Hamlet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 15

Hamlet - Essay Example Hamlet dresses badly and Queen Gertrude is displeased by his behaviour and more so because of the demise of his dad and her remarrying. Claudius orders Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to investigate the reasons for his son in law’s unusual behaviour (Shakespeare 41). Hamlet organizes a play The Murder of Gonzalo in which he reveals the ghost’s words to King Claudius of killing his father. The king behaves in a manner to suggest the words are true. Gertrude tries to stop Hamlet, but he reprimands her for remarrying. Hamlet bashes Polonius while listening to the scolding in arrears of the curtains (Shakespeare 86). The flicker resurfaces to Hamlet and instructs him to be gentle to Gertrude. Eventually, the queen ditches King Claudius. Later King Claudius is stunned by the news of Polonius’ demise (Shakespeare 92). The queen, however, defends Hamlet insinuating he is mad. Now scared, the king sends him to England and reveals his plans to kill him while in England (Shakespeare 95). Ophelia goes angry and later on pass away. The King informs Laertes that Hamlet was responsible for the death of his father, and they plan to kill him at a fencing match. During Ophelia’s funeral, Hamlet communicates to Horatio on how he escaped his planned death in England and in its place Rosencrantz as well as Guildenstern died (Shakespeare). Hamlet also says that he wanted to devour King Claudius Killed. The Queen perishes from drinking festering cup predestined for Hamlet (Shakespeare 140). Laertes poisoned sword cuts Hamlet hurdles against Laertes but, while about to die, Hamlet stabs Claudius with Laertes’ sword; instructs Horatio to reveal the story, and recommends Young Fortinbras as Denmark’s next King (Shakespeare line 142). This scene is vital in the play as helps in the establishment of not only the tone of the play but also the background situation of the play setting. This is essential as normally the there

Comparing Hide and Seek, Half past Two and Leaving school :: English Literature

Comparing Hide and Seek, Half past Two and Leaving school For this essay I am going to compare the language in three poems and how they show the persons feelings. These poems are 'Hide and Seek' 'Half past Two' and 'Leaving School'. Hide and seek is written in a 3rd person perspective. The language is descriptive, simple, atmospheric and childlike in the way that it uses personification (giving things human names). The poem suggests that it is in a 3rd person perspective by the use of the word 'you' at the end of the poem. The end of the poem is also very sad and lonely, enhanced by the darkness described. All these factors together produce a dark, lonely and upsetting mood, these factors are easily shown by the child's character which is soft, small, frightened and easily upset from the description that we get. Half past Two is also written in a third person perspective. The language and viewpoint of the entire poem is that of a young child's point of view, this is shown in the language. The language shows this by its simplicity, its child like words and the way that the writer puts words together with no spaces. The language also has some rhyming words in it. The child's character is simple, he knows what he knows, but that's it and he shows innocence in the way he thinks. The mood is not really set because the description does not include the weather, of a descriptive setting but we get a confused and scared mood from the confused child. The structure is simple with some italic writing to create emphasis and the writer uses 3 lined stanzas. Leaving School is written in a first person perspective and the language is a lot more complicated but still easily understood the language in the poem is also very emotional. The poem is about a boy that is missing home and is easily upset, the poem also gives use a feeling that he is being forced to grow up to fast, because of some of the simple things he is worried about and the things he gets wrong. At the end of the poem the child keeps on drifting in to his own imaginary world and also shows his lack of confidence. The mood is upsetting and lonely, this is created by the child's sad situation. The structure of the poem is in three chunks of lines, and the

Trait-Based Pespectives of Leadership, Zaccaro (2007)

AbstractThis paper is an academic critique of an observational study research article written by Stephen J. Zaccaro (2007) entitled, Trait-Based Perspectives of Leadership. The trait-based perspective on leadership was dismissed by many scientific leadership researchers in the mid-20th century. A primary reason was that the research did not account for situational variance in leadership behavior. Quantitative analysis of leadership was difficult in the past. Recent improvements in research methods, such as statistics, have led to resurgence of interest in trait-based leadership theory.Zaccaro (2007) called for researchers to address fundamental issues or critical points, which he defined. He identified a defining core of leadership traits that transcend organizational domains. Finally, he summarized a multistage model that predicts various traits having more distal or proximal effects, accordingly. The author concludes with proposing future directions of research with the goal of ide ntifying universal qualities of effective leaders. IntroductionThe purpose behind this critique is to evaluate an observational study, published in 2007, by Stephen J. Zaccaro entitled, Trait-Based Perspectives of Leadership. The globally popular trait-based theory of leadership of the early 20th century lost credibility after World War II. Advances in quantitative analysis methods, concepts, and statistical models provided empirical data that challenged studies that had rejected leader trait models. Zaccaro postulated that by refining common traits and attributes of effective leaders into universally standard categories, such commonalities could be analyzed quantitatively.The author introduced four critical points to be considered in models and theories on trait-based leadership. First, the refinement of multiple leader traits and attributes must be made. Secondly, studies should address how joint combinations of characteristics have an influence on behavior. In this way he explain s the curvilinear  relationships of traits with outcomes that were used to discredit leadership-trait theories. Computer models may now calculate complex multiplicative and curvilinear relationships that were confounders in the past.Third, particular situations may predict success or failure depending various traits. Fourth, similar leader traits may be stable in cross situations while others may be situation-bound. Zacarro (2007) went on to provide a broader definition of leader trait that is focused on personality attributes. He then identified actual traits that are distally and proximally influenced by situational parameters. He then illustrated a multistage model that predicts various traits having more distal or proximal effects. MethodologyThe author conducted a literature review to build his four critical points. In this manner he was also able to refine the meaning of successful and effective leadership as, â€Å"fundamentally, influencing others by establishing a collec tive effort and managing, shaping, and developing the collective activities†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p. 9). He then clarified the role of situations into three circumstances which he calls arguments.He analyzed models of leader individual difference and performance into his own, entitled, A Model of Leader Attributes and Leader Performance.Findings and InterpretationsThis category is not applicable in this case since the proposed model has not been tested sufficiently.ConclusionsThe author concludes with proposing a number of possible future directions of research with the goal of identifying universal qualities of effective leaders. His belief is that these recommendations combined with modern methodological and statistical resources will help reach this goal.

I Attended The Stars At Night Concert - 1799 Words

On November 1st at 7 pm, I attended the Stars at Night concert series performed by Texas State University’s jazz ensemble in San Marcos, Texas. They had Steve Houghton as their guest artist. I was excited to attend because I had yet to see the inside of the new performing arts center or go to a live jazz performance. A jazz ensemble typically consists of 5 saxophones, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, and a rhythm section (consisting of piano, bass, guitar, and drums). Vibraphones, clarinets, and violins are sometimes added to jazz ensembles to add variation to the timbre of the musical group, but the ensemble I attended did not have those extra instruments added to it. The jazz music ensemble played a total of 8 pieces from several different composers. One piece that stuck out to me in particular was the song, â€Å"Jazz Crimes† composed by Joshua Redman but performed by Steve Houghton. What attracted me to this song was the prestissimo tempo. It was not hard to pick up on to the fast beat, do to the fact that the artists were tapping their feet at a very high rate. I noticed that there were many solos throughout the entire piece, leading me to believe that the song could be classified as a sonata. â€Å"Jazz Crimes† has a concert overture because, it does not precede a larger piece of music. â€Å"Blues for Stephanie† by John Clayton was another piece that really drew in my attention. Throughout the piece a sense of emotional instability was portrayed by the constant change in intensity of theShow MoreRelatedThe Concert At The Meyer Theater858 Words   |  4 PagesOn Wednesday, February seventeenth, I had the pleasure of attending Noteworthy’s concert at the Meyer-Mclean Theater. Noteworthy is an a capella group from Brigham Young University, and is composed entirely of female students. Though only one of the girls is a music major, all share an incredible love of music, and it showed in their thoughtful, energetic performance. Rather than having a theme for their concert, the nine singers of Noteworthy performed a wide variety of songs from different erasRead MoreThe Concert Series Fall 20151664 Words   |  7 PagesThe concert in which I will be reviewing in this essay is the Department of Fine Arts and The Faulty of Arts and Science Presents The Mallery Concert Series Fall 2015 in the Mallery Room on November 4, 2015 at 12:15pm. This concert series lasted for an hour long. It started at 12:15 pm and it finished approximately at 1:15pm. In the series there were 21 pieces in which were performed. The names of the pieces were called â€Å"Das Veilchen (The Violent)† by W.A. Mozart. â€Å"O Solitude!† by Henry PurcellRead MoreThe Performance Of Classical Music1749 Words   |  7 Pagesperformance I went was definitely very different from how the music would’ve been played when the composers first wrote them. The 200-year difference allows me to explore all of the unique aspects that both the first performance and my current performance added to the experience that classical music concerts. Although concerts of the 1800s and 2000s differ because of venue, musician popularity, and finances, they have similarities in style, audience reaction and musician interpretation. The concert I wentRead MoreFour Ways Music Strengthens Social Bonds Essay1539 Words   |  7 Pageshow for much of human history, the only way to experience music was live. That there was no recordings to allow people to share music outside of performances. Music then had always involved people to have to come together and attend a performance/concert. Suttie also goes into explaining that coming together for music provides a net of physical and psychological safety that helped the early ancestors and still, possibly helping people survive. Thinking of music as a survival technique—is normal. MusicRead MoreThe Diversity In Reading : The City Of Reading1331 Words   |  6 PagesWhen one states they are from Reading Pennsylvania often times the responses are, â€Å"Isn’t that where Taylor Swift grew up?† or â€Å"Aren’t the reality stars John and Kate Gosselin from that area?† In addition to being home to both TLC reality stars and a musical pop sta r, the city of Reading is home to a diverse group of people. According to Areavibes, Reading has a population of about 88,000, representing many different races. Some of the diversity in race includes Caucasian, African American, AsianRead MoreComparison Between Michael Jackson And Whitney Houston1342 Words   |  6 Pagespress and a hiatus from their careers both Stars tried to make a comeback. Michael Jackson announced his ‘This Is It’ Tour in 2009 during a press conference at the London 02 arena exclaiming â€Å"This is it!† â€Å"I just want to say these will be my final shows, performances in London. When I say this is it, it really means this is it.† (M. Jackson, MTV,2009) The world went into meltdown and ticket sales were setting new records. The demand was so high, a 10-night residency show turned into 50 between 2009Read MoreEssay on Frank Sinatra995 Words   |  4 Pagesthe Legendquot; by Randy Tarabelli, I learned a lot about this American legend. Francis Albert Sinatra was born on Dec.12th,1915 in Hoboken, New Jersey. His parents were Italian immigrants and he grew up poor in the streets of Hoboken. Those tough early years made him all the more determined to work hard and make something of his life. He was a very ambitious person. Since he was a little boy he loved to sing. In his teen years he attended a Bing Crosby concert and that is when he decided that heRead MoreEssay The Elvis Craze864 Words   |  4 Pagespublic made Elvis Presley larger than life, better known than Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon and in some cases God Himself. I cannot quite understand the Elvis craze. I dont think he was a handsome man, I dont enjoy his music, I wont waste my time trying to sit through one of his boring, talentless movies, and if, God forbid, I end up on my deathbed with some horrible, incurable disease, I certainly wont make a pilgrimage to Graceland to be miraculously healed. Jack Gould conveyed some of my feeling inRead MoreWhat Really Is Sexual Harassment?1281 Words   |  6 Pagesego from there coaches who support harassing behaviors. Back in the day many coaches and athletic departments backed up their players in any situation whether it’s minor or major. Usually the reason for this is because they do not want to lose their star players in games, practices and etc. The NCAA is taking action in today’s society and now having college athletes take a prevention classes on sexual harassment to help cure this problem. In the Maryland Law Review it states, â€Å" For students who areRead MoreSixties Music and How it Reflected the Changing Times Essay1715 Words   |  7 Pageslet your mind go and let yourself be free, ooh freedom, freedom, I said freedom† (Szatmary 1996). Within forty-eight hours after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. one hundred and thirty cities were scared by arson (Schlesinger 1968). However in Bosto n James Brown in a televised concert pleaded for a stop to the violence. He said â€Å"we are black, now are we together or are we aint†, no rioting took place in Boston that night (VH1 200). Motown music was a great supporter for the Civil Rights

How to Prevent Drug Addiction Problems in the Workplace Free Essay Example, 1500 words

It is interesting that people prefer cocaine because it does not limit a person s intellectual and cognitive abilities (Potter Orfali, 1998). According to the National Institute on Alcohol and Alcoholism, every single time at least 15% of the American workforce is under the influence of alcohol while at work. Workplace alcohol abuse is observed to be greater in men than women, unmarried employees than married ones, younger employees than their older counterparts and in those employees working irregular and night shifts (Chapman, 2007). The use of drugs impairs employees decision-making abilities, compromises their physical abilities and prevents them from exercising sound judgment (Coalition against drug abuse, 2014). This has fatal consequences when at the workplace especially in the presence of tools, heavy materials, and construction work. It is evident that between 10%-20% of workers who die in the workplace have been proved to use either drugs or alcohol (Coalition against dru g abuse, 2014). Although it is expected that employees in the most dangerous occupations such as mining and construction would exercise the most caution, a study by OSHA indicates otherwise. We will write a custom essay sample on How to Prevent Drug Addiction Problems in the Workplace or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page They exhibit a tendency to miss work, often calling in sick or with a number of excuses. Employees with alcohol problem record higher absent levels than other employees (Potter Orfali, 1998).

Coexistence of Private and Public Sectors - 1989 Words

New Economic PolicyFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search For the Malaysian New Economic Policy, see Malaysian New Economic Policy. Soviet Union This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the Soviet Union -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Government[show]ConstitutionGovernment MinistriesState CommitteesExecutive OfficerCouncil of People s CommissarsCouncil of MinistersCabinet of MinistersState CouncilPresidential Council Communist Party[show]Communist Party CongressHistoryGeneral Secretary PolitburoCentral CommitteeSecretariatOrgburo Leadership[show]LeadersPremiers CabinetsPresident (List) Vice PresidentCollective leadership†¦show more content†¦The NEP was primarily a new agricultural policy.[6] The Bolsheviks viewed traditional village life as conservative and backward. The old way of village life was reminiscent of the Tsarist Russia that had supposedly been thrown out with the October Revolution. With the NEP, which sought to repudiate the â€Å"old ways,† methods were put in place which promoted the pursuit by peasants of their self-interests. However, the state only allowed private landholdings because the idea of collectivized farming had met with much opposition.[7] [edit] Disagreements in leadershipLenin considered the NEP as a strategic retreat.[8] However, he justified the NEP by insisting that it was a different type of capitalism. He insisted that this form of â€Å"state capitalism† was the last stage of capitalism before socialism evolved.[9] Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin disagreed over how to develop the Soviet Economy after the World War and the Civil War. Trotsky, supported by left-wing members of the Communist Party, believed that socialism in Russia would only survive if the state controlled the allocation of all output. Trotsky believed that the state should repossess all output to invest in capital formation.Show MoreRelatedShould America Seek Assimilation Of Cultures Or Embrace Multiculturalism? Essay2000 Words   |  8 Pagesdialogue is the best guarantee of a more peaceful, just and sustainable world.† Robert Alan (American writer, artist and social activist; 1922-1978) Multiculturalism phenomenon is inherent in human society since the man known commodity exchange, private property and the state. The cultural, ethnic and religious distinctions imposed by any of the distinctions in the political visions and attitudes are distinctions inherent to the nature of human society itself. Multiculturalism approve to the worldRead MoreDiscrimination Of Racial Minorities On Social Economies1249 Words   |  5 PagesDiscrimination of Racial Minorities in Social Economies The social economy comprises of a diverse network of organizations and enterprises involved in various operations of society s economic sector. 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Moreover, black, indigenous, young, lesbian, disabled, rural, domestic and poor women are being represented even less in the spaces of power.       State Role:   The official CEDAW Report does acknowledgeRead MoreIts Time to Privatize Colombian’s Prisons2566 Words   |  11 Pages The involvement of the private sector in the penal system, prima facie, could be seen as a rapid and low cost, high benefit solution to the most serious penal system problems such as lack of prisons spaces, poor condition within the prisons, and the state responsibilities of running prisons services adequately, by the figure of prison privatization. (Cavadino, M. and Dignan, J. 2007) The figure of contracting out has been well described by Cavadino and Dignan in their analysis of the prisonRead MoreFeatures Of A System That Maintains Its Own Viability By Using Techniques That Allow For Continual Reuse Essay832 Words   |  4 Pagesmunicipal infrastructure refers to hard infrastructure systems generally owned and operated by municipalities, such as streets, water distribution, and sewers. It may also include some of the facilities associated with soft infrastructure, such as parks, public pools and libraries. Hard infrastructure refers to the large physical networks necessary for the functioning of a modern industrial nation, whereas soft infrastructure refers to all the institutions which are required to maintain the economy,Read MoreImpact Of Max Webers Theories Of Society1704 Words   |  7 Pagesto the political aspects of social science remains at the heart of how people discuss or view ethics, bureaucracy, politics and class. 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The Return Midnight Chapter 7 Free Essays

string(74) " this created a pungent lotion, which he had gingerly applied to himself\." Bonnie was in her new first-floor bedroom, and was feeling very bewildered. Black Magic always made her feel giggly, and then very sleepy, but somehow tonight her body refused to sleep. Her head hurt. We will write a custom essay sample on The Return: Midnight Chapter 7 or any similar topic only for you Order Now She was just about to turn the bedside light on, when a familiar voice said, â€Å"How about some tea for your headache?† â€Å"Damon?† â€Å"I made some from Mrs. Flowers’s herbs and I decided to make you a cup as wel . Aren’t you the lucky girl?†If Bonnie had been listening closely, she might have heard something almost like self-loathing behind the light words – but she wasn’t. â€Å"Yes!†Bonnie said, meaning it. Most of Mrs. Flowers’s teas smel ed and tasted good. This one was especial y nice, but grainy on her tongue. And not only was the tea good, but Damon stayed to talk to her while she drank it al . That was sweet of him. Strangely, this tea made her feel not exactly sleepy, but as if she could only concentrate on one thing at a time. Damon swam into her field of view. â€Å"Feeling more relaxed?†he asked. â€Å"Yes, thank you.†Weirder and weirder. Even her voice sounded slow and dragging. â€Å"I wanted to make sure nobody was too hard on you for the sil y mistake about Elena,†he explained. â€Å"They weren’t, real y,†she said. â€Å"Actual y everybody was more interested in seeing you and Matt fight – â€Å"Bonnie put a hand over her mouth. â€Å"Oh, no! I didn’t mean to say that! I’m so sorry!† â€Å"It’s al right. It should heal by tomorrow.† Bonnie couldn’t imagine why anyone would be so afraid of Damon, who was so nice as to pick up her mug of tea and say he’d put it in the sink. That was good because she was feeling as if she couldn’t get up to save her life. That cozy. That comfy. â€Å"Bonnie, can I ask you just one little thing?†Damon paused. â€Å"I can’t tel you why, but†¦I have to find out where Misao’s star bal is kept,†he said earnestly. â€Å"Oh†¦that,†Bonnie said fuzzily. She giggled. â€Å"Yes, that. And I am truly sorry to ask you, because you’re so very young and innocent†¦but I know you’l tel me the truth.† After this praise and comfort, Bonnie felt she could fly. â€Å"It’s been in the same place al the time,†she said with sleepy disgust. â€Å"They tried to make me think they’d moved it†¦but when I saw him chained and going down to the root cel ar I knew they hadn’t real y.†In the dark, there was a short shake of curls and then a yawn. â€Å"If they were real y going to move it†¦they should have sent me away or something.† â€Å"Wel , maybe they were concerned for your life.† â€Å"Wha’?†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Bonnie yawned again, not sure what he meant. â€Å"I mean, an old, old safe with a combination? I told them†¦that those old safes†¦could be†¦real y be†¦easy to†¦ to†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Bonnie let out a sound like a sigh and her voice stopped. â€Å"I’m glad we had this talk,†Damon murmured in the silence. There was no answer from the bed. Pul ing Bonnie’s sheet up as high as it would go, he let it drift down. It covered most of her face. â€Å"Requiescat in pace,†Damon said softly. Then he left her room, not forgetting to take the mug. Now†¦ â€Å"him chained and going down to the root cellar.† Damon mused as he washed out the mug careful y and put it back in the cupboard. The line sounded strange but he had almost al the links now, and it was actual y simple. Al he needed were twelve more of Mrs. Flowers’s sleeping cachets and two plates heaped with raw beef. He had al the ingredients†¦but he’d never heard of a root cel ar. Shortly thereafter, he opened the door to the basement. Nope. Didn’t match the criteria for â€Å"root cel ar†he’d looked up on his mobile. Irritated and knowing that any moment someone was likely to wander downstairs for something, Damon turned around in frustration. There was an elaborately carved wooden panel across from the basement, but nothing else. Curse it, he would not be thwarted at this point. He would have his life as a vampire back, or he didn’t want any life at al ! To punctuate the sentiment, he slammed a fist against the wooden panel in front of him. The knock sounded hollow. Immediately al frustration vanished. Damon examined the panel very careful y. Yes, there were hinges at the very edge, where no sane person would expect them. It wasn’t a panel but a door – undoubtedly to the root cel ar where the star bal was. It didn’t take long for his sensitive fingers – even his human fingers were more sensitive than most – to find a place that clicked – and then the whole door swung open. He could see the stairs. He tucked his parcel under one arm and descended. By the il umination of the smal flashlight he’d taken from the storage room, the root cel ar was just as described: a damp, earthy room to store fruit and vegetables before refrigerators had been invented. And the safe was just as Bonnie had said: an ancient, rusty combination safe, which any whiz cracker could have opened in about sixty seconds. It would take Damon about six minutes, with his stethoscope (he’d heard once that you could find anything in the boardinghouse if you looked hard enough and it seemed to be true) and every atom of his being concentrating on hearing the tumblers quietly click. First, however, there was the Beast to conquer. Saber the black hel hound had unfolded, awake and alert from the moment the secret door had opened. Undoubtedly, they had used Damon’s clothes to teach him to howl madly at his scent. But Damon had his own knowledge of herbs and had ransacked Mrs. Flowers’s kitchen to find a handful of witch hazel, a smal amount of strawberry wine, aniseed, some peppermint oil, and a few other essential oils she had in stock, sweet and sharp. Mixed, this created a pungent lotion, which he had gingerly applied to himself. You read "The Return: Midnight Chapter 7" in category "Essay examples" The concoction formed for Saber an impossible tangle of strong smel s. The only thing the now-sitting dog knew was that it was surely not Damon sitting on the steps and tossing him hearty bal s of hamburger and delicate strips of filet mignon – each of which he gulped down whole. Damon watched with interest as the animal devoured the mix of sleeping powder and raw meat, tail whisking on the floor. Ten minutes later Saber the hel hound was sprawled out happily unconscious. Six minutes after that, Damon was opening an iron door. One second later he was pul ing a pil owcase out of Mrs. Flowers’s antique safe. In the glow of the flashlight he found that he did indeed have a star bal , but that it was just a little more than half ful . Now what did that mean? There was a very neat hole dril ed and corked at the top so that not one precious droplet more need be wasted. But who had used the rest of the fluid – and why? Damon himself had seen the star bal brimful of opalescent, shimmering liquid just days ago. Somehow between that time and now someone had used about a hundred thousand individuals’life energy. Had the others tried to do some remarkable deed with it and failed, at the cost of burning so much Power? Stefan was too kind to have used so much, Damon was certain of that. But†¦ Sage. With an Imperial Summons in his hand, Sage was likely to do anything. So, sometime after the sphere had been brought into the boardinghouse, Sage had poured out almost exactly half the life force from the star bal and then, undoubtedly, left the rest behind for Mutt or someone to cork. And such a colossal amount of Power could only have been used for†¦opening the Gate to the Dark Dimensions. Very slowly, Damon let out his breath and smiled. There were only a few ways to get into the Dark Dimensions, and as a human he obviously could not drive to Arizona and pass through a public Gateway as he had the first time with the girls. But now he had something even better. A star bal to open his own private Gateway. He knew of no other way to cross, unless one was lucky enough to hold one of the almost-mythical Master Keys that al owed one to roam the dimensions at wil . Doubtless, someday in the future, in some nook, Mrs. Flowers would find another thank-you note: this time along with something that was literal y invaluable – something exquisite and priceless and probably from a dimension quite far from Earth. That was how Sage operated. All was quiet above. The humans were relying on their animal companions to keep them safe. Damon gave the root cel ar a single look around and saw nothing more than a dim room completely empty except for the safe, which he now closed. Dumping his own paraphernalia into the pil owcase, he patted Saber, who was gently snoring, and turned toward the steps. That was when he saw that a figure was standing in the doorway. The figure then stepped smoothly behind the door, but Damon had seen enough. In one hand the figure had been holding a fighting stave almost as tal as it was. Which meant that it was a hunter-slayer. Of vampires. Damon had met several hunter-slayers – briefly – in his time. They were, in his consideration, bigoted, unreasonable, and even more stupid than the average human, because they’d usual y been brought up on legends of vampires with fangs like tusks who ripped out the throats of their victims and kil ed them. Damon would be the first to admit that there were some vampires like that, but most were more restrained. Vampire hunters usual y worked in groups, but Damon had a hunch that this one would be alone. He now ascended the steps slowly. He was fairly certain of the identity of this hunter-slayer, but if he was wrong he was going to have to dodge a stave launched straight down at him like a javelin. No problem – if he were stil a vampire. Slightly more difficult, unarmed as he was and at a severe tactical disadvantage. He reached the top of the stairs unharmed. This was real y the most dangerous part of climbing steps, for a weapon of just the right length could send him crashing al the way back down. Of course a vampire wouldn’t be permanently injured by that, but – again – he was no longer a vampire. But the person in the kitchen al owed him to climb al the way out of the root cel ar unhindered. A kil er with honor. How sweet. He turned slowly to measure up his vampire hunter. He was immediately impressed. It wasn’t the obvious strength that al owed the hunter to be able to whip off a figure eight with the fighting stave that impressed him. It was the weapon itself. Perfectly balanced, it was meant to be held in the middle, and the designs picked out in jewels around the handhold showed that its creator had had excel ent taste. The ends showed that he or she had a sense of humor as wel . The two ends of the stave were made of ironwood for strength – but they were also decorated. In shape, they were made to resemble one of humankind’s oldest weapons, the flint-tipped spear. But there were tiny spikes extruding from each of these â€Å"spear flakes,†set firmly into the ironwood. These tiny spikes were of different materials: silver for werewolves, wood for vampires, white ash for Old Ones, iron for al eldritch creatures, and a few that Damon couldn’t quite work out. â€Å"They’re refil able,†the hunter-slayer explained. â€Å"Hypodermic needles inject on impact. And of course different poisons for different species – quick and simple for humans, wolfsbane for those naughty puppies, and so on. It real y is a jewel of a weapon. I wish I had found it before we met Klaus.† Then she seemed to shake herself back into reality. â€Å"So, Damon, what’s it going to be?†asked Meredith. How to cite The Return: Midnight Chapter 7, Essay examples