Advantages and Disadvantages of Sending the Grades

COLEGIO DE DAGUPAN Advantages and Disadvantages of Sending the Grades of the Colegio de Dagupan Students to their Parents A research paper submitted to the faculty of School of Engineering In partial fulfilment of the requirements of the course in English Communication 2 Discipulo, Margie Lyn C. Espiritu, John Mark A. Fragata, Jessa C. Gapuz, Ervie R. . March Table of Contents CHAPTER I I. Introduction A. Background of the Study B. Objectives of the Study C. Statement of the Problem CHAPTER II II. Discussion A. Internet Findings B. Survey Findings C. Interview FindingsCHAPTER III III. Conclusion A. Summary B. Conclusion C. Recommendations Reference Appendix CHAPTER I Background Study Every educational institution is aiming to attain achievement through their various programs, projects and activities. They play the vital role in the implementation of new dimensions to realize visions for the brighter future. Our school serves to be our second home and our instructors which serves to b e our second parents. Students are sent to school by their parents but parents are not able to monitor their child’s in performance in school.The students have all their portals, but not all parents are informed about it or some don’t know the password of the account or maybe some are not computer literate. Nepo Mall has been built in front of Colegio de Dagupan which may create an influence on the academic performance and lifestyle of students. The world today is very different from yesterday. Students also changes. Now a days, many gadgets and technologies are coming out in the market. Students were not able to give more attention to their studies. Some parents are too busy to check their child’s performance in school even their child’s grade were not monitored.So as of this, the President of this institution implemented a new policy – it is to deliver a hard copy of every students grade in their home. In this concern, we seek if there is any adv antage or disadvantage of sending the grades of Colegio de Dagupan students to their parents. Objectives of the Study The study aim to answer the following questions: 1. To be able to identify if the new policy could help the parents monitor their child ? 2. Are the parents satisfied with the new policy ? 3. Is their any advantage or disadvantage for the students with the new policy? 4.Is the new policy well implemented ? 5. Did all students receive their grades through postal ? Statement of the Problem The study aim to determined if there are advantage or disadvantage of sending thegrades of Colegio de Dagupan students to their parents. And if the new policy is wellimplemented by the administration. CHAPTER 2 Discussion II. DISCUSSION A. Internet Findings COLEGIO DE DAGUPAN PORTAL The primary advantage is that an online. Portal can be setup to automatically grade responses and the primary disadvantage is that the best answer may not be the right answer. Local college has such a por tal and it’s great when test results are immediately posted for test-taker viewing. * Student portal it’s college online grade access for student in CDD. Advantage of writing our own is that we can make any kind of adjustments or new features on the fly. B. Survey Findings Table I. Percentage of correspondents according to school. School| Population| Percentage| SOHS| 10| 18. 18%| SOE| 10| 18. 18%| SIHM| 10| 18. 18%| SBA| 10| 18. 18%| SAS| 10| 18. 18%| SITE| 5| 9. 09%| Total| 55| 100%| Table I presents the number of correspondents from each school or department 10 out of 55 or 18. 8% from theSchool of Engineering(SOE), School of Health Sciences(SOHS), School of International Hotel and Management (SIHM),School of Business and Accountancy(SBA), School of Arts and Sciences (SAS) and 5 or 9. 09% from School of Information Technology Education (SITE). Table II. Percentage of students who receive and don’t receive their grades. School| % who have receive their grades| % who haven’t receive their grades| SOHS| 60%| 40%| SOE| 80%| 20%| SIHM| 60%| 40%| SBA| 50%| 50%| SITE| 80%| 20%| SAS| 90%| 10%| Table II presents the percentage of students who was able to receive their grade from postal.Almost half of the SBA student’s were not able to receive the delivered grades. Table III. Percentage of students who agreed to add the postal fee to their tuition fee. School| Agree| Disagree| SOHS| 90%| 10%| SOE| 90%| 10%| SIHM| 50%| 50%| SBA| 70%| 30%| SITE| 40%| 60%| SAS| 30%| 70%| Table III shows how many student’s who agreed that postal fee would be added to the student’s tuition fee. Most of the students of SIHM, SITE and SAS are not in favour with this. Table IV. Percentage of students who says that postal sending of grades in Colegio de Dagupan. School| Disadvantage| Advantage|SOHS| 20%| 80%| SOE| 40%| 60%| SIHM| 30%| 70%| SBA| 40%| 60%| SITE| 40%| 60%| SAS| 30%| 70%| Table IV show about the comment of the students regarding th e advantage and disadvantage of sending the grades of the student’s to their parents. Table V. Percentage of student’s whom there parent’s are happy with their grades. School| Happy| Sad| Angry| No Comment| SOHS| 70%| | | 30%| SOE| 90%| | 10%| | SIHM| 60%| | 10%| 30%| SBA| 80%| | | 20%| SITE| 100%| | | | SAS| 90%| 10%| | | Table V shows the percentage of student whom their parents are happy, angry and sad with their grades. Table VI.Percentage of student who allow there parents to view their portals. School| Yes| No| SOHS| 10%| 90%| SOE| 20%| 80%| SIHM| 10%| 90%| SBA| 20%| 80%| SITE| 10%| 90%| SAS| 10%| 90%| Table VI presents the percentage of students who allow their parent’s to view their postal. Most of the student’s don’t allow their Table VII. Percentage of male and female correspondent in every school. School| No. of Males| % of Males| No. of Females| % of Females| SOHS| 5| 50%| 5| 50%| SOE| 5| 50%| 5| 50%| SIHM| 5| 50%| 5| 50%| SBA| 5 | 50%| 5| 50%| SITE| 2| 40%| 3| 60%| SAS| 5| 50%| 5| 50%| Table VII.Present the percentage of male and female correspondent in every school. Table VIII. Percentage of male who said postal fee is ok. School| No. of males| Agree| Disagree| % of male who agree| % of male who disagree| SOHS| 5| 4| 1| 80%| 20%| SOE| 5| 2| 3| 40%| 60%| SIHM| 5| 3| 2| 60%| 40%| SBA| 5| 3| 2| 60%| 40%| SITE| 2| 1| 1| 50%| 50%| SAS| 5| 1| 3| 66%| 34%| Table VIII represents the male who agreed that postal fee is ok to be added on student’s tuition fee. Table IX. Percentage of female who said postal fee is ok. School| No. of females| Agree| Disagree| % of females who agree| % of emales who disagree| SOHS| 5| 5| 0| 100%| 0%| SOE| 5| 5| 0| 100%| 0%| SIHM| 5| 2| 3| 40%| 60%| SBA| 5| 4| 1| 80%| 20%| SITE| 3| 1| 2| 33%| 67%| SAS| 5| 3| 2| 60%| 40%| Table IX represents the female who agreed that postal fee is ok to be added on their tuition fee. Table X. The Tally get from the Survey | 1. Did your parents rec ieive your grades? | | | Yes40| No15| | 2. Were you able to show your grades to your parents before you enroll| Yes9| No7| | 3. How did your parents reacted when they saw your grades| Happy45| Sad1| Angry No C2 7| 4.Do you agree that the postal fee is added to your tuition fee? Why? | Yes31| No24| | 5. Do you agree that your grades will be delivered in your home through postal? Why? | Yes43| No12| | 6. Is there any disadvantage for you in the new policy? | Yes26| None29| | Table 10 represent the tally made by the researcher from the survey they made. On the survey made by the researcher the following reasons are gathered: *Reasons why student don’t agree with the additional fee for Postal Fee 1. Because it wasn’t included in my discount 2. Addition fee meaning to say additioinal TF and additional expenses and additional problem. . Postal fee is useless. In fact grades were delivered late and in some no grades were delivered. *Reasons why student agree that Postal Fee c ould be added in the Tution Fee. 1. Because the money paid will be use in the payment of the postal fee that will be use in sending our grades ain our respective home. 2. Because my parents would know my performance in school. *Reasons why students agree that grades will be sent at home. 1. So that my parents will know my grades and performance in school. 2. So that we could have a second copy. *Reasons why students don’t agree that grades will be sent at home. 1.I don’t want to be scolded by my parents when they saw mygrades most specially when I have a failing grades. *Disadvantages of Sending the grades of student of CdD 1. My parents will know my grades specially when I have failing or low grade. *Advantages of Sending the grades of students of CdD 1. Our parents would be able to monitor their child’s performance in school. B. Interview Findings Based on our interviewee Mrs. Berhin R. Gapuz, agreed with the new policy implemented by the president of Colegio de Dagupan that second hard copy grades of the students of Colegio de Dagupan will be sent to their respective home.According to her, her daughter’s original grade slip was submitted to the office of Team Energy so its better to have a second copy. On the other hand, Nancy Espirirtu don’t agree with this. She emphasize that delivery of second copy of her son’s grade. In fact he could monitor his child’s performance through CdD Portal. And she could see his son’s original grade slip. She also said that parents should always monitor their child. Second copy is just a waste of money. Mrs. Rosemarie Discipulo also commented that she disagree that grades will be sent in their home. ven if postal fee is only 18 php ,that cost still matters. And in fact grades were not delivered on time. Mr. Romeo Fragata Jr. ’s opinion is that he agree with the policy . He said,† Its not that I don’t have trust on my daughter I also need to monitor he r performance in school. Chapter 3 Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation This chapter presents the summary, conclusion and recommendations of the research â€Å" Advantage and Disadvantages of Sending the Grades of Colegio de Dagupan Student’s to their Parents ‘’. SummaryThe researchers conduct research, interview and survey to fulfil the study and to find out if the student or parents agree or disagree with the topic presented. Conclusion ————————————————- Based on the survey, 65 correspondents, 27 males and 28 females, almost 73% have receive their grades through postal. The remaining 27% was not able to receive their grades, but 60% of their parent’s view their grades before enrolling. Only 56% of the population agreed with the new policy that grades will be delivered at home. And only 16% of them let their parent’s view their portal. ———————————————— ————————————————- ————————————————- ————————————————- ————————————————- ————————————————- ————————————————- RECOMMENDATION On the basis of the conclusions arrived at the researchers recommend the following. 1. The institutions should be alarmed with the implementation of the new policy. Grades should be delivered as early as possible for the parents to be informed. . As a student, you should your best shot to be make your parents happy with your grades. 3. Just continue the new policy for the parents to be informed with their child’s performance. Reference Survey Questionaire Name: _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Year and Course_________________________________________________________Gender_____________________ Date of Survey: ______________________________________________________________________________________ If no, do you show your parent your grades? Yes No .† 1.Did your parents receive your grades? Yes No If no, do you show your parent your grades? Yes No 2. Howdid your parentsreact when they saw your grades? Happy Sad Angry 3. Do you agree that the postal fee is added to your tuition fee? Why? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 31 The Third Task

â€Å"Dumbledore reckons You-Know-Who's getting stronger again as well?† Ron whispered. Everything Harry had seen in the Pensieve, nearly everything Dumbledore had told and shown him afterward, he had now shared with Ron and Hermione – and, of course, with Sirius, to whom Harry had sent an owl the moment he had left Dumbledore's office. Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat up late in the common room once again that night, talking it all over until Harry's mind was reeling, until he understood what Dumbledore had meant about a head becoming so full of thoughts that it would have been a relief to siphon them off. Ron stared into the common room fire. Harry thought he saw Ron shiver slightly, even though the evening was warm. â€Å"And he trusts Snape?† Ron said. â€Å"He really trusts Snape, even though he knows he was a Death Eater?† â€Å"Yes,† said Harry. Hermione had not spoken for ten minutes. She was sitting with her forehead in her hands, staring at her knees. Harry thought she too looked as though she could have done with a Pensieve. â€Å"Rita Skeeter,† she muttered finally. â€Å"How can you be worrying about her now?† said Ron, in utter disbelief. â€Å"I'm not worrying about her,† Hermione said to her knees. â€Å"I'm just thinking†¦remember what she said to me in the Three Broomsticks? ‘I know things about Ludo Bagman that would make your hair curl. ‘ This is what she meant, isn't it? She reported his trial, she knew he'd passed information to the Death Eaters. And Winky too, remember†¦'Ludo Bagman's a bad wizard.' Mr. Crouch would have been furious he got off, he would have talked about it at home.† â€Å"Yeah, but Bagman didn't pass information on purpose, did he?† Hermione shrugged. â€Å"And Fudge reckons Madame Maxime attacked Crouch?† Ron said, turning back to Harry. â€Å"Yeah,† said Harry, â€Å"but he's only saying that because Crouch disappeared near the Beauxbatons carriage.† â€Å"We never thought of her, did we?† said Ron slowly. â€Å"Mind you, she's definitely got giant blood, and she doesn't want to admit it-â€Å" â€Å"Of course she doesn't,† said Hermione sharply, looking up. â€Å"Look what happened to Hagrid when Rita found out about his mother. Look at Fudge, jumping to conclusions about her, just because she's part giant. Who needs that sort of prejudice? I'd probably say I had big bones if I knew that's what I'd get for telling the truth.† Hermione looked at her watch. â€Å"We haven't done any practicing!† she said, looking shocked. â€Å"We were going to do the Impediment Curse! We'll have to really get down to it tomorrow! Come on. Harry, you need to get some sleep.† Harry and Ron went slowly upstairs to their dormitory. As Harry pulled on his pajamas, he looked over at Neville's bed. True to his word to Dumbledore, he had not told Ron and Hermione about Neville's parents. As Harry took off his glasses and climbed into his four-poster, he imagined how it must feel to have parents still living but unable to recognize you. He often got sympathy from strangers for being an orphan, but as he listened to Neville's snores, he thought that Neville deserved it more than he did. Lying in the darkness, Harry felt a rush of anger and hate toward the people who had tortured Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom†¦.He remembered the jeers of the crowd as Crouch's son and his companions had been dragged from the court by the dementors†¦.He understood how they had felt†¦.Then he remembered the milk-white face of the screaming boy and realized with a jolt that he had died a year later†¦. It was Voldemort, Harry thought, staring up at the canopy of his bed in the darkness, it all came back to Voldemort†¦.He was the one who had torn these families apart, who had ruined all these lives†¦. Ron and Hermione were supposed to be studying for their exams, which would finish on the day of the third task, but they were putting most of their efforts into helping Harry prepare. â€Å"Don't worry about it,† Hermione said shortly when Harry pointed this out to them and said he didn't mind practicing on his own for a while, â€Å"at least we'll get top marks in Defense Against the Dark Arts. We'd never have found out about all these hexes in class.† â€Å"Good training for when we're all Aurors,† said Ron excitedly, attempting the Impediment Curse on a wasp that had buzzed into the room and making it stop dead in midair. The mood in the castle as they entered June became excited and tense again. Everyone was looking forward to the third task, which would take place a week before the end of term. Harry was practicing hexes at every available moment. He felt more confident about this task than either of the others. Difficult and dangerous though it would undoubtedly be, Moody was right: Harry had managed to find his way past monstrous creatures and enchanted barriers before now, and this time he had some notice, some chance to prepare himself for what lay ahead. Tired of walking in on Harry, Hermione, and Ron all over the school. Professor McGonagall had given them permission to use the empty Transfiguration classroom at lunchtimes. Harry had soon mastered the Impediment Curse, a spell to slow down and obstruct attackers; the Reductor Curse, which would enable him to blast solid objects out of his way; and the Four-Point Spell, a useful discovery of Hermione's that would make his wand point due north, therefore enabling him to check whether he was going in the right direction within the maze. He was still having trouble with the Shield Charm, though. This was supposed to cast a temporary, invisible wall around himself that deflected minor curses; Hermione managed to shatter it with a well-placed Jelly-Legs Jinx, and Harry wobbled around the room for ten minutes afterward before she had looked up the counter-jinx. â€Å"You're still doing really well, though,† Hermione said encouragingly, looking down her list and crossing off those spells they had already learned. â€Å"Some of these are bound to come in handy.† â€Å"Come and look at this,† said Ron, who was standing by the window. He was staring down onto the grounds. â€Å"What's Malfoy doing?† Harry and Hermione went to see. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing in the shadow of a tree below. Crabbe and Goyle seemed to be keeping a lookout; both were smirking. Malfoy was holding his hand up to his mouth and speaking into it. â€Å"He looks like he's using a walkie-talkie,† said Harry curiously. â€Å"He can't be,† said Hermione, â€Å"I've told you, those sorts of things don't work around Hogwarts. Come on, Harry,† she added briskly, turning away from the window and moving back into the middle of the room, â€Å"let's try that Shield Charm again.† Sirius was sending daily owls now. Like Hermione, he seemed to want to concentrate on getting Harry through the last task before they concerned themselves with anything else. He reminded Harry in every letter that whatever might be going on outside the walls of Hogwarts was not Harry's responsibility, nor was it within his power to influence it. If Voldemort is really getting stronger again, he wrote, my priority is to ensure your safety. He cannot hope to lay hands on you while you are under Dumbledore's protection, but all the same, take no risks: Concentrate on getting through that maze safely, and then we can turn our attention to other matters. Harry's nerves mounted as June the twenty-fourth drew closer, but they were not as bad as those he had felt before the first and second tasks. For one thing, he was confident that, this time, he had done everything in his power to prepare for the task. For another, this was the final hurdle, and however well or badly he did, the tournament would at last be over, which would be an enormous relief. Breakfast was a very noisy affair at the Gryffindor table on the morning of the third task. The post owls appeared, bringing Harry a good-luck card from Sirius. It was only a piece of parchment, folded over and bearing a muddy paw print on its front, but Harry appreciated it all the same. A screech owl arrived for Hermione, carrying her morning copy of the Daily Prophet as usual. She unfolded the paper, glanced at the front page, and spat out a mouthful of pumpkin juice all over it. â€Å"What?† said Harry and Ron together, staring at her. â€Å"Nothing,† said Hermione quickly, trying to shove the paper out of sight, but Ron grabbed it. He stared at the headline and said, â€Å"No way. Not today. That old cow.† â€Å"What?† said Harry. â€Å"Rita Skeeter again?† â€Å"No,† said Ron, and just like Hermione, he attempted to push the paper out of sight. â€Å"It's about me, isn't it?† said Harry. â€Å"No,† said Ron, in an entirely unconvincing tone. But before Harry could demand to see the paper. Draco Malfoy shouted across the Great Hall from the Slytherin table. â€Å"Hey, Potter! Potter! How's your head? You feeling all right? Sure you're not going to go berserk on us?† Malfoy was holding a copy of the Daily Prophet too. Slytherins up and down the table were sniggering, twisting in their seats to see Harry's reaction. â€Å"Let me see it,† Harry said to Ron. â€Å"Give it here.† Very reluctantly, Ron handed over the newspaper. Harry turned it over and found himself staring at his own picture, beneath the banner headline: â€Å"HARRY POTTER† â€Å"DISTURBED AND DANGEROUS† The boy who defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is unstable and possibly dangerous, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. Alarming evidence has recently come to light about Harry Potter's strange behavior, which casts doubts upon his suitability to compete in a demanding competition like the Triwizard Tournament, or even to attend Hogwarts School. Potter, the Daily Prophet can exclusively reveal, regularly collapses at school, and is often heard to complain of pain in the scar on his forehead (relic of the curse with which You-Know-Who attempted to kill him). On Monday last, midway through a Divination lesson, your Daily Prophet reporter witnessed Potter storming from the class, claiming that his scar was hurting too badly to continue studying. It is possible, say top experts at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, that Potters brain was affected by the attack inflicted upon him by You-Know-Who, a nd that his insistence that the scar is still hurting is an expression of his deep-seated confusion. â€Å"He might even be pretending,† said one specialist. â€Å"This could be a plea for attention.† The Daily Prophet, however, has unearthed worrying facts about Harry Potter that Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, has carefully concealed from the wizarding public. â€Å"Potter can speak Parseltongue,† reveals Draco Malfoy, a Hogwarts fourth year. â€Å"There were a lot of attacks on students a couple of years ago, and most people thought Potter was behind them after they saw him lose his temper at a dueling club and set a snake on another boy. It was all hushed up, though. But he's made friends with werewolves and giants too. We think he'd do anything for a bit of power.† Parseltongue, the ability to converse with snakes, has long been considered a Dark Art. Indeed, the most famous Parselmouth of our times is none other than You-Know-Who himself. A member of the Dark Force Defense League, who wished to remain unnamed, stated that he would regard any wizard who could speak Parseltongue â€Å"as worthy of investigation. Personally, I would be highly suspicious of anybody who could converse with snakes, as serpents are often used in the worst kinds of Dark Magic, and are historically associated with evildoers.† Similarly, â€Å"anyone who seeks out the company of such vicious creatures as werewolves and giants would appear to have a fondness for violence.† Albus Dumbledore should surely consider whether a boy such as this should be allowed to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. Some fear that Potter might resort to the Dark Arts in his desperation to win the tournament, the third task of which takes place this evening. â€Å"Gone off me a bit, hasn't she?† said Harry lightly, folding up the paper. Over at the Slytherin table, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were laughing at him, tapping their heads with their fingers, pulling grotesquely mad faces, and waggling their tongues like snakes. â€Å"How did she know your scar hurt in Divination?† Ron said. â€Å"There's no way she was there, there's no way she could've heard -â€Å" â€Å"The window was open,† said Harry. â€Å"I opened it to breathe.† â€Å"You were at the top of North Tower!† Hermione said. â€Å"Your voice couldn't have carried all the way down to the grounds!† â€Å"Well, you're the one who's supposed to be researching magical methods of bugging!† said Harry. â€Å"You tell me how she did it!† â€Å"I've been trying!† said Hermione. â€Å"But I†¦but†¦Ã¢â‚¬  An odd, dreamy expression suddenly came over Hermione's face. She slowly raised a hand and ran her fingers through her hair. â€Å"Are you all right?† said Ron, frowning at her. â€Å"Yes,† said Hermione breathlessly. She ran her fingers through her hair again, and then held her hand up to her mouth, as though speaking into an invisible walkie-talkie. Harry and Ron stared at each other. â€Å"I've had an idea,† Hermione said, gazing into space. â€Å"I think I know†¦because then no one would be able to see†¦even Moody†¦and she'd have been able to get onto the window ledge†¦but she's not allowed†¦she's definitely not allowed†¦I think we've got her! Just give me two seconds in the library – just to make sure!† With that, Hermione seized her school bag and dashed out of the Great Hall. â€Å"Oi!† Ron called after her. â€Å"We've got our History of Magic exam in ten minutes! Blimey,† he said, turning back to Harry, â€Å"she must really hate that Skeeter woman to risk missing the start of an exam. What're you going to do in Binns's class – read again?† Exempt from the end-of-term tests as a Triwizard champion, Harry had been sitting in the back of every exam class so far, looking up fresh hexes for the third task. â€Å"S'pose so,† Harry said to Ron; but just then. Professor McGonagall came walking alongside the Gryffindor table toward him. â€Å"Potter, the champions are congregating in the chamber off the Hall after breakfast,† she said. â€Å"But the task's not till tonight!† said Harry, accidentally spilling scrambled eggs down his front, afraid he had mistaken the time. â€Å"I'm aware of that, Potter,† she said. â€Å"The champions' families are invited to watch the final task, you know. This is simply a chance for you to greet them.† She moved away. Harry gaped after her. â€Å"She doesn't expect the Dursleys to turn up, does she?† he asked Ron blankly. â€Å"Dunno,† said Ron. â€Å"Harry, I'd better hurry, I'm going to be late for Binns. See you later.† Harry finished his breakfast in the emptying Great Hall. He saw Fleur Delacour get up from the Ravenclaw table and join Cedric as he crossed to the side chamber and entered. Krum slouched off to join them shortly afterward. Harry stayed where he was. He really didn't want to go into the chamber. He had no family – no family who would turn up to see him risk his life, anyway. But just as he was getting up, thinking that he might as well go up to the library and do a spot more hex research, the door of the side chamber opened, and Cedric stuck his head out. â€Å"Harry, come on, they're waiting for you!† Utterly perplexed. Harry got up. The Dursleys couldn't possibly be here, could they? He walked across the Hall and opened the door into the chamber. Cedric and his parents were just inside the door. Viktor Krum was over in a corner, conversing with his dark-haired mother and father in rapid Bulgarian. He had inherited his fathers hooked nose. On the other side of the room, Fleur was jabbering away in French to her mother. Fleur's little sister, Gabrielle, was holding her mother's hand. She waved at Harry, who waved back, grinning. Then he saw Mrs. Weasley and Bill standing in front of the fireplace, beaming at him. â€Å"Surprise!† Mrs. Weasley said excitedly as he smiled broadly and walked over to them. â€Å"Thought we'd come and watch you. Harry!† She bent down and kissed him on the cheek. â€Å"You all right?† said Bill, grinning at Harry and shaking his hand. â€Å"Charlie wanted to come, but he couldn't get time off. He said you were incredible against the Horntail.† Fleur Delacour, Harry noticed, was eyeing Bill with great interest over her mother's shoulder. Harry could tell she had no objection whatsoever to long hair or earrings with fangs on them. â€Å"This is really nice of you,† Harry muttered to Mrs. Weasley. â€Å"I thought for a moment – the Dursleys -â€Å" â€Å"Hmm,† said Mrs. Weasley, pursing her lips. She had always refrained from criticizing the Dursleys in front of Harry, but her eyes flashed every time they were mentioned. â€Å"It's great being back here,† said Bill, looking around the chamber (Violet, the Fat Lady's friend, winked at him from her frame). â€Å"Haven't seen this place for five years. Is that picture of the mad knight still around? Sir Cadogan?† â€Å"Oh yeah,† said Harry, who had met Sir Cadogan the previous year. â€Å"And the Fat Lady?† said Bill. â€Å"She was here in my time,† said Mrs. Weasley. â€Å"She gave me such a telling off one night when I got back to the dormitory at four in the morning -â€Å" â€Å"What were you doing out of your dormitory at four in the morning?† said Bill, surveying his mother with amazement. Mrs. Weasley grinned, her eyes twinkling. â€Å"Your father and I had been for a nighttime stroll,† she said. â€Å"He got caught by Apollyon Pringle – he was the caretaker in those days – your father's still got the marks.† â€Å"Fancy giving us a tour, Harry?† said Bill. â€Å"Yeah, okay,† said Harry, and they made their way back toward the door into the Great Hall. As they passed Amos Diggory, he looked around. â€Å"There you are, are you?† he said, looking Harry up and down. â€Å"Bet you're not feeling quite as full of yourself now Cedric's caught you up on points, are you?† â€Å"What?† said Harry. â€Å"Ignore him,† said Cedric in a low voice to Harry, frowning after his father. â€Å"He's been angry ever since Rita Skeeter's article about the Triwizard Tournament – you know, when she made out you were the only Hogwarts champion.† â€Å"Didn't bother to correct her, though, did he?† said Amos Diggory, loudly enough for Harry to hear as he started to walk out of the door with Mrs. Weasley and Bill. â€Å"Still,†¦you'll show him, Ced. Beaten him once before, haven't you?† â€Å"Rita Skeeter goes out of her way to cause trouble, Amos!† Mrs. Weasley said angrily. â€Å"I would have thought you'd know that, working at the Ministry!† Mr. Diggory looked as though he was going to say something angry, but his wife laid a hand on his arm, and he merely shrugged and turned away. Harry had a very enjoyable morning walking over the sunny grounds with Bill and Mrs. Weasley, showing them the Beauxbatons carriage and the Durmstrang ship. Mrs. Weasley was intrigued by the Whomping Willow, which had been planted after she had left school, and reminisced at length about the gamekeeper before Hagrid, a man called Ogg. â€Å"How's Percy?† Harry asked as they walked around the greenhouses. â€Å"Not good,† said Bill. â€Å"He's very upset,† said Mrs. Weasley, lowering her voice and glancing around. â€Å"The Ministry wants to keep Mr. Crouch's disappearance quiet, but Percy's been hauled in for questioning about the instructions Mr. Crouch has been sending in. They seem to think there's a chance they weren't genuinely written by him. Percy's been under a lot of strain. They're not letting him fill in for Mr. Crouch as the fifth judge tonight. Cornelius Fudge is going to be doing it.† They returned to the castle for lunch. â€Å"Mum – Bill!† said Ron, looking stunned, as he joined the Gryffindor table. â€Å"What're you doing here?† â€Å"Come to watch Harry in the last task!† said Mrs. Weasley brightly. â€Å"I must say, it makes a lovely change, not having to cook. How was your exam?† â€Å"Oh†¦okay,† said Ron. â€Å"Couldn't remember all the goblin rebels' names, so I invented a few. It's all right,† he said, helping himself to a Cornish pasty, while Mrs. Weasley looked stern, â€Å"they're all called stuff like Bodrod the Bearded and Urg the Unclean; it wasn't hard.† Fred, George, and Ginny came to sit next to them too, and Harry was having such a good time he felt almost as though he were back at the Burrow; he had forgotten to worry about that evening's task, and not until Hermione turned up, halfway through lunch, did he remember that she had had a brainwave about Rita Skeeter. â€Å"Are you going to tell us -?† Hermione shook her head warningly and glanced at Mrs. Weasley. â€Å"Hello, Hermione,† said Mrs. Weasley, much more stiffly than usual. â€Å"Hello,† said Hermione, her smile faltering at the cold expression on Mrs. Weasley's face. Harry looked between them, then said, â€Å"Mrs. Weasley, you didn't believe that rubbish Rita Skeeter wrote in Witch Weekly, did you? Because Hermione's not my girlfriend.† â€Å"Oh!† said Mrs. Weasley â€Å"No – of course I didn't!† But she became considerably warmer toward Hermione after that. Harry, Bill, and Mrs. Weasley whiled away the afternoon with a long walk around the castle, and then returned to the Great Hall for the evening feast. Ludo Bagman and Cornelius Fudge had joined the staff table now. Bagman looked quite cheerful, but Cornelius Fudge, who was sitting next to Madame Maxime, looked stern and was not talking. Madame Maxime was concentrating on her plate, and Harry thought her eyes looked red. Hagrid kept glancing along the table at her, There were more courses than usual, but Harry, who was starting to feel really nervous now, didn't eat much. As the enchanted ceiling overhead began to fade from blue to a dusky purple, Dumbledore rose to his feet at the staff table, and silence fell. â€Å"Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes' time, I will be asking you to make your way down to the Quidditch field for the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament. Will the champions please follow Mr. Bagman down to the stadium now.† Harry got up. The Gryffindors all along the table were applauding him; the Weasleys and Hermione all wished him good luck, and he headed off out of the Great Hall with Cedric, Fleur, and Viktor. â€Å"Feeling all right. Harry?† Bagman asked as they went down the stone steps onto the grounds. â€Å"Confident?† â€Å"I'm okay,† said Harry. It was sort of true; he was nervous, but he kept running over all the hexes and spells he had been practicing in his mind as they walked, and the knowledge that he could remember them all made him feel better. They walked onto the Quidditch field, which was now completely unrecognizable. A twenty-foot-high hedge ran all the way around the edge of it. There was a gap right in front of them: the entrance to the vast maze. The passage beyond it looked dark and creepy. Five minutes later, the stands had begun to fill; the air was full of excited voices and the rumbling of feet as the hundreds of students filed into their seats. The sky was a deep, clear blue now, and the first stars were starting to appear. Hagrid, Professor Moody, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Flitwick came walking into the stadium and approached Bagman and the champions. They were wearing large, red, luminous stars on their hats, all except Hagrid, who had his on the back of his moleskin vest. â€Å"We are going to be patrolling the outside of the maze,† said Professor McGonagall to the champions. â€Å"If you get into difficulty, and wish to be rescued, send red sparks into the air, and one of us will come and get you, do you understand?† The champions nodded. â€Å"Off you go, then!† said Bagman brightly to the four patrollers. â€Å"Good luck. Harry,† Hagrid whispered, and the four of them walked away in different directions, to station themselves around the maze. Bagman now pointed his wand at his throat, muttered, â€Å"Sonorus,† and his magically magnified voice echoed into the stands. â€Å"Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand! Tied in first place, with eighty-five points each – Mr. Cedric Diggory and Mr. Harry Potter, both of Hogwarts School!† The cheers and applause sent birds from the Forbidden Forest fluttering into the darkening sky. â€Å"In second place, with eighty points – Mr. Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute!† More applause. â€Å"And in third place – Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!† Harry could just make out Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Ron, and Hermione applauding Fleur politely, halfway up the stands. He waved up at them, and they waved back, beaming at him. â€Å"So†¦on my whistle, Harry and Cedric!† said Bagman. â€Å"Three – two – one -â€Å" He gave a short blast on his whistle, and Harry and Cedric hurried forward into the maze. The towering hedges cast black shadows across the path, and, whether because they were so tall and thick or because they had been enchanted, the sound of the surrounding crowd was silenced the moment they entered the maze. Harry felt almost as though he were underwater again. He pulled out his wand, muttered, â€Å"Lumos,† and heard Cedric do the same just behind him. After about fifty yards, they reached a fork. They looked at each other. â€Å"See you,† Harry said, and he took the left one, while Cedric took the right. Harry heard Bagman's whistle for the second time. Krum had entered the maze. Harry sped up. His chosen path seemed completely deserted. He turned right, and hurried on, holding his wand high over his head, trying to see as far ahead as possible. Still, there was nothing in sight. Bagman's whistle blew in the distance for the third time. All of the champions were now inside. Harry kept looking behind him. The old feeling that he was being watched was upon him. The maze was growing darker with every passing minute as the sky overhead deepened to navy. He reached a second fork. â€Å"Point Me,† he whispered to his wand, holding it flat in his palm. The wand spun around once and pointed toward his right, into solid hedge. That way was north, and he knew that he needed to go northwest for the center of the maze. The best he could do was to take the left fork and go right again as soon as possible. The path ahead was empty too, and when Harry reached a right turn and took it, he again found his way unblocked. Harry didn't know why, but the lack of obstacles was unnerving him. Surely he should have met something by now? It felt as though the maze were luring him into a false sense of security. Then he heard movement right behind him. He held out his wand, ready to attack, but its beam fell only upon Cedric, who had just hurried out of a path on the right-hand side. Cedric looked severely shaken. The sleeve of his robe was smoking. â€Å"Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts!† he hissed. â€Å"They're enormous – I only just got away!† He shook his head and dived out of sight, along another path. Keen to put plenty of distance between himself and the skrewts, Harry hurried off again. Then, as he turned a corner, he saw†¦a dementor gliding toward him. Twelve feet tall, its face hidden by its hood, its rotting, scabbed hands outstretched, it advanced, sensing its way blindly toward him. Harry could hear its rattling breath; he felt clammy coldness stealing over him, but knew what he had to do†¦. He summoned the happiest thought he could, concentrated with all his might on the thought of getting out of the maze and celebrating with Ron and Hermione, raised his wand, and cried, â€Å"Expecto Patronum!† A silver stag erupted from the end of Harry's wand and galloped toward the dementor, which fell back and tripped over the hem of its robes†¦.Harry had never seen a dementor stumble. â€Å"Hang on!† he shouted, advancing in the wake of his silver Patronus, â€Å"You're a boggart! Riddikulus!† There was a loud crack, and the shape-shifter exploded in a wisp of smoke. The silver stag faded from sight. Harry wished it could have stayed, he could have used some company†¦but he moved on, quickly and quietly as possible, listening hard, his wand held high once more. Left†¦right†¦left again†¦Twice he found himself facing dead ends. He did the Four-Point Spell again and found that he was going too far east. He turned back, took a right turn, and saw an odd golden mist floating ahead of him. Harry approached it cautiously, pointing the wand's beam at it. This looked like some kind of enchantment. He wondered whether he might be able to blast it out of the way. â€Å"Reducio!† he said. The spell shot straight through the mist, leaving it intact. He supposed he should have known better; the Reductor Curse was for solid objects. What would happen if he walked through the mist? Was it worth chancing it, or should he double back? He was still hesitating when a scream shattered the silence. â€Å"Fleur?† Harry yelled. There was silence. He stared all around him. What had happened to her? Her scream seemed to have come from somewhere ahead. He took a deep breath and ran through the enchanted mist. The world turned upside down. Harry was hanging from the ground, with his hair on end, his glasses dangling off his nose, threatening to fall into the bottomless sky. He clutched them to the end of his nose and hung there, terrified. It felt as though his feet were glued to the grass, which had now become the ceiling. Below him the dark, star-spangled heavens stretched endlessly. He felt as though if he tried to move one of his feet, he would fall away from the earth completely. Think, he told himself, as all the blood rushed to his head, think†¦ But not one of the spells he had practiced had been designed to combat a sudden reversal of ground and sky. Did he dare move his foot? He could hear the blood pounding in his ears. He had two choices – try and move, or send up red sparks, and get rescued and disqualified from the task. He shut his eyes, so he wouldn't be able to see the view of endless space below him, and pulled his right foot as hard as he could away from the grassy ceiling. Immediately, the world righted itself. Harry fell forward onto his knees onto the wonderfully solid ground. He felt temporarily limp with shock. He took a deep, steadying breath, then got up again and hurried forward, looking back over his shoulder as he ran away from the golden mist, which twinkled innocently at him in the moonlight. He paused at a junction of two paths and looked around for some sign of Fleur. He was sure it had been she who had screamed. What had she met? Was she all right? There was no sign of red sparks – did that mean she had got herself out of trouble, or was she in such trouble that she couldn't reach her wand? Harry took the right fork with a feeling of increasing unease†¦but at the same time, he couldn't help thinking. One champion down†¦ The cup was somewhere close by, and it sounded as though Fleur was no longer in the running. He'd got this far, hadn't he? What if he actually managed to win? Fleetingly, and for the first time since he'd found himself champion, he saw again that image of himself, raising the Triwizard Cup in front of the rest of the school†¦. He met nothing for ten minutes, but kept running into dead ends. Twice he took the same wrong turning. Finally, he found a new route and started to jog along it, his wandlight waving, making his shadow flicker and distort on the hedge walls. Then he rounded another corner and found himself facing a Blast-Ended Skrewt. Cedric was right – it was enormous. Ten feet long, it looked more like a giant scorpion than anything. Its long sting was curled over its back. Its thick armor glinted in the light from Harry's wand, which he pointed at it. â€Å"Stupefy!† The spell hit the skrewt's armor and rebounded; Harry ducked just in time, but could smell burning hair; it had singed the top of his head. The skrewt issued a blast of fire from its end and flew forward toward him. â€Å"Impedimenta!† Harry yelled. The spell hit the skrewt's armor again and ricocheted off; Harry staggered back a few paces and fell over. â€Å"IMPEDIMENTA!† The skrewt was inches from him when it froze – he had managed to hit it on its fleshy, shell-less underside. Panting, Harry pushed himself away from it and ran, hard, in the opposite direction – the Impediment Curse was not permanent; the skrewt would be regaining the use of its legs at any moment. He took a left path and hit a dead end, a right, and hit another; forcing himself to stop, heart hammering, he performed the Four-Point Spell again, backtracked, and chose a path that would take him northwest. He had been hurrying along the new path for a few minutes, when he heard something in the path running parallel to his own that made him stop dead. â€Å"What are you doing?† yelled Cedric's voice. â€Å"What the hell d'you think you're doing?† And then Harry heard Krum's voice. â€Å"Crucio!† The air was suddenly full of Cedric's yells. Horrified, Harry began sprinting up his path, trying to find a way into Cedric's. When none appeared, he tried the Reductor Curse again. It wasn't very effective, but it burned a small hole in the hedge through which Harry forced his leg, kicking at the thick brambles and branches until they broke and made an opening; he struggled through it, tearing his robes, and looking to his right, saw Cedric jerking and twitching on the ground, Krum standing over him. Harry pulled himself up and pointed his wand at Krum just as Krum looked up. Krum turned and began to run. â€Å"Stupefy!† Harry yelled. The spell hit Krum in the back; he stopped dead in his tracks, fell forward, and lay motionless, facedown in the grass. Harry-dashed over to Cedric, who had stopped twitching and was lying there panting, his hands over his face. â€Å"Are you all right?† Harry said roughly, grabbing Cedric's arm. â€Å"Yeah,† panted Cedric. â€Å"Yeah†¦I don't believe it†¦he crept up behind me†¦.I heard him, I turned around, and he had his wand on me†¦.† Cedric got up. He was still shaking. He and Harry looked down at Krum. â€Å"I can't believe this†¦I thought he was all right,† Harry said, staring at Krum. â€Å"So did I,† said Cedric. â€Å"Did you hear Fleur scream earlier?† said Harry. â€Å"Yeah,† said Cedric. â€Å"You don't think Krum got her too?† â€Å"I don't know,† said Harry slowly. â€Å"Should we leave him here?† Cedric muttered. â€Å"No,† said Harry. â€Å"I reckon we should send up red sparks. Someone'll come and collect him†¦otherwise he'll probably be eaten by a skrewt.† â€Å"He'd deserve it,† Cedric muttered, but all the same, he raised his wand and shot a shower of red sparks into the air, which hovered high above Krum, marking the spot where he lay. Harry and Cedric stood there in the darkness for a moment, looking around them. Then Cedric said, â€Å"Well†¦I s'pose we'd better go on†¦.† â€Å"What?† said Harry. â€Å"Oh†¦yeah†¦right†¦Ã¢â‚¬  It was an odd moment. He and Cedric had been briefly united against Krum – now the fact that they were opponents came back to Harry. The two of them proceeded up the dark path without speaking, then Harry turned left, and Cedric right. Cedric's footsteps soon died away. Harry moved on, continuing to use the Four-Point Spell, making sure he was moving in the right direction. It was between him and Cedric now. His desire to reach the cup first was now burning stronger than ever, but he could hardly believe what he'd just seen Krum do. The use of an Unforgivable Curse on a fellow human being meant a life term in Azkaban, that was what Moody had told them. Krum surely couldn't have wanted the Triwizard Cup that badly†¦.Harry sped up. Every so often he hit more dead ends, but the increasing darkness made him feel sure he was getting near the heart of the maze. Then, as he strode down a long, straight path, he saw movement once again, and his beam of wandlight hit an extraordinary creature, one which he had only seen in picture form, in his Monster Book of Monsters. It was a sphinx. It had the body of an over-large lion: great clawed paws and a long yellowish tail ending in a brown tuft. Its head, however, was that of a woman. She turned her long, almond-shaped eyes upon Harry as he approached. He raised his wand, hesitating. She was not crouching as if to spring, but pacing from side to side of the path, blocking his progress. Then she spoke, in a deep, hoarse voice. â€Å"You are very near your goal. The quickest way is past me.† â€Å"So†¦so will you move, please?† said Harry, knowing what the answer was going to be. â€Å"No,† she said, continuing to pace. â€Å"Not unless you can answer my riddle. Answer on your first guess – I let you pass. Answer wrongly – I attack. Remain silent – I will let you walk away from me unscathed.† Harry's stomach slipped several notches. It was Hermione who was good at this sort of thing, not him. He weighed his chances. If the riddle was too hard, he could keep silent, get away from the sphinx unharmed, and try and find an alternative route to the center. â€Å"Okay,† he said. â€Å"Can I hear the riddle?† The sphinx sat down upon her hind legs, in the very middle of the path, and recited: â€Å"First think of the person who lives in disguise, Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies. Next, tell me what's always the last thing to mend, The middle of middle and end of the end? And finally give me the sound often heard During the search for a hard-to-find word. Now string them together, and answer me this, Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?† Harry gaped at her. â€Å"Could I have it again†¦more slowly?† he asked tentatively. She blinked at him, smiled, and repeated the poem. â€Å"All the clues add up to a creature I wouldn't want to kiss?† Harry asked. She merely smiled her mysterious smile. Harry took that for a â€Å"yes.† Harry cast his mind around. There were plenty of animals he wouldn't want to kiss; his immediate thought was a Blast-Ended Skrewt, but something told him that wasn't the answer. He'd have to try and work out the clues†¦. â€Å"A person in disguise,† Harry muttered, staring at her, â€Å"who lies†¦er†¦that'd be a – an impostor. No, that's not my guess! A – a spy? I'll come back to that†¦could you give me the next clue again, please?† She repeated the next lines of the poem. â€Å"‘The last thing to mend,'† Harry repeated. â€Å"Er†¦no idea†¦'middle of middle'†¦could I have the last bit again?† She gave him the last four lines. â€Å"‘The sound often heard during the search for a hard-to-find word,'† said Harry. â€Å"Er†¦that'd be†¦er†¦hang on – ‘er'! Er's a sound!† The sphinx smiled at him. â€Å"Spy†¦er†¦spy†¦er†¦Ã¢â‚¬  said Harry, pacing up and down. â€Å"A creature I wouldn't want to kiss†¦a spider!† The sphinx smiled more broadly. She got up, stretched her front legs, and then moved aside for him to pass. â€Å"Thanks!† said Harry, and, amazed at his own brilliance, he dashed forward. He had to be close now, he had to be†¦.His wand was telling him he was bang on course; as long as he didn't meet anything too horrible, he might have a chance†¦. Harry broke into a run. He had a choice of paths up ahead. â€Å"Point Me!† he whispered again to his wand, and it spun around and pointed him to the right-hand one. He dashed up this one and saw light ahead. The Triwizard Cup was gleaming on a plinth a hundred yards away. Suddenly a dark figure hurtled out onto the path in front of him. Cedric was going to get there first. Cedric was sprinting as fast as he could toward the cup, and Harry knew he would never catch up, Cedric was much taller, had much longer legs – Then Harry saw something immense over a hedge to his left, moving quickly along a path that intersected with his own; it was moving so fast Cedric was about to run into it, and Cedric, his eyes on the cup, had not seen it – â€Å"Cedric!† Harry bellowed. â€Å"On your left!† Cedric looked around just in time to hurl himself past the thing and avoid colliding with it, but in his haste, he tripped. Harry saw Cedric's wand fly out of his hand as a gigantic spider stepped into the path and began to bear down upon Cedric. â€Å"Stupefy!† Harry yelled; the spell hit the spider's gigantic, hairy black body, but for all the good it did, he might as well have thrown a stone at it; the spider jerked, scuttled around, and ran at Harry instead. â€Å"Stupefy! Impedimenta! Stupefy!† But it was no use – the spider was either so large, or so magical, that the spells were doing no more than aggravating it. Harry had one horrifying glimpse of eight shining black eyes and razor-sharp pincers before it was upon him. He was lifted into the air in its front legs; struggling madly, he tried to kick it; his leg connected with the pincers and next moment he was in excruciating pain. He could hear Cedric yelling â€Å"Stupefy!† too, but his spell had no more effect than Harry's – Harry raised his wand as the spider opened its pincers once more and shouted â€Å"Expelliarmus!† It worked – the Disarming Spell made the spider drop him, but that meant that Harry fell twelve feet onto his already injured leg, which crumpled beneath him. Without pausing to think, he aimed high at the spider's underbelly, as he had done with the skrewt, and shouted â€Å"Stupefy!†just as Cedric yelled the same thing. The two spells combined did what one alone had not: The spider keeled over sideways, flattening a nearby hedge, and strewing the path with a tangle of hairy legs. â€Å"Harry!† he heard Cedric shouting. â€Å"You all right? Did it fall on you?† â€Å"No,† Harry called back, panting. He looked down at his leg. It was bleeding freely. He could see some sort of thick, gluey secretion from the spider's pincers on his torn robes. He tried to get up, but his leg was shaking badly and did not want to support his weight. He leaned against the hedge, gasping for breath, and looked around. Cedric was standing feet from the Triwizard Cup, which was gleaming behind him. â€Å"Take it, then,† Harry panted to Cedric. â€Å"Go on, take it. You're there.† But Cedric didn't move. He merely stood there, looking at Harry. Then he turned to stare at the cup. Harry saw the longing expression on his face in its golden light. Cedric looked around at Harry again, who was now holding onto the hedge to support himself. Cedric took a deep breath. â€Å"You take it. You should win. That's twice you've saved my neck in here.† â€Å"That's not how it's supposed to work,† Harry said. He felt angry; his leg was very painful, he was aching all over from trying to throw off the spider, and after all his efforts, Cedric had beaten him to it, just as he'd beaten Harry to ask Cho to the ball. â€Å"The one who reaches the cup first gets the points. That's you. I'm telling you, I'm not going to win any races on this leg.† Cedric took a few paces nearer to the Stunned spider, away from the cup, shaking his head. â€Å"No,† he said. â€Å"Stop being noble,† said Harry irritably. â€Å"Just take it, then we can get out of here.† Cedric watched Harry steadying himself, holding tight to the hedge. â€Å"You told me about the dragons,† Cedric said. â€Å"I would've gone down in the first task if you hadn't told me what was coming.† â€Å"I had help on that too,† Harry snapped, trying to mop up his bloody leg with his robes. â€Å"You helped me with the egg – we're square.† â€Å"I had help on the egg in the first place,† said Cedric. â€Å"We're still square,† said Harry, testing his leg gingerly; it shook violently as he put weight on it; he had sprained his ankle when the spider had dropped him. â€Å"You should've got more points on the second task,† said Cedric mulishly. â€Å"You stayed behind to get all the hostages. I should've done that.† â€Å"I was the only one who was thick enough to take that song seriously!† said Harry bitterly. â€Å"Just take the cup!† â€Å"No,† said Cedric. He stepped over the spider's tangled legs to join Harry, who stared at him. Cedric was serious. He was walking away from the sort of glory Hufflepuff House hadn't had in centuries. â€Å"Go on,† Cedric said. He looked as though this was costing him every ounce of resolution he had, but his face was set, his arms were folded, he seemed decided. Harry looked from Cedric to the cup. For one shining moment, he saw himself emerging from the maze, holding it. He saw himself holding the Triwizard Cup aloft, heard the roar of the crowd, saw Cho's face shining with admiration, more clearly than he had ever seen it before†¦and then the picture faded, and he found himself staring at Cedric's shadowy, stubborn face. â€Å"Both of us,† Harry said. â€Å"What?† â€Å"We'll take it at the same time. It's still a Hogwarts victory. We'll tie for it.† Cedric stared at Harry. He unfolded his arms. â€Å"You – you sure?† â€Å"Yeah,† said Harry. â€Å"Yeah†¦we've helped each other out, haven't we? We both got here. Let's just take it together.† For a moment, Cedric looked as though he couldn't believe his ears; then his face split in a grin. â€Å"You're on,† he said. â€Å"Come here.† He grabbed Harry's arm below the shoulder and helped Harry limp toward the plinth where the cup stood. When they had reached it, they both held a hand out over one of the cup's gleaming handles. â€Å"On three, right?† said Harry. â€Å"One – two – three -â€Å" He and Cedric both grasped a handle. Instantly, Harry felt a jerk somewhere behind his navel. His feet had left the ground. He could not unclench the hand holding the Triwizard Cup; it was pulling him onward in a howl of wind and swirling color, Cedric at his side.

Stationery Supply Proposal

Intellect Resources Limited 2, Kolawole Sebili Street Killa B/Stop, Iyana Ejigbo Ejigbo, Lagos [email  protected] com Intellect Res. Ltd Intellect Res. Ltd Intellect Resources Limited BOOKS AND GENERAL STATIONERY SUPPLIES 25 June 2011 Prepared By:Ige Michael Olatunde Sales Officer Prepared For: XXXX Nigeria Limited. DESCRIPTION XXX Nigeria Limited requires an a prompt and economical supply of general office stationery and related materials.Intellect Resources Limited is committed to supply books and general office stationery to XXX Nigeria limited in a prompt and cost effective manner to avoid unnecessary delays in XXX Nigeria Limited service deliveries, office operations, etc. OBJECTIVE 1. To employ the best practices in the conduct of business 2. Supply of goods that meet the requirement of client 3. Provide prompt and timely supplies irrespective of client location and status 4. Provide a network that ease access to urgent requirement and supplies 5.Make available a pedestal for customization of office equipment and preserve identity SCOPE OF SERVICE Our services include but not limited to the following 1. Supply of basic office consumables and supplies, mailing supplies, small office electronics, multimedia storage devices, ink and toner supplies and light office machines. 2. Supply of academic books ranging from creche to higher education books 3. Supply of business and motivational books 4. Conferencing and Meeting support services 5. Customisation of office equipments and identities 6.Library and allied services COST SUMMARY The following tables shows the estimated cost of stationery and office consummables supplied by our organisation. Basic Office Supplies No| Item| Brand/Make| Price/unit| Comments| 1| File fastener| | | | 2| Paper binder| | | | 3| Pape rings| | | | 4| Key tag| | | | 5| Foldback clips| | | | 6| Mounting tacks| | | | 7| Thimblettes| | | | 8| Rubber band| | | | 9| Adhesive tapes| | | | 10| pens| | | | 11| pencils| | | | 12| Correction pen| | | | 13| Correction fluid and brush| | | | 14| Correction tape| | | | 5| Adhesive notes| | | | 16| glues| | | | 17| Marker& cleaner| | | | 18| Rulers| | | | 19| Erasers| | | | 20| Writing pads/ Notepads| | | | 21| Key cabinet| | | | Mailing Supplies No| Item| Brand/Make| Price/unit| Comments| 1| Custom Label| | | | 2| Laser label| | | | 3| Bubble packaging| | | | 4| Tape dispenser| | | | 5| Envelopes| | | | 6| Shrink Wraps| | | | 7| Plastic bags| | | | 8| Mailing tubes| | | | 9| Shipping boxes| | | | 10| Paper packaging| | | | Electronics and storage Devices No| Item| Brand/Make| Price/unit| Comments| 1| Calculator| | | | | Voice recorder| | | | 3| Label maker| | | | 4| CD & DVD| | | | 5| CD cover, rack and stack| | | | 6| External hard drives| | | | 7| USB memory stick| | | | 8| Computer cables| | | | 9| Ink and cartridges| | | | 10| Copier toner| | | | 11| Copier papers| | | | 12| Inkjet and laser photo papers| | | | Light office Machines No| Item| Brand/Make| Price/unit| Co mments| 1| Stapler| | | | 2| Staple pins| | | | 3| Hole punches| | | | 4| Guillotine| | | | 5| Scissors| | | | 6| Utility knife| | | | 7| | | | | 8| | | | | 9| | | | | 10| | | | |The cost summary of other services rendered is provided on client’s request. Disclaimer: The above cost are estimates and valid within 20 days of preparation of this proposal DELIVERY In-stock goods are delivered within six hours after receiving a PO (Lagos only) and within 48 hours outside Lagos. CLOSING We are committed to prompt, timely and satisfactory delivery of goods and services. Our professional, dedicated personnel and open-ended supply chain keep us above board among our peers. We guarantee satisfaction of client in all areas of our business.

Technology and the Future of the Hotel Industry Research Paper

Technology and the Future of the Hotel Industry - Research Paper Example In the last decade, Information Technology did change the lodging industrys plans, controls, and manages operations. The growing demands in the hotel industry are very many the demands are largely brought about by globalization, increased security threats and needed for controls in business (Solomon, 2008). The hotel industry is starting to use kiosks and self-service technologies to change the hotel industry (Solomon, 2008). Through globalization, technology has had great impacts on the hospitality industry several ways: organizational culture, management styles and organizational structure. These three ways shape up how an organization is set up from its decision-making offices to the operations department (Solomon, 2008). This paper, therefore, seeks to draw important regions upon which technology influences the hotel industry. Proper insight will focus mainly on operations, and customer experiences and relations in the hotel environment. It is a report and not a research paper as it may seem to appear. Hotel industry is affected by various issues regarding security from a global to a local perspective respectively. The ability to assure a tourist that, they are safe in a given destination can mean a lot to the proprietors of a given hotel business line (Solomon, 2008). Security threats have made the industry suffer several setbacks that can only translate into losses worth billions of dollars (Kasavana and Cahill, 2003). Travel bans are offered to countries with such security issues, and they incur up to millions of dollars in losses, which can only mean that even the internal operations of such a countrys hotel is affected. Back at home, when the hotel is prone to high instances of theft, and robbery consumers of their products feel more paranoid to visit such establishment (Kasavana and Cahill, 2003). It can only mean that such organizations are closed, and jobs

A Demographic Analysis of Mexico Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

A Demographic Analysis of Mexico - Assignment Example According to any basic health model, the statistics on Mexico show a shift of lifestyle to a more urbane, aesthetic way of living that is characterized by lifestyle diseases such as obesity. Conversely, this comes with a reduction in conditions such as underweight and wasting as well as stunted growth. A reduction in hunger index from 5.99 in 1999 to 5.10 in 2003 is also noted. These can be attributed to an aggregate improvement in health care and sanitation supported by gains in food security occasioned by an augmented economy. TB prevalence in Mexico can be said to be effectively managed compared to other countries. The cases of infection cited by the World Health Organization in 2009 pale in comparison to most States that have a higher infection index according to data from UNHDR. Again, this can be pegged on improved healthcare. Despite men and women accessing education at a proportionate footing of 51% to 49%, the frequency of women dropping out along the way is decidedly higher in rural areas. A possible explanation lies in the vicious cycle of poverty that sucks in more women whose duties and obligations are largely domestic. These statistics show an indication that the environment in Mexico has reduced disparities of income and social status because of the positive parameters of growth, with an average income of 13500$, the level of poverty has dived from 50% with a fifth of the population reeling in extreme poverty.

Conclusion of online contract Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6000 words

Conclusion of online contract - Research Paper Example Nowadays, more and more people turn to online agreements, sometimes even preferring them to the traditional written ones. However, consumers cannot help concerning about the validity of the online contracts versus the common written contracts. Yet, â€Å"Electronic contracts and electronic signatures are just as legal and enforceable as traditional paper contracts signed in ink.†1 This fact was established by the Electronic Signatures in Global and International Commerce Act (ESGICA) in 2000, which has updated the status of online agreements, considering them just as legal and enforceable as the written ones. This topic has been chosen due to the growing popularity of the online agreements among the ordinary users and other interested people. The term paper is focused on revealing the essence of the online agreements. The author believes that such a paper is necessary, because of the ascending number of concluded online agreements. Sometimes, a user is not even aware of the fact that he is binding himself to a contract in the online jungle. The online contracts are mostly governed by the same legal traditional principles as the written contracts, consisting of the same elements. The majority of the electronic agreements is reduced to the click through and click wrap agreements. These types of contracts require that the user should scroll through the terms and conditions on a website and confirm that he or she has accepted the terms and conditions of the agreement by taking some sort of action, such as clicking an "I accept" button or by taking some similar action. It is very often that the enforceability of the forum selection clause in these "click-wrap" agreements is at issue since these clauses may force the plaintiff to bring his or her action in a particular jurisdiction, which may be located far away from the plaintiffs home jurisdiction, in order to settle all disputes. The author intends to

ARE HERBAL REMEDIES SAFE AND EFFECTIVE Research Paper

ARE HERBAL REMEDIES SAFE AND EFFECTIVE - Research Paper Example A herbal remedy that relieves inflammation and pain called Chinese Thunder God Vine weakens the immune system. The remedy is famous in for causing osteoporosis. Most of the herbs are ineffective unless their maintenance is in small quantities such as nutmeg and its cooking properties. When the nutmeg herbal is in large quantities, it cause liver failure and can at times lead to death. Many types of herbal remedies line the shelves of health food stores and pharmacies. Most people consider that any drug having the label â€Å"natural† as effective and safe. Herbal remedies have been in existence for a long time. Some of the remedies, even those carrying the natural label, can have serious and powerful negative drug effects in the body. The FDA regulates herbal supplements though not in the same manner it does with medicine of food. Herbal remedies form part of the dietary supplements. Regulations that apply to dietary supplements are not strict as those of drugs and food. Manufacturers of herbal drugs, for example, do no need the approval of the FDA before availing them to the markets. When the herbal remedy gets to the market, it is the duty of FDA to ensure its safety. FDA, however, lacks the capacity and funding to check the standards of the many new drugs. When FDA finds an herbal remedy that is not safe, it issues some requirements or orders to the distributor or manufacturer to remove it from the market (Harte 2-3). Soy provides dietary phytoestrogens that possess weak estrogenic activities. The soy herb treats menopausal symptoms and reduces the levels of cholesterol in the body. A review on the Soy’s effectiveness was done on nine clinical trials to examine the impacts of increasing dietary soy. Nine more trials were done to determine the efficiency of Soy extracts. The review gave a conclusion that neither Soy extracts nor increased Soy

Origins of Shintoism and it's impact on pre-modern Japan Research Paper

Origins of Shintoism and it's impact on pre-modern Japan - Research Paper Example The followers of Shintoism are expected to follow four affirmations in their everyday lives and in their ways of thinking. These affirmations are to the family, cleanliness, nature worship and matsuri which pertains to fiests and festivals dedicated to the spirits "kami". Ancient Japan is well known for images of geishas, samurais and great battles better known as the Tokugawa period. However, Classical Japan, also known as the Heian era, is more peaceful in comparison. The capital of Japan moved to Heian-Kyo in 796, which translates to the â€Å"capital of peace and tranquility† which will later on be known as Kyoto. Emperors were strong during the early parts of this period and had a continuing relationship with China. (1) In 894, the communications between Japan and China ceased to non-existent and Chinese influence to the Japanese nation gravely declined. It is then that the nation truly developed its own culture and society. The Heian era is a period known for the manifes tation of great arts and music like â€Å"gagaku† which is an imperial court music and poetry. Gagaku was a tradition introduced by China which was then performed during special occasions. (2) The great influence of Shintoism will be seen through the unsparing ritual feasts which have started to take place in temples and have been recorded in various diaries and novels. During this period, Buddhism is also known to spread rapidly among the 1†Insei: abdicated sovereigns in the politics of late Heian Japan†. GC Hurst. 1976. 2†Institution, ritual, and ideology: The twenty-two shrine-temple multiplexes of Heian Japan†. AG Grapard. 1988 people, although it coexisted with Shintoism rather than cause conflicts. With was the slow but sure development of Japan's own concepts of independence from the Chinese influence. The power of the emperor continued to decline over time which eventually, despite the existence of an Emperor during this era, the position was m erely of a figurehead ruler without true power. The real power in this period lies with the Fujiwara clan, mostly due to the political haggling. Several problems have arisen during this period which brought about the eventual downfall and end of this era. (3) The effectiveness of the government declined and Taika reforms have failed. Taika reforms is a tax structure which gives heavy taxes to the farmers but none to the shrines and temples which were quite abundant. The income of the state as well as the public's welfare showed a very significant decrease. The dangers of the consequences of this state of the economy have brought on increasing public outrage. Landowners and nobles who have lost their powers alike have felt threatened enough to employ the services of protectors, giving rise to samurais, in order to protect themselves. Provincial governors have become, in general, corrupted and lazy. The welfare of the public was ignored and the aristocracy of the court became decadent and useless. Leading clans by this time were the Minamoto and the Taira families. By this time, even monasteries were maintaining their own military forces. One of the incidents that clearly elaborated this increasing power struggle occurred in 903. Tara-No-Masakado, who was the leader of the Kanto district decided to revolt against the government with his refusal to pay taxes. He established his own kingdom and threw out the nobles and kept the power to himself, although his claim to power to success was short-lived. Another bushi house

The history of Chinese Immigration to USA Research Paper

The history of Chinese Immigration to USA - Research Paper Example Wherever they went, the Chinese immigrants brought with them their language, culture, social institutions, and customs; and as time went on, they made lasting contributions to the United States as they tried to become an integral part of the U.S. population. (â€Å"Chinese immigration to the US†) Privation of the Chinese immigrants to USA in the 18th century Integration has not been an easy one because the Chinese underwent a long period of discrimination from their adopted country. At the outset, they were at once discriminately treated from among the European immigrants and other racial minorities. They were the first immigrant group singled out for denial of citizenship by the U.S. Congress in 1882. Chinese immigration is separated into three periods: 1849 – 1882, 1882-1965 and 1965 to present. The first period of immigration that begun with the California Gold rush in 1848 (Golden Venture) was cut short by the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The Exclusion Act suspend ed labor immigration from China for ten years (USA Chronology). During this first period, the Chinese enjoyed the freedom to travel and become contract laborers in America. Thousands of young male peasants from China were recruited to work in the mines, toil the fields as agricultural workers, and become construction workers to construct a vast railroad network, reclaim swamp-lands, build irrigation system, develop the fishing industry, and work in the labor intensive manufacturing industries in the western states. All along, these Chinese workers felt the anti-sentiments of their presence since they were precluded on becoming permanent settlers. Because of this sentiment, the Chinese immigrants kept to themselves an intention of going back to China when the time comes to enjoy the benefit of their retirement, and to advance their own well being while they are in U.S. According to estimates, there were about 110,000 Chinese populations during the first wave of immigration. The secon d wave of immigration showed a very limited number of Chinese immigrants to U.S. This is caused by political tensions between the U.S and the Chinese governments that further curtailed the chance of Chinese immigrants to enter America. Because America felt Chinese laborers were no longer needed, beginning in 1882, the naturalization and immigrations became very strict to them. At the onset of 1882, an economic hardship was also felt in the U.S., so much so that European Americans also had to compete with the works reserved for the Chinese. This era is also characterized by the beginning of racial discrimination and hatred because of competition and anti-Chinese riots were frequent scenes in the streets of San Francisco. These scenarios put pressure on the U.S. government so that the exclusion act was promulgated (The Library of Congress). A quota allowing only 108 Chinese immigrants was set; so from the period 1888 to 1965, only diplomats, merchants and students and their dependents were allowed to enter the U.S (â€Å"Chinese Americans†) Even those Chinese, who are already in the U.S., are largely discriminated upon, and had to confine their presence in segregated places called Chinatown. They were denied democratic rights, and access to it thru legal procedures was not successful. The third wave of Chinese

Should disabled veterans get preferential treatment over better Assignment

Should disabled veterans get preferential treatment over better qualified candidates who are not disabled veterans - Assignment Example According to the utilitarian consideration of employment and discrimination, every individual should be given equivalent chances at employment; therefore, discrimination in the hiring process should be discouraged. With the prevalence of discrimination against the minorities in the society, affirmative action is seen as the redeeming factor, with the introduction of the Disabled Veterans Affirmative Action Program (DVAAP) to serve the rights of disabled people (FHWA, 2004). Affirmative action in this case refers to the series that seek to redress the injustices faced by minorities in society, and can involve laws or social programs that promote the justice of minorities (ACLU, 2011). Other affirmative action programs are those that involve women or minorities in the society, and in comparison with the DVAAP, these action programs can be concluded to be just as effective. Affirmative action programs consider all the rights of minorities in the society, and the main consideration is given to the disabled, women, and minorities in the society. The Utilitarian View of an affirmative action program is that all people in the society are entitled to equal rights, despite their disabilities or qualifications. According to the view, affirmative action programs guarantee that all individuals in the society are given the chance to progress and give the chance to all members of the society to progress equally. This is done by considering that the community functions as a whole, therefore, the parts of the community that pull back the development process should be helped. From the definition of the utilitarian affirmative process, it can be concluded that the DVAAP is a program that should be kept up in the society. Conversely, the deontological considerations of affirmative action programs dictate that the most qualified person for the job should be hired, regardless of their disabilities or minority effect. This means that the discrimination

Strategy and Innovation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Strategy and Innovation - Research Paper Example The McDonald’s vision, mission as well as the objectives are strategic and focus people customers and employees, price, products, promotion, and place. The corporation’s values are; offering quality customer service, commitment to people, and balance between the interests of the owners, suppliers, and employees, upholding ethics, community service, and continued growth as well as improvements. Her vision revolves around becoming the world’s leading restaurant in quick service. This is through offering the best service, value, and cleanliness with an aim of satisfying her customers. The corporation’s main aim or better still objective is along with serving food industry responsibly, to be responsible as regards the caring for a sustainable future for all. These are aligned with the community, employment, environmental care, food chain responsibility and ascertaining nutritional well-being to all. By targeting the community, the corporation is engaged in com munity service and charitable organization. On the employment portfolio, the company aims at continuously expanding through which more opportunities for employment will be available, both locally as well as through online participation. By adopting energy friendly systems in her corporations, the McDonald’s seeks to maximize on energy usage for sustainability. It also upholds innovation and adoption of quality energy practices in sharing. The corporation aims at continuously designing and developing new food recipes which are healthy for her clients. It also aims at expanding advocacy on good nutrition habits through campaigns. Furthermore, in maintaining sustainable supply chains, the corporation ensures proper relations with the supply chain as well as the constituent parties (McDonald’s, 2009, 1-6). The annual report on investors for the year 2010 reveals a fabulous performance of the company despite the many challenges she faced just like all other firms and especially those in a like industry of the fast foods. By managing deeper insights for customers and proper alignment of McDonald’s business strategies, the CEO says that a 5% rise in comparable sales was realized, 9% growth in operating income and the company’s overall market share around the globe increased. By upholding proper prioritization for the relevance of the firm’s brand and focusing sharply on the customers, the firm managed to keep on top in the year. However, as the CEO puts it, it was the same focus that was to be employed for the following year,

Breastfeeding vs Formla Feeding Essay Example for Free

Breastfeeding vs Formla Feeding Essay Parents-to-be have a lot of things on their plate. One of those many things that parents should worry about is what their child is going to consume. The choice to either breastfeed or formula feed should be the main thing on an expectant mother’s mind far before the baby is born. The nutrition a baby takes in from milk for the first year of life is very valuable for a baby’s growth and health. The choice of breastfeeding or formula feeding should be looked at and thought about deeply before deciding a nutritional plan that will alter a child’s life forever. Furthermore, these choices will also affect the parent’s life. The main aspiration for this essay is to contrast the health benefits, cost, and convenience of breastfeeding as opposed to formula feeding. The first important difference between breast and formula feeding is the health benefits. Every time a healthy woman breastfeeds her baby, she is passing on natural antibodies and vitamins that has been known to keep the baby healthy and strengthen the newborn’s immune system. The immune system assists in fighting most infections and diseases that new babies may be susceptible to, such as ear infections, respiratory infections, diarrhea, and the common cold. Some of the illnesses are more serious and could cause sudden infant death syndrome, mainly whooping cough, meningitis, leukemia and other devastating cancers. Breastfeeding can help in the prevention and reduction of risk in developing diabetes, asthma, and allergies later in life. Formula milk, however, lacks all the natural antibodies that newborns need to strengthen an infant’s non-existent immune system to help fight off infection and illnesses. Formula milk is primarily a source of nutrition and does not contribute to the development of a newborn’s immune system. Shelby Medico 05/28/12 The second difference between breastfeeding and formula feeding is the cost. Breastfeeding is a smart choice because not only is it free, but it saves money. Instead of wasting money on manufactured milk, mothers can take advantage of the free milk produced by Mother Nature. Parents can use money saved by breastfeeding and use it toward other important items newborns need. On the other hand, formula is very expensive and the price of formula adds up. As a baby grows, the parents will have to keep up with the baby’s expanding appetite; therefore, parents will eventually find themselves spending double the amount of money on formula. Formula fed babies also will not be receiving the proper antibodies to help prevent the illnesses that lead to trips to the doctor’s office. Doctor appointments are expensive, not to mention the time off work a parent may have to take to care for a sick child. The final difference between breastfeeding and formula feeding is convenience. Convenience is the key to make feeding a baby an easier task for the parents. Breastfeeding is very convenient because it is always available day and night whenever the baby is hungry. When a mother plans to run errands or simply to go out to eat for lunch with her baby, she will not have to pack anything for the baby to eat. Another convenience of breastfeeding is that it is not necessary to prepare milk and warm bottles in the middle of the night for the half-asleep midnight feedings. Parents of formula fed babies, however, have to spend extra time boiling water to prepare the formula and sterilizing the bottles before the baby can eat. Parents also have to be cautious about warming bottles to make sure the formula milk is not too hot for the baby’s sensitive mouth. Extra inconvenient tasks that have to be done before feeding a hungry, impatient baby can be very frustrating. In conclusion, considering the health benefits, cost, and convenience of breastfeeding, it would be the most logical choice to better a new family’s life.

The Leadership Theories Of Machiavelli

The Leadership Theories Of Machiavelli Machiavelli, born on the 3rd day of May 1469, acquired his university education in the University of Florence. He wrote a famous book entitled the Prince. This book is famous for its break down on the issue of attributes of leadership and as such has become a guideline for leaders. He wrote the book based on his earlier experiences, addressing how a prince (leader) should rule. Although the book gained a lot of popularity, his views on the attributes of good leadership had a lot of flaws. In The Prince he advocates mean rule instead of liberalism. He talks of the benefits of being a dictator or exercising the autocratic style of leadership. There are a lot of leaders who have and are following the Machiavellian style of leadership as he had described in The Prince. Examples of such leaders who exercised or exhibited this type of leadership style were Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi of Libya and Idi Amin of Uganda. Muammar Gaddafi being a Machiavellian according to his leadership style has been the leader of Libya since he staged a military coup on the 1st of September 1969.  [2]  With the strict fellowship he has in the Machiavellian style of leadership, he has sought to maintain the power he has had ever since. In a recent article Gaddafi made a statement saying, I will fight to the last man and the last bullet  [3]  This goes a long way to emphasize on one of the shortfalls of Machiavelli when he talked about the fact that a leader has to gain power and should be able to maintain it by any means possible. In the same way, Gaddafi promises to maintain his power even if it means he has to kill. This action is affecting Libya in a negative manner since the world is pushing for democracy and finding all means to eradicate autocratic system of governance and as such it is affecting the economy of the state due to the current instability the country is facing now. As such, most investors w ould not be willing to invest in a country where peace does not prevail. Also, with growing rate of civilization, killing just to maintain power is barbaric and this would then send the state to a state of regression. Idi Amin was an autocratic leader who sought to exercise his power through military means. In his era, he created the situation whereby he was the only one who had the final say and no one could voice out their values in any way he or she deemed fit. He created and environment which had and still has a traumatizing effect on the people of Uganda now. During his reign as military dictator, there were issues of the abuse of ethnic affiliations, cases of the abuse of human rights and potent radical control, Asians faced expulsion from Uganda and killed outside normal legal proceedings.  [4]  Ugandans have still not devised the means of changing their government through undisturbed measures. Violence has become an option for which their voices could be heard. Again, Machiavelli talked about the situation whereby the prince did not have to possess any thoughts apart from that of war. He describes meanness as an attribute of a good leader. He says liberality would lead a prince or leader to be despised and hated whiles meanness would lead to reproach without hatred hence, being mean is the answer to greater leadership.  [5]   Moreover, Machiavelli allowed the hatred he had in him to take the greater side of him when he was imprisoned because of suspicion of his involvement in a conspiracy where he lost the trust he had in humans. A typical example of such a leader who exhibited Machiavellian traits in his style of leadership was Ghanas former president, Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings. Just as it is of human nature to seek revenge for every pain inflicted upon him, Rawlings came into power through military means to seek revenge for all the pain inflicted upon him in the past. He knew gaining power would be the only way to show his hatred and have his revenge best served.  [6]  This is because having the power he needs, all he has to do is to order for the people responsible for his pain to either be killed or assassinated. As a result of this shortfall of Machiavelli which Rawlings also exhibited, most affected Ghanaians even after the change from a military government to democratic governance still cann ot find it in their hearts to forgive him for his actions. It is for this reason that the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) was set up. In addition, Machiavellis concept makes mention of the fact that the end justifies the means. He says that if the action a leader takes brings about catastrophe in an area of specialization or nationwide despair then the action taken should not be regarded as a good one.  [7]  Combining this concept to the idea of establishing fear amongst ones followers, some Machiavellian leaders tend to modify this act by protecting the citizens by any means possible so as to be loved by them. When the Americans annexed Iraq, the Iraqis tried to resist their forces even though they were technologically more competent and outstripped them in terms of their quantity, Saddam Hussein having inculcated a great amount of fear in and hatred for Americans in his followers. He made himself an adherent of the Machiavellian style of leadership. Also, as a result of the fear the Tunisian president drum in his people, the only way they could show they were fed up with all his activities was have someone st art the protest and this was done by the unemployed and frustrated young man who felt the only way his voice could be heard was to set himself on fire. Again, this action did not just end there. Egyptians under the rule of Hosni Mubarak saw this as a platform to also voice out their values. Therefore one can say that all these people were simply quiet because of the brutal fear they had for their various leaders and were thus waiting for the right moment to retaliate. Furthermore, Machiavelli in his book wrote about a leader (the prince) being feared rather than loved by his people. Here, this situation would not work in a democratic society where the people decide how long one should be a leader but in the communist society like China, the leader could in his own discretion decide to practice the Machiavellian style of leadership and it would work perfectly for him since he has to instill fear in his followers due to the fact that it is less likely for them to revolt against the government or protest by defying authority.  [8]   In conclusion, these Machiavellian leaders mentioned above, considering the good and bad sides of Machiavellis thoughts on good leadership has led them to impact their nations in a negative manner. Most of the countries like Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, among others are still in a state of unrest and this posses as a threat to the surrounding nations since there is the fear that such actions could be transferred.

Realism And Narrative Techniques In Short Stories

Realism And Narrative Techniques In Short Stories Alice Munro is one of the most well-known and highly praised representative of Canadian short fiction writing, both on the Canadian and on the international scale. As American writer Mona Simpson notes, [Munros] genius, has the simplicity of the best naturalism, in that it seems not translated from life, but, rather, like life itself. In other words, she is praised for being a realist writer. In another article, Canitz and Seamon showed what techniques Munro uses to create the impression of her stories not being stories, but truth, or the reality as such. Also, they comment on how the narrator in Munros stories reflects from time to time on the narrative technique or the plotline and the development of the story. However, they have omitted some aspects of Munros work which would, in fact, support the argument that despite her realism, her short stories are in fact very well-structured, and fit into the general pattern of traditional criteria towards short stories: they excessively us e foreshadowing technique, the opening sentence initiates the predesigned effect and every word has its place in the story line, they are indeed chosen very carefully in order to contribute to the effect that the author wants to create, and thus creating a dense text. (Critical perspective online) In this paper, I show how the techniques described by Canitz and Seamon can be depicted in Munros novella Miles City, Montana. Then the essay goes on to discuss the other techniques employed by Munro in this short story, including the ones that do not fit into this analysis of realist fiction. Canitz and Seamon explain how Munro, as all realists, must somehow persuade her audience that her fiction is not a product of imagination and creativity, but it is rather the truth. (Canitz and Seamon, 1996: 67) This is done in her writings through a variety of subtle strategies which she uses to build our faith in her reality. (Canitz and Seamon, 1996: 68) Moreover, as Munro is aware that including realistic details into her stories would not suffice to convince readers that the story presented to them is not fictional, she rather chooses, in a post-modern manner, to acknowledge that she is making up a story. So, we are not simply exposed to the story line, but we are included in a way in the process of writing down the story and creating the characters. Ironically, this technique is in fact a doubly-twisted tool: the fact that she drags the reader into the process of writing does not mean that the writing in fact happened in the way as she told us within the frames of the story. Ho wever, this is not obvious at the first glance, and is indeed an effective method to persuade readers on the reality of what they read. Interestingly, the short story Miles City, Montana, involves a triple twist as to the narrative technique: the narrator is also a character at the same time, who reflects on her story-telling. For example the narrator says at one point: It seems to me now that we invented characters for our children. (Munro, 1985: 661) And indeed, all happenings are told from one point of view, and we only know about other characters what the mother and wife, who is also the narrator, reveals about them. Moreover, this point of view is not consistent in itself: both childhood and adult memories are involved, (Tragedies that help online) which means a change in the way events are seen by the narrator, and also a change in her feelings. This fluctuating view-point, or in better words multiple perceptions of single events can be seen as a post-modern feature in the narrative construction. (New, 2003: 239) In other words, what we read is not the reality, but we are explicitly told that it is not real, th erefore we are more willing to trust the narrator. The second method used by Munro to create the impression of reality is, as the pair of authors point out that the storyline is not linear. Rather, it fluctuates in time and location and subject, and it is left to the reader to figure out the reasons why the shifts are made where and how they are made. (Canitz and Seamon, 1996: 69) Sometimes Munro reflects on the shifts I have forgotten to say that but in Miles City, Montana, the shifts are not explained. However, careful reading reveals why the chunks of paragraphs follow each other in the way they do. Steve Gauleys story is told first to open a frame structure, to set the tone and to begin the foreshadowing sequence that follows. The view of the landscape on their road trip to Ontario evocates childhood memories from the narrator, so this time, it is a stream of consciousness that links together the paragraph on their trip with the following sentences on her past. Then when the mother talks about her hope of Meg not having a tem perature, and then jumping back right next to her relation with her parents-in-law, it might be not too far-reaching to conclude that the link that bounds together these two events is the feverishness of the mother to meet up to Andrews parents expectations. I hope she isnt feversih, says she, and at the same time she herself is overly anxious about what opinion her husbands parents would have on their family life. She even compares herself and her husband to strenuous children. (Munro, 1985: 668) Finally, while she goes to get some drink in the park in Miles City, she observes the environment very carefully -as carefully as she is supposed to watch out for her daughters. [Y]ou feel their singleness and precise location and the forlorn coincidence of your being there to see them. (Munro, 1985: 670) This is the sentence that precedes her sudden thought of the children, and it can be interpreted in both ways: meaning the nature, and meaning Cynthia and Meg as well. So, Munros story-te lling is of a rambling nature (Canitz and Seamon, 1996: 68) which reminds the reader constantly that what he or she is reading is only a recollection, and successfully creates the impression that we are not being exposed to a story, but to a real, true event. Finally, the article notes that [m]any brief passages in Munros stories quietly create the reality effect she seeks. (Canitz and Seamon, 1996: 73) For example when the parents reflect on Megs accident, both reject its unnatural, or supernatural features. The mother denies that she would have a mothers instinct, and attributes her sudden thought about the children to mere luck. Similarly the husband does not recollect properly how he had jumped over or climbed the fence, but plainly states that he cannot understand it, rather than mythologize what had happened. Thus, the narration becomes free of legend-making. (Canitz and Seamon, 1996: 77) On the other hand, this episode could be also interpreted as a sign of the ambiguity and unreliability of experience, a sign of how à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾events and memories, experience and fictional reconstruction, never precisely coincide which is also characteristic of Munros style. (New, 2003: 239 and 299) In addition, by the end of the short story, w hen we already know that Meg had survived the accident, we are nevertheless confronted with another possible ending to this story details of a tragic ending with Meg being dead are elaborated in a lengthy paragraph, at the end of which the narrator poses the question: Theres something trashy about this kind of imagining, isnt there? (Munro 1985: 673), again reflecting on the story-telling. Having showed all this, and before turning towards other techniques that are in contradiction with the claim of reality in the short story, let me point out some further evidence that support Munros realism, but are not elaborated in Canitzs and Seamons article: Firstly, Munros language is not very poetic or literal. She prefers to use everyday langauge, which adds to the real life taste of her stories. As one crticic puts it, Munros stories are translations into the next-door language of fiction of all those documentary details, those dazzling textures and surfaces, of remembered experience. (Ross, 112, quoted in Canitz and Seamon, 1996: 68) However, simple language does not exlude the use of lirical devices. All characters in the short story create images, and make lirical similes themselves. The narrator compares Steve Gauley to a heap of refuse (Munro, 1985: 656) and draws a parallel between the Gauleys tumbledown house and their shackly family life. The children, who play import ant, but not dominent [sic!] role (Jakabfi, 2003: 195) give an old-lady like image to their previous family car, and a sporty image to the new one. The parents make fun of their daughters by the father telling them about the beach which would be after the next curve and the mother pretending to produce some lemonade and grape juice with her magic wand. Cynthia adds that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾[i]n Miles City, there is a beautiful blue swimming pool for children, and a park with lovely trees. (Munro, 1985: 668) In short, it seems that they are creating reality around themselves. Canitz and Seamon claim that Munro creates the impression of realism [by giving] a significant place to improbability and contingency, elements that are opposed to the conventionally well-constructed realist narrative. However, some techniques utterly contradict the claim that this story would be developing before our eyes, with no obvious plotline at hand at the beginning, but through accidents rather. The most obvious such tool is that of foreshadowing. In Miles City, Montana, there are several hints in the story that imply what the readers can expect to happen by the end. Throughout reading the story, as soon as we learn about the road trip, we fear that one family member, possibly one of the children, will die. This impression is already created in the very first sentence of the novella: My father came accross the field carrying the body of the boy who had been drowned. (Munro, 1985: 656) Immediately, the tone is set: it is rather sinister. The narrator continues to give readers hints about an expected tragedy. Meg waves good-bye to the house, and although Cynthia, the elder girl assures her it is not forever that they are leaving it, the readers are left with a feeling of doubt and uneasiness whether the family would really return. On their way to Ontario, they see a dead deer on the road, which was probably hit by accident readers wonder is one of the family members going to suffer an accident? This fear of one character dying at the end is reinforced by Cynthia song, in which five little ducks go out, but only four come back. Then we learn about the narrator and her husband not living together anymore, which raises the question did their marriage got ruined because of the death of a child? This is followed by the recollection of the narrator and her father saving turkeys from drowning, and finally, the family plays Who am I?, and Cynthia is someone dead. This massive amount of hints indicate a very consciously used foreshadowing technique by the author. To sum up, I have showed in the above paragraphs how the narrative technique of Miles City, Monatana, is in accord with what the Canitz-Seamon article argued about Alice Munros techniques to create the sense of realism in fiction. I have added that language and creating imagery are also techniques used in this short story, while at the same time pointing out that the excessive use of foreshadowing technique does not fit into the line of argument about Munros realism and conscious restraint from linear story-telling. A look at other Munro short fiction could lead to a better understanding of Munros status as a realist writer.