Ethics, Moral Character and Authentic free essay sample

The four components of authentic transformational leadership (idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration) are constrasted with their counterfeits in the dissembling pseudotransformational leadership on the basis of 1) the moral character of the leaders and their concerns for self and others; 2) the ethical values embedded in the leaders’ vision, articulation, and program, which followers can embrace or reject; and 3) the morality of the processes of social ethical choices and action in which the leaders and followers engage and collectively pursue. The literature on transformational leadership is linked to the long-standing literature on virtue and moral character, as exemplified by Socratic and Confucian typologies. It is linked, as well, to the major themes of the modern Western ethical agenda: liberty, utility and distributive justice Deception, sophistry, and pretense are examined alongside issues of transendence, agency, trust, striving for the congruence of the values, cooperative action, power, persuasion, and corporate governance to establish the strategic and moral foundations of authentic transformational leadership. We will write a custom essay sample on Ethics, Moral Character and Authentic or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Contracts can be skewed in favor of those with more resources, contacts and bargaining power. People often appreciate leadership which points the way out of dilemmas whether it comes from others within their own collective or from external authority. Leaders as divergent in their politics as Mao Zedong and Shimon Peres agreed that the task of leadership is to sense the problems of their followers and to articulate solutions which satisfied their interests. Rost, reminiscent of Nozick and Rand, asks for leader-follower distinctions be erased to reach true participative democracy. Burns (1998) partially agrees and would substitute for leaders and followers, initiators, supporters and opponents. But the counterarguments are that if everyone in a group is responsible for its leadership, no one is responsible. Furthermore, if a group is initially leaderless, the members compete with each other for leadership. One or more leaders emerge who initiate and propose more than the other members. Followers emerge who are responsive to the leaders, and non-responsive isolated persons remain who are passive (Bass, 1954). If trying to align the values of members of an organization with the good of all stakeholders is unethical , then it is unethical to contingently reward prison inmates with time off for good behavior or for transformational teachers to move pupils to internalize the values of good citizenship for the benefit of society. Libertarians would agree that one’s life plans are paramount but they are close to espousing anarchy as are the OD extremists who charge immorality if the transformational leader intervenes in the individual follower’s life plans(Bass, 1998A, p. 79). With this line of thinking that it is immoral to align the values and behavio

The Partition of India and Creation of Pakistan

The Partition of India and Creation of Pakistan The Partition of India was the process of dividing the subcontinent along sectarian lines, which took place in 1947 as India gained its independence from the British Raj. The northern, predominantly Muslim sections of India became the nation of Pakistan, while the southern and majority Hindu section became the Republic of India. Fast Facts: the Partition of India Short Description: At the time of Indian independence from Great Britain, the subcontinent was broken into two partsKey Players/Participants: Muhammed Ali Jinnah, Jawaharlal Nehru, Mohandas Gandhi, Louis Mountbatten, Cyril RadcliffeEvent Start Date: End of World War II, the ouster of Churchill, and the ascension of the Labour Party in BritainEvent End Date: Aug. 17, 1947Other Significant Dates: The Jan. 30, 1948, the assassination of Mohandas Gandhi; Aug. 14, 1947, the creation of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan; Aug. 15, 1947, the creation of the Republic of IndiaLittle-Known Fact: In the 19th century, sectarian Muslim, Sikh, and Hindu communities shared Indias cities and countryside and cooperated to force Britain to Quit India; it was only after independence became a potential reality that religious hatred began to roil.   Background to Partition Beginning in 1757, the British commercial enterprise known as the East India Company ruled parts of the subcontinent beginning with Bengal, a period known as the Company Rule or Company Raj. In 1858, after the brutal Sepoy Rebellion, the rule of India was transferred to the English crown, with Queen Victoria proclaimed as Empress of India in 1878. By the latter half of the 19th century, England had brought the full force of the Industrial Revolution to the region, with railroads, canals, bridges, and telegraph lines providing new communication links and opportunities. Most of the jobs created went to the English; much of the land used for these advances came from the farmers and were paid for by local taxes.   Medical advances under the Company and British Raj, such as smallpox vaccinations, improved sanitation, and quarantine procedures, led to a steep rise in population. Protectionist landlords depressed agricultural innovations in the rural areas, and as a result, famines broke out. The worst was known as the Great Famine of 1876–1878, when between 6–10 million people died. Universities established in India led to a new middle class, and in turn, social reform and political action began to rise.   The Rise of Sectarian Separation   In 1885, the Hindu-dominated Indian National Congress (INC) met for the first time. When the British made an attempt to divide the state of Bengal along religious lines in 1905, the INC led huge protests against the plan. This sparked the formation of the Muslim League, which sought to guarantee the rights of Muslims in any future independence negotiations.  Although the Muslim League formed in opposition to the INC, and the British colonial government attempted to play the INC and Muslim League off one another, the two political parties generally cooperated in their mutual goal of getting Britain to Quit India. As British historian Yasmin Khan (born 1977) has described,  political events were to destroy the long-term future of that uneasy alliance.   In 1909, the British gave separate electorates to different religious communities, which had the outcome of hardening of boundaries among the different sects. The colonial government emphasized these differences, by such activities as providing separate restroom and water facilities for Muslims and Hindus at the railway terminals. By the 1920s, a heightened sense of religious ethnicity became apparent. Riots broke out at such times as during Holi festival, when sacred cows were slaughtered, or when Hindu religious music was played in front of mosques at prayer time.   World War I and Afterward Despite the growing unrest, both the INC and the Muslim League supported sending Indian volunteer troops to fight on Britains behalf in World War I. In exchange for the service of more than one million Indian soldiers, the people of India expected political concessions up to and including independence. However, after the war, Britain offered no such concessions. In April 1919, a unit of the British Army went to Amritsar, in Punjab, to silence pro-independence unrest. The units commander ordered his men to open fire on the unarmed crowd, killing more than 1,000 protesters. When word of the Amritsar Massacre spread around India, hundreds of thousands of formerly apolitical people became supporters of the INC and the Muslim League. In the 1930s, Mohandas Gandhi (1869–1948) became the leading figure in the INC. Although he advocated a unified Hindu and Muslim India, with equal rights for all, other INC members were less inclined to join with Muslims against the British. As a result, the Muslim League began to make plans for a separate Muslim state. World War II World War II sparked a crisis in relations between the British, the INC, and the Muslim League. The British government expected India once again to provide much-needed soldiers and material for the war effort, but the INC opposed sending Indians to fight and die in Britains war. After the betrayal following World War I, the INC saw no benefit for India in such a sacrifice. The Muslim League, however, decided to back Britains call for volunteers, in an effort to curry British favor in support of a Muslim nation in post-independence northern India. Before the war had even ended, public opinion in Britain had swung against the distraction and expense of empire: the cost of the war had severely depleted Britains coffers. The party of British prime minister Winston Churchill (1874–1965) was voted out of office, and the pro-independence Labour Party was voted in during 1945. Labour called for almost immediate independence for India, as well as more gradual freedom for Britains other colonial holdings. A Separate Muslim State The Muslim Leagues leader, Muhammed Ali Jinnah (1876–1948), began a public campaign in favor of a separate Muslim state, while Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964) of the INC called for a unified India. The INC leaders such as Nehru were in favor of a united India since Hindus would have formed the vast majority of the Indian population and would have been in control of any democratic form of government.   As independence neared, the country began to descend toward a sectarian civil war. Although Gandhi implored the Indian people to unite in peaceful opposition to British rule, the Muslim League sponsored a Direct Action Day on August 16, 1946, which resulted in the deaths of more than 4,000 Hindus and Sikhs in Calcutta (Kolkata). This touched off the Week of the Long Knives, an orgy of sectarian violence that resulted in hundreds of deaths on both sides in various cities across the country. Indian Independence Act of 1947 In February 1947, the British government announced that India would be granted independence by June 1948. Viceroy for India Louis Mountbatten (1900–1979) pleaded with the Hindu and Muslim leaders to agree to form a united country, but they could not. Only Gandhi supported Mountbattens position. With the country descending further into chaos, Mountbatten reluctantly agreed to the formation of two separate states.   Mountbatten proposed that the new state of Pakistan would be created from the Muslim-majority provinces of Baluchistan and Sindh, and the two contested provinces of Punjab and Bengal would be halved, creating a Hindu Bengal and Punjab, and Muslim Bengal and Punjab. The plan gained agreement from the Muslim League and the INC, and it was announced on June 3, 1947. The date for independence was moved up to Aug. 15, 1947, and all that was left was fine-tuning, determining the physical border separating the two new states. Difficulties of Separation With the decision in favor of partition made, the parties next faced this nearly impossible task of fixing a border between the new states. The Muslims occupied two main regions in the north on opposite sides of the country, separated by a majority-Hindu section. In addition, throughout most of northern India, members of the two religions were mixed together- not to mention populations of Sikhs, Christians, and other minority faiths. The Sikhs campaigned for a nation of their own, but their appeal was denied. In the wealthy and fertile region of Punjab, the problem was extreme, with a nearly even mixture of Hindus and Muslims. Neither side wanted to relinquish this valuable land, and sectarian hatred ran high.   Ravi C. The Radcliffe Line To identify the final or real border, Mountbatten established a Boundary Commission under the chairmanship of Cyril Radcliffe (1899–1977), a British judge and rank outsider. Radcliffe arrived in India on July 8 and published the demarcation line a mere six weeks later on August 17. Punjabi and Bengali legislators were to have a chance to vote on a potential split of the provinces, and a plebiscite for or against joining Pakistan would be necessary for the North-West Frontier Province.   Radcliffe was given five weeks to complete the demarcation. He had no background in Indian affairs, nor did he have any prior experience in adjudicating such disputes. He was a confident amateur, in the words of Indian historian Joya Chatterji, chosen because Radcliffe was supposedly a nonpartisan and thus apolitical actor.   Jinnah had proposed a single commission made up of three impartial persons; but Nehru suggested two commissions, one for Bengal and one for Punjab. They would each be made up of an independent chairman, and two people nominated by the Muslim League and two by the INC. Radcliffe served as both chairs: his job was to put together a rough-and-ready plan for dividing each province as soon as possible, with the fine details to be resolved later.   On Aug. 14, 1947, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan was founded. The following day, the Republic of India was established to the south. On Aug. 17, 1947, Radcliffes award was published.   The Award The Radcliffe line drew the border right down the middle of Punjab province, between Lahore and Amritsar. The award gave West Bengal an area of some 28,000 square miles, containing a population of 21 million people, of whom about 29 percent were Muslims. East Bengal got 49,000 square miles with a population of 39 million, of whom 29 percent were Hindu. In essence, the award created two states in which the ratio of the minority population was almost identical. When the reality of the Partition hit home, residents who found themselves on the wrong side of the Radcliffe line felt extreme confusion and dismay. Worse still, most people did not have access to the printed document, and they simply did not know their immediate future. For more than a year after the award was made, rumors spread through the border communities that they would wake up to find the borders had changed again.   Post-Partition Violence On both sides, people scrambled to get onto the right side of the border or were driven from their homes by their erstwhile neighbors. At least 10 million people fled north or south, depending on their faith, and more than 500,000 were killed in the melee. Trains full of refugees were set upon by militants from both sides, and the passengers massacred. On Dec. 14, 1948, Nehru and the Pakistan Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan (1895–1951) signed the Inter-Dominion Agreement in a desperate attempt to calm the waters. The tribunal was ordered to resolve the boundary disputes growing out of the Radcliffe Line Award, to be headed by Swedish judge Algot Bagge and two high-court judges, C. Aiyar of India and M. Shahabuddin of Pakistan. That tribunal announced its findings in February 1950, clearing up some of the doubts and misinformation, but leaving difficulties in the definition and administration of the border.   Aftermath of Partition According to historian Chatterji, the new border ruptured agricultural communities and divided towns from the hinterlands that they had habitually relied on to supply their needs. Markets were lost and had to be reintegrated or reinvented; supply railheads were separated, as were families. The result was messy, with cross-border smuggling emerging as a thriving enterprise and an increased military presence on both sides.   On Jan. 30, 1948, Mohandas Gandhi was assassinated by a young Hindu radical for his support of a multi-religious state. Separately from Indias partition, Burma (now Myanmar) and Ceylon (Sri Lanka) gained independence in 1948; Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan in 1971. Since August 1947, India and Pakistan have fought three major wars and one minor war over territorial disputes. The boundary line in Jammu and Kashmir is particularly troubled. These regions were not formally part of the British Raj in India, but were quasi-independent princely states; the ruler of Kashmir agreed to join India despite having a Muslim majority in his territory, resulting in tension and warfare to this day. In 1974, India tested its first nuclear weapon. Pakistan followed in 1998. Thus, any exacerbation of post-Partition tensions today- such as Indias August 2019 crackdown on Kashmiri independence- could be catastrophic. Sources Ahmad, Nafis. The Indo-Pakistan Boundary Disputes Tribunal, 1949–1950. Geographical Review 43.3 (1953): 329–37. Print.Brass, Paul R. The Partition of India and Retributive Genocide in the Punjab, 1946–47: Means, Methods, and Purposes 1. Journal of Genocide Research 5.1 (2003): 71–101. Print.Chatterji, Joya. The Fashioning of a Frontier: The Radcliffe Line and Bengals Border Landscape, 1947–52. Modern Asian Studies 33.1 (1999): 185–242. Print.Khan, Yasmin. The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2017. Print.Wilcox, Wayne. The Economic Consequences of Partition: India and Pakistan. Journal of International Affairs 18.2 (1964): 188–97. Print.

Composition titled there is nothing that we as individuals can do to Essay

Composition titled there is nothing that we as individuals can do to prevent climate change - Essay Example They suggest that efforts to reduce  Ã‚  emissions are unnecessary and dangerous to economic growth and development.† (University Corporation for Atmospheric Research) The emission of Carbon Dioxide from burning of Fossil fuels is primarily cited as the cause of greenhouse effect, which has caused climate changes like global warming. Our lives are heavily dependent on energy obtained from burning of fossil fuels to keep our industries, homes and transport systems running; therefore, it is impossible not to use it. Scientists are not sure what impact will minimizing greenhouse gas emissions have on climate change. Therefore, even if we as individuals try to limit the green house gases, it would have no effect on the overall climate change because after all it is a global phenomenon and it has already been triggered. The rate at which the climate is changing is so fast that we as individuals can do nothing to prevent

Culinary Arts Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Culinary Arts - Research Paper Example The experience is great because class sizes are small, technical training, and allows students to work. Culinary groups are split into two shifts, morning and afternoons. Students get a real-chance of creating these dishes as it applied to their major. Students also encouraged to think freely and question the preparation meals in order to encompass it in their food making skills. The students prepared a tofu dish for a vegetarian customer, separated duck meat, and other appetizers. The dining team also prepares a wine base to ensure that the soups are being made. The baking and pastry team cut the dough and prepared the dish along with the tiramisu. A narrative of a student along with other chefs is captured in which every meal is elaborated. Meanwhile, the service team is preparing dining tables for the guest to ensure that they are ready for serving their guests. The wine team also prepares the hierarchy of wines, which provides a comprehensive accumulation of the model restaurant. Overall, all the students did a wonderful job to provide a comprehensive dining

Scientic psychology cannot live with folk psychology and cannot live Essay

Scientic psychology cannot live with folk psychology and cannot live without it - Essay Example Folk psychology explains people actions in terms of their goals however scientific psychology explains actions of individuals based on what leads them to undertake these actions. Despite the distinction scientific psychology still has some normative aspects and for this reason cannot live without folk psychology. Folk psychology has been challenged by scientific psychology and this is based on how folk psychology results are achieved, in most cases folk psychology results will conflict with results of scientific psychology. For this reason therefore it is very difficult to choose which results best explain human behavior, due to conflicting results of the two disciplines scientific psychology tend to criticize the results of folk psychology and for this reason scientific psychology cannot live with folk psychology. Folk psychology assumes that people already know why they tend to believe in their actions and why they take these actions, according to scientific psychology people are not aware of why they take certain actions, this is a conflict of assumption and therefore it is evident that scientific psychology cannot live with folk psychology. According to Stephen Stitch it is possible to undertake scientific psychology without folk psychology where he gave an example using beliefs. ... gave an example of a day that had rained and the two characters X and Y are asked to narrate on what had happened, X said that the day had rained very heavily and Y said that it did not rain very heavily. He posed the question who of the two individuals was telling the truth, however Stephen Stitch said that these two persons may telling the truth but it depends on their understanding and observations on the way they have learned from the groups, that is family or friends on how they belief in a particular aspect. According to J.B Watson it is possible to identify someone's behavior at his or her current age as long as he or she is not in the childhood age but it depends on how the person behaves and socializes. For this reason therefore Watson verifies that it is only necessary to study the persons behavior without taking into consideration believes of the individuals, in his statement he states that it is possible for scientific psychology to live without folk. Folk Psychology assumes that an individual can directly explain the different feelings they experience, this is to say that individuals are well aware of what they feel and why they feel it, on the other hand scientific psychology agues that individuals feeling are based on the inferences about changes in what they are undergoing. For this reason therefore there is a conflict of assumptions that people are ware of their feelings and for this reason both disciplines will yield different results, for this reason therefore scientific psychology cannot live with folk psychology. Why scientific psychology cannot live without folk psychology: Despite the many reasons why scientific psychology cannot live with folk psychology it is evident that scientific psychology cannot live without folk psychology, folk

Episodic Dystonia and Hallucinations Due to DLAT Genes

Episodic Dystonia and Hallucinations Due to DLAT Genes Title: Carbamazepine responsive Episodic Dystonia and Hallucination due to Pyruvate Dehydrogenase E2 (DLAT) gene mutation Fatema J Serajee1, Salman Rashid2, and AHM M Huq1 ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: PDH E2 deficiency due to DLAT mutations is a very rare condition with only 4 reported cases to date. METHODS: We describe a 15-year-old girl with mild intellectual disability, paroxysmal dystonia and bilateral basal ganglia signal abnormalities on brain MRI. Additional neurophysiological, imaging, metabolic and exome sequencing studies were performed. RESULTS: Routine metabolite testing, and GLUT1 and PRRT2 mutation analysis were negative. A repeat brain MRI revealed Eye-of-the-tiger-sign. Exome sequencing identified homozygous valine to glycine alteration at amino acid position 157 in the DLAT gene. Bioinformatic and family analyses indicated that the alteration was likely pathogenic. Patients s dystonia was responsive to low dose carbamazepine. On weaning carbamazepine, patient developed hallucinations which resolved after carbamazepine was restarted. CONCLUSIONS: PDH E2 deficiency due to DLAT mutation has a more benign course compared to common forms of PDH E1 deficiency due to X-linked PDHA1 mutations. All known cases of PDH E2 deficiency due to DLAT mutations share the features of episodic dystonia and intellectual disability. Our patients dystonia and hallucinations responded well to low dose carbamazepine. Introduction: Pyruvate Dehydrogenase (PDH) E2 deficiency is a rare pediatric neurometabolic disease due to mutation in DLAT gene (Head et al., 2005; McWilliam et al., 2010). Only 4 cases with DLAT gene mutations have previously been reported (Head et al., 2005; McWilliam et al., 2010). All share the features of dystonia and some degree of developmental delay and characteristic globus pallidus signal abnormalities on brain MRI. This disease tends to have more benign course as compared to PDH E1 deficiency (Head et al., 2005; Huq et al., 1991; McWilliam et al., 2010; Patel et al., 2012). We report an additional case with DLAT mutation with new phenotype and treatment information. Case Report A 15-year-old girl presented with paroxysmal episodes of left lower extremity weakness and stiffening for the last 8 years. These episodes were triggered by exercise but no exacerbating or relieving factors were noted. There was no associated aura, alteration of consciousness, incontinence or other associated neurological symptoms. Her parents were second cousins, but family history was negative for known genetic disorders. Birth and past medical histories were also unremarkable. Patient had a speech delay but met her other childhood milestones appropriately. Later, she developed academic difficulties and at 15 years of age she was performing at a 4th grade level. At presentation, the patient had a normal examination except for some cognitive and reading difficulties. At the time of initial presentation to a pediatric neurologist at 7 years of age, an MRI of the brain revealed bilateral T2 hyperintensities in the basal ganglia. In addition, she was found to have decreased NAA peak an d the suggestion of a lactate peak on MR spectroscopy. EEG, EMG and nerve conductions studies were unremarkable. Over the years the patient was considered to have paroxysmal kinesiogenic dyskinesia and was treated with carbamazepine (100 mg daily). The patient was initially evaluated by us at age of 14 years. Metabolic work up for serum lactate, serum amino acids, acyl carnitine profile, serum copper and ceruluplasmin and GLUT1 or PRRT2 mutation analysis were unremarkable. Repeat MRI revealed basal ganglia signal changes including Eye of the tiger sign (Figure 1). MR spectroscopy studies were suboptimal. Exome sequencing was performed through Ambry laboratory as previously described (Serajee and Huq, 2015). The patient had homozygous c.470T>G (p.V157G) alteration in the DLAT (Dihydrolipoamide acetyltransferase (PDHC E2) gene suggesting the diagnosis of pyruvate dehydrogenase E2 deficiency, a rare cause of pyruvate dehydrogenase deficiency. Both parents and one brother were heterozygous carriers and another brother was homozygous normal. The p.V157G alteration (c.470T>G), is in coding exon 3 of the DLAT gene, results from a T to G substitution at nucleotide position 470. The valine at codon 157 is replaced by glycine, an amino acid with dissimilar properties. The V157 amino acid position is highly conserved in all available vertebrate species. The p.V157G alteration is predicted to be probably damaging by Polyphen and deleterious by SIFT in silico analyses. The V157 amino acid is located within the biotin/lipoyl attachment domain of the DHAT protein. The DLAT c.470T>G alteration was n ot observed in healthy cohort databases such as NHLBI Exome Sequencing Project (ESP) or the 1000 Genomes Project or the Database of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (dbSNP). Based on data from the HGMD, only the four alterations reported by Head et al. (2005) and McWilliam et al. (2010) have been observed within the DLAT gene to date (Head et al., 2005;McWilliam et al., 2010). These include one missense alteration, two splice alterations, and one small in-frame deletion. Based on the above evidence, the homozygous c.470T>G (p.V157G) alteration was considered pathogenic. Her parents refused treatment with the ketogenic diet. When carbamazepine was weaned off due to parental concerns of side effects, within few weeks, patient developed hallucinations. Parents reported resolution of symptoms after carbamazepine was restarted. Discussion: The Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Complex functions in the oxidative decarboxylation of pyruvate to acetyl coenzyme A. The complex contains three subunits: E1, E2 and E3 (Patel and Roche, 1990). The most common form of pyruvate dehydrogenase deficiency is due to mutations affecting the E1 subunit, and results in a variety of clinical manifestations depending upon the residual function of the enzyme (Huq et al., 1991;Patel et al., 2012). E1 subunit is encoded by PDHA1 gene of X chromosome. Most patients present in infancy with lactic acidosis, ataxia and hypotonia, either chronically or episodically (Huq et al., 1991;Patel et al., 2012). The mutation in our patient is in the E2 subunit (dihydrolipoamide acetyltransferase), which forms the structural core of the enzyme and functions in accepting the acetyl groups and transferring them to coenzyme A, an essential step preceding the entrance of glucose into the TCA cycle (Head et al., 2005;Patel and Roche, 1990). E2 subunit is encoded by DLAT g ene located on chromosome 11q23.1. To date, however, there are only four reported cases of pyruvate dehydrogenase deficiency caused by alterations in the DLAT gene, making it a very rare cause of the condition (Head et al., 2005;McWilliam et al., 2010). In addition, Robinson et al reported an additional patient with reduced E2 dihydrolipoyl transacetylase enzyme activity (32% of the control and undetectable E2 immunoreactive protein (Robinson et al., 1990). For this patient, no gene mutation data is available (Robinson et al., 1990). The patient reported by Robinson et al. had a different phenotype compared to our patient and four other genetically confirmed DLAT mutation cases and had profound retardation and microcephaly (Robinson et al., 1990). Head et al. (2005) first described two unrelated individuals with PDH deficiency caused by homozygous non-protein truncating mutations in the DLAT gene (Head et al., 2005). One patient demonstrated a deletion of glutamic acid in the outer lipoyl domain of the protein, whereas the second expressed a missense mutation in the catalytic site, leading to a substitution of leucine for phenylalanine. Both patients were male children born of first-cousin parents. These patients presented with a less severe phenotype compared to individuals with the more common type of PDH caused by alterations in the PDHA1 gene encoding the E1 subunit, and their common features included episodic dystonia, hypotonia, ataxia, and developmental delay(Head et al., 2005). Episodes of dystonia were often triggered by stress or fever, and developmental progress appeared to slow after the episodes as well. Additional reported features included inconsolable crying, nystagmus and abnormal eye movements, ptosis, drooli ng, jerky head movements, arching of the body, bottom shuffling, stiffening of the limbs, episodic clenching of the hands, head lag and hypotonia. Brain MRI findings in each patient included focal signal abnormality in the basal ganglia with high T2 signal and low T1 signal in the globus pallidus which was compatible with an abnormality of energy metabolism (Head et al., 2005). The authors concluded that mutations in the DLAT gene are an extremely rare cause of PDH deficiency and that patients with this type of PDH may be more likely to respond to a ketogenic diet (Head et al., 2005). McWilliam et al. (2010) also described two sisters born of non-consanguineous parents affected with pyruvate dehydrogenase E2 deficiency caused by compound heterozygous splice mutations in the DLAT gene (McWilliam et al., 2010). Clinical features were like those described in Head et al. (2005), including progressive episodic dystonia, cognitive impairment, and globus pallidus hyperintensity on brain MR I. Both patients were treated with a modified ketogenic diet and the parents reported improvements in concentration, fine motor control, and decreased fatigue (McWilliam et al., 2010). Previous reports noted the phenotypic overlap to patients with PKAN, and suggested investigation for PDH E2 deficiency in patients suspected to have atypical PKAN with negative genetic testing (Head et al., 2005;McWilliam et al., 2010). PKAN is one of several diseases classified under the umbrella of neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation (NBIA). It is caused by a mutation in the pentothenate kinase 2 gene, an abnormality of coenzyme A metabolism (Zhou et al., 2001). CoPAN (Coenzyme A synthetase protein-associated neurodegeneration) is another NBIA that affects the synthesis of coenzyme A. It is caused by a mutation in coenzyme A synthetase (COASY) gene (Schneider, 2016;Tonekaboni and Mollamohammadi, 2014). Clinical features of PKAN and CoPAN also include ataxia, dystonia, chorea and Parkinsonism, cognitive decline and psychiatric manifestations (Schneider, 2016;Tonekaboni and Mollamohammadi, 2014). In NBIA, whether iron accumulation is a cause or an effect of the disease pro cess is still not known (Schneider, 2016;Tonekaboni and Mollamohammadi, 2014). In our patient, the pattern of MRI changes in the bilateral globus pallidus is remarkably like that seen in PKAN and CoPAN, revealing the eye-of-the-tiger sign . On brain MRIs of patients with PKAN and CoPAN, the central hyperintensity of the eye-of-the-tiger sign is thought to be due to the tissue necrosis, while the surrounding hypointensity is attributed to the iron accumulation (Dusi et al., 2014;Kumar et al., 2006). Other diseases including cortical basal degeneration, multisystem atrophy, multiple sclerosis and neurofibromatosis may have similar neuro-radiological findings. However, these diseases differ from PKAN in their clinical behavior and pattern of MR abnormalities (Kruer et al., 2012). PKAN and CoPAN also affect the substantia nigra (Kruer et al., 2012); however, the involvement of the substantia nigra has not yet been reported in cases of PDH E2 deficiency due to DLAT mutations. Out of the four previously reported cases of PDH E2 deficiency due to DLAT mutation, only t wo patients had serial MRI scans. In one patient, the brain MRI was normal at one year of age but follow up at 6 years-old showed an abnormal hyperintense T2 signal in the bilateral globus pallidus. In the other patient, similar lesions were noticed at 15 months-old that remained unchanged on follow up at 2 and 6 years of age (Head et al., 2005). As opposed to the eye-of-the-tiger sign seen in our patient, all the previously reported cases showed homogenous basal ganglia hyperintensities (Head et al., 2005;McWilliam et al., 2010). As discussed above, PKAN and CoPAN result from a defect in coenzyme A synthesis (Schneider, 2016;Tonekaboni and Mollamohammadi, 2014). PDH E2 deficiency due to DLAT mutations, on the other hand, affects the transfer of acetyl group formed by decarboxylation of pyruvate to coenzyme A (Kumar et al., 2006;McWilliam et al., 2010;Patel and Roche, 1990). It is possible that the clinical and radiological similarities of PKAN, CoPAN and PDH E2 deficiency are due t o shared abnormalities in the acetyl-CoA metabolism. Like our patient, the 4 previously reported DLAT mutation cases presented with dystonia and intellectual disability, with a more benign course than those affected with the PDH E1 subunit deficiency (Head et al., 2005;McWilliam et al., 2010) . In this regard, PDH E2 deficiency due to DLAT mutation is like PDH deficiency due E3 binding protein deficiency (Head et al., 2005). Serum and CSF lactate were elevated in only one patient, but all demonstrated characteristic hyperintense T2 and hypointense T1 signal in the bilateral globus pallidi on brain MRI. In 3 out of the 4 patients, ketogenic diet was helpful in alleviation of the disease symptomology(Head et al., 2005;McWilliam et al., 2010). Our patients had hallucination, which was not described in other 4 reported patients. Her dystonia and hallucinations responded to low dose carbamazepine. Our case thus expands upon the phenotype for PDH E2 deficiency associated with the DLAT gene mutation. Reference List Dusi, S., Valletta, L., Haack, T.B., Tsuchiya, Y., Venco, P., Pasqualato, S., Goffrini, P., Tigano, M., Demchenko, N., Wieland, T., Schwarzmayr, T., Strom, T.M., Invernizzi, F., Garavaglia, B., Gregory, A., Sanford, L., Hamada, J., Bettencourt, C., Houlden, H., Chiapparini, L., Zorzi, G., Kurian, M.A., Nardocci, N., Prokisch, H., Hayflick, S., Gout, I., and Tiranti, V. (2014). Exome sequence reveals mutations in CoA synthase as a cause of neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 94, 11-22. Head, R.A., Brown, R.M., Zolkipli, Z., Shahdadpuri, R., King, M.D., Clayton, P.T., and Brown, G.K. (2005). Clinical and genetic spectrum of pyruvate dehydrogenase deficiency: dihydrolipoamide acetyltransferase (E2) deficiency. Ann. Neurol. 58, 234-241. Huq, A.H., Ito, M., Naito, E., Saijo, T., Takeda, E., and Kuroda, Y. (1991). Demonstration of an unstable variant of pyruvate dehydrogenase protein (E1) in cultured fibroblasts from a patient with congenital lactic acidemia. Pediatr. Res. 30, 11-14. Kruer, M.C., Boddaert, N., Schneider, S.A., Houlden, H., Bhatia, K.P., Gregory, A., Anderson, J.C., Rooney, W.D., Hogarth, P., and Hayflick, S.J. (2012). Neuroimaging features of neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation. AJNR Am. J. Neuroradiol. 33, 407-414. Kumar, N., Boes, C.J., Babovic-Vuksanovic, D., and Boeve, B.F. (2006). The eye-of-the-tiger sign is not pathognomonic of the PANK2 mutation. Arch. Neurol. 63, 292-293. McWilliam, C.A., Ridout, C.K., Brown, R.M., McWilliam, R.C., Tolmie, J., and Brown, G.K. (2010). Pyruvate dehydrogenase E2 deficiency: a potentially treatable cause of episodic dystonia. Eur. J. Paediatr. Neurol. 14, 349-353. Patel, K.P., OBrien, T.W., Subramony, S.H., Shuster, J., and Stacpoole, P.W. (2012). The spectrum of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex deficiency: clinical, biochemical and genetic features in 371 patients. Mol. Genet. Metab 105, 34-43. Patel, M.S., and Roche, T.E. (1990). Molecular biology and biochemistry of pyruvate dehydrogenase complexes. FASEB J. 4, 3224-3233. Robinson, B.H., MacKay, N., Petrova-Benedict, R., Ozalp, I., Coskun, T., and Stacpoole, P.W. (1990). Defects in the E2 lipoyl transacetylase and the X-lipoyl containing component of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex in patients with lactic acidemia. J. Clin. Invest 85, 1821-1824. Schneider, S.A. (2016). Neurodegeneration with Brain Iron Accumulation. Curr. Neurol. Neurosci. Rep. 16, 9. Serajee, F.J., and Huq, A.M. (2015). Homozygous Mutation in Synaptic Vesicle Glycoprotein 2A Gene Results in Intractable Epilepsy, Involuntary Movements, Microcephaly, and Developmental and Growth Retardation. Pediatr. Neurol. 52, 642-646. Tonekaboni, S.H., and Mollamohammadi, M. (2014). Neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation: an overview. Iran J. Child Neurol. 8, 1-8. Zhou, B., Westaway, S.K., Levinson, B., Johnson, M.A., Gitschier, J., and Hayflick, S.J. (2001). A novel pantothenate kinase gene (PANK2) is defective in Hallervorden-Spatz syndrome. Nat. Genet. 28, 345-349. Figure 1 Legend:   Ã‚   MRI of the brain: A. Axial T2 image showing hyperintensity in bilateral globus pallidus, which is surrounded by a hypointense signal B. Axial T1 image showing hypointensity in bilateral globus pallidus C. Coronal T2 FLAIR image showing hyperintensity in bilateral globus pallidus, which is surrounded by a ring of hypointense signal (eye-of-the-tiger sign)

Inner Truths in The House of the Seven Gables :: House of the Seven Gables Essays

Inner Truths in The House of the Seven Gables It was Hawthorne’s belief that romances deal with inner truths, while novels are based on "mere fact." Because he held himself to be a romance writer, inner truths were elemental themes in The House of the Seven Gables. The truths that he conceived, and expressed, in the story range from the concept that death and suffering do not discriminate based on one’s position in society to the karmic effects one generation may have on those of future generations. Hawthorne saw these themes as important concepts that went beyond simple didactic commentaries. As a romance writer he wanted his reader to understand his conceptions on a complete level, and to achieve this he realized that he must delve into an unusual space in the reader's mind. The supernatural plays an important role in this goal in The House of the Seven Gables. The Supernatural challenges the reader to use her imagination and step out of her usual stereotypes and beliefs so that she may observe the story as Hawt horne wrote it. This challenge is meant to help the reader grasp Hawthorne’s conceptions. Maule’s curse at the gallows is the beginning of the development for one of Hawthorne’s central themes: guilt will stay for generations. In regards to this "karmic" theme, Maule’s curse, a supernatural power, foreshadows the future of the Pyncheon family. Maule insists, "God will give him blood to drink!" and as we read on it appears that this portion of the curse does indeed come to pass. But the effects of the curse do not end there. As men began to build the Pyncheon home on Maule’s land, the famous spring water on the property "entirely lost the deliciousness of its pristine quality." The land that Colonel Pyncheon intended to have for his family immediately started losing its value as the "pristine" well became foul. As the story goes on it, becomes clear that the curse will similarly effect the Pyncheon family, making what once was rich very poor. Maule’s supernatural power is further developed with the use of ghosts. The use of these spirits implies that all inhabitants of the house are in a state of unrest. Although Colonel Pyncheon was the one to commit the sin against Maule, all his relatives will pay for the deed. Alice Pyncheon was said "to haunt the House of the Seven Gables and.

Heathcliff has been described as both an archetypal romantic hero and an intrinsically evil villain

â€Å"She abandoned them under a delusion† he said, â€Å"picturing in me a hero of romance and expecting unlimited indulgences from my chivalrous devotion. † Heathcliff is portrayed as a villain but at the same time, a romantic hero. It seems that he is double edged. He schemes to get Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights, but he is not always so vengeful and rancorous. For example, when the ghost of Catherine Earnshaw came to the window, he wept for her and begged for her to come back. â€Å"Come in! Come in! Cathy do come. Oh do once more! Oh! My heart's darling! Hear me this time, Catherine at last! † in this he shows his hypersensitive side and emotional side. He begs Catherine to go to him and be with him forever. However, his vengeful side does get the better of him quite often and demonstrates him to be gothic, dark, evil and morose. â€Å"Though it's as dark, almost as if it came from the devil. † This explains his gothic and dark approach. The evil and morose trait is unveiled with Hindley, where he swears revenge on him for all the grief and pain Hindley inflicted on Heathcliff. Hindley was so callous and malicious towards Heathcliff and always belittled him as well as treating him like a dog, that this made Heathcliff become so vengeful, he became bitter, twisted and calculating. This vengeance has built up inside Heathcliff stemmed from the mistreatment that he received as a young boy. The fact that he ran away from Wuthering Heights was because of an Earnshaw, just not Hindley, but Catherine. An archetypal romantic hero is one that was typical and habitual. They can be dark and moody and vampiric, like Heathcliff, or hypersensitive, passionate and emotional, also like Heathcliff. In the Victorian era, there would've been lots of heroes like Heathcliff, called Byronic heroes. Bronti challenges the morals of the Victorian era, by creating a dark, bitter, twisted mind that is Heathcliff. Also she challenges the morals of the Victorian era by giving Catherine the more dominant role. Her husband, Edgar Linton, is made out to be more feminine than Catherine is. In the Victorian period, the male would've played the dominant role traditionally. Bronti defies convention by portraying Catherine as the more dominant of the two. Bronti depicts Edgar as somewhat womanly up against Heathcliff. She describes Heathcliff as a tall grown man and up against him; Edgar looks and acts more pale and feminine than normal. Bronti also makes Edgar out to be the weaker sex. He is always being pushed around by Catherine and is a complete walkover. He never sticks up for himself around Heathcliff and cannot fight Heathcliff on his own. Edgar is constantly hiding behind his men or Catherine because he is so weak and anxious. Even his sister, Isabella, completely makes him out to be superfluous and unneeded. Bronti also defies convention by giving the females the authoritive role. She gives Nelly the role of the person who stirs things up and blows things right out of proportion. Nelly always interferes with other people's business and meddles in other people's affairs. She stirs up a rumour about Catherine and Heathcliff ‘arguing' and tells Edgar. This sparks off a massive argument between Catherine and Edgar because he won't fight Heathcliff on his own. Catherine is thought to be attention seeking by Nelly, who doesn't believe her at all. By being an attention seeker, Catherine gets what she wants, and if she doesn't, then she will do her damnedest to make sure she gets it. Because she cannot have both Edgar and Heathcliff, she makes herself terribly ill because they have both broken her heart by arguing. By doing all of this, Catherine makes herself so ill, that she eventually dies. But before she dies, Heathcliff wills to see her. He is portrayed as the romantic hero then towards Catherine. He cries when she is drastically ill and dying in his arms. â€Å"Oh Cathy! Oh my life! How can I bear it? This shows how hypersensitive he can be. He truly loves Catherine and doesn't want to lose her. He blames her for inflicting pain on him by making herself ill. He hates her for it but he still madly and deeply loves her and cannot find it in himself to hate her forever. He has an absolute determination to be with her for as long as they both shall live and even when she dies, he cries. He detests being away from her and wills her to haunt him. He cannot bear the thought of someone else having her, which is why he was so cut up about Catherine and Edgar getting married. He believes in transcendent love and wants to carry on loving her but wants to be with her. He wants Catherine to come back to him so they can carry on together. Whilst he is with Catherine, he turns quite violent on her and shouts at her, demanding to know why she has been making him suffer so badly. She is very apologetic towards him and begs for his forgiveness, as well as wishing she wasn't dying so she could be with him for even longer. Heathcliff is intent of pushing the boundaries so as he and Catherine can be together forever. Towards Hindley's son Hareton, he deviously takes away his rights, but at the same time, makes Hareton love his oppressor. Because Hindley has neglected Hareton due to his drink problem, Heathcliff has taken the liberty of acting like Hareton's parent, but at the same time, taken all of Hareton's rights away from him and downtrodden him to the level Hindley walked over and belittled Heathcliff to. This is one form of many ways of revenge Heathcliff has on the Earnshaw family. We wouldn't have expected this of Heathcliff, because Nelly described him as a sweet little boy who never stirred whilst ill. Heathcliff has shown and intrinsically evil villainous side to him. He is a born evil character and is always seeking revenge on everyone who mistreated him or anyone who did something to him or did something he didn't like, such as Edgar and Catherine getting married. An intrinsically evil villain is one who is pure evil, 100% evil even. He or she will stomp and trample over anyone to get what he or she wants and will not stop until they get it. His actions and evil motives are essential to the plot because he is the most unpredictable person in the novel. What he does is so unpredictable, yet so obvious. This reading of Heathcliff is backed by his mistreatment of Isabella and Hareton, his scheming to get what he wants (namely Wuthering Heights, Thrushcross Grange and Catherine) and his violence towards Hindley. â€Å"If you don't let me in, I'll kill you! † this evil quote was spoken by Heathcliff and aimed towards Isabella. This was when she locked him out in the cold, just like when Hindley made him sleep in the stables. We cannot however, deny the fact that we are secretly impressed with his cleverness, shown through his scheming and wickedness. We are impressed because we are all a tiny bit envious of him because of his cleverness and amazed at how he gets away with the scheming. Not only does he act a role of the villain but he also challenges the generic description of a romantic hero. He has no morals, his behaviour is devilish and demonic, his gothic and vampiric connotations and his sheer enjoyment of being with the dead. He is, to some extent an anti-hero, yet has the charm and with to win over anyone he chooses. He is cunning, conniving, scheming and hell-bent on revenge. This type of behaviour makes him out to be an anti-hero. He is so outrageous and demonic, he lacks all heroic, admirable morals and qualities and is so evil, and it is hard to describe him as a hero. Throughout the book, Heathcliff only ever shows his ‘romantic' qualities he has to Catherine. He doesn't show them to Isabella, who really he should because she is his wife. He is totally iniquitous towards Isabella. However, she does antagonise him by taunting him about the death of Catherine and derides him about how he is going to live without her. It doesn't help that she locks him out of his own house. We sympathise with Heathcliff over the way he treats Isabella because she is silly and has a terrible attitude. His vengeance also stemmed from abuse he suffered as a young child from Hindley. Although he was a calm and peaceful child, his revenge grew and grew. So we fell his actions towards these two individuals is justifiable. For some strange reason he always has our feeling that, however unscrupulous his behaviour is, he is always right and justified. We see him as a villain but sympathise with him on the night of the funeral for the reason that he is distraught at the thought and reality of losing Catherine. Bronti is making a stand against convention. She feels that by giving males the dominance in novels and life is unfair, so she makes a stand against it. She wants people to be shocked by reading this novel and feels the only way she can do it is by doing the normal, then flipping it upside down. For example, Catherine is a rich female living with her husband. However, she is the more dominant of the two, which would have been strange to individuals in the Victorian era. The novel at the time was received with great criticism. One review of the novel quotes â€Å"too disgusting for the eye or the ear to tolerate, and unredeemed, so far as we could see, by one single particle either of wit or humour, or even psychological truth, for the characters are as false as they are loathsome. † This was one of the reviews that many people would have agreed with. They would have agreed with this because the characters were indeed eccentric and officious, but they were what they were. They were characters in a kind of love triangle. They were ordinary people who had very tumultuous relationships but deeply loved each other. Edgar loves Catherine, Heathcliff loves Catherine and Catherine loves both Heathcliff and Edgar. The novel was considered to be evil and immoral. Bronti wrote about females dominating some men in the novel. She defied convention to try and shock the reader into reality. She truly believed that women should have had the same rights as the men had. She criticised the way that women had to give up themselves and remain silent. This means they had no say in what happened. They could not work. They had to sit at home all day and sew or serve. Bronti didn't like that, so she wrote a novel that would make the reader see reality and hopefully change the way women lived. To publish the novel however, she used a pseudonym. She used the pseudonym ‘Ellis Bell'. If women wrote anything for example, it would not be published. The world then was considered to be male. The only way for women to heard was if they somehow managed to present themselves as male. This is why she used the pseudonym Ellis Bell. Her sister, Charlotte Bronti, also a writer, used the pseudonym Currer Bell, so as her novels, including Jane Eyre, could be published. Emily Bronti challenges stereotypes and the archetypal heroes that the readers are familiar with. She criticises the people who do not stand up for what they believe in. in Heathcliff, there is a character that everybody has to love because he poses a threat to conventional order and morality. Without Heathcliff, the novel would lack all passion and be boring and tentative. Bronti's suggestion in this novel is that people should follow their heart and not convention. Heathcliff and Catherine's idea of heaven is returning to the Heights. This is highly unconventional and totally unchristian. The raison d'itre of all the tragedy and evil in the novel was a result of Catherine doing what every other women in the Victorian era, not standing up for what she believed in and not standing up for what she really wanted. Heathcliff is full of contradictions. He has been described by many as a villain and also described as a romantic hero. He is intrinsically evil and contradictory. He is also an archetypal romantic hero. He flouts the typical description of him as a romantic hero and swears he is not a romantic hero. He seems to be double edged and has an absolute determination to be with his one true love forever. He is a great believer in transcendent love and assumes he can push the boundaries and be with Catherine for as long as time. His connotations with the devil and death are clearly stated and he refuses to be classed as a hero. He fascinates yet repulses us. We seem to take his side no matter how awful and immoral his actions are. I think that Bronti challenged the Victorian critics because she wanted to change the way life was. Women were not allowed a say in anything that happened, and she felt that that wasn't fair. Personally, I don't think Heathcliff is a very approachable character. He is moody, self-centred, annoying, vile, hypocritical and malevolently malicious. He only cares about himself, even after 150 years he is problematically difficult to understand. â€Å"His black eyes withdraw so suspiciously under his brows† is a perfect description of the demonic, evil mortal he is; he denotes the demonic qualities of a flea. He is annoying, you wish he wasn't there; you purposefully avoid anything like him and certainly do not want to be another victim of his cruel, malicious, blood sucking nature.

150+ Useful Character Quirks (Plus a Few Clichés to Avoid)

150+ Useful Character Quirks (Plus a Few Clichà ©s to Avoid) 150+ Useful Character Quirks (Plus a Few Clichà ©s to Avoid) Writing great characters is a constant balancing act - you want each one to have certain quirks and flaws, but you don’t want them to be SO zany that they’re off-putting to readers. So how can you come up with realistic traits that humanize your characters, without falling into clichà ©?Luckily, this post offers a list of over 150 unique character quirks and traits that avoid clichà © and can help make the people in your story much more relatable! But before we get into that, here are a few notes on what character quirks are in stories and how to use them. Check out this list of over 150 character quirks (that you can steal for your book). What are character quirks? Making sourdough - so quirky! (Photo by  Nathan Dumlao)This section contains suggestions for unique strengths and talents, as well as weaknesses or negative traits one might possess.Strengths/talents:Fantastic cook or bakerSkilled musician (piano, guitar, violin, etc.)Artistic talent (drawing, painting, sculpting, etc.)Model athlete (football, hockey, swimming, etc.)Great at voices/ventriloquyCan do sleight-of-hand - may be a pickpocketSpeaks multiple languages, even obscure onesKnows everything about historyMathematical or scientific geniusBrilliant coder and can hack into any databaseSkilled mechanical inventorCan build or put together anythingSuper-quick logical reasoningExceptional memory/genius IQ (several of the above might fall under this one)Special connection with animalsSuper empathetic and understanding of other peopleExtremely fast runnerContortionist (can twist their body into any shape)Psychic talent (can predict the future)Amazing mechanicSuper strength, flying, in visibility or other superpowersUnusually high tolerance for painSurvival skills like hunting and fishingQuick reflexes, acts fast in a crisisBrave and fearless, not scared of anythingAble to talk their way out of any trouble/invent stories on the flyWeaknesses/negative traits:Awful driverAlways running lateIllegible handwritingTerrible at public speakingSocially awkward - hard for them to make friendsHas tons of credit card debt from online shoppingSelf-destructive and always wants what’s worst for themGets blackout drunk every time they go outExtremely conceited or arrogantCompulsive liarManipulative of friendsGets jealous over nothingOften mean for no reasonUnbelievably self-centeredExtremely passive-aggressiveArachnophobia (irrational fear of spiders)Coulrophobia (irrational fear of clowns)Agoraphobia (irrational fear of leaving the house)Pantophobia (fear of everything)Be careful how you incorporate these strengths and weaknesses, as you don’t want their inclusion to seem unnatural. After all, personality traits tend to reveal themselves on a daily basis, but this may not be true for their special talents and fears.Indeed, sometimes the best way to use quirks like these is to surprise your reader with it at the right moment. Maybe it’s the eleventh hour, and your MC has nowhere else to turn, only for their friend’s special skill to save the day!Also, as you can tell from both lists, there’s quite a range of strengths and weaknesses you can give your characters. Some of those talents require more practice than others, and some of the weaknesses are greater flaws than others - for instance, being a mean or manipulative person is obviously much worse than having bad handwriting. However, it’s good to be familiar with a wide range of both major and minor quirks so you can create more well-rounded characters.MiscellaneousThese are idiosyncrasies that don’t really fit into any of the above categories, but could still be of good use in your story.Dresses all in one colorBedroom is decorated exactly like a Pinterest pictureWon’t drink still water, only sparklingRefuses to use headphones and blasts their music in publicAlways dresses too nicely for the occasionWalks around barefoot, even in stores and other public placesHates being inside, sleeps and goes to the bathroom outdoorsCan’t help but look in every mirror they passWears a small plastic backpack everywherePreps their meals three weeks in advanceDrinks shots of espresso all day longSings opera in the showerMakes their own (terrible) abstract art and hangs it on their wallsGets super excited about Christmas and then really depressed in JanuaryRefuses to wear glasses even though they need themCarries around a secret teddy bearHas been wearing the same friendship bracelet for three yearsFastidiously lint-rolls all their clothingWill a shop or restaurant if someone walks in with a babyExtremely superstitious (knocks on wood, avoids the number 13, etc.)Drops everything other people ask them to holdLikes to go out dancing by themselvesPrefers to have the lights off or dimmed at all timesOnly reads books written before 1900Only watches movies that get really bad reviewsAlways wears multiple sweaters on top of each otherWon’t eat anything that doesn’t have bread (at least on the side)Thinks they’re a time-traveler from the medieval eraGives friends and family excellent homemade presentsLeaves the office last every day so they can push all the chairs inHates jagged numbers (always fills their gas tank to the dollar, sends emails on the hour, etc.)Has an imaginary friend they still talk to, even in adulthoodOwns a lizard that they try and use as a guard dogListens exclusively to Britney SpearsLeaves little notes in library books for future readersUses tissues to hold onto poles on public transportationWears their hair in Princess Leia bunsNever goes a day without talking to their momHums â€Å"In the Hall of the Mountain King† when they get stressedClucks their tongue while walking, so they sound like a horseQuotes Pulp Fiction all the timeLoves hanging out in completely empty placesConvinced they’re going to die in a freak accidentGrows all their own food in their vegetable gardenNever pays for train or bus ticketsCan recite Shakespearean sonnetsRecycles and eats vegetarian, but only out of guiltHas a â€Å"vision board† posted on their ceilingLoves the beach but hates swimmingFlicks people in the forehead when they get annoyedLaughs at everything, even bad jokesCurates a great Instagram feed of street art Sings opera, owns a lizard, plus 50 more original quirks to use in your story 🎠¶Ã°Å¸ ¦Å½ Clichà ©d â€Å"quirks† to avoidGiving your characters interesting tics can cross-over into ham-fisted writing if your quirks are used way too much, like the following:Pale skinCrooked smileâ€Å"Intense† stareRelentless clumsinessArtificial hair colors that are supposedly naturalCharacters thinking they’re unattractive when everyone else thinks they’re beautifulBasically, any archetype that hasn’t been developed enoughWhen readers see these traits on the page, they roll their eyes and think, â€Å"Ugh, not again.† Many of these aren’t even quirks, but fairly common traits that the writer attempts to romanticize. Traits like these signify to the reader that the author has barely put any thought into developing their characters - they’ve just chosen ostensibly quirky features that are actually overused and ineffective. So stay away from them at all costs!As we said, the business of selecting and integrating quirks is more compl icated than it seems. But after reading through this guide, you should have a much better understanding of what they are and how to use them†¦ not to mention a tremendous variety of quirks from which to choose! So will your character be a gum-chewing code genius or a short-tempered contortionist? From here on out, it’s all up to you.What are some of your characters' quirks? Tell us in the comments below!

Critically assess the historical sources relating to early Islam. The WritePass Journal

Critically assess the historical sources relating to early Islam. Introduction Critically assess the historical sources relating to early Islam. IntroductionThe Quran from Muslim perspective.The revelation.Quran critical   viewpoint.Language difficulties.Further Argument.Oral transmission.Muhammad Muslim perspectiveFurther commentSomething to reflect on.Bibliography;Related Introduction The Muslims form a nation over thirteen centuries old ,with more than six hundred million people in all parts of the world. The prophet Muhammad was the first citizen of this nation, it`s teacher and guide. In this essay we will attempt to outline and critically access the principle elements of the historical sources relating to early Islam: The Qur’an, Ahadith and the biographies of Muhammad. The Quran from Muslim perspective. The Qur`an is the sacred book of Islam, the word of God and his   final revelation.  Ã‚  Ã‚   To Muslim The Qur`an is the ‘mother of all books. It was revealed to Muhammad for guidance of mankind, He recited the verses, and then they were memorized and written down by others. The original books do not exist, most of them have been lost and only their translation exists today. The Qur`an is written in Arabic ,a language today recognised as a major language. It deals with many affairs in peacetimes and during war. It provides advice in matters like marriage ,divorce, birth and death, property inheritance, buying and selling, trade and commerce, civil and criminal law, in short the Qur`an is a book of complete guidance embracing all different aspects of life. (Fazlur ,1965,p.30) The revelation. According to Muslim tradition during the month of Ramadan,  Ã‚   Muhammad at the age of forty, tended to pray and meditate by himself in a cave on mount Hira outside the city of Mecca,   in year 610 A.D.,  Ã‚   he began to have visions,  Ã‚   and revelation, from God   through the angel Gabriel. Hence, each single word contained in the Quran is divine, free from human influence. Muhammad later preached these messages in Mecca where they were firstly rejected by the pagan worshipers and Muhammad was forced to escape to Medina where the first Muslim community was born. He and his followers later returned to Mecca and converted its inhabitants   to Islam before going on to conquer the entire Arabian peninsula, and further parts of the world . The Qur`an is written in the most perfect written Arabic, and the way in which it has been structured, help the audience’s efforts to recall the message of the text. According to Muslim tradition, the Quranic verses were originally memorized by Muhammads companions . the Qur’an is, for Muslims, the work of God, it has been interpreted in many ways For some, the ‘fundamentalists’ it is literally true For others, such as the Sufis, every verse has an inner and more important meaning. based on Q 2:23 : Muslims see the Quran as unsurpassable and unique â€Å"If you have doubts about the revelation we have sent down to our servant, then produce a single sura like it -enlist whatever supporters you have other than God- if you truly think you can†. and again: â€Å"Say, Even if all mankind and jinn came together to produce something like this Quran, they could not produce anything like it, however much they helped each other† Q 17:88 Quran critical   viewpoint. In recent years   there has   been a tendency on the part of Western scholars to accept what Muslims stated about the origins of the Qur’an. Western scholars and some Muslim scholars, are careful-ling questioning the traditional view of the Qur’an. The historical authenticity of   early texts has been the subject of great debate among scholars and the traditionalists that without any reliable font   that concern these text of early Islamic literature assert   as   complete and authentic works, while critics argue that the Qur’an is lacking in exactness and they doubt its historical reliability and accuracy of the hadith and the biographies of Muhammad, having been recorded so long after the facts. Language difficulties. Ancient Arabic was an early simple language, a mixed Arabic-Syriac language, the traders language of Mecca and it was based on Christian liturgical texts. Professor Luxenberg states that when the final text of the Quran was codified, those working on it did not understand the original sense and meaning of this mixture trading language any more, and they vehemently and casually turned it into classical Arabic.   livius.org/opinion/Luxenberg.htm Written Arabic only had consonants and there were no   defining vowels, Furthermore, when the Quran was codified a script was used in which several consonants shared the same signs. There were 28 consonants but only 17 symbols, which means that Only 17 signs were used to write 28 consonants. Early Islamic linguists, and since the 19th century also western scholars of Islam, have discovered loanwords in the Quran derived from various languages, mainly from Syriac. In the 7th century this was the spoken language of the Middle East, as well as Greek, that was mainly spoken in the Byzantine empire. Mecca, Muhammads home city was a trade settlement and Muhammad himself worked in the caravan trade for years. It is unthinkable that he had no knowledge of Syriac. So it is not surprising that Syriac loanwords are present in the Quran. Further Argument. textual exegesis of the Quran Based on form and in depth text analysis, we also notice an   untiring use of monotheistic similes with and   from Judeo-Christian sources, Mohammad   interpreted the rise of Islam as the development of what was originally a Judeo-Christian group. As this sect evolved and differentiated itself from its Judeo-Christian heritages, the Quran also progressed and was constantly in change for over a century. In trying to trace the sources and development of the religious ideas developed in the Quran recent study have decisively showed that the main external influences (together with the Old Testament resources) can be traced back to Syriac Christianity. It is now well recognized that there were structured Jewish and Christian churches amongst the established communities in the north, the south, and the east of Arabia. The Arab town of Hira on the Euphrates was the base of a Nestorian group which undoubtedly lead some kind of missionary activity in Arabia, and there are many references in old Arabic poetry to hermits living in isolated caves in the wilderness. With an outlook of the close commercial relations between Mecca and the Yemen it would be normal to say that some religious ideas and stories were carried to Mecca with the trading   caravans and there are details of vocabulary in the Quran which lead   to this assumption. Professor   Wansbrough In his book Quranic Studies Sources and Methods of Scriptural Interpretation concluded that the canonization of the text that we today call the Quran, and even the emergence of the concept of   Islam, probably did not occur till the end of the eighth century, more than 150 years after the death of Muhammad. Oral transmission. the Qur’an   was considered of principal importance in relations to safeguarding, and   many Muslims would memorize and learn to recite the Qur’an in its wholeness word by word. Tradition say that Muhammad and his followers could recite the complete Qur’an by heart .(Goldziher,1981,p. 23) For Muslims this would appear sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the veracity and reliability of oral transmission through the century is possible with great accuracy. Muhammad Muslim perspective The prophet Mohammad takes a special place in the life and conscience of Muslims today, just as he did in the past. (Tariq,2007,p.35). His mission was to get people at large to   believe   in One True God (Allah), the Creator of all, and also to show and teach the laws of moral, social, legal, ethical conduct and matters of importance for   humanity in general. Therefore   following Muhammad’s example and teachings   is an integral part of Islam   identity.   (Maxime, 1985, p.73) Mohammad for Muslims, is the ‘perfect person’, the sinless model When Muslims speak his name they will add ‘peace and blessings be upon him’ In Surah 33, of the Quran we find   the following statement: â€Å"Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but is the Messenger of God and the seal of the Prophets†. To the Islam world, this verse has been understood to mean that Muhammad was selected by God as the final prophet because of his qualities he was kind, considerate, wise and just and there will be no more prophets, there will be no new scripture. Hadith and and the biographies of Muhammad.- Critical perspective. The sira and hadith literature   provide further information on Muhammads life. A standard Islamic source that attempts to provide some sort of context to the Qur’an and also where most of the historical information about Muhammad is derived from are the hadith, a collection of authoritative traditions that were handed down orally and are considered to be the words and deeds of the prophet Muhammad and also what the prophet approved . This are short reports or narratives on the sayings and deeds of Muhammad which were collected by Muslims in the ninth and tenth centuries. The most famous was written by Ibn Ishaq, born   in 717 and died in 767   Life of Gods Messenger. This traditions   began to be written down during the reign of Umar But, strangely enough   none of these collections have survived, the work is lost, but was used word for word at great length by Ibn Hisham . The key problem however is, as just stated, there are no existing copies of this work the main source is the redaction of Ibn Hisham (d. 833) which according to scholars   was following his own desire to spread a positive message of Islam and its great prophet,   and so he   removed whatever he thought was inappropriate to the Messenger of God† (Peters, 2009. p. 23) giving   not a true reflection of the Prophet Muhammad’s life. He states at the beginning that he has edited it so as to omit: ‘things which it is disgraceful to discuss; matters which could distress certain people. Things or fact like the one   where Muhammad allowed his followers to raid the Meccan caravans in the month of Rahab   held by Arab tradition to be a sacred month when fighting was strictly forbidden. The Meccans were outraged at this act which was seen as cowardly. Muhammad himself seems at first to have been rather embarrassed by the raid, for he refused to distribute the loot which had been taken. Shortly after, however, another Qur’anic revelation was received to accommodate this matter. Further comment The biographies record at least 70 assassinations prompted by Muhammad against his opponents who disagreed with him. We know about his problems in Mecca, where they were initially rejected by the pagan worshipers and Muhammad was forced to escape to Medina where   the first Muslim community was born.   He and his followers later returned to Mecca where they subdued it’s inhabitants and by strength converted them to Islam before going on to conquer the entire Arabian peninsula, and then further battles and conquest lead to the proliferation of Islam around the world. Something to reflect on. According to the earliest sources Muhammad married at least eleven possibly fourteen   women after the death of Khadija . However or not political reason could be found for most of Muhammad marriages , personal desires definitely played a big part has is made clear by the early accounts of his life. A tradition preserved by   al Bukkhari states that   he satisfied nine of his wives in a single night . Most   people , regard sexual prowess as being incompatible with prophecy. In other accounts is said that Muhammad declared that he loved nothing better than prayer, sweet odours and women. In addition to all It was also was written some 200 years after the Prophet’s death and raises questions over its authenticity as the original source is lost and only fragments remain, leaving historians with the unpopular job of splitting real fact from creative writing. Problem with the Oral Transmission. Cook warns of the danger in accepting oral tradition as a reliable source when he states that if â€Å"the life of Muhammad was transmitted orally for a century before it was reduced to writing, then the chances are that the material will have undergone considerable alteration in the process (Cook, 1983. p.65) Kussas. Pre Islamic Arabs have a long tradition of storytelling Kussas who told tales modelled on the Biblical stories, which were popular at the time, as well as stories from Iran The main aim of the storytellers was the same as that of the tribal poets, the glorification of their tribe   entertaining   people with legendary â€Å"tales of the Prophets† (Peters, 2009. p. 27). This appears to be   rational assumption as the unreliability of oral transmission can be clearly seen in the number of variations in the traditions and furthermore historians do not exclude the possibility   that even the biographies   have very little historical foundation and owe more to the art of elaborated narration. Our Critic tend to view oral tradition with suspicion,   due to the opportunity of corruption and manipulation as there is no way of corroborating this with written evidence at the time of the events.   Non Arabic sources. The first documented Christian awareness of Muhammad is from Byzantine sources. They point out that both Jews and Christians saw Muhammad as a misleading prophet. In the Doctrina Jacobi nuper baptizati of 634, Muhammad is depicted as being devious for do prophets come with sword and chariot?   â€Å"You will discover nothing true from the said prophet except human bloodshed. Contradictory Hadiths. Muslim scholars   were faced with a huge series of traditions many of them clearly contradictory, and voluntarily agreed that there are numerous forged hadiths, however this does not weaken their relevance to Muslims. This muddle among early Muslims led Al Bukari, in an attempt to put an end the proliferation of forged hadiths, to compile an authentic authoritative text in the 9th Century In order to compile an authoritative text Muslim scholar   developed the ‘science of hadith’. Each hadith was accompanied by an isnad a chain of transmitters going back to the companions of the prophet   Muhammad The important questions were: Was transmission feasible? Were the transmitters reliable? The significant problem with this method is that the earliest hadith do not mention the chain of transmitters for its authenticity. Several western scholars and professors most of which are the authors of book indicated in the bibliography of this paper, have been far more critical of Muslim traditions and argue that there are no hadith   which are truly reliable. Most Muslims do not question the stories and are shocked by any who do A few Muslims are beginning to question the Muslim sources. The truth is we have found a lot of discrepancy on how   Islam came into existence. Bibliography; ABDULLAH, YUSUF ALI. 1937. The Holy Quran, Translation and Commentary. Lahore. AFZALUR R., 1992,Islam ideology and the way of life, Published by Seerah foundation, London. COOK, M. 1983. Muhammad. Oxford: Oxford University Press. FAZLUR R.,1965, Islam, Weindenfeld and Nicolson, London. GOLDZIER I, 1981,Introduction to Islamic theology and Law, Princeton University Press, Princeton ,New Jersey. KURSHID A.,1992, Islam its meaning and Message, Published by the Islamic Foundation, Leicester UK. MAXIME R..!985, Mohammed, Published by Pelican Books, Uk. PETERS, F. E. 2009. The Quest: The Historians’ Search for Jesus and Muhammad. Maryland: Recorded Books, LLC. SAYYD   A,1989,Towards understanding Islam, Published by the Islamic Foundation, Leicester UK. SELL, D. D. 1923. The Historical Development of the Qur’an, 4th ed. London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent Co. TARIQ R.,2007,In the footstep of the prophet, Oxford university press, New York.    livius.org/opinion/Luxenberg.htmaccessed on 7/03/2011

Benifits and Disadvantages of Coaching PowerPoint Presentation

Benifits and Disadvantages of Coaching - PowerPoint Presentation Example Knowledge gets transferred from one individual to another through the process of coaching. It is partly different from teaching in that in coaching, the tutor essentially adopts such a behavior that makes him/her the role model for the learners whereas in the course of learning, the tutor just has more knowledge about the subject as compared to the learners. He/she may not at all be involved in the subject of discussion. All that matters is the conveyance of knowledge to the learners whereas in coaching, the coach essentially tells the followers how to do a certain task. It involves display of certain characteristics that are consistent with the demand of the subject of discussion. Therefore, a coach assumes the responsibility to behave and act professionally so that he/she may rationally decide what to deliver when, how and how much. The same professionalism is inculcated in the followers as they accede to the instructions of the coach. Coaching provides the learners with an opportu nity to identify their weaknesses and discover their strengths with the guidance of the coach. Coaching is a coherent process whose various stages are sensibly linked to each other. In the initial stage of coaching, the coach tells the followers what is expected of them once they master a certain art.

Chinese Scroll Painting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Chinese Scroll Painting - Essay Example The Chinese vertical scroll is read like a script from top to down. At the top edge of the scroll a semi-circle wooden stave is attached and is used for hanging up. A massive bar fixed at the bottom edge of the painting makes rolling up smoother and faster. The roller is often decorated with the precious materials. It also gives the picture some rigidity when hanging on the wall. The ways of hanging as well as the materials and decorations vary from one period to the other. Hanging scrolls are about fifty centimetres in width and up to three meters in length. The form of the horizontal scroll offers greater opportunity to the artist since the extra pieces of silk or paper could be added while painting. The Chinese painters are not limited in space as the European ones. This is especially useful in painting of the mass scenes and landscapes. A horizontal scroll is composed of few scenes that are divided by the peaces of landscape, usually by a group of trees or mountains. The Chinese scroll has to be viewed from right to left and the viewed section should not exceed sixty centimeters at a time. The left hand unrolls the picture and the right one rolls it up. The beginning section of the scroll is usually left empty for the protective reason, the following section is meant for the title, and special sections of scroll serve as inscription panels. This particular way of reading influences the general composition of the painting. The hand scrolls were not meant to be permanently displayed.