Critique on Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read Essay Example

Critique on Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read Essay Example Critique on Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read Paper Critique on Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read Paper Francine Prose, â€Å"I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read† â€Å"I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read† Essay Introduction In Francine Prose’s â€Å"I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read: How American High School Students Learn to Loathe Literature†, the author is trying to explain why high school students are not asked to read more quality pieces of literature now a days. In my opinion I agree with Prose because I think the texts we read in high school are not challenging and not a lot of students enjoy the readings because they cannot relate. Prose uses the rhetorical strategy of degrading the books high school students are reading and she uses her own personal experiences to support her argument. Literature in high schools Throughout the essay, Prose argues that literature in high schools are dumbing down the English curriculum. She says books that are â€Å"chosen for students to read are for ‘obvious lessons. ’† However, Prose does not mention â€Å"great† books that students should read and that will help them to understand what the characters are feeling. â€Å"†¦The weaker novels of John Steinbeck, the fantasies of Ray Bradbury,† (424). Prose explains how her sons never read the better of Steinbeck’s novels in high school and she makes the assumption that all high school students read the so-called weaker Steinbeck novels. English curriculum issue She also makes an argument that the English curriculum is an important issue both culturally and politically. If both the teachers and books are not challenging the young students minds, then how can we expect them to understand challenging books. â€Å"We hear the more books are being bought and sold than ever before, yet no one, as far as I know, is arguing that we are producing and becoming a nation of avid readers of serious literature† (423). Again, Prose brings up her own personal experience and what she has heard. From what she has heard, people today are not reading â€Å"serious† literature. She does not even go to defend her argument and further explain what she means by â€Å"serious literature† and â€Å"avid readers. † The first point that Prose makes in her essay is that she is not satisfied with her two sons’ educations. Prose is the kind of person who has a huge passion for good books and she finds herself â€Å"appalled each year by the dismal lists of texts that my sons are doomed to waste a school year reading,† (422). She does not understand why the older and well-known authors are not being read in high school. Prose uses a personal experience from her son’s sophomore English class. He had to read a â€Å"weeper and former bestseller by Judith Guest† (424), about a dysfunctional family dealing with a teenage son’s suicide attempt. â€Å"No instructor has ever asked my sons to read Alice Munro, who writes so lucidly and beautifully about the hypersensitivity that makes adolescence a hell,†(424). She again mentions books she approves of that should be read in English classes. Another big point in Prose’s essay is the assignments associated with high school literature. Role of the teacher She argues that teachers make students write around the books and not about the books they read. â€Å"No wonder students are rarely asked to consider what was actually written by these hopeless racists and sociopaths. Instead, they’re told to write around the book, or, better yet, write their own books,† (430). The assignments that teachers give these days are nto about the book or the story itself. They usually ask the student to rewrite the ending, or ask what the student would do if they were in the same situation as the character. Prose argues that high school students are seen as having the same experience as some of the characters they read about, such as Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby. â€Å"And is it any wonder that teenagers should complete these exercise with little but contempt for the writer who so pointlessly complicated and obfuscated a personal true story that sixteen year olds could have told so much more interestingly themselves? † (431). However, in this part of her essay, Prose can get a little bias because she only talks about the negative assignments. Books should only be discussed for their language We all know that not all high school assignments are like the ones she mentions and she knows that too. The last point in Prose’s argument is that she only talks about that books should only be discussed for their language. This is one point where I disagree with her because I think that books can be discussed for their value as well as their language. Prose thinks that, â€Å"The present vogue for teaching â€Å"values† through literature uses the novel as a springboard for the sort of discussion formerly conducted in civics or ethics classes,†(427). I do not agree with this statement because not all high schools are able to offer civics classes. My high school, for example, did have a civics class but it was more driven towards the History end than English literature classes. So the only place for values in literature be discussed was during English class. Also, English class should not only be about the language. Students should learn the value of the story also through discussion and assignments. â€Å"I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read† Essay Conclusion In conclusion, Francine Prose does have a couple of good arguments in her paper, â€Å"I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read: How American High School Students Learn to Loathe Literature†. She argues her opinion that students in high school English classes are not getting good education because of the weak pieces of literature they are reading. Prose however, can be a little bias and bases to much of her essay on her personal experiences. Prose, Francine. â€Å"I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read: How American High School students Learn to Loathe Literature. † Harper’s Magazine. 1999: 422-435. Print

A Complete List of John Grisham Books

A Complete List of John Grisham Books John Grisham is a master of legal thrillers; his novels have captured the attention of millions of readers, from adults to teens. In three decades he has written nearly one book per year and a number of those have been adapted into popular movies. From his debut novel A Time to Kill to the 2017  release of Camino Island, Grishams books are nothing short of captivating. Over the years, he branched out from legal stories as well. His complete list of published books includes stories about sports as well as non-fiction. Its a compelling body of literature and if youve missed one or two books, youll definitely want to catch up. Lawyer Turned Best-Selling Author John Grisham was working as a criminal defense attorney in Southaven, Mississippi when he wrote his first novel. A Time to Kill, based on an actual court case that dealt with racial issues in the South. It enjoyed modest success. He entered politics, serving in the state legislature on the Democratic ticket and began writing his second novel. It was not Grishams intent to leave law and politics to become a published author, but the runaway success of his second endeavor The Firm changed his mind. Grisham quickly became a prolific best-selling author. In addition to novels, he has published short stories, nonfiction, and young adult books.   Grisham Captures Mainstream Readers From  1989-2000 Few new writers have exploded onto the literary scene like John Grisham. The Firm became the top-selling book of 1991 and was on The New York Times bestseller list for nearly 50 weeks. In 1993, it was made into the first of many movies based on Grishams novels. From The Pelican Brief through The Brethren, Grisham continued to produce legal thrillers at the rate of about one per year. He tapped into his experience as a lawyer to create characters who faced moral dilemmas and dangerous situations. During the first decade of his work, he produced several novels that were eventually made into major big-screen films. These include Pelican Brief in 1993; The Client in 1994; A Time to Kill in 1996; The Chamber in 1996; and The Rainmaker in 1997. 1989 - A Time to Kill1991 - The Firm1992 - The Pelican Brief1993 - The Client1994 - The Chamber1995 - The Rainmaker1996 - The Runaway Jury1997 - The Partner1998 - The Street Lawyer1999 - The Testament2000 - The Brethren Grisham Branches Out From  2001-2010 As the best-selling author entered his second decade of writing, he stepped back from his legal thrillers to examine other genres. A Painted House is a small town mystery. Skipping Christmas is about a family that decides to skip Christmas. He also examined his interest in sports with Bleachers, which tells the story of a high school football star returning to his hometown after his coach dies. The theme continued in Playing for Pizza, a story about an American playing football in Italy. In 2010, Grisham introduced Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer to middle school readers. This book about a kid lawyer successfully launched an entire series centered around the main character. It introduced the author to younger readers who are likely to become lifelong fans. Also in this decade, Grisham released Ford County, his first collection of short stories and The Innocent Man, his first nonfiction book about an innocent man on death row.  Not to turn his back on his dedicated fans, he rounded out this time with several legal thrillers as well. 2001 - A Painted House2001 - Skipping Christmas2002 - The Summons2003 - The King of Torts2003 - Bleachers2004 - The Last Juror2005 - The Broker2006 - The Innocent Man2007 - Playing for Pizza2008 - The Appeal2009 - The Associate2009 - Ford County (short stories)2010 - Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer2010 - The Confession 2011 to Present: Grisham Revisits Past Successes Following the success of the first Theodore Boone book, Grisham followed up with five more books in the popular series. In Sycamore Row, a sequel to A Time to Kill, Grisham brought back protagonist Jake Brigance and key supporting characters Lucien Wilbanks and Harry Rex Vonner. He continued his policy of writing one legal thriller a year and threw in a couple of short stories and a baseball novel called Calico Joe for good measure.   Grishams 30th book was released in 2017 and titled Camino Island. Another intriguing crime novel, the story centers around stolen F Scott Fitzgerald manuscripts. Between a young, enthusiastic writer, the FBI, and a secret agency, the investigation tries to track down these handwritten documents on the black market. 2011 - Theodore Boone: The Abduction2011 - The Litigators2012 - Theodore Boone: The Accused2012 - Calico Joe2012 - The Racketeer2013 - Theodore Boone: The Activist2013 - Sycamore Row2014 - Gray Mountain2015 - Theodore Boone: The Fugitive2015 - Rogue Lawyer2016 - Partners (a Rogue Lawyer short story)2016 - Theodore Boone: The Scandal2016 - Witness to a Trial (a digital short story)2016 - The Whistler2017 - Camino Island

PHILOSOPHY AND TRADITIONS IN MANAGAMENT RESEARCH Assignment

PHILOSOPHY AND TRADITIONS IN MANAGAMENT RESEARCH - Assignment Example Despite these assumptions of agent control and responsibility, human social, political, and economic aspects make business hardly imaginable. In this paper, I will critically evaluate some of the major business operations and use them in gauging whether they are free will, are there alternatives or simply not free at all. The organization’s operations include a firm’s establishments, finances, employees-boss relationship, public relations, the firm’s disciplinary, success, and moral responsibilities Before critically analyzing a firm, the firm must have started somewhere. Someone must have conceptualized the idea before making it real. Thus, the question is whether the entrepreneur or business owner started the firm out of free will or not. One definition of â€Å"free will† is that, it is means of fulfilling a certain desire through a selected line of action (OConnor, 2002). In such a scenario then, the entrepreneur’s choice to start a firm is free will when he/she accepts the notion. Thus, such endeavors also cement the idea of genuine will. Therefore, from a genuine free-will position, the entrepreneur can have done otherwise, but the â€Å"free will† aspect influences his/her decisions (Fiese, 2009). However, from the agent causal theory, one philosopher David Hume, holds that our preferences and decisions are results of other proceedings in the brain’s desires, beliefs, favorites, feelings, and so forth (OConnor, 2002). Therefore, regarding this theory it is clear that something informed the entrepreneur’s choice for the business and the decision to start a firm. For instance, the innate desires for best business outcomes such as profits, fame and riches and stability form the major determinants influencing an individual’s decisions about forming a company. Once a firm develops and manufactures products, an enormous task of

I attaced all information below.(file) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

I attaced all information below.(file) - Essay Example As such, this article discusses community from the perspective of a nation-state. The second article evaluates the notion of power and its influence on individuals as they move up the organizational ladder. The article contradicts the suggestions of the 16th century philosopher, Machiavelli, who suggested that a leader should prefer dominance and fear to love in the course of attaining eminence. The third article suggests that property rights in America have diminished people’s freedom. Using the arguments of Rousseau over issues such as property rights and individuality, the article’s author highlights the fact that these rights have enhanced people’s greed thereby diminishing the good for the society (i.e., a nation-state). Aristotle was a firm believer in democracy and maintained that a nation was supposed to based on a constitution that catered to the aspirations of the middle classes. In his philosophical work titled ‘Politics’, Aristotle says the following about democracy (Aristotle, 1977): Thus, social justice according to Aristotle was applicable to all peoples who were unqualifiedly equal. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), which was passed in 2010, is an attempt in this direction by the Obama administration at delivering healthcare to poor and middle-class Americans (especially those without adequate medical insurance) and ensuring that more funds are allocated towards providing universal healthcare. Jonah Lehrer compares the recent events in Hewlett Packard with regards to the downfall of its CEO (Chief Executive Officer) against the principles suggested by Machiavelli on leadership and observes that his teachings do not find any place in the modern context. In today’s organizational structures where a single person no longer holds absolute power, the author found that

I Know What You Did Last Summer :: essays research papers

1) Julie, Ray, Helen, and Barry are four close friends, Julie and Ray being a couple and Barry and Helen also being one. Being high school students, they went late one night up to a clearing in the forest to hang out. When driving home, they had been a little drunk and were still kissing, they ran over a ten year old kid, David Gregg, who was riding a bicycle. Ray had been driving. The four kept driving until they reached a telephone, where an anonymous ambulance was called for help for the child. The four formed a pact as to keep the incident between them and not to anyone else. Julie and Ray had been against it, but agreed and made it. After that happened, Julie and Ray isolated themselves from the rest of the group. Julie, normally a highly school activity involved social girl, turned to studying and working hard for her senior year, having a new boyfriend named Bud. Ray totally fled the scene, moving to be carefree in California for a year. Helen and Barry remained a couple, Bar ry going to the local University and Helen being the channel 5 Golden Girl, or weather reporter. The real plot of the story begins with Julie receiving a note at home simply stating: â€Å"I know what you did last summer.† She gets upset over it and after not talking to her for a year since the incident, calls Helen to talk to her. Helen arranges a meeting for the three, but they all convince each other that it was just a kid pulling a prank. That blows over until Ray finally shows up, and upon finding an apartment, is mailed the article about the incident. Ray and Julie take a drive to talk about the note and article, and Julie convinces Ray to take her to see David’s parents. Not confess, just meet and ask about. They arrived at the house and rung the doorbell a few times, only to meet Megan, the sister of David. She told Julie, while Ray was off â€Å"calling for help for their car†, that David’s mother was put in a hospital due to an unstable mental s tate, her father staying by her side. Her older brother was off and out of the house. Anyway, as they left, Ray notes that Megan was hanging up men’s shirts to dry and the house’s paint looked fairly new – and in places that Megan, who was short, couldn’t reach, even with a ladder.

A Game of Thrones Chapter Forty-one

Jon You are as hopeless as any boys I have ever trained,† Ser Alliser Thorne announced when they had all assembled in the yard. â€Å"Your hands were made for manure shovels, not for swords, and if it were up to me, the lot of you would be set to herding swine. But last night I was told that Gueren is marching five new boys up the kingsroad. One or two may even be worth the price of piss. To make room for them, I have decided to pass eight of you on to the Lord Commander to do with as he will.† He called out the names one by one. â€Å"Toad. Stone Head. Aurochs. Lover. Pimple. Monkey. Ser Loon.† Last, he looked at Jon. â€Å"And the Bastard.† Pyp let fly a whoop and thrust his sword into the air. Ser Alliser fixed him with a reptile stare. â€Å"They will call you men of Night's Watch now, but you are bigger fools than the Mummer's Monkey here if you believe that. You are boys still, green and stinking of summer, and when the winter comes you will die like flies.† And with that, Ser Alliser Thorne took his leave of them. The other boys gathered round the eight who had been named, laughing and cursing and offering congratulations. Halder smacked Toad on the butt with the flat of his sword and shouted, â€Å"Toad, of the Night's Watch!† Yelling that a black brother needed a horse, Pyp leapt onto Grenn's shoulders, and they tumbled to the ground, rolling and punching and hooting. Dareon dashed inside the armory and returned with a skin of sour red. As they passed the wine from hand to hand, grinning like fools, Jon noticed Samwell Tarly standing by himself beneath a bare dead tree in the corner of the yard. Jon offered him the skin. â€Å"A swallow of wine?† Sam shook his head. â€Å"No thank you, Jon.† â€Å"Are you well?† â€Å"Very well, truly,† the fat boy lied. â€Å"I am so happy for you all.† His round face quivered as he forced a smile. â€Å"You will be First Ranger someday, just as your uncle was.† â€Å"Is,† Jon corrected. He would not accept that Benjen Stark was dead. Before he could say more, Haider cried, â€Å"Here, you planning to drink that all yourself?† Pyp snatched the skin from his hand and danced away, laughing. While Grenn seized his arm, Pyp gave the skin a squeeze, and a thin stream of red squirted Jon in the face. Haider howled in protest at the waste of good wine. Jon sputtered and struggled. Matthar and Jeren climbed the wall and began pelting them all with snowballs. By the time he wrenched free, with snow in his hair and wine stains on his surcoat, Samwell Tarly had gone. That night, Three-Finger Hobb cooked the boys a special meal to mark the occasion. When Jon arrived at the common hall, the Lord Steward himself led him to the bench near the fire. The older men clapped him on the arm in passing. The eight soon-to-be brothers feasted on rack of lamb baked in a crust of garlic and herbs, garnished with sprigs of mint, and surrounded by mashed yellow turnips swimming in butter. â€Å"From the Lord Commander's own table,† Bowen Marsh told them. There were salads of spinach and chickpeas and turnip greens, and afterward bowls of iced blueberries and sweet cream. â€Å"Do you think they'll keep us together?† Pyp wondered as they gorged themselves happily. Toad made a face. â€Å"I hope not. I'm sick of looking at those ears of yours.† â€Å"Ho,† said Pyp. â€Å"Listen to the crow call the raven black. You're certain to be a ranger, Toad. They'll want you as far from the castle as they can. If Mance Rayder attacks, lift your visor and show your face, and he'll run off screaming.† Everyone laughed but Grenn. â€Å"I hope I'm a ranger.† â€Å"You and everyone else,† said Matthar. Every man who wore the black walked the Wall, and every man was expected to take up steel in its defense, but the rangers were the true fighting heart of the Night's Watch. It was they who dared ride beyond the Wall, sweeping through the haunted forest and the icy mountain heights west of the Shadow Tower, fighting wildlings and giants and monstrous snow bears. â€Å"Not everyone,† said Halder. â€Å"It's the builders for me. What use would rangers be if the Wall fell down?† The order of builders provided the masons and carpenters to repair keeps and towers, the miners to dig tunnels and crush stone for roads and footpaths, the woodsmen to clear away new growth wherever the forest pressed too close to the Wall. Once, it was said, they had quarried immense blocks of ice from frozen lakes deep in the haunted forest, dragging them south on sledges so the Wall might be raised ever higher. Those days were centuries gone, however; now, it was all they could do to ride the Wall from Eastwatch to the Shadow Tower, watching for cracks or signs of melt and making what repairs they could. â€Å"The Old Bear's no fool,† Dareon observed. â€Å"You're certain to be a builder, and Jon's certain to be a ranger. He's the best sword and the best rider among us, and his uncle was the First before he . . . † His voice trailed off awkwardly as he realized what he had almost said. â€Å"Benjen Stark is still First Ranger,† Jon Snow told him, toying with his bowl of blueberries. The rest might have given up all hope of his uncle's safe return, but not him. He pushed away the berries, scarcely touched, and rose from the bench. â€Å"Aren't you going to eat those?† Toad asked. â€Å"They're yours.† Jon had hardly tasted Hobb's great feast. â€Å"I could not eat another bite.† He took his cloak from its hook near the door and shouldered his way out. Pyp followed him. â€Å"Jon, what is it?† â€Å"Sam,† he admitted. â€Å"He was not at table tonight.† â€Å"It's not like him to miss a meal,† Pyp said thoughtfully. â€Å"Do you suppose he's taken ill?† â€Å"He's frightened. We're leaving him.† He remembered the day he had left Winterfell, all the bittersweet farewells; Bran lying broken, Robb with snow in his hair, Arya raining kisses on him after he'd given her Needle. â€Å"Once we say our words, we'll all have duties to attend to. Some of us may be sent away, to Eastwatch or the Shadow Tower. Sam will remain in training, with the likes of Rast and Cuger and these new boys who are coming up the kingsroad. Gods only know what they'll be like, but you can bet Ser Alliser will send them against him, first chance he gets.† Pyp made a grimace. â€Å"You did all you could.† â€Å"All we could wasn't enough,† Jon said. A deep restlessness was on him as he went back to Hardin's Tower for Ghost. The direwolf walked beside him to the stables. Some of the more skittish horses kicked at their stalls and laid back their ears as they entered. Jon saddled his mare, mounted, and rode out from Castle Black, south across the moonlit night. Ghost raced ahead of him, flying over the ground, gone in the blink of an eye. Jon let him go. A wolf needed to hunt. He had no destination in mind. He wanted only to ride. He followed the creek for a time, listening to the icy trickle of water over rock, then cut across the fields to the kingsroad. It stretched out before him, narrow and stony and pocked with weeds, a road of no particular promise, yet the sight of it filled Jon Snow with a vast longing. Winterfell was down that road, and beyond it Riverrun and King's Landing and the Eyrie and so many other places; Casterly Rock, the Isle of Faces, the red mountains of Dorne, the hundred islands of Braavos in the sea, the smoking ruins of old Valyria. All the places that Jon would never see. The world was down that road . . . and he was here. Once he swore his vow, the Wall would be his home until he was old as Maester Aemon. â€Å"I have not sworn yet,† he muttered. He was no outlaw, bound to take the black or pay the penalty for his crimes. He had come here freely, and he might leave freely . . . until he said the words. He need only ride on, and he could leave it all behind. By the time the moon was full again, he would be back in Winterfell with his brothers. Your half brothers, a voice inside reminded him. And Lady Stark, who will not welcome you. There was no place for him in Winterfell, no place in King's Landing either. Even his own mother had not had a place for him. The thought of her made him sad. He wondered who she had been, what she had looked like, why his father had left her. Because she was a whore or an adulteress, fool. Something dark and dishonorable, or else why was Lord Eddard too ashamed to speak of her? Jon Snow turned away from the kingsroad to look behind him. The fires of Castle Black were hidden behind a hill, but the Wall was there, pale beneath the moon, vast and cold, running from horizon to horizon. He wheeled his horse around and started for home. Ghost returned as he crested a rise and saw the distant glow of lamplight from the Lord Commander's Tower. The direwolf s muzzle was red with blood as he trotted beside the horse. Jon found himself thinking of Samwell Tarly again on the ride back. By the time he reached the stables, he knew what he must do. Maester Aemon's apartments were in a stout wooden keep below the rookery. Aged and frail, the maester shared his chambers with two of the younger stewards, who tended to his needs and helped him in his duties. The brothers joked that he had been given the two ugliest men in the Night's Watch; being blind, he was spared having to look at them. Clydas was short, bald, and chinless, with small pink eyes like a mole. Chett had a wen on his neck the size of a pigeon's egg, and a face red with boils and pimples. Perhaps that was why he always seemed so angry. It was Chett who answered Jon's knock. â€Å"I need to speak to Maester Aemon,† Jon told him. â€Å"The maester is abed, as you should be. Come back on the morrow and maybe he'll see you.† He began to shut the door. Jon jammed it open with his boot. â€Å"I need to speak to him now. The morning will be too late.† Chett scowled. â€Å"The maester is not accustomed to being woken in the night. Do you know how old he is?† â€Å"Old enough to treat visitors with more courtesy than you,† Jon said. â€Å"Give him my pardons. I would not disturb his rest if it were not important.† â€Å"And if I refuse?† Jon had his boot wedged solidly in the door. â€Å"I can stand here all night if I must.† The black brother made a disgusted noise and opened the door to admit him. â€Å"Wait in the library. There's wood. Start a fire. I won't have the maester catching a chill on account of you.† Jon had the logs crackling merrily by the time Chett led in Maester Aemon. The old man was clad in his bed robe, but around his throat was the chain collar of his order. A maester did not remove it even to sleep. â€Å"The chair beside the fire would be pleasant,† he said when he felt the warmth on his face. When he was settled comfortably, Chett covered his legs with a fur and went to stand by the door. â€Å"I am sorry to have woken you, Maester,† Jon Snow said. â€Å"You did not wake me,† Maester Aemon replied. â€Å"I find I need less sleep as I grow older, and I am grown very old. I often spend half the night with ghosts, remembering times fifty years past as if they were yesterday. The mystery of a midnight visitor is a welcome persion. So tell me, Jon Snow, why have you come calling at this strange hour?† â€Å"To ask that Samwell Tarly be taken from training and accepted as a brother of the Night's Watch.† â€Å"This is no concern of Maester Aemon,† Chett complained. â€Å"Our Lord Commander has given the training of recruits into the hands of Ser Alliser Thorne,† the maester said gently. â€Å"Only he may say when a boy is ready to swear his vow, as you surely know. Why then come to me?† â€Å"The Lord Commander listens to you,† Jon told him. â€Å"And the wounded and the sick of the Night's Watch are in your charge.† â€Å"And is your friend Samwell wounded or sick?† â€Å"He will be,† Jon promised, â€Å"unless you help.† He told them all of it, even the part where he'd set Ghost at Rast's throat. Maester Aemon listened silently, blind eyes fixed on the fire, but Chett's face darkened with each word. â€Å"Without us to keep him safe, Sam will have no chance,† Jon finished. â€Å"He's hopeless with a sword. My sister Arya could tear him apart, and she's not yet ten. If Ser Alliser makes him fight, it's only a matter of time before he's hurt or killed.† Chett could stand no more. â€Å"I've seen this fat boy in the common hall,† he said. â€Å"He is a pig, and a hopeless craven as well, if what you say is true.† â€Å"Maybe it is so,† Maester Aemon said. â€Å"Tell me, Chett, what would you have us do with such a boy?† â€Å"Leave him where he is,† Chett said. â€Å"The Wall is no place for the weak. Let him train until he is ready, no matter how many years that takes. Ser Alliser shall make a man of him or kill him, as the gods will.† â€Å"That's stupid,† Jon said. He took a deep breath to gather his thoughts. â€Å"I remember once I asked Maester Luwin why he wore a chain around his throat.† Maester Aemon touched his own collar lightly, his bony, wrinkled finger stroking the heavy metal links. â€Å"Go on.† â€Å"He told me that a maester's collar is made of chain to remind him that he is sworn to serve,† Jon said, remembering. â€Å"I asked why each link was a different metal. A silver chain would look much finer with his grey robes, I said. Maester Luwin laughed. A maester forges his chain with study, he told me. The different metals are each a different kind of learning, gold for the study of money and accounts, silver for healing, iron for warcraft. And he said there were other meanings as well. The collar is supposed to remind a maester of the realm he serves, isn't that so? Lords are gold and knights steel, but two links can't make a chain. You also need silver and iron and lead, tin and copper and bronze and all the rest, and those are farmers and smiths and merchants and the like. A chain needs all sorts of metals, and a land needs all sorts of people.† Maester Aemon smiled. â€Å"And so?† â€Å"The Night's Watch needs all sorts too. Why else have rangers and stewards and builders? Lord Randyll couldn't make Sam a warrior, and Ser Alliser won't either. You can't hammer tin into iron, no matter how hard you beat it, but that doesn't mean tin is useless. Why shouldn't Sam be a steward?† Chett gave an angry scowl. â€Å"I'm a steward. You think it's easy work, fit for cowards? The order of stewards keeps the Watch alive. We hunt and farm, tend the horses, milk the cows, gather firewood, cook the meals. Who do you think makes your clothing? Who brings up supplies from the south? The stewards.† Maester Aemon was gentler. â€Å"Is your friend a hunter?† â€Å"He hates hunting,† Jon had to admit. â€Å"Can he plow a field?† the maester asked. â€Å"Can he drive a wagon or sail a ship? Could he butcher a cow?† â€Å"No.† Chett gave a nasty laugh. â€Å"I've seen what happens to soft lordlings when they're put to work. Set them to churning butter and their hands blister and bleed. Give them an axe to split logs, and they cut off their own foot.† â€Å"I know one thing Sam could do better than anyone.† â€Å"Yes?† Maester Aemon prompted. Jon glanced warily at Chett, standing beside the door, his boils red and angry. â€Å"He could help you,† he said quickly. â€Å"He can do sums, and he knows how to read and write. I know Chett can't read, and Clydas has weak eyes. Sam read every book in his father's library. He'd be good with the ravens too. Animals seem to like him. Ghost took to him straight off. There's a lot he could do, besides fighting. The Night's Watch needs every man. Why kill one, to no end? Make use of him instead.† Maester Aemon closed his eyes, and for a brief moment Jon was afraid that he had gone to sleep. Finally he said, â€Å"Maester Luwin taught you well, Jon Snow. Your mind is as deft as your blade, it would seem.† â€Å"Does that mean . . . â€Å" â€Å"It means I shall think on what you have said,† the maester told him firmly. â€Å"And now, I believe I am ready to sleep. Chett, show our young brother to the door.†

Cloture Defintion - Senate Rule to Break a Filibuster

Cloture is a procedure used occasionally in the U.S. Senate to break a filibuster. Cloture, or Rule 22, is the only formal procedure in Senate parliamentary rules, in fact, that can force an end to the stalling tactic. It allows the Senate to limit consideration of a pending matter to 30 additional hours of debate. Cloture History The Senate first adopted the cloture rule in 1917 after President Woodrow Wilson called for the implementation of a procedure to end debate on any given matter. The first cloture rule allowed for such a move with the support of a two-thirds majority in the upper chamber of Congress. Cloture was first used two years later, in 1919, when the Senate was debating the Treaty of Versailles, the peace agreement between Germany and the Allied Powers that officially ended World War I. Lawmakers successfully invoked cloture to end a lengthy filibuster on the matter. Perhaps the most well known use of cloture came when the Senate invoked the rule after a 57-day filibuster against the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Southern lawmakers stalled debate over the measure, which included a ban on lynching, until the Senate mustered enough votes for cloture. Reasons for Cloture Rule The cloture rule was adopted at a time when deliberations in the Senate had ground to a halt, frustrating President Wilson during a time of war. At the end of the session in 1917, lawmakers filibustered for 23 days against Wilsons proposal to arm merchant ships, according to the Senate Historians office. The delay tactic also hampered efforts to pass other important legislation. President Calls for Cloture Wilson railed against the Senate, calling it the only legislative body in the world which cannot act when its majority is ready for action. A little group of willful men, representing no opinion but their own, have rendered the great government of the United States helpless and contemptible. As a result, the Senate wrote and passed the original cloture rule on March 8, 1917. In addition to ending filibusters, the new rule allowed each senator an additional hour to speak after invoking cloture and before voting on a bills final passage. Despite Wilsons influence in instituting the rule, cloture was invoked only five times over the course of the following four and a half decades. Cloture Impact Invoking cloture guarantees that a Senate vote on the bill or amendment being debated will eventually happen. The House does not have a similar measure. When cloture is invoked, senators are also required to engage in debate that is germane to the legislation being discussed. The rule contains a clause the any speech following the invocation of cloture must be on the measure, motion, or other matter pending before the Senate. The cloture rule thereby prevents lawmakers from merely stalling for another hour by, say, reciting the Declaration of Independence or reading names from a phone book. Cloture Majority The majority needed to invoke cloture in the Senate remained two-thirds, or 67 votes, of the 100-member body from the rules adoption in 1917 until 1975, when the number of votes needed was reduced to just 60. To being the cloture process, at least 16 members of the Senate must sign a cloture motion or petition that states: We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the provisions of Rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, hereby move to bring to a close the debate upon (the matter in question). Cloture Frequency Cloture was rarely invoked in the early 1900s and mid-1900s. The rule was used only four times, in fact, between 1917 and 1960. Cloture became more common only in the late 1970s, according to records kept by the Senate. The procedure was used a record 187 times in the 113th Congress, which met in 2013 and 2014 during President Barack Obamas second term in the White House.