text:
Wow, this is fun. Running around in the woods with my best friends in the world, laughing, giggling, and pretending to be wizards from Harry Potter. I weave and dodge through the trees when I spot Gia coming towards me. I yell an expelliarmus and duck behind a bush. Crawling backwards, I find a pile of leaves and partially cover myself, trying to blend in. Unfortunately, she sees me. She screeches out a Petrificus Totalus and scampers off. I can’t chase her, because she froze me. Man, I’m having fun. Unfortunately, Mason isn’t.

	“Hey Gardner, let’s get out of here,” he rambles as he pulls me out of the leaves. I try to object but he keeps talking. “I can’t believe I agreed to this, it’s so lame and nerdy. Why don’t we go to my house? I’ve got this huge TV and a DVR full of George Lopez.”

	“Mason, what are you doing?” I hear John yell, moments before he hops out from behind a tree about twenty yards away from where we are now. “This is fun!”

	“No, it’s really not,” objects Mason. I groan.

	“It’s fun for us. If you don’t like it, why did you come?”

	“Because I wanted to be with my friends, but I’m sorry. This sucks.”

	“Hey, what are you doing? I froze him!” Gia exclaims as she sprints towards us. “Do you even know the spell to unbind him?”

	“Look, I’m out of here,” Mason says, firmly.

	“How about this. You can leave here if you beat me in a duel,” John suggests.

	“...A duel? A Harry Potter duel?” Mason sounds incredulous. “Fine. Whatever.”

	Gia and I watch as the two idiots get ready. John makes a big show of twirling his “wand” around and drops it. Mason just stands and waits. John is telling Mason the rules when Gia sees that she dropped her wallet behind where Mason is standing. As she is picking up, John yells for the duel to start. He lifts his wand and screams “Avada Kedavra,” an unforgivable curse that kills anyone who it is cast on. A green light shoots out of the twig in his hand, and Mason jumps out of the way in terror. Unfortunately, Gia doesn’t see it coming.

	“What the…?” Is all I can say as I stumble over to where Gia is laying.

	“What happened?” Mason asks, looking concerned.

	“John just like...frickin...shot Gia. I think she’s dead.”

	“John, why would you do that?”

	“What do you mean ‘Why would you do that?’” John asks, incredulous. “I thought that we were just messing around. I swear I didn’t do it on purpose!”

	“Then why did you do it?” Mason asks, accusingly.

	“Look, I didn’t expect you to know any spells, so I figured this would be an easy way to shut you up. I didn’t expect real freaking magic to happen!”

	“Guys,” I say. “Calm down, let’s think about this. We need to figure out what to do with the body. We can’t just leave it.”

	“Yeah we can!” Says John. “I am not going to let anyone find out that I killed somebody!”

	“No one is actually going to believe it was you. I mean, come on. Magic? No one would buy that!”

	“I think we should leave her,” says Mason. “I mean, she was kinda annoying.”

	“What?” I ask, flabbergasted.

	“Yeah. I don’t want to be seen with that corpse. She has on like eighteen bracelets. Totally ratchet.”

	“...Ratchet?”

	“Ratchet. I didn’t even like her that much when she was alive. I always asked her to buy me chicken fingers, and she never, ever would.”

	“You’re going to leave her out here over chicken fingers?” Interjects John. “At least I have a good reason.”

	“No,” I say. “Neither have you have a good reason.” I look down at my deceased friend, and I’m rendered speechless. Her mouth is actually moving. “Oh, my god! Guys, check this out! She’s actually alive!”

	“What?” Cries John as he lifts his wand again. “Avada Kedavra!”

	“What was that for?” I scream, furious. “She wasn’t dead! What was your line of thinking there?”

	“Dead people should stay dead.”

	“He’s right,” adds Mason.

	“Shut up, shut up both of you!” I say, taking control of the situation. “What are we going to do now that we know she’s definitely dead.”

	“I have a cousin in Chicago. This happens all the time there, I’ll ask him for advice.”

	“Exactly,” says Mason. “We’re not that far from the hood. I’m sure we could get some good advice there.”

	“Mason,” I say. “It was a ten minute drive here from the suburbs.”

	“I’m just saying,” Mason says, indignant.

	“Look, this was John’s fault. Because of John I’m going to miss NCIS tonight.”

	“Yeah, John. This is messed up. I have to go to VBS next week and because of you I can’t start my George Lopez re-watch until August.”

	We’re just standing here, totally at a loss for what to do. Then, out of nowhere, it hits me. “Check her pockets!”

	“Why?” Mason asks, obviously not following my train of thought.

	“Her keys! Look, I found them!”

	“All right, George Lopez!”

	“Wait!” John yells out. We look at him, curious that he may have had a change of heart. “How about we all go to my house and have a Call of Duty tournament?”

	“Yeah!” Mason and I call out in unison. Keys in hand, we walk to her car, load up and head out. I feel like this is going to be a good week.

title: "Whoops." Harry Potter LARPing goes wrong.

question: Summarize how guilt and remorse are characterized in this story.

answer: The character cast all seems kind of flippant. They are not considering the weight of their actions, but perhaps more disturbingly, they do not show any remorse when they realize that Gia is dead because of the actions of John, they do not seem to care about much besides their fun. Guilt and remorse are characterized as fleeting and unimportant emotions within the framework of this story.At the end, they decide to go play another video game instead of dealing with Gia, who may or may not actually be alive. The narrator even says it seems like a good week lies ahead.

question: What would the characters do to explain Gia's absence to her family and friends?

question: How do the characters change throughout the story?

answer: They do not change much. At the beginning, they are playing a game, and seem more dedicated to the fun of it than to any other goal. Then, when Gia is accidentally killed, they show no indication of doing anything but resuming their fun. It's safe to say their development or lack thereof has some sociopathic indicators.

question: Summarize the unexpected plot twist(s).

answer: The first is that Gia seemingly dies when John lifts his wand and says some words. He is jokingly practicing magic, but a green beam shoots out, and Gia falls. The second is when they check her pulse, and discover she is still alive, but John does the same thing, striking her again. It is unsure whether or not she has died by the time they leave-or what exactly happened to her.


split: train

text:
ROY STEVEN PAYNE is currently a U.S. Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. He previously served as a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana from 1987 to 2005.

Education

Judge Payne was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, received his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia (with distinction) in 1974 and obtained his Juris Doctor degree from Louisiana State University Law School in 1977, where he graduated Order of the Coif with Phi Kappa Phi honors and also served as an Associate Editor on the _Louisiana Law Review_ from 1976 to 1977, and where he published the Note _Due Process for Drivers under the Louisiana Revocation Statutes_, 36 La. L. Rev. 852 (1976) and later the article _The Coconspirators’ Exception to the Hearsay Rule: The Limits of Its Logic_, 37 La. L. Rev. 1101 (1977).[1] Judge Payne also obtained his Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree from Harvard Law School in 1980.[2]

Career

Judge Payne previously served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Tom Stagg, U.S. District Judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana from 1977 to 1979.[3] He also was an instructor at the New England School of Law from 1979 to 1980.[4] Payne practiced with the law firm of Blanchard, Walker, O’Quin & Roberts in Shreveport, Louisiana in the areas of insurance defense, products liability, tort law and commercial litigation from 1980 to 1987.[5][6]

In 1987, Judge Payne was appointed as a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana (based in Shreveport) and served in that position for 18 years, from 1987 to 2005.[7]

From 2005 to 2011, Payne was a partner with the law firm of Gregorio, Gregory & Payne in Shreveport, primarily representing plaintiffs in personal injury actions and commercial litigation.[8][9][10] Payne further served as the Chairman of Northwest Louisiana Legal Services from 1985 to 1986, was the President of the Harry V. Booth American Inn of Court from 1996 to 1998, was a member of the Hearing Committee for the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board in 2008, served as the Vice President of the Shreveport Bar Association in 2008 and the President Elect of the same organization in 2009.[11]

On December 28, 2011, Judge Payne was sworn in as U.S. Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Marshall, replacing previous U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles Everingham, and selected out of over 55 candidates for the position.[12][13][14]

Patent Law Expertise

Markman hearings

According to Docket Navigator, Judge Payne has construed the most patent claim terms (over 7,000 terms as of 2020) out of any federal judge ever, District or Magistrate.[15] Also, according to Lex Machina, Docket Navigator and research done by patent law scholars, Judge Payne ranks among the top five federal judges, either Magistrate or District, who have conducted the most Markman hearings (aka claim construction hearings) of all time.[16][17][18]

Patent litigation

Also, Judge Payne is the U.S. Magistrate Judge that has had the most patent cases filed before him: for example, in 2017, Judge Payne had 327 new patent cases filed before him, which is the highest number for any U.S. Magistrate Judge, and second amongst all federal judges, District or Magistrate, the first being U.S. District Judge James Rodney Gilstrap of the same U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas courthouse in Marshall, Texas, with 550 cases.[19] In 2016, Judge Payne had 767 new patent cases filed before him, which was also the highest number for any U.S. Magistrate Judge, and second amongst all federal judges, the first again being Judge Gilstrap.[20] Moreover, in 2015, more than 25% of the nation's patent cases were filed before Judge Payne and/or also Judge Gilstrap in the Marshall, Texas division of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.[21][22][23] In 2014-2015, Judge Payne was ranked second amongst all federal judges (either District or Magistrate judge) with the most new patent cases filed before him (2015:1074 cases; 2014:445 cases), the first ranked being Judge Gilstrap.[24][25] According to Docket Navigator, in 2015 Judge Payne was ranked second as to the number of patent cases filed before him, the number of litigants, and the number of accusations, the first again being Judge Gilstrap.[26] Similar statistics performed by Docket Navigator rank Judge Payne the second most active federal judge (either District or Magistrate judge) by number of parties, the third most active federal judge by number of orders and the fifth most active federal judge by number of cases from the years of 2014 to 2008 (even though he came on the bench in 2011) for patent litigation.[27]

Links

-   The Honorable Roy Payne, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
-   PLI Faculty Bios: Judge Roy Payne
-   Michael C. Smith, New Magistrate Judge Selected for Marshall
-   Robin Y. Richardson, East Texas Federal judge, Magistrate Judge, Leave Posts, Longview News-Journal
-   John Council, New U.S. Magistrate Judge Selected for Eastern District's Marshall Division, Texas Lawyer, Tex Parte Blog
-   LegalSpan, Faculty Bio, Roy S. Payne

[1] Practicing Law Institute (PLI), Faculty Biography, Hon. Roy Payne, United States District Court, Eastern District of Texas, Magistrate Judge, Marshall TX, USA, http://www.pli.edu/Content/Faculty/Hon_Roy_Payne/_/N-4oZ1z127xg?ID=PE1316290

[2] Roy Payne, Colorado Bar Association, Faculty & Author Bio, http://cle.cobar.org/About/Faculty-Authors/Info/CUSTOMERCD/517393

[3] Roy S. Payne, LawyerDB.com, http://www.lawyerdb.org/Lawyer/Roy-Payne/

[4] Hon. Roy Payne, U.S.M.J. United States District Court at Eastern District of Texas, Bio, American Conference Institute (ACI), https://www.americanconference.com/speakers/hon-roy-payne/

[5]

[6] LegalSpan, Faculty Bio, Roy S. Payne, Attorney at Law, Gregorio, Gregory, Payne, Chafin & Johnson, Shreveport, http://www.legalspan.com/catalog2/faculty.asp?UserID=20101102163244142928

[7]

[8] Michael C. Smith, New magistrate judge selected for Marshall, September 29, 2011, http://mcsmith.blogs.com/eastern_district_of_texas/2011/09/new-magistrate-judge-selected-for-marshall.html

[9] Robin Y. Richardson, East Texas Federal judge, magistrate judge, leave posts, Longview News-Journal, October 9, 2011, https://www.news-journal.com/news/2011/oct/09/east-texas-federal-judge-magistrate-leave-posts/

[10] John Council, New U.S. magistrate judge selected for Eastern District's Marshall Division, Texas Lawyer - Tex Parte Blog, September 28, 2011, http://texaslawyer.typepad.com/texas_lawyer_blog/2011/09/new-us-magistrate-judge-selected-for-eastern-districts-marshall-division.html

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15] Michael C. Smith, Eastern District of Texas Blog, Ever wonder which judges have construed the most claim terms?, http://edtexweblog.com/ever-wonder-which-judges-have-construed-the-most-claim-terms/ (The top 13 are also: 1. Judge Roy Payne (E.D. Tex) (4176 terms), 2. Judge Leonard Davis (E.D. Tex) (3047 terms), 3. Judge Richard G. Andrews (D. Del) (2782 terms), 4. Judge Gregory Sleet (D. Del) (2349 terms), 5. Judge T. John Ward (E.D. Tex) (2300 terms), 6. Judge Leonard Stark (D. Del) (2263 terms), 7. Judge John Love (E.D. Tex) (2247 terms), 8. Judge J. Rodney Gilstrap (E.D. Tex) (2165 terms), 9. Judge Charles Everingham (E.D. Tex) (2094 terms), 10. Judge Rudi Brewster (S.D. Cal) (1770 terms), 11. Judge Marilyn Huff (S.D. Cal) (1653 terms), 12. Judge David Folsom (E.D. Tex) (1438 terms) and 13. Judge Sue Robinson (D. Del) (1436 terms))

[16] Lex Machina, 2016 Litigation 3Q Trends, https://lexmachina.com/2016-third-quarter-litigation-trends/

[17] _See_ Brian J. Love and James C. Yoon, Predictably Expensive: A Critical Look at Patent Litigation in the Eastern District of Texas, ns. 54 and 59, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2835799

[18] John R. Allison, Mark A. Lemley & David L. Schwartz, Our Divided Patent System, 82 Univ. of Chicago Law Review 1073, 1123 (2015), https://lawreview.uchicago.edu/sites/lawreview.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/82_3/01%20Allison%20Lemley%20Schwartz_ART_Online%20REVISED_0.pdf

[19] Brian C. Howard, Lex Machina 2017 Patent Litigation Year in Review, 2017, page 16.

[20] Docket Navigator, New District Court Patent Cases through 2016, http://docketreport.blogspot.com/2017/02/new-district-court-patent-cases-through.html

[21] Lex Machina, Patent Litigation Year in Review, 2015 - https://lexmachina.com/14318/

[22] Michael C. Smith, Texas Lawyer - “Patent Law: Best Practices As Seen From The Bench” with Judge Gilstrap and Judge Payne - part 1, http://mcsmith.blogs.com/eastern_district_of_texas/2013/06/this-weeks-texas-lawyer-contains-part-1-of-a-may-1-roundtable-discussion-patent-law-best-practices-as-seen-from-the-b.html and part 2, http://mcsmith.blogs.com/eastern_district_of_texas/2013/06/texas-lawyer-patent-law-best-practices-as-seen-from-the-bench-with-judge-gilstrap-and-judge-payne-pa.html

[23] Kaleigh Rogers, The Small Town Judge Who Sees a Quarter of the Nation’s Patent Cases, May 5, 2016, VICE's Motherboard, http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-small-town-judge-who-sees-a-quarter-of-the-nations-patent-cases

[24]

[25] Michael Chibib, Partner, Austin, TX, Matt Stephens, Associate, San Diego, CA, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, Part 2: Section 101, Alice & Mayo – Litigation Trends for Invalidity Challenges Under Section 101, March 8, 2016, Slide 45/46, http://www.pillsburylaw.com/siteFiles/Events/AliceMayoPresentation.pdf

[26] Docket Navigator, 2015 Year In Review: Patent Litigation, Page 23, http://www.sughrue.com/files/Uploads/Documents/Docket%20Navigator%20Year%20in%20Review%202015.pdf

[27] Gibbons IP Law Alert, Patent Litigation Statistics, http://www.iplawalert.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/242/2014/03/Patent-Litigation-Research.pdf

title: Roy S. Payne

question: What degree did Roy Payne obtain from Harvard?

answer: Master of Laws (LL.M).

question: What does a magistrate judge do?

answer: The text doesn't say.

question: In what state has Roy Payne worked professionally the longest?

answer: Louisiana.

question: Explain Roy Payne's connection to patents.

answer: Roy Payne has construed the highest number of patent claim terms of any federal judge and ranks among the top 5 judges with the most patent cases ever in the U.S.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: This is a brief biography of Roy S. Payne, U.S. Magistrate Judge. Payne has spent most of his professional career in the states of Louisiana and Texas and he is known for having had an amazingly high volume of patent cases.


text:
[Depiction of ISS-RapidScat's location on ISS and its operation] [ISS-RapidScat data from October 2014] [ISS-RapidScat returned data on weather like Typhoon Vongfong, pictured here as seen from ISS in 2014]

ISS-RAPIDSCAT was an instrument mounted to the International Space Station{{'s}} _Columbus_ module that measured wind speeds.[1] It was launched aboard SpaceX CRS-4 in September 2014 and operated until August 2016.[2] ISS-RapidScat was a scatterometer designed to support weather forecasting by bouncing microwaves off the ocean's surface to measure wind speed.[3] It featured a rotating radar dish that operated at 13.4 GHz (Ku band).[4] It could collect data between 51.6 degrees north and south latitude, with a swath .[5]

The ISS-RapidScat program was initiated in response to the failure of the QuikSCAT satellite's antenna rotation mechanism in November 2009. While the spacecraft continued to function, it could only gather data in one direction, significantly limiting its data collection ability. ISS-RapidScat was built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory from elements of QuikSCAT's SeaWinds instrument engineering model, originally used to validate that instrument's flight hardware prior to its launch in 1999.[6] It was constructed in 18 months; re-using the QuikScat hardware had the double benefit of reducing cost and using already flight-proven hardware that functioned well in orbit.[7]

ISS-RapidScat was very similar to QuikSCAT in functionality. However, the instrument suffered due to peculiarities of the International Space Station, such as the station's varying altitude due to increased drag, its variable orientation due to the demands of visiting spacecraft, and its lack of a Sun-synchronous orbit.[8] By the time of ISS-RapidScat's launch, the European Space Agency{{'s}} MetOp series were the only two satellites with fully functioning scatterometers in orbit.[9] Some of these peculiarities were also advantages. Its mid-latitude orbit meant it was able to collect data about the same spot on Earth at different times of day, whereas the Sun-synchronous orbits used by other scatterometer-equipped spacecraft would re-visit the same location on Earth at the same time daily. This allowed scientists to study how the wind changes at one location over the course of a day.[10] This orbit also gives better coverage of the tropics, and by crossing the orbit of other satellites, it was able to observe the same area at the same time as them, allowing for cross-calibration between the different data sets.[11]

Objectives of the ISS-RapidScat program were to mitigate the loss of and provide continuity of wind data products from the QuikSCAT SeaWinds instrument, to serve as a calibration standard for the international constellation of scatterometer-equipped satellites, and to sample the diurnal and semi-diurnal wind variations that occur between ISS flight latitudes at least every two months.[12][13]

The scatterometer was launched as external cargo aboard the SpaceX CRS-4 mission on 21 September 2014, attached to the unpressurized section of the Dragon capsule.[14] Dragon was berthed to the station on 23 September.[15] The instrument was removed from Dragon, robotically assembled and attached to _Columbus_ between 29 and 30 September. It was powered up on 1 October and immediately began gathering data, which was first processed into an uncalibrated product on 3 October.[16] ISS-RapidScat was declared fully operational and its data products properly calibrated on 10 November.[17]

One of ISS-RapidScat's first observations was of Tropical Storm Simon off the coast of the Baja California Peninsula on 3 October 2014.[18] It also played a role in observing the Category 5 Hurricane Patricia in October 2015, which was noted as one of the most powerful hurricanes on record, with maximum sustained winds of .[19][20] Data from ISS-RapidScat was disseminated worldwide for use in weather forecasting, and was used by the United States Navy, NOAA, and EUMETSAT, among others.[21]

On 19 August 2016, the _Columbus_ module, which ISS-RapidScat was attached to and reliant on for resources, suffered a power distribution unit failure, which resulted in ISS-RapidScat shutting down. This was followed by an electrical overload in the power distribution unit during recovery efforts. Attempts to restore the instrument were without success, and NASA formally terminated operations on 28 November 2016.[22][23] No replacement or successor device was planned.[24]

ISS-RapidScat was removed from the _Columbus_ module on 1 January 2018 and stowed inside the SpaceX CRS-13 Dragon trunk.[25] On 13 January 2018, the trunk section and ISS-RapidScat re-entered Earth's atmosphere and were destroyed as planned, while the Dragon capsule and its cargo landed in the Pacific Ocean and were recovered.[26]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16] Jet Propulsion Laboratory |first1=Alan |last1=Buis |first2=Whitney B. |last2=Clavin |first3=Stephen E. |last3=Cole |date=6 October 2014 |accessdate=25 December 2016}}

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22] Jet Propulsion Laboratory |first=Alan |last=Buis |date=9 September 2016 |accessdate=25 December 2016}}

[23] Jet Propulsion Laboratory |first=Carol |last=Rasmussen |date=28 November 2016 |accessdate=25 December 2016}}

[24]

[25]

[26]

title: ISS-RapidScat

question: What was the ISS-RapidScat?

answer: An instrument mounted to the International Space Station that measured wind speeds.

question: How did it work?

answer: By bouncing microwaves off the ocean's surface to measure wind speed.

question: What was it's unique benefit?

answer: It allowed scientists to study how the wind changes at one location over the course of a day; it gave better coverage of the tropics; and it allowed for cross-calibration between different data sets.

question: How was it used?

answer: It observed Tropical Storm Simon off the coast of Baja California and Hurricane Patricia. Its data was used by the Navy, NOAA, and EMETSAT, among others.

question: Write a ~6 sentence summary.

answer: ISS-RapidScat was an instrument mounted to the International Space Station that measured wind speed. It did this by bouncing microwaves off the ocean's surface. It allowed scientists to study how the wind changed at one location over the course of day thanks to its unique orbital characteristics. It also gave better coverage of the tropics, and it allowed for cross-calibration between different data sets. It was used to observe both Tropical Storm Simon and Hurricane Patricia. Its data was used by the Navy, NOAA, and EMETSAT.


text:
We've all heard of the Shelby GT350-H before. In short, it was the Cobra-289-powered Ford Mustang, thoroughly massaged by Shelby and loaned to the public by Hertz. These "rent-a-racecars" were popular with SCCA racers, with some coming back with leftovers from roll cages and other tell-tale signs of abuse.

But the forgotten sibling of the Shelby GT350-H is the Shelby Cougar XR7-G; something of a big brother to the small-displacement 289ci Ford.

The Hertz XR7-G came with the 325hp S-code 390ci GT engine, C6 automatic transmission, power front disc brakes, power steering, tilt steering, air conditioning, and an accessory gauge pack installed by Shelby. Another unique feature was the retractable sunroof installed by American Sunroof Company. The XR7-Gs were originally shipped with Rader wheels, manufactured by the Trans American Products Company. However, there were issues with the wheels cracking, leaking air, or failing catastrophically. Ford issued a recall, replacing the Rader with a set of styled chrome steel wheels as seen here.

This 1968 Cougar XR7-G has been owned for more than 40 years by its current owner, who bought it shortly after it left the Hertz fleet.

question: Approximately when was the article written?

answer: That information can't be found

question: What is the subject of the article?

answer: The Cougar XR7-G

question: What car was the Cougar XR7-G a sibling of, according to the author?

answer: The Shelby GT350-H

question: Who were the Shelby GT350-H's popular with?

answer: SCCA racers

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The author describes the Shelby GT-350H and the Cougar XR7-G cars.


text: They never tell you how much of a pain puppies are. The shelter always says “This puppy will grow up to be nice and small.” They’re liars. “This puppy will be no trouble later in life.” Blatantly false. “This puppy won’t have to be walked when it’s wet and cold outside.” The biggest lie of them all. “The puppy won’t run away while you’re walking it.” Really? “You won’t have to spend hours trying to find that puppy after it runs away.” They can try better than that. “The puppy won’t end up covered in mud when you actually do find it.” Sigh. The people at the shelter are good at making you believe them. They don’t lie about everything though. Even after hours of searching, when I finally find that puppy, sopping wet and all covered in mud, I can’t help but smile and say, “There you are Bella, I was worried I lost you. Let’s get you home and cleaned up.”

title: A puppy in the rain.

question: What is the lie?

answer: That the puppy will grow up to be small

question: Who is speaking?

answer: The shelters

question: Who is being spoken to?

answer: The narrator

question: What is their relationship to each other?

answer: The narrator got a puppy from the shelter

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator's puppy runs away. As they look for their puppy they complain that the shelter made it seem like having a puppy is easy when in reality the puppy is a handful. Still, when the narrator finally finds their puppy they smile and are happy she's okay.


text:
There is a contradiction in our ordinary ideas about moral responsibility. Let’s explore it by considering two examples. Killer, our first character, is at a party and drives home drunk. At a certain point in her journey, she swerves, hits the curb, and kills a pedestrian who was on the curb. Merely Reckless, our second character, is in every way exactly like Killer but, when she swerves and hits a curb, she kills no one. There wasn’t a pedestrian on the curb for her to kill. The difference between Killer and Merely Reckless is a matter of luck.

Does Killer deserve more blame – that is, resentment and indignation – than Merely Reckless? Or, do Killer and Merely Reckless deserve the same degree of blame? We feel a pull to answer ‘yes’ to both questions. Let’s consider why.

On the one hand, we believe that Killer deserves more blame than Merely Reckless, because it’s only Killer who causes the death of a pedestrian. Plausibly, a person can deserve extra blame for a bad result of her action that she reasonably could have been expected to foresee, and causing the death of a pedestrian by driving drunk _is_ that kind of bad consequence. So, even though they deserve an equal degree of blame for their callous and reckless driving, Killer deserves more blame overall, because only Killer’s foreseeable moral risk turns out badly.

On the other hand, we believe that Killer and Merely Reckless must deserve the same degree of blame, because luck is the only difference between them, and luck, most of us think, cannot affect the praise and blame a person deserves. It would be unfair for Killer to deserve more blame due merely to what happened to her, because moral judgment is about a person and not what happens to her. So, they must deserve the same degree of blame.

In summary, our commonsense ideas about moral responsibility imply the contradiction that Killer and Merely Reckless do and do not deserve the same amount of resentment and indignation. More generally, our commonsense ideas about moral responsibility have the paradoxical implication that _luck_ _in results_ can and cannot affect how much praise and blame a person deserves.

Nevertheless, the vexation runs deeper. Luck clearly affects the results of actions but, less obviously, as I’ll demonstrate, luck can also affect _actions_ _themselves_.

Fumbles, our third character, is in every way like Killer and Merely Reckless. They all get drunk and decide to drive home in the dark, and they all walk on autopilot to their cars. Fumbles takes a slightly different path to her car from the others, trips over a patch of uneven lawn, and drops her keys down a drain. Fumbles is forced to call a cab to take her home. Of course, it’s a matter of luck which path each person takes, because they’re all oblivious to the relative merits of the different routes to their cars. If Fumbles hadn’t taken that path and lost her keys, she would’ve driven drunk just like Killer and Merely Reckless.

Night Blind, our fourth character, has many of the same beliefs and character traits as Killer, Merely Reckless and Fumbles. She differs from those three mainly by having horrendous night vision, and this incapacity distinguishes her character by making driving at night unthinkable for her. When Night Blind gets drunk in the evening, she doesn’t even entertain the idea of driving home. Of course, her having bad night vision is a matter of luck, like the good vision of the others. If Night Blind had better vision (and if driving drunk had also been an option for her), we might suppose that she would’ve decided to drive home drunk just like Killer, Merely Reckless and Fumbles.

The contradiction at the heart of our thinking extends to these new characters. On the one hand, we believe that luck affects the degree of blame deserved by all four characters. We believe that Killer and Merely Reckless deserve more blame than Fumbles, because they drive home drunk, and Fumbles does not. We also believe that Killer, Merely Reckless and Fumbles deserve some degree of blame, but that Night Blind, who got a cab home, deserves no blame at all. In other words, we think that luck affects the degree of blame each person deserves.

On the other hand, we believe that luck cannot affect the blame that Killer, Merely Reckless, Fumbles and Night Blind deserve, and so believe that all four deserve precisely the same degree of blame. The salient differences between these four characters is something outside of their control: the location of the pedestrian, tripping over uneven ground in the dark, or having bad night vision. But they each would’ve driven drunk if they had been in the same circumstance and had the same constitution. So, they all must deserve the same degree of blame.

Some philosophers believe that both sides of the contradiction I’ve outlined are undeniable and leave it as a paradox. Most philosophers, however, are not satisfied with paradoxes. As you might expect, many of them have attempted to iron out this inconsistency in our thinking. Some suggested solutions are _pure_. They allow luck to affect the moral responsibility in all four characters, or they preclude luck from affecting moral responsibility in all four characters. Other solutions are _mixed_, because they allow luck to affect moral responsibility in some but not other characters.

The _skeptical response_ is a pure view that bars luck from affecting moral responsibility in all four characters; every kind of luck must be factored out of moral evaluation. But luck saturates who we are (think of Night Blind), what we do (think of Fumbles), and what results from what we do (think of Killer and Merely Reckless). So, because luck must be factored out of moral evaluation, and luck permeates everything that we are, do and bring about, no one is morally responsible for anything.

One problem with the skeptical response is that it’s an empty victory; it’s like winning a battle by sacrificing most of what we care about. After all, the skeptical response undermines our self-conception as morally responsible agents, and it requires practical revision of praising and blaming as individuals, and practical revision of rewarding and punishing as governing authorities. It is, then, worth exploring whether other responses can dissolve the paradox in a way that preserves what we care about.

The _character response_ is that people fundamentally deserve praise and blame only for their character traits. This view implies that Killer, Merely Reckless and Fumbles deserve equal blame, because they have the _same_ character traits that give rise to their decision to drive drunk. Whether they kill a pedestrian or have an opportunity to drive drunk is irrelevant to their degree of blameworthiness. Night Blind, of course, lacks those traits; she wouldn’t contemplate driving drunk because she wouldn’t contemplate driving at night and she drinks only at night. For this reason, Night Blind deserves no blame on this account. The character response, then, is a mixed view. It precludes luck in results and circumstance from affecting moral responsibility in Killer, Merely Reckless and Fumbles, and it allows luck in constitution to affect Night Blind’s moral responsibility by saving her from disgrace.

An unattractive feature of the character response, however, is that it appears to imply that when people act out of character, they don’t deserve praise or blame. Intuitively, however, many of us think that people _are_ morally responsible for at least some of their uncharacteristic actions. Additionally, the character response implies that it is always impermissible to praise and blame strangers, because we don’t know much about the character of strangers. Even so, at least most of us think that it is at least possible to praise and blame a stranger in an apt way. Given these difficulties, let’s consider the next solution.

If luck can affect moral responsibility for actions, then it can also affect moral responsibility for consequences

The _acts response_ is that people fundamentally deserve praise or blame only for what they actually do. On this view, luck makes no difference to the blame that Killer and Merely Reckless deserve, because they perform the same kind of action. But luck makes a difference between the moral responsibility of Killer and Merely Reckless, on the one hand, and Fumbles and Night Blind, on the other, because luck in circumstance and constitution prevents Fumbles and Night Blind from acting in the same way as the other two did that night. The acts response, then, is a mixed view that bars luck in results from affecting the blame a person deserves, but allows luck in circumstance and constitution to affect it.

Although I view the acts response as more plausible than the other proposals I’ve outlined so far, I do think it’s an unstable position. After all, if luck can affect moral responsibility for actions, then we have at least some reason to think that the same luck can also affect moral responsibility for consequences. In terms of our examples, the fact that Merely Reckless deserves more blame than Fumbles, even though the salient difference between them is a matter of luck, provides some reason to think that Killer deserves more blame than Merely Reckless even though the only difference between them is also a matter of luck. Let’s, then, turn to consider the final response.

The _moral luck response_ is that some kinds of luck in results, circumstance and constitution affect the praise and blame a person deserves. On this view, Killer deserves more blame than Merely Reckless, because only Killer causes the death of the pedestrian; Merely Reckless deserves more blame than Fumbles because, of the two, only Merely Reckless drives drunk; and Fumbles deserves more blame than Night Blind because, of the two, only Fumbles decides to drive drunk.

Given the problems that arise with the skeptical, character and acts responses, we have a preliminary reason to think that the moral luck response is correct. But if the moral luck response is correct, why is there a contradiction in our thinking in the first place? That is, how can we explain the common intuitive reaction that, for example, Killer and Merely Reckless deserve the same degree of blame when the moral luck response implies that they deserve different amounts of blame?

The answer to this question comes from properly distinguishing two kinds of commonsense moral evaluation that we tend to run together – namely, _being_ _to blame for bringing about an event_ and _being a bad person_. What makes someone a good or a bad person? Plausibly, the moral quality of a person is determined by her character and so by her actual voluntary actions and what she would voluntarily do. On this view, Killer and Merely Reckless are no better or worse persons than each other, because they voluntarily do the same kind of thing. Additionally, Killer, Merely Reckless _and_ Fumbles are also no better or worse as persons than one another, because Fumbles would’ve voluntarily done what Killer and Merely Reckless do if she had been in their circumstances. (Night Blind is relevantly different from those three. She has a different character as evidenced by the unthinkability of driving drunk at night, because she never drives at night, and she drinks only at night.)

This distinction between being to blame for an outcome and being a bad person allows us to discriminate between the various cases. Killer isn’t any worse a person than Merely Reckless; but that doesn’t show that they both merit the same amount of blame, because blame isn’t just about the kind of person you are. Likewise, although Merely Reckless is no worse a person than Fumbles is, it doesn’t then follow that they are equally blameworthy.

Being a good or a bad person is about one’s character; being blameworthy for an event is about being accountable for what you have done in the world. As an illustration, consider the example of Works Tonight. She has the same moral character as Killer, Merely Reckless and Fumbles, and so would’ve acted in the same way as those three did if she had gone to the party. But she was called in to work that night, and so missed the party altogether. Plausibly, Works Tonight isn’t blameworthy for doing anything related to driving drunk, but Works Tonight is just as bad a _person_ as Killer, Merely Reckless and Fumbles.

Once we separate blame for actions and outcomes _from_ blame for character, we can see how we got into this conflicted state in the first place.

Which of these responses to the problem of moral luck is correct matters greatly at least for praise and blame in our dealings with other people, for the morality of some criminal laws, and for the morality of a final judgment after death if there is such a thing.

But no matter which of these responses (or perhaps another not considered here) turns out to be correct, there’s a lesson we can all learn about luck, moral pride and moral humility.

One form of moral pride involves the belief that we’re self-made people. Moral pride can make us feel superior to others and more liable to find fault with them, because the belief that all persons are self-made implies that others’ bad traits are entirely of their own making. For the same reason, moral pride can also undermine feelings of compassion towards those who have had difficult formative histories (such as early emotional trauma), faced hard moral decisions (social pressure in Nazi Germany, for example), or had minimal help from others in the moral life (if, for example, they haven’t had good role models).

But our reflections on Killer, Merely Reckless, Fumbles, Night Blind and Works Tonight should shatter the illusion that we’re self-made people. We’re all significantly – but not entirely – shaped by luck. The recognition that we’re not wholly self-made should help us to credit others for their roles in our moral lives and perhaps most importantly to be compassionate and generous to those who are down on their luck. After all, with different luck, we might have shared their fate.

_In Defense of Moral Luck: Why Luck Often Affects Praiseworthiness and Blameworthiness_ _by Robert Hartman is published via Routledge._

question: What is the difference between Killer and Merely Reckless?

answer: While both drove home from the party drunk, when Killer swerved and hit the curb, she struck and killed someone. When Merely Reckless swerved and hit the curb she hit no one.

question: Why does the narrator think they deserve the same degree of blame?

answer: Because luck was the only factor that separates the two incidents, one ending in death and the other not, and because luck cannot effect the praise and blame a person deserves, it would be unfair to Killer for her to deserve more blame. Moral judgement, the narrator says, is about a person and not what happens to them.

question: Who is Fumbles?

answer: Fumbles is exactly like Killer and Merely Reckless, but on her way to the car, Fumbles trips and drops her keys down a drain and is forced to take a cab home.

question: Who is Night Blind?

answer: Another identical character, however Night Blind has horrible night vision. Because of this, Night Blind would never consider driving at night regardless of weather or not she was drunk. The only thing separating her from the others is another degree of luck.

question: Write a ~6 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator is trying to demonstrate the logic of moral judgement by outlining four identical characters in a drunk driving scenario. The first one, Killer, swerves and kills a pedestrian. Merely Reckless swerves, but no one was there to kill. Fumbles dropped her keys on the way to the car and took a cab, and Night Blind has had terrible night vision her whole life, so driving at night was unthinkable regardless of her level of drunkenness. The point the narrator is trying to make, is that regardless of the outcome, moral judgement is about the person being judged. All four characters are equally deserving of blame, even though Killer is the only one who caused death.


text:
BY JACK BRADY (NRL.COM)

Peter Mata'utia was eating chicken in the sheds before he was called up to replace Dragons winger Jason Nightingale just moments before kick-off in the Red V's 31-6 win over the Bulldogs, his second game in just 25 hours after playing NSW Cup with the Illawarra Cutters on Saturday.

Mata'utia, who ended the Dragons' fourth-straight win with 186 metres (the most metres made by a Dragon) and a try, proved a handy replacement for the Kiwi International Nightingale, though was feeling the pinch of the Cutters' 24-20 loss to the Wyong Roos from the day prior – an 80 minute appearance in the centres – in what was a 160 minute weekend of football.

"I found out I was going to play just after they finished the warm-up so I ran out while they prepared themselves in the sheds and warmed up by myself before anyone ran out," Mata'utia said.

"I was on standby for the game but when I saw them warm-up I thought I was alright so I started eating KFC and Chinese food. I wasn't even thinking about it throughout the game but half-time was bad.

"I was dehydrated but I knew I had a job to do for the team so I tried my best. I'm sore now, man. I wasn't too bad after NSW Cup but after playing first grade I'll feel very sore on Monday definitely."

Mata'utia, who told NRL.com previously he has reached a point in his career where he wants to play in the NRL every week, was buoyed by the kind words of his teammates and coach Paul McGregor.

"I received some pretty good feedback from the boys and the coach which was nice to hear," Mata'utia said.

"I love playing for the Red V and that jersey so every chance I get to wear it I'm going to take it with both hands and try my hardest to return to the starting team."

As for Nightingale, St George Illawarra released a statement shortly after fulltime which read their star winger will undergo scans on his foot on Monday.

“Our initial thoughts are that he has suffered a planta fasciitis tear and he is presently wearing a precautionary boot ahead of undertaking MRI scans on Monday," said Dragons Physiotherapist Dan Lawson.

THIS ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED ON NRL.COM.

question: Who is Peter Mata'utia?

answer: Mata'utia is a player for the Dragons.

question: When did Mata'utia find out he was going to be playing?

answer: He found out after the rest of the team had already finished their warmup.

question: What injury has Jason Nightingale sustained?

answer: Trainers do not know exactly what injury Nightingale has sustained, but he will undergo MRI scans to confirm the extent of the injuries.

question: What sport is being discussed?

answer: Unclear.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: Peter Mata'utia was called in to replace Dragons winger Jason Nightingale moment before kick-off against the Bulldogs. Nightingale will undergo MRI scans on his foot on Monday.


text:
I look down at my feet, swinging them back and forth because my legs can’t reach the ground. It’s dark, and my seat is wet with a mixture of old rain and early-morning dew. I’m tired; I’ve been awake all night. I’m cold; there’s a slight breeze that I hadn’t noticed before now. But I am not afraid. Back to the West, over my shoulder, the sky is dark as night. Clouds that drenched the previous day with rain are passing off into the distance, leaving a shining trail of puddles and wet pavement like an enormous snail. Toward the horizon in front of me, however, I see the sky is clear, and just starting to brighten.

I feel the cool breeze again, and I shift uncomfortably. I hear the faint crinkling of paper. I reach into my jacket and pull out the incomplete letter. I unfold it carefully, making no sudden movements, and press it flat against my thigh. I pull a pen out of my other jacket pocket, and study the blank space after the word “Dear.” I wrote this final letter after two rough drafts, but I can’t think of who I wrote it for. My parents are long dead. I have no friends, no other family. No one to apologize to. I can’t say goodbye to any loved ones, but hopefully I’ll get to say hello to a few.

I glance at my watch. Twenty minutes after five. I set my pen down beside me and fold my letter, placing it back in my jacket pocket, the salutation still incomplete. I look down at my swinging legs again. I remember when I used to climb the tree in our back yard, and sit with my feet dangling. In my young imagination I’d always thought that tree was as tall as a skyscraper. I lean forward a few inches and look down through my dangling feet at the sidewalk forty-two stories below. I hope I get to see my parents again.

I very carefully hold the edge of the building as I get my feet under me, and very slowly stand up. The sun will be rising soon, and I want to see it one more time.

I stand up very carefully and look forward, toward the East. I can see the rim of the bright orange sun peeking over the horizon, drawing long shadows from all the buildings. I sigh and say a silent prayer. I ask God to understand why I want this. Why I need this. I hope he’ll forgive me, or at least let me see my family, just once, just for a moment. I miss my mom, and my dad.

I can feel tears starting to flow; not for me, but for my family. I want to tell them I love them, and that I’m sorry for what I’m doing. Maybe I’ll get to.

I can’t see the sun anymore, my tears have blurred it too much, but I can still feel its warm rays on my face. I turn slowly away from the light. I extend my arms straight out on either side, then immediately feel stupid and lower them again. I settle for keeping my hands about six inches from my pockets, palms facing forward. I wipe my eyes and look down to see the heels of my shoes are hanging off the edge, before my eyesight blurs again. I lift my gaze again, wipe my eyes one last time, and slowly lean backward, inch by inch. When gravity finally takes hold, it catches me by surprise and I hunch forward as my body instinctively tries to save itself, but it’s too late. I can only face up toward the clear sky, which is framed by buildings that seem to be shooting upward. And then I’m gone.

title: My first short story

question: Is the narrator about to commit suicide?

answer: It seems possible since they started a letter, and they are sitting on the edge of some edifice, unable to sleep.

question: What time is it?

answer: 5:20am

question: How many stories up is the narrator?

answer: 42

question: Does the narrator die?

answer: It sure seems like it.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator ponders taking their own life forty-two stories in the sky dangling on the ledge of the building. They think about loving their family and everything they wish they could say.They let go, but regret it when it's too late. Then, they are gone.


text:
After a decent showing in the FA Cup replay at West Ham and two subsequent Premier League clean sheets, Joel Robles is starting to make Evertonians much less nervous than they were a few weeks ago.

[Robles]However, speculation continues around a new goalkeeper signing after Roberto Martinez said this a few days ago: ‘Tim is recovering really well from injury and could be back for the derby so I will wait until Monday to see how he has reacted. But it is a position we need to address for the long term.’

Statistically, Howard was having an absolute nightmare before his injury. He has the lowest save % of any first choice keeper in the Premier League this season. Adjusting for overall shot quality (using this method) he fares a touch better and ranks 18th out of 20.

But last year, Howard’s numbers were really good and it’s well known amongst the ‘serious stats’ community that shot stopping-wise, goalkeeping performance shows no stability from one year to the next. I’ve spent many many fruitless hours slicing and dicing the data to try and make this randomness not so. It can’t be done!

Therefore, natural curiousity (mania) leads me to question why this randomness happens. What are the factors that effect shot-stopping performance? One that I’ve been banging on about for a long time now is a keeper’s positioning. I first started advocating more conservative positioning here later calling the the concept of a keeper staying nearer his line ‘not leaving the comfort zone’.

We all saw current ‘best goalkeeper in the world’, Manuel Neuer, during the World Cup taking up some unorthodox positions outside of his box while play went on. Regular watchers of the Bundesliga will confirm he does this at Bayern too. He’s pegged as the ultimate ‘sweeper keeper’.

The Premier League advertises its version of this as ‘Hugo Lloris’. Lloris doesn’t take up the super-aggressive positions Neuer does in open play, but he does sit higher than most keepers and he’s wont to dash out to clear danger (or drop a clanger) at every opportunity.

Plenty of people have cited Lloris’ style as the reason why he hasn’t looked good by save% or the type of shot-stopper rankings that I put together. The argument goes that this is made up for because his style leads to far less shots coming in from the opposition – danger is snuffed out before it even starts. @benjaminpugsley points to analysis debunking this theory in ice hockey (a sport averaging more shots per game than football). Also, Neuer manages to look pretty spectacular in my shot-stopping rankings (so ner).

After a bit more research over the years I’ve refined my ‘comfort zone’ to a smaller area width-ways and changed the original rectangular shape in favour of a more realistic oval. You can see the comfort zone shaded on the save maps of both Neuer and Lloris from last season. The dots represent where the ball was stopped – not the position of the keepers feet:

[NeuervLloris positions]Despite Neuer’s outfield antics his save plot makes him look like the poster-boy for my comfort zone neurosis. In contrast, Lloris’ plot looks like he’s been running around in a Benny Hill sketch. That said, something has happened to Hugo this season. Maybe Poch has put him on a leash:

[Lloris 2015 positionspublish]Surprise surprise, Lloris looks statistically competent in my shot-stopper rankings. His rating is 1.17 overall – way above the historical league average of 1.00.

I’ve been wanting to do a study of the possible effect of keeper positioning on save%/shot-stopper ratings for a long time. There’s several problems. Firstly, it’s hugely time consuming. I collect this save position data by hand/eye from the brilliant Stats Zone app. However, it doesn’t show keepers’ positions when a goal is scored. I’ve therefore had to watch footage of every Premier League goal scored so far this season several times over to manually record where on the pitch the nearest body point of the keeper was when the ball went past him.

Obviously there is room for recording error here, but having married footage to app graphics driven by Opta feeds many hundreds of times over, it is clear that the people monitoring games for Opta aren’t 100% either. This is not to criticise them in any way. It’s an impossible job, and quite frankly their level of accuracy is almost inhuman. I have seen those guys operating real time during matches at Opta Towers, and their hand/eye co-ordination is utterly incredible.

Data-wise I’ve concentrated on open-play shots only – to include direct free kicks and penalty shots would be wrong as keepers are always attempting these saves in the comfort zone and do not/cannot decide to leave it.

I’ve ordered the table below by my shot-stopper ranking (which adjusts for shot ‘quality’), and then colour coded the levels of ‘comfort zonality’. Green shows the most conservative keepers positionally, orange those who are balanced and the red shows those who regularly leave the comfort zone.

[Comfort Zone Table]As you can see, Hart is the only kamikaze keeper in the top 10 for shot-stopping so far this season. The rest of them are in the bottom half of the table.

When I first talked about this subject, a lot of people interpreted my keeping conservatism as ‘never leave the comfort zone’. That isn’t my position (ahem). My position is: ‘If you have to come out, time it right.’

Now I look out for it every week, too often I watch keepers fly out far too early, committing themselves and making it easy for attackers. If they’re not doing that they are forever inching out to the edge of the 6 yard box as attacks build in front of them. Once the shot finally comes in, if it’s either side or lollipopped over them, they’re dead and buried. The technique leaves no time to adjust and no room for error. If they do get something on it, it’s often put right back into another attackers path.

Watching Everton last season it felt like we got away with murder. I checked the numbers and it turned out we did. Over at Statsbomb in my Everton season preview I predicted around 50 goals against this season if we didn’t stem the flow of shots coming in.

Yes, the midfield and defence have been porous but Howard hasn’t been helping. Last season he did a pretty decent Lloris impression but got away with it:

[Howard save positions for publish 2014 copy]A quick look back at the table above shows Howard attempting to save just shy of 60% of chances outside of the comfort zone this season. For this season’s graphic I’ve added in the attempted save points (in red) when a goal has been conceded:

[Howard 2015 for pub copy]That plot is like seeing Lloris’ old Benny Hill sketch on acid.

Here’s a video of the open-play Premier League goals Howard has conceded this season. You’ll see a few instances of coming out far too early and a ton of inching towards the 6 yard box as play builds:

Robles technique is very similar – so still be slightly afraid even if it seems like our goalkeeping is getting better. Just be thankful we’ve only conceded two shots on target the last couple of games!

Follow me on Twitter @footballfactman

question: Which football team does Joel Robles belong to?

answer: Joel Robles belongs to Everton FC.

question: Why does the shot-stopping performance keep changing?

answer: One of the major factors that affect shot-stopping performance is the keeper's positioning.

question: Who is titled the 'best goalkeeper in the world?'

answer: Manuel Neuer is titled the 'best goalkeeper in the world.'

question: What is the difference between Neuer's and Lloris' goal-keeping styles?

answer: To differentiate between both of their styles, the writer did some research and came up with a 'comfort zone' which was a smaller area of the rectangle. Neuer's fit the comfort zone while Lloris kept running around.

question: Write a ~7 sentence summary.

answer:
The writing talks about the shot-stopping performance of goalkeepers. The keeper's positioning plays a major role. The writer studies the goalkeeping styles of Manuel Neuer and Lloris by creating a 'comfort zone' around the rectangle. It turns out that Lloris is statistically competent in the writer's shot-stopper ranking with 1.17 overall.

The writer also wants to do a study on the effects of keeper positioning on save%/shot-stopper ratings but, there are several problems with this study. Majorly, it would be time-consuming. After much to do, he created a table by his shot-stopper ranking and then color-coded with the level of 'comfort zonality.'


text:
Hi, it's my first post here, hope you enjoy it!
___________________________________

Grandpa Adam watched in disdain as his grandchildren sat in silence. They spoke only electronically: to update their friends every 5 minutes on the progress of their e-homework in the hit video-game "School Simulator".

"It's way better than real school - and more addictive!" posted 10 year-old Sharpiqua-Massachusetts.

Grandpa Adam scowled. "In my day, we kept our private lives private" he said as his FaceGoogle posted this as his latest status; "and we kept our private parts private too." - he motioned to the boob-tube hotpants combo his 14 year-old grandson was sporting.

"Uh oh, Grandpa's at it again" muttered Andromeda-Shoreditch to himself and 31 school-friends simultaneously.

"Just don't mention Pokémon!" tweeted little Sharpiqua-Massachusetts helpfully.

On hearing this, Adam's face went bright red as his WebMD bracelet warned him that this might be a sign of Madagascan Lemur Flu.

"THERE'RE ONLY 151 POKEMON YOU WHIPPERSNAPPERS!” he bellowed. “I HAVE PROOF! JUST LOOK UNDER THE TRUCK BY THE SS ANNE!! WHAT THE HELL KIND OF NEW POKEMON IS ‘BRICK’ THE ‘BRICK POKEMON’ ANYWAY?!?"

Grandpa Adam's daughter and son-in-law sighed and resigned themselves to carting him out of the room on their Amazon Anti-Grav Elderly-Scooper, again.

After watching Grandpa Adam get whisked back to the drive-thru old folk’s home, Sharpiqua-Massachusetts turned to Andromeda-Shoreditch.

“Shpeesh, I dunno why he’s so judgemental about what kids are into.”

“I know, right?” responded Andromeda-Shoreditch. “That said though, have you seen the kind of TV meant for nursery children these days? They’re premiering Nickolodean’s ‘A Serbian Tale’ next week, and I think it’s just a bit much. Not like the milder ‘Teletubby Sluts Xtreme’ we had when we were little.”

title: Image of the Future

question: What kind of outfit is a boob-tube hotpants combo?

answer: It sounds like inappropriate wear for a boy especially if it really does show his privates

question: Why shouldn't the children mention Pokemon?

answer: Sounds like the word sends Grandpa off on a tangent

question: What is Madagascan Lemur flu?

answer: An illness signalled by a bright red face.

question: Why does Adam have a WebMD bracelet. Is it worn by all children or does Adam have a health condition?

answer: Not answered

question: Write a ~7 sentence summary.

answer:
As grandpa Adam watches disdainfully, his silent grandchildren speak to their friends electronically. Every five minutes they update their friends on the e-homework they’re doing on a hit video game simulator. It’s far better than a real school and more addictive.

Grandpa is scornful of the sharing of private lives and the dress sense of the children. Little Sharpiqua-Massachusetts warns the children not to mention Pokemon. Adam's face goes bright red and his WebMD bracelet warns him that this might be a sign of Madagascan Lemur Flu.

That sends Grandpa off on a tangent and his daughter and son-in-law have to remove him from the room.


text:
The MORRISVILLE HISTORIC DISTRICT encompasses most of the historic commercial downtown area of the village of Morrisville in Morristown, Vermont. Developed in the early 19th century as a service town for the surrounding agricultural areas, it was transformed into a major service regional commercial center by the arrive of the railroad in 1872. Its surviving architecture is largely reflective of these two time periods. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, and enlarged in 2007.[1]

Description and history

The beginnings of the village of Morrisville are in 1798, when John Safford erected a sawmill on the Lamoille River, which marks the northern extent of the village. By the mid-19th century, the village was a service center for farms in the surrounding hills, with shops and tradesmen. Most of these services were arrayed on what is now Lower Main Street, running east-west between High and Portland Streets. Portland Street was laid out in anticipation of the railroad's arrival, with service begun in 1872. This inaugurated a commercial building boom on that street. The areas to the east of this commercial and industrial area developed as residential neighborhoods.[2]

When first listed on the National Register in 1983, the district included primarily commercial properties on Lower Main Street and Portland Street, with a few Federal period houses on Main Street. In 2007 it was substantially enlarged, to also include more railroad-related industry and residential areas to the east. The commercial architecture is diverse, with that of the post-railroad boom period primarily in brick Italianate style. The expanded district, in addition to a variety of period housing, includes four historic churches and two historic school buildings. One of the two school buildings, the Peoples Academy, is separately listed on the National Register.[3]

[1]

[2]  with

[3]

title: Morrisville Historic District (Morristown, Vermont)

question: Why was Morrisville Historic District developed?

answer: Morrisville Historic District was developed as a service town for the surrounding agricultural areas.

question: Why was Morrisville Historic District transformed in 1872?

answer: Morrisville Historic District was transformed in 1872 because of the arrival of the railroad.

question: Why was Morrisville Historic District enlarged in 2007?

answer: Morrisville Historic District was enlarged in 2007 to include more railroad-related industry and residential areas to the east.

question: What is the Peoples Academy?

answer: The Peoples Academy is a school in Morrisville Historic District that is listed on the National Register.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: Morrisville Historic District is located in the village of Morrisville in Morristown, Vermont. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The district was developed as a service town for the surrounding agricultural areas in the early 19th century, transformed in 1872 because of the arrival of the railroad, and enlarged in 2007 to include more railroad-related industry and residential areas to the east.


text:
I sat in the chair, restrained and left alone for my thoughts to devour me whole. The chair was beautifully uncarved, a masterpiece of nature left unmarred by human hands, yet still uncomfortable enough for a prisoner like me to hate it. It felt like days have gone by in this chair, awaiting my fate, arms and legs bruised from the cuffs that dug into my flesh. My mind was racing, yet muddled; confined by the boundaries that they have placed on my thoughts. Memories repeating, left in a loop for me to regret for the rest of eternity. “Prisoner 339264. Rise for your Arbiter.” The loud hollow voice filled the room and the cuffs released me from their clutches, as I stood for someone who I am to respect, yet have never met. The Arbiter entered through the large steel doors previously hidden by the shadows and motioned for me to take my seat. As I hesitantly sit, the Arbiter began to speak, “You may not know why you are here.” his voice echoed in the large room. “And that is why I have been appointed to you. As a reminder, and as a final decision as to what is to happen to you.” He moved towards the pulpit, and laid out his documents for inspection.

“What you have done is nothing new, a case like yours comes along thousands of times every year, from insignificant, pitiful people like yourself, to more tragic, meaningful people like that American that smelled vaguely of adolescent character, and the famous writer who was found in his house holding his favorite shotgun. But you are lower than them. Theirs was understandable, but not you, you had everything lined up for you. Presented on a platter to choose for your own liking. You left children, both legitimate, and illegitimate, in your wake. Open your mouth, what do you have to say for yourself?” My mouth was parched, and my throat was in a knot. “Who are you?” I finally asked. “Me? I am your judge.” He came around the pulpit, walking towards me as the cuffs, restrained me again. “Your Fate,your King Minos. I am Your Arbiter. That is all you need to know.” I searched my mind for why I was here; one of the vague memories that have been placed off limits, torturing me with its escape. As he walked back, I gathered the nerve to finally ask the question that has been prying at my psyche. “Where am I, and what am I on trial for? I have a right to know!” “YOU HAVE NO RIGHTS HERE! You have lost all rights when your cowardice came over you, and you took your own life, leaving behind your wife, children, brothers, everything! You gave it all up, and for what? Nothing! And look where it's got you. In front of me.” An evil grin spread like the plague across his face. “I have the pleasure of deciding where you spend the rest of eternity.”

Shaken, my heart began to race. I didn't know what he was talking about. “What do you mean? I have no children! I cannot even remember what brought me to this horrid place. Explain!” His eyes glared at me, and for once in a long time I felt intimidated. Genuinely afraid of his sick twisted face. Mocking me with his furrowed brow. His voice became eerily soft “There are things that cannot be explained at this moment, what I can say is that you are in limbo. This is where everyone passes as they wait for their judgment. You are here because you have taken your life, and left a wife and a mistress to raise your children.” My memories began to fade into existence, Carmen's beautiful smile, My daughters letters as she learned Spanish abroad, Hector's diligence. I remember. “People like you cause rifts in The Writing. The only thing that cannot be accounted for, you humans have managed to exploit and cause panic not only in your dimension, but here as well.” I finally understand whats going on, its setting in. “Why did I do it?” I asked. The Arbiter replied quickly “None us know, it is the only thing that has escapes us seven for all of eternity. We have seen people do it for pride, out of fear, anger, even curiosity.”

Seven? “Are you the only Arbiter? If not why are you the one judging me?” His face twisted with a curious look, as though he was surprised, yet elated that I wanted to know about him and the others. “As I said before, there are seven of Us. We reign over your dimension and through a combination of us, we form every human being as their characteristics, or “Feelings”. Some people have more of one of us than others may.” “And as to the reason why I am being judged in front of you?” I beckoned for an answer. “Simple, out of the seven of us, I was the one most inflicted by your final moments. More people felt my presence because of you. And that angers me. Why should a human as incompetent as yourself be able to send shockwaves to dozens that I myself am not able to feel?” His piercing eyes, because soft and glazed over. He turned away from me snatching the files from the pulpit and briskly flipping through them. “So what am I to do?! I'm sorry that I offended you, but there must be something I can do to redeem myself!” I was looking for a way out. The outcome of angering this entity could not be good.

“What you have done is irreversible and irreconcilable. The verdict has been decided. You will return to Earth as your daughter's son. You will be stripped of a father at a young age as you have stripped yourself from your children. You will raise yourself and your siblings, as you left your oldest son to do so without a father. Left to fend for yourself in the tidal wave that you have cause in your past life.” I squirm in my seat at the thought of being sent back to that dreadful place. “NO! You cant send me back there.” I don't even know what I was afraid of. “There is nothing more than I can do, I have judged according to the Laws. You have done the crime. You must now pay the repercussions.” And with that he faded back into the shadowy corner. as the door closed softly behind him, my cuffs became undone. Rubbing my sore wrists, I began wondering what I should do now. When will my punishment begin. And if there is still a way to get around it. “Prisoner 339264. You have been tried and judged. You know your fate.” and with that a dark fear consumed, and pushed me towards a light. Into a realm so bright, cold and intimidating, it is a wonder how anyone could find comfort in this unrelenting place.

title: A short story I wrote for class titled "Inheritance".

question: What is the "Writing"?

answer:
The writing is only mentioned in passing so there is no definitive answer. Judging from how it was brought up, the Writing is possibly a predetermined set of outcomes or events across (at least) the dimensions of the narrator and of the arbiter.

The predetermined outcomes do not seem to account for some suicides (some suicides are apparently understandable), such as that of the narrator's.

While it is possible to interpret the writing as laws, the narrator's suicide was not labeled as "against the Writing". Instead, it caused "rifts in the Writing", this implies that the suicide is judged as being inconsistent with the Writing.


text: I'm going to have alot of free time the next weeks, and i would like to do something productive during that time, so yeah. Suggest something for me to write about. I'll pick the most appealing suggestion. The only guideline is that it shouldn't be anything erotic. Thank on beforehand fellow shortstory lovers =)

title: Give me something to write avout and i will do it

question: What will happen if all the suggestions are erotic?

answer: It is possible that the narrator may not write anything as they want something that appeals to them.


text:
Jerry Chavez hardly ever said a word. A damn shame because he knew so many good ones. Lascivious, licentious, and lethargic all laid latent. He even invented some new ones that would have been a boon to society:

Escube:  to get ready for the day at work or a night out on the town by  shitting, showering, and shaving

(hygienically speaking the best order to perform them in).

Potanic: any item possessing the potency of Titanic proportions.

Yet, Jerry's laconic manner cursed the air with the language of a mundane nature: shit, fuck, double-fuck, cock, bitch, hell, that 'c' word, Jesus, and sugar. All paltry words and a pantry one too.

Jerry would spend most of his time creating the most wonderful worlds. Staying alive it might seem only to live in his daydreams. That was until the gift bag came.

Jerry, returning to his cheap motel-style apartment complex from an appointment with a doctor, found a lavishly adorned gift bag on his welcome mat. “Is it my birthday,” he thought. Jerry looked at his watch. “No, much too cold to be my birthday.” Truly placing a temperature gauge on a watch is a brilliant idea, you are able to see how cold it is outside which helps you to realize if you have dressed appropriately. Or in this case it helped Jerry realize that this present was too early or much too late for his July birthday. Without a reason for the gift bag coming to mind Jerry still took it into his somnolently decorated apartment. Jerry was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, mainly because the giving of horses as presents seemed to have fallen out of fashion. At least that is in the circles Jerry ran in. Although the only circles Jerry ran in was down at the high school. But this was not a horse track. And obviously it's not the right track for getting a horse either. But I digress, actually looking back on how long that tangent was it would be more appropriate to say I trigressed or even quadgressed.

Jerry in the meantime had grabbed himself a beer and sat down on his couch with the gift bag. He said something to himself which I intend was “Go for it you pussy.” and then he opened the gift bag. The first thing he found was what seemed to be a normal everyday yellow, Ticonderoga, number 2 pencil. Next was a brown leather bound journal, with which one would assume was to be written in with the pencil. The card followed. Jerry opened it with no haste, and read only this:

What you write with this Pencil into this Journal will come

true in that you will be able to fully participate in it so long

as you pop one of those Purple Pills.

Jerry daunted but determined checked the back of the card. Exactly as he thought, it was not a Hallmark. He now turned his attention to the dilemma of the pills. That is, where are they? The card's removal had emptied the gift bag. But as Jerry went to grab the bag again he heard the distinct sound of pills rattling in a bottle. And there they were. The purple pills were in his left hand.

Jerry removed the magic lid from the magic bottle, and took out the magic cotton swab, and grabbed a magic pill. Jerry said something silently to himself which I intend was “Hell, why not.” and then swallowed the pill with the help of a swig from his beer bottle.

Its taste was not bad. Jerry now felt he had done something wrong. Maybe, he was to have written first. But before he was to become too worried a story came to him and he began to write.

It was a very good story. In the vein of Rip Van Winkle. A young lad, who Jerry would play, fell asleep on top of a hill overlooking a dystopian city. He was very unhappy in this world. He wished he could change it not just for himself, but for all. When the young man awoke he found himself on top of the hill looking down though on an unfamiliar city. He came down from his mount and walked around this new and as he found better city. Being quite confused he rested on a park bench. An old man seeing this unnerved young man sat down beside him hoping he could assuage the youth's pain. Jerry told him about the world he came from and how happy and surprised he was to see this one. Jerry asked how it became such and how it maintained its wonderfulness. The old man, who was quite knowledgeable, told him the story. He told the version that was not too long to allow the listener to become uninterested and not too short as to leave anything of importance out. It was a very good story and at the end of this he asked Jerry a question, “Shouldn't you be on your way?”

“To where?” Jerry replied.

“Home.” said the old man. Jerry paused. He believed senility had finally caught up to the old man.

“I have no home here.”

This made the old man smile making Jerry now certain of the old man's brain being gone. The old man said, “Then maybe here is not the place you should stay. Your home is there. You might want to go back and share with others the story that you have found here.”

Upon hearing this Jerry knew what he must do. He would return to his dystopian world and share this gift, the one he was given, with others.

As great as this would have been you must already know that this is not what happened. Our world has no magic pencil or magic paper. Neither does it have magic pills. Just regular pills which purpose is to help. The kind you might get after an appointment with a psychiatrist. Pencils and journals with which we can write our feelings and thoughts in and one day share with others.

No, Jerry never came back to our world. Damn shame too for he had so many wonderful stories to tell.

title: The Gift Bag

question: Why was it a shame that Jerry Chavez hardly said a word?

answer: It was a shame because he had a good vocabulary, and even invented some good words himself, such as "escube", which meant "to get ready for the day at work or a night out on the town by shitting, showering, and shaving", also "potanic", which meant "any item possessing the potency of Titanic proportions".

question: Despite this gift of Jerry Chavez, what does his day to day vocabulary consist of?

answer: Shamefully, it mainly consists of four letter words and their iterations, "shit", "fuck", "double-fuck", "cock", "bitch", "hell", "cunt", "Jesus", and "sugar".

question: What awaited Jerry on the doorstep of his apartment?

answer: Jerry found a lavish gift bag waiting for him when he got home. At first he thought it was his birthday, but concluded that it was too cold outside. He takes the bag in, grabs a beer, sits down, and opens it. What he found was a Dixon Ticonderoga Number 2 pencil and a leather bound journal, and a card. The card indicated that whatever Jerry wrote into the journal with the pencil would come true, so long as he took "one of those Purple Pills".

question: What did Jerry do with the journal?

answer: He took one of the pills and a story came to him. In the story, Jerry played a young man sleeping atop a hill looking down on a dystopian city, a world he is unhappy in. He walks through a park and encounters an old man, who tells Jerry to go home. Jerry replies that he has no home here, to which the old man smiles and tells him to go out there, meaning outside of the journal, and share with others the magic of the story he found within the journal.

question: Write a ~8 sentence summary.

answer: Jerry Chavez has a gift for gab, to the point of even inventing some useful words, like "escube" which is means to "shit, shower, and shave" in preparation of the day or a night out for instance. Despite a robust vocabulary, Jerry sadly opts to use four-letter words and their variations in his day to day vocabulary. He arrives home to his apartment and discovers a gift bag waiting for him at his doorstep. He takes it inside and discovers that it contains a Dixon Ticonderoga Number 2 pencil and a leather bound journal. It also contains a bottle of purple pills and a card, which reads that whatever Jerry writes in the journal will come to be so long as he takes "one of those Purple Pills". So Jerry pops a pill and begins to write, finding himself in the shoes of a young man looking down on a dystopian city from an adjacent hilltop. He walks down the hill into a park and meets an old man, who tells Jerry to go home. "I have no home here", Jerry replies, to which the old man smiles, and tells him that his place is "there" (meaning the outside world), and he ought to share what he discovered in the journal with the rest of the outside world.


text:
BHAVANI KATTALAI HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT is a hydropower generation project in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is a 90MW power generation project constructed across the Kaveri River. The project area is in the downstream of Lower Mettur Hydroelectric Project. This project consists of three power plants which are located between Bhavani and Pasur, Erode. This hydropower generation project is owned by Government of Tamil Nadu and operated by TANGEDCO.[1]

Power Plants

This power generation project consists of three power plants totaling to a generating capacity of 90MW. This project uses three Barrage type Dams constructed along the River Kaveri from which it gets the required water current.

-   POWER PLANT-I : Bhavani Kattalai Power Plant-I which consists of one powerhouse located between BP Agraharam in Erode district and Samayasangili in Namakkal district. A Barrage Dam has been constructed across Kaveri in this plant named as Samayasangili Barrage. This plant has a production capacity of 30MW using two turbines of 15MW each.[2]
-   POWER PLANT-II : Bhavani Kattalai Power Plant-II which consists of one powerhouse located between Vendipalayam in Erode district and Odapalli in Namakkal district. The Barrage Dam in this plant named as Vendipalayam Barrage. This plant with a production capacity of 30MW using two turbines of 15MW each has been commissioned in 2011.[3][4][5]
-   POWER PLANT-III : Bhavani Kattalai Power Plant-III which consists of one powerhouse located between Pasur in Erode district and Solasiramani in Namakkal district. Solasiramani Barrage plant has a production capacity of 30MW with two turbines each of 15MW capacity.[6][7][8]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

title: Bhavani Kattalai Hydroelectric Project

question: Where is the project?

answer: Across the Kaveri River in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu

question: What is the power capacity of the project?

answer: 90MW

question: When was the project constructed?

answer: That information can't be found

question: Who operates the project?

answer: TANGEDCO

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: The Bhavani Kattalai Hydroelectric Project is a hydropower generation project on the Kaveri River in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It has a total power generating capacity of 90 MW.


text:
When I was a boy, I met a most fascinating man. By his outward appearance, you would never think much of him. He lived a simple life, and expected little from those around him.

His name was Park, Young Woo. He was a kind old man who loved to talk about many things. He could talk about almost any topic and he would make it very interesting just to sit and listen to his stories.

The war had just ended when I met him. The army from the north had invaded our country and many people were hungry and tired. Yet Park, Young Woo was always happy and he helped to cheer up the people around him.

What made him the most interesting was he lived in a house built of scraps of wood, cardboard, and metal he had found along the road. Most of the house was made of cardboard. He cut small windows in the walls of his box in order to let in the light. On the top, he put pieces of metal to keep out the rain. It was only one room, but it was enough for him and his dog.

Most of the time he sat in front of his shanty with his dog lying beside him, offering to repair shoes. In a small wooden shoe box, he had some thread, pieces of leather, colored polish, and glue. If a person left their shoes with him in the morning, they were ready in the evening. People would always say what a wonderful a job he had done.

Day after day, he sat in front of his box repairing shoes. While he worked, he would tell stories to anyone who would listen. He would do most of his work on his right knee while sitting on a small stool. His dog lay beside him. He was very good at what he did. His reputation as a cobbler spread throughout our little village, but most of all, people loved to hear him tell stories of when he was a young boy living on the farm with his family.

While he worked, he would either hum songs or whistle. He enjoyed his work very much. When someone would walk by, he would begin a conversation. Most people would stop and chat with him for a short time, but sometimes they would sit and talk with him for hours. He was a wise old man, and there was nothing he would not discuss.

On my way to school, I would stop to talk to him. He was always very busy repairing a pair of shoes, but he still talked to me.

One day, I heard a new sound coming from the cardboard box. It was beautiful music. At first, I thought it was a radio playing the music, but when I got close to his box, I realized that he was playing a violin. He was playing it so gently and sweetly that the entire place was filled with joy.

Other people began to gather to listen to the music coming from the old shoemaker.

He played and played. He played familiar songs and songs I had never heard before. The people who had gathered to listen were absolutely silent.

When he finished, the people clapped and asked for more. He bowed at the waist and played again. It was dark when he finally said good-bye and disappeared into his small cardboard box.

Everyone in the town began to talk about the music from the old man. No one remembered hearing music played like that before.

The next day I asked him where he had gotten the violin he was playing. He told me that he had traded it in exchange for repairing an old pair of shoes for a lady in the city. He said it was not a very good violin, but it was nice to play again.

I asked him where he learned to play so well.

He told me that he had played all of his life but, when the war came, his violin had been destroyed. He did not have enough money to buy another one, but now he would be able to make music anytime he wanted. He had a big smile on his face.

Many of the people who he had fixed shoes for, decided to collect money to buy him a new violin. Then they would ask him to play for them.

Everyone became excited about the idea. I even gave some money to help buy the new violin.

Every day the old man played his old violin and filled the street with soft gentle music. More and more people came to hear him play. Many people gave money.

When there was enough money collected, the leader of our village went to the city and purchased a new violin. The plan was for the old shoemaker to come to the park. They planned to ask him to play for the town, and then they would give him his new violin.

On the day he was to receive the violin, a young boy was sent to ask him to come to the park to play for everyone. Usually, the old man only stayed at his cardboard box. He did not like to go other places very often.
It seemed like a very long time when the young boy came back alone. He told us something was wrong. The old man would not wake up.

The leaders of the town went quickly to his cardboard box to see what the young boy was talking about.
When they returned, they told us the old man had passed away, probably the night before. Everyone began to cry.

The leaders of our village turned the place where the old man lived into a special memorial. They left everything the way he had lived. His shoe box, his old violin, his bed, and everything else he had, was kept just the way he had left it when he died.

title: Man in a Box

question: Explain what the titular box is.

answer: The shanty in which the the old man lives (a house build of scraps of wood, cardboard, and metal).

question: Describe the narrator.

answer: Not much is described about the narrator other than they lived in the same village as Park, Young Woo when they were a boy.

question: When does this story take place?

answer: The story takes place during the narrator's childhood. It is unclear what year it takes place, although it is mentioned that the war has just ended.

question: Where does the narrator live?

answer: The narrator lives in a village, presumably somewhere in Korea (based on the names).

question: Describe Park, Young Woo.

answer: Park, Young Woo is a kind old man who loves to talk. He repairs shoes and can play the violin.

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer: When the narrator was a boy, they met a kind old man named Park, Young Woo. Park lives in a shanty made of bits of wood, cardboard, and metal with his dog. He repaired shoes and liked to play the violin. They people of the village decide to buy him a new violin, but when they go to deliver it they find that he has passed away. The village leaders turn Park's home into a memorial, leaving it as it was when he was alive.


text:
WEST HIGH STREET HISTORIC DISTRICT is a national historic district located at High Point, Guilford County, North Carolina. The district encompasses 10 contributing buildings and 1 contributing site. The resources were built between 1879 and 1922 and include six houses, three outbuildings, the Kirkman House garden, and the Kirkman Manufacturing Company (1899). Located in the district are the separately listed Blair School and O. Arthur Kirkman House and Outbuildings. Other buildings are the Queen Anne style Annettie Brown House (1897); the Colonial Revival style Fraser-Wilson House (1905) and W. T. Kirkman House (1900); and the brick Colonial Revival / American Craftsman-style O. Arthur Kirkman House (1915).[1]

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.[2]

[1]

[2]

title: West High Street Historic District (High Point, North Carolina)

question: What state is West High Street Historic District in?

answer: West High Street Historic District is in the state of North Carolina.

question: How many buildings are in the West High Street Historic District?

answer: The West High Street Historic District has 10 buildings.

question: What Manufacturing Company is included in the West High Street Historic District?

answer: The Kirkman Manufacturing Company is included in the West High Street Historic District.

question: When was the Annettie Brown House built?

answer: The Annettie Brown House was built in 1897.

question: When was the West High Street Historic District listed on the National Register of Historic Places?

answer: The West High Street Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: The West High Street Historic District is a collection of 10 historic buildings and a historic site located in High Point, North Carolina. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.


text: Steve took off his coat and gloves as he walked through the door; snow still stuck to the soles of his boots. The house was calm—more calm than it should have been at five. The stove was not on to cook that night's meal. There were no kids at play on the soft rug in the den. His wife did not greet him as he came in. All was still. He walked up the stairs and peeked in the kids' rooms. They were there—still and gone. Steve felt his lungs cave in and his heart jump out of his throat. His eyes drowned in tears, but he was too choked by the sight to cry. He knelt down and held them. As he looked to his side, his wife, there just as his kids, caught his eye. He wept.

title: Had to write a short story using only one syllable words. What do you think?

question: What season is it?

answer: Winter.

question: Is Steve's wife actually there?

answer: The wording is confusing here, but because he is crying, she might be dead.

question: Why might his kids be dead?

answer: They are described as still in their room. They don't react to Steve's presence. Steve is crying.

question: why is the stove not on?

answer: It seems no one had been intending to cook tonight's meal.

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer: Steve, a father, comes home in the winter to find this house still and silent. The stove is not on to cook that night's meal. He goes upstairs to find the kids in their room, silent and still. Steve weeps. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees his wife is there, too.