Parkinson s Disease The Second Most Common...

Parkinson’s Disease is considered the second most common neurodegenerative disorder. The only disorder that is currently more common is Alzheimer’s disease, which barely trumps Parkinson’s by a small margin. The first article studied the effectiveness of two different exercise programs against a home-based control group with people in the early to mid stages of Parkinson’s. The study was a randomized control trial and lasted for 16 months and compared: flexibility/balance/function exercises (FBF), supervised aerobic exercises (AE), and home-based exercises (control). The primary outcomes focused on physical function, balance, and walking economy. A few secondary outcomes included: ADLs, motor subscales, and quality of life. The†¦show more content†¦However, the control group was only required to be supervised on the initial session and then once a month for the entire 16 months. Everyone was encouraged to perform his or her exercise program s 5 to 7 days a week throughout the study. The FBF group included 2 months of flexibility training, followed by 2 months of small group exercises that included: flexibility, balance, and functional exercises. The AE group included 5 to 10 minutes of warm-ups, 30 minutes of exercises at 65 to 80% of their max heart rate, and 5 to 10 minutes of cool downs. The participants were allowed to use either a treadmill, stationary bike or elliptical for their aerobic exercise. The control group included exercises in the home setting using Fitness Counts. At 4 months the FBF group improved greater than the control group with a mean difference of 4.3 on the Physical Functional Performance Test. The FBF group also performed better than the AE group with a mean difference of 3.1 on the same test. Conflicting to their hypotheses the AE group did not show more improved results compared to the control group in the Physical Functional Performance Test. The results showed no difference in improvement on the Functional Reach Test for any of the groups at any point in the study. The AE group showed the greatest improvement of all the groups for walking economy, which means the participants had a reduced energy cost when walking. Surprisingly only the FBF

Morality vs. Obedience Free Essays

â€Å"If you can’t give a good reason for believing what you believe, then it’s not your belief; it’s someone else’s. † Morality vs. Obedience How would someone tease apart this blanket statement and how would they compare it to morality and obedience in less than three pages? Well, this is how I would. We will write a custom essay sample on Morality vs. Obedience or any similar topic only for you Order Now First, I’d start by making clear that belief is different from knowledge. Knowledge can be defined as â€Å"a clear perception of a truth or fact, erudition; skill from practice. A belief can be defined as â€Å"an assent to anything proposed or declared, and its acceptance as fact by reason of the authority from whence it proceeds, apart from personal knowledge; faith. † So, to be clear, knowledge is dropping a ball and knowing that it will fall to the ground because of prior experience and the perception that the existence of gravity is a fact. Belief would be dropping the ball and believing it will float because your older brother told you it would. Next, I would establish that this statement is not staking claim on any measure of truth as it relates to beliefs or knowledge. Beliefs and knowledge are both dynamic concepts on all organizational levels of the human experience, from the individual to the global. Lets take for example the statement, â€Å"The Earth is flat. † Five hundred years ago, this statement was knowledge. Today, it’s knowledge that this statement is false. Knowledge changes based on the information and evidence available to us at any point in time. This is also true of beliefs but in a different way. When most of us were young, we believed in the Tooth Fairy. Why? Because someone told us she was real. However, this belief changed as we began to mature and rely more upon our own abilities to discern truth from fiction. Thus, we have established that both knowledge and belief are subjective but for different reasons. Belief requires no evidence, while knowledge requires evidence and/or experience. I would now like to make a comparative argument regarding morality and obedience. Simply put, morality is ‘doing what’s right, regardless of what anyone says’ and obedience is ‘doing what your told, regardless of what’s right. One can think of many examples regarding these concepts as they are defined but I will leave this to the reader’s imagination. There is a simple truth to defining obedience and morality in this manner that I find directly comparable to the examined quotation. Neither belief nor obedience require an individual or group to actively engage in an activity or thought process independently. There is no critical thinking involved and one must put their faith in the ‘rightness’ or ‘truth’ of another’s belief, knowledge or otherwise. Both knowledge and morality require active engagement. One cannot possess knowledge without having evidence to back it up and one cannot act morally without understanding what it is that makes a situation right or wrong in their eyes. This is especially true when acting morally requires someone to go against social norms or established laws. The point of this paper is to shed light on the fact that we are all responsible for ourselves to the extent that we can be. No one person can know everything about everything, so belief and obedience are often useful and easy fallbacks. For example, I don’t snowboard on black diamond slopes. This is not because I have knowledge of how hurt I will get but because I belief the sign posting and obediently board within my level to avoid possible injury. However, in every decision one makes there should be a component of knowledge and morality applied. In application to the snowboarding example, I know, from experience, that my snowboarding skills are not on par with a black diamond. I choose not to risk my health and the resources of first responders by making the moral decision to stay off of it, despite my desire to challenge myself. How to cite Morality vs. Obedience, Papers

Criminal Justice Technology free essay sample

One of the important challenges facing many law enforcement agencies today is having a budget sufficient enough to update technology in order to make law enforcement agencies more efficient for the community and the people. Law enforcement agencies, for the most part, are always working with an insufficient budget and struggling to make ends meet in order to protect and serve their community. A quote that I heard once basically says it all, that is â€Å"You don’t go to a gun fight with a knife. I refer to this because it basically means that agencies and administration cannot efficiently grant all wishes and requests from the community without a strong budget supporting the latest technology. It seems as though there is constant pressure on law enforcement agencies to do this and that the community is never satisfied. There are plenty of topics to discuss about new technology such as, new firearms, police vehicles, safety equipment, gear, and so on. We will write a custom essay sample on Criminal Justice Technology or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page While trying to see things from both sides as part of the community and as the head of a department, we need to realize that just jumping in and throwing a bunch of money is not that simple for one, and for two, buying a bunch of new firearms or vehicles right off the bat is not going to make high quality, efficient changes. This leads us to the paper paradigm. The paper paradigm is implementing more efficiency-driven, electronic processes (2). In other words, updating computer based applications and electronics. Implementing information to a piece of paper is going to have a significant increase on the inefficiencies in police organizations. This doesn’t sound that important to the regular Joe, but I think that the newest technologies could induce a huge impact on efficient improvements of law enforcement agencies all over the nation by becoming more efficient with their tasks and services. While the benefits of moving toward a paperless environment are certainly numerous and generally understood within the public safety community, the complexities in attaining its full potential may be less obvious (2). We use the term paperless when referring to the transformation of capturing, and storing data with the historical paper and pen model, to a computer based model. The act of writing of information onto a piece of paper, then transferring it to a computer device, was the first form of actual data entry(1). Data entry clerks were then re-entering information into the computer system that had already been entered into the filing system by the law enforcement officer. Papers and files in the Records storage began to pile up while costing agencies more than we would ever imagine due to excess paper, lack of available personnel, and last but not least, efficiency of time(1). The new concept of an inefficient accumulation of all files and folders was certainly an unfortunate and unintended consequence of the first wave of the electronic revolution in law enforcement(2). However, this is not to say that the introduction of computer based technology was an absolute bad thing because it wasn’t at the time, this argument is simply stating that the â€Å"paper to computer data† process simply needs to utilize new technological advances. With the benefits as well as the inefficiencies of this process exposed, the industry set out to enhance the previous concept by reducing the second. This is where the concept of a paperless system originated(2). If the original officer of a report were to have a way of directly entering his information into the computer system, then several time consuming and costly steps could be eliminated. Do not look at this argument the wrong way, because we have made huge advances in technology, rather it is the fact that low budgets (especially in today’s economy) in agencies have and continue to prevent them from keeping up with the newest technologies. This process was, and continues to be implemented in a variety of formats ranging from direct entry by the an officer, to recorded dictation, to the use of word processor templates and even intelligent/optical character recognition technology(3). Modern front end desktop applications were also created to provide user friendly and intuitive interfaces, and wireless field reporting solutions extended this functionality out to the vehicle(2). But regardless of the method employed, the ability to eliminate duplication in the â€Å"paper to computer† data entry process was a significant advancement. Basically the next advancement to eliminating time consuming data reporting process is essential for efficiencies in the field, in the office, in the patrol cars, and even the home life of officers. As law enforcement agencies have continued to evolve into an increasingly complex data collection, processing, and archiving center, the value and scope of information has also expanded from an almost exclusively prosecutorial purpose, into a comprehensive investigation, pattern analysis, decision support, and liability modification tool (2). All of these functions, which were virtually non-existent in the paper model, are now the foundation for improvement of modern law enforcement. However, there are still some crucial elements of the paper paradigm that still exist, such as officers still having to take the time they have at home with their families and transfer daily information from paper to computer. Agency processes and procedures which were established long before the computer are still common throughout the majority of law enforcement agencies. There are still instances where paper has been significantly reduced, but still have systems which were developed during the transitional period to advanced technology. These systems still maintain much of the workflow, duplication, and distribution of inefficiencies introduced by their paper-based predecessors(2). The idea of passing or sending information around an agency has been literally translated into the physical duplication and transmission of data between systems, and in many cases even duplicating data within those systems. Thus, not only resulting in information duplication, but down the line it becomes time consuming eventually effecting the efficiency of officers, administrators, organizers, and end the end the community. These processes not only continue the former inefficiencies, but can actually decrease the accuracy and reliability of the information that they were created to enhance(3). The example of the inefficient transferring of data and information can be eliminated by updating agencies computer-based technology. Updating agencies’ operations and their necessary equipment sounds like an easy task, but in all actuality it is not. This requires a sufficient budget in order to do so. Prior to the hit on the economy, agencies were already struggling to just maintain order within the agency, it is progressing getting worse. It is sad to see that a much needed structure such as law enforcement, has to struggle to maintain and protect their communities. We will define data as a permanent electronic representation of an entity, r the context of an entity’s interaction with law enforcement. These representations are made up of a single record of any unique entity or unique contact instance(2). Information on the other hand, would be any means by which the data was accessed, displayed, disseminated and/or combined in a meaningful manner for a particular purpose. This allows us to separate the paper system previously described where the data and information were basically the same thing, f rom the paper paradigm where they no longer need to be(2). For example, if officers were to input the person, vehicle, and/or location (entity) data into their field reports and then submit those reports into a database without any checks to see if the submitted entity data already existed, the result would be extensive duplication any time an entity was contacted more than once. This would be a waste of time for officers. In other words, if officers are taking the time to input information that has already been processed, then they are unknowingly wasting their time while they could be tending to other cases that might be in need of more attention. The field reporting process would be significantly more efficient if there was a data base that automatically filed and checked for duplications, rather than going from paper to computer every time, The agency would meet their goal of going paperless. But the paper paradigm would still be in effect and causing problems with duplication. Another example of the paper paradigm creeping into a paperless environment is highlighted through the supervisory approval processes in many systems. In most cases, reports are gathered, compiled and sent to specific groups or individuals throughout the agency for review at specific levels of administration based upon the agencies organized operational procedures. The reviewers then approve or reject the reports and potentially submit comments back to the original author for consideration and resubmission. Although most of these processes do deal with logical information rather than copied and duplicated source data, the actual process is a smaller example showing the physical movement of paper which is highly inefficient and unnecessary(1). It is an expensive, time consuming process that decreases the availability of time, money, and personnel. In addition to the query, formatting, delivery, and displayed resources required to create this process, the supervisory and administrative staff, are more than likely presented with significantly more information than is required to meet their objective(2). In the paper system, each field had to be reviewed for consistency, completeness and content. The only checks and balances available were in the eye of the reviewer so to speak. Now that computers have the capability to apply complex logic to ensure that required fields are completed and their values are consistent with defined parameters prior to submission, supervisors should never see incomplete or inconsistent reports. Why then do they still need to review the full report? Why do they need their own copy? In most cases, it is just the content of a few select fields that would need to be reviewed. This process could certainly be achieved without producing and sending documents around the network(2). Even though there has been advances in technology in the past decade, if agencies had a sufficient enough budget to be consistent with incorporating the newest advanced technology into the agency, then it would eliminate the majority of the costly, time consuming inefficiencies, such as physically reviewing and delivering data. Prior to the hit on the economy, agencies were already struggling to just maintain order within, it is progressively getting worse. It is sad to see that a much needed structure such as law enforcement, has to struggle to maintain and protect their communities. The solution to escaping the reoccurrence of inefficiencies is to focus on these inefficiencies beyond just moving legacy processes to an electronic medium(2). Administrators of operations need to be willing to carefully evaluate their operational procedures in order to identify and address these issues. With low budgets becoming more apparent for law enforcement agencies, a careful focus on these minute issues will not necessarily eliminate all inefficiencies, but it will give them leverage in order to advance their technology investments and achieve more efficient time, personnel, and budget management towards their full potential. What a lot of people don’t realize is that if agencies had more support from the communities and government then they could at least partially eliminate some of these inefficiencies allowing officers to be more efficient in tending to the communities’ needs and requests. In other words, officers would be more readily available to assist other officers, have more officers disbursed throughout communities, and be able to focus on more important aspects overall in the law enforcement agencies. This would help administrators in such a way by eliminating unnecessary stressors allowing them to address certain situations, and strategically and carefully maintain a well organized agency. All in all, it seems as though law enforcement agencies are not a high priority when it comes to government community support. However, when there are troubles around the nation, law enforcement and public safety are desperately needed. As a starting point for change, our communities and government need to understand that society could not function without law enforcement and public safety, therefore we need to be more supportive of local agencies. If there is more support and a more stable foundation within agencies then they will be able to enhance their technology, resulting in more efficient and quality services for all. This is just a small example in regards to upgrading computer-based technology, moving from manually entering data by pen and paper to using more computer friendly operations.

Scoping report for the earthquakes in New Madrid, and Fulton City, Missouri

Introduction Earthquakes are not a new phenomenon in the U.S.: numerous parts of the country experience them. They are cause stress accumulation in the underground rocks. The accumulation of this stress is a clear indication of the slow but constant movement of the earth’s outermost rocky layers.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Scoping report for the earthquakes in New Madrid, and Fulton City, Missouri specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More These are large sections of which move about earth as tectonic plates. The collision or grinding of adjacent plates leads to stressing of rocks. This stress is then released to the earth’s surface in the form of sudden shifts. Consequently, plate boundaries are the primary breeding ground for earthquakes. Earthquakes have many effects. They can cause deaths, injuries, and damages to buildings and other structures. They may lead to a wide range of long term economic or social impacts. As such, they should be addressed with a proportionate measure of seriousness and concern. Governments should use the past as a lesson on addressing any future occurrences of these disasters. This report examines the scope of the earthquake phenomenon in New Madrid and Fulton city, Missouri. Earthquakes in New Madrid: When did it all begin? The winter of 1811-12 was not an average humdrum winter to the residents of New Madrid. If anyone had been keen to record the events of that season, the manuscript would probably have been rejected as being just too fanciful for compelling fiction. In deed, seismologists call it the greatest release of seismic energy is so short a time ever witnessed and recorded by human beings. A few individual earthquakes have been bigger. In a few instances perhaps they have been more numerous within a short span. However, never so many were so big in so short a time (Braile et al., 1982). The drastic events that took place on December 16, 18 16 indicate that catastrophic earthquakes do not occur in the western [parts of the United States alone. In the last two and half decades, seismologists have come to learn that strong earth quakes that occur in the central Mississippi Valley are not mere events but have occurred repeatedly throughout the geologic past.Advertising Looking for report on geology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This area has come to be known as the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ) (Pratt, 2009). The zone occupies the southeastern part of Missouri and the southern part of Illinois. The NMSZ consists of a number of thrust faults stretching from Marked Tree in Arkansas, to Cairo in Illinois. Earthquakes that occur in the eastern or central parts of the United States are worse than those of similar magnitude in the western parts. For instance, an earth quake that occurred in San Francisco, California in 1906 had some magnitude of 7.8 measured on the Ri chter scale. It was experienced some 350 miles away in the center of Nevada. However, an earthquake of almost a similar magnitude that occurred in New Madrid on December of 1811 went to the extent of ringing bells in Boston, a city that is 1000 miles away from the epicenter. Such geographical disparities in the east and west are caused by the Rocky Mountains. The large earthquakes, which occur in the region notably, affect the New Madrid Seismic Zone. The closest areas that are also affected by the zone earthquakes are Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Illinois (Weznger 213). The southwestern parts of Indiana and the northwestern Mississippi have also declared to receive extraordinary shaking from the region’s strong earthquakes. The latest New Madrid fault system covers an area of 120 miles, cutting across the Mississippi River, as well as Ohio River (Braile et al., 1982). Geology of New Madrid Seismic Zone The New Madrid Seismic Zone is found in the northern region of Miss issippi embayment. The latter is a broad trough full of marine sedimentary rocks that are dated 50-100 million years ago. The top 30 meters of sediment that is in the embayment comprise of sand, silt, and clay. They were deposited by Rivers Mississippi, White, Ohio, and St. Francis. The NMSZ is composed of faults that were experienced when the area currently referred to as North America broke up. This occurrence occurred approximately 750 million years ago (Penick, 2001).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Scoping report for the earthquakes in New Madrid, and Fulton City, Missouri specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The main cracks formed resulted to the present faults that are found in the zone. The magma that was pushed from inside the rocks came at the surface and formed themselves into igneous rocks. The rift that was formed when the earth was splitting off remained as a region of weakness underneath the earth su rface. Later, yet another unsuccessful rifting trial left the area weaker than before, hence, creating more faults. The second occurrence of unsuccessful rifting occurred approximately 200 million years ago (Pratt, 2009). The reel foot rift was realized because of geological structures that emerged after every rifting attempt. The large rocks that are found underneath the earths surface in New Madrid are feared to be mechanically weaker than most of other parts of North America, due to the past fault that were created. Chart 1. The geology of New Madrid Seismic Zone Source: Tuttle, M., Associates. (2011). ‘The geology of NMSZ’. The underneath weaknesses, together with the effects of stronger rocks, allow the east west condensed forces to reinforce the old faults. Although there are several rifts that are experienced in most parts of North America, not all of them are associated with the modern types of earthquakes that occur in the area.Advertising Looking for report on geology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More For instance, the mid-continent rift system that starts from Minnesota and ends in Kansas may not be associated with any earthquake, as other processes may add to mechanical stress on the already existing faults (Braile et al., 1982). Some of the local processes that are suspected to cause earthquakes are downward pulling from underneath rocks that are below the fault. Other incidences include bending of the lithosphere because of continental glaciers melting. The earthquake experiences: a ground for further investigations Several suggestions are made concerning the heating that happen in the lithosphere, may result in making the big rocks inside more plastic. This heating may cause the concentration of compression force in the shallow underneath regions, where the faulting happens. There is also a model that describes local stress to happen because of a change in the passage of the mantle below the New Madrid Seismic Zone, due to sinking Carillon Plate. There are three types of tre nds realized when epicenters of modern earthquakes are presented in the form of a map. The first system of a trend is referred to as general northeast southwest. This trend is parallel to the drift of the Reel foot Rift in part of Arkansas. The second system of the trend is called southeast to northwest. This drift is experienced at the southwest part of New Madrid. The third system of a trend is known as northeast to northwestern. It extends to the farthest end of the Reel foot Fault (Penick, 2001). The New Madrid Seismic Zone recorded four of the largest earthquakes that have happened in North America. They were big earthquakes believed to be as large as 8.0. The largest earthquakes that were first experienced in this zone occurred between 1811 and 1812. The New Madrid Sequence is the overall effect of all the earthquakes that happened during that period. It has been always a challenge to measure the effect of one earthquake. The magnitude approximates and epicenters are based on the results of historical records, and this may vary from one period to the other. Earthquakes in the past or the recent ones that have happened for the last 10000 years have been caused by faults, which are not always micro seismically active. According to some of the researches done, it is evident that quiet faults are at times dangerous than the active ones. High built up stress blocks both sides of the fault, hence hindering the occurrence of micro seismic earthquakes. This process happens before the major rupture of the fault happens; investigations are still ongoing to define whether such types of faults do happen in New Madrid Seismic Zone (Weznger, 2010). Further investigations are required to proof, as it would be hard to locate such incidences. For the last 10000 years, people in this zone felt more than two thousand quakes. Crude seismograph instruments were used to detect these quakes, and most journalists managed to record these events in personal journals (Pratt, 2009) . In the central United States, rocks that are found there are hard, cold, and dry. The presence of such rocks makes earthquake in this region to be strong than the earthquakes that happen in California as well as in other areas. The earthquakes, which happen within the New Madrid Seismic Zone, cause damages, which are approximately 20 times larger than in other areas (Penick, 2001). The measurement challenge For many years, it has been a great challenge to estimate the recurrence of earthquake. With approximate locations, time and dates, and the size, it would be capable to provide a rough estimate of recurrence interval (Nixon, 2009)). Currently, some pale seismologists have provided people with information that two or more earthquakes of seven or more magnitude were experienced in the last 2000 years. They used some information to come up with a recurrence interval estimate of 3000 to 1000 years. It was estimated that, after 100 years, the New Madrid Seismic Zone would experience an earthquake of magnitude more than 6. These 100 hundred years were to be calculated since 1812, but this time has already elapsed. The estimates are not always accurate, and that is one of the major issues, which require further investigations. Effects of the 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquakes The 1811-1812 earthquakes in the New Madrid Seismic Zone had many effects. The most obvious of these include sandy blows. These were due to the upsurge of water and sand to the ground surface. This phenomenon is known as earthquake-induced liquefaction (see chart below). This is the process by which a saturated soil substantially loses its power and strength due to a stress that is applied to it by an earthquake shaking. This makes the soil to act like a liquid. Soil liquefaction leads to a number of cascading hazards such as floods, landslides, and river debris (Tuttle Associates, 2011). During the 1811-12 earthquakes, sand blows formed over an extremely large area measuring about 10, 400 s quare kilometers. The effects of these were experienced 200km away in the northeastern part of the NMSZ. Even today, sand blows are visible in the New Madrid region. They appear as sandy patches that have a light color in cultivated fields. Chart 2. Sand blows and the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-1812. Source: Tuttle, M., Associates. (2011). ‘Sand blows and the New Madrid Earthquakes of 1811-12’. Recent earthquakes of medium magnitude have led to loss of lives and destruction of property worth billions of dollars. For instance, in Northridge, California, an earth quake of magnitude 6.7 led to the death of 33 residents, and destruction of property worth $20 billion. In the following year, an earthquake of magnitude 6.9 occurred in Kobe, Japan killing 5, 500 people and destroying property valued at $100 billion (Penick, 2001). These statistics indicate that there is a need for the inhabitants of New Madrid Seismic Zone to be prepared in case an earthquake of such med ium magnitude happens in the future. This is because earthquakes of medium magnitude are likely to occur than those of great magnitude. In deed, seismologists approximate the likelihood of the occurrence of an earthquake that is of magnitude 6.0 or greater within the next 50 years ranges from 25% to 40% (Weznger, 2010). If such a disaster happens, it is bound to affect more people than the incident that occurred on December 1811. This is because the population of the central Mississippi Valley was smaller compared to the current one consisting of millions of people. In addition, the calamity is likely to be dangerous because many structures in the area were not designed to withstand earthquakes as is the case in areas that are more seismic active such as California (Pratt, 2009). Earthquakes in Fulton, Missouri Chart 3. Welcome sign of Fulton City, MO Source: Citi-Data.com. (2011). ‘Welcome to Fulton signs’. Retrieved from http://www.city-data.com/picfilesv/picv25526.p hp Fulton is the largest city in the Kingdom of Callaway County. As of 2009, it population stood at 12, 814. According to the 2000 census, the average household income is $32, 625. Callaway water district provides a lot of employment opportunities for the residents of Fulton City. Other institutions that are of economic value to the city include Fulton State Hospital and Missouri School for the Deaf. According to the 2000 census, the average household income is $32, 625 (City of Fulton, MO., 2011). Geology of Fulton. The city is situated on a low-lying land. Missouri River is the defining physical feature in Mid-Missouri, and it surrounds the southwester border of Callaway County. There are three dominant soil types in the Callaway County. These are alluvium, sandy clay, and clay loam till soils (Chalfant, 2008). Just like the rest of Missouri County, the weather patterns in Missouri are not constant. There are both extremes of temperature. The county has experienced a number of na tural hazards in the history of its existence. These include floods, severe weather conditions, tornadoes, and hail. In the recent past, the most memorial natural hazard that took occurred in this county is the Flood of 1993. This flood affected a large portion of Missouri State causing a lot of damage on commercial properties, public facilities, transportation, as well as agriculture. The geology of Fulton is similar to that of the central region of the U.S. It consists of cold, dry and less fractured rocks. Although the probability of an earthquake is not high as in the case of New Madrid, any occurrence of the same will be more hazardous than it would have been the case in other regions such as California. In the recent past, a number of earthquakes have been recorded in the area. On July 31, 2005, an earthquake of magnitude 3.3 was experienced 43 miles from the city center. On March 30, 2001, an earthquake of magnitude 3.1 was felt 98 miles from Fulton City center (Citi-Data.com , 2011). The above statistics indicate that the risk of, although the magnitude of earthquakes occurring in the city may be small and do mot occur in the city centre, there is a high probability of such occurrences in the future. Nevertheless, the occurrence of earthquakes in Fulton is way below that of the entire Missouri state. However, this does not imply that the phenomenon is not an issue of concern to the city. Although earthquakes in this area have not been very destructive in the past as compared to that in New Madrid, any occurrence of earthquakes in this region can destroy the Callaway Nuclear Facility, hence cutting off the livelihoods of many residents who work in it (American Services, 2011). Summary of main findings Earthquakes are always occurring, with some being too small to be felt while others are large enough to cause irreparable damages. On average, major earthquakes happen once in a year. This will depend on the location of a place on the planet. However, more seismic active areas like the New Madrid Seismic Zone have high risks of experiencing hazardous earthquakes than other areas in the state of Missouri. This high probability is of great concern to Fulton city as it predisposes the latter to this risk. The duration of earthquakes is generally short compared to other hazards such as floods. It could be minutes, or even seconds. The main earthquake event lasts for a short duration. The foreshocks and aftershocks linked with a single geological shift can be detected weeks before or months later. This was the case with the December 1811-12 earthquakes that span for a period of three months until March the following year. The amount of destruction that results from an earthquake depends on several factors, one of them is strength. Earthquakes vary remarkably in their power. Some can be barely felt while others can knock one off their feet or buildings off their foundation. There are two principal methods of measuring earthquakes. These are the Richter scale and Mercalli Scale. The Richter scale is more famous than the Mercalli scale. It was formulated in 1935 by Charles F. Richter, a seismologist. The scale indicates ground motion in an earthquake. Its values range from 0 to 9 (see appendix). However, theoretically, the range can be higher. The numbers are logarithmic, implying that each whole number is ten times greater than the preceding whole number. For instance, the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-12 were of magnitude (Heatwole, 2011). The second scale, the Mercalli scale, was developed in 1902 by Giuseppe Mercalli. The scale measures the intensity or violence of an earthquake in terms of damage caused to human-built structures. It is expressed by a series of Roman numerals ranging from I to XII (see appendix). An increase in the scale implies an incr4ease in intensity of the violence caused by the earthquake. Going by this scale, the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-12 were so intense such that the Mississippi Riv er changed its course, and an island in the river disappeared (Feldman, 2005). In addition, new land arose, forests were cleared, and the ground rolled in visible waves that swept houses away, gardens, and fields. Nevertheless, few people perished during the incident due to the fact the area was sparsely populated then (Missouri Department of Natural Resources, 2011). Mitigating the risks of earthquakes: Prevention is better than cure The decision for mitigation of lifelines against seismic hazard is a quite complex issue as different institutions such as government, local authorities, lifeline companies, or the insurance industry are involved. In addition, the decision is further complicated since it is based on the results of the seismic risk assessment of lifelines which include various uncertainties owing to seismic hazard, vulnerability, performance, and loss estimation. Considering that earthquakes are a natural phenomenon little can be done to adjust the natural events system . As such, any mitigation efforts should be directed to human use systems (Balassanian, 2000). A number of practices can be handy in the mitigation of earth quakes. These include regulation of land use, education of the population about possible extreme events, as well as outfitting infrastructure tom meet local building codes. The readability of structures to withstand stress caused by earthquakes can be. Soil liquefaction caused by earthquakes can be mitigated through the installation of drains or use of deep, resistant pillars in construction (Keith Petely, 2009). Conclusion This report has explored the earthquake in Fulton and New Madrid. It is evident that these two are at a great risk of experiencing an earthquake in the near future. However, the frequency of another big earthquake in New Madrid or Fulton areas of Missouri is debatable. Nevertheless, the undeniable reality is that the region has a high seismic action. There is a need for education programs to enlighten the re sidents on the precaution measures that are highly required in the event of an earthquake. In addition, buildings in these two areas should take into account the vulnerability of the regions. As such, they should be enhanced by use of smart designs along with appropriate materials such as steel and reinforced-concrete. If history is anything to go by, residents of these areas should not throw caution to the wind as far as earthquake mitigation is concerned. They should take the appropriate measure to avoid a repeat of the events December 1811-12. Although an earthquake is a purely natural phenomenon, prevention is of prominence in these earthquake-prone areas. As they say, prevention is better than cure, or even, to be for-warned is to be for-armed. References American Services. (2011). Callaway Plant Profile. Web. Balassanian, S., et al. (2000). Earthquake hazard and seismic risk reduction. Berlin: Springer. Braile, L., et al. (1982). ‘An ancient rift complex and its relation to contemporary seismicity in the New Madrid Seismic Zone’, Tectonics, Vol. 1. Chalfant, M. (2008). Soil Survey of Callaway County Missouri. Web. Citi-Data.com. (2011). ‘Missouri’. Retrieved from http://www.city-data.com/city/Fulton-Missouri.html City of Fulton, MO. (2011). ‘Demographics’. Retrieved from http://fultonmo.org/about-us/demographics/ Feldman, J. (2005). When the Mississippi ran backwards: empire, intrigue, murder, and the New Madrid earthquakes. New York: Simon and Schuster. Heatwole, C. (2011). Geography for dummies. London: Wiley Sons. Keith S., Petely, D. (2009). Environmental hazards- assessing risk and reducing disaster, 5th ed. Michigan: Routledge. Missouri Department of Natural Resources (2011). Web. Nixon, J. (2009). â€Å"Facts about the New Madrid Seismic Zone.† Natural Resources. Web. Penick, J. L. (2001). The New Madrid earthquakes. Missouri: University of Missouri Press. Pratt, T. L. (2009) ‘How old is the NM SZ’. Web. Tuttle, M., Associates. (2011). ‘The geology of NMSZ’. Web. Weznger, B. (2010). The New Madrid Seismic Zone: Whose fault is it anyway? New York: Bibliogov. This report on Scoping report for the earthquakes in New Madrid, and Fulton City, Missouri was written and submitted by user GwenStacy to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Marketing and Dove Essay Example

Marketing and Dove Essay Example Marketing and Dove Essay Marketing and Dove Essay The brand refused to call its product a soap for 40 years and insisted that it was something entirely new. This hints that it could have tried to be a pioneer in a new category of the health and beauty sector thus aiming for central positioning. Nevertheless, the brand was considered by the target market as soap with a unique value proposition, I. E. Allowing oneself to clean the skin without drying out. Thus, it was positioned differentiated offering a unique benefit in an existing product category that allowed it to be distinguished from other brands. Dove chose a product-as-hero positioning with regard to other brands. The marketing campaign pronounced the functional benefits f the product, illustrating how the attribute that differentiated Dove from other competitors (cleansing cream) was added to the soap. The brand provided two main benefits to the consumer: cleaning and moisturizing. While cleaning is the primary benefit that triggers action by a consumer (realizing dirtiness / need to clean), moisturizing is a secondary benefit that sets Dove apart from competitors and addresses an existing problem in the sub-category of soap bars. The need to clean oneself while not drying out is deliverable by Dove as indicated in the marketing campaign due to the product attribute of 25% cleansing cream. Finally, the uniqueness of the brand is purely defined by the moisturizing effect. The Dove campaign for its beauty bar put a strong focus on the benefit of its products. With respect to the a-b-e model, a combination of baby and e- b was chosen to stress the key benefit of not drying the skin when using the soap to clean oneself. Illustrating the attribute of added cream to the product is used to support this benefit (bob). This is communicated in the second part of the main message of the campaign (Dove soap doses t dry your skin because it s one quarter cleansing cream). Furthermore, he negative emotion attached to having dry skin when using traditional soap bars is addressed in the first part of the campaign message. The negative emotion attached to dry skin is dispelled with the benefit of the Dove soap (e- b). Mastermind era When Milliner decided that Dove would become a Mastermind, one thing that product. As a Mastermind, many different brands with differing product attributes were combined under the umbrella of Dove. Thus, focusing on a single functional product benefit was no longer possible as there were many different ones and Dove changed to representing a general point of view. This point of view would be developed with the campaign for real beauty. The brand was positioned as differentiated once again in the health and beauty sector. This time however, it did not do so based on a unique product feature but rather based on their point of view on beauty which was vastly different from the rest of beauty brands in the industry. While the beauty industry traditionally presented an unattainable stereotypical image of beauty in marketing campaigns (young, white, blonde, thin) Dove chose to start a campaign addressing all the women that had problems with their self-esteem as they did not feel beautiful. Dove started to develop marketing campaigns using more realistic women with different shapes, sizes, ethnicities and age groups. This change from aspiration to reality was the aspect of the brand that differentiated it within the product category. As a Mastermind, Dove no longer pursued a product- as-hero positioning due to the already mentioned fact that it combined a large variety of products with different benefits. It rather decided to choose a user-as-hero positioning placing their target market at the center of the campaign. The feelings of women having problems with low self-esteem were central to the marketing strategy ND many different customers were portrayed in different parts of the campaign (Tick-Box, Six real women, Daughter-film, Evolution etc. ). The benefit that the brand was offering was real beauty as it tried to make women feel beautiful that currently din t do so. To the target market this was a highly important benefit as the studies conducted by Dove showed the large percentage of the population that actually faced self-esteem challenges related to beauty. As it portrayed realistic images of women in their campaigns and how Dove could change how they felt about themselves the rand managed to show that it could actually deliver the benefit of making women feel better about themselves. Finally, as it was the only brand that chose to market this benefit was also unique distinguishing Dove from the traditional approach of beauty brands. Question 2: How was the meaning of the Dove brand controlled in the age of mass media? How is it controlled in the era of Youth and other interactive media? The use of mass media such as billboards, magazines, radio, television or newspapers allows for a higher level of control over the transported marketing message than the SE of interactive media such as blobs, networks or other internet platforms. During the functional era, Dove communicated the benefit of its products through mass media and was able to exert a high level of control over the meaning of the Dove brand that reached the target market. It was a one-way communication with Dove transporting the meaning of its brand to the customers and controlling what exactly it wanted the target market to see, hear and associate with the brand. Dove also controlled who would receive the message to a great extent as it knew its target audience as well as its target market and the channels through which it could reach of male-dominated sport such as the Super Bowl since the audience would have had very little in common with the mainly female target market. When Dove switched to including interactive media into its communication strategy the level of control it had on the meaning that was associated with the brand decreased. With interactive media, the audience exposed to Dove advertising and anything associated with the Dove brand has the possibility of giving immediate feedback to the message. As an example, an advertising film on Youth, such as the Dove Evolution ad, can receive instant feedback from anyone who has seen it through commenting and like-button tools. Thus, anyone viewing the video after feedback has been given will not be exposed to the original and pure marketing message that Dove had communicated with its film. Rather the message received by subsequent viewers will be altered by the feedback of previous ones. This means that one difference from mass media to interactive media is that Dove cannot be sure to transport its originally desired and clean message that it wants to communicate to the target audience about the meaning of the brand. Thus, advertising had changed from a one-way communication to a two-way communication in which the audience added to the brand meaning that was transported. Furthermore, the use of interactive media can result in a much faster and more extensive spreading of the message than mass media. The people that ultimately get exposed to a marketing campaign could be highly different from the audience that the campaign had been planned for. However, in the case of Dove this loss of control over the receivers of a marketing campaign is not a great problem but rather an advantage. This is due to the fact that the target audience of the real beauty campaign was a lot larger than the target market. While the market that Dove wanted to tap into and ultimately buy its products did increase to include females of all age groups, shapes and sizes as compared to the more narrow approach from the functional era, the target audience increased to a far greater extent. Dove intended to start a public debate about beauty within all areas of society and thus wanted to reach all people in America with their campaign. They wanted people to become aware of the self-esteem challenges hat women faced in connection with the unattainable image that the beauty industry tended to portray in advertising. After becoming aware of this problem, Dove wanted the target audience of its campaign to think about and start discussing this issue. Therefore, the fact that the campaign could be spread rapidly with the interactive media used turned out to be a favorable factor as more people would be talking about the self-esteem issue on blobs and social networks. With respect to this issue it is important to notice that Dove continuously tried to fuel the debate and keep it alive. This was the brand s way to exert a certain level of control over the meaning of Dove. As long as people were talking about the beauty issue they would also be connecting it with the meaning that Dove intended to stand for. Concluding it can be said that overall the level of control that Dove could exert on the meaning that was transported about the brand was significantly lower after the switch to interactive media. In the functional era Dove fully controlled the meaning of the brand that was transported to the target audience simply through changes in advertising (slogan, images, channels used etc. As the communication was purely adapt to the audiences feedback to control the original message of the brand while also fueling the beauty debate to raise brand awareness. Question 3: Is the Dove brand out of control? Is Dove making a risky bet? The strategy of employing interactive media instead of traditional mass media to market the real beauty campaign was undoubtedly risky. But even though the level of control that Dove can exert over the meaning of its brand that is transported to the audience it is not completely out of control. Dove was able to raise brand awareness to a far rater extent than it could have done through the use of mass media mostly by allowing itself to let go of completely controlling the communicated message and shifting part of it towards the consumer. Of course this was largely helped by the fact that Dove did not simply transport the meaning of its brand but rather start a public debate in society that went beyond the use of Dove products. It tried to make people think and debate about the meaning of real beauty and shift perception from the unattainable and aspiration beauty image portrayed by the majority of the industry towards real beauty. The key lay in making the audience connect this debate about beauty with the Dove brand. As long as this was the case and as long as the debate would continue to go on the brand had achieved its goal. Thus, it can be said that while the risk was definitely given it was also controllable. Dove knew the large number of females that had problems with their self-esteem so it knew that it only had to spread the message of real beauty far enough for enough of these women to react to it. The choice to include interactive media was therefore a very reasonable and rational decision as it helped to spread the message farther and more rapidly Han mass media could have done. As Dove knew that there were enough women out there to care about the message that it was sending, the only real risk was that the audience would not believe that the brand was really caring about these women. Authenticity was the key issue and it was crucial that people believed that Dove was serious in trying to change the way women felt about themselves and their self- esteem problems. In my opinion, Dove did an exceptional Job in communicating the brand s authenticity about the issue and this was the key to the success of the campaign. Whenever there were doubts about the campaign Dove did not retreat from the issue but instead went one step further and communicated the self-esteem challenges of women and the switch from aspiration to reality even in a more pronounced way. Dove was not afraid of losing the aspiration element and thus the incentive of customers to buy the brand. Instead it answered to the concerns with the highly emotional daughter-film. Dove was also unafraid to communicate its message to the male-dominated Super Bowl audience. It did not assume a defensive position upon meeting criticism and to its campaign from news reporters and nonusers but rather embraced the critique to fuel the beauty debate even further. Finally, it also did not retreat from walking-the-talk and investing funds in the establishment of the Dove Self Esteem Fund to actively help young women with their problems. All of these steps were necessary to convince the target audience about the authenticity of the brand and ultimately allowed Dove to keep control over the had no choice but to acknowledge that Dove was serious about the important issue of women s self-esteem and therefore whatever alteration was done it could not change the meaning of the brand to spin out of control.

Analysis of Odysseus in the Odyssey by Homer

Your wisdom may allow you to go further in your life. In Odyssey's poem written by Homer, Odysseus is the hero. He is a young man looking for his house in Ithaca. At the end of a long journey, he spent about 20 years looking for family and friends. On a long journey, Odysseus showed how crucial he is intelligent by fighting incredible stuff through the story. On the land of the deceased, Odysseus proved that he only decided to go there. Homer's Odyssey: Penelope and Odysseus Homer clarified the inner idea of ​​the character to increase the suspense established in the Odyssey vol.19 and 20 volumes. I doubt whether Odysseus is accepted by Penelope and whether this will help to increase the strength of the story. Joseph Russo mentioned this topic Interview and Its Consequences: Dreams, Fantasies and Intuitions to Odyssey 19 and 20. The lie Odysseus said increased the excitement of Odyssey again. - Odysseus, Telemacos, Penelope, and the pursuers all demonstrated the develop ment of the Jurassic to achieve Cleo in their lifetime journey or to live in their society. Odysseus, Telemacos, Penelope are based on a journey to Creos, but without Odysseus, Penelope does not believe that she is invalid. Telemachus spent his entire life in the palace until the early twenties, but he has not yet begun a harvest trip. The importance of Homer 's Odyssey Odyssey character is that it is king of Ithaca Odesseus. Odysseus fought in the Trojan horse war and triumph. He went to Ithaca but he did not arrive because he did not approve Poseidon. Over the years, Odysseus was in the sea and experienced many adventures. At the same time, the follower tried to marry Odysseus' wife, Penelope, but she remained faithful to her husband. - Odyssey: discovery of life Homer 's Odyssey can be regarded as one of the best epics ever. The Odysseus trip to return to China has become a trial of himself. Faithfulness, faithfulness, and perseverance can only be found based on life experiments. Homer's craftsmanship is so deep that the themes found in the poem still relate to today's people. Odyssey is truly genetic, as Odyssey's character, his morality, and his views are still admired today. The unification of Homer Odyssey at Homer's epic Odyssey, the theme is the unity of the family as Odysseus returned home and tried to recombine his wife and son. Through the Odyssey, we saw family examples: good families and prosperous families. Telemakhos strives to be a man and Odysseus struggles at home, he emphasizes the concept of healthy family life. - In an epidemic of the Odyssey of ancient Greece, Odyssey was a long-awaited process of returning from his Trojan horse to his hometown Ithaca after the heroic Odysseus of the decade. Odyssey's current business accounts for the last six weeks of the decade, and its story includes Olympus, Ithaca, Piros, Ferrer, Sparta, Odysia, and many places of Sheria.

Recommendations for a client business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Recommendations for a client business - Essay Example On the other hand, Strait’s business rival M.Y. China had their hostess at the podium to warmly greet the incoming guests and seat them most of the times. The restaurant manager also helped her seat the guests especially when more than one guest came in at the same time. This resulted in fewer complaints from customers and more importantly shorter periods in seating the customers. The hostess at M.Y. China is always in a jovial mood and welcomes guests in a friendly and a professional manner. It is apparent that from the customer comments that even when customers did not get her at the podium she made up with the welcoming gestures. She always engaged eye contact with her the guests, smiled and used a friendly tone when talking to them (Yelp). Therefore, Straits should put efforts in improving its service standards if it is to maintain its clientele, especially with increased competition from its next-door competitor M.Y. China. For instance, many customers have expressed diss atisfaction with declining food quality, service level and the restaurant’s general experience. The customers also bemoan the inattentiveness and the unprofessional manner with which the hostess and other workers behave themselves. Such negative perceptions from the customers may eventually hurt the restaurant’s business if they are not addressed. Some customers have complained about the absence of a clear job structure that results in ambiguity in the roles that different persons perform. For example, some guests have to wait to be ushered into the restaurant when the hostess is helping the servicer to clear the tables. Some customers also observed that the restaurant seems not to have an outlined task plan to ensure smooth flow of operations. This is apparent when customers who have made a reservation come into the restaurant and the hostess looks clueless when they enquire about their table. Sometimes she ends up mumbling some apologies and seating the guests in a d ifferent table. Recommendations The observers made some recommendations after a thorough evaluation of the service standards of Straits restaurant and comparing it to that of its competitor M.Y. China. Since the main issue was found to be the absence of the hostess at the podium, the group of observers formulated some recommendations that outlined tasks that would ensure that a hostess was always manning the podium area in order to greet and usher in incoming guests. The recommendations are outlined as follows: i. Organizing the reservations This would involve the hostess staying at the podium and organize any reservations that are made on the phone. The hostess should answer incoming machine messages to confirm that that all reservations have been noted. In addition, the hostess should schedule the reservations for all guests in advance and formulate a plan on how to receive and seat the guests as and when they arrive. This should include a seating chart. It is important for the ho stess to ask the guests some specific questions when they call in to make the reservations in order to have some basic information beforehand. Such information will assist the hostess in creating customer profiles that include names and contacts such as telephone numbers and e-mail addresses. However, the hostess may encounter problems that may be difficult to solve. For instance, what does the

Learning Objectives Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Learning Objectives - Essay Example This is why I want to seek out a better understanding of development from a leadership perspective both in economic and social terms. While we know that development has a social benefit, with a leadership role, the economics of development also become an important consideration for those who choose to take up this field. Secondly, development is a field which has been modified significantly in both national and international terms ever since it was first created as a separate discipline. Just by looking at the list of journals and magazines related to development one can see that the advances made in the field have to take their guidelines from many different sciences including sociology, psychology, science, computer technology and statistics. This points us towards the fact that the field is growing and the latest developments in the field as well as understanding their application is very important for those who wish to take leadership roles in development. Finally by learning and examining the practices which worked in the field as compared to those which did not, I hope to learn the best practices and methods which have been successfully applied. Although there is never a miracle pill solution for all problems of development but by knowing the solutions which worked a person can come to certain conclusions about what may also work in a given situation. This is also a learning objective for me since I wish to know how to spot solutions for development problems by understanding what developers in the past have worked with and how they managed to solve any given problem of development. If I am able to apply these learning tools and meet my objectives that I have set for myself, I think that I will be able to call my taking this class a success. At the same time, as I progress through the classes I think that certain objectives may be

The Cinderella Myth Essay Example for Free

The Cinderella Myth Essay The tale of Cinderella is encoded as a text of patriarchal moral instruction in which a sense of female agency will always by definition be absent. In this folk tale, which is also a fairytale, female character is positioned in terms of what it is not: not dominant, not powerful, not male. Cinderella herself, non-hero of a dubious tale, evinces more depth than most archetypes. She is capable of developing relationships, meting forgiveness, manipulating her own destiny, even of attracting magical help. This latter suggests a divine personage, with whom ancient myth is rife, but in fact there is never any indication that Cinderella is inhuman. On the contrary, her essential humanity is her salvation. These qualities on their own make Cinderella an anomaly among fairytale principals: she is given no journey, no quest, no troll to enrage or woo, but permitted to stay at home (albeit in a life of unrelieved drudgery). Although one of three sisters, she does not best them in riddles or games of strength or chance; even the sewing for which she is punished is not her own. Cinderella does not return from the party with a prize but (as I will show, I will shout) the opposite: she comes home missing what she had when she set out. Cinderella does not experience any perceivable growth or transformation with the exception of the tangible one directed by her magic guide—one which is also undone. We can read Cinderella as a mythical character only because of what she means to us as women. But that is enough. By virtue of what Cinderella represents to contemporary women, the character of Cinderella passed from her fairytale origins to mythical proportions. Cinderella has escaped the bounds of her own story. Cinderella defines girls first choice for a romantic partner, the strictures of friendship and obedience that girls are trained to uphold, unconditional family love and, not least, ideals of personal appearance and deportment. Cinderella demonstrates the potential of even the least socially advantaged female to achieve public success, the ability of the meek to triumph over the (female) competition, the trick of appearing to be what one is not. These are important techniques in the battle for male approval. If we have impressed Cinderella into service as a myth, it is because we need to look up and forward to a figure who has successfully navigated the obstacles on the distinctly female journey. Cinderellas rags-to-riches story inspires females to prevail against improbable odds. We do not believe  in myths because of some inherent truth in them, but because they substantiate what we most wish to be true: Cinderella is a falsehood painted as possibility. What we worship in her is not what she is but what she gets; by subscribing to the myth of Cinderella, we sustain our collective female belief in wealth, beauty, and revenge. New Origins Folktales had their origins in oral accounts, stories told by people before the advent of writing, or before someone determined them worthy of literary transcription. Grimm Brothers Jacob and Wilhelm did not, in an original creative act, write the tales published under their names, but went out as folklorists (before there was such a profession) into the countryside, like anthropologists in their wilds, and listened. What they brought back they then edited, like the good ethical binary German men they were: anything that didnt suit their Christian standards simply disappeared. I have read transcriptions and abstracts of their notes and wondered at the absence of certain types of tales. Stories about children surviving on their own, or women leaving the husbands who beat them, somehow never made it to press; concurrently, stories about Jews being robbed and hung in thorn trees, or torn apart by dogs while (mendacious) villagers laughed, stayed in. The Grimms were very careful not to let what they heard get in the way of what they wrote. Charles Perrault held the same view, concerned lest women and other children go astray. Both Perrault and the Brothers Grimm published these folktales as if they were their own—under their own professionally upstanding names, and not as anthropological records but as literary fictions. The performance of meaning for fairy tales becomes both an intratextual and an extratextual matter, one enacted by (re)writers of the tale, who rescript stories passed on to them, and by its readers, who collaborate with the (re)writers to negotiate yet another production of textual meaning (Tatar 277). Although old wives may have originally imparted the stories we read today, the power and authority of writing sat fast in the hands of male scholars; publication, moreover, was granted to the wealthy. For each fairy tale, Kindermà ¤rche, folk legend and myth with which we are now familiar, there are possibly thousands for which there is no record. Folk legend, like history, is selective. Cinderella was similarly written (or transcribed) from oral accounts as a piece of moral instruction.  A Cinderella by any other name exists in a variety of languages and cultures,1 with many culturally-revealing alterations to the basic storyline, most telling us of a poor but beautiful girl who, by going to a party on the hill, wins the attention of a wealthy man. Look what the right pair of shoes will do for you. Cinderellas story is a curious one. Many of us know this tale in its modern extensions but cannot say how we know it—whether we read it in a childs picture-book, watched Disneys animated version, saw a movie with human actors unanimated by comparison, or fell in love with the ash-girl in her other forms (including in Dickens revival). Indeed, Cinderella is legion: as Barbie in diversely perfect incarnations, the heroine of almost any romance novel, new and sometimes relevant literary concepts (for instance, the Cinderella complex, the whore with a heart of gold). 2 Bernard Shaws drama Pygmalion presents another instance of male bonding conducted through the service of a woman, in this case one who believes that she can only win by trying, as she has started with nothing. To his credit, Shaw allows the character to shove off at the end, bearing her body away, but to have true love and devotion this Cinderella must give up all pretenses to education. Education therefore becomes a pretense. Further transformed as the Lerner and Lowe musical My Fair Lady,3 the music ends with a new-made woman who newly makes man: Eliza converts her creators. The underlying message is one Mary Shelley crafted a hundred years earlier: Frankenstein has no loyalty. But in this case the monster manages to marry one of the scientists. Both Pygmalion stories are commercial perversions of an ancient Greek myth that performed a service for its culture. In the original, a male artist falls in love with his own sculpture, surely an intriguing commentary on the power of art to seduce even its own creator, and a warning to gaze on verisimilitude with suspicion. This brings us to Hollywoods contemporary Pretty Woman and another Disneyized threat, The Little Mermaid (if there is a hell, then Hans Christian Anderson is now in it). In these movies Cinderella transforms from foul and fish into a lady that only proves how far women will go to change for their men. As Oedipus provides a model for the male (kill Daddy, bed Mommy), so Cinderella serves the female, directing us to similarly anti-social behaviors and antipathetic familial relations: to hate and compete with other females, suffer in silence, and seek rapport with males  through the mysteries of flirtation, fashion and marital fitness. Fortunately for women, this involves only virtuous activities, easily enough acquired in the observance of girlhood duties: cleaning, cooking, sewing, nurturing and displaying ourselves publicly, all the while taking up little space. Taken to its logical conclusion, woman herself at last disappears from view. This is true in the story of Cinderella, as we shall see. Absence Let it be known that the ballerina is not a woman dancing; that, within those juxtaposed motifs, she is not a woman, but a metaphor that summarizes one of the elemental aspects of our form, sword, goblet, etc., and that she is not dancing, suggesting, by the wonder of ellipses or bounds, with a corporeal writing, that which would take entire paragraphs of dialogued as well as descriptive prose to express in written composition: a poem detached from all instruments of the scribe (Mallarmà ©, Oeuvres Completes4). One of the first absences in the text occurs in translation of Cinderella from an earlier publication in French5 to English—the absence of a word. It is a simple word and a little loss that heralds an enormous and important one: exchange of the French velours (velvet) for verre (glass). In the centrality of the image conjured by its sign, this Word reads as Logos for the remaining popularized text. It is an understandable mistake given the hardships of transcribing in the field (from which Charles Perrault, at least, copied out his manuscripts), of hearing and absorbing frank orality and then transforming it to arid print. The terminological difference, however, leaves women literally walking on glass, each step a faux pas. How does one navigate on such a fragile basis? This may be interesting to women who wonder how Cinderella got through the night in those shoes. Cinderellas new shoes are truly, clearly, invisible, her feet naked to all eyes. But worse —she must dance in an unforgiving shoe (dancing for the first time in public, mind you)—which at any moment threatens to break, replace her barefoot, bloody, and utterly helpless. How carefully she must step. A good thing the Prince has learned to dance. To comprehend the magnitude of this error—estrangement of the word and actions of our young charwoman—we are forced to retrace the steps of that perilous slipper, magicked into being with the rest of Cinderellas fancy outfit. There is no honest explanation for why the slipper remains as testimony—why, if the shoe fits, it drops. Moments earlier, we are told, the young woman was gaily dancing in this very shoe; surely it would have fallen off then, in the endless (and, as dancers know) breathlessly swift rounds of the older Austrian waltz. But after a night of aerobics indoors, the woman rushes outside and immediately loses a shoe. This mistranslation points us towards understanding the slipper as a prominent signifier, rather than towards seeing some more substantial object: glass operates as a red flag, leading us to a fanciful but ultimately unnecessary correction of an image. Glass breaks, it is true (although in the story it does not, at least overtly). But in the French source material the shoes were velvet. Velvet, a word strongly associated with skin (more so than glass), tears. It is strong, soft, stretchy and pliable. A velvet slipper can be left on the road and retrieved and can still be worn in a ragged condition. Not so glass. So while glass attracts our attention, velvet rubs us better. Something velvet has been lost. And found. If the slippers loss signifies another loss, the slipper signifies another slip. It is troubling that only one item retains its shape (the shape of magic) after the ball, when everything else has returned to its poor normalcy, right down to the golden pumpkin. If everything is magical, then the slippers exclusion makes no logical sense in the story. But without the slipper as a calling card, a sort of invitation to be stepped on, the Prince may never find Cinderella in the sea of women vying for his notice. Conversely, it is not clear to me now why the Prince has to find her. The story dazzles us with finery, which we all too readily see as refinement. In the spell of the lost slipper, we overlook the more obvious intrusion of the Prince himself, and in the absence of honest cogitation conclude that he must be the one for Cinderella. (Its true he is the only one, but in modern times that is not as good a reason as it once was.) Having had no time to know Cinderella as a woman apart from her unpleasant family, we have certainly failed to meet the Prince, and know nothing of this man except that he is extraordinarily superficial, a late bloomer, and wholly dependent upon his parents. In the remainder of the tale he develops as a foot fetishist. At no point in the story are we logically convinced that these two should be together, that the Prince is worthy of our supposed heroine, or heroic himself. Cinderella is not particularly romantic, even after the finding of the slipper that initiates a sordid (wo)manhunt. The  objective of this search is a stranger who clearly wants to hide; otherwise she would have answered the call. (Her sequestration at home in a locked house is far from likely, given that a principal domestic duty is emptying the char outside, and her name signifies her as that domestic.) And despite his hunting, there is no reason to think that a prince is going to be excited to end up with a poor ragged girl with ashes on her hands—never mind the in-laws. On the face of it, what Cinderella lost at the ball is a shoe, but we do her an injustice if we look only at her instructions (particularly as she has already ignored those of her stepmother) and neglect her feelings at the moment of flight. Cinderella is now in a palace, a place of possible refuge, safe from her family. The Prince likes her. But at the striking of the clock—no, the calling of the watchman or ringing of the bells—she gets scared and runs away. Modern detectives would phrase this differently: Cinderella exits the party late, leaving behind material evidence of her existence. (Without this the Prince might have thought that Cinderella was a fantasy.) She runs as fast as she can in an effort to beat time and find a way home. (If shed had a mother she would have known better than to go to a party where she doesnt know anyone: anything can happen at a party.) Then Cinderella loses her velvet, and the Prince gets it. (You decide what went on at that party.) And there is another ending, suggested by what is not stated in the story: Cinderella disappears from the party, last seen in the company of a prince. Passers-by report having seen a poor woman in tattered clothes, sitting in the middle of the carriage-track massaging her feet. This is the last either woman was seen. Police are now searching for this beggar whom, they believe, may have murdered a foreign princess as she left the party, probably for money. Anyone knowing the whereabouts of (but what is her name?) an anonymous princess, please contact this writer. Presentation of any story results in commission of at least two versions—the story that is told and the one we hear. I propose a tertiary rendition, that of the story we do not hear because it is not told—not, that is, forcefully sounded. Were we to listen to the spaces, as artists from Aaron Copland to Noah Ben Shea have reminded us, we would hear those speaking parts. The heard Cinderella is, despite its magic and fantasy, the authoritative edition; the unheard Cinderella is the practical, plodding story that might bring us to furious tears rather than ecstasy. A moment ago I suggested how  Cinderella might seem to an outsider, one not as privy to events as she. Underlying that suggestion is another one, that the writer or teller of the well-known Cinderella is either Cinderella herself or a close companion, as indicated by the naï ¿ ½ve credulity of the story itself. But that quality we have come to accept in the folktale genre, one which causes us to reflect upon the medieval notion of story-telling and which tells us much about religious tradition of belief in that period. Now I wish to produce something different: a case history of poor Cinderella, the pieces and bits of her life which may have been discarded by her original creator/story-tellers. Again this is an unheard story, but now it is also unspeakable. I speak as a caseworker in the Womens Shelter: Cinderella gave Intake the following story: Her mother died when Cinderella was perhaps five. Her father remarried a year later. Two older stepsisters were at the wedding, aged between eight and twelve; the stepmothers first husband died when a nearby witchs cottage burned down suspicion of arson. Almost immediately, and for the next twelve years, Cinderella was beaten regularly by her stepmother; she showed us an early scar, located on the upper left thigh, from a fire poker. Cinderellas father fell ill probably Plague and died date uncertain. The sisters began to kick, taunt, pull her hair and feed her bugs. When Cin began her menses, she was locked in a closet for? some extended time. There seems to have been a change in the familys finances at this point; the last remaining servant was let go, or left, and Cin took over all chores. She was probably eleven years old when she was first sexually assaulted, by the eldest stepsister. The abuse was repeated periodically until this day. Cin believes that her stepmother does not know of this, but C- does not dare tell her. C- sneaked off to watch the Grand Ball and, once in the estate and aided by strong drink says she had a bout with a stableboy she made it upstairs disguised as a maid, entered a room and borrowed a gown. She then appeared in the ballroom. The Prince danced with her, drew her into a private room, and seduced her not rape? C- wont say the word then returned to the party. C- fled wearing only underclothing and carrying her shoes in her hands. Outside she dropped a shoe without noticing until she got home; the other shoe is in her garret. We have all received, of course, the Royal  Proclamation, and know that Prince Ode is hunting for the owner of something in his possession. Cinderella came to the Shelter because she believes that he means to find her, take her away, and kill her. The case above, common enough in the lives of women, is not what we know as Cinderella but, given the circumstances of the folktale, its bizarre elements and strange silences, it could have been. In re-telling it I invite the reader to think how reading that as a child might have influenced her life, her love for housework, her attitudes towards men, and her desire to marry early. My Cinderella Confession A current trend in scholarship, at least printed scholarship, is self-reflexivity. The speaker is expected to identify herself, admitting her biases (as if the reader could not detect them) so as not to hide behind the formality of academic writing. In this vein I step forward and make confession, presenting some personal limitations regarding the story of Cinderella. Despite all I know about Cinderella, regardless of all that currently annoys me in the story, I confess that as a child I did identify with Cinderella. I liked animals. I liked pumpkin. I lived in a small room. When I went to parties I had a curfew —and it was unreasonable. I couldnt sew, and needed help in home economics. I went barefoot most of the time. It seems I never got dessert, possibly because I often lost things on the way home. I had to do such hard chores that I investigated child labor laws. I had two older sisters and, although they are regular sisters rather than stepsisters, they often seemed very wicked indeed. So what if they werent ugly, my feet were much smaller than theirs. (Then.) Because of them I wore hand-me-downs. (Then.) You see how it all fits. So although I was not a beautiful golden-haired orphan (my natural color is sun-bleached brunette), kept in a dungeon or an attic (I adored my aunts basement), forced to clean ashes from the hearth (we had a wall furnace) and befriended only by mice (we had large dogs), I did think that eventually someone would come and take me away from all this. I even learned to waltz. But I didnt meet any princes. The Conventions of Class Cinderella begins with Cinderellas primary absence: her mother. In fairytales, motherlessness indicates an absence of quality attention and the  necessity (given the staggering amount of handiwork done at home) for men to remarry. Their second wives are invariably brutish, and fathers die off like flies. Female children raised by these monstrous women are lucky to be married, while still children, to ugly old men —thus escaping beatings, beheadings, being poisoned, cooked, frozen, sold, or accidentally left somewhere awful. Male children with stepmothers tend to seek their fortunes at an early age, so as to find their own women to punish. The next absence in Cinderellas life is a father. Is it only that absent parents are common to the childhood fairytales which govern our memories and learning patterns, thus wending their way into our literary texts, or does this trope stand for more a founding absence, like the founding murder Oedipus is said to represent? The next absences we hear about in Cinderella are, in order: clothes, shelter, appropriate work, friends, and opportunities to socialize (with humans). It is at this point in the story that Cinderella encounters magic, something generally absent beyond fairytales. Or does she merely recognize the magic in her life? For it seems as if the Fairy Godmother were always there, available, like Glinda the Good Witch, to drop in when you needed direction. From that point on it is apparent what else Cinderella lacks: transportation, a formal dress and decent shoes. The final absence is Time. Even her Fairy Godmother gives her very little— as we find out later, just enough. After Cinderella loses the shoe in escaping (too late) from the party, she is plunged back into the animal world she dominates, shorn of finery, reduced to essentials. She returns to the level of minimal survival. Thank goodness the Prince is already searching, his spies canvassing for little feet. Cinderella will soon be lifted up, placed on a horse or in a carriage, and transported to a world of wealth and satisfaction with a big house and a good family. (I hope I didnt ruin the story for you.) On a basic moral level the instructions are clear as glass: good triumphs over bad, beauty over its repulsive opposite. Cinderella is intimately associated with nature, as we are told several times: through the animals which, like she, become domesticated; through her beauty which, in the tradition of the Aesthetic experience, demonstrates its superiority over homeliness. (Homeliness? What is homely, really, but housewifely, comfortable, and familiar —and therefore contemptible?) From our perspective of identification with Cinderella (wed hardly choose to identify with ugly,  nasty women) these females, older than she and more mature, are females prepared to party, women rather than girls, and not real (biologically real) sisters. Partly because of the brevity of the story and paucity of detail, this suggests that they, mere step-sisters, are somehow unnatural. Beyond the natural beauty that testifies to Cinderellas (yet unrealized) status, her elevation over this unconnected family is physically represented by spatial signifiers: imprisonment in an attic, conveyance in a horse-drawn coach, and finally marriage into a royal family. Above all, Cinderellas most natural gift is magic: the girls beauty and (its) charm shine brightly through mere rags. This is so apparent that it is noticed immediately by a prince—a man born into an entirely different milieu, to wealthy and indulgent parents. The story asks us, among other things, to anticipate that such a wedding of opposites will work. In fact, fairy tale happenstance and happily-ever-afters aside it just might, and because of Cinderellas nature. The Prince, culturally her Other, is the aesthetic brother of Cinderella. The kinkiness is just beginning. We customarily avoid class in reading and rewriting folklore, but Cinderella affords a remarkable discussion. Before the Prince lays eyes on her, Cinderella does not exist in the legal and economic awareness of her country. She pops into being at a party, relatively mature, decorated, and provocatively displayed. It is not a party for poor people; poverty is absent from the ball. But that in itself is an absurd notion: naturally the castle is full of servants, and most are penniless; one can only say that no poor people are present because poor people are beneath the notice of the wealthy population, invisible. This fact has not changed. Cinderella gets the invitation because it goes to the house in which she lives, a place where she is kept captive by her poverty. She seems not to have been born into the lower class (otherwise she would never have been able to get through the castle gates, let alone waltz), but fell into deprivation through the death of her parents. Who can really blame the stepmother for not wanting to take care of a girl with whom she had no real relation? Biology speaks: woman must protect her own offspring—particularly if the physical attractiveness of another female threatens their own reproductive success. The absence of Cinderellas own mother is unremarkable, superficial, unless one regards it as a fundamental absence, the one upon which the half-orphans  rags-to-riches story is initially built: through the fathers emotional absence, Cinderellas mother is replaced by a non blood-relation whose own issues of reproductive success create class strife and difference within the family; the girl is faced with rival kin; and finally a mystical figure intrudes from the other world, faintly identifiable as her mother (the magic helper styles herself a Fairy Godmother) but granting no more than material assistance. Transformation of animals into human servants,6 and their disappearance at midnight, symbolically expresses the absence of the lower classes, which serve the upper class as if animals. When we observe how Walt Disney attempted to fill in the absences in the text with additional animal habitation, this concept becomes clearer. Disney explains Cinderellas primary absence by the increased presence of animals that evidently take the place of a mother. With the appearance of the stepmother and two daughters the animals are replaced, and abandoned as Cinderella had been. An absence of family acknowledgement is discernible in Cinderella herself who, regaining the humble form of a scullery maid, becomes unrecognizable—virtually invisible—to her own family. The means by which Cinderella will eventually succeed is over-determined by class: she must physically impress her Prince and lord at court, and later fit his image of the perfect (small) woman at home. Still she requires a bit of magic. The story presents an array of questionable absences, none of them textually answered. Why is there a ball? Only because of the Princes failure to get a date on his own. His folks have to arrange something, to find women for him. Cinderella attends a party meant not for her but the beautiful people associated with money and fame. We privately know that Cinderella really belongs to this group; therefore we suspend our disbelief at the unlikelihood of her ever getting there. At the moment of Cinderellas entry, a representative of the poor actually becomes visible to rich people. But she is not really poor, is she? The tale does not end with Cinderella speaking in the public square, peasants invited up to the castle for lunch—in short with the French Revolution. (If it did, Cinderellas own head would roll.) She ascends, making aliyah; the rest of the lower-class remains in galut (the Diaspora). In fact, in the hands of Disney, Cinderella turns into a girl (few of Disneys female heroines are women)7 who sings as she is dressed—oh, those happy peasants!—in accordance with the tradition of  musical theatre to sing instead of enjoying a useful discussion. Everything stops while we listen to the same few lines being repeated. The formula recurs in nearly every Disney movie: when animals, peasants and racial minorities show up its time for a song.8 Do children want a story interrupted with a song? As a child I hated that sort of thing. Surely we must question for whom these stories, and their cinematic adaptations, are truly meant, written, animated, shown and sold. Jacqueline Rose points to the impossibility of childrens literature as a genre ostensibly for children, but written by adults, while in the marketplace it is adults who (because of their economic position) are the true consumers. It is even the adult who reads the book (aloud) to the children. Thus it is an adults version of the childs world which is manufactured through the aegis of childrens literature. Childrens fiction, says Rose, sets up a world in which the adult comes first (author, maker, giver) and the child comes after (reader, product, receiver) (Rose 1-2). So what is it that adults want children to understand from the story of Cinderella? Female Relationships One of the horrors of Cinderellas tale is the moment when she flees the castle and its famous ball. She is running, running, running away from the bright lights, the fun, the food, the nice guy, running to keep a date imposed by the Good Witch. This is a moment of horror not because she has to leave the party: shes pretty young, high time she went home. (Anyway she wouldnt want the Prince to think she was easy.) No, it is horrible because of the Fear of Public Exposure. If there is one thing that would compel me to leave a good party it would be the fear that my clothing would disappear. She runs out the door, the gate, goes down those steps, shes just off the grounds, and poof! there it goes. Fortunately she is not standing there naked, but we couldnt be sure of that beforehand. For a child to imagine being naked in public is terrible; so what if only the animals can see? There is no good explanation why the Fairy Godmother add this potential punishment to the assistance she gives Cinderella, there is no point. In my mind, something is missing from the story, something vitally important. Why is she set up in this way? What we do see in Cinderella is a tale of perfidy and female treachery. The bad characters are all female. How can one speak of a female absence in Cinderella, when it would seem that almost all of the  characters are female? But these people consist of a good but romantically stupid girl who prefers to accept the ill treatment of her step-family rather than to pack up the mice and leave; two step-sisters, ugly mean and very ugly, who are indistinguishable from the other, except through Disneys putrid use of color; an evil step-mother, also ugly; a strange woman who shows up once in a lifetime, twice if you subscribe to the Disney account. (Where was she the previous sixteen years? Thanks a lot, Mother.) Female hatred. Female sabotage. Female jealousy. These are all shown us repeatedly in Cinderella as is. We discover that the way to win a prince is over the ugly bodies of our competitors, who are similarly trying to cut our throats. Beauty on its own is not enough: you have to be seen by the right people. You must triumph over those who would hide your beauty. You must outdo them. No wonder female friendships are so problematic, when this is how we are trained to see our relationships with other women. Hatred, sabotage and jealousy are also present in earlier tellings of the story which, though present in the current Disneyized version, is absent at its end, when Cinderella rides off into the horizon and the bad family vanishes from sight and mind. In Aschenputtel, the Grimm version of Cinderella, birds attack the evil stepsisters and bite out their eyes. But in many other accounts Cinderellas goodness is almost saintly: she forgives her stepsisters horrible behavior and sometimes even manages to match them up at court. This is certainly not what I would do—but I also have an opportunity to rewrite this story at the point of my retelling it. I have already reinterpreted the story for you using a metaphoric polemic on absence. In my story, what is most important about Cinderella is the shoe. Ways of Seeing This article concerns metaphors and ways of seeing, particularly ways of seeing what others are not looking at. The logical assumption is that a non-subject is therefore trivial, unworthy of serious study. Conversely, my response was and is to question why these are non-subjects, to investigate decisions made by others about what is likely to be important to me or to anyone else. So my work begins with a rejection—of the canon, of the politics of literature and its publication, of academic appropriateness, of the legislation of opinion. One of the ways that academics seem to operate is through the posing of binary or structural opposites. It is comforting to  know that if a thing is not this it must be that; what is not cold is hot. Never mind that we are capable of thinking about and experiencing an enormous range of temperatures, that heat is a relative term as is cold; structural opposition (Là ©vi-Straussian construction) enforces binary coding, usually with the additional motivation of fixing, or affixing, moral values. Because one is already conditioned to look at things as this or that, cold or hot, the value indicators are similarly binary: negative and positive. We need both, of course, and not only in our flashlights: polarity is a dependent relationship. But because of this tendency towards a tension of opposites, we end up limiting our transactions, our thinking, to bad and good. This is the outcome—if not the point—of childrens literature: it conditions us to distinguish bad and good, and to make a number of other associations with these terms; that which is considered good is that which beautiful, smart, nice, polite, fair or even white, obedient, tall, slim, quiet, and so forth. In fairy tales, the basis of what we now call childrens literature, a persons inner qualities are instantly discernible from external attributes. Good and bad are physiologically, physiognomically manifest: the dark little crooked old woman in black with the wart on her nose is not going to be the hero. Thus a good person is also pleasant to look at and (as we know from television) has clean clothes, fresh breath, and carefully styled hair. I have gone into an extended discussion of binarisms and ethics because I invite you to suspend binary judgements, to move beyond an evaluation of absence as the opposite of presence, and to consider absence in a different way: as something present—but not. That which is not not present is absent. When something present is not looked at, not recognized, not seen, it acquires a certain invisibility—in part, what I call absence. Absence is what is always there but overlooked, or there but unheard, or seen and heard but never mentioned. We do not immolate the story in reconsidering what it conceals. We literally unveil nothing of her, nothing that in the final account does not leave her intact, virginal (he loves only that), undecipherable, impassively tacit, in a word, sheltered from the cinder that there is and that she is (Derrida 41). 9 Those characteristics of Cinderella left un-addressed support this view of absence: somewhere behind the story sits another story, the one we are not meant to hear. Were we to hear it we would walk away with an entirely  different perception of the poor beaten Cinderella—or several different perceptions.10 We might be inspired to question the value of the hidden features, to wonder where issues of class, aesthetics, nature, superstition, parenting, hunger or politics fit in our founding myths, to wonder at the importance of such a myth as Cinderella in our female lives. We might be sufficiently moved to overturn the patriarchal texts, insert others in their place (Nature filling its vacuum). Not, that is, to rewrite Cinderella, but instead to find a more feasible model for contemporary female behavior. Perhaps even to acknowledge that there can be no models except those we embrace through personal experience. Absence is something more than its frail partner presence—a location for the political, for what is challenging for societies and social conditions, for what must not be looked at, not seen, not noted, not touched. Not presented. Absence is dangerous. To locate absence is to chart life, history, sociology, in a specific way. The Cinderella story presents an array of questionable absences, textually unanswered because unquestioned. This discussion does not pretend to provide closure, but rather to enjoin readers to ask questions of their own. Unlike other ways of seeing, this strategy does not limit or eliminate the text, but it does subvert it. By examining our essential stories, those we encountered at the knee, and those we teach to children, we begin to see in other ways, to discover culture as a tool for moral education, sexual regulation and female containment, and to locate female absence very close to home. 1I do not wish to repeat the excellent extensive historical scholarship on Cinderellas origins here. Cinderellas lengthy and interesting histories, irrelevant in this discussion, can be found in the following brief bibliography: Bruno Betelheim, The Uses of Enchantment: the Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales (New York: Knopf, 1976); Alan Dundes, ed., Cinderelle: A Folklore Casebook (New York: Garland Pub., 1982); Walt Disney, Cinderella [Videorecording], (Burbank: Walt Disney, 1949); Nai-Tung Ting, The Cinderella Cycle in China and Indo-China (Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, 1974). [ Return to the article ] 2A cursory review reveals these addenda: Colette Dowling, The Cinderella Complex: Womens Hidden Fear of Independence (New York: Summit Books, 1981); Barbara Einhorn, Cinderella Goes to Market: Citizenship, Gender, and Womens Movements in East Central Europe (London: Verso, 1993); Eugene Paul Nassar, The Rape of Cinderella: Essays In Literary Continuity (Bloomington : Indiana University Press, 1970); a curious history of something entirely other—D. C. M. (Desmond Christopher St. Martin) Platt, The Cinderella Service: British Consuls Since 1825 (Hamden, Conn: Archon Books, 1971); Cinderella considered as an anti-fairy tale in Robert Walser, Robert Walser Rediscovered: Stories, Fairy-Tale Plays, and Critical Responses, ed. Mark Harman (Hanover, NH: Published For Dartmouth College by University Press of New England, 1985); Margarita Xanthakou, Cendrillon Et Les Soeurs Cannibales: De La Stakhtobouta Maniote (Grece) A Lapproche Comparative De Lanthropophagie Intraparentale Imaginaire (Paris: Editions De Lecole Des Hautes Etudes En Sciences Sociales, 1988). For a subversive and extensive recovery of what cinder (cendre) is (or to what cinder is reduced/reducible), see Jacques Derrida, Cinders, ed. and trans. Ned Lukacher (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1991). [ Return to the article ] 3Rodgers and Hammersteins music backed a movie produced as a musical in the same year: Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, Cinderella [Videorecording] (Hollywood: Samuel Goldwyn Company, 1964). [ Return to the article ] 4Mallarmà ©, Oeuvres Completes, Plà ©iade edition (Paris: Gallimard, 1945) 3-4. [ Return to the article ] 5It would be difficult to ascertain where the fable had its first expression, as scholars trace it to Germany, France and even China; a student tells me of the Hungarian version, in which the young woman is named Hamupipoke, and her shoes, curiously enough, are made of white diamonds. The symbolism could not be clearer. On form and structure, see also Vladimir Propp, The Morphology of the Folktale. Translated by Laurence Scott (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1968). [ Return to the article ] 6This is given greater consideration in my article Travesty, Peterhood, The Flight of a Lost Girl, New England Review, forthcoming (August 1988). James M. Barrie also wrote a play named Cinderella not very surprising in view of the fairytale quality of Peter Pan and many of his other writings. [ Return to the article ] 7One of the few exceptions is Mary Poppins, who is also depicted as an aberrant, desexualized creature. For one thing, she is a woman without children of her own, who literally takes, and seduces, other peoples children. Here again is a magical woman, a witch, dressed in black, like a widow; appropriately,  her boyfriend is also a witch of sorts, having the luck of the chimneysweeps. Does it not seem curious to anyone that he is able to impart good fortune through physical contact—and is this not somehow frightening? (As parents wouldnt you tell your children, Just say no?) Marys relationship with Bert does not stray from what we expect, even demand, of her class—her boyfriend (neither is married, nor do they discuss it, at least onscreen) is also a working-class Victorian London stiff (which is to say that he is also poor), with the robust happiness we need to ascribe to poor people, as well as a tendency to copulate below stairs; still we never see or are even permitted to imagine the content of their romantic holidays, interrupted by a song or some bit of magic. Because of her magic, and an understanding of what children really need that surpasses the ordinary, Mary is cleverly depicted as being able to breach the class zone: here her magic characteristics are essential for an explanation of this otherwise scandalous, and (in terms of class distinctions) uncomfortable flexibility. She doesnt know her place—the moral that the childrens father ends in teaching, as he rescues his children from the unsavoriness of their relationship with this queerly unmarried woman and her odd friend. Marys ability to tread between classes, however, elevates her even from Berts league: we know that she will leave him too, and are secretly satisfied. He is, for one thing, truly from the lowest class, as his mangled Cockney accent tells us, while Marys impossibly perfect speech distinguishes her as something quite different (though this is never really acknowledged); Bert is also, if only figuratively, black, while Mary is, however trenchantly, white. [ Return to the article ] 8The modern movie Ace Ventura, Pet Detective contains a wonderful quotation of a scene from Disneys Snow White. Actor Jim Carrey stands in the center of a room and the animals fly, run, walk, creep and slither to him as he belts out a high note. [ Return to the article ] 9I have re-rendered the parenthetical phrase (only), which Ned Lukacher translates as thats the only thing he loves, because of its (increased) ambiguity in the context of a feminist reading. [ Return to the article ] 10In her book Cinderella on the Ball: Fairytales for Feminists (Dublin: Attic Press, 1991), editor Margaret Neylon offers re-readings of the classic folktales. In the Cinderella story, it is the two sisters who emerge supreme: ugliness is a cover for intelligence and political feminism. [ Return to the article ]