How I Brought Historical Legends Into My Modern-Day Novel

How I Brought Historical Legends Into My Modern-Day Novel How Blending the Past and Present Allowed Me to Ask: "What If?" Along with being an author, Finian Black is a doctor who served in the British Army. He lives in Winchester, which is chock-full of medieval reminders of the time and story inspiration. In this article, he talks about how playing with myths and legends - stories steeped in history but often in little solid facts - gave him the freedom to weave elements of the past into his modern-day novel.Every story, whether it's a parent making up a simple tale for a sleepy child or a  sprawling saga, can be boiled down to a simple question:  what if? So, whenever a new idea for a story starts to take shape, the first thing I do is look for the magical question that gets to the heart of it all, and everything flows from there. Speculating on the past allows authors to write about a different version of present-day. Writing allows me to ask, "what if?"I live in the beautiful cathedral city of Winchester near the south coast of England. It's a great place to wander around, and wonder about! The idea for my new historical fiction novel,  The Final Raven, came during a visit to the Great Hall in Winchester, where an ancient round table has hung on the wall for centuries. As I looked upon that table, one question sprang to mind: what if a child discovered they are the last living descendant of King Arthur? Simple as that, I was ready to get started.With the base idea established, I had to think about where the story might go. The "what if?" part is always the easy bit! What follows is countless hours of story mapping, character plotting, running up blind alleys and falling into bottomless pits as the story takes on a life of its own. I asked myself: Would it be set in the present day or recent past? Who is this child? What is their background? Why now, after so long, would it come to light that th ere is a living descendant? And, of course, how much of the existing Arthurian legend would I incorporate? However, being rooted in Arthurian legend, I knew that there were some road signs readers would expect in my novel: Merlin, a sword in a stone, the Lady of the Lake, and Morgan le Fay, to name just a few. But I didn’t want to just re-write what’s already been done so well before, so I purposely toned down the obvious Arthurian elements, bringing them subtly into present-day so as to not distract from the story I wanted to tell. Lastly, I knew I needed a very strong cover that would convey mythical history but also appeal to the YA demographic. The cover designer I hired through Reedsy, Edward Bettison, captured exactly that with the bold typography and visual of the Tower of London raven.Pulling from the PlantagenetsMany of the kings during the Plantagenet period used the myths of Arthur for their own propaganda, and their stories are more incredible than any fiction. Furthermore, the Plantagenet period was hugely important in shaping what modern Britain looks like - w hich made it a great source of inspiration both regarding the historical aspects of my book and my modern-day characters. My historical research about this time period was extensive, delving into the lives of the different kings and what drove them to act the way they did. Two of the books that helped my research immensely were Dan Jones’ The Plantagenets and Desmond Seward’s The Demon’s Brood. Both brought to life the period and its individuals in a way that was invaluable.The Plantagenet period saw great kings like Edward III, but also terrible ones like John - and it is the terrible ones that first come to mind when thinking about this period. The bloodletting, violence, and cruelty were beyond anything we see in Game of Thrones, and those who wanted to challenge the king had to be prepared to act abhorrently. Amongst the pool of eligible individuals, it was often the maddest that took the crown. All of these qualities provided ripe inspiration for my villai n and clarifying his motives: which is to be king, at any means necessary - an ancient grievance of his. He is someone with medieval values in the modern world, and this combination makes him a lot of fun to write. "Turning to the past inspired my modern-day villain with medieval values." Drawing from the legendary Tower of London RavensAs for the novel’s title,  The Final Raven? Well, I’ve been fascinated by these wonderful birds for a long time. They are intelligent, beautiful, and mysterious. From the outset I knew that I wanted to incorporate the famous legend of the Tower of London ravens in my story as I find it to be a very powerful tale. The legend says that if ever the ravens were to leave the Tower, Britain would fall. There are different views on just how old this legend is. It has been said it only goes back as far as World War Two, when Churchill used it as propaganda to build national resolve. Others suggest it is a Victorian story. I like to believe the version that tells of King Arthur slaying a Celtic warrior called Bran at the site of the Tower. In this version, Bran turns into a raven and it is his descendants who still live there today. Magical!This legend offered me another great chance to blend mythical pasts and presents by incor porating modern technology: in my version of the story, the ravens are implanted with microchips so that the villain can track their demise on his tablet - green, to amber, to red! I used the motif of the dying birds as a countdown through the book, culminating in a race to save the last bird†¦ but if you want to know more, you'll have to read the book!It was important to me to go back to the Tower while writing this novel - which was fine by me! I love it there. It’s a thousand years of history brought to life in front of your eyes (much like a well-written novel can be!), and of course, you can meet the ravens. The Ravenmaster is a real person, too - he’s active on Twitter. Check him out. A great way to put a modern twist on historical legends is to incorporate technology. I've written stories since I was very young. Words are magical things - they can amaze, inspire, scare, and excite us. I love books that make me want to read one more page, then another, and another. To be a writer, I passionately believe that you also have to be a reader. Use of language shapes us, teaches us, and helps us find our own voice. I once read that the first million words we write *are* just practice for the proper writing that follows - in other words, keep going. Never lose sight of how to improve, and never worry if a paragraph or page doesn't flow. It might not make the final edit but it all improves our skills as writers.This book is the first in a series of three, and will be continued in The Devil's Blood, due out April 2018.The Final Raven is available in  paperback and on  Amazon Kindle.Interested in learning more about conducting historical research? Sign up for our Reedsy Learning course:  How to Research a Historical Novel or Nonfiction BookPlease shar e your thoughts, experiences, or any questions for Finian Black in the comments below!

Surprises of The God of Surprises Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Surprises of The God of Surprises - Essay Example The book is built around some of the cardinal pillars of traditional Christian spirituality. The aim of Christian spirituality is to establish an intimate partnership with God the Father, which encompasses the entire creation. Hughes analyses the spiritual malaise of the contemporary life and seeks to show the way to set it aright, drawing heavily on the Word of God and the perennial sources of traditional Christian spirituality whose relevance is undying and a valid tool for the moral reawakening of the sordid world of ours. interiority. There is a cleavage in our thinking, between the spiritual and temporal. This prevents us from achieving an integrated spiritual life. The book invites us to make a journey to our own inner self and there encounter God, the God of surprises. This encounter will integrate us to ourselves and to the world around and in the process, we will see how the creation is permeated with the all-encompassing touch of a benign Father. Through out the book Hughes seems to warn the danger of creating a God in our own image. The point that he reiterates in his work is the mystery of God's ways with the world and men. Some times God gives us the bread of adversity and the water of affliction. However to balance this view of God, Hughes has delineated the Prodigal Father. The chief delight of this Father is to share his everything in banquets to which all are invited. The invitees are not the best specimens of humanity, rather the poor, the cripple, the blind and in fact all who are interested in sharing His generosity. In the parable of the prodigal son, the father's prodigality towards the son who defamed the status of family in wasteful debauchery shocks the reader. To our prudent and well-measured dealing to others based on their merit and our future benefit from them, the God of surprises is foolishly lavish in his blessings, which is gratuitously given to all. The foolish prodigality of the God of surprises who leaves the ninety-nine to look for the one that is missing baffles our logic trained in the Aristotelian idea of virtue which is the choice of the golden mean avoiding extremes. Similarly the system of paying all who worked in the same measure at the end of the day, irrespective of the time they joined for duty, puzzles us who are used to time punching cards and attendance registers. Â  As we progress through the pages of The God of Surprises, the picture of God that looms large before us is that of a God who is more close to all of us than we can ever imagine in our wildest dreams. It is also a book of spiritual pilgrimage to discover the treasure hidden with in us. The book helps us to discern the unexpected ways in which God shows Himself. We see the image of God delivered to us by the stars and storms. Just like the Spiritual Exercises, the book is not meant for gulping at one sitting. The book can transform the person to enable him to surrender his will to the will of God, if relished in small meditative tonic dozes. Personal Reflections on The God of Surprises Gerard Hughes' The God of Surprises is one of the books worth reading a second or third time. The work of Holy Spirit is to renew the God's people constantly and to make them fit to fulfil the purpose for which God has made them.

The Police and Higher Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Police and Higher Education - Essay Example To consider any job a profession a person must go through rigorous academic training. The only reason we entrust our lives to a doctor is because we know he or she has gone through at least a decade of tough training. (Bueermann, 2006) A doctor treats people who are sick. To determine how sick the patient is a doctor must know all the symptoms, the medical history and the possible allergic reactions. Any one who commits a crime has a disease. A police officer is a criminal's doctor. To find out how sick the criminal is the police should look at the effect of the crime, the criminal history and possible future reactions to the both the police and the criminals action. For a police officer to do his job he must have some academic training because he must diagnose the criminal. The Chief of Police of Redland California says, "We need to advance the educational levels of police officers. Today's challenges-greater ethnic and racial diversity in the service population, increased outside scrutiny of police practices, added responsibilities arising from homeland security-require officers to be able to think critically."(Bueermann, 2006) The Chief believes that society today is way more complex and to meet all the challenges an officer must be able to critically analyze a situation and take action accordingly. 'Street smarts' cannot be acquired by a college degree but the ability to critically think can. "Higher education does not guarantee that a candidate will become a great cop, but it does promote critical thinking. And requiring a college degree of incoming police officers is an effective way to foster organization-wide critical thinking."(Bueermann, 2006) The basic purpose of college besides producing a professional is to teach a person to think outside t he box and to critically analyze a situation. Education diversifies people's thoughts and transforms ideas into revolutions. A high school education strengthens the bud's roots so it can go to college, receive proper exposure to sunlight and have enough water to bloom into a rose. Education helps the human brain bloom into a perfect rose. It should be expected of police officers, the guardians of our society, to not only have strong roots but an open mind as well. Although college education is the formal way of getting an education it is not always the only way of getting one. A police department in Connecticut has taken a different route to police education. Instead of having a military like building their institute looks like a regular college. Instead of wearing uniforms the recruits wear normal clothes and the head is civilian. They have also changed what they teach; initially the training focus was on the physical aspects of policing. (Travis, 1995) Now the emphasis is on problem-solving, conflict resolution, diversity training, and acquiring organizational skills. Previously, only the minimum State requirements were taught. Now, recruits study such problems as sexual harassment, bias and hate crimes, HIV-AIDS, stress, and violence against women conversational Spanish and American Sign Language [and

The scope and limitations of Reiss text typology

The scope and limitations of Reiss text typology Reiss translation-oriented text-typology provides a systematic approach to translation. More interestingly, it approaches translation at the text level. This essay will examine Reiss typology with focus on Parting the Waters, published in National Geographic, a monthly magazine that borders on science, geography, history and culture. REISS TEXT-TYPOLOGY Reiss sees translation as an act of communication whereby the translator acts as a medium (secondary sender). This presupposes that a message has to be passed across, from a primary source to a target receiver. The major media are the source language and the target language. The aim here is to produce a target language text that is functionally equivalent to the source language text (Reiss 2000:160). This means the source text should be the consultative point for the translator. In order to achieve this functional equivalence, Reiss proposes a functional approach of text-typology. This approach takes into account the major communicative function of a source text as a basis for translating into the target text. In other words, a target text that does not have the same function as the source text is not entirely a translation, but what Reiss calls transfer. Reiss text-typology includes a two-phase approach in translating a text: Phase of analysis and phase of reverbalization. The analy sis phase basically involves establishing the text type, genre and style (linguistic form).The phase of analysis is the most important as that is what would inform the translation method to employ. Text-type of Parting the Waters Reiss identifies three text-types according to their communicative function namely: the informative type (communication of content), the expressive type (communication of artistically organised content) and the operative type (communication of content with a persuasive character). There is another hyper-type which she calls the audio-medial text type. This is more of a super-ordinate term for the other three and does not concern the text in question since it is a written text. Parting the Waters can be seen chiefly as an informative text type; first given the context of the text: magazine and second because it gives factual information about a place: Korea, and the geographical events that take place there. The translation strategy recommended in this case by Reiss should thus focus on conveying content. Text variety of Parting the Waters This stage has to do with the conventions of structure and language adopted by the text. However, Reiss explains that they may differ according to different cultures. The importance of this is to be able to find a functionally equivalent convention in the target text culture. In this light, Parting the Waters is a kind of popular scientific text. This suggests also that it seeks a wider audience other than scientists. This leads to the final stage of analysis: style. Style in Parting the Waters The final stage of analysis has to do with detailed semantic, syntactic and pragmatic analysis of the language use (Reiss, 2000:166). Ordinarily, one would expect that when a text is an informative type, even the language used should be such that it is aimed only at giving facts. But that is often not the case, as Reiss herself admits, not in one single language do form and function show a 1:1 relation (2000:166). Hence, looking at the text, one would find a similar occurrence. The text has expressive language such as the internal rhymes: tides, divine, divide; of 15 feet. There is also an allusion to a biblical story: not divine interventions, an expression that answers the presupposition in the title itself Parting the Waters. Reiss thus considers this stage of analysis the most important, as the translator is faced with a decisive battle on what would inform the translation: the language or the function of the text. At this point, Reiss posits that if using an equivalent language style may weigh on the content of the text, then the translator should stick to the predominant function of the text. Translating Parting the Waters to Yorà ¹bà ¡: limitations Taking into consideration the content-focused function of the text, the translator is expected to employ a method that would achieve the same function as that of the target text by translating according to the sense and meaning (Reiss 2000:167). This suggests that the meaning conveyed by the target text should be equivalent to the meaning in the source text. Being a popular science text, and specifically about geography, Parting the Waters has terms such as peninsula, southwestern, mile, width, feet, and spring. While some of them might have some kind of equivalence (i.e. peninsula, mile width), a climatic description like spring poses a problem because Yorà ¹bà ¡ neither has a word nor group of words for it. This is basically due to the different weather conditions. The question is: what should the translator convey here? This is important because spring as used in the text plays a major role in the content; by telling us when an event takes place. The only alternative here would be to replace the word with the time of the year this season occurs in Korea. The problem with this is that it might change the meaning, as the sense of season is different from the calendar year. To solve this translation problem, the translator could adopt Nidas gloss translation of formal equivalence, that is, the use of footnotes in order to make the text fully comprehensible (Nida 2000:129). What this means is that Reiss method is not sufficient to solve this translation problem. The expression divine interventions in the text makes allusion to a biblical story about the Red Sea. This could be because the author had a target audience in mind and presumes they know about the story in the Bible. Although this can also be linked to the use of expressive language, it is however difficult to ignore the fact that this type of language use plays a role in the text- to maintain the interest of the reader. If the original audience for the source text were specialists, there is doubt as to whether expressive language would have been used at all, since all that would be needed are facts. The question is whether or not to include it in the translation. The answer to this is dependent on another question: who are the audience? Sacrificing the expressive form might change the text to an entirely scientific or historic one. This means a different readership, as it may not appeal to a common reader. The problem here is that Reiss method overlooks the fact there is an address ee for even an informative text type. She acknowledges this only in the text variety stage. However, communication itself is not complete without a receiver, in this case the readers. The title, Parting the Waters, also draws attention. It first makes the reader think of the biblical story of the Red Sea, and then makes a reader assume that is what the text is about. But this effect can only be achieved based on a shared knowledge between the author and the reader about the biblical story of the Red Sea. This assumption too must have been informed by the fact that the author had an audience in mind. However, the author quickly attends to this curiosity and possible misconception by the following opening sentence Tides, not divine interventions, divide Unfortunately, the target language (Yorà ¹bà ¡) audience is a mixture of different religions. In this text the title performs an expressive function, but that is not to say its predominant function is expressive. Since it is an informative text, one would expect again that the title would be informed by the major content being conveyed. But this is not the case. Moreover, attractive titles seem to be a common featu re of this genre. This is also a common feature of Yorà ¹bà ¡ magazines (Salawu 2004:100). The question here is: since content is the aim, should the target title be informed by the content alone and leave the use of expressive language? This of course is possible, as Reiss already advises on ignoring such language use especially if it will weigh on the content. Thus the translation can simply have à pa-Õnà   Ã’kun Korea which means The Path between Korean Waters. The consequence of this however is that it might not appeal to the wider audience except a few, specialists. This brings up again the question: who are the audience? Reiss considers this an appropriate factor only when the function of the target text is different from the source text (Reiss 2000:170). What her typology fails to recognise is that both source and target texts can have the same function (as in the case of Parting the Waters) but different addressees. CONCLUSION While Reiss translation-oriented text-typology provides a systematic method of approaching a translation task, it does not provide a complete solution to some problems in English to Yorà ¹bà ¡ translation of Parting the Waters. This suggests that it is not absolute that a text function will provide a translation strategy. Fawcett (1997: 107) makes this same point: There is simply no necessary link between text function and translation strategy. Just because we have identified a text functiondoes not mean that we are led inexorably to any logical or translation-scientific imperative to take this function as an overriding parameter to which we subordinate our translation decisions. (Fawcett 1997, p.107) This further suggests that other translation theories are valid and useful to the extent to which they proffer a solution to a translation problem.

A Case Study of the English Language Center :: Research Papers

A Case Study of the English Language Center Three blocks away from the hustle of Market Street, the main thoroughfare of Drexel University's campus, an unassuming building nestles in a quiet neighborhood. The street, lined with narrow sidewalks and trees, gives one a feeling of coziness and safety. Other than the faint sounds of city traffic, tranquility presides over this neighborhood scene. At 229 North 33rd Street stands a long, rectangular, light-colored brick building two stories high. The low green shrubs at the edge of the building and the grassy areas spotted with trees to either side of the entrance give one the sense that this building belongs to the "neighborhood." Looking up at its facade, one would not think that inside this modest structure lies a microscopic view of the world as it could be in the next millennium-a world where countries from all corners of the globe come together in harmony, a non-politicized world where borders, political divisions separating ethnic groups, dissolve and give rise toboundar ies, permeable areas that encourage the acknowledgement of and mutual respect for linguistic and cultural diversity. What is this place? Who are the inhabitants? Walking up the entranceway steps lined with black iron railings, one immediately encounters an outer glass door inscribed with the outline of an umbrella-shaped image encasing the letters AAIEP. Above the umbrella stand the words "American Association for International English Programs (AAIEP)" and underneath, "English Language Center, Foreign Language Center, and ESL Writing Center." These words only begin to frame what goes on inside this building. On the other side of the entranceway lies a safe haven--a place where people from around the globe to come together to learn English, a place where words are transformed into language. But more goes on at 229 North 33rd Street than just the learning of English in the traditional sense of learning a language or the teaching of specific skills: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. At Drexel's English Language Center (ELC), students learn about American culture as well. While knowledge of vocabulary, syntax, and grammar serve to enhance one's linguistic ability, they do not necessarily promote communicative competence or the appropriate use of language in situations of everyday life. Because the rules and norms of language cannot be separated from culture, developing communicative competence "enables a student to use a language for a wide range of social and expressive purposes" (Schiffrin 323).

Case Study: National Bank of Kuwait

Opting for exempt CHI will reduce the legal requirements to the minimum. Central Bank of Bahrain) According to the CAB, the initial capital required should comprise of: At least two real estate properties constituting 80% of the initial investment At most 20% of the initial Investment should be Invested in development and other activities. Additionally, the CAB requires that the amount of equity capital be at least 40% of the total value. All of the legal requirements as stated above require N.B. to provide substantial funding at the onset of the Joint venture.There are many options available: N.B. may elect to form a separate SSP to raise levered capital required as equity in he CHI. N.B. may invest in the CHI formation from unrestricted investments. N.B. can raise equity of unrestricted investment account holders using Muskrat instruments under the banks name. I opt for the second option, given that the fund type is an open-type fund and N.B. can subsequently raise capital as neede d without limitations as to the number of shares.Further, in order to comply with Shari, N.B. must ensure that: The fund does not disburse or receive fixed payments based on principal (interest). All payments and receipts should be be either in the form of profit shares – or striations thereof; or fee based flows. Profit sharing ratios and fee structures should be according to contractual agreements made before the formation of the fund to avoid gharry. The agreement should include no clause limiting the exposure of the bank to losses in contradiction to the stipulations of Shari without adequate Justification (e. . Limiting the exposure to loss for Arab al mall in a Muhammad contract without a valid justification which may be, for instance, gross misconduct by the midrib in breach of the contract resulting in the loss). To sum up, I suggest that N.B. raises funds through equity of unrestricted investment account holders using Muskrat instrument under the name of the Bank to purchase the assets needed to set up a collective investment undertaking according to the stipulations of the CAB. 2) How N.B. can raise Shari-compliant funds in excess of initial capital for financing of specific real estate projects. After formation of the fund, N.B. will have to enter into joint venture agreements with real estate developers. This will require further financing as the portfolio will require investments for developing real estate assets in arioso countries in excess of the initial investment amount. Islamic finance provides many options for raising capital for such purposes, but two option are the most used: Muskrat and Muhammad.Muskrat, basically, is a partnership where all parties provide finance and share profits according to predetermined arrangements. Management arrangements may differ according to the stipulation of contracts so does the management fees. Muhammad is a special type of partnership that involves a financier (Arab al mall) and an entrepreneur (m idrib) whereby the undertaking is financed by the Arab al mall in turn for a profit or loss share and the midrib provides the actual work and technical expertise and receives a share of the profit.It is worth mentioning that the Midrib does not share losses. The solution to Nab's case is a two-tier financing agreement. There will be a Muhammad contract with the developer whereby the bank is Arab al mall and the developer is the midrib. There will also be a Muhammad contract between the bank and the bank and investors whereby the bank is the midrib and the investors are ABA al mall. The reason why Muskrat was not used is that, in common with investment funds, the manager does not share losses with investors.The common practice is to charge fixed management and other fees and charge commission on profits which is compatible with the Islamic instrument of Muhammad. This strategy better matches the inflows and outflows for N.B. as they will only act as intermediaries between investors a nd developers and will minimize exposure to loss. The income for the fund will be in the form of: Fee income from investors Share of profit from the sale or rent of properties less developers shareThis kind of arrangement is common with Islamic banks when finance is not readily available internally Malden) However, the bank can also limit its risk exposure by taking a deposit from the developer in the form of Muskrat contract whereby the bank will be able to share some of the risk with the developers. This sharing of risk will solve the agency Muskrat partnerships that for their own interest, thus increasing efficiencies in their part of the Job as their net compensation will not contain a fixed minimum but can also extend to loss to a certain extent depending on the amount of the Muskrat contract.

Mass Medias Effect on the Perception of Contraception

Contraception has been a controversial subject for many years and has been in and out of the media’s focus for just as long. Media itself is biased therefore has such a strong impact on how we see many different things. There are so many different forms of media reaching a varying audience that it is impossible for the media to not influence our perception on things such as contraception. What effect has the media had in shaping public perception on contraception over the last half-century? We had mass media coverage during the 1980s when we had a huge AIDS epidemic, during this media coverage we heard two very different stands one telling us to use contraception be safe and get tested, while the other was a religious man telling us that†¦show more content†¦Some of the media was positive and maybe even supportive while others were against the acts and progress the feminists were achieving. During the seventies the media had the spotlight on all issues reproductive in large part due to the ever strong feminist movement. Their strong presence led way to Roe v. Wade, one of the biggest abortion cases held by the Supreme Court in 1973. Following this Planned Parenthood brought cases to the Supreme Court; one of the case rulings was to stop sales to persons under 16. All of the media coverage made this a huge social debate, and still is to this day. In the eighties we also had Ronald Reagan appointed; he was very openly opposed to abortion. There was a campaign of terror following Washingtons anti- abortion and birth control statements. Many doctors and clinics associated with family planning were targeted, threated and even violently attacked. This was caught on camera on numerous occasions and a constant topic in the media. Even with the medias contestant â€Å"in your face† approach to such â€Å"touchy† subjects the government turned a blind eye, but the people began to grow restless. The media and government supported the more conservative side of the birth control and abortion debates/discussions. Due to the strong conservative presence abstinence only programs were implemented, instead of the comprehensive programs that taught about birth control. Having these programs taught during theShow MoreRelatedTeenage Pregnancy in the Philippines4412 Words   |  18 Pagesstay home and take care of the baby. Her growing up is accelerated.† â€Å"It also upsets the family structure,† she adds. â€Å"The girl makes a grandmother out of her own mother before she’s ready for it. Her siblings are affected. There’s also the effect of hiya. Some still feel compelled to hide the girl until she delivers. After a while, the unwed mother learns to accept her condition. But it takes longer for her family.† â€Å"The sex drive is a powerful drive created by God,† says Gonzales.