Housing Development Process Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Housing Development Process - Essay Example However, emphasis on the architectural requirements of the houses has not been significant in the conventional practice of house development, although it is as important as the structural engineering concerns of the development. Importance of an architect is further exaggerated by a social change that has increased peoples’ interest in fashion, looks and aesthetics. An architect ensures their achievement in the finished look of the house. The housing development process requires careful consideration of various factors other than the design and aesthetics of the house. The development scheme originates from the need in a particular area, and the expenses available to the developers prior to development. Once the process of development of houses is felt beneficial for the community in a certain area, the developers look for the most appropriate site. A site that is near to the market and can offer many facilities at shortest distance from the house is considered the best for development. Once the site is selected, the developers accumulate funds either from banks, or by investments from the public. Then the site layout is prepared. Labor accommodation, site offices, and other facilities required for the development are clearly demarcated in the site layout. The project commences with the formulation of preliminary design by the architects that is matured by the structural engineers. Cost estimates are prepared simulta neously. Once the final design and cost estimates are identified, the construction begins. The houses are constructed as per the design and schedule prepared in the start of the project. It is ensured that the construction complies with the specifications devised by the architect in the start of the project. What is equally important is to ensure that the project completes exactly upon or before the time expected by the customer. Exceeding the finishing time can incur huge monetary

Climate Change and the Experience of Poverty Essay

Climate Change and the Experience of Poverty - Essay Example Mitigation encompasses reducing the impact that one has on the environment through reduction of one’s carbon footprint among other activities. Conversely, adaptation involves dealing with consequences of climate change by say, establishing methods of coping with regular floods. A gap exists in current literature on the relationship between climate change and poverty. Several analysts tend to focus on mitigation at the community level. Institutions have been formed to minimise energy use through transport. Others have addressed housing and urban development (Berrang-Ford et. al., 2011). While these efforts may contribute to long term solutions for the country in general, they do not address the direct challenges that disadvantaged community members face when dealing with extreme weather events. ... It is imperative for stakeholders at the national, corporate and local levels to target this group when creating interventions. Extreme weather events (Such as floods, storms, and cyclones) are a manifestation of climate change and have adverse effects on disadvantaged communities. Poor people live in less-robust settlements that often leave them defenceless against these situations. Furthermore, they lack information of how to protect themselves during such events. Demetriades and Esplen (2008) note that actions are necessary in order to strengthen the resilience of the vulnerable during extreme weather events. Stakeholders may empower the disadvantaged through information dissemination, infrastructural preparedness, housing tenure agreements, among others (McCright, 2010. One of the ways in which these changes are manifested is through community projects. Nongovernmental organizations and special interest groups may carry out community projects to build resilience among disadvantag ed communities. It is imperative to understand why such groups are performing this role, and whether their activities arose from gaps in policy interventions from the national and local governments. Community projects are insufficient as a coping strategy for disadvantaged communities (Zsamboky et. al., 2011). However, they represent an attempt by non-state actors to participate in an issue of grave national consequences. Their presence in deprived areas indicates that policy-makers may not be doing enough to prepare these communities for extreme weather conditions. Runhaar et. al. (2012) carried out a study in the Netherlands to assess the stimuli and barriers to climate change adaptations in urban areas. They found that a gap

Microsoft Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Microsoft - Research Proposal Example Also, the position which management would have in regards to the technology decisions. Areas, while unique in nature and purpose, can come together to form the bigger picture. That is, a companies ability to achieve a more prosperous state. In regards to the Human Resources Department; People are Microsoft's greatest asset. Human Resources is responsible for identifying, hiring, and retaining this gifted intellectual talent, as well as developing and administering Microsoft's generous compensation and benefits programs in order to create a quality employee experience. We help maintain Microsoft's fulfilling work environment, which is a catalyst for great achievements," Adding that, "Human Resources ensures that a diverse range of candidates is considered for opportunities. We believe that hiring exceptional, diverse talent gives Microsoft unlimited potential. The result is enhanced product development and employee performance, as well as a connection with communities everywhere," ("Human Resources", p.1) In respect to the function of management in Human Resources decisions, the hierarchical structure of the company maintains a level of great appreciation for its hiring practices. Being that, those whom they hire, are able to continuously perform at such levels, that the company itself is able to see continued grow and the employees are able to grow along with it. As far as management is concerned, by providing a work environment that fosters growth and greater learning, the achievements made by their workers are far greater in return. As a major participant in the advancement of technological discovery, Microsoft seeks to maintain a corporate image that fosters an impression of excellence in products created, as well as a level of staff that exhibits through performance, the same level of quality and reliability that many have come to expect when purchasing a Microsoft created item. In the outlining of clear expectations for corporate practices, management can enforce the expectatio ns which they have on the basis that, as are the decision making body for the corporation, they are the one's who possess within them the ability to produce results that, in the end, provide for the best possible results for the greatest number of people. From a standpoint of considering how any change in management can impact further technology, the function of management is placed into greater detail with the announced corporate transition, as a result of Bill Gates stepping aside to pursue other endeavors. In the outlining of clear expectations for corporate practices, management can enforce the expectations which they have on the basis that, as are the decision making body for the corporation, they are the one's that possess within them the ability to produce results that, in the end, provide for the best possible results for the greatest number of people. As it stands; The question is whether Microsoft can compete as effectively without its founder. Ballmer, who took over as CEO from Gates in 2000 after 20 years as his key exec, is confident it can. That transition had been rough for both parties; according to Ballmer, it took a while

Situational analysis and action plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Situational analysis and action plan - Essay Example Through the efforts of our dedicated teachers, the school will manage to increase total pupil retention levels by a wide margin. This, unfortunately, is not enough to maintain the positive competitive edge needed to stand out as an educational leader in the 21st Century. Teachers will need to put their many talents together with the dedicated school leadership and parents and assist the school in meeting the new educational mission. That’s what we intend to find out. A series of strategy seminars are planned, as an initial path forward, to identify which teachers maintain the specific skills most appropriate for different student age groups. These strategy seminars are designed to let teachers know where the school is specifically moving as part of a path forward mentality (Bush, 2004). It is important to develop a team-based philosophy between different teachers, leaders, students and parents areas, and this intervention program will be beneficial in improving the relationship between teachers and students. These will further be designed as open forums in which questions can be proposed to teachers, school managers and concerned parents who might attend these publicized strategy seminars. Improving parent-teacher relations will only enhance the educational goals of the school and make it excel in the interpersonal group dynamic. The long-term benefits of these initial strategy sessions are to identify k ey skills with different teachers and apply relationship-based learnings to motivate students. The school requires the adopting of a systems-oriented organisation in which various interdependencies exist, such as the linkage between teacher skills and student learning. In order for one area of the school to stand as a leader, it involves personal mastery of job role function. Personal mastery refers to focusing on spirit, patience, and the

Effectiveness of Time and Financial Management Essay Example for Free

Effectiveness of Time and Financial Management Essay Chapter 1 I. Introduction A. General Statement to the Effectiveness of Time and Financial Management on selected scholars of Adamson University 1. Profile of the Selected Scholars B. Statement of the problem ( How can they cope up with the demands of their respective courses? C. Objectives of the study D. Relevance of the study E. Definition of terms Chapter 2 II. Survey of Related Literature A. Foreign studies 1. Working Students/Student Assistants 2. Scholars B. Local Studies 1. Working Students/Student Assistants 2. Scholars Chapter 3 III. Methods on how to measure effectiveness of time and financial management A. Results of Survey/Questionnaire to the Selected Scholars of Adamson University 1. Graphical Representation 2. Analysis of the results IV. Conclusion Chapter 3 Methods on how to measure Effectiveness of Time and Financial Management The researchers chose 7 different scholars to conduct a survey about the chosen topic. Most of the respondents came from student assistant’s category and the others came from the category of academic scholars. These scholars were given scholarships from Ozanam Study Grant Program and Megaworld Foundation. On the range of their ages, 17-22 years old were the students who were given an opportunity they wanted to have. The scholars being interviewed have a daily allowance of more or less 150 pesos. On the Graph 1.1 being shown below are some of the expenses of the following students. Graph 1.1 A little number of respondents said that they stay in boarding houses that cost them Php 1,600 to Php 1,700. Literally, the cost was being solved by their parents. 3 out of 7 students said that both of their parents are self-employed. 1 respondent said that his/her parents run a business and another corresponds to unemployed parents. The rest of the students match up on other answers like their father/mother neither is an overseas Filipino worker, a tricycle driver, a plain housewife nor was deceased. Researchers proceed to the monthly income of their parents in able to measure the financial background of each and every respondent. Graph 1.2 illustrates the possible monthly income of the parents of these learners. Graph 1.2 As you can see, there is an equality of 14,000 and lower and 15,000-20,000 income. It is based on the survey being conducted by the researchers and from the occupation of their parents. On the part of their financial management, they spent the biggest part of their allowance for their food (50%) followed by their transportation and some other expenses. This shows that food is very important especially for the scholars like them. Food is an essential and they must not ignore because of the responsibilities they have in the university. The primary reason of the pupils asked in preferring themselves in being a scholar of Adamson University is that because they wanted to help their parents in decreasing the expenses. In this reason, an individual can determine that financial or money matters are the first basis in order for them to have financial management. Other reasons are for them to gain independency. The effectiveness of financial management is measured by proper usage of money and thinking a creative way of using up money.  The researchers also find ways on evaluating time supervision of scholars. Because of a more number of student assistants being interviewed, most of their time is allotted on their duties. Here is Graph 1.3 that shows how long an ordinary scholar uses his /her time in the university. Graph 1.3 Take a look of the graph that has been illustrated by the researchers. Student D and F are academic scholars. According to the information gathered from the survey, these students are academic scholars. As academic scholars, their worlds are focused on studying. They usually spend time in resting, studying and even have a time for leisure. On the other hand, the remaining students (A, B , C and E) make use of their time in duties and offices. Equalizing time in each activity of a student like them is not easy to do. Like on the Graph 1.3, student assistants are divided in different opinions. Some of them were able to balance their time and others cannot. Same answer was derived by academic scholars. However, they also answered it depends on the situation. Situations are unpredictable and make equalization of time in different planned activities. Somehow, all of them have a time for rest and have a break after long hours from school. Lastly, as a scholar, grade is the most important or basis in acquiring scholarships. Grades of these scholars are not affected by activities being done in school. Therefore, these learners have a good strategic measures in managing their time and studies. Chapter 4 Conclusion Based on the presented and interpreted data above, the following conclusions were drawn: 1. That most of the scholars spend their money more on food  for it is an essential need. 2. That most of the scholars wanted to help their parents to reduce the number of expenses. 3. That most of the scholars allot their time to school by doing different duties but assures that grades of them will not be affected. Chapter 2 Survey of Related Literature

Mythology and literature Essay Example for Free

Mythology and literature Essay The definition of mythology is deprived from the word myth. The word itself comes from the Greek word mythos, which means fable, legend or sagas. The word myth is a story that seeks to rationalize the universe and the world around us, passed down orally from generation to generation explaining religious origin, natural phenomena or supernatural event. Mythology is a collection of myths that concerns with cosmogony and cosmology, shared by a particular society at some particular time in human history. Literature is a body of written works of language, period or culture. Literature can be divided into fiction (e.g. fairty tale, gothic, saga etc) and non-fiction (e.g. essays, journal, science fiction etc). There are many distinctive natures of mythology and they seek to describe what a particular person or society believe during that period of time. Myths serves as an charter for their institutions, customs and beliefs. The typical mythology is the explanation of the universe and its ethology. Normally, the setting is set in a previous proto-world (simliar to the current world but also different) and they often revolve around non-human or extroadinary people such as god, goddess, supernatural beings (e.g. zeus, adam and eve, prometheus etc). These story explains why things are and how they became to be. It rationalised our way of thinking, reconcile us to reality and establishes our pattern of life. Apart from the explanation of the creation of the universe, mythologies seek to explain everyday natural phenomena. Certain myths explains way the sun exist and why there is night and day. Some explains the existance of seasons: Spring,Winter,Summer and Autumn while others shows of mother nature providing us with food and shelter. These myth suggest a way of understanding nature and organizing thoughts. For example, structualism recognizes different contrasting aspect (light and dark, good/evil) as centres to myths which charters for social order or value within a society (functionalism). Myth have been created by human beings for many reasons over thousands of years. They are an intellectual product of humanity and a rich resource for the ideas and belief of past generations. Their extroadinary and unbelievable aspect combined with the constant thought that there might be something out their is what keeps mythology functioning and is what keeps literature moving. There are also many differences between literature and mythology. For instance, they were used for different purposes and existed in different times. Myth several purposes, including to socially/politically control society (e.g. to spread a myth about something to control people, to scare people when facts were not available). Literature on the other hand, is more about persuading and informing people. There are also other benefits to mythology that cannot be achieved in literature, such as there is no boundary to the world, there is no such thing as false and there is low risk of anyone challenging your theory. The sets of beliefs also differ and the way they view the world differs. For example, literatures audience are educated modern people while mythologys one is from the old generation where there was not much information about the world and how it works. This would mean that the two different texts have different intended audience which would inevitably show why they differ so much. Both are products of humans but during different time frame. The arrival of the modern era would inevitably mean the death of mythology. The transformation from one to another was the belief that myth was useless, false and outmoded and that it did not work. Science (regarded as a fictional literature) was the objective explanation of how the world around us work while the subjective myth was about faith and believing something unfounded. Scientific rational thought was based on empricial knowledge, a priori (not falsifiable) and our way of thinking is based on facts. Myth is ultimately a different knowledge, an ideology, a set of belief. Systems of myths have provided a cosmological and historical framework for societies that have lacked the more sophisticated knowledge provided by modern science. Myth is related to science, however it only provide basis for a theory, not knowledge. For example the myth of how the origin was created would have lacked modern day rational scientific belief because they would prefer a more true, superior and more authority theory, which is the big bang theory. Our modern rational paradigm thought is based on observation. Scientific rational thinking is based on logic to solve or explain how the world works and as it becomes a part of our everyday thinking, mythology will be inevitable cast aside. Carl Jung invented modern scientific theory and for him, the world of dream, and myth represented the most fascinating and promising road to deeper understanding. The significance of literature in mythology as said We need the stories of myth to make sense of the confusion of our society and our own psyches. Myth voices the truths of our unconscious selves, and the gods, goddesses, and heroes of myth embody aspects of creativity, cleverness, grief, joy, aggression, and ecstasy. Carl Jung believes that even the most sophisticated and important literature requires some mythological aspect. (E.g. the Lord of the Ring depends on mythical characteristic to drives the ideas; horror movies have a message and some urban myth taps into childs fear of a bogyman under the bed) Northrop Frye criticises literature and states the importance of cultural myth underlying literature (E.g. Sea, land and sky, control, creation, decay, regeneration, our fear). Mythology evokes our sub-conscious mind (e.g. dream) which is employed by reference to mythology in literature. Frye states that mythology provided themes for some of the worlds greatest drama, and similar themes can be traced back to the Renaissance literature, through to Shakespeare (E.g. Hamlet, Midsummer Nights Dream) and finally to modern poetry and thus mythology plays a significance role with literature. One could even say that literature is based on mythology. Karen Armstrong book A Short History of Myth is about how literature and mythology were shaped by the problems of the society people lived in. Armstrong states that the existence of Mythology from an early period: Human beings fall easily into despair, and from the very beginning we invented stories that enabled us to place our lives in a larger setting, that revealed an underlying pattern, and gave us a sense that, against all the depressing and chaotic evidence to the contrary, life had meaning and value. With the coming of the great revolutions in human experience science was used to explain facts as opposed the theory of myth, which became useless, false and outmoded. Literature, which could explain things that was never thought possible, was regarded as the next step from mythology (from an uneducated society to a civilized society). The relationship between literature and mythology is one of similarities as well as differences. They are both important creation by human beings and will continue to play an important role in the intellectual world. Literature will always include some aspect of myth which will continue to shape our modern world like it did in the past.

Michael Ondaatjes Coming Through Slaughter

Michael Ondaatjes Coming Through Slaughter Michael Ondaatje, the first Canadian writer to win the prestigious Booker Prize in 1992, is celebrated as a contemporary literary treasure. In his works he attempts a re-evaluation of history by focusing on relations between the margins and the centre, the personal and the public. As such his works readily lend themselves to post-modern and post-colonial approaches to literature. In addition, Ondaatjes distinctive appeal is that of an experimental practitioner and stylish expert in creating sensuous and sensual effects. Ondaatje draws heavily from his personal experience of being at the intersection of cultures, which enables him to attempt a special review of reality. Born in Sri Lanka, the former Ceylon, of Indian/Dutch ancestry, he went to school in England, and then moved to Canada. His multicultural roots and upbringing in multicultural society has provided him with a special insight into diverse positions and views. Acknowledged as one of the worlds foremost writers, Ondaatjes artistry and aesthetics has influenced an entire generation of writers and readers. Although best known as a novelist, Ondaatjes work also encompasses memoir, poetry, and film, and reveals a passion for defying conventional forms. From the memoir of his childhood, Running In The Family, to his Governor-Generals Award-winning book of poetry, Theres a Trick With a Knife Im Learning To Do (1979), to his classic novel, The English Patient (1992), Michael Ondaatje casts a spell over his readers. His works are characterized by a bleakly evocative narrative and minimalist dialogue, blending documentary and fictional accounts of real characters. The present paper attempts to trace and evaluate Ondaatjes explorations of identity as retrieved from history and memory. The focus is on Coming Through Slaughter, in which Ondaatje recreates the forgotten story of Billy Bolden, transforming it with such ingenuity that it occupies the space between history and memory, reality and imagination. The no vel explores the themes of alienation and infidelity that so often lead an individual to self-destruction, a typical element of the modern lifestyle. First published in 1976, the novel Coming Through Slaughter is a fictionalized version of the life of the New Orleans jazz pioneer Buddy Bolden. Charles Buddy Bolden (September 6, 1877 November 4, 1931) was an African American musician. He is regarded a key figure in the development of a New Orleans style of rag-time music which later came to be known as jazz. The novel covers the last months of Boldens sanity in 1907 when his music becomes more radical and his behavior more erratic. Ondaatjes concern however is not as much with the actual life story of Bolden as with the world of the time, where, as he says, There was no recorded historyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦History was slowà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦(2,3).The novel portrays this historical figure in a way that draws on his actual life, but as Cynthia F. Wong succinctly points out, Ondaatje blurs the generic distinctions between poetry and prose, factual verisimilitude and fictional reconstruction (289) in order to explore the novels central theme. The novel comprises of a series of events strung together as snap shots demanding from readers to imagine and retrieve the self of Bolden from them. Ondaatje artistically and beautifully narrates the tale of the protagonist Buddy Boldens descent into his own hell. A blues musician, Bolden was unsurpassed in his time as his work influenced the music of several later generations. However in his time he struggled to transcend lifes miseries even as he frequently lapsed into despair, loneliness, and subsequently, madness. In this novel, Ondaatje touches the issue of infidelity with gossamer perfection and adds new dimensions and understanding to it. He raises pathos to such poetic heights that his genius matches with that of the great Greeks and does not falter when compared with greatest Bard of Elizabethan era- Shakespeare. There are no kings, no queens and no princes. There is nothing halo about the mega character. Neither there are gods nor ghosts to guide the hero. However, there is wisdom of the blood feeling on the hair tips and a wild passion that guides. The milieu depicted in the novel is lewd and lascivious. As he writes, By the end of Nineteenth century, the Storyville district of New Orleans had some 2000 prostitutes, 70 professional gamblers, and 30 piano players.(3) But it had only one man who played the cornet like Buddy Bolden he who cut hair by day at N. Josephs Shaving Parlor, and at night played jazz, unleashing an unforgettable wildness and passion in crowded rooms. The world that Ondaatje portrays is inhabited by people living at the margins of society; pimps, whores, barber, musicians playing in bars, etc. Through such a portrayal, he recreates the exciting world of jazz, as he describes how whores lay naked on the stage amidst a rendering of wild, loud and vibrant music- sensuous and passionate in the background. There is no talk of morality or other rules governing civilized society. Ondaatje takes us to the places where there are over 100 prostitutes from pre-puberty to their seventies (2). Music players are barbers. It is a dead crowd where money is the most living thing. They are neither Titans nor war wrecks or winners, but blacks pulsating with vigor, strength, passion and promiscuity. Ondaatje thus gives a presence to people who have always been deprived from occupying the historical space. The novel is explicitly about Boldens identity as expressed in his music, but implicitly, it is about his identity as a black man whose musical insistence on freedom is thwarted by worsening racism in New Orleans at the beginning of the twentieth century. Yet as Ondaatje observes, many interpreted Boldens subsequent crack-up as a morality tale of a talent that debauched itself. But his life at this time had a fine and precise balance to ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (7). Ondaatje portrays Bolden, an American of African ancestry as a tragic artist, a man whose musical genius isolates him from friends and family and eventually leads to his insanity. The black-white racial conflict however does not become the focus of the novel. Rather structured like jazz music, the novel presents a fragmented, multi-voiced, episodic narrative that draws even an unwilling reader into its passion. In this ordinary world, Ondaatje takes up the issue of infidelity. There are no accusations, no cold revenge, no plotting, no cursing, no murdering; but silent suffering- an ache in the soul-a sublimation and pouring out of the heart in the art i.e. music. As Ondaatje portrays, the cruelties of external world pervade the personal one too. Shakespeares Hamlet could rightly aver, Frailty- thy name is woman. But here both men and women are frail. Why so? Not an easy question to answer. In an unjust world where the primary struggle is that of survival, pure bonds of love are impossible to forge. Infidelity has remained curse of all ages, civilizations and tribes. Wounds and woes of infidelity lead to unbearable pain that becomes difficult to express. Why one falls in bondage, why seeks solace in this bondage, one does not realize. Why man and woman wish to break this bondage? Perhaps no one can ever describe. Buddy has learned that Tom Pickett is having an affair with his common-law wife , Nora Bass. Pickett is an extremely handsome pimp in the city of New Orleans. Boldens wife, Nora, was formally part of Picketts business endeavors. After Pickett boasts about his relationship with Nora, Bolden doubts the stability of his construction of Nora, If Nora had been with Pickett. Had really been with Pickett as he said. Had jumped off Boldens cock and sat for half an hour later on Tom Picketts mouth on Canal Street. Then the certainties he loathed and needed were liquid at the root (75). What emerges in the novel thus is the murky world at the very rag and bone shop of society where alcohol and sex make up for pain and love, and music exudes ineffably from the fabric of blasted lives. Boldens musical progress is differentiated from that of his contemporaries and followers as clear and even transcendental, particularly at the point where he becomes irretrievably insane. But why such a talented and pure spirited man should linger on in the mental asylum for all his life and die anonymous. Herein lies the true ache of novel and its genuine pathos. Buddy is neither killed or murdered nor crucified but is slaughtered on the altar of infidelity. When Bolden meets Robin Brewitt, Ondaatje observes that he nearly fainted (27); he loses control of his senses, and, perhaps in more romantic terms, his heart. The early stages of Boldens relationship with Robin are marked clearly by an ongoing loss of control or, more accurately, by the loss of the balance that characterized his life with Nora. Robin seems to represent an alternate other for Bolden a second chance, as it was, for his constructing a kind of truth for himself. It is stated repeatedly that even though Bolden has numerous women throwing themselves at him, he truly loves Nora. However, after Bolden runs from New Orleans, he finds himself without Nora. As Ondaatje portrays, Bolden does not really love Robin. Robin is his outlet. She blurs into Nora- and Nora is not his. He is completely alienated and devastated- devoid of everything- including his kith and kin. Only a slow and anonymous death is his destiny- a destiny of every modern man. The story is told in many fragme nts and many voices: Actual accounts of Boldens life and performances, oral history, lists of songs, biographical facts, narrative, dialogue, interior monologues, psychiatric reports, bits of poetry and lyrics, the authors own voice through which Ondaatje weaves a series of brilliantly improvised sets. There are blues, there are the hymns, there is rhythm, there is free jazz, there is melody, soul, mood, wild aggression with notes flung out in pain and hurt and it all creates an atmosphere, an environment. New Orleans whores, pimps, drugs, booze, clarinets and cornets, jazz and jazzmen, ship builders and photographers and love and lunacy. Buddy also breaks the boundaries of love; he sacrifices his wife and children in order to pursue something more with Robin. In the Parade on fifth morning, Buddy gives his last performance. In the Liberty-Iberville concert, during the performance, Bolden is fascinated by a dancing girl who follows the rhythms and dances to his tunes intoxicatingly. Boldens self is completely immersed into music, so much that he even forgets the audience. The mounting tension between Bolden and the girl is reflected in the prose of the passage as run-on sentences break into fragments and then continue to the climactic point of Boldens complete immersion into music: In fact, the following passage reads much like a metaphor for the act of sex. Boldens love life is revealed when he describes the beautiful dancer as a culmination of his lovers. Then with the gorgeous dancer at the parade who pushes him to further limits leading to his destruction: All my body moves to my throat and I speed again and she s peeds tired again, a river of sweat to her what her head and hair back bending back to me, all the desire in me is cramp and hard, cocaine on my cock, external, for my heart is at my throat hitting slow pure notes into the shimmy dance of victory . . . feel the blood that is real move up bringing fresh energy in its suitcase, it comes up flooding past my heart in a mad parade, it is coming through my teeth, it is into the cornet, god cant stop god cant stop it cant stop the air the red force coming up cant remove it from my mouth, no intake gasp, so deep blooming it up god I cant choke it the music still pouring in a roughness Ive never hit, watch it listen it listen it, cant see I CANT SEE. Air floating through the blood to the girl red hitting the blind spot I can feel others turning, the silence of the crowd, cant see (131-32). Thus the instrument and the player become one. Diffusing himself, rather melting himself, blowing out himself through the cornet, his body, nerves, veins, sperms and aches of the soul find release. The whole scene is so built; the pitch of the music is raised to such sublimity that everybody is purged of his or her sin. The pathos of the jazz turns lyrics into hymns. The dancing girl appears to be a nymph and Buddy becomes the mystic piper. The appearance of a dancing woman who reminds him of both Nora and Robin releases his latent insanity, which is manifested in a stroke that he suffers while playing his cornet. Bolden spends the rest of his life in an asylum in nearby Jackson, returning to New Orleans only for burial in 1931. It is devastating to watch him confined, suffer abuse and gradually slip into madness. Jon Saklofske recognizes that Ondaatje rescues Buddy Bolden from historical obscurity by elevating and complicating the musicians largely forgotten history with a self-conscious and largely fictional synthesis of memory and imagination. The liberties Ondaatje takes in Coming Through Slaughter with his subject to achieve this re-presentation and the ownership of the portrait that results, exposes this type of authorial activity as a problematic appropriation. As a collector, Ondaatje becomes the owner and an essential part of this transformed and personalized image of Bolden. Further, Saklofske rightly argues that Ondaatje preserves Boldens presence, actively confronts historical exclusivity, and interrupts his own authority over his subject. Although his interaction with actual historical figures decreases with successive novels, Ondaatjes personal encounter with the impersonal machine of history continues, asserting itself repeatedly as a successful strategy against destructiveness or authoritative exclusion. Ondaatje tells of Buddy Boldens descent into his own hell, unwittingly or self-created, we do not know, but, in the process generating a level of art and beauty unsurpassed in the postmodern era. It is a story of despair, madness, loneliness, of the viciousness of life affecting high art, of art struggling to transcend lifes miseries, not always successfully, but ultimately a tale of aching lyricism. Ondaatjes language is innovative and appropriate and his strong theme is rich with universal implications. Ondaatje uses technique of Repetition with regards to the title. Twice in the book, Ondaatje includes references to a town north of Baton Rouge called Slaughter, through which Buddy passes twice. The most concrete theme is the idea of the setting as slaughter. The acceptance of promiscuity is a major cause of conflict and downfall. Ondaatje includes a description of the mattress whores who have been kicked out of Storyville for showing evidence of having sexually transmitted disease s. They are literally rotten. Promiscuity also seems to rot Bolden. By the time he has had his gratuitous fun in Storyville, married Nora, abandoned Nora, and had an affair with another woman, Bolden has lost his passion for jazz and is obsessed with sex. I desire every woman I remember (99), he says while he is isolated outside New Orleans. Ondaatje thus explores the connection between creative talent and self-destruction. He however does not try to answer any questions for his readers. He gives the facts, filling in where needed, and lets the reader decide what to think. After Boldens return to New Orleans, he is driven into deeper madness than before until he eventually experiences a climactic breaking point during a parade. Some say it was the result of trying to play the devils music and hymns at the same time. Others say it was from too many general excesses. Whatever the cause, Ondaatje makes it clear that, for Bolden living in New Orleans in the early 20th century, the road to anonymity was much more difficult than the road to fame. To sum up, Ondaatje attempts to retrieve the story of Buddy Bolden which lies hidden beneath layers of time. He draws as much from history, as from memory, re-mixing facts with fiction, reality with imagination, even reinventing the self of Bolden by mixing him with what he terms in the postscript as personal pieces of friends and fathers. In the novel thus, Ondaatje grapples with the intertwined notions of history, memory and identity portraying how memory affects history, to preserve, as also to distort. Identity as such has to be retrieved, reinvented and restructured from the obscure and impersonal discourse of history. The novel however leaves that task to the readers. Works Consulted: Deshaye, Joel. Parading the Underworld of New Orleans in Ondaatjes Coming Through Slaughter American Review of Canadian Studies. ( December 22, 2008). Emmerson, Shannon.Negotiaing the Boundaries of Gender: Construction and Representation of Women in the Work of Michael Ondaatje. A Thesis in The Depanment of English Presented in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts at Concordia University. Canada ,November 1997. Ondaatje, Michael. Coming Through Slaughter. London: Bloomsbury,2004. Saklofske, Jon. The Motif of the Collector and Implications of Historical Appropriation in Ondaatjes Novels. Comparative Cultural Studies and Michael Ondaatjes Writing. West Lefayette :Purdue Univesity Press,2005: 73-82. Vander,Kristin Coming Through Slaughter: The Destruction of a Man, Catapult. Vol.2, Num.4:2003 Wong, Cynthia F. Michael Ondaatje. Asian American Novelists: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Source Book. Ed. Emannuel S. Nelson. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998. Zepetnek,Steven Tà ¶tà ¶sy de. Comparative Cultural Studies and Michael Ondaatjes Writing. West Lefayette:Purdue Univesity Press, 2005.