Macbeth and Lady Macbeth - Who Has the Greater Guilt? :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

Greater Guilt - Macbeth or Lady Macbeth ? Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, is an exciting story containing all kinds of plots and murders. The characters that are killing and are planning murders are all very deceiving and treacherous. Two of the most dangerous criminals in this play are Lady Macbeth and her husband. Together they commit the most dreadful murder by killing the King; Duncan. This is why it is difficult to determine which one of these two carries the greatest guilt, because they each do their own part in committing the crime.   Lady Macbeth would prepare the plan and then encourage Macbeth to go through with it.   Macbeth did the actual murdering, he was also the first person who thought about killing Duncan. Furthermore he did some killing on his own. Lady Macbeth did not have any involvement in these cases.   Based on these facts, Macbeth would be found more guilty than Lady Macbeth. The very first murder in this story   was committed on Duncan. This crime was planned by both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. The actual murder was done by Macbeth, making him more guilty of the crime.   Lady Macbeth just talked about committing the crime, but she never actually went through with it nor would she ever, and that is all that counts.   Talking about committing the incident is very different from actually doing it.   Lady Macbeth did a little more than just talk about it though. She also urged Macbeth into doing it and that is what makes her part of this crime, but she is not as guilty as Macbeth.   He really didn't have to listen to what his wife said. Macbeth had a mind of his own and he could make his own decision.   The other murders that Macbeth was involved in were not committed by him, but were ordered by him. The people who did the killing had no choice, they had to do it, because they worked for Macbeth.   Macbeth knew this and was a bit more guilty in t hese murders then lady Macbeth was when she urged him.

Black House Chapter Twenty-two

22 THIS TIME THERE'S something that isn't quite silence: a lovely white rushing he has heard once before. In the summer of 1997, Jack went up way north to Vacaville with an LAPD skydiving club called the P.F. Flyers. It was a dare, one of those stupid things you got yourself into as a result of too many beers too late at night and then couldn't get yourself out of again. Not with any grace. Which was to say, not without looking like a chickenshit. He expected to be frightened; instead, he was exalted. Yet he had never done it again, and now he knows why: he had come too close to remembering, and some frightened part of him must have known it. It was the sound before you pulled the ripcord that lonely white rushing of the wind past your ears. Nothing else to hear but the soft, rapid beat of your heart and maybe the click in your ears as you swallowed saliva that was in free fall, just like the rest of you. Pull the ripcord, Jack, he thinks. Time to pull the ripcord, or the landing's going to be awfully damn hard. Now there's a new sound, low at first but quickly swelling to a tooth-rattling bray. Fire alarm, he thinks, and then: No, it's a symphony of fire alarms. At the same moment, Wendell Green's hand is snatched out of his grip. He hears a faint, squawking cry as his fellow sky diver is swept away, and then there's a smell Honeysuckle No, it's her hair and Jack gasps against a weight on his chest and his diaphragm, a feeling that the wind has been knocked out of him. There are hands on him, one on his shoulder, the other at the small of his back. Hair tickling his cheek. The sound of alarms. The sound of people yelling in confusion. Running footfalls that clack and echo. â€Å"jack jack jack are you all right† â€Å"Ask a queen for a date, get knocked into the middle of next week,† he mutters. Why is it so dark? Has he been blinded? Is he ready for that intellectually rewarding and financially remunerative job as an ump at Miller Park? â€Å"Jack!† A palm smacks his cheek. Hard. No, not blind. His eyes are just shut. He pops them open and Judy is bending over him, her face inches from his. Without thinking, he closes his left hand in the hair at the nape of her neck, brings her face down to his, and kisses her. She exhales into his mouth a surprised reverse gasp that inflates his lungs with her electricity and then kisses him back. He has never been kissed with such intensity in his entire life. His hand goes to the breast beneath her nightdress, and he feels the frenzied gallop of her heart If she were to run faster, she'd catch her feet and fall, Jack thinks beneath its firm rise. At the same moment her hand slips inside his shirt, which has somehow come unbuttoned, and tweaks his nipple. It's as hard and hot as the slap. As she does it, her tongue darts into his mouth in one quick plunge, there and gone, like a bee into a flower. He tightens his grip on the nape of her neck and God knows what would have happened next, but at that moment something fall s over in the corridor with a huge crash of glass and someone screams. The voice is high and almost sexless with panic, but Jack believes it's Ethan Evans, the sullen young person from the hall. â€Å"Get back here! Stop running, goldarnit!† Of course it's Ethan; only a graduate of Mount Hebron Lutheran Sunday school would use goldarnit, even in extremis. Jack pulls away from Judy. She pulls away from him. They are on the floor. Judy's nightdress is all the way up to her waist, exposing plain white nylon underwear. Jack's shirt is open, and so are his pants. His shoes are still on, but on the wrong feet, from the feel of them. Nearby, the glass-topped coffee table is overturned and the journals that were on it are scattered. Some seem to have been literally blown out of their bindings. More screams from the corridor, plus a few cackles and mad ululations. Ethan Evans continues to yell at stampeding mental patients, and now a woman is yelling as well Head Nurse Rack, perhaps. The alarms bray on and on. All at once a door bursts open and Wendell Green gallops into the room. Behind him is a closet with clothes scattered everywhere, the spare items of Dr. Spiegleman's wardrobe all ahoo. In one hand Wendell's holding his Panasonic minicorder. In the other he has several gleaming tubular objects. Jack is willing to bet they're double-A Duracells. Jack's clothes have been unbuttoned (or perhaps blown open), but Wendell has fared much worse. His shirt is in tatters. His belly hangs over a pair of white boxer shorts, severely pee-stained in front. He is dragging his brown gabardine slacks by one foot. They slide across the carpet like a shed snakeskin. And although his socks are on, the left one appears to have been turned inside out. â€Å"What did you do?† Wendell blares. â€Å"Oh you Hollywood son of a bitch, WHAT DID YOU DO TO M â€Å" He stops. His mouth drops open. His eyes widen. Jack notes that the reporter's hair appears to be standing out like the quills on a porcupine. Wendell, meanwhile, is noting Jack Sawyer and Judy Marshall, embracing on the glass- and paper-littered floor, with their clothes disarranged. They aren't quite in flagrante delicious, but if Wendell ever saw two people on the verge, dese are dem. His mind is whirling and filled with impossible memories, his balance is shot, his stomach is chugging like a washing machine that has been overloaded with clothes and suds; he desperately needs something to hold on to. He needs news. Even better, he needs scandal. And here, lying in front of him on the floor, are both. â€Å"RAPE!† Wendell bellows at the top of his lungs. A mad, relieved grin twists up the corners of his mouth. â€Å"SAWYER BEAT ME UP AND NOW HE'S RAPING A MENTAL PATIENT!† It doesn't look much like rape to Wendell, in all truth, but who ever yelled CONSENSUAL SEX! at the top of his lungs and attracted any attention? â€Å"Shut that idiot up,† Judy says. She yanks down the hem of her nightgown and prepares to stand. â€Å"Watch out,† Jack says. â€Å"Broken glass everywhere.† â€Å"I'm okay,† she snaps. Then, turning to Wendell with that perfect fearlessness Fred knew so well: â€Å"Shut up! I don't know who you are, but quit that bellowing! Nobody's being â€Å" Wendell backs away from Hollywood Sawyer, dragging his pants along with him. Why doesn't someone come? he thinks. Why doesn't someone come before he shoots me, or something? In his frenzy and near hysteria, Wendell has either not registered the alarms and general outcry or believes them to be going on inside his head, just a little more false information to go with his absurd â€Å"memories† of a black gunslinger, a beautiful woman in a robe, and Wendell Green himself crouching in the dust and eating a half-cooked bird like a caveman. â€Å"Keep away from me, Sawyer,† he says, backing up with his hands held out in front of him. â€Å"I have an extremely hungry lawyer. Caveet-emporer, you asshole, lay one finger on me and he and I will strip you of everything you OW! OW!† Wendell has stepped on a piece of broken glass, Jack sees probably from one of the prints that formerly decorated the walls and are now decorating the floor. He takes one more off-balance lurch backward, this time steps on his own trailing slacks, and goes sprawling into the leather recliner where Dr. Spiegleman presumably sits while quizzing his patients on their troubled childhoods. La Riviere's premier muckraker stares at the approaching Nean-derthal with wide, horrified eyes, then throws the minicorder at him. Jack sees that it's covered with scratches. He bats it away. â€Å"RAPE!† Wendell squeals. â€Å"HE'S RAPING ONE OF THE LOONIES! HE'S â€Å" Jack pops him on the point of the chin, pulling the punch just a little at the last moment, delivering it with almost scientific force. Wendell flops back in Dr. Spiegleman's recliner, eyes rolling up, feet twitching as if to some tasty beat that only the semiconscious can truly appreciate. â€Å"The Mad Hungarian couldn't have done better,† Jack murmurs. It occurs to him that Wendell ought to treat himself to a complete neurological workup in the not too distant future. His head has put in a hard couple of days. The door to the hall bursts open. Jack steps in front of the recliner to hide Wendell, stuffing his shirt into his pants (at some point he's zipped his fly, thank God). A candy striper pokes her fluffy head into Dr. Spiegleman's office. Although she's probably eighteen, her panic makes her look about twelve. â€Å"Who's yelling in here?† she asks. â€Å"Who's hurt?† Jack has no idea what to say, but Judy manages like a pro. â€Å"It was a patient,† she says. â€Å"Mr. Lackley, I think. He came in, yelled that we were all going to be raped, and then ran out again.† â€Å"You have to leave at once,† the candy striper tells them. â€Å"Don't listen to that idiot Ethan. And don't use the elevator. We think it was an earthquake.† â€Å"Right away,† Jack says crisply, and although he doesn't move, it's good enough for the candy striper; she heads out. Judy crosses quickly to the door. It closes but won't latch. The frame has been subtly twisted out of true. There was a clock on the wall. Jack looks toward it, but it's fallen face-down to the floor. He goes to Judy and takes her by the arms. â€Å"How long was I over there?† â€Å"Not long,† she says, â€Å"but what an exit you made! Ka-pow! Did you get anything?† Her eyes plead with him. â€Å"Enough to know I have to go back to French Landing right away,† he tells her. Enough to know that I love you that I'll always love you, in this world or any other. â€Å"Tyler . . . is he alive?† She reverses his grip so she is holding him. Sophie did exactly the same thing in Faraway, Jack remembers. â€Å"Is my son alive?† â€Å"Yes. And I'm going to get him for you.† His eye happens on Spiegleman's desk, which has danced its way into the room and stands with all its drawers open. He sees something interesting in one of those drawers and hurries across the carpet, crunching on broken glass and kicking aside one of the prints. In the top drawer to the left of the desk's kneehole is a tape recorder, considerably bigger than Wendell Green's trusty Panasonic, and a torn piece of brown wrapping paper. Jack snatches up the paper first. Scrawled across the front in draggling letters he's seen at both Ed's Eats and on his own front porch is this: Deliver to JUDY MARSHALL also known as SOPHIE There are what appear to be stamps in the upper corner of the torn sheet. Jack doesn't need to examine them closely to know that they are really cut from sugar packets, and that they were affixed by a dangerous old dodderer named Charles Burnside. But the Fisherman's identity no longer matters much, and Speedy knew it. Neither does his location, because Jack has an idea Chummy Burnside can flip to a new one pretty much at will. But he can't take the real doorway with him. The doorway to the furnace-lands, to Mr. Munshun, to Ty. If Beezer and his pals found that Jack drops the wrapping paper back into the drawer, hits the EJECT button on the tape recorder, and pops out the cassette tape inside. He sticks it in his pocket and heads for the door. â€Å"Jack.† He looks back at her. Beyond them, fire alarms honk and blat, lunatics scream and laugh, staff runs to and fro. Their eyes meet. In the clear blue light of Judy's regard, Jack can almost touch that other world with its sweet smells and strange constellations. â€Å"Is it wonderful over there? As wonderful as in my dreams?† â€Å"It's wonderful,† he tells her. â€Å"And you are, too. Hang in there, okay?† Halfway down the hallway, Jack comes upon a nasty sight: Ethan Evans, the young man who once had Wanda Kinderling as his Sunday school teacher, has laid hold of a disoriented old woman by her fat upper arms and is shaking her back and forth. The old woman's frizzy hair flies around her head. â€Å"Shut up!† young Mr. Evans is shouting at her. â€Å"Shut up, you crazy old cow! You're not going anywhere except back to your dadblame room!† Something about his sneer makes it obvious that even now, with the world turned upside down, young Mr. Evans is enjoying both his power to command and his Christian duty to brutalize. This is only enough to make Jack angry. What infuriates him is the look of terrified incomprehension on the old woman's face. It makes him think of boys he once lived with long ago, in a place called the Sunlight Home. It makes him think of Wolf. Without pausing or so much as breaking stride (they have entered the endgame phase of the festivities now, and somehow he knows it), Jack drives his fist into young Mr. Evans's temple. That worthy lets go of his plump and squawking victim, strikes the wall, then slides down it, his eyes wide and dazed. â€Å"Either you didn't listen in Sunday school or Kinderling's wife taught you the wrong lessons,† Jack says. â€Å"You . . . hit . . . me . . .† young Mr. Evans whispers. He finishes his slow dive splay-legged on the hallway floor halfway between the Records Annex and Ambulatory Ophthalmology. â€Å"Abuse another patient this one, the one I was just talking to, any of them and I'll do a lot more than that,† Jack promises young Mr. Evans. Then he's down the stairs, taking them two at a time, not noticing a handful of johnny-clad patients who stare at him with expressions of puzzled, half-fearful wonder. They look at him as if at a vision who passes them in an envelope of light, some wonder as brilliant as it is mysterious. Ten minutes later (long after Judy Marshall has walked composedly back to her room without professional help of any kind), the alarms cut off. An amplified voice perhaps even Dr. Spiegleman's own mother wouldn't have recognized it as her boy's begins to blare from the overhead speakers. At this unexpected roar, patients who had pretty much calmed down begin to shriek and cry all over again. The old woman whose mistreatment so angered Jack Sawyer is crouched below the admissions counter with her hands over her head, muttering something about the Russians and Civil Defense. â€Å"THE EMERGENCY IS OVER!† Spiegleman assures his cast and crew. â€Å"THERE IS NO FIRE! PLEASE REPORT TO THE COMMON ROOMS ON EACH FLOOR! THIS IS DR. SPIEGLEMAN, AND I REPEAT THAT THE EMERGENCY IS OVER!† Here comes Wendell Green, weaving his way slowly toward the stairwell, rubbing his chin gently with one hand. He sees young Mr. Evans and offers him a helping hand. For a moment it looks as though Wendell may be pulled over himself, but then young Mr. Evans gets his buttocks against the wall and manages to gain his feet. â€Å"THE EMERGENCY IS OVER! I REPEAT, THE EMERGENCY IS OVER! NURSES, ORDERLIES, AND DOCTORS, PLEASE ESCORT ALL PATIENTS TO THE COMMON ROOMS ON EACH FLOOR!† Young Mr. Evans eyes the purple bruise rising on Wendell's chin. Wendell eyes the purple bruise rising on the temple of young Mr. Evans. â€Å"Sawyer?† young Mr. Evans asks. â€Å"Sawyer,† Wendell confirms. â€Å"Bastard sucker punched me,† young Mr. Evans confides. â€Å"Son of a bitch came up behind me,† Wendell says. â€Å"The Marshall woman. He had her down.† He lowers his voice. â€Å"He was getting ready to rape her.† Young Mr. Evans's whole manner says he is sorrowful but not surprised. â€Å"Something ought to be done,† Wendell says. â€Å"You got that right.† â€Å"People ought to be told.† Gradually, the old fire returns to Wendell's eyes. People will be told. By him! Because that is what he does, by God! He tells people! â€Å"Yeah,† young Mr. Evans says. He doesn't care as much as Wendell does he lacks Wendell's burning commitment but there's one person he will tell. One person who deserves to be comforted in her lonely hours, who has been left on her own Mount of Olives. One person who will drink up the knowledge of Jack Sawyer's evil like the very waters of life. â€Å"This kind of behavior cannot just be swept under the rug,† Wendell says. â€Å"No way,† young Mr. Evans agrees. â€Å"No way, Jos? ¦.† Jack has barely cleared the gates of French County Lutheran when his cell phone tweets. He thinks of pulling over to take the call, hears the sound of approaching fire engines, and decides for once to risk driving and talking at the same time. He wants to be out of the area before the local fire brigade shows up and slows him down. He flips the little Nokia open. â€Å"Sawyer.† â€Å"Where the fuck are you?† Beezer St. Pierre bellows. â€Å"Man, I been hittin' redial so hard I damn near punched it off the phone!† â€Å"I've been . . .† But there's no way he can finish that, not and stay within shouting distance of the truth, that is. Or maybe there is. â€Å"I guess I got into one of those dead zones where the cell phone just doesn't pick up â€Å" â€Å"Never mind the science lesson, chum. Get your ass over here right now. The actual address is 1 Nailhouse Row it's County Road Double-O just south of Chase. It's the babyshit brown two-story on the corner.† â€Å"I can find it,† Jack says, and steps down a little harder on the Ram's gas pedal. â€Å"I'm on my way now.† â€Å"What's your twenty, man?† â€Å"Still Arden, but I'm rolling. I can be there in maybe half an hour.† â€Å"Fuck!† There is an alarming crash-rattle in Jack's ear as somewhere on Nailhouse Row Beezer slams his fist against something. Probably the nearest wall. â€Å"The fuck's wrong with you, man? Mouse is goin' down, I mean fast. We're doin' our best those of us who're still here but he is goin' down.† Beezer is panting, and Jack thinks he's trying not to cry. The thought of Armand St. Pierre in that particular state is alarming. Jack looks at the Ram's speedometer, sees it's touching seventy, and eases off a tad. He won't help anybody by getting himself greased in a road wreck between Arden and Centralia. â€Å"What do you mean ? ®those of us who are still here'?† â€Å"Never mind, just get your butt down here, if you want to talk to Mouse. And he sure wants to talk to you, because he keeps sayin' your name.† Beezer lowers his voice. â€Å"When he ain't just ravin' his ass off, that is. Doc's doing his best me and Bear Girl, too but we're shovelin' shit against the tide here.† â€Å"Tell him to hold on,† Jack says. â€Å"Fuck that, man tell him yourself.† There's a rattling sound in Jack's ear, the faint murmuring of voices. Then another voice, one which hardly sounds human, speaks in his ear. â€Å"Got to hurry . . . got to get over here, man. Thing . . . bit me. I can feel it in there. Like acid.† â€Å"Hold on, Mouse,† Jack says. His fingers are dead white on the telephone. He wonders that the case doesn't simply crack in his grip. â€Å"I'll be there fast as I can.† â€Å"Better be. Others . . . already forgot. Not me.† Mouse chuckles. The sound is ghastly beyond belief, a whiff straight out of an open grave. â€Å"I got . . . the memory serum, you know? It's eatin' me up . . . eatin' me alive . . . but I got it.† There's the rustling sound of the phone changing hands again, then a new voice. A woman's. Jack assumes it's Bear Girl. â€Å"You got them moving,† she says. â€Å"You brought it to this. Don't let it be for nothing.† There is a click in his ear. Jack tosses the cell phone onto the seat and decides that maybe seventy isn't too fast, after all. A few minutes later (they seem like very long minutes to Jack), he's squinting against the glare of the sun on Tamarack Creek. From here he can almost see his house, and Henry's. Henry. Jack thumps the side of his thumb lightly against his breast pocket and hears the rattle of the cassette tape he took from the machine in Spiegle-man's office. There's not much reason to turn it over to Henry now; given what Potter told him last night and what Mouse is holding on to tell him today, this tape and the 911 tape have been rendered more or less redundant. Besides, he's got to hurry to Nailhouse Row. There's a train getting ready to leave the station, and Mouse Baumann is very likely going to be on it. And yet . . . â€Å"I'm worried about him,† Jack says softly. â€Å"Even a blind man could see I'm worried about Henry.† The brilliant summer sun, now sliding down the afternoon side of the sky, reflects off the creek and sends shimmers of light dancing across his face. Each time this light crosses his eyes, they seem to burn. Henry isn't the only one Jack's worried about, either. He's got a bad feeling about all of his new French Landing friends and acquaintances, from Dale Gilbertson and Fred Marshall right down to such bit players as old Steamy McKay, an elderly gent who makes his living shining shoes outside the public library, and Ardis Walker, who runs the ramshackle bait shop down by the river. In his imagination, all these people now seem made of glass. If the Fisherman decides to sing high C, they'll vibrate and then shatter to powder. Only it's not really the Fisherman he's worried about anymore. This is a case, he reminds himself. Even with all the Territories weirdness thrown in, it's still a case, and it's not the first one you've ever been on where everything suddenly started to seem too big. Where all the shadows seemed to be too long. True enough, but usually that funhouse sense of false perspective fades away once he starts to get a handle on things. This time it's worse, and worse by far. He knows why, too. The Fisherman's long shadow is a thing called Mr. Munshun, an immortal talent scout from some other plane of existence. Nor is even that the end, because Mr. Munshun also casts a shadow. A red one. â€Å"Abbalah,† Jack mutters. â€Å"Abbalah-doon and Mr. Munshun and the Crow Gorg, just three old pals walking together on night's Plutonian shore.† For some reason this makes him think of the Walrus and the Carpenter from Alice. What was it they took for a walk in the moonlight? Clams? Mussels? Jack's damned if he can remember, although one line surfaces and resonates in his mind, spoken in his mother's voice: â€Å"The time has come,† the Walrus said, â€Å"to talk of many things.† The abbalah is presumably hanging out in his court (the part of him that isn't imprisoned in Speedy's Dark Tower, that is), but the Fisherman and Mr. Munshun could be anywhere. Do they know Jack Sawyer has been meddling? Of course they do. By today, that is common knowledge. Might they try to slow him down by doing something nasty to one of his friends? A certain blind sportscaster-headbanger-bebopper, for instance? Yes indeed. And now, perhaps because he's been sensitized to it, he can once more feel that nasty pulse coming out of the southwestern landscape, the one he sensed when he flipped over for the first time in his adult life. When the road curves southeast, he almost loses it. Then, when the Ram points its nose southwest again, the poisonous throb regains strength, beating into his head like the onset of a migraine headache. That's Black House you feel, only it's not a house, not really. It's a worm-hole in the apple of existence, leading all the way down into the furnace-lands. It's a door. Maybe it was only standing ajar before today, before Beezer and his pals turned up there, but now it's wide open and letting in one hell of a draft. Ty needs to be brought back, yes . . . but that door needs to be shut, as well. Before God knows what awful things come snarling through. Jack abruptly swings the Ram onto Tamarack Road. The tires scream. His seat belt locks, and for a moment he thinks the truck may overturn. It stays up, though, and he goes flying toward Norway Valley Road. Mouse will just have to hang on a little bit longer; he's not going to leave Henry way out here on his own. His pal doesn't know it, but he's going on a little field trip to Nailhouse Row. Until this situation stabilizes, it seems to Jack that the buddy system is very much in order. Which would have been all well and good if Henry had been at home, but he's not. Elvena Morton, dust mop in hand, comes in response to Jack's repeated jabbing at the doorbell. â€Å"He's been over at KDCU, doing commercials,† Elvena says. â€Å"Dropped him off myself. I don't know why he doesn't just do them in his studio here, something about the sound effects, I think he might have said. I'm surprised he didn't tell you that.† The bitch of it is, Henry did. Cousin Buddy's Rib Crib. The old ball and chain. Beautiful downtown La Riviere. All that. He even told Jack that Elvena Morton was going to drive him. A few things have happened to Jack since that conversation he's reencountered his old childhood friend, he's fallen in love with Judy Marshall's Twinner, and just by the way he's been filled in on your basic Secret of All Existence but none of that keeps him from turning his left hand into a fist and then slamming himself directly between the eyes with it. Given how fast things are now moving, making this needless detour strikes him as an almost unforgivable lapse. Mrs. Morton is regarding him with wide-eyed alarm. â€Å"Are you going to be picking him up, Mrs. Morton?† â€Å"No, he's going for a drink with someone from ESPN. Henry said the fellow would bring him back afterward.† She lowers her voice to the timbre of confidentiality at which secrets are somehow best communicated. â€Å"Henry didn't come right out and say so, but I think there may be big things ahead for George Rathbun. Ver-ry big things.† Badger Barrage going national? Jack wouldn't be entirely surprised, but he has no time to be delighted for Henry now. He hands Mrs. Morton the cassette tape, mostly so he won't feel this was an entirely wasted trip. â€Å"Leave this for him where . . .† He stops. Mrs. Morton is looking at him with knowing amusement. Where he'll be sure to see it is what Jack almost said. Another mental miscue. Big-city detective, indeed. â€Å"I'll leave it by the soundboard in his studio,† she says. â€Å"He'll find it there. Jack, maybe it's none of my business, but you don't look all right. You're very pale, and I'd swear you've lost ten pounds since last week. Also . . .† She looks a bit embarrassed. â€Å"Your shoes are on the wrong feet.† So they are. He makes the necessary change, standing first on one foot and then the other. â€Å"It's been a tough forty-eight hours, but I'm hanging in there, Mrs. M.† â€Å"It's the Fisherman business, isn't it?† He nods. â€Å"And I have to go. The fat, as they say, is in the fire.† He turns, reconsiders, turns back. â€Å"Leave him a message on the kitchen tape recorder, would you? Tell him to call me on my cell. Just as soon as he gets in.† Then, one thought leading to another, he points to the unmarked cassette tape in her hand. â€Å"Don't play that, all right?† Mrs. Morton looks shocked. â€Å"I'd never do such a thing! It would be like opening someone else's mail!† Jack nods and gives her a scrap of a smile. â€Å"Good.† â€Å"Is it . . . him on the tape? Is it the Fisherman?† â€Å"Yes,† Jack says. â€Å"It's him.† And there are worse things waiting, he thinks but doesn't say. Worse things by far. He hurries back to his truck, not quite running. Twenty minutes later Jack parks in front of the babyshit brown two-story at 1 Nailhouse Row. Nailhouse Row and the dirty snarl of streets around it strike him as unnaturally silent under the sun of this hot summer afternoon. A mongrel dog (it is, in fact, the old fellow we saw in the doorway of the Nelson Hotel just last night) goes limping across the intersection of Ames and County Road Oo, but that's about the extent of the traffic. Jack has an unpleasant vision of the Walrus and the Carpenter toddling along the east bank of the Mississippi with the hypnotized residents of Nailhouse Row following along behind them. Toddling along toward the fire. And the cooking pot. He takes two or three deep breaths, trying to steady himself. Not far out of town close to the road leading to Ed's Eats, in fact that nasty buzzing in his head peaked, turning into something like a dark scream. For a few moments there it was so strong Jack wondered if he was perhaps going to drive right off the road, and he slowed the Ram to forty. Then, blessedly, it began to move around toward the back of his head and fade. He didn't see the NO TRESPASSING sign that marks the overgrown road leading to Black House, didn't even look for it, but he knew it was there. The question is whether or not he'll be able to approach it when the time comes without simply exploding. â€Å"Come on,† he tells himself. â€Å"No time for this shit.† He gets out of the truck and starts up the cracked cement walk. There's a fading hopscotch diagram there, and Jack swerves to avoid it without even thinking, knowing it's one of the few remaining artifacts which testify that a little person named Amy St. Pierre once briefly trod the boards of existence. The porch steps are dry and splintery. He's vilely thirsty and thinks, Man, I'd kill for a glass of water, or a nice cold The door flies open, cracking against the side of the house like a pistol shot in the sunny silence, and Beezer comes running out. â€Å"Christ almighty, I didn't think you were ever gonna get here!† Looking into Beezer's alarmed, agonized eyes, Jack realizes that he will never tell this guy that he might be able to find Black House without Mouse's help, that thanks to his time in the Territories he has a kind of range finder in his head. No, not even if they live the rest of their lives as close friends, the kind who usually tell each other everything. The Beez has suffered like Job, and he doesn't need to find out that his friend's agony may have been in vain. â€Å"Is he still alive, Beezer?† â€Å"By an inch. Maybe an inch and a quarter. It's just me and Doc and Bear Girl now. Sonny and Kaiser Bill got scared, ran off like a couple of whipped dogs. March your boots in here, sunshine.† Not that Beezer gives Jack any choice; he grabs him by the shoulder and hauls him into the little two-story on Nailhouse Row like luggage.

Worksheet on Combinations and Permutations

Permutations and combinations are two concepts that related to ideas in probability.   These two topics are very similar and are easy to get confused. In both cases we start with a set containing a a total of n elements.   Then we count r of these elements. The way in which we count these elements determines if we are working with a combination or with a permutation. Ordering and Arrangement The key things to remember when distinguishing between combinations and permutations has to do with order and arrangements.   Permutations deal with situations when the order that we choose the objects is important.   We can also think of this as being equivalent to the idea of arranging objects In combinations we are not concerned with what order we selected our objects. We only need this concept, and the formulas for combinations and permutations to solve problems dealing with this topic. Practice Problems To get good at something, it takes some practice.   Here are some practice problems with solutions to help you to straighten out the ideas of permutations and combinations. A version with answers is here.   After starting with just basic calculations, you can use what you know to determine if a combination or permutation is being referred to. Use the formula for permutations to calculate P( 5, 2 ).Use the formula for combinations to calculate  C( 5, 2 ).Use the formula for permutations to calculate  P( 6, 6 ).Use the formula for combinations to calculate  C( 6, 6 ).Use the formula for permutations to calculate  P( 100, 97 ).Use the formula for combinations to calculate  C( 100, 97 ).It’s election time at a high school that has a total of 50 students in the junior class. How many ways can a class president, class vice president, class treasurer,and class secretary be chosen if each student may only hold one office?The same class of 50 students wants to form a prom committee. How many ways can a four person prom committee be selected from the junior class?If we want to form a group of five students and we have 20 to choose from, how many ways is this possible?How many ways can we arrange four letters from the word â€Å"computer† if repetitions are not allowed, and different orders of the same letter s count as different arrangements?How many ways can we arrange four letters from the word â€Å"computer† if repetitions are not allowed, and different orders of the same letters count as the same arrangement?How many different four digit numbers are possible if we can choose any digits from 0 to 9 and all of the digits must be different?If we are given a box containing seven books, how many ways can we arrange three of them on a shelf?If we are given a box containing seven books, how many ways can we choose collections of three of them from the box?

Cerebral palsy Free Essay Example, 2000 words

In severe cases, excessive adduction of the legs makes application of the diaper difficult. The child may adopt scissoring posture when suspended by the axillae. Seizures are rare in these children and most of them have normal intellectual development (Haslam, 2000). The most severe form of CP is spastic quadriplegia. Children who are affected with this type of CP have motor impairment of all the limbs including the trunk. They have recurrent seizures and marked mental retardation. They have supranuclear bulbar palsies because of which they have swallowing difficulties leading to aspiration pneumonia. They eventually develop flexor contractures of the knees and elbow, developmental disabilities and speech and visual abnormalities (Haslam, 2000). Athetotic cerebral palsy: This is also referred to as extrapyramidal CP or dyskinetic CP. It affects the entire body and often causes uncontrolled, slow movements. It is seen in children who have suffered from kernicterus in the new born period (Haslam, 2000). Its incidence has diminished now owing to the aggressive management of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia these days. Children suffering from this type of CP are usually hypotonic with marked head lag and poor head control. We will write a custom essay sample on Cerebral palsy or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now These children may have difficulty in feeding. They have drooling of saliva due to tongue thrust. The athetoid movements become evident at the age of one year. Involvement of oropharyngeal muscles leads to speech difficulties. Seizures and mental retardation are rare (Haslam, 2000). Ataxic cerebral palsy: This is the least common of the major types of cerebral palsy. It affects depth perception, balance and coordination. Hypotonic cerebral palsy: In this form of CP, the child is hypotonic. This form of CP eventually turns into either spastic or athetotic form. Mixed forms of CP: Children may have more than one of the 4 forms. Differential diagnosis CP needs to be differentiated from other conditions like spinal cord dysfunction, temporary motor problems resulting from closed head injuries, seizures, drug overdoses, or some brain tumors, muscular dystrophy, peripheral neuropathies such as Charcot-Marie- Tooth disease, osteogenesis imperfecta, progressive neurologic disorders (including Retts syndrome, leukodystrophy, and Tay-Sachs disease), chromosomal anomalies ( trisomy 13 and 18) and congenital disorders (hereditary spastic paraplegia) (Wilmington, "Cerebral palsy program"). Diagnosis The diagnosis of CP is purely clinical. CP may be suspected in a child in whom development of mile stones is delayed and the child has abnormal muscle tone, abnormal movements, abnormal reflexes and persistent infantile reflexes.

Critical Analysis of Problems and Issues in Education...

The School Voucher program was designed to give families a choice about where their children could go to school. The program offered a fixed dollar amount each year to put toward a child’s tuition. Their choices ranged from private or parochial schools, these are schools that many of these children may not experience otherwise. Charter schools were also options because they are run much like private schools. The thought behind voucher programs is that a sense of competition would be created. The hope is that a higher educational output and an improved level of education would be provided. Proponents of the program believe that children from poor public school districts should have the same opportunity for quality education as kids in†¦show more content†¦Although, the system would help some students they would not help them all, vouchers are offered in limited numbers. As each state works through this political quagmire, the debate continues. School vouchers are not the savior to public education that they set out to be, as long as the vouchers are not offered to everyone equally. Funding to public education continues to be under siege so allocating funding toward a voucher program that everyone can not access may not be the best use of these dollars. The assumption that a sense of competition may develop among schools for the best and the brightest may be true but what about schools that can not compete. What happens to the children that will be left behind? Is the federal government prepared to improve public schools that are suffering from lack of funds? â€Å"School voucher programs undermine two great American traditions: universal public education and the separation of church and state† (Anti-Defamation League, 2005). While researching the voucher system this writer found that there are several factors to take into consideration such as: is the use of funds for the voucher program the best use of educational funds, what happens to the kids left behind in the public schools who do not get a voucher or can not afford to take advantage of the option,Show MoreRelatedCritical Opinion On Critical Thinking1401 Words   |  6 Pagesface various challenges that require solutions. Most of the time we are able to solve these problems with minimum effort, at other times, however, the problems may be more complex and solutions to them may not be readily available. This will present us with various challenges and may require us to employ critical thinking. Critical thinking is an important skill burden of responsibility of ensuring the problems of a contemporary society are understood and well interpreted and a solution presented. 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My Most Beneficial Personal Quality Free Essays

I have taken advantage of the education opportunities presented me thus far to prepare for college in many ways. First and foremost I have ensured that I have enjoyed a wide variety of classes and electives to provide me the opportunity to explore as broad a subject selection as possible. Most of the courses I have focused on in my senior year have been college preparatory. We will write a custom essay sample on My Most Beneficial Personal Quality or any similar topic only for you Order Now College preparation however is much more than academics alone. I have also experienced many educational opportunities that exist outside the realm of traditional ‘academics’. These experiences have prepared me more so for my college experiences than my preparatory courses. I have for example faced many challenges while growing up. During my four years of high school I engaged in a variety of extracurricular activities and clubs that taught me much more about the ways that people interact and communicate than I ever would have initially assumed. Participating in many volunteer organizations and student achievement groups, I realized that not two people interact in the same way. Most people I learned are products of many different elements including their beliefs, values, morals and faith. One’s religious ideals, culture and even familial upbringing can all influence their perceptions on life, their ability and motivation to interact with others and their desire to achieve. With this knowledge I learned new and exciting ways to interact with people, even those that were very different from me and with those that held very different beliefs. In fact in most of my pursuits I found myself drawn to those with conflicting ideals and moralisms, in part because they challenges me to learn more about myself and question the beliefs I held true about the world in which we live. I believe it is through these types of interactions that we actually learn everything there is to know of the world. We need to rely on people that challenge us and our views so we open our eyes and get a better understanding of the world in which we live. I feel these diverse educational experiences while not academic, have prepared me for life in the university more so than any classroom instruction may have or will in the future. I bring to the University of California a unique ability to network and work personally with people. By far my most beneficial personal quality is my ability to build relationships and communicate with a wide diversity of people from varying backgrounds, cultures and environments. In today’s society it is vital for anyone to understand the importance of interpersonal skills and relationships both on a personal and from a professional perspective. More and more the world is operating in a global business environment. Modern technology has afforded people the opportunity to communicate from once remote locations. What this means is that people from all over the world with all manner of different morals, values and beliefs are not just communicating with one another but also working together to create a better world. As members of a global society I feel it is vital that we all have the ability to communicate effectively with one another. Sometimes this takes the guidance and direction of a true interpersonal leader. I believe I am possessed of those traits. I have throughout my high school career taken great care to interact with people from various backgrounds and ethnicities. I have participated in multiple groups, clubs and organizations that have enabled better exposure to different people and have helped me learn better ways to communicate with one another. I have also witnessed first hand what happens when communication goes bad, and have since committed myself to facilitating solid communications and interactions between people. I believe this personal trait will benefit the University of California in many ways. The University of California is one of the nations top universities; home to thousands of unique students and home of many of the nations top academic programs. Early on I knew that more than anything I wanted to pursue the best education I could afford. To succeed in today’s world business professionals and students must be possessed of a wide range of skills that are best learned in a University environment. I feel that throughout my life I have already faced many unique challenges and obstacles. I was not always a committed student, lacking the insight and motivation necessary to excel in my classes early on. However experience has taught me that little in the world is more valuable than an education. Every day on the news we hear stories of tragedy. Hurricanes that devastate infamous regions, terrorism that destroys the livelihood and communities of varying regions†¦ these are all modern realities we must learn to cope with. To address the often-turbulent environment we live in today, it is vital that we all commit ourselves to one another and our communities. I feel that I can best do this by excelling in my education. Through my university education I hope to learn not only of the fine nuances of other communities, but also about key demographics about the worlds’ population and needs entering the upcoming decades. How to cite My Most Beneficial Personal Quality, Papers

Business Strategy Long-Term Planning to Position

Question: Describe about the Business Strategy of Long-Term Planning to Position. Answer: Introduction The business strategy of a company is termed as a long-term planning to position itself uniquely in the competitive landscape of the industry through a sustainable competitive advantage. This report carries out the strategic analysis and evaluation of Rocket Internet by analyzing the resources and capabilities, threshold and dynamic capabilities, and VRIO analysis of the firm(Johnson, Scholes,and Whittington, 2009). 1. Companys Resources and Competences Resources and competences emphasize the strategic capabilities of Rocket Internet. Rocket Internet is one of the leading firms in the world for the largest rocket internet platform that creates, develops, and scales the business framework for the e-commerce companies or online businesses. It deploys physical (Physical lay-outs, start-ups investors, Kinnevik, JP Morgan, patents, designs, and database), financial (funds, balance sheet, cash flow, income statement, and suppliers funds statement), and human resources (MBA level graduates executives, executive entrepreneurs, managers, employees, suppliers, customers, and shareholders), and technological (computer system, internet system, and information technology)to attain a unique competitive advantage in the competitive industry(Hitt,Ireland, and Hoskisson, 2014). Rocket Internet uses technology, infrastructure, and process to develop a large rocket network of e-commerce companies or online businesses. The availability of skilled and talented workforce, multicultural management teams, specialized training schedules and learning programs, use of local management and global standards, and high performance working culture make the human resources valuable and enhance the performance standards of the company. By using the latest technologies, infrastructure network, and skills of the workforce, it creates a strong platform of e-commerce businesses through accessing the large e-commerce companies(Rocket Internet, 2014). (Source: Rocket Internet Company Report, 2014) On the other hand, the competences refer to the organizational skills and capabilities that are used to deploy the business resources through the technology, infrastructure, activities and processes of the company. The competences provide a sustainable competitive advantage to the firm in the competitive landscape of the industry. The competencies of Rocket Internet refers to target new business models, imitate them, high customer responsiveness, speed, efficiency, capacity to adapt, and innovation that provide the firm strategic advantage. It creates value through the transferring business skills, infrastructural support, internal incentive system, and independent business network(Alkhafaziand Nelson, 2013). The specialized training schedules, learning programs, high performance working culture, and e-learning studies assist to enhance the skills and abilities of the workforce.The ability of Rocket Internet to provide the high-end business solution to e-commerce companies and online businesses is more likely to provide a sustainable competitive advantage to the firm in the competitive industry. 2. Companys Distinct, Threshold and Dynamic Capabilities Rocket internet is one of the leading start-up incubator and venture capitalist firms which provide the largest rocket internet platform for the e-commerce companies and online businesses around the world. The company has dynamic, distinct, and threshold capabilities to attain the sustainable competitive advantage in the competitive global industry. The company is focused on sharing the largest possible share of e-commerce companies and online customer spending in the global markets. The dynamic capabilities of Rocket Internet includerocket network of e-commerce companies, highly specialized workforce, cross-cultural teams, technological infrastructure network, global access to online businesses, centralized business model, and high-end technological solution. It provides the high-end technological solution to the e-commerce companies and online businesses. The transferrable business skills, infrastructural support, global network connectivity, standardized master launch process, and proven business model enhance the strategic capability of the company to deliver the high-tech solutions to the e-commerce companies (Amazon, e-Bay, UBER, Grubhub, and Airbnb). It identifies the needs of the online customer spending, develops the business models, and scales-up the company. The firm has good financial (good capital investments and credit offering) and human resources (specialized and executive workforce, skilled and talented managers, assets, and properties)and techno logical infrastructure network(Johnson,Scholes, and Whittington, 2009). On the other hand, the distinct capabilities of Rocket internet assist the firm in attaining the sustainable competitive advantage in the competitive landscape of industry. It is the founder of rocket internet; first founded by Samwer Brothers(Johnson, Whittington, Scholes, Angwin, and Regner, 2014). It has powerful brand presence and unique patent and designs to deliver the high-end technological solution to the e-commerce companies or online customer spending. It has unparalleled experience in scaling the internet businesses at international level. It has highly structured practices, deep technical and operational expertise, and centralized IP with regional execution.It has a centralized business model which covers the strategies, activities, and decisions shaped by the management of headquarter. It is known for high efficiency, effectiveness, and speed for launching the new business models(Robertson and Caldart, 2009). It has a standardized recruitment procedure of HR management t eam to select the skilled, talented and experienced candidates. It also has an intense entrepreneurship culture including the long working hours, busier schedules, high job pressure, and little job security. It also comprises global infrastructure development system, centralized distribution network, and global venture development team for developing the business ventures on the international scale. The threshold capabilities emphasize the ability of Rocket Internet to achieve parity with the competitors and to compete in the given market by achieving the high customer responsiveness. The threshold competences of Rocket Internet include specialize in IT software and programming, unique patent and design, web design skills for product development. It uses the latest technological tools, web programming, software, and IT tools to access the global online businesses across the globe(Kumar, 2010). It has the ability of cloning on others ideas and specialization to execute them in the suitable markets. The firm has more than 250 specialists to deal with different sections of operations. It has assisted to develop, create, and scale the business model for 100 start-ups e-commerce companies and is currently active in 50 e-commerce portfolio companies. It has been operating a large rocket internet network of 25 global international rocket offices. Rocket Internet has a strong financial backup, such as JP Morgan, Kinnevik.It also has 750 employees in Rocket Internet office and 15,000 employees in Rocket internet companies. Task 3 VRIO Analysis VRIO analysis is an important strategic framework that can be used to analyze the strategic positioning of Rocket Internet by identifying the resource capabilities and competences of the firm(Jurevicius, 2013). VRIO refers to valuable, rare, imitate and organized resources or elements that can be used to attain a sustainable competitive advantage in the relevant industry. Different types of physical, human, financial, technological, and organizational resources are deployed by Rocket Internet to attain the strategic advantage in the competitive landscape of the industry. Speed, efficiency, scalability, stability, and security are the key principles for building technology at Rocket Internet. Excellent leadership, high performance working culture, good brand portfolio, teamwork, coordinated and well managed activities, strong financial base and innovative ideas are some organizational disciplines of Rocket Internet that make the firm to attain a competitive advantage in the global ind ustry(Frynas and Mellahi, 2015). (Source: VRIO Framework explained: SMI, 2013) The skilled, technical and experienced human resources have also potential to create a sustainable competitive advantage for the firm. Rocket Internet has a team of functional experts, regional leaders, and entrepreneurs that enhance its ability to global access by targeting the large e-commerce companies(Hill and Jones, 2012).The multitasking workforce, high performance working culture, cross-cultural management teams, continuous training and learning facilities, setting performance standards and performance appreciation and reward system make the human resources valuable to provide the firm a sustainable competitive advantage.The distinct capabilities, dynamic capabilities, and threshold capabilities assists the firm to attaina sustainable competitive advantage. The standardized launching system, innovative business model, internal incentive system, high-end technological solution, and rocket internet network of the e-commerce companies provide the firm the competitive advantage in the competitive industry(Grant, Hackney, and Edgar, 2010). Technical expertise, operational excellence, skilled workforce, technological inventions, wide use of informational technology, and high structured business practices provide the firm a sustainable competitive advantage in the dynamic industry. The predictable and repeatable technological resources, strategic partnerships and agreements, and consistent return across portfolio vintages provide the firm the strategic advantage in the competitive industry. High customer responsiveness and retention, high speed, capacity to adapt, innovation, efficiency, and effectiveness assist the firm to attain a sustainable competitive advantage. The organized and imitate resources provide the firm temporary competitive advantage. The worldwide connectivity, unique patent and latest designs, web programming and apps, IT tools, marketing channels, CRM tools, and data warehousing provide the firm strategic advantage to deliver the complete business solution to the online business firms(Thomsonand Martin, 2010). Conclusion From the above strategic analysis and evaluation, it can be concluded that Rocket Internet is one of the fastest growing venture capital firmsin the world that provides a business platform for the online businesses or e-commerce companies. From the VRIO analysis, it has been concluded that the company has strong ability to attain a sustainable competitive advantage in the relevant competitive industry by utilizing the resources, competencies, skills, and talents of the workforce.Along with this, the threshold, distinct, and dynamic capabilities provide its strategic advantage in the competitive industry. References Alkhafazi, A., and Nelson, A. R. (2013) Strategic Management: Formulation, Implementation, and Control in a Dynamic Environment. UK: Routledge. Frynas, G. J. and Mellahi, K. (2015) Global Strategic Management. London: Oxford University Press. Grant, K., Hackney, R., and Edgar, D. (2010) Strategic Information Systems Management. USA: Cengage Learning EMEA. Hill, C. and Jones, G. (2012) Strategic Management: An Integrated Approach. USA: Cengage Learning. Hitt, M., Ireland, D. R., and Hoskisson, R. (2014)Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases: Competitiveness and Globalization. UK: Cengage Learning. Johnson, G., Scholes, K. and Whittington, R. (2009)Exploring Corporate Strategy. Great Britain: Financial Times Prentice Hall. Johnson, G., Scholes, K., and Whittington, R. (2009)Exploring Corporate Strategy. Great Britain: Financial Times Prentice Hall. Johnson, G., Whittington, R., Scholes, K., Angwin, D., and Regner, P. (2014) Exploring Strategy [Online]. Available at: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/h/1eavvlwga9use/?view=attth=156b1fc3443226bdattid=0.1disp=attdrealattid=f_is5xr5pz0safe=1zw (Accessed: 23 August 2016). Jurevicius, O. (2013) Strategic management: VRIO Framework [Online]. Available at: https://www.strategicmanagementinsight.com/tools/vrio.html (Accessed: 23 August 2016) Robertson, A. D. and Caldart, A. A. (2009) The Dynamics of Strategy: Mastering Strategic Landscapes of the Firm. California: OUP Oxford. Rocket Internet (2014) Rocket Internet Company Report [Online]. Available at: https://www.slideshare.net/webrazzi/rocket-internet-company (Accessed: 23 August 2016). Thomson, L. J. and Martin, F. (2010) Strategic Management: Awareness Change. UK: Cengage Learning EMEA.