Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Concept of Sociological Imagination

Applying the Sociological Imagination Assignment Sociological Imagination Is to think yourself away from the familiar routines of everyday life, and look at them from an entirely new perspective. Looking outside the box. Someone with a sociological imagination might view a homeless person as a person who has had hard times. They might ask questions as to what brought them to homelessness. Did they lose their Job? Did they abuse drugs or alcohol? What are the circumstances that brought them to be homeless.Someone who does not have a sociological imagination would not be able to see outside of their â€Å"norm† and would more than likely make statements to the effect of get a Job, is their choice to be in the situation they are. They would have no empathy for someone who Is homeless or want to know the circumstances that brought someone to become homeless. I feel like a legislator that has sociological Imagination would propose policies the help combat homelessness. Research or have people research what are the leading causing of homelessness and try to make polices that would help minimize homelessness.For example, if you look at a single mom who is struggling to work, pay bills, pay daycare so she can work and maintain rent or a mortgage, a legislator that looks outside the box would look into policies that would help the single mom maybe in creating a policy where the income guideline to get daycare assistance goes up so that she could get daycare assistance or look into policies to help with more energy assistance which would help her with the cost of utilities. Also they would look into ways to create more affordable housing as this county Is In desperate need of affordable housing.A legislator who does not have a sociological imagination or chooses to not look outside the box would not look at ways to help create polices to help the single mom be able to maintain her household. They would look Into polices to develop housing and not necessarily affor dable housing. They may look into commercial developments or look at ways to cut funding for policies and programs that help people be able to maintain housing. Such as the Housing Choice Voucher program. The advantages to have a sociological imagination are to be able to look at a tuition in a different view.To be able to be open to various other ideas and theories. To do the research in the theories you may have and be open to different results. The disadvantages is living life for what is presented to you. Not being able to look at different situations such as homelessness for what might have caused it, whether It be something In there personal lives or something bigger as a mass layoff and could no longer pay their rent or mortgage. A person without a sociological imagination may not be able to look past what Is really going on in the world and mayJust feel stuck In their own situations. Structures that contribute to homelessness are poverty, lack of employment, lack of affordab le housing, and the housing crash in programs and raising the minimum wage so that people could afford to pay the rents and still be able to feed themselves. A micro solution to homelessness could be programs to help people who are homeless and have addiction problems get the help they need to get clean to be able to get a Job, keep a Job and become productive member in society.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

The Yanomamo and the Fierce Anthropologist

The Fierce Anthropologists The controversy revolving the tribe of the Yanomamo and the professionals linked to anthropology has caught the world’s attention. Rapid and unforeseeable events have set the tone for the controversy. The study of these Amazonian Indians, who live in regions of the Venezuela and Brazil border, has turned in western exploitation. Accusations about of unethical anthropologist are abundant, but little facts about such accusations are evident. The grand attention that these events have attained has turned into a focus on larger issues in anthropological practices.By comparing the approach and relationships of other research projects, we can identify just ethical standards. Most of the controversy stems from the publications about the Yanomamo tribe by anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon. His 1968 volume Yanomamo: The Fierce People made the tribe famous due to good writing and extensive interaction with one of the most isolated people on the planet. But ultim ately, the way that he portrayed them–violent and fierce–is what attracted wide audiences.Much of his books and his video productions are centralized around the theme that the Yanomamo have an immutable trait of violence. According to Chagnon, he collected data, interacted with opposing Yanomamo villages, and received testimony to arrive to his findings. His researched was very lucrative; his book sold more than 4 million copies, which is well beyond the average of other ethnographies. He not only gained financial benefits, he began to be praised and attacked by people around the globe. People accused Chagnon of exaggerating the fact that violence is a part of their culture.For instance, French anthropologist Jacques Lizot, who lived with the Yanomamo for more than twenty years, said that violence is periodic; it does not govern their social life for long periods of time. It is worth noting that Lizot was accused of homosexual acts with young Yanomamo and distributing guns. Others, like Kenneth Good, accused Chagnon of sensationalizing violence, which he elaborated in his book, New Yorkers: The Mugging and Murdering People. He explains that just because violence occurs within the Yanomamo, does not mean they should all be generalized as violent.Good also received backlash for his research because he married a young Yanomamo girl, whom he now has three children with. Another compelling argument came from the studies of Brian Ferguson. He identified Chagnon’s representation of violence as a historical situation. He states that there is a spike in violence during contact with Westerners. As it relates to Chagnon, because he brought western manufactured goods, such as steel and iron tools, he disrupted trading relationships, which lead to inter-village violence for the unequal access of those scarce and desired tools.Among all the accusers, journalist Patrick Tierney gave the controversy the most attention. Tierney’s book, Darkness in E l Dorado: How Scientist and Journalist Devastated the Amazon, explored the affects of Yanomamo’s exposure to the outside world. Published in 2000, the book accuses Chagnon of misrepresenting the Yanomamo as fierce people, being responsible for warfare by interrupting trading relationships, staging film scenes, fabricating data, giving unsupported claims of being the first to contact with the Yanomamo, violating Venezuelan law, and overall unethical practices.The next set of accusations involves geneticist James Neel, who joined Chagnon in the fieldwork of the Yanomamo in 1968. He accuses Neel of helping the measles epidemic worsen because he provided outdated vaccines and misadvised the Yanomamo, which resulted in the deaths of thousands. Many of these accusations were prevalent since Chagnon’s work in the 1960’s, but Tierney’s publication brought them together for mainstream audiences. Subsequently, the American Anthropological Association (AAA) was comp elled to launch an investigation on the controversy.After investigating the abundant accusations, the AAA exonerated Neel from worsening or causing the measles epidemic, found insufficient evidence to charge Chagnon with all of Tierney’s accusation, but did find that he did not have the Yanomamo’s best interest in mind. It is undisputed that this controversy is repelling. Even if all of the accusations were false, the mere accusations show that ethical standards were broken. Surprisingly, the controversy does reap some positive consequences; it encourages personnel–within and outside the field–to consider the appropriate standards that anthropologist should be held to.Ethical questions arise, such as: how an anthropologist explains and gains consent from the targeted group, what is just compensation, or the dynamics and limits of ‘doing no harm’ to the subjects. The unbalance of power between the anthropologist from developed societies and th eir isolated subjects is a relationship that needs to be treated with delicacy to avoid exploitation. We can compare the relationship that researcher and filmmaker John Marshall had with the Juhoansi people of the Kalahari Desert for ethical analysis.John Marshall first went to the Kalahari in 1950 and researched the Juhoansi for fifty years thereafter. His relationship with the Juhoansi was one of friendships. He, alike other anthropologist, compensated the Juhoansi for their cooperation with western goods, but he did not stop there. During one of Marshall’s visits, he found the Juhoansi living in government settlements, which provided food relief and low wage jobs, but also inflicted alcohol abuse, domestic violence, and the lack of independence.In the late 1970’s, Marshall began to advocate for more water access and agricultural opportunity from the government. Because there was such a significant interruption to the traditional way of Juhoansi life, desired changes beset different challenges. Marshall justly compensated the Juhoansi and kept their best interest in mind to avoid causing harm to them. The latter characteristic is one that is of greatest importance because harm can come in direct and indirect ways that are temporary or permanent.The American Anthropological Association standard, labeled the ‘do no harm’ rule, is one that anthropologist often have little ability to prevent. At bare minimum, anthropologists almost always interrupt a group’s way of life when doing research and compensating with goods that are scarce to their environments. Interruptions in general, require adjustment and adaption, and when dealing with groups that have customs and traditions that have not changed for possibly hundreds of years, those adjustments are problematic and often prove to be vitally harmful.For instance, Chagnon’s and other Yanomamo researchers brought western goods and weapons into their community, which created a n interruption in trading and likely contributed to their state of warfare. Further, John Marshall also unintentionally created a significant interruption when his tire tracks that he created during his visits facilitated the contact with government entities, which ultimately changed most of the Juhoansi traditional ways of life.The difference between the two examples is that Marshall actually returned and improved their situation by advocating to their interests. Chagnon not only used more coercive techniques in gaining cooperation, there is also no trace of tangible efforts made to improve the harm he contributed to in the Yanomamo community. If the AAA standards were altered to ‘do not harm only while researching’ or compensate for cooperation, little ethical analysis would be needed, but that is not the case. Doing no harm to the group is indefinite and needs to be examined even after research is complete.Additionally, a â€Å"just† amount of compensation mea ns that it needs to be fair, not just in the context of the region researched, but also that of the western entities benefiting from it; i. e. ten machetes given to the Yanomamo for an ethnography research is not equivalent $500k and advancement in the anthropologist respective career. Alike the Yanomamo, the Juhoansi continue to face challenges due to outside interference. However, their interference mostly comes form governmental entities, and the Juhoansi have been assisted by Marshall and treated ethically by other anthropologists, like Richard Lee.On the other hand, the Yanomamo face problems from miners camping in their territories, destruction of the environment by mining and other outside forces, along with other governmental issues, but it is also clear that the Yanomamo have been significantly exploited by the western world. This could be because of the lack of oversight and/or due to little ethical standards. In any case, these unfortunate chain of events should serve a g reater purpose to the ethical standards of practicing anthropologist and aspiring students.

Monday, July 29, 2019

Chapter 12 The Patronus

As far as he was concerned, the stripping-down of a brand-new Firebolt was nothing less than criminal damage. Hermione, who remained convinced that she had acted for the best, started avoiding the common room. Harry and Ron supposed she had taken refuge in the library and didn’t try to persuade her to come back. All in all, they were glad when the rest of the school returned shortly after New Year, and Gryffindor Tower became crowded and noisy again. Wood sought Harry out on the night before term started. â€Å"Had a good Christmas?† he said, and then, without waiting for an answer, he sat down, lowered his voice, and said, â€Å"I’ve been, doing some thinking over Christmas, Harry. After last match, you know. If the Dementors come to the next one†¦I mean†¦we can’t afford you to — well –â€Å" Wood broke off, looking awkward. â€Å"I’m working on it,† said Harry quickly. â€Å"Professor Lupin said he’d train me to ward off the Dementors. We should be starting this week. He said he’d have time after Christmas.† â€Å"Ah,† said Wood, his expression clearing. â€Å"Well, in that case — I really didn’t want to lose you as Seeker, Harry. And have you ordered a new broom yet?† â€Å"No,† said Harry. â€Å"What! You’d better get a move on, you know — you can’t ride that Shooting Star against Ravenclaw!† â€Å"He got a Firebolt for Christmas,† said Ron. â€Å"A Firebolt? No! Seriously? A — a real Firebolt?† â€Å"Don’t get excited, Oliver,† said Harry gloomily. â€Å"I haven’t got it anymore. It was confiscated.† And he explained all about how the Firebolt was now being checked for jinxes. â€Å"Jinxed? How could it be jinxed?† â€Å"Sirius Black,† Harry said wearily. â€Å"He’s supposed to be after me. So McGonagall reckons he might have sent it.† Waving aside the information that a famous murderer was after his Seeker, Wood said, â€Å"But Black couldn’t have bought a Firebolt! He’s on the run! The whole country’s on the lookout for him! How could he just walk into Quality Quidditch Supplies and buy a broomstick?† â€Å"I know,† said Harry, â€Å"but McGonagall still wants to strip it down –â€Å" Wood went pale. â€Å"I’ll go and talk to her, Harry,† he promised. â€Å"I’ll make her see reason†¦A Firebolt†¦a real Firebolt, on our team †¦She wants Gryffindor to win as much as we do†¦I’ll make her see sense. A Firebolt†¦.† Classes started again the next day. The last thing anyone felt like doing was spending two hours on the grounds on a raw January morning, but Hagrid had provided a bonfire full of salamanders for their enjoyment, and they spent an unusually good lesson collecting dry wood and leaves to keep the fire blazing while the flame-loving lizards scampered up and down the crumbling, white-hot logs. The first Divination lesson of the new term was much less fun; Professor Trelawney was now teaching them palmistry, and she lost no time in informing Harry that he had the shortest life line she had ever seen. It was Defense Against the Dark Arts that Harry was keen to get to; after his conversation with Wood, he wanted to get started on his anti-Dementor lessons as soon as possible. â€Å"Ah yes,† said Lupin, when Harry reminded him of his promise at the end of class. â€Å"Let me see†¦how about eight o’clock on Thursday evening? The History of Magic classroom should be large enough†¦I’ll have to think carefully about how we’re going to do this†¦We can’t bring a real Dementor into the castle to practice on†¦.† â€Å"Still looks ill, doesn’t he?† said Ron as they walked down the corridor, heading to dinner. â€Å"What d’you reckon’s the matter with him?† There was a loud and impatient â€Å"tuh† from behind them. It was Hermione, who had been sitting at the feet of a suit of armor, repacking her bag, which was so full of books it wouldn’t close. â€Å"And what are you tutting at us for?† said Ron irritably. â€Å"Nothing,† said Hermione in a lofty voice, heaving her bag back over her shoulder. â€Å"Yes, you were,† said Ron. â€Å"I said I wonder what’s wrong with Lupin, and you –â€Å" â€Å"Well, isn’t it obvious?† said Hermione, with a look of maddening superiority. â€Å"If you don’t want to tell us, don’t,† snapped Ron. â€Å"Fine,† said Hermione haughtily, and she marched off. â€Å"She doesn’t know,† said Ron, staring resentfully after Hermione. â€Å"She’s just trying to get us to talk to her again.† At eight o’clock on Thursday evening, Harry left Gryffindor Tower for the History of Magic classroom. It was dark and empty when he arrived, but he lit the lamps with his wand and had waited only five minutes when Professor Lupin turned up, carrying a large packing case, which he heaved onto Professor Binn’s desk. â€Å"What’s that?† said Harry. â€Å"Another Boggart,† said Lupin, stripping off his cloak. â€Å"I’ve been combing the castle ever since Tuesday, and very luckily, I found this one lurking inside Mr. Filch’s filing cabinet. It’s the nearest we’ll get to a real Dementor. The Boggart will turn into a Dementor when he sees you, so we’ll be able to practice on him. I can store him in my office when we’re not using him; there’s a cupboard under my desk he’ll like.† â€Å"Okay,† said Harry, trying to sound as though he wasn’t apprehensive at all and merely glad that Lupin had found such a good substitute for a real Dementor. â€Å"So†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Professor Lupin had taken out his own wand, and indicated that Harry should do the same. â€Å"The spell I am going to try and teach you is highly advanced magic, Harry — well beyond Ordinary Wizarding Level. It is called the Patronus Charm.† â€Å"How does it work?† said Harry nervously. â€Å"Well, when it works correctly, It conjures up a Patronus,† said Lupin, â€Å"which is a kind of anti-Dementor — a guardian that acts as a shield between you and the Dementor.† Harry had a sudden vision of himself crouching behind a Hagrid-sized figure holding a large club. Professor Lupin continued, â€Å"The Patronus is a kind of positive force, a projection of the very things that the Dementor feeds upon — hope, happiness, the desire to survive — but it cannot feel despair, as real humans can, so the Dementors can’t hurt it. But I must warn you, Harry, that the charm might be too advanced for you. Many qualified wizards have difficulty with it.† â€Å"What does a Patronus look like?† said Harry curiously. â€Å"Each one is unique to the wizard who conjures it.† â€Å"And how do you conjure it?† â€Å"With an incantation, which will work only if you are concentrating, with all your might, on a single, very happy memory.† Harry cast his mind about for a happy memory. Certainly, nothing that had happened to him at the Dursleys’ was going to do. Finally, he settled on the moment when he had first ridden a broomstick. â€Å"Right,† he said, trying to recall as exactly as possible the wonderful, soaring sensation of his stomach. â€Å"The incantation is this –† Lupin cleared his throat. â€Å"Expecto patronum!† â€Å"Expecto patronum,† Harry repeated under his breath, â€Å"expecto patronum.† â€Å"Concentrating hard on your happy memory?† â€Å"Oh — yeah –† said Harry, quickly forcing his thoughts back to that first broom ride. â€Å"Expecto patrono — no, patronum — sorry — expecto patronum, expecto patronum† Something whooshed suddenly out of the end of his wand; it looked like a wisp of silvery gas. â€Å"Did you see that?† said Harry excitedly. â€Å"Something happened!† â€Å"Very good,† said Lupin, smiling. â€Å"Right, then — ready to try it on a Dementor?† â€Å"Yes,† Harry said, gripping his wand very tightly, and moving into the middle of the deserted classroom. He tried to keep his mind on flying, but something else kept intruding†¦Any second now, he might hear his mother again†¦but he shouldn’t think that, or he would hear her again, and he didn’t want to†¦or did he? Lupin grasped the lid of the packing case and pulled. A Dementor rose slowly from the box, its hooded face turned toward Harry, one glistening, scabbed hand gripping its cloak. The lamps around the classroom flickered and went out. The Dementor stepped from the box and started to sweep silently toward Harry, drawing a deep, rattling breath. A wave of piercing cold broke over him — â€Å"Expecto patronum!† Harry yelled. â€Å"Expecto patronum! Expecto –â€Å" But the classroom and the Dementor were dissolving†¦Harry was falling again through thick white fog, and his mother’s voice was louder than ever, echoing inside his head — â€Å"Not Harry! Not Harry! Please — I’ll do anything –â€Å" â€Å"Stand aside — stand aside, girl –â€Å" â€Å"Harry!† Harry jerked back to life. He was lying flat on his back on the floor. The classroom lamps were alight again. He didn’t have to ask what had happened. â€Å"Sorry,† he muttered, sitting up and feeling cold sweat trickling down behind his glasses. â€Å"Are you all right?† said Lupin. â€Å"Yes†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Harry pulled himself up on one of the desks and leaned against it. â€Å"Here –† Lupin handed him a Chocolate Frog. â€Å"Eat this before we try again. I didn’t expect you to do it your first time; in fact, I would have been astounded if you had.† â€Å"It’s getting worse,† Harry muttered, biting off the Frog’s head. â€Å"I could hear her louder that time — and him — Voldemort –â€Å" Lupin looked paler than usual. â€Å"Harry, if you don’t want to continue, I will more than understand –â€Å" â€Å"I do!† said Harry fiercely, stuffing the rest of the Chocolate Frog into his mouth. â€Å"I’ve got to! What if the Dementors turn up at our match against Ravenclaw? I can’t afford to fall off again. If we lose this game we’ve lost the Quidditch Cup!† â€Å"All right then†¦Ã¢â‚¬  said Lupin. â€Å"You might want to select another memory, a happy memory, I mean, to concentrate on†¦That one doesn’t seem to have been strong enough†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Harry thought hard and decided his feelings when Gryffindor had won the House Championship last year had definitely qualified as very happy. He gripped his wand tightly again and took up his position in the middle of the classroom. â€Å"Ready?† said Lupin, gripping the box lid. â€Å"Ready,† said Harry; trying hard to fill his head with happy thoughts about Gryffindor winning, and not dark thoughts about what was going to happen when the box opened. â€Å"Go!† said Lupin, pulling off the lid. The room went icily cold and dark once more. The Dementor glided forward, drawing its breath; one rotting hand was extending toward Harry — â€Å"Expecto patronum!† Harry yelled. â€Å"Expecto patronum! Expecto Pat –â€Å" White fog obscured his senses†¦big, blurred shapes were moving around him†¦then came a new voice, a man’s voice, shouting, panicking — â€Å"Lily, take Harry and go! It’s him! Go! Run! I’ll hold him off –â€Å" The sounds of someone stumbling from a room — a door bursting open — a cackle of high- pitched laughter — â€Å"Harry! Harry†¦wake up†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Lupin was tapping Harry hard on the face. This time it was a minute before Harry understood why he was lying on a dusty classroom floor. â€Å"I heard my dad,† Harry mumbled. â€Å"That’s the first time I’ve ever heard him — he tried to take on Voldemort himself, to give my mum time to run for it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Harry suddenly realized that there were tears on his face mingling with the sweat. He bent his face as low as possible, wiping them off on his robes, pretending to do up his shoelace, so that Lupin wouldn’t see. â€Å"You heard James?† said Lupin in a strange voice. â€Å"Yeah†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Face dry, Harry looked up. â€Å"Why — you didn’t know my dad, did you?† â€Å"I — I did, as a matter of fact,† said Lupin. â€Å"We were friends at Hogwarts. Listen, Harry — perhaps we should leave it here for tonight. This charm is ridiculously advanced†¦I shouldn’t have suggested putting you through this†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"No!† said Harry. He got up again. â€Å"I’ll have one more go! I’m not thinking of happy enough things, that’s what it is†¦hang on†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He racked his brains. A really, really happy memory†¦one that he could turn into a good, strong Patronus†¦. The moment when he’d first found out he was a wizard, and would be leaving the Dursleys for Hogwarts! If that wasn’t a happy memory, he didn’t know what was†¦Concentrating very hard on how he had felt when he’d realized he’d be leaving Privet Drive, Harry got to his feet and faced the packing case once more. â€Å"Ready?† said Lupin, who looked as though he were doing this against his better judgment. â€Å"Concentrating hard? All right — go!† He pulled off the lid of the case for the third time, and the Dementor rose out of it; the room fell cold and dark — â€Å"EXPECTO PATRONUM!† Harry bellowed. â€Å"EXPECTO PATRONUM! EXPECTO PATRONUM!† The screaming inside Harry’s head had started again — except this time, it sounded as though it were coming from a badly tuned radio — softer and louder and softer again†¦and he could still see the Dementor†¦it had halted†¦and then a huge, silver shadow came bursting out of the end of Harry’s wand, to hover between him and the Dementor, and though Harry’s legs felt like water, he was still on his feet — though for how much longer, he wasn’t sure†¦ â€Å"Riddikulus!† roared Lupin, springing forward. There was a loud crack, and Harry’s cloudy Patronus vanished along with the Dementor; he sank into a chair, feeling as exhausted as if he’d just run a mile, and felt his legs shaking. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Professor Lupin forcing the Boggart back into the packing case with his wand; it had turned into a silvery orb again. â€Å"Excellent!† Lupin said, striding over to where Harry sat. â€Å"Excellent, Harry! That was definitely a start!† â€Å"Can we have another go? Just one more go?† â€Å"Not now,† said Lupin firmly. â€Å"You’ve had enough for one night. Here –â€Å" He handed Harry a large bar of Honeydukes’ best chocolate. â€Å"Eat the lot, or Madam Pomfrey will be after my blood. Same time next week?† â€Å"Okay,† said Harry. He took a bite of the chocolate and watched Lupin extinguishing the lamps that had rekindled with the disappearance of the Dementor. A thought had just occurred to him. â€Å"Professor Lupin?† he said. â€Å"If you knew my dad, you must’ve known Sirius Black as well.† Lupin turned very quickly. â€Å"What gives you that idea?† he said sharply. â€Å"Nothing — I mean, I just knew they were friends at Hogwarts too†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Lupin’s face relaxed. â€Å"Yes, I knew him,† he said shortly. â€Å"Or I thought I did. You’d better be off, Harry, it’s getting late.† Harry left the classroom, walking along the corridor and around a corner, then took a detour behind a suit of armor and sank down on its plinth to finish his chocolate, wishing he hadn’t mentioned Black, as Lupin was obviously not keen on the subject. Then Harry’s thoughts wandered back to his mother and father †¦ He felt drained and strangely empty, even though he was so full of chocolate. Terrible though it was to hear his parents’ last moments replayed inside his head, these were the only times Harry had heard their voices since he was a very small child. But he’d never be able to produce a proper Patronus if he half wanted to hear his parents again †¦ â€Å"They’re dead,† he told himself sternly. â€Å"They’re dead and listening to echoes of them won’t bring them back. You’d better get a grip on yourself if you want that Quidditch Cup.† He stood up, crammed the last bit of chocolate into his mouth, and headed back to Gryffindor Tower. Ravenclaw played Slytherin a week after the start of term. Slytherin won, though narrowly. According to Wood, this was good news for Gryffindor, who would take second place if they beat Ravenclaw too. He therefore increased the number of team practices to five a week. This meant that with Lupin’s anti-Dementor classes, which in themselves were more draining than six Quidditch practices, Harry had just one night a week to do all his homework. Even so, he was not showing the strain nearly as much as Hermione, whose immense workload finally seemed to be getting to her. Every night, without fail, Hermione was to be seen in a corner of the common room, several tables spread with books, Arithmancy charts, rune dictionaries, diagrams of Muggles lifting heavy objects, and file upon file of extensive notes; she barely spoke to anybody and snapped when she was interrupted. â€Å"How’s she doing it?† Ron muttered to Harry one evening as Harry sat finishing a nasty essay on Undetectable Poisons for Snape. Harry looked up. Hermione was barely visible behind a tottering pile of books. â€Å"Doing what?† â€Å"Getting to all her classes!† Ron said. â€Å"I heard her talking to Professor Vector, that Arithmancy witch, this morning. They were going on about yesterday’s lesson, but Hermione can’t’ve been there, because she was with us in Care of Magical Creatures! And Ernie McMillan told me she’s never missed a Muggle Studies class, but half of them are at the same time as Divination, and she’s never missed one of them either!† Harry didn’t have time to fathom the mystery of Hermione’s impossible schedule at the moment; he really needed to get on with Snape’s essay. Two seconds later, however, he was interrupted again, this time by Wood. â€Å"Bad news, Harry. I’ve just been to see Professor McGonagall about the Firebolt. She — er — got a bit shirty with me. Told me I’d got my priorities wrong. Seemed to think I cared more about winning the Cup than I do about you staying alive. Just because I told her I didn’t care if it threw you off, as long as you caught the Snitch first.† Wood shook his head in disbelief. â€Å"Honestly, the way she was yelling at me†¦you’d think I’d said something terrible. Then I asked her how much longer she was going to keep it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He screwed up his face and imitated Professor McGonagall’s severe voice. â€Å"As long as necessary, Wood†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦I reckon it’s time you ordered a new broom, Harry. There’s an order form at the back of Which Broomstick†¦you could get a Nimbus Two Thousand and One, like Malfoy’s got.† â€Å"I’m not buying anything Malfoy thinks is good,† said Harry flatly. January faded imperceptibly into February, with no change in the bitterly cold weather. The match against Ravenclaw was drawing nearer and nearer, but Harry still hadn’t ordered a new broom. He was now asking Professor McGonagall for news of the Firebolt after every Transfiguration lesson, Ron standing hopefully at his shoulder, Hermione rushing past with her face averted. â€Å"No, Potter, you can’t have it back yet,† Professor McGonagall told him the twelfth time this happened, before he’d even opened his mouth. â€Å"We’ve checked for most of the usual curses, but Professor Flitwick believes the broom might be carrying a Hurling Hex. I shall tell you once we’ve finished checking it. Now, please stop badgering me.† To make matters even worse, Harry’s anti-Dementor lessons were not going nearly as well as he had hoped. Several sessions on, he was able to produce an indistinct, silvery shadow every time the Boggart-Dementor approached him, but his Patronus was too feeble to drive the Dementor away. All it did was hover, like a semitransparent cloud, draining Harry of energy as he fought to keep it there. Harry felt angry with himself, guilty about his secret desire to hear his parents’ voices again. â€Å"You’re expecting too much of yourself,† said Professor Lupin, sternly in their fourth week of practice. â€Å"For a thirteen-year-old wizard, even an indistinct Patronus is a huge achievement. You aren’t passing out anymore, are you?† â€Å"I thought a Patronus would — charge the Dementors down or something,† said Harry dispiritedly. â€Å"Make them disappear –â€Å" â€Å"The true Patronus does do that,† said Lupin. â€Å"But you’ve achieved a great deal in a very short space of time. If the Dementors put in an appearance at your next Quidditch match, You will be able to keep them at bay long enough to get back to the ground.† â€Å"You said it’s harder if there are loads of them,† said Harry. â€Å"I have complete confidence in you,† said Lupin, smiling. â€Å"Here — you’ve earned a drink. Something from the Three Broomsticks. You won’t have tried it before –â€Å" He pulled two bottles out of his briefcase. â€Å"Butterbeer!† said Harry, without thinking. â€Å"Yeah, I like that stuff!† Lupin raised an eyebrow. â€Å"Oh — Ron and Hermione brought me some back from Hogsmeade,† Harry lied quickly. â€Å"I see,† said Lupin, though he still looked slightly suspicious. â€Å"Well — let’s drink to a Gryffindor victory against Ravenclaw! Not that I’m supposed to take sides, as a teacher†¦Ã¢â‚¬  he added hastily. They drank the butterbeer in silence, until Harry voiced something he’d been wondering for a while. â€Å"What’s under a Dementor’s hood?† Professor Lupin lowered his bottle thoughtfully. â€Å"Hmmm †¦ well, the only people who really know are in no condition to tell us. You see, the Dementor lowers its hood only to use its last and worst weapon.† â€Å"What’s that?† â€Å"They call it the Dementor’s Kiss,† said Lupin, with a slightly twisted smile. â€Å"It’s what Dementors do to those they wish to destroy utterly. I suppose there must be some kind of mouth under there, because they clamp their jaws upon the mouth of the victim and — and suck out his soul.† Harry accidentally spat out a bit of butterbeer. â€Å"What — they kill –?† â€Å"Oh no,† said Lupin. â€Å"Much worse than that. You can exist without your soul, you know, as long as your brain and heart are still working. But you’ll have no sense of self anymore, no memory, no†¦anything. There’s no chance at all of recovery. You’ll just exist. As an empty shell. And your soul is gone forever†¦lost.† Lupin drank a little more butterbeer, then said, â€Å"It’s the fate that awaits Sirius Black. It was in the Daily Prophet this morning. The Ministry have given the Dementors permission to perform it if they find him.† Harry sat stunned for a moment at the idea of someone having their soul sucked out through their mouth. But then he thought of Black. â€Å"He deserves it,† he said suddenly. â€Å"You think so?† said Lupin lightly. â€Å"Do you really think anyone deserves that?† â€Å"Yes,† said Harry defiantly. â€Å"For†¦for some things†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He would have liked to have told Lupin about the conversation he’d overheard about Black in the Three Broomsticks, about Black betraying his mother and father, but it would have involved revealing that he’d gone to Hogsmeade without permission, and he knew Lupin wouldn’t be very impressed by that. So he finished his butterbeer, thanked Lupin, and left the History of Magic classroom. Harry half wished that he hadn’t asked what was under a Dementor’s hood, the answer had been so horrible, and he was so lost in unpleasant thoughts of what it would feel like to have your soul sucked out of you that he walked headlong into Professor McGonagall halfway up the stairs. â€Å"Do watch where you’re going, Potter!† â€Å"Sorry, Professor –â€Å" â€Å"I’ve just been looking for you in the Gryffindor common room, Well, here it is, we’ve done everything we could think of, and there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with it at all — you’ve got a very good friend somewhere, Potter†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Harry’s jaw dropped. She was holding out his Firebolt, and it looked as magnificent as ever. â€Å"I can have it back?† Harry said weakly. â€Å"Seriously?† â€Å"Seriously,† said Professor McGonagall, and she was actually smiling. â€Å"I daresay you’ll need to get the feel of it before Saturday’s match, won’t you? And Potter — do try and win, won’t you? Or we’ll be out of the running for the eighth year in a row, as Professor Snape was kind enough to remind me only last night†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Speechless, Harry carried the Firebolt back upstairs toward Gryffindor Tower. As he turned a corner, he saw Ron dashing toward him, grinning from ear to ear. â€Å"She gave it to you? Excellent! Listen, can I still have a go on it? Tomorrow?† â€Å"Yeah†¦anything†¦Ã¢â‚¬  said Harry, his heart lighter than it had been in a month. â€Å"You know what — we should make up with Hermione†¦She was only trying to help†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Yeah, all right,† said Ron. â€Å"She’s in the common room now working — for a change.† They turned into the corridor to Gryffindor Tower and saw Neville Longbottom, pleading with Sir Cadogan, who seemed to be refusing him entrance. â€Å"I wrote them down!† Neville was saying tearfully. â€Å"But I must’ve dropped them somewhere!† â€Å"A likely tale!† roared Sir Cadogan. Then, spotting Harry and Ron: â€Å"Good even, my fine young yeomen! Come clap this loon in irons. He is trying to force entry to the chambers within!† â€Å"Oh, shut up,† said Ron as he and Harry drew level with Neville. â€Å"I’ve lost the passwords!† Neville told them miserably. â€Å"I made him tell me what passwords he was going to use this week, because he keeps changing them, and now I don’t know what I’ve done with them!† â€Å"Oddsbodkins,† said Harry to Sir Cadogan, who looked extremely disappointed and reluctantly swung forward to let them into the common room. There was a sudden, excited murmur as every head turned and the next moment, Harry was surrounded by people exclaiming over his Firebolt. â€Å"Where’d you get it, Harry?† â€Å"Will you let me have a go?† â€Å"Have you ridden it yet, Harry?† â€Å"Ravenclaw’ll have no chance, they’re all on Cleansweep Sevens!† â€Å"Can I just hold it, Harry?† After ten minutes or so, during which the Firebolt was Passed around and admired from every angle, the crowd dispersed and Harry and Ron had a clear view of Hermione, the only person who hadn’t rushed over to them, bent over her work and carefully avoiding their eyes. Harry and Ron approached her table and at last, she looked up. â€Å"I got it back,† said Harry, grinning at her and holding up the Firebolt. â€Å"See, Hermione? There wasn’t anything wrong with it!† said Ron. â€Å"Well — there might have been!† said Hermione. â€Å"I mean, at least you know now that it’s safe!† â€Å"Yeah, I suppose so,† said Harry. â€Å"I’d better put it upstairs.† â€Å"I’ll take it!† said Ron eagerly. â€Å"I’ve got to give Scabbers his rat tonic.† He took the Firebolt and, holding it as if it were made of glass, carried it away up the boys’ staircase. â€Å"Can I sit down, then?† Harry asked Hermione. â€Å"I suppose so,† said Hermione, moving a great stack of parchment off a chair. Harry looked around at the cluttered table, at the long Arithmancy essay on which the ink was still glistening, at the even longer Muggle Studies essay (‘Explain Why Muggles Need Electricity’) and at the rune translation Hermione was now poring over. â€Å"How are you getting through all this stuff?† Harry asked her. â€Å"Oh, well — you know — working hard,† said Hermione. Close-up, Harry saw that she looked almost as tired as Lupin. â€Å"Why don’t you just drop a couple of subjects?† Harry asked, watching her lifting books as she searched for her rune dictionary. â€Å"I couldn’t do that!† said Hermione, looking scandalized. â€Å"Arithmancy looks terrible,† said Harry, picking up a very complicated-looking number chart. â€Å"Oh no, it’s wonderful!† said Hermione earnestly. â€Å"It’s my favorite subject! It’s –â€Å" But exactly what was wonderful about Arithmancy, Harry never found out. At that precise moment, a strangled yell echoed down the boys’ staircase. The whole common room fell silent, staring, petrified, at the entrance. Then came hurried footsteps, growing louder and louder — and then Ron came leaping into view, dragging with him a bedsheet. â€Å"LOOK!† he bellowed, striding over to Hermione’s table. â€Å"LOOK!† he yelled, shaking the sheets in her face. â€Å"Ron, what –?† â€Å"SCABBERS! LOOK! SCABBERS!† Hermione was leaning away from Ron, looking utterly bewildered. Harry looked down at the sheet Ron was holding. There was something red on it. Something that looked horribly like — â€Å"BLOOD!† Ron yelled into the stunned silence. â€Å"HE’S GONE! AND YOU KNOW WHAT WAS ON THE FLOOR?† â€Å"N — no,† said Hermione in a trembling voice. Ron threw something down onto Hermione’s rune translation. Hermione and Harry leaned forward. Lying on top of the weird, spiky shapes were several long, ginger cat hairs. Chapter 12 The Patronus As far as he was concerned, the stripping-down of a brand-new Firebolt was nothing less than criminal damage. Hermione, who remained convinced that she had acted for the best, started avoiding the common room. Harry and Ron supposed she had taken refuge in the library and didn’t try to persuade her to come back. All in all, they were glad when the rest of the school returned shortly after New Year, and Gryffindor Tower became crowded and noisy again. Wood sought Harry out on the night before term started. â€Å"Had a good Christmas?† he said, and then, without waiting for an answer, he sat down, lowered his voice, and said, â€Å"I’ve been, doing some thinking over Christmas, Harry. After last match, you know. If the Dementors come to the next one†¦I mean†¦we can’t afford you to — well –â€Å" Wood broke off, looking awkward. â€Å"I’m working on it,† said Harry quickly. â€Å"Professor Lupin said he’d train me to ward off the Dementors. We should be starting this week. He said he’d have time after Christmas.† â€Å"Ah,† said Wood, his expression clearing. â€Å"Well, in that case — I really didn’t want to lose you as Seeker, Harry. And have you ordered a new broom yet?† â€Å"No,† said Harry. â€Å"What! You’d better get a move on, you know — you can’t ride that Shooting Star against Ravenclaw!† â€Å"He got a Firebolt for Christmas,† said Ron. â€Å"A Firebolt? No! Seriously? A — a real Firebolt?† â€Å"Don’t get excited, Oliver,† said Harry gloomily. â€Å"I haven’t got it anymore. It was confiscated.† And he explained all about how the Firebolt was now being checked for jinxes. â€Å"Jinxed? How could it be jinxed?† â€Å"Sirius Black,† Harry said wearily. â€Å"He’s supposed to be after me. So McGonagall reckons he might have sent it.† Waving aside the information that a famous murderer was after his Seeker, Wood said, â€Å"But Black couldn’t have bought a Firebolt! He’s on the run! The whole country’s on the lookout for him! How could he just walk into Quality Quidditch Supplies and buy a broomstick?† â€Å"I know,† said Harry, â€Å"but McGonagall still wants to strip it down –â€Å" Wood went pale. â€Å"I’ll go and talk to her, Harry,† he promised. â€Å"I’ll make her see reason†¦A Firebolt†¦a real Firebolt, on our team †¦She wants Gryffindor to win as much as we do†¦I’ll make her see sense. A Firebolt†¦.† Classes started again the next day. The last thing anyone felt like doing was spending two hours on the grounds on a raw January morning, but Hagrid had provided a bonfire full of salamanders for their enjoyment, and they spent an unusually good lesson collecting dry wood and leaves to keep the fire blazing while the flame-loving lizards scampered up and down the crumbling, white-hot logs. The first Divination lesson of the new term was much less fun; Professor Trelawney was now teaching them palmistry, and she lost no time in informing Harry that he had the shortest life line she had ever seen. It was Defense Against the Dark Arts that Harry was keen to get to; after his conversation with Wood, he wanted to get started on his anti-Dementor lessons as soon as possible. â€Å"Ah yes,† said Lupin, when Harry reminded him of his promise at the end of class. â€Å"Let me see†¦how about eight o’clock on Thursday evening? The History of Magic classroom should be large enough†¦I’ll have to think carefully about how we’re going to do this†¦We can’t bring a real Dementor into the castle to practice on†¦.† â€Å"Still looks ill, doesn’t he?† said Ron as they walked down the corridor, heading to dinner. â€Å"What d’you reckon’s the matter with him?† There was a loud and impatient â€Å"tuh† from behind them. It was Hermione, who had been sitting at the feet of a suit of armor, repacking her bag, which was so full of books it wouldn’t close. â€Å"And what are you tutting at us for?† said Ron irritably. â€Å"Nothing,† said Hermione in a lofty voice, heaving her bag back over her shoulder. â€Å"Yes, you were,† said Ron. â€Å"I said I wonder what’s wrong with Lupin, and you –â€Å" â€Å"Well, isn’t it obvious?† said Hermione, with a look of maddening superiority. â€Å"If you don’t want to tell us, don’t,† snapped Ron. â€Å"Fine,† said Hermione haughtily, and she marched off. â€Å"She doesn’t know,† said Ron, staring resentfully after Hermione. â€Å"She’s just trying to get us to talk to her again.† At eight o’clock on Thursday evening, Harry left Gryffindor Tower for the History of Magic classroom. It was dark and empty when he arrived, but he lit the lamps with his wand and had waited only five minutes when Professor Lupin turned up, carrying a large packing case, which he heaved onto Professor Binn’s desk. â€Å"What’s that?† said Harry. â€Å"Another Boggart,† said Lupin, stripping off his cloak. â€Å"I’ve been combing the castle ever since Tuesday, and very luckily, I found this one lurking inside Mr. Filch’s filing cabinet. It’s the nearest we’ll get to a real Dementor. The Boggart will turn into a Dementor when he sees you, so we’ll be able to practice on him. I can store him in my office when we’re not using him; there’s a cupboard under my desk he’ll like.† â€Å"Okay,† said Harry, trying to sound as though he wasn’t apprehensive at all and merely glad that Lupin had found such a good substitute for a real Dementor. â€Å"So†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Professor Lupin had taken out his own wand, and indicated that Harry should do the same. â€Å"The spell I am going to try and teach you is highly advanced magic, Harry — well beyond Ordinary Wizarding Level. It is called the Patronus Charm.† â€Å"How does it work?† said Harry nervously. â€Å"Well, when it works correctly, It conjures up a Patronus,† said Lupin, â€Å"which is a kind of anti-Dementor — a guardian that acts as a shield between you and the Dementor.† Harry had a sudden vision of himself crouching behind a Hagrid-sized figure holding a large club. Professor Lupin continued, â€Å"The Patronus is a kind of positive force, a projection of the very things that the Dementor feeds upon — hope, happiness, the desire to survive — but it cannot feel despair, as real humans can, so the Dementors can’t hurt it. But I must warn you, Harry, that the charm might be too advanced for you. Many qualified wizards have difficulty with it.† â€Å"What does a Patronus look like?† said Harry curiously. â€Å"Each one is unique to the wizard who conjures it.† â€Å"And how do you conjure it?† â€Å"With an incantation, which will work only if you are concentrating, with all your might, on a single, very happy memory.† Harry cast his mind about for a happy memory. Certainly, nothing that had happened to him at the Dursleys’ was going to do. Finally, he settled on the moment when he had first ridden a broomstick. â€Å"Right,† he said, trying to recall as exactly as possible the wonderful, soaring sensation of his stomach. â€Å"The incantation is this –† Lupin cleared his throat. â€Å"Expecto patronum!† â€Å"Expecto patronum,† Harry repeated under his breath, â€Å"expecto patronum.† â€Å"Concentrating hard on your happy memory?† â€Å"Oh — yeah –† said Harry, quickly forcing his thoughts back to that first broom ride. â€Å"Expecto patrono — no, patronum — sorry — expecto patronum, expecto patronum† Something whooshed suddenly out of the end of his wand; it looked like a wisp of silvery gas. â€Å"Did you see that?† said Harry excitedly. â€Å"Something happened!† â€Å"Very good,† said Lupin, smiling. â€Å"Right, then — ready to try it on a Dementor?† â€Å"Yes,† Harry said, gripping his wand very tightly, and moving into the middle of the deserted classroom. He tried to keep his mind on flying, but something else kept intruding†¦Any second now, he might hear his mother again†¦but he shouldn’t think that, or he would hear her again, and he didn’t want to†¦or did he? Lupin grasped the lid of the packing case and pulled. A Dementor rose slowly from the box, its hooded face turned toward Harry, one glistening, scabbed hand gripping its cloak. The lamps around the classroom flickered and went out. The Dementor stepped from the box and started to sweep silently toward Harry, drawing a deep, rattling breath. A wave of piercing cold broke over him — â€Å"Expecto patronum!† Harry yelled. â€Å"Expecto patronum! Expecto –â€Å" But the classroom and the Dementor were dissolving†¦Harry was falling again through thick white fog, and his mother’s voice was louder than ever, echoing inside his head — â€Å"Not Harry! Not Harry! Please — I’ll do anything –â€Å" â€Å"Stand aside — stand aside, girl –â€Å" â€Å"Harry!† Harry jerked back to life. He was lying flat on his back on the floor. The classroom lamps were alight again. He didn’t have to ask what had happened. â€Å"Sorry,† he muttered, sitting up and feeling cold sweat trickling down behind his glasses. â€Å"Are you all right?† said Lupin. â€Å"Yes†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Harry pulled himself up on one of the desks and leaned against it. â€Å"Here –† Lupin handed him a Chocolate Frog. â€Å"Eat this before we try again. I didn’t expect you to do it your first time; in fact, I would have been astounded if you had.† â€Å"It’s getting worse,† Harry muttered, biting off the Frog’s head. â€Å"I could hear her louder that time — and him — Voldemort –â€Å" Lupin looked paler than usual. â€Å"Harry, if you don’t want to continue, I will more than understand –â€Å" â€Å"I do!† said Harry fiercely, stuffing the rest of the Chocolate Frog into his mouth. â€Å"I’ve got to! What if the Dementors turn up at our match against Ravenclaw? I can’t afford to fall off again. If we lose this game we’ve lost the Quidditch Cup!† â€Å"All right then†¦Ã¢â‚¬  said Lupin. â€Å"You might want to select another memory, a happy memory, I mean, to concentrate on†¦That one doesn’t seem to have been strong enough†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Harry thought hard and decided his feelings when Gryffindor had won the House Championship last year had definitely qualified as very happy. He gripped his wand tightly again and took up his position in the middle of the classroom. â€Å"Ready?† said Lupin, gripping the box lid. â€Å"Ready,† said Harry; trying hard to fill his head with happy thoughts about Gryffindor winning, and not dark thoughts about what was going to happen when the box opened. â€Å"Go!† said Lupin, pulling off the lid. The room went icily cold and dark once more. The Dementor glided forward, drawing its breath; one rotting hand was extending toward Harry — â€Å"Expecto patronum!† Harry yelled. â€Å"Expecto patronum! Expecto Pat –â€Å" White fog obscured his senses†¦big, blurred shapes were moving around him†¦then came a new voice, a man’s voice, shouting, panicking — â€Å"Lily, take Harry and go! It’s him! Go! Run! I’ll hold him off –â€Å" The sounds of someone stumbling from a room — a door bursting open — a cackle of high- pitched laughter — â€Å"Harry! Harry†¦wake up†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Lupin was tapping Harry hard on the face. This time it was a minute before Harry understood why he was lying on a dusty classroom floor. â€Å"I heard my dad,† Harry mumbled. â€Å"That’s the first time I’ve ever heard him — he tried to take on Voldemort himself, to give my mum time to run for it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Harry suddenly realized that there were tears on his face mingling with the sweat. He bent his face as low as possible, wiping them off on his robes, pretending to do up his shoelace, so that Lupin wouldn’t see. â€Å"You heard James?† said Lupin in a strange voice. â€Å"Yeah†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Face dry, Harry looked up. â€Å"Why — you didn’t know my dad, did you?† â€Å"I — I did, as a matter of fact,† said Lupin. â€Å"We were friends at Hogwarts. Listen, Harry — perhaps we should leave it here for tonight. This charm is ridiculously advanced†¦I shouldn’t have suggested putting you through this†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"No!† said Harry. He got up again. â€Å"I’ll have one more go! I’m not thinking of happy enough things, that’s what it is†¦hang on†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He racked his brains. A really, really happy memory†¦one that he could turn into a good, strong Patronus†¦. The moment when he’d first found out he was a wizard, and would be leaving the Dursleys for Hogwarts! If that wasn’t a happy memory, he didn’t know what was†¦Concentrating very hard on how he had felt when he’d realized he’d be leaving Privet Drive, Harry got to his feet and faced the packing case once more. â€Å"Ready?† said Lupin, who looked as though he were doing this against his better judgment. â€Å"Concentrating hard? All right — go!† He pulled off the lid of the case for the third time, and the Dementor rose out of it; the room fell cold and dark — â€Å"EXPECTO PATRONUM!† Harry bellowed. â€Å"EXPECTO PATRONUM! EXPECTO PATRONUM!† The screaming inside Harry’s head had started again — except this time, it sounded as though it were coming from a badly tuned radio — softer and louder and softer again†¦and he could still see the Dementor†¦it had halted†¦and then a huge, silver shadow came bursting out of the end of Harry’s wand, to hover between him and the Dementor, and though Harry’s legs felt like water, he was still on his feet — though for how much longer, he wasn’t sure†¦ â€Å"Riddikulus!† roared Lupin, springing forward. There was a loud crack, and Harry’s cloudy Patronus vanished along with the Dementor; he sank into a chair, feeling as exhausted as if he’d just run a mile, and felt his legs shaking. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Professor Lupin forcing the Boggart back into the packing case with his wand; it had turned into a silvery orb again. â€Å"Excellent!† Lupin said, striding over to where Harry sat. â€Å"Excellent, Harry! That was definitely a start!† â€Å"Can we have another go? Just one more go?† â€Å"Not now,† said Lupin firmly. â€Å"You’ve had enough for one night. Here –â€Å" He handed Harry a large bar of Honeydukes’ best chocolate. â€Å"Eat the lot, or Madam Pomfrey will be after my blood. Same time next week?† â€Å"Okay,† said Harry. He took a bite of the chocolate and watched Lupin extinguishing the lamps that had rekindled with the disappearance of the Dementor. A thought had just occurred to him. â€Å"Professor Lupin?† he said. â€Å"If you knew my dad, you must’ve known Sirius Black as well.† Lupin turned very quickly. â€Å"What gives you that idea?† he said sharply. â€Å"Nothing — I mean, I just knew they were friends at Hogwarts too†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Lupin’s face relaxed. â€Å"Yes, I knew him,† he said shortly. â€Å"Or I thought I did. You’d better be off, Harry, it’s getting late.† Harry left the classroom, walking along the corridor and around a corner, then took a detour behind a suit of armor and sank down on its plinth to finish his chocolate, wishing he hadn’t mentioned Black, as Lupin was obviously not keen on the subject. Then Harry’s thoughts wandered back to his mother and father †¦ He felt drained and strangely empty, even though he was so full of chocolate. Terrible though it was to hear his parents’ last moments replayed inside his head, these were the only times Harry had heard their voices since he was a very small child. But he’d never be able to produce a proper Patronus if he half wanted to hear his parents again †¦ â€Å"They’re dead,† he told himself sternly. â€Å"They’re dead and listening to echoes of them won’t bring them back. You’d better get a grip on yourself if you want that Quidditch Cup.† He stood up, crammed the last bit of chocolate into his mouth, and headed back to Gryffindor Tower. Ravenclaw played Slytherin a week after the start of term. Slytherin won, though narrowly. According to Wood, this was good news for Gryffindor, who would take second place if they beat Ravenclaw too. He therefore increased the number of team practices to five a week. This meant that with Lupin’s anti-Dementor classes, which in themselves were more draining than six Quidditch practices, Harry had just one night a week to do all his homework. Even so, he was not showing the strain nearly as much as Hermione, whose immense workload finally seemed to be getting to her. Every night, without fail, Hermione was to be seen in a corner of the common room, several tables spread with books, Arithmancy charts, rune dictionaries, diagrams of Muggles lifting heavy objects, and file upon file of extensive notes; she barely spoke to anybody and snapped when she was interrupted. â€Å"How’s she doing it?† Ron muttered to Harry one evening as Harry sat finishing a nasty essay on Undetectable Poisons for Snape. Harry looked up. Hermione was barely visible behind a tottering pile of books. â€Å"Doing what?† â€Å"Getting to all her classes!† Ron said. â€Å"I heard her talking to Professor Vector, that Arithmancy witch, this morning. They were going on about yesterday’s lesson, but Hermione can’t’ve been there, because she was with us in Care of Magical Creatures! And Ernie McMillan told me she’s never missed a Muggle Studies class, but half of them are at the same time as Divination, and she’s never missed one of them either!† Harry didn’t have time to fathom the mystery of Hermione’s impossible schedule at the moment; he really needed to get on with Snape’s essay. Two seconds later, however, he was interrupted again, this time by Wood. â€Å"Bad news, Harry. I’ve just been to see Professor McGonagall about the Firebolt. She — er — got a bit shirty with me. Told me I’d got my priorities wrong. Seemed to think I cared more about winning the Cup than I do about you staying alive. Just because I told her I didn’t care if it threw you off, as long as you caught the Snitch first.† Wood shook his head in disbelief. â€Å"Honestly, the way she was yelling at me†¦you’d think I’d said something terrible. Then I asked her how much longer she was going to keep it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He screwed up his face and imitated Professor McGonagall’s severe voice. â€Å"As long as necessary, Wood†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦I reckon it’s time you ordered a new broom, Harry. There’s an order form at the back of Which Broomstick†¦you could get a Nimbus Two Thousand and One, like Malfoy’s got.† â€Å"I’m not buying anything Malfoy thinks is good,† said Harry flatly. January faded imperceptibly into February, with no change in the bitterly cold weather. The match against Ravenclaw was drawing nearer and nearer, but Harry still hadn’t ordered a new broom. He was now asking Professor McGonagall for news of the Firebolt after every Transfiguration lesson, Ron standing hopefully at his shoulder, Hermione rushing past with her face averted. â€Å"No, Potter, you can’t have it back yet,† Professor McGonagall told him the twelfth time this happened, before he’d even opened his mouth. â€Å"We’ve checked for most of the usual curses, but Professor Flitwick believes the broom might be carrying a Hurling Hex. I shall tell you once we’ve finished checking it. Now, please stop badgering me.† To make matters even worse, Harry’s anti-Dementor lessons were not going nearly as well as he had hoped. Several sessions on, he was able to produce an indistinct, silvery shadow every time the Boggart-Dementor approached him, but his Patronus was too feeble to drive the Dementor away. All it did was hover, like a semitransparent cloud, draining Harry of energy as he fought to keep it there. Harry felt angry with himself, guilty about his secret desire to hear his parents’ voices again. â€Å"You’re expecting too much of yourself,† said Professor Lupin, sternly in their fourth week of practice. â€Å"For a thirteen-year-old wizard, even an indistinct Patronus is a huge achievement. You aren’t passing out anymore, are you?† â€Å"I thought a Patronus would — charge the Dementors down or something,† said Harry dispiritedly. â€Å"Make them disappear –â€Å" â€Å"The true Patronus does do that,† said Lupin. â€Å"But you’ve achieved a great deal in a very short space of time. If the Dementors put in an appearance at your next Quidditch match, You will be able to keep them at bay long enough to get back to the ground.† â€Å"You said it’s harder if there are loads of them,† said Harry. â€Å"I have complete confidence in you,† said Lupin, smiling. â€Å"Here — you’ve earned a drink. Something from the Three Broomsticks. You won’t have tried it before –â€Å" He pulled two bottles out of his briefcase. â€Å"Butterbeer!† said Harry, without thinking. â€Å"Yeah, I like that stuff!† Lupin raised an eyebrow. â€Å"Oh — Ron and Hermione brought me some back from Hogsmeade,† Harry lied quickly. â€Å"I see,† said Lupin, though he still looked slightly suspicious. â€Å"Well — let’s drink to a Gryffindor victory against Ravenclaw! Not that I’m supposed to take sides, as a teacher†¦Ã¢â‚¬  he added hastily. They drank the butterbeer in silence, until Harry voiced something he’d been wondering for a while. â€Å"What’s under a Dementor’s hood?† Professor Lupin lowered his bottle thoughtfully. â€Å"Hmmm †¦ well, the only people who really know are in no condition to tell us. You see, the Dementor lowers its hood only to use its last and worst weapon.† â€Å"What’s that?† â€Å"They call it the Dementor’s Kiss,† said Lupin, with a slightly twisted smile. â€Å"It’s what Dementors do to those they wish to destroy utterly. I suppose there must be some kind of mouth under there, because they clamp their jaws upon the mouth of the victim and — and suck out his soul.† Harry accidentally spat out a bit of butterbeer. â€Å"What — they kill –?† â€Å"Oh no,† said Lupin. â€Å"Much worse than that. You can exist without your soul, you know, as long as your brain and heart are still working. But you’ll have no sense of self anymore, no memory, no†¦anything. There’s no chance at all of recovery. You’ll just exist. As an empty shell. And your soul is gone forever†¦lost.† Lupin drank a little more butterbeer, then said, â€Å"It’s the fate that awaits Sirius Black. It was in the Daily Prophet this morning. The Ministry have given the Dementors permission to perform it if they find him.† Harry sat stunned for a moment at the idea of someone having their soul sucked out through their mouth. But then he thought of Black. â€Å"He deserves it,† he said suddenly. â€Å"You think so?† said Lupin lightly. â€Å"Do you really think anyone deserves that?† â€Å"Yes,† said Harry defiantly. â€Å"For†¦for some things†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He would have liked to have told Lupin about the conversation he’d overheard about Black in the Three Broomsticks, about Black betraying his mother and father, but it would have involved revealing that he’d gone to Hogsmeade without permission, and he knew Lupin wouldn’t be very impressed by that. So he finished his butterbeer, thanked Lupin, and left the History of Magic classroom. Harry half wished that he hadn’t asked what was under a Dementor’s hood, the answer had been so horrible, and he was so lost in unpleasant thoughts of what it would feel like to have your soul sucked out of you that he walked headlong into Professor McGonagall halfway up the stairs. â€Å"Do watch where you’re going, Potter!† â€Å"Sorry, Professor –â€Å" â€Å"I’ve just been looking for you in the Gryffindor common room, Well, here it is, we’ve done everything we could think of, and there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with it at all — you’ve got a very good friend somewhere, Potter†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Harry’s jaw dropped. She was holding out his Firebolt, and it looked as magnificent as ever. â€Å"I can have it back?† Harry said weakly. â€Å"Seriously?† â€Å"Seriously,† said Professor McGonagall, and she was actually smiling. â€Å"I daresay you’ll need to get the feel of it before Saturday’s match, won’t you? And Potter — do try and win, won’t you? Or we’ll be out of the running for the eighth year in a row, as Professor Snape was kind enough to remind me only last night†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Speechless, Harry carried the Firebolt back upstairs toward Gryffindor Tower. As he turned a corner, he saw Ron dashing toward him, grinning from ear to ear. â€Å"She gave it to you? Excellent! Listen, can I still have a go on it? Tomorrow?† â€Å"Yeah†¦anything†¦Ã¢â‚¬  said Harry, his heart lighter than it had been in a month. â€Å"You know what — we should make up with Hermione†¦She was only trying to help†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Yeah, all right,† said Ron. â€Å"She’s in the common room now working — for a change.† They turned into the corridor to Gryffindor Tower and saw Neville Longbottom, pleading with Sir Cadogan, who seemed to be refusing him entrance. â€Å"I wrote them down!† Neville was saying tearfully. â€Å"But I must’ve dropped them somewhere!† â€Å"A likely tale!† roared Sir Cadogan. Then, spotting Harry and Ron: â€Å"Good even, my fine young yeomen! Come clap this loon in irons. He is trying to force entry to the chambers within!† â€Å"Oh, shut up,† said Ron as he and Harry drew level with Neville. â€Å"I’ve lost the passwords!† Neville told them miserably. â€Å"I made him tell me what passwords he was going to use this week, because he keeps changing them, and now I don’t know what I’ve done with them!† â€Å"Oddsbodkins,† said Harry to Sir Cadogan, who looked extremely disappointed and reluctantly swung forward to let them into the common room. There was a sudden, excited murmur as every head turned and the next moment, Harry was surrounded by people exclaiming over his Firebolt. â€Å"Where’d you get it, Harry?† â€Å"Will you let me have a go?† â€Å"Have you ridden it yet, Harry?† â€Å"Ravenclaw’ll have no chance, they’re all on Cleansweep Sevens!† â€Å"Can I just hold it, Harry?† After ten minutes or so, during which the Firebolt was Passed around and admired from every angle, the crowd dispersed and Harry and Ron had a clear view of Hermione, the only person who hadn’t rushed over to them, bent over her work and carefully avoiding their eyes. Harry and Ron approached her table and at last, she looked up. â€Å"I got it back,† said Harry, grinning at her and holding up the Firebolt. â€Å"See, Hermione? There wasn’t anything wrong with it!† said Ron. â€Å"Well — there might have been!† said Hermione. â€Å"I mean, at least you know now that it’s safe!† â€Å"Yeah, I suppose so,† said Harry. â€Å"I’d better put it upstairs.† â€Å"I’ll take it!† said Ron eagerly. â€Å"I’ve got to give Scabbers his rat tonic.† He took the Firebolt and, holding it as if it were made of glass, carried it away up the boys’ staircase. â€Å"Can I sit down, then?† Harry asked Hermione. â€Å"I suppose so,† said Hermione, moving a great stack of parchment off a chair. Harry looked around at the cluttered table, at the long Arithmancy essay on which the ink was still glistening, at the even longer Muggle Studies essay (‘Explain Why Muggles Need Electricity’) and at the rune translation Hermione was now poring over. â€Å"How are you getting through all this stuff?† Harry asked her. â€Å"Oh, well — you know — working hard,† said Hermione. Close-up, Harry saw that she looked almost as tired as Lupin. â€Å"Why don’t you just drop a couple of subjects?† Harry asked, watching her lifting books as she searched for her rune dictionary. â€Å"I couldn’t do that!† said Hermione, looking scandalized. â€Å"Arithmancy looks terrible,† said Harry, picking up a very complicated-looking number chart. â€Å"Oh no, it’s wonderful!† said Hermione earnestly. â€Å"It’s my favorite subject! It’s –â€Å" But exactly what was wonderful about Arithmancy, Harry never found out. At that precise moment, a strangled yell echoed down the boys’ staircase. The whole common room fell silent, staring, petrified, at the entrance. Then came hurried footsteps, growing louder and louder — and then Ron came leaping into view, dragging with him a bedsheet. â€Å"LOOK!† he bellowed, striding over to Hermione’s table. â€Å"LOOK!† he yelled, shaking the sheets in her face. â€Å"Ron, what –?† â€Å"SCABBERS! LOOK! SCABBERS!† Hermione was leaning away from Ron, looking utterly bewildered. Harry looked down at the sheet Ron was holding. There was something red on it. Something that looked horribly like — â€Å"BLOOD!† Ron yelled into the stunned silence. â€Å"HE’S GONE! AND YOU KNOW WHAT WAS ON THE FLOOR?† â€Å"N — no,† said Hermione in a trembling voice. Ron threw something down onto Hermione’s rune translation. Hermione and Harry leaned forward. Lying on top of the weird, spiky shapes were several long, ginger cat hairs.

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Consultancy Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Consultancy Report - Essay Example Further, the practice of recommendations through incentives is a major ethical issue that needs to be curtailed. It is important for the three firms to reorganize their acts and put on a higher degree of professionalism when it comes to competitiveness. It is this way that will lead to lesser unethical practices where there will be lesser stealing of product formula and incentive recommendation practices by the three firms leading to a civilized pharmaceutical industry that other firms will look up to as their model industry. The three companies selected for this discussion are: Novartis AG, GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Pfizer Inc. These companies are the three largest pharmaceutical companies in the world employing over 300,000 people across the world and sharing more than $150 billion in revenues in between them. The three firms are very innovative and compete with each other on their brand equity and image. Ethics is defined as the standards that enable one to tell the difference between right and wrong. Thus, ethics is a standard that can vary for each individual, company or entity. The ethics standards of a truthful and honest person will be higher than that of a regular liar. Ethics is what enables one to judge something as right or wrong. It is highly qualitative and as mentioned earlier, can differ greatly for two entities (Framework for ethical thinking, 2009). Focusing constantly on innovation and quality, it is not possible for any of these firms to engage in quality compromise as it would not only be detrimental to human life but would also endanger there future existence in the market. Thus, ethics is one of the most important pillars of operations in the pharmaceutical industry. However, this quality is not religiously practiced when it comes to competition. Novartis, Pfizer and Glaxo manufacture a wide variety of medicines and drugs that are cures for the same diagnosis: the only differences lie in

Main Character Analysis - The Yellow Wallpaper Essay

Main Character Analysis - The Yellow Wallpaper - Essay Example THE CENTRAL CHARACTER OF THE STORY REPRESENTS AN ‘OUTSIDER’ WHO DOES NOT WANT TO CONFORM TO THE TRADITIONAL NORMS AND HENCE FREES HER SOUL FROM THE PRETENSE OF THE CONVENTIONAL WIFE WHO ABIDES BY HER HUSBAND’S DECISIONS WITHOUT INDIVIDUAL JUDGMENT. Women have attempted to get rid of the conventional definitions of their roles and the ideology forced upon them, thus seeking for a redefinition of Womanhood. Charlotte Perkins Gilman illustrated the struggle of the female character of the story to overcome the patriarchal constraints in order to be able to cultivate her writing talents. Here she talks about the dominating care of her husband as she says, â€Å"He is very careful and loving, and hardly lets me stir without special direction†¦ There comes John, and I must put this away, --he hates to have me write a word. We have been here two weeks, and I haven't felt like writing before, since that first day. I am sitting by the window now, up in this atrocious nursery, and there is nothing to hinder my writing as much as I please, save lack of strength† (Gilman, 1891, 2) Gilman also points out the lack of cooperation from the female counterparts which have helped the male reinforce their dominance. She has mentioned the case of the sister of the woman’s husband in this regard. ... From the fact that John would not encourage her writing let alone appreciate them, she gradually suffered from low-self esteem. The following lines express her feelings, â€Å"But these nervous troubles are dreadfully depressing. John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no REASON to suffer, and that satisfies him.† (Gilman, 1891, 3) The work represents the Cult of Womanhood, which ties up the women folk to the ambience of the home and family. Here the woman has been confined to the defined parameters that have been set by men. Constant domination negatively affects her creativity, as she has to put in the extra effort in order to overcome the mental set back and arouse the self-encouragement within her. The character Gilman creates in her story is an inspiration to all the women who have confined themselves within the shackles of dominance. She depicts the challenges thrown towards patriarchal ideologies and how women could move beyond the conventional ba rrier of ideology imposed upon them. She cites a reflection of this situation as she describes the changes in the wallpaper, saying, â€Å"There are things in that paper that nobody knows but me, or ever will. Behind that outside pattern the dim shapes get clearer every day. It is always the same shape, only very numerous.† (Gilman, 1891, 6) she wonders whether all women would be able to walk out of these artificial misleading designs created deftly by men – â€Å"I wonder if they all come out of that wall-paper as I did?† (Gilman, 1891, 12) The central character of the story ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ therefore represents the ‘outsider’ to the set norms of the society

Saturday, July 27, 2019

The ideology of religious studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The ideology of religious studies - Essay Example A look into this concept of ‘servant’ reveals in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament that the servant was called the Servant of the Lord or the Servant of Yahweh. The issues addressed in this book relate directly to the Servant and the person was willing to serve the Lord. The interpretations by early Christian’s is below. Isaiah 42:1-4 talks of the Servant as the chosen often endowed with Yahweh spirit to bring forth judgment to the nations. The Servant will work quietly and unobtrusively until justice is accomplished without failure or discouragement. In Isaiah 49:1-6, the Servant talks about having been prepared by God and ready for the mission to the distant people. The Servant is recognized as Israel in whom God will be glorified. The duty of the Servant, in this case, is to restore Israel and be a light to the surrounding nations. Isaiah 50: 4-9 though does not mention the word ‘servant’ but, implies the state of servanthood. Yahweh w akens him every morning to hear from Him. Isaiah 52:-53:12 implies the suffering servant who is disfigured and despised, and stricken by God. The servant is laid in a felon’s grave. 2. This book of Jonah talks about Jonah’s reaction to the prophetic call. Early Christians took this book as a personal writing by Jonah himself. They consider the book a Midrash and not a historical narrative. They interpreted it this way because Jonah seems to be talking the events as they occur and not something historical. The book is quite unique among the prophetic books as it is not a collection of oracles at all. To early Christians, this book aided them in spreading the essence of true miracles as performed by God. 3. In Genesis 22, Abraham is seen binding his son Isaac for sacrifice. Though the Angel of God prevents him to, his faith in God is surely affirmed. To early Christians, this was a clear indication pointing towards the sacrificial body of Jesus Christ who was to be naile d to the cross for the redemption of man. Of particular interest is the use of the lamb in place of Isaac which is taken as Jesus Christ in place of us. Further, they interpret that the faith Abraham had in God was definitely able to raise Isaac from the dead had he sacrificed him. Consequently, Abraham’s willingness to give out his only son is an indication of the sacrifice God made through His Son Jesus Christ who died to save us. The Early Christians also believed that Abraham went to Mt. Moriah where he bound Isaac and this same Mount is where Jesus Christ was bound and crucified i.e. at Calvary. 4. First, the beginnings are distinctive. The gospels of Mathew and Luke begin their accounts with the story of Jesus’ birth while Mark begins the story of Jesus with the ministry of John the Baptist. The Gospel of John is the most unique as it talks of the Trinity presence at the beginning of creation with everything having been created through the word which is Jesus Chr ist. Secondly, in the Gospels by Mathew, Mark, and Luke, the teachings of Jesus are highlighted through the preaching of the Kingdom of God while in the Gospel of John, the message is mainly presented in terms of eternal life and resurrection. Thirdly, the Gospel of John presents the teaching of Jesus in long conversations while in the other ones the teachings are usually found in parable forms.

Friday, July 26, 2019

Emplyment Relation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Emplyment Relation - Essay Example This relation is directly affected by the laws and regulations enacted by the State Government, and hence rely upon the ideological approach of the political party in power (Storey, 1983). The fairly recent history of British political scenario has been the time span of conservative regime from 1979 to 1997, which focused on the collective bargaining approach to determine regulations, rather than resorting to legal regulations by the parliament, for the party’s ideology supported the stance that collective bargaining was the most effective method to initiate healthy industrial relations. Hence the UK population witnessed employment regulations implemented by the Conservatives in the form of promotion of anti-unionism, and abolishing the compulsory union membership system, it focused on restricting trade union actions such as strikes and the penalties for illegal actions saw a major hike; they removed minimum wage laws and the security provision to the workforce, and thus weakened the labor laws significantly. They narrowed protection for the employees, and on the contrary increased the management prerogative by restricting the labor from taking actions lawfully (Dickens, 2008, 4-5). This could also be viewed in the light of political debate over authority, and since there is no way to reconcile the demands of the two major opposing centers, the Capitalists in the form of managerial office bearers and the Socialists in guise of the workers, thus there is deadlock and the need for intervention by a third party, which in such a scenario is the Government. Therefore, the practical workability of the arbitrative plan would result in the collaboration between the power elites, i.e. the state and the businesses, to suppress the labor force to fulfill their corporate aims (Ecumenical, 2010). In May 1997, the United Kingdom underwent a major political change, with the election of the Labor Government, the policies also

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Human Resource Management for Service Idustries Assignment

Human Resource Management for Service Idustries - Assignment Example used on integrating the traditional functions of personnel management in the corporate strategies and objectives of a business is that additional human resource oriented functions of an organization can be adequately performed. In contrast, PM involves the use of traditional personnel management approaches to ensure the maintenance of equitable conditions for employment. The tourism and hospitality service sector is a diverse sector in terms of employment trends and patterns. In some regions and geographical areas, hospitality and tourism act as a high status and attractive employment industry which displays a competitive pay scale and supportive working conditions. In contrast, many of the sub sectors of the hospitality and tourism sector are marked with low pay for the employees, high staff turnover rates, poor working conditions, exploitation of the socially disadvantaged communities, the lack of effective recruitment and selection skills in the key areas and the absence of an adequate level of professionalism and fair practices in the human resource management systems. In such scenarios, the human resource managers of the hospitality and tourism sectors face complex challenges while recruiting, selecting, developing and retaining a competent, well motivated, engaged, committed and well managed group of employees. It can be argued that all these human resource management factors are absolutely necessary for maintaining desirable levels of performance standards and efficiency within an organization. Therefore, the role of the HRM becomes more profound in the current dynamic and continually changing landscape of the service sector. Since any service industry, including the tourism and hospitality industry extensively depends on the direct communication of the company personnel and representatives with the customers and on the level of customer services provided to the clientele groups, therefore, the role of human resource personnel is highly significant in

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Political Science Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Political Science - Research Paper Example From the study it is clear that Charles E. Schumer became a leader who finds common sense solutions to national issues. Moreover, Schumer has built a reputation for tirelessly fighting for New York by visiting all the 62 counties each year while talking to constituents on emerging issues and finding solutions. In practicing some of his policies and implementation, on March 16, 2015, Schumer blasted the current amendments by the federal department of housing and urban development of withdraw of federal funds promised to change housing units of towns and communities around New York City. This paper concerns the federal department which promised to change local infrastructure developments in the city to march with the current economic requirements on housing. Schumer policies on national development enabled him face the federal government and insisted on development that the national government and the federal government had earlier promised communities and towns within New York City. Schumer believes in reaching people and working with then through consultations to enable development. The federal government was to bring change to the towns of Elbridge, Skaneateles, and Onondaga, which he consistently pushed for the changes the federal government had earlier promised. The federal government approved CDBG funds within the communities in September 2014 and instead it became reluctant about the development. Schumer believes in transparency and accountability of the government in accomplishing some of their duties promised to the natives.

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

History the world Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

History the world - Essay Example Other factors that lay behind the flourishing of commerce along Indian Ocean in the postclassical millennium included: the sudden rise of Islam, the spread of Arab communities across the coastal lines, technological advances such as larger ships and magnetic compass, the availability of goods that were desired by other cultures around the Indian Ocean, coherence and unity among the traders and Muslims, the efficiency of the long distance trade, the increasing high demand for trade goods across the coastal lines, and the dependence on each other through the linked agricultural and pastoral societies across the Indian Ocean. The flourishing of the Indian Ocean commerce can also be attributed to the relationship between the world of Indian Ocean and the rise of Srivijaya. The controlling of the Malacca strait was a factor, this is because Srivijaya was the shortest and the closest way that led to China and Indian Ocean. Boats were taxed at Srivijaya when they passed through the Malacca strait which led to the production of wealth. There were also rare and expensive objects such as spices and gold which attracted traders. Srivijaya was also a center of Buddhism teaching and practice, this also flourished commerce in the region. The operations of trading network in the Indian Ocean differs from the one in the Silk Roads from the fact that ships in the Indian Ocean could accommodate heavier and larger cargoes than camels along the Silk Roads. This means that the trade networks in the Indian Ocean had more goods and bulk products carried to the market, while the Silk Roads were largely limited to luxury goods for the few traders in the mass market. The trading network in the Indian Ocean involved large ships which were less expensive and carried more cargo. The trade also had multiple locations with many direct routes, more efficient times of travel, and centered in India. The agricultural and pastoral people that were linked by the trade network also

Fidel Castro’s revolution Essay Example for Free

Fidel Castro’s revolution Essay In the creation of Fidel Castro’s revolution, the promise to the Cuban people is this – under a regime that is led by the people, not Batista and his cronies, there shall soon be enough work, the sugar plantations shall be redistributed to the lowly campesinos, the American agro-industrial complexes shall be dismantled and nationalized, and education and healthcare shall soon be a reality in many parts of Cuba. Moreover, workers in the large enterprises shall be given thirty-percent of the profits, and peasants whose lands they tilled were not subject to redistribution shall be granted fifty-five percent of the sugar production. Lastly, all ill-gotten wealth by previous regimes shall be confiscated, including those presently owned by heirs and legatees of discredited rulers of former regimes. While the Cuban Revolution has indeed been able to achieve racial democracy in many years of its existence by providing socio-economic and political opportunities to all Cubans regardless of color, by the time the Revolution entered its ‘Special Period’ to cope with the collapse of the Soviet Union, there exists a creeping reversion to the years of racial prejudice against blacks prior to the 1959 triumph of the revolution. This renewed prejudice is created by the protracted economic crisis since the 1990s and the measures of the Cuban government in allowing Western-driven tourism to take root in places like Havana. As black Cubans are precluded from having free access to employment opportunities in the tourist centers, many blacks then subscribe to criminal activities and subsequently cracked down by security forces through unwarranted searches and a general profiling as being involved in criminal activities. Thereafter, a cultural construct by the white Cuban population is created –a throwback to the racial prejudice against black Cubans prior to the Revolution. On the other hand, Portrait of Teresa shows the contradictions in Teresa between the stated aims of the Cuban Revolution for gender equality and the reality of her domestic situation, in which the husband remains king of the household despite the greater opportunities given by the Revolution to women for greater self-expression, employment access, among others. Nonetheless, only time and the Cuban people will tell whether these rising inequalities may soon be addressed and rectified by the proud and mighty Cuban people. It is not for Fidel or Raul to determine such, only the people, by their struggle, can. References: 1. Castro, Fidel. â€Å"History Will Absolve Me† 1953. 2. De La Fuente, Alejandro. â€Å"Cuba’s Racial Democracy: What Now? †. 3. Vega, Pastor. Portrait of Teresa 1979.

Monday, July 22, 2019

Theories of attribution bias Essay Example for Free

Theories of attribution bias Essay Attribution theory is concerned with how individuals interpret events and how this relates to their thinking and behaviour. Heider (1958) was the first to propose a psychological theory of attribution, but Weiner and colleagues (e.g., Jones et al, 1972; Weiner, 1974, 1986) developed a theoretical framework that has become a major research paradigm of social psychology Fundamental attribution error The fundamental attribution error focuses generally on how people explain how and why things happen in a social setting. There is a strong tendency for people to explain their own behavior as a function of external situations, but attribute the behavior of others to internal factors. The fundamental attribution error explains why people often blame other people for things over which they usually have no control. The term blaming the victim is often used by social psychologists to describe a phenomenon in which people blame innocent victims of crimes for their misfortune. The actor-observer bias tends to be more pronounced in situations where the outcomes are negative.For example, someone might say they did poorly on an exam because it was very difficult or unfair. But when explaining anothers behavior, they would be more likely to attribute something internal, like not studying enough. Actor observer effect The actor-observer bias is a term in social psychology that refers to a tendency to attribute ones own actions to external causes, while attributing other peoples behaviors to internal causes. Essentially, people tend to make different attributions depending upon whether they are the actor or the observer in a situation. 3.1 Self-monitoring in social encounters- Snyder 87-95 3.1 self-disclosure in social encounters- wiemann Giles/Jourard71 3.1 self-presentation in social encounters- duck 88 influence people in positive way

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Comparing Old And New Technologies And Their Impact On The World Business Essay

Comparing Old And New Technologies And Their Impact On The World Business Essay Technology is a broad concept that deals with human as well as other animal species usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects a species ability to control and adapt to its environment. [1] Technological change has become the driving force of innovation, productivity, growth and development of the economy.[1] Technology is all about using the technical and scientific knowledge we have to help solve problems (or) to make life better. Now a days technology that is already available and being used for example the internet, mobile phones and computers (or) you can also develop new technology. Developing new technology may be more difficult to do, but if you have an idea for this and it can be used to make public services also. [1] Examples to compare the Old and New technology: Laser printers vs. inkjet printers, landline services vs. cell phones etc. Our study analyzes industry equilibrium in a model with an incumbent and an entrant that have heterogeneous product offering capabilities: the incumbent can offer either or both types of products, while the entrant can only offer new products. Firms make capacity, pricing, or quantity decisions that maximize their ex-ante profit. Within this framework, we analyze deterministic games with perfect information and stochastic games with uncertain valuation of the disruptive technology.[2] New technology separates into two types: Sustaining technology Disruptive technology Sustaining Technology: Sustaining technologies tend to maintain a rate of improvement; that is, they give customers something more (or) better in the attributes they already value. It also relies on incremental improvements to an already established technology.[2] Disruptive technology: Disruptive technology means a new technology that unexpectedly displaces an established technology and lacks refinement and performance problem because its new technology.[3] A new technology that has a serious impact on the status quo and changes the way people have been dealing with something. The most disruptive technologies in history have been the telephone, computer and the Internet. [3] First, disruptive products are simpler and cheaper; they generally promise lower margins, not greater profits. Second, disruptive technologies typically are first commercialized in emerging or insignificant markets. And third, leading firms most profitable customers generally dont want, and indeed initially cant use, products based on disruptive technologies.[3] Theory: New technology which radically changes the way things have been done in the past is commonly referred to as disruptive technology. Whilst disruption has negative connotations, if understood and evaluated early on, such innovations can also provide tremendous breakthrough opportunities to invest in paradigm shifting technology, to drive growth and the Establishment a powerful future position.[4] Disruptive technology and disruptive innovation are terms used in business and technology literature to describe innovation that improve a product or service in ways that the market does not expect, typically by being lower priced or designed for a different set of consumers.[4] Disruptive innovations can be broadly classified into low-end and new-market disruptive innovations. A new-market disruptive innovation is often aimed at non-consumption, [4] whereas a lower-end disruptive innovation is aimed at mainstream customers for whom price is more important than quality.[4] Disruptive technologies are particularly threatening to the leaders of an existing market, because they are competition coming from an unexpected direction. A disruptive technology can come to dominate an existing market by either filling a role in a new market that the older technology could not fill or by successively moving up-market through performance improvements until finally displacing the market incumbents.[4] Disruptive technology Introduce a very different package of attributes from the one mainstream customer historically value, and they often perform far worse along one or two dimensions that are particularly important to those customers. As a rule, mainstream customers are unwilling to use a disruptive product in applications they know and understand. At first, then, disruptive technologies tend to be used and valued only in new markets or new applications; in fact, they generally make possible the emergence of new markets.[4] In general, old products based on sustaining technology are perceived to be superior to the new ones based on disruptive technology. However, the latter have distinctive features that allow them to attract an exclusive set of customers.[4] Examples: 1. UPS is example of how new technologies can help a company to improve its operating performance. However it is using advanced technology to improve the way it operates its primary business and to leverage those skills and infrastructure to move into other related lines of business. UPS has developed software applications and mobile devices with the support of wireless networks for shipping and tracking services. Its software applications work on a common platform with a single database, enabling it to optimise the route and load plans faster in order to surpass its competitors. [5] UPS software applications generate reports for managers that allow them to better plan and control the delivery routes. Better planning and route control result in time saving and more efficient use of resources. 2. A team of robotics engineers have developed a system that makes pneumatic artificial muscles much quieter than those used in labs today.[6] Annoying noise produced by air pumps or electric motors in human-like robots is among the factors hampering their entry into consumer market. Researchers at the University of Nevada in Reno came up with an idea how to make artificial muscles work silently.[6] Instead of an air compressor the pressure is supplied by a sealed capsule with a metal hydride powder. The material can absorb and release large amounts hydrogen gas if heated and cooled down. The property makes them of much interest for hydrogen motor researchers, since safe storage of the explosive gas is one of the biggest challenges for the industry.[6] These are the examples for the Impact of Disruptive Technologies for Technology Businesses. Disruptive technology is significantly cheaper than current and is much higher performing, greater functionality and more convenient to use.[7] Disruptive technologies are scientific discoveries that break through the usual product (or) technology capabilities and provide a basis for new competitive paradigm Discontinuous innovations are products, processes, and services that provide exponential improvements in the value received by the customer much in the same vein. The definitions used by different authors to describe the business strategy focus they used to define disruptive technologies. These definitions are classified by a number of business strategy parameters used to describe disruptive technologies.[7] Disruptive technologies and discontinuous innovations present a unique challenge and opportunity for RD organizations seeking to decide on their RD investments and for Manufacturing organizations devising plans for their commercialization efforts and meeting the challenge to reinvent the corporation. These technologies do not have a proven path from scientific discovery to mass production and, therefore, require novel approaches although they are the wellspring of wealth creation and new competency generation for the firms that introduce such innovations. Many firms, especially the larger ones, seem reluctant to familiarize themselves with these technologies quickly. The trend seems to be that these firms prefer to react to a proven disruptive technology that has changed the Product market paradigm. As a result, the community of corporate customers does not readily accept them until they are proven, an event that usually means corporate customers are late entries into the market.[7] Sometimes, advocates of a new technology make grandiose claims about the new technology it will double productivity, save lives, cure cancer, end war, and eliminate spam and telemarketing. They produce all sorts of literature enumerating the advantages of the new technology. Invariably, the new technology is immature often available in prototype form, However, that doesnt matter, because:[8] Look at all the cool things the new technology can do. The current immaturity, instability, unreliability and other drawbacks of the new technology are mere implementation details that need to be worked out, whereas the drawbacks of the old technology are fundamental limitations which cannot be designed out or designed around. [8] What really happens is one of several things: 1. New technology becomes irrelevant. 2. New technologys features are subsumed by old technology. New technology may become a player in the market, or maybe not. 3. New technology really is a Disruptive Technology. All technology was once new technology. New technology has extended our life spans, raised our standard of living, augmented our understanding of the universe, etc. New technology has saved many of us.