Knowles Separate Peace Essays: Self-Knowledge and Inner-Peace

A Separate Peace: Self-Knowledge and Inner-Peace The theme suggested in the closing paragraph of the novel A Separate Peace is that people create their own enemy and then they defend themselves laboriously and obsessively against their imaginary enemy. They develop a particular frame of mind to allay the fear that arises while facing their nonexistent enemy. In the novel, the protagonist, Gene, tries to fight a war with his best friend, Finny, not realizing that the enemy he sees is not Finny but is his own insecurity. At the beginning Gene believes that Finny is actually his enemy who is trying to sabotage him. Gene thinks that Finny envies his academic ability just as he envies Finny's extraordinary athletic ability. To feel better about himself, Gene lowers Finny to his level so that they are "even, even in enmity.† Gene's attitude toward Finny is a manifestation of his jealousy and lack of self-confidence. Finny, on the other hand is extremely confident. He never had the evil thoughts about destroying Gene's grades - he is too innocent of a person to have such thought. Furthermore, Finny, being a carefree person, does not even care about his own grades, and certainly not Gene's grades. Gene does not realize the truth, or perhaps he simply does not want to admit the truth. He has created an enemy to protect himself from acknowledging that he is not completely satisfied with his character, or lack of thereof. Gene finally realizes that Finny is not tryin... ...defenses that people have constructed are as useless as the "Maginot Lines"; they only prevent people from analyzing their emotions and characters. People should view the enemy and the war in a more objective perspective, and try to understand themselves. Only by doing so can they eventually find their identity.

Heuristic Evaluation

Usability Techniques Heuristic Evaluation – A System Checklist| By Deniese Pierotti, Xerox Corporation Heuristic Evaluation – A System Checklist 1. Visibility of System Status The system should always keep user informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within reasonable time. #| Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 1. 1| Does every display begin with a title or header that describes screen contents? | O O O|   | 1. 2| Is there a consistent icon design scheme and stylistic treatment across the system? | O O O|   | 1. 3| Is a single, selected icon clearly visible when surrounded by unselected icons? O O O|   | 1. 4| Do menu instructions, prompts, and error messages appear in the same place(s) on each menu? | O O O|   | 1. 5| In multipage data entry screens, is each page labeled to show its relation to others? | O O O|   | 1. 6| If overtype and insert mode are both available, is there a visible indication of which one the user is in? | O O O|   | 1. 7| If pop-up windows are used to display error messages, do they allow the user to see the field in error? | O O O|   | 1. 8| Is there some form of system feedback for every operator action? | O O O|   | 1. | After the user completes an action (or group of actions), does the feedback indicate that the next group of actions can be started? | O O O|   | 1. 10| Is there visual feedback in menus or dialog boxes about which choices are selectable? | O O O|   | 1. 11| Is there visual feedback in menus or dialog boxes about which choice the cursor is on now? | O O O|   | 1. 12| If multiple options can be selected in a menu or dialog box, is there visual feedback about which options are already selected? | O O O|   | 1. 13| Is there visual feedback when objects are selected or moved? | O O O|   | 1. 4| Is the current status of an icon clearly indicated? | O O O|   | #| Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 1. 15| Is there feedback when function keys are pressed ? | O O O|   | 1. 16| If there are observable delays (greater than fifteen seconds) in the system’s response time, is the user kept informed of the system's progress? | O O O|   | 1. 17| Are response times appropriate to the task? | O O O|   | 1. 18| Typing, cursor motion, mouse selection: 50-1 50 milliseconds| O O O|   | 1. 19| Simple, frequent tasks: less than 1 second| O O O|   | 1. 20| Common tasks: 2-4 seconds| O O O|   | 1. 1| Complex tasks: 8-12 seconds| O O O|   | 1. 22| Are response times appropriate to the user's cognitive processing? | O O O|   | 1. 23| Continuity of thinking is required and information must be remembered throughout several responses: less than two seconds. | O O O|   | 1. 24| High levels of concentration aren't necessary and remembering information is not required: two to fifteen seconds. | O O O|   | 1. 25| Is the menu-naming terminology consistent with the user's task domain? | O O O|   | 1. 26| Does the system provide  v isibility:  that is, by looking, can the user tell the state of the system and the alternatives for action? O O O|   | 1. 27| Do GUI menus make obvious which item has been selected? | O O O|   | 1. 28| Do GUI menus make obvious whether deselection is possible? | O O O|   | 1. 29| If users must navigate between multiple screens, does the system use context labels, menu maps, and place markers as navigational aids? | O O O|   | 2. Match Between System and the Real World The system should speak the user’s language, with words, phrases and concepts familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms. Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order. | Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 2. 1| Are icons concrete and familiar? | O O O|   | 2. 2| Are menu choices ordered in the most logical way, given the user, the item names, and the task variables? | O O O|   | 2. 3| If there is a natural sequence to menu choices, has it been used? | O O O|   | 2. 4| Do related and interdependent fields appear on the same screen? | O O O|   | 2. 5| If shape is used as a visual cue, does it match cultural conventions? | O O O|   | 2. 6| Do the selected colors correspond to common expectations about color codes? | O O O|   | 2. | When prompts imply a necessary action, are the words in the message consistent with that action? | O O O|   | 2. 8| Do keystroke references in prompts match actual key names? | O O O|   | 2. 9| On data entry screens, are tasks described in terminology familiar to users? | O O O|   | 2. 10| Are field-level prompts provided for data entry screens? |   |   | 2. 11| For question and answer interfaces, are questions stated in clear, simple language? | O O O|   | 2. 12| Do menu choices fit logically into categories that have readily understood meanings? | O O O|   | 2. 13| Are menu titles parallel grammatically? | O O O|   | 2. 4| Does the command language employ user jargo n and avoid computer jargon? | O O O|   | 2. 15| Are command names specific rather than general? | O O O|   | 2. 16| Does the command language allow both full names and abbreviations? | O O O|   | 2. 17| Are input data codes meaningful? | O O O|   | 2. 18| Have uncommon letter sequences been avoided whenever possible? | O O O|   | 2. 19| Does the system automatically enter leading or trailing spaces to align decimal points? | O O O|   | 2. 20| Does the system automatically enter a dollar sign and decimal for monetary entries? | O O O|   | #| Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| . 21| Does the system automatically enter commas in numeric values greater than 9999? | O O O|   | 2. 22| Do GUI menus offer activation: that is, make obvious how to say  Ã¢â‚¬Å"now do it†? | O O O|   | 2. 23| Has the system been designed so that keys with similar names do not perform opposite (and potentially dangerous) actions? | O O O|   | 2. 24| Are function keys labeled cle arly and distinctively, even if this means breaking consistency rules? | O O O|   | 3. User Control and Freedom Users should be free to select and sequence tasks (when appropriate), rather than having the system do this for them.Users often choose system functions by mistake and will need a clearly marked â€Å"emergency exit† to leave the unwanted state without having to go through an extended dialogue. Users should make their own decisions (with clear information) regarding the costs of exiting current work. The system should support undo and redo. #| Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 3. 1| If setting up windows is a low-frequency task, is it particularly easy to remember? | O O O|   | 3. 2| In systems that use overlapping windows, is it easy for users to rearrange windows on the screen? | O O O|   | 3. | In systems that use overlapping windows, is it easy for users to switch between windows? | O O O|   | 3. 4| When a user's task is complete, does the system w ait for a signal from the user before processing? | O O O|   | 3. 5| Can users type-ahead in a system with many nested menus? | O O O|   | 3. 6| Are users prompted to confirm commands that have drastic, destructive consequences? | O O O|   | 3. 7| Is there an â€Å"undo† function at the level of a single action, a data entry, and a complete group of actions? | O O O|   | 3. 8| Can users cancel out of operations in progress? | O O O|   | 3. | Are character edits allowed in commands? | O O O|   | 3. 10| Can users reduce data entry time by copying and modifying existing data? | O O O|   | 3. 11| Are character edits allowed in data entry fields? | O O O|   | 3. 12| If menu lists are long (more than seven items), can users select an item either by moving the cursor or by typing a mnemonic code? | O O O|   | 3. 13| If the system uses a pointing device, do users have the option of either clicking on menu items or using a keyboard shortcut? | O O O|   | 3. 14| Are menus broad (many items on a menu) rather than deep (many menu levels)? | O O O|   | 3. 5| If the system has multiple menu levels, is there a mechanism that allows users to go back to previous menus? | O O O|   | #| Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 3. 16| If users can go back to a previous menu, can they change their earlier menu choice? | O O O|   | 3. 17| Can users move forward and backward between fields or dialog box options? | O O O|   | 3. 18| If the system has multipage data entry screens, can users move backward and forward among all the pages in the set? | O O O|   | 3. 19| If the system uses a question and answer interface, can users go back to previous questions or skip forward to later questions? O O O|   | 3. 20| Do function keys that can cause serious consequences have an undo feature? | O O O|   | 3. 21| Can users easily reverse their actions? | O O O|   | 3. 22| If the system allows users to reverse their actions, is there a retracing mechanis m to allow for multiple undos? | O O O|   | 3. 23| Can users set their own system, session, file, and screen defaults? | O O O|   | 4. Consistency and Standards Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing. Follow platform conventions. #| Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 4. | Have industry or company formatting standards been followed consistently in all screens within a system? | O O O|   | 4. 2| Has a heavy use of all uppercase letters on a screen been avoided? | O O O|   | 4. 3| Do abbreviations not include punctuation? | O O O|   | 4. 4| Are integers right-justified and real numbers decimal-aligned? | O O O|   | 4. 5| Are icons labeled? | O O O|   | 4. 6| Are there no more than twelve to twenty icon types? | O O O|   | 4. 7| Are there salient visual cues to identify the active window? | O O O|   | 4. 8| Does each window have a title? | O O O|   | 4. | Are vertical and horizontal scrolling possible in each window? | O O O|   | 4. 10| Does the menu structure match the task structure? | O O O|   | 4. 11| Have industry or company standards been established for menu design, and are they applied consistently on all menu screens in the system? | O O O|   | 4. 12| Are menu choice lists presented vertically? | O O O|   | 4. 13| If â€Å"exit† is a menu choice, does it always appear at the bottom of the list? | O O O|   | 4. 14| Are menu titles either centered or left-justified? | O O O|   | 4. 15| Are menu items left-justified, with the item number or mnemonic preceding the name? O O O|   | 4. 16| Do embedded field-level prompts appear to the right of the field label? | O O O|   | 4. 17| Do on-line instructions appear in a consistent location across screens? | O O O|   | 4. 18| Are field labels and fields distinguished typographically? | O O O|   | 4. 19| Are field labels consistent from one data entry screen to another? | O O O|   | 4. 20| Are fields and labels left-justified for alpha lists and right-justified for numeric lists? | O O O|   | #| Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 4. 21| Do field labels appear to the left of single fields and above list fields? | O O O|   | 4. 2| Are attention-getting techniques used with care? | O O O|   | 4. 23| Intensity: two levels only| O O O|   | 4. 24| Size: up to four sizes| O O O|   | 4. 25| Font: up to three| O O O|   | 4. 26| Blink: two to four hertz| O O O|   | 4. 27| Color: up to four (additional colors for occasional use only)| O O O|   | 4. 28| Sound: soft tones for regular positive feedback, harsh for rare critical conditions| O O O|   | 4. 29| Are attention-getting techniques used only for exceptional conditions or for time-dependent information? | O O O|   | 4. 30| Are there no more than four to seven colors, and are they far apart along the visible spectrum? O O O|   | 4. 31| Is a legend provided if color codes are numerous or not obvious in meaning? | O O O|   | 4. 32| Have pairings of high-chroma, spectrally extreme colors been avoided? | O O O|   | 4. 33| Are saturated blues avoided for text or other small, thin line symbols? | O O O|   | 4. 34| Is the most important information placed at the beginning of the prompt? | O O O|   | 4. 35| Are user actions named consistently across all prompts in the system? | O O O|   | 4. 36| Are system objects named consistently across all prompts in the system? | O O O|   | 4. 7| Do field-level prompts provide more information than a restatement of the field name? | O O O|   | 4. 38| For question and answer interfaces, are the valid inputs for a question listed? | O O O|   | 4. 39| Are menu choice names consistent, both within each menu and across the system, in grammatical style and terminology? | O O O|   | 4. 40| Does the structure of menu choice names match their corresponding menu titles? | O O O|   | 4. 41| Are commands used the same way, and do they mean the same thing , in all parts of the system? | O O O|   | 4. 42| Does the command language have a consistent, natural, and mnemonic syntax? | O O O|   | 4. 3| Do abbreviations follow a simple primary rule and, if necessary, a simple secondary rule for abbreviations that otherwise would be duplicates? | O O O|   | #| Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 4. 44| Is the secondary rule used only when necessary? | O O O|   | 4. 45| Are abbreviated words all the same length? | O O O|   | 4. 46| Is the structure of a data entry value consistent from screen to screen? | O O O|   | 4. 47| Is the method for moving the cursor to the next or previous field consistent throughout the system? | O O O|   | 4. 48| If the system has multipage data entry screens, do all pages have the same title? O O O|   | 4. 49| If the system has multipage data entry screens, does each page have a sequential page number? | O O O|   | 4. 50| Does the system follow industry or company standards for function key a ssignments? | O O O|   | 4. 51| Are high-value, high-chroma colors used to attract attention? | O O O|   | 5. Help Users Recognize, Diagnose, and Recover From Errors Error messages should be expressed in plain language (NO CODES). #| Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 5. 1| Is sound used to signal an error? | O O O|   | 5. 2| Are prompts stated constructively, without overt or implied criticism of the user? O O O|   | 5. 3| Do prompts imply that the user is in control? | O O O|   | 5. 4| Are prompts brief and unambiguous. | O O O|   | 5. 5| Are error messages worded so that the system, not the user, takes the blame? | O O O|   | 5. 6| If humorous error messages are used, are they appropriate and inoffensive to the user population? | O O O|   | 5. 7| Are error messages grammatically correct? | O O O|   | 5. 8| Do error messages avoid the use of exclamation points? | O O O|   | 5. 9| Do error messages avoid the use of violent or hostile words? | O O O|   | 5 . 10| Do error messages avoid an anthropomorphic tone? | O O O|   | 5. 1| Do all error messages in the system use consistent grammatical style, form, terminology, and abbreviations? | O O O|   | 5. 12| Do messages place users in control of the system? | O O O|   | 5. 13| Does the command language use normal action-object syntax? | O O O|   | 5. 14| Does the command language avoid arbitrary, non-English use of punctuation, except for symbols that users already know? | O O O|   | 5. 15| If an error is detected in a data entry field, does the system place the cursor in that field or highlight the error? | O O O|   | 5. 16| Do error messages inform the user of the error's severity? O O O|   | 5. 17| Do error messages suggest the cause of the problem? | O O O|   | 5. 18| Do error messages provide appropriate semantic information? | O O O|   | 5. 19| Do error messages provide appropriate syntactic information? | O O O|   | 5. 20| Do error messages indicate what action the user needs to take to correct the error? | O O O|   | 5. 21| If the system supports both novice and expert users, are multiple levels of error-message detail available? | O O O|   | 6. Error Prevention Even better than good error messages is a careful design which prevents a problem from occurring in the first place. | Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 6. 1| If the database includes groups of data, can users enter more than one group on a single screen? | O O O|   | 6. 2| Have dots or underscores been used to indicate field length? | O O O|   | 6. 3| Is the menu choice name on a higher-level menu used as the menu title of the lower-level menu? | O O O|   | 6. 4| Are menu choices logical, distinctive, and mutually exclusive? | O O O|   | 6. 5| Are data inputs case-blind whenever possible? | O O O|   | 6. 6| If the system displays multiple windows, is navigation between windows simple and visible? | O O O|   | 6. | Are the function keys that can cause the mos t serious consequences in hard-to-reach positions? | O O O|   | 6. 8| Are the function keys that can cause the most serious consequences located far away from low-consequence and high-use keys? | O O O|   | 6. 9| Has the use of qualifier keys been minimized? | O O O|   | 6. 10| If the system uses qualifier keys, are they used consistently throughout the system? | O O O|   | 6. 11| Does the system prevent users from making errors whenever possible? | O O O|   | 6. 12| Does the system warn users if they are about to make a potentially serious error? O O O|   | 6. 13| Does the system intelligently interpret variations in user commands? | O O O|   | 6. 14| Do data entry screens and dialog boxes indicate the number of character spaces available in a field? | O O O|   | 6. 15| Do fields in data entry screens and dialog boxes contain default values when appropriate? | O O O|   | 7. Recognition Rather Than Recall Make objects, actions, and options visible. The user should not have to remember information from one part of the dialogue to another. Instructions for use of the system should be visible or easily retrievable whenever appropriate. | Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 7. 1| For question and answer interfaces, are visual cues and white space used to distinguish questions, prompts, instructions, and user input? | O O O|   | 7. 2| Does the data display start in the upper-left corner of the screen? | O O O|   | 7. 3| Are multiword field labels placed horizontally (not stacked vertically)? | O O O|   | 7. 4| Are all data a user needs on display at each step in a transaction sequence? | O O O|   | 7. 5| Are prompts, cues, and messages placed where the eye is likely to be looking on the screen? | O O O|   | 7. | Have prompts been formatted using white space, justification, and visual cues for easy scanning? | O O O|   | 7. 7| Do text areas have â€Å"breathing space† around them? | O O O|   | 7. 8| Is there an obvious visu al distinction made between â€Å"choose one† menu and â€Å"choose many† menus? | O O O|   | 7. 9| Have spatial relationships between soft function keys (on-screen cues) and keyboard function keys been preserved? | O O O|   | 7. 10| Does the system gray out or delete labels of currently inactive soft function keys? | O O O|   | 7. 11| Is white space used to create symmetry and lead the eye in the appropriate direction? O O O|   | 7. 12| Have items been grouped into logical zones, and have headings been used to distinguish between zones? | O O O|   | 7. 13| Are zones no more than twelve to fourteen characters wide and six to seven lines high? | O O O|   | 7. 14| Have zones been separated by spaces, lines, color, letters, bold titles, rules lines, or shaded areas? | O O O|   | 7. 15| Are field labels close to fields, but separated by at least one space? | O O O|   | 7. 16| Are long columnar fields broken up into groups of five, separated by a blank line? | O O O|   | 7. 17| Are optional data entry fields clearly marked? O O O|   | 7. 18| Are symbols used to break long input strings into â€Å"chunks†? | O O O|   | 7. 19| Is reverse video or color highlighting used to get the user's attention? | O O O|   | 7. 20| Is reverse video used to indicate that an item has been selected? | O O O|   | 7. 21| Are size, boldface, underlining, color, shading, or typography used to show relative quantity or importance of different screen items? | O O O|   | 7. 22| Are borders used to identify meaningful groups? | O O O|   | 7. 23| Has the same color been used to group related elements? | O O O|   | 7. 24| Is color coding consistent throughout the system? O O O|   | 7. 25| Is color used in conjunction with some other redundant cue? | O O O|   | 7. 26| Is there good color and brightness contrast between image and background colors? | O O O|   | 7. 27| Have light, bright, saturated colors been used to emphasize data and h ave darker, duller, and desaturated colors been used to de-emphasize data? | O O O|   | 7. 28| Is the first word of each menu choice the most important? | O O O|   | 7. 29| Does the system provide  mapping:  that is, are the relationships between controls and actions apparent to the user? | O O O|   | 7. 30| Are input data codes distinctive? | O O O|   | . 31| Have frequently confused data pairs been eliminated whenever possible? | O O O|   | 7. 32| Have large strings of numbers or letters been broken into chunks? | O O O|   | 7. 33| Are inactive menu items grayed out or omitted? | O O O|   | 7. 34| Are there menu selection defaults? | O O O|   | 7. 35| If the system has many menu levels or complex menu levels, do users have access to an on-line spatial menu map? | O O O|   | 7. 36| Do GUI menus offer affordance: that is, make obvious where selection is possible? | O O O|   | 7. 37| Are there salient visual cues to identify the active window? | O O O|   | 7 . 8| Are function keys arranged in logical groups? | O O O|   | 7. 39| Do data entry screens and dialog boxes indicate when fields are optional? | O O O|   | 7. 40| On data entry screens and dialog boxes, are dependent fields displayed only when necessary? | O O O|   | 8. Fexibility and Minimalist Design Accelerators-unseen by the novice user-may often speed up the interaction for the expert user such that the system can cater to both inexperienced and experienced users. Allow users to tailor frequent actions. Provide alternative means of access and operation for users who differ from the â€Å"average† user (e. . , physical or cognitive ability, culture, language, etc. ) #| Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 8. 1| If the system supports both novice and expert users, are multiple levels of error message detail available? | O O O|   | 8. 2| Does the system allow novices to use a keyword grammar and experts to use a positional grammar? | O O O|   | 8. 3| Can user s define their own synonyms for commands? | O O O|   | 8. 4| Does the system allow novice users to enter the simplest, most common form of each command, and allow expert users to add parameters? | O O O|   | 8. | Do expert users have the option of entering multiple commands in a single string? | O O O|   | 8. 6| Does the system provide function keys for high-frequency commands? | O O O|   | 8. 7| For data entry screens with many fields or in which source documents may be incomplete, can users save a partially filled screen? | O O O|   | 8. 8| Does the system automatically enter leading zeros? | O O O|   | 8. 9| If menu lists are short (seven items or fewer), can users select an item by moving the cursor? | O O O|   | 8. 10| If the system uses a type-ahead strategy, do the menu items have mnemonic codes? | O O O|   | 8. 1| If the system uses a pointing device, do users have the option of either clicking on fields or using a keyboard shortcut? | O O O|   | 8. 12| Doe s the system offer â€Å"find next† and â€Å"find previous† shortcuts for database searches? | O O O|   | 8. 13| On data entry screens, do users have the option of either clicking directly on a field or using a keyboard shortcut? | O O O|   | 8. 14| On menus, do users have the option of either clicking directly on a menu item or using a keyboard shortcut? | O O O|   | 8. 15| In dialog boxes, do users have the option of either clicking directly on a dialog box option or using a keyboard shortcut? O O O|   | 8. 16| Can expert users bypass nested dialog boxes with either type-ahead, user-defined macros, or keyboard shortcuts? | O O O|   | 9. Aesthetic and Minimalist Design Dialogues should not contain information which is irrelevant or rarely needed. Every extra unit of information in a dialogue competes with the relevant units of information and diminishes their relative visibility. #| Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 9. 1| Is only (and all) information essential to decision making displayed on the screen? | O O O|   | 9. 2| Are all icons in a set visually and conceptually distinct? O O O|   | 9. 3| Have large objects, bold lines, and simple areas been used to distinguish icons? | O O O|   | 9. 4| Does each icon stand out from its background? | O O O|   | 9. 5| If the system uses a standard GUI interface where menu sequence has already been specified, do menus adhere to the specification whenever possible? | O O O|   | 9. 6| Are meaningful groups of items separated by white space? | O O O|   | 9. 7| Does each data entry screen have a short, simple, clear, distinctive title? | O O O|   | 9. 8| Are field labels brief, familiar, and descriptive? O O O|   | 9. 9| Are prompts expressed in the affirmative, and do they use the active voice? | O O O|   | 9. 10| Is each lower-level menu choice associated with only one higher level menu? | O O O|   | 9. 11| Are menu titles brief, yet long enough to communicate? | O O O|   | 9. 12| Are there pop-up or pull-down menus within data entry fields that have many, but well-defined, entry options? | O O O|   | 10. Help and Documentation Even though it is better if the system can be used without documentation, it may be necessary to provide help and documentation.Any such information should be easy to search, focused on the user’s task, list concrete steps to be carried out, and not be too large. #| Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 10. 1| If users are working from hard copy, are the parts of the hard copy that go on-line marked? | O O O|   | 10. 2| Are on-line instructions visually distinct? | O O O|   | 10. 3| Do the instructions follow the sequence of user actions? | O O O|   | 10. 4| If menu choices are ambiguous, does the system provide additional explanatory information when an item is selected? | O O O|   | 10. | Are data entry screens and dialog boxes supported by navigation and completion instructions? | O O O|   | 10. 6| If menu items are ambiguous, does the system provide additional explanatory information when an item is selected? | O O O|   | 10. 7| Are there memory aids for commands, either through on-line quick reference or prompting? | O O O|   | 10. 8| Is the help function visible; for example, a key labeled HELP or a special menu? | O O O|   | 10. 9| Is the help system interface (navigation, presentation, and conversation) consistent with the navigation, presentation, and conversation interfaces of the application it supports? O O O|   | 10. 10| Navigation: Is information easy to find? | O O O|   | 10. 11| Presentation: Is the visual layout well designed? | O O O|   | 10. 12| Conversation: Is the information accurate, complete, and understandable? | O O O|   | #| Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 10. 13| Is the information relevant? | O O O|   | 10. 14| Goal-oriented (What can I do with this program? )| O O O|   | 10. 15| Descriptive (What is this thing for? )| O O O|   | 10. 16| Procedural (How do I do this task? )| O O O|   | 10. 17| Interpretive (Why did that happen? )| O O O|   | 10. 8| Navigational (Where am I? )| O O O|   | 10. 19| Is there context-sensitive help? | O O O|   | 10. 20| Can the user change the level of detail available? | O O O|   | 10. 21| Can users easily switch between help and their work? | O O O|   | 10. 22| Is it easy to access and return from the help system? | O O O|   | 10. 23| Can users resume work where they left off after accessing help? | O O O|   | 11. Skills The system should support, extend, supplement, or enhance the user’s skills, background knowledge, and expertise —-not replace them. #| Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 1. 1| Can users choose between iconic and text display of information? | O O O|   | 11. 2| Are window operations easy to learn and use? | O O O|   | 11. 3| If users are experts, usage is frequent, or the system has a slow response time, are there f ewer screens (more information per screen)? | O O O|   | 11. 4| If users are novices, usage is infrequent, or the system has a fast response time, are there more screens (less information per screen)? | O O O|   | 11. 5| Does the system automatically color-code items, with little or no user effort? | O O O|   | 11. | If the system supports both novice and expert users, are multiple levels of detail available. | O O O|   | 11. 7| Are users the initiators of actions rather than the responders? | O O O|   | 11. 8| Does the system perform data translations for users? | O O O|   | 11. 9| Do field values avoid mixing alpha and numeric characters whenever possible? | O O O|   | 11. 10| If the system has deep (multilevel) menus, do users have the option of typing ahead? | O O O|   | 11. 12| When the user enters a screen or dialog box, is the cursor already positioned in the field users are most likely to need? O O O|   | 11. 13| Can users move forward and backward within a field? | O O O|   | 11. 14| Is the method for moving the cursor to the next or previous field both simple and visible? | O O O|   | 11. 15| Has auto-tabbing been avoided except when fields have fixed lengths or users are experienced? | O O O|   | 11. 16| Do the selected input device(s) match user capabilities? | O O O|   | 11. 17| Are cursor keys arranged in either an inverted T (best for experts) or a cross configuration (best for novices)? | O O O|   | 11. 18| Are important keys (for example,  ENTER  ,  TAB) larger than other keys? O O O|   | 11. 19| Are there enough function keys to support functionality, but not so many that scanning and finding are difficult? | O O O|   | 11. 20| Are function keys reserved for generic, high-frequency, important functions? | O O O|   | 11. 21| Are function key assignments consistent across screens, subsystems, and related products? | O O O|   | 11. 22| Does the system correctly anticipate and prompt for the user's probab le next activity? | O O O|   | 12. Pleasurable and Respectful Interaction with the User The user’s interactions with the system should enhance the quality of her or his work-life.The user should be treated with respect. The design should be aesthetically pleasing- with artistic as well as functional value. #| Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 12. 1| Is each individual icon a harmonious member of a family of icons? | O O O|   | 12. 2| Has excessive detail in icon design been avoided? | O O O|   | 12. 3| Has color been used with discretion? | O O O|   | 12. 4| Has the amount of required window housekeeping been kept to a minimum? | O O O|   | 12. 5| If users are working from hard copy, does the screen layout match the paper form? | O O O|   | 12. | Has color been used specifically to draw attention, communicate organization, indicate status changes, and establish relationships? | O O O|   | 12. 7| Can users turn off automatic color coding if necessary? | O O O|   | 12. 8| Are typing requirements minimal for question and answer interfaces? | O O O|   | 12. 9| Do the selected input device(s) match environmental constraints? | O O O|   | 12. 13| If the system uses multiple input devices, has hand and eye movement between input devices been minimized? | O O O|   | 12. 14| If the system supports graphical tasks, has an alternative pointing device been provided? O O O|   | 12. 15| Is the numeric keypad located to the right of the alpha key area? | O O O|   | 12. 16| Are the most frequently used function keys in the most accessible positions? | O O O|   | 12. 17| Does the system complete unambiguous partial input on a data entry field? | O O O|   | 13. Privacy The system should help the user to protect personal or private information- belonging to the user or the his/her clients. #| Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 13. 1| Are protected areas completely inaccessible? | O O O|   | 13. 2| Can protected or confidential ar eas be accessed with certain passwords. O O O|   | 13. 3| Is this feature effective and successful. | O O O|   | System Title:__________________________ Release #: __________________________ Evaluator: __________________________   Date: __________________________ Primary Source Making Computers-People Literate.  © Copyright 1993. By Elaine Weiss ISBN: 0-471-01877-5 Secondary Source Usability Inspection Methods.  © Copyright 1994. By Jakob Nielsen and Robert Mack ISBN: 1-55542-622-0 SCREEN SHOTS Homepage Navigations via Categories Shipping and Returns Policies Frequently Asked Questions Navigations via Hyperlinked Images External Links Result Filtering

Persuasive Speech - Original Writing - 1562 Words

â€Å"Have you ever noticed when something goes horribly wrong there is someone offering tea and sympathy?† I was standing in the kitchen; hand on the faucet, when the phone started ringing. A sense of dread passed through me. No one called my house at this hour of the morning before I had coffee and cleared the fog from my mind. Time froze, as I heard my husband say hello, I thought this is going to be a long and bad Monday. I hated Mondays. I heard him say, â€Å"Hello, this better be good† and then there was quiet, I’ll tell her, one of us will call you back in a few minutes.† I could hear the clock ticking, the water running, and the birds outside the window chirping their happiness at being alive. I knew that my happiness was about to be†¦show more content†¦No biscuits, no jam, and cream there was nothing but a gaping chasm. Her soft English accent, after a lifetime in America, was now quiet forever. â€Å"Tea,† she often said is what helped her survive World War II. While everything was going wrong in the world around them, the Brits had tea to give them a sense of normalcy. I often thought she was a bit crazy having lived through the blitz. It must have made her a â€Å"bit daft† as she would always say. Nothing could keep a Brit from their tea. It is how she met my grandfather. The American pilot that would bring her to the states as his bride. Grandma always called him â€Å"that bloody yank† when she was aggravated by him. He never took no for an answer without a lot of convincing. The story of their meeting was not that of a fairy tale, the princess being swept off her feet by Prince Charming. My grandmother was a Women’s Service Volunteer. She drove a tea canteen van. She went around serving tea and snacks to the soldiers and rescue workers during the war. She was a young woman only 18 in 1938, barely out of finishing school when the call came for women to volunteer to support the military and the public to prepare in case of air raids. It was not glamorous like they show in the movies and on TV. As the war progressed and the bombings started, it was horrifying. She told stories of her friends and loved ones who lost their homes, their jobs, and some of them their lives. Grandmother

The Privacy Of A Security Breach Notification - 960 Words

There are at least 36 states that have enacted legislation that requires sensitive and personal information to warn the individuals of a security breach. The states that are led the way in creation these kind of laws is California, And all the other state would expanded upon the requirements by the way that California has start to do with creation the laws. You also have federal legislation. They also have survey data that they have collected to identity theft. If there is a breach you have to be notification by law. The breach notification duties would in power them to have new access controls, they may also want to encryption everything that they have on their system. They would not want to have any open source or any clear text to where any one that want to get it could. You want to create safe place period for notification. A concerns that identity theft a data center has leaked personal information of over 265,000 California state employees the legislature in this countryâ€⠄¢s was the first state that level the security breach notification. This law was in affective in July 1, 2003 and it was call the security breach information act or senate bill 1386. After this data breach notification law was done In other states are doing the same kind of laws that would deal with the same data breaches. In this studies in which they show roughly between 200 to 250 breaches. Most of the majority of all incidents and personal accounts compromised resulted from intentional unauthorizedShow MoreRelatedA Report On Bon Secours Mary Immaculate Hospital Essay1557 Words   |  7 PagesBon Secours Mary Immaculate Hospital This case study will examine how Bon Secours Mary Immaculate Hospital identified a security breach in their facility and the course of action taken in an attempt to eradicate the problem. Security breaches are a major subject that must be addressed in the healthcare facility. With healthcare becoming more technology driven it is much easier to access data related to patients, specifically personal health information (PHI). Clearance is also a concern, not everyoneRead MoreHealth Information Technology For Economic And Clinical Health1484 Words   |  6 Pagesa prime example of privacy violation. The Federal privacy rule 42 CFR, part 2 mandated addition privacy protection for any health record that is generated in the treatment of patients in the federal alcohol and drug program (Hughes, 2002). The HIPAA privacy rule dictates that healthcare organizations must not disclose any identifying patient information, or alert any entity that a particular patient is participating in alcohol/ drug treatment program. This type of privacy breach must be reported promptlyRead MoreA Report On The Security Plan871 Words   |  4 PagesA successful breach must be notification of any kind of plan will encompasses in more than just a method for the most promptly it needs to make sure that they will tell the victims of what are going to happen over the security breach event. The effective that the breach is going to make sure that all the people know what is going .It must be a part of the comprehensive information of the security plan. This plan has three components they are critical in the notification plan †¢ Risk assessment TheRead More California SB 1386 Essay1156 Words   |  5 Pages On July 1, 2003, California enacted an electronic data privacy law to protect residents from one of its fastest growing crimes: identity theft. SB 1386 (Civil Code 1798.29) requires businesses to notify California residents if a security breach results in disclosure of personal electronic data. All businesses are subject to this law regardless of size, location, or operations. Business owners should be aware of the problems associated with identity theft, the steps required to comply with SB 1386Read MoreThe Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act Of 19961022 Words   |  5 Pagesinformation. The Office for Civil Rights enforces the HIPAA Privacy Rule, which protects the privacy of individuals. The HIPAA Security Rule, which sets national standards for the security of electronic protected health information and the HIPAA Breach Notification Rule, which requires covered entities and b usiness associates to provide notification following a breach of unsecured protected health information. Due to new risk involved in patient privacy â€Å"the Health Insurance Portability and AccountabilityRead MoreSecurity And Compliance Policy Document970 Words   |  4 PagesSecurity and Compliance Policy Document: Law and your IT Environment There are at least 36 states that have enacted legislation that requires sensitive and personal information to warn the individuals of a security breach. The states that are led the way in creation these kind of laws is California, And all the other state would expanded upon the requirements by the way that California has start to do with creation the laws. You also have federal legislation. They also have survey data that theyRead MoreCustomer Privacy Essay872 Words   |  4 PagesThe privacy of customer information during the conduct of everyday business must be looked at in a different way. Some business entities can reap substantial financial benefits utilizing information gleaned from customer databases. The return should be providing the needed and necessary protections that would keep said information safeguarded by using proper security methods and measures that would prevent a technological theft. Customer expectation as it relates to who bears responsibility forRead Mor eImproper Admission Orders From Morphine Overdose And Death1185 Words   |  5 Pagesparticipating health workers access to these records (Thacker, 2014). A breach of the protective health information of patients in a health organization creates chaos as these are against the health insurance portability and accountability (HIPAA) law (Thacker, 2014). Hence, measure will have to be put in place to determine what caused the breach and how to rectify it to ensure the breach never happens again (Thacker, 2014). Define breach of PHI by the federal government s standards including whatRead MoreData Security Breach for Target1372 Words   |  5 PagesDuring the last Christmas season, Target announced that their data security was breached. According to David Lazarus in Los Angeles Times, Target stated that roughly 110 million customers’ information was illegally taken from their database. The information included their credit/debit card info, phone numbers, and email addresses. Target is one of the most popular grocery stores in the U.S.; they have a substantial amount of consumers. Because of this incident, consumers trusts for the storeRead MoreEssay On Memo1047 Words   |  5 Pagesmanually. The use of paper records is not only a security risk it can also be destroyed in a disaster. In another memorandum we will discuss the need to develop a functional Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP). The first thing we need to discuss what HIPAA is and why it was enacted. 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Civil Liberties are Constitutional Protections Against the...

We know people support rights in theory but their support may waiver when it comes time to put those rights into practice. Civil liberties are legal constitutional protections against the government, and basically, tell the government what it cannot do. Judicial interpretations shape the nature of civil liberties, and as these interpretations change over time, so do our rights. To understand the civil liberties and freedoms we have, and how they have changed, we must examine several key Supreme Court decisions. One of the most common controversies addressed by the court is should the Bill of Rights apply to state governments. In 1833 in Barron v. Baltimore, the Supreme Court ruled that the Bill of Rights only applies to the national†¦show more content†¦The full faith and credit clause requires states to recognize legislative acts, public records and judicial decisions of other states. States cannot discriminate against residents of other states because they are American cit izens in the privileges and immunities clause. (pg. 79) The Supreme Court uses to forms of scrutiny, ordinary and strict, to determine if the actions of elected government officials are constitutional (ordinary) or unconstitutional (strict). (pg. 84) Before the Civil War, slavery was a common staple in Supreme Court cases. Dred Scott v Sanford, 1857, was such a case. The Supreme Court ruled that slaves were not citizens of the United States, nor were they entitled to the rights and privileges of citizenship. The Court also ruled that the Missouri Compromise, which banned slavery in the territories in the southern border of Missouri, was unconstitutional, thus invalidating it. (pg. 80) Many of the Supreme Court cases over the years have been central in incorporating the freedoms given in the Bill of Rights into state legislatures. 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The Vampire Diaries Dark Reunion Chapter Fifteen Free Essays

string(21) " she could say that\." Klaus screamed, a scream that reminded Bonnie of ancient predators, of the sabertooth cat and the bull mammoth. Blood frothed out of his mouth along with the scream, turning that handsome face into a twisted mask of fury. His hands scrabbled at his back, trying to get a grip on the white ash stake and pull it out. We will write a custom essay sample on The Vampire Diaries: Dark Reunion Chapter Fifteen or any similar topic only for you Order Now But it was buried too deep. The throw had been a good one. â€Å"Damon,† Bonnie whispered. He was standing at the edge of the clearing, framed by oak trees. As she watched, he took a step toward Klaus, and then another; lithe stalking steps filled with deadly purpose. And he was angry. Bonnie would have run from the look on his face if her muscles hadn’t been frozen. She had never seen such menace so barely held in check. â€Å"Get†¦ away†¦ from my brother,† he said, almost breathing it, with his eyes never leaving Klaus’s as he took another step. Klaus screamed again, but his hands stopped their frantic scrabbling. â€Å"You idiot! We don’t have to fight! I told you that at the house! We can ignore each other!† Damon’s voice was no louder than before. â€Å"Get away from my brother.† Bonnie could feel it inside him, a swell of Power like a tsunami. He continued, so softly that Bonnie had to strain to hear him, â€Å"Before I tear your heart out.† Bonnie could move after all. She stepped backward. â€Å"I told you!† screamed Klaus, frothing. Damon didn’t acknowledge the words in any way. His whole being seemed focused on Klaus’s throat, on his chest, on the beating heart inside that he was going to tear out. Klaus picked up the unbroken lance and rushed him. In spite of all the blood, the blond man seemed to have plenty of strength left. The rush was sudden, violent, and almost inescapable. Bonnie saw him thrust the lance at Damon and shut her eyes involuntarily, and then opened them an instant later as she heard the flurry of wings. Klaus had plunged right through the spot where Damon had been, and a black crow was soaring upward while a single feather floated down. As Bonnie stared, Klaus’s rush took him into the darkness beyond the clearing and he disappeared. Dead silence fell in the wood. Bonnie’s paralysis broke slowly, and she first stepped, and then ran to where Stefan lay. He didn’t open his eyes at her approach; he seemed unconscious. She knelt beside him. And then she felt a sort of horrible calm creep over her, like someone who has been swimming in ice water and at last feels the first undeniable signs of hypothermia. If she hadn’t had so many successive shocks already, she might have fled screaming or dissolved into hysterics. But as it was, this was simply the last step, the last little slide into unreality. Into a world that couldn’t be, but was. She’d never seen anybody hurt like this. Not even Mr. Tanner, and he had died of his wounds. Nothing Mary had ever said could help fix this. Even if they’d had Stefan on a stretcher outside an operating room, it wouldn’t have been enough. In that state of dreadful calm she looked up to see a flutter of wings blur and shimmer in the moonlight. Damon stood beside her, and she spoke quite collectedly and rationally. â€Å"Will giving him blood help?† He didn’t seem to hear her. His eyes were all black, all pupil. That barely leashed violence, that sense of ferocious energy held back, was gone. He knelt and touched the dark head on the ground. â€Å"Stefan?† Bonnie shut her eyes. Damon’s scared, she thought. Damon’s scared-Damon!-and oh, God, I don’t know what to do. There’s nothing to do-and it’s all over and we’re all lost and Damon is scared for Stefan. He isn’t going to take care of things and he hasn’t got a solution and somebody’s got to fix this. And oh, God, please help me because I’m so frightened and Stefan’s dying and Meredith and Matt are hurt and Klaus is going to come back. She opened her eyes to look at Damon. He was white, his face looking terrifyingly young at that moment, with those dilated black eyes. â€Å"Klaus is coming back,† Bonnie said quietly. She wasn’t afraid of him anymore. They weren’t a centuries-old hunter and a seventeen-year-old human girl, sitting here at the edge of the world. They were just two people, Damon and Bonnie, who had to do the best they could. â€Å"I know,† Damon said. He was holding Stefan’s hand, looking completely unembarrassed about it, and it seemed quite logical and sensible. Bonnie could feel him sending Power into Stefan, could also feel that it wasn’t enough. â€Å"Would blood help him?† â€Å"Not much. A little, maybe.† â€Å"Anything that helps at all we’ve got to try.† Stefan whispered, â€Å"No.† Bonnie was surprised. She’d thought he was unconscious. But his eyes were open now, open and alert and smoldering green. They were the only alive thing about him. â€Å"Don’t be stupid,† Damon said, his voice hardening. He was gripping Stefan’s hand until his knuckles whitened. â€Å"You’re badly hurt.† â€Å"I won’t break my promise.† That immovable stubbornness was in Stefan’s voice, in his pale face. And when Damon opened his mouth again, undoubtedly to say that Stefan would break it and like it or Damon would break his neck, Stefan added, â€Å"Especially when it won’t do any good.† Only the truth would do. And Stefan was telling the truth. He was still looking at his brother, who was looking back, all that fierce, furious attention focused on Stefan as it had been focused on Klaus earlier. As if somehow that would help. â€Å"I’m not badly hurt, I’m dead,† Stefan said brutally, his eyes locked on Damon’s. Their last and greatest struggle of wills, Bonnie thought. â€Å"And you need to get Bonnie and the others out of here.† â€Å"We won’t leave you,† Bonnie intervened. That was the truth; she could say that. You read "The Vampire Diaries: Dark Reunion Chapter Fifteen" in category "Essay examples" â€Å"You have to!† Stefan didn’t glance aside, didn’t look away from his brother. â€Å"Damon, you know I’m right. Klaus will be here any minute. Don’t throw your life away. Don’t throw their lives away.† â€Å"I don’t give a damn about their lives,† Damon hissed. The truth also, Bonnie thought, curiously unoffended. There was only one life Damon cared about here, and it wasn’t his own. â€Å"Yes, you do!† Stefan flared back. He was hanging on to Damon’s hand with just as fierce a grip, as if this was a contest and he could force Damon to concede that way. â€Å"Elena had a last request; well, this is mine. You have Power, Damon. I want you to use it to help them.† â€Å"Stefan†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Bonnie whispered helplessly. â€Å"Promise me,† Stefan said to Damon, and then a spasm of pain twisted his face. For uncountable seconds Damon simply looked down at him. Then he said, â€Å"I promise,† quick and sharp as the stroke of a dagger. He let go of Stefan’s hand and stood, turning to Bonnie. â€Å"Come on.† â€Å"We can’t leave him†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Yes, we can.† There was nothing young about Damon’s face now. Nothing vulnerable. â€Å"You and your human friends are leaving here, permanently. I am coming back.† Bonnie shook her head. She knew, dimly, that Damon wasn’t betraying Stefan, that it was some case of Damon putting Stefan’s ideals above Stefan’s life, but it was all too abstruse and incomprehensible to her. She didn’t understand it and she didn’t want to. All she knew was that Stefan couldn’t be left lying there. â€Å"You’re coming now,† Damon said, reaching for her, the steely ring back in his voice. Bonnie prepared herself for a fight, and then something happened that made all their debating meaningless. There was a crack like a giant whip and a flash like daylight, and Bonnie was blinded. When she could see through the afterimage, her eyes flew to the flames that were licking up from a newly blackened hole at the base of a tree. Bonnie’s eye darted to him next, as the only other thing moving in the clearing. He was waving the bloody white ash stake he’d pulled out of his own back like a gory trophy. Lightning rod, thought Bonnie illogically, and then there was another crash. It stabbed down from an empty sky, in huge blue-white forks that lit everything like the sun at noon. Bonnie watched as one tree and then another was hit, each one closer than the last. Flames licked up like hungry red goblins among the leaves. Two trees on either side of Bonnie exploded, with cracks so loud that she felt rather than heard it, a piercing pain in her eardrums. Damon, whose eyes were more sensitive, threw up a hand to protect them. Then he shouted â€Å"Klaus!† and sprang toward the blond man. He wasn’t stalking now; this was the deadly race of attack. The burst of killing speed of the hunting cat or the wolf. Lightning caught him in midspring. Bonnie screamed as she saw it, jumping to her feet. There was a blue flash of superheated gases and a smell of burning, and then Damon was down, lying motionless on his face. Bonnie could see tiny wisps of smoke rise from him, just as they did from the trees. Speechless with horror, she looked at Klaus. He was swaggering through the clearing, holding his bloody stick like a golf club. He bent down over Damon as he passed, and smiled. Bonnie wanted to scream again, but she didn’t have the breath. There didn’t seem to be any air left to breathe. â€Å"I’ll deal with you later,† Klaus told the unconscious Damon. Then his face tipped up toward Bonnie. â€Å"You,† he said, â€Å"I’m going to deal with right now.† It was an instant before she realized he was looking at Stefan, and not her. Those electric blue eyes were fixed on Stefan’s face. They moved to Stefan’s bloody middle. â€Å"I’m going to eat you now, Salvatore.† Bonnie was all alone. The only one left standing. And she was afraid. But she knew what she had to do. She let her knees collapse again, dropping to the ground beside Stefan. And this is how it ends, she thought. You kneel beside your knight and then you face the enemy. She looked at Klaus and moved so that she was shielding Stefan. He seemed to notice her for the first time, and frowned as if he’d found a spider in his salad. Firelight flickered orange-red on his face. â€Å"No.† And this is how the ending starts. Like this, so simply, with one word, and you’re going to die on a summer night. A summer night when the moon and stars are shining and bonfires burn like the flames the Druids used to summon the dead. â€Å"Bonnie, go,† Stefan said painfully. â€Å"Get out while you can.† â€Å"No,† Bonnie said. I’m sorry, Elena, she thought. I can’t save him. This is all I can do. â€Å"Get out of the way,† Klaus said through his teeth. â€Å"No.† She could wait and let Stefan die this way, instead of with Klaus’s teeth in his throat. It might not seem like much of a difference, but it was the most she could offer. â€Å"Bonnie†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Stefan whispered. â€Å"Don’t you know who I am, girl? I’ve walked with the devil. If you move, I’ll let you die quickly.† Bonnie’s voice had given out. She shook her head. Klaus threw back his own head and laughed. A little more blood trickled out, too. â€Å"All right,† he said. â€Å"Have it your own way. Both of you go together.† Summer night, Bonnie thought. The solstice eve. When the line between worlds is so thin. â€Å"Say good night, sweetheart.† No time to trance, no time for anything. Nothing except one desperate appeal. â€Å"Elena!† Bonnie screamed. â€Å"Elena! Elena!† Klaus recoiled. For an instant, it seemed as if the name alone had the power to alarm him. Or as if he expected something to respond to Bonnie’s cry. He stood, listening. Bonnie drew on her powers, putting everything she had into it, throwing her need and her call out into the void. And felt†¦ nothing. Nothing disturbed the summer night except the crackling sound of flames. Klaus turned back to Bonnie and Stefan, and grinned. Then Bonnie saw the mist creeping along the ground. No-it couldn’t be mist. It must be smoke from the fire. But it didn’t behave like either. It was swirling, rising in the air like a tiny whirlwind or dust devil. It was gathering into a shape roughly the size of a man. Mist was flowing out of the ground, between the trees. Pools of it, each separate and distinct. Bonnie, staring mutely, could see through each patch, could see the flames, the oak trees, the bricks of the chimney. Klaus had stopped smiling, stopped moving, and was watching too. Bonnie turned to Stefan, unable to even frame the question. â€Å"Unquiet spirits,† he whispered huskily, his green eyes intent. â€Å"The solstice.† And then Bonnie understood. They were coming. From across the river, where the old cemetery lay. From the woods, where countless makeshift graves had been dug to dump bodies in before they rotted. The unquiet spirits, the soldiers who had fought here and died during the Civil War. A supernatural host answering the call for help. They were forming all around. There were hundreds of them. Bonnie could actually see faces now. The misty outlines were filling in with pale hues like so many runny watercolors. She saw a flash of blue, a glimmer of gray. Both Union and Confederate troops. Bonnie glimpsed a pistol thrust into a belt, the glint of an ornamented sword. Chevrons on a sleeve. A bushy dark beard; a long, well-tended white one. A small figure, child size, with dark holes for eyes and a drum hanging at thigh level. â€Å"Oh, my God,† she whispered. â€Å"Oh, God.† It wasn’t swearing. It was something like a prayer. Not that she wasn’t frightened of them, because she was. It was every nightmare she’d ever had about the cemetery come true. Like her first dream about Elena, when things came crawling out of the black pits in the earth; only these things weren’t crawling, they were flying, skimming and floating until they swirled into human form. Everything that Bonnie had ever felt about the old graveyard-that it was alive and full of watching eyes, that there was some Power lurking behind its waiting stillness -was proving true. The earth of Fell’s Church was giving up its bloody memories. The spirits of those who’d died here were walking again. And Bonnie could feel their anger. It frightened her, but another emotion was waking up inside her, making her catch her breath and clench tighter on Stefan’s hand. Because the misty army had a leader. One figure was floating in front of the others, closest to the place where Klaus stood. It had no shape or definition as yet, but it glowed and scintillated with the pale golden light of a candle flame. Then, before Bonnie’s eyes, it seemed to take on substance from the air, shining brighter and brighter every minute with an unearthly light. It was brighter than the circle of fire. It was so bright that Klaus leaned back from it and Bonnie blinked, but when she turned at a low sound, she saw Stefan staring straight into it, fearlessly, with wide-open eyes. And smiling, so faintly, as if glad to have this be the last thing he saw. Klaus dropped the stake. He had turned away from Bonnie and Stefan to face the being of light that hung in the clearing like an avenging angel. Golden hair streaming back in an invisible wind, Elena looked down on him. â€Å"She came,† Bonnie whispered. â€Å"You asked her to,† Stefan murmured. His voice trailed off into a labored breath, but he was still smiling. His eyes were serene. â€Å"Stand away from them,† Elena said, her voice coming simultaneously to Bonnie’s ears and her mind. It was like the chiming of dozens of bells, distant and close up at once. â€Å"It’s over now, Klaus.† But Klaus rallied quickly. Bonnie saw his shoulders swell with a breath, noticed for the first time the hole in the back of the tan raincoat where the white ash stake had pierced him. It was stained dull red, and new blood was flowing now as Klaus flung out his arms. â€Å"You think I’m afraid of you?† he shouted. He spun around, laughing at all the pallid forms. â€Å"You think I’m afraid of any of you? You’re dead! Dust on the wind! You can’t touch me!† â€Å"You’re wrong,† Elena said in her wind-chime voice. â€Å"I’m one of the Old Ones! An Original! Do you know what that means?† Klaus turned again, addressing all of them, his unnaturally blue eyes seeming to catch some of the red glow of the fire. â€Å"I’ve never died. Every one of you has died, you gallery of spooks! But not me. Death can’t touch me. I am invincible!† The last word came in a shout so loud it echoed among the trees. Invincible†¦ invincible†¦ invincible. Bonnie heard it fading into the hungry sound of the fire. Elena waited until the last echo had died. Then she said, very simply, â€Å"Not quite.† She turned to look at the misty shapes around her. â€Å"He wants to spill more blood here.† A new voice spoke up, a hollow voice that ran like a trickle of cold water down Bonnie’s spine. â€Å"There’s been enough killing, I say.† It was a Union soldier with a double row of buttons on his jacket. â€Å"More than enough,† said another voice, like the boom of a faraway drum. A Confederate holding a bayonet. â€Å"It’s time somebody stopped it†-an old man in home-dyed butternut cloth. â€Å"We can’t let it go on†-the drummer boy with the black holes for eyes. â€Å"No more blood spilled!† Several voices took it up at once. â€Å"No more killing!† The cry passed from one to another, until the swell of sound was louder than the roar of the fire. â€Å"No more blood!† â€Å"You can’t touch me! You can’t kill me!† â€Å"Let’s take ‘im, boys!† â€Å"You can’t kill me! I’m immortal!† The tornado swept away into the darkness beyond Bonnie’s sight. Following it was a trail of ghosts like a comet’s tail, shooting off into the night sky. â€Å"Where are they taking him?† Bonnie didn’t mean to say it aloud; she just blurted it out before she thought. But Elena heard. â€Å"Where he won’t do any harm,† she said, and the look on her face stopped Bonnie from asking any other questions. There was a squealing, bleating sound from the other side of the clearing. Bonnie turned and saw Tyler, in his terrible part-human, part-animal shape, on his feet. There was no need for Caroline’s club. He was staring at Elena and the few remaining ghostly figures and gibbering. â€Å"Don’t let them take me! Don’t let them take me too!† Before Elena could speak, he had spun around. He regarded the fire, which was higher than his own head, for an instant, then plunged right through it, crashing into the forest beyond. Through a parting of the flames, Bonnie saw him drop to the ground, beating out flames on himself, then rise and run again. Then the fire flared up and she couldn’t see anything more. But she’d remembered something: Meredith-and Matt. Meredith was lying propped up, her head in Caroline’s lap, watching. Matt was still on his back. Hurt, but not so badly hurt as Stefan. â€Å"Elena,† Bonnie said, catching the bright figure’s attention, and then she simply looked at him. The brightness came closer. Stefan didn’t blink. He looked into the heart of the light and smiled. â€Å"He’s been stopped now. Thanks to you.† â€Å"It was Bonnie who called us. And she couldn’t have done it at the right place and the right time without you and the others.† â€Å"I tried to keep my promise.† â€Å"I know, Stefan.† Bonnie didn’t like the sound of this at all. It sounded too much like a farewell-a permanent one. Her own words floated back to her: He might go to another place or-or just go out. And she didn’t want Stefan to go anywhere. Surely anyone who looked that much like an angel†¦ â€Å"Elena,† she said, â€Å"can’t you-do something? Can’t you help him?† Her voice was shaking. â€Å"I can do something,† she said. â€Å"But I don’t know if it’s the kind of help he wants.† She turned back to Stefan. â€Å"Stefan, I can cure what Klaus did. Tonight I have that much Power. But I can’t cure what Katherine did.† Bonnie’s numbed brain struggled with this for a while. What Katherine did-but Stefan had recovered months ago from Katherine’s torture in the crypt. Then she understood. What Katherine had done was make Stefan a vampire. â€Å"It’s been too long,† Stefan was saying to Elena. â€Å"If you did cure it, I’d be a pile of dust.† â€Å"Yes.† Elena didn’t smile, just went on looking at him steadily. â€Å"Do you want my help, Stefan?† â€Å"To go on living in this world in the shadows†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Stefan’s voice was a whisper now, his green eyes distant. Bonnie wanted to shake him. Live, she thought to him, but she didn’t dare say it for fear she’d make him decide just the opposite. Then she thought of something else. â€Å"To go on trying,† she said, and both of them looked at her. She looked back, chin thrust out, and saw the beginning of a smile on Elena’s bright lips. Elena turned to Stefan, and that tiny hint of a smile passed to him. â€Å"Yes,† he said quietly, and then, to Elena, â€Å"I want your help.† She bent and kissed him. Bonnie saw the brightness flow from her to Stefan, like a river of sparkling light engulfing him. It flooded over him the way the dark mist had surrounded Klaus, like a cascade of diamonds, until his entire body glowed like Elena’s. For an instant Bonnie imagined she could see the blood inside him turned molten, flowing out to each vein, each capillary, healing everything it touched. Then the glow faded to a golden aura, soaking back into Stefan’s skin. His shirt was still demolished, but underneath the flesh was smooth and firm. Bonnie, feeling her own eyes wide with wonder, couldn’t help reaching out to touch. It felt just like any skin. The horrible wounds were gone. She laughed aloud with sheer excitement, and then looked up, sobering. â€Å"Elena- there’s Meredith, too-â€Å" The bright being that was Elena was already moving across the clearing. Meredith looked up at her from Caroline’s lap. â€Å"Hello, Elena,† she said, almost normally, except that her voice was so weak. Elena bent and kissed her. The brightness flowed again, encompassing Meredith. And when it faded, Meredith stood up on her own two feet. Then she went to Damon. He was still lying where he had fallen. The ghosts had passed over him, taking no notice of him. Elena’s brightness hovered over him, one shining hand reaching to touch his hair. Then she bent and kissed the dark head on the ground. As the sparkling light faded, Damon sat up and shook his head. He saw Elena and went still, then, every movement careful and self-contained, stood up. He didn’t say anything, only looked as Elena turned back to Stefan. He was silhouetted against the fire. Bonnie had scarcely noticed how the red glow had grown so that it almost eclipsed Elena’s gold. But now she saw it and felt a thrill of alarm. â€Å"My last gift to you,† Elena said, and it began to rain. Not a thunder-and-lightning storm, but a thorough pattering rain that soaked everything-Bonnie included-and doused the fire. It was fresh and cool, and it seemed to wash all the horror of the last hours away, cleansing the glade of everything that had happened there. Bonnie tilted her face up to it, shutting her eyes, wanting to stretch out her arms and embrace it. At last it slackened and she looked again at Elena. Elena was looking at Stefan, and there was no smile on her lips now. The wordless sorrow was back in her face. â€Å"It’s midnight,† she said. â€Å"And I have to go.† Bonnie knew instantly, at the sound of it, that â€Å"go† didn’t just mean for the moment. â€Å"Go† meant forever. Elena was going somewhere that no trance or dream could reach. And Stefan knew it too. â€Å"Just a few more minutes,† he said, reaching for her. â€Å"I’m sorry-â€Å" â€Å"Elena, wait-I need to tell you-â€Å" â€Å"I can’t!† For the first time the serenity of that bright face was destroyed, showing not only gentle sadness but tearing grief. â€Å"Stefan, I can’t wait. I’m so sorry.† It was as if she were being pulled backward, retreating from them into some dimension that Bonnie could not see. Maybe the same place Honoria went when her task was finished, Bonnie thought. To be at peace. But Elena’s eyes didn’t look as if she were at peace. They clung to Stefan, and she reached out her hand toward his, hopelessly. They didn’t touch. Wherever Elena was being pulled was too far away. â€Å"Elena-please!† It was the voice Stefan had called her with in his room. As if his heart was breaking. â€Å"Stefan,† Elena called again, but her voice came as if from a long distance. The brightness was almost gone. Then, as Bonnie stared through helpless tears, it winked out. Leaving the clearing silent once again. They were all gone, the ghosts of Fell’s Church who had walked for one night to keep more blood from being spilled. The bright spirit that had led them had vanished without a trace, and even the moon and stars were covered by clouds. Bonnie knew that the wetness on Stefan’s face wasn’t due to the rain that was still splashing down. He was standing, chest heaving, looking at the last place where Elena’s brightness had been seen. And all the longing and the pain Bonnie had glimpsed on his face at times before was nothing to what she saw now. â€Å"It isn’t fair,† she whispered. Then she shouted it to the sky, not caring who she was addressing. â€Å"It isn’t fair!† Stefan had been breathing more and more quickly. Now he lifted his face too, not in anger but in unbearable pain. His eyes were searching the clouds as if he might find some last trace of golden light, some flicker of brightness there. He couldn’t. Bonnie saw the spasm go through him, like the agony of Klaus’s stake. And the cry that burst out of him was the most terrible thing she’d ever heard. â€Å"Elena!† How to cite The Vampire Diaries: Dark Reunion Chapter Fifteen, Essay examples

Beyond Suffrage A Book Review Essay Example For Students

Beyond Suffrage: A Book Review Essay The book, Beyond Suffrage; Women in the New Deal, presents the role of women in the 1930s in a much different light than many people think of it. The goal of this book is to enlighten the reader as to what role women played in politics during the New Deal. Because of its broad view I have taken several specific examples from the book and elaborated on them in order to give you a better understanding. The author, Susan Ware, begins by laying the groundwork for the womens network. During the 1930s, many different organizations began to evolve to include women in their decision-making. The backbone to this movement seems to lie deep within the White House. The First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, held a great deal of influence in decisions regarding women and their role. Ware writes of Mrs. Roosevelt as the foremost member of the womens network in the 1930s, and throughout the book Roosevelts influence seems to be everywhere. Moving on, the twenty-eight women discussed in this book are all linked through a complex network, which made them very strong in a time where women had no real strength. Almost all of them held top federal jobs in Washington DC. They were all educated women, born in the same generation. A sisterhood, supporting each other and encouraging each other after every victory, no matter how small, linked them very closely. These women gave each other the moral support and mentorship that seems absent in todays society. Another part of the book, discusses the role of Molly Dewson, head of Womens Division of the Democratic Party in recruiting and retaining women to the party. Dewsons attitude was often misunderstood as she overlooked minor jobs such as secretaries and stenographers, in order to focus on the big picture of women being involved in New Deal programs. Dewsons role in keeping the women of the Democratic party pacified by small jobs and honorary positions kept these womens spirits strong. By keeping these spirits strong, women were better prepared to get involved with the areas of social reform that they truly cared about. Throughout the New Deal, there were many areas regarding social welfare that women were involved and played a critical role in. One specific leap for women was their involvement in the National Recovery Administration. It seems that, there was a wide variety in the roles women played in the NRA. Rose Schneiderman served on the Labor Advisory Board, and by doing so opened many doors to work with other womens organizations in efforts to sway the legislation towards womens rights.Eventually their hard work contributed to improved labor standards and higher minimum wages for women in the workplace. Although the role of women in the NRA was a major part of their involvement in the New Deal, these women were also involved in many other areas such as social security, the Civil Works Administration, and the Consumers League. Winding down, Beyond Suffrage, explains the eventual decline of the womens movement at the end of the 1930s. As the depression lifted a chain reaction began. Soon the programs of the New Deal were no longer needed and because most of the positions that women held were in the New Deal programs, many women were displaced or else their advancement became stagnant. As the focus on the social programs of the New Deal waned, so did the communication and zest that the womens network previously had. This coupled with the eventual retirement of the originators of the network all contributed to the stagnation of the womens movement of the 1930s. One part of this book that I was pleasantly surprised to read was Wares description of how women viewed themselves and their goals during this time. It seems that even today the word feminist is looked upon negatively. .u9651ebc0fd83f5b9c34a519514bf70de , .u9651ebc0fd83f5b9c34a519514bf70de .postImageUrl , .u9651ebc0fd83f5b9c34a519514bf70de .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u9651ebc0fd83f5b9c34a519514bf70de , .u9651ebc0fd83f5b9c34a519514bf70de:hover , .u9651ebc0fd83f5b9c34a519514bf70de:visited , .u9651ebc0fd83f5b9c34a519514bf70de:active { border:0!important; } .u9651ebc0fd83f5b9c34a519514bf70de .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u9651ebc0fd83f5b9c34a519514bf70de { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u9651ebc0fd83f5b9c34a519514bf70de:active , .u9651ebc0fd83f5b9c34a519514bf70de:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u9651ebc0fd83f5b9c34a519514bf70de .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u9651ebc0fd83f5b9c34a519514bf70de .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u9651ebc0fd83f5b9c34a519514bf70de .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u9651ebc0fd83f5b9c34a519514bf70de .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u9651ebc0fd83f5b9c34a519514bf70de:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u9651ebc0fd83f5b9c34a519514bf70de .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u9651ebc0fd83f5b9c34a519514bf70de .u9651ebc0fd83f5b9c34a519514bf70de-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u9651ebc0fd83f5b9c34a519514bf70de:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Woodrow Wilson Argumentative Essay However, Ware explains that these women were only feminist by default. They werent the Fem-Nazi, combat boot wearing women that we often associate with feminism today. Instead these women were merely focusing on a fundamental purpose, that women should have equal opportunity and equal rights with every other citizen. They fought primarily for social reform and equality for everyone, with the fight for womens rights being only a small part. Overall, I enjoyed this book. Although our class readings and lectures teach us some things about the role of women during this time period, it would be difficult to go into all of the areas that Beyond Suffrage did. Ware does a good job explaining the significance of women during this era, even though she does place an emphasis on details. I would see the major fault of this book being that it is too broad. I found that by the time I thought I had one of the twenty eight women straight I would just confuse them all over again. Thankfully, with the help of my notes I was able to straighten things out on paper. 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