An Analysis Of The Critical Period

An Analysis Of The Critical Period The critical period hypothesis cites a commonly observable phenomenon, the fact that children find language learning much easier than adults, and learn language remarkably quickly, to claim that language learning is more difficult, or impossible after puberty. The concept of critical periods was initially introduced in the study of animal behavior, where it was noticed that certain behavioral responses only emerged when stimulus was given within a particular time frame. This concept has been applied to many species, including humans, with regard to the development of specific emotional responses such as stress.  [1]  In 1967 Lenneberg proposed that this concept also applied to human linguistic development, seeing language as a response and exposure to language as the stimulus.  [2]  There are two versions of this hypothesis: the strong version, which claims that no language acquisition is possible after puberty, and the weak version, which maintains that language learning wil l be much more difficult. A distinction is often made between language acquisition, the way in which children unconsciously learn their native tongue, and language learning which implies formal instruction, and Lenneberg maintains this distinction himself. Age is not the only variable when comparing groups of learners. We cannot simply compare children and adults, but must differentiate between children acquiring their first language, children learning additional language(s) naturalistically, child and adult classroom learners, both in the country where the language is spoken and outside of it, and immigrants immersed in a foreign language and culture, learning language through induction. With these groups, different social and psychological factors, as well as age, affect their language proficiency, and these must be explored alongside the role that age may play. Some psychologists and psycho-linguists, such as Steven Pinker, claim that language learning stops at puberty because before that an innate language learning mechanism is present in the brain, enabling children to flawlessly acquire any language, given enough input.  [3]  Once puberty is reached, this language acquisition mechanism is shut down, and language acquisition becomes impossible. Chomsky claims that another variety of innate device, a Universal Grammar capability, allows the child to extract grammatical rules from the input that he receives, and to use them to generate an infinite number of further grammatical sentences.  [4]  In claiming that these devices shut down at puberty, these theories make no allowances, for example, for the fact that vocabulary is added to the corpus of language knowledge throughout life, and that adults can be successful in learning foreign languages. If a child acquires substandard forms, this does not mean that as an adult, he or she wi ll not be able to modify these forms. It is also possible to acquire a first language after puberty, as some cases, which will be discussed later, have shown Both Pinker and Chomsky allude to the ease of language acquisition as proof of an innate device behind it. We do not ascribe innate knowledge to other fields that children excel in, simply because they find them easy. For example, any child who is physically able to can learn to ride a bicycle, yet it is doubtful that a theorist would propose that evolution has provided an innate bicycle-riding apparatus. One element of the skill, balance, is innate, and is controlled by a specific part of the inner ear, the semicircular canals.  [5]  Once the child has achieved good enough control over its muscles, it can build on the innate function of balance to learn to ride a bicycle. To learn language, a child must process the data to which it is exposed, deduce rules from regularities occurring in this data, and apply these. In addition, it must have control over the muscles that govern articulation. There is no need to suppose that a specialized linguistic device to extract these rules exists, however. The entire left hemisphere of the brain is constantly constructing theories regarding the world around it, based on sensory evidence.  [6]  Language heard by the child is a part of this sensory data, existing in its aural form and in a visual or aural referent, which must be simultaneously processed. Brain function experiments have shown that the left hemisphere of the brain is indeed more active when grammar is being handled.  [7]  Like bicycle riding, language is an ability based entirely on an innate function, but is not entirely innate in itself. Without exposure, language doesnt appear; therefore it is not innate. Rather than supposing that vague, un located language acquisition or universal grammar mechanisms exist in the brain, the ability to extract theories from data could be seen as a wider function of the brain itself, rather than being language specific. If these specialized mechanisms cannot be proven to exist, then the decline in language learning ability cannot be accounted for by the shutting down of these mechanisms. Such theories also seem to suggest an erroneous concept of the brain itself. Were the brain designed it would doubtless include specific linguistic structures, and some kind of mechanism for language acquisition. But it has evolved to contain not innate knowledge or skills, but the potential for knowledge and skills to develop. The fact that the same areas of the brain handle language in approximately 90% of the population  [8]  is no reason to regard these areas as empty containers waiting to be filled with language, or with their own mechanism to enable this to happen. In any case, the brain is so richly provided with interconnections that it is impossible to describe any boundaries within it. Language is organized in the same way in most humans, but the organization is not rigid. If that part of the brain is injured in youth, language can be relocated to a different place without detrimental effect, suggesting that, although a preference may exist, no sector of the brain is mo re or less suitable than any other for language processing, and negating the possibility that one particular area of the brain is equipped with a language acquisition device.  [9]   Brain injuries also shed light on another important issue. If a young child suffers a head injury to the region of the brain that controls language, it suffers minor temporary language handicap, followed by normal development. The language centers develop again elsewhere without detriment. An older child will also be able to recover language ability, but other abilities, such as spatial skills, will be compromised. An adult suffering the same injury would be terribly and irrevocably handicapped by aphasia.  [10]  As well as suggesting that language can exist normally in other parts of the brain, it suggests that there is a difference between child and adult brains. Also, children become gradually more like adults, reflecting a gradual change in the brain as maturity is approached. In his original critical period hypothesis, Lenneberg cited this change undergone in the brain as the main physiological basis for the critical period.  [11]  Children were constrained in their language ability until the brain was mature enough, but once the brain achieves maturity, as occurs at puberty, language acquisition is again impossible. This is because lateralization is complete, with all brain functions being localized to a particular area, and cerebral plasticity not longer possible. This is supported by the experience of brain injured people. In younger children, brain organization is incomplete, and so if one part of the brain is injured, it is straightforward for the language centre to be re-established. Older children can also re-establish their language ability, but at the expense of other skills, suggesting that language is supplanting these skills in a particular area of the brain. Adults inability to do this suggests that functions previously flexible have now become immovable, supporting the idea of brain lateralization, and its effect on language. However, this does not provide proof that language learning is impossible after puberty. Adults learning a second language are not attempting to establish another centre of language function. The same areas of the brain are used to process all languages, even sign language. They are adding to their linguistic knowledge, acquiring new grammatical rules and vocabulary, but the same part of the brain will handle such knowledge. We acquire much of the vocabulary of our native language during our teens and beyond, as well as learning more complicated grammatical structures, so there is no reason to suppose that we cannot do the same with a foreign language. We can discount these claims, and still be left with the observation that children learn languages much quicker than adults do. If a family immigrates to a new country, the children will pick up the new language quickly, leaving their parent far behind, and probably acting as their interpreters. Children undoubtedly have advantages, yet these are not inextricably linked to their age. When a child is learning language, circumstances are uniquely supportive, and these circumstances are not usually replicated in later life. Physiologically, children have advantages. Hearing declines with age, and so the child is better able to identify different phonemes, and because children have better control of the articulatory muscles, they are better able to reproduce what they have heard.  [12]  Young children also have an amazing ability to learn by rote, and so can retain more data for analysis. Psychologically, they are unaffected by inhibitions or previous experiences. Young children acquiring a second language may not even have a conception of language itself, since it is many years before children can discuss language reflexively. They are usually free from prejudice against the new language, or any cultural concepts that may accompany it. In terms of hours spent on language acquisition, it is no small task. Children are attuned to language from birth, and are aware of sound in the womb.  [13]  Yet it is many months before they begin to vocalize, and years before they consistently produce grammatical sentences. From a vast amount of input, numbering many hours every single day, the child still takes much time, and much experimentation, before it is consistently accurate in its application of grammatical rules. It would take years of weekly language lessons for an adult to have experienced similar exposure, and undoubtedly the adult would then have acquired a good deal of the language, and would perhaps be approaching native-speaker fluency. The input is therefore superior on terms of quantity, but also in terms of quality. Caretaker language is a common phenomenon, including foreigner talk as well as Parentheses. This is due to the obvious fact that in communication, we are aiming to be understood, and will naturally produce what we judge that our listener will understand. Parentheses and Foreigner talk share many common features, but Parentheses is superior for language learning for many reasons. Firstly, the parent or other has a much better idea of what the child can understand and can modify their output accordingly. Secondly, Foreigner talk is often ungrammatical, with, for example, infinitives being overused to aid comprehension. Parentheses is mostly grammatical, unlike adult to adult speech,  [14]  and therefore provides the child with a large amount of perfect data from which to extract rules, whereas the foreigner is more likely to extract erroneous rules from the false data presented. And of course a pare nt has a much greater interest in the language skills of their children than a colleague or acquaintance will have in the language learning of their foreign friends. The child is also favored by the relative unimportance of comprehension. If a baby does not understand what an adult with whom it is playing says, it doesnt matter. If needs be, the adult can physically move the child or otherwise compel it to do something. If the baby is at the top of the stairs, and doesnt heed instructions to move, the adult will simply pick it up. However, an immigrant will have to perform some tasks, such as finding work, shopping, or applying for a driving license, and not understanding warning signs such as Beware of the Dog or Electrified Fence. The need to understand and been understood is much greater, and accompanying stress and frustration may hinder the learner. In addition, the world is favorably disposed towards children, whose mistakes they find endearing, but often hostile towards foreigners with a similar language capability. For children, the vast majority of social interaction is not based on conversation but centered on a particular activity, such as a ball game, or painting. Therefore, a child may gain acceptance into a group of his or her peers without a common language, and through participation is able to learn the language. For adults the reverse is true. Little interaction will take place if adults without a common language meet, reflecting the central role that conversation plays in most adult interactions. Again, this is a sociological factor. On a German exchange, for example, a student would participate in events like family meals, at which they would understand little of the conversation. They would be able to acquire several items of vocabulary, and phrases such as Guten Appetit. However, it is unlikely that an adult would be able to have the benefit of such an opportunity. In the first place, it is unlikely that he or she would have been able to make such a friendship as to prompt an invit ation. Were this possible, conversational conventions would not allow for a silent participant, making the hosts feel as if they were in some way excluding their guest, and the guest as if he was not providing his or her share of the evenings conversation. Used to being able to participate, the guest would no doubt feel frustrated at being unable to express opinions already thought through in the second language. In this way, inhibitions bar the older learner from excellent language learning opportunities. Our life experience shows us that adults can indeed be successful in learning a new language, whether it is stock phrases from a phrase book, or the entire language. If enough time can be devoted to the language, fluency is achievable at any age. The main area where children are superior to adults is pronunciation. A child can easily sound like a native speaker, yet few adults manage to acquire a perfect accent, however hard they study. This may be because children have superior hearing and better control over their articulatory organs. Even within the native language, accents appear to become fixed after puberty. A Scottish child who moves to England will quickly exchange his accent for the one he hears at school, whereas a Scottish adult may spend the vast majority of his life in England, and yet retain his accent. But adults can alter their accent, through elocution classes, and an actor may possess a vast repertoire of regional accents. In both cases, acquiring a new accent is ad vantageous; therefore there is a genuine motivation to do it. Research substantiates this: Neufeld developed a successful pronunciation technique that moves gradually from listening to speaking. After eighteen hours of instruction, nine out of twenty students convinced listeners that they were native speakers of Japanese, and 8 out of twenty that they were Chinese.  [15]  Where there is no need to alter ones accent it is unlikely that the effort will be made. A native speaker of English, with a regional accent, will have no problem with being understood in any part of the country, and therefore has no motivation to adapt it. While children are more likely to alter their accent, and have physical advantages enabling them to do so, adults do not lack this ability. Some kind of choice, probably subconscious is made. Children wish to be like their peers, and adults wish to retain their developed sense of personal identity. The importance of accent is perhaps overrated. Fluency is the ability to communicate as well in a second language as in the native tongue, to be able to generate and to understand an infinite number of sentences, not to pass as a native speaker. A foreign accent doesnt often hamper comprehension if the sentence is grammatically correct; therefore accent is not a vital part of language. It is merely a social factor. The fact that adults do not acquire native-like accents is not proof of a critical period for language acquisition. Although children seem to have the upper hand in naturalistically acquiring language, for these various reasons, research shows that classroom learning actually favors the older learner. When language is not taught in a formal context, children excel. Perhaps it seems effortless because the young child is not told that it should be laborious. But a child introduced to language in the classroom, who has experienced school as boring and demanding, and is told that much learning of grammar will be required, and is constantly informed of his mistakes, will see language learning as an effort. Krashen recognizes these factors in his Affective Filter hypothesis,  [16]  basically an exploration of the different factors that may influence motivation, obviously an important factor influencing learning of any kind. Studies concentrating on a variety of first and second languages have shown that when older and younger students learning by the same method are compared, older students make better progress. When immigrants to Holland were compared, adults made faster progress than children did in learning Dutch  [17]  ; Swedish pupils were shown to make better progress in their English lessons the older they were  [18]  . The Total Physical response method of language teaching is supposedly more suitable for children, yet in a Russian study adults achieved better results.  [19]  Even in a supposedly more naturalistic technique, the French immersion system as practiced in Canada, where children acquire French through being taught a range of school subjects only in that language, those who entered the immersion program at a later stage were judged more proficient than those who participated from the start.  [20]  The situation is of crucial importance here. Effectiveness in a classroo m situation increases with age in all other subjects, and in adulthood, when education is by choice not compulsion, learners are even more motivated. Childrens physiological advantages do not produce greater success when they are compared with adults in an identical situation. This suggests that it is the situation in which the language learning is taking place that is of vital importance. Children mostly learn naturalistically, in a supportive environment, whereas adults learning through immersion often find society hostile. The constraints of a classroom mean that language learning is not as effective as naturalistic learning. An important part of the debate over the critical period has focussed on the Wild Children the few children who have been raised entirely without language and have been later discovered. These children cannot provide proof of anything in scientific terms. They are unfortunate human beings rather than a scientific experiment, with their lives before discovery shrouded in mystery. We could not use the fact that these children do not always acquire language to prove that no child would be able to under the same circumstances, since we cannot discount factors such as mental retardation, or the effects of their often brutal earlier lives. However, their achievements do challenge some theories advanced. History has provided us with two known examples of children who did not begin to learn their native language until past puberty. Two cases, Caspar Hauser and Victor, the wild boy of Aveyron, are distant in time and complicated by claims of hoaxing in the first instance and mental retardation in the second, which obviously cannot be proved or disproved. For what it is worth, both cases acquired language, Caspar (aged 16) perfectly, and Victor (aged around 12) imperfectly, but he is said to have attained a useful communicative ability.  [21]   More recently, other cases of children being raised without language have occurred, and have been subject to more stringent scientific exploration, and can therefore be more useful in a discussion of the critical period. Genie is perhaps the most notable example, being the eldest at the time of discovery, at thirteen years old, and subject to complete isolation before that time.  [22]  The case of Isabelle, aged six, is also notable for her perfect acquisition of language within two years, to the normal childs five. Genie was discovered in November 1970, having been isolated in the same room between the age of twenty months and 13 and a half years. Her only human contact was with her father and brother, who used only growling noises and violence to communicate with her. Genie was handicapped not only in her language development, but also in all forms of socialization. She had no reaction to temperature, no concept of ownership or of personal space, and could not even chew her food. At first, she was disinclined to vocalize at all, having been beaten by her father for making any noise whatsoever, and even in her tantrums she tended to use items of furniture to make sound, remaining eerily silent herself. Children begin to use words to describe a world they have already become familiar with, but Genie was faced with the task of acquiring words to describe an environment she could barely even understand. Under these circumstances it is not remarkable that she did not develop complete language compe tency over the first five years of her rehabilitation. However, her achievement in these years was not inconsiderable, as one researcher, Susan Curtiss points out: Genies language is far from normal. More important, however, over and above the specific similarities and differences that exist between Genies language and the language of normal children, we must keep in mind that Genies speech is rule-governed behavior, and that from a finite set of arbitrary linguistic elements she can and does create novel utterances that theoretically know no upper bound. These are aspects of human language that set it apart form all other animal communication systems. Therefore, abnormalities notwithstanding, in the most fundamental and critical respects, Genie has language.  [23]   Here we have an example of an individual past puberty who has made considerable progress in mastering her first language, has succeeded in the most fundamental and critical respects even if not completely. At the very least, Genie shows that the term critical period is misleading, since language exposure before puberty is not critical, and no fixed amount of time or developmental stage can be cited.  [24]   Isabelle, like Genie, was completely isolated from the speaking world, being imprisoned with her deaf-mute mother. Unlike Genie, she was not treated cruelly, and interacted with her mother using gestures of their own devising. On being discovered aged six, in 1938, she was thought to be uneducable, but within a week had begun to use words. She was noted to pass through the normal developmental stages of language acquisition, but at a vastly accelerated rate, catching up with her age group two years later.  [25]  The fact that Genie was more than twice Isabelles age is not necessarily the decisive factor here. Isabelle was not traumatized by her upbringing, and was not an unsocialised creature, like Genie. She understood the concept of communication, and had developed a language of a sort, the gestures she used with her mother. Her task was not so great as Genies, and so her greater achievement is proof only that a six-year-old can acquire language, and not that a thirteen-year-ol d cannot. The Critical Period hypothesis suggests that age is the primary reason for childrens apparent superior language learning ability. This may be a factor, but is far from being the only reason. Language is more complex than a simple response to a simple stimulus, as Lennebergs hypothesis may suggest. Even if it were proved that childrens ability proceeds entirely from their more suitable circumstances, the impossibility of exactly replicating these circumstances for an adult would mean that the discovery would not be of much functional use. As an adult language student it would be most useful to note that it may be my inhibitions rather that my inabilities that hinder me most in my studies, and that regarding grammar as laborious may indeed make it so!

A Game of Thrones Chapter Eighteen

Catelyn We will make King's Landing within the hour.† Catelyn turned away from the rail and forced herself to smile. â€Å"Your oarmen have done well by us, Captain. Each one of them shall have a silver stag, as a token of my gratitude.† Captain Moreo Turnitis favored her with a half bow. â€Å"You are far too generous, Lady Stark. The honor of carrying a great lady like yourself is all the reward they need.† â€Å"But they'll take the silver anyway.† Moreo smiled. â€Å"As you say.† He spoke the Common Tongue fluently, with only the slightest hint of a Tyroshi accent. He'd been plying the narrow sea for thirty years, he'd told her, as oarman, quartermaster, and finally captain of his own trading galleys. The Storm Dancer was his fourth ship, and his fastest, a two-masted galley of sixty oars. She had certainly been the fastest of the ships available in WhiteHarbor when Catelyn and Ser Rodrik Cassel had arrived after their headlong gallop downriver. The Tyroshi were notorious for their avarice, and Ser Rodrik had argued for hiring a fishing sloop out of the Three Sisters, but Catelyn had insisted on the galley. It was good that she had. The winds had been against them much of the voyage, and without the galley's oars they'd still be beating their way past the Fingers, instead of skimming toward King's Landing and journey's end. So close, she thought. Beneath the linen bandages, her fingers still throbbed where the dagger had bitten. The pain was her scourge, Catelyn felt, lest she forget. She could not bend the last two fingers on her left hand, and the others would never again be dexterous. Yet that was a small enough price to pay for Bran's life. Ser Rodrik chose that moment to appear on deck. â€Å"My good friend,† said Moreo through his forked green beard. The Tyroshi loved bright colors, even in their facial hair. â€Å"It is so fine to see you looking better.† â€Å"Yes,† Ser Rodrik agreed. â€Å"I haven't wanted to die for almost two days now.† He bowed to Catelyn. â€Å"My lady.† He was looking better. A shade thinner than he had been when they set out from WhiteHarbor, but almost himself again. The strong winds in the Bite and the roughness of the narrow sea had not agreed with him, and he'd almost gone over the side when the storm seized them unexpectedly off Dragonstone, yet somehow he had clung to a rope until three of Moreo's men could rescue him and carry him safely below decks. â€Å"The captain was just telling me that our voyage is almost at an end,† she said. Ser Rodrik managed a wry smile. â€Å"So soon?† He looked odd without his great white side whiskers; smaller somehow, less fierce, and ten years older. Yet back on the Bite it had seemed prudent to submit to a crewman's razor, after his whiskers had become hopelessly befouled for the third time while he leaned over the rail and retched into the swirling winds. â€Å"I will leave you to discuss your business,† Captain Moreo said. He bowed and took his leave of them. The galley skimmed the water like a dragonfly, her oars rising and falling in perfect time. Ser Rodrik held the rail and looked out over the passing shore. â€Å"I have not been the most valiant of protectors.† Catelyn touched his arm. â€Å"We are here, Ser Rodrik, and safely. That is all that truly matters.† Her hand groped beneath her cloak, her fingers stiff and fumbling. The dagger was still at her side. She found she had to touch it now and then, to reassure herself. â€Å"Now we must reach the king's master-at-arms, and pray that he can be trusted.† â€Å"Ser Aron Santagar is a vain man, but an honest one.† Ser Rodrik's hand went to his face to stroke his whiskers and discovered once again that they were gone. He looked nonplussed. â€Å"He may know the blade, yes . . . but, my lady, the moment we go ashore we are at risk. And there are those at court who will know you on sight.† Catelyn's mouth grew tight. â€Å"Littlefinger,† she murmured. His face swam up before her; a boy's face, though he was a boy no longer. His father had died several years before, so he was Lord Baelish now, yet still they called him Littlefinger. Her brother Edmure had given him that name, long ago at Riverrun. His family's modest holdings were on the smallest of the Fingers, and Petyr had been slight and short for his age. Ser Rodrik cleared his throat. â€Å"Lord Baelish once, ah . . . † His thought trailed off uncertainly in search of the polite word. Catelyn was past delicacy. â€Å"He was my father's ward. We grew up together in Riverrun. I thought of him as a brother, but his feelings for me were . . . more than brotherly. When it was announced that I was to wed Brandon Stark, Petyr challenged for the right to my hand. It was madness. Brandon was twenty, Petyr scarcely fifteen. I had to beg Brandon to spare Petyr's life. He let him off with a scar. Afterward my father sent him away. I have not seen him since.† She lifted her face to the spray, as if the brisk wind could blow the memories away. â€Å"He wrote to me at Riverrun after Brandon was killed, but I burned the letter unread. By then I knew that Ned would marry me in his brother's place.† Ser Rodrik's fingers fumbled once again for nonexistent whiskers. â€Å"Littlefinger sits on the small council now.† â€Å"I knew he would rise high,† Catelyn said. â€Å"He was always clever, even as a boy, but it is one thing to be clever and another to be wise. I wonder what the years have done to him.† High overhead, the far-eyes sang out from the rigging. Captain Moreo came scrambling across the deck, giving orders, and all around them the Storm Dancer burst into frenetic activity as King's Landing slid into view atop its three high hills. Three hundred years ago, Catelyn knew, those heights had been covered with forest, and only a handful of fisherfolk had lived on the north shore of the Blackwater Rush where that deep, swift river flowed into the sea. Then Aegon the Conqueror had sailed from Dragonstone. It was here that his army had put ashore, and there on the highest hill that he built his first crude redoubt of wood and earth. Now the city covered the shore as far as Catelyn could see; manses and arbors and granaries, brick storehouses and timbered inns and merchant's stalls, taverns and graveyards and brothels, all piled one on another. She could hear the clamor of the fish market even at this distance. Between the buildings were broad roads lined with trees, wandering crookback streets, and alleys so narrow that two men could not walk abreast. Visenya's hill was crowned by the Great Sept of Baelor with its seven crystal towers. Across the city on the hill of Rhaenys stood the blackened walls of the Dragonpit, its huge dome collapsing into ruin, its bronze doors closed now for a century. The Street of the Sisters ran between them, straight as an arrow. The city walls rose in the distance, high and strong. A hundred quays lined the waterfront, and the harbor was crowded with ships. Deepwater fishing boats and river runners came and went, ferrymen poled back and forth across the Blackwater Rush, trading galleys unloaded goods from Braavos and Pentos and Lys. Catelyn spied the queen's ornate barge, tied up beside a fat-bellied whaler from the Port of Ibben, its hull black with tar, while upriver a dozen lean golden warships rested in their cribs, sails furled and cruel iron rams lapping at the water. And above it all, frowning down from Aegon's high hill, was the Red Keep; seven huge drum-towers crowned with iron ramparts, an immense grim barbican, vaulted halls and covered bridges, barracks and dungeons and granaries, massive curtain walls studded with archers' nests, all fashioned of pale red stone. Aegon the Conqueror had commanded it built. His son Maegor the Cruel had seen it completed. Afterward he had taken the heads of every stonemason, woodworker, and builder who had labored on it. Only the blood of the dragon would ever know the secrets of the fortress the Dragonlords had built, he vowed. Yet now the banners that flew from its battlements were golden, not black, and where the three-headed dragon had once breathed fire, now pranced the crowned stag of House Baratheon. A high-masted swan ship from the Summer Isles was beating out from port, its white sails huge with wind. The Storm Dancer moved past it, pulling steadily for shore. â€Å"My lady,† Ser Rodrik said, â€Å"I have thought on how best to proceed while I lay abed. You must not enter the castle. I will go in your stead and bring Ser Aron to you in some safe place.† She studied the old knight as the galley drew near to a pier. Moreo was shouting in the vulgar Valyrian of the Free Cities. â€Å"You would be as much at risk as I would.† Ser Rodrik smiled. â€Å"I think not. I looked at my reflection in the water earlier and scarcely recognized myself. My mother was the last person to see me without whiskers, and she is forty years dead. I believe I am safe enough, my lady.† Moreo bellowed a command. As one, sixty oars lifted from the river, then reversed and backed water. The galley slowed. Another shout. The oars slid back inside the hull. As they thumped against the dock, Tyroshi seamen leapt down to tie up. Moreo came bustling up, all smiles. â€Å"King's Landing, my lady, as you did command, and never has a ship made a swifter or surer passage. Will you be needing assistance to carry your things to the castle?† â€Å"We shall not be going to the castle. Perhaps you can suggest an inn, someplace clean and comfortable and not too far from the river.† The Tyroshi fingered his forked green beard. â€Å"Just so. I know of several establishments that might suit your needs. Yet first, if I may be so bold, there is the matter of the second half of the payment we agreed upon. And of course the extra silver you were so kind as to promise. Sixty stags, I believe it was.† â€Å"For the oarmen,† Catelyn reminded him. â€Å"Oh, of a certainty,† said Moreo. â€Å"Though perhaps I should hold it for them until we return to Tyrosh. For the sake of their wives and children. If you give them the silver here, my lady, they will dice it away or spend it all for a night's pleasure.† â€Å"There are worse things to spend money on,† Ser Rodrik put in. â€Å"Winter is coming.† â€Å"A man must make his own choices,† Catelyn said. â€Å"They earned the silver. How they spend it is no concern of mine.† â€Å"As you say, my lady,† Moreo replied, bowing and smiling. Just to be sure, Catelyn paid the oarmen herself, a stag to each man, and a copper to the two men who carried their chests halfway up Visenya's hill to the inn that Moreo had suggested. It was a rambling old place on Eel Alley. The woman who owned it was a sour crone with a wandering eye who looked them over suspiciously and bit the coin that Catelyn offered her to make sure it was real. Her rooms were large and airy, though, and Moreo swore that her fish stew was the most savory in all the Seven Kingdoms. Best of all, she had no interest in their names. â€Å"I think it best if you stay away from the common room,† Ser Rodrik said, after they had settled in. â€Å"Even in a place like this, one never knows who may be watching.† He wore ringmail, dagger, and longsword under a dark cloak with a hood he could pull up over his head. â€Å"I will be back before nightfall, with Ser Aron,† he promised. â€Å"Rest now, my lady.† Catelyn was tired. The voyage had been long and fatiguing, and she was no longer as young as she had been. Her windows opened on the alley and rooftops, with a view of the Blackwater beyond. She watched Ser Rodrik set off, striding briskly through the busy streets until he was lost in the crowds, then decided to take his advice. The bedding was stuffed with straw instead of feathers, but she had no trouble falling asleep. She woke to a pounding on her door. Catelyn sat up sharply. Outside the window, the rooftops of King's Landing were red in the light of the setting sun. She had slept longer than she intended. A fist hammered at her door again, and a voice called out, â€Å"Open, in the name of the king.† â€Å"A moment,† she called out. She wrapped herself in her cloak. The dagger was on the bedside table. She snatched it up before she unlatched the heavy wooden door. The men who pushed into the room wore the black ringmail and golden cloaks of the City Watch. Their leader smiled at the dagger in her hand and said, â€Å"No need for that, m'lady. We're to escort you to the castle.† â€Å"By whose authority?† she said. He showed her a ribbon. Catelyn felt her breath catch in her throat. The seal was a mockingbird, in grey wax. â€Å"Petyr,† she said. So soon. Something must have happened to Ser Rodrik. She looked at the head guardsman. â€Å"Do you know who I am?† â€Å"No, m'lady,† he said. â€Å"M'lord Littlefinger said only to bring you to him, and see that you were not mistreated.† Catelyn nodded. â€Å"You may wait outside while I dress.† She bathed her hands in the basin and wrapped them in clean linen. Her fingers were thick and awkward as she struggled to lace up her bodice and knot a drab brown cloak about her neck. How could Littlefinger have known she was here? Ser Rodrik would never have told him. Old he might be, but he was stubborn, and loyal to a fault. Were they too late, had the Lannisters reached King's Landing before her? No, if that were true, Ned would be here too, and surely he would have come to her. How . . . ? Then she thought, Moreo. The Tyroshi knew who they were and where they were, damn him. She hoped he'd gotten a good price for the information. They had brought a horse for her. The lamps were being lit along the streets as they set out, and Catelyn felt the eyes of the city on her as she rode, surrounded by the guard in their golden cloaks. When they reached the Red Keep, the portcullis was down and the great gates sealed for the night, but the castle windows were alive with flickering lights. The guardsmen left their mounts outside the walls and escorted her through a narrow postern door, then up endless steps to a tower. He was alone in the room, seated at a heavy wooden table, an oil lamp beside him as he wrote. When they ushered her inside, he set down his pen and looked at her. â€Å"Cat,† he said quietly. â€Å"Why have I been brought here in this fashion?† He rose and gestured brusquely to the guards. â€Å"Leave us.† The men departed. â€Å"You were not mistreated, I trust,† he said after they had gone. â€Å"I gave firm instructions.† He noticed her bandages. â€Å"Your hands . . . â€Å" Catelyn ignored the implied question. â€Å"I am not accustomed to being summoned like a serving wench,† she said icily. â€Å"As a boy, you still knew the meaning of courtesy.† â€Å"I've angered you, my lady. That was never my intent.† He looked contrite. The look brought back vivid memories for Catelyn. He had been a sly child, but after his mischiefs he always looked contrite; it was a gift he had. The years had not changed him much. Petyr had been a small boy, and he had grown into a small man, an inch or two shorter than Catelyn, slender and quick, with the sharp features she remembered and the same laughing grey-green eyes. He had a little pointed chin beard now, and threads of silver in his dark hair, though he was still shy of thirty. They went well with the silver mockingbird that fastened his cloak. Even as a child, he had always loved his silver. â€Å"How did you know I was in the city?† she asked him. â€Å"Lord Varys knows all,† Petyr said with a sly smile. â€Å"He will be joining us shortly, but I wanted to see you alone first. It has been too long, Cat. How many years?† Catelyn ignored his familiarity. There were more important questions. â€Å"So it was the King's Spider who found me.† Littlefinger winced. â€Å"You don't want to call him that. He's very sensitive. Comes of being an eunuch, I imagine. Nothing happens in this city without Varys knowing. Oftimes he knows about it before it happens. He has informants everywhere. His little birds, he calls them. One of his little birds heard about your visit. Thankfully, Varys came to me first.† â€Å"Why you?† He shrugged. â€Å"Why not me? I am master of coin, the king's own councillor. Selmy and Lord Renly rode north to meet Robert, and Lord Stannis is gone to Dragonstone, leaving only Maester Pycelle and me. I was the obvious choice. I was ever a friend to your sister Lysa, Varys knows that.† â€Å"Does Varys know about . . . â€Å" â€Å"Lord Varys knows everything . . . except why you are here.† He lifted an eyebrow. â€Å"Why are you here?† â€Å"A wife is allowed to yearn for her husband, and if a mother needs her daughters close, who can tell her no?† Littlefinger laughed. â€Å"Oh, very good, my lady, but please don't expect me to believe that. I know you too well. What were the Tully words again?† Her throat was dry. â€Å"Family, Duty, Honor,† she recited stiffly. He did know her too well. â€Å"Family, Duty, Honor,† he echoed. â€Å"All of which required you to remain in Winterfell, where our Hand left you. No, my lady, something has happened. This sudden trip of yours bespeaks a certain urgency. I beg of you, let me help. Old sweet friends should never hesitate to rely upon each other.† There was a soft knock on the door. â€Å"Enter,† Littlefinger called out. The man who stepped through the door was plump, perfumed, powdered, and as hairless as an egg. He wore a vest of woven gold thread over a loose gown of purple silk, and on his feet were pointed slippers of soft velvet. â€Å"Lady Stark,† he said, taking her hand in both of his, â€Å"to see you again after so many years is such a joy.† His flesh was soft and moist, and his breath smelled of lilacs. â€Å"Oh, your poor hands. Have you burned yourself, sweet lady? The fingers are so delicate . . . Our good Maester Pycelle makes a marvelous salve, shall I send for a jar?† Catelyn slid her fingers from his grasp. â€Å"I thank you, my lord, but my own Maester Luwin has already seen to my hurts.† Varys bobbed his head. â€Å"I was grievous sad to hear about your son. And him so young. The gods are cruel.† â€Å"On that we agree, Lord Varys,† she said. The title was but a courtesy due him as a council member; Varys was lord of nothing but the spiderweb, the master of none but his whisperers. The eunuch spread his soft hands. â€Å"On more than that, I hope, sweet lady. I have great esteem for your husband, our new Hand, and I know we do both love King Robert.† â€Å"Yes,† she was forced to say. â€Å"For a certainty.† â€Å"Never has a king been so beloved as our Robert,† quipped Littlefinger. He smiled slyly. â€Å"At least in Lord Varys's hearing.† â€Å"Good lady,† Varys said with great solicitude. â€Å"There are men in the Free Cities with wondrous healing powers. Say only the word, and I will send for one for your dear Bran.† â€Å"Maester Luwin is doing all that can be done for Bran,† she told him. She would not speak of Bran, not here, not with these men. She trusted Littlefinger only a little, and Varys not at all. She would not let them see her grief. â€Å"Lord Baelish tells me that I have you to thank for bringing me here.† Varys giggled like a little girl. â€Å"Oh, yes. I suppose I am guilty. I hope you forgive me, kind lady.† He eased himself down into a seat and put his hands together. â€Å"I wonder if we might trouble you to show us the dagger?† Catelyn Stark stared at the eunuch in stunned disbelief. He was a spider, she thought wildly, an enchanter or worse. He knew things no one could possibly know, unless . . . â€Å"What have you done to Ser Rodrik?† she demanded. Littlefinger was lost. â€Å"I feel rather like the knight who arrives at the battle without his lance. What dagger are we talking about? Who is Ser Rodrik?† â€Å"Ser Rodrik Cassel is master-at-arms at Winterfell,† Varys informed him. â€Å"I assure you, Lady Stark, nothing at all has been done to the good knight. He did call here early this afternoon. He visited with Ser Aron Santagar in the armory, and they talked of a certain dagger. About sunset, they left the castle together and walked to that dreadful hovel where you were staying. They are still there, drinking in the common room, waiting for your return. Ser Rodrik was very distressed to find you gone.† â€Å"How could you know all that?† â€Å"The whisperings of little birds,† Varys said, smiling. â€Å"I know things, sweet lady. That is the nature of my service.† He shrugged. â€Å"You do have the dagger with you, yes?† Catelyn pulled it out from beneath her cloak and threw it down on the table in front of him. â€Å"Here. Perhaps your little birds will whisper the name of the man it belongs to.† Varys lifted the knife with exaggerated delicacy and ran a thumb along its edge. Blood welled, and he let out a squeal and dropped the dagger back on the table. â€Å"Careful,† Catelyn told him, â€Å"it's sharp.† â€Å"Nothing holds an edge like Valyrian steel,† Littlefinger said as Varys sucked at his bleeding thumb and looked at Catelyn with sullen admonition. Littlefinger hefted the knife lightly in his hand, testing the grip. He flipped it in the air, caught it again with his other hand. â€Å"Such sweet balance. You want to find the owner, is that the reason for this visit? You have no need of Ser Aron for that, my lady. You should have come to me.† â€Å"And if I had,† she said, â€Å"what would you have told me?† â€Å"I would have told you that there was only one knife like this at King's Landing.† He grasped the blade between thumb and forefinger, drew it back over his shoulder, and threw it across the room with a practiced flick of his wrist. It struck the door and buried itself deep in the oak, quivering. â€Å"It's mine.† â€Å"Yours?† It made no sense. Petyr had not been at Winterfell. â€Å"Until the tourney on Prince Joffrey's name day,† he said, crossing the room to wrench the dagger from the wood. â€Å"I backed Ser Jaime in the jousting, along with half the court.† Petyr's sheepish grin made him look half a boy again. â€Å"When Loras Tyrell unhorsed him, many of us became a trifle poorer. Ser Jaime lost a hundred golden dragons, the queen lost an emerald pendant, and I lost my knife. Her Grace got the emerald back, but the winner kept the rest.† â€Å"Who?† Catelyn demanded, her mouth dry with fear. Her fingers ached with remembered pain. â€Å"The Imp,† said Littlefinger as Lord Varys watched her face. â€Å"Tyrion Lannister.†

It Is Good to Be Different Essay

Everyone is different, and each of us has its own personality Owned. But it is nice to be different? Be distinguished from the others. What is to be different? Do you feel alone, living in their different world†¦ It is hard to be different. Everyone sees you as an outsider and will not accept in their world. Among them is the fear that something more of them, others see it as something more unworthy and unnecessary. It is hard to be different because its not easily find their soul mates. Difficult to discover someone to like you, someone who will understand. It is sad to be different among the same, because they close with anyone and any attempt to approximate and can leave severe damage in your soul. Because it is difficult to accept that others do not they understand they are not valued, you do not want to even be friends, and constantly must prove to them. To prove that you’re just as human as they are! But it is unique to be different. When all have the same opinion – you have their own unique views. When all looking in one direction, you turn in a completely different and surprise everyone with current and interesting ways in your different way of thinking. Yeah, you’re different, you is difficult, but it makes the center of attention of those looking for someone with different interests, someone who does not need another to do something. You’re individualist who succeeds in life alone, not like someone else. Need to be different. What would happen to the world if there were no diversity? What would happen to mankind if all the same, if everyone liked the same things? I think different people are those who run the big machine of existence. Others are crowds, the masses people who individually do not have anything important – is it just because it has others. Such people namitrat his idols, some of which are similar to podarzhavat, no matter whether this would be an actor, singer, politician .. They can not I find myself in this endeavor to impersonate someone, someone who will like the rest. But does it make sense in this, trying to impersonate another may not post when you find yourself in nature and vocation? Is not more sense then your whole existence? Is then you can prove yourself when you actually already exist? Well, is it nice to be different? You are unique, you need the world, then what the hell that must be fought with generally accepted standards? Difficult things make life meaningful. Because when everything is easy, you lose the stimulus-ambition dies. Did not the person seeking to grow inaccessible. Yes, it’s nice to be different, because everything different is good, it will not duplicate it unique!

Legalizing the Green Lady - 1767 Words

Marijuana has been around for centuries and has been used for many things, such as the oil in the cannabis plant, which is high in protein and essential fatty acids, or the plant is dried and made into hemp, and hemp into baskets or bracelets. Other than protein and crafts, marijuana has long been used for recreational purposes. With the underground black market controlling the trade of marijuana, it poses more risks than legalizing it. Marijuana is highly illegal in the United States, and the repercussions are very harsh, in some places more than others. Recreational marijuana use should be regulated or decriminalized. Tobacco, alcohol and prescription drugs are legal drugs in the United States under certain conditions, and although†¦show more content†¦Prescription medication, on the other hand, is very dangerous, and they have many side effects. Prescription medication for recreational use is also risky because overdose is not impossible, or rare. Marijuana is very safe a nd supporters of legalization would like to see it regulated like alcohol, or even believe that it is safe enough that regulation would not be necessary. Kayla Morgan states that â€Å"Marijuana is a safe and natural substance† and that people have been â€Å"using it for centuries† (100). Since people have been using it for centuries, no one has overdosed and marijuana is not physically addictive in the way that tobacco and alcohol are. â€Å"Studies show cannabis is not chemically addictive in the way heroin, nicotine, or alcohol is. This means the user’s body will not go into a physical withdrawal if regular cannabis use is stopped.† (Morgan 50). Marijuana is not physically or chemically addictive, which would not have as big of an effect on the user as other drugs. Drugs even prescribed to users for medicinal purposes can become addictive, and put patients through physical withdrawal. The use of marijuana is very widespread which clearly means the United States is losing the â€Å"War on Drugs† and needs to find a different approach to recreational drug use. David Usborne states that he is not surprised that a poll shows strong support Americans, because, as he says, â€Å"Americas are increasingly recognizing that marijuana is less harmfulShow MoreRelatedThe Political Party At The Democratic Party1264 Words   |  6 PagesPolitical Party Research: 1. I am attracted to the Democratic Party. I took the political party quiz and answered the questions as honestly as I could. I found the questions to be very interesting and versatile. After viewing my results I looked into The Green Party some more. I am basically an environmentalist and believe taxes are affecting the lower classes and something needs to be done about it. I agreed with all of these issues. 2. 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