This summary provides the key details and events from the short story "Taken Hostage by the Ugly Duck":
Mona adopts a large blue heron after being hit in the ear with a rotten egg thrown by her American neighbor, whom she nicknames "The Ugly Duck." The heron's loud calls torment the Ugly Duck. In retaliation, the Ugly Duck buys a noisy parrot that imitates the Muslim call to prayer, further angering Mona and other neighbors. After neighbors complain, the landlord promises to address the issue but forgets. The atmosphere at the Ugly Duck's apartment changes, with shouts and violence heard. The parrot then disappears.
Mocomi TimePass The Magazine - Issue 55Mocomi Kids
The myth of the magnificent phoenix has been featured in many books and movies! Do you know what it is? Read more about this amazing creature in Mocomi TimePass Magazine Issue 55. Every issue has something fun for everyone. In each magazine you will find folktales, trivia, puzzles, health tips, jokes and much more!
This novel is my next movie plot. This movie shows how the present world is running after easy-money earning race. Today's movies are taking us towards - rapes, murders, fights, wars, suicides and mass-destruction of human race. Is there a stop for this race towards death? How can we achieve world peace? How to make the criminals realize their inhuman behavior? How to deal with criminal brains?
Mocomi TimePass The Magazine - Issue 55Mocomi Kids
The myth of the magnificent phoenix has been featured in many books and movies! Do you know what it is? Read more about this amazing creature in Mocomi TimePass Magazine Issue 55. Every issue has something fun for everyone. In each magazine you will find folktales, trivia, puzzles, health tips, jokes and much more!
This novel is my next movie plot. This movie shows how the present world is running after easy-money earning race. Today's movies are taking us towards - rapes, murders, fights, wars, suicides and mass-destruction of human race. Is there a stop for this race towards death? How can we achieve world peace? How to make the criminals realize their inhuman behavior? How to deal with criminal brains?
*Children's Art From the "Land of the Firebird"*
This collection of artworks by Russian children, ages 5-15, was inspired by their national fairy tales and folk tales. The forest animals and 'tricksters' that live across the pages of their folk tales add vitality, inventiveness and humor to their art. The ubiquitous "Clever Fox" in Russian tales is a stand-in for "Br'er Fox" in American stories like "Tales of Uncle Remus". The stories and legends carry children off to a magic world with real life situations that usually turn out well: evil is punished and good deeds are rewarded. The folk tales and legends of all cultures are bound together by common threads of morality and values that are passed through the generations to children all over the world.
These artworks have been exhibited in over 50 locations in New York and beyond - public libraries, schools, children's hospitals, city halls and art museums. Over 300 artworks in the collection were sold at silent auctions, beginning in 1993, and proceeds were returned to their schools in Russia. American children also have sent artworks to Russia since mid-1900s. A large collection of these works is stored in Moscow.
You will compare the themes of a political cartoon to the themes o.docxwoodruffeloisa
You will compare the themes of a political cartoon to the themes of Orwell’s essay “Shooting an Elephant.”
Shooting an Elephant
Author: George Orwell
In Moulmein, in lower Burma, I was hated by large numbers of people—the only time in my life that I have been important enough for this to happen to me. I was sub-divisional police officer of the town, and in an aimless, petty kind of way anti-European feeling was very bitter. No one had the guts to raise a riot, but if a European woman went through the bazaars alone somebody would probably spit betel juice over her dress. As a police officer I was an obvious target and was baited whenever it seemed safe to do so. When a nimble Burman tripped me up on the football field and the referee (another Burman) looked the other way, the crowd yelled with hideous laughter. This happened more than once. In the end the sneering yellow faces of young men that met me everywhere, the insults hooted after me when I was at a safe distance, got badly on my nerves. The young Buddhist priests were the worst of all. There were several thousands of them in the town and none of them seemed to have anything to do except stand on street corners and jeer at Europeans.
All this was perplexing and upsetting. For at that time I had already made up my mind that imperialism was an evil thing and the sooner I chucked up my job and got out of it the better. Theoretically—and secretly, of course—I was all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British. As for the job I was doing, I hated it more bitterly than I can perhaps make clear. In a job like that you see the dirty work of Empire at close quarters. The wretched prisoners huddling in the stinking cages of the lock-ups, the grey, cowed faces of the long-term convicts, the scarred buttocks of the men who had been Bogged with bamboos—all these oppressed me with an intolerable sense of guilt. But I could get nothing into perspective. I was young and ill-educated and I had had to think out my problems in the utter silence that is imposed on every Englishman in the East. I did not even know that the British Empire is dying, still less did I know that it is a great deal better than the younger empires that are going to supplant it. All I knew was that I was stuck between my hatred of the empire I served and my rage against the evil-spirited little beasts who tried to make my job impossible. With one part of my mind I thought of the British Raj as an unbreakable tyranny, as something clamped down, in saecula saeculorum, upon the will of prostrate peoples; with another part I thought that the greatest joy in the world would be to drive a bayonet into a Buddhist priest's guts. Feelings like these are the normal by-products of imperialism; ask any Anglo-Indian official, if you can catch him off duty.
One day something happened which in a roundabout way was enlightening. It was a tiny incident in itself, but it gave me a better glimpse than I had had before of the real .
June 3, 2024 Anti-Semitism Letter Sent to MIT President Kornbluth and MIT Cor...Levi Shapiro
Letter from the Congress of the United States regarding Anti-Semitism sent June 3rd to MIT President Sally Kornbluth, MIT Corp Chair, Mark Gorenberg
Dear Dr. Kornbluth and Mr. Gorenberg,
The US House of Representatives is deeply concerned by ongoing and pervasive acts of antisemitic
harassment and intimidation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Failing to act decisively to ensure a safe learning environment for all students would be a grave dereliction of your responsibilities as President of MIT and Chair of the MIT Corporation.
This Congress will not stand idly by and allow an environment hostile to Jewish students to persist. The House believes that your institution is in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and the inability or
unwillingness to rectify this violation through action requires accountability.
Postsecondary education is a unique opportunity for students to learn and have their ideas and beliefs challenged. However, universities receiving hundreds of millions of federal funds annually have denied
students that opportunity and have been hijacked to become venues for the promotion of terrorism, antisemitic harassment and intimidation, unlawful encampments, and in some cases, assaults and riots.
The House of Representatives will not countenance the use of federal funds to indoctrinate students into hateful, antisemitic, anti-American supporters of terrorism. Investigations into campus antisemitism by the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Ways and Means have been expanded into a Congress-wide probe across all relevant jurisdictions to address this national crisis. The undersigned Committees will conduct oversight into the use of federal funds at MIT and its learning environment under authorities granted to each Committee.
• The Committee on Education and the Workforce has been investigating your institution since December 7, 2023. The Committee has broad jurisdiction over postsecondary education, including its compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, campus safety concerns over disruptions to the learning environment, and the awarding of federal student aid under the Higher Education Act.
• The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating the sources of funding and other support flowing to groups espousing pro-Hamas propaganda and engaged in antisemitic harassment and intimidation of students. The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is the principal oversight committee of the US House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate “any matter” at “any time” under House Rule X.
• The Committee on Ways and Means has been investigating several universities since November 15, 2023, when the Committee held a hearing entitled From Ivory Towers to Dark Corners: Investigating the Nexus Between Antisemitism, Tax-Exempt Universities, and Terror Financing. The Committee followed the hearing with letters to those institutions on January 10, 202
Read| The latest issue of The Challenger is here! We are thrilled to announce that our school paper has qualified for the NATIONAL SCHOOLS PRESS CONFERENCE (NSPC) 2024. Thank you for your unwavering support and trust. Dive into the stories that made us stand out!
Normal Labour/ Stages of Labour/ Mechanism of LabourWasim Ak
Normal labor is also termed spontaneous labor, defined as the natural physiological process through which the fetus, placenta, and membranes are expelled from the uterus through the birth canal at term (37 to 42 weeks
How to Add Chatter in the odoo 17 ERP ModuleCeline George
In Odoo, the chatter is like a chat tool that helps you work together on records. You can leave notes and track things, making it easier to talk with your team and partners. Inside chatter, all communication history, activity, and changes will be displayed.
it describes the bony anatomy including the femoral head , acetabulum, labrum . also discusses the capsule , ligaments . muscle that act on the hip joint and the range of motion are outlined. factors affecting hip joint stability and weight transmission through the joint are summarized.
Biological screening of herbal drugs: Introduction and Need for
Phyto-Pharmacological Screening, New Strategies for evaluating
Natural Products, In vitro evaluation techniques for Antioxidants, Antimicrobial and Anticancer drugs. In vivo evaluation techniques
for Anti-inflammatory, Antiulcer, Anticancer, Wound healing, Antidiabetic, Hepatoprotective, Cardio protective, Diuretics and
Antifertility, Toxicity studies as per OECD guidelines
MATATAG CURRICULUM: ASSESSING THE READINESS OF ELEM. PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS I...NelTorrente
In this research, it concludes that while the readiness of teachers in Caloocan City to implement the MATATAG Curriculum is generally positive, targeted efforts in professional development, resource distribution, support networks, and comprehensive preparation can address the existing gaps and ensure successful curriculum implementation.
Thinking of getting a dog? Be aware that breeds like Pit Bulls, Rottweilers, and German Shepherds can be loyal and dangerous. Proper training and socialization are crucial to preventing aggressive behaviors. Ensure safety by understanding their needs and always supervising interactions. Stay safe, and enjoy your furry friends!
Macroeconomics- Movie Location
This will be used as part of your Personal Professional Portfolio once graded.
Objective:
Prepare a presentation or a paper using research, basic comparative analysis, data organization and application of economic information. You will make an informed assessment of an economic climate outside of the United States to accomplish an entertainment industry objective.
Acetabularia Information For Class 9 .docxvaibhavrinwa19
Acetabularia acetabulum is a single-celled green alga that in its vegetative state is morphologically differentiated into a basal rhizoid and an axially elongated stalk, which bears whorls of branching hairs. The single diploid nucleus resides in the rhizoid.
1. TAKEN HOSTAGE BY THE
UGLY DUCK
Josephine Marcelo
John Miguel Morales
2. Story Ladder
A story ladder layout is an easy and good
way of organizing the plot line for your
story. It is a chart listing all of the
characters and events in the plot of a
story, and how they are related to and
interact with each other It can help you
identify strengths and weaknesses in your
story ideas and help you to tap into your
inner creative abilities.
3. VOCABULARY
Distress - To cause strain, anxiety, or suffering to.
Despotic - A ruler with absolute power.
Shrivelled - To lose or cause to lose vitality or intensity
4. GRETCHEN MCCULLOUGH
Gretchen McCullough was raised in Harlingen, Texas. After
graduating from Brown University in 1984, she taught in Egypt,
Turkey and Japan. She earned her M.F.A. from the University of
Alabama and was awarded a Teaching Fulbright to Syria 1997-
1999. Stories and essays have appeared in The Texas Review,
The Alaska Quarterly Review, Archipelago, National Public
Radio, The Barcelona Review, Storysouth, Gowanus and
Storyglossia. Recently, her translations with Mohamed Metwalli
of his poetry were published in Banipal. She has just finished a
collection of short stories, set in Cairo. Currently, she teaches
writing in the Department of Rhetoric and Composition at the
American University in Cairo.
5. TAKEN HOSTAGE BY THE UGLY
DUCK
The day after Mona was hit in the ear with a rotten egg thrown
by her American neighbor, she adopted a blue heron.
Complaining to her friends had not been enough, complaining
to the landlord and the gatekeeper had not been enough,
complaining to her husband had not been enough. She had
never suffered such humiliation! She had marched to the Friday
bird market and bought the bird with the harshest call. The
terrible yawing would surely torment her American neighbor,
whom she had nicknamed "The Ugly Duck."
When she came home with the enormous bird at three o'clock
in the afternoon, her husband, Mohammed, who was still in his
pajamas, said, "Don't you usually pluck your chin hairs on
Fridays?"
6. Mona was now too busy watching the Ugly Duck to
waste her time on vanity. She and Mohammed rarely
had sex anymore. And when they did, it was a
lackluster and cursory affair; he rolled off her quickly
and starting picking his teeth.
Every Friday, while she was looking in her hand mirror,
plucking her chin hairs, she sneaked a glance behind
her at the Ugly Duck in the building opposite hers. On
warm days he often strutted nude on his balcony, with
a gaggle of young Egyptian men. Such an unashamed
parading of sensuality enraged her. When she had
finished watching the Ugly Duck and his entourage,
she prayed and recited the Quran in front of the sheik
on the television.
Now, her husband Mohammed glared at the blue
heron. "Why didn't you adopt a kitten? There are plenty
7. "You hate cats," Mona said. She had begged
him to have a cat for years, but he always
refused.
"The heron is going to ruin our gold
furniture," Mohammed said, as if he were a
new bride, not a sixty-year old man.
"Maybe the bird will turn into a cat."
"Herons eat fish. This isn't a very practical pet.
Where are we going to keep him? With Amir
here, we have hardly any space," Mohammed
complained.
"Amir will have to find another place to live,"
Mona said. "He is thirty-five years old."
"But Mona, he's not married. You're going to
give his room to a bird?"
8. Mona was transforming. Internally, she had not
changed a centimeter for years. However, two events
had happened to distract her from her persistent
delight in matchmaking and speculations about the
price of gold: the day her precious Amir had slapped
her in the face because he couldn't watch "Terrorists
and Kebab," the famous Adel Imam film about a man
who is so frustrated by Egyptian bureaucracy that he
takes everyone in a government building hostage. Who
would marry him? He was a fat lug, who sprawled out
on her marital bed, watching Adel Imam comedies,
hour after hour. She and Mohammed had spent
thousands of pounds on private lessons to get him
through the faculty of Engineering at Cairo University,
but he had never gotten a job. Every presentable girl
she had brought to the house had left in tears.
9. But even worse than her son, Amir, was the
Ugly Duck, in the building across the way, who
taunted her with his unnatural, lascivious
sexuality: the obscene gestures, the hooting,
the loud, raucous music. Some singer always
moaned, "Boom. Boom. Yeah. Yeah. Boom.
Boom." On Fridays, the young Egyptian boys
would take turns, kneeling in front of the Ugly
Duck, sucking his thing. He sat, legs splayed
open, as if he were a king. His eyes were
closed.
Why didn't anyone in the neighborhood call the
police?
Once the Ugly Duck mooned her with his hairy
haunches when she was watching. Another
10. She flicked on the bright lights of her chandelier,
which were almost as strong as police searchlights.
There were no screens on her windows. Late every
night, she hung out the window, watching the Ugly
Duck's apartment. Egyptian soap operas were a bore
compared to the nightly scenarios on the Ugly Duck's
balcony.
A young man with beautiful black curly hair appeared
the most frequently on the Ugly Duck's balcony. He
wore royal blue turtlenecks and tight American blue
jeans. She guessed he was about seventeen and she
nicknamed him Feras, Knight. He was indefatigable,
thrusting himself into Ugly Duck's backside for hours.
She wondered what it would be like to have such an
energetic sexual partner. Her only sexual partner had
been Mohammed and he was lethargic and unoriginal.
She had heard from her women friends that there were
many other variations that would increase pleasure.
11. Now instead of her son, lounging on her marital bed, the
blue heron, yawed at Egyptian toothpaste commercials or a
veiled woman in a pink headscarf putting laundry into the
washing machine. One day, after a stormy row with the
blue heron over a pillow, Amir had suddenly moved out
and settled with his paternal aunt, who had no children.
Undeterred, the heron soon learned how to turn on and off
the television. And he even asserted his rights to the large,
marital bed. He flapped his wings between Mona and
Mohammed.
Naturally, they quarreled. Mohammed complained about
the bird in his bed. He complained about the smell of
rancid fish in his flat. He complained about the bird
feathers in his dresser drawers. The smell of bird shit
permeated the flat; no amount of cheap, Egyptian cologne
could dispel it. He complained that she was not making
stuffed squash or heavy, floury white lasagna for him
12. "You're jealous of the blue heron, " Mona said,
incredulous.
"You don't love the blue heron," Mohammed
said. "You hate the Ugly Duck."
Of course, she relished the intensity of her feud
with the Ugly Duck. She enjoyed hating the Ugly
Duck, much more than loving a man or even the
blue heron. Could love, be this intense, too?
The Ugly Duck retaliated by buying a colorful
Amazonian parrot. He taught it to say things in
English, like: "Hey, Ugly Sister. Hey, Ugly Sister.
Hey, Ugly Sister."
13. Did he mean her?
Or, "I'm Bad Like Jesse James. I'm Bad Like Jesse
James. I'm Bad Like Jesse James."
Who was Jesse James?
Or, "Hittin' the Bottle Again. Hittin' the Bottle
Again. Hittin' the Bottle Again."
She wanted to break a bottle over the Ugly
Duck's head.
The blue heron and the giant parrot competed
yawing in the cul-de-sac. The cawing of the
birds muted the call to prayer, the squealing car
horns and the restive, feral cats in heat.
14. The tall, slim bawab or gatekeeper from Aswan
reported to her: "All the neighbors are
complaining. The bird calls are much worse
than the Friday call to prayers. Nobody can bear
the noise."
As if the parrot had overheard their
conversation, he even started to imitate the call
to prayer. "Allah Akbar. Allah Akbar. Allah
Akbar."
God is Great. God is Great. God is Great.
The parrot alternated "Allah Akbar" with "Hey,
Ugly Sister." Or "Allah Akbar" with "Hittin' the
Bottle Again." Or "Allah Akbar" would be
followed with a series of calls, "I'm Bad Like
Jesse James."
15. The sheik at the neighborhood mosque
complained to the landlord in America about the
blasphemous parrot. The parrot's call "Allah Akbar"
was quashing the muezzin's call, which was
amplified to screeching point. This colorful parrot
was the work of the devil. The Israelis had planted
the parrot in Garden City to destroy the missionary
spirit of this small neighborhood mosque.
The landlord, a successful plastic surgeon, was
teaching at the University of Missouri at Columbia.
He began to dread the frequent, expensive phone
calls from Egypt, complaining about the
blasphemous parrot at the Ugly Duck's apartment
in his apartment building.
"I mean no disrespect, Sheik Abdou," he said. "Do
you really think the Israelis would waste their time
on a neighborhood mosque in Garden City?"
16. "Never underestimate the Israelis," Sheik Abdou said,
cryptically.
"Maybe the parrot was planted by the Copts in the
neighborhood. There's a Coptic Orthodox church just
right around the corner from the mosque," Dr. Hossam
said, offering another conspiratorial explanation.
"I never thought of that," Sheik Abou said.
"Haven't they been asking you to turn down the
volume at Friday prayers for the last five years?"
"Well, yes . . . " Sheik Abdou said.
The landlord promised he would call the university so
they could have someone in the housing office talk to
the Ugly Duck about the blasphemous parrot, but
because of his busy work schedule at the medical
school, he forgot. He was teaching wholesome blonde
American medical students from the Mid-West how to
do tummy tucks and boob jobs.
17. Meanwhile, the atmosphere at the Ugly Duck's
apartment in the landlord's building in Garden
City, changed. Instead of wild, ecstatic
couplings on the balcony, Mona heard shouting.
Bodies being slammed against walls. The
crunching of bones. Cursing. Mother Fucker!
Cunt!
The rage in these words was more terrible than
the parrot's monotonous calls, "I'm Bad Like
Jesse James."
The next time Amir came to lunch, she asked,
"What does cunt mean?"
He almost choked on his fried drumstick. "Why
do you want to know?"
18. "No reason," she said, not wanting to discuss the
Ugly Duck with her son. Had Amir spurned the idea
of marriage because he was like the Ugly Duck?
She pushed this unpleasant thought out of her
mind.
More and more, the Ugly Duck sat on the balcony
alone, a ragged ice pack on his ravaged face. He
was no longer the king on his throne. He seemed
as pitiful as a one-legged beggar on Kasr el-Aini
street. But hadn't the Ugly Duck brought this upon
himself? God's punishment for his depraved
behavior?
If the Ugly Duck saw her staring at him, he
shouted, "Stick it up your ass, sister." He made a
gesture with his hand; she was sure it meant
something dirty. Wi-hish. Ugly.
Soon after, the loud Amazonian parrot
disappeared.