The Tudors Essay Example

The Tudors Essay Emotions present in the story 7. Theme Central idea of the story Human condition that is present in the story does not have exactly have to be moralistic Elements of Poetry 1. ) Persona Person talking in the poem Not always the author 2. ) Addressee the one who is talking by the persona listener 3. ) Objective situation Where and when (the poem happened) 4. ) Poetic tension the crisis/problem in the poem 5. ) Tone motive 6. ) Objective Correlative the central metaphor / the recurring or controlling image UNIT 2 IMAGING THE FILIPINO WOMAN TUNGKUNG LANGIT AND ALUNSINA (Visayan Folktale) Adapted by F.Landa Jocano Characters: *Tungkung Langit God â€Å"Pillar of the Sky† industrious, loving and kind. *Alunsina God -â€Å" Unmarried one† selfish, lazy, jealous irrational, paranoid Highlights: *Before there was no earth and sky, only a confusion. *Tungkung Langit married Alunsina *One time, Tungkung Langit went away to put and end to some chaotic disturbances . Alunsina, sent the breeze to spy on Tungkung Langit. *Tungkung Langit knew about this and he became angry to Alunsina. He drove away Alunsina. *Alunsina disappeared. *Tungkung Langit felt very lonely. He made different things to make Alunsina come back. Points: The story emphasized that, traditionally, men always work. *It also emphasized the capability of women to be independent by making Alunsina leave Tungkung Langit. *Women are mysterious and indeterminate *Women are caring but they can be dangerous *Women can really be deadly (Example: Helen of Troy, Eve, Mother Earth) **COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS Carl Gustar Jung regardless of the writer’s nationality, his view of men and women are the same the DNA of human psyche that if all humans have the same physical heritage, they share the same innate psychological predespositions (in the form of archetypes (metaphor))BABAE AKONG NAMUMUHAY NG MAG-ISA by Joi Barrios gt; Ascribing characteristics to different kind of woman in soc iety such as a separated woman, spinster, mistress, whore. gt; A revolutionary poem. gt; Emphasized a great difference between men and women (such as by being a bachelor or a spinster) Points: *The poem emphasized the speaker of having no regrets on her bitter past. (1st stanza) *If a woman has a bitter past, the society will associate it to them up to present time. (2nd stanza) *Emphasized the feminist standards of society (3rd stanza) *The freedom and own choice of a woman (4th stanza) 5th stanza: Shows that being independent is not a limitation thus a way of redeeming self. **6th stanza: The ability of women to be independent. Other notes (in connection with the comparison of the 3 feministic poems in this unit) *The woman in the poem is strong in a sense that she conquers herself *The society is sexist; It Is phallocentric (male-centered) *She believe that she has failed the society’s standard *She decides for herself; Dubbed as something because she decided to be single *Compared to man, man are marketable (as they age, their value increases) *She advocates radical change gt; Stereotype (standard mental feature) Sample: â€Å"Puta† (prostitute) Spanish meaning: Son/Daughter of someone who doesn’t have her husband Ang Babaing Nangarap ng Gising by Virgilio Almario Weakest among the three Stuck in the house Daydreams (enter fantasy world) She shuts off reality (as a way of survival) Have a passive attitude -Has a very little knowledge about herself Additional: â€Å"Sandok na bali† – symbolizes poverty Babae Ako By Inang Laya Most emancipated woman â€Å"Empowerment of women† A song tribute to Cory Aquino in the 1980’s Notice the phrase, â€Å"Babae Ka† in every stanza First and 3rd lines are paradox **Space of Women: 1. ) Home – as wife / mother 2. ) Church – as nun 3. ) Street – as a prostitute // Points that woman can be more than of these 3 roles Talks about libera tion of women is parallel to the sovereignty of he nation Women is urge to break from sexist society Women needs recognition of her capabilities and her worth THIRD WORLD FEMINISM 1. ) Gender the fact that you’re a woman, you’re already degraded 2. ) Sexuality Wrong notion: If you’re a feminist, you’re a lesbian 3. ) Class Poor women Chandra Talpade Mohanty 4. ) Race If you’re non-white, you’re discriminated *Feminism literary movement a way of approaching a particular text // Literary approach group of women clamouring for equality (or recognition) WOMAN WITH HORNS by Cecilia Manguerra-Brainard Setting: Ubec (Fictional place); 1903 – American occupation Characters: 1. ) Dr. Gerald McAllister widower doctor from New York focused with work has a wife (Blanche) who had died from consumption (TB) 3 years ago. 2. ) Dr. Jaime Laurel assistant of Dr. Gerald carefree Filipino 3. ) Agustina Macaraig childlike -widow unconve ntional Highlights: *Dr. Gerald and Agustina met in a weird way. *Dr.Gerald made known of different gossips about Agustina: gt; She was born with horns; cut by carpenter gt; She has an encantado father. gt; Her mother bedded with one of the Christ’s chosen. *On social affair, Agustina flirted with Dr. McAllister. *Dr. McAllister on flashback (Another element of fiction): Remembered her wife died because of consumption. He was guilty of being a doctor and has done nothing about it. He was also guilty of having an affair with another woman while her wife was bedridden. *The mother of the mayor died and Dr. McAllister showed no sympathy. *The funeral was festive and several weird things happened. Agustina and Dr. McAllister met again. Then during the night, they met also at the river and â€Å"fell into each other’s arm†. Points: *Agustina became a goddess of inspiration to doctor McAllister (If Agustina can move on about his husband’s death, so is doctor Mc Allister). *Something can be demonic and dubious, not because it really is, but because we are afraid to see it for what it is. (As for the case of Agustina). *Why Agustina is called Woman with Horns? It is because she doesn’t follow the norms. Ubecan find her strange because she recovered easily in a short period of time after her husband’s death.She was seen as a demon and regarded as a witch because she is not understood (which is unfair for Agustina). *Women are medusa (women’s revenge against masculine ways) *Symbolism: Moon (change of phases means changes of moods) UNIT THREE IMAGING THE FILIPINO FAMILY MATS by Francisco Arellana Characters: a. ) Nana Emilia b. ) Mr. Angeles c. ) Children (Marcelina, Jose, Antonio, Juan, Jesus, Susana, Victoria, Concepcion, Josefina, Alfonso) Points: The story symbolizes the situation of a family having dead members The mats are symbol of love and comfort of the family. Mats for the dead members can be interpreted as th e family has not yet moved on about the other member’s death. **We should not forget people who are dead because they become part of our lives THE SADNESS COLLECTOR by Merlinda Bobis Techniques used: 1. ) Indeterminacies – facts of the text with no details 2. ) Shifting point of view 3. ) Stream of consciousness gt; dramatic irony gt; details perceived by the reader but left unperceived by the other characters. 4. ) Local Color –(use of native language to make it sound more realistic) Points: -The story symbolizes the effect of migration of a family member *Father coming home at night gt; avoiding the inquiries of the aunties or Rica gt; That’s why he need to concoct a tale *Baby in the photograph the mother is not anymore a â€Å"TNT† in Paris the mother already had another family in Paris *Last sentence can be interpreted as Rica being very sad and she is left alone in her own thoughts. *Rica is the actual sadness collector (children suffer mo re than the parents in family situations like in the story) // Please refer more to the handouts given by Ma’am. These are just additional notes. *** BRINGING THE DOLLS by Merlie Alunan Title implies: 1. ) Memories 2. ) Relationship Two dolls in rags and tatters, ne missing an arm and a leg, the other blind in one eye—I grabbed them from her arms, â€Å"No,† I said, â€Å"they cannot come. † She do not want to bring with her the memories Persona: the mother (who is separated from her husband) Each tight baggage I had packed only for the barest need: no room for sentiment or memoryStill in pain and being rational in the whole matter to clutter with loose ends my stern resolve. I reasoned, even a child must learn she cannot take what must be left behind. Central image of the second stanza: Letting go And so the boat turned seaward, a smart wind blowing dry the stealthy tears I could not wipe. he has to be brave Then I saw—rags, tatters and all  her child secretly put it in her mother’s luggage there among the neat trim packs, the dolls I ruled to leave behind. Her silence should have warned me *silence – disapproval to parents’ separation Silence (can be interpreted as conformation, rebellion, sign of disrespect) she knew her burdens –effect to the child: can be insecurity/envy/disillusionment in the near future as I knew mine: mother’s anxieties like â€Å"How would I able to support my child? † etc her clean white years unlived— mother is sorry for her child going through the situation and paid my price.

Coconut essays

Coconut essays Coconuts effectiveness shines on... Insomia, arthritis, hypertension try coconectar. Possible prevention, better yet, cure to different ailments would be the latest product fresh from the coconut tree. As markets recognize the use of herbal medicines and the like, the fame of this syrup rises up promoting effectiveness of another cocoproduct. Coconut tree, fame for being the tree of life, has proven much worth because of its parts. These are used for everyday life: the tree itself produces timber, the shell of the fruit becomes plaiting and thatch, the hardened liquid serves as meat of the fruit, and the liquid as drink often may be mixed with alcoholic beverages or sugar syrup. Now, even the flower bears effectiveness. The extracted sap, when concentrated, shows usefulness to prevent or even alleviate ailment. Since bacteria inhibited by the body become more and more resistant to antibiotics and the fame of herbal medicines levels up, the use of the said extract could be more useful. So why not try the new cocoproduct the coconectar. Mr. Jose Gonzales, a researcher in the field of coconut physics and owner of the CocoLegacy Co. Inc., personally discovered the product. It was an inspiration and of my great interest toward the study of coconut that lead me to discover Coconectar, says the Quezon-based researcher. He was already conducting researches about coconut and its effectiveness when, about a year ago, he came across the usefulness of coconut flower and did experiments on it, extracting the juice that eventually showed many components not damaging to the body. He looked for the nutrients of the extract, tried to separate what components were useful and found that there were 24 amino acids, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, growth hormones, and other substances the human body needs which were said to contribute to our resistance to illnesses. According to Mr. Gonzales, Coconectar is...

How to Write a STRONG Follow Up Email After Your Job Interview

How to Write a STRONG Follow Up Email After Your Job Interview After spending hours preparing for your job interview, the big day finally arrives. You go to your interview and all of your preparation has paid off. You ace it! You leave your interview feeling satisfied and confident. But you’re not quite finished yet. Even though you nailed your interview, someone else may have performed just as well. So how do you go above and beyond to differentiate yourself? You can’t just go home and watch reruns of Seinfeld. I mean, you can, but not before you perform one last crucial step. Send a follow up email after your job interview. According to  Whitney Purcell, associate director of Career Development at Susquehanna University, it’s vital to send a thank you email within 24 hours after your job interview. You should also make sure to send it during company business hours (obviously).But more importantly, Purcell goes on to say that sending a simple thank you note is not enough. Your follow up email needs to make you stand out f rom the crowd. You should highlight the best parts of the conversation you had, followed by a reminder as to why you are the best fit for the job.So the question becomes how do you write a strong follow up email after your job interview? According to  Dr. Deborah Good, an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh Katz School of Business, the email below is  ideal because it contains 6 very important characteristics:  Ã‚  Source: [BusinessInsider]

Website evaluation for a destination Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Website evaluation for a destination - Essay Example The font size and color combination was not so good. Here we can have a same theme of heading. Each heading in the webpage has different color that gives the feeing of distraction to the users. 14 Acceding to most of the questionnaire respondents the website navigation is good. In this web site we have a clear view of our presence in the website. Here we have proper and functional hyperlinks that offer us the capability to navigate through the whole website in an effective way. 14 Web based information platforms are aimed at offering the people valuable information about the relevant area or subject. The human computer based analysis offers the capability to weigh up and assess these systems working and performance regarding their interaction to users. This research and analysis based report will also offer deep and comprehensive overview of the website evaluation through the human computer interaction rules. This website is an E-Tourism website that belongs to Bangladesh. It is an official website of Bangladesh Government for tourism and its online address is: www.bangladeshtourism.gov.bd. The main intention of this research is to evaluate this website regarding its design, content, usability and interactivity for the better and effective system development that can effectively interact with its audience. The subject of Human–computer interaction deals with the analysis of the interaction among people and computer. In this paradigm we analyze how we can build a system (web site) that is able to offer better support and facility during the usage of system. This subject investigates the user psychology, behaviors and develops the system or designs the web site that is capable to meet the user expectations regarding system working. Website evaluation for better design, content, usability and interactivity is main area that developer needs to address while developing a web site for the user. Human computer interaction rules based evaluation process is

Paper 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 7

Paper 2 - Essay Example In the film the director portrays the problem of racism as the byproduct of hatred towards skin color. Mark A. Reid stated that, â€Å"To gain a popular black audience, Micheaux’s action films presented the twenties from a black perspective† (12). To be specific, the director makes use of his film as a tool to expose his attitude on racism in the mainstream society. Sylvia Landry, the female protagonist knows that racism still prevails in the society, but she tries to overcome the same by immersing herself in worldly affairs. Jane Gaines opined that, â€Å"Within Our Gates was thus linked to fear of cataclysmic social change, a linkage obfuscated by the smoke screen of â€Å"race riot†Ã¢â‚¬  (163). The turning point in the film is related to the female protagonist’s unexpected meeting with Rev. Jacobs. Within this scenario, Landry realizes that she cannot alienate herself from the problems faced by the black children. So, she decides to raise fund for th e local school. This change in attitude is important because the same is related to her attitude towards racism. So, one can see that the director makes use of the female protagonist and the sad plight of black children to express his attitude on racism. From a different angle of view, one can see that the director makes use of the main characters as his mouthpiece to share his social message with the viewers. To be specific, the director leads the viewers towards the female protagonist’s past to prove that she is the victim of racism and she is trying her level best to save herself from haunting memories. Stefanie Laufs stated that, â€Å"In his movies, Micheaux addressed racial discrimination and counteracted black stereotypes with images of the New Negro and a new feeling of race pride† (43). The character named as Rev. Jacobs is symbolic of social responsibility towards the downtrodden population. On the other side, an unnamed character (say,

The Race Implicit Association Test Essay Example for Free

The Race Implicit Association Test Essay I tried the Race Implicit Association Test (IAT) at www. implicit. harvard. edu . At the beginning I was asked about my attitude towards African Americans and European Americans, I confidently answered that I was neutral. I started the test with a strong conviction that I do not discriminate between African and European Americans. The warm up phase flashed several pictures of African and European Americans, and then I was prompted to press e when I see a black face and ii when I see a white face. That phase was easy but then the part which required to categorize pictures and words together such as a black face and a good word (love, peace.. ) and a white face and a bad word (nasty, evil.. ) and vice versa was difficult. The result showed that I have a moderate automatic preference for European American compared to African American. The site revealed that one gets an automatic preference for European American rating if one responded faster when European American faces and Good words were classified with the same key than when African American faces and Good words were classified with the same key . The site revealed that almost seventy percent of people who take test have a slight – strong automatic preference for European Americans compared to African Americans. Meaning, this seventy percent had difficulty associating the good words with the face of African Americans, and obvious manifestation of racial preference. I wonder what this meant for me. At the beginning of the test I was so sure that I have no bias whatsoever, however the result was rather confusing. I gather that that while I have stated values which I use to direct or control my behavior deliberately; my unconscious attitude manifests itself in instances where there is no chance for me to deliberate. The result showed how incompatible my pronounced convictions are to my unconscious behavior. Upon reflection, I realized that my biases are the product of societal stimuli which are institutionalized in our everyday life. For example, print advertisements depict heavenly with a white person clothed in blinding light and depicts evil as dark. These stimuli condition our minds and make us associate certain words to a certain race. We seem to have stored in our brain what certain things should look like. Thus, we find it difficult to associate black with good. We have stereotypes embedded in our subconscious which manifests when we are faced with situations when we need to make split second decisions, when we need to act without deliberation. Say for example when we meet strangers for the first time, we probably would give higher trust to a white person than to a black person because of the bad and wrongs associated with the race. The unconscious part of our brain silently processes all the data available from all the experiences we’ve had, the people we’ve met, the books we’ve read, movies we’ve watched and then it forms an opinion. On a conscious level we would never discriminate, in fact the state has adopted policies which ban discrimination. The Equal protection clause of our constitution guarantees non-discrimination under any circumstance. However, our unconscious is not covered by this prohibition, or it does not recognize this prohibition because it manifests without us being able to deliberate and rationalize our judgment. It is possible for us to discriminate at any given time, without us knowing it. This is manifest in our behavior around people; a person who has a strong inclination towards white person would naturally lean forward a little more towards a white person or turn-away farther from a black person. This situation may happen anytime and anywhere we meet the stimuli which cause us to discriminate.

Adult Education for Social Change :: Argumentative Persuasive Papers

Adult Education for Social Change Popular education is a form of adult education that encourages learners to examine their lives critically and take action to change social conditions. It is "popular" in the sense of being "of the people." Popular education emerged in Latin America in the 1960s-1970s; Paulo Freire is its best known exponent. However, its roots may be found in the French Revolution, in workers' education of the 1920s-1930s, and in such movements as the Highlander Folk School in Tennessee (Beder 1996; Jeria 1990). The goal of popular education is to develop "people's capacity for social change through a collective problem-solving approach emphasizing participation, reflection, and critical analysis of social problems" (Bates 1996. pp. 225-226). Key characteristics of popular education are as follows: everyone teaches and learns, so leadership is shared; starting with learners' experiences and concerns; high participation; creation of new knowledge; critical reflection; connecting the local to the globa l; and collective action for change (Arnold et al. 1985; Mackenzie 1993). This digest describes popular education methods, addresses challenges, and offers some insights for adult educators. The Popular Education Process Because it is strongly community based, popular education takes a wide variety of forms. However, the process usually follows a pattern or cycle described as action/reflection/action (Arnold and Burke 1983) or practice/theory/practice (Mackenzie 1993). Beginning with people's experience, the community initiates problem identification; then they reflect on and analyze the problem, broadening it from local to global in order to develop theory; next, participants plan and carry out action for change. Adult educators can facilitate the process by serving as democratic collaborators who ensure that learning takes place and leadership and self-direction develop in the group (Arnold and Burke 1983). Facilitators keep the group on track and encourage participation, but they should also try to foster a longer-term perspective on the problems addressed, helping the group place the issues in social, historical, and political context (Bates 1996). One important aspect of popular education is the way it often draws on popular culture, using drama, song, dance, poetry, puppetry, mime, art, storytelling, and other forms. Proulx (1993) distinguishes "popular culture" from cultural institutions often perceived as elitist and from instruments of mass culture such as the media, identifying popular cultural forms as those in which "working class adults recognize their life and their values" (p. 39). The use of these forms can enhance communication among audiences with

War Is Terrible

Saying that ‘war is terrible’ is such a simple statement but makes us think of the emotional stress and physical pain. There is a wide variety of texts that explore the ideas about war. Various composers agree that war is a terrible thing and isn’t necessary. There are some composers however who believe that war is necessary and that people should do their duty and fight for their country. These can be shown by a range of techniques. The war poetry of Wilfred Owen, â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† and â€Å"Anthem for Doomed Youth†, conveys the horrors of war and of Wilfred Owens experience of war rather than the account of the experience itself.This is conveyed through the language and poetic techniques of imagery, repetition, metaphors, similes and even irony. â€Å"Tomorrow When the War Began† examines the war on a more obvious scale. â€Å"Trumpet Calls† looks at war as a noble thing and demonstrates the idea that people must support war and do their duty for their country. This is shown through colour, size, layout and framing. In the poem â€Å"Anthem for Doomed Youth†, Owen explains about death violence and sacrifice of the youth. Firstly the title itself has a significant use of assonance.Doomed youth is right; there were young men, some really young. By using the rhetorical question and simile of â€Å"What passing-bells for these who die as cattle? † strongly affects us with the image of the slaughterhouse and the idea of men being treated less human and no more important than cattle which are lead to the slaughter without feeling. It shows us the mistreatment of men being constantly killed and has no chance, just like cattle being slaughtered for meat. It solemnly shows how those who die in war do not receive the normal ceremonies that we are used to, to honour the dead.Throughout the poem Wilfred Owen uses a lot of comparisons; one of these is the simile between a typical funeral in a church a nd what would happen to a soldier killed in battle. For example he compares the church bells with the noise of the gunfire; the prayers with the rapid rifle fire; the choirs with the wailing of shells; the candles held by altar boys with the lights of the sky reflected in the dead eyes of the soldiers. After reading â€Å"Anthem for Doomed Youth† the entire perspective on how terrible the war is can be changed.The poem â€Å"Dulce Et Decorum Est†, Owen conveys that government may encourage and force you to fight for your country, but, in reality, fighting for your country is simply sentencing yourself to unnecessary death. In line 1 â€Å"bent double, like old beggars under sacks† is a simile, which compares the men to marching to beggars. Beginning with the image of men â€Å"bent double† creates the possibility that the soldiers really have become two people: the men they were before the war and the creatures they’re now. The imagery created by d escribing â€Å"the white eyes withering in his face†, is horrendous.It’s almost like their eyes live a life on their own: they have detached from the working of the body as a whole. In that same quote there is also alliteration which seeks to re-create the distortion taking place on the young man’s face. The unusual simile â€Å"devils sick of sin† shows the extreme of human cruelty and depravity. We can cause anguish and atrocities that would even sicken Satan. In Owens opinion, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Emphasizing the gruesome details of his real experience during the war demonstrates to the readers the emptiness of war. The Trumpet Calls† is a World War 1 poster which was used to convince civilians to join the war. The caption is â€Å"The Trumpet Calls† which is drawn in a bold red font designed to capture the viewers’ attention. Red symbolise the blood lost in the battle and acts as a plea for more people t o join up and replace the lives of those that were lost doing their â€Å"duty. † This is highlighted by the word â€Å"Calls†. In the frame, the main image is a soldier seen in brown colour standing above other soldiers that are fighting; some of them injured which makes this soldier stand out as he is above the other soldiers.The vector directs us as the viewers to the civilians in the background who are shown a shadowy grey colour which is used to illustrate their lack of involvement in the war. The hand of the soldier points downwards in a gesture-like way as if inviting civilians to help out the soldiers below him to fight in the war. This poster unlike the other texts is a positive view on war used to try and persuade people to participate in war, but the reality is that such posters led young men to their deaths.In the documentary, â€Å"Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam†, the director Bill Couturie illustrates to us what the Vietnam War was like. H e shows us the conditions of war and also the effect this had on the soldiers and their families. The letters that are read out basically act as a chronicle diary of physical, emotional and psychological challenges and the experiences of the soldiers. One soldier â€Å"This is all wrong† and others write things like â€Å"We are all scared†, â€Å"This was my first experience of war and it was ugly†, â€Å"It’s just a constant siege here†. These letters saying these things ighlight to us that the conditions of war are brutal, horrible and scarring and that it was an unknown entity to the soldiers as it was â€Å"Jungle Warfare† which was alien to most as no other wars were fought this way. There is also real footage of the war, news reals and facts and figures about the war and the amount of casualties, none is made up. This helps us to understand the amount of death and destruction of war and allows us to visually see how brutal the fightin g in war is. It makes the viewer feel sympathetic to those who fought and died in war and their families. It also highlights the pitiful waste of life that is lost to war.The soundtrack is made up of songs from the same era. At the start the songs seem more upbeat and happy and as the film progresses they begin to sound more sad and depressing. This is used to represent the soldier’s feelings about going to war at the start being happy and excited for a new adventure and those feelings changing as they witness the horrors of war and begin to start questioning this war. The documentary shows us the death and destruction that occurs from war. Men put their life on the line and were often killed; death was a daily occurrence as this is how war is. In the Trenches it wasn’t just people getting killed by gunfire.Disease and infection was very common in the trenches as there was little to no hygiene there. Rats and lice spread diseases. In the winter it would have been, cold , wet, muddy, snowy and generally unpleasant. Also people were emotionally scarred as their friend on the battlefield could easily be killed. Life in the conditions of war is very difficult and unpleasant. â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est†, â€Å"Anthem for Doomed Youth†, â€Å"Tomorrow when the war began† and â€Å"Trumpet Calls†, are very good and clear examples of how terrible the war is and what the soldiers went through, conveyed by film, poetic and literally techniques.

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal Chapter 1

Prologue The angel was cleaning out his closets when the call came. Halos and moonbeams were sorted into piles according to brightness, satchels of wrath and scabbards of lightning hung on hooks waiting to be dusted. A wineskin of glory had leaked in the corner and the angel blotted it with a wad of fabric. Each time he turned the cloth a muted chorus rang from the closet, as if he'd clamped the lid down on a pickle jar full of Hallelujah Chorus. â€Å"Raziel, what in heaven's name are you doing?† The archangel Stephan was standing over him, brandishing a scroll like a rolled-up magazine over a piddling puppy. â€Å"Orders?† the angel asked. â€Å"Dirt-side.† â€Å"I was just there.† â€Å"Two millennia ago.† â€Å"Really?† Raziel checked his watch, then tapped the crystal. â€Å"Are you sure?† â€Å"What do you think?† Stephan held out the scroll so Raziel could see the Burning Bush seal. â€Å"When do I leave? I was almost finished here.† â€Å"Now. Pack the gift of tongues and some minor miracles. No weapons, it's not a wrath job. You'll be undercover. Very low profile, but important. It's all in the orders.† Stephan handed him the scroll. â€Å"Why me?† â€Å"I asked that too.† â€Å"And?† â€Å"I was reminded why angels are cast out.† â€Å"Whoa! That big?† Stephan coughed, clearly an affectation, since angels didn't breathe. â€Å"I'm not sure I'm supposed to know, but the rumor is that it's a new book.† â€Å"You're kidding. A sequel? Revelations 2, just when you thought it was safe to sin?† â€Å"It's a Gospel.† â€Å"A Gospel, after all this time? Who?† â€Å"Levi who is called Biff.† Raziel dropped his rag and stood. â€Å"This has to be a mistake.† â€Å"It comes directly from the Son.† â€Å"There's a reason Biff isn't mentioned in the other books, you know? He's a total – â€Å" â€Å"Don't say it.† â€Å"But he's such an asshole.† â€Å"You talk like that and you wonder why you get dirt-duty.† â€Å"Why now, after so long, the four Gospels have been fine so far, and why him?† â€Å"Because it's some kind of anniversary in dirt-dweller time of the Son's birth, and he feels it's time the whole story is told.† Raziel hung his head. â€Å"I'd better pack.† â€Å"Gift of tongues,† Stephan reminded. â€Å"Of course, so I can take crap in a thousand languages.† â€Å"Go get the good news, Raziel. Bring me back some chocolate.† â€Å"Chocolate?† â€Å"It's a dirt-dweller snack. You'll like it. Satan invented it.† â€Å"Devil's food?† â€Å"You can only eat so much white cake, my friend.† Midnight. The angel stood on a barren hillside on the outskirts of the holy city of Jerusalem. He raised his arms aloft and a dry wind whipped his white robe around him. â€Å"Arise, Levi who is called Biff.† A whirlwind formed before him, pulling dust from the hillside into a column that took the shape of a man. â€Å"Arise, Biff. Your time has come.† The wind whipped into a fury and the angel pulled the sleeve of his robe across his face. â€Å"Arise, Biff, and walk again among the living.† The whirlwind began to subside, leaving the man-shaped column of dust standing on the hillside. In a moment, the hillside was calm again. The angel pulled a gold vessel from his satchel and poured it over the column. The dust washed away, leaving a muddy, naked man sputtering in the starlight. â€Å"Welcome back to the living,† the angel said. The man blinked, then held his hand before his eyes as if he expected to see through it. â€Å"I'm alive,† he said in a language he had never heard before. â€Å"Yes,† the angel said. â€Å"What are these sounds, these words?† â€Å"You have been given the gift of tongues.† â€Å"I've always had the gift of tongues, ask any girl I've known. What are these words?† â€Å"Languages. You've been given the gift of languages, as were all the apostles.† â€Å"Then the kingdom has come.† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"How long?† â€Å"Two thousand years ago.† â€Å"You worthless bag of dog shit,† said Levi who was called Biff, as he punched the angel in the mouth. â€Å"You're late.† The angel picked himself up and gingerly touched his lip. â€Å"Nice talk to a messenger of the Lord.† â€Å"It's a gift,† Biff said. Part I The Boy God is a comedian playing to an audience that is afraid to laugh. VOLTAIRE Chapter 1 You think you know how this story is going to end, but you don't. Trust me, I was there. I know. The first time I saw the man who would save the world he was sitting near the central well in Nazareth with a lizard hanging out of his mouth. Just the tail end and the hind legs were visible on the outside; the head and forelegs were halfway down the hatch. He was six, like me, and his beard had not come in fully, so he didn't look much like the pictures you've seen of him. His eyes were like dark honey, and they smiled at me out of a mop of blue-black curls that framed his face. There was a light older than Moses in those eyes. â€Å"Unclean! Unclean!† I screamed, pointing at the boy, so my mother would see that I knew the Law, but she ignored me, as did all the other mothers who were filling their jars at the well. The boy took the lizard from his mouth and handed it to his younger brother, who sat beside him in the sand. The younger boy played with the lizard for a while, teasing it until it reared its little head as if to bite, then he picked up a rock and mashed the creature's head. Bewildered, he pushed the dead lizard around in the sand, and once assured that it wasn't going anywhere on its own, he picked it up and handed it back to his older brother. Into his mouth went the lizard, and before I could accuse, out it came again, squirming and alive and ready to bite once again. He handed it back to his younger brother, who smote it mightily with the rock, starting or ending the whole process again. I watched the lizard die three more times before I said, â€Å"I want to do that too.† The Savior removed the lizard from his mouth and said, â€Å"Which part?† By the way, his name was Joshua. Jesus is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Yeshua, which is Joshua. Christ is not a last name. It's the Greek for messiah, a Hebrew word meaning anointed. I have no idea what the â€Å"H† in Jesus H. Christ stood for. It's one of the things I should have asked him. Me? I am Levi who is called Biff. No middle initial. Joshua was my best friend. The angel says I'm supposed to just sit down and write my story, forget about what I've seen in this world, but how am I to do that? In the last three days I have seen more people, more images, more wonders, than in all my thirty-three years of living, and the angel asks me to ignore them. Yes, I have been given the gift of tongues, so I see nothing without knowing the word for it, but what good does that do? Did it help in Jerusalem to know that it was a Mercedes that terrified me and sent me diving into a Dumpster? Moreover, after Raziel pulled me out and ripped my fingernails back as I struggled to stay hidden, did it help to know that it was a Boeing 747 that made me cower in a ball trying to rock away my own tears and shut out the noise and fire? Am I a little child, afraid of its own shadow, or did I spend twenty-seven years at the side of the Son of God? On the hill where he pulled me from the dust, the angel said, â€Å"You will see many strange things. Do not be afraid. You have a holy mission and I will protect you.† Smug bastard. Had I known what he would do to me I would have hit him again. Even now he lies on the bed across the room, watching pictures move on a screen, eating the sticky sweet called Snickers, while I scratch out my tale on this soft-as-silk paper that reads Hyatt Regency, St. Louis at the top. Words, words, words, a million million words circle in my head like hawks, waiting to dive onto the page to rend and tear the only two words I want to write. Why me? There were fifteen of us – well, fourteen after I hung Judas – so why me? Joshua always told me not to be afraid, for he would always be with me. Where are you, my friend? Why have you forsaken me? You wouldn't be afraid here. The towers and machines and the shine and stink of this world would not daunt you. Come now, I'll order a pizza from room service. You would like pizza. The servant who brings it is named Jesus. And he's not even a Jew. You always liked irony. Come, Joshua, the angel says you are yet with us, you can hold him down while I pound him, then we will rejoice in pizza. Raziel has been looking at my writing and is insisting that I stop whining and get on with the story. Easy for him to say, he didn't just spend the last two thousand years buried in the dirt. Nevertheless, he won't let me order pizza until I finish a section, so here goes†¦ I was born in Galilee, the town of Nazareth, in the time of Herod the Great. My father, Alphaeus, was a stonemason and my mother, Naomi, was plagued by demons, or at least that's what I told everyone. Joshua seemed to think she was just difficult. My proper name, Levi, comes from the brother of Moses, the progenitor of the tribe of priests; my nickname, Biff, comes from our slang word for a smack upside the head, something that my mother said I required at least daily from an early age. I grew up under Roman rule, although I didn't see many Romans until I was ten. The Romans mostly stayed in the fortress city of Sepphoris, an hour's walk north of Nazareth. That's where Joshua and I saw a Roman soldier murdered, but I'm getting ahead of myself. For now, assume that the soldier is safe and sound and happy wearing a broom on his head. Most of the people of Nazareth were farmers, growing grapes and olives on the rocky hills outside of town and barley and wheat in the valleys below. There were also herders of goats and sheep whose families lived in town while the men and older boys tended the flocks in the highlands. Our houses were all made of stone, and ours had a stone floor, although many had floors of hard-packed dirt. I was the oldest of three sons, so even at the age of six I was being prepared to learn my father's trade. My mother taught my spoken lessons, the Law and stories from the Torah in Hebrew, and my father took me to the synagogue to hear the elders read the Bible. Aramaic was my first language, but by the time I was ten I could speak and read Hebrew as well as most of the men. My ability to learn Hebrew and the Torah was spurred on by my friendship with Joshua, for while the other boys would be playing a round of tease the sheep or kick the Canaanite, Joshua and I played at being rabbis, and he insisted that we stick to the authentic Hebrew for our ceremonies. It was more fun than it sounds, or at least it was until my mother caught us trying to circumcise my little brother Shem with a sharp rock. What a fit she threw. And my argument that Shem needed to renew his covenant with the Lord didn't seem to convince her. She beat me to stripes with an olive switch and forbade me to play with Joshua for a month. Did I mention she was besought with demons? Overall, I think it was good for little Shem. He was the only kid I ever knew who could pee around corners. You can make a pretty good living as a beggar with that kind of talent. And he never even thanked me. Brothers. Children see magic because they look for it. When I first met Joshua, I didn't know he was the Savior, and neither did he, for that matter. What I knew was that he wasn't afraid. Amid a race of conquered warriors, a people who tried to find pride while cowering before God and Rome, he shone like a bloom in the desert. But maybe only I saw it, because I was looking for it. To everyone else he seemed like just another child: the same needs and the same chance to die before he was grown. When I told my mother of Joshua's trick with the lizard she checked me for fever and sent me to my sleeping mat with only a bowl of broth for supper. â€Å"I've heard stories about that boy's mother,† she said to my father. â€Å"She claims to have spoken to an angel of the Lord. She told Esther that she had borne the Son of God.† â€Å"And what did you say to Esther?† â€Å"That she should be careful that the Pharisees not hear her ravings or we'd be picking stones for her punishment.† â€Å"Then you should not speak of it again. I know her husband, he is a righteous man.† â€Å"Cursed with an insane girl for a wife.† â€Å"Poor thing,† my father said, tearing away a hunk of bread. His hands were as hard as horn, as square as hammers, and as gray as a leper's from the limestone he worked with. An embrace from him left scratches on my back that sometimes wept blood, yet my brothers and I fought to be the first in his arms when he returned from work each evening. The same injuries inflicted in anger would have sent us crying to our mother's skirts. I fell asleep each night feeling his hand on my back like a shield. Fathers. Do you want to mash some lizards?† I asked Joshua when I saw him again. He was drawing in the dirt with a stick, ignoring me. I put my foot on his drawing. â€Å"Did you know that your mother is mad?† â€Å"My father does that to her,† he said sadly, without looking up. I sat down next to him. â€Å"Sometimes my mother makes yipping noises in the night like the wild dogs.† â€Å"Is she mad?† Joshua asked. â€Å"She seems fine in the morning. She sings while she makes breakfast.† Joshua nodded, satisfied, I guess, that madness could pass. â€Å"We used to live in Egypt,† he said. â€Å"No, you didn't, that's too far. Farther than the temple, even.† The Temple in Jerusalem was the farthest place I had been as a child. Every spring my family took the five-day walk to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover. It seemed to take forever. â€Å"We lived here, then we lived in Egypt, now we live here again,† Joshua said. â€Å"It was a long way.† â€Å"You lie, it takes forty years to get to Egypt.† â€Å"Not anymore, it's closer now.† â€Å"It says in the Torah. My abba read it to me. ‘The Israelites traveled in the desert for forty years.'† â€Å"The Israelites were lost.† â€Å"For forty years?† I laughed. â€Å"The Israelites must be stupid.† â€Å"We are the Israelites.† â€Å"We are?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"I have to go find my mother,† I said. â€Å"When you come back, let's play Moses and Pharaoh.† The angel has confided in me that he is going to ask the Lord if he can become Spider-Man. He watches the television constantly, even when I sleep, and he has become obsessed with the story of the hero who fights demons from the rooftops. The angel says that evil looms larger now than it did in my time, and that calls for greater heroes. The children need heroes, he says. I think he just wants to swing from buildings in tight red jammies. What hero could touch these children anyway, with their machines and medicine and distances made invisible? (Raziel: not here a week and he would trade the Sword of God to be a web slinger.) In my time, our heroes were few, but they were real – some of us could even trace our kinship to them. Joshua always played the heroes – David, Joshua, Moses – while I played the evil ones: Pharaoh, Ahab, and Nebuchadnezzar. If I had a shekel for every time I was slain as a Philistine, well, I'd not be riding a camel through the eye of a needle anytime soon, I'll tell you that. As I think back, I see that Joshua was practicing for what he would become. â€Å"Let my people go,† said Joshua, as Moses. â€Å"Okay.† â€Å"You can't just say, ‘Okay.'† â€Å"I can't?† â€Å"No, the Lord has hardened your heart against my demands.† â€Å"Why'd he do that?† â€Å"I don't know, he just did. Now, let my people go.† â€Å"Nope.† I crossed my arms and turned away like someone whose heart is hardened. â€Å"Behold as I turn this stick into a snake. Now, let my people go!† â€Å"Okay.† â€Å"You can't just say ‘okay'!† â€Å"Why? That was a pretty good trick with the stick.† â€Å"But that's not how it goes.† â€Å"Okay. No way, Moses, your people have to stay.† Joshua waved his staff in my face. â€Å"Behold, I will plague you with frogs. They will fill your house and your bedchamber and get on your stuff.† â€Å"So?† â€Å"So that's bad. Let my people go, Pharaoh.† â€Å"I sorta like frogs.† â€Å"Dead frogs,† Moses threatened. â€Å"Piles of steaming, stinking dead frogs.† â€Å"Oh, in that case, you'd better take your people and go. I have some sphinxes and stuff to build anyway.† â€Å"Dammit, Biff, that's not how it goes! I have more plagues for you.† â€Å"I want to be Moses.† â€Å"You can't.† â€Å"Why not?† â€Å"I have the stick.† â€Å"Oh.† And so it went. I'm not sure I took to playing the villains as easily as Joshua took to being the heroes. Sometimes we recruited our little brothers to play the more loathsome parts. Joshua's little brothers Judah and James played whole populations, like the Sodomites outside of Lot's door. â€Å"Send out those two angels so that we can know them.† â€Å"I won't do that,† I said, playing Lot (a good guy only because Joshua wanted to play the angels), â€Å"but I have two daughters who don't know anyone, you can meet them.† â€Å"Okay,† said Judah. I threw open the door and led my imaginary daughters outside so they could know the Sodomites†¦ â€Å"Pleased to meet you.† â€Å"Charmed, I'm sure.† â€Å"Nice to meet you.† â€Å"THAT'S NOT HOW IT GOES!† Joshua shouted. â€Å"You're supposed to try to break the door down, then I will smite you blind.† â€Å"Then you destroy our city?† James said. â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"We'd rather meet Lot's daughters.† â€Å"Let my people go,† said Judah, who was only four and often got his stories confused. He particularly liked the Exodus because he and James got to throw jars of water on me as I led my soldiers across the Red Sea after Moses. â€Å"That's it,† Joshua said. â€Å"Judah, you're Lot's wife. Go stand over there.† Sometimes Judah had to play Lot's wife no matter what story we were doing. â€Å"I don't want to be Lot's wife.† â€Å"Be quiet, pillars of salt can't talk.† â€Å"I don't want to be a girl.† Our brothers always played the female parts. I had no sisters to torment, and Joshua's only sister at the time, Elizabeth, was still a baby. That was before we met the Magdalene. The Magdalene changed everything. After I overheard my parents talking about Joshua's mother's madness, I often watched her, looking for signs, but she seemed to go about her duties like all the other mothers, tending to the little ones, working in the garden, fetching water, and preparing food. There was no sign of going about on all fours or foaming at the mouth as I had expected. She was younger than many of the mothers, and much younger than her husband, Joseph, who was an old man by the standards of our time. Joshua said that Joseph wasn't his real father, but he wouldn't say who his father was. When the subject came up, and Mary was in earshot, she would call to Josh, then put her finger to her lips to signal silence. â€Å"Now is not the time, Joshua. Biff would not understand.† Just hearing her say my name made my heart leap. Early on I developed a little-boy love for Joshua's mother that sent me into fantasies of marriage and family and future. â€Å"Your father is old, huh, Josh?† â€Å"Not too old.† â€Å"When he dies, will your mother marry his brother?† â€Å"My father has no brothers. Why?† â€Å"No reason. What would you think if your father was shorter than you?† â€Å"He isn't.† â€Å"But when your father dies, your mother could marry someone shorter than you, and he would be your father. You would have to do what he says.† â€Å"My father will never die. He is eternal.† â€Å"So you say. But I think that when I'm a man, and your father dies, I will take your mother as my wife.† Joshua made a face now as if he had bitten into an unripe fig. â€Å"Don't say that, Biff.† â€Å"I don't mind that she's mad. I like her blue cloak. And her smile. I'll be a good father, I'll teach you how to be a stonemason, and I'll only beat you when you are a snot.† â€Å"I would rather play with lepers than listen to this.† Joshua began to walk away. â€Å"Wait. Be nice to your father, Joshua bar Biff† – my own father used my full name like this when he was trying to make a point – â€Å"Is it not the word of Moses that you must honor me?† Little Joshua spun on his heel. â€Å"My name is not Joshua bar Biff, and it is not Joshua bar Joseph either. It's Joshua bar Jehovah!† I looked around, hoping that no one had heard him. I didn't want my only son (I planned to sell Judah and James into slavery) to be stoned to death for uttering the name of God in vain. â€Å"Don't say that again, Josh. I won't marry your mother.† â€Å"No, you won't.† â€Å"I'm sorry.† â€Å"I forgive you.† â€Å"She will make an excellent concubine.† Don't let anyone tell you that the Prince of Peace never struck anyone. In those early days, before he had become who he would be, Joshua smote me in the nose more than once. That was the first time. Mary would stay my one true love until I saw the Magdalene. If the people of Nazareth thought Joshua's mother was mad, there was little said of it out of respect for her husband, Joseph. He was wise in the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms, and there were few wives in Nazareth who didn't serve supper in one of his smooth olive-wood bowls. He was fair, strong, and wise. People said that he had once been an Essene, one of the dour, ascetic Jews who kept to themselves and never married or cut their hair, but he did not congregate with them, and unlike them, he still had the ability to smile. In those early years, I saw him very little, as he was always in Sepphoris, building structures for the Romans and the Greeks and the landed Jews of that city, but every year, as the Feast of Firsts approached, Joseph would stop his work in the fortress city and stay home carving bowls and spoons to give to the Temple. During the Feast of Firsts, it was the tradition to give first lambs, first grain, and first fruits to the priests of the Temple. Even first sons born during the year were dedicated to the Temple, either by promising them for labor when they were older, or by a gift of money. Craftsmen like my father and Joseph could give things that they made, and in some years my father fashioned mortars and pestles or grinding stones for the tribute, while in others he gave tithes of coin. Some people made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem for this feast, but since it fell only seven weeks after Passover, many families could not afford to make the pilgrimage, and the gifts went to our sim ple village synagogue. During the weeks leading up to the feast, Joseph sat outside of his house in the shade of an awning he had made, worrying the gnarled olive wood with adze and chisel, while Joshua and I played at his feet. He wore the single-piece tunic that we all wore, a rectangle of fabric with neck hole in the middle, belted with a sash so that the sleeves fell to the elbows and the hem fell to the knees. â€Å"Perhaps this year I should give the Temple my first son, eh, Joshua? Wouldn't you like to clean the altar after the sacrifices?† He grinned to himself without looking up from his work. â€Å"I owe them a first son, you know. We were in Egypt at the Firsts Feast when you were born.† The idea of coming in contact with blood clearly terrified Joshua, as it would any Jewish boy. â€Å"Give them James, Abba, he is your first son.† Joseph shot a glance my way, to see if I had reacted. I had, but it was because I was considering my own status as a first son, hoping that my father wasn't thinking along the same lines. â€Å"James is a second son. The priests don't want second sons. It will have to be you.† Joshua looked at me before he answered, then back at his father. Then he smiled. â€Å"But Abba, if you should die, who will take care of Mother if I am at the Temple?† â€Å"Someone will look after her,† I said. â€Å"I'm sure of it.† â€Å"I will not die for a long time.† Joseph tugged at his gray beard. â€Å"My beard goes white, but there's a lot of life in me yet.† â€Å"Don't be so sure, Abba,† Joshua said. Joseph dropped the bowl he was working on and stared into his hands. â€Å"Run along and play, you two,† he said, his voice little more than a whisper. Joshua stood and walked away. I wanted to throw my arms around the old man, for I had never seen a grown man afraid before and it frightened me too. â€Å"Can I help?† I said, pointing to the half-finished bowl that lay in Joseph's lap. â€Å"You go with Joshua. He needs a friend to teach him to be human. Then I can teach him to be a man.†

MCDONALD Last Name Meaning and Origin

MCDONALD Last Name Meaning and Origin McDonald is a common Scottish patronymic surname meaning son of Donald, a given name meaning world ruler, from the Gaelic Mac Dhamhnuill. McDonald is probably the most famous of the Scottish clan surnames. In Scotland the McDonald surname derived most often from Scottish settlers who arrived in to the Province of Ulster in the seventeenth century. It may also be an anglicization of MacDomhnall, although the McDonnell or ODonnell spelling is more often seen in that instance. Surname Origin:  Scottish Alternate Surname Spellings: MACDONALD, MCDONNELL, MACDONELL, MCDONNALD Where in the World Is the MCDONALD Surname Found? According to WorldNames public profiler, the McDonald surname is most common in Australia, followed by Ireland and New Zealand. The surname distribution maps at Forebears puts the greatest density of people with the McDonald surname in Grenada, followed by Jamaica, Scotland, the Bahamas, and Australia. In 1881 Scotland, the McDonald surname was most common in Inverness-shire. In 1901, it was the 11th most common surname in County Carlow, Ireland. Famous People with the Surname MCDONALD: Michael McDonald -  American singer and songwriterFreda Josephine McDonald - American entertainer and dancer, best known by her married name Josephine BakerRamsay MacDonald -  first Labor Party prime minister of Great BritainFlora MacDonald -  Jacobite patriot who protected Bonnie Prince Charlie after the Battle of CullodenJohn A. MacDonald - first Prime Minister of Canada ​Genealogy Resources for the Surname MCDONALD Clan Donald USAA nationwide organization of nearly 4,000 families who trace their ancestry to any of the branches of Clann Domhnaill.   McDonald Family Genealogy ForumSearch this popular genealogy forum for the McDonald surname to find others who might be researching your ancestors, or post your own McDonald surname query. McDonald Family DNA ProjectThis Y-DNA project includes nearly 2,000 MacDonalds (including variant spellings such as MacDaniel and MacDanold) interested in using DNA and genealogy research to trace their ancestry in Scotland or Ireland. FamilySearch - MCDONALD GenealogyExplore over 8.2 million results, including digitized records, database entries, and online family trees for the McDonald surname and its variations on the FREE FamilySearch website, courtesy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. MCDONALD Surname Family Mailing ListsRootsWeb hosts several free mailing lists for researchers of the McDonald surname. DistantCousin.com - MCDONALD Genealogy Family HistoryFree databases and genealogy links for the last name McDonald. The McDonald Genealogy and Family Tree PageBrowse genealogy records and links to genealogical and historical records for individuals with the McDonald surname from the website of Genealogy Today. Looking for the meaning of a given name? Check out First Name Meanings Cant find your last name listed? Suggest a surname to be added to the Glossary of Surname Meanings Origins. - References: Surname Meanings Origins Cottle, Basil. Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1967. Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of Surnames. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989. Hanks, Patrick. Dictionary of American Family Names. New York:  Oxford University Press, 2003. MacLysaght, Edward.  Surnames of Ireland. Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 1989. Smith, Elsdon C. American Surnames. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.

Major General Benjamin Butler in the Civil War

Major General Benjamin Butler in the Civil War Born at Deerfield, NH on November 5, 1818, Benjamin F. Butler was the sixth and youngest child of John and Charlotte Butler. A veteran of the War of 1812 and the Battle of New Orleans, Butlers father died shortly after his sons birth. After briefly attending the Phillips Exeter Academy in 1827, Butler followed his mother to Lowell, MA the following year where she opened a boarding house. Educated locally, he had issues at school with fighting and getting into trouble. Later sent to Waterville (Colby) College, he attempted to gain admission to West Point in 1836 but failed to secure an appointment. Remaining at Waterville, Butler completed his education in 1838 and became a supporter of the Democratic Party. Returning to Lowell, Butler pursued a career in law and received admittance to the bar in 1840. Building his practice, he also became actively involved with the local militia. Proving a skilled litigator, Butlers business expanded to Boston and he gained notice for advocating the adoption of a ten-hour day at Lowells Middlesex Mills. A supporter of the Compromise of 1850, he spoke out against the states abolitionists. Elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1852, Butler remained in office for much of the decade as well as attained the rank of brigadier general in the militia. In 1859, he ran for governor on a pro-slavery, pro-tariff platform and lost a close race to Republican Nathaniel P. Banks. Attending the 1860 Democratic National Convention in Charleston, SC, Butler hoped that a moderate Democrat could be found that would prevent the party from splitting along sectional lines. As the convention moved forward, he ultimately elected to back John C. Breckenridge. The Civil War Begins Although he had shown sympathy to the South, Butler stated that he could not countenance the regions actions when states began to secede. As a result, he quickly began seeking a commission in the Union Army. As Massachusetts moved to respond to President Abraham Lincolns call of volunteers, Butler used his political and banking connections to ensure that he would command the regiments that were sent to Washington, DC. Traveling with the 8th Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, he learned on April 19 that Union troops moving through Baltimore had become embroiled in the Pratt Street Riots. Seeking to avoid the city, his men instead moved by rail and ferry to Annapolis, MD where they occupied the US Naval Academy. Reinforced by troops from New York, Butler advanced to Annapolis Junction on April 27 and reopened the rail line between Annapolis and Washington. Asserting control over the area, Butler threatened the states legislature with arrest if they voted to secede as well as took possession of the Great Seal of Maryland. Lauded by General Winfield Scott for his actions, he was ordered to protect transport links in Maryland against interference and occupy Baltimore. Assuming control of the city on May 13, Butler received a commission as a major general of volunteers three days later. Though criticized for his heavy-handed administration of civil affairs, he was directed to move south to command forces at Fort Monroe later in the month. Situated at the end of the peninsula between the York and James Rivers, the fort served as a key Union base deep in Confederate territory. Moving out from the fort, Butlers men quickly occupied Newport News and Hampton. Big Bethel On June 10, more than a month before the First Battle of Bull Run, Butler launched an offensive operation against Colonel John B. Magruders forces at Big Bethel. In the resulting Battle of Big Bethel, his troops were defeated and forced to withdraw back towards Fort Monroe. Though a minor engagement, the defeat received a great deal of attention in the press as the war had just begun. Continuing to command from Fort Monroe, Butler refused to return fugitive slaves to their owners claiming that they were contraband of war. This policy quickly received support from Lincoln and other Union commanders were directed to act similarly. In August, Butler embarked part of his force and sailed south with squadron led by Flag Officer Silas Stringham to attack Forts Hatteras and Clark in the Outer Banks. On August 28-29, the two Union officers succeeded in capturing the fort during the Battle of Hatteras Inlets Batteries. New Orleans Following this success, Butler received command of the forces that occupied Ship Island off the Mississippi coast in December 1861. From this position, he moved to occupy New Orleans after the citys capture by Flag Officer David G. Farragut in April 1862. Reasserting Union control over New Orleans, Butlers administration of the area received mixed reviews. While his directives helped check the annual yellow fever outbreaks others, such as General Order No. 28, led to outrage across the South. Tired of the citys women abusing and insulting his men, this order, issued on May 15, stated that any woman caught doing so would be treated as a woman of the town plying her avocation (a prostitute). In addition, Butler censored New Orleans newspapers and was believed to have used his position to loot homes in the area as well as improperly profit from the trade in confiscated cotton. These actions earned him the nickname Beast Butler. After foreign consuls complained to Lincoln that he was int erfering with their operations, Butler was recalled in December 1862 and replaced with his old foe, Nathaniel Banks. Army of the James Despite Butlers weak record as a field commander and controversial tenure in New Orleans, his switch to the Republican Party and support from its Radical wing compelled Lincoln to give him a new assignment. Returning to Fort Monroe, he assumed command of the Department of Virginia and North Carolina in November 1863. The following April, Butlers forces assumed the title of Army of the James and he received orders from Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant to attack west and disrupt the Confederate railroads between Petersburg and Richmond. These operations were intended to support Grants Overland Campaign against General Robert E. Lee to the north. Moving slowly, Butlers efforts came to a halt near Bermuda Hundred in May when his troops were held by a smaller force led by General P.G.T. Beauregard. With the arrival of Grant and the Army of the Potomac near Petersburg in June, Butlers men began operating in conjunction with this larger force. Despite Grants presence, his performance did not improve and the Army of the James continued to have difficulty. Positioned north of the James River, Butlers men had some success at Chaffins Farm in September, but subsequent actions later in the month and in October failed to gain significant ground. With the situation at Petersburg stalemated, Butler was directed in December to take part of his command to capture Fort Fisher near Wilmington, NC. Supported by a large Union fleet led by Rear Admiral David D. Porter, Butler landed some of his men before judging that the fort was too strong and the weather too poor to mount an assault. Returning north to an irate Grant, Butler was relieved on January 8, 1865, and command of the Army of the James passed to Major General Edward O.C. Ord. Later Career Life Returning to Lowell, Butler hoped to find a position in the Lincoln Administration but was thwarted when the president was assassinated in April. Formally leaving the military on November 30, he elected to resume his political career and won a seat in Congress the following year. In 1868, Butler played a key role in the impeachment and trial of President Andrew Johnson and three years later wrote the initial draft of the Civil Rights Act of 1871. A sponsor of the Civil Rights Act of 1875, which called for equal access to public accommodations, he was angered to see the law overturned by the Supreme Court in 1883. After unsuccessful bids for Governor of Massachusetts in 1878 and 1879, Butler finally won the office in 1882. While governor, Butler appointed the first woman, Clara Barton, to an executive office in May 1883 when he offered her oversight of the Massachusetts Reformatory Prison for Women. In 1884, he earned the presidential nomination from the Greenback and Anti-Monopoly Parties but fared poorly in the general election. Leaving office in January 1884, Butler continued to practice law until his death on January 11, 1893. Passing in Washington, DC, his body was returned to Lowell and buried at Hildreth Cemetery. Sources Civil War Trust: Major General Benjamin ButlerUnversity of Cincinnati Libraries: Benjamin ButlerEncyclopedia Virginia: Benjamin Butler

Evaluation of Corporate Performance Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Evaluation of Corporate Performance - Assignment Example The decorative product segments manufacture various architectural products such as door window, primers, waterproof products, specialty paint products and other hardware products. The cabinets and related products are concerned with easy to assemble kitchen appliances, kitchen countertops and home entertainment appliances. Lastly, the installation and other services segment deals with the installation of building products such as gutters, roofing products, after paint products and fire and insulation accessories. Fastenal Company has a rich history in financial performance in the manufacturing sector. Over the past three decades, the company has had a growth in their economic performance as well as their market share in the region. Its performance has been mostly above industrial average implying the company has had an upper hand over its competitors. The company has penetrated through new markets internationally such as Brazil, China and most countries in Africa. This has seen the company increase its revenue over the years leading to sustained growth of the company (www.fastenal.com). In a bid to evaluate Fastenal Company’s performance, it is essential to review its financial statements and make comparison with the ones it had in previous financial periods. This review of financial statement will entail the evaluation of the previous period balance sheet and income statement, and its comparison of those of 2013 and 2012. The pro forma balance sheet and income statements only consist of the vital items that are necessary for the evaluation of Fastenal Company performance. The total assets of the company in the financial period 2014 are higher that of periods ending 2013 and 2012. This shows that the capital base of the company has increased in comparison with some of the previous periods. The capital base might have increased due to the