The Hunters: Moonsong Chapter Twenty-Six

â€Å"Are you sure you don't need us to cal your folks, miss?† The grounds security official's voice was abrupt however kind, and his eyes were stressed. For a second, Meredith let herself picture having the sort of guardians he should envision: ones who might plunge in to protect their little girl, wrap her up and take her home until the unpleasant pictures of her companion's demise blurred. Her folks would just tel her to continue ahead with the activity. Tel her that some other response was a disappointment. In the event that she let herself be frail, more individuals would bite the dust. All the more so in light of the fact that Samantha had been a tracker, from a group of trackers, similar to Meredith. Meredith knew precisely what her dad would have said on the off chance that she had cal ed him. â€Å"Let this be an exercise to you. You are never safe.† â€Å"I'l be okay,† she told the security watch. â€Å"My flat mates are upstairs.† He let her go, watching her trip the steps with a bothered articulation. â€Å"Don't stress, miss,† he cal ed. â€Å"The police wil get this guy.† Meredith bit back her first answer, which was that he was by all accounts placing a great deal of confidence in a police power that still couldn't seem to discover any pieces of information with respect to the whereabouts of the missing individuals or to explain Christopher's homicide. He was just attempting to comfort her. She gestured to him and gave a little wave. She wasn't any more fruitful than the police, not even with Samantha's assistance. She wasn't making enough of an effort, had been excessively diverted by the new spot, the new individuals. Why now? Meredith pondered abruptly. It hadn't happened to her previously, however this was the main passing, assault, or vanishing that occurred in an apartment rather than out on the quad or ways of the grounds. Whatever this was, it came after Samantha specifical y. Meredith recalled the dim figure she pursued away after it assaulted a young lady, a young lady who said she didn't recollect that anything. Meredith recal ed the glimmer of pale hair as the figure dismissed. Did Samantha kick the bucket since they got excessively near the kil er? Her folks were correct. Nobody was ever sheltered. She expected to work more earnestly, expected to continue ahead with the activity and fol ow up on each lead. Upstairs, Bonnie's bed was vacant. Elena turned upward from where she was lying, nestled into her bed. Some portion of Meredith noticed that Elena's face was wet with tears and realized that typical y she would have dropped everything to comfort her companion, however now she needed to concentrate on discovering Samantha's kil er. Meredith crossed to her own storeroom, opened it, and pul ed out a substantial dark handbag and the case for her tracker's fight. â€Å"Where's Bonnie?† she asked, hurling the bag onto her bed and unfastening it. â€Å"She left before I got up,† Elena replied, her voice temperamental. â€Å"I think she had an examination bunch early today. Meredith, what's going on?† Meredith flipped the handbag open and started to pul out her blades and tossing stars. â€Å"What's going on?† Elena asked once more, more relentlessly, her eyes wide. â€Å"Samantha's dead,† Meredith stated, testing the edge of a blade against her thumb. â€Å"She was killed in her bed by anything that's been following this grounds, and we have to stop it.† The blade could be more honed †Meredith had been letting her weapons support slide †and she dove taken care of for a whetstone. â€Å"What?† Elena said. â€Å"Oh, no, goodness, Meredith, I'm so sorry.† Tears started to run down her face once more, and Meredith investigated at her, holding out the pack with the fight in it. â€Å"There's a smal black box in my work area with little jugs of various toxin separates inside it,† she said. â€Å"Wolfsbane, vervain, snake venoms. We don't have the foggiest idea what we're managing precisely, so you would be advised to fil the hypodermics with an assortment of things. Be careful,† she included. Elena's mouth dropped open, and afterward, following a couple of moments, she shut it solidly and gestured, cleaning her cheeks with the backs of her hands. Meredith realized that her message †grieve later, act now †had been gotten and that Elena, as usual, would work with her. Elena put the fight on her bed and found the case of toxic substances in Meredith's work area. Meredith looked as Elena made sense of how to fil the small hypodermics inset in the ironwood of the fight, her consistent fingers pul ing them out and working them circumspectly open. When she was certain Elena realized what she was doing, Meredith returned to honing her blade. â€Å"They more likely than not come after Samantha deliberately. She was certifiably no way victim,† Meredith stated, her eyes on the blade as she drew it rhythmical y against the whetstone. â€Å"I think we have to expect that whoever this is realizes we're chasing him, and that along these lines we're in danger.† She shivered, recalling her companion's body. â€Å"Samantha's demise was brutal.† â€Å"A vehicle attempted to run me and Damon down last night,† Elena said. â€Å"We had been attempting to research something strange in the library, yet I don't have the foggiest idea whether that is the reason. I was unable to get a gander at the driver.† Meredith delayed in her blade honing. â€Å"I disclosed to you that Samantha and I pursued away somebody assaulting a young lady on campus,† she said mindful y, â€Å"but I didn't tel you a certain something, since I didn't know. I'm stil not sure.† She enlightened Elena regarding her impressions of the dark clad figure, including the fleeting impression of whiteness underneath the hoodie, of practically white hair. Elena scowled, her fingers wavering on the staff. â€Å"Zander?† she inquired. The two of them took a gander at Bonnie's unmade bed. â€Å"She genuine y likes him,† Meredith said gradually. â€Å"Wouldn't she know whether there was a major issue with him? You know†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She made a dubious signal around her head, attempting to demonstrate Bonnie's history of dreams. â€Å"We can't rely on that,† Elena stated, scowling. â€Å"And she doesn't recollect the things she sees. I don't believe he's privilege for Bonnie,† she proceeded. â€Å"He's so †I mean, he's gorgeous, and well disposed, however he appears to be off in some way or another, isn't that right? What's more, his companions are jerks. I know it's far from having horrendous companions to being sufficiently perilous to accomplish something like this, however I don't trust him.† â€Å"Can you ask Stefan to watch him?† Meredith inquired. â€Å"I realize you're taking a break from dating, yet this is significant, and a vampire would be the best one to watch out for him.† Stefan looked so tragic an evening or two ago, she thought indirectly. Is there any valid reason why elena shouldn't cal him? Life was short. She felt the edge of the blade against her thumb once more. Better. Putting the honed blade down, she went after another. Elena wasn't replying, and Meredith admired see her gazing hard at the fight, her mouth trembling. â€Å"I †Stefan isn't conversing with me,† she said in a little burst. â€Å"I don't think †I don't have the foggiest idea whether he'd help us.† She shut her mouth solidly, unmistakably not having any desire to discuss it. â€Å"Oh,† Meredith said. It was difficult to envision Stefan not doing what Elena needed, yet it was additionally evident that Elena would not like to ask him. â€Å"Should I cal Damon?† she proposed hesitantly. The more established vampire was a torment, and she didn't genuine y trust him, yet he was positively acceptable at being subtle. Elena sucked in a breath and afterward gestured energetically, her mouth set. â€Å"No, I'l cal him,† she said. â€Å"I'l request that Damon explore Zander.† Meredith murmured and reclined against the wal , letting the blade drop onto her bed. Out of nowhere, she was horrendously worn out. Sitting tight for Samantha in the rec center that morning appeared to be a mil particle years back, however it stil wasn't even noon. She and Elena both took a gander at Bonnie's bed once more. â€Å"We need to converse with her about Zander, don't we?† Elena asked unobtrusively. â€Å"We need to ask her whether he was with her al the previous evening. Furthermore, we need to caution her.† Meredith gestured and shut her eyes, letting her head lean against the coolness of the wal , then opened them once more. Drained as she seemed to be, she knew the pictures of Samantha's passing would return to her in the event that she let herself delay for even a second. She didn't have the opportunity to rest, not while the kil er was out there. â€Å"She won't be upbeat about it.†

The story The Machine Stops relevancy to today Essay

The story The Machine Stops significance to today - Essay Example Vashti, the fundamental character of the story, made a call to her child Kuno in which she could see the picture of the child while they talked. In today’s society such a call is conceivable however video talk, for example, Skype or with the help of an advanced mobile phone. The machine in the story had affected the manner in which individuals lived so much that human had gotten confined from one another. â€Å"People never contact one another† (Forster, 1909). Because of the way that individuals lived in a carrier the greater part of people never had visited earth. The machine furnished individuals with all that they need which wound up removing some portion of the mankind of individuals. In today’s society the mechanical development that has changed a great deal the manner in which individuals cooperate with one another is the PC with web capacities. The web has changed the manner in which individuals get things done. For instance individuals these days shop a great deal online as opposed to going to normal stores. In 2010 in the United States there was $151.1 billion worth of web based business exchanges (Plunkett Research, 2010). Individuals utilize the PC for their mingling needs through well known companionship sites, for example, Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. Toward the finish of the main section of the story Vashti went outside the carrier in a flying vehicle that was in course to earth.

Al Kwon 08 Researching drug delivery

Al Kwon 08 Researching drug delivery Robert Langer, an MIT Chemical Engineering professor, is one of the best-known biomedical engineers in the world. He holds 500 issued and pending patents and is in the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his research in drug delivery that has revolutionized cancer therapy. As the winner of Charles Stark Draper Prize (considered to be the Nobel Prize for engineers) and author of over 900 papers, Professor Langer has made enormous contributions to the fields of biotechnology and material science and there was even a conference held last summer that was dedicated to celebrating his incredible achievements. Albert Kwon, a Junior majoring in Biology, began working in the Langer Lab at MIT in November of his freshman year, when we first met in our freshman physics class (8.02: Electricity and Magnetism). Since then, he has worked on several projects under the guidance of Daniel Kohane, M.D./Ph.D. He is currently working on the delivery of local anesthetics using polymer-based or hydrogel-based systems (since Spring 2006) and the encapsulation of omega-3 oil (since Spring 2006). In his freshman year, he worked on human embryonic stem cell research. It may sound like Greek to some of you, but he explains it all below, while shedding some light on how he found his amazing UROP, why he came to MIT, and a little bit about himself. Make sure you read all the way until the end to see his really great advice for prefrosh! Melis: Can you tell me about your research? Al: Im having a blast! My current UROP has the perfect balance of biology, chemistry, engineering, and medicine for my taste. There are times when I seem to make no progress and I get jaded out. However, when I actually make significant progress, I just hope I could drop all my classes and spend all day in the lab. I learn a greater deal in lab than in classes. I think UROP has been an integral part of my education at MIT. Currently, I study and work on a number of drug encapsulation and sustained drug release formulations. There are so many potential biomedical applications for controlled drug/gene delivery methods, which makes it very exciting. My work includes in vitro studies on the bench top and in vivo animal experiments. M: How did you find your UROP? A: Once you find your first UROP, its easy to find other opportunities. When I came to MIT, I really wanted to work on a biology-related UROP. Before arriving at MIT, I had zero experience with biological lab work and one high school level Honors Biology class was the extent of my biology background. Once I got to MIT, I sent out over 20 e-mails to different labs and only heard back from about 4 labs! It was really disappointing. I mainly searched the UROP website and tried e-mailing several lab PIs. I did not give up and I was fortunate enough to start my first UROP in Langer Lab on a bone tissue engineering project in November of my freshmen year. My second UROP involved me working with Prof. Ingram directly, but I eventually returned to Langer Lab to start my current UROP under Dr. Kohanes supervision. When I was searching or my second and third UROPs, offers were made to me unexpectedly in casual conversations with faculty members, graduate students, and post-docs. I do not know if this is the case with other people as well, but I had the luxury to pick which project I wanted to work on, who I want to work with, and how independent Ill be in the lab. I think these three criteria were important to my decision to work under Prof. Ingram and Dr. Kohane. M: What do you think was the best part of your research experience? A: Im glad that Im not mainly washing glassware or doing grunt work in lab. My supervisor gave me significant independence to work on my projects alone and provided guidance and help when I needed it. My ideas, thoughts, and questions are taken seriously by everyone whom I interact with in lab. The most exciting thing that happened to me is when my work got published. From the stem cell project I worked on during my freshmen year, a paper got published and I got to present a poster at a course/conference hosted by Harvard Medical School and CIMIT. The poster presentation won first prize. I was already very happy that I got to present my work to a group of renowned research scientists in the Boston area and winning first prize was a very pleasant surprise. M: Can you give a little bit of background about the Langer Lab? A: Langer Lab is huge; most of building E23s third floor belongs to Langer Lab. There is constant flux of people joining and leaving the lab. Even I worked there for a long time, I do not know everyone and what they work on. There are a number of groups that focus on different research projects. Just to name a few major research topics, people work on drug delivery, gene delivery, tissue engineering, patterning, and novel polymer material development. Langer Lab is big enough that youll find someone who can teach you some new technique you need to learn or find answers to your questions. Prof. Langer, the principle investigator of the lab, is very busy. I usually see him in the hallway and at his UROP pizza lunches which happens twice or three times throughout the year. There are advantages and disadvantages to working in a big lab like Langer Lab vs. a small lab. M: Why did you choose to come to MIT? A: I always wanted to do research and I knew MIT would provide me the best research experience. Also, I originally thought I would study electrical engineering at MIT and MIT was famous for its EECS program. However, my thoughts drastically changed over the summer before entering MIT. However, my interest in research is still high and I still think MIT is the best place for me to study biology and do interdisciplinary research. MITs rigorous academic program will prepare me well for my future endeavors. M: Can you say a little bit about your background? A: Im not technically an international student because I have US citizenship. However, my parents live in Korea and my home is in Korea. I left home to go to Milton Academy, a boarding school located just south of Boston. So Ive already adjusted to living alone and taking care of myself before coming to MIT. However, its still hard at times not being able to go home whenever I want. I really love Boston and how MIT is located literally across the river from downtown Boston. Boston is culturally diverse and there are a lot of things to do and great places to go. M: What do you plan on doing in the future? A: I wish to attend medical school and obtain MD/PhD degrees. I really love research but I also have great passion in medicine. Being able to meet others and making a difference in their lives seems like the most exhilarating and rewarding job. This became apparent through my volunteer work in the ER and on the ambulance. With my MD/PhD degree, I do not know whether Ill do more research or more clinical work. However, Im sure it will be some balance of the two. M: Any advice for prefrosh? A: 1) Do not try to do too much academics at MIT. Make sure you have fun. Join a club and become a leader! Pick up a sport! Im on the Varsity Pistol team and its real fun when our team does better than the military academies such as the US Army from Westpoint! 2) Meet a lot of upperclassmen when you come to MIT. They can give you lots of good advice. Many of the upperclassmen I met through classes, activities, or UROP were crucial in shaping my life at MIT. M: What other activities are you involved in? A: I do a lot of things medically oriented. Some of the things Im really involved in are American Medical Student Association (premed society at MIT), MIT Emergency Medical Service, Volunteering at Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Varsity Pistol Team. Im also a member of Student Ambassadors and MIT MedLinks. I also used to be on the ROV team during my freshmen year and helped build an underwater liquid sampling device.

John F Kennedy Profile of President - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 1 Words: 401 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2019/05/13 Category Politics Essay Level High school Tags: John F Kennedy Essay Did you like this example? John F. Kennedy Mini- Profile of President First Lady- Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Nickname- Jack President- 1961- 1963 Political Party- Democrat Served- 1 term Chief executive January 20, 1961- Victory! This is the era of the youth. But, we still need the power of older generations to help us lead the way. Like my friend Dean Rusk as someone in my cabinet. Definitely, someone, I can trust! Commander-in-chief October, 1962- It is for sure a shame that people have started to lose humanity. Thanks, McGeorge Bundy for bringing the high altitude pictures taken from U-2 planes flying over Cuba. Just want to set this straight that IF the Soviets ever introduced defensive weapons, The gravest issues would arise. Chief Diplomat October 7, 1963- Why would anyone not want to have a ban on limited nuclear tests? Well as the president I have decided for the betterment of America I am going to sign the limited nuclear test-ban treaty with the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom. This is a fight which I will conquer to keep America safe! Chief of State May 29, 1961- Who agrees the American flag should be everywhere including the moon? It is an honor of mine to announce the fact that my goal is to have a landing man on the moon before the joint session of Congress. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "John F Kennedy Profile of President" essay for you Create order I will be very glad to see if our nation can make it to the moon with the flag. Go America! Chief Legislators October 31, 1963- Who gives someone the right to control over someones life? No one has this right. Today, I am so glad to announce that I am signing a bill that frees thousands of Americans with mental illnesses from life in institutions. Instead of having big institutions they will be provided with community-based care instead. This gives them a better chance to recover. I have full faith that people will want this to happen. Chief of the Economy 1961- Passed a $451 million program in an effort to aid in alleviating the suffering in distressed areas hit by the unemployment where it is substantially a continuous not temporary and seasonal. As promised, will try very hard to have equal opportunities and create more job opportunities. Everyone should a way of income. Works Cited John F. Kennedy. Biography.com, AE Networks Television, 27 Oct. 2017, www.biography.com/people/john-f-kennedy-9362930. John F. Kennedy: Domestic Affairs. Miller Center, 10 Apr. 2018, millercenter.org/president/kennedy/domestic-affairs.

President John F. Kennedy And Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Former President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., gave the world two of the most iconic and historic speech in American history. In January of 1961, John F. Kennedy gave his infamous Inaugural Address. Not even heavy snow fall could deter JFK’s inaugural address. His mission was to reassure the American citizens their strengths and at the same time, motivate them to inspired the world. One of the most famous phrases for Kennedy’s speech, â€Å"And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country. One the other hand, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speech â€Å"I Have a Dream† is a public speech during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. King was one of the most famous American civil rights activist. His mission for this iconic speech, was a call for an end to racism in the United States of America. Thus, this speech was a defining moment in the civil rights movement and was done so , at the Lincoln Memorial. Dr. King was a Baptist minister and was the driving force behind the civil rights movement. He demanded justice for the unjustly. Mainly the people of color. Both men, Dr. King and Mr. Kennedy, had some what of the same visions of America. Their goals for America in their speech demanded peace and prosperity. Kennedy said, â€Å"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure theShow MoreRelatedMartin Luther King And The White House922 Words   |  4 PagesMartin Luther King and The White House Throughout the Civil Right Movement, Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) and other civil rights leaders worked with the executive branch to move towards equal rights. Though the civil rights movement spanned many administrations, the most progress occurred during the terms of President Kennedy and President Johnson, thus we will examine the relationship between two different Presidential administrations Martin Luther King, Jr. Each correspondence between the two groupsRead MoreJohn F. Kennedys Agenda in Civil Rights Address1133 Words   |  5 PagesWhen John F. Kennedy took the presidential office in January of 1961, the United States was at the forefront of the civil rights movement. Kennedy inherited a country that was mostly segregated in the southern states. African American civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. were busy trying to unify the south to allow for all equal rights. Protests, sit-in’s, and demonstrations became a common occurrence as African American p eople were being discriminated against. President Kennedy usedRead MoreJohn Grisham s The Pelican Brief884 Words   |  4 PagesIn John Grisham’s The Pelican Brief, two supreme court justices are assassinated, which the reader can compare to other assassinations in history. With former president John F. Kennedy’s assassination, the reader can connect the political aspects of the book to a real life situation, and with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, the reader can see how sometimes your very own opinions can get you killed (Grisham). The reader can also compare John Grisham himself to both Kennedy and King becauseRead MoreAfter slavery was abolished, African Americans never had the same rights as other U.S. citizens. In800 Words   |  4 Pagesthe United States. For the most part, there were three presidents that had the most impact on the civil rights movement; D. D. Eisenhower, J. F. Kennedy, and L. B. Johnson. During the events that unfolded in the time period that these three men were presidents, Kennedy impacted the movement the most, Johnson continued that success, and Eisenhower was silently opposed but made a few contributions to supporting the civil rights movement. President Eisenhower was elected into office in 1952 and beganRead MoreJohn Grisham s The Pelican Brief885 Words   |  4 PagesIn John Grisham’s The Pelican Brief, two supreme court justices are assassinated, which the reader can compare to other assassinations in history. With former president John F. Kennedy’s assassination, the reader can connect the political aspects of the book to a real life situation, and with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, the reader can see how sometimes your very own opinions can get you killed (Grisham). The reader can also compare John Grisham himself to both Kennedy and King becauseRead MoreThe Selma Incident Of The Civil Rights Movement1320 Words   |  6 Pageselected Barack Obama president of the United States, the first time an African American candidate has been elected to the office of the presidency. This historic election was described by John Lewis, a longtime civil rights activist as â€Å"what comes at the end of the bridge in Selma†. (413) This was a reference to the incident on March 7th, 1965 when â€Å"police officers used clubs and tear gas against a group of civil rights demonstrators led by the reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. as they protested theRead MoreRacism And Social Discrimination Essay835 Words   |  4 Pagesdocument, I will be analyzing the sources â€Å"Martin Luther King, Jr. Letter from a Birmingham Jail† and â€Å"John F. Kennedy, Televised Address Promoting the Civil Rights Act†. These sources show the courage and determination of a powerful leader and speaker that paved the way for equal rights and exhibited changed that were beneficial to society. First I will be analyzing the first document by Martin Luther King, â€Å"Letter from a Birmingham Jail†. In this letter Dr. King addresses several clergymen who had writtenRead MoreA Life Well Lived By Martin Luther King Jr.1535 Words   |  7 Pagesthreat to justice everywhere.† Expressed by Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King wasn’t always interested in leading others and seeking peace but everything changed in college. He lived his whole life by leading others to stand up and peacefully fight against injustice. Martin Luther King Jr. was a humanitarian and leader who fought for American rights and for peace, fairness, and kindness. To begin with, Martin Luther King Jr, originally born as Michael King Jr, was born on January 15, 1929. He was bornRead MoreWhat I Found in a Time Capsule in the Year 2325854 Words   |  3 PagesThe very first item that we found was a news paper clipping about the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. John F Kennedy, affectionately known by his family as Jack, and by the nation as JFK; was the 35th president of the United States beginning in January 1961 up until November 1963 when he was tragically shot down during a motorcade in downtown Dallas Texas Dealey Plaza. The President was beginning to work on his presidential campaign for the next term, he had not officiallyRead MoreLetter From Birmingham Jail By Dr. Martin Luther King1510 Words   |  7 PagesBirmingham Jail was a letter written by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from a solitary confinement cell in Birmingham, Alabama. Some portions of the letter were written and gradually smuggled out by King s lawyer on scraps of paper including, by some reports, rough jailhouse toilet paper. Violent racist terror against African Americans was so horrible in Birmingham in the summer of 1963 that the city was being referred to by some locals as â€Å"Bombingham†. King had been arrested while participating in

The Loons Free Essays

string(178) " a Metis through the social rejection which characterizes Manawaka’s view of her family:   Ã¢â‚¬ËœI bet you know a lot about the woods and all that, eh\? ’ I began respectfully\." Journal of the Short Story in English 48   (Spring 2007) Varia †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Jennifer Murray Negotiating Loss and Otherness in Margaret Laurence’s â€Å"The Loons† †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢ € ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Electronic reference Jennifer Murray,  «Ã‚  Negotiating Loss and Otherness in Margaret Laurence’s â€Å"The Loons†Ã‚  Ã‚ », Journal of the Short Story in English [Online], 48  |  Spring 2007, Online since 01 juin 2009, Connection on 01 avril 2013. URL  : http:// jsse. revues. We will write a custom essay sample on The Loons or any similar topic only for you Order Now org/index858. html Publisher: Presses universitaires d’Angers http://jsse. revues. org http://www. revues. org Document available online on: http://jsse. revues. org/index858. html Document automatically generated on 01 avril 2013. The page numbering does not match that of the print edition.  © All rights reserved Negotiating Loss and Otherness in Margaret Laurence’s â€Å"The Loons† 2 Jennifer Murray Negotiating Loss and Otherness in Margaret Laurence’s â€Å"The Loons† : p. 71-80 1 2 3 4 5 â€Å"The Loons† belongs to Margaret Laurence’s story-sequence A Bird in the House which is built around the character Vanessa MacLeod and her growing-up years in the fictional town of Manawaka, Manitoba. Following on from the collection’s title story which has the death of Vanessa’s father as its central event, â€Å"The Loons† is set in a time prior to the father’s death and is the first of three stories which deal with Vanessa’s progressive opening up to the world around her and her increasing awareness of the suffering, poverty and forms of oppression outside of her family circle (Stovel 92). More specifically, â€Å"The Loons† gives u s Vanessa’s perception of a young girl called Piquette Tonnerre who is of Metis descent and who accumulates the social disadvantages of poverty, illness, ethnic discrimination and being female. The story has been taken to task for the questionable values attached to its use of Piquette as the stereotype of the doomed minority figure, most notably by Tracy Ware who asks: â€Å"To what extent [does this short story] confirm a debased master narrative that regards Natives as victims of a triumphant white civilization? † (71). At the same time, Ware recognizes the â€Å"enduring sense of [the] aesthetic merit† (71) of this story which so clearly has its place within the canon of Canadian literature. Evaluating the text against its depiction of the Metis can only lead to the negative conclusions that Ware arrives at, namely, that Laurence’s â€Å"The Loons† falls ideologically short of the expectations of today’s politically-conscious reader. What this reading of â€Å"The Loons† does not take into account is that the â€Å"aesthetic merit† of the story is situated elsewhere—not in the portrait or role of Piquette as such, but in the story’s treatment of loss and in the central role of the father in the symbolics of this particular knot of meaning. In the context of the full story-sequence, loss and the father would seem more naturally associated in â€Å"A Bird in the House,† where the death of the father is the central event. In â€Å"The Loons,† the death of the father is recalled and reactivated as an informing event related to other moments in Vanessa’s life and to her relationship to others, Piquette bearing the weight of this role as ‘other’. On one level—that of Vanessa’s childhood perception of Piquette2—the story is about incomprehension, misconstruction, defensiveness and the impossibility of communication between the two girls. But the entire history of this failed relationship is revisited through the narrating voice of the adult Vanessa; in the telling of the story, she reshapes past events through the experience of loss provoked by her father’s death and invests them with symbolic value. Like the dreamer and the dream, Vanessa’s story is more about Vanessa than about those around her; it is her attempt to fit her own sense of loss into a world which is, more than she knows, beyond her. The father’s role in giving Vanessa access to symbolic values is central to the story; indeed, the first ‘event’ in the story is the father’s announcement of his concern (as a doctor) for the health of the young Piquette, who is in his care. After having prepared the ground briefly, he asks his wife: â€Å"Beth, I was thinking—what about taking her up to Diamond Lake with us this summer? A couple of months rest would give that bone a much better chance† (110). This act of social generosity, which is to involve his whole family, introduces the reader to the father’s values; it also inaugurates the continuing association in the text between the father and Piquette. The father is a reference point for Piquette; she invokes him to justify her refusal to accompany Vanessa on a short walk: â€Å"Your dad said I ain’t supposed to do no more walking than I got to† (113), and in later years, Piquette tells Vanessa, â€Å"Your dad was the only person in Manawaka that ever done anything good to me† (116). This positive assessment of the father is Journal of the Short Story in English, 48 | Spring 2007 Negotiating Loss and Otherness in Margaret Laurence’s â€Å"The Loons† 3 6 the only shared ground between the girls. In response to the comment above, Vanessa â€Å"nodded speechlessly [†¦ ] certain that [Piquette] was speaking the truth† (116). In the name of her love for her father, Vanessa will make several attempts at approaching Piquette: these attempts are regularly met with rejection, leading to a moment of hurt for Vanessa: ‘Want to come and play? ’ Piquette looked at me with a sudden flash of scorn. ‘I ain’t a kid,’ she said. Wounded, I stamped angrily away [†¦]. 112) 7 8 This pattern recurs twice on the following page, with Piquette’s â€Å"scorn† taking on other forms —â€Å"Her voice was distant† (113); â€Å"her large dark unsmiling eyes† (113)—and her refusals becoming more verbally aggressive: â€Å"You nuts or somethin’? † (113); â€Å"Who gives a g ood goddamn? † (114). The impossibility of sharing between the girls is seen both from the perspective of the child Vanessa, who is mystified, â€Å"wondering what I could have said wrong† (113), and from the more experienced perspective offered by the narrated construction of events. This double vision allows the reader to see the misperceptions and involuntary insensitivity on which Vanessa’s attempts at communication are based. Where Vanessa fantasizes Piquette into â€Å"a real Indian† (112) and projects onto her the knowledge of the ‘secrets’ of nature, Piquette lives her identity as a Metis through the social rejection which characterizes Manawaka’s view of her family:   Ã¢â‚¬ËœI bet you know a lot about the woods and all that, eh? ’ I began respectfully. You read "The Loons" in category "Papers" †¦] ‘I don’t know what in hell you’re talkin’ about,’ she replied. [†¦] If you mean where my old man, and me, and all them live, you better shut up, by Jesus, you hear? ’ (113) 9 While the child cannot understand the defensiveness of Piquette, as readers, our knowledge of Piquette’s social conditions, outlined in the opening paragraphs of the story, leads us to a pos ition of empathy with the offended girl. Similar effects are produced by Vanessa’s enthusiasm about her summer cottage, —â€Å"‘I love it,’ I said. We come here every summer,’† (113)—expressed in the face of Piquette’s poverty, which habitually excludes her from the world of lakeside summer homes. Just as much as Piquette’s social disadvantages, Vanessa’s self-absorbed immersion in the comforts of middle-class Manawaka is the source of the girls’ mutual wariness. As the narrator of the story, the older version of Vanessa puts forward expressions of regret at the failure of the relationship between herself as a child, and Piquette. This regret, however, is not distinct from childhood, but a part of it, recounted in the past tense: â€Å"Piquette and I remained ill at ease with one another. I felt I had somehow failed my father, but I did not know what was the matter, nor why she would not or could not respond† (115). The linguistic markers â€Å"somehow† and â€Å"did not know† suggest that the emotional experience of failure remained confusing for the child, but the ability to formulate this metadiscourse indicates that things have become clearer to the adult Vanessa. This acquired comprehension allows the narrator to develop the expression of failure once again, two pages further on, including, this time, more details about the possible expectations of the father: Yet I felt no real warmth towards her—I only felt that I ought to, because of that distant summer and because my father had hoped she would be company for me, or perhaps that I would be for her, but it had not happened that way. (117) 10 Through the voice of the more experienced Vanessa, the regret of the past is understood to have been intimately related to a sense of having failed not herself, nor Piquette, but her father. The focus is on the father’s symbolic role in attributing potential value to the possibility of their friendship. Along with the father’s generosity towards Piquette, a series of other values related to the father are offered in the short story. The father’s name, MacLeod, is also the name which designates the family cottage (111), which itself is associated with nature and authenticity: it Journal of the Short Story in English, 48 | Spring 2007 Negotiating Loss and Otherness in Margaret Laurence’s â€Å"The Loons† 4 11 s the father who comes and sits by the lake with Vanessa to listen to the loons (114); the lake, the nighttime, the loons, all come to signify intuitive communication (â€Å"we waited, without speaking†), mystery and transcendence (â€Å"They rose like phantom birds†), a reproach to human civilization (â€Å"Plaintive, and yet with a quality of chilling mockery, those voices belonged to a world separated by aeons from our neat world of summer cottages and the lighted lamps of home†) (114). The idea that the loons belong to a separate world is reinforced by the father’s comment that the loons had been there â€Å"before any person ever set foot here† (114). The loons are both a form of access to the continuum of natural time as opposed to civilized time, and a reminder that man cannot bridge that gap; there is therefore a form of retrospective loss attached to the image of the loons: the imagined loss of what came before and is now inaccessible. However, the birds also prefigure future loss—the enduring presence of the loons is endangered, as Vanessa tells Piquette: My dad says we should listen and try to remember how they sound, because in a few years when more cottages are built at Diamond Lake and more people come in, the loons will go away. 114) 12 We can also see the metonymic association between this loss and the approaching end of the permanence of Vanessa’s world; her father, associated with the loons in Vanessa’s childhood, is soon to disappear: â€Å"Neither of us suspected that this would be the last time we would ever sit here together on the shore, listening† (115). The symbolic charge of the los s of the loons is therefore great for Vanessa, but meaningless to young Piquette, who, on learning of the precarious situation of the birds, says: â€Å"Who gives a good goddamn? (114). For Piquette, they are literally, â€Å"a bunch of squawkin’ birds† (115). Meaning is to do with symbolic construction and â€Å"The Loons†, for all of its focus on Piquette, is about Vanessa’s construction of personal meaning. Coral Ann Howells notes that Vanessa’s choosing to write about Piquette is a way of â€Å"silently displacing her own feelings into [Piquette’s] story† (41). This process is clearest in the paragraph which announces the father’s death: That winter my father died of pneumonia, after less than a week’s illness. For some time I saw nothing around me, being completely immersed in my own pain and my mother’s. When I looked outward once more, I scarcely noticed that Piquette Tonnerre was no longer at school. (115) 13 14 The words which tell of the loss of the father are almost immediately followed by words which tell of the disappearance of Piquette. This is given in the form of a negation: â€Å"I scarcely noticed†¦,† but what the young Vanessa had â€Å"scarcely noticed,† the narrating Vanessa gives weight to by placing it in verbal proximity to the death of the father, obliquely associating the two events. Through indirection, therefore, Vanessa speaks of her own loss. But the process is not entirely parasitic; in the telling, she also constructs Piquette. Piquette is, in some ways, a difficult character for today’s reader to take on board: like Pique, the daughter of Morag Gunn in the final Manawaka story, â€Å"The Diviners†, she â€Å"suffers from the weight of too much thematic relevance† (Howells 51) since, as I noted earlier, she accumulates an extraordinary number of handicaps, all of which are seen to be indirectly related to her Metis origins. In spite of the older Vanessa’s gentle mocking of her earlier self in her desire to ‘naturalize’ Piquette into a folkloric Indian, the story does imply that part of Piquette’s tragedy is that, like the loons, she belongs to a more ‘authentic’ heritage which has been/is being destroyed. 3 The romanticism which the narrating voice mocks is nonetheless supported by the story’s symbolism, as is the attempt to fix Piquette into a sterile, stereotyped role of ‘representativity,’ something that Piquette’s direct discourse has violently rejected. Yet, we do have access to a more tenacious Piquette; in her silences, rejections, and refusals, she is a character who is fighting for her own survival in a world clearly divided along class lines and this tenacity is seen principally in her rejection of Vanessa’s self-satisfaction. Vanessa’s sense of superiority over Piquette is implicit in the narrator’s comments about the Metis girl’s invisibility to her younger self; at that time, Piquette was but â€Å"a vaguely embarrassing presence† who â€Å"moved somewhere within my scope of vision† (109). Moreover, Piquette can drop out of sight for years without notice: â€Å"I do not remember seeing her at all Journal of the Short Story in English, 48 | Spring 2007 Negotiating Loss and Otherness in Margaret Laurence’s â€Å"The Loons† 5 until four years later† (115). It would seem to be the total separateness of their social worlds that creates and sustains what might be experienced as a ‘lack of affinity’. Whereas these social differences remain unformulated to the child Vanessa, they are close to the surface for Piquette whose discourse refuses to endorse the smugness of the well-off Vanessa: ‘Do you like this place,’ I asked [†¦] Piquette shrugged. It’s okay. Good as anywhere. ’ ‘I love it,’ I said, ‘We come here every summer. ’ ‘So what? ’ (113) 15 Other details suggest a Piquette who has dreams of her own, but who cannot allow herself to expose them to others: â€Å"When she saw me approaching, her hand squashed flat the sand castle she had been building, and she looked at me sulle nly, without speaking† (113). For Piquette, the child Vanessa is a potential enemy, someone to guard oneself against. Dreams cannot be shared, and cannot even be envisaged within the society of which Vanessa is a part. Indeed, even in her later teenage years, Piquette holds no hope of improvement for herself within the confines of small-town Manawaka: â€Å"Boy, you couldn’t catch me stayin’ here. I don’ give a shit about this place. It stinks† (116). Piquette knows that Manawaka holds nothing for her in the sense that no one there believes in her chances for a better future. When she becomes engaged to be married, she remarks that, â€Å"All the bitches an’ biddies in this town will sure be surprised† (117). The implication that the town gossips have nothing good to say about Piquette is underscored by Vanessa’s own reactions. On seeing Piquette several years after the summer at the cottage, Vanessa is â€Å"repelled† and â€Å"embarrassed† by her, and although she is â€Å"ashamed† at her own attitude, she gives way to an emphatic outpouring of animosity towards the teenage girl:   Ã‚  Ã‚  I could not help despising the self-pity in her voice. I wished she would go away. I did not want to see her. I did not know what to say to her. It seemed that we had nothing to say to one another. (117) 16 The force of this expression suggests a negative identification with Piquette on Vanessa’s part. It is as if Piquette represents the photo negative of Vanessa’s life; the result of poverty, illness, and lack of education made flesh and standing there as a threat to the integrity of Vanessa’s identity as a middle-class, reasonably well-educated girl with a future. There is no indication in the story that Vanessa ever overcomes this violent rejection of Piquette during the Metis girl’s lifetime. This moment of intense emotional confrontation is followed by what may be seen as the story’s signature moment: For the merest instant, then, I saw her. I really did see her, for the first and only time in all the years we had both lived in the same town. Her defiant face, momentarily, became unguarded and unmasked, and in her eyes there was a terrifying hope. (117) 17 These last two words encapsulate the relative positions of the two girls. Where Piquette ‘reveals’ her most guarded treasure—hope, arguably the most positive emotion which exists, Vanessa reproduces the condemning judgement of the town; with the word â€Å"terrifying,† she declares this hope to be without any ground. It is therefore coherent with Vanessa’s view of Piquette’s life that the Metis woman should be left as a single mother, follow in the drunken path of her father, and finally die in a house fire along with her two children. Vanessa’s reaction to this news is, â€Å"I did not say anything. As so often with Piquette, there did not seem to be anything to say† (119). It is not that there is ‘nothing to say’ about Piquette, but rather, that what there is to say would involve a questioning of community values which would also have to be a form of self-questioning. The narrative does not take the direction of a critique of human and social relationships; it deals with the vague sense of guilt expressed by the narrator—â€Å"I wished I could put from my memory the look that I had seen once in Piquette’s eyes† (119)—by sublimating Piquette into the symbol (along with the loons) of something lost. The ground is prepared through the falling action of the story which lists the avalanche of losses which Vanessa experiences after having heard about Piquette’s death: â€Å"The MacLeod cottage had been sold after my father’s Journal of the Short Story in English, 48 | Spring 2007 Negotiating Loss and Otherness in Margaret Laurence’s â€Å"The Loons† 6 death†; â€Å"The small pier which my father had built was gone†; â€Å"Diamond Lake had been renamed Lake Wapakata†; and finally, â€Å"I realized that the loons were no longer there† (119). These different elements reinstall the triad of the father, the loons and nature as the paradigm of loss and the narrator then brings Piquette into this sphere of symbolism: I remember how Piquette had scorned to come along when my father and I sat there and listened to the lake birds. It seemed to me now that in some unconscious and totally unrecognised way, Piquette might have been the only one, after all, who had heard the crying of the loons. (120) 18 19 â€Å"Piquette,† â€Å"father,† â€Å"lake,† â€Å"birds,† â€Å"loons†: all of these words are given a place in the final paragraph. The narrator too, is present amongst these elements, and her place as the one who reconstructs meaning is affirmed: â€Å"I remember how [†¦]. † But it is affirmed, finally, as a process of questioning: in the phrase, â€Å"It seemed to me now that in some unconscious and totally unrecognised way,† (where it is uncertain as to whether it is the narrator’s unconscious or Piquette’s which is being invoked), the narrator seems to romanticize Piquette’s Metis status into the ‘natural’ world and confer on her the positive charge of nostalgia related to loss. In this statement of restricted awareness, it would seem that the narrator is trying to resolve the problem of her own position in relation to Piquette; the irreconcilable distinction between how she felt towards Piquette and how she felt she should have felt, if only for her father’s sake. The solution to this is to transform Piquette from the living girl—judged by so ciety, including Vanessa and her mother—as â€Å"sullen and gauche and badly dressed,† â€Å"a real slattern,† â€Å"a mess† (118), into a symbol: a young girl, representative of an oppressed minority, with a tragic destiny, doomed to die. In this form, the loss of Piquette can be associated with both the death of the father and the disappearance of the loons; the desire to bring Piquette into this association suggests an unresolved sense of guilt—towards the girl character, on the level of the diegesis, but also towards the Metis people, whose â€Å"long silence† (108) is echoed in the â€Å"quiet all around me† experienced by Vanessa (119) as she becomes aware of the disappearance of the loons. Silenced by death, Piquette’s ‘otherness’ can be neutralized and romanticized into nostalgia. The contradictions which structure â€Å"The Loons† give the story its force. In spite of the control of the adult narrator in the choice and ordering of memory, there is no attempt to beautify the emotions of her childhood self. The limited, often egocentric aspects of her childhood perspective are rendered, so that the reader’s sympathy goes out towards the other girl, Piquette. This construction of perspective may be een as a form of generosity, whereby, in spite of Vanessa’s statement that â€Å"there was nothing to say,† the narrator’s rendering of the past has allowed the reader to achieve an awareness of Piquette’s specificity as a character: she has moved from the general sense of absence which characterizes her in Vanessa’s memory, to a form of visibility in which the reader may see her as the victim of multiple ve ctors of oppression; in this context, her ‘defiance’ and ‘sullenness’ become the marks of a fighting spirit, and her ‘hope,’ the sign of her humanity. Through these effects constructed by the narrating voice, the earlier generosity of the father is ultimately echoed and loss takes on its complex human dimension. Bibliography Howells, Coral Ann. Private and Fictional Words : Canadian Women Novelists of the 1970s and 1980s. London: Methuen, 1987. Laurence, Margaret. A Bird in the House (1970). Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, 1993. Stovel, Bruce. â€Å"Coherence in A Bird in the House,† in New Perspectives on Margaret Laurence : Poetic Narrative, Multiculturalism, and Feminism. Ed. Greta McCormick Coger. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1996. Vauthier, Simone. â€Å"‘A Momentary Stay Against Confusion’ : A Reading of Margaret Laurence’s ‘To Set Our House in Order. ’† The Journal of the Short Story in English vol. 3 (1984): 87-108. Ware, Tracy. â€Å"Race and Conflict in Garner’s ‘One-Two-Three Little Indians’ and Laurence’s ‘The Loons. ’† Studies in Canadian Literature vol. 23:2 (1998) : 71-84. Journal of the Short Story in English, 48 | Spring 2007 Negotiating Loss and Otherness in Margaret Laurence’s â€Å"The Loons† 7 Notes   I am grateful to my colleagues in Besancon who participated in a discussion on â€Å"The Loons. † 2   See Vauthier (96-99) for a detailed analysis of Vanessa’s function as narrator (based on the short story â€Å"To Set Our House in Order,† but equally valid here). 3    Indeed, Tracy Ware argues that the associat ion of Piquette with nature, on the basis of her Metis origins, â€Å"den[ies] Piquette her full humanity, [and it also] makes a tragic outcome inevitable. We will never be able to imagine a future for people whom we regard as separate[d] from us ‘by aeons’† (80).   Margery Fee’s comment, quoted in Ware, that â€Å"Native people [†¦] are so rarely depicted as individuals, because they must bear the burden of the Other—of representing all that the modern person has lost† (Ware 82), seems relevant to the construction of Piquette as a character who comes to bear the symbolic weight of the very idea of loss. 5   Ware declares that this symbol is â€Å"a misrecognition because it ignores the historical struggles of both Natives and Metis† (79). References Electronic reference Jennifer Murray,  «Ã‚  Negotiating Loss and Otherness in Margaret Laurence’s â€Å"The Loons†Ã‚  Ã‚ », Journal of the Short Story in English [Online], 48  |  Spring 2007, Online since 01 juin 2009, Connection on 01 avril 2013. URL  : http://jsse. revues. org/index858. html Bibliographical reference Jennifer Murray,  «Ã‚  Negotiating Loss and Otherness in Margaret Laurence’s â€Å"The Loons†Ã‚  Ã‚ », Journal of the Short Story in English, 48  |  2007, 71-80. Jennifer Murray Jennifer Murray is an associate professor at the University of Franche-Comte. Her research is focused primarily on Canadian literature and on American writers from the South. Ms. Murray’s publications include articles on Margaret Atwood, Carson McCullers, Flannery O’Connor and Tennessee Williams. She is currently working on the short stories of Margaret Laurence and Alice Munro. Copyright  © All rights reserved Abstract Je me propose ici d’etudier l’impact symbolique de la disparition du pere dans â€Å"  The Loons  Ã¢â‚¬ , une nouvelle de Margaret Laurence. Au niveau de l’intrigue, l’histoire est celle d’une amitie impossible entre la narratrice, Vanessa, fille de medecin, et une jeune metisse, Piquette, soignee par le pere de Vanessa. Les differences de niveau social, d’education et d’origine ethnique creent une incomprehension fondamentale entre les deux filles et vouent a l’echec les tentatives de Vanessa de sympathiser avec Piquette. Cet insucces attriste Vanessa  ; elle pense avoir decu son pere qui esperait que le sort de sa jeune patiente serait adouci par le contact avec sa famille. Devant son incapacite a transformer la realite et le remords qu’elle en eprouve, la narratrice transforme son souvenir de Piquette, l’exclue, en symbole. Ce symbole se developpe autour d’un noyau d’elements semantiques associes a l’authenticite, la nature, et la nostalgie du passe  ; des concepts valorises par le pere, et qui, pour la narratrice sont lies au sentiment de perte occasionne par sa mort Journal of the Short Story in English, 48 | Spring 2007 How to cite The Loons, Papers

Subject Development Task Pgce free essay sample

Exploring Subject Pedagogy. French- past tense I have addressed French as an area that needs further development. I have highlighted in my weekly evaluations my concerns about teaching a year 9 class as I strongly feel that my knowledge would be stretched far beyond its limits. However, as I am keen to improve and enhance my linguistic skills, I have taken on board the challenge and done my most to ensure that pupils are given ample opportunity to understand and manipulate the language. Given that the pupils are a bottom set, I eave found it even more challenging to cater for their needs, however, I have created a lot of authentic resources, been proactive in terms of seeking advice from other members of staff and made full use of my subject knowledge audit as a way to enhance my knowledge and understanding of French. I used the current unit of work provided by the department and made some amendments with the permission of the main teacher. We will write a custom essay sample on Subject Development Task Pgce or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page I explored the different assessments (formative and summarize) that the unit of work aimed to incorporate by the end of the term and made note of hither the activities incorporated in the unit of work addressed all four skill areas. I also made sure that the activities detailed were appropriate for their current level. Once I had obtained sufficient information, I decided to look at the resources available (textbooks) and used this as a tool to help me understand the vocabulary and structures that pupils needed to know for each unit. As aforementioned, pupils were working towards a level 4 which is way below the national level for their age group. To ensure that the content of the work illustrated in the textbook was appropriate for their level, I had to adapt all the material and create my own resources and power points to water-down the text so that it was do-able but at the same time presented opportunities for a challenge. Once I had a sound understanding as to what topic I was expected to teach, what the content of the topic entailed, the levels the pupils expected to achieve and the vocabulary used, I decided to draft a lesson overview and calculate approximately how long each topic would take to deliver in the given timeshare (Easter). Once the lessons had been mapped ND the direction confirmed, I decided to analyses the vocabulary for each unit and highlight the potential difficulties that pupils may encounter so that I could use my knowledge to find an appropriate solution such as making flashcards so that pupils could have more opportunity to practice challenging concepts, making sure that my explanations are concise and clear, making provisions for reinforced activities and extension tasks etc. I regularly conversed with my subject mentor and identified areas in which I had concerns. Based on her advice, I was about to reflect on how articulacy grammatical concepts in French should be delivered to the class. It was thought that the best way to introduce the past tense to weak students was via constant repetition and reinforcement activities. I decided to use a lot of hands-on activities to help pupils engage in the task and to more importantly, understand the concept. In addition, I used a lot of questioning techniques and made sure that pupils were given sufficient opportunities to work together to solve tasks instead of the exercise being completely teacher-led. Even though this is a bottom set class, I eave always maintained the belief that pupils should take more accountability and responsibility for their learning irrespective of their ability. Therefore, I tried to devise ways in which pupils could become more independent and less needy. I shared my ideas with my subject mentor and she seemed to very enthusiastic about the notion and encouraged me to pursue my quest for greater autonomy in the classroom. By making subtle adaptations to the unit of work, I believe that I was able to incorporate a greater element of fun and appropriately matched the tasks to pupils learning needs.