Power and the Glory An UnHoly Priest essays

Power and the Glory An UnHoly Priest essays Power and the Glory - An Un-Holy Priest There is uncertainty as to why Green chose to have the priest in his novel, The Power and the Glory, be such an appalling person. Normally, one thinks of a priest to be the holiest being among all people on this earth. This belief is not proven to be true, however, in this novel. In Christianity, you learn that priesthood is one of the closest things to purity and Godliness that exists on this earth. They dont engage in sexual relationships, and they certainly dont do anything that is against the law. In The Power and the Glory, however, the priest, lovingly known as the whisky priest, does the opposite of these regulations. Firstly, he is an alcoholic. In this time, alcohol was an illegal substance, yet the priest still takes part in drinking it. It seems that almost every situation in which the priest is involved throughout the book, he drinks. In the very beginning, when he first meets Mr. Tench and gets alcohol, all the way through the end when he is arrested and killed for being caught with Brandy. The next subject matter that gives me confusion about the priest is his relationship with Maria. He had sex with her, and she had his child. This is something that among priests is absolutely unheard of, and it bewilders me that the whiskey priest would be involved in such things. The reason the priest was being searched for is because religion was outlawed. Anyone who was found practicing religion was to be put to death. One would think that all the priests would declare their belief in God, and would be willing to die for him. The whisky priest ran from confrontation about his being a priest, and instead, died for alcohol. Throughout the book, I tried to think of the priest as a good man, because most are. The contradiction of his behavior and his beliefs, however, seems like Greene was trying to make his readers think otherwise. An exact...

Whats Really on the Far Side of the Moon

What's Really on the Far Side of the Moon Weve all heard the term dark side of the Moon as a description for the far side of our planets satellite. Its actually quite a mistaken idea based on a misconception that if we cant see the other side of the Moon, it must be dark. It doesnt help that the idea crops up in popular music (the Dark Side of the Moon  by Pink Floyd is one good example) and in poetry. The far side of the Moon as seen and photographed by the Apollo 16 astronauts. NASA   In ancient times, people really did believe that one side of the Moon was always dark. Of course, we now know that the Moon orbits Earth, and they both orbit the Sun. The dark side is merely a trick of perspective. The Apollo astronauts who went to the Moon saw the other side and actually basked in the sunlight there. As  it turns out, different parts of the Moon are sunlit during different parts of each month, and not just one side. This image shows the phases of the Moon and why they happen. The center ring shows the Moon as it orbits around the Earth, as seen from above the north pole. Sunlight illuminates half the Earth and half the moon at all times. But as the Moon orbits around the Earth, at some points in its orbit the sunlit part of the Moon can be seen from the Earth. At other points, we can only see the parts of the Moon that are in shadow. The outer ring shows what we see on the Earth during each corresponding part of the moons orbit. NASA Its shape seems to change, which is what we call the phases of the Moon. Interestingly, New Moon, which is the time when the Sun and Moon are on the same side of Earth, is when the face we see from Earth actually IS dark and the far side is brightly lit by the Sun. So, calling the part that faces away from us as the dark side really IS a mistake.   Call It What It Is: The Far Side So, what do we call that part of the Moon we dont see each month? The better term to use is the far side. It makes perfect sense since it is the side farthest away from us. To understand, lets look more closely at its relationship to Earth. The Moon orbits in such a way that one rotation takes just about the same length of time as it takes for it to orbit around Earth. That is, the Moon spins on its own axis once during its orbit around our planet. That leaves one side is facing us during its orbit. The technical name for this spin-orbit lock is tidal locking. Earth and the Moon as seen from a passing spacecraft. NASA Of course, there is literally a dark side of the Moon, but its not always the same side. What is darkened depends on which phase of the Moon we see. During a new moon, the Moon lies between Earth and the Sun. So, the side we normally see from here on Earth thats normally lit by the Sun is in its shadow. Only when the Moon is opposite from the Sun do  we see that part of the surface lit up. At that point, the far side is shadowed and is truly dark.   Exploring the Mysterious Far Side   The far side of the Moon was once mysterious and hidden. But that all changed when the first images of its cratered surface were sent back by the USSRs Luna 3 mission in 1959.   Now that the Moon (including its far side) has been explored by humans and spacecraft from several countries since the mid-1960s, we know much more about it. We know, for example, that the lunar far side is  cratered, and has a few large basins (called maria), as well as mountains. One of the largest known craters in the solar system sits at its south pole, called the South Pole-Aitken Basin. That area is also known to have water ice hidden away on permanently shadowed crater walls and in regions just below the surface. A Clementine view of the south pole/Aitkin Basin region. This is where the Change 4 lander from China landed.   NASA It turns out that a small sliver of the far side can be seen on Earth due to a phenomenon called libration in which the moon oscillates each month, revealing a tiny bit of the Moon wed otherwise not see. Think of libration as a little side-to-side shake that the Moon experiences. Its not a lot, but enough to reveal a bit more of the lunar surface than we normally see from Earth. The most recent exploration of the far side has been undertaken by the Chinese space agency and its Change 4 spacecraft. Its a robotic mission with a rover to study the lunar surface. Ultimately, China is interested in sending humans to study the moon personally. The Far Side and Astronomy Because the far side is shielded from radio frequency interference from Earth, its a perfect place to put radio telescopes and astronomers have long discussed the option of placing observatories there. Other countries (including China) are talking about locating permanent colonies and bases there. In addition, space tourists could find themselves exploring all over the Moon, both near and far side. Who knows? As we learn to live and work on all sides of the moon, maybe one day well find human colonies on the far side of the moon.   Fast Facts The term dark side of the Moon is really a misnomer for the far side.Each side of the Moon is dark for 14 earth days each month.The far side of the Moon has been explored by the United States, Russia, and China. Updated and edited by Carolyn Collins Petersen.

To what extent could it be argued that scientific management is good Essay

To what extent could it be argued that scientific management is good management - Essay Example Scientific management perspective has its origins from the work of Fredrick Winslow Taylor in the late 1880s and early 1890s. The management approach evolved during the industrial revolution when factories recognised the need for automation and mechanisation of some work processes. Some themes of industrial revolution and engineering included the need for rationality, efficiency, work ethic and standardisation of the best practices in order to eliminate waste (Taylor, 2010). Fredrick Taylor is considered the father of scientific management since he sought to introduce the ‘one best practice’ rather than allowing employee discretion in the tasks. Through ‘time and motion studies’, Taylor managed to fix job performance standards through introducing standardised ‘time, quality of work and costs’ associated with each job in the organisation (Taylor, 2010). Frank and Lillian Gilbreth advanced the fatique and motion studies that proved that proper job design and coordination of movements in the workplace reduced to efficiency through minimising time wastage and idle time. Henry Gantt introduced Gantt charts that demonstrated the priority of tasks and stages of production thus enabling employees to prioritise work and adhere with the work schedules. Thesis statement: scientific management is a good management in contemporary business environment since it increases organisational productivity and ensures efficiency in the production methods. Taylor based his scientific management on four principles that entail scientific study of work in order to determine the best efficient method of performing a specific task. Tsutsui (2001) claims that scientific study of work principle aims at replacing the ‘rule of thumb’ or common sense manner of doing jobs with a scientific manner than breaks down the job in to tasks and determines the most efficient method of doing the job in order to maximise efficiency. In this case, scienti fic management aims at enhancing workflow efficiency through redesigning the layout of the work environment in order to reduce time wastage and distractions. The second guiding principle of scientific management is the scientific selecting of workers for each job and training them to efficiently perform the tasks (Guillen, 1994). This principle is aimed at matching employees to their jobs depending of the required skills, capabilities and motivation of each individual worker in order to enhance productivity. The third principle entails monitoring worker performance, provision of job instructions and supervision in order to ensure workers are using the most efficient methods in their jobs (Taylor, 2010). In this case, Taylor advanced the notion that employee motivation is equivalent to incentive theory since employees are motivated by financial rewards. Taylor advocated that improvements in job productivity should be accompanied by equivalent increase in the piece-rate pay in order t o encourage the workers to commit more efforts and maximise their productivity. Lastly, the fourth principle of scientific management aims at dividing the wok between the managers and workers so that managers could concentrate on the application of scientific methods in designing tasks and supervision while workers can concentrate on the execution of their job according to the already established scientific methods

Motion Pictures Movies Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Motion Pictures Movies - Research Paper Example The rise of the Hollywood studio system was a critical stage of the movie industry. The Biography Company sent Griffith and his team of actors to the West Coast towards Georgia Street where they started shooting a film in the available vacant spaces. It is at this time that Griffith decided to explore Hollywood and decided to shoot one of his melodrama movies there. At the production of this film, it attracted a lot of attention and Griffith found Hollywood an interesting place to shoot his movies (Ragan 23-43). When many filmmakers found out about his venture, they decide to visit Hollywood to produce films. Another reason why most Filmmakers preferred to visit Hollywood is that they saw it as a cheap way to avoid the charges that Thomas Edison was charging them to make movies. After the world war, the more people from Europe visited Hollywood. Another transformation that occurred during the Hollywood studio system was the introduction of the use of sound in filmmaking (OBrien 43). While this was a positive change, the filmmakers who had learned about silent film lost popularity after this change. During the era of the studio system, the filmmakers followed the Hay production code as part of the conditions of the studio production. Those who did not comply with the Hay code had to pay heavy fines. However, the studio system ended in the early 1940s when another law emerged to separate the production of films and their exhibition. The Federal antitrust action was a new law that led to the break up the studio system and paved way for individual production (Ragan 67). Secondly, technology development opened up a new era of production in the history of American movies. The emergence of the television technology encouraged many people to pursue filming individually.

Reconstruction in the South Essay Example for Free

Reconstruction in the South Essay Reconstruction is the Federal Governments plan(s) to abolish slavery, change the way of life in the South, and to bring the nation back together after the devastating effects of the Civil War. Many Government plans were brought up but never fell through. Likewise, Presidents over the years, after the Civil War, had also brought their own Reconstruction plans to the nation. Several good things came from each plan but not one individual plan had drastically changed America on its own. Although Lincoln and his 10% plan would have reshaped the nation and connected the broken line between the North and South, however, it had never taken action because of Lincoln’s assassination on April 14, 1865. However, Reconstruction created many new social changes to the nation. Civil Rights had been shaped over many years; the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments were passed giving African Americans the right to vote, and the Freedmen’s Bureau was established. Reconstruction was a long and rough time for the government and the people. Our Nation had never before needed to recover from such a tremendous loss from something like the Civil War. Reconstruction had failed in several ways. Slavery had still been practiced in the south under different titles of work, ways of life in the south had remained the same, and Redeemers made sure blacks were not represented in government. Before this particular Reconstruction plan was brought up it had been thought a bout for awhile by a group of Radical Republicans who created the Radical Republicans’ Plan. These Radicals wanted to spark the necessity to take action on the problems occurring in the South. The plan had consisted of three major ideas; â€Å"these ideas were based off of revenge, concern for the freedmen, and political concerns† (Travel and History par. 1). One of the ways that these Radicals wanted revenge was by â€Å"punishing the South for causing the war† (Travel and History par. 1). They also felt that â€Å"Southern states had to apply for readmission back into the Union and were required to submit state constitutions that ratified the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments (Ohio History Central par. 11). Also when Ulysses S. Grant took office he â€Å"kept soldiers in the former Confederacy for the duty of protecting African Americans from the Ku Klux Klan and similar groups (Ohio History Central par. 11). These Radicals felt that â€Å"the federal government had a role to play in the transition of freedmen from slavery to freedom† (Travel and History par. 1). They believed that the government needed to aid former slaves into getting good work and treated fairly. Also, many members â€Å"wanted to keep the Republicans Party in power in both the North and the South† (Travel and History par. 1). This way only Republican ideas would be brought up and many Republican based laws would be passed. This is the general idea for the Radical Republicans’ plan and would not be brought up again until Ulysses S. Grant is elected into the Presidency. The former Civil War, Union General, Ulysses S. Grant was elected into office in 1868. President Grant did not take much care in his Presidency campaign because he did not care if he had won or lost. Thus, Grant did not have his own plan for the problems of Reconstruction. However, Grant was a Republican and â€Å"favored the Radical Republicans’ Plan,† (Ohio History Central par. 11) so most of what he tried to accomplish was based on these views. When Grant won his election many republicans realized that he had won by a small margin of votes. Looking deeper they noticed that â€Å"roughly 450,000 African Americans had voted Republican and the majority of whites in the South voted Democrat† (Davidson J. p. 348). Republicans in office realized that an amendment must be created to protect black voting rights so the African American population would co ntinue to vote Republican. The Fifteenth Amendment was created in 1869 and was ratified in 1870; â€Å"this forbade any state to deny any man the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude† (Davidson J. p. 348). However, many states found loopholes to this amendment by issuing literacy tests, poll taxes, and property requirements for voting. Mainly this counted out most of the African American voting population. Although he his mostly known for his scandals, Grant had many other significant highlights during his time as President that greatly contributed to Reconstruction in the South. During his time in office, â€Å"Grant signed a series of Reconstruction related ‘Enforcement Acts’† (Simpson B. par. 6). The main effect these laws had was they â€Å"completely denied states to deny any man the right to vote† (Simpson B. par. 6). He had also signed the Ku Klux Klan act which banned the â€Å"illegal intimidation† of blacks where states were unwilling or unable to provide protection, and for private parties to conspire to violate civil rights. Violation of this law was a federal crime. Before Grant had left office, â€Å"In 1875 he signed last major piece of Civil Rights legislation until 1964† (Simpson B. par. 6). In 1877, Grant had completed his final term as President. Several years later Grant had been slipping deeper and deeper into debt from family troubles. He started to write his memoirs and later had attracted cancer. After he had finished his memoirs he had died in 1897, from the cancer he had acquired. Luckily his writings had sold more than enough copies to provide and settle his family’s debt. Reconstruction had ended in 1877, and many of Grant’s accomplishments had changed society in the South and for the future. Bibliography Davidson, James W., and Brian DeLay. U.S. A Narrative History. 1st ed. Vol. 2. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2009. Print . Foner, Eric. Reconstruction Americas unfinished revolution, 1863-1877. New York: Harper Row, 1988. Print . Radical Republican Reconstruction Plan. Travel and History. Web. 11 Sept. 2009. . Reconstruction Ohio History Central A product of the Ohio Historical Society. Ohio History Central An Online Encyclopedia of Ohio History Ohio Historical Society. Web. 1 Sept. 2009. . Simpson, Brooks D. Let Us Have Peace: The Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant. Teaching American History in Maryland Documents for the Classroom Maryland State Archives. Web. 14 Sept. 2009. .

African Americans Essay -- History, Slaves, Slaveholders

A slave is an individual entirely subjected to his or her owners' will. Slaves were treated like merchandise. They could be purchased and sold, traded for other items, lent out to, or mortgaged like a form of domestic animal. Slavery differentiates from many types of mistreatment ranging from serfdom, manual labor, or the ranking of women in patriarchal society. In past history the conventional definition of slavery was legal and stated that â€Å"slaves were peoples' property and could be bought, sold, traded, leased, or mortgaged like a form of livestock (Gilder Lehrman, 2009).† Because slaves are under the private control and care of their owner they were often exposed to sexual abuse and cruel unusual punishment. In many cultures, especially the African American culture, slaves were representatively desecrated; for instance, many were branded, tattooed, or required to wear distinctive clothing that could represented a slave. Also, regardless of the place and time period, s ocieties had established certain common stereotypes on the qualification of a slave. They were seen as immoral, childish, lethargic, immature, dim-witted, and incapable of freedom (Gilder Lehrman, 2009). Originally, the English colonists relied on indentured white servants and the late seventeenth century there was a shortage of servants. In response to this, colonists’ progressively resorted to enslaved Africans, leaving the whites to freedom. Due to this there were three distinguishing systems of slavery that emerged in the American civilization. In Maryland and Virginia slavery was mostly used in harvesting the raise of tobacco and corn and worked under the "gang" system (Gilder Lehrman, 2009). â€Å"In the South Carolina and Georgia, slaves raised rice and indigo... ...nt standing would facilitate him to find other avenues should the boycott fail (A&E Television Network, 1996). His powerful speeches inspired many and within a year of protesting and preaching the city busses were desegregated. In today’s society slavery still exists but not in physical labor aspects. Now the largest slavery operation is human trafficking, where by victims are generally forced, defrauded or coerced into sexual or labor utilization. It is among the fastest growing criminal activitie occurring both worldwide and in individual countries. Slavery will always be around in one form or another. People need to make money and unfortunately after all the great strides made during the period of segregation it is not enough. There is still hope that individuals like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. exist in this world and the suffering will stop.

Courtroom Visit Essay

The Judiciary’s role is to give everyone fair access to the courts to solve legal problems fairly and efficiently, decide justly the guilt or innocence of anyone charged with a crime, and interpret the laws and protect the rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitutions of California and the United States. Criminal court is where you go when the state believes you have committed a crime and it files charges against you. The Criminal Court has jurisdiction over infraction, misdemeanor and felony cases. The Criminal Court conducts trials, motions, arraignments, preliminary hearings, probation hearings, mental health proceedings, and other types of criminal proceedings. In this essay I will be discussing my visit to the Orange County Courthouse in Santa Ana on March 26, 2014 and my observations of the criminal proceedings in Department C58. In the courtroom were the public defenders, the district attorneys, private attorneys, court clerks, a court reporter, a bailiff, a resident probation officer, the judge, in custody defendants, out of custody defendants, spectators in the audience and when needed an interpreter. The defendants were charged with a variety of different crimes including petty theft, drunk in public, under the influence of a controlled substance, possession of paraphernalia and more serious crimes including possession of a controlled substance for sales, possession of a fire arm, commercial burglary, forgery, fraud and counterfeiting as well as probation violations. The judge took the bench at around 9:30 am and started with the defendants that were charged with misdemeanor offenses. The judge called each defendant’s name; each defendant would step up to the podium, the judge then gave notice of the charges the defendant was currently being accused of. On several occasions the judge called the name of a defendant that was not present, she then issued an arrest warrant for the defendant, revoking their current bail, in some cases a new bail was set but the majority of the warrant’s had no bail amount. For the defendants that were present out of custody the judge would offer the defendant a sentence for the charges and asked for the defendant’s plea to the charges. If the defendant wished to plead not guilty to the charges, which commonly occurred, the judge then appointed the public defender’s office to represent the defendant for the  matter. In several cases the defendants were charged with a misdemeanor including under the influence of a controlled substance (HS 11550 a), possession of paraphernalia (HS 11364), petty theft (PC 484 a) and drunk in public (PC 647), these defendants provided the county with a sample of their DNA, they were required to pay a $75 collection fee and then charges against them were dismissed. After the judge completed the misdemeanor cases she moved on to the felony cases, which were more complex. Just like with the misdemeanor cases, the judge would call the name of the defendant and have them step up to the podium, she would then give them notice of the charges against them and ask if they were able to afford an attorney if they were not able to do so she then would appoint the public defender’s to represent the defendant. The cases that I observed were in a variety of different stages of the criminal case proceedings. Theses stages included arraignments, pre trials, preliminary hearing and sentencing. In most of the cases the judge would calendar the case for a further date. In these cases the defendant is notified of their constitutional right to a speedy trial and in order to set the case for a continuance the defendant had to agree to waive this right. The defendant’s that decided to plead guilty to their charges were notified of their constitutional rights that they would be giving up by pleading guilty to the charges these rights included the right to a jury trial, their right to a speedy trial and their right to confrontation. The judge sentenced the defendant’s to a variety of sentences including fines, restitution, diversion programs, classes, county jail time, probation and state prison. The defendant’s that were in custody and were sentenced to jail time the judge would notify the defendant of his actual credits and his good time and give the defendant how many credits he/she had towards their sentence. If the defendant’s sentence included probation, the defendant had to agree to the terms and conditions of their probation and the judge reviewed the rights that they were giving up to be placed on probation, including the right to own a fire arm and the defendant’s search and seizure rights. In conclusion, I found my courtroom visit to be great learning  experience. More specifically after visiting the courthouse and seeing our criminal justice system firsthand, I feel that I have a greater understanding of the different topics we have been learning about in class including the different stages of the criminal court proceedings, the constitutional rights each person has when charged with committing a crime and the different people involved with the criminal courts.

Law Exam

The law ensures that Coos and Scoffs cannot claim they were not aware of financial problems and wrong doings. They are required to take individual responsibility that the financial records are being reported accurately. The law also require that audits are performed by external and independent auditors to avoid conflict of Interest. The firms used for audits cannot perform non-adult related work for the company. Auditing firms must also be rotated. 2. Employees that make the decision to whistle low are protected from retaliation from their employer.They cannot be fired, 3. Tort reform in Texas currently only covers medical malpractice and caps damages that can be received at $250,000. This strips away the ability for a jury to decide the monetary amount to be paid. This cap also makes it more difficult for a victim to find a lawyer to even take their case, which often results in them never getting their day in court. Tort reform in Texas is saving money, but the beneficiaries of that savings are medical practitioners and insurance companies.The lower cost of medical care for the citizens from this reform has not been shown. Insurance is lower for doctors now but that savings Is not being passed on to the patients, many of whom voted for tort reform for that reason alone. 4. Equal employment opportunity has Improved since the Call Rights Act of 1964. 5. Honesty Integrity – Doing what is right when no one is looking. Employees must make ethical decisions Transparency Fairness Respectful 6. Violation of intellectual property law can include copyright, trademark or trade secret infringement as well as patent damages.In order for the general public to continue to benefit from the creation of new technology, art, music etc. The Inventors of IP must have confidence that their work Is protected and they will be able to benefit off of It. Along the Invention on new IP follows new Jobs as well. By protecting the rights of the owners of this property, we are also e nsuring new jobs for the future. 7. Affirmative action should continue because the disparity is still too significant to ay things are now equal.While we have certainly come a long way by opening doors that would have otherwise been closed; however, the difference is mostly seen on lower and some mid-level positions. It is argued that affirmative action is reverse discrimination for white men, but with 95% of senior level managers being men and 97% being white, but the static do not support this being true. An alternative to affirmative action would be to trust that companies will be fair and not discriminate; forever, as with other Issues companies mostly have a track record of doing the right thing when they are forced to.BY -reel 579 are performed by external and independent auditors to avoid conflict of interest. The firms used for audits cannot perform non-audit related work for the company. Can be received at $250,000. This strips away the ability for a Jury to decide the mone tary amount to be paid. This cap also makes it more difficult for a victim to find now but that savings is not being passed on to the patients, many of whom voted for rot reform for that reason alone. 4.Equal employment opportunity has improved since the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Continue to benefit from the creation of new technology, art, music etc. The inventors of IP must have confidence that their work is protected and they will be able to benefit off of it. Along the invention on new IP follows new Jobs as well. By protecting the rights of the owners of this property, we are also ensuring new Jobs for the however, as with other issues companies mostly have a track record of doing the

How to Conjugate Raser (to Shave)

How to Conjugate Raser (to Shave) The French verb raser means to shave, but it specifically refers to shaving someone else. To say youre shaving yourself, youd use the reflexive se raser. How to Conjugate Raser Raser is a regular -er verb, which makes learning to conjugate it very simple. Remove the infinitive ending from the verb to determine the stem, which in this case is ras-. You complete the conjugation by adding the ending appropriate of the subject pronoun and the tense in use. See the tables below for simple conjugations of raser. Present Future Imperfect Present participle je rase raserai rasais rasant tu rases raseras rasais il rase rasera rasait nous rasons raserons rasions vous rasez raserez rasiez ils rasent raseront rasaient Subjunctive Conditional Pass simple Imperfect subjunctive je rase raserais rasai rasasse tu rases raserais rasas rasasses il rase raserait rasa rast nous rasions raserions rasmes rasassions vous rasiez raseriez rastes rasassiez ils rasent raseraient rasrent rasassent Imperative (tu) rase (nous) rasons (vous) rasez How to Use Raser in the Past Tense The most common way to use a verb in the past tense is to use the passà © composà ©. This compound tense requires an auxiliary verb and a past participle to form the conjugation. Raser requires the auxiliary verb avoir and the past participle rasà ©. However, when using the reflexive se raser, the auxiliary verb is à ªtre (all reflexive verbs use à ªtre when forming the passà © composà ©). For example: Linfirmià ¨re lui a rasà ©.The nurse shaved him. Il sest rasà © avant le diner.He shaved before dinner.

A Complete Guide to Parentheses and Brackets

A Complete Guide to Parentheses and Brackets A Complete Guide to Parentheses and Brackets A Complete Guide to Parentheses and Brackets By Mark Nichol This post discusses the functions of parentheses and brackets, which are used to set off portions of text from the whole for various purposes. Parentheses, almost exclusively appearing in pairs, are usually employed in the same manner as a pair of commas or dashes, though they suggest de-emphasis of the content within (as opposed to commas, which convey a neutral insertion of information, and dashes, which highlight the text between them). Parentheses, in addition to being employed to interject examples or a brief digression, enclose an abbreviation, acronym, or initialism or a translation, or a numerical equivalent of a spelled-out number. They also set off a cross-reference, as in â€Å"For more details, read the associated case study (pages 113–119)† or â€Å"Gene therapy is discussed briefly here. (See chapter 12 for more information.)† Parentheses may frame a plural ending to indicate that a word can be read as either singular or plural, as in â€Å"Enter the title(s) of the document(s) on the asset list,† or to allow for a gender-neutral reading, as in â€Å"Next, (s)he should consult with an adviser.† Note that one of a pair of parentheses is called a parenthesis. This term also pertains in general to setting text off from other text regardless of which punctuation signals the separation. (Two or more instances of parenthesis might be referred to as parentheses.) Text that is set off by complementary punctuation marks is sometimes (including often in posts on this site) referred to as a parenthetical phrase, or simply a parenthetical. A single close parenthesis is sometimes used in place of a period when enumerating, as in â€Å"The three types of rock are 1) igneous, 2) metamorphic, and 3) sedimentary.† (An open parenthesis is not used in isolation.) A few more guidelines about parentheses follow: Parentheses should not be used in immediate proximity to each other or within another set of parentheses; in the latter case, use brackets instead (or commas or dashes). Avoid including more than one sentence, or including an extensive sentence, within parentheses. Avoid situating a complete sentence in parentheses within another sentence. Avoid using parentheses too frequently. Consider employing commas or dashes instead, or otherwise revising text so that parentheses do not appear repeatedly in one piece of content. Parentheses framing text in italics, boldface, or another style treatment differing from the default text should not share that formatting, but should rather be in the the same type as the surrounding text. A complete sentence within parentheses should end with a period or other terminal punctuation before the close parenthesis, and the preceding text should be followed by terminal punctuation: â€Å". . . then it is fair game. (There are always exceptions, of course.)† If text enclosed in parentheses does not comprise a complete sentence and ends a framing sentence, the terminal punctuation of the framing sentence should immediately follow the close parenthesis. â€Å". . . then it is fair game (with exceptions).† Text in parentheses in the midst of a sentence is not punctuated, regardless of whether it is a complete sentence (unless the terminal punctuation is a question mark or an exclamation point), and the first word of a complete sentence in parentheses is not capitalized: â€Å". . . then (there are always exceptions, of course) it is fair game.† â€Å". . . then (with exceptions) it is fair game.† Bracket, in American English, refers to square brackets. (In British English, the term pertains to round brackets, or what in American English are called parentheses.) Brackets have limited uses, including adding contextual information within quoted material â€Å"She spoke to [Smith],† where the bracketed text replaces one or more spoken words to provide clarity (in this example, replacing the vague him) or to add a word or phrase omitted in the spoken or written quotation. Sometimes, the replaced word or phrase is retained, as in â€Å"She spoke to him [Smith],† but this unnecessary. when framing the word sic (â€Å"thus†), borrowed from Latin, confirming that in quoted material, an error or confusing wording is faithfully reproduced from the original text and not a transcription error, as in â€Å"The comment read, ‘You are definately [sic] out of your mind.’† (Note that sic is italicized, but the brackets are not.) parenthesizing within parentheses, as in â€Å"Submit form 13F (Petition for Appeal [formerly titled Petition for Grievance]) within thirty days.† (When possible, revise sentences to avoid this type of construction.) clarifying, in formal writing, that the first letter of quoted material is, the source material, in a different case, as in â€Å"[A]s you would have others do unto you† is the gist of the admonition,† where the quoted material is the second half of the original statement and, thus, as is lowercase in the source text. framing ellipses to indicate that a word or phrase has been omitted, although generally, the ellipses on their own are sufficient. modifying a quotation, perhaps for grammatical agreement, when partially paraphrasing, as when â€Å"I agree with his account of the incident, as improbable as it sounds,† is reported, â€Å"He said that he ‘agrees[s] with his account of the incident, as improbable as it sounds.’† Parentheses and brackets both have distinct functions in computing, linguistics, math, and science contexts that are not described here. In addition, similar symbols include curly brackets {/} and angle brackets , which have specialized uses not discussed in this post. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:When to Capitalize Animal and Plant Names50 Synonyms for â€Å"Idea†Preposition Mistakes #1: Accused and Excited

The Red Guards of Chinese Cultural Revolution Research Paper

The Red Guards of Chinese Cultural Revolution - Research Paper Example The Red guards believed themselves to be Mao’s army and named themselves thusly; ‘Hong’ meant red or the ideology of Mao which was being protected, ‘Wei’ by ‘bing’ meaning (soldiers) of China. Red guards began with a small group of school children who started with naming themselves ‘Chairman Mao’s Red Guards’, but Mao’s direct support and encouragement for them led the group to be named the ‘Red Guard’. The Red Guard comprised of young people who belonged to families from the ‘five red types’. In 1966, Mao called for a ‘cultural revolution’ against the segmentation that had been created in the society and wanted to rid the society of all evil by eliminating any elements of ‘Capitalist’ or ‘Bourgeois’ ideology. As a result of Mao’s call, two character posters were plastered at the Tsinghua University to oppose the administration at the Universities of Beijing and Tsinghua as intellectual elitists and bourgeois who had diverged from the right path of thought; the poster was signed by ‘chairman Mao’s red guard. Mao endorsed the actions of the group and encouraged their thinking that their thinking was in line with that of Maoism, and as a result of his order the manifesto was to appear in People’s Daily and a nationwide broadcast was sanctioned. The movement gained popularity. In Tiananmen Square Mao addressed a gathering of above eight hundred thousand people while he wore the Red Guard arm band throughout the rally, showing unrelenting support for the guard and their actions (Byers 3). Although the red guards began as a movement of the youth and young students but later on engulfed the working and peasant population (Szczepanski). As the movement progressed the re d guards became known for their destruction, violence and cruelty. The guard destroyed cultural abodes, writings, buildings, religious buildings and much more in the name of destroying the four olds; people were killed and humiliated for their anti-Maoism ideology (Szczepanski). Where for many the red guard is a memory of grief and violence; for many others it is nothing but a group of people who were clad in old army jackets, wore red arm bands and