Cinema Limbo, 2-Person, 10-Minute Play by Wade Bradford

Cinema Limbo, 2-Person, 10-Minute Play by Wade Bradford Cinema Limbo is a ten-minute play (written by Wade Bradford). It is a comic, two-person exchange between two movie theater employees. The piece can be used, free of charge, for educational purposes and amateur productions. This short two-person play is also a usual character building tool for any actress using the Vicky Monologue for auditions and classroom performances. Cinema Limbo Setting:  The box office of the Grand Cinemas. No set is required. Two office chairs (capable of rolling and spinning) are placed center stage. A young woman spins in the chair. She is dressed in a rather ugly polyester outfit one expect to find on a movie theater employee. Her name is Vicky. And she is bored. (A young man named Joshua enters. Vicky suddenly stops spinning. Her boredom has vanished.) VICKY: So, you’ve finally made it to the fishbowl? JOSHUA: The what? VICKY: That’s what we call the box office. An inside joke between cashiers. JOSHUA: Oh. VICKY: So you’ve made it. JOSHUA: I guess. Mr. Boston said he wanted you to train me how to work the box office. VICKY: Then let the training begin. People come up. They say what movie they want. You press this button. Take their money. Give them their ticket. There, you’re trained. JOSHUA: Now what? VICKY: Now sit down and wait. But don’t get anxious. No one’s coming tonight. It’s Christmas Eve and all our movies suck. JOSHUA: This beats working at concessions. Thank God I didn’t get stuck with that Bar One job. That would’ve sucked. VICKY: Stuart is certainly loving it though. Have you seen that look in his eye when he’s running Concessions? JOSHUA: What do you mean? VICKY: He usually smiles, and treats the peons with respect†¦ but his eyes†¦ They’re lit up like a power hungry mad man. I think he pictures himself as some pharaoh who whips the backs of his slaves, just to sell a few extra drinks. JOSHUA: Really? I haven’t noticed. VICKY: He told me you guys went to grade school together. JOSHUA: Are you guys dating? VICKY: Why do you ask? JOSHUA: He told me you were dating but that you wanted it kept secret. VICKY: If I was dating someone why would I want to keep it secret? JOSHUA: Uh, maybe because Stuart’s kind of a nerd. VICKY: So you did go to school together? JOSHUA: We met in the fifth grade. You know how every class has a kid who gets picked on throughout the whole year by everybody? That was him. No one liked him. VICKY: Why? JOSHUA: Well, it started out just because he was the new kid. His folks just moved into town to set up a new church. They were husband and wife ministers or something. Very, I don’t know, just kind of friendly and creepy at the same time. VICKY: I met them. I know. JOSHUA: Anyway, kids in school picked on him because he was new, and a little weird looking. You can’t tell it as much, but his face was completely covered with freckles. Big brown freckles†¦ kind of like†¦ um†¦ like someone flicked splotches of paint at him. VICKY: I always thought they were kind of cute. JOSHUA: And then no one liked him because every chance he got, he started talking about Jesus. He did a book report on the entire Bible. In art class, he made a crown of thorns ashtray. He tried making Noah’s Ark out of clay, but it exploded in the kiln. And then one day we were supposed to give a speech, an oral report on the country of our choice and he picked Israel. VICKY: Well†¦ that’s not so bad. JOSHUA: During his whole oral report†¦ he spoke in tongues. VICKY: Really? I had an uncle who got into that. He’d speak in tongues before every Thanksgiving dinner. But he had one of those robot voices because of his throat cancer, so it was really low and scary. Like Darth Vader speaking pig latin. JOSHUA: Stuart wasn’t as entertaining. And to top it off, the kids started hating him more because he wanted to be the teacher’s pet. VICKY: That doesn’t surprise me. He kisses up to all the managers... JOSHUA: Same thing we the school teachers. And the lunch lady. And the principal. Most kids said he was a tattle tale. There was this one bully who hocked a loogie right in his hair, right in the middle of class. VICKY: Oh please, I just ate buttered popcorn. JOSHUA: But anyway, I felt sorry for Stu. So I let him hang around me at recess once in a while. He was okay. Sort of clingy. He never wanted to leave my side. I got beat up a couple of times by Troy, just for sticking up for him. VICKY: Are you two still friends? JOSHUA: I guess. But it isn’t like grade school anymore. We don’t hang out. I was kind of surprised to see him when I got hired here. He left before we finished junior high. His parents put him in some private school. So, are the rumors true? VICKY: What rumors? JOSHUA: I heard echoes from the girls locker room. VICKY: You perv. JOSHUA: Well, they were talking so loud, I couldn’t help it. VICKY: Okay, dork, what did you hear? JOSHUA: That you’re not interested in Stuart anymore. That you are, oh what were the words, that you’re almost done toying with him. VICKY: Well that makes me sound like a bitch. I kind of like that. JOSHUA: So? VICKY: So? JOSHUA: It’s just me, you, and the fishbowl. VICKY: Why should I talk about my love life? Or lust life? What about you? I bet youve had a lot of girlfriends. Probably broken a lot of hearts. JOSHUA: Not really. Ive never been in love or anything. Just casual dates and stuff. I mean, for all intents and purposes I’m pretty much like all the other geeks you’ve been describing. VICKY: But you wear that letterman’s jacket. You’re kind of a jock. I say that with all due respect. VICKY: Well, you have to understand. I’m the kind of girl who takes pity on poor pathetic geeks who have never kissed a girl. Let’s just say that I like someone who is easily trainable – someone who will truly appreciate me. It’s sad, I know. But hey, I’ll take an ego boost wherever I can get it. Unfortunately, these adorably nerdy boyfriends get boring after a while. I mean, I can only listen to their computer games and mathematic equations for so long. Of course, Stuart’s different in a  lot of ways. He’s terrible at math, for one. And he’s pretty clueless about technology. But he’s a comic book sort of geek. And a hopeless romantic. He’s pre-occupied with holding my hand. Everywhere we go, he wants to hold hands. Even when we’re driving. And he’s got this new pastime. He keeps saying â€Å"I love you.† It was so sweet and wonderful the first time he said it. I almost cried, and I’m not the kind of girl who cries easily. But by the end of the week, he must have said â€Å"I love you† about five hundred times. And then he starts adding pet names. â€Å"I love you,   honeybunch.† â€Å"I love you  sweetheart.† â€Å"I love you my little smoochy-woochy-coochi-koo.† I don’t even know what that last one means. It’s like he’s speaking in some brand-new, love-infected language. Who would have thought romance could be so boring? JOSHUA: Is it boring? VICKY: You mean you don’t know from  first-hand  experience? JOSHUA: Yeah, I swim. But that’s not what I lettered in. VICKY: What was it? JOSHUA: Well now you’re going to laugh. VICKY: Perhaps. JOSHUA: I lettered in  choir. VICKY: (Laughs. Falls off  chair.) They let you letter in choir?! Oh, that’s priceless. JOSHUA: You can also letter in drama. VICKY: Oh, that’s pathetic. JOSHUA: So, you’re done with school, right? VICKY: Since last summer. Sweet. sweet freedom. JOSHUA: Now what? VICKY: College I guess. Back to captivity. I’m taking a year off first. JOSHUA: Did your friends already go? VICKY: Friends? I hated everybody in high school. JOSHUA: Hey, me too! I was hoping the Grand Cinemas would improve my social life. VICKY: (Laughs.) Has it? JOSHUA: I’ve met some cool people, I guess. Like you. VICKY: Like me? JOSHUA: Yeah, well, and others. Like Rico. VICKY: OH. JOSHUA: Is that bad? VICKY: No. Rico’s cool. I just wouldn’t trust him with much more than a postage stamp. JOSHUA: Thanks for the advice. VICKY: I used to want a social life but I think I’m content here in the box. If you want to see people, just wait till Friday night, they’ll swarm around you, begging you for tickets. But the glass on the fishbowl keeps them from violating your space. If you want to talk to someone, you just pick up the phone, and when you get sick of talking, you can just hang up. You can read, you can do your homework, or you can veg-out and watch the Grand go by. You can swipe snacks from concessions and on hot days, we’ve got air conditioning. If you’re bored you can spin around on this thing. (She spins around on the chair.) JOSHUA: Wow. You’re pretty good. VICKY: My record is eight rotations. All thanks to twelve years of ballet. JOSHUA: Really? VICKY: Hey, what did you get at the Christmas party gift exchange? JOSHUA: A Chia pet. VICKY: I got the worse possible present ever. Listen to this. I’m in this dance group, right. Ballet. I’ve been doing the Nutcracker for the past two months. I’ve been having nightmares with the ‘sugar plum fairie suite’ playing in the background. Every mall or department store has been playing Tchaikovsky. I can’t get away from that God forsaken music! It drives me nuts. And guess which CD Mrs. Sanchez buys me? The Nutcracker. I hope I pick her name next year. I had no idea she could be so cruel. That’s why it must be nice to be religious like Stewy. You can doom people to hell. JOSHUA: Eternal hell over the Nutcracker? Now that’s a raw deal. VICKY: Eternal damnation. You’d think after a few thousand years you’d get bored with never ending  torment. Satan would come up to you and say, â€Å"Today you’ll be covered with man-eating ants and pummeled by a giant mountain gorilla.† And you’d just look at him and YAWN and say, â€Å"Again?! How dull. Are you running out of ideas already? Can I make a request for Bubba the mountain Gorilla, because he and I have a rapport going; we work well together, I think. (Pausing and completely changing the subject.) Do you think it’s possible to travel through time? JOSHUA: Someone has ADHD. VICKY: It’s this fishbowl. It really gets to you after a while. So do you? You know, think they’ll figure out time travel? JOSHUA: I doubt it. Maybe someday. VICKY: What would you do? JOSHUA: I don’t know. I guess I might travel back and find my great-great-great-great grandfather. Say hi. What would you do? VICKY: Well, if I had  a time machine, say they  invent  it when I’m like really old. Like 35 or something. Then, I’d travel back to right now, and I’d give myself advice. JOSHUA: What kind of advice? VIC KY: Who to be friends with. Who to avoid. What choices to make. What guys to like. JOSHUA: Why do you need a time machine? Just make the right choices now. VICKY: But how do you know if it’s the right choice? You don’t until after the fact. JOSHUA: Well, that’s the point. You take a chance and you learn from your mistakes. Or, you try something and it’s a great experience. VICKY: And what if you regret it? JOSHUA: Then you regret it. I think not knowing what happened next is part of the fun. VICKY: Really? JOSHUA: Yeah. VICKY: Come here. He pauses for a moment. Then, they roll their chairs toward each other. She kisses him. He kisses back. They pull apart. JOSHUA: So†¦ VICKY: So†¦ Do you regret that experience? JOSHUA: Not at all. Do you regret it? They are both started as they hear the sound of a door opening. They look upstage. JOSHUA: Oh! Hi. (Suddenly regretful.) How’s it going, Stuart? VICKY: Hey, Stewy. Joshua and I were just talking about regrets. (Listens.) What do I have to regret?  Oh  nothing. (A sly smile on her face.) Nothing at all. Lights out.

Understanding Celibacy, Abstinence, and Chastity

Understanding Celibacy, Abstinence, and Chastity The word â€Å"celibacy† is typically used to refer to a voluntary decision to remain unmarried or to abstain from engaging in any sexual activity, usually for religious reasons. While the term celibacy is typically used in reference only to persons who choose to remain unmarried as a condition of sacred religious vows or convictions, it can also apply to the voluntary abstinence from all sexual activity for any reason. While they are often used interchangeably, celibacy, abstinence, and chastity are not exactly the same. Celibacy is generally  recognized as a voluntary choice to remain unmarried or engage in any form of sexual activity, usually in order to fulfill a religious vow. In this sense, one can accurately be said to be practicing sexual abstinence as a condition of his or her vow of celibacy. Abstinence - also called continence - refers to the often temporary strict avoidance of all forms of sexual activity for any reason. Chastity is a voluntary lifestyle that involves far more than abstaining from sexual activity. Coming from the Latin word castitas, meaning â€Å"purity,† chastity embraces abstinence from sexual activity as a praiseworthy and virtuous quality according to the standards of morality held by a person’s particular culture, civilization, or religion. In modern times, chastity has become associated with sexual abstinence, particularly before or outside of marriage or other type of exclusively committed relationship. Celibacy and Sexual Orientation The concept of celibacy as a decision to remain unmarried applies to both traditional and same-sex marriage. Similarly, the lifestyle restrictions implied by the terms abstinence and chastity refer to both heterosexual and gay sexual activity. In the context of celibacy related to religion, some gay people choose to be celibate in keeping with their religion’s teachings or doctrine on gay relationships. In an amendment adopted in 2014, the American Association of Christian Counselors banned the promotion of the largely discredited process of conversion therapy for gay persons, encouraging the practice of celibacy instead. Celibacy in Religion In the context of religion, celibacy is practiced in different ways. Most familiar of these is the mandatory celibacy of male and female members of the active clergy and monastic devotees. While most female religious celibates today are Catholic nuns living in residential cloisters, there have been notable solitary celibate female figures, such the anchoress - a female hermit - Dame Julian of Norwich, born in 1342. In addition, religious celibacy is sometimes practiced by laypersons or clergy members in a faith not requiring it out of devotion or to allow them to perform certain religious services. Brief History of Religiously-Motivated Celibacy Derived from the Latin word caelibatus, meaning â€Å"state of being unmarried,† the concept of celibacy has been acknowledged by most major religions throughout history. However, not all religions have acknowledged it favorably. Ancient Judaism strongly rejected celibacy. Similarly, early Roman polytheistic religions, practiced between about 295 B.C.E. and 608 C.E., held it to be an aberrant behavior and imposed severe fines against it. The emergence of Protestantism around 1517 CE saw a rise in the acceptance of celibacy, although the Eastern Orthodox Catholic Church never adopted it. The attitudes of the Islamic religions regarding celibacy have also been mixed. While the Prophet Muhammad denounced celibacy and recommended marriage as a commendable deed, some Islamic sects embrace it today. In Buddhism, most ordained monks and nuns choose to live in celibacy believing it to be one of the prerequisites to reaching enlightenment. While most people associate religious celibacy with Catholicism, the Catholic Church actually imposed no requirement of celibacy on its clergy for the first 1,000 years of its history. Marriage remained a matter of choice for Catholic bishops, priests, and deacons until the Second Lateran Council of 1139 mandated celibacy for all members of the clergy. As a result of the Council’s decree, married priests were required to give up either their marriage or their priesthood. Faced with this choice, many priests left the church. While celibacy remains a requirement for Catholic clergy today, an estimated 20% of Catholic priests worldwide are believed to be legally married. Most married priests are found in the Catholic Churches of Eastern nations like the Ukraine, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. While these churches recognize the authority of the Pope and the Vatican, their rituals and traditions more closely follow those of the Eastern Orthodox Church, which had never embraced celibacy. Reasons for Religious Celibacy How do religions justify mandatory celibacy? No matter what they are called in a given religion, the â€Å"priest† is exclusively trusted to perform the sacred function of communicating the needs of the people to God or other heavenly power. The efficacy of the priesthood is based on the congregation’s trust that the priest is properly qualified and possesses the ritual purity necessary to speak to God on their behalf. Religions that require it of their clergy consider celibacy to be a prerequisite for such ritual purity. In this context, religious celibacy is likely to have been derived from ancient taboos that viewed sexual power as vying with religious power, and the sex act itself as having a polluting effect on priestly purity.   Reasons for Non-Religious Celibacy For many people who do so, choosing a celibate lifestyle has little or nothing to do with an organized religion. Some may feel that eliminating the demands of sexual relationships allows them to better focus on other important aspects of their lives, like career advancement or education. Others may have found their past sexual relationships to have been particularly unfulfilling, damaging, or even painful. Still others choose to abstain from sex out of their unique personal beliefs of what is â€Å"proper behavior.† For example, some people may choose to adhere to the morality-based tradition of abstaining from sex outside of marriage. Beyond personal beliefs, other celibates consider abstinence from sex to be the only absolute method of avoiding sexually-transmitted diseases or unplanned pregnancies. Outside of religious vows and obligations, celibacy or abstinence is a matter of personal choice. While some may consider a celibate lifestyle extreme, others may consider it liberating or empowering. Key Terms Celibacy is a voluntary choice to remain unmarried or engage in any form of sexual activity, usually in order to fulfill a religious vow. A person who practices celibacy is said to be â€Å"celibate.†Ã‚  Abstinence  is also called â€Å"continence† and is the often temporary strict avoidance of all forms of sexual activity for any reason.Chastity  -   from the Latin word castitas, meaning â€Å"purity† - embraces abstinence as a praiseworthy virtue according to the prevailing social standards of morality.

Media sociology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Media sociology - Essay Example Distinguishing fans from ordinary audiences, Jenkins offered an ethnographic illustrations how fans used the media material as basis of their own stories, songs, videos and social exchanges within a rich and cultural network. Jenkins underscored that this type of reading as â€Å"poaching† is some form of a â€Å"raid on literary preserve that takes away only those things that seem useful or pleasurable to the reader.† (p. 471) Citing artifacts such as Star Trek and Star Wars, Jenkins points to how its followers became identified with a scandalous category in contemporary American culture, which provokes an excessive response from those committed to the interests of textual producers and the institutionalization of interpreters and the emergence of questions regarding the logic of by which others order their aesthetic experiences. (Jenkins, p. 471) Jenkins’ argument is that instead of people branding the fans as cultural dupes, social misfits, mindless consumers and other negative stereotypes, he suggested that they be called as â€Å"textual poachers.† â€Å"Interactivity† is one of the most important features of the new media. For instance, Manuel Castells (1999) illustrated how conventional mass media is characterized by one-way, undifferentiated messages through a limited number of channels. The new media system, however, rides on the wonders of technology in order to accommodate the audience’s participation in effect, creating what Castells call the â€Å"culture of real virtuality† phenomenon. According to him, â€Å"while, there is oligopolistic concentration of multimedia groups around the world, there is at the same time, market segmentation, and increasing interaction by and among the individuals that break up the uniformity of a mass audience.† (p. 403) The above issue also brings us to the globalization of the new

Sample Quality Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sample Quality - Article Example It lowers the cost of carrying out a research, enables faster collection of data, improves the quality of the data, and ensures homogeneity and accuracy of results. This paper will analyze sample quality in the listed articles. In doing this, paper will seek to define the population in each case and quote the sampling method used. It will also explain the choice of the sample and state who participated in the study. It will equally seek to qualify the research to other populations. In deducing, the sampling method used, it will be necessary to define the various sampling methods that we have. Random sampling involves the random selection of sample from the population. In cluster sampling, selection of samples is in clusters close to each other like households in the same estate. Quota sampling involves selection of samples nonrandom according to a fixed quota. Snowball sampling involves the identifying of samples that meet the criteria for inclusion in a study. Purposive sampling involves sampling with a  purpose  in mind.  Availability sampling involves using just the available samples (Trochim Web). In the article by Scott et.al, the population was all Canadian elderly patients with anxiety disorders and clinically significant anxiety symptoms. Quota sampling method selected a sample of 36,984 adults aged 55 years and above who participated in the Canadian Community Health Survey in 2008. The selection of the people in the sample was because they suitably represented the target population.  The actual participants in the study were 12,792 individuals, living in Canada (Scott et.al 792). The researchers cannot generalize it to other populations because the analysis focused on adults aged 55 years and above which are usually the minority in any society. In the Yang et.al study, population was all adolescents 6 months after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China. Quota sampling selected a sample of 2,463 middle schools and grade 10 students. Their selection was

Religion In Byrons Cain Philosophy Essay

Religion In Byrons Cain Philosophy Essay Byron wrote his closet drama Cain in Italy during a period of his life that Hoxie Neal Fairchild describes as coinciding with a strong attraction toward Roman Catholicism(437). Cain dramatizes the fourth book of Genesis. After refusing to offer sacrifices to God with his family, Cain slays his brother Abel and receives the punishment of banishment. Before killing Abel, Cain engages in a long dialog with Lucifer on the nature of death, the age of the universe, and the value of knowledge. Byrons poem calls on several religious controversies. First, Byron depicts the views of prominent factions of English Christians, including the Evangelicals, the Latitudinarians, and the Catholics. Second, the poem criticizes the Evangelical and Calvinist views of depravity and the literalness of scripture. Finally, by making Abel a figure of the priesthood and by sometimes invoking the language of the Catholic Mass, Byron questions the Calvinist idea that human beings have no capacity to offer sacrif ices. Byrons exposition on the efficacy of sacrifices allows him to challenge the Calvinist doctrines of depravity and predestination. Cain is a poem that reflects Byrons typical hostility to Evangelicalism. However, the drama also expresses skepticism of the Latitudinarian confidence in human reason, and Byron sympathizes with a Catholic, apostolic version of the Church and the efficacy of priestly sacrifices. While critics like Fairchild point to biographical explanations, Byrons doctrinal and theological decisions in Cain also convey political meanings. Byrons early reviewers sometimes recognize the politics of the poem, and some of these responses show that Byrons Italian residence, his representation of Catholicism, and his theology touch on the English anxiety over revolution. Byrons position on rebellion engages with Rousseaus conception of rights and the natural law. In contrast to Rousseau, though, Byrons Cain retains the natural law as external to the individual who partic ipates in it. Rejecting both Calvinist depravity and progressive ideas of reason and voluntarism, Cain opposes Rousseaus idea of the human being and diverges from the narrative of rebellion in Rousseau. Byron instead postulates the created essence of humanity and the precedent of natural law. The English Romantic tendency to distance revolution from violent excess appears in Charlotte Smiths The Emigrants and permeates the Romantic project in general. Cain, writes Paul Cantor, is like Frankenstein in its ambivalence, showing a world order that is ripe for rebellion, and yet at the same time suggesting that rebellion is somehow self-defeating. (139). Cantor traces the revolutionary potential in the Romantic world order to an abandonment of the Christian creation account in favor of a gnostic creation story and Rousseaus ideas of a return to the state of nature. Cantor sees the Romantics as engaging in a misreading of Rousseau because while Rousseau does not propose a strict return to the state of nature, the Romantic writers, according to Cantor, seek this primal, free state from which humanity can acquire for itself new, different meanings in opposition to the Biblical view of a fixed, created human essence. The question of human ontology, then, differs greatly in the Chr istian account and Rousseau. Rousseau abandons a created human essence in favor of an adaptability in which man can become something other than what he originally was. (6). Rousseaus idea of potentiality, which Hume and, later, Sartre also share, denies any law deriving from essential nature because it proposes that the general will according to which legitimate political action operates is habitual, not essential. Rousseau consequently also denies the traditional principle of the natural law and invests in a version of political rights which, in contradiction even to Locke, separates political rights from a basis in human ontology. Rousseaus reversal of the natural law rejects the notion that juridical systems derive from an innate natural law which in turn reflects a participation in the eternal law. Rousseau overturns the Aristotelian tradition of the natural law in which [w]hat is natural is what has the same force everywhere and does not depend on peoples thinking. (93). Rousseau proposes a voluntarist model of law in which any sense of an innate, pre-existing law is really a development coming from the progression of historical acts. For Rousseau, there is no law apart from human will and human action. In opposition to Locke and Rousseau, in Cain, Byron opposes Rousseaus notion of the societal origin of the law. Paul Cantor identifies an ambivalence in English Romantic ideas of rebellion, but the literalness of this ambivalence already surfaces in Rousseaus idea of the habitual characteristic of law because the capacity of the law to take on different forms according to the progress of history means that the law is always ambivalent and ambiguous, acquiring different values and progressing in different directions according to the movement of history. Rousseaus view thus denies the epistemological foundation of the Aristotelian concept of the natural law because Aristotles conception of the law depends on a view of knowledge as the settling of doubt. Because it rejects Rousseaus idea of the law, Byrons Cain does not express gnostic and progressive ideas of the mutability of human nature which, in Cantors model, gave rise to hopes of mans recapturing paradise. (xiv). Rather, Cain returns to a more traditional version of law and human nature which recognizes the ambivalence and ambiguity in Rou sseau and restores creation and its failures to more traditional terms than Rousseaus. The English Romantic project of returning to tranquility, of finding meaning away from the activity of history, is both a response to the failure of the Revolution and a means of integrating progressive values to traditional religious and national narratives. Often, the critical response to the Romantics has located this tendency mainly with the early poets and especially with the Lake Poets. This turning away from immanence toward transcendence also appears in Cain. As in Frankenstein, there is a similar doubt in Cain of an innate and primary creative capacity in human beings. Byron distinguishes Cain from Abel by the differing extent to which each is able to realize, but not to create, his capacity to participate in the sacrifice which ultimately defines his potentiality. Byron therefore breaks with Rousseau because the realization of creative potential depends on participation in a mandate that precedes the will but nevertheless requires its co ­operation. In moving away from a Protestant emphasis on personal rebirth and toward a Roman Catholic idea of the commission of a priesthood to administer sacraments, Byron distances himself from the progressive view of the law as immanent in subjective acts. Furthermore, Byron makes a connection between the Catholic priesthoods reenactment of a previously completed sacrifice and humanitys participation in a moral law that exists beforehand as an ontologically independent absolute. The divisions in the English Church of the nineteenth-century consist chiefly of three great parties which Newman defines in the French edition of his Apologia as the Tractarian, the Evangelical, and the Latitudinarian (72). The Tractarian party of Newmans time develops from an earlier Anglo-Catholic movement which itself traces back to the Nonjurors of the seventeenth century. They rested their faith, says Geoffrey Faber, upon a two-fold revelation: upon the Bible, as the Church and the councils of the Church alone knew how to interpret it, but still more certainly upon the existence and authority of the Church itself. (72). Although this group generally was hostile to Roman pretensions, and severe toward Roman abuses, (72), the incipient or covert Catholicism that the movement suggested appears in Drydens Absalom and Achitophel and persists into the late nineteenth century. The typical anxiety toward its Catholic-leaning emphasis on authority and tradition becomes part of Byrons de fense of Roman Catholicism in his Roman Catholic Claims speech when he says that the worst that can be imputed to Catholics is believing not too little, but too much. (33). The Evangelical party opposed this version of Christianity. It held that the Bible alone provides everything people need for salvation and that the institutional Church and its extra-scriptural rites and teachings interfere with an individuals direct, personal relationship with God. This view descends from Calvin and tends toward a literal or fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible. It holds that a person can have perfect assurance of salvation. The Latitudinarian party, or the Liberal party, put an emphasis on reason and, through Locke and Butler, associated itself with the Whigs by emphasizing social progress and the freedom of the individual will. The Latitudinarian reliance on reason and empiricism eschews literal Biblical interpretation. While rejecting Calvins predestination and the Evangelical version o f an exclusively internal relationship with the supernatural, Byrons Cain also rejects the expansive Latitudinarian freedom of the will which, like Rousseau, imagines a political order that is neither subservient to, nor even necessarily related to, anything outside material history. In Cain, the derivative creative capacity comes from Byrons analysis of the efficacy of sacrifices. Byron links the priestly capacity to offer a sacrifice that receives its efficacy from a previous, divine sacrifice with the ability of human beings to access a moral law that derives from an ontological absolute. When Fairchild proposes the incompatibility of Christianity and Romanticism, he cites a Romantic impulse whose satisfaction could be found only in complete intellectual and spiritual autonomy. (3). Yet whenever transcendent values interrupt an investment in creative power and the immanence of the law, autonomy struggles with its dependence on a prior, extrinsic essence. Byrons preface to Cain begins with a discreet rejection of a six-day creation. Referring to the second act of Cain, Byron anticipates criticism of his having Lucifer show Cain the remains, from the ages, of the extinct creatures of earth. When Lucifer responds to Cains indignation at the suggestion that the earth is not new, he tells Cain that mightier things have been extinct / To make way for much meaner. (158). Lucifer then shows Cain remains of the former creatures of the earth which rest myriads below its surface, and Cain acknowledges those / Mighty pre-Adamites who walked the earth.. Ian Dennis argues that Byrons plain, almost naive juxtaposition of the account of Genesis with practical and scientific data is a defiant accommodation by which Byron can express his hostility toward religion only after an act of self-abasement which allows him to reach a broad, largely religious readership by engaging in religious questioning that is really beneath him (663). For Dennis, Cain is an example of the passive aggressiveness according to which Byron recognizes that he must attract audiences in a pluralistic field of religious discourse even while he harbors an impulse to be offensive (655). Fairchild arrives at a similar analysis of Cain when he mentions Byrons enlistment of science against orthodoxy, but he then claims that Byron does not like to admit even to himself the full extent of his unbelief (429). While Dennis recognizes that Byron negotiates a plurality of Christian beliefs, his expectation that the perspective of science indicates Byrons hostility to Christianity overlooks the dramas skepticism of reasons primacy. Byrons rejection of literal Biblical exegesis corresponds to a rejection of Evangelicalism, but this rejection is not sufficient to support Denniss reading of the play as treating theological issues insincerely. In the preface, Byron catalogs his sacred and secular sources, and he claims that Cuviers account of the ancient fossil relics is n ot contrary to the Mosaic account, but rather confirms it (157). In any case, while Byrons subjective feelings are interesting, the text of Cain and its reception treat the theological and political issues in a particular context of which Byrons private disposition makes up only a part. Byrons preface rejects the idea that scientific discoveries contradict the Bible, and this rejection accompanies a rejection of overly literal readings of the Bible which, in nineteenth-century England, characterize the Evangelical party. While adapting his drama from Genesis, Byron also puts forward an exegetical method for reading Genesis. This method corresponds more to the Latitudinarian and Roman Catholic method than it does to the Evangelical, and Byron expresses a Thomistic view of creation as the diffusion of history from a divine essence. The extent to which Byron really accepted religious stories or any exegetical method is an interesting question, but it does not arise explicitly in his pr eface or his poem. In contrast to Cain and Lucifer, Cains wife Adah responds to Lucifers challenge by proposing a more flexible account of creation that resembles Aquinass philosophy of predestination. In Cain, Adah does this. When Lucifer questions her, Adah repeats the Thomistic view of the unfolding of creation according to a divine will: [God] hath The angels and the mortals to make happy, And thus becomes so in diffusing joy. What else can joy be, but the spreading joy? (478). Cain mistrusts Adahs confidence in the unity of creation when he doubts the necessity of the division between God and Lucifer: Would that there were only one of ye! Perchance / An unity of purpose might make union / In elements which seem now jarred in storms. (377). In an effort to surpass the distinction between good and evil, Cain rejects the division of identities and powers in what Adah describes as the diffusion of creation. Cains attempt resembles the emergence of Rousseaus natural man from the natural laws bondage in order to create the law himself according to the general will. Cains powerlessness even in this endeavor leads ultimately to his rejecting his capacity to perform the sacrifices with Abel. When Cain finally kills Abel, the act leads not to independence from the moral law but instead to its assertion. In describing sacrifice in particular, Byron contrasts Abels view with Cains. When he offers his sacrifice, Cain resigns himself both to his own powerlessness and to the incomprehensible divine judgment that precedes and determines his life and actions. Cain does not believe his actions can affect his fate but rather takes a view similar to Bostons that even his will is bound by a divine mandate. Byron joins with Burns in criticizing Bostons brand of Calvinism, and Cains distress comes in part from his disgust with his perception of powerlessness in directing his fate. In contrast to Rousseaus notion of the human capacity to create the law and to alter human ontology, Byrons response to this facet of Calvinism calls on the efficacy of sacrifices. Byrons view assumes a fixed human nature which has access to an extrinsic source of law and redemption. It is not therefore a progressive view. Besides a return to an Aristotelian idea of the law and human nature, Byrons redemptive philosoph y invests in an Aristotelian epistemology which, unlike the continuum of Rousseaus adaptability, seeks knowledge in a finality beyond which there is no more development in being or comprehension. At his altar, Cain speaks to God and expresses his discontentment: [All r]est upon thee; and good and evil seem To have no powr in themselves, save in thy will. And whether that be good or ill I know not, Not being omnipotent nor fit to judge Omnipotence, but merely to endure Its mandate, which thus far I have endured (274). In contrast, Abel sacrifices as the watching shepherd boy who offers.(183). He asks Cain to join me and precede me / In our priesthood.(198). Abel builds altars whereupon to offer / A sacrifice to God,(96), and [h]is sacrifices are acceptable.(352). In his description of Abel and his sacrifices, Byron makes references to the language of the Catholic Mass and its sanctioning of the power of sacrificers and their sacrifices. These references come mainly from the Offertory parts of the rite and have no counterparts in the Book of Common Prayer. These references and the general leaning toward the efficacy of sacrifices in Cain come during Byrons residence in Italy which Fairchild, and others say coincides with his attraction to Italian Catholicism and responsive[ness] to Catholic worship(425). Beyond demonstrating any biographical inclinations, though, Byrons adoption in Cain of Catholic rhetoric resonates domestically amid particularly English religious and political stances In adopting Aquinass view of an essence which diffuses itself in the particular elements of creation, Byron engages in essentialism, particularly about the natural law. When Lucifer tries to convince Adah that sin develops in those who replace ye in / Mortality.(379), he expresses the voluntarist ideas of Rousseau according to which moral laws develop ambiguously by the progress of history. Adah, however, questions the sin which is not / Sin in itself and asks Lucifer, Can circumstance make sin / Of virtue?(380). Byrons Cain proposes an ontological definition of the human being that differs from Rousseaus acceptance of humanitys creative capacity with regard to the law. Whereas Rousseau proposes that human beings reason, arising from historical circumstances, creates the law out of nothing, Byron conceives of a prior essence to which humanitys creative endeavors have access. Byron also rejects the determinism of Calvin. Byrons limited conception of creativity corresponds to Wordswort hs view of the poets access to the transcendent forms which, though derivative, enable creative work, and there are links here with the commission of priestly sacrifices in Catholic theology and with the Thomistic idea of the law. In drawing on the capacity in Aristotle and Aquinas for human participation in laws and actions that are ontologically independent of human history, Byron shapes a worldview in Cain that conflicts with the progressive ideas of Rousseau. This conflict extends beyond the reshaping of progressive secularism because although Byrons conception of humanity shares with progressive secularism an expectation that good prevails over time, Byron relies on a supernatural, or at least metaphysical, essence beyond the material circumstances of history, participation in which determines individual success or failure, as it does for Abel and Cain. In Byrons Cain, a transcendent reality precedes the encoding of law, and the law is a concrete reality, not merely an abstract ion derived from material experiences.

Business Plan Analysis – Private Concepts

Memorandum Re: Business Plan Assessment – Private Concepts Critically analyzing a business plan for its viability and opportunity for success is absolutely necessary from any stakeholder’s perspective. Doing so aides an investor in knowing whether or not to invest, a bank in deciding on a loan, or even a partner in his/her decision to join a venture.But perhaps most importantly, a critical analysis of a business plan can and will help the entrepreneur to assess whether or not an idea under its current platform is worth undertaking, or if it is back to the drawing board they go. The purpose of this memo is to assess the business plan of Private Concepts, a company hoping to bring to market The Pevlon, a cervical cancer screening device made for private, in-home use. The opportunity for such a device absolutely exists both here in the United States and abroad.For one, the plan mentions The Breast and Cervical Cancer Mortality Act of 1990 which, â€Å"mandated a nationwid e program to increase access of medically underserved women to comprehensive breast and cervical cancer screening services,† and when coupled with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that was recently passed, the amount of free (to consumer; paid for by the government) access to this product creates potential for a high demand in this country.In foreign countries however, such as rural China and even Africa, where access to healthcare and proper healthcare facilities can be extremely rare, the appetite for this type of product could be tremendously significant. And there lies the first issue with this business plan. According to the Lancet Oncology medical journal, Volume 11, Issue 12, â€Å"75,000 women develop cervical cancer and 40,000 women die from the disease in China each year. † Those numbers in the United States are only about 12,000 and close to 4,000 respectively (cdc. ov). This exemplifies a larger need for this product abroad as opposed to right here in the states. And to focus on the opportunity in China, a Wall Street Journal publication explains how China’s healthcare system is lacking in general, but puts a microscope on the disparity in quality healthcare between rural and urban areas (Burkitt, 2012). These rural areas in China represent a large opportunity (much larger than any market in the United States) for The Pevlon.And so although the opportunity does exist for the business plan’s product, it is evident that the opportunity accentuated in the business plan is not the optimal one (aside from appealing to non-profits or other entities that would utilize the Pevlon in charitable, undoubtedly foreign ventures – this should have been a more significant portion of the plan). Additionally, the opportunity in the United States has not necessarily been proven to the point where one could consider the need for the product as pervasive enough to where the consumer is willing to pay for it.And pay for t hey would have to, because as the plan notes in the chart on page 10, a Pevlon screen costs 50% more than a typical pap smear. This exemplifies that pricing is going to be an issue. The health care market is highly dependent on the insurance industry, especially when there are product substitutes. Take pharmaceuticals for example. In group health care, policies are dictated by the contract that is in place and the majority of these contracts will sway the policy holder to utilize generic medications.This is done by the insurance carrier covering a larger percentage of generic medications than name brand ones, which ultimately costs the carrier less. So if a pap smear is less costly by 50% than a Pevlon test, carriers may still cover the device, but the â€Å"incentive† to utilize the cheaper procedure will absolutely be in place. Additionally, the business plan identifies lower income women as a target market, but fails to explain how a more expensive procedure will be a viab le option for this segment group. But even when the entire U. S. arket (via a sample size) is observed on page 19 of the plan, less than half of the women surveyed (46%) stated they would utilize the in-home Pevlon test even if most or all of it was covered by insurance. And if insurance reimbursement is removed completely, only 11. 2% of women would purchase the product. It would be interesting to see if there were follow up inquiries related to this line of questioning because a hypothesis is that some women, or maybe even a lot of women, may not trust themselves to complete such an important test at home.These women may simply prefer to rely on the expertise of a medical professional. And along these same lines, I feel as though the plan is silent on a very important aspect when it comes to assessing the true market of this product: how many women are in fact uncomfortable with going to a physician’s office to have a pap smear completed and would those women be more comfor table completing such a screen at home?Yes, there is a quote stating how uncomfortable the procedure is (which is in fact the first thing the reader sees underneath the Executive Summary heading), but it is somewhat suspect that this quote is anonymous and that there is no quantifiable evidence proving this notion to be true. So what is the actual desirability of this product? There really is no proof of it within the business plan and if I was investing in this product, I would need this â€Å"proof. † Aside from the ambiguous desirability of the product, there are a number of other concerns that should really stick out to the potential investor.On page 12 of the business plan there is a section that lays out the testing and approval stage for the Pevlon device. There are 6 steps in this section and only 1 of which have been completed, which happens to be the least significant of steps. The remaining rigmarole of securing FDA approval, obtaining the green light to conduct cl inical studies, actually conducting these studies, etc. could easily take upwards of a decade to complete. From the perspective of an investor or a bank assessing a loan, this is entirely too long a process for someone to simply START making their money back.This exemplifies how difficult a market healthcare can be to get into, and that the barriers involved are simply too high. Additionally, the Pevlon is not necessarily a onetime revenue generator, but it comes uncomfortably close. In 2009, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) released new cancer screening guidelines. According to ACOG, women now need to begin screening at age 21 as opposed to 18, and women ages 21 to 30 only need to be screened once every two years; women 30 and older only once every 3 years (Cox, 2009).The final qualms that I have concerning this business plan is the window of opportunity associated with the product, and the amount of time it will take for Private Concepts to become a p rofitable company. There does not appear to be an actual window of opportunity as the business plan does not thoroughly prove the market segment. Anecdotally I polled a number of women in my life with whom I am comfortable bringing this subject up and all of them (4) took the opinion that their screenings are not a major source of stress or discomfort, but rather they have come to accept it as â€Å"part of the routine of life. And in regards to becoming a profit generating entity, right up front on page 3 of the business plan, it is shown in the chart that Private Concepts would not be in the black until 5 years of doing business. What’s most concerning is that 5 years is still merely a hypothesis and that the organization is seeking over three million dollars in funding basically right out of the gate. Conceptually, the idea of a self administered, in home cervical cancer screening is a good idea.It poses benefits such as convenience and avoiding uncomfortable screenings a t a physician’s office. Private Concepts missed the mark in their business plan however, in a number of ways. The market was identified too ambiguously and the plan did not clearly exemplify certain key aspects of said market such as how many women actually would prefer an in home screen versus one performed in a physician’s office. Where to market and focus sales efforts was clearly stated, however, the idea to sell first in the United States is not the best possible plan of action.Private Concepts should as the plan mentions, manufacture the product off shore in order to maximize profit margins, but at the same time the pricing point should be rethought considerably in order to capitalize on the more fruitful markets of places like rural China and Africa. Appealing to non-profits and government entities that might focus on these foreign demographics was a small piece of the business plan, but it should have been more of a focus.Finally, in this assessment I had the a dvantage of hind sight and context. This business plan won the Moot Corp competition in 2002 with what appeared to be a viable business plan at the time. This product has yet to come to market and I was unable to find anything stating that the Pevlon has been approved by the FDA. This does not necessarily hold any bearing on this analysis of the business plan; however, it does prove to a certain extent, a lot of the shortcomings that were found within this business plan.Academically and structurally the plan was very well done, however in practical application it is easy to see how and why the Pevlon is still an unknown product to virtually the entirety of the woman population in the United States. Arbyn, Marc. HPV-Based Cervical Cancer Screening in China. The Lancet Oncology. 2010;11(12):1112 – 1113. Burkitt, Laurie. Report: China’s Healthcare System Deeply Sick. The Wall Street Journal. http://blogs. wsj. com/chinarealtime/2012/08/29/report-chinas-health-care-system- deeply-sick. 9 August 2012. Date Accessed: 23 January 2013. Cervical Cancer Statistics. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Gynecologic Cancers. http://www. cdc. gov/cancer/cervical/statistics. 20 December 2012. Date Accessed: 23 January 2013. Cox, Lauren & Dr. Joshua Hundert. New Cervical Cancer Screening Guidelines: No More ‘Annual’ Pap Smears. ABC, Good Morning America. http://abcnews. go. com/GMA/OnCall/guidelines-ditch-annual-pap-smears/story? id=9131632. 20 November 2009. Date Accessed: 23 January 2013.

Marco Polo s Interpretive Analysis - 977 Words

Marco Polo in China: Interpretive Analysis Although Marco Polo started out as a humble merchant from Venice, he eventually developed a reputation as one of the world’s greatest explorers (â€Å"Marco Polo†). He was much more than just a trader however, providing the Western world with detailed accounts of the foreign society that was Medieval China under the Mongol conquest. These accounts would later become invaluable to historians for centuries to come. Written in ca. 1270 CE, the document titled, â€Å"Marco Polo in China† was written first by Marco Polo during his travels, but then transliterated by a professional author when he returned to Venice in 1295 CE (â€Å"Marco Polo†). The selection is a piece of descriptive literature detailing the affluent city of Hangchow. According to the document, the city was one hundred miles in circumference and nestled in between a massive river and a freshwater lake. Polo then continued on to describe what the ten m arketplaces were like in the city, claiming there were shops galore and a plethora of foodstuffs. In addition, his descriptions of what the housing in the city looked like gives rise to the image of modern-day apartment buildings. In Hangchow, there were paved roads, approximately 12,000 bridges, and even an army that acted as a sort of police force. Marco Polo’s documentation of the city of Hangchow was intended for an audience of educated individuals who had never been to the city. The incredibly detailed description of the city, in