Business Security and Terrorism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Business Security and Terrorism - Essay Example Google was more economical, using just around half a million dollars. Big corporations are clearly noticing that the wellbeing and safety of their summit leaders is a vital component of doing business (Lerer, 2007). Particular business executives are in added danger compared to others. Whereas the Google chief executive, Eric Schmidt is worth very much, other directors are subjected to further scrutiny. For example, Schering-Plough top executive Fred Hassan has been presented with several threats from the activists of animal rights for Schering-Plough's participation in animal testing. Other top executives move their dealings to distant sites where security can be turned to a necessity. When business heads travel to countries such as Guatemala they frequently employ security to guarantee secure movements. All of the funds used up on protection of executive can compensate for itself if it averts just a single major misfortune. Terrorist attacks on business executives does not merely result in human suffering, it as well drives down the prices of stock and undermine the leadership of the company. A solitary abduction or robbery could cause damages of up to several million dollars. This figure can be overblown by medical and even legal costs. Paying out a mere portion of this to thwart such like instances is turning into a major priority for the major business industry stakeholders (Alexander, 2004). Countless executives are resorting to private security firms to offer the security they require. Technologically savvy protection means are utilized by the specialized private firms in protecting the executives and it is not unusual for the business leaders to move around the globe with executive bodyguards who present urgent security and support in precarious periods. How should businesses shield themselves and Executives against terrorism Being a top business executive could not be risky money-wise, but it is surely hazardous. That is a logical conclusion if it is based on the tens of millions of dollars that a number of firms will spend shielding their top echelon managers. The Executive recompensing information archived by the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States, over the last year or so reveals precisely the amount of funds companies use up to shelter their summit executives. From the archived information, firms take protection against terrorism so critically, furnishing their "C-level" workers with automobiles, airplanes and residence alarm systems. Others withhold on the security costs, reimbursing nominal sums for minimum security arrangements. Leading the group of firms investing in executive protection is Oracle that used up 1.8 million dollars shielding their CEO, Larry Ellison in 2007, (a 40 percent rise from the previous year. Tellingly, the 1.8 million dollars did not cover up each and every one of Larry Ellison's protection expenses. The billionaire executive, in addition, used up his personal resources in the installation of high-tech security system in his personal residence in

Marketing in Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words - 1

Marketing in Practice - Essay Example Marketing is based on five Ps namely product, place, price, promotion, and people (Russel 2008, p.12) and through marketing, marketers identify market needs, and prices that consumers will be willing to pay for products addressing those needs (Blythe 2005, p.4); using people in global markets by communicating the specific places where they can be found, and their prices. This way, promotion marketing increases sales substantially, in addition to collecting market feedback regarding consumer tastes and preferences, and addressing specific market needs. Marketing promotion strategies offer great potential for the library of Birmingham, which if explored to the maximum could have the impact of improving the library experience and increasing attendance substantially. For instance, marketing promotion strategies will increase the library’s visibility to the market both around and beyond Birmingham thereby creating awareness of the library and its services fulfilling the marketersâ €™ objectives. ... Marketing promotion strategies are centred on the Library of Birmingham’s exciting displays of content, internal organization, rich archival offers, and user help guidelines that offer readers enhanced new experiences especially in terms of the ease of finding books. Additionally, marketing promotion strategies focus on the library of Birmingham’s innovative technologies such as online search databases that have greatly transformed the library experience; for instance, readers are able to evaluate particular resources in the library through online database reviews and can make book orders without necessarily visiting the physical store. Overall, marketing promotion objectives for the Library of Birmingham are to increase the number of visitors, internet users, book borrowers, Family History service users, in addition to increasing the library use by underrepresented ethnic minority and socially excluded groups, and the library’s use for learning and study. This p aper presents a report on the marketing promotion situation analysis of the Library of Birmingham using the SOSTAC model; this report aims at establishing the library’s current promotion and public relation marketing strategies, key objectives, in addition to a strategic direction action plan, and the control metrics. Apart from that, this report will also propose a number of recommendations for the library’s promotion and public relation marketing strategies, specific goals that should be focused in the approaches, and viable future trajectory options for the library of Birmingham. Introduction Marketing promotion strategies are increasingly becoming a focal point of management in the business world today due to increasing pressures in the complex market environments; in this

Clinical Outcome after DMT Discontinuation

Clinical Outcome after DMT Discontinuation Background: Stable disease course may prompt consideration of disease-modifying treatment (DMT) discontinuation in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Objective: To investigate the clinical outcome after DMT discontinuation and to identify predictive factors supporting decision-making. Methods: We included 221 RRMS patients, who discontinued DMT after à ¢Ã‚ ©Ã‚ ¾12months and had documented follow-up à ¢Ã‚ ©Ã‚ ¾2years after discontinuation. Hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) regarding relapse and disability progression after DMT discontinuation were calculated from Cox regression models. Results: Age >45 years at discontinuation (HR=0.47, CI=0.23-0.95, p=0.038), absence of relapses for à ¢Ã‚ ©Ã‚ ¾4years on DMT before discontinuation (HR=0.29, CI=0.10-0.82, p=0.020) and absence of contrast enhancing lesions (HR=0.46, CI=0.28-0.78, p=0.004) were independent predictors of absence of relapse after discontinuation. Age >45years and absence of relapses à ¢Ã‚ ©Ã‚ ¾4years on DMT combined had an HR of 0.06 (CI=0.01-0.44, p45 years and longer disease duration were significantly associated with disability progression after discontinuation. Conclusion: While freedom from further disease activity is generally unpredictable, there is a subset of patients (age à ¢Ã‚ ©Ã‚ ¾45years, DMT intake à ¢Ã‚ ©Ã‚ ¾4years without evidence of clinical or radiological disease activity) having a high likelihood of remaining relapse-free after DMT discontinuation. However, close clinical monitoring for recurrent disease activity is mandatory after discontinuing treatment. MS is an autoimmune, demyelinating, inflammatory neurological disease that develops from a complex interplay of both genetic and environmental factors. The mechanism of demyelination in multiple sclerosis may be activation of myelin-reactive T cells in the periphery. T cells are activated following antigen presentation by antigen-presenting cells such as macrophages and microglia, or B cells. These T cells then express adhesion molecules, allowing their entry through the blood-brain barrier (BBB). These invasive perivascular T cells can secrete proinflammatory cytokines, including interferon gamma and tumor necrosis factor alpha which contribute to the inflammatory processes in the central nervous system. Furthermore, antibodies against myelin also may be generated in the periphery or intrathecally by activated B cells. Ongoing inflammation leads to epitope spread and recruitment of other inflammatory cells (ie, bystander activation). Activated microglia may release free radicals, ni tric oxide, and proteases that may contribute to tissue damage. In summary, MS has 3 characteristic features; Inflammation leading to the infiltration of Perivascular lymphocytes into the central nervous system, demyelination of neurons and the subsequent formation of Central Nervous System lesions (Plaques) The CNS lesions mainly affect the white matter and they are both disseminated in time (DIT) and in space (DIS). White matter help transmit information between regions of grey matter, where the processing occurs. Therefore symptoms of MS are highly dependent on the location of the lesion in the CNS. In 1996, 4 main types of MS were defined, be the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, according to the clinical course of the disorder; Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (RRMS) Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis (SPMS) Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis (PPMS) Progressive Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis (PRMS) The treatments for MS are split into 3 main types that target 3 different aspects of the disease, namely treatments for MS exacerbations/attacks, treatments for specific MS symptoms and treatments to prevent relapses and disease progression. The last group of treatments are the focus of this study. Despite having no cure for MS there are treatments that significantly reduce both the frequency and severity of relapses in some patients and slow the progress of neurological deficits in MS. These are called Disease Modifying Therapies(DMT). The goal of these therapies is to decrease the extent of damage and scarring to the myelin sheath associated with relapse and in doing so prevent the progression of disease and are especially useful for patients with RRMS. This study focuses on the first line injectable treatments, Beta interferons and Galatiramer Acetate. Interferon beta balances the expression of pro- and anti-inflammatory agents in the brain, and reduces the number of inflammatory cells that cross the blood brain barrier therefore it also improves nerve regeneration. Galatiramer acetate resemles myelin basic protein, thus acting as a decoy for the immune system to target and in doing so protects the myelin surrounding axons in the CNS. Despite their usefulness, DMTs are not suitable for all MS patients due to their side effects. Thus they are only prescribed to patients with RRMS or SPMS who meet certain criteria. Specifically, Beta interferon give rise to headache, chills, fever and pain and redness at injection site while, Glatiramer acetate results in redness and hardening of skin at injection site and rarely palpitations or flushing after injection. Due to these many side effects many patients who experience few or no relapses over a long period of time and have a stable disease course frequently enquire if they can discontinue their DMT without the risk of relapses coming back and the disease and disability progression of MS getting worse. Therefore this study was designed as an observational cohort study that aimed to understand the effects of discontinuation of DMTs on the primary and secondary endpoints; occurrences of relapses after discontinuation of DMTs and disability progression after discontinuation o f DMTs respectively and thus and thus provide predictive criteria that may help clinicians and patients make the decision to discontinue DMTs 0-What is the research question? What is the Primary Outcome? The primary outcome of the study is understanding the effects of discontinuation of DMTs on the primary and secondary endpoints; occurrences of relapses after discontinuation of DMTs and disability progression after discontinuation of DMTs respectively. What are the Secondary outcomes? The secondary outcome of the study was to use and analyse the findings derived from outcome one to discern any factors that would minimize the adverse effect of discontinuation of DMTs and thus provide predictive criteria that may help clinicians and patients make the decision to discontinue DMTs. Is the research question clear and properly addressed? Yes it is as the paper aims to answer the question of whether discontinuation of DMTs in patients with RRMS would largely affect the clinical outcomes in any adverse manner and through that discern any predictive factors that may help clinicians and patients make the decision to discontinue DMTs. 1 Are the methods valid? 1a Details of Assignment of patients Are the inclusion and exclusion criteria clear? Patients for the study were selected form the Innsbruck MS database (IMSD), which contained 1708 patients, through a careful screening process. The exclusion criteria included patients with PPMS or SPMS, patients who received DMT for less than 12 months, patients who discontinued DMT for less than 6 months, patients with less than 2 years of follow up available and patients with a documented pregnancy during the follow-up period. After all these exclusion criteria were applied, the patients who still remained were included in the study, thus 221 patients were included in the study Was randomisation done properly? Randomising before the aforementioned selection process selection process could have influenced the decisions about eligibility and introduced a source of bias and if a large number of randomly selected patients turned out to be ineligible it would have led to a very small sample size and thus significantly lowered the power of the study. Randomisation after the aforementioned selection process was not carried out for this study since this study was designed as an observational cohort study and all the patients in the inclusion list were discontinuing DMTs due to one of 3 reasons indicated in the study; namely adverse events, patients decision (including desire of pregnancy) or (3) stable disease course (subjectively defined by the treating physician and/or patient). Randomisation would have been more essential in a case control study that compared the effects of DMT discontinuation in one group against a matched control group of MS patients who continued taking DMTs. This is explored further in the future works section as a possible continuation from and improvement on this study. Was assignment concealed from Drs? (at the assignment stage) Due to the fact that the study was designed as an observational cohort study and the highly specific inclusion criteria the assignment was not concealed from Drs. Was the sample size big enough? The sample size for this study comprised all the 221 patients in the inclusion list. This was a relatively small sample size for a cohort study. However considering the large numbers of exclusion criteria and the fact that the study focused on a specific subset of MS patients; namely patients with RRMS who were being treated with either Interferon Beta or Galactemer Acetate for more than 12 months, who are not pregnant and had a greater than 2 year follow up, the study does have a high predictive power. For this subset of MS patients the studys results provide a good predictive power yet this does not extend to any MS patients outside this subset. The usefulness of this study is further undermined by the fact that just a month before this was published a similar study was done by the MSBase Registry with a case control design looking at 426 DMT stoppers, which is almost double the sample size in this study thus providing a far larger power. 1b Accounting for patients entered into the trial How complete was the follow up? The median follow up period was 3.8 years with maximum follow up period being 26.9 years and minimum follow up being 2 years. How were patients lost to follow up dealt with? As part of the exclusion criteria, patients who were lost to follow up either due to discontinuation of DMT for less than 6 months or because patients had less than 2 years of follow up available or because patients had a documented pregnancy during the follow-up period were excluded from the study and thus also excluded from the calculation on the results of the study. How were patients not receiving assigned treatment (non-compliers) dealt with ? During the follow up period 69 of the 221 patients restarted DMTs after the 6 month cutoff imposed in the exclusion criteria. If DMT was restarted during this observation period, the primary endpoint was considered to be reached at the time point of reinitiation of DMT and thus the patients were still used for calculating the final results. Is there likely to be residual bias because of any of the above? Since data for the study was collected retrospectively at the first visit this does introduce a potential source of bias due to the lack of data completeness for some variables. Moreover, since this study was not conducted in a case control manner there is a possibility that important unmeasured variables could have had a confounding effect on the observed results. However, since data was collected prospectively from then on it serves to minimize any sources of residual bias by attempting to correct for any confounders. The fact that all the patients were selected from the Innsbruck MS database, which mainly represents the demographics of western Austria and its geographical catchment areas and the fact that there was no randomization carried out also introduces a potential source of selection bias and restricts the predictive power and usefulness of this study 1c Blinding How far was it carried out for patients, doctors, other study personnel? In this study blinding was not carried out as all eligible patients in the inclusion list underwent the same intervention which was the discontinuation of DMT. Furthermore, the fact that this study was designed as an observational cohort study meant that blinding was not entirely necessary 1e Apart from experimental intervention were the groups treated equally? Apart from the discontinuation of DMTs all the other decisions about the patients care was left up to their respective doctors and any MS specific interventions or healthcare concerns, such as pregnancies, were noted in the regular follow ups. 2. What are the results? 2a Were outcomes measured in a standard valid reliable way ? The primary and secondary endpoints of this study were the occurrences of relapses after discontinuation of DMTs and disability progression after discontinuation of DMTs respectively. A relapse was defined as patient-reported symptoms or objectively observed signs typical of an acute central nervous system (CNS) inflammatory demyelinating event, current or prior to the visit, with duration of at least 24 hours in the absence of fever or infection, separated from the last relapse by at least 30 days.27 Disability progression was defined as a confirmed EDSS increase in 0.5 sustained for 6months. MRI was only included in analysis if performed within a maximum of 6months prior to discontinuation of DMT (MRI at discontinuation) and if there was another MRI available for comparison performed 1-24months prior to MRI at discontinuation (MRI before discontinuation). MRI parameters obtained were increase in T2 lesion load and presence of gadolinium-enhancing lesions. Increase in T2 lesion load was defined as à ¢Ã‚ ©Ã‚ ¾1 either new or size-enlarged T2 lesion in MRI at discontinuation compared to MRI before discontinuation. 2b Are results comparable at different sites ? These crietria for measurement and reporting of data helped standardize the measurement of the outcomes among the multiple study sites. 2c How large was the treatment effect ? Relapses Primary Outcome: Bivariate testing showed a correlation between absence of relapses after DMT discontinuation and younger age at discontinuation (r=à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢0.352, p There was no association with disease duration (p=0.327). Secondary Outcome: ROC analyses indicated best possible cutoff values of 45 years for age at discontinuation (sensitivity: 65%, specificity: 85%) and 4 years for duration of DMT intake without a relapse (sensitivity: 60%, specificity: 81%) 14/56 (25%) patients aged à ¢Ã‚ ©Ã‚ ¾45 years at discontinuation suffered a relapse after discontinuation of DMT compared to 84/165 (50.9%) of patients Age >45 years and absence of gadolinium-enhancing lesion before discontinuation of DMT were found to be independent predictors of absence of relapse after discontinuation of DMT, each about cutting the risk for future relapse in half. Absence of relapses for a period of 4 years or longer on DMT reduced the risk of future relapse to under a third. Sex and EDSS at discontinuation did not have any significant impact. Patients aged >45 years with absence of relapses for a period of 4years on DMT had a cumulative hazard ratio (HR) of 0.06 (CI=0.01-0.44, p Disability Progression Primary Outcome: Bivariate analysis exhibited a statistically significant correlation between disability progression and EDSS at discontinuation (r = 0.212, p = 0.002), disease duration (r = 0.172, p = 0.004) and age at discontinuation (r = 0.123, p = 0.042), but not for duration of DMT, occurrence of relapses on DMT and presence of gadolinium-enhancing lesions. Secondary Outcome: After inclusion of these variables in a multivariate cox regression model, higher EDSS at discontinuation, age >45 years at discontinuation and longer disease duration were the only significant independent predictors of disability progression after discontinuation. Patients aged à ¢Ã‚ ©Ã‚ ¾45 years with absence of relapses for a period of 4 years on DMT did not have a significant reduction in their risk for disability progression How precisely is it measured (95% CIs)? Categorical variables were expressed in frequencies and percentages, parametric continuous variables as mean and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) and nonparametric variables as median and range. Comparisons regarding primary and secondary endpoints were made by bivariate correlations (Kendalls tau) and Fishers exact or chi-square tests as appropriate. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were conducted to define the best possible cut-off values of continuous variables for prediction of the primary endpoint. Survival analyses were performed using cox regression models for comparison of prognostic factors over time and assessment of possible confounders. A two-tailed p-value 2d What is the clinical significance of the results and how precisely is it measured?  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   The secondary outcome of this study has a higher clinical significance than the primary outcome. The results show that 3.   Are the results applicable to your patient(s)? 3a Are your patients similar to the study patients? 3b Were all the outcomes that are of interest to your patients considered in the trial? 3c Are the benefits worth the potential harms and costs? In the future a different study design can be used to tackle the same research question. A further case control study, like the one done by the MSBase Registry, that compared the effects of DMT discontinuation in one group against a matched control group of MS patients who continued taking DMTs could be carried out to minimize any effects of confounders and biases that may have affected the results of the cohort study. A future cohort study could include a larger sample size that would be more representative of a larger proportion of the patients with MS. Choosing from a more diverse patient demographic would also provide a greater amount of predictive power over the cultural diverse population of MS patients that are found in the local London boroughs. A similar study could be repeated with a fully prospective design so as to eliminate any selection biases that may have arisen due the retrospective nature of initial data collection. Furthermore, the retrospective nature of this study also led to only 168 of the 221 selected patients having MRI data available within 6 months before discontinuation of DMT thus reducing the predictive and representative power of many conclusions derived from MRI comparison data. Thus, more detailed and complete analysis using MRI data could have been obtained if the study was designed to be entirely prospectively conducted without the retrospective data collection. Focus on newer DMTs Since this study only focused on the first line DMTs which only account for a portion of the RRMS patients receiving DMT future work can focus on the other available newer DMTs. The data on the post-injectable DMT disease course may not be generalisable to the newer agents thus it is essential to conduct DMT discontinuation studies on other oral or intravenous DMTs available to patients which have a larger range of side effects and arguably have more severe side effects. Furthermore even though this study provides some predictive criteria that may help clinicians and patients make the decision to discontinue DMTs, To definitively answer the question about safety of DMT discontinuation in this patient subset, a randomised trial is required. The first randomised DMT discontinuation trial in MS is was scheduled to start recruitment in 2016 and its findings should provide more conclusive evidence about the safety and viability of DMT discontinuation in the patient subsets identified in this study both in terms of number of relapses and disability progression.

The Cuban Identity: truly their own? Essay -- US Foreign Policy

The Cuban Identity: truly their own? The United States became involved with Cuba's independence struggle with Spain because they had a keen interest in extending their power into offshore colonies. Cuba's sugar trade was a valuable commodity and served as another interest for the United States intervention in the war against Spain in 1898. Although the war had started three years prior to the United States' declaration of war on Spain, they began to exert their influence and power over the colony by infusing a government structured by appointees of President William McKinley. These authorities created the interim Cuban government as a subset of the United States and the politics and social structures of which resembled the United States rather than focusing on a Cuban specific structure. They created a government based on democracy which then drew from the social structure of Cubans of different color voting for positions within this government. Their structure of the Cuban system was strikingly similar to chang es that were being undertaken in Louisiana at the time and Cuba was a secondary location to exert similar practices. McKinley appointed General John Brooke to be the first military governor in 1899 and Brooke had been known for protecting the liberties of black voters in the United States (Scott 155). As Brooke was a foreigner, a few of his policies went under fire from local politicians because he should not have the authority to decree rulings about cultural aspects. His debacle with the determination of acquired property possession during the war included a wishy-washy stance that some Cubans felt was a "threat to the social order" (181). This caused concern and unrest amongst the Cubans because it se... ...worth for the United States because the military governments attempted to create another US rather than adopting their strategies for a completely different culture and lifestyle. The political structure was initially stressed by Brooke and later Wood would develop a class system that did not suit the Cuban's culture. These governors were vessels to impart the United States' methods for politics and social status and as it became harder to do, the US slowly backed out of supporting the cause for colonization. Although the States were not successful creating either a US or Cuban national structure, their support during wartime allowed the Cubans to eventually enjoy their new freedom from Spain and create their independent culture. Works Cited Scott, Rebecca J. Degrees of Freedom: Louisiana and Cuba after Slavery. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap of Harvard UP, 2005. Print.

Night World : The Chosen Chapter 16

A fighter knows instinctively when there's no chance. But Rashel planned to fight anyway. And then she noticed something wrong. The vampires should have caught it first. Then-senses were sharper. But their senses were turned inward, focused on the victims in front of them. Rashel was the only one whose senses were turned outward, alert to everything but focused on nothing. There was a smell that was wrong and a sound. The smell was sharp, stinging, and close by. The sound was soft, distant, but recognizable. Gasoline. She could smell gasoline. And she could hear a faint dull roar that sounded like the fireplace in the gathering room-but was coming from somewhere else in the house. It didn't make sense. She didn't understand. But she believed it. â€Å"Quinn, get ready to run,† she said, a gasp on a soft breath. Something was about to happen. No, we have to fight- His thought to her broke off. Rashel turned to look at the doorway. Hunter Redfern had moved into the gathering room-but there was someone in the hall. Then the someone stepped forward and Rashel could see her face. Nyala was smiling brilliantly. Her small queenly head was high and her dark eyes were flashing. She was holding a red gasoline can in one hand and a liter of grapefruit juice in the other. The bottle was almost full of liquid and had a burning rag stuffed in the top. Gas. Gas from the pump on the wharf, Rashel thought. A Generation-X Molotov cocktail. â€Å"It's all over the house,† Nyala said, and her voice was lilting. â€Å"Gallons and gallons. All over the rooms and the doors.† But she shouldn't be hanging on to it, Rashel thought. That bottle is going to explode. â€Å"You see, I am a real vampire hunter, Rashel. I figure this way, we get rid of them all at once.† And the house is already burning†¦. Behind the carved screen on the right side of the room, ruddy light was flickering, growing. The faint roar that had disturbed Rashel was louder now. Closer. And everything's wood, Rashel thought. Wood paneling, wood floors. Frame house. A deathtrap for vampires. â€Å"Get her,† Hunter Redfern said. But none of the vampires charged toward Nyala with her about-to-explode bottle of death and her can of fire accelerant. In fact, they were backing away, moving to the perimeter of the room. Hunter spun to face Nyala directly. You need to put that down, he began in telepathic tones of absolute authority-at the same time Rashel shouted, â€Å"Nyala, no-â€Å" The sound of telepathy seemed to set something off in Nyala. Flashing a dazzling savage smile, she smashed the grapefruit juice bottle at his feet. With almost the same motion, she threw the gasoline can, too. It was flying in a graceful arc toward the fireplace, spinning, spilling liquid, and vampires were scattering to try to get out of the way. And then everything was exploding-or maybe erupting was a better word. It was as if a dragon had breathed suddenly into the room, sending a roaring gale of fire through it. But Rashel didn't have time to watch-she and Quinn were both diving. Quinn was diving for the floor past Nyala, trying to drag Rashel with him. Rashel was diving for Timmy. She didn't know why. She didn't think about it consciously. She simply had to do it. She hit Timmy with the entire force of her body and knocked him to the floor. She covered him as the fire erupted behind her. Then she scrambled to her knees, her arm locked around his chest. Everything was noise and heat and confusion. Vampires were yelling at each other, running, shoving each other. The ones who'd been splattered with gas were on fire, trying to put it out, getting in one another's way. â€Å"Come on!† Quinn said, pulling Rashel up. â€Å"I know a way outside.† Rashel looked for Nyala. She didn't see her. As Quinn dragged her into the hall, she saw dark smoke come billowing from the dining-room area. The hall was bathed in reddish light. â€Å"Come on!† Quinn was pulling her across the hall, through the smoke. Into a room that was full of orange flames. â€Å"Quinn-â€Å" Timmy was kicking and struggling in Rashel's arms. Yelling at her. She kept her grip on him. And she went with Quinn. She had to trust him. He knew the house. She hadn't realized how frightening fire was, though. It was like a beast with hot shriveling breath. It seemed alive and it seemed to want to get her, roaring out at her from unexpected places. And it spread so fast. Rashel would never have believed it could move so quickly through a house, even a house soaked with gasoline. In a matter of minutes the building had become an inferno. Everywhere she looked, there was fire, smoke, and a horrifying reflection of flames. They were on the other side of the room now, and Quinn was kicking at a door. His sleeve was on fire. Rashel twisted her hand out of his and beat at it to put it out. She almost lost hold of Timmy. Then the door was swinging outward and cool air was rushing in and the fire was roaring like a crazy thing to meet it. She was simply running, in panic, her only thought to hold on to Timmy and to stay with Quinn. They were out. But she smelled burning. And now Quinn was grabbing her, rolling her over and over on the sandy unpaved road. Rashel realized, dimly, that her clothes were on fire in back. Quinn stopped rolling her. Rashel sat up, tried to glance at her own back, then looked for Timmy. He was crouched on the road, staring at the house. Rashel could see flames coming out of the windows. Smoke was pouring upward and everything seemed as bright as daylight beneath it. â€Å"Are you all right?† Quinn said urgently. He was looking her over. Rashel's whole body was washed with adrenaline and her heart was pounding insanely. But she couldn't take her eyes off the house. She stumbled to her feet. â€Å"Nyala's in there! I have to get her.† Quinn looked at her as if she were raving. Rashel just shook her head and started helplessly toward the house. She didn't want to go anywhere near it. She knew the fire wanted her dead. But she couldn't leave Nyala in there to burn. Then Quinn was shoving her roughly back. â€Å"You stay here. I'll get her.† â€Å"No! I have to-â€Å" â€Å"You have to watch Timmy! Look, he's getting away!† Rashel whirled. She didn't have any clear idea of where Timmy might be getting away to-but he was on his feet and moving. Toward the house, then away from it. She grabbed for him again. When she turned back toward Quinn, Quinn was gone. No-there he was, darting into the house. Timmy was screaming again, kicking in her arms. â€Å"I hate you!† he shouted. â€Å"Let go of me! Why did you take me out?† Rashel stared at the house. Quinn was inside now. In that holocaust of flame. And he'd gone because of her, to save her from going herself. Please, she thought suddenly and distinctly. Please don't let him die. The flames were roaring higher. The night was brilliant with them. Fire was raining in little burning bits from the sky, and Rashel's nose and eyes stung. She knew she should get farther back, but she couldn't. She had to watch for Quinn. â€Å"Why? I hate you! Why did you take me out?† Rashel looked at the strange little creature in her arms, the one that was biting and kicking as if it wanted to go back into the burning house. She didn't know what Timmy had become-some weird combination of child, adult, and animal, apparently. And she didn't know what kind of future he could possibly have. But she did know, now, why she'd brought him out. She looked at the childish face, the angry eyes full of hate. â€Å"Because my mom told me to take care of you,† she whispered. And then she was crying. She was holding him and sobbing. Timmy didn't try to hold her back, but he didn't bite her anymore either. Still sobbing, Rashel looked over his head toward the house. Everything was burning. And Quinn was still inside†¦. Then she saw a figure silhouetted against the flames. Two figures. One holding the other, half carrying it. â€Å"Quinn!† He was running toward her, supporting Nyala. They were both covered with soot. Nyala was swaying, laughing, her eyes huge and distant. Rashel threw her arms around both of them. The relief that washed over her was almost more painful than the fear. Her legs literally felt as if they had no bones-she was going to collapse at any second. She was tottering. â€Å"You're alive,† she whispered into Quinn's charred collar. â€Å"And you got her.† She could feel Quinn's arm around her, holding hard. Nothing else seemed to matter. But now Quinn was taking his arm away, pushing her along the road. â€Å"Come on! We've got to get to the wharf before they do.† In a flash, Rashel understood. She got a new grip on Timmy and turned to run toward the hiking path. Her knees were shaking, but she found she could make them move. They lurched down the path in the wild grass, Quinn supporting Nyala, she carrying Timmy. Rashel didn't know how many vampires had made it out of the burning house-she hadn't seen any- but she knew that any who did would head for the dock. Where she and Annelise had disabled the boats. But as the wharf came into view, Rashel saw something that hadn't been there when she left it. There was a yacht in the harbor, swinging at anchor. â€Å"It's Hunter's,† Quinn said. â€Å"Hurry!† They were flying down the hill, staggering onto the wharf. Rashel saw no sign of the werewolf she'd tied up earlier, but she saw something else new. An inflatable red dinghy was tied to the pier. â€Å"Quick! You get in first.† Rashel put Timmy down and got in. Quinn lifted Timmy into her arms, then put Nyala in. Nyala was staring around her now, laughing in spurts, then stopping to breathe hard. Rashel put her free arm around her as Quinn climbed in the dinghy. Every second, Rashel was expecting to see Hunter Redfern appear, blackened and smoldering, with his arms outstretched like some vengeful demon. And then the tiny motor was purring and they were moving away from the wharf. They were leaving it behind. They were on the ocean, the cool dark ocean, freeing themselves from land and danger. Rashel watched as the yacht got bigger and bigger. They were close to it now. They were there. â€Å"Come on. We can climb up the swimming ladder. Come on, fast,† Quinn said. He was reaching for her, his face unfamiliar in a mask of soot, his eyes intense. Absolutely focused, absolutely determined. Thank God he knows what to do on a boat. I wouldn't. She let Quinn help her up the ladder, then helped Timmy and Nyala. Nyala had stopped laughing entirely now. She was simply gasping, looking bewildered. â€Å"What happened? What-?† She stared toward the cliffs where orange flame was shooting into the sky. â€Å"I did that. Did I do that?† Quinn had pulled up the anchor. He was heading for the cockpit. Timmy was crying. Kneeling on the deck, Rashel held Nyala. Nyala's eyelashes were burned to crisp curls. There was white ash on the ends. Her mouth was trembling and her body shook as if she were having convulsions. â€Å"I had to do it,† she got out in a thick voice. â€Å"You know I had to, Rashel.† Timmy sobbed on. A motor roared to life. All at once they were moving swiftly and the island with its burning torch was falling behind. â€Å"I had to,† Nyala said in a choked voice. â€Å"I had to. I had to.† Rashel leaned to rest her head on Nyala's hair. Wind was whipping around her as they raced away. She held the tiny vampire in one arm and the trembling human girl in the other. And she watched the fire get smaller and smaller until it looked like a star on the ocean.

How the study of stylistics can help improve one’s English Language Essay

Write an essay that discusses how the study of stylistics/language in literature can help improve one’s English language. (1500-2000 words) To answer the question of how stylistics improves one’s English language is to understand the question itself. The word ‘improves’ in the question entails that the person or student already has at least a basic knowledge and understanding of the English Language and he/she wants to make that knowledge better. There are many disciplines that learners of the English language can venture into to help them improve their literacy competence. One of those aforementioned disciplines is in fact: The study of language in literature or Stylistics. Hence, this is where stylistics as a branch of study from the main trunk of the English Language and Literature tree plays an alternative role in enhancing one’s English Language capabilities. This paper will attempt to explain the logics of how stylistics can help in improving students’ English with an analogy. Studying stylistics is just like the process of language learning and the subsequent discipline that comes with it. Language learning is particularly challenging for most people especially to those who are trying to acquire it at a later age. Just like any other language, the English Language requires the learner to read English books extensively, try their level best to understand the language with the help of teachers and dictionaries, and practice speaking the language as much as he/she can. In regards to this essay, there are several ways how the study of stylistics can help improve students’ English language. Firstly, stylistics enriches students’ ways of thinking about language. Secondly, it improves their skills of English and finally, stylistics propels students’ to act as a linguist and literary critic at the same time which in turn make them competent users of the language. Before diving into the content, one needs to comprehend the definition of stylistics first. Stylistics is understood as that part of linguistics, as Turner describes in Stylistics (1975), which concentrates on variation in the most conscious and complex uses of language in literature. According to A.J. Jassim, it is possible to say that stylistics means the study of literary discourse from a linguistic orientation which offers an area of contact between literary criticism and linguistics. Therefore one can define operationally that, the word â€Å"stylistics† is basically made up of the  components of â€Å"style† and â€Å"–istics† and that â€Å"style† refers to literary criticism and â€Å"–istics† refers the general make-up for the linguistic component of the study (2006). Now, moving onto the discussions, firstly, stylistics enriches students’ ways of thinking about language. It is universally acknowledged that language s erves many functions and one of it is to communicate meaningful expressions. In written text, language is seen, as Eifring and Theil asserts, a communicative system based upon words and the combination of words into sentences and this is known as linguistic communication (2005). One way how stylistics specifically plays a role in enriching students’ ways of thinking about language is for example, when poets write poetry, they are not writing it without their active consciousness of language. Sometimes, they deliberately incorporate deviations and parallelism in their works to serve a specific function. Through this ‘unconventional’ use of language, they are attempting to convey a deeper meaning within the text and most â€Å"Stylisticians† argue that only through stylistics, these literary devices can be observed, analysed and understood. Where some advocate extensive or authentic reading almost for its own sake, Hall explains (2007), as a result of which the language will be absorbed, the advocate of stylistics as a means to develo p language proficiency is committed to the value of conscious attention to details of linguistic features ‘foregrounded’ in a text, whether through ‘deviance’ of some kind, or simply as the consequence of repetitions, parallelism or other such salient patternings seen to contribute significantly to meaning. Students in turn become more sensitive in utilizing English especially when attempting to read and comprehend literature better. Secondly, stylistics improves students’ skills of the English Language. This is because in order to apply stylistic analysis or criticism on a literary text, students need to first master the language from the onset. This entails that students need to, as mentioned earlier, read extensively which in turn heightens their vocabulary and mental lexicon. They also need to understand the language very well; especially in regards to grammar and tenses. For all the arguments that are presented, it is rightfully so that students need to be competent users of the English Language so that they can apply their knowledge of grammar and lexicon in interpreting literary texts. This is because according to Katie Wales in A Dictionary of Stylistics (1990), the  goal of most stylistics is not simply to describe the formal features of texts for their own sake, but in order to show their functional significance for the interpretation of the text; or in order to relate literary effects to linguistic ’causes’ where these are felt to be relevant. This means the knowledge of grammar and tenses are very important elements for the student to get a strong grasp on because in some poetry, poets intentionally use deviations to foreground important features in their works. Researchers such as Van Peer (1986) have found that readers [or students] do indeed pick up on the smallest details of a text and use them to construct meaningful interpretations. A good example can be seen in the stylistic analysis of ‘(listen)’ taken from E. E. Cummings’ 1964 collection 73 Poems, of which it is number 63. The poem ‘(listen)’ is typical of Cummings’ style and contains striking irregularities of form in comparison to ‘traditional’ poetry. There is a high probability to those reading this poem, whom are not partial towards stylistics, will consider it as a complete mess and an overall ‘bad’ piece of poetry because of the strange use of punctuation and the seemingly odd structure of particular phrases. An excerpt of the poem is displayed below: (listen) this a dog barks and how crazily houses eyes people smiles faces streets steeples are eagerly tumbl ing through wonder ful sunlight – look – selves,stir:writhe o-p-e-n-i-n-g(line 1-12) One of the reasons for Cummings’ use of deviation is not simply for shock value, as Shaikh debates, and the linguistic choices he makes are by no means arbitrary (2012). In the past, some critics have even disregarded his  eccentric use of language, claiming that it is of no interpretative significance. What these critics overlooked and not aware of is that one will be able to explore and experience the beauty and depth of the poem hidden within the ‘mess’ once they apply stylistic criticism unto it. ‘(listen)’ is not a, for the most part, difficult poem to analyse in terms of the complexity of the subject matter. It is the process of making sense of the grammatical ‘mess’ in the text that is the sole source of ‘headache’. What is most challenging is to relate the various atypical stylistic features that Cummings’ has chosen to use to one’s overall interpretation of the text. Finally, stylistics propels studen ts to act as both linguists and literary critics at the same time. In fact, the purpose of stylistics is to be the bridge of linking the two disciplines: linguistics and literary criticism. Nevertheless, it is rather unfortunate as McIntyre (2012) states that since the emergence in the 1960s of English Language as a university subject in its own right, the relationship between the study of literature and the study of language has often been one of bitter rivalry (p. 1). Experts in the literary field criticize against the ‘cold’, ‘scientific’ approach that is adopted by linguistic scholars in their analysis of literary texts. At the same time, similar critical judgements are imposed by linguistic scholars towards literary experts because they are too subjective and vague in the analyses they produce. Despite the feud between the clashes of these two spheres of language studies, there lies exquisiteness when one can merge the two fields and use their respective theories and means of analyses to understand a literary text well . Since stylistics is neither pure linguistics nor sheer literary criticism, a stylistician is, thus, intended to act possibly as a linguist and as a literary critic as well. To link both, the job of the linguist and that of the literary critic, stylistics emerges as a connective means to demonstrate how the linguistic elements act significantly in a text to produce a communicable message. The function of stylistics is to help the reader stimulate, the significance of a literary text by analysing the interrelations between its linguistic items. This approach is essentially selective. It aims to identify the stylistically significant, or stylistically distinctive, features in a literary text and to study their function in the text as a whole. Stylistics occupies the middle ground between linguistics and literary criticism and  its function is to mediate between the two. In this role, its concerns necessarily overlap with those of the two disciplines. It is for this reason that stylistic analysis shades indiscernibly into literary appreciation. Therefore, literary analysis seeks the assistance of stylistic analysis which is of a complementary nature to it. Stylistic analysis usually seeks to identify what stimulates and guides the reader or listener in the literary work. But there is no specific and restricted technique to follow (Fairly, 1979). Despite it all, this act of propelling one to act as both linguist and literary critic stretches his or her potential to the maximum towards being a very competent user of English language hence whether they like it or not, it will improve their English. One needs practice a great deal so that they get the stylistic analysis On the grounds of how learning language is similar to how learning stylistics help can improve one’s Englis, as reiterated throughout this paper, both disciplines require the students to read extensively, understand and practice the skill in order to improve their language competency. In conclusion, with all the arguments which is presented in the above discussions, stylistics does help in improving one’s or students’ English language. Firstly, stylistics enriches students’ ways of thinking about language. Secondly, it improves their basic skills of the language and finally, stylistics propels students’ to act as a linguist and literary critic at the same time which in turn make them competent users of the English language. Students especially can use stylistics to sustain and defend an interpretation of a poem, or any literary texts for instance, and they can also use stylistics to highlight elements of a poem that we might otherwise fail to notice . References Abdul Jalil Jassim Hejal (2006) Stylistics : A contact between Linguistics and Literary Criticism. J. of Col. of Basic Education. Pdf. Web. Retrieved from: http://www.iasj.net/iasj?func=fulltext&aId=69572 Eifring, Halvor & Theil, Rolf (2005). Linguistics for Students of Asian and African Languages. Pdf. Web. Retrieved from : http://www.uio.no/ Fairly, Irene R. (1979). â€Å"Experimental Approaches to Language in Literature: Reader Responses to Poems† in Style. Vol. 13 , no . 4 . Hall, Geoff. (2007) Stylistics in Second Language Contexts: A Critical Perspective. Palgrave Macmillan, New York Wales, Katie. A Dictionary of Stylistics. London: Longman, 1990. McIntyre, D. (2012). Linguistics and literature: stylistics as a tool for the literary critic (Vol. 1, pp. 1-11). SRC Working Papers. Naushad Umarsharif Shaikh. (2011) Role of Stylistics in Learning English as a Second Language. Pdf. Web. Retrieved from: http://www.languageinindia.com/aug2011/naushadstylisticslanguagelearning.pdf Turner , G.W. (1975). Stylistics. Benguin Books. London.