Susan Sontag Essay Example Essay Example

Susan Sontag Essay Example Paper Susan Sontag Essay Introduction In the essay titled â€Å"America Seen through Photographs Darkly† Susan Sontag discusses the advent of realism, the misinterpretations of realism, and the acceptance of surrealism as a substitute for realism in the realm of photography in America. Sontag chooses the thoughts of Walt Whitman to provide a framework for studying the works of photographers from the 1930s to the 1960s. In so doing, Susan Sontag makes many controversial statements. While some may be accepted logically, there are others which can be refuted. What is significant however is that Susan Sontag through this essay creates awareness of what beauty and importance means, and of what realism means in the context of photography.Walt Whitman perceived the democratic values of culture as that which existed beyond the contexts of beauty and ugliness, importance and triviality. According to Walt Whitman, nobody would fret about beauty and ugliness. The views of Walt Whitman changed the view of artists in many fiel ds dramatically. Artists took seriously Whitman’s program of populist transcendence of the democratic transvaluation of beauty and ugliness, importance and triviality. This resulted in an inclination to portray reality as it was rather than focusing only on traditional concepts of beauty. In the case of photography, this desire, instead of resulting in demystification of reality has resulted in a mystification of the art according to Sontag. This argument of Sontag is further strengthened by Susie Linfield who says that though photographs (of humanism) don’t explain the way the world works ..it’s true that photographs document the specific, they tend, also, to blur—dangerously blur—political and historic distinctions†. She explains this with the example. A photograph of a bombed-out apartment building in Berlin, circa 1945, looks much like a photograph of a bombed-out apartment building in Hanoi, circa 1969, which looks awfully similar to a p hotograph of a bombed-out apartment building in Baghdad from last week.This is a mystifying aspect of realism. Further according to Susie Linfield, people generally approach photographs, first and foremost, on an emotional level. She points out that Brecht regarded all feeling as dishonest and dangerous. In the book â€Å"Witness Iraq: A War Journal February–April 20003† there is one image showing six women in a cemetery outside Baghdad. The picture was taken by Jerome Delay, a French war photographer for the Associated Press and the caption tells us, â€Å"Relatives of Mohammed Jaber Hassan weep over his coffin . . . Hassan, 22, died when a bomb fell on a busy market in Baghdad’s Shula district.† Because the picture is dated â€Å"03/29/03,† we know that the bomb was probably an American one and that it was dropped on the civilian marketplace almost certainly by accident. If the picture were dated 2006, then, it would imply that the bomb was plant ed by insurgents in Iraq (Linfield, 2006). Thus, we can conclude that Susan Sontag is very right in pointing to the mystification that happens when photographers become humanistic in approach.Sontag says, â€Å"To photograph is to confer importance. No moment is more important than any other moment; no person is more interesting than any other person†. One of the most talked about photographs of recent times is the picture of an anonymous Afghan refugee woman taken by photographer Steve McCurry for the cover of National Geographic Magazine June 1985. The photograph showed the piercing stare of a young woman peering from a bedraggled cloak. The piercing green eyes epitomized the tragic story of dispossessed children everywhere and the image became a 20th-century icon. It was only recently in 2002, that Steve McCurry could trace her back and found that the woman’s name was Sharbat Gula (Connor, 2002).â€Å"Whitman thought he was not abolishing beauty but generalizing it . So, for generations, did the most gifted American photographers, in their polemical pursuit of the trivial and the vulgar†. Susan Sontag talks about Walker Evans as the last great photographer to have worked seriously in mood derived from Whitman’s euphoric humanism. She says that Evans was not as arty as Stieglitz. In the words of Sontag, â€Å"Evans sought a more impersonal kind of affirmation, a noble reticence, and a lucid understatement†. She justifies her statement that Evans was not arty by pointing out that Evan never tried to express himself in the photographs (like an artist does). He took photographs of architectural still life of American facades and exacting portraits of Southern sharecroppers in the 1930s. This view of Sontag is supported by Lincoln Kirstein who wrote ‘Looked at in sequence they are overwhelming in their exhaustiveness of detail, their poetry of contrast, and, for those who wish to see it, their moral implication†. Thi s explains why Sontag said that Evan’s project seemed to descend from Whitman. Evans project showed a leveling of discriminations between the beautiful and the ugly. Sontag further makes the point that everything is morally equivalent to a photograph. Evans wanted his works to be literate, authoritative and transcendent. Whitman preached empathy, concord in discord oneness in diversity. This message of identification with other Americans links Whitman and Evans in a subtle manner.â€Å"The moral universe of the 1930s being no longer ours, these adjectives are barely creditable today. Nobody demands that photography be literate. Nobody can imagine how it could be authoritative. Nobody understands how anything, least of all a photograph, could be transcendent†. John Szarkowski, in his introduction to â€Å"Walker Evans† explains the meaning thus: â€Å"The photographer must define his subject with an educated awareness of what it is and what it means; he must des cribe it with such simplicity and sureness that the result seems an unchallengeable fact, not merely the record of a photographer’s opinion; yet the picture itself should possess a taut athletic grace, an inherent structure, that gives it a life in metaphor†. There have been impressive photographers whose work can be considered literate, authoritative and transcendent, such as those of Weegee, Helen Levitt, Homer Page, Gordon Parks, Roy DeCarava, Robert Frank, and others. The works of these photographers convey the mixed artistic mood of the postwar period. The most subjective artistic photography of the period is seen in the work of Frederick Sommer, Minor White, Harry Callahan, and Aaron Siskind, while the art of applied photography is exemplified in fashion and portrait images by Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Arnold Newman, and others. Thus, Susan Sontag seems to be somewhat pessimistically judgmental in holding that there is no one who understands what it means to be literate, authoritative and transcendent.Susan Sontag compares the works of Edward Steichen and Diane Arbus. Steichen’s work was aimed at showing all human is one and that human beings are attractive creatures. Steichen’s choice of photographs assumes a human condition or a human nature shared by everybody. Individuals are born work laugh and die everywhere in the same way. Arbus showed that this is a world in which everybody is an alien, hopelessly isolated, and immobilized, in mechanical crippled identities and relationships. Diane Arbus aimed at showing that all human is one and that human beings are horrific monsters. According to Sontag, while Steichen universalized the human condition into joy, Arbus universalized it into horror. Everybody Arbus photographed was a freak. This argument can be refuted. The main complaint Sontag places against Arbus is that she chose ugliness and horror subjects, made them pose, and took frontal pictures that were grotesque. Sontag , with an air of disapproval, claimed that Arbus’ work â€Å"lined up assorted monsters and borderline cases-most of them ugly; wearing grotesque or unflattering clothing; in dismal or barren surroundings’. Sontag says that Arbus interest in freaks expresses a desire to violate her own innocence, to undermine her sense of being privileged, to vent her frustration at being safe. This accusation by Sontag does not have any truth in it. Arbus’ work took a dark turn in her final works when her mental health deteriorated and that was seen in the collected grouped as â€Å"Untitled, 1970-71† in the retrospective organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art that showed at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in spring 2005. In her early works, Arbus brought out humanity in her subjects and coaxed out their personality. Sontag says that â€Å"Anybody Arbus photographed was a freak,† citing, as one of several examples, a boy waiting to march in a pro-war march wearing a â€Å"Bomb Hanoi† button. This earnest young man is definitely not a freak. The picture is of a naà ¯ve, fresh-scrubbed boy, rather typical of the 1960s, and shows the young man as he is. No doubt he is shown as ignorant and absurd in his act of wearing the Bomb Hanoi button, but he cannot be considered a â€Å"freak,† when the truth is that many Americans, sadly, supported the Vietnam War. One of the best pictures of Arbus is â€Å"The 1938 Debutante of the Year at Home, Boston, 1966,† a picture of an extremely privileged woman well into the transition from middle age to seniority smoking in her bed. Every pore of this woman exudes privilege, captured in astonishing clarity by Arbus, a perhaps unequaled master of technique (Dolack, 2006). This woman would not have considered herself a ‘freak’. Another photo that Sontag did specifically mention is the â€Å"human pincushion† of New Jersey, a middle-aged man who, while demonstrating his specialty, nonetheless is very proud. The privileged once-debutante and the circus performer are both comfortable with themselves and thus in front of the camera.Also evident in her attack on Arbus is the fact that Sontag considers the aim of a photograph is to make something beautiful. Well, one can disagree with this statement. A photograph doesn’t necessarily make something beautiful. Consider, for example, Garry Winogrand’s picture of a legless veteran surrounded by pedestrians on a busy New York street. It’s a very strong picture, compelling and well-made. Yet, the ugliness of that man’s situation is not only exposed but amplified. Then consider Winogrand’s picture of a black man looking at a rhinoceros in a zoo – the animal’s horn is missing and what’s left in its place is ugly and disturbing, as is the recognition seen in the man’s face. Thus, two photographers whose work quickly refutes S ontag’s contention are Robert Frank and Garry Winogrand. There are several others. Arbus explains: â€Å"Most people go through life dreading they’ll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They’ve already passed their test in life. They’re aristocrats.† These words show clearly that Arbus’s personal and intellectual attractions to oddities of nature and society convey a responsiveness that is also a sense of responsibility (Schjeldahl, 2005).Thus in the essay â€Å"America Seen through Photographs Darkly† Susan Sontag makes some intellectual observations and some controversial statements. While it is true that realism in American photography has been mystifying to a certain extent and every person is given importance in a photograph, it is false that there have been no photographers who understand the meaning of making a photograph ‘literate, authoritative and transcendent† Sontag is false in her claim that photographs should aim to capture the beautiful; – and false in her attacks on Arbus. Susan Sontag Essay Thank you for reading this Sample! Susan Sontag Essay Example Essay Example Susan Sontag Essay Example Paper Susan Sontag Essay Introduction In the essay titled â€Å"America Seen through Photographs Darkly† Susan Sontag discusses the advent of realism, the misinterpretations of realism, and the acceptance of surrealism as a substitute for realism in the realm of photography in America. Sontag chooses the thoughts of Walt Whitman to provide a framework for studying the works of photographers from the 1930s to the 1960s. In so doing, Susan Sontag makes many controversial statements. While some may be accepted logically, there are others which can be refuted. What is significant however is that Susan Sontag through this essay creates awareness of what beauty and importance means, and of what realism means in the context of photography.Walt Whitman perceived the democratic values of culture as that which existed beyond the contexts of beauty and ugliness, importance and triviality. According to Walt Whitman, nobody would fret about beauty and ugliness. The views of Walt Whitman changed the view of artists in many fiel ds dramatically. Artists took seriously Whitman’s program of populist transcendence of the democratic transvaluation of beauty and ugliness, importance and triviality. This resulted in an inclination to portray reality as it was rather than focusing only on traditional concepts of beauty. In the case of photography, this desire, instead of resulting in demystification of reality has resulted in a mystification of the art according to Sontag. This argument of Sontag is further strengthened by Susie Linfield who says that though photographs (of humanism) don’t explain the way the world works ..it’s true that photographs document the specific, they tend, also, to blur—dangerously blur—political and historic distinctions†. She explains this with the example. A photograph of a bombed-out apartment building in Berlin, circa 1945, looks much like a photograph of a bombed-out apartment building in Hanoi, circa 1969, which looks awfully similar to a p hotograph of a bombed-out apartment building in Baghdad from last week.This is a mystifying aspect of realism. Further according to Susie Linfield, people generally approach photographs, first and foremost, on an emotional level. She points out that Brecht regarded all feeling as dishonest and dangerous. In the book â€Å"Witness Iraq: A War Journal February–April 20003† there is one image showing six women in a cemetery outside Baghdad. The picture was taken by Jerome Delay, a French war photographer for the Associated Press and the caption tells us, â€Å"Relatives of Mohammed Jaber Hassan weep over his coffin . . . Hassan, 22, died when a bomb fell on a busy market in Baghdad’s Shula district.† Because the picture is dated â€Å"03/29/03,† we know that the bomb was probably an American one and that it was dropped on the civilian marketplace almost certainly by accident. If the picture were dated 2006, then, it would imply that the bomb was plant ed by insurgents in Iraq (Linfield, 2006). Thus, we can conclude that Susan Sontag is very right in pointing to the mystification that happens when photographers become humanistic in approach.Sontag says, â€Å"To photograph is to confer importance. No moment is more important than any other moment; no person is more interesting than any other person†. One of the most talked about photographs of recent times is the picture of an anonymous Afghan refugee woman taken by photographer Steve McCurry for the cover of National Geographic Magazine June 1985. The photograph showed the piercing stare of a young woman peering from a bedraggled cloak. The piercing green eyes epitomized the tragic story of dispossessed children everywhere and the image became a 20th-century icon. It was only recently in 2002, that Steve McCurry could trace her back and found that the woman’s name was Sharbat Gula (Connor, 2002).â€Å"Whitman thought he was not abolishing beauty but generalizing it . So, for generations, did the most gifted American photographers, in their polemical pursuit of the trivial and the vulgar†. Susan Sontag talks about Walker Evans as the last great photographer to have worked seriously in mood derived from Whitman’s euphoric humanism. She says that Evans was not as arty as Stieglitz. In the words of Sontag, â€Å"Evans sought a more impersonal kind of affirmation, a noble reticence, and a lucid understatement†. She justifies her statement that Evans was not arty by pointing out that Evan never tried to express himself in the photographs (like an artist does). He took photographs of architectural still life of American facades and exacting portraits of Southern sharecroppers in the 1930s. This view of Sontag is supported by Lincoln Kirstein who wrote ‘Looked at in sequence they are overwhelming in their exhaustiveness of detail, their poetry of contrast, and, for those who wish to see it, their moral implication†. Thi s explains why Sontag said that Evan’s project seemed to descend from Whitman. Evans project showed a leveling of discriminations between the beautiful and the ugly. Sontag further makes the point that everything is morally equivalent to a photograph. Evans wanted his works to be literate, authoritative and transcendent. Whitman preached empathy, concord in discord oneness in diversity. This message of identification with other Americans links Whitman and Evans in a subtle manner.â€Å"The moral universe of the 1930s being no longer ours, these adjectives are barely creditable today. Nobody demands that photography be literate. Nobody can imagine how it could be authoritative. Nobody understands how anything, least of all a photograph, could be transcendent†. John Szarkowski, in his introduction to â€Å"Walker Evans† explains the meaning thus: â€Å"The photographer must define his subject with an educated awareness of what it is and what it means; he must des cribe it with such simplicity and sureness that the result seems an unchallengeable fact, not merely the record of a photographer’s opinion; yet the picture itself should possess a taut athletic grace, an inherent structure, that gives it a life in metaphor†. There have been impressive photographers whose work can be considered literate, authoritative and transcendent, such as those of Weegee, Helen Levitt, Homer Page, Gordon Parks, Roy DeCarava, Robert Frank, and others. The works of these photographers convey the mixed artistic mood of the postwar period. The most subjective artistic photography of the period is seen in the work of Frederick Sommer, Minor White, Harry Callahan, and Aaron Siskind, while the art of applied photography is exemplified in fashion and portrait images by Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Arnold Newman, and others. Thus, Susan Sontag seems to be somewhat pessimistically judgmental in holding that there is no one who understands what it means to be literate, authoritative and transcendent.Susan Sontag compares the works of Edward Steichen and Diane Arbus. Steichen’s work was aimed at showing all human is one and that human beings are attractive creatures. Steichen’s choice of photographs assumes a human condition or a human nature shared by everybody. Individuals are born work laugh and die everywhere in the same way. Arbus showed that this is a world in which everybody is an alien, hopelessly isolated, and immobilized, in mechanical crippled identities and relationships. Diane Arbus aimed at showing that all human is one and that human beings are horrific monsters. According to Sontag, while Steichen universalized the human condition into joy, Arbus universalized it into horror. Everybody Arbus photographed was a freak. This argument can be refuted. The main complaint Sontag places against Arbus is that she chose ugliness and horror subjects, made them pose, and took frontal pictures that were grotesque. Sontag , with an air of disapproval, claimed that Arbus’ work â€Å"lined up assorted monsters and borderline cases-most of them ugly; wearing grotesque or unflattering clothing; in dismal or barren surroundings’. Sontag says that Arbus interest in freaks expresses a desire to violate her own innocence, to undermine her sense of being privileged, to vent her frustration at being safe. This accusation by Sontag does not have any truth in it. Arbus’ work took a dark turn in her final works when her mental health deteriorated and that was seen in the collected grouped as â€Å"Untitled, 1970-71† in the retrospective organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art that showed at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in spring 2005. In her early works, Arbus brought out humanity in her subjects and coaxed out their personality. Sontag says that â€Å"Anybody Arbus photographed was a freak,† citing, as one of several examples, a boy waiting to march in a pro-war march wearing a â€Å"Bomb Hanoi† button. This earnest young man is definitely not a freak. The picture is of a naà ¯ve, fresh-scrubbed boy, rather typical of the 1960s, and shows the young man as he is. No doubt he is shown as ignorant and absurd in his act of wearing the Bomb Hanoi button, but he cannot be considered a â€Å"freak,† when the truth is that many Americans, sadly, supported the Vietnam War. One of the best pictures of Arbus is â€Å"The 1938 Debutante of the Year at Home, Boston, 1966,† a picture of an extremely privileged woman well into the transition from middle age to seniority smoking in her bed. Every pore of this woman exudes privilege, captured in astonishing clarity by Arbus, a perhaps unequaled master of technique (Dolack, 2006). This woman would not have considered herself a ‘freak’. Another photo that Sontag did specifically mention is the â€Å"human pincushion† of New Jersey, a middle-aged man who, while demonstrating his specialty, nonetheless is very proud. The privileged once-debutante and the circus performer are both comfortable with themselves and thus in front of the camera.Also evident in her attack on Arbus is the fact that Sontag considers the aim of a photograph is to make something beautiful. Well, one can disagree with this statement. A photograph doesn’t necessarily make something beautiful. Consider, for example, Garry Winogrand’s picture of a legless veteran surrounded by pedestrians on a busy New York street. It’s a very strong picture, compelling and well-made. Yet, the ugliness of that man’s situation is not only exposed but amplified. Then consider Winogrand’s picture of a black man looking at a rhinoceros in a zoo – the animal’s horn is missing and what’s left in its place is ugly and disturbing, as is the recognition seen in the man’s face. Thus, two photographers whose work quickly refutes S ontag’s contention are Robert Frank and Garry Winogrand. There are several others. Arbus explains: â€Å"Most people go through life dreading they’ll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They’ve already passed their test in life. They’re aristocrats.† These words show clearly that Arbus’s personal and intellectual attractions to oddities of nature and society convey a responsiveness that is also a sense of responsibility (Schjeldahl, 2005).Thus in the essay â€Å"America Seen through Photographs Darkly† Susan Sontag makes some intellectual observations and some controversial statements. While it is true that realism in American photography has been mystifying to a certain extent and every person is given importance in a photograph, it is false that there have been no photographers who understand the meaning of making a photograph ‘literate, authoritative and transcendent† Sontag is false in her claim that photographs should aim to capture the beautiful; – and false in her attacks on Arbus. Susan Sontag Essay Thank you for reading this Sample! Susan Sontag Essay Example Essay Example Susan Sontag Essay Example Paper Susan Sontag Essay Introduction In the essay titled â€Å"America Seen through Photographs Darkly† Susan Sontag discusses the advent of realism, the misinterpretations of realism, and the acceptance of surrealism as a substitute for realism in the realm of photography in America. Sontag chooses the thoughts of Walt Whitman to provide a framework for studying the works of photographers from the 1930s to the 1960s. In so doing, Susan Sontag makes many controversial statements. While some may be accepted logically, there are others which can be refuted. What is significant however is that Susan Sontag through this essay creates awareness of what beauty and importance means, and of what realism means in the context of photography.Walt Whitman perceived the democratic values of culture as that which existed beyond the contexts of beauty and ugliness, importance and triviality. According to Walt Whitman, nobody would fret about beauty and ugliness. The views of Walt Whitman changed the view of artists in many fiel ds dramatically. Artists took seriously Whitman’s program of populist transcendence of the democratic transvaluation of beauty and ugliness, importance and triviality. This resulted in an inclination to portray reality as it was rather than focusing only on traditional concepts of beauty. In the case of photography, this desire, instead of resulting in demystification of reality has resulted in a mystification of the art according to Sontag. This argument of Sontag is further strengthened by Susie Linfield who says that though photographs (of humanism) don’t explain the way the world works ..it’s true that photographs document the specific, they tend, also, to blur—dangerously blur—political and historic distinctions†. She explains this with the example. A photograph of a bombed-out apartment building in Berlin, circa 1945, looks much like a photograph of a bombed-out apartment building in Hanoi, circa 1969, which looks awfully similar to a p hotograph of a bombed-out apartment building in Baghdad from last week.This is a mystifying aspect of realism. Further according to Susie Linfield, people generally approach photographs, first and foremost, on an emotional level. She points out that Brecht regarded all feeling as dishonest and dangerous. In the book â€Å"Witness Iraq: A War Journal February–April 20003† there is one image showing six women in a cemetery outside Baghdad. The picture was taken by Jerome Delay, a French war photographer for the Associated Press and the caption tells us, â€Å"Relatives of Mohammed Jaber Hassan weep over his coffin . . . Hassan, 22, died when a bomb fell on a busy market in Baghdad’s Shula district.† Because the picture is dated â€Å"03/29/03,† we know that the bomb was probably an American one and that it was dropped on the civilian marketplace almost certainly by accident. If the picture were dated 2006, then, it would imply that the bomb was plant ed by insurgents in Iraq (Linfield, 2006). Thus, we can conclude that Susan Sontag is very right in pointing to the mystification that happens when photographers become humanistic in approach.Sontag says, â€Å"To photograph is to confer importance. No moment is more important than any other moment; no person is more interesting than any other person†. One of the most talked about photographs of recent times is the picture of an anonymous Afghan refugee woman taken by photographer Steve McCurry for the cover of National Geographic Magazine June 1985. The photograph showed the piercing stare of a young woman peering from a bedraggled cloak. The piercing green eyes epitomized the tragic story of dispossessed children everywhere and the image became a 20th-century icon. It was only recently in 2002, that Steve McCurry could trace her back and found that the woman’s name was Sharbat Gula (Connor, 2002).â€Å"Whitman thought he was not abolishing beauty but generalizing it . So, for generations, did the most gifted American photographers, in their polemical pursuit of the trivial and the vulgar†. Susan Sontag talks about Walker Evans as the last great photographer to have worked seriously in mood derived from Whitman’s euphoric humanism. She says that Evans was not as arty as Stieglitz. In the words of Sontag, â€Å"Evans sought a more impersonal kind of affirmation, a noble reticence, and a lucid understatement†. She justifies her statement that Evans was not arty by pointing out that Evan never tried to express himself in the photographs (like an artist does). He took photographs of architectural still life of American facades and exacting portraits of Southern sharecroppers in the 1930s. This view of Sontag is supported by Lincoln Kirstein who wrote ‘Looked at in sequence they are overwhelming in their exhaustiveness of detail, their poetry of contrast, and, for those who wish to see it, their moral implication†. Thi s explains why Sontag said that Evan’s project seemed to descend from Whitman. Evans project showed a leveling of discriminations between the beautiful and the ugly. Sontag further makes the point that everything is morally equivalent to a photograph. Evans wanted his works to be literate, authoritative and transcendent. Whitman preached empathy, concord in discord oneness in diversity. This message of identification with other Americans links Whitman and Evans in a subtle manner.â€Å"The moral universe of the 1930s being no longer ours, these adjectives are barely creditable today. Nobody demands that photography be literate. Nobody can imagine how it could be authoritative. Nobody understands how anything, least of all a photograph, could be transcendent†. John Szarkowski, in his introduction to â€Å"Walker Evans† explains the meaning thus: â€Å"The photographer must define his subject with an educated awareness of what it is and what it means; he must des cribe it with such simplicity and sureness that the result seems an unchallengeable fact, not merely the record of a photographer’s opinion; yet the picture itself should possess a taut athletic grace, an inherent structure, that gives it a life in metaphor†. There have been impressive photographers whose work can be considered literate, authoritative and transcendent, such as those of Weegee, Helen Levitt, Homer Page, Gordon Parks, Roy DeCarava, Robert Frank, and others. The works of these photographers convey the mixed artistic mood of the postwar period. The most subjective artistic photography of the period is seen in the work of Frederick Sommer, Minor White, Harry Callahan, and Aaron Siskind, while the art of applied photography is exemplified in fashion and portrait images by Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Arnold Newman, and others. Thus, Susan Sontag seems to be somewhat pessimistically judgmental in holding that there is no one who understands what it means to be literate, authoritative and transcendent.Susan Sontag compares the works of Edward Steichen and Diane Arbus. Steichen’s work was aimed at showing all human is one and that human beings are attractive creatures. Steichen’s choice of photographs assumes a human condition or a human nature shared by everybody. Individuals are born work laugh and die everywhere in the same way. Arbus showed that this is a world in which everybody is an alien, hopelessly isolated, and immobilized, in mechanical crippled identities and relationships. Diane Arbus aimed at showing that all human is one and that human beings are horrific monsters. According to Sontag, while Steichen universalized the human condition into joy, Arbus universalized it into horror. Everybody Arbus photographed was a freak. This argument can be refuted. The main complaint Sontag places against Arbus is that she chose ugliness and horror subjects, made them pose, and took frontal pictures that were grotesque. Sontag , with an air of disapproval, claimed that Arbus’ work â€Å"lined up assorted monsters and borderline cases-most of them ugly; wearing grotesque or unflattering clothing; in dismal or barren surroundings’. Sontag says that Arbus interest in freaks expresses a desire to violate her own innocence, to undermine her sense of being privileged, to vent her frustration at being safe. This accusation by Sontag does not have any truth in it. Arbus’ work took a dark turn in her final works when her mental health deteriorated and that was seen in the collected grouped as â€Å"Untitled, 1970-71† in the retrospective organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art that showed at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in spring 2005. In her early works, Arbus brought out humanity in her subjects and coaxed out their personality. Sontag says that â€Å"Anybody Arbus photographed was a freak,† citing, as one of several examples, a boy waiting to march in a pro-war march wearing a â€Å"Bomb Hanoi† button. This earnest young man is definitely not a freak. The picture is of a naà ¯ve, fresh-scrubbed boy, rather typical of the 1960s, and shows the young man as he is. No doubt he is shown as ignorant and absurd in his act of wearing the Bomb Hanoi button, but he cannot be considered a â€Å"freak,† when the truth is that many Americans, sadly, supported the Vietnam War. One of the best pictures of Arbus is â€Å"The 1938 Debutante of the Year at Home, Boston, 1966,† a picture of an extremely privileged woman well into the transition from middle age to seniority smoking in her bed. Every pore of this woman exudes privilege, captured in astonishing clarity by Arbus, a perhaps unequaled master of technique (Dolack, 2006). This woman would not have considered herself a ‘freak’. Another photo that Sontag did specifically mention is the â€Å"human pincushion† of New Jersey, a middle-aged man who, while demonstrating his specialty, nonetheless is very proud. The privileged once-debutante and the circus performer are both comfortable with themselves and thus in front of the camera.Also evident in her attack on Arbus is the fact that Sontag considers the aim of a photograph is to make something beautiful. Well, one can disagree with this statement. A photograph doesn’t necessarily make something beautiful. Consider, for example, Garry Winogrand’s picture of a legless veteran surrounded by pedestrians on a busy New York street. It’s a very strong picture, compelling and well-made. Yet, the ugliness of that man’s situation is not only exposed but amplified. Then consider Winogrand’s picture of a black man looking at a rhinoceros in a zoo – the animal’s horn is missing and what’s left in its place is ugly and disturbing, as is the recognition seen in the man’s face. Thus, two photographers whose work quickly refutes S ontag’s contention are Robert Frank and Garry Winogrand. There are several others. Arbus explains: â€Å"Most people go through life dreading they’ll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They’ve already passed their test in life. They’re aristocrats.† These words show clearly that Arbus’s personal and intellectual attractions to oddities of nature and society convey a responsiveness that is also a sense of responsibility (Schjeldahl, 2005).Thus in the essay â€Å"America Seen through Photographs Darkly† Susan Sontag makes some intellectual observations and some controversial statements. While it is true that realism in American photography has been mystifying to a certain extent and every person is given importance in a photograph, it is false that there have been no photographers who understand the meaning of making a photograph ‘literate, authoritative and transcendent† Sontag is false in her claim that photographs should aim to capture the beautiful; – and false in her attacks on Arbus. Susan Sontag Essay Thank you for reading this Sample!

Free Essays on The Ceremony

The Ceremony by Silko The Truth In Our Lives Everybody goes through times/pressures in life where we are trapped in a phase where all our thoughts are but a blur. We are â€Å"confused† and uncertain of what to do, what to believe, what to think, etc.... Then we suddenly stop and ask ourselves, ‘Wait! What is the truth What is the right thing to do?’ The real deal is that life, as it is, is already a confusing piece of art. Why stress ourselves out with more things to think about? Why not just let ourselves go, fly high and live free with imagination and the ability to think whatever no matter if it is in wrong or right. In the book, Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, the author expresses his point by saying that everybody goes through they same processes in life. Everybody comes to self knowledge by tasting everything that is given to them and figuring the truth behind it. Not everyone has the same truths, we find our own. Throughout this book, Antonio is confused with who the real â€Å"God† in his life is. By figuring out who the real God is, I think that he thinks he can figure out his destiny. A real God is not all he’s looking for in life, but he is looking for a deeper meaning...something beyond life itself. Antonio is searching for something that would make sense to him because nothing seems clear to him. Tony’s looking for God is a way of looking for himself and finding himself. The pressure to see God a certain way expresses his need to destine himself to find a meaning - a meaning in life, a meaning to anything that gives him strength in his soul. We dream to explore - we grow to find our own truths. Antonio confuses himself with who to believe in because he is told all these different stories and such. The story of the Golden Carp felt enchanting to Tony. He felt as if it was something magical that was so rare that it was unbelievable. â€Å" I knew I had witnessed a miraculous thing, t... Free Essays on The Ceremony Free Essays on The Ceremony The Ceremony by Silko The Truth In Our Lives Everybody goes through times/pressures in life where we are trapped in a phase where all our thoughts are but a blur. We are â€Å"confused† and uncertain of what to do, what to believe, what to think, etc.... Then we suddenly stop and ask ourselves, ‘Wait! What is the truth What is the right thing to do?’ The real deal is that life, as it is, is already a confusing piece of art. Why stress ourselves out with more things to think about? Why not just let ourselves go, fly high and live free with imagination and the ability to think whatever no matter if it is in wrong or right. In the book, Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, the author expresses his point by saying that everybody goes through they same processes in life. Everybody comes to self knowledge by tasting everything that is given to them and figuring the truth behind it. Not everyone has the same truths, we find our own. Throughout this book, Antonio is confused with who the real â€Å"God† in his life is. By figuring out who the real God is, I think that he thinks he can figure out his destiny. A real God is not all he’s looking for in life, but he is looking for a deeper meaning...something beyond life itself. Antonio is searching for something that would make sense to him because nothing seems clear to him. Tony’s looking for God is a way of looking for himself and finding himself. The pressure to see God a certain way expresses his need to destine himself to find a meaning - a meaning in life, a meaning to anything that gives him strength in his soul. We dream to explore - we grow to find our own truths. Antonio confuses himself with who to believe in because he is told all these different stories and such. The story of the Golden Carp felt enchanting to Tony. He felt as if it was something magical that was so rare that it was unbelievable. â€Å" I knew I had witnessed a miraculous thing, t...

Bullying Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 4

Bullying - Essay Example The rise of these technologies has resulted into a new form of bullying known as cyber bullying (Donegan 1). The new form of bullying has been on the increase in various communities set up. However, the problem has been rampant in various school causing grave effects. A reflection on bullying helps in understanding its effects in school. Bullying has been on the rise in various schools. Bullying is described as strange and extreme behavior usually among schoolchildren perpetrated by individuals having an advantage in terms of physical strength, popularity, or possession of damaging information (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services 1). The problem is usually repeated severally causing problems to the perpetrators and those targeted. Bullying may entail one of the following actions; making threats, spreading rumors, attack either physical or verbal, avoiding someone in a group or purpose (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services 1). Mostly, bullying occur during and after school hours (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services 1). Bullying occurs in various ways. First, it may arise through utterance or authoring mean things concerning an individual. Verbal bullying, on the other hand, may entail teasing, inappropriate comments, and threatening to cause harm (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services 1). Secondly, there are social bullying mostly perpetrated using social sites. Such form of bullying hurts someone reputation or relationship (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services 1). The problem is mostly perpetrated by spreading rumors about an individual. The other common form of perpetration is by use of physical strength. The effect of the challenge is through hurting a person’s body or possessions (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services 1). Bullying is a serious problem due to harm it cases in the society. First, it affects students in various ways. It may lead to health effects such as

The Kind of Allow Steel Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

The Kind of Allow Steel - Assignment Example This will then be followed by cooling the reheated metal in the air until it fully cools. This will enable the metal to attain a minimum yield strength of about 900-1100Mpa which is within the range that was required. Surface hardening is a form of corrosion that occurs on the outer surface of the metal that is caused by direct electrochemical or chemical attack on the surface of the metal. It is characterized by etching of the surface of the metal and deposition of the powdery products that result from the chemical attack on the surface of the metal This type of corrosion is intensely localized that normally takes place within crevices and other shielded areas that are on the surface of the metal but exposed to a given corrosive. This corrosion occurs when a small volume of a stagnant solution corrodes small holes in the surface of the metal such as in gasket surfaces, bolt and rivet heads as well as in lap joints. Pitting corrosion is also a form of localized corrosion that occurs on the surface of a metal. This kind of corrosion results in the formation of holes or pits on the surface of the metal. These pits are usually very small and they tend to be localized in a certain region of the metal. They are sometimes so very tiny and close together and might tend to look like a rough surface of the metal. This kind of corrosion is characterized by small localized holes that are usually of the same depth Yes, iron can be corroded by de-aerated dilute hydrochloric acid. This can be proved by calculation of the Gibbs energy during the process. The reaction between hydrochloric acid and Iron is as shown below Ratchet marks, on the other hand, are an indicator of stress concentration in one particular area leading to failure. The small but instantaneous zones may show that the stress was low during fracture. However, multiple origin ratchet marks indicate that there was sufficient of enough stress to cause cracking in that region.

Special Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Special Education - Essay Example The parents of these children have conflicting needs, because one group of parents offers the view that their children are not being included in the mainstream and are thus being treated as pariahs, while the other half feels that the disabilities of their children are not being given an adequate amount of attention. The following ten questions are posed, which are addressed in the context of the literature review that follows. These questions are answered below under the following section titled â€Å"Literature Review.† The major source of this information is an assessment through a literature review or an examination of the views of experts, which is then assessed in the context of the researcher’s observations at the school, based upon conversations and interviews with parents, students and teachers. â€Å"†¦..everyone belongs and is accepted and is supported by his or her peers and other members of the school community in the course of having his or her educational needs met.† Inclusive education is therefore based on the premise that each individual is unique and valued and does belong within the general community, whether disabled or not. Bateman and Bateman (2002) have pointed out that inclusion as such, means that all students will be taught within the general education classroom and will be pulled out of that classroom to be taught in an outside classroom only in the event that all other available methods have been tried with the students and have failed to meet their needs. Moreover, such outside classrooms are viewed as a strictly temporary measure and the focus of educator efforts is to get the child back into the general education classroom as soon as possible. In reference to the state of Florida, Manten (2003) reports that the majority of schools have participated in the All Students All Schools (ASAS) five year program that is targeted to achieve higher degrees of inclusion of disabled students in mainstream schools, with

Study On Etihad Airlines

Study On Etihad Airlines Etihad Airways was recognized in 2003. It is the national or says the flag holding carrier passenger air service of Abu Dhabi, the capital of United Arab Emirates (UAE). The airline is headquartered in Abu Dhabi, the capital of UAE as mentioned earlier. In 2007, it passed additional than 6 million clients, contrasted with approximately 340,000 in its very 1st full time process in the year of 2004. The company has more than 8000 employees working in numerous divisions like finance, marketing, flying, sales etc . Currently Etihad is operating its services in regions like Indian subcontinent, North America, Europe, Far East Middle East, Africa and Oceania. Its major base or platform is Abu Dhabi International Airport. (Delfmann, 2005) Etihad Airways is the representative air carrier of Abu Dhabi, offers planned air transportation for cargo and customers. Companys sole shareholder is the government itself of Emirate of Abu Dhabi, was been extracted from its combined venture in Gulf Air in the year 2005 and preserved its spotlight on Etihad Airways. INDUSTRY: The airlines business of UAE is huge if we look at the quantity of service providers. The sector is filled from number of low cost airlines. State airlines of UAE other than Etihad include Gulf Air, Emirates and Air Arabia. Gulf air started operations in 1950. It provides a quantity of facilities to its clients. Initially it has provided many involved facilities to kids below the age of 10. It also provides spited dinning for its passengers. It is delectated as a standard nationalized flight for the majority of the purposes. Next, Emirates airlines were initiated after Gulf Air in the year 1985. (Vedder, 2008) It is also measured as a state flight. The airline has won numerous awards for its luxury services. This airline comprises of many aircraft both for private and public issues. Etihad airline is the most new one and was launched after Air Arabia in the very same year. It had also become fairly accepted but could not battle with Air Arabia on concern of low cost. Kam air fare is too considered as 1 of the stumpy cost airlines in United Arab Emirate. Among all the existing national air services till date, the Air Arabia is supposed to be the cheapest among all. It is not recognized to be an airline with the finest ability on board but of course it presents a cheap fare to its clients. The facilities offered by these public airlines to their clients vary drastically from each other. All the mentioned airlines have great contribution to the nationalized economy of the UAE. (Group, 2006) ETIHADS BUSINESS DESCRIPTION: The Etihad airline was started in the year 2004 or say started operating in 2004, but was established earlier in august 2003. The airline carried over 4.5 million travelers, an boost of about 65.7% over the figure of year 2006; In addition with this, Etihad also gained 175,000 tons of cargo in year 2007, an augment of over 70% from that of year 2006 . In 2008, the airline placed a requirement for over 190 planes, which would be of worth AED157.9 billion or approximately USD 40 billion. The order is composed of about 95 Boeing airplanes and 100+ from Airbus. Tentative schedule for release of order is between 2011 and 2020. (Vedder, 2008) Etihad Airways possess complete stocks is its 2 subsidiaries, Etihad Crystal Cargo, which offers cargo handling facility and Etihad Holidays, a travel group and vehicle rental company. The Etihad Airline owned a group of 37 traveler and cargo airplanes, as depicted by the data of January 2008 and it plan is to increase its aircraft group to 300 by the year 2020. The company is also planning to fly with over 25 million travelers per year by 2020 and to dual the number of destinations served from 48 to make it close to 100. The principle business activity is to provide scheduled air transport services for customer and freight; travel agents etc. VISION AND MISSION MISSION: The mission of the Etihad airline is to make the most of profitability by applying effectual business practices for best yield, maximum load factors, minimum transit times, seamless and instant information to the flying community, management and increase clients service. (Delfmann, 2005) VISION: As the public sector Airline of the United Arab Emirates, the company, Etihad seek to replicate the best of countrys hospitality cultured, warm, considerate and generous in totaling to get better the status of Abu Dhabi, the capital Emirate as a center of hospitality between West and East. (Delfmann, 2005) STRATEGIES AND VALUES: Norms: There are few norms popular in Etihad One is the dress of employees in the company. It is expected in the company that people will wear traditional UAE cloths. In office, female employees are not allowed to wear short skirt or any other type of clothing considered un social in the UAE culture. Values:Few values prevailing in the company are: No one here complains for other employee in the team in the case he or she fail to timely accomplish the task assign to him or her. His is a very nice practice in terms of team culture as it stops any disunity in the team and promotes unity and working together. The second one is especially for foreign employees. The company use to pay the tri yearly labor license required by the government to work in the country. Assumptions: There are few assumptions also considered in the company. For example, the people here consider that the task is assigned only by the senior and they are required to work only after the assignment of the work providing a very mechanistic framework of work in the company. BUSINESS STRATEGIES FOR ETIHAD: Some strategies of Etihad for future few years are as follows: †¢ Expanding its aircraft range: One important constraint in companys expansion plan is the limited number of cargo and passenger planes available to the company. The company will place periodic orders for new aircrafts to support its expansions plans. †¢ To provide service on more number of routes: The company would like to serve in European countries and other untouched destinations in North and South America. The expansion will give a vast increment in companys present market size. †¢ To enhance efficiency of operations: As a long term strategy, the company would like to implement TQM strategies in its operations. †¢ Increase its revenue maintaining high and quality structure of luxurious aircraft industry: †¢ Another one is Emiritization and advancement of UAE people. The company has a number of plans in this direction with long term interest which are mentioned as follows: UAE National Cadet Pilots Training or UNCPT The company invites aspirants who what to become a pilot with a statement like We are giving wings to your dreams. Its pilot training program is one of the finest in the nation. The company states that as the public Airline of the United Arab Emirate, it has a immense vision. To see further Emiratis taking their correct position as pilots in lone of the fastest mounting airlines on the planet. (Bilimoria, 2006) UAE National Graduate Entry Management Programme The public airline of the UAE, Etihad, is investing in its outlook and would consequently like to spend in people by giving them the chance to be 1 of the privileged students chosen to join its UNGEM program. It states that by this program, graduates will develop sturdy leadership abilities and form a collection of professionals who are organized to meet quickly expanding and developing leadership wants in various branches within the company. (Bilimoria, 2006) †¢ Enhancing the cargo carriers flights: As shown from the contribution of profit from the cargo and customer units, the cargo unit contributes around 65% of the companys turnover, which depict the clear dominance of cargo unit over the customer unit in terms of profit. The company would like to utilize this faith of people in Etihads cargo unit to gain additional market share. Thus as an expansion plan for cargo unit, the company is ordering more share of cargo planes as compared to that of passenger planes. BUSINESS SERVICES AND CUSTOMERS: The company mainly focuses on two streams of services: passenger service and fright carriers. Few highlights are: International flight connecting Abu Dhabi to more than 45 international destinations in USA, Indian subcontinent etc. Etihad carried over 4.6 million passengers, an augment of approximately 65.8% over in 2006. Along with this, it also griped 175,000 tons of freight in 2007, which is an increase of over 75% than the year 2006. (Group, 2006) Etihad Airways owns complete share is its two subsidiaries, Etihad Holidays, a travel group and vehicle rental company and Etihad Crystal Cargo, which provides freight handling services. Etihad had a 24 hour help line for its customers. Etihad also provide hospitality services by providing temporary accommodation in hotels. (Group, 2006) The Etihad Airline owned a group of 37 traveler and cargo airplanes, as depicted by the data of January 2008 and it plan is to increase its aircraft group to 300 by the year 2020. Etihad is also planning to fly over 25 million customers per year by 2020 and to twofold the number of metropolitans served from 50 to make it near 100. MARKET SEGMENTS: The key market segments been served by the company is the corporate cargo and low and medium earning customers for passenger carriers. COMPETITIVE POSITION IN THE INDUSTRY: COMPETITORS ANALYSIS THE MICRO ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS The micro environment analysis is a structure for outlining marketing strategies of a company and also conducting an industry review. It is governed by Porters five force analysis. They are as follows: The threat of substitute products: In case of Etihad, the substitute product is actually similar services present in the gulf. For example there are number of companies providing similar aviation services like the company under consideration like Easy Jet, Air Arabia etc. The threat of entry of new competitors: The aviation market in gulf is going through a boom. Many new investors including both domestic and foreign firms are seeking an opportunity to fly in this gloomy aviation market. (Delfmann, 2005) The threat of competitive rivalry: Aviation is a field where competition doesnt just come from price dimensions but also from innovation and advertisement. Etihad should realize the number of competitors it has and the diversities in which they exist. The bargaining power of customers: Etihad like other airlines had a fixed cost service. The cost of any travel is predefined. However, due to costumers reaction toward any particular price frame, the company needs to bring variation in the cost of travelling. The bargain power of suppliers: Etihad is an airline company, so it owes much of its pricing to its suppliers. The raw materials and small services that it uses, determine the costs of its service. So, it is highly beneficial to have suppliers who are good at bargaining to keep the cost of the service low. Major intake of aviation industry of Etihad includes high quality fuel, packers and movers, transportation and hospitality partners. Competitors: There are number of other airline services which create market saturation for Etihad. Easy Jet is an example of such service which provides competition to Etihad. (Vedder, 2008) MAIN COMPETITORS OF THE ORGANIZATION: Air Arabia, Aerovista Airlines, Abu Dhabi Aviation, Air Cess, Kang Pacific Airlines, Falcon Aviation Services, RAK Airway, Flydubai, Dolphin Air, Palm Aviation, Emirates, Airlink, Dubai Air Wing and Eastern SkyJets etc. MARKETING ACTIVITIES OF COMPETITORS: Talking about Airlink, which is a major competitor of Etihad, the number of jets possessed by the company is much higher than Etihad. Airlink and similar airways like Air Arabia believes in cheep service providing and better market capturing. Etihad on the other hand believes in capturing luxury market sharing. Air Arabia has 5 times aircrafts than Etihad. It has more capacity aircrafts too. Palm aviation is much concerned towards long distance comfortable tour packages. For promotional activities, bigger firms like Air Arabia, Aerovista use television ads while smaller firms uses print media for promoting their services. Institutional marketing and collaboration with other firms is also employed as a marketing tactic. (Vedder, 2008) PESTLE ANALYSIS: Political: Etihad, like other aviation firms, has to follow strict government regulations. Any small incident can result in heavy burdens in terms of rules and possessing aircrafts. Economical: Economical problems are an obvious outside factors for Etihads. As the company is trying to increase its span, namely in Russia, it needs more Aircraft and investment. Social: The Company also has some social responsibilities to follow. The company has to take serious steps in order to meet the social responsibility towards its people and towards the nations culture. The reason is as Aviation co exists with countrys hospitality industry, it has to make sure that hospitality industry does not get suffered. (Delfmann, 2005) Technological: As the technology changes, the employees who can deal with new technology are needed in every aspects of work. Also there arises a need that the existing employees must also be re engineered so that they can cop up with new style of work. Legal: Aviation laws, labor laws, governments rules form the legal periphery for Etihads. SWOT ANALYSIS: SWOT is an acronym of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. This is a marketing analysis that helps a company understand its competitors. A brief discussion of SWOT analysis of Etihad is as follows: Strength: The Company has strong brand image Cargo units. The company already has 12 jets including 5 Boeings other world class luxury aircrafts like Learjet 35, Learjet 55, Avro RJ70 and Avro RJ80 etc to support its luxury market. The companys hold on this segment is increasingly growing too. (Delfmann, 2005) Weakness: Because of work in luxury segments and passenger unit is down, the companys market scope is limited, any new competitor and launch of new luxury aircraft can force the company to drastically change is market statistics. Also the desired costumer volume is also limited. Opportunities: Recently the company is exploring opportunities to invest in Eastern Europe including Russia. The company is looking constantly for new markets apart from Gulf region. Threats: the main threats to the company are form increasing number of aviation services in luxury class. Another threat is from economic crises that is indirectly affecting the end customers of Etihad. FUTURE GROWTH PERSPECTIVE: The company has immense growth opportunity in both its passenger and cargo units. Few of these are mentioned as follows: New business opportunities in Russian and European market. Acquisition of new and small business possible in many areas including international markets. Buying of new aircrafts will facilitate the growth and increased number of routes as planned by the company. REFERENCES: 1. Oxford Business Group (2006), Emerging Abu Dhabi, Published by Oxford Business Group, ISBN: 1902339428, 9781902339429 2. Delfmann, Werner (2005), Strategic management in the aviation industry, Published by Ashgate Publishing, ISBN: 0754645673, 9780754645672 3. Vedder ,Hendrik (2008), Strategic Alliances in the Aviation Industry: An Analysis of Past and Current Developments, Published by GRIN Verlag, ISBN: 364023037X, 9783640230372 4. Bilimori; Sandy Kristin, Piderit (2006). Handbook on women in business and management. Published by Edward Elgar Publishing. ISBN: 1845424328, 9781845424329

Details Of Hiv And Aids Health And Social Care Essay

The intent of composing this paper was to farther educate myself, and any other readers, on the inside informations of HIV and AIDS. As a kid turning up in the 1980s, I vividly remember the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic here in the United States. The media was saturated with information ; so much so that even at a comparatively immature age I remember being reasonably good informed about ( and terrified of ) the disease. The positive was that that fright, and the sum of information that I had accumulated, stuck with me through life. I practiced safe sex ( every bit much as possible ) non merely to forestall gestation, but largely to avoid catching HIV or any other STI. Recently something occurred to me. I can non remember the last clip I ‘ve heard reference of HIV or AIDS in the media. While it ‘s non surprising the topic is n't the hot subject it was about 30 old ages ago, this deficiency of attending may be a hurt to younger coevals ‘s cognition of the disease. I ca n't talk about the Public School system, but in my ain ( private, spiritual school ) instruction from K – 12th class, I can mensurate the sum of sexual instruction I received in mere hours. It ‘s difficult to be concerned about a subject you may cognize following to nil approximately. My ain cognition of these diseases has non grown since high school. This was the inspiration to take this subject to compose on. I feel this subject is particularly relevant to college age pupils. At this clip in their lives, they may happen many chances to prosecute in hazardous behaviours that may take to exposure to HIV/AIDS. Without proper cognition, it may be easy to disregard the disease as non being unsafe any longer. After all, why worry about it if no 1 talks about it any longer? It must non be that large of a trade, right? Students this age demand to cognize that the disease is still prevailing, still incurable, and still really lifelessly. Being informed agencies they have the tools to protect themselves and do better picks to remain safe. HIV ( Human Immunodeficiency Virus ) and AIDS ( Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome ) are classified as a retrovirus, intending that it replicates by occupying a normal organic structure cell, destructing the cell ‘s Deoxyribonucleic acid and so copies its ain Deoxyribonucleic acid into the cell ‘s chromosomes. By reiterating this procedure over and over the virus spreads through the host. Infections begin by geting HIV. As the virus spreads, it begins to assail and destruct the organic structure ‘s immune system cells, specifically CD4+ T-cells. Once a individual ‘s measured CD4+ falls below half of the normal sum and they have developed one or more timeserving infections, they are diagnosed as holding AIDS. ( Johnson, 2008 ) ( The effects of the virus on the organic structure will be detailed in a ulterior subdivision ) To convey the HIV virus, bodily fluids such as seeds, vaginal fluids or blood of an septic individual must come in the blood stream of another. As such, some of the most common paths of infection include unprotected sex and sharing acerate leafs used for endovenous drug usage, tattooing or organic structure piercing. Other methods include blood transfusions ( though current testing techniques have reduced this to virtually nil ) or mother-to-infant transmittals through blood during gestation or bringing, or through breast milk while nursing. ( Hunter, 2005 ) The first instance of HIV/AIDS was non discovered until around 1981, in the United States. Within one twelvemonth, 1500 new instances of what would finally go known as AIDS were diagnosed. ( Patton, 2002 ) Since that clip the figure of people known to be populating with HIV/AIDS worldwide has skyrocketed. Harmonizing to statistics from the World Health Organization, as of 2008 about 33.4 million people across the Earth are presently populating with HIV. ( World Health Organization [ WHO ] , 2008 )How common is the problem/issue in the United States?For the first several old ages of the epidemic the reported instances of AIDS in the United States continued to lift, hitting a high point of 79,752 new instances being reported in the twelvemonth 1993. From the beginning of the epidemic in 1981 through the twelvemonth 2000, and estimated sum of 733,374 people had been diagnosed with AIDS. ( McElrath, 2002 ) Since so the figure of new instances has decreased and become reasonably changeles s, with the new estimation being about 37,991 new instances reported and a cumulative sum of 1,106,391 people diagnosed with the disease since the start. The figure of people populating with HIV in the United States has continued to lift over the old ages, and it is estimated that as of 2006 over 1 million people are infected with the disease, with 42,439 new instances reported in 2008. ( Center for Disease Control and Prevention [ CDC ] , 2010 ) The disease seem to be more prevailing among work forces. 73 % of all new HIV/AIDS instances diagnosed in 2006 were work forces. ( Hock, 2007 ) Certain cultural groups are disproportionately affected by the disease every bit good. African Americans make up about 12 % of the U.S. population, but history for about half of the entire population life with the disease every bit good as half of the new infections reported per twelvemonth. Likewise, Hispanics/Latinos comprise 17 % of the state ‘s population but history for for 17 % of those populating with the disease and the same per centum of new infections per twelvemonth. ( CDC, 2010 ) The rate of new infections among both sexes of these minorities is several times that of Caucasians. HIV/AIDS is besides more prevailing amongst the immature, specifically striplings and immature grownups. Of the sum reported instances of AIDS through 2008, merely about 9,349 were diagnosed in kids under the age of 13. The age scope of 20 – 40 seems to be the hardest hit, and comprises about 2/3 of the entire figure of instances reported in the U.S. through 2006. ( CDC, 2008 )How common is this problem/issue in other states?Sub-saharan African states have been hit the hardest by HIV/AIDS. Of the 33.4 million people in the universe life with the disease, over two tierces of them ( 22.4 million ) reside in this country of the universe. It is estimated that in 2008 entirely, 1.9 million new people were infected with the disease. South Africa itself is place to an estimated 5.7 million people infected with HIV/AIDS. ( Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS [ UNAIDS ] , 2009 ) Prevalence rates of the disease vary from state to state, but about all are above 10 % . The state with the highest degree of prevalence is Swaziland, with 26 % of its grownup population infected with HIV. ( WHO, 2008 ) The chief method of transmittal of the disease in this part is via heterosexual sexual contact, although the â€Å" usual † hazard groups are besides represented. In blunt contrast to the United States in respect to prevalence rates between sexes, Sub-saharan adult females are the bulk of the septic. As of 2008, 60 % of the entire HIV infections in the part were female. This is thought to be largely due to the sex trade in the part ; nine states have reported that over 30 % sex trade workers are confirmed HIV positive. ( UNAIDS, 2009 ) There is good intelligence sing the epidemic in the part. Many states have been sing diminutions in prevalence rates and new infections over the past old ages. For illustration, Zimbabwe, which in 1997 reported an grownup prevalence rate of merely under 30 % has seen a steady diminution since so. It ‘s current rate of 15 % , while still high, shows unbelievable advancement in decelerating the spread of the disease. The figure of entire people populating with the disease is really high, but portion of the figure is due to the fact that septic people of the part are get downing to populate longer thanks to better intervention options. ( WHO, 2008 ) This, coupled with better consciousness and instruction of the disease and a general displacement towards better sexual patterns is get downing to convey a step of control of the epidemic Tho the part, but much more work demands to be done to truly acquire a grip on the job.What are the negative effects of this job on the person, house hold, and society?The most obvious consequence of the disease on the person is, to be blunt, decease. As HIV continues to destruct a individual ‘s immune system, they become susceptible to timeserving infections. This means that sicknesses that a normal immune system could contend off with easiness become serious jobs in those with the disease. It is these infections that cause decease due to AIDS ; the organic structure becomes more and more worn down by invariably combating the disease and its infections until it merely can non go on to contend. ( Hunter, 2005 ) There are other effects non limited in range to the septic individual ‘s organic structure. In the earlier old ages of the epidemic when cognition of the causes and transmittal methods of HIV/AIDS was ill-defined, there was a definite fright of those populating with the disease. This increased as it was made clear that the disease was non entirely limited to homosexual work forces or injection drug users, the two groups who comprised the bulk of initial diagnosings. Some provinces enacted Torahs to divide septic individuals from the remainder of the population. ( Siplon, 2002 ) People populating with the disease lost their occupations and medical insurance due to their septic position. They besides found themselves alienated by friends and household who merely did n't cognize how to get by. ( Patton, 2002 ) There was a definite feeling of a divide in society between those with the disease and those without. A illustration of such a divide could be seen in the instance of Ryan White in 1985. Ryan was 13 old ages old at the clip he was diagnosed with AIDS received via a blood transfusion. When his infected was discovered he was barred by school functionaries from returning to category. After taking the affair to tribunal and winning he was allowed to return to category merely to confront more favoritism. Even though wellness governments assured the populace that the disease could non be transmitted casually, people did non like the thought of a kid infected with a fatal disease around their kids. Protests occurred outside the school daily, and the full household was capable to menaces and other signifiers of torment until they were finally forced to relocate to a more accepting community. ( Siplon, 2002 ) Today, with better apprehension of the disease and its transmittal methods there is far less fright of those infected with the disease. However, there still seems to be a spot of a stigma attached to being infected with the disease, possibly likely due to the fact that is still at this clip incurable. ( McElrath, 2002 )Describe how another civilization or state view this job.One interesting instance to analyze is that of Kenya. While other states acted to seek to control the spread of HIV/AIDS, Kenya did non. Alternatively, Kenya continued to deny the significance of the disease, both politically and and socially. A strong stigma was attached to what the state viewed as â€Å" a disease of homophiles and aliens † . No Torahs exist to protect septic people from favoritism. HIV trials are platitude in the employment procedure, and negative consequences are required to measure up for most life and wellness insurance policies. ( McElrath, 2002 ) There has even been talk of impleme nting a policy of compulsory presentment of sexual spouses by people infected with HIV. ( Patton, 2002 ) The community as a whole seems loath to face the possibility that they may be infected. As such, the sum of people who choose to voluntarily be tested for the disease is really low. Peoples are besides really loath to uncover their HIV positive position to others due to the ostracization that may happen. Kenya has been slow in its attempts to battle the disease. Attempts have been made but seem to ever hit opposition, or merely a dreamy attitude toward the job. Plans to include information about generative wellness and HIV/AIDS into the school course of study were met with heavy resistance from parents and the spiritual elements of the authorities, and were finally abandoned. In 1997 Parliament passed a sessional paper detailing the state ‘s program to stem the disease, but it did non hold the power of jurisprudence. Since so few of the commissariats that were set Forth in the paper have come to fruition ; the authorities still seems to be dragging its pess to turn to the issue caput on. A National Aids Control Program was established, but placed really low in political importance and has been mostly uneffective. ( McElrath, 2002 )Describe at least two ways how 1 might get by with this sexual job or issue.It is true that there still is no remedy for HIV/AIDS, but medical interv entions of the disease have improved greatly over the old ages. In the early old ages, there was merely one drug known to battle the HIV virus: AZT ( azidothymidine ) . Before that drug existed, physicians were limited to handling the timeserving infections that developed in their patients ( Patton, 2002 ) Nowadays there are upwards of 30 different drugs. The most common drug intervention therapy is called HAART ( Highly Active AntiRetroviral Therapy ) , more normally known as the â€Å" AIDS cocktail † . In this therapy a patient will take a combination of several different anti-HIV drugs. This slows the patterned advance of the disease into full blown AIDS ( by several old ages, in some instances more than 20 ) , evidently increasing the endurance rate of the patient. Even after the oncoming of AIDS, HAART intervention can assist forestall timeserving infections from developing. This comes at a monetary value ; long term usage of this therapy could take to other serious wel lness hazards such as coronary bosom disease. A patient may besides construct an unsusceptibility to a type of drug over clip. ( Hock, 2007 ) Many policies sing HIV/AIDS have besides been instituted. One of the biggest is the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency ( CARE ) act enacted in 1990. This provided federal support to plans that provide attention and other support for people infected with the disease. There are plans aimed at bar of the disease, such as ( voluntary ) HIV/AIDS instruction in schools, doing AIDS information available to the general public every bit good as aiming specific high hazard demographics, to controversial plans such as needle exchange plans for endovenous drug users and doing rubbers readily available in high schools. The Americans with Disabilities Act included people populating with HIV/AIDS, protecting them by jurisprudence from favoritism. ( Siplon, 2002 ) All of these techniques have helped to increase the quality and length of life for septic people.Choose the attack you feel best addressed and/or solves the problem/issue and depict why this method is better.While I believe research to forestall and perchance bring around the disease is a worthy outgo of resources, modern medical specialty is still a long manner from happening a remedy. To truly extinguish the disease, the first measure should be to seek to extinguish the causes of it. Therefore, it is my sentiment that the better header method would be to concentrate on policies and plans to battle HIV/AIDS, specifically plans on bar. There is grounds that such plans work. In one survey done in New York between 1990 – 2001, after needle exchange plans were implemented HIV prevalence dropped from a high of 54 % to a depression of 13 % . ( Patton, 2002 ) An Australian study stated that during 1990 – 2000, an estimated 25,000 HIV infections had been averted due to needle exchange plans. ( McElrath, 2002 ) Although these plans are controversial, they produce consequences. Possibly the strongest instance point is Uganda, located in Sub-Saharan Africa. The authorities responded caput on to the disease when the range of the epidemic became clear. It implemented policies for attention of the septic, plans to distribute instruction and consciousness of the disease and its methods of transmittal, and better sex instruction for the population. It besides better educated people of the methods for safer sex, and made rubbers widely available and provided direction on proper usage. ( McElrath, 2002 ) The consequence of these policies is amazing ; prevalence of HIV in Uganda has dropped from a high of 15 % to an unbelievable 5 % . ( UNAIDS, 2008 ) This shows that decently funded and executed plans and policies can hold a profound affect on the prevalence of the disease. While it ‘s non a remedy, decelerating and possibly halting the spread of HIV/AIDS is the best class of action to prosecute while scientific discipline continues to seek for a lasting remed y.Describe at least one get bying technique or method utilized by another civilization or state.The state of Brazil ‘s National AIDS plan ( PN-DST/AIDS ) has instituted legion policies for intervention of those with HIV/AIDS every bit good as instruction and awareness plans aimed to stem the spread of the disease since its origin in 1985. Possibly the most extremist policy is that of supplying free drug intervention therapy ( including HAART ) to anyone necessitating it. Numerous ( but still non all ) infirmaries are equipped and able to supply equal attention for septic people. Surveies of the epidemic in the state are performed on a regular basis every two old ages to track incident rates and roll up other statistics. Millions of dollars have been spent on telecasting and wireless runs to assist educate and distribute consciousness of the disease in the population. Educational stuffs were made widely available to the people ( with specific stuffs distributed to the high haza rd public ) and a monthly paper detailing the disease and bar techniques is distributed to rate school pupils. Programs advancing rubber usage and distribution were besides created. Several hundred nongovernmental organisations formed with partial support from PN-DST/AIDS and have been priceless helping in the executing of these plans. ( Okie, 2006 ) While an project of this magnitude is a baronial attack to contending the disease, it comes at a steep monetary value. Funding for PN-DST/AIDS came about entirely from an tremendous loan granted by the World Bank ( about $ 650 million ) Obviously this debt entirely is a monolithic hurdle for the state to get the better of in the coming old ages. It must besides non merely acquire out from under the debt, but continue to fund the plans without incurring heavier debt. The drugs provided free to patients are highly expensive to purchase, and at that place have been jobs maintaining the supply filled adequately ( this is frequently made the duty of province or other municipal services ) . ( McElrath, 2002 ) Even with these jobs the state has made definite headroom in contending the disease.DecisionHIV/AIDS is still as lifelessly today as it was when it was foremost discovered. However, much advancement has been made in contending the disease. We now have drug interventions that greatly i ncrease the length of life of septic people, and are more educated world-wide on the inside informations of the disease and how to avoid it. I believe these are the grounds why at that place seems to be less attending paid to the disease in current times. With better cognition and interventions, the fright that the disease one time spread has dramatically decreased. Many new infections occur every twelvemonth, but the Numberss are far less than they used to be. There is besides less of a stigma placed on persons populating with the disease. While this surely is a good thing, we ( talking globally ) can non go lazy in our attempts. Education and bar plans must go on to see that future coevalss are able to properly protect themselves. HIV/AIDS is non a disease that is typically acquired through sheer opportunity ; certain behaviours open us up to changing degrees of hazard. Until the clip comes ( if it of all time does ) that we find a complete remedy, forestalling new incidents of the disease is where our attempts need to be focused.

The Twilight Saga 3: Eclipse Chapter 26. ETHICS

THE COUNTER IN ALICE'S BATHROOM WAS COVERED WITH a thousand different products, all claiming to beautify a person's surface. Since everyone in this house was both perfect and impermeable, I could only assume that she'd bought most of these things with me in mind. I read the labels numbly, struck by the waste. I was careful never to look in the long mirror. Alice combed through my hair with a slow, rhythmic motion. â€Å"That's enough, Alice,† I said tonelessly. â€Å"I want to go back to La Push.† How many hours had I waited for Charlie to finally leave Billy's house so that I could see Jacob? Each minute, not knowing if Jacob was still breathing or not, had seemed like ten lifetimes. And then, when at last I'd been allowed to go, to see for myself that Jacob was alive, the time had gone so quickly. I felt like I'd barely caught my breath before Alice was calling Edward, insisting that I keep up this ridiculous sleepover faade. It seemed so insignificant. . . . â€Å"Jacob's still unconscious,† Alice answered. â€Å"Carlisle or Edward will call when he's awake. Anyway, you need to go see Charlie. He was there at Billy's house, he saw that Carlisle and Edward are back in from their trip, and he's bound to be suspicious when you get home.† I already had my story memorized and corroborated. â€Å"I don't care. I want to be there when Jacob wakes up.† â€Å"You need to think of Charlie now. You've had a long day – sorry, I know that doesn't begin to cover it – but that doesn't mean that you can shirk your responsibilities.† Her voice was serious, almost chiding. â€Å"It's more important now than ever that Charlie stays safely in the dark. Play your role first, Bella, and then you can do what you want second. Part of being a Cullen is being meticulously responsible.† Of course she was right. And if not for this same reason – a reason that was more powerful than all my fear and pain and guilt – Carlisle would never have been able to talk me into leaving Jacob's side, unconscious or not. â€Å"Go home,† Alice ordered. â€Å"Talk to Charlie. Flesh out your alibi. Keep him safe.† I stood, and the blood flowed down to my feet, stinging like the pricks of a thousand needles. I'd been sitting still for a long time. â€Å"That dress is adorable on you,† Alice cooed. â€Å"Huh? Oh. Er – thanks again for the clothes,† I mumbled out of courtesy rather than real gratitude. â€Å"You need the evidence,† Alice said, her eyes innocent and wide. â€Å"What's a shopping trip without a new outfit? It's very flattering, if I do say so myself.† I blinked, unable to remember what she'd dressed me in. I couldn't keep my thoughts from skittering away every few seconds, insects running from the light. . . . â€Å"Jacob is fine, Bella,† Alice said, easily interpreting my preoccupation. â€Å"There's no hurry. If you realized how much extra morphine Carlisle had to give him – what with his temperature burning it off so quickly – you would know that he's going to be out for a while.† At least he wasn't in any pain. Not yet. â€Å"Is there anything you want to talk about before you leave?† Alice asked sympathetically. â€Å"You must be more than a little traumatized.† I knew what she was curious about. But I had other questions. â€Å"Will I be like that?† I asked her, my voice subdued. â€Å"Like that girl Bree in the meadow?† There were many things I needed to think of, but I couldn't seem to get her out of my head, the newborn whose other life was now – abruptly – over. Her face, twisted with desire for my blood, lingered behind my eyelids. Alice stroked my arm. â€Å"Everyone is different. But something like that, yes.† I was very still, trying to imagine. â€Å"It passes,† she promised. â€Å"How soon?† She shrugged. â€Å"A few years, maybe less. It might be different for you. I've never seen anyone go through this who's chosen it beforehand. It should be interesting to see how that affects you.† â€Å"Interesting,† I repeated. â€Å"We'll keep you out of trouble.† â€Å"I know that. I trust you.† My voice was monotone, dead. Alice's forehead puckered. â€Å"If you're worried about Carlisle and Edward, I'm sure they'll be fine. I believe Sam is beginning to trust us . . . well, to trust Carlisle, at least. It's a good thing, too. I imagine the atmosphere got a little tense when Carlisle had to rebreak the fractures -â€Å" â€Å"Please, Alice.† â€Å"Sorry.† I took a deep breath to steady myself. Jacob had begun healing too quickly, and some of his bones had set wrong. He'd been out cold for the process, but it was still hard to think about. â€Å"Alice, can I ask you a question? About the future?† She was suddenly wary. â€Å"You know I don't see everything.† â€Å"It's not that, exactly. But you do see my future, sometimes. Why is that, do you think, when nothing else works on me? Not what Jane can do, or Edward or Aro . . .† My sentence trailed off with my interest level. My curiosity on this point was fleeting, heavily overshadowed by more pressing emotions. Alice, however, found the question very interesting. â€Å"Jasper, too, Bella – his talent works on your body just as well as it does on anyone else's. That's the difference, do you see it? Jasper's abilities affect the body physically. He really does calm your system down, or excite it. It's not an illusion. And I see visions of outcomes, not the reasons and thoughts behind the decisions that create them. It's outside the mind, not an illusion, either; reality, or at least one version of it. But Jane and Edward and Aro and Demetri – they work inside the mind. Jane only creates an illusion of pain. She doesn't really hurt your body, you only think you feel it. You see, Bella? You are safe inside your mind. No one can reach you there. It's no wonder that Aro was so curious about your future abilities.† She watched my face to see if I was following her logic. In truth, her words had all started to run together, the syllables and sounds losing their meaning. I couldn't concentrate on them. Still, I nodded. Trying to look like I got it. She wasn't fooled. She stroked my cheek and murmured, â€Å"He's going to be okay, Bella. I don't need a vision to know that. Are you ready to go?† â€Å"One more thing. Can I ask you another question about the future? I don't want specifics, just an overview.† â€Å"I'll do my best,† she said, doubtful again. â€Å"Can you still see me becoming a vampire?† â€Å"Oh, that's easy. Sure, I do.† I nodded slowly. She examined my face, her eyes unfathomable. â€Å"Don't you know your own mind, Bella?† â€Å"I do. I just wanted to be sure.† â€Å"I'm only as sure as you are, Bella. You know that. If you were to change your mind, what I see would change . . . or disappear, in your case.† I sighed. â€Å"That isn't going to happen, though.† She put her arms around me. â€Å"I'm sorry. I can't really empathize. My first memory is of seeing Jasper's face in my future; I always knew that he was where my life was headed. But I can sympathize. I'm so sorry you have to choose between two good things.† I shook off her arms. â€Å"Don't feel sorry for me.† There were people who deserved sympathy. I wasn't one of them. And there wasn't any choice to make – there was just breaking a good heart to attend to now. â€Å"I'll go deal with Charlie.† I drove my truck home, where Charlie was waiting just as suspiciously as Alice had expected. â€Å"Hey, Bella. How was your shopping trip?† he greeted me when I walked into the kitchen. He had his arms folded over his chest, his eyes on my face. â€Å"Long,† I said dully. â€Å"We just got back.† Charlie assessed my mood. â€Å"I guess you already heard about Jake, then?† â€Å"Yes. The rest of the Cullens beat us home. Esme told us where Carlisle and Edward were.† â€Å"Are you okay?† â€Å"Worried about Jake. As soon as I make dinner, I'm going down to La Push.† â€Å"I told you those motorcycles were dangerous. I hope this makes you realize that I wasn't kidding around.† I nodded as I started pulling things out of the fridge. Charlie settled himself in at the table. He seemed to be in a more talkative mood than usual. â€Å"I don't think you need to worry about Jake too much. Anyone who can cuss with that kind of energy is going to recover.† â€Å"Jake was awake when you saw him?† I asked, spinning to look at him. â€Å"Oh, yeah, he was awake. You should have heard him – actually, it's better you didn't. I don't think there was anyone in La Push who couldn't hear him. I don't know where he picked up that vocabulary, but I hope he hasn't been using that kind of language around you.† â€Å"He had a pretty good excuse today. How did he look?† â€Å"Messed up. His friends carried him in. Good thing they're big boys, 'cause that kid's an armful. Carlisle said his right leg is broken, and his right arm. Pretty much the whole right side of his body got crushed when he wrecked that damn bike.† Charlie shook his head. â€Å"If I ever hear of you riding again, Bella -â€Å" â€Å"No problem there, Dad. You won't. Do you really think Jake's okay?† â€Å"Sure, Bella, don't worry. He was himself enough to tease me.† â€Å"Tease you?† I echoed in shock. â€Å"Yeah – in between insulting somebody's mother and taking the Lord's name in vain, he said, ‘Bet you're glad she loves Cullen instead of me today, huh, Charlie?'† I turned back to the fridge so that he couldn't see my face. â€Å"And I couldn't argue. Edward's more mature than Jacob when it comes to your safety, I'll give him that much.† â€Å"Jacob's plenty mature,† I muttered defensively. â€Å"I'm sure this wasn't his fault.† â€Å"Weird day today,† Charlie mused after a minute. â€Å"You know, I don't put much stock in that superstitious crap, but it was odd. . . . It was like Billy knew something bad was going to happen to Jake. He was nervous as a turkey on Thanksgiving all morning. I don't think he heard anything I said to him. â€Å"And then, weirder than that – remember back in February and March when we had all that trouble with the wolves?† I bent down to get a frying pan out of the cupboard, and hid there an extra second or two. â€Å"Yeah,† I mumbled. â€Å"I hope we're not going to have a problem with that again. This morning, we were out in the boat, and Billy wasn't paying any attention to me or the fish, when all of a sudden, you could hear wolves yowling in the woods. More than one, and, boy, was it loud. Sounded like they were right there in the village. Weirdest part was, Billy turned the boat around and headed straight back to the harbor like they were calling to him personally. Didn't even hear me ask what he was doing. â€Å"The noise stopped before we got the boat docked. But all of a sudden Billy was in the biggest hurry not to miss the game, though we had hours still. He was mumbling some nonsense about an earlier showing . . . of a live game? I tell you, Bella, it was odd. â€Å"Well, he found some game he said he wanted to watch, but then he just ignored it. He was on the phone the whole time, calling Sue, and Emily, and your friend Quil's grandpa. Couldn't quite make out what he was looking for – he just chatted real casual with them. â€Å"Then the howling started again right outside the house. I've never heard anything like it – I had goose bumps on my arms. I asked Billy – had to shout over the noise – if he'd been setting traps in his yard. It sounded like the animal was in serious pain.† I winced, but Charlie was so caught up in his story that he didn't notice. â€Å"‘Course I forgot all about that till just this minute, 'cause that's when Jake made it home. One minute it was that wolf yowling, and then you couldn't hear it anymore – Jake's cussing drowned it right out. Got a set of lungs on him, that boy does.† Charlie paused for a minute, his face thoughtful. â€Å"Funny that some good should come out of this mess. I didn't think they were ever going to get over that fool prejudice they have against the Cullens down there. But somebody called Carlisle, and Billy was real grateful when he showed up. I thought we should get Jake up to the hospital, but Billy wanted to keep him home, and Carlisle agreed. I guess Carlisle knows what's best. Generous of him to sign up for such a long stretch of house calls.† â€Å"And . . .† he paused, as if unwilling to say something. He sighed, and then continued. â€Å"And Edward was really . . . nice. He seemed as worried about Jacob as you are – like that was his brother lying there. The look in his eyes . . .† Charlie shook his head. â€Å"He's a decent guy, Bella. I'll try to remember that. No promises, though.† He grinned at me. â€Å"I won't hold you to it,† I mumbled. Charlie stretched his legs and groaned. â€Å"It's nice to be home. You wouldn't believe how crowded Billy's little place gets. Seven of Jake's friends all squished themselves into that little front room – I could hardly breathe. Have you ever noticed how big those Quileute kids all are?† â€Å"Yeah, I have.† Charlie stared at me, his eyes abruptly more focused. â€Å"Really, Bella, Carlisle said Jake will be up and around in no time. Said it looked a lot worse than it was. He's going to be fine.† I just nodded. Jacob had looked so . . . strangely fragile when I'd hurried down to see him as soon as Charlie had left. He'd had braces everywhere – Carlisle said there was no point in plaster, as fast as he was healing. His face had been pale and drawn, deeply unconscious though he was at the time. Breakable. Huge as he was, he'd looked very breakable. Maybe that had just been my imagination, coupled with the knowledge that I was going to have to break him. If only I could be struck by lightning and be split in two. Preferably painfully. For the first time, giving up being human felt like a true sacrifice. Like it might be too much to lose. I put Charlie's dinner on the table next to his elbow and headed for the door. â€Å"Er, Bella? Could you wait just a second?† â€Å"Did I forget something?† I asked, eyeing his plate. â€Å"No, no. I just . . . want to ask a favor.† Charlie frowned and looked at the floor. â€Å"Have a seat – this won't take long.† I sat across from him, a little confused. I tried to focus. â€Å"What do you need, Dad?† â€Å"Here's the gist of it, Bella.† Charlie flushed. â€Å"Maybe I'm just feeling . . . superstitious after hanging out with Billy while he was being so strange all day. But I have this . . . hunch. I feel like . . . I'm going to lose you soon.† â€Å"Don't be silly, Dad,† I mumbled guiltily. â€Å"You want me to go to school, don't you?† â€Å"Just promise me one thing.† I was hesitant, ready to rescind. â€Å"Okay . . .† â€Å"Will you tell me before you do anything major? Before you run off with him or something?† â€Å"Dad . . . ,† I moaned. â€Å"I'm serious. I won't kick up a fuss. Just give me some advance notice. Give me a chance to hug you goodbye.† Cringing mentally, I held up my hand. â€Å"This is silly. But, if it makes you happy, . . . I promise.† â€Å"Thanks, Bella,† he said. â€Å"I love you, kid.† â€Å"I love you, too, Dad.† I touched his shoulder, and then shoved away from the table. â€Å"If you need anything, I'll be at Billy's.† I didn't look back as I ran out. This was just perfect, just what I needed right now. I grumbled to myself all the way to La Push. Carlisle's black Mercedes was not in front of Billy's house. That was both good and bad. Obviously, I needed to talk to Jacob alone. Yet I still wished I could somehow hold Edward's hand, like I had before, when Jacob was unconscious. Impossible. But I missed Edward – it had seemed like a very long afternoon alone with Alice. I supposed that made my answer quite obvious. I already knew that I couldn't live without Edward. That fact wasn't going to make this any less painful. I tapped quietly on the front door. â€Å"Come in, Bella,† Billy said. The roar of my truck was easy to recognize. I let myself in. â€Å"Hey, Billy. Is he awake?† I asked. â€Å"He woke up about a half hour ago, just before the doctor left. Go on in. I think he's been waiting for you.† I flinched, and then took a deep breath. â€Å"Thanks.† I hesitated at the door to Jacob's room, not sure whether to knock. I decided to peek first, hoping – coward that I was – that maybe he'd gone back to sleep. I felt like I could use just a few more minutes. I opened the door a crack and leaned hesitantly in. Jacob was waiting for me, his face calm and smooth. The haggard, gaunt look was gone, but only a careful blankness took its place. There was no animation in his dark eyes. It was hard to look at his face, knowing that I loved him. It made more of a difference than I would have thought. I wondered if it had always been this hard for him, all this time. Thankfully, someone had covered him with a quilt. It was a relief not to have to see the extent of the damage. I stepped in and shut the door quietly behind me. â€Å"Hi, Jake,† I murmured. He didn't answer at first. He looked at my face for a long moment. Then, with some effort, he rearranged his expression into a slightly mocking smile. â€Å"Yeah, I sort of thought it might be like that.† He sighed. â€Å"Today has definitely taken a turn for the worse. First I pick the wrong place, miss the best fight, and Seth gets all the glory. Then Leah has to be an idiot trying to prove she's as tough as the rest of us and I have to be the idiot who saves her. And now this.† He waved his left hand toward me where I hesitated by the door. â€Å"How are you feeling?† I mumbled. What a stupid question. â€Å"A little stoned. Dr. Fang isn't sure how much pain medication I need, so he's going with trial and error. Think he overdid it.† â€Å"But you're not in pain.† â€Å"No. At least, I can't feel my injuries,† he said, smiling mockingly again. I bit my lip. I was never going to get through this. Why didn't anyone ever try to kill me when I wanted to die? The wry humor left his face, and his eyes warmed up. His forehead creased, like he was worried. â€Å"How about you?† he asked, sounding really concerned. â€Å"Are you okay?† â€Å"Me?† I stared at him. Maybe he had taken too many drugs. â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Well, I mean, I was pretty sure that he wouldn't actually hurt you, but I wasn't sure how bad it was going to be. I've been going a little crazy with worrying about you ever since I woke up. I didn't know if you were going to be allowed to visit or anything. The suspense was terrible. How did it go? Was he mean to you? I'm sorry if it was bad. I didn't mean for you to have to go through that alone. I was thinking I'd be there. . . .† It took me a minute to even understand. He babbled on, looking more and more awkward, until I got what he was saying. Then I hurried to reassure him. â€Å"No, no, Jake! I'm fine. Too fine, really. Of course he wasn't mean. I wish!† His eyes widened in what looked like horror. â€Å"What?† â€Å"He wasn't even mad at me – he wasn't even mad at you! He's so unselfish it makes me feel even worse. I wish he would have yelled at me or something. It's not like I don't deserve . . . well, much worse that getting yelled at. But he doesn't care. He just wants me to be happy.† â€Å"He wasn't mad?† Jacob asked, incredulous. â€Å"No. He was . . . much too kind.† Jacob stared for another minute, and then he suddenly frowned. â€Å"Well, damn!† he growled. â€Å"What's wrong, Jake? Does it hurt?† My hands fluttered uselessly as I looked around for his medication. â€Å"No,† he grumbled in a disgusted tone. â€Å"I can't believe this! He didn't give you an ultimatum or anything?† â€Å"Not even close – what's wrong with you?† He scowled and shook his head. â€Å"I was sort of counting on his reaction. Damn it all. He's better than I thought.† The way he said it, though angrier, reminded me of Edward's tribute to Jacob's lack of ethics in the tent this morning. Which meant that Jake was still hoping, still fighting. I winced as that stabbed deep. â€Å"He's not playing any game, Jake,† I said quietly. â€Å"You bet he is. He's playing every bit as hard as I am, only he knows what he's doing and I don't. Don't blame me because he's a better manipulator than I am – I haven't been around long enough to learn all his tricks.† â€Å"He isn't manipulating me!† â€Å"Yes, he is! When are you going to wake up and realize that he's not a perfect as you think he is?† â€Å"At least he didn't threaten to kill himself to make me kiss him,† I snapped. As soon as the words were out, I flushed with chagrin. â€Å"Wait. Pretend that didn't slip out. I swore to myself that I wasn't going to say anything about that.† He took a deep breath. When he spoke, he was calmer. â€Å"Why not?† â€Å"Because I didn't come here to blame you for anything.† â€Å"It's true, though,† he said evenly. â€Å"I did do that.† â€Å"I don't care, Jake. I'm not mad.† He smiled. â€Å"I don't care, either. I knew you'd forgive me, and I'm glad I did it. I'd do it again. At least I have that much. At least I made you see that you do love me. That's worth something.† â€Å"Is it? Is it really better than if I was still in the dark?† â€Å"Don't you think you ought to know how you feel – just so that it doesn't take you by surprise someday when it's too late and you're a married vampire?† I shook my head. â€Å"No – I didn't mean better for me. I meant better for you. Does it make things better or worse for you, having me know that I'm in love with you? When it doesn't make a difference either way. Would it have been better, easier for you, if I never clued in?† He took my question as seriously as I'd meant it, thinking carefully before he answered. â€Å"Yes, it's better to have you know,† hefinally decided. â€Å"If you hadn't figured it out . . . I'd have always wondered if your decision would have been different if you had. Now I know. I did everything I could.† He dragged in an unsteady breath, and closed his eyes. This time I did not – could not – resist the urge to comfort him. I crossed the small room and kneeled by his head, afraid to sit on the bed in case I jostled it and hurt him, and leaned in to touch my forehead to his cheek. Jacob sighed, and put his hand on my hair, holding me there. â€Å"I'm so sorry, Jake.† â€Å"I always knew this was a long shot. It's not your fault, Bella.† â€Å"Not you, too,† I moaned. â€Å"Please.† He pulled away to look at me. â€Å"What?† â€Å"It is my fault. And I'm so sick of being told it's not.† He grinned. It didn't touch his eyes. â€Å"You want me to haul you over the coals?† â€Å"Actually . . . I think I do.† He pursed his lips as he measured how much I meant it. A smile flashed across his face briefly, and then he twisted his expression into a fierce scowl. â€Å"Kissing me back like that was inexcusable.† He spit the words at me. â€Å"If you knew you were just going to take it back, maybe you shouldn't have been quite so convincing about it.† I winced and nodded. â€Å"I'm so sorry.† â€Å"Sorry doesn't make anything better, Bella. What were you thinking?† â€Å"I wasn't,† I whispered. â€Å"You should have told me to go die. That's what you want.† â€Å"No, Jacob,† I whimpered, fighting against the budding tears. â€Å"No! Never.† â€Å"You're not crying?† he demanded, his voice suddenly back to its normal tone. He twitched impatiently on the bed. â€Å"Yeah,† I muttered, laughing weakly at myself through the tears that were suddenly sobs. He shifted his weight, throwing his good leg off the bed as if he were going to try to stand. â€Å"What are you doing?† I demanded through the tears. â€Å"Lie down, you idiot, you'll hurt yourself!† I jumped to my feet and pushed his good shoulder down with two hands. He surrendered, leaning back with a gasp of pain, but he grabbed me around my waist and pulled me down on the bed, against his good side. I curled up there, trying to stifle the silly sobs against his hot skin. â€Å"I can't believe you're crying,† he mumbled. â€Å"You know I just said those things because you wanted me to. I didn't mean them.† His hand rubbed against my shoulders. â€Å"I know.† I took a deep, ragged breath, trying to control myself. How did I end up being the one crying while he did the comforting? â€Å"It's all still true, though. Thanks for saying it out loud.† â€Å"Do I get points for making you cry?† â€Å"Sure, Jake.† I tried to smile. â€Å"As many as you want.† â€Å"Don't worry, Bella, honey. It's all going to work out.† â€Å"I don't see how,† I muttered. He patted the top of my head. â€Å"I'm going to give in and be good.† â€Å"More games?† I wondered, tilting my chin so that I could see his face. â€Å"Maybe.† He laughed with a bit of effort, and then winced. â€Å"But I'm going to try.† I frowned. â€Å"Don't be so pessimistic,† he complained. â€Å"Give me a little credit.† â€Å"What do you mean by ‘be good'?† â€Å"I'll be your friend, Bella,† he said quietly. â€Å"I won't ask for more than that.† â€Å"I think it's too late for that, Jake. How can we be friends, when we love each other like this?† He looked at the ceiling, his stare intent, as if he were reading something that was written there. â€Å"Maybe . . . it will have to be a long-distance friendship.† I clenched my teeth together, glad he wasn't looking at my face, fighting against the sobs that threatened to overtake me again. I needed to be strong, and I had no idea how. . . . â€Å"You know that story in the Bible?† Jacob asked suddenly, still reading the blank ceiling. â€Å"The one with the king and the two women fighting over the baby?† â€Å"Sure. King Solomon.† â€Å"That's right. King Solomon,† he repeated. â€Å"And he said, cut the kid in half . . . but it was only a test. Just to see who would give up their share to protect it.† â€Å"Yeah, I remember.† He looked back at my face. â€Å"I'm not going to cut you in half anymore, Bella.† I understood what he was saying. He was telling me that he loved me the most, that his surrender proved it. I wanted to defend Edward, to tell Jacob how Edward would do the same thing if I wanted, if I would let him. I was the one who wouldn't renounce my claim there. But there was no point in starting an argument that would only hurt him more. I closed my eyes, willing myself to control the pain. I couldn't impose that on him. We were quiet for a moment. He seemed to be waiting for me to say something; I was trying to think of something to say. â€Å"Can I tell you what the worst part is?† he asked hesitantly when I said nothing. â€Å"Do you mind? I am going to be good.† â€Å"Will it help?† I whispered. â€Å"It might. It couldn't hurt.† â€Å"What's the worst part, then?† â€Å"The worse part is knowing what would have been.† â€Å"What might have been.† I sighed. â€Å"No.† Jacob shook his head. â€Å"I'm exactly right for you, Bella. It would have been effortless for us – comfortable, easy as breathing. I was the natural path your life would have taken. . . .† He stared into space for a moment, and I waited. â€Å"If the world was the way it was supposed to be, if there were no monsters and no magic . . .† I could see what he saw, and I knew that he was right. If the world was the sane place it was supposed to be, Jacob and I would have been together. And we would have been happy. He was my soul mate in that world – would have been my soul mate still if his claim had not been overshadowed by something stronger, something so strong that it could not exist in a rational world. Was it out there for Jacob, too? Something that would trump a soul mate? I had to believe that it was. Two futures, two soul mates . . . too much for any one person. And so unfair that I wouldn't be the only one to pay for it. Jacob's pain seemed too high a price. Cringing at the thought of that price, I wondered if I would have wavered, if I hadn't lost Edward once. If I didn't know what it was like to live without him. I wasn't sure. That knowledge was so deep a part of me, I couldn't imagine how I would feel without it. â€Å"He's like a drug for you, Bella.† His voice was still gentle, not at all critical. â€Å"I see that you can't live without him now. It's too late. But I would have been healthier for you. Not a drug; I would have been the air, the sun.† The corner of my mouth turned up in a wistful half-smile. â€Å"I used to think of you that way, you know. Like the sun. My personal sun. You balanced out the clouds nicely for me.† He sighed. â€Å"The clouds I can handle. But I can't fight with an eclipse.† I touched his face, laying my hand against his cheek. He exhaled at my touch and closed his eyes. It was very quiet. For a minute I could hear the beating of his heart, slow and even. â€Å"Tell me the worst part for you,† he whispered. â€Å"I think that might be a bad idea.† â€Å"Please.† â€Å"I think it will hurt.† â€Å"Please.† How could I deny him anything at this point? â€Å"The worst part . . .† I hesitated, and then let words spill out in a flood of truth. â€Å"The worst part is that I saw the whole thing – our whole life. And I want it bad, Jake, I want it all. I want to stay right here and never move. I want to love you and make you happy. And I can't, and it's killing me. It's like Sam and Emily, Jake – I never had a choice. I always knew nothing would change. Maybe that's why I was fighting against you so hard.† He seemed to be concentrating on breathing evenly. â€Å"I knew I shouldn't have told you that.† He shook his head slowly. â€Å"No. I'm glad you did. Thank you.† He kissed the top of my head, and then he sighed. â€Å"I'll be good now.† I looked up, and he was smiling. â€Å"So you're going to get married, huh?† â€Å"We don't have to talk about that.† â€Å"I'd like to know some of the details. I don't know when I'll talk to you again.† I had to wait for a minute before I could speak. When I was pretty sure that my voice wouldn't break, I answered his question. â€Å"It's not really my idea . . . but, yes. It means a lot to him. I figure, why not?† Jake nodded. â€Å"That's true. It's not such a big thing – in comparison.† His voice was very calm, very practical. I stared at him, curious about how he was managing, and that ruined it. He met my eyes for a second, and then twisted his head away. I waited to speak until his breathing was under control. â€Å"Yes. In comparison,† I agreed. â€Å"How long do you have left?† â€Å"That depends on how long it takes Alice to pull a wedding together.† I suppressed a groan, imagining what Alice would do. â€Å"Before or after?† he asked quietly. I knew what he meant. â€Å"After.† He nodded. This was a relief to him. I wondered how many sleepless nights the thought of my graduation had given him. â€Å"Are you scared?† he whispered. â€Å"Yes,† I whispered back. â€Å"What are you afraid of?† I could barely hear his voice now. He stared down at my hands. â€Å"Lots of things.† I worked to make my voice lighter, but I stayed honest. â€Å"I've never been much of a masochist, so I'm not looking forward to the pain. And I wish there was some way to keep him away – I don't want him to suffer with me, but I don't think there's any way around it. There's dealing with Charlie, too, and Rene. . . . And then afterward, I hope I'll be able to control myself soon. Maybe I'll be such a menace that the pack will have to take me out.† He looked up with a disapproving expression. â€Å"I'd hamstring any one of my brothers who tried.† â€Å"Thanks.† He smiled halfheartedly. Then he frowned. â€Å"But isn't it more dangerous than that? In all of the stories, they say it's too hard . . . they lose control . . . people die. . . .† He gulped. â€Å"No, I'm not afraid of that. Silly Jacob – don't you know better than to believe vampire stories?† He obviously didn't appreciate my attempt at humor. â€Å"Well, anyway, lots to worry about. But worth it, in the end.† He nodded unwillingly, and I knew that he in no way agreed with me. I stretched my neck up to whisper in his ear, laying my cheek against his warm skin. â€Å"You know I love you.† â€Å"I know,† he breathed, his arm tightening automatically around my waist. â€Å"You know how much I wish it was enough.† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"I'll always be waiting in the wings, Bella,† he promised, lightening his tone and loosening his arm. I pulled away with a dull, dragging sense of loss, feeling the tearing separation as I left a part of me behind, there on the bed next to him. â€Å"You'll always have that spare option if you want it.† I made an effort to smile. â€Å"Until my heart stops beating.† He grinned back. â€Å"You know, I think maybe I'd still take you – maybe. I guess that depends on how much you stink.† â€Å"Should I come back to see you? Or would you rather I didn't?† â€Å"I'll think it through and get back to you,† he said. â€Å"I might need the company to keep from going crazy. The vampire surgeon extraordinaire says I can't phase until he gives the okay – it might mess up the way the bones are set.† Jacob made a face. â€Å"Be good and do what Carlisle tells you to do. You'll get well faster.† â€Å"Sure, sure.† â€Å"I wonder when it will happen,† I said. â€Å"When the right girl is going to catch your eye.† â€Å"Don't get your hopes up, Bella.† Jacob's voice was abruptly sour. â€Å"Though I'm sure it would be a relief for you.† â€Å"Maybe, maybe not. I probably won't think she's good enough for you. I wonder how jealous I'll be.† â€Å"That part might be kind of fun,† he admitted. â€Å"Let me know if you want me to come back, and I'll be here,† I promised. With a sigh, he turned his cheek toward me. I leaned in and kissed his face softly. â€Å"Love you, Jacob.† He laughed lightly. â€Å"Love you more.† He watched me walk out of his room with an unfathomable expression in his black eyes.