Access to the Truth :: Truth Writing Expertise Essays

Access to the Truth In â€Å"Zen and the Art of the Writing Tutorial,† Paul Gamache asks, â€Å"do you think of yourself as an Expert? Do you have access to the truth?† I like this question because it seems to contradict some of his other assertions. For example, he claims that he sometimes does not provide his students with the help they want; rather, he gives them the help he deems they need, and he only gives them the assistance they desire when he decides that it is also what they require. How does he know exactly what they need? Does he consider himself an expert? Does he have access to the truth? Perhaps Mr. Gamache is overconfident? Perhaps he not only overestimates his ability to recognize the inadequacies of his students but also underestimates their ability to honestly assess their writing and identify their own strengths and weaknesses. Although some writers may not know precisely what kind of help they need, others are quite aware of their shortcomings. Indeed, many writers who come to the Peer-Tutoring Center seeking assistance know exactly what type of help they need. Furthermore, a lot of writers know that they need help in one area, but not another. I will explain. Like any other English writing tutor I work with numerous ESL writers. Often they tell me: A) I am having problems with articles and B) you may not understand my argument because I am unable to translate certain words from my native language into English. From these tutorial sessions I have learned that: A) they are almost always correct in their deduction that they need help with articles and B) they are almost always incorrect in their assumption that I will not understand their positions because of translation problems. In my (albeit limited) tutoring experience, it appears that those ESL writers who struggle with articles (which I can relate to as a GSL student), and are aware of this problem, know exactly what type of aid they need. Conversely, those ESL writers who believe that their arguments are unclear as a result of translation issues are often unaware of what they need. That is, the problem is not one of translation but vocabulary, as I can usually decipher their arguments and help them find the necessary words to articulate them.

The Philosophy of Man

The Philosophy of Man â€Å"What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? † (NASB1995) This verse is taken from Psalm 8:4, I cited this verse on the account of my wonder and curiosity on what really is man? I guess this question has already been brought up years ago by scribes, teachers, politicians, scientist and even philosophers. Even David, the man after God’s own heart has also asked on what is on this man that even the God of universe is so fond of him. With all reasons, judgments, questions has been clashed, I have no better answer than other great philosophers.But let me try to expound my idea on this notion truthfully. There are many definitions of man. Some says that man is a rational animal. Others would say that man is a being and has a special place in the universe on the account of their abilities and level of reasoning. While others argued that one thing to observe that humans are but a tiny aspect of the universe and even of life on our own planet. Whatever their justifications may be, I hold unto this one truth that I believe in, Man is created in the image and likeness of God.I’m not saying this because I am a Christian but because I have learned not to depend solely on the knowledge of this world but on the wisdom from God. By simply understanding that man is created in the image and likeness of God, then surely man has a great value. Therefore, every human being is bestowed with dignity and his sense of being. I believe that we are all equal here; sinners or saints, rich or poor are all given by dignity. Thus, one cannot say that I am better off with the others. Man is a spiritual being because of the spiritual acts that he does.This includes intellection and reasoning. Indeed, man is a rational animal. Man is formed as the highest creation since being rational, he can think more, he is free to choose and decide, he can explore, and he can do all things according to his goal that wil l lead him to happiness as well  as to see the good. Moreover, by its uniqueness, soul is  the source of the  things of man  can do what other cannot do. Each one is  unique and thus each one can be distinguished by each soul that describe who you are. Taking up Philosophy of Man subject has been subject to my queries before.Why do we have to take up this when our field is on medical and nursing. It was later then that I realized that this course subject is vital because it gives us a thorough understanding on our patients especially the dignity of humans. Astounding as it was, I found this subject to be a challenging one because it harnessed the way we think and reason out. It taught us to examine ourselves, to look beyond one perspective and to dug deeper. Another essential attribute of man is his freewill. Freewill is the capacity to choose.If by the word â€Å"free† one means that people have the ability to make certain choices on their own free from compulsion, force, or coercion then the answer is â€Å"yes. † For example, people have the ability to choose to go to the store or stay home, to buy a newspaper or not, to eat beef or to eat fish, etc. such choices are within the natural capacity of human beings. People are free to act according to their nature. We humans are moved not by instinct but ideas. I think that this is one of the greatest attribute in man.We are not robots controlled by any manual operations or animals driven by instinct. Yes, we are creations but our creator never imposed on us but give us freewill. I have also pondered out that man is a seeker of happiness. We are all different but we also have something in common and that is our pursuit of happiness. We study hard, get a decent job, find a partner, start our own family, these are all means to gain happiness. Happiness, we all know, comes with the possession of some good; but where, or, in the possession of what good is perfect happiness to be found.However , there’s one thing that I’ve realized, no matter how happy we could be in this world, we would not be content because we are made for something eternal. To be loved is to be known and to be known is to be loved. Man is called to love and communion. I guess this is the basis of our morality everything which is governed by love. Man is not made to be alone. That is why Eve was created for Adam. I truly believed that there is no greater joy to love and be loved in return. Love enables a person to be good and self-giving which creates the good of persons and of communities.

The Vampire Diaries: Dark Reunion Chapter Fourteen

â€Å"He's gone round the bend,† Matt said, staring at the empty doorway through which Stefan had disappeared. â€Å"No, he hasn't,† said Meredith. Her voice was rueful and quiet, but there was a kind of helpless laugh in it too. â€Å"Don't you see what he's doing, Matt?† she said when he turned to her. â€Å"Yelling at us, making us hate him to try and chase us away. Being as nasty as possible so we'll stay mad and let him do this alone.† She glanced at the doorway and raised her eyebrows. † ‘Anyone who does follow me, I'll kill' was going a bit overboard, though.† Bonnie giggled suddenly, wildly, in spite of herself. â€Å"I think he borrowed it from Damon. ‘Get this straight, I don't need any of you!' â€Å" † ‘You bunch of stupid humans,' † Matt added. â€Å"But I still don't understand. You just had a premonition, Bonnie, and Stefan doesn't usually discount those. If there's no way to fight and win, what's the point of going?† â€Å"Bonnie didn't say there was no way to fight and win. She said there was no way to fight and survive. Right, Bonnie?† Meredith looked at her. The fit of giggles dissolved away. Startled herself, Bonnie tried to examine the premonition, but she knew no more than the words that had sprung into her mind. No one can fight him and live. â€Å"You mean Stefan thinks-† Slow, thunderous outrage was smoldering in Matt's eyes. â€Å"He thinks he's going to go and stop Klaus even though he gets killed himself? Like some sacrificial lamb?† â€Å"More like Elena,† Meredith said soberly. â€Å"And maybe-so he can be with her.† â€Å"Huh-uh.† Bonnie shook her head. She might not know more about the prophecy, but this she knew. â€Å"He doesn't think that, I'm sure. Elena's special. She is what she is because she died too young; she left so much unfinished in her own life, and-well, she's a special case. But Stefan's been a vampire for five hundred years, and he certainly wouldn't be dying young. There's no guarantee he'd end up with Elena. He might go to another place or-or just go out. And he knows that. I'm sure he knows that. I think he's just keeping his promise to her, to stop Klaus no matter what it costs.† â€Å"To try, at least,† Matt said softly, and it sounded as if he were quoting. â€Å"Even if you know you're going to lose.† He looked up at the girls suddenly. â€Å"I'm going after him.† â€Å"Of course,† said Meredith patiently. Matt hesitated. â€Å"Uh-I don't suppose I could convince you two to stay here?† â€Å"After all that inspiring talk about teamwork? Not a chance.† â€Å"I was afraid of that. So†¦Ã¢â‚¬  They gathered what weapons they could. Matt's pocketknife that Stefan had dropped, the ivory-hilted dagger from Stefan's dresser, a carving knife from the kitchen. Outside, there was no sign of Mrs. Flowers. The sky was pale purple, shading to apricot in the west. Twilight of the solstice eve, Bonnie thought, and hairs on her arms tried to lift. â€Å"Klaus said the old farmhouse in the woods-that must mean the Francher place,† Matt said. â€Å"Where Katherine dumped Stefan in the abandoned well.† â€Å"That makes sense. He's probably been using Katherine's tunnel to get back and forth under the river,† Meredith said. â€Å"Unless Old Ones are so powerful they can cross running water without harming themselves.† That's right, Bonnie remembered, evil things couldn't cross running water, and the more evil you were, the harder it was. â€Å"But we don't know anything about the Originals,† she said aloud. â€Å"No, and that means we've got to be careful,† Matt said. â€Å"I know these woods pretty well, and I know the path Stefan will probably use. I think we should take a different one.† â€Å"So Stefan won't see us and kill us?† â€Å"So Klaus won't see us, or not all of us. So maybe we'll have a chance of getting to Caroline. Somehow or other we've got to get Caroline out of the equation; as long as Klaus can threaten to hurt her he can make Stefan do anything he wants. And it's always best to plan ahead, to get a jump on the enemy. Klaus said meet there after dark; well, we'll be there before dark and maybe we can surprise him.† Bonnie was deeply impressed by this strategy. No wonder he's a quarterback, she was thinking. I would have just rushed in, yelling. Matt picked out an almost invisible path between the oak trees. The undergrowth was especially lush this time of year, with mosses, grasses, flowering plants, and ferns. Bonnie had to trust that Matt knew where he was going, because she certainly didn't. Above, birds were giving one last burst of song before seeking out a roost for the night. It got dimmer. Moths and lacewings fluttered past Bonnie's face. After stumbling through a patch of toadstools covered with feeding slugs, she was intensely grateful that this time she'd worn jeans. At last Matt stopped them. â€Å"We're getting close,† he said, his voice low. â€Å"There's a sort of bluff where we can look down and Klaus might not see us. Be quiet and careful.† Bonnie had never taken so much trouble placing her feet before. Fortunately the leaf litter was wet and not crackly. After a few minutes Matt dropped to his stomach and gestured for them to follow. Bonnie kept telling herself, fiercely, that she didn't mind the centipedes and earthworms her sliding fingers dug up, that she had no feelings one way or another about cobwebs in the face. This was life and death, and she was competent. No dweeb, no baby, but competent. They were gazing down on the Francher homestead-or what was left of it. It had crumbled into the earth long ago, taken back by the forest. Now it was only a foundation, building stones covered with flowering weeds and prickly brambles, and one tall chimney like a lonely monument. â€Å"There she is. Caroline,† Meredith breathed in Bonnie's other ear. Caroline was a dim figure sitting against the chimney. Her pale green dress showed up in the gathering dark, but her auburn hair just looked black. Something white shone across her face, and after a moment Bonnie realized it was a gag. Tape or a bandage. From her strange posture-arms behind her, legs stretched straight out in front-Bonnie also guessed she was tied. Poor Caroline, she thought, forgiving the other girl all the nasty, petty, selfish things she'd ever done, which was a pretty considerable amount when you got down to it. But Bonnie couldn't imagine anything worse than being abducted by a psycho vampire who'd already killed two of your classmates, dragged out here to the woods and bound, and then left to wait, with your life depending on another vampire who had fairly good reason to hate you. After all, Caroline had wanted Stefan in the beginning, and had hated and tried to humiliate Elena for getting him. Stefan Salvatore was the last person who should feel kindly toward Caroline Forbes. â€Å"Look!† said Matt. â€Å"Is that him? Klaus?† Bonnie had seen it too, a ripple of movement on the opposite side of the chimney. As she strained her eyes he appeared, his light tan raincoat flapping ghostlike around his legs. He glanced down at Caroline and she shrank from him, trying to lean away. His laughter sounded so clearly in the quiet air that Bonnie flinched. â€Å"That's him,† she whispered, dropping down behind the screening ferns. â€Å"But where's Stefan? It's almost dark now.† â€Å"Maybe he got smart and decided not to come,† said Matt. â€Å"No such luck,† said Meredith. She was looking through the ferns to the south. Bonnie glanced that way herself and started. Stefan was standing at the edge of the clearing, having materialized there as if out of thin air. Not even Klaus had seen him coming, Bonnie thought. He stood silently, making no attempt to hide himself or the white ash spear he was carrying. There was something in his stance and the way he looked over the scene before him that made Bonnie remember that in the fifteenth century he'd been an aristocrat, a member of the nobility. He said nothing, waiting for Klaus to notice him, refusing to be rushed. When Klaus did turn south he went still, and Bonnie got the feeling he was surprised Stefan had sneaked up on him. But then he laughed and spread his arms. Slowly, Stefan looked Klaus up and down, from the tails of his tattered raincoat to the top of his windblown head. What Stefan said was: â€Å"You asked for me. I'm here. Let the girl go.† â€Å"Did I say that?† Looking genuinely surprised, Klaus pressed two hands to his chest. Then he shook his head, chuckling. â€Å"I don't think so. Let's talk first.† Stefan nodded, as if Klaus had confirmed something bitter he'd been expecting. He took the spear from his shoulder and held it in front of him, handling the unwieldy length of wood deftly, easily. â€Å"I'm listening,† he said. â€Å"Not as dumb as he looks,† Matt murmured from behind the ferns, a note of respect in his voice. â€Å"And he's not as anxious to get killed as I thought,† Matt added. â€Å"He's being careful.† Klaus gestured toward Caroline, the tips of his fingers brushing her auburn hair. â€Å"Why don't you come here so we don't have to shout?† But he didn't threaten to hurt his prisoner, Bonnie noticed. â€Å"I can hear you just fine,† Stefan replied. â€Å"Good,† Matt whispered. â€Å"That's it, Stefan!† Bonnie, though, was studying Caroline. The captive girl was struggling, tossing her head back and forth as if she were frantic or in pain. But Bonnie got a strange feeling about Caroline's movements, especially those violent jerks of the head, as if the girl was straining to reach the sky. The sky†¦ Bonnie's gaze lifted up to it, where full darkness had fallen and a waning moon shone over the trees. That was why she could see that Caroline's hair was auburn now: the moonlight, she thought. Then, with a shock, her eyes dropped to the tree just above Stefan, whose branches were rustling slightly in the absence of any wind. â€Å"Matt?† she whispered, alarmed. Stefan was focused on Klaus, every sense, every muscle, every atom of his Power honed and turned toward the Old One before him. But in that tree directly above him†¦ All thoughts of strategy, of asking Matt what to do, fled from Bonnie's mind. She bolted up from her place of concealment and shouted. â€Å"Stefan! Above you! It's a trap!† Stefan leaped aside, neat as a cat, just as something plunged down on the exact place he'd been standing an instant before. The moon lit the scene perfectly, enough for Bonnie to see the white of Tyler's bared teeth. And to see the white flash of Klaus's eyes as he whirled on her. For one stunned instant she stared at him, and then lightning crackled. From an empty sky. It was only later that Bonnie would realize the strangeness-the fearsomeness-of this. At the time she scarcely noted that the sky was clear and star swept and that the jagged blue bolt that forked down struck the palm of Klaus's upraised hand. The next sight she saw was so terrifying as to black everything else out: Klaus folding his hand over that lightning, gathering it somehow, and throwing it at her. â€Å"Stay here! Right here!† he shouted, and bounded away. Those dreaded words. They catapulted Bonnie right up, and she was running after him before she knew what she was doing. And then the world turned into chaos. Klaus had whirled back on Stefan, who was grappling with Tyler, beating him. Tyler, in his wolf form, was making terrible sounds as Stefan threw him to the ground. Meredith was running toward Caroline, approaching from behind the chimney so Klaus wouldn't spot her. Bonnie saw her reach Caroline and saw the flash of Stefan's silver dagger as Meredith cut the cords around Caroline's wrists. Then Meredith was half carrying, half dragging Caroline behind the chimney to work on her feet. A sound like antlers clashing made Bonnie spin around. Klaus had come at Stefan with a tall branch of his own-it must have been lying flat on the ground before. It looked just as sharp as Stefan's, making it a serviceable lance. But Klaus and Stefan weren't just stabbing at each other; they were using the sticks as quarterstaffs. Robin Hood, Bonnie thought dazedly. Little John and Robin. That was what it looked like: Klaus was that much taller and heavier boned than Stefan. Then Bonnie saw something else and cried out wordlessly. Behind Stefan, Tyler had gotten up again and was crouching, just as he had in the graveyard before lunging for Stefan's throat. Stefan's back was to him. And Bonnie couldn't warn him in time. But she'd forgotten about Matt. Head down, ignoring claws and fangs, he was charging at Tyler, tackling him like a first-rate linebacker before he could leap. Tyler went flying sideways, with Matt on top of him. Bonnie was overwhelmed. So much was happening. Meredith was sawing through Caroline's ankle cords; Matt was pummeling Tyler in a way that certainly would have gotten him disqualified on the football field; Stefan was whirling that white ash staff as if he'd been trained for it. Klaus was laughing deliriously, seeming exhilarated by the exercise, as they traded blows with deadly speed and accuracy. But Matt seemed to be in trouble now. Tyler was gripping him and snarling, trying to get a hold on his throat. Wildly, Bonnie looked around for a weapon, entirely forgetting the carving knife in her pocket. Her eye fell on a dead oak branch. She picked it up and ran to where Tyler and Matt were struggling. Then Matt was on top of Tyler again, holding Tyler's head down, holding himself clear. Bonnie saw her chance and aimed the stick. But Tyler saw her. With a burst of supernatural strength, he gathered his legs and sent Matt soaring off him backward. Matt's head struck a tree with a sound Bonnie would never forget. The dull sound of a rotten melon bursting. He slid down the front of the tree and was still. Bonnie was gasping, stunned. She might have started toward Matt, but Tyler was there in front of her, breathing hard, bloody saliva running down his chin. He looked even more like an animal than he had in the graveyard. As if in a dream, Bonnie raised her stick, but she could feel it shaking in her hands. Matt was so still-was he breathing? Bonnie could hear the sob in her own breath as she faced Tyler. This was ridiculous; this was a boy from her own school. A boy she'd danced with last year at the Junior Prom. How could he be keeping her away from Matt, how could he be trying to hurt them all? How could he be doing this? â€Å"Tyler, please-† she began, meaning to reason with him, to beg him†¦ â€Å"All alone in the woods, little girl?† he said, and his voice was a thick and guttural growl, shaped at the last minute into words. In that instant Bonnie knew that this was not the boy she'd gone to school with. This was an animal. Oh, God, he's ugly, she thought. Ropes of red spit hung out of his mouth. And those yellow eyes with the slitted pupils-in them she saw the cruelty of the shark, and the crocodile, and the wasp that lays its eggs in a caterpillar's living body. All the cruelty of animal nature in those two yellow eyes. â€Å"Somebody should have warned you,† Tyler said, dropping his jaw to laugh the way a dog does. â€Å"Because if you go out in the woods alone, you might meet the Big Bad-â€Å" â€Å"Jerk!† a voice finished for him, and with a feeling of gratitude that bordered on the religious, Bonnie saw Meredith beside her. Meredith, holding Stefan's dagger, which shone liquidly in the moonlight. â€Å"Silver, Tyler,† Meredith said, brandishing it. â€Å"I wonder what silver does to a werewolf's members? Want to see?† All Meredith's elegance, her standoffishness, her cool observer's dispassion were gone. This was the essential Meredith, a warrior Meredith, and although she was smiling, she was mad. â€Å"Yes!† shouted Bonnie gleefully, feeling power rush through her. Suddenly she could move. She and Meredith, together, were strong. Meredith was stalking Tyler from one side, Bonnie held her stick ready on the other. A longing she'd never felt before shot through her, the longing to hit Tyler so hard his head would come flying off. She could feel the strength to do it surging in her arm. And Tyler, with his animal instinct, could sense it, could sense it from both of them, closing in on either side. He recoiled, caught himself, and turned to try and get away from them. They turned too. In a minute they were all three orbiting like a mini solar system: Tyler turning around and around in the middle; Bonnie and Meredith circling him, looking for a chance to attack. â€Å"I did it! Yes. All right! Yes!† Bonnie shouted, flinging the stick away. Triumph erupted from her in a primal shout. â€Å"We did it!† She grabbed the heavy body by the back of the mane and pulled it off Meredith, where it had fallen. â€Å"We-â€Å" Then she broke off, her words freezing in her throat. â€Å"Meredith!† she cried. â€Å"It's all right,† Meredith gasped, her voice tight with pain. And weakness, Bonnie thought, chilled as if doused with ice water. Tyler had clawed her leg to the bone. There were huge, gaping wounds in the thigh of Meredith's jeans and in the white skin that showed clearly through the torn cloth. And to Bonnie's absolute horror, she could see inside the skin too, could see flesh and muscle ripped and red blood pouring out. â€Å"Meredith-† she cried frantically. They had to get Meredith to a doctor. Everyone had to stop now; everyone must understand that. They had an injury here; they needed to get an ambulance, to call 911. â€Å"Meredith,† she gasped, almost weeping. â€Å"Tie it up with something.† Meredith's face was white. Shock. Going into shock. And so much blood; so much blood coming out. Oh, God, thought Bonnie, please help me. She looked for something to tie it up with, but there was nothing. Something dropped on the ground beside her. A length of nylon cord like the cord they'd used to tie up Tyler, with frayed edges. Bonnie looked up. â€Å"Can you use that?† asked Caroline uncertainly, her teeth chattering. She was wearing the green dress, her auburn hair straggling and stuck to her face with sweat and blood. Even as she spoke she swayed, and fell to her knees beside Meredith. â€Å"Are you hurt?† Bonnie gasped. Caroline shook her head, but then she bent forward, racked with nausea, and Bonnie saw the marks in her throat. But there was no time to worry about Caroline now. Meredith was more important. Bonnie tied the cord above Meredith's wounds, her mind running desperately over things she'd learned from her sister Mary. Mary was a nurse. Mary said-a tourniquet couldn't be too tight or left on too long or gangrene set in. But she had to stop the gushing blood. Oh, Meredith. â€Å"Bonnie-help Stefan,† Meredith was gasping, her voice almost a whisper. â€Å"He's going to need it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She sagged backward, her breathing stertorous, her slitted eyes looking up at the sky. Dazed, she turned to Caroline, who was shivering and retching, sweat beading her face. Useless, Bonnie thought. But she had no other choice. â€Å"Caroline, listen to me,† she said. She picked up the largest piece of the stick she'd used on Tyler and put it into Caroline's hands. â€Å"You stay with Matt and Meredith. Loosen that tourniquet every twenty minutes or so. And if Tyler starts to wake up, if he even twitches, you hit him as hard as you can with this. Understand? Caroline,† she added, â€Å"this is your big chance to prove you're good for something. That you're not useless. All right?† She caught the furtive green eyes and repeated, â€Å"All right?† â€Å"But what are you going to do?† Bonnie looked toward the clearing. â€Å"No, Bonnie.† Caroline's hand grasped her, and Bonnie noted with some part of her mind the broken nails, the rope burns on the wrists. â€Å"Stay here where it's safe. Don't go to them. There's nothing you can do-â€Å" Bonnie shook her off and made for the clearing before she lost her resolve. In her heart, she knew Caroline was right. There was nothing she could do. But something Matt had said before they left was ringing in her mind. To try at least. She had to try. Still, in those next few horrible minutes all she could do was look. So far, Stefan and Klaus had been trading blows with such violence and accuracy that it had been like a beautiful, lethal dance. But it had been an equal, or almost equal, match. Stefan had been holding his own. Now she saw Stefan bearing down with his white ash lance, pressing Klaus to his knees, forcing him backward, farther and farther back, like a limbo dancer seeing how low he could go. And Bonnie could see Klaus's face now, mouth slightly open, staring up at Stefan with what looked like astonishment and fear. Then everything changed. At the very bottom of his descent, when Klaus had bent back as far as he could go, when it seemed that he must be about to collapse or break, something happened. Klaus smiled. And then he started pushing back. Bonnie saw Stefan's muscles knot, saw his arms go rigid, trying to resist. But Klaus, still grinning madly, eyes wide open, just kept coming. He unfolded like some terrible jack-in-the-box, only slowly. Slowly. Inexorably. His grin getting wider until it looked as if it would split his face. Like the Cheshire cat. A cat, thought Bonnie. Now Stefan was the one grunting and straining, teeth clenched, trying to hold Klaus off. But Klaus and his stick bore down, forcing Stefan backward, forcing him to the ground. Grinning all the time. Until Stefan was lying on his back, his own stick pressing into his throat with the weight of Klaus's lance across it. Klaus looked down at him and beamed. â€Å"I'm tired of playing, little boy,† he said, and he straightened and threw his own stick down. â€Å"Now it's dying time.† He took Stefan's staff away from him as easily as if he were taking it from a child. Picked it up with a flick of his wrist and broke it over his knee, showing how strong he was, how strong he had always been. How cruelly he had been playing with Stefan. One of the halves of the white ash stick he tossed over his shoulder across the clearing. The other he jabbed at Stefan. Using not the pointed end but the splintered one, broken into a dozen tiny points. He jabbed down with a force that seemed almost casual, but Stefan screamed. He did it again and again, eliciting a scream each time. Bonnie cried out, soundlessly. She had never heard Stefan scream before. She didn't need to be told what kind of pain must have caused it. She didn't need to be told that white ash might be the only wood deadly to Klaus, but that any wood was deadly to Stefan. That Stefan was, if not dying now, about to die. That Klaus, with his hand now raised, was going to finish it with one more plunging blow. Klaus's face was tilted to the moon in a grin of obscene pleasure, showing that this was what he liked, where he got his thrills. From killing. And Bonnie couldn't move, couldn't even cry. The world swam around her. It had all been a mistake, she wasn't competent; she was a baby after all. She didn't want to see that final thrust, but she couldn't look away. And all this couldn't be happening, but it was. It was. Klaus flourished the splintered stake and with a smile of pure ecstasy started to bring it down. And a spear shot across the clearing and struck him in the middle of the back, landing and quivering like a giant arrow, like half a giant arrow. It made Klaus's arms fling out, dropping the stake; it shocked the ecstatic grin right off his face. He stood, arms extended, for a second, and then turned, the white ash stick in his back wobbling slightly. Bonnie's eyes were too dazzled by waves of gray dots to see, but she heard the voice clearly as it rang out, cold and arrogant and filled with absolute conviction. Just five words, but they changed everything. â€Å"Get away from my brother.†

Reviewing Arguements Whether Scientific Management

The topic I have chosen for my essay assignment would be option 1 which is reviewing the arguments for and against the statement whether scientific management creates efficient organizations. In the world of today, it has been known that scientific management developed over the years and is applied in the everyday work life. Frederick Winslow Taylor is the person who discovered scientific management, also known as ‘Taylorism’.It is a theory about management that analyses and synthesize the workflow of a work place but the main objective is to improve the efficiency of the economy, especially in labour productivity based on five principles as described by Buchanan(2010, pg 423). The first principle of Taylorism is to have ‘A clear division of tasks and responsibilities between management and workers’ whereby the author Chris Grey(2010, pg 40) disagreed that it was an added advantage to an organization. He described it as a system that transfers the power from workers to managers.It reduces autonomy among workers, working conditions and threatened unemployment. It is more of a radical and near complete separation between planning and decision-making, where managers would make the decision while workers carry out the order. The outcome of this caused workers to leave their jobs and go on strike, time and motion studies were banned in US defence plants and even owners and senior managers were against Taylorism as they think that the system has given the managers a higher authority than them.The second principle, ‘The use of scientific methods to determine the best way of doing a job’ was brought up to a disagreement by Paul Adler where he claims that Taylorism represents a fundamental emancipatory philosophy of a job design. His research reveals two fundamental flaws in the standard view that is based on two psychological assumptions. The first one is that work will only be motivating to the extent that it resembles free play and the second that workers need to have autonomy. Adler states that the standard critique of Taylorism is that it presents the payoff of the workers as the only source of motivation to get them going.Adler also argued that when workers develop positive feelings towards their job and perceive Taylorism as an effective way of accomplishing the task, then low individual and team autonomy can co-exist with high morale. (Buchanan,2010,pg 444 – 445). Buchanan (2010, pg 428) also commented that there are several criticisms that disagree with Taylorism bringing efficiency to an organization based on this principle. The first one was because it assumes that the motivation of an employee was to gain maximum payoff for their hard work and neglected the importance of the other rewards such as being given recognition and achievement.This will cause workers to feel that they are not appreciated and are being used as tools to do the job. Secondly, it failed to explain to the workers the us e of implementing new procedures, being timed and closely supervised all the time. Workers will not enjoy being watched all the time, as it would make them feel like a prisoner. It also makes them feel uncomfortable as to not having any privacy at work. However, the Gilbreths came up with their own study through developing Taylorism showing their agreement with Taylor’s second principle. Frank Gilbreth tudied motion and time of job to analyse how long it would take for a person to complete the given task which then lead to the development of a system called ‘therbligs’ which is formed from elementary movements, each having its own symbol and colour. His research then lead him to developing a standard time for each job element, and this is still being used till today for designing the wage payment systems. As for Lilian Gilbreth, she contributed psychologically. She studied motions to eliminate unnecessary actions and to reduce fatigue experienced by workers.She f igured that if she could succeed it would increase the work rate of a worker to maximize productivity. She introduced rest periods, placing chairs at the workplace resting area, and instituted holidays with pay. Changes were also made to the heating, lighting and ventilation of the workplace. This may have been a new revolution for the workers as it improved their work life and gave them motivation to do their jobs. (Buchanan, 2010,pg 429 – 430). The third principle is ‘Scientific selection of the person to do the newly designed job’.Henry Ford did a great job in doing so as he became famous for his way of mass-production that benefited his organization. Ford applied the principles of rationalization whereby employees are allocated simple tasks that are carefully designed to gain maximum efficiency from the workers. Ford replaced skilled craftsmen with machines therefore eliminating the need for skilled workers. He boosted up production of the cars that could har dly be done with just manpower but critics argued that Ford’s technique was destroying craftsmanship and de-skilling jobs.In the workers’ view, this was more of an issue about identifying the right task for unskilled workers to do who would otherwise not enjoy their work and be demoralized which could lead to many problems later on if not solved. The same critics also asserted that short cycle repetitive jobs are the cause of workers being treated like a machine, alienated and stressful. (Buchanan, 2010,pg 431 – 435) A research on the Braverman thesis shows many criticisms were made about Braverman and his deskilling thesis that disagrees with this principle as well. Buchanan cited from (Noon and Blyton, 2007 (pp. 57-159); Fincham and Rhodes, 2005) which shows a couple of criticism such as Taylorism ignoring alternative management strategies like making a choice between using Taylorism to deskill a job position or to let the workers gain autonomy. Employee empow erment would definitely provide better worker interchangeability that allows better assembly line balancing. At the same time, employees will not be deskilled and the management gets to take control over the labour process. Another criticism was that it exaggerated about the management’s objective of controlling labour.The thesis underestimated the complexity and diversity about management objectivity and plurality of interests. Direct labour will take up a small proportion of the total cost of a product and it may not be significant as it was in the past compared to today. The third criticism was that workers were being treated passively. There have been unions and individual resistance towards deskilling, as workers were not being treated fairly as they were forced to do a specific job that does not require their skill they have to be put to good use.In the end, the worker’s skill will deteriorate until he loses it completely. The next one was the underestimation of the employees’ consent and accommodation whereby workers will welcome Taylorism once they understand the importance of it and practice it for years. Fifth, it ignores gender. In the past, men have always been the one who have been developing working skills and were more capable of doing work. That brought a disadvantage to the women as they were being compared to men. They overlooked the possibilities that women may also be able to do other jobs such as office jobs. Buchanan,2010, pg 440 – 441) The fourth principle is ‘The training of the selected worker to perform the job in the way specified’ and from this principle came about the upskilling position which gave importance towards human capital. Companies invested in their workforce by providing education and training to help them have a better understanding of their work and how to do it right. This will help managers to identify which worker is capable of doing which job they will be assigned to. Beside s that, it will generate higher level of skills among employees that most work required during those times.The fifth principle is the ‘Surveillance of workers through the use of hierarchies of authority and close supervision’. Harry Braverman developed the Braverman where he saw scientific management as a method of directly controlling fellow employees. Managers reduced the autonomy and discretion of workers in how they perform their jobs, thereby deskilling their work in order to gain more control over them. Braveman concluded two types of deskilling technique and they are, firstly, organizational deskilling which involves Taylor’s separation of task conception from task execution that all problems are to be solved by the supervisor.The second one is technological deskilling that is replacing the workers with machines to achieve a better rate of production. (Buchanan, 2010,pg 436 – 437) Max Weber also agreed to this principle stating that rational-legal a uthority was increasingly supplanting forms of authority which comes from a set of rules, procedures and duties. This authority is empowered to the person in charge, for example, the Chief Executive Officer of an organization. Eventhough the person holding the position may change, the empowerment the job position holds still maintains the same.There always have to be someone who oversees the entire organization and manage it. Just like a country, without the government the country will not be in order but instead be in chaos. Weber defines this type of organization being set by rules and a series of hierarchical relationship. It helps make use of principles of systemization, division of labour and authority. Weber stated that his theory represented the most technical and rational form of an organization and it was confirmed when his theory spread like wildfire throughout the state as organizations were implementing his theory. Grey,2009, pg 22-23) From what I have studied about scie ntific management and its theories about how it has been applied throughout the years I would agree that scientific management does creates an efficient organization. It has dramatically improved our work life today if compared to the old days where workers were mistreated, low rate of production and many more. Scientific management have been developing over the years and along side it there were ups and downs but I have to say that in the world today, it has definitely brought significant changes to organizations.As I have worked before at several hotels, I have experienced these changes such as following procedures and rules while working which is fine by me as it tells me what I should do and be more systematic. While I was working in the F&B department, everyday there will be tasks assigned to each staff so that everyone knows what they are supposed to do and to prevent miscommunication between one another. I felt very comfortable and I did my job well following it with little p roblems. Another example would be with the help of technology everything goes faster and smoother through my experience in the front office department.In the front office department, guest records used to be manually written down in a book and it would be a hassle to find out if the guest stayed there before but now we have computers where we can just enter a guest’s information within a minute and check it at anytime and any second. Everything will be recorded in the computer therefore making it available to other departments so that they could get information on a certain guest. In conclusion, surely there are advantages and disadvantages in scientific management but that is what that makes it improve and develop over the years.There may be people who disagree with me but I stand firm on my decision that scientific management does create an efficient organization and I also look forward to see what new changes it will bring in the near future. Referances Buchanan, D. and Hu czynski, A. (2010),Organizational Behaviour, Harlow, Financial Times/ Prentice Hall (7th edition), Grey, C. (2009) A very short and fairly interesting and reasonably cheap book about studying organizations, (2nd edition), London, Sage Publications Ltd Noon M. and Blyton P. (2007), The Realities of Work, (3rd edition), Gordonsville,Palgrave Macmillan

Policies and Procedures Essay

Policy: A person requesting a release of patient information other than him or her self, needs to correctly identify the reasoning for the information and proper legal documents need to be completed, such as an authorization form signed by the patient. Under certain circumstances, the release of information would not need authorization due to certain federal and state statutes; these are explained in the measurement standards. Objective: To protect patient’s individual rights to the privacy, security, and confidentiality of medical information being released to others by recording authorization information into the database with accuracy and in a timely manner. The patient’s specific authorization forms must be filed within 24 hours of admission. Measurements: 1. The patient must disclose their written authorization by completing an authorization form prior to the release of patient information to a health care provider, an individual who assists a health care provider in the delivery of health care, or an agent of the health care provider. 2. If the patient decides to complete an authorization form, we are required to honor that authorization and, if requested, provide a copy of the recorded health information unless the health care provider denies the patient access to health information. 3. To be valid, a disclosure of authorization must be in writing, dated, and signed by the patient. Identify the nature of the information to be disclosed, identify the name and institutional affiliation of the person to whom the information is being disclosed, identify the provider and the patient, and contain an expiration date that relates to the patient. 4. A patient may revoke in writing a disclosure authorization to a health care provider at any t ime unless disclosure is required to effectuate payments for health care that has been provided or other substantial action has been taken in reliance on the authorization. 5. A health care provider or facility may disclose patient health information without the patient’s authorization in the event of the recipient needs to know the information because the provider or facility reasonably believes the person is providing health care to the patient. 6. Disclosure without authorization may also be made to federal, state, or local law enforcement authorities upon receipt of a written or oral request made to a nursing supervisor, administrator, or designated privacy official, in a case in which the patient is being treated or has been treated for a bullet wound gunshot wound, powder burn, or other injury arising from or caused by discharge of a firearm. 7. A health care provider shall maintain a record of existing health care information for at least one year following a receipt of an authorization to disclose that health care information under RCW 70.02.040, and during the pendency of a request for examination and copying under RCW 70.02.080, or a request for correction or amendment under RCW 70.02.100. 8. The authorization must be entered into the database within the first 24 hours of completion; therefore, other staff members in the facility such as providers and other members of the ROI department will know the limits to the release of that patient’s information if requested upon. State and Federal Statutes: RCW70.02.020, RCW 70.02.030, RCW 70.02.040, RCW 70.02.050, RCW 70.02.160.

Abraham ben Samuel Abulafia Essay

It is commonly accepted that the research of the great historian of Jewish mysticism, Abraham ben Samuel Abulafia, opened the doors of the academy to Qabbalah. Far from us the intention of dulling the luster of his prodigious contribution in this respect, but it is a fact that at the time the young Berlin student set about writing his first essays, the critical study of the Qabbalah had already made great strides. Moreover, its trail had been partly blazed by Jew scholars who can claim to have played quite a considerable role, particularly in connection with the central problem of the Zohar, in forming the point of departure of the modem study of this discipline. Indeed, so distinguished by characteristic traits and original solutions is their contribution that it would not be an exaggeration to speak of a â€Å"Jew school† of Qabbalistic studies. Is it not highly significant that the central piece of Qabbalistic literature–the Zohar–was twice translated on Jew soil, first into Latin by G. Postel in the sixteenth century and subsequently into Jew–the first into any modem language–by the mysterious Jean de Pauly at the beginning of this century? Fostered by a congenial intellectual atmosphere peculiar to the Jew, the study of Jewish esotericism got off to a precocious start in France in comparison to other European countries. The attainments of the humanists and evangelists of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries paved the way for the mystical philosophers and Martinists of the eighteenth century, who in turn ushered in the occultists of the nineteenth century. (Sassmitz, 1990) The present essay is an attempt to Abraham ben Samuel Abulafia who was a Jewish Sage in the years of his life, his character, and what he believed in and why he believed. Let it be made quite clear at the outset that our concern relates to the historical-critical study of the question and consequently deals all but incidentally with what A. E. Waite calls â€Å"Kabbalism.† Hence the theosophers and mystagogues of all shapes, from Eliphas Levi to A. Grad, not forgetting Papus and C. Suares, will only be of secondary interest to our theme. Though in many respects deserving of attention, their literary activity will be taken into account only insofar as it had real repercussions on the development of the Qabbalah as an academic discipline. That the theosophists and occultists did indeed exert such an influence is undeniable, even if it is solely through the efforts deployed by the scholars to dissipate the veil of confusion with which the former had enshrouded the whole question. In Jews two periods can be distinguished in the development of this field: on the one hand, an historical phase, preoccupied with the question of the antiquity of the Zohar, followed, on the other, by a bibliographical and doctrinal phase. The work of Adolphe Franck (1809-1893) marks the beginning of the first of these two periods, whereas the second was initiated, a century later, by the research of Georges Vajda (1907-1981). The latter, already under the sway of the impulse given to Qabbalistic studies by Abulafia, worked in harmony with both the school of Jerusalem and Alexander Altmann, of Manchester and later of Brandeis University. But these two tendencies also possess their pre-history, and it is first necessary to describe the framework within which each of these two schools evolved. At the outset of its diffusion in Europe, the Qabbalah was submitted to censure. One could almost claim that from the chronological point of view it is on Jew soil that the critical study of the Qabbalah was born. Indeed, it is in thirteenth-century Provence that the first critical appreciation of the Qabbalah was written by R. Meir ben Sim’ on of Narbonne (active 1250), who, in his Milhemet miswah, vituperates against the polytheistic implications of the sefirotic doctrine. (Sassmitz, 1990) But no real analytic debate got underway until the awakening of Christian interest in the â€Å"Cabale† in Renaissance times. Whereas the Platonists believed the secret doctrine of Israel was meant to conceal the primordial revelation common to all religions, for the Christian esotericists it prefigured the mystery of the Trinitarian doctrine, the very foundation of Christianity. In the Qabbalists they perceived the forerunners of the Christians and in Qabbalah, a secret justification of the evangelization of the Jews. In tenth-century France, the study of the â€Å"Cabale† occupied a place of honor amongst Christian intellectuals. Mention must above all be made of the orientalist and philosopher Guillaume Postel (1510-1581), to whom we owe the first Latin translation both of the Sefer yesirah (Paris, 1552) and of the Zohar (unpublished) prior even to the appearance of their printed texts. (Sassmitz, 1990) However, the evangelizing zeal of his compatriots and their theological prejudices hampered any critical perspectives in relation to the study of the Jewish esoteric tradition. Towards the end of the seventeenth century, opinions became increasingly diversified. The Qabbalah was thought to have in fact taught an elementary form of Spinozism and pantheism, and the Qabbalists were considered atheists unaware of their own irreligion. Of the scholars of this period, the academician Louis Jouard de la Nauze (1696-1773), defender of Newton’s chronological system, stands out as an exceptional figure. Whereas his contemporaries ingeniously endeavored to demonstrate the Qabbalah’s christological affinities, De la Nauze upheld in his historic article, â€Å"Remarques sur l’antiquite et l’origine de la Cabale,† that the foundations â€Å"of the Cabale [were] layed by the Saracens at the time the Jews lived in the Orient under their domination. †¦ The Saracens were Cabalists, and so were the Jews.† (Sassmitz, 1990) At the beginning of the nineteenth century with the blossoming of the history of ideas, though the critical study of Qabbalah progressed, it nonetheless remained profoundly tainted by the spirit of the Renaissance. Depending on which scholar one was reading, the Qabbalah could become anything but Judaism. For Ferdinand Bauer it was an offshoot of Christian gnosis, while J. Kleuker assigned it a Persian origin and Augustus Tholuck pinpointed the preponderant influence of Sufism. (Sassmitz, 1990) A new era in the study of the Jewish mystical tradition was ushered in by the critical investigation of Judaism advocated by the Jewish intellectuals of Central Europe, partisans of the Haskalah. Though in addition to a solid rabbinical and general culture, these masters were possessed of scientific methods, they often exhibited an irrepressible repugnance towards Qabbalah. With few exceptions, the great scholars, such as L. Zunz, S. D. Luzzato, A. Geiger, H. Graetz, and M. Steinschneider, considered it an alien thorn in the side of the Synagogue, incompatible with the conceptions of the progressive rationalism they were striving to attribute to the genius of Israel. In the era of Aufklarung and the struggle for Jewish emancipation, it was imperative to represent the Synagogue as the standard-bearer of regeneracy and rationality in order to be accepted into modern society. The parsimony of references to Qabbalah in Julius Gutmann’s Philosophie des Judentums, published in 1933, still reflects this contempt. For similar reasons, the contribution of German scholarship to this field, despite its abundance, was relatively thin and narrow in substance and incapable of casting off the tethers of tendentiousness. These scholars were principally concerned with minimalizing the importance of Qabbalistic influence on Jewish culture and with demonstrating the late composition of the Zohar in order to loosen the grip of its authority and domination, upheld in Europe by the hasidic camp, considered retrograde. The scientific paradigms elaborated by the Wissenschaft des Judentums served as an epistemological framework upon which the Jew â€Å"science dejudaisme† was to build. The first major Jew work specifically devoted to a detailed study of the Qabbalah, though not a direct offspring of the Wissenschaft, nonetheless partook of this current of investigation. La Kabbale ou la philosophie religieuse des hebreux, by Adolphe Franck, published in Paris in 1843, is a milestone in the annals of Qabbalistic research. Assuredly, it contributed more to the modern study of Qabbalah than any other single work prior to the labors of Abulafia. In addition to the fact of its having been based on philological, historical, and conceptual criteria, the originality of this book resided in the obvious empathy that the author displayed for his subject. Indeed, in contrast to many maskilim, Franck considered the Qabbalah to be an authentic Jewish phenomenon of major spiritual importance; hence he affirms: â€Å"It is impossible to consider the Kabbalah as an isolated fact, as an accident in Judaism; on the contrary it is its very life and heart.†

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

Reflection Paper - Essay Example At the same time, though most people knew what the laws called for, it was still too early to tell the measures their respective State governments would take. While some states adopted the laws as they were, others introduced to exceptions, making the laws almost unattainable. Eminent domain Eminent domain generally refers to the power of the government to control all the property within its territory and appropriate it for public use. In the United States, these powers have been delegated to the respective state governments (Weinstein, 2006). However, the government must undertake several steps before acquiring private property for public use. This applies regardless of whether the acquisition is complete, partial, temporary or right of way. In all the cases, the government is supposed to pay a fair price for the property, which is usually the fair market value or the highest price one can pay for the property in an open market. At times, the government may go further to ensure that there is fair compensation for the property taken. This includes for example, finding a premise for a going-concern business or paying relocation costs to individuals moving from their homes. After undertaking all the steps, the government must ensure that the acquired property is for public use, as any other purpose would make the process null and void (Larson, 2004). These powers vested upon the government vary from one state to another, based on the limitations placed over the use of the appropriated property (Larson, 2004). The three main factors that arose immediately after the Kelo ruling are responsible for these differences. These factors included the uncharacteristic dissent by the former justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the change in political and legal atmosphere in the country, and the outcry from both the media and the public concerning the ruling. Of the three, the dissent by O’Connor was the most unequivocal as she went further to document her thoughts, whi ch apparently rivaled those of her colleagues. In addition, she joined hands with a group of advocates from the property right movement, who argued that the law would not only replace homes with shopping malls, but also turn farms into factories (Weinstein, 2006). Like O’Connor, the Congress indirectly opposed the enactment of the eminent law by introducing limitation bills. The aim of the bills was to deny state or local government funds, which would necessitate the transfer of private property to other parties. However, it was very categorical in the ban, as it only prohibited those that benefited private investors. Consequently, although the laws vary among various jurisdictions, it is apparent that most of the states concur with the laws. The differences originate from the need of each State to be independent and protect the rights of its residents. Most of the states that enacted the eminent domain law introduced bills that restricted the use of the appropriated property for economic development. Others went further to define economic development as those activities that would create new job opportunities and generate revenue to the state. With this specification, it became apparent that any appropriation for private gain would be discouraged (Weinstein, 2006). Alabama serves as a good example of how States passed bills to prohibit the implementation of