text:
DANIEL COHEN (born February 18, 1984) is an Israeli conductor and violinist.[1] He is the general music director (GMD) of Staatstheater Darmstadt in Germany, former Kapellmeister at the Deutsche Oper Berlin for the 2015–2017 seasons, and a Gustavo Dudamel Fellow of the Los Angeles Philharmonic for the 2012–13 season, former music director of the Jersey Chamber Orchestra and the founder and artistic director of the Gropius Ensemble.

Conducting career

Since his conducting debut at the age of 19, Cohen has conducted such orchestras as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Staatskapelle Berlin, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Helsinki Philharmonic, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, the Orchestra del Teatro Massimo in Palermo, the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, the Dresdner Philharmonie, the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra dell'Arena di Verona.

Cohen was a Kapellmeister at the Deutsche Oper Berlin from 2015 until 2017, where he conducted numerous performances of such operas as _Così fan tutte_, _Don Giovanni_, _Die Zauberflöte_, _Il barbiere di Siviglia_, _Dornröschen_, _Lucia di Lammermoor_, _La traviata_ and G. F. Haas' new opera _Morgen und Abend_.

His operatic highlights include an acclaimed debut with the Canadian Opera Company with Christopher Alden's production of _La clemenza di Tito_, a new production of _Die Zauberflöte_ with Graham Vick at the Macerata Opera Festival. This season Cohen will make his debut with the Norwegian Opera in Oslo conducting _Le nozze di Figaro_ in Thaddeus Strassberger's production.

At the Israeli Opera he conducted such operas as: Tchaikovsky's _Pique Dame_, Shostakovich's _Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk_, Verdi's _La traviata_, _Rigoletto_ and _Otello_ and Berg's _Wozzeck_. Cohen also conducted the Israeli Opera Studio productions of Rossini's _La Cenerentola_ and Mozart's _Le nozze di Figaro_.

Early life and musical education

Cohen was born in Natanya, Israel, in 1984. He studied music from an early age, beginning on the piano at the age of 6 and switching to the violin at the age of 7. At the age of 14 he became the youngest student at the Tel-Aviv Academy of Music, studying violin under Haim Taub and composition under Isaac Sadai. At age 16 he started his conducting studies with Yevgeny Zsirlin at the Jerusalem Academy of Music.

At the age of 19 Cohen received his bachelor's degree (_summa cum laude_) from the Tel Aviv Academy. During his years at the academy he was an active violinist and chamber musician, performing as a soloist with various orchestras including the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Israel Chamber Orchestra and the Haifa Symphony Orchestra.

In 2004 Cohen completed his postgraduate degree in violin at the Royal Academy of Music in London. The following year Cohen joined the conducting class of the Royal Academy and in 2007, aged 23, he completed his conducting studies there. Among his teachers were George Hurst, Colin Metters and Sir Colin Davis.

Whilst at the Royal Academy, Cohen formed the Eden Sinfonia, a student orchestra with which he performed numerous concerts, including, in 2008, a performance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.

West-Eastern Divan Orchestra

Cohen joined the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra in the summer of 2003, aged 19. He was a member of the first violin section for the next eight years and played in more than twelve international tours. Among many other concerts, Cohen participated in the memorable Ramallah Concert of 2005.

Between 2008 and 2011 Cohen became assistant conductor to Daniel Barenboim in the preparation of a Beethoven symphonies cycle as well as major works by Schoenberg and Boulez with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. In the summers of 2010–11 Cohen assisted Barenboim in creating a young version of the Divan Orchestra called the Al Andalus Orchestra which he conducted for two summers.

Lucerne Festival Academy

Cohen served as an assistant conductor to Pierre Boulez and the musicians of the Ensemble InterContemporain at the Lucerne Festival Academy from 2009 to 2013. During his time at the Lucerne Festival Academy he also assisted such conductors as Péter Eötvös, Susanna Mälkki, Pablo Heras-Casado, and David Robertson.

From 2011 to 2013 Cohen also took part in the Lucerne Festival Academy Composer Project in which Pierre Boulez oversaw the commission, creation, composition, rehearsal and performance of new compositions. One of these: _Sawti'l zaman_ by Benjamin Attahir was dedicated to Boulez and to Cohen and conducted by Cohen at the Lucerne Culture and Congress Centre in Lucerne in September 2013.

Awards and prizes

Cohen won the America-Israel Cultural Foundation scholarship consecutively from 1995 to 2007. As a violinist Cohen received the 2004 DipRAM award for outstanding final recital (violin) from the Royal Academy of Music, London.

As a conductor Cohen won the first prize at the Admont International Conducting Competition, Austria (2007), the first prize at the Aviv Competition in Israel, the Yuri Aharonowich Prize (2008), and the third prize at the Evgeny Svetlanov Conducting Competition, Montpelier, France (2010).

[1]

title: Daniel Cohen (conductor)

question: Summarize Cohen's career during the 2000s.

answer: Cohen studied violin during his early years. He also studied conducting, and joined the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra at the age of 19. He also joined the Royal Academy of Music in London and became a member of the first violin section for eight years.

critique: The answer should mention his conducting career.

critique: The answer should mention the prizes he won.

question: Summarize Cohen's personal life.

answer: No answer

critique: The answer should mention that there is no information on Cohen's personal life.

critique: The answer should mention that Cohen was born in Israel.

critique: The response misses to mention that there is no answer for this question.


split: train

text:
“Just a few questions sir, and we’ll be out of your hair” said the neatly kept woman behind the desk.

“No problem”, Pete replied, wondering how she fell into this job.

“Okay then, so. Age?”

“25”, he said, after a brief pause that someone lying might have needed.  She nodded, punching the keyboard twice.

“Weight?”

“Ooo, God knows. Sorry. I mean, I have no idea.  The last time I weighed myself I was about 210, 220? But that was at least a month ago.” He turned to his side. “What do you reckon?”  She smiled, embarrassed at his gesture.

“We’ll say 210 then.” Pete congratulated himself, then thanked her for the accidental compliment.

“Time of death?” asked the woman, slightly more sternly then the last questions.  Pete was taken aback.  He was having fun before that one.

“Don’t you already know that?” he asked.  She shrugged sympathetically. “It’s for our records.”

“Fine. Suicide.” A subtle wince brushed over her face at his brisk retort.  “Will that be a problem?” he asked, noticing her expression.

“No, no absolutely not”.  The woman made a conscious effort to force a smile.  Peter smiled back, her smile was convincing enough.  She had lovely teeth, too.  “If you’d like to go through, Jon will show you around.”

As the words came out of her mouth, a polished, white door opened to the right of her desk.  Jon, who looked like he had stepped out of a shaving advert, was waiting on the other side, doing his best to make him feel as welcome as possible with a beaming smile.  “Come through my friend!” he shouted enthusiastically.  Peter didn’t like him already.

He stepped through the door, not pausing to consider the fact that one of life’s biggest questions was soon going to be answered for him. Of course, he had preconceptions of what heaven might look like – clouds, cherubs, wispy structures with thrones and columns - but he decided he would leave those in the waiting room.   They were mostly taken from Disney’s Hercules anyway; a dubious source at best.

With his jaw hung open, he pivoted on the spot, like a netball player desperately searching for a pass.  The door behind him had disappeared, and surrounding him, in every direction, were rows, and rows, and rows, of cubicles.  They seemed to go on infinitely into the distance, punctuated by a medium sized houseplant by the doorway of each one, and a water cooler every 50 yards in the corridors dissecting them.  He looked at Jon, who was looking around in gleeful awe, as though he too was seeing it for the first time.  “Isn’t it amazing” he said, breaking from his trance to gage Peter’s reaction.

“It’s…an office?”, though it was more of an observation then a question.

“This is what we call The Mothership” explained Jon, still baring those suspiciously white teeth.  “It’s the central hub. The engine room, if you like. This is where you’ll be working.”

title: Heaven is a place on Earth - Part 1

question: What does the story say about the best way to make sure one ends up in heaven and not hell?

answer: No answer

critique: The answer is false. The story does not mention anything about the best way to make sure one ends up in heaven and not hell.

question: What does the story say about where Pete is in the context of heaven and hell?

answer: No answer

critique: The answer should mention that Pete is in heaven.

critique: The answer should state that Pete is in heaven.

critique: The answer should state that the story does not mention Pete's location in the context of heaven and hell.

critique: The answer should acknowledge that Pete's dead and in an office building of some kind.

critique: The answer is incorrect and should be re-written.

question: What does the story say about Pete?

answer: Pete is 25 years old and died by suicide. He is in the waiting room of heaven, and the woman behind the desk asks him a few questions. Pete answers them and is led to the Mothership, where he will be working.

critique: The answer should mention that Pete is not happy with the answers he gets.

critique: The emphasis of "of heaven" and "working" really need to be respected in the response if the intent is to attribute some in-text information to the passage and not create character sheets they don't literally have in the text. Heaven, not heaven. The woman wasn't really an angel, but a woman working at "the housekeeping office." These things should be mentioned.

question: What does the story say about the other characters in the story not named Pete?

answer: No answer

critique: The answer should mention the woman behind the desk.

critique: The answer should mention that Pete meets a woman behind a desk and a man named Jon.

critique: The answer should mention Pete's interactions with the woman behind the desk and Jon.

critique: The answer should mention Pete's interaction with the receptionist.

critique: The answer could mention the woman behind the desk and Jon.

critique: The answer should mention that Pete is the only character in the story.

critique: The answer should mention Pete's guide, Jon.

critique: An appropriate response voicing that no information at the time of this answer may be the best route.

text: It is omitted that Pete's guide, Jon, seems to be a very jolly person which is something that Pete dislikes.

category: coverage


text:
Roused by a rumbling sound and the trembling walls of my 4th story apartment, I groggily rolled over and sighed.

I remember feeling angry at the earthquake. What a silly feeling to have had, but how was I to know?

Through a blurry haze of shapes and dull colors, I reached for my glasses, stretching farther than I thought I should have until finally, I fell off the bed with a thump. I reached out for my nightstand once again with no luck. Defeated, I tried to stand.

I remember feeling panicked when I realized that my legs did not react to my commands. If only I had my glasses, then I could have seen.

I dragged myself back onto the bed, much more easily than I thought I should have, but solace was had as the tremors ceased and I drifted back to sleep.

Memories of the previous night’s events flooded my mind as I woke, naturally, from my slumber. I spent almost half a minute looking for my glasses before I remembered that I didn’t own a set.

I remember feeling relieved when I realized that it was all a dream. It was the logical thought.

I looked down at my fully functioning legs and laughed quietly to myself as I stood and moved to open the curtains.

“What are you laughing at,” I spun wildly to face the voice, “This is a very serious matter.”

There was no one to be seen. I leapt over my bed towards the door, ready for a fight with whomever had broken into my home.

“What’s the hurry?” Again, I swung around to face the voice that came from behind me. “Don’t wear yourself out.”

I crossed the room again and flung open the curtains, freezing as I stared at a metal sheet blocking my view.

I remember feeling more confused than frightened. The clues had not yet come together and I simply didn’t know.

I clawed at the latch, I needed a closer look, I needed to touch it.

“I wouldn’t do that,” came the voice for a third time from behind me, “you’ll let all the air out.”

“Where are you?! Come and get me!” I screamed frantically, attempting to look in every direction at once.

“But I already have. You are ours now, in perpetuity.”

I threw the curtains closed and crossed the room again, grasping at the door handle. It didn’t budge.

“That won’t work until you land,” The voice paused to let the words sink in before finishing, “for your safety.”

I remember feeling excited when the shutters left my window. I looked out to see a massive white wall across the empty street below me and a flaming red sun hanging in the deep violet sky. The feeling left me in an instant.

I let myself fall backwards onto the bed, tears welling in my eyes. It was an uncontrollable reaction. Culture shock, more than sadness or fright. A few minutes passed and I heard a click from behind me.

I was tired of hearing things from behind me at this point, and I didn’t turn to look.

“Don’t you want to go out the door?” asked the voice. “Don’t you want to see?”

I moved to the door, opening it slowly. I crossed the apartment to stand on the balcony and get a better view. Tall dark figures in brightly colored clothes lined the top of the wall now, a sign in the distance was covered in strange markings.

I remember feeling afraid again when I heard the knocking on my door. I grabbed a bat from my closet and quietly looked out the peep-hole.

“Marty?!” I exclaimed, opening the door and quickly pulling him inside. “What is happening, Marty?! Where are we!?”

“I don’t know man, but look, have you seen the sign?”

“It’s too far, I can’t read what it says.” I paused, “If you ask me if it opened up my mind I will —“

Shoving a pair of binoculars into my hands, he replied flatly, “This is a very serious matter. There's only one english word on that sign. Look.”

I stepped onto the balcony and peered through the binoculars. First noticing the figures, I realized that they were not wearing normal clothes, but some sort of full body suit. I found the sign once more. “That’s definitely no language I’ve ever seen, Marty.”

“Look at the last thing… in the brackets.”

I read it aloud as I found it, “Human.“ I collapsed and fell forward onto the railing, which, in turn, collapsed and fell forward onto the street. I don’t remember hitting the ground. I don’t remember much of anything now.

Through a blurry haze of shapes and dull colors, I reached for my glasses, stretching farther than I thought I should have until finally, I fell off the bed with a thump. I reached out for my nightstand once again with no luck. Defeated, I tried to stand.

I remember feeling terrified at the sound of the door opening and a man entering the room.

“It’s me, it’s Marty,” I shook and screamed, flailing my arms into the darkness.

“Why can’t I see!? Why can’t I stand up!? What is happening!?”

Silence filled the room as I writhed on the floor. When I had finished squirming, Marty helped me back onto the bed, his voice breaking the silence.

“You fell four stories. You landed on your head.”

“I what!? How am I alive!?” I cried. “Your voice, Marty. What’s wrong with your voice?”

“I’m old now. You’re old now. This is it. This is how it will always be.”

“How what will always be? Why can’t I stand up?”

“They couldn’t figure out how to fix your legs so they just took them. They don’t know anything about us. After all of this time, they are just studying us. They are watching us constantly. They gave us immortality and they took everything.”

Years passed as we aged endlessly in our tiny prison, I don’t know how many… Marty says its been hundreds, but I don’t remember. I don’t remember how long a year is. I don’t remember what the sun looked like. I don’t remember where I’m from. I don’t remember if I had a family. I don’t remember if anyone loved me. I don’t remember what Marty looked like. I don’t remember what I looked like. I don’t remember much of anything.

But I do remember feeling.

title: [SF] Feelings.

question: What does the story say about how the narrator feels about their first dream?

answer: The narrator feels angry, afraid, and confused during the earthquake.

critique: The narrator also feels relieved, excited, and terrified.

critique: It is omitted that the narrator feels relieved when they realize it was a dream.

critique: This is a bit misleading and should be omitted.

question: What does the story say about why the narrator feels confused after waking up?

answer: The narrator feels confused because their legs don't react to their commands. They look out the window and see a massive white wall across the street. When they try to open the door, they hear a click and the shutters leave their window, and they see a flaming red sun hanging in the deep violet sky.

critique: The response is missing the part about the narrator being confused about the voice and the narrator not knowing what is happening.

critique: The narrator is more confused than frightened.

critique: The narrator is not confused because of the shutters.

critique: The narrator is not confused about what is happening.

critique: The narrator is not confused about the shutters.

critique: The narrator is also confused because they don't know who is talking to them.

question: What does the story say about the narrator's career?

answer: No answer


text:
JULIUS H. STAHEL-SZÁMWALD (November 5, 1825 – December 4, 1912) was a Hungarian soldier who emigrated to the United States and became a Union general in the American Civil War. After the war, he served as a U.S. diplomat, a mining engineer, and a life insurance company executive. He received the Medal of Honor for gallantry in action at the Battle of Piedmont in 1864.

Birth and early years

Stahel was born in Szeged, Kingdom of Hungary, 200 km southeast of Budapest. After schooling in Szeged and Budapest, he entered the Austrian Army, rising to the rank of lieutenant. Stahel joined the movement for Hungarian independence led by Lajos Kossuth during the Revolution of 1848. He served on the staffs of Gen. Artúr Görgey and Gen. Richard Debaufre Guyon. When the Hungarian uprising against the Habsburg dynasty was put down in 1849, he fled to Prussia and then to England before migrating to the United States in 1859. Until the outbreak of the American Civil War, he worked for _Deutsche illustrirte Familienblätter_, a German-language newspaper in New York City.

Civil War service

In 1861, with the outbreak of war, Stahel and Louis Blenker recruited the 8th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment, the 1st German Rifles or Blenker's Rifles. Stahel, who had dropped the “Számwald” portion of his surname, became the regiment's lieutenant colonel, while Blenker served as colonel. Stahel first saw combat at the First Battle of Bull Run, leading the regiment in Blenker's first brigade of Dixon Miles's Fifth Division. The regiment covered the flight of the Union Army of Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell. The 8th New York served in Blenker's division of the newborn Army of the Potomac until it was transferred to western Virginia. Stahel become a colonel on August 11, 1861 and a brigadier general three months later.

Stahel led a brigade under Maj. Gen. John C. Fremont in the Mountain Department during an incursion into the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. His brigade was of Fremont's left at the Battle of Cross Keys in which Stonewall Jackson stopped the Union advance into the Valley. Stahel's position on the left exposed his command to a flank attack by Isaac Trimble's brigade as Fremont was attempting to turn the right of the Confederate line.

By July 1862, Stahel was commander of the first brigade of Robert C. Schenck's first division Army of Virginia in the corps led by Franz Sigel in Maj. Gen. John Pope's Army of Virginia. At the Second Battle of Bull Run, Schenck was wounded and Stahel became acting commander of the division. (Adolphus Buschbeck succeeded to command of the brigade.) Stahel's brigade was one of two that covered Sigel's retreat when Pope's army was defeated.

Stahel rose to division command by late 1862 and was promoted to major general on March 14, 1863. He briefly commanded the XI Corps during the fall of 1862.

In March 1863 Stahel was assigned to command a Union cavalry division in the defenses of Washington, D.C. When the division joined the Army of the Potomac in June 1863, Alfred Pleasonton had Stahel removed, promoting Judson Kilpatrick in his place. He then served as cavalry commander in the Department of the Susquehanna at the time of the Gettysburg Campaign.

[Stahel received a Medal of Honor for gallantry at Piedmont] [Julius Stahel's Grave at Arlington National Cemetery] By the spring of 1864, Stahel was commander of the 1st Cavalry Division under Franz Sigel in the Shenandoah Valley. At the Battle of New Market, on May 15, 1864, his division was on the left of Sigel's line. It attacked the Confederate line but was repulsed by artillery fire. The division recoiled under attack by the Confederate forces of John C. Breckinridge when they counterattacked.

At the Battle of Piedmont on June 5, 1864, serving as cavalry commander under Maj. Gen. David Hunter, Stahel distinguished himself under fire until he was hit in the shoulder. This led to Stahel's receiving the Medal of Honor, on November 4, 1893, for leading his division until seriously wounded. Stahel served, after recovering from his wound, on court-martial duty until he resigned on February 8, 1865.

Postbellum career

After the Civil War, Stahel served in the United States diplomatic corps as consul in Yokohama, (1866–1869) and Osaka, Japan (1877–1884). After that he was United States Consul General in Shanghai, China (1884–1885). Between diplomatic assignments, he worked as a mining engineer. Upon returning to the United States for reasons of health, Stahel worked for the Equitable Life Insurance Company in New York City.

Stahel died in a New York City at 87 years of age. After a funeral in Washington, he was buried in the Arlington National Cemetery.

Medal of Honor citation

Rank and organization: Major General, U.S. Volunteers. Place and date: At Piedmont, Va., June 5, 1864. Entered service at: New York, N.Y. Born: November 5, 1825, Hungary. Date of issue: November 4, 1893.

CITATION:

  Led his division into action until he was severely wounded.

title: Julius Stahel

question: What does the text say about Julius H. Stahel-Szamwald?

answer: Julius H. Stahel-Szamwald was a Hungarian soldier who emigrated to the United States and became a Union general in the American Civil War. He received the Medal of Honor for gallantry in action at the Battle of Piedmont in 1864. After the war, he served as a U.S. diplomat, a mining engineer, and a life insurance company executive.

critique: The answer should mention his early life.

critique: The answer should mention his birth and early years.

critique: Doesn't mention his birth and early years.

critique: The answer should mention that he was born in 1825.

question: What does the text say about Julius' career history?

answer: Julius H. Stahel-Szamwald was a Hungarian soldier who emigrated to the US and became a Union general in the American Civil War. After the war, he served as a U.S. diplomat, mining engineer, and a life insurance company executive. He received the Medal of Honor for gallantry in action at the Battle of Piedmont in 1864.

critique: It should be mentioned that he was also a consul.

question: What does the text say about war?

answer: No answer

critique: The text mentions Stahel's involvement in the American Civil War and the Hungarian Revolution of 1848.

question: What does the text say about Julius' contributions to the Civil War?

answer: Julius contributed to the American Civil War by being a significant figure in the 8th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment. The 8th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment was a part of the 1st German Rifles or Blenker's Rifles and was known for being recruited by Julius Stahel and Louis Blenker. The 8th New York saw action in the First Battle of Bull Run, the Second Battle of Bull Run, and the Battle of New Market.

critique: The response could use better sentence construction.

critique: The response inaccurately mentions that the 8th New York saw action in the First Battle of Bull Run, the Second Battle of Bull Run, and the Battle of New Market. However, the 8th New York saw action in the First Battle of Bull Run, the Second Battle of Bull Run, and the Battle of Piedmont.

text: The answer misses to mention the Battle of Piedmont.


text:
_CECILIA VALDÉS_ is both a novel by the Cuban writer Cirilo Villaverde (1812–1894), and a zarzuela based on the novel. It is a work of importance for its quality, and its revelation of the interaction of classes and races in Havana, Cuba.

Novel

The first version of the novel _Cecilia Valdés o la Loma del Angel_ was published in Havana in 1839. After several revisions, the definitive and extended version was published in New York City in 1882. It has never been out of print in Spanish and has been translated into several English editions (as _Cecilia Valdes" or "Angel Hill_). It is widely regarded as the best Cuban novel of the 19th century.[1]

Synopsis

The story takes place in colonial Cuba around 1830. The young and beautiful light skinned mulatta, Cecilia Valdés, is the illegitimate daughter of powerful land magnate and slave trader, Cándido de Gamboa. Leonardo de Gamboa is his legitimate son. Leonardo falls in love with Cecilia, not realizing that she is his own half-sister, and they become lovers. At the same time, a poor black musician, José Dolores Pimienta, is also hopelessly in love with Cecilia. Cecilia rejects Pimenta's advances and conceives Leonardo's son.

However, love between Leonardo and Cecilia does not last. He abandons her and becomes betrothed to a white upper class woman, Isabel Ilincheta. Cecilia turns to the faithful Pimienta to plan revenge. On the day of his wedding, Leonardo is assassinated on the steps of the cathedral by Pimienta who acts on the instigation of Cecilia. Pimienta is executed, and she is thrown in prison.

_Cecilia Valdés_ reveals the intricate problems of race relations in Cuba. There are the elite social circles of Spanish-born and creole whites; the growing number of mulattos, of which Cecilia is one, and the blacks: some slaves, some freed men. The blacks are also divided between those who were born in Africa and those who were born in Cuba, those who worked on the sugar plantation and those who worked in the households of the wealthy in Havana. Cecilia Valdés is a canvas displaying the sexual, social, and racial interaction of the Cubans of the day.

Zarzuela

The zarzuela is in two acts with music by Gonzalo Roig. The libretto was by Agustin Rodríguez and José Sánchez-Arcilla, based on the novel _Cecilia Valdés, o la Loma del Angel_ by Cirilo Villaverde. The storyline is about a tragedy of manners, love and revenge, in colonial Cuban society of the early 19th century.

Performance history

-   World premiere: Havana, Cuba 1932
-   Metropolitan Opera premiere: July 17, 1965
-   Toronto Operetta Theatre: February 15, 2003.
-   Teatro de la Zarzuela: January 24, 2020.

Critique

In Villaverde's novel (completed in 1882), the melodramatic plot serves as a background for social life in Cuba, with slavery, injustice, crises and personal tragedies, following colorful presentation in detailed characterization and description, even to the point that the plot itself loses its pace at times, long before reaching its climax, as if the author had lost interest in his story and wanted to finish it as fast as possible.

In Roig's zarzuela, however, dramatic element is more exposed, more consistent and in swift action, presented as an interesting unrolling story pointing toward inevitable climax, which shows great talent and theatrical experience on the part of the composer, the piece containing mixture of traditional Cuban music, with all its genres, forms and vivid rhythms and dances, interlaced in good balance with predominantly romantic in style music of the Western tradition, particularly in melody and orchestration.

    “The zarzuela Cecilia Valdes can be more pleasing to listen to than Verdi, and at times more profound than Meyerbeer or Bellini.” [2]

Available recordings

-   Audio CD from Orfeon Records (1997)

Film

A film based on the novel was produced in Cuba in 1982. The film stars Daisy Granados as Cecilia Valdés and Imanol Arias as Leonardo de Gamboa.

Literary references

-   Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas wrote his own version of Villaverde's novel in his book _Graveyard of the Angels_ (La loma del ángel).
-   Cuban writer Daína Chaviano also offered a different and personal version of Villaverde's story in her novel _The Island of Eternal Love_ (Riverhead, 2008), where both protagonists and even the author himself appear as characters.

[1] “The masterpiece of this group of novels was _Cecilia Valdés_ (1882; Cecilia Valdés; or, Angel's Hill: a novel of Cuban customs), by the Cuban exile Cirilo Villaverde, perhaps the best Latin American novel of the 19th century.” _Encyclopædia Britannica_ (Latin American Literature: romanticism).

[2] part of a long critique by Leo Brouwer, quoted in Giro, Radamés 2007. _Diccionario enciclopédico de la música en Cuba_. La Habana. vol 4, p67. (contributor's transl.)

title: Cecilia Valdés

question: What does the text say about the novel's publication?

answer: The first version of the book was published in Havana in 1839. The definitive and extended version was published in New York City in 1882. It has never been out of print in Spanish, and there have been several different English translations.

critique: The answer does not mention that the novel has never been out of print in Spanish.

critique: The answer should include the names of the translators.

critique: The answer omits "a novel of Cuban customs,", which is a subtitle of the book.

critique: The first edition was in 1839, not the first version.

critique: The text should include the number of revisions the book has gone through.

critique: More details about the novel's publication: the first version was published in 1839, the definitive and extended version was published in 1982 in New York City.

critique: It is omitted that the first version was published in Havana in 1839.

critique: The answer omits the year of the first publication.

critique: The answer should mention the different versions of the novel.

critique: The answer omits the multiple published version revisions both before finally settling on the definitive and extended edition in 1882.

critique: The answer should mention the year the novel was first published.

critique: The final sentence is unnecessary in the context of the question.

critique: The final sentence is not relevant to the question.

question: What does the text say about the zarzuela?

answer: The zarzuela is in two acts with music by Gonzalo Roig. The libretto was by Agustin Rodríguez and is based on the novel Cecilia Valdés by Cirilo Villaverde. The storyline is about a tragedy of manners and revenge in colonial Cuban society of the early 19th century. The Cuban world premiere was on Havana in 1932. The Metropolitan Opera premiere was in New York in 1965. A zarzuela based on Cirilo Villaverde's novel Cecilia Valdes by Agustin Roig and José Sanchez-Arcilla premiered in 1932 and was revived in 2020.

critique: The last sentence is not relevant to the question.

critique: The dates are not given in a proper timeline, and there are some overlapping information.

critique: Fix the names of the librettists (Agustin Rodríguez and José Sanchez-Arcilla); make all names transational; remove the square brackets from the last line

critique: The answer should mention the performance history of the zarzuela.

critique: The answer contains details about multiple performances and recordings

critique: The article does not say anything about the revival.

critique: The cast and premiere information listed in the response is inaccurate.

critique: "The zarzuela is in two acts with music by Gonzalo Roig. The libretto was by Agustin Rodríguez and José Sánchez-Arcilla, based on the novel _Cecilia Valdés, o la Loma del Angel_ by Cirilo Villaverde. The storyline is about a tragedy of manners, love and revenge, in colonial Cuban society of the early 19th century." is evidence that the zarzuela is about a tragedy of manners and revenge in colonial Cuban society.

critique: The answer is so long that it is better to just tell us the year in which the piece was premiered, how it follows the plot of the novel, and what the music sounds like.

critique: The answer does not mention the Toronto Operetta Theatre and Teatro de la Zarzuela.

critique: The answer is a copy and paste of the text.


text:
BRENT STUART LILLIBRIDGE (born September 18, 1983) is an American former professional baseball utility player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees. He was known for his versatile playing skills and defensive prowess in the outfield. As a utility player, he started at every position except pitcher and catcher in his career.

Amateur career

Lillibridge attended Henry M. Jackson High School in Mill Creek, Washington.[1]

Lillibridge played for the Washington Huskies baseball program for three seasons, where he was named to the All-Pac-10 Conference Team for three straight seasons.[2][3] In 2004, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod Baseball League.[4]

Professional career

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Lillibridge in the fourth round, with the 121st overall selection, of the 2005 MLB draft.[5]

[Lillibridge during his tenure with the Atlanta Braves in 2008]

Atlanta Braves

On January 17, 2007, the Pirates traded Lillibridge with Mike Gonzalez to the Atlanta Braves for Adam LaRoche and Jamie Romak.[6]

Lillibridge began the season in Triple-A for the Richmond Braves. He played 19 games and batted .195 with one home run before his contract was purchased on April 26, 2008.[7] He made his major league debut on that same day against the New York Mets and had four at bats and struck out three times. He doubled for his first major league hit on June 25, 2008 at Toronto.

On July 12, 2008 in a game against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park, Lillibridge hit his first major league home run against relief pitcher Joe Thatcher.[8]

Chicago White Sox

On December 4, 2008, the Braves traded Lillibridge, Tyler Flowers, Jon Gilmore, and Santos Rodriguez to the Chicago White Sox for Javier Vázquez and Boone Logan.[9]

On April 11, 2011, Lillibridge hit a fifth-inning home run off Dallas Braden. It was the 10,000th home run hit in the 112-year history of White Sox baseball.[10]

Lillibridge garnered media coverage after he made two back-to-back, game-saving and game-ending defensive catches while playing right field on April 26, 2011. The catches comprised the two final outs of a game played against the New York Yankees in Yankee Stadium and resulted in the White Sox getting the victory.[11]

Boston Red Sox

On June 24, 2012, Lillibridge was traded to the Boston Red Sox with Zach Stewart for Kevin Youkilis and cash.[12] The Red Sox designated him for assignment on July 16.

Cleveland Indians

Lillibridge was traded by Boston to the Cleveland Indians on July 24, for minor league pitcher José De La Torre.[13] On November 20, 2012, Lillibridge was assigned outright to the Indians Triple-A affiliate Columbus Clippers.[14][15] Lillibridge declined the assignment to Columbus and was granted free agency on November 26.

Chicago Cubs

[Lillibridge playing for the Iowa Cubs, triple-A affiliates of the Chicago Cubs, in ] On January 10, 2013, Lillibridge signed a minor league contract with the Chicago Cubs.[16] On March 31, the Cubs added Lillibridge to their major league active roster.[17][18] He was designated for assignment on April 16, 2013.[19] On April 19, Lillibridge cleared waivers, and was assigned to the Triple-A Iowa Cubs of the Pacific Coast League.[20]

New York Yankees

On June 21, 2013, Lillibridge was traded to the New York Yankees for cash considerations.[21] The Yankees promoted Lillibridge to the major leagues when they placed Derek Jeter on the disabled list on July 19.[22] He was designated for assignment to make room for the activation of Alex Rodriguez on August 5.[23] He was outrighted from the 40-man roster and optioned to Triple-A on August 9.[24] He declared free agency on October 1.

Texas Rangers

Lillibridge signed a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers on December 12, 2013.[25] He was assigned to the minor league camp on March 22, 2014 failing to make the Rangers' opening day roster.[26] He became a free agent after the 2014 season and had chosen to retire by the start of the 2015 season.[27][28]

Personal life

Lillibridge is married to Stephanie, with whom he has two children.[29] Lillibridge is a Christian, and his invitation to baseball player Steven Souza to attend church with him led to Souza becoming baptized.[30]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

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[30]

title: Brent Lillibridge

question: List all of the teams Lillibridge has played for.

answer: Pittsburgh Pirates, Atlanta Braves, Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Chicago Cubs, and the New York Yankees.

critique: The Texas Rangers are omitted from this list.

question: Summarize Lillibridge's career with the Atlanta Braves.

answer: He made his major league debut on April 26th against the New York Mets. On July 12, 2008 in a game against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park, he hit his first major league home run against relief pitcher Joe Thatcher. He was traded to the White Sox in December 2008; they traded him to the Boston Red Sox on June 24, 2012, although he was only with them for two months before he was traded again to the Cleveland Indians; finally, he was traded to the New York Yankees on June 21, 2013.

critique: It is irrelevant that he was traded to the White Sox in December 2008; they traded him to the Boston Red Sox on June 24, 2012, although he was only with them for two months before he was traded again to the Cleveland Indians; finally, he was traded to the New York Yankees on June 21, 2013.

critique: The response includes extraneous information not useful for the task.

critique: The answer is irrelevant to the question.

critique: The answer omits the fact that Lillibridge was traded to the Braves in 2007.

critique: The last sentence is irrelevant to his career with the Braves.

question: Summarize Lillibridge's career with the Chicago White Sox.

answer: He was traded to the White Sox from the Braves in 2008. He made his major league debut against the New York Mets and his home run was the 10,000th home run hit in the White Sox's history.

critique: It is omitted that he made two game-saving and game-ending defensive catches while playing right field on April 26, 2011.

critique: It should be omitted that he hit his home run the 10,000th home run hit in the White Sox's history.

critique: The answer omits the two game-saving catches Lillibridge made in 2011.

critique: The answer does not mention his game-saving and game-ending defensive catches.

critique: The answer should mention his game-saving catches.

critique: The answer omits that Lillibridge made two back-to-back, game-saving and game-ending defensive catches while playing right field that resulted in the White Sox getting the victory.

text: His major league debut was with another team

category: coherence

question: Summarize Lillibridge's career for the Chicago Cubs.

answer: Lillibridge signed a minor league contract with the Chicago Cubs in 2013. He was assigned to the minor league camp in 2014, but failed to make the Rangers' opening day roster. He became a free agent after the 2014 season.

critique: "He was assigned to the minor league camp in 2014, but failed to make the Rangers' opening day roster." - this is irrelevant and should be deleted.

critique: The answer omits that Lillibridge was promoted to the major league roster in 2013.

critique: The answer omits that Lillibridge was added to the major league roster in 2013.

critique: It is omitted that he was designated for assignment on April 16, 2013.

critique: The answer is missing the key detail of what position Lillibridge played for the Chicago Cubs.

critique: The answer omits that he was called up to the major league roster in 2013.


text:
JOHN SHELTON CURTISS (July 15, 1899 – December 27, 1983), was an American historian of Russia and historical scholar of old Yankee stock. Curtiss was a longtime professor of history at Duke University.

Early life and education

John Shelton Curtiss was born in Buffalo, New York, the son of prominent attorney, Harlow Clarke Curtiss and his socialite wife, Ethel (Mann) Curtiss. His maternal grandfather was Dr. Matthew D. Mann.

In 1921 Curtiss received his bachelor's degree from Princeton University, where he had been an oarsman on its undefeated crew team.

In 1925 he decided to do graduate work in history at Columbia University. His first published work appears to have been his 1933 article _Sloops of the Hudson, 1800-1850_.[1] He taught at Brooklyn College from 1933-1936 as well as at Columbia from 1934-1936. After teaching himself Russian as a graduate student, he made his first of many trips to the Soviet Union in 1934. He completed his Ph.D. in Russian history at Columbia in 1939.

Career

After receiving his Ph.D. in 1939, Curtiss was hired by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to be an archivist at his library at Hyde Park. Among Curtiss' responsibilities there was to oversee FDRs ship model collection.

After World War II began, Curtiss was called to Washington, D.C. along with other Slavic experts to do classified work in the Research and Analysis Branch of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). After finishing his wartime work in 1945, he joined the history department at Duke University where he remained for the rest of his career. From 1946-1948, he was also a fellow of the Russian Institute at Columbia. In 1954 he received a Guggenheim Fellowship in Russian history.[2] In 1966 he was designated James B. Duke Professor of history.[3][4]

His work on debunking the _Protocols_

During World War II, in 1941 and 1942, while Jews were being, or about to be, exterminated by the Nazis in Europe, Curtiss published his 118-page monograph denying the truth and authenticity of the so-called _Protocols of the Elders of Zion_. It is to be noted that this was accomplished years before Norman Cohn had published his work on the subject, _Warrant for Genocide_ (1967). This work was endorsed by thirteen American historians, as attested to in the work's _Foreword_. The book concluded that the _Protocols of Zion_ are, “beyond doubt,” a “rank and pernicious forgery.”

Marriage and later life

John Shelton Curtiss married Edna Sutter on September 21, 1925, in Buffalo, New York. She died May 22, 1981, in Durham, North Carolina. They had two children, Anne Curtiss Fong and John Sutter Curtiss (1928-2015).[5] After his wife's death, he moved to Honolulu, Hawaii to live with his daughter and her family. He died December 27, 1983 in Honolulu.

Works

In 1940 Curtiss received the Herbert Baxter Adams Prize from the American Historical Association for _Church and State in Russia, 1900–1917_. 1 Curtiss also wrote _The Peasant in nineteenth-century Russia_ with Wayne S. Vucinich.

-   _Sloops of the Hudson, 1800-1850_, in New York History, vol. 14, no. 1, January 1933 p. 61-73, quarterly journal of the New York State Historical Association
-   _An Appraisal of the “Protocols of Zion”_, :(New York: Columbia University Press, 1942)
-   _Russian church and the Soviet state_ 1917-1950'' (1953)
-   _Russian revolutions of 1917_ (1957)
-   _Essays in Russian and Soviet History, in Honor of Geroid Tanquary Robinson_:(New York: Columbia Univ Press, 1963): (0-231-02521-1)
-   _Church and state in Russia_ (1965)
-   _Essays in Russian and Soviet history_ (1965)
-   _Russian Army under Nicholas I, 1825-1855_ (1965)
-   _Russian church and the Soviet state_ 1917-1950'' (1965)
-   _Peasant in nineteenth-century Russia_, edited by Wayne S. Vucinich, Contributors: John S. Curtiss [and others] (1968)
-   _Russia's Crimean War_ (1979)
-   _Russian revolutions of 1917_ (1982)

[1] _Sloops of the Hudson, 1800-1850_

[2] John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation: All Fellows: C

[3] Historical News and Notices, The Journal of Southern History, Vol. 32, No. 4 (Nov., 1966), pp. 572-581

[4] Curtiss, John Shelton, _The Russian Revolutions of 1917_, New York, Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., 1957, frontispiece note about the author

[5]

title: John Shelton Curtiss

question: What John Shelton Curtis work was ahead of its time?

answer: His 118-page monograph denying the truth and authenticity of the so-called "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" was published in 1941 and 1942, years before Norman Cohn published his work on the subject.

critique: The answer could be clearer in its pronoun use.

critique: The answer should mention that the book was published before the Holocaust.

critique: The answer should mention that the book was endorsed by thirteen American historians.

critique: The answer doesn't say what the work is.

critique: The answer should mention that the book was published during World War II.

critique: This is wide of the mark - while Shelton's work was groundbreaking, it was Irving Wirtschafter and Sylvain Bazille who published a work on the "Protocols" in 1964, years before Cohn published his.

critique: The answer should mention that the book was endorsed by 13 American historians.

question: What is the "Protocols of Zion" about?

answer: No answer

critique: The book is about a supposed Jewish plot.

critique: The answer could be found in the article.

critique: "No answer" is not an acceptable response.


text:
SIR BRIAN MELLOR GREENWOOD, CBE, FRCP, FRS (born 1938) is a British physician, biomedical research scientist, academic, and recipient of the first Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize.

Greenwood is the Manson Professor of Clinical Tropical Medicine, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.[1][2][3]

Malaria research and mitigation

Greenwood's career has focused on mitigating the effects of malaria and research.[4] In his ten years experience working in Nigeria, and his fifteen years as the head of the Medical Research Council Laboratories in the Gambia, his main research interests were malaria and infections caused by capsulated bacteria such as the meningococcus (_Neissera meningitidis_).[5]

Malaria's stubborn resistance to control and treatment has been demonstrated in his West African clinical experience.[6] Setbacks in a series of promising drug treatments have proven frustrating.[7]

Although successes in research for a reliable vaccine have continued to prove elusive, Dr. Greenwood has also persisted in promoting a simpler preventive approach. He has been in the forefront of those who are encouraging the use of chemically treated mosquito nets to shield sleeping villagers from attack by the malaria-infected insects.[8]

Greenwood was knighted in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to malaria research in Africa.[9]

Honours

-   1977 – Chalmers Medal, Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (RSTMH).[10]
-   1987 – Appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours.[11]
-   1991 – Donald Mackay Medal, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.[12]
-   1993 – an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Science and Mathematics at Uppsala University, Sweden[13]
-   1995 – Adesuyi Prize, West African Health Community (1995).[14]
-   2001 – Manson Medal, Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.[15]
-   2008 - Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize in the Medical Research category
-   2011 – Appointed Knight Bachelor in the Queen's New Year Honours[16]
-   2012 – John Dirks Canada Gairdner Global Health Award

Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize

The Japanese Government established the Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize in July 2006 as a new international medical research and services award. The announcement of tentative plans for the prize were timed to mark the official visit to by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to Africa in May 2006. The announcement also marked the 80th anniversary of Dr. Noguchi's death.[17] The Prize aims to honour individuals with outstanding achievements in combating various infectious diseases in Africa or in establishing innovative medical service systems.[18]

The inaugural presentation ceremony and the initial laureate lectures coincide with the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), which was held in Yokohama in late April 2008.[19] This year's conference venue was moved from Tokyo to Yokohama as another way of honouring the man after whom the prize was named. In 1899, Dr. Noguchi worked at the Yokohama Port Quarantine Office as an assistant quarantine doctor.[20]

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda made the actual award presentation; and the Emperor and Empress were present at the 2008 ceremony along with a large number of African heads of state.[21]

Greenwood was honoured in the Medical Research category; and his announced laureate lecture topic was “Malaria elimination – Is it possible?”[22]

The first awards of this international prize—consisting of a citation, a medal and an honorarium of 100 million yen (US$843,668) were only intended to be the first in a continuing series; and subsequently the Prize is expected to be awarded every five years.[23] The prize has been made possible through a combination of government funding and private donations.[24]

[1] Greenwood, Brian. [http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/328/7439/534?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=1&andorexacttitle=and&andorexac “Editorial: Treating Malaria in Africa,”] _British Medical Journal_ – BMJ 2004;328:534–535 (6 March), .

[2] Greenwood, Brian M. (1992). “Malaria chemoprophylaxis in endemic regions,” _Malaria: Waiting for the Vaccine,_ G.A.T. Target, ed. London: John Wiley and Sons.

[3] __________________. "A global action plan for the prevention and control of pneumonia, _Bulletin of the World Health Organization._ Vol. 86, No. 5, May 2008, 321–416.

[4]

[5] Dawood, Richard M. (2003). _Travellers' Health: How to Stay Healthy Abroad,_ p. 110.

[6] Greenwood, Brian M. (1992). “Malaria chemoprophylaxis in endemic regions,” _Malaria: Waiting for the Vaccine,_ pp. 83-101.

[7] French, Howard W. “Scientist Says Tests Show New Vaccine May Prevent Malaria,” _The New York Times_. 22 September 1994; French, Howard W. “Hope in Africa; Anti-Malarial Vaccine May Be Breakthrough,” _New York Times._ 15 September 1994.

[8] “Nets Cut Malaria Deaths, Study Says,” _The New York Times_. 16 July 1991.

[9]

[10] RSTMH, Chalmers Medal.

[11]

[12] US/National Institutes of Health: Gorgas Lecture (2003)

[13] http://www.uu.se/en/about-uu/traditions/prizes/honorary-doctorates/

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17] Japan Science and Technology Agency: " Commemorative Lecture: The First Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize," Science Links Japan web site.

[18] Rockefeller Foundation: Noguchi Prize, history

[19] Japan, Cabinet Office: Noguchi Prize, chronology

[20] Hideyo Noguchi Memorial Museum: Noguchi, life events

[21] “Mama Miriam receives the Hideyo Noguchi Prize,” UZIMA Foundation News. 29 May 2008; “Japan awards Kenyan, Briton new Africa health prize” (Agence France Press). 28 May 2008.

[22] Japan, Cabinet Office: Noguchi Prize, fact sheet.

[23] World Health Organization: Noguchi Prize, WHO/AFRO involved

[24] “Noguchi Africa Prize short by 70% of fund target,” _Yomiuri Shimbun_ (Tokyo). 30 March 2008.

title: Brian Greenwood

question: In what ways does the Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize honor its namesake?

answer: In addition to being awarded to research experts and dedicated doctors, the prize's announcement coincided with Japan Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's historic trip to Africa in May 2006. The announcement was also timed to mark the 80th anniversary of Hideyo Noguchi's death.

critique: The prize was established in 2006, and the first award was presented in 2008, so the announcement in 2006 was for the prize, not for Koizumi's trip

critique: The Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize is named after Noguchi, not just awarded to research experts and dedicated doctors.

critique: Doesn't mention how the prize mentions Noguchi's work as well.

critique: The Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize is also awarded to individuals with outstanding achievements in combating various infectious diseases in Africa or in establishing innovative medical service systems.

critique: The Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize is awarded to individuals with outstanding achievements in combating various infectious diseases in Africa or in establishing innovative medical service systems. This is not mentioned in the passage.

critique: The Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize was established in 2006, not announced.

text: The answer misses to mention that the 2008 conference venue was moved from Tokyo to Yokohama as another way of honoring the man after whom the prize was named. In 1899, Dr. Noguchi worked at the Yokohama Port Quarantine Office as an assistant quarantine doctor.

question: Describe Dr. Greenwood's lifelong passion.

answer: Dr. Greenwood's lifelong passion is malaria research and mitigation.

critique: The answer could be phrased as a complete sentence.

critique: One of Greenwood's passions is fighting the stubborn effects of malaria, not malaria research and mitigation. The key phrase is "mitigating the effects of malaria."

critique: The answer should mention that malaria research and mitigation is the focus of his career.

question: Why did Dr. Greenwood choose to research malaria in Africa?

answer: Because it was a problem that needed to be solved and he was someone who could help solve it.

critique: The passage does not say why he chose to research malaria in Africa.

critique: It is not stated that he was someone who could help solve it.

critique: "Because it was a problem that needed to be solved and he was someone who could help solve it." - the answer is too vague and needs a complete rewrite.

critique: It's not stated explicitly why Greenwood chose to research malaria in Africa. However, it's stated that malaria 'resists control and treatment' which motivated his work in Africa.

question: What would Sir Brian Greenwood's CV look like?

answer: He is a physician, biomedical research scientist, academic, and recipient of the first Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize.

critique: The answer should mention his research interests.

critique: The answer is a description of Sir Brian Greenwood, not what his CV would look like.

critique: The answer is a complete sentence and needs a period.

critique: The answer is too vague. It should go into more detail about what Sir Brian Greenwood actually does.

critique: The response does not provide any information about Sir Brian Greenwood's CV.

critique: Alone the rank of recipient of the first Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize is insufficient to shape the CV. It has to be found in a larger, more diverse context and that is the answer length.


text:
I wrote this when I was 14 and I'm looking to rewrite it. Suggestions for change are encouraged.

**Rats**

The man had come to town in a large, beat up, eighteen-wheeler. The side of the truck advertised the clear effectiveness of his chosen career path, shown by a rat with its eyes X'd out and a skull-and-crossbones over its head. Its limp body was encased in sharp light from the lightning bolt hitting its fragile frame. One glance at the side of the beat up van told you exactly what this man did and what a fine job he did of it. He arrived at the town's lowest point like an ill timed superhero. There was no phone communication; the rats had sliced through them with obvious malicious intention. There was next to no food, it had been stolen and hoarded by the vicious beasts. They kept it and ate it slowly in front of us. A few would run up from the sewers and nibble on a ham in the gutter and before you could get to them they would rush down the storm drain, cackling as they went. They terrified the children, who wouldn't go out and play in the streets, and if they did they went in packs, finding some comfort in numbers.

They had come about two weeks before the man and it almost seemed planned the way they dismantled the town. They mainly stayed out of the way of the public. One would be spotted in the produce at the local store or in the corner of a house harassing the dog. They grew from there till they were in the beds and behind the curtains waiting to leap at whoever was unfortunate enough to uncover them. They were in gardens and sheds, swarming over any weapons that could be used to stop them. They chewed off the stocks of rifles, gnashed their way through the handles of shovels and hoes, and dragged off cutlery to the sewers, hoarding it with the food.

We're not sure who spotted the monstrous vehicle first but whoever it was ran to the mayor's office, past the streets heavily laden with filth and black spirited brown rats. Mayor Hamlin himself, the most famous person known to all who lived in the area, knocked on the back of the truck and the doors immediately flew open and out stumbled a gray bearded, greasy haired, rank man who fell face first into the muck on the street.

The man got to his feet in the most dignified manner possible for a man who just fell out of a poorly decorated, rusting insult to all respectable eighteen-wheelers. The crowd gathered round had moved back with an over exaggerated gasp, in a sad attempt to create drama and maintain suspense.

"Welcome to our town!" said Hamlin cheerfully, with a hint of nervousness shown by the sweat beading on his balding head.

The man stared at him, bewildered. A rat crawled on top of the van.

"Our, um, able-bodied townspeople couldn't help but notice that you seem to make a, um, living off of, erm, pest control?"

The man nodded and grunted a confirmation. A rat crawled up the wheel of the van and started gnawing nonchalantly on the rubber, vaguely interested in what was going on around it.

"Our town is in desperate need of someone with your, um, expertise. What are your wages?"

Silence embraced the crowd. The man spoke with a voice that sounded like gravel being slowly moved by a shovel, raspy and dry. He named a figure, the only word anyone in the town ever heard him spoke. The words hung in the air, the lofty price floating high above their heads and wallets, taunting the town with a number just out of their reach.

Mayor Hamlin's eyes bulged out of his head like a pumpkin being slowly squashed by a steam roller. "I will, uh, certainly have to discuss this with my constituents."

The constituents wholeheartedly agreed and retreated with the mayor to the building next to his office which was a school during day and town hall the rest of the time. One man ran through the streets and called the meeting to the public's notice and so the constituents ran from their holes and homes to enter the school like they used to when they were children, and their parents before them. They sat down in chairs two sizes too small for all of them. Most had bought their children who glared indignantly in the corner at their artwork hung up on the wall, now in tatters from the rats. They celebrated in hushed joy, however, at the textbooks in the same state as the artwork.

Hamlin settled the crowd with a short rap on the blackboard with a yardstick. He tried his hardest to be professional and maintain control. The board was cluttered with equations and sentences and cursive handwriting, an odd backdrop for the small, sweating man who chose the school as the place for town hall meetings in a desperate hope to strike a chord of authority when making the townspeople sit in their old desks and think of him reminiscent of their own teachers. Hamlin erased the board and stretched his arm up as far as he could reach (about the middle of the board) and wrote the man's figure in chalk. Below that he wrote what the town could afford. There was a large gap between the two numbers which the town recognized even with their minimal math training.

"Well? Any suggestions?" asked Hamlin, who checked corners for rats as he anxiously tapped the yardstick in his hand just waiting for one to drop from the ceiling. (The rats chittered amongst themselves beneath the floorboards, waiting on the decision.)

A man in the back looked around, and after seeing that no one else was going to talk stood up and said "Why don't we offer to 'elp him out? Then he'll charge less!" He smiled a very self satisfactory smile and everyone sitting close to him congratulated him on his idea.

Mayor Hamlin looked disappointed. "No no that won't do" he said "There's not enough equipment probably and he seems too professional to want help." Everyone sitting close to the man who spoke from the back row glared at him and rolled their eyes at his poor thinking skills.

After a moment of silence, a girl about 9 or 10 years old in the second row raised her hand. Everyone chuckled and Hamlin pointed at her, ushering her to speak.

"Well" She said loudly "I say we give 'im what we 'ave so he finks we got more right? Then he does his job and we say we can't pay the rest! Wots he gonna do? Bring the rats back? He's already kill'd 'em hasn't he?"

The town agreed with this plan and thought this was a good deal for everyone because he was charging an outrageous price and must learn to be reasonable. Plus, the rat problem had to go.

Hamlin was shocked that he hadn't thought of this himself. He thanked the girl and ushered everyone out of the school/town hall. The mayor bustled into his office next door and pulled a wad of money from the wall safe, bustling back out again to a crowd waiting expectantly to see what happened next.

title: Rats: A Retelling of the Pied Piper of Hamelin

question: What is Mayor Hamlin's role in the story?

answer: He is the representative of the people in the town, who are struggling against the rats.

critique: The answer should mention that he is the mayor.

critique: In a few interactions with the rat man, he acts as the town representative as they negotiate who will deal with the rats and what they'll be paid.


text:
Since 1991, CIA ACTIVITIES IN SOMALIA have included funding anti-Islamist warlords, extraordinary renditions and most recently operating black sites.[1]

In November of 2020, MICHAEL GOODBOE, a senior CIA paramilitary officer, died of injuries sustained in a terrorist attack in Mogadishu, Somalia. Goodboe was a former member of the Navy’s SEAL Team 6 and belonged to the CIA's Special Activities Center. Goodboe's death will add another star on the memorial wall located inside the CIA’s headquarters in Virginia. The U.S. had around 700 troops in Somalia, assisting and working with local forces to defeat al-Shabaab the al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group. Al-Shabaab had an estimated 9,000 fighters. The terrorist organization has vowed to overthrow the Somali government, which is supported by some 20,000 troops from the African Union. [2][3]

Funding anti-Islamist warlords

The C.I.A. began a covert operation to arm and finance the warlords, who had united under the banner of the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counterterrorism. Operated from the intelligence agency’s station in Nairobi, Kenya, the effort involved frequent trips to Mogadishu by case officers from the agency and paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to the warlords. When the payments to the warlords shifted the military balance of the country in their favor, the Islamists started a strike against the American-backed coalition and ran it out of Mogadishu.[4] Although the ICU was locally supported for having restored a relative level of peace[5] to the volatile region after having defeated the CIA-funded Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism in the Second Battle of Mogadishu, concerns about the growth and popular support for an Islamic country during the United States' War on Terror led to a new approach of the intervention of CIA, the United States military and Ethiopia's dominantly Christian government.

Using local militias was seen as a way to avoid sending US troops. State Department officers, however, disapproved of the CIA effort, with one source saying “They were fully aware that they were doing so without any strategic framework,” the official said. “And they realized that there might be negative implications to what they are doing.” In 2006, Leslie Rowe, the deputy Chief of Mission in Kenya, signed off on a cable back to State Department headquarters that detailed grave concerns throughout the region about American efforts in Somalia. Around that time, State Department political officer, Michael Zorick, who had been based in Nairobi, was reassigned to Chad after he criticized, inside the government, Washington's policy of paying Somali warlords. The details of the American effort in Somalia are classified.

Somalia's interim president, Abdullahi Yusuf of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), criticized American support for nongovernmental actors in May 2006, “We really oppose American aid that goes outside the government,” he said, arguing that the best way to hunt members of Al Qaeda in Somalia was to strengthen the country's government. Prendergast agrees the approach had some success, According his organization, militiamen loyal to warlord Mohammed Deere, a powerful figure in Mogadishu, caught a suspected Qaeda operative, Suleiman Abdalla Salim Hemed, in April 2003 and turned him over to American officials. Prendergast said “I've talked to people inside the Defense Department and State Department who said that this was not a comprehensive policy,” he said. “It was being conducted in a vacuum, and they were largely shut out.”

The official US position is to urge a return to peace talks by warring Somali factions, but some officials have also said an Ethiopian invasion could be the only factor to prevent the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) complete takeover of Somalia.[6] According to the ICG, Ethiopia only broke up only the most visible part of the ICU: the regional administrative authority in south central Somalia (including Mogadishu), which served essentially as a political platform for Hawiye clan interests. The militant Shabaab leadership, scattered throughout the country, threatening to wage a long war. A U.S. air strike on 8 January 2007 apparently wounded Aden Hashi ‘Ayro, a prominent Shabaab commander, and killed some of his guards but failed to destroy any top targets.

Drone strikes

In early January 2011, it was reported that the US, probably the CIA, hit its first target in Somalia with a drone strike. Recently, reporting from OSGEOINT suggests that this drone probably originated from Camp Lemmonier, Djibouti where engineers at the base constructed a dedicated drone support apron during the 2010-2011 period. The first strike in Somalia coincided with the confirmed deployment of a predator combat air patrol and a predator primary satellite link suggesting local command and control.[7]

Black sites

Jeremy Scahill in the August 2011 edition of the _Nation_ magazine reported on the CIA's compound at Mogadishu's Aden Adde International Airport. According to Scahill, “the facility looks like a small gated community, with more than a dozen buildings behind large protective walls and secured by guard towers at each of its four corners...At the facility, the CIA runs a counterterrorism training program for Somali intelligence agents and operatives aimed at building an indigenous strike force capable of snatch operations and targeted “combat” operations against members of Al Shabab.”[8] According to OSGEOINT, the construction of the CIA facility seems highly probable due to the other changes that have occurred around the airport since its reported construction. Open source satellite imagery shows wall-secured areas added, including a wall surrounding the entire airport as well as hardened access control points (ACPs). Between 20 July 2010 and 22 August 2011, AAIA has had much of the vegetation cleared off from the perimeter, guard towers added every quarter mile on the Northeast boundary (--more frequent on the Northwest), a towed artillery element deployed, as well as additional structures erected throughout the secured sections of the airfield. It also appears that an unknown donor (probably the US) is in the process of adding a parallel taxi-way to the main aircraft apron further enhancing the capacity of the airfield.[9]

[1]

[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/25/us/politics/cia-officer-somalia-death.html

[3] https://sofrep.com/news/senior-cia-officer-killed-during-combat-in-somalia/

[4]

[5]

[6] nyt2006-12-27

[7]

[8]

[9]

title: CIA activities in Somalia

question: According to the US State Department and other local African sources, what the implications of the CIA strategy of giving money to Somlai warlords who are against Islamists?

answer: The terrorists then retaliated against the anti-Islamist warlords, resulting in the Americans having to also pay large sums to keep the balance of the military forces: this damaged the US armed forces and infiltrated them being used by the Isis.

critique: The terrorists did not retaliate against the anti-Islamist warlords. They attacked the American-backed coalition.

critique: No mention of the US paying large sums to keep the balance of the military forces.

critique: The answer should include a more accurate description of events.

critique: The response is not related to the question.

critique: "The terrorists then retaliated against the anti-Islamist warlords, resulting in the Americans having to also pay large sums to keep the balance of the military forces: this damaged the US armed forces and infiltrated them being used by the Isis." - this is a misinterpretation. There are no data to suggest the terrorists retaliated against the American-backed coalition in Mogadishu after the warlords were paid by the CIA through Nairobi.

critique: The terrorist organization that is being referred to in the passage is al-Shabaab.

critique:
-No terrorists were involved- it was al-Shabaab trying to overthrow the government that was an international conflict.
-The sentence structure makes no sense cause it's very compressed.

critique: The response does not mention that the US was also paying for the warlords' forces and militia.

critique: The terrorists retaliated against the warlords, not the US.


text:
PAUL READY is a British actor. In 2016, he played Kevin in _Motherland_[1]. In 2018, he played the role of Rob MacDonald in the BBC television series _Bodyguard_, and Henry Goodsir in AMC's _The Terror_[2]. In 2019, Paul played journalist Nick Caplan in the BBC television series _MotherFatherSon_[3]. His film credits include _The Death of Stalin_. He received a commendation at the 2003 Ian Charleson Awards.

Early life

Ready was born in Birmingham and growing up in the town of Harborne he attended King Edward VI Five Ways school within the city. He went on to train at London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Career

At the age of 17, Ready played Romeo in the National Youth Theatre production of _Romeo and Juliet_ at London's Bloomsbury Theatre, opposite Rosamund Pike as Juliet.

He is a regular at the National and Royal Court theatres. Recent appearances have included leading parts in _Major Barbara_ and _Saint Joan_ (both plays by George Bernard Shaw) and _Time and the Conways_. His West End credits include _One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest_ which starred Christian Slater. His most recent theatre role was Macbeth at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse (2018), opposite his wife Michelle Terry as Lady Macbeth. For his role as Macbeth, the _Financial Times_ said: “Ready is a rare bird in that he has an actorly way with oratory, but instead of keeping us at a distance from his character, it clarifies nuances and levels and paradoxically allows us in deeper.”[4]

Also appearing on television, Ready received notability in 2013 for his role in the television show _Utopia_. He is best-known for his role as the special adviser to Keeley Hawes’s Home Secretary in BBC series _Bodyguard_, and Kevin in BBC series _Motherland_.

In 2018, he featured as Henry Goodsir, one of the lead roles in _The Terror_, a 10-part series based on Dan Simmons' best-selling novel.[5] _Vanity Fair_ said of his performance: “Ready’s character is the heart of the show: despite the various calamities that have befallen him and his comrades, he still sees hope. This purity of spirit, as well as Ready’s tremendous performance, makes it all the more wrenching when he dies.”[6]

Personal life

Ready is married to actress and writer Michelle Terry. They have one daughter.

Filmography

-   _Angels and Insects_ (1995) - Tom
-   _Maybe Baby_ (2000) - Student Doctor
-   _Tipping the Velvet_ (2002, TV Mini-Series) - Renter Alice
-   _Pierrepoint_ (2005) - Anthony David Farrow
-   _Holby City_ (2006, TV Series) - Leon Harris
-   _National Theatre Live: London Assurance_ (2010) - Charles Courtly
-   _Private Peaceful_ (2012) - Captain Wilkins
-   _Sword of Honour_ (2013, radio)
-   _The Tunnel_ (2013, TV Series) - Benji Robertson
-   _Utopia_ (2013-2014, TV Series) - Lee
-   _Ripper Street_ (2013-2016, TV Series) - Frederick Treves
-   _The Once and Future King_ (2014, BBC Radio 4)
-   _Cuffs_ (2015, TV Mini-Series) - DI Felix Kane
-   _Home Front_ (2016, BBC Radio 4)
-   _The Circuit_ (2016, TV Movie) - Danny
-   _Motherland_ (2016-2019, BBC TV) - Kevin
-   _Fortitude_ (2017, Sky Atlantic) - Mark Devlin
-   _The Death of Stalin_ (2017) - NKVD Officer Delov
-   _The Terror_ (2018, TV Series) - Henry Goodsir
-   _Bodyguard_ (2018, BBC TV) - Rob

Theatre

-   _Mother Clap's Molly House_ (2001–2002)
-   _Romeo and Juliet_ (2002)
-   _Crazyblackmuthafuckin'self_ (2002)
-   _Waves_ (2006)
-   _Attempts on her Life_ (2007)
-   _Saint Joan_ (2007)
-   _Time and the Conways_ (2009)
-   _London Assurance_ (2010)
-   _A Woman Killed with Kindness_ (2011)[7]
-   _Noises Off_ (2011–2012)[8]
-   _Much Ado About Nothing_ (Royal Exchange, Manchester, 2014)
-   _Macbeth_ (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, 2018-2019)

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

title: Paul Ready

question: What does the article say about Paul Ready's theatre career?

answer: Ready's theatre career began in 2002 when he played Romeo in the National Youth Theatre production of Romeo and Juliet opposite Rosamund Pike as Juliet. He is a regular at the National and Royal Court theatres. He has appeared in leading parts in Major Barbara and Saint Joan (both plays by George Bernard Shaw) and Time and the Conways. His most recent theatre role was Macbeth at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse opposite his wife Michelle Terry as Lady Macbeth. Ready has received notability for his role in the television show Utopia.

critique: The answer is a synthesis of Ready's entire career, rather than focusing on his theatre career.

text: Ready's theatre career began in 2001

category: accuracy

question: What does the article say about Shakespeare's plays?

answer: No answer

critique: The response misses to mention that Ready has appeared in several Shakespeare plays.

critique: The article does mention Shakespeare's plays.


text:
I don't want to read about a "veneer" and what's beneath it. I don't want to read about glass and wires and the new noir.

It's the way that you think of the concrete in an alleyway, the door that you look at with the blue light buzzing overhead in its wire-caged socket. I mean:

I hack away furiously at a keyboard, minding the sirens in the distance —and this time, for the first time, I'm sure that they're for me— and she bursts through the door and slips on the tile for a second, just catching herself. "Shitshitshit! Come the fuck on! Come on!"

I jump up, barely catching up to the moment. Her coat is blown by strong gusts from outside. Then I see a blinding white spotlight stream through the doorframe into the room right in front of me, painting her into halves before I hear "zeeowwhap! zeeowwhap!" and she's too shocked to scream as she looks down at the torn fabric and dark spots, all the blood. She looks up at me. She won't make it, and as soon as I realize that, I feel like throwing up. But there's no time. I grab the memfile and I run through the narrow hallway towards the front of the place. There are already people shouting at the back entrance as I make my way onto the street. I slam the door behind me, as if that would somehow separate me from what's coming to get me.

As I run down the stairs, I lock eyes with a guy standing right next to my bike. He and I both know what's happening and he widens his stance and squares towards me, taking deliberate steps over the curb, past the parking meter. He's not pulling a gun; he wants me alive. That's even worse... I'm fighting panic, the urge to run. This guy is fucking moving on me. What am I doing? There, in the gutter next to the steps: the vodka bottle. I pick it up and rush him, and he seems to get what's going on, but he's pissed off, like he expected the confrontation to go a lot smoother, like me not surrendering doesn't fit into his schedule. But he doesn't feel what I feel, which is all the unused adrenaline from a docile life (a life that, undoubtably, is past and gone now) surging and spiraling through my veins like bobsleds made of electricity. And rage— rage because they killed her and I didn't even know what she was like, because now she can't be "like" anything anymore, because they want to kill me too and I don't want to be killed.

So it proceeds that, as he tries to reach for the bottle to grab it out of my hands, to go on with his plan of subduing me without becoming dead, I yell and swing as hard as I can. His eyes get big. I hit a home run. It's nothing like the movies, the bottle doesn't break. He doubles over and screams because his nose and part of his face are broken. Still yelling, I pull the bottle in an imaginary arc through the side of his head, like driving a golf ball— the sound is sort of the same too, "WHOP-ping!" except it's followed immediately by another scream and the guy is stumbling and falling onto the ground. He is about as angry as someone can get, reaching out desperately with one hand to hook my leg or something. I step back and dart to my bike, turn the key in the ignition. Come on. Thumb the start. Ok. Pull as hard on the throttle as I can. Shit. The other people are bursting out of the front door now, still yelling. "Shit!" From a few hundred feet behind, they're firing at me— I know because I can see lines of air and things spraying sparks and bits of themselves all around me. I'm ducking and turning sharply into the next street.

The air is freezing. The night is dark. Streetlights and neon pass by as lines of fire; almost nobody is driving. It's terrifyingly empty. About a half hour later, I'm out of the city. I pull behind an abandoned gas station, cut my engine, step off of my bike, and collapse into the wall. I can't seem to cry or think about what I'll do next. All I can do is stare and think about how fucked it all was, how I want to go back to before it all happened.

title: The Protean Incident

question: Summarize the plot of the story.

answer: The narrator is running very fast, trying to escape from the people who want to kill them. They grab a memfile and some files from a computer before running down the stairs. They run away from their house and then someone tries to reach for their bike which is parked outside. The narrator hits them with a bottle and drives away. They drive for a while before reaching a gas station. They park their bike and collapse into the wall.

critique: "They grab a memfile and some files from a computer before running down the stairs." - the narrator is a guy, not a girl.

critique: "They grab a memfile and some files from a computer before running down the stairs." - this is unnecessary information.

critique: *The narrator does not grab files from a computer. He merely had a copy of a memfile in his possession at all times. The file had nothing to do with the woman who was killed.*

critique: It is not stated that they grab a memfile and some files from a computer before running down the stairs.

critique: The narrator does not grab a memfile and some files from a computer before running down the stairs.

critique: There is no mention of a memfile in the story.

text: The summary should mention the woman who dies.

question: Summarize the setting of the story.

answer: The story takes place in a city. The narrator is running through a narrow hallway and then onto the street. The city is dark and the narrator is riding a bike.

critique: The narrator is not riding a bike. They ride a bike.

critique: The narrator is riding a motorbike, not a bicycle.

critique: "The city is dark and the narrator is riding a bike" it is irrelevant.

critique: The narrator is riding a motorcycle, not a bike.

critique: The narrator is riding a bike on the street, not in a hallway.

critique: The story begins in a room, which is not in the city.

question: Summarize the narrator's escape.

answer: The narrator is being chased by the people who killed the woman. They escape to the street. The narrator grabs a bottle and hits the man who was chasing them. They escape on their bike. The narrator drives for a while, and then pulls behind an abandoned gas station.

critique: "The narrator is being chased by the people who killed the woman" - is incorrect. The narrator was being chased by the people who want him dead.

critique: "They escape to the street." - this is inaccurate. The narrator was already on the street when the woman burst through the door.

critique: The narrator doesn't hit the man who was chasing them. He hits him with the bottle.

critique: The narrator doesn't hit the man who was chasing them.

critique: The narrator doesn't hit the man who was chasing them. He hits the man who was trying to stop him.

critique: The narrator is not being chased by the people who killed the woman.

critique: The response inaccurately spells 'on their bikes'-the narrator was the only one driving. removed this.


text:
*I made the guy the minute he walked into the park. He was trying to hide it, act chill, but I knew straight up that this was the guy I'd been on the phone to not an hour ago. I relaxed back on the bench, lit another cigarette and feigned in the local news section of the paper while I watched him through the smoke. He started forward, stopped, and tried not to look like a rabbit caught in headlights. The sports bag he held was pressed tightly to his chest, and he eyed anyone who got within ten feet of him in case they might make a move for it. He drifted towards the pond across from me, as if to seem to anybody watching that maybe he spotted the person he was looking for on the other side. Pulled his phone from his pocket as though checking a text message. Ambled towards the bench I sat on in semi-circles. There's nothing more noticeable than someone trying not to act noticeable. He probably had the whole thing laid out in his head like some three-act play. His 'drama de non-chalance'. It was fucking hilarious, but tiring at the same time. I dont usually deal so much to new people, I like to deal with my regulars, and maybe the occasional transaction with a friend of a friend, but only when they come vouched for. In this case I made an exception, Malta Black is hot. I needed to move it as fast as possible.*

*After a few more minutes of aimless meandering like a newborn calf, he eventually worked up the courage to sit on the other end of the bench, sat stock straight, watching out across park where some college aged kids tossed a frisbee around under the trees. He spoke to me out of the corner of his mouth; "Ar-Are you Jones?". I folded my paper across my lap and turned to face him abruptly. "Yeah. Are we going to fucking deal or what? I have someplace to be". He recoiled in terror, tensed up, mouth agape and eyes darting, as if expecting the two Au-Pairs with strollers walking by to suddenly pull badges and guns and yell "Freeze! Motherfucker! The jigs up!". I frowned and shot him a 'Chill the fuck out' glare as I pulled the slim case from underneath the bench and popped it open between us.*

*"So Mark said you were in the market for some Malta Black?" I asked as I peeled back the wax sheets from the top of the product. "I need to know you're serious, because this shits not easy to move." The terror left him now, I could see the addict in him, the way his eyes lit up and telltale twitch of the lips when he saw it laid out in front of him like a veritable gold mine. He reached out to pick it up and I snapped the case shut, catching his fingers. "Money first, bud. You know how this works." He nodded as he fumbled his wallet out of his pocket. I continued "This is only the sample case. I have the whole shipment, 30 cases, like this, ready to go. You pay me now, I call our mutual buddy mark and he meets my guy later for the exchange. Cool?" He nodded again, lost for words. He was probably fantasizing about what he was going to do with that much Malta Black. Its a huge amount, even for a heavy addict, but thats not my problem. I just sell it, I don't tell them what to do with it.*

*He offered the sports bag, and I did a quick check to see it wasn't bills stacked on top of socks before I stood up slinging it over my should. "All looks good. You'll hear from mark this evening. If I get home and count this, and find you trying to cut me short, you'll hear from me before then. Personally. Otherwise you wont see me again. Understand?" He mumbled affirmation, transfixed on the case, gently caressing the corners with his fingers. I stubbed out my cigarette on the bench and left by the west st. entrance. Another deal done. Another day down. People say the hardest thing about dealing is not getting hooked yourself. But I've never understood the fascination of stamps.*

title: Short piece inspired by an off-hand comment in a thread on askreddit. Tell me what you think. (~700 words)

question: What does the story say about how to be inconspicuous?

answer: The narrator makes a conspicuous, but fictional character named Mark, who tells him that the guy he's after recently wanted to by Malta Black, a rare, collectible stamp. Making the main character's life a bit difficult by overcautious ambling and pretending to be engrossed in his phone, the dealer waits for the guy to get a move on. He enjoys watching him figuring out what to do despite the character's avowed attempts not to act noticeable. The dealer, subtle as ever, is into his business so deep that he can hardly resist a chuckle when his mark makes a last-ditch effort to pace himself to a patch of grass. He scoffs at the prospect of people who maintain there's a right way to sip a soft drink and make it look casual. It's the narrative pretense that makes it more than a smoke-filled meeting between two shady-looking guys.

critique: The answer is incoherent and nonsensical.

critique: The text doesn't mention that the main character is named Mark.

critique: The response contains information that is not useful for the task.

critique: The response includes extraneous information not useful for the task.

question: What does the text say about the narrator and his role in the story?

answer: The narrator is instantly underwhelmed by his mark, who is acting all nonchalant. He is annoyed at his ruse of nonchalance as he purposefully prolongs the interaction. The narrator is only interested in the sale of Malta Black stamps and doesn't really care what the man does with it after the transaction.

critique: The narrator is not underwhelmed by his mark.

critique: The narrator is not underwhelmed by his mark. He is amused by his act of nonchalance.

critique: "He is annoyed at his " - Jones wasn't annoyed. He found his mark's approach amusing.

critique: It's omitted that the narrator is named Jones.

critique: The narrator isn't underwhelmed by the mark, he's amused by it.

text: The narrator's name is Jones and he deals in rare stamps.

refinement: The narrator is instantly underwhelmed by his mark, who is acting all nonchalant. He is annoyed at his ruse of nonchalance as he purposefully prolongs the interaction. The narrator is only interested in the sale of Malta Black stamps and doesn't really care what the man does with it after the transaction.

question: What does the text say about Mark's role in the story?

answer: Mark finds buyers for Jones. He has a mutual understanding with Jones and looks after Jones' business interests. He checks buyers' legitimacy before Jones conducts the purchase. Mark then meets Jones' stamp-seller's guy to complete the sale at the park. He counts the money himself, so the deal cannot be cut just by getting a way with the money.

critique: Mark doesn't check buyers' legitimacy before Jones conducts the purchase.

critique: Mark isn't in the story for more than informational purposes and as a way of tracking the transfer of money from buyer to seller.

critique: Mark is not mentioned to be checking the legitimacy of the buyer.

critique: Mark doesn't check the legitimacy of the buyer. He just vouches for them.

question: What does the story say about Malta Black?

answer: Malta Black was a rare stamp that's difficult to move. Jones sees an open opportunity to sell 30 cases of Malt Black to Mark because he needs to move it as fast as possible. Jones sees the addict in Mark as he's desperate to have the rare stamps.

critique: The answer should mention that Malta Black is hot.

critique: The answer should mention that Jones is the one who sells the stamps.

critique: The story doesn't say anything about Malta Black.

critique: "Malta Black was a rare stamp that's difficult to move. Jones sees an open opportunity to sell 30 cases of Malt Black to Mark because he needs to move it as fast as possible. Jones sees the addict in Mark as he's desperate to have the rare stamps." - this is irrelevant to the question and should be removed.

critique: The answer should mention that the stamp is rare and difficult to move.

critique: The answer should mention that Jones is the one who is selling the stamps.

text: "an open opportunity to sell 30 cases of Malt Black to Mark" & "Jones sees the addict in Mark " - Mark isn't the buyer and references to the name must be removed.

refinement: Malta Black was a rare stamp that's difficult to move. Jones sees an open opportunity to sell 30 cases of Malt Black to Mark because he needs to move it as fast as possible. Jones sees the addict in Mark as he's desperate to have the rare stamps.


text:
And the sky filled with the air of remorse, longing to be covered by the arms of the sun. Perhaps, one must enter from above, into the realm of possibilities. Where a single boom brings about the creation of the Earth, where an inventory of items can manifest themselves spontaneously with only a spark. But what is this I hear? Something that I believe to sound like language, filled with the illusion of structure and coherence. But I do not understand it. Deprived of sleep, I wade through the ocean of a desert, the sand filling my lungs with that of dread and decay.

*My heart aches, my mouth hungers, my eyes weep, my mind in ruins.
 I continue to wade through the thick gaze of the desert, like a child looking for his lost mother.
Again, I hear a voice.*

The last of my water is that of days. Yet the sun gives life to this world, its heat radiating from the skin of the Earth. Its life my demise, as it slowly boils me alive. As I feel the destruction of my body in this world, my mind searches for another place to call home.

*It cries in agony, my mind. As I search, this desert of lost time.
The grains of sand billowing away into that of circles and stars, of people’s faces that I yet to see.
Again, I hear a voice.*

It begins to dawn on me, that my life is slowly fading away. Like my footprints in the sand. I do not remember how my body found its way here, but now here is where I wander. Finding myself lost to what is mine, as the voices slowly begin to eat my mind. Where is there to look for the shade of a tree? When the only shade is that of the stars? It begins to get louder, and louder. I begin to grasp at the sound, my arms stretched towards the heavens, covering my body with its warmth. What are they saying, what should I know?

*My heart begins to pound against my chest, as it cries for attention.  But my body has forsaken me.
My heart, before full of warmth and life, now a reminder of a world I do not wish to wander.
Again, I hear a voice.*

What can you tell me? What is there to know? The voices, they search for me as I wander. As the sun leaves me, I now say my hello to that the moon. Its light bringing a way to search for home. The warmth soon begins to leave the grains underneath my feet. My body sighs in relief, my tears finally returning to my eyes. Now, as I gaze. I see that I am not alone, the sky a blanket in which I can huddle. The voices return now, as the gaze of the desert is unveiled.  The clap of thunder, unleashed, across the fabric of the sky, as the stallions of time come to me in my mind. My body goes to doze, and I begin to slowly drift into the heavens.

*Your heart aches, as your mind is lost. Lost in the skies for where you now look.
But I come to you here, as a messenger of the Gods in which you cry for.
If you wish to understand, all you have to do is spread the message of their words.*

The voices did not return. My body now a vessel to tell the Word of the Gods. I lay upon the foundation of their laws, surrounded by their divinity – their words turned to symbols, symbols that I do not control.

title: I’ll Come Running, In the Ocean of Time

question: What does the story say about desert survival?

answer: The author is a man who has been walking in the desert for a long time, so long that he is thirsty, hungry, and exhausted. He has no water and his heart aches. He hears voices in his head and his mind wanders. It dawns on him that he's losing his life. He finds himself lost to what is mine, as the voices slowly begin to eat his mind. He sees the sky a blanket that he can huddle up in. He cries for the moon and the warmth returns.

critique: The answer should mention the desert's dangers.

critique: The answer should mention that the man dies.

critique: The response misses to mention that the man is dying of dehydration.

critique: The answer should mention that the man is presumably dead.

critique: The model's answer is very incoherent and irrelevant.

critique: The response includes extraneous information not useful for the task.

question: What does the story say about the setting of the story?

answer: The narrator is lost in the desert. The sun is burning, and the narrator is slowly dying. The narrator is looking for a way to escape. The narrator sees the moon and the stars, which provides some comfort and allows the narrator to search for home. The narrator is not alone, as the sky is a blanket that they can huddle under.

critique: The story does not say that the narrator is dying.

critique: - The narrator hears voices. This is part of the setting of the story. Include this in the response

critique: The narrator is not looking for a way to escape.

question: What does the story say about the narrator?

answer: The narrator is in the desert of lost time, and they are lost. They hear voices, but don't know what they are saying. The narrator's heart aches, and they are losing hope of ever getting out of the desert. The narrator's heart is full of warmth and life, but now it's a reminder of a world they do not wish to wander. The narrator's body has forsaken them, and they are dying in the desert.

critique: The narrator is not dying in the desert.

critique: It is omitted that the voices tell the narrator that they are a messenger of the gods and that they must spread their message.