Cognitive science Essay

Sir William Haley once said, â€Å"Education would be so much more effective if its purpose were to ensure that by the time they leave school every boy and girl should know how much they don’t know, and be imbued with a lifelong desire to know it†. If students were guaranteed to leave school with knowing of what they don’t know and the desire to continue learning, the method of learning will be correct. Today’s education system does not give students the opportunity to enjoy what they are learning. The banking method, where students are empty vessels which educators must deposit knowledge into, deprives them of creativity and the desire to learn. No child is given the chance to shine and be unique. Students today are simply being placed on a conveyer belt, sorted, and then labeled according to their so called intelligence. We need an education system that provides a slower learning method, a method where you focus on what is being learned instead of zipping through it, and the freedom to make mistakes as this will electrify and stimulate students to fulfill their potential. We must recognize students as individuals and keep in mind their diverse backgrounds. In â€Å"Lives on the Boundary,† Rose states, â€Å"The canon has intended to push to the margins much of the literature of our nation: from American Indian songs and chants to immigrant fiction to working-class narratives† (100). The messages that are received from the text are crucial. The students need to be able to relate to what they have before them. One of the problems with today’s education system is we are given material to read, memorize, and expected to repeat it back at the snap of a finger. But without the ability to relate and connect with the material, the learning doesn’t take place. Everything that is read or being said is just going through one ear and out the other. By adding relatable texts, you add life to learning. In â€Å"Learning in the Key of Life,† Jon Spayde states, â€Å"people cannot learn what they do not love† (69). When students are reading or learning about a subject they love, they are inspired and motivated to learn more. This alone can benefit the learning process for students. It becomes much easier to grasp concepts learned in class. Today’s education system does not allow all students to thrive in their own way. It is fast paced with limited space for creativeness. We are given large amounts of information at a time and attempt to move as quickly as possible through all that we can. There is never â€Å"time† to stay longer on a topic. The instructors try their hardest to keep the pace, but this way of teaching does not benefit any student. In â€Å"Learning in the Key of Life†, Jon Spayde states, â€Å"†¦we are focusing far too much of our energy and resources on fast knowledge, ignoring all the richness and meaning slow knowledge adds to our lives† (68). When the focus is on just getting through the material, we are skipping over the value and richness of slow knowledge. Instead of zipping through a lesson because it needs to be done by a certain day to move onto the next, the focus needs to be on what is being learned than making a time requirement. Spayde also states, â€Å"You can figure out what you can do pretty quickly, but the ethical understanding of what you ought to do comes slowly†. We need to adopt the slow learning method, without it we are missing out on more than we think. There is so much more to learning than getting through the material, the purpose of it is to benefit and gain from it. With slow knowledge we will achieve this. One of the most important changes that needs to be done is the view on mistakes. In the article, â€Å"How to Make Mistakes,† Dennett states, â€Å"Mistakes are not just golden opportunities for learning; they are, in an important sense, the only opportunity for learning something truly new†. When fear is being put into a student to never make a mistake, their education is stunted. They lose the ability to explore and take the chance of being wrong because they are repeatedly punished for being incorrect. When a mistake is made, students will learn where they went wrong and will then grow from it. The key to progress is making mistakes. The reason we are in school is to learn, but with this opportunity taken away from students their ability to learn is ripped from their grasp. Daniel C. Dennett also states, â€Å"You should seek out opportunities to make grand mistakes, just so you can then recover from them†. Instead of using all of their energy to attempt to be perfect and run from being inaccurate, every student should look for every opportunity to be wrong. Without errors, the students can not accomplish much. If you look at Todays’ education system is in desperate need of change. No student is given the opportunity to show what they are fully capable of. Instead they are told what they can do. They are simply labeled and placed where they â€Å"should be†. But when students begin to pursue their mistakes and soak in the richness of slow knowledge, they will begin to truly learn. Maria Montessori once said, â€Å"If education is always to be conceived along the same antiquated lines of a mere transmission of knowledge, there is little to be hoped from it in the bettering of man’s future. For what is the use of transmitting knowledge if the individual’s total development lags behind? †. If many students are having difficulty learning in the method we have created ages ago, why not change it? The time is now and there is no time to waste. We must refocus this outdated system to insure that the students will have a secure future and keep the standard of living that we have today.

The Digital World

The twenty first century marked the start of a new era of technological advancements. Although technology has evolved through the ages, the new developments have certainly brought technology unto a higher pedestal, creating more and more opportunities for people all over the world. The world went back to its usual state- borderless. Communicating with people in other parts of the globe has been made easy with a simple click of the send button. The internet has also certainly provided students with other avenues to obtain information for their school work.Not only that, editing pictures, videos, music, etc. has also been possible through the different advancements developed. Years ago, we were so used to using hearing our favorite music from cassette tapes placed inside portable cassette players. But nowadays, digital music, Ipods, mp3 players, and the like have been introduced. True enough; a digital world has been created together with the coming of this millennium. Widespread Use o f Internet Appliances The introduction of internet appliances in the market is seen to be another avenue by which producers could increase their revenue (Mandelstam, D. , n. d.)According to the study made by Hambrecht’s and Quist’s Internet Group, the development and production of internet appliances shall increase in the 2000s (Pastore, M. , 1999). As a means for increasing their revenue, the producers of internet appliances have connected their products to the internet to be able to receive positive feedback, knowing how popular the internet is nowadays and of course, the fact that these appliances could be accessed even from a distance. More or less, we should be expecting more internet appliances in the near future as anything is possible in the modern times through technology (David Strom Inc., 1999).Digital Counterfeiting Digital imaging is another technological advancement brought about by the twenty-first century. The editing of pictures through a program such as Photoshop has somehow evolved to the forgery of Identification cards (csrc. nit. gov, n. d. ) as well as the faking of US dollar bills (books. nap. edu, n. d. ). Obviously, digital counterfeiting is continuously being used as another way to commit crime by those who have continuously abused the benefits being brought about by the advancements in technology (Miller, 2000).Benefits and Risks of New Wireless Technology Wireless Technology, as its name implies promises one thing: internet connection without the wires (hp. ca, n. d. ). Wi-fi enabled hotspots are seen in every part of the country, in coffee shops, malls, airports, schools, etc. allowing people to check their emails or access the internet wherever they are, thus cutting the possibility of failing to read a very important email message or failing to attend to something important.Just like mobile phones, sending messages over the World Wide Web and researching would be hassle-free and very easy. In the office setup, manag ers would have an easier time in setting up networks without moving wires (hp. ca, n. d. ). It would help in lessening the rigidity of the office environment that often leads to the raising of IT costs and reduction in productivity (hp. ca, n. d. ). In summary, wireless technology offers an efficient, effective and convenient way of accessing the internet, for companies and for individuals.Unfortunately, disadvantages come with these benefits. In a report published by BBC news (April 28, 2007), the head of the government’s committee on mobile phone safety research Professor Lawrie Challis released a statement with regard to the potential health risks that wi-fi internet could bring (bbc. co. uk). Research shows the dangers of pollutants such as lead and UV radiation when using wireless internet. In addition to this, wireless technology is constantly becoming a threat to security and privacy as well.The Ernst &Young survey showed that most companies do not have protection agai nst intrusion from third parties, seeing the wireless technology as another avenue to commit internet related crimes (Beckley, 2005). Computer Gaming One of the causes of internet addiction is internet gaming. As the gaming culture continues to arise, these games become more and more addictive because of the use of the stereotype of the game player (Cover, R. , 2006). Although internet addiction is one of the many disadvantages of computer gaming, violence is yet another negative value planted in the young minds of children (Myclopedia, 2004).The violence being taught maliciously by these computer games could affect our society as this may release the aggressive behavior within us (Harris, J. 2004). The addiction of the people in these computer games would help in further deteriorating the values which should be considered as more important such as socialization with real people. Spam and its prevention and ramifications The direct effects of spam could include the consumption of co mputer and network resources, which could again, lead to the congestion of mail servers.It is also costly for individuals who devote much of their time and attention in canceling and disregarding unwanted messages without deleting the important ones. Spam comes from different senders. One of the most common brought about by spamming then is the impossibility to disregard these kinds of messages without ignoring the valuable ones. Because of the many emails an individuals usually receive, and because most of them are spam, they tend to delete everything including those that of vital importance to them.The simplest way to avoid this problem is through filtering. Popular email hosts nowadays offer filtering as one of their services. If a certain individual receives too much mail from a certain sender, all she/he has to do is block that certain address. Thus, all email messages that would come from that particular sender would not be delivered to his/her inbox (Gnus Manual, 2003). One w ay of discouraging spammers is through charging each and every mail being sent all over the world (Boushka, 2006).Also, new filtering systems should be developed that could help in slowing down the servers of these spammers as well as helping in bouncing back spammed emails to their senders. Although the Bayesian way of filtering is considered to be the most effective way to combat SPAM (Graham, 2003), new efforts must be done in order to enhance this considering the flaws present in the system. The development of new email protocols should be given importance- protocols that would no longer be susceptible because of spam (Boushka, 2006).Electronic Surveillance and Personal Privacy Wiretapping and electronic eavesdropping has been two of the most popular methods being used in criminal investigation (Landesman, n. d. ). These new forms of technology are being placed secretly to monitor the activities of criminals, and hopefully catch them in their act (Maclin, 2007). Aside from these , new surveillance videos have been installed to monitor employees’ work in a certain company to ensure that they are doing what is expected of them, and are not committing any felonies (Sinrod, E.J. , 2001).Though these may be advantageous to some, the increase in the production of electronic surveillance poses a threat to the privacy of the people being placed under these surveillance systems. In the next five years or so, more and more electronic surveillance devices could be developed that would not be noticed by the general public but could actually monitor their personal lives (Kaplan, C. S. , 1990). Ethical Use of Computer Information from Data MiningData mining is the extraction of protected information from larger databases that definitely helps companies in their gathering of very important information (Anderson. ucla. edu, n. d. ). It is of course, very useful for the science professionals and even for the businessmen as they do get their profits from the vast amou nts of information that they obtain. Data mining tools do predict trends and behaviors that could be of great help to anyone in research. However, some businessmen take advantage of data mining and even go beyond as online marketing which is not very different from SPAM (Exa, 2002).Somehow, these profit oriented individuals have violated the ethics of data mining by advertising online, spamming the accounts of people holding email accounts, and even sending out copyrighted information (Thearling. com, n. d. ). Health Dangers of Using Computers and the Internet The computer can be seen as one of the causes of many accidents. Usually, small kids could cause fire and get badly wounded for spilling a drink on the computer. Thus, children should be taught on how to properly use the computer to avoid accidents such as this (allpctips. com, 2006).In relation with this, too much use of the computer could affect the health of its users. These health related problems, cited by the Royal Socie ty for the Prevention of Accidents are the following: Repetitive Strain Injury, Strained Eyes, Stress and the worst, Epilepsy (RoSPA, 2007). In order to prevent these, one must be able to organize his or her work properly to minimize his or her time in front of the computer. Also, users must know when to take their short breaks in order to relax themselves during long periods of being exposed to the computer (Herbert, 2006).Environmental Impact of Widespread Computing Widespread computing requires a lot of energy and somehow contributes to the pollution of the environment (Kohler and Erdmann, 2004). It is also very damaging when a certain place does not have proper waste disposal (Bolton, 2003). Widespread computing could lead to problems that could contribute to the pressing problems that our world is facing nowadays, on the account of the threats of global warming, brought about by the pollutants that harm our ozone layer.The chemicals emitted as waste from pervasive computing cou ld even add on to this problem. In the same way, the increasing consumption of energy, could be tripled just because of widespread counting (Williams and Kuehr, 2003). Internet Addiction Internet addiction ruins real-life relationship and could bring about personal, family, academic, occupational and financial problems as being too engrossed with the internet puts people in seclusion, making them more and more distant to real people (Illinos Institute for Addiction Recovery, n.d. ).The reason why most people tend to be so addicted to the internet is because they find it as an extension of their social life- through the different chat soft wares, social networks such as friendster. com and myspace. com, etc. (Grohol, J. M. , 1999). Obviously, internet addiction has been more common to the children and teenagers who are so enthusiastic towards the new world that was opened to them through the World Wide Web (bewebaware. ca, 2007).

Gustav klimt

They may be completely different to another figure. Josephine Wall is a popular British artist and sculptor. Famous for fantastical works. This painting shows a beautiful girl with strawberry blonde hair out and about on a summer afternoon. The young girl enjoys the sun on her face on a warm midsummer day. The top of her head is covered with a straw hat, and she is surrounded by vibrant summer flowers and trees, and vivid butterflies. But perhaps the most wonderful part of this painting is what is happening right on top of the girl's hat.The Tara around her hat turns into a field where people are enjoying the summer and one another. I find this painting to be wonderful. There is such simplicity behind this painting that helps u feel relaxed when looking at it. The simple lives of the people on top of the girls hat are relaxing because we can easily make out that they are having a wonderful time in the summers sun. It captures the soul of summer and what summer should look like in a s ense. Rob Gonzales is a Canadian painter of magic realism with a unique perspective and style.The Sun Sets Sail is a smooth and calming painting that is also a wonderful optical illusion. Surrealistic paintings which show two seemingly different realistic scenes that magically merge into one. Gonzales exhibits his talent to trick the audience's perception by establishing the ships as the negative space of the arches under the aqueduct. His treatment of details on the ships and the aqueduct create an optical illusion, and a wonderful piece of artwork.Gonzales used shape in order to define the contours of the sailing hips; the arches under the aqueduct are roughly the same shape as the ships. This diagonal composition strengthens the sensation of movement that the ships create. The space created in the painting extends well beyond the edges. There is no limit set by any object in the space. The aqueduct starts to define an edge, but the arches show more space beyond. The colors in the painting also play a role in defining the optical illusion.The aqueduct is a blue silhouette on the left, and that color becomes the sky on the right. The choice to use Just blues and whites make the illusion smooth and simple. Franz Saver Windcheater (20 April 1805 – 8 July 1873) was a German painter, known for his portraits of royalty in the mid-nineteenth century. The Princess Leonia reclines on a low Turkish sofa on a veranda overlooking a lush tropical landscape. The style is naturalistic, and the detail is so precise, it looks like a photograph.It was painted in Rome when Franz met the Princess and her husband and made portraits of both of them. Princess Leonia she was a daughter of one of the most influential families of the Russian nobility. Known for her great beauty and intellect, the Princess is resplendent in a luxurious gown of ivory silk moor ©. She is lying on an open balcony and behind the column are plants, and further back, the ocean with a distant island and clouds in the sky displaying the colors of sunset. Windcheater used atmospheric perspective as he painted each receding item with less detail.The detail of the carpet in the foreground, and the large column and rapiers in the background, do not quite as precise, thus, not seem as important. This technique serves two purposes: to show the distance of the island and the horizon from the balcony, and also to ensure that Princess Leonia is the focus of the painting. I chose this painting because of the many different elements of design and principles of art used. The implied texture of her gown; the depth created with atmospheric perspective; the asymmetrical balance, as she is definitely more on the left side of the picture.

Leadership Qualities In the novel Lord Of The Files Essay

In the novel lord of the files both Ralph and Piggy demonstrate qualities of a leader and others that would make you think otherwise. In this essay I will evaluate how each character has leadership qualities and how they are shown in the book. Firstly Ralph demonstrates leadership qualities by taking the lead on the expedition. He immediately seems like the one in charge. He is confident, â€Å"He hastened back into the forest.† Ralph shows that he knows exactly what he is doing and is confident in his own judgement. This is a quality that leaders have, they are able to trust their own judgement and be a go-getter, Ralph shows a continuous sense of self-confidence in his actions and decisions and isn’t afraid to take a leap of faith. However, Piggy does not demonstrate this leadership quality. He is reserved and very self-conscious. He †glanced over ralphs shoulder before leaning†; this tells me that piggy is very self-conscious of peoples opinion about him. He confides in Ralph after trusting him with his name and seems like a follower. By taking the back seat in the first chapter Piggy shows us how intelligence isn’t always directly visible. Piggy is more intelligent than Ralph as Piggy comes up with suggestions that are both productive and extremely important for survival and information about the Island. â€Å"‘I expect we’ll want to know their names,’ said the fat boy, ‘and make a list. Although Ralph seems like the boy with the leadership qualities and the knowhow, Piggy comes up with probably the most important plan to get off the island. He assumes that he and Ralph could not have been the only survivors from the plane crash and quickly devises a strategy to make every one accountable for themselves. This intellectual mind-set portrayed is a leadership quality, despite it not being as obvious in him due to his withdrawn, following nature. Also, from appearance Ralph seems like a good leader. He is describes as † the fair boy†, as opposed to †the fat boy†. This is significant because the writer uses contrast to make ralph look better outwardly and arguably make Piggy look better inwardly. The novel is a question on society’s judgment on the word leader; what is a leader? is it appearance or content?. Ralph seems like the perfect man for the job. He is described as having a developing torso, putting emphasis on his physique and physical aspect and he seems a lot more fit that piggy. Ralph also doesn’t seem to have as much problems as Piggy. Piggy has Asthma, seems to have a fear of his controlling grandma and also seems to pant a considerable amount of times. Through the writer making Piggy seem like the one with the problem the effect given is that Piggy begins to show unusual leadership qualities. Piggy is a quick, calculated thinker and most of his ideas are shunned by Ralph until he supposedly ‘thought them up’. This Shows that although Ralph is ignorant in terms of praise for Piggy he does acknowledge that Piggy does come up with the ideas much quicker than him. Ralph, on the other hand demonstrates attributes that are not normally considered leadership qualities. â€Å"They used to call me ‘Piggy’. Ralph shrieked with laughter. He jumped up. ‘Piggy! Piggy!†. Ralph shows childishness in this passage which is an attribute that is not considered a leadership quality. Through Ralph’s childishness we begin to consider how important Piggy is. We see Piggy although he does not evidently look it, is a far more mature boy. He calculates and makes educated conclusion’s whereas Ralph seems to just be an adventurer and a depiction of a leader in those harsh times. As It was a time of war children would have been expected to have physical strength (to work for their guardian in the country) and mental strength. Ralph and Piggy alone do not have full leadership qualities enough to be a leader but collectively they join up to have essential skills for survival on a deserted Island

That Dark Type is Called Boldface

That Dark Type is Called Boldface That Dark Type is Called Boldface That Dark Type is Called Boldface By Maeve Maddox In comparing style manuals, I came across these instructions: Never underline text. If you need to call attention to certain words, use body copy that is bolded or italic. St Anselm style guide Bolded? We talk about italic type, serif type, and sanserif type. Whats wrong with boldface? Its not as if bolded saves any syllables. Use body copy that is boldface or italic. Apparently bolded is creeping into use: This is a discussion on Compressing bolded type within the Adobe Acrobat forums in Adobe Tools category; Notice the bolded type sandwiched between lighter weight typefaces. a lighter blue that will only be legible if you combine it with a larger font size or at least as in this example a bolded type On the other hand, not everyone has opted for that ugly johnny-come-lately: A single syllable or letter in boldface type in the stems marks the position of the accent throughout this grammar. Use the word â€Å"Abstract† as the title, in 12-point Times, boldface type, centered relative to the column, Authors names in boldface type, subjects or titles in lightface type. Bolded indeed. 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 Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Fly, Flew, (has) FlownFlied?35 Genres and Other Varieties of FictionWriting Styles (with Examples)

Analysis of Dr. King essays

Analysis of Dr. King essays Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Kings use of rhetoric in I Have a Dream is one of persuasion, determination, and also at times, radicalism. The fundamental ideal that King orates is an outline of a country in which people of all races and religions would become unified, integrated, and equal. King wishes for immediate national action on the issue of segregation while asking people of the black community (and those with similar virtues) to harmonize and cooperate for a collective cause. Metaphors are key in addressing his speech. King uses metaphors and figurative language throughout his whole speech when conveying messages. He speaks of the check of constitutional rights to be cashed by the African Americans. King states that the American government had denied African Americans rights by putting it into a metaphor, saying that there has been, ...a check which has come back marked insufficient funds. King also strongly advocates nonviolence by stating, Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. King addresses his speech not only to colored Americans, but also to those of the white community who had struggled beside the blacks in a search for domestic equality. He refers to whites as our white brothers who have come to realized that their destiny is tied up with our destiny... King implies that there will be a biracial army to storm the battlements of injustice, meaning that people of all backgrounds in his audience will come together to fight discrimination. His reason for having had universal audience was so it would symbolize that everyone was in the fight for freedom together, that every American must fight for civic virtue. The last strategy used in the rhetoric is the idea of repetition. The most frequent ...

how technology affects my life essays

how technology affects my life essays Try imagining your life without technology. Without alarm clocks, refrigerators, computers, telephones and so on. It would be very different from what we are accustomed to today. The truth is, all of us rely on technology a great deal to get through the day. Whether it's at work, at home, or at school, I know my family depends greatly on technology. Without technology our lives would all be much different. My sisters and I use technology at school a lot. We are always on the computers doing research and typing papers. As a student, I am in web page design class where I use computers everyday. My sister Kelly is in her school's web club where she also uses the computers. At school, computers are not the only type of technology we use. At games we use the scoreboard. In math class, we use claculators and during some classes, we listen to books on tape or audio tests. I think that without technology, school would be much more difficult. At home we use technology a great deal. In order to wake up in the morning, we all depend on alarm clocks to wake us up. We have refrigerators to keep all of our food cold. We also use the computer a lot. We are always looking up things for school, talking to friends, or playing games. We use cell phones to keep in touch with everyone too. We use CD players to listen to our favortie music. And of course we use the televison to watch all of our favorite shows, and what's TV without a remote? We use that too. Technology is everywhere you look inside of my house and it helps us get through the day much easier. Technology affects my life in so many ways. It also affects the lives of other people such as the ones in my familyTechnology helps us so much and sometimes we take it for granted. I know that doing this essay has shown me not to take the technological advances we have today for granted becuase someone had to come up with those ideas. I am very thankful to all of the people for making my life ...

Venus in Furs Book Review

'Venus in Furs' Book Review Not many writers have the distinction or the notoriety of having a psycho-sexual term named after them. The astonishing and ingenious sexual cruelties in the Marquis de Sades works, particularly in The 120 Days of Sodom, have made his name a byword, and in 1890 the German psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing introduced the word sadism into medical terminology (even though the sole manuscript of The 120 Days of Sodom had yet to be discovered and published, the full fury of which would wildly intensify the meaning of the term). Historian and Progressive Thinker Fittingly in the shadow of the overpowering de Sade, the Austrian writer Leopold von Sacher-Masoch inspired the term for sadism’s flip-side, masochism, which was also introduced by Krafft-Ebing. Von Sacher-Masoch was a historian, folklorist, collector of stories, and progressive thinker, but even though he produced dozens of books in any number of genres, he’s almost solely known for his infamous novella Venus in Furs (its the only work translated into English). Initially meant to be part of an epic novel-sequence called (Sacher-Masoch abandoned that plan after a few volumes), Venus in Furs was published as the fourth part of the first book, which was entitled, Love. Each book was named after one of the â€Å"evils† that Cain introduced into the world, and with this underlying premise- that love is an evil- von Sacher-Masoch reveals a seriously uneasy view of human relations. Venus in Furs - Beginnings The book starts with an epigraph from the Bibles book of Judith, which narrates the story of a clever and powerful woman beheading Holofernes, an Assyrian general. An unnamed narrator, then, opens the book with a strange dream of an icy Venus, who wears furs and who leads a philosophical discussion about how women’s cruel nature increases mans desire. When the narrator awakens, he goes to meet with his friend Severin, to whom he relates his dream. ​ Introducing Severin Severin is a strange and sober man who at times, the narrator relates, had violent attacks of sudden passion and gave the impression of being about to ram his head right through a wall.† Noticing a painting in Severins room depicting a northern Venus who wears furs and holds a lash that she uses to subjugate a man who is clearly a younger Severin himself, the narrator wonders aloud if the painting perhaps inspired his dream. After a short discussion, a young woman enters to bring tea and food for the pair, and to the narrator’s astonishment, a very slight offense on the woman’s part causes Severin to berate, whip, and chase her from the room. Explaining that you have to â€Å"break† a woman rather than let her break you, Severin produces a manuscript from his desk that tells how he was ostensibly â€Å"cured† of his obsession with being dominated by women. Confessions of a Suprasensual Man Entitled â€Å"Confessions of a Suprasensual Man,† this manuscript comprises all but the last few pages of the rest of the novel. Entering into this frame, the narrator (and the reader) finds Severin at a Carpathian health resort where he meets and falls in love with a woman named Wanda, with whom he draws up and signs a contract that makes him her legal slave and gives her full power over him. At first, because she seems to like him and enjoys his company, Wanda shies away from the degradations that Severin asks her to subject him to, but as she slowly allows herself to take up her dominant role, she takes greater pleasure in torturing him and increasingly grows to despise him for how he allows her to treat him. Leaving the Carpathian mountains for Florence, Wanda makes Severin dress and act like a common servant, forcing him to sleep in disgusting quarters and keeping him isolated from her company unless needed to serve some whim or another. These changes make Severin feel the palpable reality of his desires- a reality that he was in no way prepared for- but although he loathes his detestable new position, he finds himself unable to resist (and to keep from requesting) new humiliations. At times Wanda offers to put an end to their game  because she still has feelings of affection toward him, but those feelings fade as her mantle of power gives her free rein to use Severin for her increasingly twisted devices. The breaking point comes when Wanda finds a nearly superhuman lover in Florence and decides to make Severin subject to him as well. Unable to bear subjugation to another man, Severin ultimately finds himself â€Å"cured† of his need to be dominated by women. Telescoping back to the novel’s outer frame, the narrator, who’s seen Severin’s current cruelty toward women, asks him for â€Å"the moral† to all of this, and Severin answers that a woman can only be a man’s slave or despot, adding the caveat that this imbalance can only be remedied â€Å"when she has the same rights as he and is his equal in education and work.† This egalitarian last touch squares with von Sacher-Masoch’s socialist leanings, but clearly the events and stresses of the novel- which were mirrored closely in von Sacher-Masoch’s personal life, both before and after writing it- prefer wallowing in inequity much more that eradicating it. And this has been the novel’s main appeal for readers ever since. Unlike the works of the great de Sade, which soar as striking feats of both writing and imagination, Venus in Furs is much more of a literary curio than an artistic piece of literature. Its symbolic orders are muddled; its philosophical excursions are both ponderous and corny; and although its characters are vivid and memorable, they too often fall into â€Å"types† rather than exist as fully explored individuals. Still, it’s a curious and often enjoyable read, and whether you take it as literature or as psychology- or as erotica- there’s no question that this book’s whip will leave a distinct mark on your imagination.

Verlan - French Slang àlenvers

Verlan - French Slang lenvers Verlan is a form of French slang that consists of playing around with syllables, kind of along the same lines as pig Latin. Unlike pig Latin, however, verlan is actively spoken in France. Many verlan words have become so commonplace that they are used in everyday French. To verlan a word, simply separate it into syllables, reverse them, and put the word back together. In order to maintain the correct pronunciation, the verlaned word often undergoes some spelling adjustments. Unnecessary letters are dropped, while other letters are added to make pronunciation logical. There are no real rules for this; its just something to be aware of. Note that not every word can or should be verlaned; verlan is used essentially to emphasize or hide the meaning of the main word(s) in a sentence. How It Works Lets start with the word lenvers, which means the reverse. Separate lenvers into its two syllables len and vers. Invert them, put them together into a single word, and then adjust the spelling: lenvers... len vers... vers len... verslen... verslen... verlen... verlan Thus, you can see that verlan is lenvers pronounced lenvers (reverse pronounced in reverse). Lets try another example: pourri... pou rri... rri pou... rripou... ripou Most single-syllable words are just pronounced backwards. fou oufcool (from English) looc Take It a Step Further The above examples are pretty simple, but verlan gets more complicated when it comes to the e muet, which is a very important sound in verlan. Words that end in e muet (like femme) and words which end in a pronounced consonant and which usually have an e muet sound tacked onto the end (like flic, which is usually pronounced flique) retain the sound of the e muet when they are verlaned. In addition, when the syllables are reversed, the resulting final vowel sound is sometimes dropped. flic... fli keu... keu fli... keufli... keuffemme... fa meu... meu fa... meufa... meufarabe... a ra beu... beu ra a... beura... beur Verlan was invented as a secret language, a way for people (notably youths, drug users, and criminals) to communicate freely in front of authority figures (parents, police). Because much of verlan has become incorporated into French, verlan continues to evolve - sometimes words are re-verlaned. Beur, commonly heard in the 1980s, has been reversed again to reub. Keuf has been re-verlaned to feuk, with a bonus - it now resembles a vulgar word in English. Here are some common verlan terms that you should be able to recognize. Remember that verlan is a form of slang, so you probably shouldnt use it when talking to someone you  vouvoie. balpeau  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of  peau de ballemeaning: nothing, zip barjot  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of  jobardmeaning: crazy, insane un  beur  (now  reub)  Ã‚  Ã‚  un  Arabemeaning: Arab blà ©ca  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of  cablà ©meaning: trendy, in un  brelica  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of un  calibremeaning: revolver une  cecla  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of une  classemeaning: class cà ©fran  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of  franà §aismeaning: French chanmà ©Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of  mà ©chantmeaning: mean, nasty chà ©bran  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of  branchà ©meaning: cool, plugged in chelou  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of  louchemeaning: shady, dubious une  cinepi  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of une  piscinemeaning: pool une  deban  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of une  bandemeaning: group, band un  skeud  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of un  disquemeaning: record, album fais  ià ¨che  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of fais  chiermeaning: its boring, annoying un  fà ©ca  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of un  cafà ©meaning: cafà © à ªtre au  fumpar  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of à ªtre au  parfummeaning: to be in the know une  gnolba  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of une  bagnolemeaning: car, junker geudin  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of  dinguemeaning: crazy jourbon  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of  bonjourmeaning: hello un  kebla  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of un  Black  (from English)meaning: black person kà ©blo  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of  bloquà ©meaning: blocked, caught un  keuf  (now  feuk)  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of un  flicmeaning: police officer (equivalent to cop, copper, pig) un  keum  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of un  mecmeaning: guy, dude laisse  bà ©ton  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of laisse  tombermeaning: forget it, drop it un  là ©pou  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of un  pouletmeaning: police officer (equivalent to cop, copper, pig) looc  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of  cool  (from English)meaning: cool une  meuf  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of une  femmemeaning: woman, wife ouf  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of  foumeaning: crazy pà ©cho  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of une  chopermeaning: to steal, nick; to get caught une  pà ©clot  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of une  clopemeaning: cigarette le  pera  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of le  rapmeaning: rap (music) un  quà ¨m  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of un  mecmeaning: guy une  raquebar  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of une  baraquemeaning: house relou  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of  lourdmeaning: heavy les  rempa  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of les  parentsmeaning: parents un  reuf  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of un  frà ¨remeaning: brother une  reum  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of une  mà ¨remeaning: mother un  reup  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of un  pà ¨remeaning: father une  reus  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of une  sÅ“urmeaning: sister ripou  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of  pourrimeaning: rotten, corrupt la  siquemu  / la  sicmu  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of la  musiquemeaning: music un  sub  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of un  busmeaning: bus à ªtre dans le  tarcol  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of à ªtre dans le  coltarmeaning: to be exhausted une  teibou  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of une  bouteillemeaning: bottle une  teuf  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of une  fà ªtemeaning: party tirape  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of  partirmeaning: to leave tisor  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of  sortirmeaning: to go out une  tof  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of une  photomeaning: photograph la  tourv  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of la  voituremeaning: car le  tromà ©Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of le  mà ©tromeaning: subway zarbi  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of  bizarremeaning: strange un  zarfal  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of un  falzarmeaning: pants, trousers une  zesgon  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of une  gonzessemeaning: girl, chick zyva  Ã‚  Ã‚  verlan of  vas-ymeaning: go

Ask An Agent What Makes A Self-Published Author Stand Out

Ask An Agent What Makes A Self-Published Author Stand Out Ask an Agent: Paul Lucas on What Makes a Self-Published Author Stand Out Paul Lucas is a literary agent at Janklow Nesbit where he has been representing authors since 2011. His clients come from across the spectrum of fiction (thrillers, science fiction, fantasy, historical and literary) and non-fiction (history, narrative, travel, science and humor). His clients include New York Times best-selling author R.A. Salvatore, Anthony Ryan, Alan Flusser, and Katherine Arden.Reedsy: How have you seen attitudes toward self-publishing change since you started out in publishing?Paul Lucas: Attitudes have changed tremendously, particularly since several self-published authors have now become monumental success stories. It is in part  because so many readers came to, and enjoyed, books by self-published authors. Since distributing e-books is so much cheaper and simpler than distributing physical books to bookstores, there are fewer barriers to entry and much easier discovery. As products, the e-books are indistinguishable from other offerings. So if the book is go od, it will receive attention.Which of your clients are self-published? Do you know of big authors that people might not know got their start as self-published authors?My clients that started in self-publishing include Anthony Ryan (NYT bestselling author), Matthew Mather (translated into 15 territories), James Islington, Steve McHugh, Jodi McIsaac and Richard Phillips. Andy Weir, Hugh Howey, AG Riddle, and Blake Crouch are major authors who stand out from the self-publishing world.Sorry there’s a male bias to these writers! Women have been tremendously successful with self-published science fiction and thrillers; I just haven’t signed any other than Jodi. Women absolutely dominate the romance space.In working with self-published authors who transition to traditional publishing, what stands out about them? What are their greatest assets, both personally and professionally?The key to self-publishing is that the writer becomes her own publisher. That means hiring editors , illustrators, and designers and paying for marketing and promotion. The best of them are very professional, and many publish several books a year. It’s easier for them to do so since there is a much longer lead time in traditional publishing.Since many self-published authors enjoy closer access to their fans, it makes it self-sustaining success more achievable. If she feels confident that 20,000-30,000 readers will come to each of her new books, twice a year, a writer can comfortably rise to a six-figure income. Traditional publishers would find it challenging to reach 20,000 readers and might give up on that author if they did not see sales rising. Relishing the challenges of editorial control and developing strong positioning for your book are two critical characteristics for success in self-publishing. "Many self-published authors enjoy closer access to their fans"@canonizer With all of the reading that agents need to do to stay on top of the industry as a whole, how do you prioritize reading self-published work? Do you actively seek it out or hear about it through word-of-mouth or recommendations? In short, how does a self-published book find its way onto the radar of an agent?I typically find self-published books that are rising quickly in e-book sales rankings. It is less word-of-mouth than trawling through the winners on retailers’ sites. Sometimes self-published authors seek out agents but it’s fairly rare for very successful ones to do so these days since agents typically come knocking after they get enough attention.Where do you see self-publishing fitting into the larger publishing industry in the coming years? What is exciting about it? What will traditional publishers have to adapt to? Self-publishing will continue to grow for as long as it remains difficult for new authors to break into traditional publishing. That means it is mo re important than ever to treat a self-published book with the same consideration (or as close as you can get) that a traditionally published book would receive. The more believable the characters, plot, and writing, the easier it will be for readers to engage with it. Similarly, everyone judges books by their covers so it’s worth spending $500-1000 to have one created professionally rather than attempting one’s first MS Paint masterpiece.Publishers have attempted to launch their own digital imprints, which seem to cater to readers of self-published books. I’d recommend that any self-published author contemplating moving to a traditional publisher’s digital imprint do so with caution. Losing control over marketing the book can be jarring for people who have found success marketing their books on their own terms.Frankly, traditional publishing has become mediocre at launching new brand-name authors, especially with ongoing series. There haven’t been many new Anne Rices, James Pattersons, Stuart Woods in the last 5-10 years. Some of the ones now traditionally published earned their names in the self-published ranks. Publishers will need to learn how to develop talent if they want to keep people from wanting to self-publish, rather than publish traditionally.What are the potential obstacles facing self-publishing as it grows?Well, the elephant in the room is whether Amazon will continue to pay such substantial royalties and subsidize  self-published authors through Kindle Unlimited and their other deals. Authors might see a decline in their earnings if those were to disappear but it is unlikely to change how self-published books succeed in the near term since most self-published authors rely on the platform.What would you tell emerging authors who are on the fence about self-publishing?There used to be a stigma to self-publishing; it was synonymous with vanity publishing, which meant that authors would spend several thousand d ollars in exchange for inventory and the possibility of physical distribution. This stigma has all but vanished, particularly in commercial fiction where self-published authors are really thriving. Literary fiction and non-fiction all continue to work better traditionally. Readers seem to have short attention spans these days so discovery for more academically minded projects (or â€Å"serious† or â€Å"literary† or however we are describing high-brow books on a given day) have a big headwind. "This stigma has all but vanished, particularly in commercial fiction"@canonizer Lastly, new authors should keep in mind that it’s very hard for an agent to do anything with a newly self-published book. If it only has hundreds or several thousand sales, they will be unlikely to move it to the traditional space right away. This should not be discouraging – it might lead to far greater rewards.Are you hesitant to self-publish? What is your top reason for wanting to work with a traditional publisher on your first book? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.