Summer of My German Soldier Essay Example for Free

Summer of My German Soldier Essay The Historical Fiction novel Summer of My German Soldier, by Bette Greene takes place during World War II. It describes the life of a twelve-year old girl, Patty Bergen. This book concentrates on the relationship between Patty and her new friend Anton, a German escapee. Patty meets her new friend in her father’s shop, when a troop of POWs enter the store. The two protect and teach each other thought the story. In this review, readers will discover what it’s like to live during the time of Theodore Roosevelt and World War II. 12 year-old Patty Bergen, living in Jenkinsville, Arkansas during World War II, meets a German POW, Anton Rieker, when he purchases items at her father’s department store. She then agrees to hide Anton above her families’ garage, and steal food from her family to feed him. Soon enough news breaks out that a German POW has escaped, which puts the whole town on edge. Patty and her family are questioned. As Anton continues to live above the family garage, Patty becomes very angry with Anton because he had not asked her to leave with him after the war. Patty then realizes she needs to make a decision within her; she needed to choose between her father and Anton, she feels if turns Anton in her father will become popular and will love her, but Anton won’t. But soon enough her decision was made. Later that evening, Patty met Anton in the hideout with intentions of leaving with him, but was told otherwise. Before Anton jumped into the train, he gives her a kiss and a valuable ring that has been in his family for generations. When Anton left, Patty wore it around her neck as remembrance. When Patty begins to show it off she is questioned, she tells several people that â€Å"I saw this man walking down the road†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , â€Å"He asked me if I lived nearby and if I could spare a piece of bread with maybe a bit of butter on it.† (140) â€Å"Well, after he finished eating he thanked me and said that because I was obviously a person o value he was going to reward me with his most valuable possession.† (140) Patty confessed and soon found out what happened to Anton .Patty is charged and sent away, she ends up losing the one person she has left. Readers will find the different elements of the book attention grabbing. If you (the reader) are interested in romance, important lessons and danger this is a book for you. But the reader may not like the beginning of this book; it becomes useless to the plot of the story. When Patty meets Anton the story accelerates. â€Å"Now it so happens Aunt Dorothy is no beautiful thing.† (29) Upon completion the reader will find, as my example shows, the begging of the novel is pointless. As a reader, the middle of the story was more intriguing to me. A future reader that is interested in the time of World War II and the time of Theodore Roosevelt will also enjoy this novel. Though the book does not specifically explain this era it still is considered a part of it. I recommend this to risk takers, romantic novel readers and history involved book readers.

Psychoanalytical Approach To Disney Films

Psychoanalytical Approach To Disney Films This essay will consider how Disney films can be regarded as projecting a range of stereotypes in film which seek to define what is normal and natural in society. I hope to reveal that these images actually are consciously constructed to adhere to and reinforce dominant ideological values and are a part of the Disneyfication process where everything is homogenized and turned into a product (See Bryman 2004). This entails the repetition of stereotypes from film to film in the arena of gender, sexuality and race, and while these roles vary slightly throughout the years, they remain largely consistent between 1923 when Disney was founded and 2010 when their most recent film Tangled (Greno Howard, 2011) was released. The fact that these stereotypes are so conservative has prompted a range of writers to criticise the impact Disney has had on American and even global society. Giroux stated in The Mouse That Roared: Disney and the End of Innocence (1999) that There are few cultural icons i n the United States that can match the signifying power of the Disney Company (2001: 123). He is not alone in his criticism of Disney; writers like Wasko (2001) and Bell (1999) have joined the ranks of those seeking to elucidate how pervasive Disneys influence has become. I will consider the impact these films potentially have on children, especially in the way their world views are formed. Methodology I will consider several Disney films in seeking to explore these stereotypes: Tangled, The Princess and the Frog (Clements Musker, 2009) The Lion King (Allers Rob Minkoff, 1994), Aladdin (Clements Musker, 1992) and The Little Mermaid (Clements John Musker, 1989) as I believe these all can be seen as very reflective of the societies in which they were produced and reveal Disneys world view. I will argue how the fact that these films are aimed at young people make them even more powerful. The Disney film seeks to naturalize these stereotypes, presenting them as part of the natural order, when in fact they are nothing of the sort. The world that Disney has constructed has historically tended to be defined and largely populated by white heterosexual characters, even when the narratives reside in the animal world. I will show how some of these more contemporary texts offer partial challenges to these norms while simultaneously reinforcing the predominantly hegemonic world view. I intend to approach the films from a semiotic, sociological and psychoanalytical perspective in an attempt to deconstruct the role these films play in society. In doing so I have attempted to look at the texts in as objective a manner as possible and read them as artistic artefacts to suggest what they say about the times and the culture in which they are made. I would argue that films are the most powerful of all artistic texts with a tremendous ability to move and motivate people in ways they often cannot understand or even register. Governments have regularly put the cinema to use in mobilising the public to support their political ideas, both in an explicit fashion (see the Soviet propaganda films made by Eisenstein and Pudovkin during the aftermath of the revolution in Russia in 1917) and in more implicit ways (for this we could consider how Hollywood films have continued to promote a variety of versions of the American Dream especially in the 1930s and 1940s). A lot has been written about Disney, especially in the fields of race and gender and these texts have been very useful in informing my critical approach to Dis ney as a company and a signifying entity. The Central Question How do Disney films and other Disney products influence young people and their lives? I would argue that far from being a benign and harmless relationship the connection between Disney and its consumers, as that is what they are, is a powerful one which starts at a very early age. Children are exposed to Disney images almost from birth on Disneys television channels and then at the cinema, then on home DVD. I suggest that this surreptitiously informs their world view in quite significant ways. This is especially perfidious because these texts are deliberately targeted at the young and impressionable who lack the defences and reasoning skills adults have developed which enable them to resist such strong images. The world view that Disney normalises for them is one in which certain behaviours are depicted as being the norm and even certain races, sexualities and gender roles are assigned with positive and negative attributes. A key aspect of these process is the way in which Disney fil ms market themselves as safe, innocent and even morally educational, suggesting to the parents that to entrust their children to Disney is to embrace something that is more than a company but something akin to a family. I hope to show in this essay that this is just another cynical marketing ploy that Disney employs to engender support for the company, and ultimately generate more revenue for the corporation. Sexism Since 1923 Disney has become an almost unrivalled multi media empire. However, Walt Disney did not believe his films were culturally influential, he suggested they were just entertainment (qtd in Wasko 2001: 3). Critics like Ward disagree and assert that such films aimed at young people can shape the way children think about who they are and who they should be (2002: 5). Disney films can be considered to promote sexist or even misogynist values to young women as the roles women are afforded are very limited and the narratives place men in positions of power. Here it is clear that Disney fits into stereotypes that reach across the breadth of Hollywood into all of its genres. Laura Mulvey argued that Hollywood reproduces the hegemonic and patriarchal society by presenting certain roles and images as the norm. In her analysis women are portrayed in a very reductive manner and presented as scopophilic objects for the purpose of being looked at by males and in the process dominated. In Mu lveys understanding Hollywood is part of the systematic process which reinforces the patriarchal ideology and we can see this at work from early Hollywood until now. Her works poses a lot of questions for audiences? Why do women get so few leading roles? Why are they relegated in films and cast as sex objects for the male oriented narratives? Why are women that transgress the natural order punished in Hollywood cinema? We can observe that this process works on two levels: the films both recreate and perpetuate dominant ideological values. Mulvey commented, There is no way in which we can produce an alternative [to the conservative values that Hollywood reproduces] out of the blue, but we can begin to make a break by examining patriarchy with the tools it provides, of which psychoanalysis is not the only but an important one (Mulvey 1989: 15). I would argue that Disney films are an effective embodiment of many aspects of Mulveys central thesis. In the history of Disney films women have largely tended to be defined as either perfectly pure princesses (to be valued, idealised and cherished and ultimately married), villains (who transgress unspoken laws of society by being corpulent, unattractive or refusing to submit to patriarchal dominance), mothers (who give up their independence, sexuality and individuality to be subsumed into the male defined family unit), or variations of these archetypes. Despite often being the protagonist (and having the film named after them), they are relegated to subservient positions in the narrative or rely on men for their ultimate salvation. Attractiveness is a key feature in Disney and it has been since even before Cinderella (1950) and Sleeping Beauty (1959). Women are categorized by whether they are attractive or not and beauty becomes a key to their moral status and their happiness. The goal for a woman in Disney films is often love, not a career or intellectual growth, and these visions o f womanhood are presented as something every woman should aspire to, without exception. If a woman departs from this stereotype she is shunned within the diegesis and presented as a corruption. Bell suggested there were only three predefined roles for females in Disney texts 1) beautiful young heroines, 2) cruel mother figures and 3) harmless, asexualised elderly women. (See Bell 1995) Here we see the imagery and ideology young girls are exposed to before they are old enough to understand and be critical of it. They are informed that to be a whole and happy person they must be beautiful, define themselves through relationships with the opposite sex and be submissive to their fathers and then their husbands. For me this is far from a healthy ideology to promote to young girls and offers up a disturbing and unbalanced gender relationship at a very important period in a young persons life. We can see examples of this paradigm in the majority of Disney texts produced over the years. In Snow White and the Seven Dwarves we have Snow White as the beautiful heroine and The Wicked Stepmother as the cruel mother archetype. Cinderella contains the eponymous character as the beautiful heroine, the sisters as cruel figures and the fairy godmother as asexualized elderly woman. If we consider some more modern examples we can see how far things have changed, or discern whether they have not changes at all. The Little Mermaid (1989) features the heroine Ariel, a beautiful young woman and mermaid at the centre of the narrative, she is slightly more independent than the antecedents that came before her, but she too is defined by her pursuit of love. She challenges her father, Triton, at the beginning of the narrative, eager to not be a part of a show being performed for him. Near the end of the film Ariel even gives up her identity for the sake of her true love. So despite minor chang es, she is still forced to make sacrifices that men in Disney films are not asked to make. It is no coincidence that the heroine of the film is beautiful and young and the villain of the film is the old, overweight and unattractive Ursula, who seeks to steal identity and power and by going outside of the norm can only be thought of as a corruption. This implicitly connotes that if a woman is not young, attractive and compliant she is then a threat to society. Supporters of Disney will suggest that these texts are just films, harmless entertainment for young people, but what moral lessons are they to draw from the ideologies presented? In my opinion they are far from innocent texts devoid of cultural meaning, they are immensely powerful artefacts that structure how young people look at the world. The Little Mermaid was also accused of racism on its release, the character of Sebastian the underwater crab was felt by many to be a stereotype of a Jamaican man who enjoys a lazy life under the sea which he prefers to the surface. The song he sings is suggestive of this Up on the shore they work all day, Out in the sun they slave away, While we devotin, Full time to floatin, Under the sea! This is just another example of how Disney chooses to frame certain characteristics in distinctly racial terms. The choice to have the character a black man embody this aspect perpetuates the racist stereotype that has remained pervasive in the society and here it is projected at children. Disneys newest film, Tangled, makes an interesting addition to the Disney oeuvre as it both subverts and reinforces some of these archetypes. It concerns the familiar fairy tale story Rapunzel, but like many modern adaptations (See Dreamworks Shrek, 2001) it deconstructs its tropes and its codes and conventions. Bruno Betelheim in his influential The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales suggested that stories like this imparted powerful notions of ideology to generations through the ages and reflect what a society arbitrarily decides is moral and just. We can see this approach very much apparent in the work of Disney who often draw on these fairy tales in their films and see they role as some sort of unofficial moral educator for generations of children, whether they state this or not. The protagonist of the Tangled, Rapunzel, is a young woman who is, as per usual blonde, white and slim. One could ask what kind of messages this sends to young women? They sug gest that the way for happiness and success is through youth and beauty. That being young and looking a certain way makes you normal and fit into society. If you do not fit this paradigm then you are relegated from the narrative or cast as the villain. The way Disney promotes these messages is so veiled that the youths watching may never regard the issue so explicitly, but it is so deeply ingrained in our culture that it is hard to ignore. In this way films and the way people identify with the cinema screen can be associated with French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacans idea of the mirror stage. Lacan suggested that the child at the age of between six and eighteen months see themselves in the mirror and believe it not to be a reflection but the self in its entirety. Thus the way a spectator identifies and subsumes itself into the characters it sees projected on the cinema screen is just as illusory as the process the baby goes through. This is only one example of how a psychological appr oach to Disney is useful in coming to understand the film as texts with cultural resonance. Whether one holds with this theory or not it is clear that these images of princesses hold a distinct fascination for young girls which can be seen in the amount of merchandise that is sold across the world focusing on characters like Snow White, Cinderella and Ariel. Disney presents these figures as iconic characters that girls of the world should aspire to be like instead of doctors, authors, scientists and politicians. Rapunzel is more independent than Disneys usual heroines; she is not averse to action and combat, in fact when she first comes across Flynn, the dashing hero of the film she knocks him out. Rapunzel is also intelligent, quick witted and humorous, attributes that are not always connected to women in Disney films. Here we see evidence of Disneys ability to move somewhat with the times and identify that the needs of their audiences have changed since the 1950s, but I would argue that this is performed in a cynical fashion, seeking to anticipate what would sell to an audience rather than a desire to present more balanced role models for young women. The antagonist of the film is much more predictable, a cruel mother figure called Gothel who has kidnapped Rapunzel and imprisoned her in a tower, leaving Rapunzel unaware of the fact that she is a princess. Gothel uses Rapunzels powers to keep herself young. By being ignorant of her royal lineage the film places Rapunzel resolutely within th e fantasy of young women discovering they are princesses, an enduring trope particularly relevant in the last few years given media fascination with the courtship and eventual marriage between Prince William and a commoner Kate Middleton. Not only is Rapunzel a princess, but she secretly has magic powers and later we discover her tears can heal wounds and even bring the dead back to life. The character of Flynn embodies many archetypes familiar to the Disney canon, his swaggering posture denotes that is the handsome and dashing rogue with a heart of gold. It is worth pausing to consider that, while males are given more variety of characterization in Disney films than women, they still are forced into certain stereotypes of attractiveness, bravery and what constitutes masculinity. Disney makes one or two concessions to new millennial masculinity in portraying that underneath Flynns brash exterior he is sensitive. In a sequence where they both believe they are about to die Flynn reveals his real name is the considerably less dashing Eugene Fitzherbert. Yet despite these progressive aspects to Rapunzels character the film also has her life given meaning through her love for Flynn. Flynn proves the catalyst for her self-discovery and she is rarely a casual narrative agent of her own. She is the latest in a long line of Disney heroines that require a man to save her and teach her what true love is. The film ends with Gothel being killed; by moving outside of what is regarded as normal and moral behavior for women she must be punished. Rapunzel then marries Flynn and in doing so she has achieved the ultimate goal, in Disneys eyes, of what young girls must aspire to. At the beginning of the new millennium Disney believes that it is appropriate and right to suggest to young women that what they should dream of above all else, above a career, education, excitement, travel or adventure, is marriage with a young man. Racism The other prominent arena that Disney has been criticised for is its depiction of racial stereotypes in its films. From its very early days Disney films were permeated with racist characterisations which were delivered in the same way: as harmless depictions of how things really were and in no way a moral statement at all. One could point to how the crows in Dumbo (1941) or the Arabs in Aladdin are framed in distinctly racial and pejorative terms. It wasnt until 2010 that Disney produced a film with a black princess, The Princess and the Frog and the film emerges as a very interesting and ambiguous text. The film is set in New Orleans in 1912 and it too is a reinterpretation of a familiar fairytale updated for modern audiences. The princess is Tiana and, on the outside, she seems like a fairly modern construction. When her mother reads her the fairy story The Frog Princess at the start of the film unlike her friend Charlotte La Bouff, she rejects it, stating that she would never kiss a frog. This is one of many ways the film ironically comments on its own status as a fairytale text and allows the film-makers to make gestures towards contemporary attitudes and values. When the narrative moves to 1926, Tiana is far from what might be considered an ivory tower princess, as she works two jobs in an effort to save money and open her own restaurant. By portraying her as an industrious young business woman the film seems to be suggesting that there is more in life for young girls to aspire to than becoming a princess, wife or mother. However despite this the film relies on the old fashioned stereotypes that have permeated Disney since the very beginning with regards to how women should look. Tiana is black, yet she is beautiful, slim and pale skinned and thus contributes to the inculcation of a certain stereotype that Princesses must look a certain way. Again we must ask, how would young girls who do not look this way respond? When a prince is changed into a frog she agrees to kiss him in exchange for enough money to open her restaurant, but is surprised when she too turns into a frog. So while Tiana spends a large section of the film asserting her individuality through her hard work and feisty attitude she finds herself completed by the love of a man. The film does offer some variations on the stereotype of the male hero, in more or less the same way as Tangled, near the end of the film it is the sensitive prince Naveen who states that he is willing to give up his dreams for her, an act that is usually given to the woman to perform. When they are initially unable to change back to human form, they proclaim their love for one another and state that they will be happy to live as frogs as long as they are together. However, when they kiss Tiana becomes a princess and thus breaks the spell turning them both back into humans. Like Tangled, the film offers both improvements to Disneys traditionally conservative portrayals and also it perpetuates some of the same old stereotypes. I would argue that the film uses racial stereotypes in a different way to the way Disney has historically. By dwelling on voodoo, in particular in the character of the voodoo master Dr. Facilier, it relegates African identity to a crudely stereotyped Other. He is a malicious and evil characterization who, by transgressing the natural order, must be punished at the end of the narrative. The film Aladdin was also accused of perpetuating racial stereotypes on its release in 1992. As Disney moved into depicting an Arab culture in one of its films many predicted it would conjure up similar antiquated and racist characters. It too takes a familiar fairy tale and deconstructs it as became the trend in the 1990s and into the new millennium. The story follows a young boy, Aladdin, and his relationship with an evil wizard, Jafar, as they battle for the powers of a magic lamp which contains a genie. Critics felt that the film dwelled on images of barbarism and cruelty by Arabs which audiences would equate with the contemporary Muslim world. A particular song in the film was targeted by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee as being an embodiment of the attitude of the film towards the Middle East, its lyrics went Where they cut off your ear if they dont like your face/Its barbaric, but, hey, its home. In subsequent releases on video and DVD they were changed to Wher e its flat and immense and the heat is intense/Its barbaric, but, hey, its home. It is quite obvious that those with lighter skins are placed on the side of good and those with darker skins are evil. Giroux states that the bad Arabs in the film are determined by their thick, foreign accents and the good Arabs like Jasmine and Aladdin speak in standard American English. (1999: 105) The film was criticized for something Disney has historically done with many of its non white characters throughout the years, that is anglicize their features. We can see this in the case of not only Aladdin and Jasmine in Aladdin but Pocahontas and Mulan. Disney takes non-white characters and makes them appear more white in appearance than they actually are and thereby less threatening for the audience who they presume might be offended by watching an non-white character as a protagonist. The case of Aladdin and Jasmine is quite clear as they are changed from looking like Arabs to almost twentieth centur y American who happen to have healthy tans. It is no coincidence that the character was Aladdin seems to have been modeled on perhaps the all American symbol of the 1980s and 1990s, Tom Cruise. Such Manichean and racist accounts of morality can be found across the whole of Disney where the idea of evil is encapsulated by the dark skinned and obviously Arabic wizard Jafar. One of Disneys greatest critical and commercial successes in the modern era is undoubtedly The Lion King. It too is an example of a film which, arguably, embodies both the sexism and racism in inherent in the Disney world. It is an original rites of passage drama about a young cub Simba, who sees his father the King Mufasa killed. Scar tricks Simba into thinking he was responsible for his fathers death causing Simba to flee the kingdom in shame. The throne is claimed by Simbas cruel uncle Scar who had orchestrated the kings death. Throughout the course of the narrative women are almost entirely marginalized from the film and the realms of power and responsibility are only occupied by men. This is another way that female roles are constructed in Disney films, by legitimizing gender power relations and naturalising such imbalances. Here one might ask whether Disney are being sexist or just reflecting existing social structures in the real world? However this process of legitimization r esults in further exacerbation of such existing structures by reinforcing them. Like other Disney films this process is deemed as normal and part of the natural order, attention is not drawn to it within the plot and it is depicted as historically inherent and normal. The only female characters of note are Simbas mother who is relegated to the sidelines and the young cub which Simba grows to marry. Her only function is to act as a catalyst to prompt Simba to return to do his masculine duty and reclaim the throne. At the end of the film she has another role and that is to provide a son and heir for Simba when he becomes King. The villain of the film, Scar, has conspicuously darker skin than his biological relatives in the film and he is distanced from them by the fact that he speaks with an English accent. The creation of such a racial Other has been a historic strategy by Disney throughout the companys history. In modern films their racism is not so obvious as it once was but there is still an assumption that a villain must deviate from what society regards as normal, that is he or she must be non-white, overweight or old. Perhaps the films most racist element is the army of hyenas which Scar commands are also depicted as distinctly part of a racial minority in the way they speak: inner city, jive talk. When finding a group of characters supposed to represent menace and evil, Disney falls back on the same hackneyed stereotype it has used for more than fifty years. Critics of the film charged that The Lion King made racism and sexism acceptable and part of the natural order. Ward stated when racism and se xism becomes the norm that appears to represent reality, then Disney has lost its moral high ground (2002: 32). In recent times outside of Disney films directors like George Lucas and Michael Bay have been criticised for using the same stereotypes in their films. In The Phantom Menace (1997) the character of Jar Jar Binks was criticised by being a bumbling and foolish character who happened to speak with a Jamaican accent. In Transformers 2 (2009) the characters of Mudflaps and Skids were regarded as racist for the same reason. Many Disney films have come under a lot of criticism for including subliminal messages in their films in particular hidden erotic images like a phallus from The Little Mermiad, the word sex across the sky written in the clouds in The Lion King, and nudity in The Rescuers and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. After these criticisms Disney often removed the offending images from the video and DVD release of the films. They were mostly done by disenfranchised animators during the long and laborious process of animating a film which can last for several years. The powers of subliminal messages are well documented and it might be argued that this is another reason why Disney films should not be handed over to children to be watched without care and attention. Techniques like this have been used in advertising for decades to sell products and here in films targeted at families and children it is hard to tell what the effects may be. These stories of images in Disney films inspired the episode in th e satirical Fight Club where the protagonist Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) splices images from pornography into family films. The audiences do not ever know consciously what they have seen, but somewhere in their brain it registers, the scene ends with a shot of a little girl crying for a reason she doesnt understand. A concept which I feel has been largely neglected in most academic studies of Disney that I have read is the fact that children growing up in the Disney era being introduced to fairy tales through the Disney process rather than in one of their original forms. Of course this is a considerable shame for a variety of reasons: 1) that the stories are distinctly Americanised and populated with white characters and lack the diversity which can be found in many of the original texts. 2) That children are being (and have been for many decades) effectively raised by the television and having these stereotypes inculcated into them from a very early age. 3) That these rich stories are being manufactured to act as devices through which to sell products to children which, I would argue, perverts the important role which fairy tales play in our society. One must consider Disneys power as a cultural signifier in this first decade of the twenty-first century. Disney now has television stations that are projected into peoples living rooms everyday rather than once or twice a year when people take their children to see the latest Disney film at the cinema. This changes things in the sense that the company achieves an even greater intimacy with the consumer from an even earlier age. Fortunately this has coincided with what we might regard as greater awareness on issues of media culpability, although how much of this has filtered into the mainstream audience remains to be seen. I believe that the majority of parents regard the Disney brand as an example of safe and sincere entertainment that is automatically suitable for young people. Disney has branched out to produce hugely successful shows aimed at the wide spectrum of different demographics within the family audience from the very young, those dubbed tweens, into the early teenage years and beyond with shows like Hannah Montana which fit into the mould established within Disneys animated films. These shows are vibrant and aspirational and on the surface have positive messages for young people. However, as we have seen with Disney films this fails to account for what they leaves out of these narratives. There are very few characters from ethnic minorities, or with disabilities, or those who have different sexualities, or children who look different from the bright, predominantly white, clean teens that occupy the central positions in these shows. One might ask how relevant these characterisations are around the world? Or to children living in America who do not come from so obviously affluent families? Disney might argue that these shows are inspirational, but for many they ignore the realities of a large part of their audience forced to identify with characters very different to themselves. There can be no doubt that Disney has changed, to a certain extent, with the times both on the cinema screen and in the home entertainment arena. Many of Disneys television shows and films pay lip service to issues of political correctness as we have observed in films like The Frog Princess and Mulan. But I think it is still clear to see that a fundamental shift in Disneys approach to the social and political realities of the world has yet to happen. Disney has continued to perpetuate many racial stereotypes even in recent films, when they must have been aware of the impact of these issues and how important they have become to many parts of their audience. Conclusion It is clear to see that Disney are one of the most influential media companies in the entire world and to deny their influence on successive generations of youths is impossible. Once this influence is accepted one asks, what kind of influence is it? Peter and Rochelle Schweizer in Disney: the Mouse Betrayed: Greed, Corruption, and Children at Risk (1998) argue that Disneys image of wholesome and nostalgic Americana is a self-consciously created one that is only formed to generate income for the company. Disney films are not benign artefacts, but texts full of extremely potent symbols rife with meaning and ready to be decoded by people willing to look a bit deeper for these sorts of message in cultural texts. The images of gender and race we have seen in this essay seem harmless on the surface, but when considered closely one sees that the kind of ideals and norms they present to children they might not be as benign as they first appear and for this reason alone they are worthy of fur ther study. These images have tended to be ignored in the mainstream media as Giroux comments The more liberal critiques often entirely ignore the racist, sexist and anti-democratic ethos that permeates Disney films (1999: 85). Here we must identify something that often slips by parents in their relationship with Disney, the fact that it is a capitalist corporation designed to earn money for its shareholders. This is often lost in the fondly remembered nostalgia consumers have for the films of their childhood. This is perhaps one of the most effective marketing strategies in the history of modern America, how the company has sought to convince consumers that it does not real

Cash for Good Grades

Cash for Good Grades Sometimes parents think of kids school work as their jobs. But adults get paid for their work so why shouldnt students get paid? Studies show paying kids to get good grades raises their grades,attendance and the graduation rate. Students will put in more effort when they are getting rewarded for good work.This is why paying students for getting good grades is a great idea. Cash for good grades would be a great way for students to get a head start in working for pay. Kids would be able to appreciate school more and perform good on tasks for rewards.ÂÂ   In an article about cash for good grades it reads,Cash for grades can jump start students motivation by providing real world rewards for efforts and performanceLindsay, Samantha. (How to Start Paying Students for Good Grades Effectively). This gives kids a real world experience of being rewarded for good performance. It gives them a jump start at the adult life by teaching them that they perform good on task that they will be rewarded. With this being said children will be more successful and have better attendance in school. If it raises grades and creates good attendance,paying children for school is a great idea. Paying children for school will definitely encourage students to keep their grades up. If you were getting paid to come to school and do better wouldnt you put in extra effort? With that being said This article states,There have been studies that experimented with paying students to attend and do well in school. The rate of students missing 15 or more days dropped 10 percents Studies show paying kids will encourage them to stay in school and keep their grades up. The money will encourage them to keep doing good in school and succeed to graduation and possible enroll in college if they want to. the promise of money for grades increases the students drive for success and good marks soon follow. When students get paid for their good grades they try better in school. They give it their best and try to get get good grades, because they can do whatever they want with their money. The students like it better if they are rewarded. It makes them feel better and that they are progressing. Money also excites kid before they get to school. It excites everybody because if you dont have a job chances are you dont regularly have money and cant buy the things you want Cleveland local news interviewed a student that says, Im excited to get the money. It makes me want to come to school on time.Some kids dont have money and this will help them (Cincinnati High School Paying Students To Come To School). Kids will want to show up to school and make it appoint to make sure they make As and Bs in all of their classes. This help kids who are less fortunate and live in poverty. In some places like Memphis one in three families live in poverty and paying their students small portions for good grades will help them. Its great because it will give kids some cash and parents who live in low income housing, etc can save their money up. Money will also motivate students to do better in school. With that being said ,a quote from WREG.com news channel 10 students say, Sometimes its the mindset and money motivates people. Weve received about 9,000 over the course of 3 years. (Memphis Program Paid Students for Good Grades and Their Parents to Get Jobs). This would also be grade for students planning to head off to college after high school. They could have a head start and have money saved up from high school and be able to pay for a portion of their college with the money they receive.This would also encourage students to maintain a A-B average.Salespeople often get bonuses for high sales numbers, so why not apply this same philosophy to your student in hopes that the potential for income increases effort? Paying students for good grades can help kids save up money for college,excite students, make students actually want to come to school daily ,and give students a head start in real world getting paid for good,well done work. It incentivizes them to maintain high grades. Its a great source of motivation.This is why paying students for good grades is effective. Works Cited Cash for Good Grades. N.p., n.d. Web.Http://www.facebook.com/wreg3. Memphis Program Paid Students for Good Grades and Their Parents to Get Jobs. WREG.com. N.p., 12 May 2015. Web. 09 Feb. 2017. Https://www.facebook.com/923thefan. Cincinnati High School Paying Students To Come To School. CBS Cleveland. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Feb. 2017. Lindsay, Samantha. How to Start Paying Students for Good Grades Effectively. How to Start Paying Students for Good Grades Effectively. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Feb. 2017.

SING SING SING Essay -- Essays Papers

SING SING SING I used to always go over to my grandparent’s house and watch my grandfather go crazy over this â€Å"Jazz† music. He explained to me that it wasn’t Jazz unless it swung like the greats. I listened to a song â€Å"Sing Sing Sing† the other day from one of my Jazz collections that my grandpa gave to me and realized that their was so much energy and pizzazz in this music. He explained to me that it was all put together by a guy named Benny, and I understood why. Benny Goodman, born Benjamin David in 1909, one of twelve children, grew up in a Chicago ghetto with his family, who fled Russian anti-Semitism. Encouraged by his father, an immigrant tailor, to learn a musical instrument, Goodman took up the clarinet at a young age. From the start, he displayed an exceptional talent. Before he was in his teens, he had begun performing in public. He received his first true clarinet and musical training from a local synagogue, then continued practice through Hull House, a social-service agency for the under privileged children of the Chicago. The most important of his teachers, at the school, was Franz Schoeppe, a classical instructor from the Chicago Musical College who ignored jazz and stressed in his students the discipline and respect for classical music. After his father died, fourteen-year-old Benny helped support his family by playing at a Chicago neighborhood dance hall and working locally for two years. In 1925, Gil Rodin, who was then with the band led by Ben Pollack, heard him. Goodman was hired by Pollack, then working in California, and the following year made a triumphal return to Chicago as featured soloist with the band. Goodman remained with Pollack until 1929, when he became a much in-demand session musician in New York. When the band was between jobs, Goodman jammed with members of the Austin High Gang who introduced him to the New Orleans Rhythm Kings and the Dixieland clarinet style of Leon Rappolo. After his 17th birthday Benny made his first recording with Pollack's band with the tune, "He's the Last Word." Benny also played in the bands of leaders such as Red Nichols (from 1929 to 1931), Isham Jones, and Ted Lewis. During the early 30s Goodman played in bands led by Red Nichols, Ted Lewis, Sam Lanin and others. In 1934, Goodman led a dance band that performed regularly on the national radio show "Let'... ...ible, but included among others, Lionel Hampton, Harry James, Georgie Auld, Ziggy Ellman, Charlie Christian, Red Norvo, Fletcher Henderson, Gene Krupa, Teddy Wilson, George Wettling, Pee Wee Irwin, Miff Mole, Roy Eldridge, Stan Getz, and Cootie Williams. "The Benny Goodman Story," a film made in 1955, depicted Benny Goodman's life, and Benny recorded the sound track for it. In the 1950s to the 1970s he made several overseas trips and played at selected engagements with a small band. One such trip was to Russia in 1962. In January 1978 he returned to Carnegie Hall to do a Concert. The tickets all sold out the first day. His last studio recordings were made in January 1986. References Collier, J. Benny Goodman and the Swing Era. New York: West Publishing Company, 1989 Connor, R. and Hicks, W. B. G. on the Record: A Bio-Discography of Benny Goodman. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. 1969 Dance, S. The World of Swing. New York: Oxford University Press, 1979. Klauber, B. The World of Gene Krupa. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1991. Schuller, G. The Swing Era. New York: McGraw Hill, 1989. Stewart, R. Jazz Masters of the '30s. New York: W.W. Norton, 1972.

Dangers of Suicide Websites Essay -- essays research papers

Suicide Made Easy The thought of suicide can enter the mind of anyone in any age group. For those who come across a suicide website, the information given can make suicide turn from a fleeting thought to an action. On Thursday, October 10, 2007 Kazunari Saito, a 33-year-old electrician, was arrested for the murder of Sayaka Nishizawa, a 21-year-old woman. Saito was the host of a suicide web site where he provided his viewers with ways to commit suicide, this is where he and Nishizawa first came in contact. Nishizawa reportedly paid Saito $1,700 to help her to kill herself. On the night of April 12, 2007 Saito gave Nishizawa 20 to 30 sleeping pills and then suffocated her to ?finish the job?. (Austin Modine, 2007) Above are the statistics taken from 2004 showing the differences in age, race, and sex. The rate, number that year, and average suicide per day are represented here. (American Association of Suicidology, 2004) A rarely known or acknowledged fact is that not only children and teenagers are suicidal. The major difference between suicide attempts among elders and youth is that elder suicide attempts are more commonly successful (Reference Services Review, 2003, Vol. 31 Issue 2, p175-184, 10p). The American Association of Suicidology states that in 2004, 32,439 people died from suicide attempts. This means that someone commits suicide every 16.2 minutes. Of this total, every 1 hour and 41.4 minutes an elderly person commits suicide, compared to every 2 hours and 2.1 minutes that a young person commits suicide. These are not the only two categories in which suicide falls, of the 32, 439 suicides in 2004, 22, 925 were committed by adults between the ages of 25 and 64 (Section 1,2, and 3, 2005) For many, a sui... ...nce Source Review Volume: 31 Issue: 2 Page: 175 ? 184. Retrieved February 15, 2008 from University of Phoenix Library Lewis, Penny (2001) Rights Discourse and Assisted Suicide. American Journal of Law and Medicine. Vol. 27 Issue 1. Retrieved February 15, 2008 from University of Phoenix Library. Megan Meier Suicide (2006) Retrieved March 8, 2008 from hitsusa.com/blog/317/megan-meier- suicide/ Sinderbrand, Rebecca (June 20, 2003) Point, Click, Die. Newsweek Vol. 141 Issue 28. Retrieved February 15, 2008 from University of Phoenix Library Stone, Geo (2007) Suicide and Attempted Suicide: Methods and Consequences. Retrieved March 19, 2008 from http://www.suicidemethods.net/ TOKUS's Handy Four-Pillar Practice Archive (2004). A Practical Guide to Suicide. Retrieved February 15, 2008, from http://www.satanservice.org/tokus/suicide/ guide/#I.D

You Might Want to Do Some Introspection

You might want to do some introspection. For each of the eight intelligences in the Howard Gardner list, think about your own level of talents and performance. For each intelligence, decide if you have an area of expertise that makes substantial use of the intelligence. For example, perhaps you are good at music. If so, is music the basis of your vocation? Students can also do this type of introspection, and it can become a routine component of PBL lessons.Students can come to understand that they are more naturally gifted in some areas than in others, but that they have some talent in all of the eight areas identified by Howard Gardner. Curriculum and instruction can be developed to help all students make progress in enhancing their talents in each of these eight areas of intelligence. Robert Sternberg Many teachers have provided testimonial evidence that PBL encourages participation on the part of their students who do not have a high level of â€Å"school smarts. They report that some of their students who were not doing well in school have become actively engaged and experienced a high level of success in working on projects. These observations are consistent with and supportive of the research of Robert Sternberg. As noted earlier in this chapter, different researchers have identified different components of intelligence. Sternberg (1988, 1997) focuses on just three main components: Practical intelligence–the ability to do well in informal and formal educational settings; adapting to and shaping one's environment; street smarts.Experiential intelligence–the ability to deal with novel situations; the ability to effectively automate ways of dealing with novel situations so they are easily handled in the future; the ability to think in novel ways. Componential intelligence–the ability to process information effectively. This includes metacognitive, executive, performance, and knowledge-acquisition components that help to steer cognitive processes. Sternberg provides examples of people who are quite talented in one of these areas but not so talented in the other two.In that sense, his approach to the field of intelligence is somewhat like Howard Gardner's. However, you can see that Sternberg does not focus on specific components of intelligence that are aligned with various academic disciplines. He is far more concerned with helping people develop components of intelligence that will help them to perform well in whatever they chose to do. Sternberg strongly believes that intelligence can be increased by study and practice. Quite a bit of his research focuses on such endeavors. Some of Sternberg's work focuses specifically on â€Å"street smarts† versus â€Å"school smarts. He notes that some people are particularly talented in one of these two areas, and not in the other. This observation is consistent with the work of Lev Vygotsky (Fosnot, 1996) who argues that the type of learning that goes on outside of s chool is distinctly different than the type of learning that goes on in school. While some students are talented in both informal and formal education, others are much more successful in one rather than the other. A teacher who is skillful in developing PBL can help students to design projects that are consistent with their learning abilities and interests.David Perkins In his 1992 book, Smart Schools, David Perkins analyzes a number of different educational theories and approaches to education. His analysis is strongly supportive of Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences. Perkins' book contains extensive research-based evidence that education can be considerably improved by more explicit and appropriate teaching for transfer, focusing on higher-order cognitive skills, and the use of project-based learning. Perkins (1995) examines a large number of research studies both on the measurement of IQ and of programs of study designed to increase IQ.He presents detailed arguments that IQ has three major components or dimensions. Neural intelligence. This refers to the efficiency and precision of one's neurological system. Experiential intelligence. This refers to one's accumulated knowledge and experience in different areas. It can be thought of as the accumulation of all of one's expertises. Reflective intelligence. This refers to one's broad-based strategies for attacking problems, for learning, and for approaching intellectually challenging tasks. It includes attitudes that support persistence, systemization, and imagination.It includes self-monitoring and self-management. There is substantial evidence to support the belief that a child's neural intelligence can be adversely affected by the mother's use of drugs such as alcohol and cocaine during pregnancy. Lead (such as from lead-based paint) can do severe neural damage to a person. Vitamins, or the lack thereof, can affect neural intelligence. Moreover, there is general agreement that neural intelligence has a â€Å"use it or lose it† characteristic. It is clear that neural intelligence can be maintained and, indeed, increased, by use.

Second Foundation 4. Two Men and the Elders

The Elders of this particular region of Rossem were not exactly what one might have expected. They were not a mere extrapolation of the peasantry; older, more authoritative, less friendly. Not at all. The dignity that had marked them at first meeting had grown in impression till it had reached the mark of being their predominant characteristic. They sat about their oval table like so many grave and slow-moving thinkers. Most were a trifle past their physical prime, though the few who possessed beards wore them short and neatly arranged. Still, enough appeared younger than forty to make it quite obvious that â€Å"Elders† was a term of respect rather than entirely a literal description of age. The two from outer space were at the head of the table and in the solemn silence that accompanied a rather frugal meal that seemed ceremonious rather than nourishing, absorbed the new, contrasting atmosphere. After the meal and after one or two respectful remarks – too short and simple to be called speeches – had been made by those of the Elders apparently held most in esteem, an informality forced itself upon the assembly. It was as if the dignity of greeting foreign personages had finally given way to the amiable rustic qualities of curiosity and friendliness. They crowded around the two strangers and the flood of questions came. They asked if it were difficult to handle a spaceship, how many men were required for the job, if better motors could be made for their ground-cars, if it was true that it rarely snowed on other worlds as was said to be the case with Tazenda, how many people lived on their world, if it was as large as Tazenda, if it was far away, how their clothes were woven and what gave them the metallic shimmer, why they did not wear furs, if they shaved every day, what sort of stone that was in Pritcher's ring – The list stretched out. And almost always the questions were addressed to Pritcher as though, as the elder, they automatically invested him with the greater authority. Pritcher found himself forced to answer at greater and greater length. It was like an immersion in a crowd of children. Their questions were those of utter and disarming wonder. Their eagerness to know was completely irresistible and would not be denied. Pritcher explained that spaceships were not difficult to handle and that crews varied with the size, from one to many, that the motors of their ground-cars were unknown in detail to him but could doubtless be improved, that the climates of worlds varied almost infinitely, that many hundreds of millions lived on his world but that it was far smaller and more insignificant than the great empire of Tazenda, that their clothes were woven of silicone plastics in which metallic luster was artificially produced by proper orientation of the surface molecules, and that they could be artificially heated so that furs were unnecessary, that they shaved every day, that the stone in his ring was an amethyst. The list stretched out. He found himself thawing to these naive provincials against his will. And always as he answered there was a rapid chatter among the Elders, as though they debated the information gained. It was difficult to follow these inner discussions of theirs for they lapsed into their own accented version of the universal Galactic language that, through long separation from the currents of living speech, had become archaic. Almost, one might say, their curt comments among themselves hovered on the edge of understanding, but just managed to elude the clutching tendrils of comprehension. Until finally Channis interrupted to say, â€Å"Good sirs, you must answer us for a while, for we are strangers and would be very much interested to know all we can of Tazenda.† And what happened then was that a great silence fell and each of the hitherto voluble Elders grew silent. Their hands, which had been moving in such rapid and delicate accompaniment to their words as though to give them greater scope and varied shades of meaning, fell suddenly limp. They stared furtively at one another, apparently quite willing each to let the other have all the floor. Pritcher interposed quickly, â€Å"My companion asks this in friendliness, for the fame of Tazenda fills the Galaxy and we, of course, shall inform the governor of the loyalty and love of the Elders of Rossem.† No sigh of relief was heard but faces brightened. An Elder stroked his beard with thumb and forefinger, straightening its slight curl with a gentle pressure, and said: â€Å"We are faithful servants of the Lords of Tazenda.† Pritcher's annoyance at Channis' bald question subsided. It was apparent, at least, that the age that he had felt creeping over him of late had not yet deprived him of his own capacity for making smooth the blunders of others. He continued: â€Å"We do not know, in our far part of the universe, much of the past history of the Lords of Tazenda. We presume they have ruled benevolently here for a long time.† The same Elder who spoke before, answered. In a soft, automatic way he had become spokesman. He said: â€Å"Not the grandfather of the oldest can recall a time in which the Lords were absent.† â€Å"It has been a time of peace?† â€Å"It has been a time of peace!† He hesitated. â€Å"The governor is a strong and powerful Lord who would not hesitate to punish traitors. None of us are traitors, of course.† â€Å"He has punished some in the past, I imagine, as they deserve.† Again hesitation, â€Å"None here have ever been traitors, or our fathers or our fathers' fathers. But on other worlds, there have been such, and death followed for them quickly. It is not good to think of for we are humble men who are poor farmers and not concerned with matters of politics.† The anxiety in his voice, the universal concern in the eyes of all of them was obvious. Pritcher said smoothly: â€Å"Could you inform us as to how we can arrange an audience with your governor.† And instantly an element of sudden bewilderment entered the situation. For after a long moment, the elder said: â€Å"Why, did you not know? The governor will be here tomorrow. He has expected you. It has been a great honor for us. We†¦ we hope earnestly that you will report to him satisfactorily as to our loyalty to him.† Pritcher's smile scarcely twitched. â€Å"Expected us?† The Elder looked wonderingly from one to the other. â€Å"Why†¦ it is now a week since we have been waiting for you.† Their quarters were undoubtedly luxurious for the world. Pritcher had lived in worse. Channis showed nothing but indifference to externals. But there was an element of tension between them of a different nature than hitherto. Pritcher, felt the time approaching for a definite decision and yet there was still the desirability of additional waiting. To see the governor first would be to increase the gamble to dangerous dimensions and yet to win that gamble might multi-double the winnings. He felt a surge of anger at the slight crease between Channis' eyebrows, the delicate uncertainty with which the young man's lower lip presented itself to an upper tooth. He detested the useless play-acting and yearned for an end to it. He said: â€Å"We seem to be anticipated.† ‘Yes,† said Channis, simply. â€Å"Just that? You have no contribution of greater pith to make. We come here and find that the governor expects us. Presumably we shall find from the governor that Tazenda itself expects us. Of what value then is our entire mission?† Channis looked up, without endeavoring to conceal the weary note in his voice: â€Å"To expect us is one thing; to know who we are and what we came for, is another.† â€Å"Do you expect to conceal these things from men of the Second Foundation?† â€Å"Perhaps. Why not? Are you ready to throw your hand in? Suppose our ship was detected in space. Is it unusual for a realm to maintain frontier observation posts? Even if we were ordinary strangers, we would be of interest.† â€Å"Sufficient interest for a governor to come to us rather than the reverse?' Channis shrugged: â€Å"We'll have to meet that problem later. Let us see what this governor is like.† Pritcher bared his teeth in a bloodless kind of scowl. The situation was becoming ridiculous. Channis proceeded with an artificial animation: â€Å"At least we know one thing. Tazenda is the Second Foundation or a million shreds of evidence are unanimously pointing the wrong way. How do you interpret the obvious terror in which these natives hold Tazenda? I see no signs of political domination. Their groups of Elders apparently meet freely and without interference of any sort. The taxation they speak of doesn't seem at all extensive to me or efficiently carried through. The natives speak much of poverty but seem sturdy and well-fed. The houses are uncouth and their villages rude, but are obviously adequate for the purpose. â€Å"In fact, the world fascinates me. I have never seen a more forbidding one, yet I am convinced there is no suffering among the population and that their uncomplicated lives manage to contain a well-balanced happiness lacking in the sophisticated populations of the advanced centers.† â€Å"Are you an admirer of peasant virtues, then?† â€Å"The stars forbid.† Channis seemed amused at the idea. â€Å"I merely point out the significance of all this. Apparently, Tazenda is an efficient administrator – efficient in a sense far different from the efficiency of the old Empire or of the First Foundation, or even of our own Union. All these have brought mechanical efficiency to their subjects at the cost of more intangible values. Tazenda brings happiness and sufficiency. Don't you see that the whole orientation of their domination is different? It is not physical, but psychological.† â€Å"Really?† Pritcher, allowed himself irony. â€Å"And the terror with which the Elders spoke of the punishment of treason by these kind hearted psychologist administrators? How does that suit your thesis?† â€Å"Were they the objects of the punishment? They speak of punishment only of others. It is as if knowledge of punishment has been so well implanted in them that punishment itself need never be used. The proper mental attitudes are so inserted into their minds that I am certain that not a Tazendian soldier exists on the planet. Don't you see all this?† â€Å"I'll see perhaps,† said Pritcher, coldly, â€Å"when I see the governor. And what, by the way, if our mentalities are handled?† Channis replied with brutal contempt: â€Å"You should be accustomed to that.† Pritcher whitened perceptibly, and, with an effort, turned away. They spoke to one another no more that day. It was in the silent windlessness of the frigid night, as he listened to the soft, sleeping motions of the other, that Pritcher silently adjusted his wrist-transmitter to the ultrawave region for which Channis' was unadjustable and, with noiseless touches of his fingernail, contacted the ship. The answer came in little periods of noiseless vibration that barely lifted themselves above the sensory threshold. Twice Pritcher asked: â€Å"Any communications at all yet?† Twice the answer came: â€Å"None. We wait always.† He got out of bed. It was cold in the room and he pulled the furry blanket around him as he sat in the chair and stared out at the crowding stars so different in the brightness and complexity of their arrangement from the even fog of the Galactic Lens that dominated the night sky of his native Periphery. Somewhere there between the stars was the answer to the complications that overwhelmed him, and he felt the yearning for that solution to arrive and end things. For a moment he wondered again if the Mule were right – if Conversion had robbed him of the firm sharp edge of self-reliance. Or was it simply age and the fluctuations of these last years? He didn't really care. He was tired. *** The governor of Rossem arrived with minor ostentation. His only companion was the uniformed man at the controls of the ground-car. The ground-car itself was of lush design but to Pritcher it appeared inefficient. It turned clumsily; more than once it apparently balked at what might have been a too-rapid change of gears. It was obvious at once from its design that it ran on chemical, and not on atomic, fuel. The Tazendian governor stepped softly on to the thin layer of snow and advanced between two lines of respectful Elders. He did not look at them but entered quickly. They followed after him. From the quarters assigned to them, the two men of the Mule's Union watched. He – the governor – was thickset, rather stocky, short, unimpressive. But what of that? Pritcher cursed himself for a failure of nerve. His face, to be sure, remained icily calm. There was no humiliation before Channis – but he knew very well that his blood pressure had heightened and his throat had become dry. It was not a case of physical fear. He was not one of those dull-witted, unimaginative men of nerveless meat who were too stupid ever to be afraid – but physical fear he could account for and discount. But this was different. It was the other fear. He glanced quickly at Channis. The young man glanced idly at the nails of one hand and poked leisurely at some trifling unevenness. Something inside Pritcher became vastly indignant. What had Channis to fear of mental handling? Pritcher caught a mental breath and tried to think back. How had he been before the Mule had Converted him from the die-hard Democrat that he was. It was hard to remember. He could not place himself mentally. He could not break the clinging wires that bound him emotionally to the Mule. Intellectually, he could remember that he had once tried to assassinate the Mule but not for all the straining he could endure, could he remember his emotions at the time. That might be the self-defense of his own mind, however, for at the intuitive thought of what those emotions might have been – not realizing the details, but merely comprehending the drift of it – his stomach grew queasy. What if the governor tampered with his mind? What if the insubstantial mental tendrils of a Second Foundationer insinuated itself down the emotional crevices of his makeup and pulled them apart and rejoined them? There had been no sensation the first time. There had been no pain, no mental jar – not even a feeling of discontinuity. He had always loved the Mule. If there had ever been a time long before – as long before as five short years – when he had thought he hadn't loved him, that he had hated him – that was just a horrid illusion. The thought of that illusion embarrassed him. But there had been no pain. Would meeting the governor duplicate that? Would all that had gone before – all his service for the Mule – all his life's orientation – join the hazy, other-life dream that held the word, Democracy. The Mule also a dream, and only to Tazenda, his loyalty- Sharply, he turned away. There was that strong desire to retch. And then Channis' voice clashed on his ear, â€Å"I think this is it, general.† Pritcher turned again. An Elder had opened the door silently and stood with a dignified and calm respect upon the threshold. He said, â€Å"His Excellency, Governor of Rossem, in the name of the Lords of Tazenda, is pleased to present his permission for an audience and request your appearance before him.† â€Å"Sure thing,† and Channis tightened his belt with a jerk and adjusted a Rossemian hood over his head. Pritcher's jaw set. This was the beginning of the real gamble. The governor of Rossem was not of formidable appearance. For one thing, he was bareheaded, and his thinning hair, light brown, tending to gray, lent him mildness. His bony eye-ridges lowered at them, and his eyes, set in a fine network of surrounding wrinkles, seemed calculating, but his fresh-cropped chin was soft and small and, by the universal convention of followers of the pseudoscience of reading character by facial bony structure, seemed â€Å"weak.† Pritcher, avoided the eyes and watched the chin. He didn't know whether that would be effective – if anything would be. The governor's voice was high-pitched, indifferent: â€Å"Welcome to Tazenda. We greet you in peace. You have eaten?† His hand – long fingers, gnarled veins – waved almost regally at the U-shaped table. They bowed and sat down. The governor sat at the outer side of the base of the U, they on the inner; along both arms sat the double row of silent Elders. The governor spoke in short, abrupt sentences – praising the food as Tazendian importations – and it had indeed a quality different if, somehow, not so much better, than the rougher food of the Elders – disparaging Rossemian weather, referring with an attempt at casualness to the intricacies of space travel. Channis talked little. Pritcher not at all. Then it was over. The small, stewed fruits were finished; the napkins used and discarded, and the governor leaned back. His small eyes sparkled. â€Å"I have inquired as to your ship. Naturally, I would like to see that it receives due care and overhaul. I am told its whereabouts are unknown.† â€Å"True.† Channis replied lightly. â€Å"We have left it in space. It is a large ship, suitable for long journeys in sometimes hostile regions, and we felt that landing it here might give rise to doubts as to our peaceful intentions. We preferred to land alone, unarmed.† â€Å"A friendly act,† commented the governor, without conviction. â€Å"A large ship, you say?† â€Å"Not a vessel of war, excellency.† â€Å"Ha, hum. Where is it you come from?† â€Å"A small world of the Santanni sector, your excellency. It may be you are not aware of its existence for it lacks importance. We are interested in establishing trade relationships.† â€Å"Trade, eh? And what have you to sell?' â€Å"Machines of all sorts, excellency. In return, food, wood, ores.†*** â€Å"Ha, hum.† The governor seemed doubtful. â€Å"I know little of*** these matters. Perhaps mutual profit may be arranged. Perhaps, after I have examined your credentials at length – for much information will be required by my government before matters may proceed, you understand – and after I have looked over your ship, it would be advisable for you to proceed to Tazenda.† There was no answer to that, and the governor's attitude iced perceptibly. â€Å"It is necessary that I see your ship, however.† Channis said distantly: â€Å"The ship, unfortunately, is undergoing repairs at the moment. If your excellency would not object giving us forty-eight hours, it will be at your service.† â€Å"I am not accustomed to waiting.† For the first time, Pritcher met the glare of the other, eye to eye, and his breath exploded softly inside him. For a moment, he had the sensation of drowning, but then his eyes tore away. Channis did not waver. He said: â€Å"The ship cannot be landed for forty-eight hours, excellency. We are here and unarmed. Can you doubt our honest intentions?† There was a long silence, and then the governor said gruffly, â€Å"Tell me of the world from which you come.† That was all. It passed with that. There was no more unpleasantness. The governor, having fulfilled his official duty, apparently lost interest and the audience died a dull death. And when it was all over, Pritcher found himself back in their quarters and took stock of himself. Carefully – holding his breath – he â€Å"felt† his emotions. Certainly he seemed no different to himself, but would he feel any difference? Had he felt different after the Mule's Conversion? Had not everything seemed natural? As it should have been? He experimented. With cold purpose, he shouted inside the silent caverns of his mind, and the shout was, â€Å"The Second Foundation must be discovered and destroyed.† And the emotion that accompanied it was honest hate. There was not as much as a hesitation involved in it. And then it was in his mind to substitute the word â€Å"Mule† for the phrase â€Å"Second Foundation† and his breath caught at the mere emotion and his tongue clogged. So far, good. But had he been handled otherwise – more subtly? Had tiny changes been made? Changes that he couldn't detect because their very existence warped his judgment. There was no way to tell. But he still felt absolute loyalty to the Mule! If that were unchanged, nothing else really mattered. He turned his mind to action again. Channis was busy at his end of the room. Pritcher's thumbnail idled at his wrist communicator. And then at the response that came he felt a wave of relief surge over him and leave him weak. The quiet muscles of his face did not betray him, but inside he was shouting with joy – and when Channis turned to face him, he knew that the farce was about over.