10 Day Placement Assignment Analysis From Snap Social Work Essay

10 Day Placement Assignment Analysis From Snap Social Work Essay SNAP is an organisation that was set up in June 2008. It is a collaboration of six organisations Orwell Housing Association, Anglia Care Trust, Epic Trust, Ipswich Housing Action Group, Family Action and Together- Working for Wellbeing. Each employee of Snap is affiliated to one of the main organisations and is an employee of only one of the partners. All six organisations tendered, and won the contract to provide CARA (Central Access Referral Agency) and non accommodation based housing support. The collaboration of the agencies ensures a diversity of skills, knowledge and experience. SNAP is responsible for support throughout Suffolk apart from those in the Waveney area. These referrals come through CARA but are then transferred to Flagship Housing to provide support. SNAPs primary aims are to prevent homelessness, to support people to develop skills that will facilitate independent living and to prevent or assist an individual from being admitted to institutionalised accommodation. The support SNAP provides may be accessed by anyone over the age of 16 as long as they are eligible to receive public funds and have needs that are housing related. SNAP supports people for a maximum of two years, up to three hours a week. The needs and progress of the service user are reviewed every 13 weeks. If the service user still requires support after two years or is deemed to have ongoing requirements then they are referred to other agencies that will provide this. Each organisation that is involved in SNAP, has their own policies and mission statements. The values that SNAP have taken as their own are those of respect, integrity, honesty and trust. There is no mission statement that applies overall, as each employee of SNAP is employed by one of the six agencies, and it is the mission statement of that agency that applies to the individual employee. SNAP has six support planning principles. The first of these is that the support provided is individualistic. This is a traditional social work value originally put forward by Biestek (1961). This value means that the worker should recognise and understand each service users unique qualities and situation and take these into account at all times. SNAP also advocates person centred therapy. This approach originated from Carl Rogers (Rogers, 1942) and is from the humanistic school of psychology. This theory involves the process of providing the service user with unconditional positive regard, empathy and openness as it is these that empower the service user and facilitate their ability to solve their own issues. SNAP works in an inter-professional manner. Referrals received by SNAP are from a multitude of agencies due to the diversity of service users and their needs. SNAP is only able to support those who have difficulties in maintaining a tenancy and anything that does not fall within this remit requires SNAP to signpost the service users to other agencies. Furthermore, the support provided may involve SNAP liaising with other agencies that may be relevant in the service users life. All SNAPs interventions are Task centred (Reid Shyne 1969). SNAPs support is classed as short term even though it can continue for up to two years. Task centred approach to intervention is usually done on a much shorter term basis, usually six weeks. SNAP and the service user both agree their roles and responsibilities during the support; this is in the form of a document that makes clear to the service user and the support worker, what each will do during the support. This is signed by both at the onset of support. This is in line with the task centred approach and makes clear what difficulties need to be addressed and eachs role in doing this. As all of SNAPs service users are experiencing problems with regard to housing, this problem solving approach is both practical and relevant. At each 13 week review, SNAP ensures that progress is being made and the service users needs are reassessed. Some of the referrals that are made to SNAP, involve service users in a crisis situation, pa rticularly if imminent eviction is likely. The task centred approach is similar to crisis intervention (Caplan Lindemann -Kanel, 2003, p.14) although crisis intervention has a more psycho-dynamic approach, promoting psychological growth as opposed to task centred theory, which is more based on the understanding that a crisis provides the motivation to act. Both crisis intervention and task centred approaches involve problem solving. SNAP treats its service user in a non judgemental manner. This is one of Biesteks (1961) traditional social work values requiring that the worker does not judge and neither approve or disapprove of the service user. During my shadowing this has been the case. Due to the nature of SNAPs intervention, being short term housing support, it is difficult to set up committees or long term client groups that have an input into the organisation and how it is run and the future development. However, SNAP do regularly send out questionnaires to service users in order to ascertain whether the service they have received has been useful and whether the service users situation has improved. It has also been suggested that a Mystery Shopper type exercise be undertaken in order to ensure that service users are receiving the best service possible at the point of contact. At each review, the client is asked whether they have been happy with the service they have received from SNAP. They are asked whether their situation has improved, not improved or worsened since support started. They are also asked if they have any suggestions as to whether SNAP could improve their service or whether there is anything that they feel they could do that they are not already doing. It has been decided that as part of my Observational placement task of undertaking an interview with a service user, I will use this part of the review as questions for my placement interview. On an operational level, SNAP is entirely user led, due to its task centred approach. As each client is reviewed on a regular basis, there are opportunities throughout the intervention for service users to be able to give feedback at varying points through SNAPs involvement. It is difficult to give service users a strategic role in the organisational development due to the short term nature of the intervention. Whilst shadowing with the support workers, I saw many examples of good practice. Each support worker that I shadowed with was empathetic and appeared to build good relationships with the service users they were assigned to. They appeared to be non judgemental (Biestek), dealing with sex offenders and expressing a level of sympathy for their inability to rebuild their lives following a conviction. There appears to be high levels of oppression towards the more vulnerable referrals. The benefits agency itself made many service users feel powerless and this was acknowledged by the support workers who then called the agency on behalf of the service users. This was anti- oppressive and illustrated this value to me very clearly. Another area that I will identify as good practice, were the recording of interventions, and contact made with both the service user and others who were connected to them. Each support worker that I shadowed appeared to make an entry on the computer system after every telephone call made and letter sent as well as after every visit. It would appear that this was done; ensuring information regarding each intervention was up to date and complete. This complies with Section 6.1 of the Codes of Ethics that states that: As a social care worker, you must be accountable for the quality of your work and take responsibility for maintaining and improving your knowledge and skills by maintaining clear and accurate records as required by procedures established for your work; Whilst shadowing LC, we found that a service user was going to make a possibly fraudulent Housing Benefit Claim. Once the service user told LH of their intention, LH advised that this would be fraudulent and told the service user that she should not be doing this. The service user stated that she was going to and so LH stated that they would be unable to support the service user if this was the course of action that they intended to take. The service user decided to follow LCs advice. This showed honesty and integrity on the part of LC, in accordance to Section 2 of the Social Work Codes of Practice as well as SNAPs own personal values of integrity and honesty. After being in the office with various support workers, it was apparent that at times there were not enough desks and computer terminals for all those in the office to be able to use. Although this did not happen all the time, it did happen regularly. It may be an idea to perhaps invest in some more. Furthermore, again, not all the time, but regularly, it was not possible to sign into the operating system due to the maximum amount of users being logged on to the computers. I have never seen this IT issue before and it struck me as being unusual. I was advised that more licenses have been purchased so the problem is not as great as it was in the past. Although addressing this issue would obviously alleviate any delays in using the IT, making Snap more efficient and effective, it may not be enough of an issue to warrant the economic investment that would be involved. It could be said that as SNAP is a relatively new company, and with the other established organisations bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table, SNAP is well placed to cherry pick the best practice from each. SNAP appears to be an efficiently run organisation. The staff appear to be knowledgeable and have the best interests of the client in mind. There are clearly defined systems in place at each level of intervention, including the recording of information.

Parking Deck Project Of University ______________ Essay -- essays rese

Parking Deck Project of University   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The University of ________________ has been confronted with claims of parking shortages over the past several years. Many of these claims were not supported by any facts or figures that explained the cause of the parking shortages. In fact, some of the claims of insufficient parking were based on students not being able to locate parking spaces in the parking lots adjacent to their first class. Due to recent and projected enrollment increases, there now exist a genuine parking shortage. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the current parking, plan for future parking needs, and propose possible locations for increased parking spaces at the University of ____________.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The 1996 enrollment for the University of ______________ is 4,960. The enrollment increased approximately twelve (12) students from the 1995 enrollment. There are currently 2,303 total parking spaces on University property. The University Master Plan recommends one parking space for every 1.8 students. The student enrollment, (divided by) the number of students per parking space, (equals) the number of recommended parking spaces. 1996 Enrollment ........................ 4,960 Students Per Parking Space......... / 1.8 (Divided by) Recommended Parking Spaces... = 2,756 Recommended Parking Spaces.. 2,756 Current Parking Spaces.............. - 2,303 (Minus) Shortage of Parking Spaces...... = 453 The number of Students Per Parking Space ( 1.8 ) is based on a national average of University parking. This formula shows that the University is currently deficient 453 parking spaces.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The existing parking areas are positioned at various locations on the campus of the University. These parking lots vary in size from 6 to 294 spaces. Many of the parking areas are located in the heart of the University. This allows for easy accessibility but it takes away from the aesthetic beauty of the campus. The existing parking areas also cause traffic congestion in their immediate area. The majority of the parking lots are located on streets that have limited access or the exits do not allow for an easy transition into existing streets.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Planning for the future growth of the University of __________________ ... ... campus.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The cost of the parking would be held to a minimum. This is due to the small amount of excavation that would be needed to prepare the site for building. The parking deck would only need a few levels do to its large area. It would also be easy to build the structure so that more level additions would be possible. All of these options give the University the flexibility to build a parking deck that is economically feasible.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This study has reviewed the existing parking facilities and their capabilities at the University. It has also discussed the present and future parking shortages that it is facing. It has attempted to conform to the Master Plan of the University and shown methods to eliminate the parking dilemma. Hopefully all of these ideas can be reviewed and implemented to improve the overall beauty and efficiency of the University of ____________________. BIBLIOGRAPHY University of _____________________ Master Plan. Arcy Thomas J.,1994., The Dimensions of Parking., ULI-the Urban Land Institute. Branch Melville C., 1983., Comprehensive City Planning., American Planning Association.

Fool Chapter 6

SIX FRIENDSHIP AND THE ODD BONK Life is loneliness, broken only by the gods taunting us with friendship and the odd bonk. I admit it, I grieved. Perhaps I am a fool to have expected Cordelia to stay. (Well, yes, I am a fool – don't be overly clever, eh? It's annoying.) But for most of my manly years she had been the lash on my back, the bait to my loins, and the balm of my imagination – my torment, my tonic, my fever, my curse. I ache for her. There is no comfort in the castle. Drool gone, Taster gone, Lear gone mad. At best, Drool was little more company than Jones, and decidedly less portable, but I worry for him, great child that he is, stumbling about in the circle of so many villains and so much sharp metal. I miss his gape-toothed smile, filled as it was with forgiveness, acceptance, and often, cheddar. And Taster, what did I know of him, really? Just a wan lad from Hog Nostril on Thames. Yet when I needed a sympathetic ear, he provided, even if he was oft distracted from my woes by his own selfish dietary concerns. I lay on my bed in the portislodge staring out the cruciform arrow loops at the grey bones of London, stewing in my misery, yearning for my friends. For my first friend. For Thalia. The anchoress. On a chill autumn day at Dog Snogging, the third time I was allowed to bring food to the anchoress, we became fast friends. I was still in awe of her, and merely being in her presence made me feel base, unworthy, and profane, but in a good way. I passed the plate of rough brown bread and cheese through the cross in the wall with prayers and a plea for her forgiveness. â€Å"This fare will do, Pocket. It will do. I'll forgive you for a song.† â€Å"You must be a most pious lady and have great love for the Lord.† â€Å"The Lord is a tosser.† â€Å"I thought the Lord was a shepherd?† â€Å"Well, that, too. But a bloke needs hobbies. Do you know ‘Greensleeves'?† â€Å"I know ‘Dona Nobis Pacem.'† â€Å"Do you know any pirate songs?† â€Å"I could sing ‘Dona Nobis Pacem' like a pirate.† â€Å"It means give us peace, in Latin, doesn't it?† â€Å"Aye, mistress.† â€Å"Bit of a stretch then, innit, a pirate singing give us bloody peace?† â€Å"I suppose. I could sing you a psalm, then, mistress.† â€Å"All right, then, Pocket, a psalm it is – one with pirates and loads of bloodshed, if you have it.† I was nervous, desperate for approval from the anchoress, and afraid that if I displeased her I might be struck down by an avenging angel, as seemed to happen often in scripture. Try as I might, I could not recall any piraty psalms. I cleared my throat and sang the only psalm I knew in English: â€Å"The Lord is my tosser, I shall not want – â€Å" â€Å"Wait, wait, wait,† said the anchoress. â€Å"Doesn't it go, ‘the Lord is my shepherd'?† â€Å"Well, yes, mistress, but you said – â€Å" And she started to laugh. It was the first time I heard her truly laugh and it felt as if I was getting approval from the Virgin herself. In the dark chamber, just the single candle on my side of the cross, it seemed like her laughter was all around me, embracing me. â€Å"Oh, Pocket, you are a love. Thick as a bloody brick, but such a love.† I could feel the blood rise in my face. I was proud and embarrassed and ecstatic all at once. I didn't know what to do, so I fell to my knees and prostrated myself before the arrow loop, pushing my cheek against the stone floor. â€Å"I'm sorry, mistress.† She laughed some more. â€Å"Arise, Sir Pocket of Dog Snogging.† I climbed to my feet and stared into the dark cross-shaped hole in the wall, and there I saw that dull star that was her eye reflecting the candle flame and I realized that there were tears in my own eyes. â€Å"Why did you call me that?† â€Å"Because you make me laugh and you are deserving and valiant. I think we're going to be very good friends.† I started to ask her what she meant, but the iron latch clanked and the door into the passageway swung slowly open. Mother Basil was there, holding a candelabra, looking displeased. â€Å"Pocket, what's going on here?† said the mother superior in her gruff baritone. â€Å"Nothing, Reverend Mother. I've just given food to the anchoress.† Mother Basil seemed reluctant to enter the passageway, as if she was afraid to be in view of the arrow loop that looked into the anchoress's chamber. â€Å"Come along, Pocket. It's time for evening prayers.† I bowed quickly to the anchoress and hurried out the door under Mother Basil's arm. As the sister closed the door, the anchoress called, â€Å"Reverend Mother, a moment, please.† Mother Basil's eyes went wide and she looked as if she'd been called out by the devil. â€Å"Go on to vespers, Pocket. I'll be along.† She made her way into the dead-end passageway and closed the door behind her even as the bell calling us to vespers began to toll. I wondered what the anchoress would discuss with Mother Basil, perhaps some conclusion she had realized during her hours of prayer, perhaps I had been found wanting and she would ask that I not be sent to her again. After just making my first friend, I was sorely afraid of losing her. While I repeated the prayers in Latin after the priest, in my heart I prayed to God to not take my anchoress away, and when mass ended, I stayed in the chapel and prayed until well after the midnight prayers. Mother Basil found me in the chapel. â€Å"There are going to be some changes, Pocket.† I felt my spirit drop into my shoe soles. â€Å"Forgive me, Reverend Mother, for I know not what I do.† â€Å"What are you on about, Pocket? I'm not scolding you. I'm adding duties to your devotion.† â€Å"Oh,† said I. â€Å"From now on, you are to take food and drink to the anchoress in the hour before vespers, and there in the outer chamber, shall you sit until she has eaten, but upon the bell for vespers you are to leave there, and not return until the next day. No longer than an hour shall you stay, do you understand?† â€Å"Yes, mum, but why only the hour?† â€Å"More than that and you will interfere with the anchoress's own communion with God. Further, you are never to ask her about where she was before this, about her family, or her past in any way. If she should speak of these things you are to immediately put your fingers in your ears, and verily sing ‘la, la, la, la, I can't hear you, I can't hear you,' and leave the chamber immediately.† â€Å"I can't do that, mum.† â€Å"Why not?† â€Å"I can't work the latch to the outer door with my fingers in my ears.† â€Å"Ah, sweet Pocket, I do so love your wit. I think you shall sleep on the stone floor this night, the rug shields you from the blessed cooling of your fevered imagination, which God finds an abomination. Yes, a light beating and the bare stone for you and your wit tonight.† â€Å"Yes, mum.† â€Å"And so, you must never speak with the anchoress about her past, and if you should, you shall be excommunicated and damned for all eternity with no hope for redemption, the light of the Lord shall never fall upon you, and you shall live in darkness and pain for ever and ever. And in addition, I shall have Sister Bambi feed you to the cat.† â€Å"Yes, mum,† said I. I was so thrilled I nearly peed. I would be blessed by the glory of the anchoress every single day. â€Å"Well that's a scaly spot o' snake wank,† said the anchoress. â€Å"No, mum, it's a cracking big cat.† â€Å"Not the cat, the hour a day. Only an hour a day?† â€Å"Mother Basil doesn't want me to disturb your communion with God, Madame Anchoress.† I bowed before the dark arrow loop. â€Å"Call me Thalia.† â€Å"I daren't, mum. And neither may I ask you about your past or from whence you come. Mother Basil has forbidden it.† â€Å"She's right on that, but you may call me Thalia, as we are friends.† â€Å"Aye, mum. Thalia.† â€Å"And you may tell me of your past, good Pocket. Tell me of your life.† â€Å"But, Dog Snogging is all I know – all I have ever known.† I could hear her laughing in the dark. â€Å"Then, tell me a story from your lessons, Pocket.† So I told the anchoress of the stoning of St. Stephen, of the persecution of St. Sebastian, and the beheading of St. Valentine, and she, in turn, told me stories of the saints I had never heard of in catechism. â€Å"And so,† said Thalia, â€Å"that is the story of how St. Rufus of Pipe-wrench was licked to death by marmots.† â€Å"That sounds a most horrible martyring,† said I. â€Å"Aye,† said the anchoress, â€Å"for marmot spit is the most noxious of all substances, and that is why St. Rufus is the patron of saliva and halitosis unto this day. Enough martyring, tell me of some miracles.† And so I did. I told of the magic, self-filling milk pail of St. Bridgid of Kildare, of how St. Fillan, after his ox was killed by a wolf, was able to compel the same wolf to pull a cart full of materials for building a church, and how St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland. â€Å"Aye,† said Thalia, â€Å"and snakes have been grateful ever since. But let me apprise you of the most wondrous miracle of how St. Cinnamon drove the Mazdas out of Swinden.† â€Å"I've never heard of St. Cinnamon,† said I. â€Å"Well, that is because these nuns at Dog Snogging are base and not worthy to know such things, and why you must never share what you learn here with them lest they become overwhelmed and succumb to an ague.† â€Å"An ague of over-piety?† â€Å"Aye, lad, and you will be the one to have killed them.† â€Å"Oh, I would never want to do that.† â€Å"Of course you wouldn't. Did you know, in Portugal they canonize a saint by actually shooting him out of a cannon?† And so it went, day in, day out, week in, week out, trading secrets and lies with Thalia. You might think that it was cruel of her to spend her only time in contact with the outside world telling lies to a little boy, but then, the first story that Mother Basil had told me was about a talking snake who gave tainted fruit to naked people, and the bishop had made her an abbess. All along what Thalia was teaching me was how to entertain her. How to share a moment in story and laughter – how you could become close to someone, even when separated from them by a stone wall. Once a month for the first two years the bishop came from York to check on the anchoress, and she would seem to lose her spirit for a day, as if he were skimming it off and taking it away, but soon she would recover and our routine of chat and laughter would go on. After a few years the bishop stopped coming, and I was afraid to ask Mother Basil why, lest it be a reminder and the dour prelate resume his spirit-sucking sojourns. The longer the anchoress was in her chamber, the more she delighted in my conveying the most mundane details from the outside. â€Å"Tell me of the weather today, Pocket. Tell me of the sky, and don't skip a single cloud.† â€Å"Well, the sky looked like someone was catapulting giant sheep into the frosty eye of God.† â€Å"Fucking winter. Crows against the sky?† â€Å"Aye, Thalia, like a vandal with quill and ink set loose to randomly punctuate the very dome of day.† â€Å"Ah, well spoken, love, completely incoherent imagery.† â€Å"Thank you, mistress.† While about my chores and studies I tried to take note of every detail and construct metaphors in my head so I might paint word pictures for my anchoress, who depended on me to be her light and color. My days seemed to begin at four when I came to Thalia's chamber, and end at five, when the bell rang for vespers. Everything before was in preparation for that hour, and everything after, until sleep, was in sweet remembrance. The anchoress taught me how to sing – not just the hymns and chants I had been singing from the time I was little, but the romantic songs of the troubadours. With simple, patient instruction, she taught me how to dance, juggle, and perform acrobatics, and all by verbal description – not once in those years had I laid eyes on the anchoress, or seen more than her partial profile at the arrow loop. I grew older and fuzz sprouted on my cheek – my voice broke, making me sound as if a small goose was trapped in my gullet, honking for her supper. The nuns at Dog Snogging started to take notice of me as something other than their pet, for many were sent to the abbey when they were no older than I. They would flirt and ask me for a song, a poem, a story, the more bawdy the better, and the anchoress had taught me many of those. Where she had learned them, she would never say. â€Å"Were you an entertainer before you became a nun?† â€Å"No, Pocket. And I am not a nun.† â€Å"But, perhaps your father – â€Å" â€Å"No, my father was not a nun either.† â€Å"I mean, was he an entertainer?† â€Å"Sweet Pocket, you mustn't ask about my life before I came here. What I am now, I have always been, and everything I am is here with you.† â€Å"Sweet Thalia,† said I. â€Å"That is a fiery flagon of dragon toss.† â€Å"Isn't it, though?† â€Å"You're grinning, aren't you?† She held the candle close to the arrow loop, illuminating her wry smile. I laughed, and reached through the cross to touch her cheek. She sighed, took my hand and pressed it hard against her lips, then, in an instant, she had pushed my hand away and moved out of the light. â€Å"Don't hide,† said I. â€Å"Please don't hide.† â€Å"Fat lot of choice I have about whether I hide or not. I live in a bloody tomb.† I didn't know what to say. Never before had she complained about her choice to become the anchoress of Dog Snogging, even if other expressions of her faith seemed – well – abstract. â€Å"I mean don't hide from me. Let me see you.† â€Å"You want to see? You want to see?† I nodded. â€Å"Give me your candles.† She had me hand four lit candles through the arrow loop. Whenever I performed for her she had me set them in holders around the outer chamber so she could see me dance, or juggle, or do acrobatics, but never had she asked for more than one candle in her own chamber. She placed the candles around her chamber and for the first time I could see the stone pallet where she slept on a mattress of straw, her meager possessions laid out on a heavy table, and Thalia, standing there in a tattered linen frock. â€Å"Look,† she said. She pulled her frock over her head and dropped it on the floor. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. She looked younger than I had imagined, thin, but womanly – her face was that of a mischievous Madonna, as if carved by a sculptor inspired more by desire than the divine. Her hair was long and the color of buckskin, catching the candlelight as if a single ray of sunlight might make it explode in golden fire. I felt a heat rise in my face, and another kind of rise in my trousers. I was excited and confused and ashamed all at once, and I turned my back on the arrow loop and cried out. â€Å"No!† Suddenly, she was right behind me, and I felt her hand on my shoulder, then rubbing my neck. â€Å"Pocket. Sweet Pocket, don't. It's all right.† â€Å"I feel like the Devil and the Virgin are doing battle in my body. I didn't know you were like that.† â€Å"Like a woman, you mean?† Her hand was warm and steady, kneading the muscles in my shoulder through the cross in the wall and I leaned into it. I wanted to turn and look, I wanted to run out of the chamber, I wanted to be asleep, or just waking – ashamed that the Devil had visited me in the night with a damp dream of temptation. â€Å"You know me, Pocket. I'm your friend.† â€Å"But you are the anchoress.† â€Å"I'm Thalia, your friend, who loves you. Turn around, Pocket.† And I did. â€Å"Give me your hand,† said she. And I did. She put it on her body, and she put her hands on mine, and pressed against the cold stone. Through the cross in the wall, I discovered a new universe – of Thalia's body, of my body, of love, of passion, of escape – and it was a damn sight better than bloody chants and juggling. When the bell rang for vespers we fell away from the cross, spent and gasping, and we began to laugh. Oh, and I had chipped a tooth. â€Å"One for the Devil, then, love?† said Thalia. When I arrived with the anchoress's supper the next afternoon she was waiting with her face pressed nearly through the center of the arrow cross – she looked like one of the angel-faced gargoyles that flanked the main doors of Dog Snogging, except they always seemed to be weeping and she was grinning. â€Å"So, didn't go to confession today, did you?† I shuddered. â€Å"No, mum, I worked in the scriptorium most of the day.† â€Å"Pocket, I think I would prefer you not call me mum, if it's not too much to ask. Given the new level of our friendship it seems – oh, I don't know – unsavory.† â€Å"Yes, m – uh – mistress.† â€Å"Mistress I can work with. Now, pass me my supper and see if you can fit your face in the opening the way that I have.† Thalia's cheekbones were wedged in the arrow loop, which was little wider than my hand. â€Å"Doesn't that hurt?† I'd been finding abrasions on my arms and various bits all day from our adventure the night before. â€Å"It's not the flaying of St. Bart, but, yes, it stings a bit. You can't confess what we did, or what we do, love? You know that, right?† â€Å"Then am I going to have to go to hell?† â€Å"Well – † She pulled back, rolled her eyes as if searching the ceiling for an answer. † – not alone. Give us our supper, lad, and get your face in the loop, I have something to teach you.† And so it went for weeks and months. I went from being a mediocre acrobat to a talented contortionist, and Thalia seemed to regain some of the life that I had thought sure she'd lost. She was not holy in the sense that the priests and nuns taught, but she was full of spirit and a different kind of reverence. More concerned with this life, this moment, than an eternity beyond the reach of the cross in the wall. I adored her, and I wanted her to be out of the chamber, in the world, with me, and I began to plan her escape. But I was but a boy, and she was bloody barking, so it was not meant to be. â€Å"I've stolen a chisel from a mason who passed by on his way to work on the minster at York. It will take some time, but if you work on a single stone, you might escape in summer.† â€Å"You are my escape, Pocket. The only escape I can ever allow myself.† â€Å"But we could run off, be together.† â€Å"That would be smashing, except I can't leave. So, hop up and get your tackle in the cross. Thalia's a special treat for you.† I never seemed to make my point once my tackle went in the cross. Distracted, I was. But I learned, and while I was forbidden confession – and to tell the truth, I didn't feel that badly about it – I began to share what I had learned. â€Å"Thalia, I must confess to you, I have told Sister Nikki about the little man in the boat.† â€Å"Really? Told her or showed her?† â€Å"Well, showed her, I reckon. But she seems a bit thick. She kept making me show her over and over – asked me to meet her in the cloisters to show her again after vespers tonight.† â€Å"Ah, the joy of being slow. Still, it's a sin to be selfish with one's knowledge.† â€Å"That's what I thought,† said I, relieved. â€Å"And speaking of the little man in the boat, I believe there is one on this side of the loop who has been naughty and requires a thorough tongue-lashing.† â€Å"Aye, mistress,† said I, wedging my cheeks into the arrow loop. â€Å"Present the rascal for punishment.† And so it went. I was the only person I knew who had calluses on his cheekbones, but I had also developed the arms and grip of a blacksmith from suspending myself with my fingertips wedged between the great stones to extend my bits through the arrow loop. And thus I hung, spread spiderlike across the wall, my business being tended to, frantic and friendly, by the anchoress, when the bishop entered the antechamber. (The bishop entered the antechamber? The bishop entered the antechamber? At this point you're going coy on us, euphemizing about parts and positions when you've already confessed to mutual violation with a holy woman through a bloody arrow slot? Well, no.) The actual sodding Bishop of Bloody York entered the sodding antechamber with Mother sodding Basil, who bore a brace of sodding storm lanterns. And so I let go. Unfortunately, Thalia did not. It appeared that her grip, too, had been strengthened by our encounters on the wall. â€Å"What the hell are you doing, Pocket?† said the anchoress. â€Å"What are you doing?† asked Mother Basil. I hung there, more or less suspended to the wall by three points, one of them not covered by shoes. â€Å"Ahhhhhhhhh!† said I. I was finding it somewhat difficult to think. â€Å"Give us a little slack, lad,† said Thalia. â€Å"This is meant to be more of a dance, not a tug-of-war.† â€Å"The bishop is out here,† said I. She laughed. â€Å"Well, tell him to get in the queue and I'll tend to him when we're finished.† â€Å"No, Thalia, he's really out here.† â€Å"Oh toss,† said she, releasing my knob. I fell to the floor and quickly rolled onto my stomach. Thalia's face was at the arrow loop. â€Å"Evening, your grace.† A big grin there. â€Å"Fancy a spot of stony bonking before vespers?† The bishop turned so quickly his miter went half-past on his head. â€Å"Hang him,† he said. He snatched one of Mother Basil's lanterns and walked out of the chamber. â€Å"Bloody brown bread you serve tastes like goat scrotum!† Thalia called after. â€Å"A lady deserves finer fare!† â€Å"Thalia, please,† I said. â€Å"Not a comment on you, Pocket. Your serving style is lovely, but the bread is rubbish.† Then to Mother Basil. â€Å"Don't blame the boy, Reverend Mother, he's a love.† Mother Basil grabbed me by the ear and dragged me out of the chamber. â€Å"You're a love, Pocket,† said the anchoress. Mother Basil locked me in a closet in her chambers, then mid-way through the night, opened the door and handed in a crust of bread and a chamber pot. â€Å"Stay here until the bishop is on his way in the morning, and if anyone asks, you've been hung.† â€Å"Yes, Reverend Mother,† said I. She came to get me the next morning and hustled me out through the chapel. I'd never seen her so distraught. â€Å"You've been like a son to me, Pocket,† she said, fussing about me, strapping a satchel and other bits of kit on me. â€Å"So it's going to pain me to send you off.† â€Å"But, Reverend Mother – â€Å" â€Å"Hush, lad. We'll take you to the barn, hang you in front of a few farmers, then you're off to the south to meet up with a group of mummers[21] who will take you in.† â€Å"Beggin' pardon, mum, but if I'm hung, what will mummers do with me, a puppet show?† â€Å"I'll not really hang you, just make it look good. We have to, lad, the bishop ordered it.† â€Å"Since when does the bishop order nuns to hang people?† â€Å"Since you shagged the anchoress, Pocket.† At the mention of her I broke away from Mother Basil, ran through the abbey, down the old corridor and into the antechamber. The arrow cross was gone, completely bricked up and mortared in. â€Å"Thalia! Thalia!† I called. I screamed and beat the stones until my fists bled, but not a sound came from the other side of the wall. Ever. The sisters pulled me away, tied my hands, and took me to the barn where I was hanged.

A an More Sinned Against Than Sinning - 1811 Words

A man more sinned against than sinning How far do you agree with this statement? King Lear is one of Shakespeares more complex plays and within it many different themes are addressed and explored. King Lear is the somewhat unfortunate vehicle that Shakespeare uses to explore many of these themes creating a complex character including the roles of a father, king, friend and adversary. As Lear is not a simple character he cannot simply be classed as all good or bad; it can be argued he is a bad father and king but does that make Lear a bad man? Does he deserve the suffering he endures? Also, when Lear talks of sin who is he addressing? As sin is generally defined as a violation of religious or moral law so is Lear talking to God in this†¦show more content†¦We can say that at the start of the play Lear is guilty of a tyrannical egotism, pride and blindness to his own actions. So in the first scene of the play Lear makes a terrible mistake but can we fully blame him? No loving father would think their children capable of such immorality that is shown in Goneril and Regan. He also expected to remain as a figurehead of nationalism but alas this was also impeded by his daughters. So as a king Lear succeeds in destroying the whole hierarchy at the core of every monarchy and cripples the undisputed power of a king into a useless, soul corrupting command; This last surrender of his will but offend us. Lear as a king commits a few more minor sins that at the time may have been more scandalous than now. These include letting his fool say more or less anything he wants, which many would see as a sign of weakness and lack of authority as a lowly fool should not judge his kings actions. However the fool is the only character who will offer his judgments to Lear. He is surrounded by ‘yes men, especially as he banished Kent, so the Fool, even though he may have spoken out of line, filled a role that is vital for any monarchy. Also much that the fool said was entirely necessary and accurate; Lear: Dost thou call me fool, boy? Fool: All thy other titles thou hast given away; that thou wast bornShow MoreRelatedMerchant of Venice: Shylock More Sinned Against Than Sinning1564 Words   |  7 PagesIs Shylock more sinned against than sinning? Many different views can be taken on the Jewish merchant Shylock in the play ‘The Merchant of Venice’ written by William Shakespeare. Although when taking into account the many trials and tribulations that Shylock had to endure, it is forthcoming to say that Shylock was more sinned against than sinning. There are key and defining moments in this play when it becomes more apparent as to why Shylock is acting out against Antonio. From early on when AntonioRead More Consider the accuracy of Lear?s claim that he is ?a man / More sinned against than sinning?1480 Words   |  6 Pagesthe worst sinners against him. He thinks he does the right good things but has to find out that almost everything he did out of meaning well by the people he considered as the good ones at the time he did it were the wrong moves. When Lear realizes that his moves seem to have been wrong he tells Kent and the Fool during a storm that he is â€Å"a man / More sinned against than sinning†, kn owing that he also made mistakes, not only the others. But is King Lear really more of a victim than a guilty one? TheRead MoreI Am a Man More Sinned Against Than Sinning. to What Extent Does the Character King Lear Suffer Out of All Proportions to His Initial Transgressions?1503 Words   |  7 PagesI am a man more sinned against than sinning. To what extent does the character King Lear suffer out of all proportions to his initial transgressions? There would be two different opinions on whether or not King Lear deserved what had happened to him. First, I think I should mention the ways that King Lear suffered. There were evident levels of emotional and physical suffering. From an emotional perspective, Lear discovers that he is hated by his own daughters, which would be a terrible experienceRead MoreThere Are Many Critical Interpretations of Iago’s Character. Was He a ‘Skillful Villain’? or Perhaps He Was a ‘Mysterious Creature of Unlimited Cynicism’? or Was He Simply a ‘Wronged Man’? More Sinned Against Than Sinning?2606 Words   |  11 Pageswas he simply a ‘wronged man’? More sinned against than sinning? What is your view of this complex character and how would a contemporary Shakespearean audience have responded to him? In Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’, the reader is introduced to the character Iago. There are many different interpretations of his character, was he a ‘skillful villain’? Or was he a ‘mysterious creature of unlimited cynicism’? Or just a ‘wronged man’ who is more sinned against than sinning? 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Nevertheless, a sin does not exclude the possibility that there was a sufficient cause (in his mind) for the action -You can conclude the essay by saying that although he is more sinned againstRead MoreComparing Dante s Inferno And Shakespeare s Play King Lear1606 Words   |  7 Pagesproved more powerful than grief,† we push off the impending consequences of the sins we make today, and continue sinning well into tomorrow. However, once we experience grief, much like what Lear experienced, we are confronted with the consequences of our actions, although it is too late; our hunger from yesterday overpowered our grief from today. Dante’s Inferno and King Lear are similar in more ways than one, yet they differ when it comes to a certain principle: are we, as humans, more sinnedRead MoreKing Lears View of Himself Essay850 Words   |  4 PagesKing Lears View of Himself King Lear is a play all about the cruelty of human nature and the ways in which all people, good and bad, can sin, or be sinned against. Lear is a very difficult character to categorise as either good or bad as he is both sinned against and sinning. It is also very difficult to use these sins as a measure of his character as they a varying in severity. When we first meet Lear he is in the process of dividing his kingdom Read MoreAugustine’s Conception of Sin in Confessions 1700 Words   |  7 PagesAugustine’s conception of the human person and their human actions are somewhat relevant today, due to the fact Augustine set a standard for what human nature is, known as the ability to desire, think and do, yet, people see the human differently today than Augustine did. At the same time his ideas of original sin and how the evil nature of humans is associated with original sin are still very relevant today. Augustine is our exemplar to human nature, as well as the guideline to what it means to be humanRead More King Lear’s Sins Pale in Comparison to those Committed Against Him818 Words   |  4 PagesKing Lear’s Sins Pale in Comparison to those Committed Against Him King Lear commits several acts that are nearly unforgivable. Not only does he exile a trusted, loyal servant, he also banishes his own daughter. Cordelia, unable and unwilling to submit herself to the ridiculous game of her father, is sent off to France with his curses. His subsequent action - the division of the land between his two ungrateful daughters - is the final act, the final sin, and one that plunges the