science. Science, in itself, is considered as the least arbitrary and the most transparent form of rule making. This has led to the treatment of deceit and

Research paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Research paper - Essay Example ry Peters in the play along with other individuals were of the opinion that women identification was dependent on the male counterparts of the society. In this context, in accordance to the play Henderson refers Mrs. Peters to be a follower of law. The reason behind the statement is that Mrs. Peter is the wife of Henry Peters, who is the Sherriff and follows the law. According to Henderson, as Henry Peter is a reliable follower of the law of the state. Therefore, his wife would also be a reliable follower of law. However, in the reply Mrs. Peter said, â€Å"Not-just that way† Trifles (page 1-10). The reply of Mrs. Peter suggested that she does not want to be considered as the follower of law as she had been the wife of a Sheriff, but she wants to portray that being independent women she also is a follower of the same law. In the play, it was further concluded by Mrs. Hale saying, â€Å"All go through the same things-its all just a different kind of the same thing† Trifl es (page 1-10). This conclusion made by Mrs. Hale suggesting that such kind of mistake is made by almost every individual and the women should not be considered on the basis of a judgmental decision with regard to the profession of her husband Trifles (page 1-10). This concept of the female identity is to be determined by the relationship with the male member and is significantly relevant to the modern day. It has been observed in several parts of the world that the female members are recognized by the profession of the male members in the family. These male members may either be their husband or father. This is prominently observed in the case of the wives of the terrorist and the other criminals of the world. These women are also considered as terrorists or criminals by the society irrespective of their participation in any sort of offensive crimes. This is not only observed in case of the terrorist or criminals of the society, but also in case of the noble people. The wives and daughters of the

Human Resources. The role of the workforce Essay

Human Resources. The role of the workforce - Essay Example This paper will address two challenges faced by business organisations as outlined by the article Slippery Slope which looked the evolving role of the human resource practitioner due to the structural changes in companies. The first section will look at why Ulrich's well-known employee champion role is disintegrating in business organisations. Before the in depth discussion, the first section will also give a background on the four key roles of human resource practitioners as laid out by Ulrich. The second section will tackle how the changes to the operations of HR function have often created problems for HR practitioners, line managers and employee in general. This paper will also look at specific solutions to address these problems. David Ulrich recognized the role of the human resource in furthering the thrusts of business organisations in the face of rapid technological advancement, globalisation, growth and changing customer demands. He emphasized that in the evolution of this hypercompetitive environment, requires a competent workforce. In fact, he cited that organisational capability can be a source of competitive advantage in a company. Thus, Ulrich challenges businesses to "redefine business capabilities to sustain and integrate individual competencies" (Performance Management 1998) In relation to this, Ulrich presented f... ners should be strategic partners who translate the organisation's strategies into action; administrative experts who build efficient business infrastructure; employee champions who increase employee's commitment and capability; and change agents who substantially understand the theory of change and apply them to business organisations (Performance Management 1998). Among all the four key roles mentioned above, this paper will solely focus on the employee champion role of human resource practitioner. Ulrich described this role as listening and responding to employees and finding the right balance between the demands of employees and resources available on employees. In order to do this, the company's HR department must find time to know their employees well and spend time meeting and listening to their concerns. This role also includes promoting communication through the use of "employee surveys, employee suggestion programs, all-employee meetings, on-going communication on business status, and any other program that can make employees part of the team and dedicated to customer service" (The HR Philosophy 2006). Nowadays, employee champion is also referred to as employee advocate. However, as will be discussed in the next paragraphs, this role is rapidly being eliminated in business organisation due to various changes in company structure. According to the study conducted by Helen Francis and Anne Keegan, the current business structure facilitated the deterioration of the employee champion role of human resource practitioners. However, it should be noted that the disintegration of this role can be traced to current emphasis on business or strategic partnering. The authors note the rapid increase in the number of companies looking for HR business partners as

Research paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Research paper - Essay Example ry Peters in the play along with other individuals were of the opinion that women identification was dependent on the male counterparts of the society. In this context, in accordance to the play Henderson refers Mrs. Peters to be a follower of law. The reason behind the statement is that Mrs. Peter is the wife of Henry Peters, who is the Sherriff and follows the law. According to Henderson, as Henry Peter is a reliable follower of the law of the state. Therefore, his wife would also be a reliable follower of law. However, in the reply Mrs. Peter said, â€Å"Not-just that way† Trifles (page 1-10). The reply of Mrs. Peter suggested that she does not want to be considered as the follower of law as she had been the wife of a Sheriff, but she wants to portray that being independent women she also is a follower of the same law. In the play, it was further concluded by Mrs. Hale saying, â€Å"All go through the same things-its all just a different kind of the same thing† Trifl es (page 1-10). This conclusion made by Mrs. Hale suggesting that such kind of mistake is made by almost every individual and the women should not be considered on the basis of a judgmental decision with regard to the profession of her husband Trifles (page 1-10). This concept of the female identity is to be determined by the relationship with the male member and is significantly relevant to the modern day. It has been observed in several parts of the world that the female members are recognized by the profession of the male members in the family. These male members may either be their husband or father. This is prominently observed in the case of the wives of the terrorist and the other criminals of the world. These women are also considered as terrorists or criminals by the society irrespective of their participation in any sort of offensive crimes. This is not only observed in case of the terrorist or criminals of the society, but also in case of the noble people. The wives and daughters of the

Assignment on Eastern and Western Europe Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

On Eastern and Western Europe - Assignment Example Due to the second World War, the so called Iron Curtain was established in Eastern and Central Europe. During this time, the Soviet Union established a strong program of influence on many of these Eastern Bloc countries, making them so called satellite states, under complete control of the Soviet Union, sometimes through its support of autocratic dictators. This reflected the historical problems of approaching true communism from an Eastern Bloc perspective, as a direct result of the growing tensions between the USA and USSR in post-World War II Berlin. After the closing off of Berlin and the separation of an entire city by the infamous Berlin Wall, the stage was set for the metaphor of the literal division of Europe. In the west, there was a lot of cultural and hegemonic influence from societies based on the concept of approaching socialism in some cases, but not true communism, and in many cases, very strong capitalism. In the east, there was the dominance of the Soviet power, whic h then aligned with local power in the creation of Eastern and Central European puppet regimes. #2 Central European countries that were more â€Å"Western† in their focus included Hungary and Poland. â€Å"Eastern† countries included the Baltic states and more northern areas. Poland seems to the lay person to be more similar to Germany than to Russia. The Czech Republic seems closer to Germany as well, considering the amount of German spoken there. Hungary seems more Russian, as do the Baltics. Of course, there are objective and subjective considerations to keep in mind, when it comes to ascribing national characteristics, or characteristics that are seen or said to be based on nationality. In any case, the cultural influence of other states and cultures can be divided between western and eastern ideas, in terms of political structure, and if the east is considered to be

Asignment Performance Management Essay Example for Free

Asignment Performance Management Essay Weiss and Hartle (1997) â€Å"A process for establishing a shared understanding about what is to be achieved and how it is to be achieved, and an approach to managing people that increases the probability of achieving success† * In my experience performance management means different things the different people. In the company I currently work for performance management is thought of in the negative as being a process by which managers are able to take employees to task over bad performance and ultimately get rid of them. This may seem archaic and it is the most negative example I have come across in my work life so far, however, even in more forward thinking companies’ employees are often skeptical and suspicious of the performance management process. Conversely I have been fortunate to see performance management at its best. For me performance management is all about taking the core goals of the organisation and ensuring that departmental, team and individuals tasks and behaviors link to and support these goals. In this way employees understand what is expected of them, why the work is important and how it links into the overall performance of the organisation. They are engaged and feel confident in their work knowing that they are contributing to the success of the company. Performance management assists oganisations in motivating and empowering their employees by setting clear goals and rewarding them not only for what they achieve but also the way in which they achieve. In doing this organisations can focus on what is really important to the success of the business. They can recruit and retain the best employees, and motivate and develop by training and challenging the workforce. Performance management allows succession planning so that job roles can be filled with skilled, motivated, experienced employees. Components of Performance Management Performance management is a cyclical process involving a number different components. Goal setting is a key component of the Performance Management process. The organisation’s overall goals should start the chain and depending of the size and structure of the organization these goals. The process should start with the organisational goals which are designed to ensure the performance of the organisation leads to successful business. These goals cascade down to business areas, departments, teams and individuals. For individual employees their job description and the team’s  goals will form the basis of their individual goals. It is important that they understand how their own goals link into those of the organisation, why the work they are doing is important and how it contributes to the overall success of the organisation. There must be agreement on individual goals if they are to be embraced by the individual and they must be SMART if they are to be effective. Specific Measureable Achievable Results Orientated (Relevant) Time bound It is important that individuals are clear on what is expected of them, that they feel the goals can be achieved and that they that they are challenging and interesting. Key to the achievement of goals is regular communication. Communication may be formal or informal but can include updates from the individuals, feedback from colleagues, managers and clients, one to ones or team meetings. This communication is invaluable in employees on track to achieving their goals and making changes when necessary. Performance appraisals are another important component of performance management. These events are often undertaken annually and provide a formal appraisal of the individual’s competence in their role. Individuals and their managers have the opportunity to discuss, provide feedback and evidence of the individual’s achievements (against goals) and, in some organisations, the way in which those achievements were met (behaviours). Some companies also undertake half yearly reviews or appraisals with the view to making sure that that performance stays on track between annual appraisals. This is also an opportunity to review existing goals and set new ones. Performance improvement or development planning is another part of performance management. Areas for improvement or development may be identified at any time during the performance management process but typically come out of appraisal discussions. As with goals it is important that there is agreement on development plans and that activities to develop individuals are varied and effective. If employees are going to achieve their goals and develop their skills, knowledge and delivery within their role they must have access to the appropriate training and coaching. Whether employees require  development because they do not meet their current performance requirements or in order to progress to the next level, training and coaching are also key elements within a comprehensive performance management process. Motivation and performance Management This relationship between motivation and performance management can be complex and individual to each employee. There are numerous motivational theories all of which have elements of authenticity to them. I have looked at two motivational theories, McGregor and Vroom. Douglas McGregor’s theory ‘details two contrasting models of workforce motivation’ ** Theory X suggests that the average person is basically lazy and don’t like work. They prefer to be told what to do and don’t want responsibility. As such there needs to be tight control of the individual and threats of loss or punishment are the best ways to motivate them. Theory Y is the opposite, assuming that most people enjoy work, that they are happy to take responsibility under the right circumstances and that they can be self-motivated to do a good job. This motivation can be enhanced when managers are able to appreciate the employee and develop their trust. Victor Harold Vroom’s theory, to me, has links to the ‘Y Theory’, the theory suggests that factors such as personality, skills, knowledge, experience and abilities drive an individual’s performance. It proposes that employees are motivated by what they expect to receive in return for their effort and what that expected reward means to the employee. This is referred to as ‘Expectancy theory’ and links together in the following way: Expectancy: Does the individual feel the effort they put in will lead to high performance. What is their levels of confidence in what they are capable of doing? Do they have the appropriate resources, knowledge and training to carry out their role? Instrumentality: If the individual achieves a high level of performance is there reward for their efforts and can they be sure they will receive it. Employees must be able to trust that they will. Valence: Is the reward offered/expected one that the individual values. For the reward to motivate it must have importance for the individual, be it financial, recognition, promotion and so on. For me the key to Vroom’s theory and its success in motivating employees is that every individual is different, each has their own needs, wants, expectations and values based on the individuals frame of reference. Management must know and respect the individual and what they want. Reward within Performance management: I have already discussed reward in relation to motivation and how the reward on offer may need to bespoke to the individual in order to be effective. There is, however, a far wider aspect to reward with a performance management process. Reward to attract and to motivate Pay is usually the first thought when talking about reward in employment. It is important that a realistic but attractive salary is offered initially when recruiting new employees. Pay continues to be important for most individuals throughout their employment, however it is not the only way in way employees can be rewarded. Within my current organization pay is only increased annually, across the board, which has little to do with performance except for acknowledging that employees are rewarded for working for the company in line with cost of living rises. Currently there is no performance management process within my organization other than dealing with poor performance in a ‘theory X’ style, employees are serviced with a notice of improvement linked to termination of their contact. Outside of the annual pay increase financial reward is only given if a good employee threatens to leave. Practice is known to all employees via the grapevine and acts to demotivates those who don’t wish to take this approach. I have, however, worked within another organization where annual increases were calculated on performance throughout the year based on a truly robust appraisal system. Engaged and motivated employees were encouraged to collect factual evidence of their achievements and to present and rate this evidence at their appraisal. Ratings were discussed and agreed and then, then to ensure fairness, underwent cross calibration at departmental level. Employees felt they were treated fairly and rewarded not just for their efforts over the year but for their ownership of managing their own performance. Another type of reward for performance, which is being rolled out currently by my employer, is to provide opportunity for high performing  individuals to their knowledge of the business through a shadowing scheme. This has raised employee’s morale as they feel they will be able to perform more effectively and this could, in turn, lead to better opportunities and perhaps promotion. It has also encouraged other individuals to improve their performance in order to be able participate in the scheme. As I have discussed an employee’ perception of the value of reward will vary from one to another. values The need to provide a variety of rewards in line with employee’s expectations and personal preference is supported in the concept of Total Reward schemes. These scheme look at all the rewards and benefits that are or could be provided to employees recognition work/life balance company culture employee development environment, including job design and the physical workspace. *Management and Motivation, Vroom, V.H., Deci, E.L., Penguin 1983 (first published 1970) ** Wikipedia 3 x components of total reward system 1 of which should b non financial Weiss and Hartle (1997)

Creative Accounting

Creative Accounting Creative Accounting Introduction There exist no single definition for the term creative accounting. A few creators contend that, creative accounting is a gathering of methods, choices and opportunity room left by accounting regulation, without moving far from laws or accounting necessities, permitting to the directors to change the fiscal result or the monetary explanations (Gillet, cited by Shabou and Boulika Taktak, 2002). An alternate meaning of the term creative accounting is as takes after, a get together of methodology keeping in mind the end goal to change the benefit, by expanding or diminishing, or to distort the budgetary explanations, or both of them (Stolowy 200). A last meaning of the term is, the change of budgetary accounting figures from what they really are to what plans seek by exploiting the current tenets and/or disregarding some or every one of them (Kamel Nasser 1993). The general thought behind this idea is that monetary data is manipulated to speak to a money related position and execution, that does not reflect its actual position and execution. Supervisors wont have the capacity to manipulate their accounting figures if accounting tenets wont permit them to do so. In the US, the money related data is ready utilizing the Proper accounting rules (GAAP), which is made by the Financial Accounting Standard Board (FASB). Be that as it may, these guidelines are not sufficient as regardless they permit adaptability in accounting. There exist no standard recipe for changing over numbers into money streams. Creative Accounting and corporate governance- both are dealt with in the writing broadly and the contrast utilized respects the view of each. While the first idea is dealt with and acknowledged as having a general importance, the last is thought to be dubious regarding implications and acknowledgement. In this respect its applied delimitation is thought to be vital in the presentation of this study since the implications ascribed reflect additionally our perspectives. The idea creative accounting acclimatizes different definitions in the writing and it is inspected under two vital perspectives: a positive one and a negative one. From a positive perspective, it may appear that creative accounting hints creation of accounting standards and methods to perceive changes in financial, social, and political furthermore business situations and perceives bona fide changes in accounting practice. From a negative perspective, creative accounting means undesirable practices which acclimatizes di shonest components for pulling in suppliers of the capital by displaying a deluding and misleading state of a certain firm`s undertakings. A large portion of the theoretical delimitation in regards to creative accounting is identified with those two perspectives and the general pattern distinguished in the writing backings the negative perspective. The act of creative accounting has the ability to misshape the underlying money related execution of a firm, making more troublesome for a speculator or monetary investigator to evaluate the execution of the firm and to look at between changed organizations. Therefore creative accounting as a beguiling practice clashes with the essential point of accounting regulation changing the activity of standard setting in a repetitive peculiarity on one hand and then again giving an unreasonable playing point to organizations that can effectively polish this beguiling activity. The sentiments with respect to creative accounting practice, as an inst rument of deluding are different and the definitions various. The extent of our study was not to recreate this definitions (regardless of the possibility that this demarche could be helpful for a finer comprehend of the recent point) however more to build an inner history of the significant writing that approached this theme. In with respect to we consider more applicable to approach the making of a system of center terms for the writing being referred to and to distinguish the essential and optional center terms used to portray this subject into the worldwide significant examination group. In this admiration we utilized Papineau`s (1976) idea of sliding request of center terms to demarche those terms that are integral to all analysts with the extent of an intensive understanding of the improvement of a specific writing. Since the extent of the article is not to create the epistemology of this develop and in addition the relationship with the corporate governance build, we discussed just four separate feelings in regards to the creative accounting importance under the aegis of Papineau`s (1976) pecking order of center terms as taking after: As with respect to Metcalf (1977:188) approaching we recognized as essential center term in clarifying creative accounting the accounting techniques that allow companies to report budgetary comes about that may not correctly depict of business exercises. As auxiliary center terms we can further create focused around its presumptions the subjective and target way in which the accounting methods are utilized; From Naser (1993:2) we can distinguish as essential center terms for clarifying creative accounting the accounting figures. In this admiration the preparers inspirations are critical since their longing is to exploit the current leads with a specific end goal to succeed to fulfill their specific objectives; Citron (1995) perspective give other essential center term as accounting rules and further as auxiliary center terms the certain yearning of preparers to stretch the standards and mislead the peruser of monetary articulations; Amat and Gowthorpe (2004) assessment in regards to creative accounting give an intriguing sight since it gives two sorts of essential center terms as ambiguities and discontinuities of the law. The auxiliary center terms embody the ramifications of the first together with the craving of deceive as opposed to help the planned utilized. As we would like to think creative accounting could be characterized as a mean being utilized by the organizations within request to adjust, create and get to be more aggressive in the turbulent situations in which they work, adjustment that requires exceedingly versatile experts equipped to produce creative plans regardless of the possibility that these utilize translating hazy areas further bolstering their good fortune being less judicious just about constantly; look for provisos in particular tenets being not as reliable as ought to be or create gadgets which controllers have not thought. Hypothetical system for managing our exploration address as far as interfacing the two ideas We consider the definition explained by Shleifer and Vishny (1997) as illustrative since we can recognize the foundations of creative accounting conduct as the accompanying affirms the potential presence of wrong lead of administration: Corporate governance incorporates all the procurements and instruments that ensure the benefits of the firm are overseen proficiently and in light of a legitimate concern for the suppliers of fund, moderating the improper seizure of assets by administrators or another gathering to the firm. Chiefs at times deceive shareholders with respect to the underlying financial execution of a certain organization or may impact contractual results that rely on reported accounting figures (Healy, 1985; Perry and Williams, 1994; Defond and Jiambalvo, 1994). By utilizing judgments within fiscal reporting and through organizing transactions they may modify money related reports and as a result, this way may prompt a set of monetary articulations that dont give a genu ine and reasonable perspective of the financial exercises of an organization. Managerial carefulness in the application of accounting strategies used to report firm execution is not thought to be manipulative until this specific circumspection is utilized with the expectation to control reported results. This is connected likewise to the way that supervisors may concentrate on fleeting individual motivators, for example, expanding compensations, rewards, and other transient remunerations, as opposed to concentrate on the long- term financial accomplishment of the firm. Each one of those questions show up where a detachment of the proprietorship from the control of an organization exists and in this admiration the clash that emerges is portrayed by the Agency hypothesis. In the setting of Agency Theory the firm is thought to be a legitimate fiction that serves as a center for complex process that is portrayed by conflictual peculiarities of the targets of people (Jensen and Meckling, 1976). The clashes are identified with imparting the monetary assets and the absence of certainty, these clashes between the shareholders and directors being considered in the writing to be the foundation of creative accounting. Most considered led in the writing are focused so far on the relationship between shareholders-administration collaboration that includes the seriously wrangled about clash of diversions as the schemas created by Demski (1994), and further Christensen and Feltham (2005) clarified. The points corporate governance and creative accounting practices are examined in the writing in the connection of inside interest for manipulative conduct which radiates from the contracting estimation of profit administration in the principal–agent connections in the middle of shareholders and chiefs (Dye, 1988). This specific clashes of investment innate in org connections, in some cases are restricted having the way that shareholders disregarded and acknowledge purposeful controls of records getting to be thusly unwitting assistants to manipulation (Gowthorpe and Amat, 2005) as they are tolerating the way that piece of control of records focal point them. The criticalness of corporate governance ponders in the range of creative accounting displayed under all its types of indication is identified with the general pattern exhibited in the writing that poor governance affect or maintain a manipulative conduct. Likewise talks are respected the way that poor governance brings a bout expanded recompense bundles that incite Ceos to act in a manipulative way. Then again, late studies led in the writing approached the issue of poor corporate governance fundamentally with the extent of finding the gimmicks that help this state and archived that the causality of this demarche is spoken to by the income administration and further stretched out to records control. In this admiration, further experimental studies are required to recognize unquestionably the relationship between records control and corporate governance and survey the criticalness of one another and the way that they strengthen one another. The subject of data asymmetry is additionally talked about since no approaching with respect to corporate governance in the range of creative accounting discards it and since the hypothesis in regards to data asymmetry can possibly clarify the various impetuses found on the monetary business sector to control accounting information and further to evaluate the result of such conduct. The work of Vickrey (1945); Akerlof (1970, 1976); Mirrlees (1971); Spence (1973); Rothschild and Stiglitz (1976) is analyzed since they created the spearheading studies in regards to asymmetry of data. By understanding their work we can have a completely understanding of the businesses conduct with results upon our zone of exploration since data asymmetry is viewed as an additionally as a genesis point for manipulative conduct. The general perspective regarding the matter of clarify data asymmetry is that one side of the business has better data that the other. In the connection of corporate governance th e CFO and the leading group of the organization knows more than the shareholders and different clients of accounting data about the productivity of the organization. Five hypotheses have given the hypothetical underpinning to research artful conduct in the zone of corporate governance. Organization hypothesis; authenticity hypothesis; institutional hypothesis; indicating hypothesis and stakeholder hypothesis portray distinctive purpose of perspectives in relationship with managerial speculator performance. 1 | Page

The life of Richard :: essays research papers

born Leipzig, 22 May 1813; died Venice, 13 February 1883). He was the son either of the police actuary Friedrich Wagner, who died soon after his birth, or of his mother's friend the painter, actor and poet Ludwig Geyer, whom she married in August 1814. He went to school in Dresden and then Leipzig; at 15 he wrote a play, at 16 his first compositions. In 1831 he went to Leipzig University, also studying music with the Thomaskantor, C.T. Weinlig; a symphony was written and successfully performed in 1832. In 1833 he became chorus master at the Wà ¼rzburg theatre and wrote the text and music of his first opera, Die Feen; this remained unheard, but his next, Das Liebesverbot, written in 1833, was staged in 1836. By then he had made his dà ©but as an opera conductor with a small company which however went bankrupt soon after performing his opera. He married the singer Minna Planer in 1836 and went with her to Kà ¶nigsberg where he became musical director at the theatre, but he soon left and took a similar post in Riga where he began his next op era, Rienzi, and did much conducting, especially of Beethoven. In 1839 they slipped away from creditors in Riga, by ship to London and then to Paris, where he was befriended by Meyerbeer and did hack-work for publishers and theatres. He also worked on the text and music of an opera on the 'Flying Dutchman' legend; but in 1842 Rienzi, a large-scale opera with a political theme set in imperial Rome, was accepted for Dresden and Wagner went there for its highly successful premiere. Its theme reflects something of Wagner's own politics (he was involved in the semi-revolutionary, intellectual 'Young Germany' movement). Die fliegende Hollà ¤nder ('The Flying Dutchman'), given the next year, was less well received, though a much tauter musical drama, beginning to move away from the 'number opera' tradition and strong in its evocation of atmosphere, especially the supernatural and the raging seas (inspired by the stormy trip from Riga). Wagner was now appointed joint Kapellmeister at the Dresden court. The theme of redemption through a woman's love, in the Dutchman, recurs in Wagner's operas (and perhaps his life). In 1845 Tannhà ¤user was completed and performed and Lohengrin begun. In both Wagner moves towards a more continuous texture with semi-melodic narrative and a supporting orchestral fabric helping convey its sense.

A Discussion on the Dialectical in Hero

Discuss the usefulness of the idea of the ‘dialectical’ with regard to any of the texts on this module. ‘Dialectic’ refers to the dialogue between two or more positions, holding different perspectives about a subject, who wish to establish the truth of the matter by dialogue with reasoned arguments. It may be postulated that Hero works on a Hegelian dialectic model, in that the tensions between the protagonist and antagonist of the film are constantly reworking the other, till a synthesis of their essence is achieved. Aufhebung† or sublation, being the motor by which the Hegelian dialectic functions (Palm, 2009) indicates the preservation of a useful portion of an idea, while moving beyond its limitations. The dialectic of Hero is realized in two ways; multiple narratives and multiple forms of dialogue-and suggests that there is no absolute truth, and that we arrive at the final truth through the dialectical interplay of different truths that challenge , change and preserve each other at once.The framed narrative structure of Hero displays the dialectic that exists between the King and Nameless as multiple narratives are being set up to communicate the different points of view existing between Nameless and the King. The celebration of the multiplicity of perspectives, or points of view, serves to highlight the nature of truth as a product of dialectical interplay between multiple presented truths. Hero functions as a prism, as seen from the division of the film into various vibrantly colored narratives as emblems of different truths.The self-similar fractal dimension each narrative holds highlights the fact that each narrative contains elements of the narrative before it, and each truth is derived from the truth before it, where each progressive narrative retains select elements of the previous one but changes others to create a different story. This is evident in the dialogical exchange between Nameless and the King, where the Ki ng chooses to accept parts of Nameless’ story as true and other parts as false.This fragmentation and subsequent reinvention of the truth creates a disjoint between the perceived truth and the accepted truth, suggesting that truth consists of many individual parts, and that in order for a unified truth to be assembled, deconstruction of it into its individual parts must happen before it can be reconstructed into a larger whole. Hence, the dialectical interplay between the multiple truths creates a new composite truth that retains the essence of each truth before it.Sublation occurs in the interaction between Nameless and the King, where both of them have their own truths in terms of ideologies, and the dialectical interaction of the two allows the two truths to interact and change each other as a result. For example, in order to get within 10 feet of the King, a limitation Sky, Broken Sword and Flying Snow could not breach, Nameless presents their weapons and in Broken Swordà ¢â‚¬â„¢s case his calligraphy. The items here are symbolic of each swordsman’s ideologies, and Nameless through accepting their weapons has similarly internalized their ideologies, hence changing his own truth as a result.Nameless as the bearer of Broken Sword’s truth then influences the King, so much so that the latter places his life in his would-be killer’s hands. Broken Sword’s truth resonates strongly with the King’s truth here, and this unification of their truths represents the power of the unification the King is striving to achieve, in the sense that it is powerful enough to make Nameless give up his goal of killing the King, something he had trained for more than 10 years for and defined himself by.Therefore even though Nameless has to be killed for the preservation of the social order, the King who is left standing at the end of the film has been changed, and this is evident from his hesitance in sentencing Nameless to death, something h e would not have hesitated to do prior to their meeting. Truth is seen here as something that we define ourselves by, and when our truth is changed, so do our definitions of ourselves and hence our identity.The dialectic in Hero finds physical form through the dialogical form that fighting takes on in the sense that there is an oppositional structural clash between two people holding on to different ideals. Over the course of the film, fighting is seen as a form of self-expression, and it shows how two people, charged with different ideals, clash, with the result that the one left standing has been changed in some manner by the other.The fight at the end of the film, between Broken Sword, who has forsaken his revenge for the sake of unification, and Flying Snow, who holds on to her revenge and blames Broken Sword for giving up his, represents exactly this point. The dichotomization between opposite ideals creates a cognitive dissonant effect which highlights the struggle between per sonal ideals and greater ideals that supersede the self. This conflict is ealized in Flying Snow whose triumph over Broken Sword grants her the unfortunate belated realization that at some level she yearned for coexistence with his ideal despite its clash with hers, as connoted by the repetition of â€Å"why didn’t you defend yourself? †, and this dissonance leads her to commit suicide to be reunited with her lover. Ultimately the clash of two people representing their own ideals has resulted in the prevalence of one person whose ideal has changed as a result.The communicative exchange between Nameless and Broken Sword as seen in the swordfight, over the water’s surface, in which calligraphic elements are embedded, signals a dialogic exchange not only of martial arts but also in terms of ideals. The constant parallelism of each other’s movements in the water signals that it is not a swordfight of conflict but rather conversation, as seen from the sword st rokes through the water akin to the strokes of a calligraphy brush on a canvas.Significantly the fight climaxes in the back-and-forth hitting of the water droplet, where the fluidity of water alludes to the fluid nature of truth and how it can be molded to serve one’s purpose. The fight ends when the water droplet hits Flying Snow’s face, and Nameless who turns back from his original purpose of striking Broken Sword also ends up with water droplets on his face.By drawing a parallel between Flying Snow and Nameless, who both sought revenge against the King for the destruction of their homelands, we see a tension between Nameless and Flying Snow’s common ideal and Broken Sword’s ideal. This tension is only resolved through Flying Snow’s death, and Nameless’s act of turning away, suggesting that when one holds on to a particular ideal such that it becomes one’s truth and identity, the inevitable clash of this truth with another’s will result in the deconstruction of one and the reconstruction of another.In conclusion, when we view things through different lens, we will come away with different truths each time. Hero exemplifies this for us and causes us to examine the nature of truth through the dialectical intercourse of each truth. Truth serves an existential purpose and it is important for each and every one of us to derive our own truth and hence determine our identity and purpose in life.The message of Hero is that though there are forces in existence that are greater than ourselves, the power of a common truth of all the nameless citizens can sometimes influence the truth of the one in power, in this case the King, and determine his actions. Everyone’s truth is different, but it is the meaning that we attach to it that defines us and sets us apart. Bibliography Palm, R. (2009). Retrieved October 17, 2012, from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven: https://lirias. kuleuven. be/bitstream/123456789/23467 0/1/PALM+dissertat..

The Twilight Saga 5: Midnight Sun 3. Phenomenon

Truly, I was not thirsty, but I decided to hunt again that night. A small ounce of prevention, inadequate though I knew it to be. Carlisle came with me; we hadn't been alone together since I'd returned from Denali. As we ran through the black forest, I heard him thinking about that hasty goodbye last week. In his memory, I saw the way my features had been twisted in fierce despair. I felt his surprise and sudden worry. â€Å"Edward?† â€Å"I have to go, Carlisle. I have to go now.† â€Å"What's happened?† â€Å"Nothing. Yet. But it will, if I stay.† He'd reached for my arm. I felt how it had hurt him when I'd cringed away from his hand. â€Å"I don't understand.† â€Å"Have you ever†¦has there ever been a time†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I watched myself take a deep breath, saw the wild light in my eyes through the filter of his deep concern. â€Å"Has any one person ever smelled better to you than the rest of them? Much better?† â€Å"Oh.† When I'd known that he understood, my face had fallen with shame. He'd reached out to touch me, ignoring it when I'd recoiled again, and left his hand on my shoulder. â€Å"Do what you must to resist, son. I will miss you. Here, take my car. It's faster.† He was wondering now if he'd done the right thing then, sending me away. Wondering if he hadn't hurt me with his lack of trust. â€Å"No,† I whispered as I ran. â€Å"That was what I needed. I might so easily have betrayed that trust, if you'd told me to stay.† â€Å"I'm sorry you're suffering, Edward. But you should do what you can to keep the Swan child alive. Even if it means that you must leave us again.† â€Å"I know, I know.† â€Å"Why did you come back? You know how happy I am to have you here, but if this is too difficult†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I didn't like feeling a coward,† I admitted. We'd slowed – we were barely jogging through the darkness now. â€Å"Better that than to put her in danger. She'll be gone in a year or two.† â€Å"You're right, I know that.† Contrarily, though, his words only made me more anxious to stay. The girl would be gone in a year or two†¦ Carlisle stopped running and I stopped with him; he turned to examine my expression. But you're not going to run, are you? I hung my head. Is it pride, Edward? There's no shame in – â€Å"No, it isn't pride that keeps me here. Not now.† Nowhere to go? I laughed shortly. â€Å"No. That wouldn't stop me, if I could make myself leave.† â€Å"We'll come with you, of course, if that's what you need. You only have to ask. You've moved on without complaint for the rest of them. They won't begrudge you this.† I raised one eyebrow. He laughed. â€Å"Yes, Rosalie might, but she owes you. Anyway, it's much better for us to leave now, no damage done, than for us to leave later, after a life has been ended.† All humor was gone by the end. I flinched at his words. â€Å"Yes,† I agreed. My voice sounded hoarse. But you're not leaving? I sighed. â€Å"I should.† â€Å"What holds you here, Edward? I'm failing to see†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I don't know if I can explain.† Even to myself, it made no sense. He measured my expression for a long moment. No, I do not see. But I will respect your privacy, if you prefer. â€Å"Thank you. It's generous of you, seeing as how I give privacy to no one.† With one exception. And I was doing what I could to deprive her of that, wasn't I? We all have our quirks. He laughed again. Shall we? He'd just caught the scent of a small herd of deer. It was hard to rally much enthusiasm for what was, even under the best of circumstances, a less than mouthwatering aroma. Right now, with the memory of the girl's blood fresh in my mind, the smell actually turned my stomach. I sighed. â€Å"Let's,† I agreed, though I knew that forcing more blood down my throat would help so little. We both shifted into a hunting crouch and let the unappealing scent pull us silently forward. It was colder when we returned home. The melted snow had refrozen; it was as if a thin sheet of glass covered everything – each pine needle, each fern frond, each blade of grass was iced over. While Carlisle went to dress for his early shift at the hospital, I stayed by the river, waiting for the sun to rise. I felt almost swollen from the amount of blood I'd consumed, but I knew the lack of actual thirst would mean little when I sat beside the girl again. Cool and motionless as the stone I sat on, I stared at the dark water running beside the icy bank, stared right through it. Carlisle was right. I should leave Forks. They could spread some story to explain my absence. Boarding school in Europe. Visiting distant relatives. Teenage runaway. The story didn't matter. No one would question too intensely. It was just a year or two, and then the girl would disappear. She would go on with her life – she would have a life to go on with. She'd go to college somewhere, get older, start a career, perhaps marry someone. I could picture that – I could see the girl dressed all in white and walking at a measured pace, her arm through her father's. It was odd, the pain that image caused me. I couldn't understand it. Was I jealous, because she had a future that I could never have? That made no sense. Every one of the humans around me had that same potential ahead of them – a life – and I rarely stopped to envy them. I should leave her to her future. Stop risking her life. That was the right thing to do. Carlisle always chose the right way. I should listen to him now. The sun rose behind the clouds, and the faint light glistened off all the frozen glass. One more day, I decided. I would see her one more time. I could handle that. Perhaps I would mention my pending disappearance, set the story up. This was going to be difficult; I could feel that in the heavy reluctance that was already making me think of excuses to stay – to extend the deadline to two days, three, four†¦ But I would do the right thing. I knew I could trust Carlisle's advice. And I also knew that I was too conflicted to make the right decision alone. Much too conflicted. How much of this reluctance came from my obsessive curiosity, and how much came from my unsatisfied appetite? I went inside to change into fresh clothes for school. Alice was waiting for me, sitting on the top step at the edge of the third floor. You're leaving again, she accused me. I sighed and nodded. I can't see where you're going this time. â€Å"I don't know where I'm going yet,† I whispered. I want you to stay. I shook my head. Maybe Jazz and I could come with you? â€Å"They'll need you all the more, if I'm not here to watch out for them. And think of Esme. Would you take half her family away in one blow?† You're going to make her so sad. â€Å"I know. That's why you have to stay.† That's not the same as having you here, and you know it. â€Å"Yes. But I have to do what's right.† There are many right ways, and many wrong ways, though, aren't there? For a brief moment she was swept away into one of her strange visions; I watched along with her as the indistinct images flickered and whirled. I saw myself mixed in with strange shadows that I couldn't make out – hazy, imprecise forms. And then, suddenly, my skin was glittering in the bright sunlight of a small open meadow. This was a place I knew. There was a figure in the meadow with me, but, again, it was indistinct, not there enough to recognize. The images shivered and disappeared as a million tiny choices rearranged the future again. â€Å"I didn't catch much of that,† I told her when the vision went dark. Me either. Your future is shifting around so much I can't keep up with any of it. I think, though†¦ She stopped, and she flipped through a vast collection of other recent visions for me. They were all the same – blurry and vague. â€Å"I think something is changing, though,† she said out loud. â€Å"Your life seems to be at a crossroads.† I laughed grimly. â€Å"You do realize that you sound like a bogus gypsy at a carnival now, right?† She stuck her tiny tongue out at me. â€Å"Today is all right, though, isn't it?† I asked, my voice abruptly apprehensive. â€Å"I don't see you killing anyone today,† she assured me. â€Å"Thanks, Alice.† â€Å"Go get dressed. I won't say anything – I'll let you tell the others when you're ready.† She stood and darted back down the stairs, her shoulders hunched slightly. Miss you. Really. Yes, I would really miss her, too. It was a quiet ride to school. Jasper could tell that Alice was upset about something, but he knew that if she wanted to talk about it she would have done so already. Emmett and Rosalie were oblivious, having another of their moments, gazing into each others' eyes with wonder – it was rather disgusting to watch from the outside. We were all quite aware how desperately in love they were. Or maybe I was just being bitter because I was the only one alone. Some days it was harder than others to live with three sets of perfectly matched lovers. This was one of them. Maybe they would all be happier without me hanging around, ill-tempered and belligerent as the old man I should be by now. Of course, the first thing I did when we reached the school was to look for the girl. Just preparing myself again. Right. It was embarrassing how my world suddenly seemed to be empty of everything but her – my whole existence centered around the girl, rather than around myself anymore. It was easy enough to understand, though, really; after eighty years of the same thing every day and every night, any change became a point of absorption. She had not yet arrived, but could I hear the thunderous chugging of her truck's engine in the distance. I leaned against the side of the car to wait. Alice stayed with me, while the others went straight to class. They were bored with my fixation – it was incomprehensible to them how any human could hold my interest for so long, no matter how delicious she smelled. The girl drove slowly into view, her eyes intent on the road and her hands tight on the wheel. She seemed anxious about something. It took me a second to figure out what that something was, to realize that every human wore the same expression today. Ah, the road was slick with ice, and they were all trying to drive more carefully. I could see she was taking the added risk seriously. That seemed in line with what little I had learned of her character. I added this to my small list: she was a serious person, a responsible person. She parked not too far from me, but she hadn't noticed me standing here yet, staring at her. I wondered what she would do when she did? Blush and walk away? That was my first guess. But maybe she would stare back. Maybe she would come to talk to me. I took a deep breath, filling my lungs hopefully, just in case. She got out of the truck with care, testing the slick ground before she put her weight on it. She didn't look up, and that frustrated me. Maybe I would go talk to her†¦ No, that would be wrong. Instead of turning toward the school, she made her way to the rear of her truck, clinging to the side of the truck bed in a droll way, not trusting her footing. It made me smile, and I felt Alice's eyes on my face. I didn't listen to whatever this made her think – I was having too much fun watching the girl check her snow chains. She actually looked in some danger of falling, the way her feet were sliding around. No one else was having trouble – had she parked in the worst of the ice? She paused there, staring down with a strange expression on her face. It was†¦tender? As if something about the tire was making her†¦emotional? Again, the curiosity ached like a thirst. It was as if I had to know what she was thinking – as if nothing else mattered. I would go talk to her. She looked like she could use a hand anyway, at least until she was off the slick pavement. Of course, I couldn't offer her that, could I? I hesitated, torn. As adverse as she seemed to be to snow, she would hardly welcome the touch of my cold white hand. I should have worn gloves – â€Å"NO!† Alice gasped aloud. Instantly, I scanned her thoughts, guessing at first that I had made a poor choice and she saw me doing something inexcusable. But it had nothing to do with me at all. Tyler Crowley had chosen to take the turn into the parking lot at an injudicious speed. This choice would send him skidding across a patch of ice†¦ The vision came just half a second before the reality. Tyler's van rounded the corner as I was still watching the conclusion that had pulled the horrified gasp through Alice's lips. No, this vision had nothing to do with me, and yet it had everything to do with me, because Tyler's van – the tires right now hitting the ice at the worst possible angle – was going to spin across the lot and crush the girl who had become the uninvited focal point of my world. Even without Alice's foresight it would have been simple enough to read the trajectory of the vehicle, flying out of Tyler's control. The girl, standing in the exactly wrong place at the back of her truck, looked up, bewildered by the sound of the screeching tires. She looked straight into my horrorstruck eyes, and then turned to watch her approaching death. Not her! The words shouted in my head as if they belonged to someone else. Still locked into Alice's thoughts, I saw the vision suddenly shift, but I had no time to see what the outcome would be. I launched myself across the lot, throwing myself between the skidding van and the frozen girl. I moved so fast that everything was a streaky blur except for the object of my focus. She didn't see me – no human eyes could have followed my flight – still staring at the hulking shape that was about to grind her body into the metal frame of her truck. I caught her around the waist, moving with too much urgency to be as gentle as she would need me to be. In the hundredth of a second between the time that I yanked her slight form out of the path of death and the time that I crashed into to the ground with her in my arms, I was vividly aware of her fragile, breakable body. When I heard her head crack against the ice, it felt like I had turned to ice, too. But I didn't even have a full second to ascertain her condition. I heard the van behind us, grating and squealing as it twisted around the sturdy iron body of the girl's truck. It was changing course, arcing, coming for her again – like she was a magnet, pulling it toward us. A word I'd never said before in the presence of a lady slid between my clenched teeth. I had already done too much. As I'd nearly flown through the air to push her out of the way, I'd been fully aware of the mistake I was making. Knowing that it was a mistake did not stop me, but I was not oblivious to the risk I was taking – taking, not just for myself, but for my entire family. Exposure. And this certainly wasn't going to help, but there was no way I was going to allow the van to succeed in its second attempt to take her life. I dropped her and threw my hands out, catching the van before it could touch the girl. The force of it hurled me back into the car parked beside her truck, and I could feel its frame buckle behind my shoulders. The van shuddered and shivered against the unyielding obstacle of my arms, and then swayed, balancing unstably on the two far tires. If I moved my hands, the back tire of the van was going fall onto her legs. Oh, for the love of all that was holy, would the catastrophes never end? Was there anything else that could go wrong? I could hardly sit here, holding the van in the air, and wait for rescue. Nor could I throw the van away – there was the driver to consider, his thoughts incoherent with panic. With an internal groan, I shoved the van so that it rocked away from us for an instant. As it fell back toward me, I caught it under the frame with my right hand while I wrapped my left arm around the girl's waist again and drug her out from under the van, pulling her tight up against my side. Her body moved limply as I swung her around so that her legs would be in the clear – was she conscious? How much damage had I done to her in my impromptu rescue attempt? I let the van drop, now that it could not hurt her. It crashed to the pavement, all the windows shattering in unison. I knew that I was in the middle of a crisis. How much had she seen? Had any other witnesses watched me materialize at her side and then juggle the van while I tried to keep her out from under it? These questions should be my biggest concern. But I was too anxious to really care about the threat of exposure as much as I should. Too panic-stricken that I might have injured her myself in my effort to protect her. Too frightened to have her this close to me, knowing what I would smell if I allowed myself to inhale. Too aware of the heat of her soft body, pressed against mine – even through the double obstacle of our jackets, I could feel that heat†¦ The first fear was the greatest fear. As the screaming of the witnesses erupted around us, I leaned down to examine her face, to see if she was conscious – hoping fiercely that she was not bleeding anywhere. Her eyes were open, staring in shock. â€Å"Bella?† I asked urgently. â€Å"Are you all right?† â€Å"I'm fine.† She said the words automatically in a dazed voice. Relief, so exquisite it was nearly pain, washed through me at the sound of her voice. I sucked in a breath through my teeth, and did not mind the accompanying burn in my throat. I almost welcomed it. She struggled to sit up, but I was not ready to release her. It felt somehow†¦safer? Better, at least, having her tucked into my side. â€Å"Be careful,† I warned her. â€Å"I think you hit your head pretty hard.† There had been no smell of fresh blood – a mercy, that – but this did not rule out internal damage. I was abruptly anxious to get her to Carlisle and a full compliment of radiology equipment. â€Å"Ow,† she said, her tone comically shocked as she realized I was right about her head. â€Å"That's what I thought.† Relief made it funny to me, made me almost giddy. â€Å"How in the†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Her voice trailed off, and her eyelids fluttered. â€Å"How did you get over here so fast?† The relief turned sour, the humor vanished. She had noticed too much. Now that it appeared that the girl was in decent shape, the anxiety for my family became severe. â€Å"I was standing right next to you, Bella.† I knew from experience that if I was very confident as I lied, it made any questioner less sure of the truth. She struggled to move again, and this time I allowed it. I needed to breathe so that I could play my role correctly. I needed space from her warm-blooded heat so that it would not combine with her scent to overwhelm me. I slid away from her, as far as was possible in the small space between the wrecked vehicles. She stared up at me, and I stared back. To look away first was a mistake only an incompetent liar would make, and I was not an incompetent liar. My expression was smooth, benign†¦ It seemed to confuse her. That was good. The accident scene was surrounded now. Mostly students, children, peering and pushing through the cracks to see if any mangled bodies were visible. There was a babble of shouting and a gush of shocked thought. I scanned the thoughts once to make sure there were no suspicions yet, and then tuned it out and concentrated only on the girl. She was distracted by the bedlam. She glanced around, her expression still stunned, and tried to get to her feet. I put my hand lightly on her shoulder to hold her down. â€Å"Just stay put for now.† She seemed alright, but should she really be moving her neck? Again, I wished for Carlisle. My years of theoretical medical study were no match for his centuries of hands-on medical practice. â€Å"But it's cold,† she objected. She had almost been crushed to death two distinct times and crippled one more, and it was the cold that worried her. A chuckle slid through my teeth before I could remember that the situation was not funny. Bella blinked, and then her eyes focused on my face. â€Å"You were over there.† That sobered me again. She glanced toward the south, though there was nothing to see now but the crumpled side of the van. â€Å"You were by your car.† â€Å"No, I wasn't.† â€Å"I saw you,† she insisted; her voice was childlike when she was being stubborn. Her chin jutted out. â€Å"Bella, I was standing with you, and I pulled you out of the way.† I stared deeply into her wide eyes, trying to will her into accepting my version – the only rational version on the table. Her jaw set. â€Å"No.† I tried to stay calm, to not panic. If only I could keep her quiet for a few moments, to give me a chance to destroy the evidence†¦.and undermine her story by disclosing her head injury. Shouldn't it be easy to keep this silent, secretive girl quiet? If only she would trust me, just for a few moments†¦ â€Å"Please, Bella,† I said, and my voice was too intense, because I suddenly wanted her to trust me. Wanted it badly, and not just in regards to this accident. A stupid desire. What sense would it make for her to trust me? â€Å"Why?† she asked, still defensive. â€Å"Trust me,† I pleaded. â€Å"Will you promise to explain everything to me later?† It made me angry to have to lie to her again, when I so much wished that I could somehow deserve her trust. So, when I answered her, it was a retort. â€Å"Fine.† â€Å"Fine,† she echoed in the same tone. While the rescue attempt began around us – adults arriving, authorities called, sirens in the distance – I tried to ignore the girl and get my priorities in the right order. I searched through every mind in the lot, the witnesses and the latecomers both, but I could find nothing dangerous. Many were surprised to see me here beside Bella, but all concluded – as there was no other possible conclusion – that they had just not noticed me standing by the girl before the accident. She was the only one who didn't accept the easy explanation, but she would be considered the least reliable witness. She had been frightened, traumatized, not to mention sustaining the blow to the head. Possibly in shock. It would be acceptable for her story to be confused, wouldn't it? No one would give it much credence above so many other spectators†¦ I winced when I caught the thoughts of Rosalie, Jasper and Emmett, just arriving on the scene. There would be hell to pay for this tonight. I wanted to iron out the indention my shoulders had made against the tan car, but the girl was too close. I'd have to wait till she was distracted. It was frustrating to wait – so many eyes on me – as the humans struggled with the van, trying to pull it away from us. I might have helped them, just to speed the process, but I was already in enough trouble and the girl had sharp eyes. Finally, they were able to shift it far enough away for the EMTs to get to us with their stretchers. A familiar, grizzled face appraised me. â€Å"Hey, Edward,† Brett Warner said. He was also a registered nurse, and I knew him well from the hospital. It was a stroke of luck – the only luck today – that he was the first through to us. In his thoughts, he was noting that I looked alert and calm. â€Å"You okay, kid?† â€Å"Perfect, Brett. Nothing touched me. But I'm afraid Bella here might have a concussion. She really hit her head when I yanked her out of the way†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Brett turned his attention to the girl, who shot me a fierce look of betrayal. Oh, that was right. She was the quiet martyr – she'd prefer to suffer in silence. She did not contradict my story immediately, though, and this made me feel easier. The next EMT tried to insist that I allow myself to be treated, but it wasn't too difficult to dissuade him. I promised I would let my father examine me, and he let it go. With most humans, speaking with cool assurance was all that was needed. Most humans, just not the girl, of course. Did she fit into any of the normal patterns? As they put a neck brace on her – and her face flushed scarlet with embarrassment – I used the moment of distraction to quietly rearrange the shape of the dent in the tan car with the back of my foot. Only my siblings noticed what I was doing, and I heard Emmett's mental promise to catch anything I missed. Grateful for his help – and more grateful that Emmett, at least, had already forgiven my dangerous choice – I was more relaxed as I climbed into the front seat of the ambulance next to Brett. The chief of police arrived before they had gotten Bella into the back of the ambulance. Though Bella's father's thoughts were past words, the panic and concern emanating out of the man's mind drown out just about every other thought in the vicinity. Wordless anxiety and guilt, a great swell of them, washed out of him as he saw his only daughter on the gurney. Washed out of him and through me, echoing and growing stronger. When Alice had warned me that killing Charlie Swan's daughter would kill him, too, she had not been exaggerating. My head bowed with that guilt as I listened to his panicked voice. â€Å"Bella!† he shouted. â€Å"I'm completely fine, Char – Dad.† She sighed. â€Å"There's nothing wrong with me.† Her assurance barely soothed his dread. He turned at once to the closest EMT and demanded more information. I wasn't until I heard him speaking, forming perfectly coherent sentences despite his panic, that I realized that his anxiety and concern were not wordless. I just†¦could not hear the exact words. Hmm. Charlie Swan was not as silent as his daughter, but I could see where she got it from. Interesting. I'd never spent much time around the town's police chief. I'd always taken him for a man of slow thought – now I realized that I was the one who was slow. His thoughts were partially concealed, not absent. I could only make out the tenor, the tone of them†¦ I wanted to listen harder, to see if I could find in this new, lesser puzzle the key to the girl's secrets. But Bella was loaded into the back by then, and the ambulance was on its way. It was hard to tear myself away from this possible solution to the mystery that had come to obsess me. But I had to think now – to look at what had been done today from every angle. I had to listen, to make sure that I had not put us all in so much danger that we would have to leave immediately. I had to concentrate. There was nothing in the thoughts of the EMTs to worry me. As far as they could tell, there was nothing seriously wrong with the girl. And Bella was sticking to the story I'd provided, thus far. The first priority, when we reached the hospital, was to see Carlisle. I hurried through the automatic doors, but I was unable to totally forgo watching after Bella; I kept an eye on her through the paramedics' thoughts. It was easy to find my father's familiar mind. He was in his small office, all alone – the second stroke of luck in this luckless day. â€Å"Carlisle.† He'd heard my approach, and he was alarmed as soon as he saw my face. He jumped to his feet, his face paling to bone white. He leaned forward across the neatly organized walnut desk. Edward – you didn't – â€Å"No, no, it's not that.† He took deep breath. Of course not. I'm sorry I entertained the thought. Your eyes, of course, I should have known†¦ He noted my still-golden eyes with relief. â€Å"She's hurt, though, Carlisle, probably not seriously, but – â€Å" â€Å"What happened?† â€Å"A stupid car accident. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But I couldn't just stand there – let it crush her – â€Å" Start over, I don't understand. How were you involved? â€Å"A van skidded across the ice,† I whispered. I stared at the wall behind him while I spoke. Instead of a throng of framed diplomas, he had one simple oil painting – a favorite of his, an undiscovered Hassam. â€Å"She was in the way. Alice saw it coming, but there wasn't time to do anything but really run across the lot and shove her out of the way. No one noticed†¦except for her. I had to stop the van, too, but again, nobody saw that†¦besides her. I'm†¦I'm sorry Carlisle. I didn't mean to put us in danger.† He circled the desk and put his hand on my shoulder. You did the right thing. And it couldn't have been easy for you. I'm proud of you, Edward. I could look him in the eye then. â€Å"She knows there's something†¦wrong with me.† â€Å"That doesn't matter. If we have to leave, we leave. What has she said?† I shook my head, a little frustrated. â€Å"Nothing yet.† Yet? â€Å"She agreed to my version of events – but she's expecting an explanation.† He frowned, pondering this. â€Å"She hit her head – well, I did that,† I continued quickly. â€Å"I knocked her to the ground fairly hard. She seems fine, but†¦ I don't think it will take much to discredit her account.† I felt like a cad just saying the words. Carlisle heard the distaste in my voice. Perhaps that won't be necessary. Let's see what happens, shall we? It sounds like I have a patient to check on. â€Å"Please,† I said. â€Å"I'm so worried that I hurt her.† Carlisle's expression brightened. He smoothed his fair hair – just a few shades lighter than his golden eyes – and he laughed. It's been an interesting day for you, hasn't it? In his mind, I could see the irony, and it was humorous, at least to him. Quite the reversal of roles. Somewhere during that short thoughtless second when I'd sprinted across the icy lot, I had transformed from killer to protector. I laughed with him, remembering how sure I'd been that Bella would never need protecting from anything more than myself. There was an edge to my laugh because, van notwithstanding, that was still entirely true. I waited alone in Carlisle's office – one of the longer hours I had ever lived – listening to the hospital full of thoughts. Tyler Crowley, the van's driver, looked to be hurt worse than Bella, and the attention shifted to him while she waited her turn to be X-rayed. Carlisle kept in the background, trusting the PA's diagnosis that the girl was only slightly injured. This made me anxious, but I knew he was right. One glance at his face and she would be immediately reminded of me, of the fact that there was something not right about my family, and that might set her talking. She certainly had a willing enough partner to converse with. Tyler was consumed with guilt over the fact that he had almost killed her, and he couldn't seem to shut up about it. I could see her expression through his eyes, and it was clear that she wished he would stop. How did he not see that? There was a tense moment for me when Tyler asked her how she'd gotten out of the way. I waited, not breathing, as she hesitated. â€Å"Um†¦Ã¢â‚¬  he heard her say. Then she paused for so long that Tyler wondered if his question had confused her. Finally, she went on. â€Å"Edward pulled me out of the way.† I exhaled. And then my breathing accelerated. I'd never heard her speak my name before. I like the way it sounded – even just hearing it through Tyler's thoughts. I wanted to hear it for myself†¦ â€Å"Edward Cullen,† she said, when Tyler didn't realize who she meant. I found myself at the door, my hand on the knob. The desire to see her was growing stronger. I had to remind myself of the need for caution. â€Å"He was standing next to me.† â€Å"Cullen?† Huh. That's weird. â€Å"I didn't see him.† I could have sworn†¦ â€Å"Wow, it was all so fast, I guess. Is he okay?† â€Å"I think so. He's here somewhere, but they didn't make him use a stretcher.† I saw the thoughtful look on her face, the suspicious tightening of her eyes, but these little changes in her expression were lost on Tyler. She's pretty, he was thinking, almost in surprise. Even all messed up. Not my usual type, still†¦ I should take her out. Make up for today†¦ I was out in the hall, then, halfway to the emergency room, without thinking for one second about what I was doing. Luckily, the nurse entered the room before I could – it was Bella's turn for X-rays. I leaned against the wall in a dark nook just around the corner, and tried to get a grip on myself while she was wheeled away. It didn't matter that Tyler thought she was pretty. Anyone would notice that. There was no reason for me to feel†¦how did I feel? Annoyed? Or was angry closer to the truth? That made no sense at all. I stayed where I was for as long as I could, but impatience got the best of me and I took a back way around to the radiology room. She'd already been moved back to the ER, but I was able to take a peek at her x-rays while the nurse's back was turned. I felt calmer when I had. Her head was fine. I hadn't hurt her, not really. Carlisle caught me there. You look better, he commented. I just looked straight ahead. We weren't alone, the halls full of orderlies and visitors. Ah, yes. He stuck her x-rays to the lightboard, but I didn't need a second look. I see. She's absolutely fine. Well done, Edward. The sound of my father's approval created a mixed reaction in me. I would have been pleased, except that I knew that he would not approve of what I was going to do now. At least, he would not approve if he knew my real motivations†¦ â€Å"I think I'm going to go talk to her – before she sees you,† I murmured under my breath. â€Å"Act natural, like nothing happened. Smooth it over.† All acceptable reasons. Carlisle nodded absently, still looking over the x-rays. â€Å"Good idea. Hmm.† I looked to see what had his interest. Look at all the healed contusions! How many times did her mother drop her? Carlisle laughed to himself at his joke. â€Å"I'm beginning to think the girl just has really bad luck. Always in the wrong place at the wrong time.† Forks is certainly the wrong place for her, with you here. I flinched. Go ahead. Smooth things over. I'll join you momentarily. I walked away quickly, feeling guilty. Perhaps I was too good a liar, if I could fool Carlisle. When I got to the ER, Tyler was mumbling under his breath, still apologizing. The girl was trying to escape his remorse by pretending to sleep. Her eyes were closed, but her breathing was not even, and now and then her fingers would twitch impatiently. I stared at her face for a long moment. This was the last time I would see her. That fact triggered an acute aching in my chest. Was it because I hated to leave any puzzle unsolved? That did not seem like enough of an explanation. Finally, I took a deep breath and moved into view. When Tyler saw me, he started to speak, but I put one finger to my lips. â€Å"Is she sleeping?† I murmured. Bella's eyes snapped open and focused on my face. They widened momentarily, and then narrowed in anger or suspicion. I remembered that I had a role to play, so I smiled at her as if nothing unusual had happened this morning – besides a blow to her head and a bit of imagination run wild. â€Å"Hey, Edward,† Tyler said. â€Å"I'm really sorry – â€Å" I raised one hand to halt his apology. â€Å"No blood, no foul,† I said wryly. Without thinking, I smiled too widely at my private joke. It was amazingly easy to ignore Tyler, lying no more than four feet from me, covered in fresh blood. I'd never understood how Carlisle was able to do that – ignore the blood of his patients in order to treat them. Wouldn't the constant temptation be so distracting, so dangerous†¦? But, now†¦ I could see how, if you were focusing on something else hard enough, the temptation was be nothing at all. Even fresh and exposed, Tyler's blood had nothing on Bella's. I kept my distance from her, seating myself on the foot of Tyler's mattress. â€Å"So, what's the verdict?† I asked her. Her lower lip pushed out a little. â€Å"There's nothing wrong with me at all, but they won't let me go. How come you aren't strapped to a gurney like the rest of us?† Her impatience made me smile again. I could hear Carlisle in the hall now. â€Å"It's all about who you know,† I said lightly. â€Å"But don't worry, I came to spring you.† I watched her reaction carefully as my father entered the room. Her eyes widened and her mouth actually fell open in surprise. I groaned internally. Yes, she'd certainly noticed the resemblance. â€Å"So, Miss Swan, how are you feeling?† Carlisle asked. He had a wonderfully soothing beside manner that put most patients at ease within moments. I couldn't tell how it affected Bella. â€Å"I'm fine,† she said quietly. Carlisle clipped her X-rays to the lightboard by the bed. â€Å"Your X-rays look good. Does your head hurt? Edward said you hit it pretty hard.† She sighed, and said, â€Å"I'm fine,† again, but this time impatience leaked into her voice. Then she glowered once in my direction. Carlisle stepped closer to her and ran his fingers gently over her scalp until he found the bump under her hair. I was caught off guard by the wave of emotion that crashed over me. I had seen Carlisle work with humans a thousand times. Years ago, I had even assisted him informally – though only in situations where blood was not involved. So it wasn't a new thing to me, to watch him interact with the girl as if he were as human as she was. I'd envied his control many times, but that was not the same as this emotion. I envied him more than his control. I ached for the difference between Carlisle and me – that he could touch her so gently, without fear, knowing he would never harm her†¦ She winced, and I twitched in my seat. I had to concentrate for a moment to keep my relaxed posture. â€Å"Tender?† Carlisle asked. Her chin jerked up a fraction. â€Å"Not really,† she said. Another small piece of her character fell into place: she was brave. She didn't like to show weakness. Possibly the most vulnerable creature I'd ever seen, and she didn't want to seem weak. A chuckle slid through my lips. She shot another glare at me. â€Å"Well,† Carlisle said. â€Å"Your father is in the waiting room – you can go home with him now. But come back if you feel dizzy or have trouble with your eyesight at all.† Her father was here? I swept through the thoughts in the crowded waiting room, but I couldn't pick his subtle mental voice out of the group before she was speaking again, her face anxious. â€Å"Can't I go back to school?† â€Å"Maybe you should take it easy today,† Carlisle suggested. Her eyes flickered back to me. â€Å"Does he get to go to school?† Act normal, smooth things over†¦ignore the way it feels when she looks me in the eye†¦ â€Å"Someone has to spread the good news that we survived,† I said. â€Å"Actually,† Carlisle corrected, â€Å"most of the school seems to be in the waiting room.† I anticipated her reaction this time – her aversion to attention. She didn't disappoint. â€Å"Oh no,† she moaned, and she put her hands over her face. I liked that I'd finally guessed right. I was beginning to understand her†¦ â€Å"Do you want to stay?† Carlisle asked. â€Å"No, no!† she said quickly, swinging her legs over the side of the mattress and sliding down till her feet were on the floor. She stumbled forward, off-balance, into Carlisle's arms. He caught and steadied her. Again, the envy flooded through me. â€Å"I'm fine,† she said before he could comment, faint pink in her cheeks. Of course, that wouldn't bother Carlisle. He made sure she was balanced, and then dropped his hands. â€Å"Take some Tylenol for the pain,† he instructed. â€Å"It doesn't hurt that bad.† Carlisle smiled as he signed her chart. â€Å"It sounds like you were extremely lucky.† She turned her face slightly, to stare at me with hard eyes. â€Å"Lucky Edward happened to be standing next to me.† â€Å"Oh, well, yes,† Carlisle agreed quickly, hearing the same thing in her voice that I heard. She hadn't written her suspicions off as imagination. Not yet. All yours, Carlisle thought. Handle it as you think best. â€Å"Thanks so much,† I whispered, quick and quiet. Neither human heard me. Carlisle's lips turned up a tiny bit at my sarcasm as he turned to Tyler. â€Å"I'm afraid that you'll have to stay with us just a little bit longer,† he said as he began examining the slashes left by the shattered windshield. Well, I'd made the mess, so it was only fair that I had to deal with it. Bella walked deliberately toward me, not stopping until she was uncomfortably close. I remembered how I had hoped, before all the mayhem, that she would approach me†¦ This was like a mockery of that wish. â€Å"Can I talk to you for a minute?† she hissed at me. Her warm breath brushed my face and I had to stagger back a step. Her appeal had not abated one bit. Every time she was near me, it triggered all my worst, most urgent instincts. Venom flowed in my mouth and my body yearned to strike – to wrench her into my arms and crush her throat to my teeth. My mind was stronger than my body, but only just. â€Å"Your father is waiting for you,† I reminded her, my jaw clenched tight. She glanced toward Carlisle and Tyler. Tyler was paying us no attention at all, but Carlisle was monitoring my every breath. Carefully, Edward. â€Å"I'd like to speak to you alone, if you don't mind,† she insisted in a low voice. I wanted to tell her that I did mind very much, but I knew I would have to do this eventually. I may as well get on with it. I was full of so many conflicting emotions as I stalked out of the room, listening to her stumbling footsteps behind me, trying to keep up. I had a show to put on now. I knew the role I would play – I had the character down: I would be the villain. I would lie and ridicule and be cruel. It went against all my better impulses – the human impulses that I'd clung to through all these years. I'd never wanted to deserve trust more than in this moment, when I had to destroy all possibility of it. It made it worse to know that this would be the last memory she would have of me. This was my farewell scene. I turned on her. â€Å"What do you want?† I asked coldly. She cringed back slightly from my hostility. Her eyes turned bewildered, the expression that had haunted me†¦ â€Å"You owe me an explanation,† she said in a small voice; her ivory face blanched. It was very hard to keep my voice harsh. â€Å"I saved your life – I don't owe you anything.† She flinched – it burned like acid to watch my words hurt her. â€Å"You promised,† she whispered. â€Å"Bella, you hit your head, you don't know what you're talking about.† Her chin came up then. â€Å"There's nothing wrong with my head.† She was angry now, and that made it easier for me. I met her glare, making my face more unfriendly. â€Å"What do you want from me, Bella?† â€Å"I want to know the truth. I want to know why I'm lying for you.† What she wanted was only fair – it frustrated me to have to deny her. â€Å"What do you think happened?† I nearly growled at her. Her words poured out in a torrent. â€Å"All I know is that you weren't anywhere near me – Tyler didn't see you, either, so don't tell me I hit my head too hard. That van was going to crush us both – and it didn't, and your hands left dents in the side of it – and you left a dent in the other car, and you're not hurt at all – and the van should have smashed my legs, but you were holding it up†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Suddenly, she clenched her teeth together and her eyes were glistening with unshed tears. I stared at her, my expression derisive, though what I really felt was awe; she had seen everything. â€Å"You think I lifted a van off you?† I asked sarcastically. She answered with one stiff nod. My voice grew more mocking. â€Å"Nobody will believe that, you know.† She made an effort to control her anger. When she answered me, she spoke each word with slow deliberation. â€Å"I'm not going to tell anybody.† She meant it – I could see that in her eyes. Even furious and betrayed, she would keep my secret. Why? The shock of it ruined my carefully designed expression for half a second, and then I pulled myself together. â€Å"Then why does it matter?† I asked, working to keep my voice severe. â€Å"It matters to me,† she said intensely. â€Å"I don't like to lie – so there'd better be a good reason why I'm doing it.† She was asking me to trust her. Just as I wanted her to trust me. But this was a line I could not cross. My voice stayed callous. â€Å"Can't you just thank me and get it over with?† â€Å"Thank you,† she said, and then she fumed silently, waiting. â€Å"You're not going to let it go, are you?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"In that case†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I couldn't tell her the truth if I wanted to†¦and I didn't want to. I'd rather she made up her own story than know what I was, because nothing could be worse than the truth – I was a living nightmare, straight from the pages of a horror novel. â€Å"I hope you enjoy disappointment.† We scowled at each other. It was odd how endearing her anger was. Like a furious kitten, soft and harmless, and so unaware of her own vulnerability. She flushed pink and ground her teeth together again. â€Å"Why did you even bother?† Her question wasn't one that I was expecting or prepared to answer. I lost my hold on the role I was playing. I felt the mask slip from my face, and I told her – this one time – the truth. â€Å"I don't know.† I memorized her face one last time – it was still set in lines of anger, the blood not yet faded from her cheeks – and then I turned and walked away from her.