Oral History and Revenge in Annie Proulx's "The Half-Skinned Steer"

Stories are the recordings of history and serve as reminders of personal and cultural struggle. In The Medieval Icelandic Saga and Oral Tradition, Gisli Sigurdsson writes that before the development of written language, oral history "became a kind of knowledge bank" (57) in which stories of success, as well as those of tragedy, were retold to subsequent generations. A study conducted by Daniel Bertaux and Isabelle Bertaux-Wiame concludes that "earlier generations may very well determine the shape of the trajectories of future genera­tions through what it passes on to them [. . .] for the purpose of generating foreseeable conduct" (87). While this study provides evidence that positive behaviours may be transmitted to descendents, it also implies that destructive acts may be channelled through history and generate foreseeable negative conduct. The pain of struggle, revenge, and retaliation arises from behaviours which may be perpetuated across many generations; often the original source of the feud is forgotten, yet a desire for vengeance persists.The originating concept for Pulitzer Prize winner Annie Proulx's story "The Half-Skinned Steer" is, as the author notes, "based on an old Icelandic folktale, 'Porgeir's Bull'" (Proulx 10). Proulx's reconfiguration of the themes of revenge within this tale demonstrate how 'old' thinking can slow progress and resurrect long-forgotten grievances. In "The Half-Skinned Steer", the author relocates and remodulates the traditional folk tale to address particular issues and behaviours - work ethic, diet and vengeance - within the setting of the contemporary American West. This article will examine the ways in which Proulx reconfigures the Icelandic folktale "Porgeir's Bull" to explore intersecting themes of persistence, human arrogance, and nature's revenge on man

Oral History and Revenge in Annie Proulx's "The Half-Skinned Steer"

Stories are the recordings of history and serve as reminders of personal and cultural struggle. In The Medieval Icelandic Saga and Oral Tradition, Gisli Sigurdsson writes that before the development of written language, oral history "became a kind of knowledge bank" (57) in which stories of success, as well as those of tragedy, were retold to subsequent generations. A study conducted by Daniel Bertaux and Isabelle Bertaux-Wiame concludes that "earlier generations may very well determine the shape of the trajectories of future genera­tions through what it passes on to them [. . .] for the purpose of generating foreseeable conduct" (87). While this study provides evidence that positive behaviours may be transmitted to descendents, it also implies that destructive acts may be channelled through history and generate foreseeable negative conduct. The pain of struggle, revenge, and retaliation arises from behaviours which may be perpetuated across many generations; often the original source of the feud is forgotten, yet a desire for vengeance persists.The originating concept for Pulitzer Prize winner Annie Proulx's story "The Half-Skinned Steer" is, as the author notes, "based on an old Icelandic folktale, 'Porgeir's Bull'" (Proulx 10). Proulx's reconfiguration of the themes of revenge within this tale demonstrate how 'old' thinking can slow progress and resurrect long-forgotten grievances. In "The Half-Skinned Steer", the author relocates and remodulates the traditional folk tale to address particular issues and behaviours - work ethic, diet and vengeance - within the setting of the contemporary American West. This article will examine the ways in which Proulx reconfigures the Icelandic folktale "Porgeir's Bull" to explore intersecting themes of persistence, human arrogance, and nature's revenge on man

Effect of harness design on the biomechanics of domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris)

Harnesses have become increasingly popular and whilst there are benefits to harnesses, the impact of harness design on canine biomechanics, and thus physical health and welfare is largely unknown. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of three popular commercially available harnesses on canine locomotion in 66 domestic dogs. Dogs were filmed moving on a loose lead over a Tekscan Strideway gait analysis system. Stride length as a proportion of limb length (calculated as distance from the elbow to the floor), body weight distribution in the front versus the hind limbs (%), and minimum and maximum apparent angles of the lateral epicondyle of humerus (LEH) and greater tubercle of humerus (GTH) during the motion cycle were measured. Except for GTH angles, there were significant differences in all the investigated metrics. Differences varied across breeds/breed types. It is recommended that, when purchasing and fitting harnesses for dogs, owners and harness fitters treat dogs on an individual basis. The impact of pulling in harness on dog gait requires investigation as dogs may experience greater restrictions when pulling than during locomotion on a loose lead

Modeling nonlinear resonance: A modification to the stokes' perturbation expansion

The Stokes' series is a small amplitude perturbation expansion for nonlinear, steadily translating waves of the form u(x - ct). We have developed a modification to the Stokes' perturbation expansion to cope with the type of resonance that occurs when two different wavenumbers have identical phase speeds. Although the nonlinear wave is smooth and bounded at the resonance, the traditional Stokes' expansion fails because of the often-encountered "small denominator" problem. The situation is rectified by adding the resonant harmonic into the expansion at lowest order. The coefficient of the resonant wave is determined at higher order. Near resonance is treated by expanding the dispersion parameter in terms of the amplitude. As an example, we have chosen the Korteweg de Vries equation with an additional fifth degree dispersion term. However, the method is applicable to the amplitude expansions of much more complicated problems, such as the double cnoidal waves of the Korteweg de Vries equation, the problem that motivated this study.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/27469/1/0000510.pd

Double cnoidal waves of the Korteweg-de Vries equation: A boundary value approach

Double cnoidal waves of the Korteweg-de Vries equation are studied by direct solution of the nonlinear boundary value problems. These double cnoidal waves, which are the spatially periodic generalization of the well-known double soliton, are exact solutions with two independent phase speeds. The equation is written in terms of two phase variables and expanded in two-dimensional Fourier series. The small-amplitude solution is obtained via the Stokes' perturbation expansion. This solution is numerically extended to larger amplitude by employing a Newton-Kantorovich[+45 degree rule]continuation in amplitude[+45 degree rule] Galerkin algorithm. The crests of the finite amplitude solution closely match the sech2 solitary wave form and the three cases of solitary wave interaction described by Lax are identified for the double cnoidal waves. This simple approach reproduces specific features such as phase shift upon collision, distinction between instantaneous and average phase speeds, and a "paradox of wavenumbers".Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/29346/1/0000414.pd

Evaluating for Impact: Professional Development Educational Content Delivery Through Learning Communities

The National 4-H Council Learning Priorities team developed educational content for professional development to increase evaluation capacity and evaluation skills for 4-H educators. Extension specialists in Oregon, Vermont, and Virginia piloted Evaluating for Impact curriculum through learning communities. Lessons learned from the pilot project include the overall success of content in increasing individual participant evaluation skills, reflection on the comprehensive and academically rigorous nature of the curriculum, a need for an experienced evaluator to lead the circles, and an ability to customize the curriculum to the evaluation levels of participants

Social Impact

From the Dean: Our Work in this Economy.; Interview: Q&A with Paul C. Brophy; Bookshelf: Understanding Assets: Two new books explore the impact of ownership and assets on individuals and communities; Perspectives with Matthew Kreuter: Communication Connections; Building a New Paradigm: Transdisciplinary Research Comes to the Forefront; A Sense of Place: Place-Based Initiatives Help Communities and Students; Notebook: Research: Tutoring Produces Big Gains in Student Learning; Notebook: Research: Free Exercise and Nutrition Program in Brazil Could Serve as Model in United States; Notebook: Research: Growing Problem for Veterans-Domestic Violence; Notebook: Message of Service Drives Surge in Peace Corps Applications; Notebook: Research: Black Newspapers Used as Cancer Education Tool in African American Communities; Notebook: Partnerships: Indian Immersion: 22-day Exchange Offers Insight into Mental Health and Poverty; Notebook: New on the Web: Creating Community: New Online Resources; Notebook: Faculty News; Alumni News and Note

m=1m=1 Ideal Internal Kink Modes in a Line-tied Screw Pinch

It is well known that the radial displacement of the $m=1$ internal kink mode in a periodic screw pinch has a steep jump at the resonant surface where $\mathbf{k}\cdot\mathbf{B}=0$. In a line-tied system, relevant to solar and astrophysical plasmas, the resonant surface is no longer a valid concept. It is then of interest to see how line-tying alters the aforementioned result for a periodic system. If the line-tied kink also produces a steep gradient, corresponding to a thin current layer, it may lead to strong resistive effects even with weak dissipation. Numerical solution of the eigenmode equations shows that the fastest growing kink mode in a line-tied system still possesses a jump in the radial displacement at the location coincident with the resonant surface of the fastest growing mode in the periodic counterpart. However, line-tying thickens the inner layer and slows down the growth rate. As the system length $L$ approaches infinity, both the inner layer thickness and the growth rate approach the periodic values. In the limit of small $\epsilon\sim B_{\phi}/B_{z}$, the critical length for instability $L_{c}\sim\epsilon^{-3}$. The relative increase in the inner layer thickness due to line-tying scales as $\epsilon^{-1}(L_{c}/L)^{2.5}$.Comment: To appear in Physics of Plasma

Social Impact

From the Dean: Challenging Our Profession; Perspectives: In The News: Social Work Faculty and Alumni Comment on Latina Mental Health, Saving in China, and the Poverty Line.; Bookshelf: From the Internet to Economics: What Faculty and Staff are Reading.; Perspectives by Arlene Rubin Stiffman: Indictment of Cruelty or Testimony of the Human Spirit?; Perspectives with Gina Chowa: Student Exports Poverty-Fighting Idea to Africa; Interview: Q&A with Richard A. Gephardt; Perspectives: A Closer Look at Immigration with Luis H. Zayas; 16 For Love or Money: The Rise of For-Profit Social Services.; The 4-2-1 Phenomenon: New Partnership Explores Aging in China.; Anything but Ordinary: A New View of Federal Service Presidential Management Fellows program offers solution to federal workforce challenge.; Notebook: Research: Traditional healers are legitimate resources for youth in American Indian communities, says mental health expert; Notebook: Research: Quality of care varies for older adults with depression; Notebook: Faculty News; Notebook: Conferences, Events, and Scholarships; Library Services: A resource for all of social work; Alumni News and Note