Education and Empowerment - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1305 Downloads: 9 Date added: 2019/10/10 Did you like this example? Education refers to the systematic process of learning whereby knowledge, skills, habits, values, and beliefs of a particular group of people are passed from generation to generation. Education is facilitated through various forms of teaching, training, and research. In a general sense education is the way to which a person is prepared to face challenges in life. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Education and Empowerment" essay for you Create order It is through knowledge obtained from education that an individual is empowered and development takes place. On the contrary, empowerment refers to the process through which the capacity of individuals or a group of people to make decisions is transformed and modified into desired choices and outcomes. Vital to this procedure are activities and aggregate resources which both form individual and enhance the effectiveness and decency of the authoritative and institutional setting which represent the utilization of these advantages. Education is a choice that is dependent on every individual. It is through empowerment that this awareness is created throughout the world. An empowered individual has the freedom of selection and action. Through this, they can take charge of the decisions that affect and influence their lives. This paper addresses the definition of an educated person. An educated person has a different meaning in the eyes of the community. Various notions are attached to the idea of a healthy nation thereby influencing the status of whether an individual is educated or not. The essay is divided into various sections. The first part is an engaging personal and first-hand experience through an education system. It further explains how it is related to the central argument of the essay; definition of an educated person. This is highlighted through the detailed experience as a reader, writer, and researcher. The flow of the article picks up as a next section discusses the various reasons that may make o ne get an education. The essay moves on to capture the real meaning of learning well. The last section incorporates the various methods that are used by teachers and educationalist towards ensuring student gets the best education that can be offered. Education has been a controversial matter throughout the world. This is in light to matters of gender. The male child has been preferred to receive education to the female child. Empowerment had to be to remove this ideology among the masses. In some areas, it is yet to be a victorious battle. Change is, however, taking root in most countries especially the African continent. As a female, education is a critical stage that has to be accomplished not through force but as a choice and desire. To be educated not only entails the acquisition of knowledge of books and literary material. Most importantly a student should be able to grasp life skills that will help one cope in the real world. In school, one can tell if a student is getting educated, this done through various exercises such as examinations or simple sports activities. Through the interaction with the other students, sometimes from other educational institutions, one can gauge if one is educated or not. An examination based on the core life skills was carried out between my school and another school of the same level. There were distinct differences based on the difference of teachers, classrooms, resources, and exposure to real-life situations. My school had the upper hand compared to the challenged school. The challenged school is a private institution that uniquely approaches education compared to the approach taken by my school. Students from my school in the test connected the heuristics adaptable, recommending that students learned standards as opposed to repetition methodology for argumentation and could adjust the heuristics and exchange their insight to a scope of subjects. Students from the other school showed more prominent learning of contention criteria and techniques. These outcomes bolster the speculation that knowledge of claim structure hones students judgment concerning the substance and association expected to produce legitimately associated allegations. By cleari ng up the prerequisites for restricting convincing factious papers, the heuristics tried in the present investigation may enhance underprepared students capacity to compose scholarly articles. Education remains an idea that is hard to characterize and as open to wrangle as it is fundamental to our personality. Is a gifted craftsman with no formal education considered educated? Is an insightful grandma with eighty years of life encounter, however just a third-grade schooling educated? Is Bill Gates, who dropped out of Harvard as a lesser scholar to establish Microsoft, considered more educated compared to his colleagues who remained in school? When we are looking for education, would we say we are searching for learning, astuteness, abilities, or every one of the three? As one grows, everyone forms a theory that fits their description of an educated person. This varies from person to person as there is no particular approved theory (Battersby, 10).What makes a person educated is dependent on the individual although parents also play a particular role in ensuring children get educated. They offer the necessary help in the form of advice, motivation and the relevant support r equired of them. An educated person is an individual who makes out something useful from the knowledge and skill they have been exposed to. In a larger sense, an educated person is one who can relate to life situations (Biesta, 82). An educated person would be one who scans for perfection, one who does not underestimate things, one who is worried about individuals and things around him or her. An educated person has the following characteristics: Has a profound and bona fide sympathy, endeavoring to comprehend others, with the capacity to withhold their particular judgment until the point when they are confident that they do get it; Is delicate to the mental, physical, moral and social milieu in which they end up, demonstrating admiration and minding regularly (Peters, 45); Has an unmistakable comprehension of his or her own esteems, needs and inclinations without wishing to force these on others; Is autonomous, inside the requirements of shared living, in real life and thought, assuming liability for the well-being and prosperity of their body and their psyche; Comprehends the connectedness of everything on the planet, and even in the universe, thus acts dependable in all that they do the motto think universally, act locally applies here; Is harmonious, implying that the individual will be agreeable in their skin, ready to recognize their own particular emotions and the sentiments of others without loftiness (Peters, 116). Philosopher Christopher Phillips said, â€Å"I think an astounding human advancement do share certain traits: they are forward-looking. They are perceptive of how their activities affect others. Not directly today, but rather in coming eras, and endeavor to act in ways that will improve the lives of people and social orders of today, as well as without bounds and not only the following maybe a couple or five eras, however the next hundred and thousand and ten thousand periods. According to John Dewey, â€Å"Education has no end beyond itself.† There is no specific limit to be considered as well educated. However, there are recognizable aspects and related esteems required to end up noticeably well learned. The meaning expands upon the primary elements in the accompanying ways: It depicts and exhibits a creative model for an all-encompassing and coordinated approach to quality education and deep rooted adapting by and large by creating innovative practices. This is because values educate towards global comprehension and a culture of peace. It incorporates the esteeming procedure, with down to earth illustrations and modules for use by educators and teachers. Additionally, education offers an integrated system of center esteems as aides for coming to our maximum capacity as total individuals in every one of our measurements. Consequently empowering us to build up the mettle, intelligence and initiative qualities required, to contribute usefully toward s building a culture of peace in each setting in which we find ourselves.

Essay on Joseph Stalin - 2352 Words

â€Å"The man who turned the Soviet Union from a backward country into a world superpower at unimaginable human cost (Joseph Stalin).† â€Å"Stalin was born into a dysfunctional family in a poor village in Georgia (Joseph Stalin).† Permanently scarred from a childhood bout with smallpox and having a mildly deformed arm, Stalin always felt unfairly treated by life, and thus developed a strong, romanticized desire for greatness and respect, combined with a shrewd streak of calculating cold-heartedness towards those who had maligned him. â€Å"He always felt a sense of inferiority before educated intellectuals, and particularly distrusted them (Joseph Stalin).† Sent by his mother to the seminary in Tiflis (now Tbilisi), the capital of Georgia, to†¦show more content†¦At first, these people were removed from their posts and exiled abroad. â€Å"Later, when he realized that their sharp tongues and pens were still capable of inveighing against him even from far away, Stalin switched tactics, culminating in a vast reign of terror and spectacular show trials. In the 1930s during which the founding fathers of the Soviet Union were one by one unmasked as enemies of the people who had supposedly always been in the employ of Capitalist intelligence services and summarily shot (Stalin Internet Library).† The particularly pesky Leon Trotsky, who continued to badger Stalin from Mexico City after his exile in 1929, had to be silenced once and for all with an ice pick in 1940. â€Å"The purges, or repressions as they are known in Russia, extended far beyond the Party elite, reaching down into every local Party cell and nearly all of the intellectual professions, since anyone with a higher education was suspected of being a potential counterrevolutionary (Stalin Internet Library).† â€Å"This depleted the Soviet Union of its brainpower, and left Stalin as the sole force in the country. â€Å"He was an expert on virtually every human endeavor (Stalin Internet Library).† Driven by his own sense of inferiority, which he projected onto his country as a whole,Show MoreRelatedEssay Joseph Stalin3070 Words   |  13 PagesJoseph Stalin Joseph Stalin was one of the biggest mass murderers of the twentieth century. From the purges in the Red Army to forced relocations, Stalin had the blood of millions on his hands. This essay is not going to debate the fact that this was indeed a brutal and power hungry individual, because he was indeed just that. I will on the other hand show you that through his way of governing the Soviet Union, he actually saved mother Russia from the German invasion in World War Two through hisRead MoreJoseph Stalin Genocide1421 Words   |  6 PagesJoseph Stalin’s Genocide: 50 Million Deaths From 1919 to 1953 when Stalin died about 50 million lives were taken in the Gulags of Russia (â€Å"Videofact†). In total there were 53 Gulags and 423 labor camps (â€Å"Gulag†).   Stalin was considered one of the most feared dictators because of his secret police and the Gulags. During a series of interviews in 1996, a Soviet veteran who lived in Minsk claimed to have seen a U.S. POW in May or June 1953. The POW was a Korean War F-86D pilot whose plane had beenRead MoreThe Death Of Joseph Stalin1829 Words   |  8 Pagesâ€Å"Death is the solution to all problems. No man - no problem.† This is a direct quote from one of the most notorious men in history, Joseph Stalin. Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union from the mid 1920’s until his death. The period in which he ruled over the Soviet Union was known as the Reign of Terror because he was a malicious leader who was ready to do anything to maintain the level of power he achieved. He will forever be remembered as a cold blooded and heartless leader, who took the livesRead MoreJoseph Stalin Research Paper1472 Words   |  6 Pagesgreat or corrupt; they are rarely both. Most of Russia’s history is filled with corrupt leaders. Joseph was one of those leaders. Stalin killed millions of people during his rule. But Stalin also led the Soviet Union almost to the top in world power. Stalin had many influences that led him to his Soviet Leadership in which gave him many admirers but even more non-supporters. At the age of 10, Joseph â€Å"Stalin† Djugashvili attended Gori’s religious elementary school. His mother, Yekaterina, wanted himRead MoreEssay on The life of Joseph Stalin554 Words   |  3 PagesThe life of Joseph Stalin Joseph Stalin. One of the Russias most supreme leaders. But one of its most horrid as well. He brought them up while also letting them down. Some could say where would we be without him. But others wish they never were led by him. He went from nothing to the most powerful man in the now most powerful country. In the early years. He was first born Josef Vissarionovich Djugashvili to a poor shoemaker of a father on December 21 1879. It was a small village calledRead MoreExecution By Hunger, By Joseph Stalin1081 Words   |  5 PagesExecution by Hunger 1. Collectivization was peasants being forced to give up their goods to the government. Collectivization started at the end of 1929 by Joseph Stalin. He began collectivization as part of the 5 year plan because he feared the invasion from the Allied countries in the west. He increased industrialization so he could earn more money just in case there was a war. This impacted the peasants of Ukraine because majority of the farmers had their own land it was their only way of incomeRead MoreJoseph Stalin And Vladimir Putin2340 Words   |  10 PagesJoseph Stalin and Vladimir Putin are two of the most famous and influential figures of Russian history. Joseph Stalin’s iron fist ruled Russia from the mid-1920’s until his death in 1953. Under Stalin’s totalitarian government, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics played a pivotal role in several major conflicts, including World War II and the Cold War. Stalin’s main goal seemed to be expanding Russia and spreadi ng the influence of communism. Contrastingly, Vladimir Putin has held power from 1999Read MoreEssay about Joseph Stalin2651 Words   |  11 PagesJoseph Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union from 1922-1953, when he died. He was responsible for one of the most notable and devastating genocides, the Great Purge. His vicious reign took the lives of around 20-60 million people by his rigid and cruel treatment. Through his exploitation of the lower class and his manipulative abuse of power, Stalin created one of the worst examples of leadership in history. It takes an interesting character to be able to execute the cruelties displayed in hisRead MoreJoseph Stalin Essay example1133 Words   |  5 PagesJoseph Stalin, whose real name is Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, was born on December 21, 1879 in the small town of Gori, Georgia. His family was poor and he was the only child of four to survive. His father was a shoemaker. He was a heavy drinker and died from wounds in a brawl when Stalin was 11 years old. 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Fashion and Gender Free Essays

Introduction In the western culture, fashion has affected and reflected the distinctions between the social and economical status of men and women throughout the years. From the 19th century on, gender, social understanding of femininity and masculinity, became clearer and more precise. They were identifiable through fashion and clothing and were an important aspect in distinguishing roles of men and women. We will write a custom essay sample on Fashion and Gender or any similar topic only for you Order Now However, changes in fashion will blur as much as emphasise the differences between gender, evolving in parallel borrowing from one another. Thus, as the constant changes in fashion, the level of differences between men and women varied very so often. Fashion was influencing and defining gender role and gender lifestyle was influencing fashion. Masculine men and feminine women The first signs of gender distinctions appeared at the start of the 19th century following the French Revolution. In addition to separating social classes, fashion now established a clear division between male and female clothing. Men were no longer powdered or perfumed and they got rid of ornaments and wigs, now signifies of femininity. Their clothing was characterized by a restricted use of material, tailored construction, simplified set of surface, uniformity, net and spotless garments, perfect hats and limited color (29 January). According to the trickle-down effect, fashion trends were still created by the upper-classes and were followed by others down the scale (05 February). Then, according to Georg Simmel, two types of males emerged from the middle-class. Dandies were followers of the leisure class and never went against a particular fashion dress code while bohemian were rejecting fashion (05 February). Men of the upper-class are characterized as a Flaneur by Walter Benjamin: â€Å"Empathy is the nature of the intoxication to which the flaneur abandons himself [†¦]† (05 February). The upper-class still needed to follow three rules in order to stay on top and keep the middle-class from rising; the expensive fabric, the lack of movement inflicted by the garment and the novelty of the ensemble (05 February). They conformed to a conspicuous lifestyle with their absence of labour and function in the society, but still in a more subtle way than women in terms of dress (29 January). Indeed, women became a physical display representing the husband’s wealth through fashion, assuring their social rank in the leisure class; the new aristocrats. Important gatherings such as the Grand Prix de Paris were a place where â€Å"one went to the races, as to the theater, partly to look over the women and their apparel† (Hebert, 24). They would wear multiple colors, dresses with pouf skirts, light fabrics, beading and flower ornaments, parasols and other accessories. Women were placed in the forefront with fashion and devoid of any role or power. [†¦] the adornment of both the female person and her environment was an expression of women’s inferior economic power and her social status as a man’s chattel† (Veblen, 91). Unattached and unmarried women were also expected to dressed respectfully and fashionably for the dignity of her family and for future husbands. Lower-level women such as actresses and prostitutes, who were mingling with the upper-class, wore more revealing clothes but still in fashion. Women were thought of as irrational and sensible creatures who adhered to fashion by weakness, to have a sense of belonging. During the 19th century and early 20th century, there is a clear distinction between man and woman fashion. It is reflected in their clothes and in their social status and role in the society. Gender was easily identifiable with the shape formed by the garment. While men wear clean cut, sober and solid suits, holding all the power, the women dress in soft, elaborate and colourful dresses, trophies to the men. ? Fashion upside-down With the start of the World War I, women were now helping out and filling more masculine jobs. Roles were no longer clearly defined according to hysical characteristics. â€Å"Because while war work forced women to life in new social and physical environments, they had to adapt their clothing to unfamiliar activities and spaces† (Matthews David, 101). New technology and new combat techniques meant also a change in menswear. Soldiers had to wear uniforms that hid their masculine forms to allow movement. They replaced their flat and boxy hats with a mo re feminine and round one with leaves and flowers to hide in the trenches. â€Å"A definite outline, a traditionally masculine attribute, proved a deadly handicap in battle† (Matthews David, 97). Upper-class men were traditionally supposed to show their status through clothing. The advent of the war blurred distinctions between classes as both had to participate in the war effort. Men were no longer useless and ineffective in the society, with meant a necessary change in fashion. Restrictions in luxury fabrics, such as silk, fur and ornaments, forced a transformation of men’s masculine and luxurious attire. All men were now wearing jersey fabric clothing, darker earth colours and softer silhouettes. In the early 20th century, there was a eminent need for change in fashion. While men were adopting feminine fashion to survive during the war, women started borrowing the simplified and linear masculine silhouette. â€Å"The flip side of this feminization of the sniper was the much more generalized masculinization of women’s civilian and uniform dress during the war† (Matthews David, 101). They started wearing suits with sober colours to adapt to their more active lifestyle in the warfare. The latter was the start of a changing role in society for women. Before this change, women had no power on fashion or society. They were now needed for labour and they showed to be very efficient. This allowed women to make decisions and have a definite role society. By adopting the masculine look, they gained power. They were no longer considered as an accessory to men. The exchanges of particular characteristics of gender made the distinctions and the differences more blurry. The World War I was a turning point in fashion for both men and women. Shortages of materials transformed clothing; new fabrics emerged, new silhouettes using less fabrics, less ornaments, leaner cuts, suits for women and softer clothes for men. Women were now looking more or less like men with the square suits and linear dresses, requisitioning their roles as women as though the clothes itself hold the power. While men were still the dominant figure, women were revising their position in the public and private sphere. ? Conclusion To conclude, gender is a social perception of masculinity and femininity. Through the 19th and 20th cent ury, both men and women were affected by fashion; gender leading the distinctions. Sexes were defined by gender in the 19th century with the specific trends of clothing for each. Men were wearing clean and linear cuts, showing their boxy figures, while women wore elaborate and frivolous clothes highlighting their silhouette. Roles were also clearly different according to gender. Men held all the power and women served of accessories, displaying the husband’s wealth. The World War I acted as a turning point for men and women. Both were transforming their fashion because of their active lifestyle by adopting each others gender characteristics of fashion. Men softened their figures while women started wearing masculine suits. Gender differences became were blurred and roles redefined; women gained power and all men got functional for the society. Hence, the level of distinction between gender is in constant change. Fashion influences gender roles and gender lifestyle influences fashion. The latter blurs, blends as well as emphasis the social perceptions of what a men and a women is and looks like. Gender continues to affect and reflect distinctions between sexes, both constantly borrowing and exchanging from one another. How to cite Fashion and Gender, Essay examples

Humanity free essay sample

Isa siya sa mga ninuno ng makabagong Filipinong maikling katha sa Ingles. Siya ang nanguna sa pagpapalawak ng maikling katha bilang matulaing anyo. Kaniyang ipinagkakapuri ang likhang-isip sapagkat naipapakita nito ang katotohanan at naipriprisinta ang realidad. Siya ay naging mapangahas sa pagtuklas ng mga anyo ng sanaysay upang maipahayag ang talas ng pakiramdam ng mga Filipino. Dahil sa galing ng kaniyang mga kamay sa pagsulat, ang kaniyang mga likha ay siya na ngayong ginagamit ng mga mag-aaral sa kolehiyo. In 1932 Arcellana entered the University of the Philippines (UP) as a pre-medicine student and graduated in 1939 with a bachelor of philosophy in degree. In his junior year, mainly because of the publication of his â€Å"trilogy of the turtles† in the Literary Apprentice, Arcellana was invited to join the UP Writers Club by Manuel Arguilla – who at that time was already a campus literary figure. In 1934, he edited and published Expression, a quarterly of experimental writing. It caught the attention of Jose Garcia Villa who started a correspondence with Arcellana. It also spawned the Veronicans, a group of 13 pre-WWII who rebelled against traditional forms and themes in Philippine literature. Arcellana went on to medical school after receiving his bachelors degree while holding jobs in Herald Midweek Magazine, where his weekly column â€Å"Art and Life† (later retitled â€Å"Life and Letters†) appeared, and in Philcross, the publication of the Philippine Red Cross. The war stopped his schooling. After the war, he continued working in media and publishing and began a career in the academe. He was manager of the International News Service and the editor of This Week. He joined the UP Department of English and Comparative Literature and served as adviser of the Philippine Collegian and director of the UP Creative Writing Center, 1979- 1982. Under a Rockefeller Foundation grant he became a fellow in creative writing, 1956- 1957, at the University of Iowa and Breadloaf Writers Conference. In 1932 Arcellana published his first story. â€Å"The Man Who Could Be Poe† in Graphic while still a student at Torres High School. The following year two of his short stories, â€Å"Death is a Factory† and â€Å"Lina,† were included in Jose Garcia Villas honor roll. During the 1930s, which he calls his most productive period, he wrote his most significant stories including, â€Å"Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal† cited in 1938 by Villa as the years best. He also began writing poetry at this time, many of them appearing in Philippine Collegian, Graphic and Herald Midweek Magazine. Some of his works have been translated into Tagalog, Malaysian, Italian, German and Russian, and many have been anthologized. But his homecomingfrom a trip to the Southwas fated to be more memorable than, say, of the others. He had written from Mariveles: I have just met a marvelous matweavera real artistand I shall have a surprise for you. I asked him to weave a sleeping-mat for every one of the family. He is using many different colors and for each mat the dominant color is that of our respective birthstones. I am sure that the children will be very pleased. I know you will be. I can hardly wait to show them to you. Nana Emilia read the letter that morning, and again and again every time she had a chance to leave the kitchen. In the evening when all the children were home from school she asked her oldest son, Jose, to read the letter at dinner table. The children became very much excited about the mats, and talked about them until late into the night. This she wrote her husband when she labored over a reply to him. For days after that, mats continued to be the chief topic of conversation among the children. Finally, from Lopez, Mr. Angeles wrote again: I am taking the Bicol Express tomorrow. I have the mats with me, and they are beautiful. God willing, I shall be home to join you at dinner. The letter was read aloud during the noon meal. Talk about the mats flared up again like wildfire. I like the feel of mats, Antonio, the third child, said. I like the smell of new mats. Oh, but these mats are different, interposed Susanna, the fifth child. They have our names woven into them, and in our ascribed colors, too. The children knew what they were talking about: they knew just what a decorative mat was like; it was not anything new or strange in their experience. That was why they were so excited about the matter. They had such a mat in the house, one they seldom used, a mat older than any one of them. This mat had been given to Nana Emilia by her mother when she and Mr. Angeles were married, and it had been with them ever since. It had served on the wedding night, and had not since been used except on special occasions. It was a very beautiful mat, not really meant to be ordinarily used. It had green leaf borders, and a lot of gigantic red roses woven into it. In the middle, running the whole length of the mat, was the lettering: Emilia y Jaime Recuerdo. The letters were in gold. Nana Emilia always kept that mat in her trunk. When any one of the family was taken ill, the mat was brought out and the patient slept on it, had it all to himself. Every one of the children had some time in their lives slept on it; not a few had slept on it more than once. Most of the times the mat was kept in Nana Emilias trunk, and when it was taken out and spread on the floor the children were always around to watch. At first there had been only Nana Emilia to see the mat spread. Then a childa girlwatched with them. The number of watchers increased as more children came. The mat did not seem to age. It seemed to Nana Emilia always as new as when it had been laid on the nuptial bed. To the children it seemed as new as the first time it was spread before them. The folds and creases always new and fresh . The smell was always the smell of a new mat. Watching the intricate design was an endless joy. The childrens pleasure at the golden letters even before they could work out the meaning was boundless. Somehow they were always pleasantly shocked by the sight of the mat: so delicate and so consummate the artistry of its weave. Now, taking out that mat to spread had become a kind of ritual. The process had become associated with illness in the family. Illness, even serious illness, had not been infrequent. There had been deaths In the evening Mr. Angeles was with his family. He had brought the usual things home with him. There was a lot of fruits, as always (his itinerary carried him through the fruit-growing provinces): pineapples, lanzones, chicos, atis, santol, sandia, guyabano, avocado, according to the season. He had also brought home a jar of preserved sweets from Lopez. Putting away the fruit, sampling them, was as usual accomplished with animation and lively talk. Dinner was a long affair. Mr. Angeles was full of stories about his trip but would interrupt his tales with: I could not sleep nights thinking of the young ones. They should never be allowed to play in the treets. And you older ones should not stay out too late at night. The stories petered out and dinner was over. Putting away the dishes and wiping the dishes and wiping the table clean did not at all seem tedious. Yet Nana and the children, although they did not show it, were all on edge about the mats. Finally, after a long time over his cigar, Mr. Angeles rose from his seat at the he ad of the table and crossed the room to the corner where his luggage had been piled. From the heap he disengaged a ponderous bundle. Taking it under one arm, he walked to the middle of the room where the light was brightest. He dropped the bundle and, bending over and balancing himself on his toes, he strained at the cord that bound it. It was strong, it would not break, it would not give way. He tried working at the knots. His fingers were clumsy, they had begun shaking. He raised his head, breathing heavily, to ask for the scissors. Alfonso, his youngest boy, was to one side of him with the scissors ready. Nana Emilia and her eldest girl who had long returned from the kitchen were watching the proceedings quietly. One swift movement with the scissors, snip! and the bundle was loose. Turning to Nana Emilia, Mr. Angeles joyfully cried: These are the mats, Miling. Mr. Angeles picked up the topmost mat in the bundle. This, I believe, is yours, Miling. Nana Emilia stepped forward to the light, wiping her still moist hands against the folds of her skirt, and with a strange young shyness received the mat. The children watched the spectacle silently and then broke into delighted, though a little self-conscious, laughter. Nana Emilia unfolded the mat without a word. It was a beautiful mat: to her mind, even more beautiful than the one she received from her mother on her wedding. There was a name in the very center of it: EMILIA. The letters were large, done in green. Flowerscadena-de-amorwere woven in and out among the letters. The border was a long winding twig of cadena-de-amor. The children stood about the spreading mat. The air was punctuated by their breathless exclamations of delight. It is beautiful, Jaime; it is beautiful! Nana Emilias voice broke, and she could not say any more. And this, I know, is my own, said Mr. Angeles of the next mat in the bundle. The mat was rather simply decorated, the design almost austere, and the only colors used were purple and gold. The letters of the name Jaime were in purple. And this, for your, Marcelina. Marcelina was the oldest child. She had always thought her name too long; it had been one of her worries with regard to the mat. How on earth are they going to weave all of the letters of my name into my mat? she had asked of almost everyone in the family. Now it delighted her to see her whole name spelled out on the mat, even if the letters were a little small. Besides, there was a device above her name which pleased Marcelina very much. It was in the form of a lyre, finely done in three colors. Marcelina was a student of music and was quite a proficient pianist. And this is for you, Jose. Jose was the second child. He was a medical student already in the third year of medical school. Over his name the symbol of Aesculapius was woven into the matYou are not to use this mat until the year of your internship, Mr. Angeles was saying. This is yours, Antonia. And this is yours, Juan. And this is yours, Jesus. Mat after mat was unfolded. On each of the childrens mats there was somehow an appropriate device. At least all the children had been shown their individual mats. The air was filled with their excited talk, and through it all Mr. Angeles was saying over and over again in his deep voice:You are not to use these mats until you go to the University. Then Nana Emilia noticed bewilderingly that there were some more mats remaining to be unfolded. But Jaime, Nana Emilia said, wondering, with evident repudiation, there are some more mats. Only Mr. Angeles seemed to have heard Nana Emilias words. He suddenly stopped talking, as if he had been jerked away from a pleasant fantasy. A puzzled, reminiscent look came into his eyes, superseding the deep and quiet delight that had been briefly there, and when he spoke his voice was different. Yes, Emilia, said Mr. Angeles, There are three more mats to unfold. The others who arent here Nana Emilia caught her breath; there was a swift constriction in her throat; her face paled and she could not say anything. The self-centered talk of the children also died. There was a silence as Mr. Angeles picked up the first of the remaining mats and began slowly unfolding it. The mat was al most as austere in design as Mr. Angeles own, and it had a name. There was no symbol or device above the name; only a blank space, emptiness. The children knew the name. But somehow the name, the letters spelling the name, seemed strange to them. Then Nana Emilia found her voice. You know, Jaime, you didnt have to, Nana Emilia said, her voice hurt and surely frightened. Mr. Angeles held his tears back; there was something swift and savage in the movement. Do you think Id forgotten? Do you think I had forgotten them? Do you think I could forget them? This is for you, Josefina! And this is for you, Victoria! And this is for you, Concepcion. Mr. Angeles called the names rather than uttered them. Dont, Jaime, please dont, was all that Nana Emilia managed to say. Is it fair to forget them? Would it be just to disregard them? Mr. Angeles demanded rather than asked. His voice had risen shrill, almost hysterical; it was also stern and sad, and somehow vindictive. Mr. Angeles had spoken almost as if he were a stranger. Also, he had spoken as if from a deep, grudgingly-silent, long-bewildered sorrow. The children heard the words exploding in the silence. They wanted to turn away and not see the face of their father. But they could neither move nor look away; his eyes held them, his voice held them where they were. They seemed rooted to the spot. Nana Emilia shivered once or twice, bowed her head, and gripped her clasped hands between her thighs. There was a terrible hush. The remaining mats were unfolded in silence. The names which were with infinite slowness revealed, seemed strange and stranger still; the colors not bright but deathly dull; the separate letters, spelling out the names of the dead among them, did not seem to glow or shine with a festive sheen as did the other living names.