Critical Evaluation Essay Example for Free

Critical Evaluation Essay The ancient Greek philosopher Thales was born in Miletus, in Greek Ionia. Aristotle the major source of Thales’ philosophy and science identified Thales as the first person to investigate the basic principles, for in the sixth century he broke away from explaining the natural phenomena through myths and adopted rational means of explaining it. In explaining the totality of all things, Thales described one primary material substance as the elemental foundation of all things, for he believed that there must be some natural substance either one or more than one from which other things come into being while it is preserved, and he postulated that this primary principle is water. Being an astronomer on the other hand he was believed to have predicted an eclipse in 585BC. It is therefore the purpose of this essay to critically evaluate Thales’ metaphysics in the context of aim, content and method of philosophy then proceed to clearly underscore his unique contribution to the development of philosophy. To begin with, as pointed out earlier on, Thales was the first philosopher to ask questions about the structure and nature of the cosmos as a whole and is known to be the founder of philosophy of physis which is the study of the totality of reality. Being the first philosopher, he affirmed the existence of a unique principle and cause of all things that exist. He said this principle is water because it is wholly from water that life itself comes from and into which it dissolves, he also declared that the earth rest on water getting the notion perhaps from seeing that the nutriment of all things is moist and that heat itself is generated from moisture and kept alive by it, and that from which they come to be is a principle of all things. He got his notion from this fact and from the fact that seeds of all things have a moist nature and that water is the origin of the nature of moist things (Guthrie, 1978: 55). By saying principle Thales meant the reality that remains identically the same throughput the changes in its characteristics and it continues to exist unchanged throughout the process of the generation of everything (Presocratics, 1995: 42). However, despite postulating that water is a principle, he also had two other propositions which came down from his verbatim and these were â€Å"magnet possesses the soul† because it is capable of moving things like iron, and that â€Å"all things are full of goods†. In saying this Thales implicitly implied that his water principle is the source, sustainer and font of all things and that he used the gods in his assertion for the people’s easy understanding of it (Radhakrishnan, 1953: 28). Having looked at a number of Thales’ assertions and their meanings, it is necessary that we clarify the aim of Thales as regards to philosophy. On this point Aristotle states that philosophy has a purely theoretical character, that is, it is contemplation, and that it simply seeks truth for its own sake. Philosophy is not sought because of any advantage that is extrinsic to it, but it is sought just for itself (Reale, 1978: 17). Therefore in this sense, as Thales was explaining the principle of all things he did not benefit any wealth from it and this is why he was mocked for his poverty, insinuating that his philosophy was of no practical use to him (Presocratics, 1995: 45). Since philosophy does not bake bread nor fix gadgets but rather aims primarily at knowledge, we then see that Thales without any practical benefits tries to find the origin of all things just for philosophy’s own sake. With respect to content, philosophy wanted to explain the totality of all things, that is, the whole of reality without the exclusion of any part or aspect of it, thus distinguishing itself structurally from the special sciences that instead are limited to explaining particular sections of reality, groups of particular things or particular phenomena. In trying to explain the whole of reality the first philosophers were asking the question, what is the principle of all things? (Reale, 1978: 17). Thales in responding to this question in accordance to the content of philosophy, he said water is the principle, for him, he did not necessarily consider the importance of water in life but the thought which most likely must have struck Thales’ mind are those which link water with the idea of life. Hence he observes that food and semen always contain moisture and that the very warmth of life is damp warmth. Furthermore, the composition of all things is moist and that seeds of all things have a moist nature and that water is the origin of moist. Therefore the explanation of water being the principle of things is what is contained in the content of Thales’ philosophy. Finally, on the aspect of method, philosophy wanted to explain the totality which is its object in a strictly rational manner. What is of value in philosophy is its rational arguments, its rational purpose or simply its logos. It is not enough for philosophy to confirm and find out the data derived from experience on a factual level, philosophy must go beyond the facts and experience in order to discover the reasons, the cause and the principle (Reale, 1978: 17). Therefore, Thales with a minimum amount of factual information was able by reasoning to devise an ingenious hypothesis to account for diverse things as gaseous liquid and solid characteristics of the earth, for he believed that all objects are variations of one basic ingredient-water, for water, if heated becomes steam, thus all entities which are gaseous, in its natural state is liquid, and all things which flow must be made up of it and finally, if cooled sufficiently becomes solid (Popkin, 2006: 336). Having looked at a number of things concerning the principle of Thales, we now have to look at a number of contributions which Thales brought forth to the development of philosophy. Firstly, he is believed to have paved way for materialism in metaphysics, which is simply the view that reality is essentially material, and the materialist held that reality is made up of indivisible material particles which move around in a void and combined together to form all the different kinds of things to be found in the world. In this bold speculation the materialist or atomist in particular were following in the footsteps of earlier thinkers (one of them being Thales) who had posited the key idea that underlying the apparent diversity of the world we inhabit, there is a fundamental unit. Therefore Thales is the man who is credited with being the first philosopher and he believed that this unity consisted in the fact that everything comes from or was in some sense made of water (Horner, 2000: 19). Through Thales we have also experienced the transition from explaining natural phenomena through myths to rational and scientific explanation of the origin of nature. At first when explaining the origin of all things, people in Greece referred to a poem called Theogony, written by Hessiod about 725BC. The Theogony contained myths of the gods and speculates in part about the origin and the order of the universe (Audi, 1995: 595). However, with the coming of Thales, the origin of all things was explained systematically using the method of reasoning. The other contribution of Thales to philosophy is that he began the study of cosmology which is branch of metaphysics. Cosmology is a theory of the process of reality and it deals with the science of ultimate reality as a whole. The study analyses and explains the nature of elements of which reality as a whole is underpinned and it establishes whether there are principles that may give us a fuller explanation of the nature of existence (Audi, 1995: 595). In this sense then, we see that Thales gives an account of his principle in line with cosmology, the branch of metaphysics, this therefore entails that Thales started cosmology as he was the first philosopher. Lastly, on the contributions, Thales was the first philosopher to devote himself to the study and the investigation of nature; he is generally regarded as the first who taught the Greeks the investigation of nature. Although, he had many predecessors as Theophrastus has remarked, he surpassed them all to such a degree that they are forgotten, he is as well considered to be one of the seven wise men to undertake the study of natural philosophy for he declared water to be the beginning and the end of all things (Presocratics; 1995, 42). However, despite an articulate explanation on the reasoning of Thales, his method is likely to be criticized, for the one cause that the reasoning process behind his conclusion that water is the first material principle is unknown, so that it becomes a matter of conjecture. Aristotle had no means of knowing the reasons which led Thales to make his statement and when he ascribes a possible line of thought, to him it makes no secret of the fact that he was guessing (Guthrie, 1978: 54). And when we compare the reasoning of Thales to that of other Milesians like Anaximander, Thales’ reasoning is put to the spotlight that he was just guessing because in Anaximander we clearly see that his thinking goes beyond experience, confirming that he was really contemplating rather than just guessing as Aristotle had put it. Another weakness of his explanation of a single principle that was the cause of all reality, is that he never explained the process into which water goes through to become a component of all things more specifically a thing like fire. Other philosophers like Anaximenes, who said the principle is air, explained that through the process of rarefaction air produces fire and when the air condenses through condensation, it gives origin to wind, the clouds, the water, the earth, rocks and other things. This kind of explanation is what was lacking in the philosophy of Thales. In conclusion, Thales of Miletus was one of the first Greek philosophers to seek natural causes for natural phenomena. He traveled widely throughout Egypt and the Middle East and became famous for predicting a solar eclipse that occurred in 585 BC. At a time when people regarded eclipses as ominous, inexplicable, and frightening events, his prediction marked the start of rationalism, a belief that the universe can be explained by reason alone. Rationalism remains the hallmark of science to this day. BIBLIOGRAPHY Audi, R. (1992). Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy. Cambridge University Press, New York. Guthrie, A. (1978). A history of Greek Philosophy. Vol 1. Cambridge University Press, Britain. Radhakrishnan, S. (1953). History of Philosophy, Eastern and Western. Vol 2. George Allen Unwin Ltd, London. Reale, G. A. (1987). History of Ancient Philosophy From the Origins to Socrates. State University of New York, New York.

Lady Macbeth Analysis Essay Example for Free

Lady Macbeth Analysis Essay Lady Macbeth has a manipulative, vindictive nature. She is a very controlling character yet we see her troubled mind reveal itself as the play progresses although as a character, in my opinion, when her mind unravels and her actions of insanity later occurs in the play I do not feel an ounce of sympathy for the murderous malicious actions of Macbeths temptress that lead him to doom and destruction. Therefore Lady Macbeth is just like a serpent that poisons her prey. In the opening scenes of the play it is clear to see how acutely in love Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are. When Macbeth is told the prophecy by the witches he immediately writes a letter to Lady Macbeth telling her of this news. Macbeth addresses Lady Macbeth as my dearest partner of greatness act 1 scene 5; this shows the magnitude of his love for her. He thoroughly respects her and reports to her, deliver thee not failing to tell her any new information. The first time we meet Lady Macbeth it doesnt give the reader a great perspective. She immediately becomes captivated in Macbeths letter and the prophecy of him being King, and conjures up a plan to kill Duncan, it is later revealed they are mutual friends, as he addresses her as honored hostess act 1 scene 6. This cold hearted nature and deep desire for social status and thriving ambition makes her desert any feelings of guilt and remorse, (for the time being). She is confident and strong, she fears Macbeth is not evil enough to execute a friend to reach the final goal of high status we hear this in her soliloquy, too full o the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way, act 1 scene 5 she prays for help metaphysical aid act 1 scene 5 to help Macbeth become ruthless. She fears he is without ambition act 1 scene 5 and so would not carry out the deed properly. Lady Macbeth even would do the murder herself as she prays to become manlier unsex me act 1 scenes 5-7, she prays that she will have no conscience and to be filled with poison. This shows the extent of her ambitious mind. It also reveals that although how evil she is, she still needs an extra push to give her confidence, this doesnt mean however that she is an innocent flower, she is still an evil serpent at the fact that she wishes to be even more evil and filled with malice. When she first meets Macbeth she begins to goad and persuade him to do the deed she administrates ideas of looking above suspicion. She tells him look like thinnocent flower, But be the serpent undert. act 1 scene 5, Shakespeare uses very expressive language here with contrasting imagery of a flower (which represents good) and a serpent (which represents evil). This could also be interpreted as a metaphor for Macbeths relationship with his wife in that when Lady Macbeth is plotting murderous schemes and manipulating her husband, Macbeth is presented in a good and vulnerable light. The same applies for when Macbeth decides to take the murders further later on in the book and the audience gains sympathy for his wife. Macbeth is left with little to say and is interrupted by his wife on several occasions in that scene, providing the audience with a clear insight into Shakespeares intentions for the hierarchy within the relationship. That hierarchy being where Macbeth is more or less controlled by what Lady Macbeth tells him to do, almost like a spell of her own. This provides strong evidence for those who believe that Lady Macbeth is like a serpent. Lady Macbeth shows more serpent techniques as she hides her malevolent plans while greeting her guest, the King, at her household. She is skilled with her welcome of politeness towards Duncan as she has already planned that Duncan will die, fatal battlements, act 1 scene 5 yet she can mask her wickedness and still seem courteous towards Duncan. Progressing through the book from the start Lady Macbeth now symbolizes the character of wickedness to her full extent, like a snake that targets its prey and is not satisfied until the aim is achieved. In Act 1 scene 7 we see how Lady Macbeth belittles her husband in an attempt for him to agree whole heartedly to kill the king of Scotland. She tries to make him feel weak and cowardly. She uses foul phrases with appalling imagery such as telling Macbeth that while she was breast feeding her baby she would: while it was smiling in my face, have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out, had I so sworn you had done to this. She tries to come over as very menacing and heartless at this point in the play, making a point of the fact that if she had promised to kill her own child she would do so. The role of women at the time when Shakespeare wrote this play was that women were mothers and supported their husbands, there main objective would be to look after the home. A Shakespearian audience would be appalled that Lady Macbeth is neither and that she even threatens a life of a child. This shows how Lady Macbeth would have done almost anything to persuade Macbeth however, after the murder of Duncan, she contradicts herself rather strongly as she comments on not being able to kill her father. In Act 2 scene 2 Lady Macbeth shows strength. Macbeth returns from killing the king to discuss the event with his wife. Shakespeare uses this as an opportunity for the audience to feel sympathy as we see his grief and guilt. We also get to see a very new side to Lady Macbeth, she admits that if he had not looked like her own father she would have done the deed herself, showing that underneath her hard exterior, there are elements of compassion and guilt that though she expresses little, she still feels them just like any other human being. The audience then can see her snap out of her sensitive phase and channel her emotions into reassuring and controlling her husband. She tells him to dismiss his hallucinations about the dagger and to return them to frame the guards who were guarding Duncans room. These deeds must not be thought, after these ways; so, it will make us mad. The audience could consider this as foreshadowing of what occurs as the play progresses as both Lady Macbeth and her husband experience mental disturbances because of the horrific crimes they committed. Hands are used as a metaphor throughout this scene and as an extended metaphor throughout the play. Macbeth refers to his as hangmans hands and uses phrases such as ravelled sleeve of care, whereas Lady Macbeth is far more literal and tells him to wash this filthy witness from your hand. This could be interpreted as the hands representing guilt and so each character handles the guilt in different ways; Macbeth is very open about his guilt and remorse by using dramatic devices such as personification and metaphors, for example: Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor shall sleep no more: Macbeth shall sleep no more. Lady Macbeth, however, deals with her culpability in a different way in that she pretends to feel nothing towards the situation but it obviously haunts her as we see in her final scene in Act 5 scene 1 where she sleep walks and hallucinates. Shakespeare illustrates this well when Lady Macbeth mocks Macbeth for being so gentle: My hands are of your colour, but I shame, to wear a heart so white. She also says rather flippantly, A little water clears us of this deed. How easy is it then! Your constancy hath left you unattended. Shakespeares intention for this scene, I think, was to show us that there is a sensitive, guilty side underneath her shell of ambition and malevolence. Conversely the depth of evil she has shown so far throughout the play cannot make her an innocent flower but an evil and manipulative serpent. When Macduff discovers Duncans murder with great astonishment, he alerts the whole castle including Banquo, Malcolm and Donaldbain of the kings death and so Lady Macbeth enters. She acts very much like thinnocent flower by pretending to be oblivious to what had happened in the previous scene, Whats the business that such a hideous trumpet calls to parley, the sleepers of the house? Then with immense dramatic irony, Macduff replies calling her gentle lady and commenting on the fact that the talk of murderous deeds is too tender for a womans ears. The audience would find this somewhat amusing as they know that Lady Macbeth is responsible for persuading Macbeth to commit the murder of Duncan and so would not in any way find the subject too sensitive or painful. Lady Macbeth is very much out of control in this scene, she is surprised to find out that Macbeth killed the two attendants which werent in her plan and she begins to falter. In the Macbeths relationship this is somewhat very different from the beginning, Macbeth did not consult Lady Macbeth of killing the attendants and this shows their relationship distancing. Lady Macbeth shows her fragility by fainting, although it is unknown to the audience if she genuinely fainted or if it is an act. Lady Macbeth experiences a loss of power and control in Act 3 scene 2, where Macbeth arranges his next murder without her involvement. Shakespeare has her character showing compassion to her husbands sorriest fancies when he complains of insecurity about his dangerous thoughts and deeds. She tries to make him forget what has happened by instructing him: Using those thoughts which should indeed have died, with them think on? Things without all remedy should be without regard; whats done is done. But Lady Macbeth has lost some of her control, her serpent like naturisms have become wilted but like a serpent, it always remains. Lady Macbeth presents herself as the gracious hostess once more as she invites the lords to dinner in Act 3 scene 4. At the beginning of the scene the audience is presented with the news of Banquos slaughter. Lady Macbeth suspects this but is not directly informed as her husband has somewhat distanced himself from her, implying that he does not need her influences for villainous thoughts any more, he can do it all by himself now. This scene manages to arouse some sympathy for Lady Macbeth as we see her power lessening downfall. This could be what ultimately leads to her suspected suicide. The audience gets to understand that Shakespeare did not want to present Lady Macbeth as a character who takes pleasure in the sight of bloodshed and gore, but one who craves power and enforces her ambitions upon those she can manipulate. We also see a role reversal here for the second time in the play. She already has upset the natural order of marital hierarchy from the beginning of the play where she presents herself in the dominant role which was extremely uncommon for that period. Then as the play progresses she becomes part of a downward spiral where she loses power and the status within the marriage as she becomes the more recessive figure next to her now dominant husband. Which in essence, could her suicide later on in the play be reflected upon the idea that Lady Macbeth needs to be the dominate figure? I think that she becomes so broken by her husbands horrific actions that even she wouldnt commit and she cant take anymore of the division between the once close couple this could be seen as an innocent flower but considering everything that has happened throughout the play, she can certainly not be called innocent. The ghost of Banquo makes an appearance at the dinner table in this scene but of course only Macbeth can see (another one of his deluded hallucinations like the dagger). He becomes extremely unsettled by this and begins to shout at the ghost with a fiery passion that stuns the rest of his guests. Thou canst not say I did it; never shake thy gory locks at me! Ross initiates the lords standing up and leaving their new king in peace to rest and collect himself but Lady Macbeth being thinnocent flower that she pretends to be assures the lords that he is fine and is just unwell. The audience feels some sort of consideration for her as we can see her husbands mental health deteriorates and her power disintegrate. She snaps at Macbeth Are you a man? as she quite obviously feels utterly embarrassed by his reactions to the ghost. She tries to use this as an opportunity to regain her status above Macbeth which is understandable as she feels defeated but is selfish considering her husbands stat e, she shows serpent qualities, the need to be in control of her prey. In the most dramatic scene in Lady Macbeths presence on stage, the audience is given the opportunity to see the real Lady Macbeth as her subconscious takes over her physical state. Having no further matters to occupy her mind as Macbeth no longer tells her his plans, she begins to dwell on the past, slipping further and further from reality until she eventually completely loses her hold on sanity and takes her own life. At the beginning of her last scene, Act 5 scene 1, the doctor and gentlewoman are analyzing her recent behavior, She has light by her continually, tis her command. As light is a common metaphor for purity this insinuates that she doesnt want to be considered evil and wants to redeem herself but cant because she is too involved to dig herself out now and so her subconscious speaks the words she cannot. Out damned spot! Out, I say! One, two. Why then tis time to dot. Hell is murky. Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier, and afeard? What need we fear? Who knows it, when none can call our power to account? Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him? A Shakespearian audience would have recognized the spot as the devils mark and would have reacted with horror as they saw this scene being played; this shows that once again she can be called a serpent. Shakespeare has used very disjointed language with punctuation separating every short phrase. This translates to her being very edgy and emotionally unstable. She then reels off a list of other people for which she feels responsible for their deaths as well as her husband. She refers back to the common theme of hands which has occurred throughout the play. What, will these hands neer be clean? All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. O, O, O. She still refers to her hands as being little and the need for them to be sweetened and so this indicates the want for her to be filled with good and that she is feeling genuine guilt and mental anguish. This anguish finally leads to her suicide by unspecified means. Shakespeare probably chose not to present the death of Lady Macbeth on stage to add to the impact of her exit and last scene and also to be slightly ambiguous. I think a dying scene would have been effective for Lady Macbeths last scene; she could perhaps have given a soliloquy explaining how she truly was feeling. To let her portray her malice side and let the audience be satisfied to call her an evil serpent. The significance of Lady Macbeth being an evil woman becoming tortured with guilt and grief is off great importance to a Shakespearian audience, in that time they believed in witchcraft and in my opinion Lady Macbeth could be portrayed as how people who are evil and malicious never get away with the deed. I think a Shakespearian audience would think witchcraft would have been involved in Lady Macbeths downfall and this would be very real and true for them. She was certainly a bold character for going against the Chain of Being in which God was considered to be ultimately at the top with monarchs under that and other members of society such as lords and townsfolk following after, but at the bottom were women and so she was courageous to consider herself to be above even monarchy! Though wrong, especially considering what was said if the chain of being was to be disrupted, that chaos would arise, disrupting the natural order of life on earth and in the heavens which is seen as inexcusable a definite serpent quality. To conclude, it is evident that Shakespeare had Lady Macbeths emotional state disintegrate as the play proceeded to in effect show the downfall of a control freak. In the first two acts we have little sympathy for Lady Macbeth as Shakespeare only provides the audience with her vindictive exterior, at this time we cannot see what she is truly thinking and feeling. It is only as the play progresses that we understand why she turns out to be the way that she is, that she has a very ambitious character and so enforces that upon her husband. She feels that Macbeth becoming king will benefit them both and sees killing the existing king as the fastest way to get to the throne. She then becomes gradually defeated as Macbeths ambition and obsession with becoming king begins to soar and spiral. She is then over-ridden with guilt and eventually feels that she cannot bear the guilt that torments her troubled mind and so decides to end it all. Had her ambition not overridden her sense of morality, she could have been a respectable, intelligent woman who complemented her husbands abilities to form a perfect partnership. However, she ended up becoming a tortured, immoral, dejected soul, and disliked by many people becoming a serpent.

Teaching Reading Skills For Children With Dyslexia

Teaching Reading Skills For Children With Dyslexia INTRODUCATION Reading is a necessary skill for success in all societies, and the ability to read throughout various contexts effectively likely to improve self confidence and social progress as well as ones potential carrier. However, Reading difficulties is the problem that faces many students with dyslexia across different educational system. It seems clear that there are two main methods of conceiving LD in general and the natural reality concept of dyslexia. One main definition relates to psychological/medical model and the other is social model (Kevin, 1999). It is frequently pointed out that reading skill is complicated because it is based on two main processes which are coding, comprehension. They require learning all alphabetical characters and the outcome of knowledge as well as interaction with the readers own experiences and access to results through the text. According to H. Lee Swanson, Karen R. Harris, Steve Graham (2006) reading difficulties is deficit in learning processes which are include visual perception and perceptual Kinetic perceptionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ etc. They established training programs for this processes which are prerequisite for learning to read, such as audio and visual perception. However, this trend has been criticized by researchers; because the theoretical philosophy was relatively weak and it was not grounded on scientific based evidence instead it was meant to see only virtual behavior. On the other hand, in the sixties and seventies of the last century has returned to focus on direct teaching and structured learning, which focus on Code-emphasis and Whole Language (Hoien, 2000). Unfortunately, it is clear that there is no known medical alternative to reduce the severity of cognitive processing delay in pupils with reading difficulties. Therefore, teachers are required to work instructional adjustments as a result, students with reading difficulties are to be successful in an suitable academic environment that help to reduce reading difficulties (such as eliminate any source of disturbance at mainstream classrooms and resource room). One of the most important instructional adjustments is use of basic procedures for appropriate intervention in early stage of educational ladder to avoid reading problems in students through use of various programs of intervention by specialized teachers and clinical psychologist. Another instructional adjustment which is methods of teaching students with dyslexia how do they read? (Kevin,1999). On the other hand, dyslexia friendly schools are an appropriate environment for children. They are to be provided with effective support and awareness of their additional requirements. The aim of this very brief essay is to discuss different definitions of dyslexia. Intervention to reduce reading difficulties in students with dyslexia will be discussed with a focus on stages of intervention in England; issues associated with intervention and also focus on Reading Recovery. Teaching Methods for students with reading difficulties will be examined in terms of Whole Language Instructions and Code- emphasis Instructions. Finally, Facilitating dyslexia friendly schools will be explored in brief. 1. Definition of Dyslexia It seems a controversial issue relatively in the beginning, because dyslexia has defined in many approaches, some of the definitions reflect the theories of causation, while the other definitions in an attempt to describe dyslexia. It seems clear that dyslexia involves more than one condition as it conveys a conceptual difficulty in reading skills for the child as well as a number of other reasons ((Rice, 2004). A hundred years have passed by since the first systematic definition of dyslexia as well as the diagnosis was established( Frith, 1999) and there is still considerable debate among professionals, professionals, psychologists and teachers about the conceptual issues of dyslexia, whoever in fact not far from agreement on their knowledge of concepts, skills development needs and capabilities, as well as diagnosis. Moreover, professionals and associations interested in special education differ in the definition of a large private educational terms, particularly in the case of attention deficit attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), attention deficit disorder(ADD) and dyslexia. In one community, has experienced difficulty in teaching reading as indicating poor reading skills that must be addressed by large-effective teaching methods. On the other hand, it is observed that another community the same way of reading difficulties in dyslexia, which contains an individual educational plan (IEP) that need to be highly efficient for the education of each individual case. Moreover, there are many of reliable definitions that have been adopted from a wide range of different instruction environments, such as definition of the British Association for Dyslexia (2001), which seems to be a descriptive definition , which indicate that dyslexia can be seen as : A combination of abilities and difficulties which affect the learning process in one or more of reading, spelling, and writing. Accompanying weakness may be identified in areas of speed of processing, short-term memory, sequencing, auditory and / or visual perception, spoken language and motor skills. It is particularly related to mastering and using written language, which may include alphabetic, numeric and musical notation ( Reid, 2002). It is agreed widely that reading skill is key for all people to complete the learning process successfully and appears to be agreement that the learning process needs to be a large number of simple skills, which requires the functions are ordered from different regions of the brain (both left and right from the Brocas area and Hamichaer ), moreover, the sequence of actions that may make it one of the most complex operations. It is clear that all teachers, practitioners and parents should have information about children with dyslexia and the most important problems they face, especially in reading to understand the definition of the educational process (British Dyslexia Association, 2003). On the other, the World Federation of Neurologists (1968) defined it as; Dyslexia is a disorder manifested by difficulty in learning to read despite conventional instruction and socio-cultural opportunity. It is dependent upon fundamental cognitive disabilities which are frequently of constitutional origin. (Mortimore, 2003, by Reid, 1994, p.2). If we pay enough attention to this definition it is clear that the greatest changes considerate on the late sixties that stress and characterized problems to complete reading process to be successful, and the new millennium, that is a interested far more than three different stages of description, the first, behavioural, which is the most important element for teachers and practitioners to work daily with children with dyslexia, particularly in the school, and second, cognitive which is more relate to teacher learning difficulties who is responsible for assessment of any kind of learning difficulties and then Preparation an individual education plan, third, the level of biological, which refers to dyslexia for kind of nervous-developmental in developmental deficit of biological origin(Frith, 2003). However, if we compare the definition of the British Dyslexia Association in the definition of (2001) of dyslexia with the equivalent, which presented by the World Federation of Neurology (1968), we will note other potential conflicts, according to the conceptual dimension to the definition of dyslexia. On the other hand, it is perfectly balanced in those who wish to present the strengths and weaknesses of children with dyslexia: dyslexia is a combination of difficulties, and capacity that may affect the learning process in one or more of the writing, reading and spelling. It might be possible, identify weaknesses in visual perception, processing speed of the short-term memory, sequencing, as well as audio, spoken language and motor skills. and that are relevant to mastering and using written language, which may contain the alphabet and identify the digital as well as musical. 2. Causes of Dyslexia According to ( Rice, 2004 ) there is still no consensus on the underlying causes of dyslexia. It is frequently point out that not all the difficulty in reading or writing means dyslexia. However, there are many scientists who believe that inheritance and hearing problems at an early age may cause dyslexia. This will be discussed in more details. 2.1 Inheritance May not be possible that dyslexia is not a strong characteristic that will be inherited, even if one or both parents have it. On the other hand, this may be possible. it clear that forty per cent of the people and explained that dyslexia has a history of learning difficulties in their family. According to Brain scanning of children with dyslexia by specialists in the field of medicine that bunches of cells beneath the surface in the front left side of the brain are responsible for reading problems (ibid.). This group of cells moving on the surface of brain cells while growing in the fetus, which does not occur with children with dyslexia. In addition, they have to be smaller mango cellular system, which is liable for recognition, for example, symbols and characters, which leads to difficult to read. They usually tend to use the right part for these skills, which are not designed for this job and that six times slower. It is clear that scientists consider these genetic variations and statistics that the inheritance is one of causes of dyslexia. 2.2 Hearing Problems at an Early Age It is frequently point out that the first five years of a childs life are important for the ability to read and write in accordance with natural languages. In the event that the child is suffering from colds or other continuously during the first years of his life, without medical intervention prior to the visit of the health center, may be exposed to ban prayer from time to time and thus may lead to hearing loss. This means that there is a break in the learning process of the child because of those problems in the hearing. If the child does not have the ability to hear words correctly, and thus lead to delays in the phonemic awareness of the child that leads to learning difficulties, such as dyslexia (Bradford, 2009). 3. Intervention for Dyslexia 3.1 Definition of intervention According to Wall (2003) definition of intervention as An intervention is an interaction between two people to bring about change and, therefore, early years practitioners undertake interventions each time they are working with children. Interventions may be short, medium or long term and will be planned carefully to ensure effectiveness and appropriateness. and He suggested idea which is what and how should practitioners draw up a plan or design different and useful intervention programs for each child as a case individually, by clarifying how it could encourage teachers or staff of these children collaborative work by each category of activity classroom, which can be caused by structured plan which made through specialists. It can be seen that intervention has become a significant key in resolving of psychological educational issues which is more effective to clarify access for these issues or problems and also it is useful in reaching positive results, especially for children with learning difficulties who are at risk for any particular type of learning difficulties. It is important to note that it should be look at if one parent has dyslexia, which is likely to move to one of their children as a result it is important there is focus on the family history, which may to be assisted to alert teachers and parents therefore, it may get appropriate intervention program for these children (Augur,1993 ). If we pay enough attention to Augur indicate that developmental dyslexia is justified for certain reasons, first reason, it may be very difficult to clarify kind of developmental dyslexia that a child is born through t according to the results of brain injury as a result of stroke or an accident, etc. Moreover, the second reason which is that many specialists agree that most of these children, who are smart in most courses with the exception of some basic academic skills that need to develop and therefore it is likely that the teachers are providing success and development of the natural growth of children with dyslexia, if they were with the fact that dyslexia may not be curable but it needs to useful intervention programs. 3.2 Stages of intervention in England According to DfES (2003) that stages of intervention used in schools in Britain, with almost identical stages in America, called (waves). Wave 1, which is refer to initial education for literacy in schools in that there must be effective integration of all children, high quality and a daily reading and writing hour with appropriate differentiation required. Whereas, if the children do not respond correctly to primary classroom of literacy guidance therefore, intervention will be necessary. In addition, Wave 2 shows a set of specific interventions which are additional a specific time, which refer to some children who are in need of support services to accelerate development and they can work at or above age-related t the highest of expectations . Wave 3 which is describes the governance for a small number of children and intervention is necessary to provide specifically for the processor speed of evolution or allow children to achieve their potential. It is Clearly that , this could i nclude the 01:01 or specific interventions, so when it comes to older children, which is usually refer to the approach set out specifically for children that have been identified as requiring special education support by working in the school environment. The best example, as noted by the researcher that Wave 3 intervention which is reading recovery. 3.3 Issues associated with intervention It is frequently point out that there is controversy about how to build effectively intervention programme. Researcher will present the most important factors agreed for potential success in the planning and production of the correct intervention program. First, it taking into accounts the assessment procedures and examination in psychology that can explain exactly what are the skills which need to develop in children. According to Fawcett and Lynch (2000) to examine dyslexia test (designed by Nicolson and Fawcett, 1996) will be the most successful for all the teachers to their schools. In addition, this test has become highly efficient because it is interested in semantic and verbal fluency as well as knowledge of numbers. Another reason which is how quickly the application of this test for example, it is take one minute to the task of writing and one minute in the skill of reading, moreover, spelling and other skills that could take two minutes. According to Pumfrey and Reason (2001) enhance the quantity and quality of cognitive development of children is significant factor to reach the appropriate intervention for them, it is important to take into account to confirmation that intervention at the earliest time that in order to that this procedure may not lead to a delay which is undesirable for children who have reading difficulties. In the same context, we may emphasize that the assessment procedures and examination need to be more focus by that stage, even before the application to avoid any future problems (Talcott,, 1997). However, the researcher as a teacher for special education as well as lecturer at the Department of Special Education recognizes that there are no tests in a uniform and there is a clear lack of evaluation of courses in schools in Saudi Arabia. It is clear that this is an opportunity for the researcher to obtain the correct method of assessing and screening for children who have difficulties reading in schools and the transfer of these measures and the right strategies for the development of the educational process in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Talcott (1997) indicate that there is another factor which is related to people who may play an active role of detection of children who have dyslexia. Therefore, there are some people around the children who have learning difficulties and they who provide full care to alleviate the difficulties that may be in these children as well as they are trying to find the appropriate methods in educational process such as, parents, professionals as well as specialists in health care. 3.4 Type of intervention for reading difficulties 3.4.1 Reading Recovery Reading Recovery has been designed by Marie Clay, who is a researcher in New Zealand (Reading Recovery Council , 2006). Mary did studies which allowed her to develop appropriate methods for the detection and intervention for reading difficulties for children. In addition, this program is studies based intervention that is applied in more than 10000 schools in New Zealand, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia. it was a developed to offer intervention for children who have reading difficulties ( Au, Mason1990). According to Au, Mason (1990) The main of reading recovery is to be able to offer intensive one-on-one support children who have reading difficulties in first grade and thus provide appropriate intervention to help them succeed before they improve their reading difficulties (Savage, John 1994). Moreover, it is aimed at less than twenty percent of school classes in first grade classroom. It is clear that it is not easy to make a decision about who children should be given to this program. children are taking a test and depending on the lowest scores for this test and then to hold this program for children got the lowest scores by trained teachers in the application of this program for children who have difficulties reading to reduce these difficulties and to read well (Kline, Anne 1997). It is frequently point out reading recovery is developed to be compatible with the regular school system. Each school needs to confirm that teachers should have the ability to download the program continuously during the year. It is clear that it has the ability to work in a variety of levels for instance it works with teachers, in school, children, and in the education system to provide assistance in reducing reading difficulties in children (Reading Recovery National Network,2006 ). Savage, John (1994) pointed out that Reading Recovery which is a program works differently for each child who is in need of this program. Selection of children for this program based on the report which is submitted by the teacher, and a survey about what child has knowledge of letters and concepts about print process, text reading . In addition, the program begins with what the child is to have the ability to do, then it builds on what they are trying to do and work what child need to learn about reading (Reading Recovery National Network,2006 ).According to Chapman, Turner ( 2003) the program is designed to work one-on-one instruction for thirty minutes a day for a period of twelve to twenty weeks through trained teachers. Moreover, it is designed to regular classroom reading guide. In addition, It is set out to assist based on childs strengths. The main concentration on one-on-one lessons is concentrate on comprehending the various messages in reading and students have the ability to build messages in writing skill (Reading Recovery National Network). According to Savage, John (1994) reading recovery includes that: -Reading Familiar Books: students tend to read books that they enjoy. Teachers, however, will observe how child read these books then they will assist the child while children are reading this book. -Assessment of reading strategies: the students will have a book that have never read it, in the previous lesson, the child will read that book for the teacher, then the teacher will use recorder while the child is read. Working on Letter recognition: student will be trained to look at the different letters, and begins to be familiar with them. -Introducing new books: teacher will choose a number of different books that are suitable for students reading level. Reading new books: The teacher will show a new book for the student, and then the student will be supposed to read it in the next lesson. In addition, the teacher and student will discuss the book and provide assistance to prepare for the understanding of the story in that book before read it. It is clear that Reading program was designed to meet the special the individual needs of reader who has difficulties in reading, which seems different from child to child. Working Individually with students, preparing lessons to respond to the individual needs of the child, will help to develop childrens reading (hapman, Iversen, Tunmer 2005). It is clear that the reading recovery has extensive one-on-one instruction. Not surprising to anyone that the intensity of the program and work individually with students which is influential to stage of intervention for those students who have reading difficulties. Recent research indicates that the method of one-on-one is more effective in teaching in regular classes that lead to achieving the individual needs for each student (Chapman, Tunmer 2003). Reading Recovery Council (2006) pointed out that many of the children are in different levels reading skill, establishment of lesson for all student is not always effective to that a student who does not understand what may be understood by other child and therefore teachers can create a lesson that will contain five elements: working with letters, reading books which are familiar to student, observe and record what is read by the student and reading new curriculum (Barnes, Bonnie 1996). it is possible to assist students achieve effective reading performance by the individual needs of them early. In addition, working individually with students to guide them educating reading strategies as well as to provide some time for the application so that they will be capable to achieve in grade level (Educational Commissions System of the States 2000). It seems clear that the strategy of one-on-one which allows teachers to provide students all comments, compliments and questions that the teacher knows a student who has the ability to answer those questions. In addition to, the reading recovery teachers have the ability to help the student and give feedback for the work he is doing (Barnes, Bonnie 1996). On the other hand, reading recovery will take 30 minutes for each student .It must take into account that there are some things that may be affect the students when they are in the classroom, for example: days of illness, field trips and workshops (Barnes, Bonnie 1996). Barnes, Bonnie (1996) indicate that time consuming is one of the problems related to educating Reading Recovery through the amount of paperwork which are side by side with the teaching of reading recovery to individual students. For example, a written analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the child, the report of the expectations of progress through the identification of long-term and short-term goals to child daily lesson programme. Another drawback of reading recovery is teachers. Many teachers do not usually have support from their colleagues in the school as well as they have difficulty in access to feedback on their lessons. Moreover, there are many teachers in the classroom do not have a sense of the impact of reading recovery program on the children because it is presented only one or two students in their classrooms (Noble, Jo Anne 1995). In addition, There are many teachers who are working only has the half-time reading recovery teacher. Therefore, they have the abilit y to service only about eight children each academic year. In addition, many schools have approximately a hundred and fifty first grade students, this is evidence that only about five or six percent of children have the ability to receive reading recovery programme (Barnes, Bonnie 1996). As has been mentioned before the goal of reading recovery is to guide children in learning techniques and assist to practice time , children have the ability to deliver on grade level (Frankas, George 2000).However, reading recovery is working , regardless of economic status, gender and social status of the group of children that led to the acceleration of the effective progress this programme (Educational Leadership 1990). Centre, Wheldall (1992) pointed out that to make reading recovery programme more effective must change three elements: Behavioural change in teachers. The child behaviour change acquired through teachers. There is a need for the school to change the regulatory requirements for administrators and teachers. It is clear that the results of reading recovery program is that it offers effective intervention for students in grade school and then treatment, instead of falling into the failure in reading difficulties for these children. In addition, it is providing strong support for teachers and enables them to become more effective in reading recovery programme. Moreover, the most important outcome of the program is to be has number of children in grades 2-6 to have a few problems in reading difficulties once and then the program is implemented effectively and correctly (Noble, Jo Anne 1995). 4. Method of teaching reading skills for children with dyslexia As has been mentioned before is that in fact the intervention to address reading difficulties in children with dyslexia is a successful strategy to provide support appropriate for them. But it is frequently point out that , it is to look for on the strengths and weaknesses of the learner and learning styles appropriate through the school by the teacher, which is suited to the needs of each individual. Because it is known to us that each and every child with dyslexia is different according to the file and function of cognitive and learning styles appropriate to him (Reid ,1997). 4.1 Whole Language Instruction According to the study carried out by Frank, 1978, it was having an impact in supporting the Whole Language Instruction, teaching reading is a natural counterpart to learn to speak the sense of learning to read instinctive. In addition, Whole Language Instruction may focuses on education to be of total to the part and not vice versa (e.g. learning the skills not included in the Whole language instruction), and learning to write must occur through fun activities functional meaning, and the focus on education priority, instead of keeping the roots. Moreover, it consenter on the learner who is the center of education rather than the curriculum and education should be based on individual interaction. It is clear that it may supports education in a social environment. Moreover, the teacher is the one who set the curriculum to be concepts are interrelated rather than dividing them up into multiple skills or subsets of content and evaluation focuses on the strengths of the learner. It seems that Whole Language Instruction is a tool to deal with the class and adjust and it may provides disadvantaged students to be able to overcome reading problems ( Pressely, 1994). However, according to Mather (1992 ) Whole Language Instruction team believe that retail could disrupt learning process, so they are opposed to direct teaching of encoding, because it split the language into separate clips and skills, which may lead to the language is not used, as well as a waste of time. The Whole Language Instruction may provide meaning to the texts and it is focusing on both reading and writing, as learn the rules of language may be done without the need to teach voice. It is clear that Educators and researchers stress fact that learning may be the best when there is enjoyable environment for learning and learner will be active participant in learning process as well as the teacher must take into account individual differences between children. These principles focus upon the way of Whole Language Instruction in learning to read, the child will read full text and then he begins to recognize words and letters with helping by teacher and the child will feel motivation when he is reading and that is the most important needs, which increases the capacity of the child with dyslexia to learn to read correctly (Fuhler,1993 ) Learner (2000) pointed out that there are basics of teaching reading difficulties by using method of Whole Language Instruction as following: Firstly : Reading is one of the elements of internal language which is very close to oral language and written language, so teachers who use this method confirm the language written and oral reading lead to the child will be improved, when he learn to read and there is a relationship between linguistic vulnerability in children and reading difficulties, children who have language problems or mobility are likely to develop problems in writing in the early stages. Secondly: The method of verbal language may be acquired by the natural use, according to the teachers who use Whole Language Instruction that children may learn to speak without the need for special training and this means that children will learn to read naturally through exposure to learn to read by focusing on language and books which related to fluency of language. Thirdly : Teachers who use the method of Whole Language Instruction avoid use of separate teaching which does not focus on the link between parts of the meaning of language, as well as the way of teaching that focuses on use of separate exercises, and they believe that books that divide natural language into small pieces and mysterious that could make teaching is difficult. In addition, Whole Language Instruction users think that learning of characters is normally by way of education , it is clear that learning of letters should not be separate, but it is normally acquired through reading. 4.2 Code- emphasis Instruction It is clear that we should understand the strategies of coding in Whole Language Instruction or comic reading (Orthographic) , which are one of the strategies that provide the opportunity to children to read the words by this method because they saw these words for many times . Therefore, they have image of the words in the long-term memory, the image of words are not required to be stored in the same format and font but it will be merely images. To use this strategy, the reader should has knowledge of the alphabet and how to process link this letters together. Moreover, there are many of readers who tend to use this strategy because they have the satisfaction for the words through use of a number of consecutive times as a result, they are willing to remember these words at any time. However , when they are exposed to new words so they tend to use method of Code- emphasis Instruction so they used the analysis of these words and read them (Hoien,2000). According to Learner ( 2000 ) children with dyslexia often need to direct learning and systematic training on reading because the direct training on the skills of voice reading is significant due to the primary task which is a specific part which is used later for reading comprehension. However, children who start to learn to read slowly, they will become readers are strong later. It is clear that Code- emphasis Instruction is effective in that the reader have a broad reading skills in school and In the external environment, he will be able to read any textbooks or other books. In addition , Intensive reading may provide the opportunity for the growth of concepts and verbal knowledge for how to write and read the text. Therefore, children who do not learn by this method they wi

Response of Fredrick Douglass to Uncle Toms Cabin by Harriet Beecher S

Fredrick Douglass' Response to Uncle Tom's Cabin      Ã‚   Frederick Douglass was arguably the most prominent African American abolitionist during the mid-19th century. He established his notoriety through his narrative entitled Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave published in 1845. Frederick Douglass also produced an African American newspaper, Frederick Douglass' Paper, which highlighted the reception and critiques of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. Frederick Douglass praised Uncle Tom's Cabin through not only his writing but in the critiques and letters contained in his newspaper. It is important to look at these reviews to understand Douglass' intentions. However, C.V.S. from the Provincial Freeman critiques Douglass' hypocrisy in his critique of Uncle Tom's Cabin.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Douglass provided a forum in his newspaper for critical reception of book. The first critique of Uncle Tom's Cabin that appeared in Frederick Douglass' Paper was by William G. Allen in the form of a letter. Overall his letter praised the novel; however, he did respond negatively to the colonization and racialism in the text. Another regular contributor to Douglass' newspaper named William J. Wilson, signed Ethiop, wrote a review praising the novel's reception in New York City. Ethiop writes, "This species of abolitionism finds its way into quarters here, hitherto so faced over with the adamant of... ...e Harris." Provincial Freeman. 22 Jul. 1854, unpaged. Douglass, Frederick. "Letter to Mrs. Stowe." 8 Mar. 1853. Frederick Douglass' Paper. 2 Dec. 1853, unpaged. Ethiop. "Review of Uncle Tom's Cabin." Frederick Douglass' Paper. 17 June 1852, unpaged. Harriet Beecher Stowe Center. 24 Mar. 2002  Ã‚   http://www.harrietbeecherstowecenter.org/.   Levine, Robert S. "Uncle Tom's Cabin in Frederick Douglass' Paper: An Analysis of Reception." Uncle Tom's Cabin: A Norton Critical Edition. Ed. Elizabeth Ammons. New York: Norton, 1994. 523-542. Railton, Stephen. Uncle Tom's Cabin and American Culture: A Multi-Media Archive. 24 Mar. 2002 < http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/utc/. >    Response of Fredrick Douglass to Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher S Fredrick Douglass' Response to Uncle Tom's Cabin      Ã‚   Frederick Douglass was arguably the most prominent African American abolitionist during the mid-19th century. He established his notoriety through his narrative entitled Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave published in 1845. Frederick Douglass also produced an African American newspaper, Frederick Douglass' Paper, which highlighted the reception and critiques of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. Frederick Douglass praised Uncle Tom's Cabin through not only his writing but in the critiques and letters contained in his newspaper. It is important to look at these reviews to understand Douglass' intentions. However, C.V.S. from the Provincial Freeman critiques Douglass' hypocrisy in his critique of Uncle Tom's Cabin.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Douglass provided a forum in his newspaper for critical reception of book. The first critique of Uncle Tom's Cabin that appeared in Frederick Douglass' Paper was by William G. Allen in the form of a letter. Overall his letter praised the novel; however, he did respond negatively to the colonization and racialism in the text. Another regular contributor to Douglass' newspaper named William J. Wilson, signed Ethiop, wrote a review praising the novel's reception in New York City. Ethiop writes, "This species of abolitionism finds its way into quarters here, hitherto so faced over with the adamant of... ...e Harris." Provincial Freeman. 22 Jul. 1854, unpaged. Douglass, Frederick. "Letter to Mrs. Stowe." 8 Mar. 1853. Frederick Douglass' Paper. 2 Dec. 1853, unpaged. Ethiop. "Review of Uncle Tom's Cabin." Frederick Douglass' Paper. 17 June 1852, unpaged. Harriet Beecher Stowe Center. 24 Mar. 2002  Ã‚   http://www.harrietbeecherstowecenter.org/.   Levine, Robert S. "Uncle Tom's Cabin in Frederick Douglass' Paper: An Analysis of Reception." Uncle Tom's Cabin: A Norton Critical Edition. Ed. Elizabeth Ammons. New York: Norton, 1994. 523-542. Railton, Stephen. Uncle Tom's Cabin and American Culture: A Multi-Media Archive. 24 Mar. 2002 < http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/utc/. >   

Henry James The Aspern Papers -- Henry james Aspern papers Essays

Henry James' The Aspern Papers The Aspern Papers by Henry James illustrates a classic opposition throughout the story: the underestimation of the old by the young. The narrator, Aspern’s publisher, sets himself to the task of retrieving several mysterious â€Å"papers† from a former lover of his idol, and goes in with the easy confidence of a young man who never dreams that anyone, much less an elderly lady, could be not one, but in fact several, steps ahead of him at all times in his hunt for literary gold. The relationship between Miss Bordereau and the narrator is that of the cat and the mouse, with the narrator believing he is the cat, and Miss Bordereau knowing that she has the upper hand by the simple fact of possession. The narrator is certain the love letters exist, but Miss Bordereau has no intention of turning over her private affairs to an impudent stranger who does not even have the decency to be straightforward and ask her about the letters– instead he concentrates on her niece, M iss Tina, and in effect seals his own destiny with that choice, leading to the option of marriage or losing the papers completely. From the first meeting between the narrator and Miss Bordereau, it seems that the old woman has a very clear idea of the character of Aspern’s publisher and knows precisely what he is after. Although the narrator has some doubts as to the success of his admiration for her garden, her niece, and her home, stating that â€Å"She listened to me in perfect stillness and I felt her look at me with great penetration,† overall he never doubts his eventual success until his final defeat at Miss Bordereau’s deathbed (James, 16). He does try to act natural and jovial in her presence, but there is always an underlying t... ...they will willingly hand him the letters with their blessing. In an obvious reversal of this prediction, however, is Miss Bordereau’s response to the narrator’s asking to push her wheelchair from the balcony overlooking the garden– â€Å"Oh yes, you may move me this way– you shan’t any other!† (James, 66). Miss Bordereau is always moving beyond the reach of the narrator, but he does not realize just how far beyond his reach the beloved papers are until the conclusion of the story: Miss Bordereau is dead, Miss Tina is no longer a pliable tool, and the papers have been irrevocably turned into unreadable ash. The relationship that he sought to form between himself and Miss Bordereau through the intermediary of Miss Tina has left him with nothing and has left Miss Bordereau laughing in her grave at the young, overconfident literary who thought he could get the better of her.

Essay Grading :: essays research papers

I was going through a bunch of old magazines and newspapers this week when I came upon an article about some software that was being developed for teachers to use that would grade essays. Over the past weekend I had the opportunity to talk to my aunt who was a teacher and college professor before she retired. She said, â€Å"there is nothing better to assess a student's knowledge of a subject, than an essay especially when compared to a true or false or multiple choice exams†. Unfortunately, grading essays is extremely time-consuming, and sometimes grading can be inconsistent. Now there is a computer program that can grade essays as well as humans according to its developer Thomas Landauer. "From sixth graders to first-year medical students, we get consistently good results," says Thomas Landauer, a psychology professor at the University of Colorado who has been working on the program for 10 years. The program, developed into its present form in 1997, uses "latent semantic analysis," a type of artificial intelligence based on complex mathematical formulas that attempt to mimic the human language function. Developed by Landauer, psychologist Peter Foltz of New Mexico State University and doctoral student Darrell Laham of Colorado, the program can't get bored, rushed, sleepy or forgetful. And this, Landauer says, gives it perfect consistency in grading. To grade text, operators feed the computer general information about the subject to be tested, which can include from 50,000 to 10 million words entered from course textbooks. The program then assigns a mathematical degree of similarity or distance between individual words used by the textbooks and other words in general use. This allows students to use different words that mean the same thing for example, "physician" and "doctor." The program then evaluates essays against sample tests that have already been graded by human instructors and professors. It then takes the combination of words in the student essay and computes its similarity to the combination of words in the essays to come up with a grade. The student can expect a grade similar to the one on the sample essay his work most closely matches. To achieve this, the software uses about a gigabyte of computer memory, or ten times that of the average home personal computer. My computer at home has 128 megabytes of R.A.M (random access memory) so my computer would need about eight times more R.A.M to run this program.

Bloodlines Chapter Five

AND ON THAT NOTE, Rose left me so she could tell the others goodbye. Her words left me chilled. For half a second, I wanted to demand a reassessment of this mission. I wanted to insist that they send no less than a dozen guardians here with Jill, in the event her attackers came back. Soon, I dismissed that thought. One of the key parts of this plan working was simply not attracting attention. So long as her whereabouts were secret, Jill was safer if she blended in. A squadron of guardians would hardly be discreet and could attract notice from the larger Moroi community. We were doing the right thing. So long as no one knew we were here, all would be well. Surely if I told myself that often enough, it would become true. Yet why Rose's ominous statement? Why Eddie's presence? Had this mission really been bumped from â€Å"inconvenient† to â€Å"life-threatening†? Knowing how close Jill and Rose were, I kind of expected their goodbye to be more tearful. Instead, it was Adrian whom Jill had the most difficulty leaving. She flung herself at him in a giant hug, fingers clinging to his shirt. The young Moroi girl had remained quiet for most of the visit, simply watching the rest of us in that curious, nervous way of hers. The most I'd heard her talk was when Lee had tried to draw her out earlier. Her goodbye display seemed to surprise Adrian too, though the snarky look he'd worn on his face softened into something like affection as he awkwardly patted her shoulder. â€Å"There, there, Jailbait. I'll see you again soon.† â€Å"I wish you were coming with us,† she said in a small voice. He crooked her a grin. â€Å"No, you don't. Maybe the rest of them can get away with playing back-to-school, but I'd be thrown out on my first day. At least here, I won't corrupt anyone†¦ unless it's Clarence and his liquor cabinet.† â€Å"I'll be in touch,† promised Jill. His smile twitched, and he gave her a knowing look that was both amused and rueful. â€Å"So will I.† This small moment between them was odd. With his flippant, arrogant nature and her sweet shyness, they seemed like an unlikely pair of friends. Yet there was obvious affection between them. It didn't seem romantic but had a definite intensity I couldn't quite understand. I remembered the conversation I'd overheard between Abe and Adrian, where Abe had said it was imperative Adrian stay near Jill. Something told me there was a connection between that and what I was witnessing now, but I didn't have enough information to put it all together. I filed this mystery away for later. I was sad to leave Rose but glad that our departure meant parting ways with Abe and Keith. Abe left with his typically cryptic remarks and a knowing look for me that I didn't appreciate. I dropped Keith off at his place before going on to Amberwood, and he told me he'd keep me updated. Honestly, I wondered what exactly he had to update me on, since I was doing most of the work around here. As far as I could tell, he really had nothing to do except lounge around in his downtown apartment. Still, it was worth it to be rid of him. I never thought I'd be so happy to drive off with a vampire and a dhampir. Jill still seemed troubled during the car ride to the school. Eddie, sensing this, tried to soothe her. He peered back at her from the passenger seat. â€Å"We'll see Adrian soon.† â€Å"I know,† she said with a sigh. â€Å"And nothing else bad is going to happen. You're safe. They can't find you here.† â€Å"I know that too,† she said. â€Å"How bad was it?† I asked. â€Å"The attack, I mean. No one's getting into details.† Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Eddie glance back at Jill again. â€Å"Bad enough,† he said grimly. â€Å"But everyone's okay now; that's what matters.† Neither of them said any more, and I quickly picked up on the hint that no more details would be forthcoming. They acted as though the attack had been no big deal, that it was done and over with, but they were being too evasive. Something had happened that I didn't know about – that the Alchemists likely didn't know about – something that they were working to keep secret. My guess was that it had to do with Adrian being here. He had mentioned an â€Å"obvious reason† for coming to Palm Springs, and then Abe had hinted at some ulterior motive that Adrian himself didn't know about. It was all kind of annoying, seeing as I was risking my life here. How did they expect me to adequately do my job if they insisted on making this a tangle of secrets? Alchemists dealt in secrets, and despite my rocky past, I was still Alchemist enough to resent being denied answers. Fortunately, I was also Alchemist enough to hunt those answers down myself. Of course, I knew grilling Jill and Eddie right away wasn't going to get me anywhere. I needed to play it friendly and get them to relax around me. They might not harbor the secret belief that humans were creatures of darkness, but that didn't mean they trusted me yet. I didn't blame them. After all, I certainly didn't trust them either. It was well into evening when we arrived at Amberwood. Keith and I had scoped out the school earlier, but Eddie and Jill took it in with wide eyes. Whereas Clarence's home had seemed old-fashioned, the school was bright and modern, consisting of stucco buildings that were so typical of California and southwest architecture. Palm trees skirted along lush green lawns. In the fading light, students were still strolling, in pairs and groups, along the many walking paths that wove throughout the grounds. We'd picked up fast food along the way, but the late hour meant Jill and I had to split from Eddie. At eighteen, with a car and â€Å"parental permission,† I had a lot of freedom to come and go, but I had to answer to curfew just like everyone else when night came. Eddie was uneasy about leaving Jill, particularly when he realized how far away from her he'd be. Amberwood Prep's sprawling grounds were divided into three campuses: East, West, and Central. East Campus housed the girls' dorm while West contained the boys'. Central, the largest of the three, was where the administrative, academic, and recreational facilities were. The campuses were about a mile apart from each other and served by a shuttle bus that ran throughout the day, though walking was always an option for those who could stand the heat. Eddie had to have known he couldn't stay in the girls' dorm, though I suspected that if he had his way, he would have slept at the foot of Jill's bed like a loyal dog. Watching the two of them was kind of amazing. I'd never observed a guardian-Moroi pairing before. When I'd been with Rose and Dimitri, they'd been simply trying to keep themselves alive – plus, they were both dhampirs. Now, I was finally able to see the system in action and understood why dhampirs trained so hard. You'd have to, to remain that vigilant. Even in the most mundane moments, Eddie always watched our surroundings. Nothing escaped his notice. â€Å"How good is the security system here?† he demanded when we stepped inside the girls' dorm. He'd insisted on seeing it before going to his own. The lobby was quiet at this hour, and only a couple of students wandered through with boxes and suitcases as they finished last-minute move-ins. They gave us curious looks as they passed, and I had to quell the knot of anxiety rising in me. Considering everything else going on for me, high school social life shouldn't scare me – but it did. The Alchemists didn't cover that in their lessons. â€Å"Security's good enough,† I said, keeping my voice low as I turned back to Eddie. â€Å"They aren't worried about vampire assassins, but they certainly want their students safe. I know there are security guards that patrol the grounds at night.† Eddie eyed the dorm matron, a stout, gray-haired woman who supervised the lobby from her desk. â€Å"Do you think she has any kind of combat training? Do you think she could subdue an intruder?† â€Å"I bet she could wrestle down a guy sneaking into a girl's room,† joked Jill. She rested a hand on his arm, making him jump. â€Å"Relax. This place is safe.† In some ways, Eddie's concern was comforting and made me feel secure. At the same time, I couldn't help but think again about why he was so watchful. He'd been there for the attack that no one would tell me about. He knew the threats because he'd seen them firsthand. If he was this on edge, even now, then how much danger were we still in? The Alchemists had led me to believe that once we were hidden here at Amberwood, all would be well and it would just become a waiting game. I'd had that very conversation with Rose and tried to convince her of the same. Eddie's attitude was concerning. The dorm room I shared with Jill was small by my standards. I'd always had my own room growing up and never had to worry about sharing space or closets. During my time in St. Petersburg, I'd even had my own apartment. Still, o ur one window had a sweeping view of the dorm's back courtyard. Everything inside the room was airy and bright, with maple-finished furniture that looked new: beds, desks, and dressers. I had no experience with dorm rooms – but I could only assume by Jill's reaction that we'd gotten a good one. She swore that the room was larger than the one she'd had at her Moroi school, St. Vladimir's Academy, and was quite happy. I half-wondered if she thought our room was big simply because we had so little to put in it. Neither of us had been able to do much packing with such swift departures. The furniture gave everything a warm, golden feel, but without personal decorations or other touches, the room could've come straight from a catalog. The dorm matron, Mrs. Weathers, had been astonished when she saw us and our minimal luggage. The girls I'd observed moving in earlier had arrived with cars packed to bursting. I hoped we didn't look suspicious. Jill paused to stare out the window as we got ready for bed. â€Å"It's so dry here,† she murmured, more to herself than me. â€Å"They keep the lawn green, but it's so strange not to feel the moisture in the air.† She glanced over at me sheepishly. â€Å"I'm a water user.† â€Å"I know,† I said, not sure what else to add. She was referring to the magical abilities all Moroi possessed. Each Moroi specialized in one of the elements, either the physical four – earth, air, water, and fire – or the more intangible and psychic element of spirit. Hardly anyone wielded that last one, though I'd heard Adrian was one of the few. If Jill couldn't access her magic easily, I wasn't going to be disappointed. Magic was one of those things, like the blood drinking, that served as a slap-in-the-face reminder that these people I was laughing and eating with were not human. If I wasn't still exhausted from the drive with Keith, I probably would've lain awake agonizing over the fact that I was sleeping close to a vampire. When I'd first met Rose, I hadn't even been able to stay in the same room with her. Our hectic escape together had changed that a little, and by the end, I'd been able to let my guard down. Now, some of that old fear came back in the darkness. Vampire, vampire. Sternly, I told myself it was just Jill. I had nothing to worry about. Eventually, fatigue triumphed fear, and I slept. When morning came, I couldn't help looking in the mirror to make sure I had no bite marks or other sign of vampire harm. When I'd finished, I immediately felt foolish. With the difficulty Jill was currently having waking up, it made no sense to imagine her sneaking up on me in the night. As it was, I had a hard time getting her out the door in time for orientation. She was groggy, with bloodshot eyes, and kept complaining about a headache. I guessed I didn't have to worry about nighttime attacks from my roommate. Nonetheless, she managed to get up and around. We left our dorm and found Eddie, gathering with other new students near a fountain on Central Campus. Most of the crowd appeared to be freshmen like Jill. Only a few were the same age as me and Eddie, and I was surprised to see him easily chatting with those around him. With how vigilant he'd been the day before, I would've expected him to be more on guard, less capable of normal social interaction – but he fit right in. As we walked up, however, I caught him glance around stealthily at his surroundings. He might be playing a student, like me – but he was still a dhampir. He was just telling us about how he hadn't met his roommate yet when a smiling guy with bright blue eyes and reddish hair strode up to them. â€Å"Hey there,† he said. Up close, I could see a smattering of freckles. â€Å"Are you Eddie Melrose?† â€Å"Yes, I'm – † Eddie had spun around with that guardian efficiency, ready to take on this potential threat. When he saw the newcomer, Eddie went perfectly still. His eyes widened slightly, and whatever he'd been about to say faded away. â€Å"I'm Micah Vallence. I'm your roommate – also your orientation leader.† He nodded toward the other mingling students and grinned. â€Å"But I wanted to come say hi first since I just got here this morning. My mom pushed our vacation to the limits.† Eddie was still staring at Micah as though he'd seen a ghost. I studied Micah too, wondering what I was missing. He seemed normal to me. Whatever was going on, Jill was also out of the loop because she was regarding Micah with a perfectly ordinary expression too, no alarm or surprise. â€Å"Nice to meet you,† said Eddie at last. â€Å"These are my, uh, sisters – Jill and Sydney.† Micah smiled at each of us in turn. He had a manner about him that made me feel easy, and I could see why he'd been drafted as an orientation leader. I wondered why Eddie was reacting so strangely. â€Å"What grades are you in?† he asked us. â€Å"Senior,† I said. Remembering the cover story, I added, â€Å"Eddie and I are twins.† â€Å"I'm a freshman,† said Jill. Looking over our â€Å"family,† I noticed that Eddie and I could probably pass for siblings pretty easily. Our coloring was similar, and of course, there was the fact that we both looked human. While a human wouldn't necessarily look at Jill and say â€Å"vampire!† she still possessed certain features that marked her as unusual. Her build and paleness were definite contrasts to me and Eddie. If Micah noticed the lack of family resemblance, he didn't let on. â€Å"Nervous about starting high school?† he asked Jill. She shook her head and smiled back. â€Å"I'm ready for the challenge.† â€Å"Well, if you need anything, let me know,† he said. â€Å"For now, I've gotta get this party started. Talk to you guys later.† From the way his attention focused solely on her, it was obvious that the â€Å"if you need anything† was directed at Jill, and her blush showed that she knew too. She smiled, holding his gaze a moment, and then looked away shyly. I would've found it cute, if not for the alarming prospect it presented. Jill was in a school full of humans. It was absolutely out of the question for her to date one, and guys like Micah couldn't be encouraged. Eddie didn't appear to care about the comment, but it seemed to be more because he was still troubled about Micah in general. Micah called our group to attention and began the orientation. The first part of it was simply a tour of the grounds. We followed him around, in and out of air conditioning, as he showed us the important buildings. He explained the shuttle system, and we rode it up to West Campus, which was almost a mirror of East. Boys and girls were allowed in each other's dorms, with limitations, and he explained those rules as well, which caused some grumbling. Recalling the formidable Mrs. Weathers, I felt sorry for any boy that tried to break her dorm rules. Both dorms had their own cafeterias, where any student was welcome to eat, and our orientation group had lunch while we were still on West Campus. Micah joined my â€Å"siblings† and me, going out of his way to talk to each of us. Eddie responded politely, nodding and asking questions, but his eyes still looked vaguely haunted. Jill was shy at first, but once Micah starting joking around with her, she eventually warmed up to him. How funny, I thought, that it was easier for Eddie and Jill to adapt to this situation than it was for me. They were in a strange environment, with a different race, but were still among familiar things, like cafeterias and lockers. They slipped right into the roles and procedures with no difficulty. Meanwhile, despite having traveled and lived all over the world, I felt out of place in what was for everyone else an ordinary setting. Regardless, it didn't take me long to figure out how the school ran. Alchemists were trained to observe and adapt, and even though school was foreign to me, I quickly picked up on the routine. I wasn't afraid to talk to people either – I was used to striking up conversations with strangers and explaining my way out of situations. One thing, however, I knew I would have to work on. â€Å"I heard her family might be moving to Anchorage.† We were at orientation lunch, and a couple of freshmen girls sitting near me were discussing a friend of theirs who hadn't shown up today. The other girl's eyes widened. â€Å"Seriously? I would die if I had to move there.† â€Å"I don't know,† I mused, moving my food around my plate. â€Å"With all the sun and UV rays here, it seems like Anchorage might actually provide a longer life span. You don't need as much sunblock, so it's a more economical choice as well.† I'd thought my comment was helpful, but when I looked up, I was met with gaping stares. It was obvious from the looks the girls were giving me that I probably couldn't have picked a weirder comment. â€Å"I guess I shouldn't say everything that comes to mind,† I murmured to Eddie. I was used to being direct in social situations, but it occurred to me that simply saying â€Å"Yeah, totally!† would've probably been the correct response. I'd had few friends my own age and was out of practice. Eddie grinned at me. â€Å"I don't know, sis. You're pretty entertaining as you are. Keep it up.† After lunch, our group returned to Central Campus, where we parted ways to meet with academic advisors and plan our class schedules. When I sat down with my advisor, a cheery young woman named Molly, I wasn't surprised to see that the Alchemists had sent along academic records from a fictitious school in South Dakota. They were even fairly consistent with what I had studied in my homeschooling. â€Å"Your grades and tests have placed you in our most advanced math and English classes,† Molly said. â€Å"If you do well in them, you can receive college credit.† Too bad there's no chance I'll get to go to college, I thought with a sigh. She flipped through a few pages in my file. â€Å"Now, I don't see any records of foreign language here. It's an Amberwood requirement that everyone learn at least one language.† Oops. The Alchemists had messed up there in faking my records. I'd actually studied a number of languages. My father had made sure I had lessons from an early age, since an Alchemist never knew where he or she might end up. Scanning Amberwood's list of offered languages, I hesitated and wondered if I should lie. Then I decided I really didn't want to sit through conjugations and tenses I'd already learned. â€Å"I already know all of these,† I told Molly. Molly regarded me skeptically. â€Å"All of these? There are five languages here.† I nodded and added helpfully, â€Å"But I only studied Japanese for two years. So I suppose I could learn more.† Molly still didn't seem to buy this. â€Å"Would you be willing to take proficiency tests?† And so, I ended up spending the rest of my afternoon laboring over foreign languages. It wasn't how I wanted to spend my day, but I supposed it would pay off later – the tests were a breeze. When I finally finished all five languages three hours later, Molly hurried me out to get fitted for my uniform. Most of the other new students had long gone through already, and she was concerned that I might have already missed the woman doing the fittings. I moved as fast as I could without running down the halls and nearly bumped into two girls rounding a corner. â€Å"Oh!† I exclaimed, feeling like an idiot. â€Å"I'm sorry – I'm late for my fitting – â€Å" One of them laughed good-naturedly. She was dark-skinned with an athletic build and wavy black hair. â€Å"Don't worry about it,† she said. â€Å"We just walked past the room. She's still there.† The other girl had blond hair a shade lighter than mine that she wore in a high ponytail. Both of them had the easy assurance of those who knew their way around this world. These weren't new students. â€Å"Mrs. Delaney always takes longer than she thinks she will with the fittings,† the blond girl said knowingly. â€Å"Every year, it's – † Her jaw dropped, her words freezing up for a few moments. â€Å"Where†¦ where did you get that?† I had no clue what she meant, but the other girl soon noticed and leaned closer to me. â€Å"That's amazing! Is that what they're doing this year?† â€Å"Your tattoo,† explained the blonde. I must have still looked clueless. â€Å"Where'd you get it?† â€Å"Oh. That.† My fingers absentmindedly touched my cheek. â€Å"In, um, South Dakota. Where I'm from.† Both girls looked disappointed. â€Å"I guess that's why I've never seen it,† said the dark-haired girl. â€Å"I thought Nevermore was doing something new.† â€Å"Nevermore?† I asked. The girls exchanged silent glances, and some message passed between them. â€Å"You're new, right? What's your name?† asked the blond girl. â€Å"I'm Julia. This is Kristin.† â€Å"Sydney,† I said, still mystified. Julia was smiling again. â€Å"Have lunch with us at East tomorrow, okay? We'll explain everything.† â€Å"Everything about what?† I asked. â€Å"It's a long story. Just get to Delaney for now,† added Kristin, starting to move away. â€Å"She'll stay late, but not forever.† When they were gone, I continued on my way – much more slowly – wondering what that had been about. Had I just made friends? I really wasn't sure how one went about it in a school like this, but that whole exchange had seemed pretty weird. Mrs. Delaney was just packing up when I arrived. â€Å"What size do you wear, dear?† she asked, catching sight of me in the doorway. â€Å"Two.† A number of articles were produced: skirts, pants, blouses, and sweaters. I doubted the sweaters would see much wear, unless a freak apocalyptic blizzard hit Palm Springs. Amberwood wasn't particularly fussy about which ensemble students wore, as long as it came from the approved pool of fashion. The colors were burgundy, dark gray, and white, which I actually thought looked kind of nice together. Watching me button a white blouse, Mrs. Delaney tsked, â€Å"I think you need a size four.† I froze mid-button. â€Å"I wear a two.† â€Å"Oh, yes, you can fit into them, but look at the arms and the skirt length. I think you'll be more comfortable in a four. Try these.† She handed over a new stack and then laughed. â€Å"Don't look so mortified, girl! A four's nothing. You're still a twig.† She patted her ample stomach. â€Å"We could fit three of you into my clothes!† Despite my many protests, I was still sent away with the size-four clothing. I rode back to my dorm, dejected, and found Jill lying on her bed and reading. She sat up at my arrival. â€Å"Hey, I wondered what had happened to you.† â€Å"Got delayed,† I said with a sigh. â€Å"Are you feeling better?† â€Å"Yeah. A lot.† Jill watched as I put away the uniforms. â€Å"They're pretty terrible, right? We didn't have uniforms at St. Vladimir's. It's going to be so boring wearing the same thing every day.† I didn't want to tell her that as an Alchemist, I might have worn an outfit like this anyway. â€Å"What size did you get?† I asked, to change the subject. I was kind of a glutton for punishment. â€Å"Two.† A twinge of annoyance shot through me as I hung my uniforms in the closet beside hers. I felt huge by comparison. How were all those Moroi so skinny? Genetics? Low-carb blood diet? Maybe it was just because they were all so tall. All I knew was that whenever I spent time around them, I felt frumpy and awkward and wanted to eat less. When I finished unpacking, Jill and I compared schedules. Not surprisingly, considering the difference in grades, we had almost nothing in common. The only thing we shared was a multi-grade PE class. All students were required to take it every semester, since fitness was considered part of a wellrounded student's experience. Maybe I could lose a few pounds and get back into my normal size. Jill smiled and handed my schedule back. â€Å"Eddie went and demanded to be in our PE class since it's pretty much the only one we could share. It conflicts with his Spanish class, though, and they wouldn't let him. I don't think he can handle going the whole school day without seeing that I'm alive. Oh, and Micah's with us in PE.† I'd stalked off to my bed, still irritated about the uniforms. Jill's words caught my attention. â€Å"Hey, do you know why Eddie seemed weirded out around Micah?† Jill shook her head. â€Å"No, I didn't get a chance to ask, but I noticed it too – especially at first. Later – while you were testing – and we were waiting for uniforms, Eddie seemed to chill out. A little. Every once in a while, I'd see him giving Micah a strange look, though.† â€Å"You don't think he thinks Micah's dangerous, do you?† Jill shrugged. â€Å"He didn't seem dangerous to me, but I'm no guardian. If Eddie did think he was some kind of threat, it seems like he'd be acting differently. More aggressive. He mostly seems nervous around Micah. Almost – but not quite – afraid. And that's weirdest of all because guardians never look scared. Not that Eddie's technically a guardian. But you know what I mean.† â€Å"I do,† I said, smiling despite my grumpy intentions. That cute, rambling nature cheered me up a little. â€Å"What do you mean Eddie's technically not a guardian? Isn't he assigned to protect you here?† â€Å"Yeah, he is,† said Jill, toying with one of her light brown curls. â€Å"But†¦ well, it's kind of weird. He got in some trouble with the guardians for helping Rose and for, um, killing a guy.† â€Å"He killed a Moroi that attacked Vasilisa, right?† It had come up at my interrogation. â€Å"Yeah,† said Jill, lost in her own memories. â€Å"It was self-defense – well, and defense of Lissa, but everyone was shocked at him killing a Moroi. Guardians aren't supposed to do that, but then, you know, Moroi aren't supposed to attack each other either. Anyway, he was put on suspension. No one knew what to do with him. When I got†¦ attacked, Eddie helped protect me. Later, Lissa said it was stupid to keep him off duty when he could be helpful and that considering Moroi were behind this attack too, she said everyone was going to have to get used to the idea of Moroi being the enemy. Hans – the guardian in charge at Court – finally agreed and sent Eddie here with me, but I think officially, Eddie's not restored yet. It's weird.† Jill had delivered the whole speech without pausing and now stopped to catch a breath. â€Å"Well, I'm sure it'll be sorted out,† I said, trying to be reassuring. â€Å"And it seems like he'll get points for keeping a princess alive.† Jill looked at me sharply. â€Å"I'm no princess.† I frowned and tried to remember the complexities of Moroi law. â€Å"The prince or princess is the oldest member of a family. Since Vasilisa's queen, the title rolls over to you, right?† â€Å"On paper,† said Jill, looking away. Her tone was hard to read, an odd mixture of what seemed like bitterness and sorrow. â€Å"I'm not a princess, not really. I'm just someone who happens to be related to the queen.† Jill's mother had briefly been mistress to Eric Dragomir, Vasilisa's father, and had kept Jill's existence a secret for years. It had only come out recently, and I'd played a big role in helping Rose track Jill down. With all the fallout in my own life, as well as the emphasis on Jill's safety, I hadn't spent much time wondering how she had adapted to her new status. That had to be a serious lifestyle change. â€Å"I'm sure there's more to it than that,† I said gently. I wondered if I was going to be spending a lot of time playing therapist to Jill during this assignment. The prospect of actually comforting a vampire still seemed so strange to me. â€Å"I mean, you're obviously important. Everyone's gone to a lot of trouble to keep you safe here.† â€Å"But is it for me?† asked Jill. â€Å"Or is it to help Lissa keep the throne? She's hardly spoken to me since she found out we were sisters.† This conversation was steering into uncomfortable waters, into interpersonal matters that I didn't really know how to deal with. I couldn't imagine being in either Vasilisa or Jill's place. The only thing I felt certain of was that it couldn't be easy for any of them. â€Å"I'm sure she cares about you,† I said, though not really sure at all. â€Å"But it's probably strange for her – especially with all the other changes in her life too. Give it time. Focus on the important things first – staying here and staying alive.† â€Å"You're right,† said Jill. She lay back on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. â€Å"I'm nervous about tomorrow, about being around everyone, in classes all day. What if they notice? What if someone finds out the truth about me?† â€Å"You did fine at orientation,† I assured her. â€Å"Just don't show your fangs. And besides, I'm pretty good at convincing people they didn't see what they think they saw.† The grateful expression on her face reminded me uncomfortably of Zoe. They were so alike in many ways, shy and uncertain – yet intensely fierce and desperately wanting to prove themselves. I'd tried to protect Zoe – and only failed in her eyes. Now, being here for Jill made me feel conflicted. In some ways, I could make up for what I hadn't been able to do for Zoe. Yet even as I thought that, some inner voice kept saying, Jill is not your sister. She's a vampire. This is business. â€Å"Thanks, Sydney. I'm glad you're here.† She smiled, and the guilt only twisted further inside me. â€Å"You know, I'm kind of jealous of Adrian. He thinks it's so boring at Clarence's, but he doesn't have to worry about meeting new people or getting used to a new school. He just gets to hang out, watch TV, play pool with Lee, sleep in†¦ it sounds amazing.† She sighed. â€Å"I suppose,† I said, a little surprised at the detail. â€Å"How do you know all that? Have you†¦ have you talked to him since we left?† Even as I said that, the idea seemed unlikely. I'd been with her most of the day. The smile dropped from her face. â€Å"Oh no. I mean, I just figure that's what's going on. He mentioned some of it earlier, that's all. Sorry. I'm being melodramatic and rambling. Thanks for listening to me†¦ it really does make me feel better.† I smiled tightly and said nothing. I still couldn't get over the fact that I was starting to feel so warmly toward a vampire. First Rose, now Jill? It didn't matter how likable she was. I had to keep our relationship professional so that no Alchemist could accuse me of getting attached. Keith's words echoed in my head: vamp lover†¦ That's ridiculous, I thought. There was nothing wrong with being nice to those in my care. It was normal, a far cry from â€Å"getting too close† to them. Right? Pushing my worries aside, I concentrated on finishing unpacking and thinking about our new life here. I sincerely hoped tomorrow would go as smoothly as I'd assured Jill it would. Unfortunately, it didn't.