Love at the Cornhusk

Love at the Cornhusk †Aida Rivera Ford Tinang halted before the Senora’s door and balanced the baby’s top. The pooches that came to bark at the entryway were unusual mutts, huge mouthed creatures with a feeling of prevalence. They stuck their heads through the hogfence, lolling their tongues and stressing. Out of nowhere, from the gumamela line, a little dark crossbreed developed and crawled through the fence easily. It went to her, head down and body shuddering. â€Å"Bantay. Ay, Bantay! † she shouted as the little pooch laid its paws upon her shirt to sniff the infant on her arm. The infant was apprehensive and cried. The large creatures yelped with dismay. Tito, the youthful ace, had seen her and was calling to his mom. â€Å"Ma, it’s Tinang. Mama, Ma, it’s Tinang. † He came getting down to open the entryway. â€Å"Aba, you are so tall now, Tito. † He grinned his girl’s grin as he held on, warding the canines off. Tinang left rapidly behind the veranda steps fixed with plants and kaleidoscopic bougainville. On landing, she stopped to wipe her shoes cautiously. About her, the Senora’s white and lavender butterfly orchids rippled carefully in the daylight. She saw however that the purple waling-waling that had once been her undertaking to conceal from the blistering sun with banana leaves and to water with blend of charcoal and eggs and water was not in sprout. â€Å"Is nobody covering the waling-waling now? † Tinang inquired. â€Å"It will kick the bucket. † â€Å"Oh, the house keeper will come to cover the orchids later. † The Senora called from inside. â€Å"Tinang, let me see your infant. Is it a kid? † â€Å"Yes, Ma,† Tito yelled from first floor. â€Å"And the ears are gigantic! † â€Å"What do you expect,† answered his mom; â€Å"the father is a Bagobo. Indeed, even Tinang resembles a Bagobo now. † Tinang chuckled and felt warmness for her previous fancy woman and the kid Tito. She sat hesitantly on the dark narra couch, just because a guest. Her eyes blurred. Seeing the Senora’s limply stout figure, wrapped in a free abdomen less housedress that descended to her lower legs, and the black out aroma of agua de colonia mixed with kitchen zest, appeared to her the embodiment of the agreeable world, and she murmured thinking about the long walk home through the mud, the baby’s legs rode to her midriff, and Inggo, her significant other, hanging tight for her, his body smelling of tuba and sweat, crouching on the floor, clad just in his foul underpants. â€Å"Ano, Tinang, is it not something to be thankful for to be hitched? the Senora asked, feeling sorry for Tinang in light of the fact that her dress gave path at the placket and squeezed at her swollen bosoms. It was, indeed, a dress she had given Tinang quite a while back. â€Å"It is hard, Senora, extremely hard. Better that I were working here once more. † â€Å"There! † the Seno ra said. â€Å"Didn’t I mention to you what it would resemble, huh? . . . that you would be a captive to your significant other and that you would work a child everlastingly tied to you. Is it accurate to say that you are not pregnant once more? † Tinang wriggled at the Senora’s unequivocal quality however conceded she was. â€Å"Hala! You will have twelve in a little while. † The Senora got up. Come, I will give you a few dresses and an old cover that you can cut into things for the child. † They went into a jumbled room which resembled a colossal storeroom and as the Senora sifted through some garments, Tinang asked, â€Å"How is Senor? † â€Å"Ay, he is continually losing his temper over the tractor drivers. It isn't how it was when Amado was here. You recall what a decent driver he was. The tractors were constantly kept in working condition. Be that as it may, presently . . . I wonder why he left out of nowhere. He said he would be away for just two days . . . .† â€Å"I don’t know,† Tinang said. The infant started to cry. Tinang shushed him with aggravation. â€Å"Oy, Tinang, go to the kitchen; your Bagobito is ravenous. † For the following hour, Tinang sat in the kitchen with an odd inclination; she viewed the young lady who was currently possessing the kitchen work around with a cloth grasped I one hand. She had lipstick on as well, Tinang noted. the young lady took a gander at her quickly however didn't grin. She set down a container of vanished milk for the child and served her espresso and cake. The Senora drank espresso with her and addressed about keeping the baby’s stomach bound and preparing it to remain without anyone else so she could work. At long last, Tinang raised, haltingly, with phrases like â€Å"if it won't annoy you† and â€Å"if you are not very busy† the reason for her visitâ€which was to request that Senora be a madrina in submersion. The Senora promptly consented and said she would give the baptismal garments and the expense for the cleric. The time had come to go. â€Å"When would you say you are coming back once more, Tinang? † the Senore asked as Tinang prepared the infant. â€Å"Don’t overlook the heap of garments and . . . gracious, Tinang, you better stop by the drugstore. They asked me once whether you were still with us. You have a letter there nd I was going to open it to check whether there was awful news yet I figured you would be coming. † A letter! Tinang’s heart beat savagely. Someone is dead; I realize someone is dead, she thought. She crossed herself and in the wake of saying thanks to the Senora abundantly, she rushed down. The pooches approached and Tito needed to limit them. â€Å"Bring me some youthful corn next time, Tinang,† he shouted toward her. Tinang held up some time at the drugstore which was additionally the mail station of the barrio. At last, the man went to her: â€Å"Mrs. , do you need medication for your child or for yourself? † â€Å"No, I desired my letter. I was told I have a letter. † â€Å"And what is your name, Mrs.? † He drawled. â€Å"Constantina Tirol. † The man got a container and gradually experienced the heap of envelopes the vast majority of which were written in pencil, â€Å"Tirol, Tirol, Tirol. . . .† He at last pulled out a letter and gave it to her. She gazed at the new scribbling. It was not from her sister and she could think about nobody else who could keep in touch with her. Santa Clause Maria, she thought; perhaps something has happened to my sister. â€Å"Do you need me to peruse it for you? † â€Å"No, no. † She rushed from the drugstore, squashed that he should think her unskilled. With the child on one arm and the heap of garments on the other and the letter gripped in her grasp she wound up strolling toward home. The downpours had made a profound quagmire of the mud street and Tinang followed the prints left by the men and the carabaos that had gone before all her from sinking mud up to her knees. She was somewhere down in the street before she got aware of her shoes. With dismay, she saw that they were covered with thick, dark dirt. Warily, she pulled off one shoe after the other with the hand despite everything clasping precisely. At the point when she had integrated the shoes with the bands and had thrown them on an arm, the infant, the group, and the letter were completely spread with mud. There must be a spot to put the child down, she thought, urgent now about the letter. She strolled on until she detected an edge of a field where cornhusks were dissipated under a kamansi tree. She pushed together a heap of husks with her foot and laid the infant downward on it. With a murmur, she drew the letter from the envelope. She gazed at the letter which was written in English. My dearest Tinay, Hello, how is life getting along? Is it true that you are still in acceptable condition? Concerning myself, equivalent to common. Be that as it may, you’re a long way from my side. It is difficult to be a long way from our sweetheart. Tinay, do you despite everything love me? I trust your sort and liberal heart will never blur. Sometime or by one way or another I’ll be there again to satisfy our guarantee. Numerous many months have slipped by. Still I recall our former days. Particularly when I was enduring with the warmth of the tractor under the warmth of the sun. I was consistently in despair until I envision your own appearance approaching bearing the best grin that empowered me to see the far off skyline. Tinay, I was unable to return since I found that my mom was exceptionally sick. That is the reason I couldn't accept you as an accomplice of life. If you don't mind react to my note without a moment's delay so I know whether you despite everything love me or not. I trust you didn't cherish anyone with the exception of myself. I think I am going past the restriction of your recreation hours, so I close with all the best to you, my companions Gonding, Sefarin, Bondio, and so forth. Yours eternity, Amado P. S. My mom kicked the bucket a month ago. Address your letter: Mr. Amado Galauran Binalunan, Cotabato It was Tinang’s first love letter. A flush spread over her face and crawled into her body. She read the letter once more. â€Å"It isn't anything but difficult to be a long way from our sweetheart. . . I envision your own appearance approaching. . . . Sometime in the future, by one way or another I’ll be there to satisfy our guarantee. . . .† Tinang was inebriated. She squeezed herself against the kamansi tree. My darling is consistent with m e. He never intended to abandon me. Amado, she thought. Amado. What's more, she cried, recollecting the little youngster she was under two years back when she would take food to Senor in the field and the workers would eye her stealthily. She thought herself above them for she was consistently flawless and clean in her old neighborhood, before she disappeared to work, she had gone to class and had arrived at 6th grade. Her skin, as well, was not as dim as those of the young ladies who worked in the fields weeding around the clusters of abaca. Her lower lip extended out contemptuously when the homestead hands addressed her with many complimenting words. She chuckled when a Bagobo with two hectares of land requested that her wed him. It was just Amado, the tractor driver, who could take a gander at her and make her lower her eyes. He was extremely dull and wore dirty and torn garments on the homestead however on Saturdays when he came up to the house for his week�

China internet censorship is against human rights Essay

China web oversight is against human rights - Essay Example (Watts, 2005) In any case, with the development of the web, there came another manner by which individuals in China could communicate legitimately. In accordance with the last referenced Draconian reasoning, the Chinese government picked to participate in oversight of these web sites in order to keep up power battles. Human rights activists contend this is actuality a restraint of the opportunity of conviction and the issue of majority rule government all things considered. (Zittrain, 2006) The Chinese government ordinarily depends on a numerous blend of control techniques to guarantee that lone the data they support arrives at Chinese web clients. In specific cases, the legislature may depend on the utilization of digital police who lead reconnaissance activities. In different circumstances, the administration may turn to web separating innovations that might possibly be done normally. Normally, one gets a message demonstrating that there is a system blunder or an issue with their IP. As it were, the legislature doesn't clarify that it is in truth that the one liable for editing that site in this manner making it hard for the particular clients.

Spring Festival Essay Example for Free

Spring Festival Essay Spring Festival is the most euphoric celebration in China, and it is additionally the day of a relative rejoining. Would you like to realize that Chinese how to praise this celebration? Putting the spring celebration looks up, hanging the lights, having the get-together dinners, having dumplings, sitting up late and sitting tight for the ring of the New Year are largely the Spring Festival’s custom. All the exercises contain the pleasant gifts and willing. For example, eating angles during the celebration express that they trust they are bounteous consistently, and giving oranges and apples express fortunate and wellbeing. Before the New Year comes, the individuals totally clean the inside and outside of their homes just as their garments, bedclothes and every one of their utensils. At that point individuals start improving their tidy up rooms highlighting an environment of celebrating and merriment. All the entryway boards will be stuck with Spring Festival couplets, featuring Chinese calligraphy with dark characters on red paper. The substance differs from house proprietors wants for a brilliant future to good karma for the New Year. Additionally, photos of the divine force of entryways and riches will be presented on front entryways on avert underhanded spirits and welcome harmony and plenitude. Consuming firecrackers was before the most average custom on the Spring Festival. Individuals thought the spluttering sound could help drive away abhorrence spirits. In any case, such a movement was totally or halfway taboo in large urban areas once the legislature took security, commotion and contamination factors into thought. As a substitution, some purchase tapes with sparkler sounds to hear some out, break little inflatables to get the sound as well, while others purchase sparkler crafted works to hang in the lounge room. The Chinese character fu (which means gift or satisfaction) is an absolute necessity. The character put in writing can be stuck regularly or topsy turvy, for in Chinese the switched fu is homophonic with fu comes, both being articulated as fudaole. Whats increasingly, two major red lamps can be raised on the two sides of the front entryway. Red paper-cuttings can be seen on window glass and splendidly shaded New Year works of art with propitious implications might be put on the divider. Individuals append extraordinary significance to Spring Festival Eve. Around then, all relatives have supper together. The feast is more extravagant than expected. Dishes, for example, chicken, fish and bean curd can't be prohibited, for in Chinese, their articulations, separately ji, yu and doufu, mean favorability, bounty and lavishness. After the supper, the entire family will sit together, talking and staring at the TV. Lately, the Spring Festival party communicate on China Central Television Station (CCTV) is fundamental amusement for the Chinese both at home and abroad. As per custom, every family will keep awake to see the New Year in. Awakening on New Year, everyone spruces up. First they stretch out welcome to their folks. At that point every youngster will get cash as a New Year blessing, enveloped with red paper. Individuals in northern China will eat jiaozi, or dumplings, for breakfast, as they think jiaozi in sound methods saying goodbye to the old and introducing the new. Likewise, the state of the dumpling resembles gold ingot from antiquated China. So individuals eat them and wish for cash and fortune.

Zynga’s Revenue Recognition Dilemma

http://accrualperspective. wordpress. com/2012/10/10/zyngas-income acknowledgment quandary/Zynga’s Revenue Recognition Dilemma Leave an answer Zynga’s Revenue Recognition Dilemma Zynga has been the focal point of a profoundly questioned theme on appointments and incomes starting late. Sadly for the web based gaming organization, numerous bookkeepers and monetary investigators are not in Zynga’s favor in transit that the organization has been perceiving incomes. To place the organization in context, there are 26 million computerized ranchers by means of the limitlessly wild FarmVille application run by Zynga.In the well known game, Facebook clients manufacture homesteads to deliver crops and make the sort of efficiency that they want. This makes the requirement for virtual, substantial gear, for example, tractors, seeders and gatherers, all which can be purchased with FarmVille Currency. Zynga brings in cash by permitting clients to hustle the procedure by changin g over genuine dollars from their Visas into the virtual money important to get the gear they have to take care of business. Like FarmVille, Zynga has clients over an assortment of utilizations, for example, CityVille, Words with Friends, and Mafia Wars, all of which utilizing the equivalent models.This sort of one of a kind income anyway incites a one of a kind inquiry; that is, how is Zynga expected to report incomes from these items that they’ve advertised? As indicated by the company’s 10-k report, it’s strategies on detailing states that: * â€Å"For the offer of consumable virtual products, we perceive income as the merchandise are consumed† * â€Å"We perceive income from the offer of sturdy virtual merchandise ratably over the assessed normal playing time of paying players for the appropriate game, which speaks to our best gauge of the normal existence of our tough virtual goods† And maybe the most significant: â€Å"If we don't be able to separate income inferable from solid virtual products from consumable virtual products for a particular game, we perceive income from the offer of strong and consumable virtual products for that game ratably over the evaluated normal time frame that paying players ordinarily play our games† This sort of budgetary announcing is basically excessively befuddling and welcomes an excess of change inside the reports. Likewise, this kind of unusual revealing strategy permits the organization to slant primary concern benefits and move their profit to mirror a false valuation of the company’s worth.These sorts of controls are particularly disturbing to clients of the financials who are hoping to put resources into an organization that gives off an impression of being developing, when in actuality it is modifying creation numbers with each successive quarter. Concerning the income acknowledgment question, the manner in which their bookkeepers gauge normal periods that paying pla yers really play the Zynga games must be approved. In an ongoing article by Bloomberg’s Cory Johnson, he takes note of that Zynga has made changes to these assessments five of the last six quarters. These progressions made radically impact the net benefits that Zynga is answering to the public.By taking the gauge and mutilating it, they can report benefits when to be sure there are none. It is interested that the inspector doled out to Zynga, Ernst and Young, has permitted this technique for bookkeeping to be actualized when plainly it is influencing the primary concern. It is additionally inquisitive that E&Y is likewise the reviewer for the Zynga’s merchant, Facebook whose Zynga benefits have represented generally 12% of its income. This â€Å"independence† (or need there of) raises doubt about the genuine legitimacy behind these detailing principles and what they intend to the bookkeeping calling just as fiscal report clients world-wide.At any rate, this is a point that should be exposed, examined and governed upon. Zynga can't only continue detailing as they wish to incite the presence of a triumph while the genuine benefits and misfortunes go unnoticed. http://online journals. smeal. psu. edu/grumpyoldaccountants/chronicles/746#more-746 http://articles. businessinsider. com/2011-10-12/look into/30269486_1_zynga-virtual-merchandise appointments http://www. forbes. com/destinations/francinemckenna/2012/04/23/how-zynga-facebook-and-groupons-go-to-examiner modifies bookkeeping rules/

Comparing heat loss between a single test tube Essay Example for Free

Contrasting warmth misfortune between a solitary test tube Essay I mean to demonstrate whether heat misfortune is diminished by crouching test tubes, instead of the warmth loss of a solitary test tube, which is progressively presented to the air. Foundation Information Controls Variables The quantity of test tubes. Time taken to do the analysis. The quantity of thermometers. Beginning temperature. Measure of water added to each test tube. Last temperature. 15 readings, which are rehashed for a normal. The quantity of flexible groups required supporting the cluster. The quantity of measuring glasses and stands required supporting the test tubes. Forecast I anticipate that the single test tube is more exothermic than the test tubes in the group. This is on the grounds that, by clustering, a littler surface zone of the test tubes is presented to the air. Along these lines, less warmth is emitted. Warmth can be lost in different manners. Be that as it may, by crouching the test tubes, heat misfortune by means of convection and radiation can be diminished. Models where crouching is indispensable for endurance happen in nature. As proof that crouching is a scholarly reaction, creatures like penguins and seals would pass on the off chance that they were not shown these essential aptitudes. On the off chance that my forecast is right my chart ought to take after the one demonstrated as follows: Temp ( C) 70 35 0 15 Time (mins) Method To make examinations between the temperature loss of a solitary test tube and the test tubes in a cluster, I required eight test tubes. To start with, I set one test tube in a stand and gave it a thermometer. The staying seven test tubes were held together by a flexible band and set in a huge container. A thermometer was then put in the inside test container of the group. Next, my educator poured bubbling water to the edge of each test tube. Now, I began the stop-clock, perusing every thermometer consistently for 15 minutes and recording the temperature in an outcomes table. In the wake of archiving the conclusive outcome, I invigorated the water in each test tube and rehashed the trial to record my subsequent readings. End My outcomes show that the test tubes in a group lost 24. 5 C and the single test tube lost 28 C. In this manner the test tubes in a group reestablished 3. 5 C more than the single test tube. Subsequently the test agrees with my forecast, that the single test tube is more exothermic than the test tubes in the cluster. I likewise arranged outcomes to show the rate change of the single test tube and the test tubes in a group. The rate change for the single test tube was 33. 26% and 24. 809% for the test tubes in a cluster. The rate change for the test tubes in a group was 8. 451% not as much as that of the single test tube. Subsequently demonstrating the single test tube has a higher rate change. Assessment. My examination concerning the warmth loss of a solitary test cylinder and test tubes in a group was fruitful as the outcomes concur with my forecast and anticipated diagram. Subsequently demonstrating my outcomes was right. It was basic that I made the analysis a reasonable test by conforming to the accompanying: The size of each test tube must be the equivalent. Â The temperature of the single test tube and the test tubes in a cluster must be the equivalent before the trial started. The measure of water added to each test tube must be the equivalent. Each outcome must be recorded each moment. Â The thermometers must be kept still, inside the test tubes, consistently e. g. no getting so as to peruse the temperature. This is so the temperature isn't influenced. To improve my examination, I would achieve the accompanying: Â By rehashing the analysis more than twice, I can get more readings and along these lines improve my normal outcomes. This makes the trial progressively exact. Â I can start the analysis at higher temperatures. This will give me increasingly shifted outcomes. Starting the trial at higher temperatures will likewise empower me to grow the time. Furnishing me with more outcomes. Via doing a similar examination in various temperatures, I can resolve how much the outcomes are influenced and make correlations. Â I could likewise cover the test tubes in various materials like cotton and foil to determine whether they influence the temperature. Â I can contrast the water level in the single test tube contrasted with that of the test tubes in a group to decide if the measure of water influences the outcomes. Christopher Smith 5/7/2007.

Does Sydney Need a Second Airport Case Study Example

Does Sydney Need a Second Airport Case Study Example Does Sydney Need a Second Airport â€" Case Study Example > The paper “ Does Sydney Need a Second Airport? ” is a   forceful example of a case study on   social science. Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, is the commercial center of Australia. The Sydney harbor bridge welcomes all travelers, be it by sea or air. Businesses are conducted from all across the world, and many a traveler prefers to enter the country through this city. Well connected by air and seaports, Sydney is among the busiest commercial cities in the world. Not surprisingly, Sydney Airport has become synonymous with the bustling global business hub in Australia. Sydney International Airport, or Sydney Airport as it is commonly known as, is located in the Sydney suburb of Mascot, a few kilometers from the city of Sydney. Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport has the distinction of being the world's oldest continually operated commercial airport, besides being Australia’ s busiest commercial airport. It is estimated that this airport alone handled in excess of 30 million passengers in 2006, and expected to handle over 68 million passengers by 2020 (wikipedia. org). According to an airwise report in 2005, a 14.7 percent rise (AUD $245.7 million) was reported during the first half earnings by Sydney Airport. Southern Cross, the owners of Sydney Airport said that the airport saw a 13 percent growth by December 31, 2004, over the first half of the previous fiscal year. This trend continued during the first half earnings of 2005, giving thoughts of continued growth in the following fiscal years. This change has been attributed to improved passenger benefits including, additional airline services, and improved yields from commercial initiatives and increased property revenues. This trend is expected to continue and the flow of passengers is expected to multifold. When the world's largest civil aircraft, the Airbus A380, was unveiled, Sydney awarded contracts jointly worth AUD$54 million to two companies to prepare the airport for the superjumbos. This only goes to show that Sydney is, in fact, getting ready to receive more passengers in the coming years (Airwise, 2005). Globalization has made business more competitive. Many third world countries like China and India have embraced globalization with stunning results. These two countries are today the fastest emerging economies in the world. Their per capita income has risen dramatically, and thousands of Chinese and Indians today travel abroad on holidays. With their income level rising, many more Chinese and Indians are expected to travel abroad. The volume of travelers from these two countries alone will be far too much for many of the existing airports in the world to handle. Australia offers a lot in terms of tourism and is a favored destination for many Asians today. This trend is expec ted to grow and reach such a level that many airports, Sydney included, will have to enhance their capacity to accommodate this contingency. Another feature will be the introduction of many more airlines. The current flow of traffic will also increase, making traffic operations hard to manage. In such a scenario, it is but necessary to either expand the present infrastructure to accommodate more passengers and aircraft or look to build another airport to handle the additional load in the future. From the current trend seen from airwise, the volume of traffic is definitely expected to grow alarmingly, generating huge revenue inflow, but also leaving airport authorities scratching their heads under intense pressure to perform.

Shakespeare and Homosociality Defying Elizabethan Comformity - Literature Essay Samples

Although considered light and delightful entertainment, Shakespeares plays of comedy often address serious issues confronting Elizabethan values of propriety and social decorum. Anti-Semitism, death and homosexuality are frequent themes woven in his plays and the latter is addressed in Much Ado About Nothing and The Merchant of Venice. In exhibiting the inherent bonds that transpire between males Shakespeare substantiates their acts of loyalty and devotion with measures that try the mens love; it is then that the reader comprehends Bassanio and Claudios willingness to select their male relationships over their romantic ones. Battling through mutual experiences the men in both Much Ado About Nothing and The Merchant of Venice are bonded in ties of loyalty, devotion and love far surpassing the strength of heterosexual marriages in the plays. Shakespeare artfully designs this rift between the genders to shatter the conservatism of Elizabethan notions of propriety.The homosocial bonds in Much Ado About Nothing are established immediately in the introduction of the play. The men are announced to the women of Messina as an arriving group of valiant gentlemen visiting from a well-fought war. War in itself is a highly masculine affair, an event where passionate and testosterone filled men battle side by side and are either slain by the sword of a man or saved by the hand of another. Blood and sweat is shed and shared, forming a glutinous bond for a fraternity in which the members are hazed in trials of pain, defeat and triumph. Don Pedro, the Prince of Aragon, is the president of his fraternity. Loyalty, deference and respect are the advantages of his alpha station and the hierarchical male structure lends order in the homosocial bonds of the play. The notion of war as a masculine activity is also prevalent in The Merchant of Venice, yet it must be considered on a smaller and subtler scale between the individual characters.Shakespeare utilizes the images of blo od, pain and money as the traits of Antonio and Shylocks contract in The Merchant of Venice since all three characteristics are exceptionally phallic and masculine in nature. The arrangement symbolically exhibits two rudiments of homosocial bonds. The motivation for both parties involved is highly male-driven. After hearing of Shylocks extreme terms of collection (should a payment default occur) Antonio demonstrates his deep devotion to Bassanio when he agrees to serve as his guarantor. Whether or not Antonios love is of a homosexual nature is unclear, however his loyalty and strong affections may not be construed as purely platonic. At one point he claims ready to surrender to Bassanio his, purse, my person, my extremest means. Lie all unlockd to your occasion(1.1.140).Shylocks incentive for imposing such a ruthless collection of Antonios flesh is motivated by his hatred for Antonio as a man, a man who has battered Shylocks pride with his publicly slurred Anti-Semantic epithet s. On account of to its bloody harshness alone itt may be assumed that Shylock would have never established such an appalling consequence on a female borrower. The pain from severing a pound of flesh is unthinkable for a woman to endure but not for a man. Antonios inability to recompense the debt triggers a declaration of war between Shylock and himself and assesses Bassanios allegiance to Antonio.Antonios ability to sacrifice his flesh and blood for Bassanios happiness speaks volumes for his love, and his acts of loyalty are not unrequited. Bassanios forsaken pride in accepting Portias funds for the Venice excursion coupled with his willingness to leave his new bride exhibits his loyalty to Antonio. Loyalty is a priority in homosocial relationships, and at one point in the play Portia speculates if Bassanio would forfeit their love for Antonio. Subsequent to Antonios release from Shylocks bond Bassanio wishes to pay Portia (garbed in a manly disguise) a fee for her legal servi ces in freeing Antonio. Initially resistant to Portias request for his wedding ring claiming theres more depends on this than value (4.1.439), Bassanio is ultimately persuaded by Antonio to let him have the ring. Let his deservings and my love withal. Be valud gainst your wifes commandment (4.1.454-456). In this scene Antonio clearly asserts his dominance over Portia. He successfully assures Bassanio that their love and loyalty yields precedence over Bassanios marriage to Portia, and that no ring is worth not paying for the services rendered in saving their homosocial relationship. Portias response to Bassanios surrender of the ring is comparable a lover scorned by infidelity; she conjures an anecdote of her own infidelity in efforts to retributively hurt his emotions. Portias rejoinder confirms that she is threatened by the breadth and deepness of Antonio and Bassanios homosocial bond. It is this loyalty between the two men that is also similarly established between Don Pedro and Claudios relationship in Much Ado About Nothing.The homosocial bond between young Claudio and Don Pedro is analogous to that of a father and son, or between male siblings. Don Pedro serves as his mentor and advisor in all things regarding love and life. Don Pedro grants Claudio his approval of Hero, and provides Claudio a service by wooing the young maiden for him. Claudio, young and impressionable, is so smitten by Don Pedro that he believes the mans advice and counsel no matter the result. As an illustration one must consider Claudios reaction upon hearing Don Johns accusation of Don Pedros endeavors to woo Hero for himself. Claudio rationalizes Don Pedros behavior by stating, Friendship is constant in all other things. Save in the office and affairs of love (2.1.153-154). However, it is interesting to note that when Claudio proclaims this he simultaneously decides to cease his attempts in acquiring Hero, in essence deferring to Don Pedros whim. Additionally he contradic torily selects Don Pedros friendship over the pursuit of Hero albeit his proclamations that love override friendships. Note as well with whom Claudio pairs himself with subsequent to learning of Heros supposed infidelityit is by no coincidence that Don Pedro is the backbone that supports Claudio.Benedicks willingness to challenge Claudio to a duel in avenging Heros honor may appear as a female influenced decision. His disposition has radically shifted in regards to his homosocial loyalties to his crew. When Beatrice implores Benedick to kill Claudio he initially refuses and Beatrice resorts to attacking the strength of his love, stating, I am gone though I am here. There is no love in you. Nay, I pray you, let me go (4.2.291). She further appeals to Benedicks desire to prove his love by stating, Use your love some other way than swearing by it. (4.2.320). These challenges of Benedicks declaration of love, coupled with his lusty desires for Beatrice compels Benedick to challeng e his homosocial bond with Claudio. Although he might have been convinced of it at the time, it is not love that motivates the duel. The end of the play the reader discovers that Beatrice and Benedick are married out of convenience and friendship rather than out of lovewhich implies that love was never the cause of Benedicks challenge to Claudio, but was his own pride that threw down the glove.Benedicks glove in Much Ado About Nothing represents a challenge, and in a sense one may symbolically interpret Shakespeares homosocial bonds as a gloved challenge thrown to conservative Elizabethan notions of marriage. Portia represents societys image of homosexuality and homosocial tendenciesshe is aware that it exists, and in her attempts to diminish the threat she casts the dilemma aside. The dilemma for Portia is Antonio himself. Although Shakespeare resolves both plays with gender appropriate unifications, one must delve deeper to unmask the motivations of each. Money and beauty joi ns Portia and Bassanio, duty and default marries Claudio to Hero and friendship binds Beatrice and Benedick. All these attributes are characteristics of platonic relationships. Deep affection, devotion and loyalty are the true characteristics of love, and all three exist in the homosocial bonds rather than the heterosexual ones. As a reminder of such a notion Shakespeare retains Antonio and Bassanio at the end of the play as lingering reminders that love is not limited to the enjoyment of men and womenbut to men to men alike.