Speech Act Theory

Speech Act Theory Introduction Speech act theory is a technical term in linguistics and the philosophy of language. The contemporary use of the term goes back to J. L. Austins doctrine of locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary acts. It is developed by the great philosopher J.L Austin in the 1930s and set forth in a series of lectures, which he gave at Harvard in1955. These were subsequently developed in 1962 as How to Do Things With Words. He founded the modern study of speech acts. The approach has been greatly developed since by the philosopher J.R.Searle (Austins pupil). The central insight of the speech act theory which is attributed to Austin, Searle and other philosophers is that speech is action and language is used to perform things not only to describe a state of affairs. Moreover, Austin pointed out that many utterances do not communicate information, but are equivalent to actions. When someone says, I apologize. , I promise , or I name this ship. the utterance immediately conveys a new psychological or social reality. Many scholars identify speech acts with illocutionary acts, rather than locutionary or perlocutionary acts. As with the notion of illocutionary acts, there are different opinions on the nature of speech acts. The extension of speech acts is commonly taken to include such acts as promising, ordering, greeting, warning, inviting someone and congratulating. Definition of speech act with elaboration A speech act is an act that a speaker performs when making an utterance. To Jennifer Spenader, speech act theory is: A theory where the effect of an utterance is analyzed in relationship  to the speaker and listeners behaviour. Speech act theory can also help us examine utterances from  the perspective of their function, rather than their form. Austin pointed out that when people use language, they are performing a kind of action. He called these actions speech acts. Traditionally, philosophers have distinguished between actions and speaking on the basis that speaking about something is quite dissimilar from doing it. Austin challenged this by demonstrating that utterances can be regarded as events in a similar way to other actions. The below lists are samples of speech acts which Austin reckoned that this sort of list could be extended further. Statement I live in Edinburg for five years Order Pay this bill immediately Question Where are you from? Prohibition No right turn Greeting Hello Invitation Help yourself Felicitation Happy new year (grudging) apology I hereby apologize as required by the magistrate (Griffiths, 2006:148) We can say that each utterance on the right is based on single sentence and the sentence is the level of language. Here, the language is used to accomplish actions as Austin stated. The above sentences are not used just to say things, that is to say describe states of affairs, but rather actively to do things. Further, one cannot assess such utterances as true or false. Moreover, most speech acts are not so official but they rely on the speaker using an utterance to signal his/her intension to achieve some action and the hearer inferring that action from the utterance. One can say that speech act cannot only be done in speaking but also in writing. The clue is the example number (7) in which it would be equally appropriate printed in a card or spoken. As a matter of fact, there are purposes behind any utterance. Consider these examples A-Somebody has broken my leg. In the above sentence, the following purpose appears The first one is to describe things which are not the basic purpose and the second purpose is to complain which is the basic purpose as it doesnt describe things. B-I love you. The purpose here is to please or to assure somebody. C-Watch out, the gun is loaded. The purpose is to warn someone. D-She is a fool. The purpose is to insult or to ease. Thus, the gist idea of speech act theory is to do acts (things) and not simply to describe because description is not the important function of language. Dichotomies (constative and performative) Many writers, in their books, define the dichotomy constative (descriptive) and performative clearly. Riemer in his books Introducing Semantics that an utterance is constative if it describes or states facts about a situation. Whereas performative is one which does not describe or state any facts, but which itself constitutes the performing of an action. The following pair of examples serve the above point A-I promise to visit tomorrow. B-She promised to visit tomorrow. In the first example, you promise to visit but if you dont visit it, the person you said it can complain that you broke your promise. Sentences which perform actions are known as performatives while other sentences are called constatives. Although constatives perform actions. The example (b) serves this point which performs the action of reporting her promise. Thus, the difference between the two (constatives and performatives) may not be as significant as the idea that all sentences can be used to perform actions of various sorts. Broadly speaking, all utterances are performative in the sense of constituting a form of action rather than a matter of saying something about the world. Ultimately, a single utterance can have both aspects constatives and performative elements; they are all sayings and doings simultaneously. Typical examples of performative verbs are ask, beg, beseech, command, congratulate, deny, deplore, declare, implore and warn. Only certain forms of the verb count as performing the speech act, mainly first person simple present active and third person present passive. Furthermore, a performative verb in a performative use can typically be accompanied by hereby. See the following A-I hereby declare the bridge open. B-I hereby command you to surrender. While in the below instances using hereby is not possible with non-performative verbs speaking. A-I hereby persuade you to accompany me. B-I hereby tell the truth. As we said earlier, the performative use of performative verbs is extremely restricted grammatically. They must be first person simple present active and third person present passive. Consider, first, active uses I hereby promise to pay you next week. Not: I herby promised you pay him the following week. Similar contrasts are possible with passive uses Passengers are hereby requested not to smoke. Not: Passengers were hereby requested not to smoke. You are hereby warned to leave immediately. Not: They will be hereby warned to leave immediately. Characteristics of Performative verbs The sense of the verb is always present. The subject is always first person (singular,plural) Since performative verbs are not descriptions but actions they are not subject to truth-value. In performative sentences the illocutionary act is explicit. Performative verbs like (affirm, allege, assert, forecast, predict, announce, insist, order, state, name, declare, bet, agree). For testing whether a verb is performative we can insert the word (hereby). The book entitled semantics and pragmatics by Dr. Misbah Mahmood gives extra examples about the distinguishing between performatives and constatives. Performatives Constatives I promise I will be there. I will be there. I warn you, the gun is loaded. The gun is loaded. I thank you. I am very grateful. I order you to read. You must read. I request you to send me the book. Send me the book. I apologize. I am sorry. Are Performatives truth-evaluable? Verschueren, in his book, entitled Understanding Pragmatics states that Austin drew a distinction between constative and performative utterances. In this dichotomy, constatives are utterances in which something is said which can be evaluated along a dimension of truth. Performatives, on the other hand, are utterances in which something is done which cannot be said to be true or false but which can be evaluated along a dimension of felicity. According to Austins account, it is an essential characteristic of performative utterances that they are neither true nor false, that is, not truth-evaluable, instead when something is wrong with them then they are felicitous (happy) or infelicitous (unhappy). The uttering of a performative is the doing of a certain kind of action , the performance would not normally be described as just saying or describing something. For example, when Tom says I promise to do the dishes in an appropriate context he does not just describe what he is doing; rather, in making the utterance he performs the promise; since promising is an illocutionary act, the utterance is thus a performative utterance. If Tom utters the sentence without the intention to keep the promise, the sentence is not false: it is rather unhappy, or infelicitous. In the absence of any such flaw, on the other hand, the utterance is to be assessed as happy or felicitous, rather than as true. What Leech states is that Constative utterances could be evaluated in traditional terms of truth and falsehood, performatives were neither true nor false: instead they were to be regarded as felicitous or non felicitous. (Leech,1983:176) By felicity and infelicity, as Yule points out, they can only be as appropriate that is the performance of a speech act to be recognized as intended or inappropriate that is if the speaker is not a specific person in a special context. Briefly, felicity and infelicity are not subject to truth-value. A sentence like I pronounce you man and wife, the performance, here, will be infelicitous on condition that the speaker is not properly qualified. Regarding felicity condition (happiness condition), it can be grouped under three headings: preparatory conditions, sincerity conditions, and essential conditions. Types of Felicity Conditions There are normally conditions which must be fulfilled before a speech act can be said to have been properly performed. These are usually called felicity conditions or happiness conditions. 1-Preparatory Conditions The preparatory conditions for a promise and warning are unlike. When I promise to do something, two conditions appear: first, the event will not occur by itself, and second, the event will have a beneficial effect. But when I utter a warning, it is not clear that the hearer knows the event will happen whilst the speaker does think the event will occur, and the event will not have a beneficial effect. 2-Sincerity Conditions They require the speaker to be sincere. When one promises to do something must genuinely intend to do it; someone congratulating somebody else must feel pleasure at that persons good luck. 3-Essential Conditions By the act of uttering a promise, an obligation created to carry out the action as promised. In other words, the utterance changes my state from non-obligation to obligation. When speaker A warns speaker B, speaker A changes his state from non-informing of a bad future event to informing. Aspects of Speech Acts Austin found great difficulty in drawing a completely clear distinction between performatives and constatives; he came to the conclusion that to state something is to perform an illocutionary act, which renders all constatives as performatives; Austin proposed that in uttering a sentence speaker is involved in three different acts. In other words, he isolates three basic senses in which in saying something one is doing something, and thus, three kinds of acts that are simultaneously performed. 1-Locutionary act. Lots of writers define locutionary act. One of them is Levinson in the book Pragmatics. Locutionary act is the utterance of a sentence with determinate sense and reference. (Levinson,1983:236) Another definition is by Finch. It refers simply to the act of saying something that makes sense in the language; in other words, that follows the grammatical rules of language. (Finch,2000:180) The last definition said by Cruse, in his book, Meaning in Language in which Austin explained as follows: the utterance of certain noises.. certain words in a certain construction, and the utterance of them with a certain sense and a certain reference. (Cruse,2000:331) From the above definition, we conclude that locutionary act is related to the inherent meaning of the lexical item and it is the province of semantics. It is the act of expressing the basic, literal meanings of the words chosen. Besides, performing the act of saying something that makes sense in the language; in other words, that follows the grammatical rules of language. For more elaboration, see the below instances For example, Tom is outside the room. In this sentence both words (Tom and the room) have meaning and we should know what the words (Tom and the room) refer to. In uttering the words, You will get your hands blown off, a speaker performs the locutionary act of stating that the hearer will get his hands blown off. Suppose speaker A says to hearer B There is a bear sneaking up behind you! (Fasold,2006:162) Speaker A utters the word there and refers to the addressee with the word you. 2-Illocutionary act Cruse, in his book, entitled A Glossry of Semantics and Pragmatics defined that illocutionary act is an act performed by a speaker in saying something (with an appropriate intention and in an appropriate context), rather than by virtue of having produced a particular effect by saying something (Cruse,2006:167) According to Finch illocutionary act is one which is performed through the medium of language: stating, warning, wishing, promising and so on. Context can be seen in the definition and this leads to remind us the province of pragmatics. If we come to talk about intention, which is also found in defining illocution, we can regard that the intention is to inform, complain, thank, apologize, threaten, etc. Consider the below instances Father: I will turn out your light. Here, the intention of father is to threaten her son. It is duty of pragmatics since the idea of threatening doesnt relate to meaning but the context. In the sentence like, There is a lion behind you, suppose that A is a speaker and B is a hearer. At the illocutionary level, A asserts a fact (that there is a lion behind B) and warns B that he/she is in danger. The speaker has the illocutionary force of warning. In short, context in which the sentence is uttered is crucial in interpreting the illocutionary force of a speech act. If someone says: I order you to leave now, the intention is ordering by virtue of having uttered the words, whether or not the addressee acts in the desired way. 3-Prelocutionary act Concerning prelocutionary Levinson states the bringing about of effects on the audience by means of uttering the sentence, such effects being special to the circumstances of utterance. While Fasold points that prelocutionary is an action which goes beyond communication such as annoying, frightening, or tricking. The contrasts between illocutionary and prelocutionary lies by lists of verbs Illocutionary: report, request, suggest, announce, predict, order, propose, reprimand, promise, thank, express, congratulate, admit, ask Prelocutionary: persuade, deceive, encourage, irritate, frighten, amuse, inspire, distract, impress, encourage embarrass. Briefly, prelocutionary is the act of producing an effect in the hearer by means of the utterance. It is outside the province of semantics and pragmatics, because it involves many other aspects of the situations. It is not always intended by speaker, is not under his control, and is not evident until after the utterance is made. The speaker tries to carry out a prelocutionary act for example to shock, to amuse, and to annoy somebody. The following examples serve the above point A-You will get your hands blown off. The above sentence might be to prevent the hearer from playing with a lighter and a stick of dynamite, to frighten the hearer. B-John is inside the hall. The prelocutionary act for the above sentence is perhaps to disappoint, shock or annoy. To explicate more about the three types of speech acts, we take instances to apply the three acts. A-There is a wasp in your left ear. The first act: we know speaker and listener. (reference) The second act: the intention is the act of warning. The third act: The hearer is panic (afraid). The hearer may scream and scratch his ears. Panic is not intended but the speaker tries to make the hearer panic. B-Someone says Good night late at night in forest. The first act: speaker and listener. (reference) The second act: leave-taking, there is greeting purpose behind saying good bye. The third act: to horrify or to frighten. C-Father: I will turn out your light. The first act: I refers to father, your refers to sons light, having meaning and reference. The second act: to intend the act of threatening The third act: to frighten the son to sleep. The father tries to frighten his son. It is not under the control of the speaker and it may not be intended of the speaker that he wants to frighten his son. Types of Illocutionary Acts Implicit and explicit illocutionary force Implicit performatives are those which dont have performative verbs. For example when one says I will turn off your light, it is implicit since there is no performative verb and besides, the force doesnt relate to the meaning of the words. Another example Be aware of the dog means that I warn you to beware of the dog. Whereas explicit performatives are those which have performative verbs, that is, a verb which names the action being performed. For example when I say I warn you that.., it is explicit as I am not describing or stating the existence of any independent fact; I am, instead performing an act (act of warning). Speech Act Classifications Searle (1976) has set up the following classification of illocutionary speech acts that one can perform in speaking. David Crystal in his book, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, sheds light on five basic types. 1-Representatives: the speaker is committed, in varying degrees, to the truth of proposition. For instance, affirm, believe, conclude, deny, and report. The following examples illustrate the point. A-The earth is flat. B-Chomsky didnt write about peanuts. C-It was a warm sunny day. In all the above instances, the speaker represents the world as he/she believes it is. 2-Directives: the speaker tries to get the hearer to do something. For example request, challenge, insist, command, advise, and suggest. A-Could you open the door, please? B-I suggest you take a taxi. C-Dont go too far. The above-mentioned examples illustrate that the speaker tries to make the world fit the words through the hearer. 3-Commissives: the speaker is committed, in varying degrees, to a certain course of action. For example, promise, oath, refuse, pledge, threat, guarantee, vow, and swear. The instances, which shown below, point out that the speaker undertakes to make the world adapt the words through the speaker. A-I will be back. B-We will not do that. 4-Expressives: the speaker expresses an attitude about a state of affairs. For instance, congratulate, excuse, thanking, deplore, apologize, welcome, and thank. A-Congratulations! B-I am really sorry. The sentences indicate the speaker makes words fit the world of feeling. 5-Declaratives: the speaker alters the external status or condition of an object or situation solely by making the utterance. For example, resign, sack, appoint, name, christen, sentence (in court), bid (at auction), declaring war, pronouncing someone husband and wife. The below instances clarifies more about what we said. A-Priest: I now pronounce you husband and wife. B-Referee: You are out. One can say that the speaker changes the world via words. Direct and Indirect Speech Acts It is obvious that we have three structural forms (declarative, interrogative, imperative) and the three general communicative functions (statement, question, command/order) respectively. The table below clarifies more about what we pointed out. Whenever there is a direct relationship between a structure and a function, we have a direct speech act. Furthermore, there is a match between sentence meaning and speaker meaning, that is to say, the form of the utterance coincides with what a speaker is intending to convey. But in case of having indirect relationship between the two which mentioned before we have indirect speech act. Therefore, when a declarative used to make a statement it is functioning as a direct speech act, but when it used to make a request it is functioning as an indirect speech act. Consider the following instances A-It is hot. B-I hereby tell you about weather. C-I hereby request of you that you open the door. It is clear that the sentence A is a declarative, the sentence B used as statement so, it is direct speech act but the last sentence C used as command therefore; it is indirect speech act. A speech act can be indirect where one illocutionary act is performed by another. Well-known examples are requests which are superficially question. We expect actions rather than answer. A-Can you pass the sault? B-Would you mind if I opened the door? So, the above mentioned sentences superficially are interrogative and they are direct speech act but if we look at them deeply they become request and in this case they are indirect speech act. It is quite true to say that different structures used to attain the same function. The examples below show that the speaker wants the addressee not to stand in front of the TV. A-Move out of the way! B-Do you have to stand in front of the TV? C-You are standing in front of the TV. D-Youd make a better door than a window. The basic function of all the utterances is a command. The first instance is direct speech act because its structure is imperative. Whilst the rest of the sentences are indirect speech acts because the interrogative structure is not used only as question and also the declarative structures are not used only as statement. Conclusion Needless to say, that conclusion shows the product of any turn paper, research and etc. In this turn paper, a formal account of speech acts provided. Throughout reading it, I infer that we can extend what a speaker means by his/her words. Thus, utterances are not uniquely used to describe states of affairs but rather they convey speakers intention to the addressee. Speech act comprises the notion of speaker meaning since through it the intentions of the speaker can be felt or found it. Also, I conclude that speech act is one of the helpful factors for decoding those words that uttered by a speaker. It is obvious that there is communication in speech act between speaker and hearer and this communication conveys not only linguistic meanings but also expressing attitudes, and understanding is a matter of recognizing the attitudes being expressed. Another conclusion which is not to be forgotten is that if a sentence is interrogative, the same sentence could be regarded as request if we look at it deeply. The sentence Could you sign the papers, please? is our evidence. So, this case only occurred in speech act, one is direct and the other is indirect and the sentence has two functions question and request.

Euthanasia :: Mercy Killing Death

A considerable size of society is in favor of Euthanasia mostly because they feel that as a democratic country, we as free individuals, have the right to decide for ourselves whether or not it is our right to determine when to terminate someone's life. The stronger and more widely held opinion is against Euthanasia primarily because society feels that it is god's task to determine when one of his creations time has come, and we as human beings are in no position to behave as god and end someone's life. When humans take it upon themselves to shorten their lives or to have others to do it for them by withdrawing life-sustaining apparatus, they play god. They usurp the divine function, and interfere with the divine plan. Euthanasia is the practice of painlessly putting to death persons who have incurable, painful, or distressing diseases or handicaps. It come from the Greek words for 'good' and 'death', and is commonly called mercy killing. Voluntary euthanasia may occur when incurably ill persons ask their physician, friend or relative, to put them to death. The patients or their relatives may ask a doctor to withhold treatment and let them die. Many critics of the medical profession contend that too often doctors play god on operating tables and in recovery rooms. They argue that no doctor should be allowed to decide who lives and who dies. The issue of euthanasia is having a tremendous impact on medicine in the United States today. It was only in the nineteenth century that the word came to be used in the sense of speeding up the process of dying and the destruction of so-called useless lives. Today it is defined as the deliberate ending of life of a person suffering from an incurable disease. A distinction is made between positive, or active, and negative, or passive, euthanasia. Positive euthanasia is the deliberate ending of life; an action taken to cause death in a person. Negative euthanasia is defined as the withholding of life preserving procedures and treatments that would prolong the life of one who is incurably and terminally ill and couldn't survive without them. The word euthanasia becomes a respectable part of our vocabulary in a subtle way, via the phrase ' death with dignity'. Tolerance of euthanasia is not limited to our own country. A court case in South Africa, s. v. Hatmann (1975), illustrates this quite well.

Vampire Academy Chapter 14

FOURTEEN I CONTINUED SPYING ON LISSA over the next couple of days, feeling mildly guilty each time. She'd always hated it when I did by accident, and now I did it on purpose. Steadily, I watched as she reintegrated herself into the royal power players one by one. She couldn't do group compulsion, but catching one person alone was just as effective, if slower. And really, a lot didn't need to be compelled to start hanging out with her again. Many weren't as shallow as they seemed; they remembered Lissa and liked her for who she was. They flocked to her, and now, a month and a half after our return to the Academy, it was like she'd never left at all. And during this rise to fame, she advocated for me and rallied against Mia and Jesse. One morning, I tuned into her while she was getting ready for breakfast. She'd spent the last twenty minutes blow-drying and straightening her hair, something she hadn't done in a while. Natalie, sitting on the bed in their room, watched the process with curiosity. When Lissa moved on to makeup, Natalie finally spoke. â€Å"Hey, we're going to watch a movie in Erin's room after school. You going to come?† I'd always made jokes about Natalie being boring, but her friend Erin had the personality of dry wall. â€Å"Can't. I'm going to help Camille bleach Carly's hair.† â€Å"You sure spend a lot of time with them now.† â€Å"Yeah, I guess.† Lissa dabbed mascara across her lashes, instantly making her eyes look bigger. â€Å"I thought you didn't like them anymore.† â€Å"I changed my mind.† â€Å"They sure seem to like you a lot now. I mean, not that anyone wouldn't like you, but once you came back and didn't talk to them, they seemed okay ignoring you too. I heard them talking about you a lot. I guess that's not surprising, because they're Mia's friends too, but isn't it weird how much they like you now? Like, I hear them always waiting to see what you want to do before they make plans and stuff. And a bunch of them are defending Rose now, which is really crazy. Not that I believe any of that stuff about her, but I never would have thought it was possible – â€Å" Underneath Natalie's rambling was the seed of suspicion, and Lissa picked up on it. Natalie probably never would have dreamed of compulsion, but Lissa couldn't risk innocent questions turning into something more. â€Å"You know what?† she interrupted. â€Å"Maybe I will swing by Erin's after all. I bet Carly's hair won't take that long.† The offer derailed Natalie's train of thought. â€Å"Really? Oh wow, that would be great. She was telling me how sad she was that you're not around as much anymore, and I told her†¦Ã¢â‚¬  On it went. Lissa continued her compulsion and return to popularity. I watched it all quietly, always worrying, even though her efforts were starting to reduce the stares and gossip about me. â€Å"This is going to backfire,† I whispered to her in church one day. â€Å"Someone's going to start wondering and asking questions.† â€Å"Stop being so melodramatic. Power shifts all the time around here.† â€Å"Not like this.† â€Å"You don't think my winning personality could do this on its own?† â€Å"Of course I do, but if Christian spotted it right away, then someone else will – â€Å" My words were interrupted when two guys farther down the pew suddenly exploded into snickers. Glancing up, I saw them looking right at me, not even bothering to hide their smirks. Looking away, I tried to ignore them, suddenly hoping the priest would start up soon. But Lissa returned their looks, and a sudden fierceness flashed across her face. She didn't say a word, but their smiles grew smaller under her heavy gaze. â€Å"Tell her you're sorry,† she told them. â€Å"And make sure she believes it.† A moment later, they practically fell all over themselves apologizing to me and begging for forgiveness. I couldn't believe it. She'd used compulsion in public – in church, of all places. And on two people at the same time. They finally exhausted their supply of apologies, but Lissa wasn't finished. â€Å"That's the best you can do?† she snapped. Their eyes widened in alarm, both terrified that they'd angered her. â€Å"Liss,† I said quickly, touching her arm. â€Å"It's okay I, uh, accept their apologies.† Her face still radiated disapproval, but she finally nodded. The guys slumped in relief. Yikes. I'd never felt so relieved to have a service start. Through the bond, I felt a sort of dark satisfaction coming from Lissa. It was uncharacteristic for her, and I didn't like it. Needing to distract myself from her troubling behavior, I studied other people as I so often did. Nearby, Christian openly watched Lissa, a troubled look on his face. When he saw me, he scowled and turned away. Dimitri sat in the back as usual, for once not scanning every corner for danger. His attention was turned inward, his expression almost pained. I still didn't know why he came to church. He always seemed to be wrestling with something. In the front, the priest was talking about St. Vladimir again. â€Å"His spirit was strong, and he was truly gifted by God. When he touched them, the crippled walked, and the blind could see. Where he walked, flowers bloomed.† Man, the Moroi needed to get more saints – Healing cripples and blind people? I'd forgotten all about St. Vladimir. Mason had mentioned Vladimir bringing people back from the dead, and it had reminded me of Lissa at the time. Then other things had distracted me. I hadn't thought about the saint or his â€Å"shadow-kissed† guardian – and their bond – in a while. How could I have overlooked this? Ms. Karp, I realized, wasn't the only other Moroi who could heal like Lissa. Vladimir could too. â€Å"And all the while, the masses gathered to him, loving him, eager to follow his teachings and hear him preach the word of God†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Turning, I stared at Lissa. She gave me a puzzled look. â€Å"What?† I didn't get a chance to elaborate – I don't even know if I could have formed the words – because I was whisked back to my prison almost as soon as I stood up at the end of the service. Back in my room, I went online to research St. Vladimir but turned up nothing useful. Damn it. Mason had skimmed the books in the library and said there was little there. What did that leave me with? I had no way of learning more about that dusty old saint. Or did I? What had Christian said that first day with Lissa? Over there, we have an old box full of the writings of the blessed and crazy St. Vladimir. The storage room above the chapel. It had the writings. Christian had pointed them out. I needed to look at them, but how? I couldn't ask the priest. How would he react if he found out students were going up there? It'd put an end to Christian's lair. But maybe†¦maybe Christian himself could help. It was Sunday, though, and I wouldn't see him until tomorrow afternoon. Even then, I didn't know if I'd get a chance to talk to him alone. While heading out to practice later, I stopped in the dorm's kitchen to grab a granola bar. As I did, I passed a couple of novice guys, Miles and Anthony. Miles whistled when he saw me. â€Å"How's it been going, Rose? You getting lonely? Want some company?† Anthony laughed. â€Å"I can't bite you, but I can give you something else you want.† I had to pass through the doorway they stood in to get outside. Glaring, I pushed past, but Miles caught me around the waist, his hand sliding down to my butt. â€Å"Get your hands off my ass before I break your face,† I told him, jerking away. In doing so, I only bumped into Anthony. â€Å"Come on,† Anthony said, â€Å"I thought you didn't have a problem taking on two guys at the same time.† A new voice spoke up. â€Å"If you guys don't walk away right now, I'll take both of you on.† Mason. My hero. â€Å"You're so full of it, Ashford,† said Miles. He was the bigger of the two and left me to go square off with Mason. Anthony backed off from me, more interested in whether or not there'd be a fight. There was so much testosterone in the air, I felt like I needed a gas mask. â€Å"Are you doing her too?† Miles asked Mason. â€Å"You don't want to share?† â€Å"Say one more word about her, and I'll rip your head off.† â€Å"Why? She's just a cheap blood – â€Å" Mason punched him. It didn't rip Miles' head off or even cause anything to break or bleed, but it looked like it hurt. His eyes widened, and he lunged toward Mason. The sound of doors opening in the hall caused everyone to freeze. Novices got in a lot of trouble for fighting. â€Å"Probably some guardians coming.† Mason grinned. â€Å"You want them to know you were beating up on a girl?† Miles and Anthony exchanged glances. â€Å"Come on,† Anthony said. â€Å"Let's go. We don't have time for this.† Miles reluctantly followed. â€Å"I'll find you later, Ashford.† When they were gone, I turned on Mason. † ? ®Beat up on a girl'?† â€Å"You're welcome,† he said drily. â€Å"I didn't need your help.† â€Å"Sure. You were doing just fine on your own.† â€Å"They caught me off guard, that's all. I could have dealt with them eventually.† â€Å"Look, don't take being pissed off at them out on me.† â€Å"I just don't like being treated like†¦a girl.† â€Å"You are a girl. And I was just trying to help.† I looked at him and saw the earnestness on his face. He meant well. No point in being a bitch to him when I had so many other people to hate lately. â€Å"Well†¦thanks. Sorry I snapped at you.† We talked a little bit, and I managed to get him to spill some more school gossip. He had noticed Lissa's rise in status but didn't seem to find it strange. As I talked to him, I noticed the adoring look he always got around me spread across his face. It made me sad to have him feel that way about me. Guilty, even. How hard would it be, I wondered, to go out with him? He was nice, funny, and reasonably good-looking. We got along. Why did I get caught up in so many messes with other guys when I had a perfectly sweet one here who wanted me? Why couldn't I just return his feelings? The answer came to me before I'd even finished asking myself the question. I couldn't be Mason's girlfriend because when I imagined someone holding me and whispering dirty things in my ear, he had a Russian accent. Mason continued watching me admiringly, oblivious to what was going on in my head. And seeing that adoration, I suddenly realized how I could use it to my advantage. Feeling a little guilty, I shifted my conversation to a more flirty style and watched Mason's glow increase. I leaned beside him on the wall so our arms just touched and gave him a lazy smile. â€Å"You know, I still don't approve of your whole hero thing, but you did scare them. That was almost worth it.† â€Å"But you don't approve?† I trailed fingers up his arm. â€Å"No. I mean, it's hot in principle but not in practice.† He laughed. â€Å"The hell it isn't.† He caught hold of my hand and gave me a knowing look. â€Å"Sometimes you need to be saved. I think you like being saved sometimes and just can't admit it.† â€Å"And I think you get off on saving people and just can't admit it.† â€Å"I don't think you know what gets me off. Saving damsels like you is just the honorable thing to do,† he declared loftily. I repressed the urge to smack him over the use of damsels. â€Å"Then prove it. Do me a favor just because it's ? ®the right thing to do.' â€Å" â€Å"Sure,† he said immediately. â€Å"Name it.† â€Å"I need you to get a message to Christian Ozera.† His eagerness faltered. â€Å"What the – ? You aren't serious.† â€Å"Yes. Completely.† â€Å"Rose†¦I can't talk to him. You know that.† â€Å"I thought you said you'd help. I thought you said helping ? ®damsels' is the honorable thing to do.† â€Å"I don't really see how honor's involved here.† I gave him the most smoldering look I could manage. He caved. â€Å"What do you want me to tell him?† â€Å"Tell him I need St. Vladimir's books. The ones in storage. He needs to sneak them to me soon. Tell him it's for Lissa. And tell him†¦tell him I lied the night of the reception.† I hesitated. â€Å"Tell him I'm sorry.† â€Å"That doesn't make any sense.† â€Å"It doesn't have to. Just do it. Please?† I turned on the beauty queen smile again. With hasty assurances that he'd see what he could do, he left for lunch, and I went off to practice.

The History / Background Of Mental Health Essay - 2021 Words

Mental Health has been recognized, as the well-being at which individuals are able to cope with everyday stresses, and work productively while contributing back to their community. Mental Health America began in the early 1900’s by Clifford W. Beers, a former psychiatric patient who experienced mental/physical abuse during his stay in public and private institutions. It wasn’t until short after a reform group emerged, to stand against the abuse and ill-treatment at these institutions. In this paper, I will be discussing the history/background of Mental Health Services, and how quality, access, cost or other factors have changed (or how they haven’t). I also will be discussing the populations that benefit from this type of service and the significant issues, and or problems within the area that impact specific populations. Lastly, I will interpret national policy, legislation, attitudes, political climate, and how they impact or relate to the problems discussed, t hen I will address two current issues discussed along with clarifying each discussion. Early-on specifically during the Middle Ages, mental illness was believed by many as demonic possession and religious’ punishment. Some trailblazers sought to cure mentally ill individuals by conducting non- religious techniques, and instead incorporating a change in environment, or even administering certain substances/medications that where heavily used during that time; that were thought of as medical treatment. TheShow MoreRelatedThe On The Sandy Hook Shooting1464 Words   |  6 Pagesthis one, the debate over control gets re-energized. 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