The Tally Stick

â€Å"The Tally Stick† ENLT 121-2 It is not always feasible to express ones love for another human being simply through words or ordinary actions. Jarold Ramsey wrote a poem that demonstrates how simple markings and items can have priceless meanings to them. â€Å"The Tally Stick† is a poem that explains the symbolic intricacies of a stick that he has created for his wife of many years and more to come. The poem begins showing the analogy between their marriage and the general physiology of the stick itself.Ramsey carved their â€Å"lives in secret† (2) to show that his work of art and their memories should remain mysterious. Both the stick and their marriage are beautiful to the public eye, but he only wants the two of them to know the details of why it is so precious. The stick is carved in â€Å"mountain mahogany† (3) which is both very durable and free of voids present in common woods. This quality of both wood and love is exemplified by â€Å"hard an d rare† (3) to symbolize the strength and preciousness of both.Line 5 makes the transition from Ramsey discussing the quality of their love to positively reminiscing their lives together by â€Å"touching and handling† (5) the stick as opposed to observing it. This is what makes the tally stick so meaningful; a couple would ordinarily revisit their marriage by opening a scrapbook, whereas Ramsey has created an artifact that can be felt in addition to observed to stir up more powerful emotions. The most beloved part of the marriage to Ramsey is the actual ceremony itself.The â€Å"intricate notch† (6) at the beginning of the stick, which he explains is â€Å"our wedding† (7), demonstrates how much he values the matrimonial ceremony between them. This intricacy is created where grains â€Å"converge and join† (6) which can be personified to a man and woman becoming one—their convergence making them larger and more whole than they were as indivi duals. He values this moment so dearly that he can give specific details of the wedding such as â€Å"who danced† (9). Because he can recall so many details of this day, the details of the stick are readable even â€Å"with a thumb† (9).This deep grain was chosen to represent this occasion to symbolize its significance, but more importantly because those grains are permanent in the wood just as their love is permanent. There are two specific symbols that Ramsey etched into the stick symbolizing two unavoidable events: life and death. The first symbols carved were â€Å"little arrowheads† (10), and Ramsey explicitly says they symbolize the â€Å"births of our children† (11). Arrowheads were essential for the sustainment of life in ancient times, therefore Ramsey chose them to represent his children that bring life to him and his wife.Along with the arrowheads are â€Å"heavy crosses† (12) which also explicitly represents the loss of their parents an d friends. In the bible, Jesus was forced to suffer by carrying his own heavy cross before crucifixion; the crosses on the stick symbolize both the suffering of Ramsey and his wife and the deaths of their loved ones. Not only does Ramsey include the influential moments of their lives through etchings, but uncontrollable events are also present on the stick. He included â€Å"Events, History† (15) because occurrences outside marriage do have a slight impact on how a couple lives together.These events affected them much less than those such as the birth of their children, and he symbolizes this by marking them as â€Å"random hashmarks† (15). These small scratches were placed sporadically against the â€Å"swirling grain† (16); the swirling grain is more precious and has a direction and purpose on the stick, whereas the hashmarks were chiseled randomly simply to present a reminder to him and his wife. Ramsey goes into detail about two historical events represented by the hashmarks.The â€Å"Year the World Went Wrong† (17) refers to around 1961 – the year the United States sent troops into Vietnam which eventually escaladed into the Vietnam War including China, Russia, and France. Other hashmarks on the stick are the â€Å"Great Men fell† (18). This is mentioned after the ‘Year the World Went Wrong’ which means that these days occurred after 1961, yet were relatively close to that time period. It is possible that men who ‘fell’ (died) included Kennedy in 1963, Malcom X in 1965, Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, and Robert F. Kennedy in 1968.All four of those men profoundly impacted America and it is likely Ramsey and his wife grieved over their deaths together. In spite of these horrible events occurring, the love between Ramsey and his wife â€Å"run through it all† (19) both in reality and in the grains on the stick. We know that their marriage persevered because their â€Å"lengthening r unes† (19) ran through the hash marks (19), meaning their growing characteristics and companionship as a couple were not affected by these tragedies but instead continued on their natural course.The final stanza returns to the present time and describes the unfinished state of the tally stick. Ramsey believes that he and his wife are approaching death by indicating the stick is whittled â€Å"nearly end to end† (20). While the stick is almost completely whittled, there is in fact still space left, showing his desire to create more memories with his wife so they can be carved on. Although the stick was carved out of â€Å"hard† (4) mahogany, the current state is â€Å"delicate as scrimshaw† (21) because of the amount of wood carved away by memories.It is so delicate that it would not â€Å"bear you up† (21), simply emphasizing the stick’s physical weakness—not even able to support the weight of his wife if she used it as a cane. The fin al stanza is the first time that Ramsey admits his marriage is realistic and not perfect. Outside of the beautiful carvings is wood that has been smoothened simply by handling it. The phrases â€Å"Regrets have polished it† (22) and â€Å"hand over hand† (22) are both used to symbolize times of dispute in the marriage.The effort and friction required to hold the stick by hand while carving it has ‘polished’ it, which is analogous to the effort needed to work through hardships and ‘regrets’ of the marriage. In addition to the Tally Stick’s current state, the final stanza expresses Ramsey’s desires for the remainder of his marriage and life. Ramsey only wants to reminisce meaningful life events with his wife, which are represented by their â€Å"unforgotten wonders† (23). The fingers will feel â€Å"sign after sign† (25) on the stick, which have already been established as memorable events earlier in the poem.Ramsey w ants this remembrance to be innocent and enjoyable as â€Å"children on a trail† (24), like kids playing on a trail in the forest. He does not wish to talk about the hardships in his marriage, as seen through the phrase â€Å"talk softly† (26), clearly indicating a peaceful conversation that would not include any regrets. The final phrase of the poem is the â€Å"eyes go blind† (27). The most provoking thought of this last line does not refer to simply losing vision, but rather is an analogy to dying together so that neither of them has to experience life without the other.Ramsey ends the poem with this desire to express how dearly he loves his wife. â€Å"The Tally Stick† demonstrates how Ramsey’s love for his wife can be objectified through an artwork that he has created. The medium for the masterpiece and the symbols on it are carefully selected so that every part of the stick is significant. The marriage, the milestones, and the hardships of th eir lives together are engraved on the stick, yet Ramsey makes it clear which parts are of most importance to him through detail and emphasizes that he truly believes in the phrase â€Å"until death do us part†.

Tertiary essays

Tertiary essays Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether, also know as MTBE, is in a group of gas additives called oxygenates because they increase the oxygen level in gasoline. The use of oxygenates has increased significantly since Clean Air Act was signed in 1990. The two-part act mandated the use of cleaner burning gasoline in metropolitan areas throughout the United States as stated by Nichols et al. The most significant part of this act was the reformulated gasoline (RFG) program that took affect in 1995, calling for reformulated gasoline in cities with the worst ground-level ozone (smog). RFG is oxygenated gasoline (minimum of 2 percent oxygen by weight) that is specially blended to have fewer polluting compounds than conventional gasoline (EPA 2000). Not only did the cities and areas that fit the requirements of this act start to use RFG, so did many other states. This, in turn, increased the use of oxygenates, especially MTBE. MTBE was chosen over other oxygenates because of many economic reasons. MTBE has very favorable blending characteristics making it easy to produce, it has a low volatility that make it easier to meet emission standards, and it can be shipped through existing pipelines. With the increase of oxygenates, concerns have been raised about its role in contamination of soil and ground water supplies. Many studies have been finding MTBE in ground water nationwide. MTBE is released into the soil primarily from petroleum leaking from underground storage tanks. Other sources include leaking from above ground tanks, fuel pipelines, refueling stations, and accidental spills (CRS 2000). Since these studies have come out the EPA has begun a process to decrease the use of MTBE and finding alternatives to MTBE such as other more manageable oxygenates like ethanol. But that does not get MTBE out of the nations water supply. MTBE removal from water and soil can be done but it is very time consuming and difficult. ...

Robert E Lees Civil War Battles

Robert E Lee's Civil War Battles Robert E. Lee was the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia from 1862 to the Civil Wars end. In this role, he was arguably the most significant general of the Civil War. His ability to gain the most from his commanders and men allowed the Confederacy to maintain its defiance of the north against increasing odds. Lee was the principal commander in several Civil War battles. Battle of Cheat Mountain, September 12-15, 1861 This was the first battle where General Lee led Confederate troops in the Civil War, serving under Brigadier General Albert Rust. He fought against Brigadier General Joseph Reynolds entrenchments at the top of Cheat Mountain in western Virginia. Federal resistance was fierce, and Lee eventually called off the attack. He was recalled to Richmond on October 30, achieving few results in western Virginia. This was a Union victory. Battles of Seven Days, June 25-July 1, 1862 On June 1, 1862, Lee was given command of the Army of Northern Virginia. Between  June 25th to July 1st, 1862, he led his troops into seven battles, collectively called the Battles of Seven Days.   Oak Grove: The Union army attacked in a swampy area. When darkness descended, the Union army retreated. The results of this battle were inconclusive.Beaver Dam Creek or Mechanicsville: Robert E. Lee pushed against General McClellans right flank. The Union army was able to hold back the attackers with heavy casualties. However, the arrival of Stonewall Jacksons troops meant that the Union position was pushed back. Nonetheless, this was a Union victory.  Gaines  Mill: Lee led his troops against a fortified Union position north of the Chickahominy River. The Confederates were eventually able to push the Union soldiers back across the river, resulting in a Confederate victory.  Garnetts and Goldings Farms: Confederate Major General John B. Magruder under Lees command fought against the Union line that was stationed south of the Chickahominy River while Lee was fighting at Gaines Mill. The results of this fighting were inconclusive.  Savages Station and Allens Farm: Both these bat tles occurred on June 29, 1862, the fourth day of fighting during the Seven Days Battles. The Union was  retreating after deciding not to advance on Richmond. Robert E. Lee sent his forces after the Union troops,  and they met in battle. However, the results of both of these battles were inconclusive. Glendale/White Oak Swamp: These two battles occurred as the Union troops were retreating. Stonewall Jacksons troops were kept tied up in the battle at White Oak Swamp, while the rest of the army tried to stop the retreat at Glendale. In the end, the battle was inconclusive.  Malvern Hill: The Confederates under Lee tried unsuccessfully to attack the Unions fortified position on top of Malvern Hill. Confederate losses were high.  McClellan withdrew to the James River, ending the Peninsula Campaign. This was a Union victory. Second Battle of Bull Run, Manassas, August 25-27, 1862 The most decisive battle of the Northern Virginia Campaign, troops led by Lee, Jackson, and Longstreet were able to score a huge win for the Confederacy.   Battle of  South Mountain, September 14, 1862 This battle occurred as part of the Maryland Campaign. The Union army was able to take over Lees position on South Mountain. However, McClellan failed to pursue Lees devastated army on the 15th, which meant Lee had time to regroup at Sharpsburg.   Battle of Antietam, September 16-18, 1862 McClellan finally met with Lees troops on the 16th. The bloodiest day of battle during the Civil War occurred on September 17th. The Federal troops had a huge advantage in numbers, but  Lee continued to fight with all his forces. He was able to hold off the federal advance while his troops retreated across the Potomac to Virginia. The results were inconclusive, though strategically important for the Union army.   Battle of  Fredericksburg, December 11-15, 1862 Union Major General Ambrose Burnside tried to take Fredericksburg. The Confederates occupied the surrounding heights. They repelled numerous attacks. Burnside decided in the end to retreat. This was a Confederate victory.   Battle of Chancellorsville, April 30-May 6, 1863 Considered by many to be Lees greatest victory, he marched his troops to meet the federal troops who were trying to advance on the Confederate position. The Union force led by Major General Joseph Hooker decided to form a defense at Chancellorsville. Stonewall Jackson led his troops against the exposed Federal left flank, decisively crushing the enemy. In the end, the Union line broke and they retreated. Lee lost one of his most able generals when Jackson was killed by friendly fire. This was a Confederate victory. Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863 In the Battle of Gettysburg, Lee attempted a full assault against the Union forces led by Major General George Meade. Fighting was fierce on both sides. However, the Union army was able to repulse the Confederates. This was a key Union victory. Battle of the Wilderness, May 5, 1864 The Battle of the Wilderness was the first of  General Ulysses S. Grants offensive into Northern Virginia during the Overland Campaign. Fighting was fierce,  but the results were inconclusive. Grant, however, did not retreat.   Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse, May 8-21, 1864 Grant and Meade tried to continue their march to Richmond in the Overland Campaign but were stopped at Spotsylvania Courthouse. Over the next two weeks, a number of battles occurred, resulting in 30,000 total casualties. The results were inconclusive, but Grant was able to continue his march to Richmond. Overland Campaign, May 31-June 12, 1864 The Union Army under Grant continued to make their advance in the Overland Campaign. They made headway to Cold Harbor. However, on June 2, both armies were on the field of battle stretching seven miles. Grant ordered an attack that resulted in a rout for his men. He eventually left the field of battle, choosing to approach Richmond through the less well-defended town of  Petersburg. This was a Confederate victory. Battle of  Deep Bottom, August 13-20, 1864 The Union Army crossed the James River at Deep Bottom to start threatening Richmond. They were unsuccessful, however, as Confederate counterattacks drove them out. They eventually retreated back to the other side of the James River. Battle of Appomattox Court House, April 9, 1865 General Robert E. Lee attempted at Appomattox Court House to escape the Union troops and head towards Lynchburg, where supplies were waiting. However, Union reinforcements made this impossible. Lee surrendered to Grant.

Definition and Examples of Semantic Entailment

Definition and Examples of Semantic Entailment In semantics  and pragmatics, entailment is the principle that under certain conditions the truth of one statement ensures the truth of a second statement. Also called strict implication,  logical consequence, and semantic consequence. The two types of entailment that are the most frequent in language, says  Daniel Vanderveken, are truth conditional and illocutionary entailments. For example, he says, the performative sentence I beg you to help me illocutionary entails the imperative sentence Please, help me! and truth conditionally entails the declarative sentence You can help me (Meaning and Speech Acts: Principles of Language Use, 1990). Commentary [O]ne statement entails another when the second is a logically necessary consequence of the first, as Alan lives in Toronto entails Alan lives in Canada. Note that the relationship of entailment, unlike that of paraphrase, is one-way: it is not the case that Alan lives in Canada entails Alan lives in Toronto. (Laurel J. Brinton, The Structure of Modern English: A Linguistic Introduction. John Benjamins, 2000) [M]any, if not all, assertive sentences (statements, propositions) of a language allow for inferences solely on the basis of their meanings. For example, when I say Ben has been murdered, then anyone who has understood this utterance and accepts its truth will also accept the truth of the statement Ben is dead. (Pieter A. M. Seuren, Western Linguistics: An Historical Introduction. Wiley-Blackwell, 1998) Entailment Relations An entailment can be thought of as a relationship between one sentence or set of sentences, the entailing expressions, and another sentence, what is entailed... We can find countless examples where entailment relations hold between sentences and countless where they do not. The English sentence (14) is normally interpreted so that it entails the sentences in (15) but does not entail those in (16). (14) Lee kissed Kim passionately. (15)a. Lee kissed Kim.b. Kim was kissed by Lee.c. Kim was kissed.d. Lee touched Kim with her lips. (16)a. Lee married Kim.b. Kim kissed Lee.c. Lee kissed Kim many times.d. Lee did not kiss Kim. (Gennaro Chierchia and Sally McConnell-Ginet, Meaning and Grammar: An Introduction to Semantics. MIT Press, 2000) The Challenge of Determining Meaning Semantic entailment is  the task of determining, for example, that the sentence: Wal-Mart defended itself in court today against claims that its female employees were kept out of jobs in management because they are women entails that Wal-Mart was sued for sexual discrimination. Determining whether the meaning of a given text snippet entails that of another or whether they have the same meaning is a fundamental problem in natural language understanding that requires the ability to extract over the inherent syntactic and semantic variability in natural language. This challenge is at the heart of many high-level natural language processing tasks including Question Answering, Information Retrieval and Extraction, Machine Translation, and others that attempt to reason about and capture the meaning of linguistic expressions.Research in natural language processing in the last few years has concentrated on developing resources that provide multiple levels of syntactic and semantic analysis, resolve context sensitive ambiguities, and identify relational structures and abstractions.... (Rodrigo de Salvo Braz et al., An Inference Model for Semantic Entailment in Natural Languages.  Machine Learning Challenges: Evaluating Predictive Uncertainty, Visual Object Classif ication and Recognizing Textual Entailment, ed. by  Joaquin Quià ±onero  Candela et al. Springer, 2006)

From Sixth Grade to the Shoe Factory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

From Sixth Grade to the Shoe Factory - Essay Example It appears morally deficient that he should be expected to begin working at lesser pay than an adult, but the benefits outweigh the immediate costs. His financial contribution to his family and his own savings are much more helpful than continuing to go to school and depriving himself and his family of the 180,000 pesos a week that benefit the greater whole. This is wise, and a morally valid decision on the part of his family. However, Vicente is robbed of his childhood as well as his potential to develop intellectually which could lead to far better paying jobs. Nonetheless, this cannot be proven. The primary moral violation is that he is exposed to toxic glues and thus his health condition suffers. His employer should be responsible for ensuring the factory does not hurt Vicente’s health, as they are not only harming a human life but also could cripple their own workforce. On the whole, the factory should ensure that zorritas are safe and healthy by seeking alternative produ cts or insisting that the producers of the glue do something about their own product’s safety, as these will likely have long-term effects on the zorritas that will lead to poor health, reduced income, and harm to their families.

Ownership of Human Tissues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Ownership of Human Tissues - Essay Example Similar cases are true for most other possessions. Whatever else a person may possess in this world, notwithstanding, no doubt naturally evident that he or she claims the cells of his or her body. Where else could the idea of possession start, other than with the parts of a substantial corpus that all would perceive as "me"? However, there have been claims and even court cases regarding the issue of ownership of human body tissues. For instance, if part of the patient body is removed and used for research or any other purpose, does the patient still retains the rights to these body parts. If not, how far do his rights of possession extend as concerns his own body parts? This essay will explore the historical and contemporary concept of ownership of human tissues and ethics. The guiding thesis for this essay is that the rights of ownership of human tissues extends to as far as the tissues are within the body1. The essay will explore the law concerning this issue and provide arguments for and against the thesis statement. The concept of property has been legally unclear over many years. The issue gets even more complicated when it comes to the basic question whether people actually own their own bodies. With any legally accepted property, the alleged owner has the right to use the property in any way they please only if the use does not harm others. If so is true, then donated human parts, and organs are still in the possessions of the donor and he, or she has the rights to dictate how they are to be used and/or disposed. However, this is not as simple as it sounds. With the advent of biotechnology, the world has witnessed multiple controversies related to the ownership and use of bits and pieces from human bodies whether alive or not. Human tissues and cells are currently scattered over a wide range of laboratories, sperm

History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

History - Essay Example Therefore, there was no distinction between civilians and military officers. The world at that time was experiencing an era of technological advancement. Nuclear weapons were dominantly used. The zenith of this was a nuclear attack by troops of the US in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These nuclear attacks led culminated in catastrophic effects in the attacked places. The effects still continue to be felt. In Japan, for example, 7 generations have passed since Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed. Genealogies of the bomb attack victims have side effects of the nuclear weapons to date. This just shows how the World War II was detrimental to the lives of many.One phenomenon that always arises with the mention of the World War II is the Holocaust. This denotes the widespread massacre of Jews by the Nazi army of Adolf Hitler the German dictator at that time1. The war ended on September 2, 1945 with the subsequent creation of the League of Nations which was later christened the United Nations. The US and Russia emerged as the world’s superpowers. This essay will tackle the nature of the people during this infamous war. It will analyze whether the nature was good or bad. Finally, it will illustrate the affect the nature had on the politics, economy and religion of the world. Christopher Browning’s book, Ordinary Men best illustrates the phenomenal nature in this infamous war. It gives evidence about the perpetrators of the Holocaust and the effects of the war. Browning notes that the draftees of the Holocaust were simply ordinary men who were not necessarily evil. They were only obliging to the demands of one Adolf Hitler. They were not evil at all he notes. For example, we are told that o June 12, 1942 one commanding officer in the Nazi army is ordered to kill all able bodied Jewish males in the city of Josefow in Poland. He did not intend to do this, but had to follow orders. The book tells of one commander, Wilhelm Trapp who gave his me n an option of executing the Jews or not doing it. We are informed that only twelve soldiers went ahead and executed the Jews, but about 500 of them did not. This explains that in most soldiers, behind the obligatory roles lay the human character. One that was compassionate and ready to forgive. Browning then reveals in his books about subsequent events that lead to the Holocaust. We are told that in the city of Hamburg, in 1943, about 38000 Jews were shot dead mercilessly while about 45000 of them were thrown to gas chambers. The holocaust had begun. The author explains how ordinary German men graduate and become murderers2. We are left to wonder what went wrong of all these men. A few months changed them. Hitler had cultivated a culture of hate in them. They simply hated Jews for no apparent reason. They actions were not justified at all. Millions of Jews lost their innocent lives in cold blood. The Nazi soldiers became brutal beings. The Germans in the early parts of the war were very aggressive in nature. They managed to conquer most parts in the war. The international community stayed put and mum about the Nazi killings. This can be attributed to the fact that, in the early parts, the Germans were heavily endowed in technology. They took the world by storm with their warfare tanks, armored vehicles and military planes referred to as torpedoes. Their innovative nature contributed to their success in the early exchanges. Success