Juvenile Crime Paper free essay sample

The amount of crime that is committed by juveniles in our country is astonishing. This crime is on the rise in many cities across our nation because we see news reports often concerning juveniles. The reasons behind this crime may be sociocultural or even biological. As a nation, we need to enforce ways to keep our youth from turning to a life filled with crime and ultimately, a life inside the correctional system. There are programs, but the final decisions lies within the juvenile himself. Our nation has several court systems. In the juvenile court system, one will find that there are some similarities with the adult court system. There are differences between the juvenile and the adult court systems also. One specific difference between these two courts is one’s constitutional rights. In a court which judges adults, these adults have the constitutional right to have his or her case heard and tried by a judge or a jury of his or her peers. We will write a custom essay sample on Juvenile Crime Paper or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In juvenile court, the judge makes all of the decisions. The judge decides whether or not the juvenile has broken the law and whether or not the juvenile is guilty. Another difference concerns sentencing. When a judge in juvenile court is sentencing a juvenile, he takes into consideration that juvenile’s history and behavior. The judge may ask the parent, teacher or employer to speak concerning the juvenile’s behavior before sentencing. The main goal of the juvenile court is not to incarcerate the juvenile, but to deter him from crime and to rehabilitate him rather than punish him. Sometimes when an adult commits his first crime or a petty crime, he is â€Å"let off the hook† or given probation or even a short jail sentence. In the juvenile system, they are usually ordered or sentences to attend a juvenile facility, counseling, house arrest with electronic devices or boot camp. Juveniles are not offered bail as adult offenders are offered. Juveniles are sometimes turned over to their parents. In the adult system, bail can be requested. Even if the bail is denied, the adult offender is allowed to ask for bail. Juveniles do not have this advantage. These teenagers or juveniles who often times get into trouble are labeled as juvenile delinquents. A juvenile delinquent is a minor that fails to do what the law of duty requires (Schmalleger, 2011). This person is under the age of eighteen and has been found guilty by law of committing a crime. This is regarded by state law that the minor is lacing responsibility and because of this, he cannot be sentenced as an adult, but only as a juvenile. Crimes such as breaking curfew, offenses at school, drinking and graffiti are crimes that juveniles are normally charged with. These crimes are sometimes more of an annoyance than they are crimes. Juveniles are prohibited from smoking, drinking and carrying firearms. A status offence is a type of crime that is not based on prohibited actions but it rests with the fact that the offender has a certain personal conditioner of a specified character. Status offences are offences which are committed by juveniles and because of their age they are not considered to be an adult and therefore cannot be tried as an adult (Schmalleger, 2011). Status offences protect juveniles from harm because they are essentially too young. They are children in the sight of the law. Delinquency can relate to status of offences because of the things that these delinquents go through and how they can be different from the things that adults go through. Juveniles and children deal with anger, peer pressure, depression, childhood trauma, dysfunctional families, need for high academics and pressure regarding academics, idolizing rappers, actors and even criminals and bullying.. All of these things can cause delinquency to relate to status of offences. Research shows that there is not just one single cause for delinquency. While the things that I mentioned above may very well lead to delinquency, one doesn’t out rank the other and not one is the specific cause for delinquency. Many children in my town idolize this local rapper. For a very long time, he was suspected of hiring people to kill other local rappers. Even though this happened, he would give away turkeys during Thanksgiving, give away school supplies or even bicycles. Maybe he was thinking he was paying a penance and that his good deeds would balance out with the bad things that he was doing. Children all over this town were passionate about this young man. He was found guilty and sentenced to prison. However, the children want to be like him. I volunteered at an inner-city school and this man is the main topic of all the kids’ conversations! They absolutely idolized him. Therefore, they even formed gangs in his honor and began fighting and killing each other. I asked a student his reasons, and he told me the lyrics to the song are how they live. There are also positive variables that bring the rate of juvenile crime down. There are programs that are based in schools as well as outside of schools that help juveniles deal with emotional distress. Some of these programs just provide a release for these youth. They are taught how to control their emotions and behavior. They are even taught how to interact with each other in some programs. One key point of many programs is to teach juveniles conflict resolution. When they are faced with conflicts, they need to be able to make smart decisions. These are skills they are needed and are provided to them. They have to be taught how to make the right decisions when they are put in bad situations and this is the aim of such programs. At this time in our country, we are experiencing a difficult time with bullying. There are many anti-bullying campaigns which are in place in cities all across our nation. Bullying can have a horrible adverse effect on a juvenile. It can cause him to retaliate at worst, or even to act out in a harmful manner. These programs could possible reduce bullying by making juveniles aware of the harm that bullying can cause not only to the person who is being bullied, but to his family and friends as well. This will hopefully reduce the negative, aggressive behavior of bullies. Saying â€Å"No† to peer pressure can be another way to deter juveniles from crime. When they feel that they do not have to please their friends or to fit in, they can make better choices. I believe that the main support that juveniles need is the support of their family. When a child is raised in a functional home with rules, he has a better chance of not entering the juvenile court system or even the adult corrections system. These children not only look to their parents, they look to their older siblings, leaders in their communities, pastors, teachers and even their politicians. When we as adults break laws and are punished, even though we are punished, it still sends the wrong message to our children.

Essay on Computer Systems

Essay on Computer Systems Essay on Computer Systems Computer Systems Alistair Burden Unit 2: Computer Systems Assignment Brief 1 Core Computer Components CPU (Central Processing Unit) The CPU is the abbreviation for central processing unit. Sometimes referred to simply as the central processor, but more commonly called processor, the CPU is the brains of the computer where most calculations take place. GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a computer chip that performs rapid mathematical calculations, primarily for the purpose of rendering images. In the early days of computing, the central processing unit (CPU) performed these calculations. Motherboard The motherboard is a printed circuit board containing the principal components of a computer or other device, with connectors for other circuit boards to be slotted into. RAM (Random Access Memory) Random-access memory is a form of computer data storage. A random-access memory device allows data items to be read and written in roughly the same amount of time regardless of the order in which data items are accessed. PSU (Power Supply Unit) The power supply is a system that converts AC current from the wall outlet into the DC currents required by electronic circuits. A computer power supply converts AC into multiple DC voltages. CD-ROM Drive (Compact Disk-Read Only Memory Drive) A CD-ROM is an optical disc which contains audio or software data whose memory is read only. A CD-ROM Drive or optical drive is the device used to read them, it uses laser light or electromagnetic waves within or near the visible light spectrum as part of the process of reading or writing data to or fromoptical discs. HDD/SSD (Hard Drive/Solid State Drive) A HDD is a storage device used to store data. Unlike RAM, which requires electrical power to maintain its state, a hard disk drive stores data magnetically. Therefore, it retains its data when the power source is turned off or disconnected. An SSD is a storage device containing non-volatile flash memory, used in place of a hard disk because of its much greater speed. Input Devices Keyboard A keyboard is the set of typewriter-like keys that enables you to enter data into a computer. Computer keyboards are similar to

The economies of northern and southern states and the US Civil War Essay

The economies of northern and southern states and the US Civil War - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the era of civil war had left a lot of lessons for the Americans to learn. Majorly, the economy of United States of America was divided into its regional schema of working in terms of politics and laws. Many laws were created right after the civil war as it had put both positive and negative impact on the economy of United States, in general. The aim of this paper is to understand the difference between the economies of Northern and Southern states of America. In general, it can be said that the economic condition of both northern and western states during the civil war was better in many ways. The American economy was once considered as an agricultural economy. It was noted that during the civil war, it transitioned to an industrial economy of the world. By 1900s, it was marked that America became one of the leading economies of the world. However, it should be well-stated that the industrial revolution was not observed in the Souther n states. The development and revolution were only noticed in the northern states or the area near the Mason-Dixon Line. Talking about the Southern states during the 1900s, they majorly depended on the selling of the staples international market. It was a constant flow of supply within the international market by the Southern states that ended up making cotton as the most valued export from the United States. The constant flow also allowed cotton to overshadow other exports that were providing a lot of advantage to the country.

Arthur Andersen after Enron Scandal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Arthur Andersen after Enron Scandal - Essay Example Despite the death of its founder, the firm managed to continue expanding. The base of the clients rose to 50,000 from 2,300 in the years 1947-1973 with offices in Chicago increasing to more than 1,500 employees from 250. The late centuries of the twentieth saw, the expansion of the firm internationally creating a division for consultation with management that is fast growing. Arthur Company was regarded as one of the big five companies in the world until the company’s involvement in a criminal case that saw its downfall. The main reason for choosing this company is because, despite the company being involved in various scandals, it managed to rise again after 12 years. Â  The company faced various ethical issues that led to its downfall in 2001. One of them was conducting the illegal audit for Enron Company, the giant company in energy that aimed at covering up billions of dollars that were lost at the energy firm (Titcomb Par. 4). According to the Enron committee, the assessment of the audit that was done revealed that Andersen Company failed to fulfill the responsibilities of its profession regarding the audit the company conducted on the financial statement for Enron. Andersen was therefore convicted for destroying documents that were produced after auditing, which prevented justice according to Enron’s claims. The conviction was however revised later after two managers from Andersen and Enron Company were found to be responsible for ordering the shredding of the relevant documents. This scandal was before Andersen engaged a math of Brickyard with its worker Gagel that to the company was a history though it proved the ability of Andersen to carry out its work with perfection. The brick incidence was whereby a young auditor was sent on a task that was his daily routine to ascertain inventory of bricks million in number that was baking in the sun in Marion.

How the Concepts of Cultural Identity and Representation Essay

How the Concepts of Cultural Identity and Representation - Essay Example Punk is a subculture movement that emerged in the 1970s and the 1980s by the appearance of punk bands such as The Sex Pistols, The Ramones and The Talking Heads. Before analyzing punk culture it is important that we define the concepts of cultural identity and representation so that we are able to use them coherently in our understanding of a brand of music that has been so often misunderstood. Cultural identity is referred to as self-definition with reference to a knowledge tradition or a set of ideas and practices that are shared or widely prevalent in a delineated population. When comparing cultural identity and collective identity, the construct of cultural identity may not conform to that of collective identity. In some instances, Kitayama and Cohen (2007) observe, both cultural and collective identity can represent the same thing; cultural can be regarded as a group when a particular knowledge tradition is completely shared in the designated group. However, even the most widely distributed culture is rarely followed completely by all members of the designated group. Even though cultural identity and collective identity may fail to equate, there is a strong line between cultural identification and collective identification. The degree of identification is associated with how much the individual relates himself to his or her identity. People who relate themselves strongly to a knowledge tradition or culture regard this cultural identity to be an integral component of their self-definition.

Digital image processing

Digital image processing Vision is the most dynamic of all our senses since it provides us with a huge amount of information about what surrounds us. It is not surprising that an ancient Chinese proverb that quotes: â€Å"A picture is worth a thousand words† is still widely used. All this information is valuable for simple procedures (for example planning our everyday activities), but also for more complex processes as the development of our intelligence. At the level of social organization, images are also important as a means of transmitting information, and almost all of todays media are based on our vision. The huge amount of visual information and the need for its processing, lead scientists and technicians towards research in order to discover a means for digital image storage and processing using computers. This effort resulted in a new Information Engineering Industry called â€Å"Digital Image Processing and Analysis†. This industry began to grow fifteen years ago. However, it has show n a dynamic development, especially during the most recent years and it is considered a science and technology with a promising future and many potential. As the title indicates, Digital Image Processing is concentrated on digital images and their processing by a computer. Therefore, both the input and output of this process are digital images. Digital image processing can be used for various reasons: improvement of the quality of images, filtering of noise caused by transmission, compression of image information, image storage and digital transmission. On the other hand, digital image analysis deals with the description and recognition of the content of an image. This description is usually symbolic. Therefore, the input when it comes to digital image analysis, is a digital image and the output is a symbolic description. Image analysis principally tries to mimic human vision. Therefore, an identical term which is often used is â€Å"Computer Vision†. It has to be underlined that computer vision is a complex neuro-physiological mechanism driven by upper level knowledge (high level vision). The characteristics of this mechanism are not known and existing mathematical models are yet inadequately accurate. As a result, it is difficult to simulate high level vision by a computer. For this reason, the methods used for image analysis when it comes to machine vision and human vision vary significantly. Image analysis is easier in the case of applications where the environment, objects and lighting conditions are fixed. This is usually the case of a production process in industry. The branch of computer vision which is used in industry is called â€Å"Robotic Vision†. The analysis is much more difficult in applications where the environment is unknown and there is a large number of objects or the different objects are unclear or difficult to separate (for example in biomedical applications or in outdoor / natural scenes). In such applications, even exper ts find it difficult to recognize objects. For these reasons, it is still difficult to obtain a general image analysis system. Most existing systems are designed for specialized applications. OTHER RELATED RESEARCH AREAS Digital image processing and analysis are related to various other scientific areas because of their subject of research. Recently, there is a tendency, at least in terms of applications, for digital image processing to become an interdisciplinary industry. Some related research areas are: Digital Signal Processing Graphics Pattern Recognition Artificial Intelligence Telecommunications and Media Multimedia Systems We will examine the relation of each of these areas with digital image processing and image analysis independently, since the way they are related is not very clear. Digital Image Processing Vs Digital Signal Processing Every image can be described as a two-dimensional signal. Therefore, for the analysis and processing of digital images all the techniques of digital signal processing can be used. This area provides the theoretical and programming base for image processing. Digital Image Processing Vs Graphic Fundamentally, the subject of graphic is digital synthesis. Therefore, the input is a symbolic description and the output is a digital image. For this purpose a geometric modelling of the display object takes place, as well as a digital description of the lighting conditions and digital production of the objects illuminants in the assumed position of the camera. Digital Image Processing Vs Pattern Recognition Pattern recognition deals with the classification of an object to a class of models (class pattern). For example, trying to recognize whether a new object is a resistor, a capacitor, or an integrated circuit. For this purpose, an object has to be described using certain characteristics (features), mostly numbers (for example: diameter and area), and then it can be classified based on these characteristics. Digital Image Processing Vs Artificial Intelligence Artificial intelligence and image understanding are areas where a symbolic representation of an image is converted to another more complex representation or a representation more easily comprehensible to humans. Usually, techniques for representation of human knowledge (knowledge representation) and reasoning (inference) are used for this purpose. The analysis of a â€Å"scene† requires higher cognitive processes and that is why it is also known as high-level vision. On the other hand, image processing is more related to the lower levels of vision, that take place in the human eye and optic nerve and as a result it is also known as low level vision. Digital Image Processing Vs Telecommunications The field of telecommunications is related to digital image transmission in telecommunication networks that transmit voice and data. The resulting networks are called Integrated Services Digital Networks (ISDN). A key problem concerning image transmissions is the compression of the images content, since a colour image requires about 750 Kbytes for its description. The construction of special algorithms for coding and decoding is also required. Digital image processing is also directly connected to the HDTV (High Definition TV). Its basic aim is the compression of the vast amount of information and the improvement of the quality of images that are received. Digital Image Processing Vs New Generation Databases The new generation of databases includes image, signal (voice) and data storage. In this field, digital image processing deals with image coding and analysis by finding smart ways of recovery (retrieval) of images. DIFFERENT AREAS OF DIGITAL IMAGE PROCESSING Digital image processing includes several areas that are closely related. Some of those areas are mentioned below: Capture of the image Digital Filtering of the image Edge Detection Region Segmentation Shape Description Texture Analysis Motion Analysis Stereoscopy It is logical that the description of all these areas is not possible in a short presentation. However, the literature is so wide that several books would be needed in order to describe adequately the digital image processing. Moreover, image processing is a cognitive area that makes extensive use of specialized mathematical, which makes it difficult to be presented to an audience. For this reason the description of the area it is purely qualitative. Capture of the Image The first thing that has to be described is the capturing mechanism of the images. The most classic means of capturing an image is by a photographic camera and a film. However, this technique is not very useful in the field of digital image processing, since the captured image cannot be easily processed by computer. On the other hand, electronic capture is particularly interesting because the image can be digitized and then processed by a computer. For this reason, conventional electronic video cameras are widely used. Electronic video cameras scan the image and produce an electrical signal as an output. There are various camera technologies (for example Orthicon, Vidicon, CCD). The electric signal produced by the camera is then led to a frame grabber. During the process of digitalization, the analogue signal is converted to a digital signal using an A / D converter. Thus, the image is converted into a matrix of 256256 or 512512 points (spots). Each point is typically represented by 8 bits, i.e. 256 levels of brightness. However, a common technique in some fields (e.g. robotics) is a binary representation of images that uses only 1 bit / position. This representation is used in order to save memory and speed in the case of simple applications. In some other cases where the colour of an image is critical, colour cameras and three A / D converters are used. In this case the three primary RGB colours (red-green-blue) are saved with 38 bits / position. As a result, digital image processing has large memory requirements, even for black and white images. The digitized image is stored as a file on the computers local disk. To be able to see the image, we need to transfer it to a special RAM memory (image memory) connected to a monitor. Such monitors may be black and white or colour (RGB). Colour monitors are mostly used even in black and white applications because they have the ability to show â€Å"pseudocolours†. Finally, the image in any program of image pro cessing appears as a two-dimensional table (array) 256256 or 512512 which is â€Å"filled† by the computers local disk or by the image memory in which the image is stored. The process of capturing an image can cause the following distortions: Blurring Noise Geometric Distortions Therefore, before any application the correction of these distortions is essential. Geometric corrections are mostly needed where geometric information is important, e.g. stereoscopes, topography. The reduction of blurring is done through the process of recovery (restoration). The recovery process is particularly important in applications where there is movement, (e.g. a ‘scene of a road) because the motion introduces blurring. In most cases the filtering of the image is also very important in order to remove noise. This can be done by various linear or nonlinear filters. Usually, nonlinear filters are mostly used because they maintain the contrast of the edges, which is a very important factor for human vision. The overall image contrast can also be improved by special non-linear techniques (contrast enhancement). Edge Detection Another important process of image analysis is the recognition (tracing) of contours. There are many techniques that can be used for edge detection. The development of various edge detection techniques was imperative due to the important information about the objects used for identification, which can be found in the contours. The dual problem of edge recognition is the recognition of regions in an image. This problem is called image segmentation. Usually the different regions of an image are coloured with â€Å"pseudocolours†. Texture Analysis In several industrial applications the recognition (or analysis) of the texture is very important. An example of the importance of texture recognition in industrial applications is its use in recognition of different fabrics, or recognition of flaws in a cloth. Recognition of traffic is also a very important field of computer vision for many applications, e.g. traffic monitoring, automatic driving, recognition of moving objects, digital television, videoconferencing, telephone with image compression and broadcast animation. Is should be noticed, that recognition of traffic has large memory requirements for storage and real time processing. This can only be achieved through parallel image processing and use of special VLSI chips. Shape Description Another area of computer vision which is particularly useful in pattern recognition is the description of shape (shape representation). A shape is described either by its border, or by the area it covers. The edge of a shape can be described in different ways, e.g. Fourier descriptors, splines. The area of a shape can be described by methods of mathematical morphology, decomposition with simple shapes, etc. These methods are used either for the storage of a shape, or for its identification. Stereoscopes Many applications require measurement of depth. In this case stereoscopy with two cameras can be used. Stereoscopy is particularly useful in photogrammetry and robot movement in a three dimensional space.

Richard Nixon :: essays papers

Richard Nixon was the thirty-seventh president of the United States and the only president to have resigned from office. He was on his was to success after receiving his law degree from Duke University Law School in 1937. California Republicans persuaded Nixon in 1946 to be their candidate to challenge Jerry Voorhis, the popular Democratic Congressman, for his seat in the United States House of Representatives. He accuses Voorhis of being â€Å"soft† on Communism. This was damaging to him because the Cold War rivalry between the United States and USSR was just beginning. Voorhis was forced into a defensive position after the two men confronted each other in a series of debates. Nixon’s campaign was an example of the vigorous and aggressive style characteristic of his political career that led him to win the election. Nixon gained valuable experience in international affairs as a new member of the United States Congress. He helped establish a program known as the Marshall Plan, in which the US assisted Europe rebuild itself following the war. He also served on the House Education and Labor Committee to develop the National Labor Relations Act. In 1948, writer and editor Whittaker Chambers accused Alger Hiss, a high State Department official, of being a Communist. Nixon, a member of the Un-American Activities Committee, personally pressed the investigation. Hiss denied further charges that he had turned classified documents over to Chambers to be sent to the USSR. Alger Hiss was later convicted and indicted for perjury after sufficient evidence was discovered. Nixon was reelected to Congress after winning both the Republican and Democratic nominations as a result of gaining a national reputation as a dedicated enemy of Communism. In 1950, Nixon was chosen as candidate for the US Senate from California by the Republicans. Again, he won this election by linking his opponent to being pro-Communist. Nixon was selected to be the running mate of the Republican presidential nomination, General Eisenhower, in 1952. Many of Eisenhower’s advisors wanted Nixon to resign his candidacy shortly after his vice-presidential nomination because of accusations that he misused his senator expenses fund. No evidence was found to prove this, and, in response, Nixon replied on national television with the â€Å"Checkers† speech, which contained sentimental reference to Nixon’s dog, Checkers. The speech was his attempt to prove his innocence. In the following campaign, Nixon once again attacked the Democratic presidential candidate as being soft on Communism.

Different Type of Programming Language Essay

1. Charles Babbage Charles Babbage, FRS (26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871) was an English mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer who originated the concept of a programmable computer. Considered a â€Å"father of the computer†, Babbage is credited with inventing the first mechanical computer that eventually led to more complex designs. Parts of his uncompleted mechanisms are on display in the London Science Museum. In 1991, a perfectly functioning difference engine was constructed from Babbage’s original plans. Built to tolerances achievable in the 19th century, the success of the finished engine indicated that Babbage’s machine would have worked. Nine years later, the Science Museum completed the printer Babbage had designed for the difference engine. 2. Ali Aydar Ali Aydar is a computer scientist and Internet entrepreneur. He is currently the chief executive officer at Sporcle. He is best known as an early employee and key technical contributor at the original Napster, the file-sharing service created by Shawn Fanning in 1999, and atSNOCAP, the digital rights and content management startup Fanning founded after Napster. He was also chief operating officer of imeem, which acquired SNOCAP in 2008. Aydar’s experiences working at Napster were documented in two books: Joseph Menn’s definitive Napster biography, All the Rave: The Rise and Fall of Shawn Fanning’s Napster, and Steve Knopper’s Appetite for Self Destruction: The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age. 3. Edwin Earl Catmull Edwin Earl Catmull, Ph.D. (born March 31, 1945) is a computer scientist and  current president of Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios. As a computer scientist, Catmull has contributed to many important developments in computer graphics. Edwin Earl Catmull was born in Parkersburg, West Virginia. Early in life, Catmull found inspiration in Disney movies such as Peter Pan and Pinocchio and dreamed of becoming a feature film animator. He even made primitive animation using so-called flip-books. However, he assessed his chances realistically and decided that his talents lay elsewhere. Instead of pursuing a career in the movie industry, he used his talent in math and studied physics and computer science at the University of Utah. After graduating, he worked as a computer programmer at The Boeing Company in Seattle for a short period of time and also at the New York Institute of Technology, before returning to Utah to go to graduate school in fall of 1970. 4. Joyce K. Reynolds Joyce K. Reynolds is a computer scientist.  Reynolds holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Southern California, United States. She has been active in the development of the protocols underlying the Internet. In particular, she has authored or co-authored many RFCs, most notably those introducing and specifying the Telnet, FTP, and POP protocols. Joyce Reynolds served as part of the editorial team of the Request For Comments series from 1987 to 2006, and also performed the IANA function with Jon Postel until this was transferred to ICANN, and worked with ICANN in this role until 2001, while remaining an employee of ISI. As Area Director of the User Services area, she was a member of the Internet Engineering Steering Group of the IETF from 1990 to March 1998 Together with Bob Braden, she received the 2006 Postel Award in recognition of her services to the Internet. She is mentioned, along with a brief biography, in RFC 1336, Who’s Who in the Internet(1992). 5. Willem Van Der Poel Willem Louis van der Poel (2 December 1926, The Hague) is a pioneering Dutch computer scientist, who is known for designing the ZEBRA computer. In 1950 he obtained an engineering degree in applied science at Delft University of Technology. In 1956 he obtained his PhD degree from the University of Amsterdam. The title of his PhD thesis was The  Logical Principles of Some Simple Computers. From 1950 until 1967 he worked for the Dutch PTT, and from 1962 till 1988 was (part time) professor at Delft University of Technology. He was also the first chairman of IFIP Working Group 2.1 on ALGOL, from 1962 to 1968. Van der Poel is primarily known as a Dutch computer pioneer, designer of Testudo, the PTERA, the ZERO, and the ZEBRA computer. He also contributed to Algol 68 and LISP for the ZEBRA. He is said to be the originator of the Zero One Infinity rule, which suggests that software designs should not impose arbitrary limits on the number of instances of a particular entity: if more than a single instance of it is to be allowed, then the collection size should be without fixed limit. 6. Max Overmars Markus Hendrik Overmars (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈmÉ‘rk ˈÉ ¦Ã‰â€ºn.drÉ ªk ˈoË .vÉ™r.ËÅ'mÉ‘rs], born 29 September 1958 in Zeist, Netherlands)[1] is a Dutch computer scientist and teacher of game programming known for his game development application Game Maker. Game Maker lets people create computer games using a drag-and-drop interface. He is the head of the Center for Geometry, Imaging, and Virtual Environments at Utrecht University, in the Netherlands. This research center concentrates on computational geometry and its application in areas like computer graphics, robotics, geographic information systems, imaging, multimedia, virtual environments, and games. 7. Thomas Eugene Kurtz Thomas Eugene Kurtz (born February 22, 1928) is an American computer scientist who co-developed the BASIC programming language during 1963 to 1964, together with John G. Kemeny. In 1951, Dr. Kurtz’s first experience with computing came at the Summer Session of the Institute for Numerical Analysis at University of California, Los Angeles. His interests have included numerical analysis,statistics, and computer science ever since. Dr. Kurtz graduated from Knox College in 1950, and was awarded a Ph.D. degree from Princeton University in 1956, where his advisor was John Tukey, and joined the Mathematics Department of Dartmouth College that same year. In 1963 to 1964, Dr. Kurtz and Kemeny developed the first version of the Dartmouth Time-Sharing System, a time-sharing system for university use,  and the BASIC language. From 1966 to 1975, Dr. Kurtz served as Director of the Kiewit Computation Center at Dartmouth, and from 1975 to 1978, Director of the Office of Academic Computing. From 1980 to 1988 Dr. Kurtz was Director of the Computer and Information Systems program at Dartmouth, a ground-breaking multidisciplinary graduate program to develop IS leaders for industry. Subsequently, Dr. Kurtz returned to teaching full-time as a Professor of Mathematics, with an emphasis on statistics and computer science. 8. Andrew Ng Andrew Ng is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Stanford University, and Director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab. He is also a co-founder of Coursera, an online education platform. His work is primarily in machine learning and robotics. He received his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. His early work includes the Stanford Autonomous Helicopter project, which developed one of the most capable autonomous helicopters in the world, and the STAIR (STanford Artificial Intelligence Robot) project, which resulted in ROS, a widely used open-source robotics software platform. 9. Simon Colton Simon Colton (London, 1973) is a British computer scientist, currently working in the Computational Creativity Group at Imperial College London, where he holds the position of Reader. He graduated from the University of Durham with a degree in Mathematics, gained a MSc. in Pure Mathematics at the University of Liverpool, and finally a PhD in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Edinburgh, under the supervision of Professor Alan Bundy. Simon is the driving force behind thepaintingfool.com, an artificial intelligence that he hopes will one day be accepted as an artist in its own right. His work, along with that of Maja Pantic and Michel Valstar, won the British Computing Society Machine Intelligence Award in 2007. The work has also been the subject of some media attention. Prior to his work on The Painting Fool, Simon worked on the HR tool, a reasoning tool that was applied to discover mathematical concepts. The system successfully discovered theorems and conjectures, some of which were novel enough to become published works. 10. David E. Shaw David Elliot Shaw (born March 29, 1951) is an American computer scientist and computational biochemist who founded D. E. Shaw & Co., a hedge fundcompany which was once described by Fortune magazine as â€Å"the most intriguing and mysterious force on Wall Street.† A former faculty member in the computer science department at Columbia University, Shaw made his fortune exploiting inefficiencies in financial markets with the help of state-of-the-art high speed computer networks. In 1996, Fortune magazine referred to him as â€Å"King Quant† because of his firm’s pioneering role in high-speed quantitative trading. In 2001, Shaw turned to full-time scientific research in computational biochemistry, more specifically molecular dynamics simulations of proteins. Different Types of Web Programming Languages Used for creating and editing pages on the web. Can do anything from putting plain text on a webpage, to accessing and retrieving data from a database. Vary greatly in terms of power and complexity. * HTML Hyper Text Markup Language. The core language of the world wide web that is used to define the structure and layout of web pages by using various tags and attributes. Although a fundamental language of the web, HTML is static – content created with it does not change. HTML is used to specify the content a webpage will contain, not how the page functions. Learn HTML at our HTML tutorials section. * XML Extensible Markup Language. A language developed by the W3C which works like HTML, but unlike HTML, allows for custom tags that are defined by programmers. XML allows for the transmission of data between applications and organizations through the use of its custom tags. * Javascript A language developed by Netscape used to provide dynamic and interactive content on webpages. With Javascript it is possible to communicate with HTML, create animations, create calculators, validate forms, and more. Javascript is often confused with Java, but they are two different languages. Learn Javascript at our Javascript tutorials section. * VBScript Visual Basic Scripting Edition. A language developed by Microsoft that works only in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer web browser and web browsers based on the Internet Explorer engine such as FlashPeak’s Slim Browser. VBScript Can be used to print dates, make calculations, interact with the user, and more. VBScript is based on Visual Basic, but it is much simpler. Learn VBScript at our VBScript tutorials section. * PHP Hypertext Preprocessor (it’s a recursive acronym). A powerful language used for many tasks such as data encryption, database access, and form validation. PHP was originally created in 1994 By Rasmus Lerdorf. Learn PHP at our PHP tutorials section. * Java A powerful and flexible language created by Sun MicroSystems that can be used to create applets (a program that is executed from within another program) that run inside webpages as well as software applications. Things you can do with Java include interacting with the user, creating graphical programs, reading from files, and more. Java is often confused with Javascript, but they are two different languages. Learn Java at our Java tutorials section.

Notes on the Screwtape Letters

The Screwtape Letters Bill King, Lutheran Campus Pastor, Virginia Tech The following comments are intended to be a distillation, commentary, and reflection on the major themes of C. S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters. I hope these notes will be helpful for those charged with leading a study of the book, particularly for students or others who have had minimal theological training. Chapter comments are more extensive in the beginning because Lewis introduces themes early and tends to return to them as the book progresses.Page references are to the HarperCollins 2001 paperback edition. Chapter 1 One of Lewis’ major concerns throughout the book is the intellectual assumptions of his world. At the beginning he notes a â€Å"materialist† worldview holds sway, which is to say the assumption that if you can not empirically verify something it does not exist. This, says Lewis, is a backdoor way of avoiding confronting important realities; you simply define them out of exist ence. Lewis does not see a conflict between reason and faith; he believes the claims of faith can stand the test of scrutiny.Indeed, he believes that a vigorous application of reason takes one beneath intellectual fad to testing fundamental truth claims. He would disagree with much of the deconstructionist thinking that denies â€Å"truth†; he would perhaps argue for some humility in asserting claims, but would say there is a truth to be sought and that it matters what one embraces. The intellectual search is one with an end. (For another treatment of this theme, see Lewis’ The Great Divorce, chapter 5, in which a one character prefers a hell which includes eternal debate on religious issues to a heaven of certainty in the presence of God).Lewis asserts that much of â€Å"hell on earth† is rooted in an unwillingness to ask deep, probing questions about what is really important, what gives true fulfillment, what is real as opposed to illusion. (In this he would s hare some ground with the Hindu concept of maya). He believes we are often prisoners of â€Å"immediate sense experience† and the â€Å"pressure of the ordinary,† that we seldom step back to reflect on what is important. Screwtape emphasizes that the demonic is always about â€Å"fuddling†, that is, obscuring what is really important in favor of the transitory, ill onceived, or tawdry. Lewis clearly believes that faith has nothing to fear from reason rigorously applied, but his is not the reason of materialism or scientism. Chapter 2 Screwtape takes the church as an example where Wormwood can cause confusion by getting his patient so focused on the immediate and â€Å"real† that he loses sight of the transcendent. The Church is both more and less than the immediate manifestation of any one time and place.One will inevitably be disillusioned if one compares the immediate incarnation of the Church to the ideal toward which it strives. The doctrine of the In carnation is bigger than the idea that God was in Christ; it also speaks to the concept that the holy is found (however imperfectly) in the real world of imperfect humans. There is a certain tension here. While God is indeed in the imperfect,that is not an excuse for making no effort to have our lives and our community grow into the image of Christ. As the Scottish New Testament professor told his class, â€Å"We do indeed have this treasure in earthen vessels, but ye need not be as earthen as ye are. †) That is why â€Å"holy habits† are 2 important. Screwtape notes that the man’s habits are still in favor of Wormwood until he cultivates new ones. Christianity is not magic; it is a lifestyle and as such demands intentionality. Screwtape notes that we have freedom which must be used to embrace that holy vision which is set before us.There is a certain tension in noting that God’s love comes to us as grace, but that it must be embraced with a certain inten tionality. It is the same tension which an Eastern parable notes: The master told his pupil, â€Å"You can no more compel God’s revelation by your meditation than you can make the sun rise. † â€Å"Then why be diligent in prayer and meditation? † asked the pupil. â€Å"So you will be awake when the sun rises. † There is an ongoing process of rising and falling, of enlightenment and spiritual dryness.John of the Cross, in Dark Night of the Sou,l notes that spiritual consolations (emotional surges and enlightenment) come easy and often in the initial stages of serious prayer, but dryness comes later, not because God is absent but so that we grow in maturity, seeking God for deeper reasons than being spiritually goosed—and to keep us humble Screwtape touches on humility, noting that life in community depends upon our recognition of our depth and need for God and the community. The danger is always that we are operating on a â€Å"works righteousnessà ¢â‚¬  mind set.The lesson is that we should be neither arrogant when God seems near, nor despairing when our prayer life (or the community which surrounds us) is less than what we hope for. Chapter 3 Screwtape notes an important dynamic in the spiritual life. We often think of religion or faith as a piece of the pie which represents our whole life, with the goal being for the pie piece to become bigger. In fact, the life of the spirit is a circle at the center of our lives with the goal being for that circle to expand outward to encompass more and more of our lives: fun, relationships, work, everything.One of our temptations is to bracket off the parts of life which we will allow to fall under the influence of Christ (â€Å"Well, this love your neighbor thing is all fine and good for personal relationships, but business is business. †). This chapter takes family life as an example of how we can easily put spiritual practices, such as prayer, in one chamber, and never let the m influence the very ordinary, day-to-day relationships where we spend most of our time.While â€Å"conversion† or â€Å"faith† may well entail an internal reorientation, it becomes powerful and real only when it makes a difference in our behaviors. Lewis constantly reminds us that we need to move back and forth from deep reflection on what we believe and how we live to testing out new ways of being in the world. Intercessory prayer is, therefore, always concrete in some sense; prayers which have no reference point in the real world are just words. A great rabbi once observed that we should never ask God to do something if we are unwilling to be an instrument of God’s action.So it is playacting to pray that the hungry be fed, if we are unwilling to change our lifestyle, contribute to relief, and seek justice to enable those goals to be accomplished. It is a delusion to pray for peace and understanding in our homes if we are not willing to listen, endure, and giv e of ourselves in the mundane things such as washing dishes, arranging schedules, and deciding what sofa to buy. Much of the chapter focuses on how we forget that growth in discipleship, like a journey of 1000 miles, is accomplished one small, ordinary step at a time.Peace on earth begins with patience with an annoying word or tone uttered by one in our own household 3 Chapter 4 In the preface to Screwtape, Lewis notes that Hell is place of constant competition and obsession with ones dignity. In this chapter (though it is not the main focus) he gives us some examples. In the first paragraph he makes it clear that Wormwood is not dealing with a world where he can expect any slack, forgiveness, or grace. He will be held rigidly accountable for failure and can expect no understanding from his mentors.On page 17 he describes God as â€Å"cynically indifferent to the dignity of His position, and ours†¦ † This theme occurs repeatedly in Screwtape, that God is more concerned a bout redemption of a beloved creation than guarding divine dignity. In the â€Å"through the looking glass† world of this book, the implication is that those who are on the side of the â€Å"Enemy† will also have a certain disregard for their own image and false dignity. And if Hell is a place where one can expect no quarter; the unspoken statement is that the realm of the Enemy is different.The major focus of the chapter is prayer, and Lewis warns of both extremes: making prayer into a purely â€Å"spiritual† matter with no anchoring or understanding of its necessary connection to the physical bodies which we inhabit, or on the other hand, of forgetting that no image of God is adequate. One might expect someone who has been nurtured by the single best collection of liturgical prayers in English (the Book of Common Prayer) to defend formal, structured prayer, and he does (15). Too often we assume that true prayer is unstructured and spontaneous; sometimes it is just sloppy and undisciplined.Lewis makes the case that prayer is a bit like playing scales from notes: before one can improvise, one benefits from a regularized acquaintance with words and thought forms that mature pray-ers have used (the Our Father being the prime example). One can certainly make the case that it is possible to err on the other side, allowing liturgical prayers to become pro forma and lifeless, but Lewis asserts that though prayer is more than a matter of the mind and rote repetition, it is not, for most of us, less.He concedes that most of the great literature on prayer speaks of a contemplative state beyond intellectual reflection, but that is not where most of us are in our spiritual development–and it is destructive and dangerous for the novice to presume the skill of the master. (See the section on Coleridge, p. 16). A major theme in this chapter is that, while it is nice to receive an emotional boost in prayer, our feelings are not the final or even b est standard to judge our prayers. The function of prayer is to bring ourselves into the presence of God with as much intentionality as we can (recognizing hat, in one sense, we are ever in God’s presence). Ideally the focus is not on taking our spiritual pulse, to see â€Å"how we are doing†, rather, it is on opening ourselves to the action of God. Sometimes that action is obvious, and we have the sense of profound comfort or enlightenment; other times it appears that all we do is show up. If we have been open to God, we have done what God desires of us in prayer and the outcomes are not the point. One book on prayer ironically calls it â€Å"wasting time with God†; and that suggests why it often hard for us to pray.We want measurable results, and sometimes it seems success as the world measures it is elusive. Lewis, in the last section of the chapter, suggests that if we constantly move the focus from our abilities as pray-ers to trusting ourselves to the Holy Presence, for whatever consolations or spiritual silence that presence offers, we will finally find ourselves confronting God—which we may or may not find welcome. The final sentences touch on an important theme of prayer. Prayer is not always pleasant.Like looking at the mirror and seeing that we are indeed getting flabby, prayer can undermine our denial that things are not as they should be. Prayer can be disconcerting because it punctures our illusions, but Lewis’ implicit assumption is that it is better to be disconcerted and alert to the 4 need to change than to be complacently on the road to hell (whether one understands that as eternal damnation or simply on a path that will eventually prove disastrous in life). Chapter 5 In this chapter Lewis emphasizes the essential theme that suffering, in and of itself, does not serve evil.While the Evil One delights in our â€Å"anguish and bewilderment of soul†; the bigger issue is whether these experiences bring u s closer or further from God. The key issue for Screwtape is â€Å"undermining faith and preventing the formation of virtues. † (p. 22) Lewis notes that there are spiritual dangers in both being an â€Å"extreme patriot† and â€Å"ardent pacifist. † But he does not spell these out; it might be interesting to reflect on these. For example, one can easily see the idolatrous possibilities of conflating God and Country in a patriotism which sees the interest of the two as identical.By the same token, ardent pacifism can be the mask of a too delicate moral sensibility which abdicates social responsibility and the willingness to confront injustice. Screwtape notes that the dangerous things from his perspective (and remember that Screwtape’s interests are always at odds with God’s) are that suffering prompts humans to recognize their need of God, that they are prompted to focus on things outside themselves, and that they are forced to focus on their morta lity (Note his scathing critique of a culture that denies death in its medical system, pp. 3-24). â€Å"Contented worldliness† is lifted up as one of the great danger the believer faces. This is a recurring theme in the work. One might argue that Lewis confuses the suffering which comes to all persons with the suffering which Jesus promises as inherent in discipleship. But it appears that Lewis would assert in both cases that God can redeem suffering if it is offered up to God in trust. Though it may be hard to find purpose in the former case, one will at least find comfort. Chapter 6 A major theme of this chapter is the relationship between anxiety and fear.As Screwtape notes, anxiety is a major barricade between God and man because it touches at the heart of trust. One can fear and still trust; it is harder to trust when our hearts are filled with faceless, diffuse anxiety. God’s promise is that we will have resources for what is truly apportioned to us; to worry abo ut what is not yet our concern is a bottomless pit into which we cast our energy. In the â€Å"spiritual law† Screwtape offers (p. 26) he touches a recurring theme in the book: much of the spiritual life is becoming what the Buddha called â€Å"mindful†, or reflective.The parallel danger is that we can become overly introspective, or obsessed with keeping a spiritual scorecard of how we are doing. The goal at all times is to be focused on what God desires of us; if we are doing that which is not pleasing to God we do well to notice that, but if we find ourselves in obedience we give thanks and then move on. A third theme is the relationship between feelings and actions. Screwtape notes that feelings of hatred are not necessarily all that important–if they do not find fruition in actions.Conversely, piety that never moves beyond the intellect is worse than none at all because we have the illusion that we have the real deal, when in fact we have only a fantasyâ₠¬â€œwhich is the heart of Screwtape’s image of the personality as made up of concentric circles (p. 28). It is important to note that while Lewis is constantly calling for reflection, use of the mind, and reason. He is adamant that true religion must finally find concrete expression in the day-to-day world where we actually live out our lives. He has no illusions that simply knowing the ight things, or thinking in the right categories necessarily produces a life pleasing to God. 5 Chapter 7 The chapter appears to begin with a discussion of whether devils are real, but in fact Lewis is concerned with idolatry. Screwtape sees what he calls the â€Å"Materialist Magician† as the ideal. This is one who gives parts the physical world the trust and passion associated with religion while denying the reality of God. Lewis saw the reverence sometimes afforded to science and fashionable social theories as tending in this direction.Returning to an earlier theme, Lewis takes patri otism versus pacifism as a case study on the dangers of extremism. Screwtape says, â€Å"All extremes except extreme devotion to the enemy are to be encouraged† because extremism almost always pulls the focus away from God and toward a â€Å"Cause†. The progression he notes (p. 34) is a telling critique of many involved in social justice concerns; the cause becomes more important than the convictions out of which the actions originally grew.Though Lewis does not say it here, the danger of this is that the roots atrophy so that in the long run there is not sufficient spiritual energy to support the â€Å"branches† of the action. It is not either/or, many great social reformers have been persons of both prayer and action in the world. A secondary theme in this chapter is the danger of factionalism. The church can easily become self-righteousness and lacking in charity because it feels elitist and/or besieged. Chapter 8 This whole chapter pivots around the â€Å"l aw of undulation† and it is one of the most important and beautifully written in the book.It explains why, both from a physiological and theological perspective, we go through periods of spiritual drought. The nature of the beast (pun intended) is that animals have a life cycle characterized by an ebb and flow of energy and enthusiasm, and that cycle finds expression in the life of prayer and devotion. But on a much more profound level, Lewis makes the case that this undulation is both necessary and intended by God so that we grow into the free, mature persons of faith God intends us to be. As Screwtape notes, God can not use the Irresistible and the Indisputable if the goal is to create children and not merely coerced puppets.Though not using the term, Lewis draws on a theology of the cross, showing how God’s power is and must be revealed in apparent weakness. The heart of the chapter is the wonderful section on pages 38-39 in which the purposes of God and Satan are di stinguished. Contained in the paragraph on 40 is a moving description of the passion; Christ exemplifies one who embraces the trough and thus finally arrives at the intention of the Father. Chapter 9 Screwtape notes that we are particularly vulnerable to sensual temptations in the trough times noted in the â€Å"law of undulation. One reason is that the believer is seeking the sense of well being experienced during the good times. Sensuality gives the illusion of intimacy, love, and meaningful passion. Whether it is sex, drugs, alcohol, or anything else which works on the senses, one can temporarily have the sense of well being which comes most fully in communion with God. As Screwtape notes, this is subject to the law of diminishing returns–it takes more and more to provide the same kick, until there is no kick at all. It is important to note (as Screwtape does) that there is nothing wrong with genuine pleasure, indeed pleasures are God’s gifts to us.It is the perver sion of pleasures, in mistaking the gift for the giver, that we run into problems. When we are in the depths of a trough, Screwtape notes two dangers related to the 6 assumption that the trough is permanent: On one hand, we can be tempted to despair, and thus abandon the struggle to be faithful because we come to believe we have failed or that the struggle is futile. On the other hand, we can simply become content with a flaccid faith. This is the great danger of urbane, acculturated religion. As Screwtape notes, â€Å"A moderated religion is as good for us as no religion at all–and more amusing. Lewis ends the chapter with a jab at intellectual fads which ask, not what is true, but what is new, trendy, or historically most recent. He returns to this later in the book. Chapter 10 In this chapter Lewis notes the importance of friends and acquaintances in the life of faith. Wormword’s patient is in danger (from a Christian perspective) because he has taken up with those whose values are contradictory to the fragile ones he is cultivating. All of us want to fit into our culture, and so it is very hard when we perceive our values to be at odds with those around us.Lewis notes, â€Å"All mortals tend to turn into the thing they are pretending to be. † Allowing ourselves to adopt behaviors contradictory to our faith is dangerous for that reason. But it is important to note that sometimes what we are pretending (that is, trying to inhabit an identity which is not yet established within us) to be is a â€Å"Christian. † So it is equally important for us to surround ourselves with fellow believers, in the hope that our playacting can become reality. Lewis suggests that one of the great problems with our modern world is that we have come to regard â€Å"Puritan† virtues with disdain.The issue is not whether temperance, chastity, and sobriety have been tested and found wanting as virtues worth cultivating; rather, Lewis suggests, the m odern world simply assumes they are the relics of a bygone day and never asks the question concerning their merit with searching honesty. Lewis notes that sometimes we find ourselves trying to inhabit two worlds. We are literally schizophrenic—with a divided mind—and thus at home in neither the values of God nor the values of the world. One goal of the life of discipleship is to attain a single-minded passion for the things of God.As Kierkegaard puts it, â€Å"Purity of heart is to love one thing. † Chapter 11 Lewis distinguishes four sources of laughter: joy, fun, joke/humor, and flippancy. In the first two Screwtape sees little value to his cause of undermining the life of faith; they arise from the depths of what it means to be human. The others show more promise. Humor can be used as a way to deaden shame. That which is deplorable can be made into a joke, and thus one slowly ceases to strive against it. Jokes which demean another group are prime examplesâ₠¬â€œwe fear being called humorless more than we fear being racist, misogynist, and cruel.Flippancy, which refuses to take anything with seriousness, is the best of all from Screwtape’s perspective because it advances his number one priority, keeping the patients unaware of their peril or of God’s call to them. Flippancy is rooted in the assumption that nothing finally matters, so there is nothing worthy of commitment. An attitude of perpetual flippancy insures that the believer never asks deep questions concerning the nature and purpose of life; and thus lives superficially. Chapter 12 Screwtape again emphasizes the importance of keeping Christians unaware of their true state, when they are moving away from God.But in this chapter he touches on the important fact that there is a part of us that does not want to be known by God. The sicker we become the more we resist putting ourselves in the presence of the doctor. We cease to need temptations; we 7 begin actively to m ove away from God because that keeps us from confronting the need to make hard changes. The statement of one patient, â€Å"I now see that I spent most of my life doing neither what I ought nor what I liked. † is a terrifying warning of how we can fill our lives with trivia which offers no particular joy, excitement, or satisfaction (p. 60).Like starving persons with a sense of hollowness we fill our spiritual stomachs with bulk in order to avoid confronting the real hunger. Repeatedly, Screwtape emphasizes that it is not the great sins that are most likely to doom us (the great ones are more likely to awaken a sense of sin, shame, guilt, and obvious need). It is the subtle change that takes our orbit away from the sun/Son (p. 57) or a barely perceptible turn in the path, gradually leading us away from God, which most imperils us. Chapter 13 Lewis can sometimes seem rather ascetic, but in this chapter he emphasizes that pleasures are indeed from God.But it is pleasures unders tood as joy without pretense which he extols. True pleasure, Lewis understands to be a sort of innocent, self-forgetfulness which receives life with delight as it comes. True pleasure has no need to create a facade or pretend to like something only because others find it fashionable. Lewis takes our deepest likes and desires as God’s gifts to us; it is only when we seek to express those desires at the expense of others that they become pathological. Lewis recapitulates the point he made earlier (chapter 6) that intention without action has a way of finally being impotent.God does not desire us to wallow in grief, shame, or noble intentions (that is what Screwtape wants, because it keeps us focused on unproductive emotions), rather God calls us to turn and live in a new way. The subtle point which Lewis makes at the end of the chapter is that after awhile feeling without action makes it hard for us to even feel the need to turn and take a new course: â€Å"The more often he f eels without acting, the less he will be able ever to act, and, in the long run, the less he will be able to feel. For example, think of what happens if we regularly hear sermons which call us to compassion for the hungry, but never get around to actually doing something in response to that call. At some point we grow numb and similar words do not even prick our conscience. Chapter 14 The focus of this chapter is humility. Lewis is at pains to note that humility does not consist in holding a poor opinion of oneself, but in finally getting free of the need to have an opinion at all. To attempt to hold an exaggeratedly negative opinion of one’s gifts is dishonest and ultimately futile.God does not desire dishonesty. Humility is related to detachment (i. e. , not being driven by the opinions or priorities of the world). In loving us unconditionally God desires that we no longer have the need to buttress our self-concept by constantly evaluating our accomplishments—includi ng our ability to be humble. Humility does not consist in denigrating our gifts, but in learning to acknowledge them with thanksgiving and move on. If we are not obsessed with evaluating our place in the â€Å"temple of Fame† we are freed to be affirming of others because their success does not threaten us.Chapter 15 Screwtape constantly talks about the importance of misdirection. In this chapter the issue is time, picking up some themes from chapter 6. From Screwtape’s perspective, life can be stolen from humans by getting them to live in either the past (which is gone) or the future (which does not actually exist). Making the same point that the Lord’s Prayer makes in saying, â€Å"Give us 8 this day our daily bread,† Lewis invites us to recognize that the challenges and joys of living are apportioned to us only in the present.If we insist on constantly living in fear of or in anticipation of the future, we are like persons who chase a rainbow (see the wonderful quotation at the top of p. 78) which constantly recedes. An interesting element of this chapter is its noting that living in the future can give birth to either despair (by assuming all the burdens of a lifetime in anticipation of their actually arising) or a kind of hope that is simply wishful optimism–both which are equally useful from Screwtape’s perspective in robbing us of the future.On p. 76 Lewis takes a jab at intellectual trends that are rooted, not in God’s future, but in a naive trust in inevitable progress by historical forces (social, biological, or political). If Lewis’ audience could be tempted to live in the future, how much more true is it of American culture with its emphasis on novelty, progress, and fast paced competition? That is not to say that one should not care about the future.Rather, one understands that what is demanded in the present is to labor faithfully (including appropriate planning) and then to commend the caus e to God, taking up the challenges of the next day on the morrow. One is reminded of the counsel attributed to Ignatius Loyola, â€Å"You should labor as though all depends on you, and pray as if it all depends on God. † Chapter 16 In this chapter Lewis turns his attention to the spirit in which one worships. The use of the word â€Å"parochial† in paragraph 2, page 81 may be unclear.Lewis does not use it with the common connotation of â€Å"narrow minded† or â€Å"limited in vision. † Rather he is lifting up the traditional idea (from an earlier age when one could assume all persons in a town were part of the dominant church) of the geographical parish. To know what congregation a person worshiped at you only needed to know where he or she lived. The result, in theory, was that all persons who claimed to be Christian, whatever their race, class, economic status, or theology, were members of the same parish. From Lewis’ perspective, that was a powe rful counterbalance to making the church a club.This was a powerful concept in the early church and part of what made it a social leveling force. One did not choose brothers and sisters in Christ with which one worshiped; as in a biological family, they were simply given. Lewis sees a shopper mentality (what he calls the â€Å"congregational principle†) gaining dominance so that the believer begins to see religion as a commodity to be judged and consumed, rather than as a vision which stands above mere preferences and offers an identity beyond sociological classifications.One implication of the congregational principle is that the fundamental orientation in worship ceases to be receptivity to the subtle gifts which might be received, and becomes instead an orientation of critique. There is little doubt that Lewis’ critique of the Church of England in 1940 would be doubly applicable to the American religious scene which has historically been very congregational and root ed in the concept of free association.Lewis also turns his attention to two failings he notes in the liberal, established church of his experience: the tendency to spend so much time in â€Å"translating† the faith into inoffensive intellectual categories that there is nothing unique to proclaim, and second, the tendency to mistake a cause for the core of the faith, or on the personal level for pastors to mistake their own ideas and prejudices for the gospel they are charged to preach. In each case what is lacking is a clear discernment of the essential from what is purely conventional, or at least negotiable.Here Lewis lifts up a theme which emerges in the Apology to the Augsburg Confession and the Formula of Concord, which is that much of religious practice is â€Å"adiaphoria,† a matter of 9 personal preference or corporate convention, and not essential confession. It is fun to note in passing the jab which C. S. Lewis the English professor takes at modern poetry, à ¢â‚¬Å"A sermon which such people could accept would be to him as insipid as a poem which they could scan (p. 83). Chapter 17 In this chapter Lewis focuses on the vice of gluttony, with an interesting twist.Screwtape notes that we tend to think of gluttony in terms of how much one consumes; the stereotypical image of the glutton is of a grotesquely fat person eating at a great banquet (with the poor perhaps staring on in the background). Gluttony, says Lewis, consists not in how much we eat but in the fact that we are driven and commanded by our desires. The one who insists on having his or her every desire satisfied is a glutton, even if the volume consumed is small.It makes little difference to what the appetite is directed (food, drink, tobacco, music, or collecting Barbie dolls); the essential point is that one places satisfaction of that appetite above all else. Some spiritual writers even warn of â€Å"spiritual gluttony† which is the compulsive need for emotional highs in times of prayer. The glutton is above all one who places his or her interests at the center of life. In contrast, the one who has the mind of Christ constantly seeks to place the intention of God at the center.Some writers have suggested that gluttony is rooted in a lack of faith, a fear that there is not enough for all; one must jealously guard one’s interests, since no one else will. The last section in which gluttony is described as â€Å"artillery preparation† (p. 90) on chastity is insightful, given the fact that almost all sexual assault cases on university campuses involve alcohol as a contributing factor. Another way of framing the discussion is that giving vent to one’s unchecked desires in one sphere is likely to contribute to a pattern which carries over into other areas of behavior.Rape, drunkenness, and theft all have a common grounding in the assumption that I have a right have what I want, when I want it, at the expense of others– which is to say in gluttony. Chapter 18 Lewis is unapologetically traditional on the subject of sexual morality, calling for either abstinence or monogamy. Sex, for Lewis is rooted in how one understands relationships in general. Screwtape denies the possibility of love, for him all of life is competition and predation. Sex, therefore, is about using, consuming, or absorbing another. He denies the possibility of love, understood as finding one’s own fulfillment in the good f the other. Implicit in this chapter is Lewis’ charge that modern society has adopted a â€Å"hellish† understanding of sex which reduces sex to predation. In contrast, says Lewis, God intends for sex to be the means by which we learn and express love. But more to the point, sex has a transcendent power to create that which it promises, â€Å"one flesh. † The key point for Lewis is that we have gotten it backwards: we have come to think that the emotional sense of â€Å"being in love† is the only valid reason for sex and marriage, when in fact it is a promised by-product.Lewis goes so far as to suggest that marriage can and is valid even it does not result in a â€Å"storm of emotion. † Chapter 19 This chapter is primarily a recapitulation of themes raised earlier. It lifts up what a scandal the concept of God’s love for humanity really is–Screwtape can not conceive of it, there must a trick! Lewis again notes that nothing in the world is in and of itself good or bad; it is all 10 grist for the spiritual mill. Feast or famine, weal or woe, the issue is whether we will be brought closer or pushed farther from God (p. 103).As one example Screwtape notes that sexual temptation can be used either to make one overbearingly ascetic and sour or, by playing to romantic fantasies, to create â€Å"tragic adulteries,† which result from being in love with a flawed idea of love instead of embracing the genuine article. Chapter 20 Lewis turns his a ttention to the tendency of society to create physical ideals which do not exist anywhere except in fantasy. The result is that we are constantly dissatisfied with both ourselves and with those with whom we might form a fruitful, happy union.Lewis would have a field day with modern MTV, fashion, and advertising. Lewis suggests that men are haunted by two imaginary women, what he calls a â€Å"terrestrial and an infernal Venus† (other writers use a dichotomy such as Virgin/whore). In this he draws on a long Platonic tradition of the sublime and base Venus, or Aphrodite ourania (heavenly) and pandemos (of all the people). Sublime Venus is that pure love to which Plato aspires; base Venus is the earthy, physical, sweaty, dirty love that he seeks to move past.Before Plato, the attitude toward the two expressions was quite the opposite: Aphrodite Ourania refers to her connection with Ouranos (heaven) where she was born from the castrated testicles of Ouranos after he was thrown fr om power (not a very positive image! ); Aphrodite Pandemos (of all the people) is an expression that the politician and poet Solon used in Athens to describe the force that brings all people together in democratic unity (a pretty positive picture). But culturally for the West, Plato won, so heavenly Venus came to be regarded as good, and terrestrial or infernal Venus as bad.One might wonder if Lewis makes a little too neat a separation of passion/sensuality and â€Å"higher love,† implicitly dividing that which can not properly be divided. However, Lewis’ primary point remains: A distorted understanding of the purpose of sexuality creates unhappiness as one perpetually seeks an illusory â€Å"love† which does not exist, and misuses the actual persons with whom one might find satisfaction. Chapter 21 In this chapter Lewis takes up the proper understanding of time. He notes that we tend to regard time as our own to use as we choose, when in fact every moment is a gift entrusted to us.To regard time as our possession has two virtues from Screwtape’s perspective: First, we become petulant and resentful when we find demands being made on our time, demands which are quite appropriate if we are serious about discipleship. Second, it obscures the fact that because we have been entrusted with time by God we are obligated to use it to God’s glory; we are stewards not owners of time. Lewis takes aim at the radically autonomous individual, the one who seeks to be free of all constraints save those he chooses for himself.The reality, says Lewis, is that we â€Å"serve somebody† (to use Bob Dylan’s words), â€Å"it may be the devil or it may be the Lord but you gotta serve somebody. † (See the wonderful closing paragraphs). The creation narrative says God created humanity in God’s image; Lewis notes that by conflating several senses of the first person possessive pronoun, we are likely to create God in our image . We forget that God and God’s desires stand over us, and instead we begin to use God as a means to an end. â€Å"My God† ceases to mean, â€Å"the god to whom I owe my allegiance† and means, â€Å"the God I control and call upon to meet my desires. † 1 Chapter 22 Lewis reemphasizes that God is the source of all joys and delights. The most interesting thing in this chapter is the contrast of music and silence with Noise. Heaven is place of beauty, harmony, delight. Hell is made up of that which distracts, destroys, and prevents us from reaching harmony. One might ponder the implications of living in a culture which seems committed to engulfing its members in perpetual sound. What does it mean for community and self-awareness when vast numbers of college students spend large parts of the day walking around campus with either a cell phone or an ipod in their ears?Chapter 23 Screwtape notes that the corruption of spirituality is in some ways more dangerous a nd destructive to God’s intention than mere license or immorality. Then Lewis moves into a discussion of the â€Å"historical Jesus. † He is noting an important theme in early 20th Century biblical scholarship which sought to move behind the Scriptures, seeking to gain a picture of Jesus before the church imposed its teachings on the narrative. Lewis is of the opinion that one can not get behind the narratives, that what we finally end up doing is simply importing an ideology and then editing based on our previous assumptions.He makes four criticisms of the â€Å"quest for the historical Jesus†: 1) The historical Jesus does not exist; we are thus seeking a phantom. We can not know Jesus apart from the confession and documents which bear witness to him. All we have is the confession of the church, for good or ill. 2) Those seeking the historical Jesus place more importance on their ideology than on Jesus. 3) The quest destroys devotional life by substituting a my thical figure whose teachings we try to study for the Jesus whom we can encounter and follow. 4) It is a fallacy to believe that faith comes from an historical study of Jesus’ biography.The reality is that belief comes first, and the texts later. Certainly, one has to grant the danger of separating the historic figure of Jesus who lived in time and space from the Christ which is the interpretation of that life’s significance, but Lewis is perhaps a little too hard on tools that ask what filters have gone into our picture of Jesus. The final section returns to the danger of using God as a means to an end. Lewis says that it does not work to embrace religion for secular reasons such as public order (see 127). But one might add that, beyond not working, such use of religion has historically been actively evil.Religion is easily used as means of social control, and that is one step from tyranny, Inquisition, and witch trials. Chapter 24 Lewis makes an interesting distincti on between spiritual ignorance and spiritual pride. Many people are ignorant; they assume the world is a certain way because their experience is not broad enough. They assume that their political opinions, preferences in worship, and way of reading Scripture are the â€Å"Christian† ways of seeing these things, not because of considered reflection, but because they don’t have enough perspective. It is interesting to note, however, that one of the most important realities in the American religious landscape is that people are not as myopic as a generation ago, and thus are less willing to stay with one expression of the faith– or any expression). Lewis says that this ignorance is not ideal, but is relatively harmless. Spiritual pride is a more serious matter because it goes beyond ignorance to a blindness of how one is in relationship to God and others. Where ignorance is characterized by incomprehension of another way of seeing the world, pride views others with condescension, contempt, and intolerance.Most important, it has lost the awareness that grace is a gift and regards it as an accomplishment of superior breeding, insight, or religious practice (see 130-131). 12 Where the ignorant are perhaps a little ridiculous and deserving of pity and enlightenment, the prideful are dangerous precisely because they join ignorance to contempt–and thus become the makers of crusade and jihad. The dangerous thing from Screwtape’s perspective is that we will become aware of our pride and remember, in Augustine’s memorable phrase, that we are all â€Å"beggars at the table of grace†.Aware of our own unmerited grace we are humbly thankful for what we have received and patient with those who have not come so far (which is precisely how Lewis describes the Christian friends of Wormwood’s patient). Chapter 25 In this chapter Lewis returns to a theme he sounded earlier, the danger of using Christianity as an add-on to an i deology or conviction which is more dearly held than the faith. â€Å"Merely† as Lewis uses it here (and in Mere Christianity) means â€Å"basic† or â€Å"essential† or â€Å"core†.Lewis is keenly afraid that the Christian faith may be temporarily embraced, not because it is true, but because it is regarded as politically, socially, or intellectually advantageous. The danger, as he notes in this chapter, is that fashions change, and if we have embraced Christian faith as part of a fashion, we are likely to not hold fast when fashions change. Lewis notes that humans need both permanence and change. It is his judgment that we are in greater danger of losing a sense of permanence than of becoming too intellectually stagnant.Lewis says that we are prone, in search of appropriate change, to opt for an addiction to novelty. Stated negatively, we have a â€Å"horror of the Same Old Thing. † This leads us into a downward spiral because, by definition, nove lty demands something new every day and, thus addicted, we then find it impossible to take satisfaction in what is familiar. This leads us to value â€Å"fashion or vogues† over what is substantive. On page 138 Lewis lays out the theological equivalent of the oft quoted dictum that military generals are always fighting the last war.Because fashions change faster than our ability to understand the change, we are likely to be responding to a danger that is less than the one we actually face. Think, for example, of how emotionally cold Lutherans are often terrified of honest expressions of devotion in worship, and theologically anemic Pentecostals may resist asking hard, intellectual questions. Lewis is constantly reminding us that the important questions do not concern where an idea came from, whether it is fashionable, or if it is new.The most important questions ask whether something is true, life giving, healing, righteous, prudent, and righteous. The task of the Christian i s not so much to respond to fashions as to be faithful and let fashions come and go. That being said, one must also say that there is a very real danger of loving stability so much that one refuses to recognize when the world has indeed changed. One can not be driven by fashion at the deepest level, but fashions are a reality in the world. The obvious place where this arises in the average congregation is in worship.Nobody wants to trade substantive for trendy–but neither does faithfulness call us to speak in language and forms that do not communicate to our intended mission field. Chapter 26 Here Lewis distinguishes between what he calls â€Å"unselfishness† and â€Å"charity. † In truth what he calls unselfishness in this chapter is actually a false unselfishness, a pretense that in actuality is resentful at not getting its way. Lewis believes that trying to mandate unselfishness is a doomed proposition because emotional fires cool and we tire of pretending we don’t want what we want.Much better, says Lewis, for us to be up front about our desires, then we are spared the games of pretending we don’t want what we want–and then feeling resentful when the other does not give it to us. We can not always have what we want, but honest expression allows 13 us to at least see the options cleanly and allows the conflict to be dealt with â€Å"within the bounds of reason and courtesy† (p. 144). Implicit, but not very clearly stated, is the idea that genuine â€Å"charity† or â€Å"love† does not have to be mandated, because as we grow into the image of Christ we enuinely do desire the best for the other; there are fewer things that we feel we must contend for, and those things are the ones for which our Lord would contend: justice, mercy, compassion. Lewis suggests that unselfishness as a tactic is destructive of human community because it is finally a dishonest way of attempting to attain our goals. Love is not supposed to be a tactic, but rather a transformed way of being in the world. False unselfishness produces bitter martyrs who never tire of telling how much they are sacrificing; charity produces servants whose only desire is to serve as Christ would serve.By the by, it would be interesting to poll a group studying this book and see if they find Lewis’ characterization of men and women’s ideas of unselfishness valid some 60 years after he wrote them. How does recent research into the different ways that women and men experience the world, both biologically and based on acculturation, affect how we read Lewis’ words on gender differences. Chapter 27 Lewis turns to discussion of prayer in this chapter. He notes that we often fail to recognize that difficulty in concentrating in prayer may well be the thing which we most need to lift up in prayer.We should not try to muscle our way through distractions, but rather offer them up to God as our greatest need at that moment. Doing this, the result is that we are honest before God (always good) and made even more aware of our need for grace (which is finally all that matters). Lewis takes a swipe at a spirituality that thinks only pure adoration is the ultimate expression of prayer (an attitude one often finds in mystics). There is nothing ignoble, says Lewis, about petitionary prayer, indeed it is explicitly enjoined by God. Such prayer, however it â€Å"works†, reminds the one praying that he or she is dependent upon God for what is needful.We can easily find ourselves dismissing answered prayers as something that would have happened anyway, while seeing unanswered prayers as proof positive that prayer is all bunk (â€Å"heads I win, tails you lose, p. 148). Lewis spends a long time in discussing how God and humanity experience time. The thrust of the argument is that God does not experience time in a linear fashion, but as a totality, so it is impossible to think in terms of the c ause/effect relationship which usually characterizes discussions of whether prayer â€Å"works. God desires to make room for human petition and action as one variable in the matrix; â€Å"why† is the great question, not â€Å"how. † Perhaps the most important part of this chapter is Lewis’ attack on the Historical Point of View, which others might call the school of Historicism. Lewis’ asserts that Historicism does not ask the fundamental question â€Å"Is it true? † Instead it asks questions of philosophical pedigree and implications, assuming that if one knows what influences a writer/thinker experienced, one has â€Å"explained† his thought.The implicit idea is that â€Å"new† ideas are better than old ones, that ideas are like technology, the new displacing the old. Lewis finds this idea of inevitable intellectual progress absurd. He believes this makes for intellectual games which fail to join the only question that is important : Is it true? The debate becomes more important than settling the question. Lewis would not deny the need for intellectual humility in asserting an answer; what he objects to is the assumption that there is no answer. 14 Chapter 28 Lewis makes a fairly simple point.It is hard for humans to persevere in anything, whether it be weight loss or prayer. For that reason, Screwtape does not see early death as the evil humans do. Rather he notes how fertile the Middle-Aged years are for undermining faith: the bloom is off the rose, emotions and energy are reduced, and one has been running the race a long time. â€Å"All this provides ample opportunity for wearing the soul down by attrition (p. 155). † Conversely, if the later years are ones of leisure and ease, it is easy for humans to become fat and complacent, wedded to the world, rather than focused on what god is trying to make of them.Lewis notes that youth may be times of â€Å"sin† when â€Å"they are always shooting o ff at tangents†, but the danger of later years is that we become jaded and so focused on the disappointments of the world that we cease to strive toward our heavenly home, and settle simply for striving to make heaven on earth. Chapter 29 Lewis notes again that failure and cowardice are in and off themselves harmless. The point is whether such experiences lead us to trust God more or less. From Lewis’ perspective the task is to learn to trust God, come what may.Courage is â€Å"the form of every virtue at its testing point (161). † How does one have courage at crunch time? Finally, it is in finding something outside the world in which we can trust. Also interesting is Lewis’ insight that we tend to hate in direct proportion to our fear; as we trust we will also hate less. The writer of I John 4 offers a similar insight; embracing love we will find ourselves fearing less. Hate, fear, love, trust–all related. Chapter 30 Notice how Screwtape suggests H ell is a place where only results count (165).Yet this is just the sort of thinking one often hears in a competitive society; the logical implication being that what we often think of as â€Å"realistic† and admirable is hellish. Lewis distinguishes between â€Å"false hope† which is actually a desire that may or may not be fulfilled and, by implication, true hope which is rooted in confidence in God and committed to enduring whatever may come. Lewis next turns to the different meanings we give to â€Å"real†. As he notes, real can either mean the bare facts or the emotional interpretation or we put on them.We are likely in times of crisis to assume the physical facts are the reality and be tempted to dismiss hopes, while at the same time regarding the good we receive as merely â€Å"subjective† creations. Chapter 31 Lewis offers a beautiful â€Å"bird’s eye view† of the death experience which includes some important images: Death is a momen t of release –â€Å"as if a scab had fallen from an old wound. † Death is a relative thing–Rather than horrible, Screwtape notes that the violent death experienced by Wormword’s patient was actually an easy experience because it spared the Christian lingering struggle. (172).Death is a moment of clarity after a time of struggle–All that seemed too difficult to understand is suddenly easily comprehended. Illusions are unmasked and both devil and angels are seen for what they are (173). There is a sense of both coming home and arriving for the first time; as Augustine noted, we are made for God and restless until we find our rest there. Death is a moment of reunion with the incredible love which gave us life and nurtured us 15 into maturity along the way (174). Yet interestingly enough, Lewis seems to suggest some form of â€Å"purgatory† where one must still encounter pain (of purification? , but this is a pain which one encounters with the f ull awareness that one is loved and accepted, the end is assured and wonderful.Though purgatory has historically been a minority concept in Protestant thinking, Lewis here, and even more clearly in The Great Divorce, articulates the concept. Lewis ends with one final assertion of just how inexplicable such love is to Screwtape and all who distrust the possibility of grace. For such people the law of hell reigns, â€Å"Bring us back food or be food yourself (165). God does not have to consign those persons to hell; hey simply choose it, make it, and inhabit it daily. Screwtape Proposes a Toast As noted in the editor’s preface, this essay is very different from the rest of the letters; they focus on corruption of the individual, this is much more concerned with the broader intellectual climate which, in Lewis’ opinion, is undercutting society A recurring theme is the observation that the evil of modern society has less of the passion, verve, and brash Promethean courage of former days. The modern world is one of tawdry, insipid, passive vice–less chosen than fallen into by lack of intelligence or imagination.This is the point in Screwtape’s critique of the banquet’s courses. But if the quality of sin is lacking, Screwtape says the quantity has never been better, which is to say few and fewer persons are being drawn into a serious encounter with God’s purposes. Modern humanity, says Lewis, is characterized by being â€Å"muddled in mind†, â€Å"smallness and flabbiness†, and a tendency to be carried along by mindless repetitions. â€Å"Their consciousness hardly exists apart from the social atmosphere that surrounds them (191).The bulk of the essay is a laceration of what Lewis sees as the moral flabbiness and intellectual weakness of a democratic mindset which denies the need for excellence and the recognition of differences between people. Society has made an ideology of â€Å"democracy†, by muddl ed thinking mistaking a political commitment to equal opportunity for a belief that all must be the same and that those who excel must be cut down. This, says Lewis, is finally rooted in Envy; that which was once deplored or laughed at is now sanctioned by the false statement, â€Å"I’m as good as you. Lewis believes this attitude finally strives to eliminate all forms of human excellence (201). He takes education as his primary example of how such leveling occurs in society, destroying the excellence that breeds both great leaders and great tyrants (206). The problem is that this means the evil have greater power because the rest of society is less able to discern and respond to the danger. A second danger in embracing this false egalitarianism (I’m as good as you) is that individuals lack humility, charity, contentment, gratitude, and the other virtues which might lead them to heaven (208).The essay ends with a cautionary description of a fine wine made out of the d istilled essence of Pharisee, a reminder that self-righteousness is always the stuff on which Hell feasts†¦. One might wonder whether this is a backhanded acknowledgment by Lewis that he is sounding pretty self-righteous himself. There is a hard edge and nastiness to this essay that is not nearly so pronounced in the Screwtape Letters. Lewis sounds every bit the conservative don he was, but that does not mean he is wrong in warning of moral and intellectual flabbiness.

Overview of the Genitive Singular in Latin Declensions

Overview of the Genitive Singular in Latin Declensions When you are trying to translate a Latin noun into English or English into Latin, you should know which of the five declensions the noun falls into. If you know the declension and the dictionary forms of a noun, youre set. For instance, the word puella, a first declension word that will be listed as puella, -ae, f. or something similar in the dictionary, is feminine (thats what the f. stands for; m. stands for masculine and n. stands for neuter) and is first declension, as you can tell from the second part of the dictionary listing, here; -ae. The genitive (cÄ sus patricus paternal case in Latin) is the name for this second form (-ae for the first declension) and is easy to remember as the equivalent of a possessive or apostrophe-s case in English. Thats not its complete role, though. In Latin, the genitive is the case of description. The use of one genitive noun limits the meaning of another noun, according to Richard Upsher Smith, Jr., in A Glossary of Terms in Grammar, Rhetoric, and Prosody for Readers of Greek and Latin: A Vade Mecum. There are five declensions in Latin. The genitive ending is used in the dictionary because each of the five declensions has its own genitive form. The five genitive terminations are: -ae-Ä «-is-us-eÄ « An example from each of the 5 declensions: puellae - the girls (puella, -ae, f.)servÄ « - the slaves (servus, -Ä «, m.)principis - the chiefs (princeps, -ipis, m.)cornÃ… «s - the horns (cornÃ… «, -Ã… «s, n.)dieÄ « - the days (dies, -eÄ «, m.)