title: Alevism

text: Hıdırellez honors the mysterious figure Khidr () who is sometimes identified with Elijah (Ilyas), and is said to have drunk of the water of life. Some hold that Khidr comes to the rescue of those in distress on land, while Elijah helps those at sea; and that they meet at a rose tree in the evening of every 6 May. The festival is also celebrated in parts of the Balkans by the name of "Erdelez," where it falls on the same day as Đurđevdan or St. George's Day.


title: Alevism

text: Khidr is also honored with a three-day fast in mid-February called "Hızır Orucu". In addition to avoiding any sort of comfort or enjoyment, Alevis also abstain from food and water for the entire day, though they do drink liquids other than water during the evening.


title: Alevism

text: Note that the dates of the Khidr holidays can differ among Alevis, most of whom use a lunar calendar, but some a solar calendar.


title: Alevism

text: "Müsahiplik" (roughly, "Companionship") is a covenant relationship between two men of the same age, preferably along with their wives. In a ceremony in the presence of a dede the partners make a lifelong commitment to care for the spiritual, emotional, and physical needs of each other and their children. The ties between couples who have made this commitment is at least as strong as it is for blood relatives, so much so that müsahiplik is often called spiritual brotherhood "(manevi kardeşlik)." The children of covenanted couples may not marry.


title: Alevism

text: Krisztina Kehl-Bodrogi reports that the identify "müsahiplik" with the first gate "(şeriat)," since they regard it as a precondition for the second "(tarikat)." Those who attain to the third gate "(marifat", "gnosis") must have been in a "müsahiplik" relationship for at least twelve years. Entry into the third gate dissolves the "müsahiplik" relationship (which otherwise persists unto death), in a ceremony called "Öz Verme Âyini" ("ceremony of giving up the self").


title: Alevism

text: The value corresponding to the second gate (and necessary to enter the third) is "âşinalık" ("intimacy," perhaps with God). Its counterpart for the third gate is called "peşinelik"; for the fourth gate "(hâkikat", Ultimate Truth), "cıngıldaşlık" or "cengildeşlik" (translations uncertain).


title: Alevism

text: Many folk practices may be identified, though few of them are specific to the Alevis. In this connection, scholar Martin van Bruinessen notes a sign from Turkey's Ministry of Religion, attached to Istanbul's shrine of Eyüp Sultan, which presents...a long list of ‘superstitious’ practices that are emphatically declared to be non-Islamic and objectionable, such as lighting candles or placing ‘wishing stones’ on the tomb, tying pieces of cloth to the shrine or to the trees in front of it, throwing money on the tomb, asking the dead directly for help, circling seven times around the trees in the courtyard or pressing one’s face against the walls of the türbe in the hope of a supernatural cure, tying beads to the shrine and expecting supernatural support from them, sacrificing roosters or turkeys as a vow to the shrine. The list is probably an inventory of common local practices the authorities wish to prevent from re-emerging.Other, similar practices include kissing door frames of holy rooms; not stepping on the threshold of holy buildings; seeking prayers from reputed healers; and making "lokma" and sharing it with others.


title: Alevism

text: Performing ziyarat and du'a at the tombs of Alevi-Bektashi saints or pirs is quite common. Some of the most frequently visited sites are the shrines of Şahkulu and Karacaahmet (both in Istanbul), Abdal Musa (Antalya), Battal Gazi (Eskişehir), the annual celebrations held at Hacıbektaş "(16 August)" and Sivas (the Pir Sultan Abdal Kültür Etkinlikleri, 23–24 June).


title: Alevism

text: In contrast with the traditional secrecy of the "Cem ceremony" ritual, the events at these cultural centers and sites are open to the public. In the case of the Hacibektaş celebration, since 1990 the activities there have been taken over by Turkey's Ministry of Culture in the interest of promoting tourism and Turkish patriotism rather than Alevi spirituality.


title: Alevism

text: Some Alevis make pilgrimages to mountains and other natural sites believed to be imbued with holiness.


title: Alevism

text: Alevis are expected to give Zakat but not in the Orthodox-Islamic sense rather there is no set formula or prescribed amount for annual charitable donation as there is in Orthodox Islam (2.5% of possessions above a certain minimum). Rather, they are expected to give the 'excess' according to Qur'an verse 2:219. A common method of Alevi almsgiving is through donating food (especially sacrificial animals) to be shared with worshippers and guests. Alevis also donate money to be used to help the poor, to support the religious, educational and cultural activities of Alevi centers and organizations "(dergâh, vakıf, dernek)," and to provide scholarships for students.


title: Alevism

text: During the great Turkish expansion from Central Asia into Iran and Anatolia in the Seljuk period (11–12th centuries), Turkmen nomad tribes accepted a Sufi and pro-Ali form of Islam that co-existed with some of their pre-Islamic customs. Their conversion to Islam in this period was achieved largely through the efforts not of textual scholars (ulema) expounding the finer points of Koranic exegesis and shari‘a law, but by charismatic Sufi dervishes whose cult of Muslim saint worship, mystical divination and millenarianism spoke more directly to the steppe mindset. These tribes dominated Anatolia for centuries with their religious warriors (ghazi) spearheading the drive against Byzantines and Crusaders.


title: Alevism

text: As in Khorasan and West Asia before, the Turkmens who spearheaded the Ottomans’ drive into the Balkans and West Asia were more inspired by a vaguely Shiite folk Islam than by formal religion. Many times, Ottoman campaigns were


title: Alevism

text: accompanied or guided by Bektaşi dervishes, spiritual heirs of the 13th century Sufi saint Haji Bektash Veli, himself a native of Khorasan. After the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, the Ottoman state became increasingly determined to assert its fiscal but also its juridical and political control over the farthest reaches of the Empire. The resulting Qizilbash revolts, a series of millenarian anti-state uprisings by the heterodox Turkmen population of Anatolia that culminated in the establishment of a militantly Shiite rival state in neighbouring Iran. The Ottoman Empire later proclaimed themselves its defenders against the Safavid Shia state and related sects. This created a gap between the Sunni Ottoman ruling elite and the Alevi Anatolian population. Anatolia became a battlefield between Safavids and Ottomans, each determined to include it in their empire.


title: Alevism

text: According to Eren Sarı, Alevi saw Kemal Atatürk as a Mahdi "savior sent to save them from the Sunni Ottoman yoke". However, pogroms against Alevi did not cease after the establishment of Atatürk's republic. In attacks against leftists in the 1970s, ultranationalists and reactionaries killed many Alevis. Malatya in 1978, Maraş in 1979, and Çorum in 1980 witnessed the murder of hundreds of Alevis, the torching of hundreds of homes, and lootings.


title: Alevism

text: Alevis have been victims of pogroms during both Ottoman times and under the Turkish republic up until the 1993 Sivas massacre.


title: Alevism

text: In contrast to the Bektashi "tariqa", which like other Sufi orders is based on a silsila "initiatory chain or lineage" of teachers and their students, Alevi leaders succeed to their role on the basis of family descent. Perhaps ten percent of Alevis belong to a religious elite called "ocak" "hearth", indicating descent from Ali and/or various other saints and heroes. "Ocak" members are called "ocakzade"s or "sons of the hearth". This system apparently originated with Safavid Persia.


title: Alevism

text: Alevi leaders are variously called "murshid, pir, rehber" or "dede." Groups that conceive of these as ranks of a hierarchy (as in the Bektashi "tariqa") disagree as to the order. The last of these, "dede" "grandfather", is the term preferred by the scholarly literature. "Ocakzade"s may attain to the position of "dede" on the basis of selection (by a father from among several sons), character, and learning. In contrast to Alevi rhetoric on the equality of the sexes, it is generally assumed that only males may fill such leadership roles.


title: Alevism

text: Traditionally "Dedes" did not merely lead rituals, but led their communities, often in conjunction with local notables such as the ağas (large landowners) of the Dersim Region. They also acted as judges or arbiters, presiding over village courts called "Düşkünlük Meydanı".


title: Alevism

text: Ordinary Alevi would owe allegiance to a particular "dede" lineage (but not others) on the basis of pre-existing family or village relations. Some fall instead under the authority of Bektashi dargah (lodges).


title: Alevism

text: In the wake of 20th century urbanization (which removed young laborers from the villages) and socialist influence (which looked upon the Dedes with suspicion), the old hierarchy has largely broken down. Many "Dedes" now receive salaries from Alevi cultural centers, which arguably subordinates their role. Such centers no longer feature community business or deliberation, such as the old ritual of reconciliation, but emphasize musical and dance performance to the exclusion of these. Dedes are now approached on a voluntary basis, and their role has become more circumscribed – limited to religious rituals, research, and giving advice.


title: Alevism

text: According to John Shindeldecker "Alevis are proud to point out that they are monogamous, Alevi women are encouraged to get the best education they can, and Alevi women are free to go into any occupation they choose."


title: Alevism

text: Qizilbash and the Bektashi Order shared common religious beliefs and practices becoming intermingled as Alevis in spite of many local variations. Isolated from both the Sunni Ottomans and the Twelver Shi`a Safavids, Alevis developed traditions, practices, and doctrines by the early 17th century which marked them as a closed autonomous religious community. As a result of the immense pressures to conform to Sunni Islam, Alevis developed a tradition of opposition to all forms of external religion.


title: Alevism

text: Alevis accept Twelver Shi‘a beliefs about Ali and the Twelve Imams. There are, however, Alevi philosophies, customs, and rituals that are appreciably different than those of Twelver Shias in Iraq, Iran, and Lebanon. In particular, much of mystical language in the Alevi tradition is inspired by Sufi traditions. Some sources link "Alevism" in particular to the heterodox syncretic Sufi group known as the Bektashi Order, which is also Shi'ite.


title: Alevism

text: Alevi taboos limited interaction with the dominant Sunni political-religious centre. Excommunication was the ultimate punishment threatening those who married outsiders, cooperated with outsiders economically, or ate with outsiders. It was also forbidden to use the state (Sunni) courts.


title: Alevism

text: Alevis are classified as a sect of Shia Islam, and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini decreed Alevis to be part of the Shia fold in the 1970s. However, Alevi philosophies, customs, and rituals are appreciably different than those of mainstream, orthodox Ja'fari-Twelver Shi‘ah. According to more orthodox Shia Muslims, Alevis are labeled as ""Batiniyya" groups" since Alevis praise Ali beyond what mainstream Shia Muslims expect. According to Alevis, Ali and Muhammad are likened to the two sides of a coin, or the two halves of an apple.


title: Alevism

text: Similarities with the Alawite sect in Syria exist. Both are viewed as heterodox, syncretic Islamic minorities, whose names both mean "devoted to Ali," (the son-in-law and cousin of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, and fourth caliph following Muhammad as leader of the Muslims), and are located primarily in the Eastern Mediterranean. Like mainstream Shia they are known as "Twelvers" as they both recognize the Twelve Imams.


title: Alevism

text: How the two minorities relate is disputed. According to scholar Marianne Aringberg-Laanatza, "the Turkish Alevis... do not relate themselves in any way to the Alawites in Syria." However journalist Jeffrey Gettlemand claims that both Alevi and the less than one million Alawite minority in Turkey "seem to be solidly behind Syria’s embattled strongman, Bashar al-Assad" and leery of Syrian Sunni rebels. "Deutsche Welle" journalist Dorian Jones states that Turkish Alevis are suspicious of the anti-Assad uprising in Syria. "They are worried of the repercussions for Alawites there, as well as for themselves."


title: Alevism

text: Some sources (Martin van Bruinessen and Jamal Shah) mistake Alawites living in Turkey to be Alevis (calling Alevis "a blanket term for a large number of different heterodox communities"), but others do not, giving a list of the differences between the two groups.


title: Alevism

text: These include their liturgical languages (Turkish or Kurdish for Alevi, Arabic for Alawites). Opposing political nationalism, with Alawites supporting their ruling dictatorship and considering Turks (including Alevis) an "opponent" of its Arab "historic interests". (Even Kurdish and Balkan Alevi populations pray in Turkish.) Unlike Alevis, Alawites not only traditionally lack mosques but do not maintain their own places for worship, except for shrines to their leaders. Alevi "possess an extensive and widely-read religious literature, mainly composed of spiritual songs, poems, and epic verse." Their origins are also different: The Alawite faith was founded in the ninth century by Abu Shuayb Muhammad ibn Nusayr. Alevism started in the 14th century by mystical Islamic dissenters in Central Asia, and represent more of a movement rather than a sect.


title: Alevism

text: The relationship between Alevis and Sunnis is one of mutual suspicion and prejudice dating back to the Ottoman period. Hundreds of Alevis were murdered in sectarian violence in the years that preceded the 1980 coup, and as late as the 1990s dozens were killed with impunity. While pogroms have not occurred since then, Erdogan has declared “a cemevi is not a place of worship, it is a center for cultural activities. Muslims should only have one place of worship.”


title: Alevism

text: Alevis claim that they have been subject to intolerant Sunni "nationalism" that has been unwilling to recognize Alevi "uniqueness."


title: Alevism

text: Despite this essentially Shi‘i orientation, much of Aleviness' mystical language is inspired by Sufi traditions. For example, the Alevi concept of God is derived from the philosophy of Ibn Arabi and involves a chain of emanation from God, to spiritual man, earthly man, animals, plants, and minerals. The goal of spiritual life is to follow this path in the reverse direction, to unity with God, or Haqq (Reality, Truth). From the highest perspective, all is God (see "Wahdat-ul-Wujood)." Alevis admire Mansur Al-Hallaj, a 10th-century Sufi who was accused of blasphemy and subsequently executed in Baghdad for saying "I am the Truth" "(Ana al-Haqq)."


title: Alevism

text: There is some tension between folk tradition Aleviness and the Bektashi Order, which is a Sufi order founded on Alevi beliefs. In certain Turkish communities other Sufi orders (the Halveti-Jerrahi and some of the Rifa'i) have incorporated significant Alevi influence.


title: Alevism

text: Most Alevi live in Turkey, where they are a minority and Sunni Muslims the majority. The size of the Alevi population is likewise disputed, but most estimates place them somewhere between 5 and 10 million people or about 10% of the population. Estimates of the percentage of Turkey's population that are Alevi include between 4% and 15%.Scattered minorities live in Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Caucasus, Greece, Iran and the diaspora. In the 2021 United Kingdom census, Alevism was discovered to be the eighth largest religion in England and Wales, after Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Judaism and Paganism.


title: Alevism

text: Different estimations exist on the ethnic composition of the Alevi population. Although Turks are probably the largest ethnic group among Alevis considering their historical towns and cities. While Dressler stated in 2008 that about a third of the Alevi population is Kurdish, Hamza Aksüt argued that the majority is Kurdish when many groups he considers as Alevis such as the Yarsanis are combined. Most Alevis come from Kizilbash or Bektashi origin, according to Minorityrights.org. The Alevis (Kizilbash) are traditionally predominantly rural and acquire identity by parentage. Bektashis, however, are predominantly urban, and formally claim that membership is open to any Muslim. The groups are separately organized, but subscribe to "virtually the same system of beliefs".


title: Alevism

text: A Turkish scholar working in France has distinguished four main groups among contemporary Alevis, which cautiously show their distinctive features in modern Turkey.


title: Alevism

text: The Bektashiyyah is a Shia Sufi order founded in the 13th century by Haji Bektash Veli, a dervish who escaped Central Asia and found refuge with the Seljuks in Anatolia at the time of the Mongol invasions (1219–23). This order gained a great following in rural areas and it later developed in two branches: the Celebi clan, who claimed to be physical descendants of Haji Bektash Veli, were called "Bel evladları" (children of the loins), and became the hereditary spiritual leaders of the rural Alevis; and the "Babağan," those faithful to the path "(yol evladları – children of the way)" who dominated the official Bektashi Sufi order with its elected leadership.


title: Alevism

text: Bektashism places much emphasis on the concept of Wahdat al-Mawjud وحدة الوجود, the "Unity of Being" that was formulated by Ibn Arabi. Bektashism is also heavily permeated with Shiite concepts, such as the marked veneration of Ali, the Twelve Imams, and the ritual commemoration of Ashurah marking the Battle of Karbala. The old Persian holiday of Nowruz is celebrated by Bektashis as Imam Ali's birthday.


title: Alevism

text: In keeping with the central belief of "Wahdat Al-Mawjud" the Bektashi see reality contained in Haqq-Muhammad-Ali, a single unified entity. Bektashi do not consider this a form of trinity. There are many other practices and ceremonies that share similarity with other faiths, such as a ritual meal ("muhabbet") and yearly confession of sins to a "baba" ("magfirat-i zunub" مغفرة الذنوب). Bektashis base their practices and rituals on their non-orthodox and mystical interpretation and understanding of the Qur'an and the prophetic practice (Sunnah). They have no written doctrine specific to them, thus rules and rituals may differ depending on under whose influence one has been taught. Bektashis generally revere Sufi mystics outside of their own order, such as Ibn Arabi, Al-Ghazali and Jelalludin Rumi who are close in spirit to them.


title: Alevism

text: Bektashis hold that the Qur'an has two levels of meaning: an outer ("Zāher" ظاهر) and an inner ("bāṭen" باطن). They hold the latter to be superior and eternal and this is reflected in their understanding of both the universe and humanity, which is a view that can also be found in Ismailism and Batiniyya.


title: Alevism

text: Bektashism is also initiatic and members must traverse various levels or ranks as they progress along the spiritual path to the Reality. First level members are called "aşıks" عاشق. They are those who, while not having taken initiation into the order, are nevertheless drawn to it. Following initiation (called "nasip") one becomes a "mühip" محب. After some time as a "mühip", one can take further vows and become a "dervish". The next level above dervish is that of "baba". The "baba" (lit. father) is considered to be the head of a "tekke" and qualified to give spiritual guidance ("irshad" إرشاد). Above the "baba" is the rank of "halife-baba" (or "dede", grandfather). Traditionally there were twelve of these, the most senior being the """ (great-grandfather)." The "dedebaba" was considered to be the highest ranking authority in the Bektashi Order. Traditionally the residence of the "dedebaba" was the Pir Evi (The Saint's Home) which was located in the shrine of Hajji Bektash Wali in the central Anatolian town of Hacıbektaş "(Solucakarahüyük)".


title: Alevism

text: The Qizilbash "(red-heads)" were Turkmen tribes who adhered to the Safavid Sufi Order, whose Sheikhs claimed descent from Ali. Under Isma`il (d. 1524) they became dominant in Eastern Anatolia and conquered Azerbaijan with its capital Tabriz, where Isma`il named himself Shah in 1501 and went on to conquer all of Iran. His missionaries spread a message of revolt against the Sunni Ottomans in Anatolia, claiming that Isma`il was the awaited mahdi "(messiah)," and Anatolia became the scene of protracted warfare between Ottomans and Safavids.


title: Alevism

text: Qizilbash and Bektashi tariqah shared common religious beliefs and practices becoming intermingled as Alevis in spite of many local variations. Isolated from both the Sunni Ottomans and the Twelver Shi`a Safavids, Qizilbash and Bektashi developed traditions, practices, and doctrines by the early 17th century which marked them as a closed autonomous religious community. As a result of the immense pressures to conform to Sunni Islam, all members of "Alevism" developed a tradition of opposition "(ibāḥa)" to all forms of external religion.


title: Alevism

text: The doctrine of Qizilbashism is well explained in the following poem written by the Shaykh of Safaviyya tariqah Ismail I:


title: Alevism

text: The lines of poetry above may easily be judged as an act of "Shirk" "(polytheism)" by the Sunni Ulama, but they have a bāṭenī taʾwīl "(inner explanation)" in Qizilbashism.


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: A Wizard of Earthsea is a fantasy novel written by American author Ursula K. Le Guin and first published by the small press Parnassus in 1968. It is regarded as a classic of children's literature and of fantasy, within which it is widely influential. The story is set in the fictional archipelago of Earthsea and centers on a young mage named Ged, born in a village on the island of Gont. He displays great power while still a boy and joins a school of wizardry, where his prickly nature drives him into conflict with a fellow student. During a magical duel, Ged's spell goes awry and releases a shadow creature that attacks him. The novel follows Ged's journey as he seeks to be free of the creature.


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: The book has often been described as a "Bildungsroman," or coming-of-age story, as it explores Ged's process of learning to cope with power and come to terms with death. The novel also carries Taoist themes about a fundamental balance in the universe of Earthsea, which wizards are supposed to maintain, closely tied to the idea that language and names have power to affect the material world and alter this balance. The structure of the story is similar to that of a traditional epic, although critics have also described it as subverting this genre in many ways, such as by making the protagonist dark-skinned in contrast to more typical white-skinned heroes.


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: "A Wizard of Earthsea" received highly positive reviews, initially as a work for children and later among a general audience. It won the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award in 1969 and was one of the final recipients of the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1979. Margaret Atwood called it one of the "wellsprings" of fantasy literature. Le Guin wrote five subsequent books that are collectively referred to as the Earthsea Cycle, together with "A Wizard of Earthsea": "The Tombs of Atuan" (1971), "The Farthest Shore" (1972), "Tehanu" (1990), "The Other Wind" (2001), and "Tales from Earthsea" (2001). George Slusser described the series as a "work of high style and imagination", while Amanda Craig said that "A Wizard of Earthsea" was "the most thrilling, wise, and beautiful children's novel ever".


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: Early concepts for the Earthsea setting were developed in two short stories, "The Rule of Names" (1964) and "The Word of Unbinding" (1964), both published in "Fantastic". The stories were later collected in Le Guin's anthology "The Wind's Twelve Quarters" (1975). Earthsea was also used as the setting for a story Le Guin wrote in 1965 or 1966, which was never published. In 1967, Herman Schein (the publisher of Parnassus Press and the husband of Ruth Robbins, the illustrator of the book) asked Le Guin to try writing a book "for older kids", giving her complete freedom over the subject and the approach. Le Guin had no previous experience specifically with the genre of young adult literature, which rose in prominence during the late 1960s. Drawing from her short stories, Le Guin began work on "A Wizard of Earthsea". Le Guin has said that the book was in part a response to the image of wizards as ancient and wise, and to her wondering where they come from. Le Guin later said that she chose the medium of fantasy, and the theme of coming of age, with her intended adolescent audience in mind.


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: The short stories published in 1964 introduced the world of Earthsea and important concepts in it, such as Le Guin's treatment of magic. "The Rule of Names" also introduced Yevaud, a dragon who features briefly in "A Wizard of Earthsea". Le Guin's depiction of Earthsea was influenced by her familiarity with Native American legends as well as Norse mythology. Her knowledge of myths and legends, as well as her familial interest in anthropology, have been described by scholar Donna White as allowing her to create "entire cultures" for the islands of Earthsea. The influence of Norse lore in particular can be seen in the characters of the Kargs, who are blonde and blue-eyed, and worship two gods who are brothers. The influence of Taoist thought on Le Guin's writing is also visible in the idea of a cosmic "balance" in the universe of Earthsea.


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: Earthsea itself is an archipelago, or group of islands. In the fictional history of this world, the islands were raised from the ocean by Segoy, an ancient deity or hero. The world is inhabited by both humans and dragons, and several among the humans are sorcerers or wizards. The world is shown as being based on a delicate balance, which most of its inhabitants are aware of, but which is disrupted by somebody in each of the original trilogy of novels. The setting of Earthsea is preindustrial, and has many cultures within the widespread archipelago. Most of the characters of the story are of the Hardic peoples, who are dark-skinned, and who populate most of the islands. Some of the Eastern islands are populated by the white-skinned Kargish people, who see the Hardic folk as evil sorcerers: the Kargish, in turn, are viewed by the Hardic as barbarians. The far western regions of the archipelago are where the dragons live.


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: The novel follows a young boy called Duny, nicknamed "Sparrowhawk", born on the island of Gont. Discovering that the boy has great innate power, his aunt, a witch, teaches him the little magic she knows. When his village is attacked by Kargish raiders, Duny summons a fog to conceal the village and its inhabitants, enabling the residents to drive off the Kargs. Hearing of this, the powerful mage Ogion takes him as an apprentice, and later gives him his "true name"—Ged. Ogion tries to teach Ged about the "equilibrium", the concept that magic can upset the natural order of the world if used improperly. In an attempt to impress a girl, however, Ged searches Ogion's spell books and inadvertently summons a strange shadow, which has to be banished by Ogion. Sensing Ged's eagerness to act and impatience with his slow teaching methods, Ogion asks if he would rather go to the renowned school for wizards on the island of Roke. Ged loves Ogion, but decides to go to the school.


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: At the school, Ged meets Jasper, and is immediately on bad terms with him. He is befriended by an older student named Vetch, but generally remains aloof from anyone else. Ged's skills inspire admiration from teachers and students alike. He finds a small creature—an otak, named Hoag, and keeps it as a pet. During a festival, Jasper, acts condescendingly towards Ged, provoking the latter's proud nature. Ged challenges him to a duel of magic, and casts a powerful spell intended to raise the spirit of a legendary dead woman. The spell goes awry and instead releases a shadow creature, which attacks him and scars his face. The Archmage Nemmerle drives the shadow away, but at the cost of his life.


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: Ged spends many months healing before resuming his studies. The new Archmage, Gensher, describes the shadow as an ancient evil that wishes to possess Ged, and warns him that the creature has no name. Ged eventually graduates and receives his wizard's staff. He then takes up residence in the Ninety Isles, providing the poor villagers protection from the dragons that have seized and taken up residence on the nearby island of Pendor, but discovers that he is still being sought by the shadow. Knowing that he cannot guard against both threats at the same time, he sails to Pendor and gambles his life on a guess of the adult dragon's true name. When he is proved right, the dragon offers to tell him the name of the shadow, but Ged instead extracts a promise that the dragon and his offspring will never threaten the archipelago.


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: Chased by the shadow, Ged flees to Osskil, having heard of the stone of the Terrenon. He is attacked by the shadow, and barely escapes into the Court of Terrenon. Serret, the lady of the castle, and the same girl that Ged had tried to impress, shows him the stone, and urges Ged to speak to it, claiming it can give him limitless knowledge and power. Recognizing that the stone harbors one of the Old Powers—ancient, powerful, malevolent beings—Ged refuses. He flees and is pursued by the stone's minions, but transforms into a swift falcon and escapes. He loses his otak.


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: Ged flies back to Ogion on Gont. Unlike Gensher, Ogion insists that all creatures have a name and advises Ged to confront the shadow. Ogion is proved right; when Ged seeks out the shadow, it flees from him. Ged pursues it in a small sailboat, until it lures him into a fog where the boat is wrecked on a reef. Ged recovers with the help of an elderly couple marooned on a small island since they were children; the woman gives Ged part of a broken bracelet as a gift. Ged patches his boat and resumes his pursuit of the creature into the East Reach. On the island of Iffish, he meets his friend Vetch, who insists on joining him. They journey east far beyond the last known lands before they finally come upon the shadow. Naming it with his own name, Ged merges with it and joyfully tells Vetch he is healed and whole.


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: The first edition of the book, published in 1968, was illustrated by Ruth Robbins. The cover illustration was in color, and the interior of the book contained a map of the archipelago of Earthsea. In addition, each chapter had a black-and-white illustration by Robbins, similar to a woodcut image. The images represented topics from each chapter; for instance, the very first image depicted the island of Gont, while the illustration for the chapter "The Dragon of Pendor" pictured a flying dragon. The image shown here depicts Ged sailing in his boat "Lookfar", and was used in the 10th chapter, "The Open Sea", in which Ged and Vetch travel from Iffish eastward past all known lands to confront the shadow creature.


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: "A Wizard of Earthsea" was first published in 1968 by Parnassus Press in Berkeley, a year before "The Left Hand of Darkness", Le Guin's watershed work. It was a personal landmark for Le Guin, as it represented her first attempt at writing for children; she had written only a handful of other novels and short stories prior to its publication. The book was also her first attempt at writing fantasy, rather than science-fiction. "A Wizard of Earthsea" was the first of Le Guin's books to receive widespread critical attention, and has been described as her best known work, as part of the Earthsea series. The book has been released in numerous editions, including an illustrated Folio Society edition released in 2015. It was also translated into a number of other languages. An omnibus edition of all of Le Guin's Earthsea works was released on the 50th anniversary of the publication of "A Wizard of Earthsea" in 2018.


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: Le Guin originally intended for "A Wizard of Earthsea" to be a standalone novel, but decided to write a sequel after considering the loose ends in the first book, and "The Tombs of Atuan" was released in 1971. "The Farthest Shore" was written as a third volume after further consideration, and was published in 1972. "The Tombs of Atuan" tells of the story of Ged's attempt to make whole the ring of Erreth Akbe, half of which is buried in the tombs of Atuan in the Kargish lands, from where he must steal it. There, he meets the child priestess Tenar, on whom the book focuses. In "The Farthest Shore", Ged, who has become Archmage, tries to combat a dwindling of magic across Earthsea, accompanied by Arren, a young prince. The first three books are together seen as the "original trilogy"; in each of these, Ged is shown as trying to heal some imbalance in the world. They were followed by "Tehanu" (1990), "Tales from Earthsea" (2001), and "The Other Wind" (2001), which are sometimes referred to as the "second trilogy".


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: Initial recognition for the book was from children's-book critics, among whom it garnered acclaim. "A Wizard of Earthsea" received an even more positive response in the United Kingdom when it was released there in 1971, which, according to White, reflected the greater admiration of British critics for children's fantasy. In her 1975 annotated collection "Fantasy for Children", British critic Naomi Lewis described it in the following terms: "[It is not] the easiest book for casual browsing, but readers who take the step will find themselves in one of the most important works of fantasy of our time." Similarly, literary scholar Margaret Esmonde wrote in 1981 that "Le Guin has ... enriched children's literature with what may be its finest high fantasy", while a review in "The Guardian" by author and journalist Amanda Craig said it was "The most thrilling, wise and beautiful children's novel ever, [written] in prose as taut and clean as a ship's sail."


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: In discussing the book for a gathering of children's librarians Eleanor Cameron praised the world building in the story, saying "it is as if [Le Guin] herself has lived on the archipelago." Author David Mitchell called the titular character Ged a "superb creation", and argued that he was a more relatable wizard than those featured in prominent works of fantasy at the time. According to him, characters such as Gandalf were "variants on the archetype of Merlin, a Caucasian scholarly aristocrat amongst sorcerers" with little room to grow, whereas Ged developed as a character through his story. Mitchell also praised the other characters in the story, who he said seemed to have a "fully thought-out inner life" despite being fleeting presences. The 1995 "Encyclopedia of Science Fiction" said that the Earthsea books had been considered the finest science fiction books for children in the post-World War II period.


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: Commentators have noted that the Earthsea novels in general received less critical attention because they were considered children's books. Le Guin herself took exception to this treatment of children's literature, describing it as "adult chauvinist piggery". In 1976, literary scholar George Slusser criticized the "silly publication classification designating the original series as 'children's literature'". Barbara Bucknall stated that "Le Guin was not writing for young children when she wrote these fantasies, nor yet for adults. She was writing for 'older kids.' But in fact she can be read, like Tolkien, by ten-year-olds and by adults. These stories are ageless because they deal with problems that confront us at any age." Only in later years did "A Wizard of Earthsea" receive attention from a more general audience. Literary scholar T. A. Shippey was among the first to treat "A Wizard of Earthsea" as serious literature, assuming in his analysis of the volume that it belonged alongside works by C. S. Lewis and Fyodor Dostoevsky, among others. Margaret Atwood said that she saw the book as "a fantasy book for adults", and added that the book could be categorized as either young adult fiction or as fantasy, but since it dealt with themes such as "life and mortality and who are we as human beings", it could be read and enjoyed by anybody older than twelve. The "Encyclopedia of Science Fiction" echoed this view, saying the series's appeal went "far beyond" the young adults for whom it was written. It went on to praise the book as "austere but vivid", and said the series was more thoughtful than the "Narnia" books by C. S. Lewis.


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: In his 1980 history of fantasy, Brian Attebery called the Earthsea trilogy "the most challenging and richest American fantasy to date". Slusser described the Earthsea cycle as a "work of high style and imagination", and the original trilogy of books a product of "genuine epic vision". In 1974, critic Robert Scholes compared Le Guin's work favorably to that of C. S. Lewis, saying, "Where C. S. Lewis worked out a specifically Christian set of values, Ursula LeGuin works not with a theology but with an ecology, a cosmology, a reverence for the universe as a self-regulating structure." He added that Le Guin's three Earthsea novels were themselves a sufficient legacy for anybody to leave. In 2014, David Pringle called it "a beautiful story—poetic, thrilling, and profound".


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: "A Wizard of Earthsea" won or contributed to several notable awards for Le Guin. It won the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award in 1969, and was one of the last winners of the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award ten years later. In 1984 it won the or the "Golden Sepulka" in Poland. In 2000 Le Guin was given the Margaret A. Edwards Award by the American Library Association for young adult literature. The award cited six of her works, including the first four Earthsea volumes, "The Left Hand of Darkness", and "The Beginning Place". A 1987 poll in "Locus" ranked "A Wizard of Earthsea" third among "All-Time Best Fantasy Novels", while in 2014 Pringle listed it at number 39 in his list of the 100 best novels in modern fantasy.


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: The book has been seen as widely influential within the genre of fantasy. Margaret Atwood has called "A Wizard of Earthsea" one of the "wellsprings" of fantasy literature. The book has been compared to major works of high fantasy such as J. R. R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" and L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz". The notion that names can exert power is also present in Hayao Miyazaki's 2001 film "Spirited Away"; critics have suggested that that idea originated with Le Guin's Earthsea series. Novelist David Mitchell, author of books such as "Cloud Atlas", described "A Wizard of Earthsea" as having a strong influence on him, and said that he felt a desire to "wield words with the same power as Ursula Le Guin".


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: Modern writers have credited "A Wizard of Earthsea" for introducing the idea of a "wizard school", which would later be made famous by the "Harry Potter" series of books, and with popularizing the trope of a boy wizard, also present in "Harry Potter". Reviewers have also commented that the basic premise of "A Wizard of Earthsea", that of a talented boy going to a wizard's school and making an enemy with whom he has a close connection, is also the premise of "Harry Potter". Ged also receives a scar from the shadow, which hurts whenever the shadow is near him, just as Harry Potter's scar from Voldemort. Commenting on the similarity, Le Guin said that she did not feel that J. K. Rowling "ripped her off", but that Rowling's books received too much praise for supposed originality, and that Rowling "could have been more gracious about her predecessors. My incredulity was at the critics who found the first book wonderfully original. She has many virtues, but originality isn't one of them. That hurt."


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: "A Wizard of Earthsea" focuses on Ged's adolescence and coming of age, and along with the other two works of the original Earthsea trilogy forms a part of Le Guin's dynamic portrayal of the process of growing old. The three novels together follow Ged from youth to old age, and each of them also follow the coming of age of a different character. The novel is frequently described as a "Bildungsroman". Scholar Mike Cadden stated that the book is a convincing tale "to a reader as young and possibly as headstrong as Ged, and therefore sympathetic to him". Ged's coming of age is also intertwined with the physical journey he undertakes through the novel.


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: Ged is depicted as proud and yet unsure of himself in multiple situations: early in his apprenticeship he believes Ogion to be mocking him, and later, at Roke, feels put upon by Jasper. In both cases, he believes that others do not appreciate his greatness, and Le Guin's sympathetic narration does not immediately contradict this belief. Cadden writes that Le Guin allows young readers to sympathize with Ged, and only gradually realize that there is a price to be paid for his actions, as he learns to discipline his magical powers. Similarly, as Ged begins his apprenticeship with Ogion, he imagines that he will be taught mysterious aspects of wizardry, and has visions of transforming himself into other creatures, but gradually comes to see that Ogion's important lessons are those about his own self.


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: The passage at the end of the novel, wherein Ged finally accepts the shadow as a part of himself and is thus released from its terror, has been pointed to by reviewers as a rite of passage. Jeanne Walker, for example, wrote that the rite of passage at the end was an analogue for the entire plot of "A Wizard of Earthsea", and that the plot itself plays the role of a rite of passage for an adolescent reader. Walker goes on to say, "The entire action of A Wizard of Earthsea ... portrays the hero's slow realization of what it means to be an individual in society and a self in relation to higher powers. Many readers and critics have commented on similarities between Ged's process of growing up and ideas in Jungian psychology. The young Ged has a scary encounter with a shadow creature, which he later realizes is the dark side of himself. It is only after he recognizes and merges with the shadow that he becomes a whole person. Le Guin said that she had never read Jung before writing the Earthsea novels.


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: Le Guin described coming of age as the main theme of the book, and wrote in a 1973 essay that she chose that theme since she was writing for an adolescent audience. She stated that "Coming of age ... is a process that took me many years; I finished it, so far as I ever will, at about age thirty-one; and so I feel rather deeply about it. So do most adolescents. It's their main occupation, in fact." She also said that fantasy was best suited as a medium for describing coming of age, because exploring the subconscious was difficult using the language of "rational daily life". The coming of age that Le Guin focused on included not just psychological development, but moral changes as well. Ged needs to recognize the balance between his power and his responsibility to use it well, a recognition which comes as he travels to the stone of Terrenon and sees the temptation that that power represents.


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: The world of Earthsea is depicted as being based on a delicate balance, which most of its inhabitants are aware of, but which is disrupted by somebody in each of the original trilogy of novels. This includes an equilibrium between land and sea (implicit in the name Earthsea), and between people and their natural environment. In addition to physical equilibrium, there is a larger cosmic equilibrium, which everybody is aware of, and which wizards are tasked with maintaining. Describing this aspect of Earthsea, Elizabeth Cummins wrote, "The principle of balanced powers, the recognition that every act affects self, society, world, and cosmos, is both a physical and a moral principle of Le Guin's fantasy world." The concept of balance is related to the novel's other major theme of coming of age, as Ged's knowledge of the consequences of his own actions for good or ill is necessary for him to understand how the balance is maintained. While at the school of Roke, the Master Hand tells him:


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: The influence of Taoism on Le Guin's writing is evident through much of the book, especially in her depiction of the "balance". At the end of the novel, Ged may be seen to embody the Taoist way of life, as he has learned not to act unless absolutely necessary. He has also learned that seeming opposites, like light and dark or good and evil, are actually interdependent. Light and dark themselves are recurring images within the story. Reviewers have identified this belief as evidence of a conservative ideology within the story, shared with much of fantasy. In emphasizing concerns over balance and equilibrium, scholars have argued, Le Guin essentially justifies the status quo, which wizards strive to maintain. This tendency is in contrast to Le Guin's science fiction writing, in which change is shown to have value.


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: The nature of human evil forms a significant related theme through "A Wizard of Earthsea" as well as the other Earthsea novels. As with other works by Le Guin, evil is shown as a misunderstanding of the balance of life. Ged is born with great power in him, but the pride that he takes in his power leads to his downfall; he tries to demonstrate his strength by bringing a spirit back from the dead, and in performing this act against the laws of nature, releases the shadow that attacks him. Slusser suggests that although he is provoked into performing dangerous spells first by the girl on Gont and then by Jasper, this provocation exists in Ged's mind. He is shown as unwilling to look within himself and see the pride that drives him to do what he does. When he accepts the shadow into himself, he also finally accepts responsibility for his own actions, and by accepting his own mortality he is able to free himself. His companion Vetch describes the moment by saying


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: Thus, although there are several dark powers in Earthsea (like the dragon, and the stone of Terrenon) the true evil was not one of these powers, or even death, but Ged's actions that went against the balance of nature. This is contrary to conventional Western and Christian storytelling, in which light and darkness are often considered opposites, and are seen as symbolizing good and evil, which are constantly in conflict. On two different occasions, Ged is tempted to try to defy death and evil, but eventually learns that neither can be eliminated: instead, he chooses not to serve evil, and stops denying death.


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: In Le Guin's fictional universe, to know the true name of an object or a person is to have power over it. Each child is given a true name when they reach puberty, a name which they share only with close friends. Several of the dragons in the later Earthsea novels, like Orm Embar and Kalessin, are shown as living openly with their names, which do not give anybody power over them. In "A Wizard of Earthsea", however, Ged is shown to have power over Yevaud. Cadden writes that this is because Yevaud still has attachment to riches and material possessions, and is thus bound by the power of his name. Wizards exert their influence over the equilibrium through the use of names, thus linking this theme to Le Guin's depiction of a cosmic balance. According to Cummins, this is Le Guin's way of demonstrating the power of language in shaping reality. Since language is the tool we use for communicating about the environment, she argues that it also allows humans to affect the environment, and the wizards' power to use names symbolizes this. Cummins went on to draw an analogy between the wizards' use of names to change things with the creative use of words in fictional writing. Shippey wrote that Earthsea magic seems to work through what he called the "Rumpelstiltskin theory", in which names have power. He argued that this portrayal was part of Le Guin's effort to emphasize the power of words over objects, which, according to Shippey, was in contrast to the ideology of other fantasy writers, such as James Frazer in "The Golden Bough". Esmonde argued that each of the first three Earthsea books hinged on an act of trust. In "A Wizard of Earthsea", Vetch trusts Ged with his true name when the latter is at his lowest ebb emotionally, thus giving Ged complete power over him. Ged later offers Tenar the same gift in "The Tombs of Atuan", thereby allowing her to learn trust.


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: "A Wizard of Earthsea" and other novels of the Earthsea cycle differ notably from Le Guin's early Hainish cycle works, although they were written at a similar time. George Slusser described the Earthsea works as providing a counterweight to the "excessive pessimism" of the Hainish novels. He saw the former as depicting individual action in a favorable light, in contrast to works such as "Vaster than Empires and More Slow". The "Encyclopedia of Science Fiction" said the book was pervaded by a "grave joyfulness". In discussing the style of her fantasy works, Le Guin herself said that in fantasy it was necessary to be clear and direct with language, because there is no known framework for the reader's mind to rest upon.


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: The story often appears to assume that readers are familiar with the geography and history of Earthsea, a technique which allowed Le Guin to avoid exposition: a reviewer wrote that this method "gives Le Guin's world the mysterious depths of Tolkien's, but without his tiresome back-stories and versifying". In keeping with the notion of an epic, the narration switches from looking ahead into Ged's future and looking back into the past of Earthsea. At the same time, Slusser described the mood of the novel as "strange and dreamlike", fluctuating between objective reality and the thoughts in Ged's mind; some of Ged's adversaries are real, while others are phantoms. This narrative technique, which Cadden characterizes as "free indirect discourse" makes the narrator of the book seem sympathetic to the protagonist, and does not distance his thoughts from the reader.


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: "A Wizard of Earthsea" has strong elements of an epic; for instance, Ged's place in Earthsea history is described at the very beginning of the book in the following terms: "some say the greatest, and surely the greatest voyager, was the man called Sparrowhawk, who in his day became both dragonlord and Archmage." The story also begins with words from the Earthsea song "The Creation of Éa", which forms a ritualistic beginning to the book. The teller of the story then goes on to say that it is from Ged's youth, thereby establishing context for the rest of the book. In comparison with the protagonists of many of Le Guin's other works, Ged is superficially a typical hero, a mage who sets out on a quest. Reviewers have compared "A Wizard of Earthsea" to epics such as "Beowulf". Scholar Virginia White argued that the story followed a structure common to epics in which the protagonist begins an adventure, faces trials along the way, and eventually returns in triumph. White went on to suggest that this structure can be seen in the series as a whole, as well as in the individual volumes.


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: Le Guin subverted many of the tropes typical to such "monomyths"; the protagonists of her story were all dark-skinned, in comparison to the white-skinned heroes more traditionally used; the Kargish antagonists, in contrast, were white-skinned, a switching of race roles that has been remarked upon by multiple critics. Critics have also cited her use of characters from multiple class backgrounds as a choice subversive to conventional Western fantasy. At the same time, reviewers questioned Le Guin's treatment of gender in "A Wizard of Earthsea", and the original trilogy as a whole. Le Guin, who later became known as a feminist, chose to restrict the use of magic to men and boys in the first volume of Earthsea. Initial critical reactions to "A Wizard of Earthsea" saw Ged's gender as incidental. In contrast, "The Tombs of Atuan" saw Le Guin intentionally tell a female coming-of-age story, which was nonetheless described as perpetuating a male-dominated model of Earthsea. "Tehanu" (1990), published as the fourth volume of "Earthsea" 18 years after the third, has been described both by Le Guin and her commentators as a feminist re-imagining of the series, in which the power and status of the chief characters are reversed, and the patriarchal social structure questioned. Commenting in 1993, Le Guin wrote that she could not continue [Earthsea after 1972] until she had "wrestled with the angels of the feminist consciousness".


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: Several critics have argued that by combining elements of epic, "Bildungsroman", and young adult fiction, Le Guin succeeded in blurring the boundaries of conventional genres. In a 1975 commentary Francis Molson argued that the series should be referred to as "ethical fantasy", a term which acknowledged that the story did not always follow the tropes of heroic fantasy, and the moral questions that it raised. The term did not become popular. A similar argument was made by children's literature critic Cordelia Sherman in 1985; she argued that "A Wizard of Earthsea" and the rest of the series sought "to teach children by dramatic example what it means to be a good adult".


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: A condensed, illustrated version of the first chapter was printed by World Book in the third volume of "Childcraft" in 1989. Multiple audio versions of the book have been released. BBC Radio produced a radioplay version in 1996 narrated by Judi Dench, and a six-part series adapting the Earthsea novels in 2015, broadcast on Radio 4 Extra. In 2011, the work was produced as an unabridged recording performed by Robert Inglis.


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: Two screen adaptations of the story have also been produced. An original mini-series titled "Legend of Earthsea" was broadcast in 2004 on the Sci Fi Channel. It is based very loosely on "A Wizard of Earthsea" and "The Tombs of Atuan". In an article published in "Salon", Le Guin expressed strong displeasure at the result. She stated that by casting a "petulant white kid" as Ged (who has red-brown skin in the book) the series "whitewashed Earthsea", and had ignored her choice to write the story of a non-white character, a choice she said was central to the book. This sentiment was shared by a review in "The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy", which said that "Legend of Earthsea" "totally missed the point" of Le Guin's novels, "ripping out all the subtlety, nuance and beauty of the books and inserting boring cliches, painful stereotypes and a very unwelcome 'epic' war in their place".


title: A Wizard of Earthsea

text: Studio Ghibli released an adaptation of the series in 2006 titled "Tales from Earthsea". The film very loosely combines elements of the first, third, and fourth books into a new story. Le Guin commented with displeasure on the film-making process, saying that she had acquiesced to the adaptation believing Hayao Miyazaki would be producing the film himself, which was eventually not the case. Le Guin praised the imagery of the film, but disliked the use of violence. She also expressed dissatisfaction with the portrayal of morality, and in particular the use of a villain who could be slain as a means of resolving conflict, which she said was antithetical to the message of the book. The film received generally mixed responses.


title: Los Angeles Metro Rail

text: The Los Angeles Metro Rail is an urban rail transit system serving Los Angeles County, California, United States. It consists of seven lines, including five light rail lines (the A, C, E, K, L lines) and two rapid transit (known locally as a subway) lines (the B and D lines) serving 99 stations. It connects with the Metro Busway bus rapid transit system (the G and J lines), the Metrolink commuter rail system, and several Amtrak lines.


title: Los Angeles Metro Rail

text: Metro Rail is owned and operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) and started service in 1990. It has been extended significantly since that time and several further extensions are either in the works or being considered. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of .


title: Los Angeles Metro Rail

text: Los Angeles had two previous rail transit systems, the Pacific Electric Red Car and Los Angeles Railway Yellow Car lines, which operated between the late 19th century and the 1960s. The Metro Rail system uses many of their former rights-of-way, and thus can be considered their indirect successor.


title: Los Angeles Metro Rail

text: In Los Angeles Metro terminology, common with most other metro systems, a "line" is a named service, defined by a route and set of stations served by trains on that route. (The word does not refer to a physical rail corridor, as it does in New York City Subway nomenclature.)


title: Los Angeles Metro Rail

text: Metro also uses the same line letter naming system for its Metro Busway services (which are bus rapid transit routes operating in transitways).


title: Los Angeles Metro Rail

text: The B and D lines follow a fully underground route, and the C Line follows a fully grade separated route. The A, E, K and L Line routes run in a mix of environments, including at-grade in an exclusive corridor, street running, elevated, and underground.


title: Los Angeles Metro Rail

text: The two subway lines (B and D) share tracks between and , while two of the light rail lines (A and E) share tracks between and . Future system expansions are expected to use more shared light-rail tracks.


title: Los Angeles Metro Rail

text: The large majority of light rail stations are either at ground level or elevated, with some trenched or fully underground. All heavy rail (i.e. rapid transit) stations are fully underground. Future light rail lines will add more underground stations to the system.


title: Los Angeles Metro Rail

text: Stations include at least two ticket vending machines, wayfinding maps, electronic message displays, and bench seating. Each station features unique artwork reflecting local culture and/or the function of transit in society.


title: Los Angeles Metro Rail

text: Stations are unstaffed during regular hours. Call boxes are available at stations to allow employees at the Metro Rail Operations Control Center to assist passengers with concerns.


title: Los Angeles Metro Rail

text: Metro Rail uses a proof-of-payment fare system, with Metro's fare inspectors randomly inspecting trains and stations to ensure passengers have a valid fare product on their Transit Access Pass (TAP) electronic fare card. When passengers enter a station, they encounter TAP card validators which collect fares when a customer places their card on top. Additionally, fare gates (turnstiles) connected to TAP card validators are at all underground stations, all elevated stations and some surface stations. Once passengers pass these validators or board a train, they have entered the "fare paid zone," where fare inspectors may check their TAP card to ensure they have a valid fare.


title: Los Angeles Metro Rail

text: Underground stations are typically large in size with a mezzanine level for fare sales and collection above a platform level where passengers board trains.


title: Los Angeles Metro Rail

text: Street-level stations are typically simpler with platforms designed with shade canopies, separated from nearby roads and sidewalks, where passengers can purchase fares and board a train.


title: Los Angeles Metro Rail

text: Subway stations and tunnels are designed to resist ground shaking that could occur at a specific location, but there is no general magnitude of earthquake that the entire system is expected to withstand. The Metro Rail system has not suffered any damage due to earthquakes since its opening in 1993.


title: Los Angeles Metro Rail

text: Some suburban stations have free or paid park and ride lots available and most have bike storage available.


title: Los Angeles Metro Rail

text: Metro Rail maintains two distinct systems of rail: a light rail system and a subway system, which use incompatible technologies, even though they both use . Metro's subway lines are powered by third rail, whereas its light rail lines are powered by overhead catenary. Also, the two separate systems have different loading gauge, and platforms are designed to match the separate car widths.


title: Los Angeles Metro Rail

text: Between the system's opening in 1990 and February 2020, Metro Rail lines ran regularly between 5:00 am and midnight, seven days a week. Limited service on particular segments was provided after midnight and before 5:00 am. On Friday and Saturday evenings, service operated until approximately 2:00 am. There was no rail service between 2:00 am and 3:30 am, except on special occasions such as New Year's Eve. Service operated every 5–10 minutes during the peak period, every 10–15 minutes during middays and during the day on weekends, and every 20 minutes during the evening until the close of service. Exact times varied from route to route.


title: Los Angeles Metro Rail

text: In March 2020, the system started to adjust train frequencies in order to accommodate for restrictions that were enacted in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Trains would continue to run between 5:00 am and midnight daily, with late night weekend service being removed in order to accommodate for train cleaning.


title: Los Angeles Metro Rail

text: The standard Metro base fare applies for all trips. Fare collection is based on a partial proof-of-payment system. At least two fare machines are at each station. Fare inspectors, local police and deputy sheriffs police the system and cite individuals without proof of payment. Passengers are required to purchase a TAP card to enter stations equipped with fare gates. Passengers using a TAP card can transfer between Metro routes for free within 2 hours from the first tap.


title: Los Angeles Metro Rail

text: Metro has implemented a system of electronic fare collection using a stored value smartcard called the Transit Access Pass (TAP Card). This card was intended to simplify fare collection and reduce costs. In 2012, paper monthly passes were phased out and replaced with the TAP Card. As of September 2013, first-time Metro riders must deposit an additional $2 (or $1 at TAP vending machines) on top of their first fare payment to obtain a reloadable TAP Card. In addition, in 2008 Metro began installing fare gates at all underground stations, all elevated stations and some surface stations. Implementation of both programs (the TAP Card and the fare gate program) has turned out to be expensive ($154 million in total, so far) and its initial rollout was problematic.


title: Los Angeles Metro Rail

text: As of , the combined Metro B and D lines averaged a weekday ridership of , making it the ninth busiest rapid transit system in the United States. Taking overall track length into consideration, Metro Rail's subway lines transport 7,960 passengers per route mile, making this the fifth busiest U.S. rapid transit system on a per mile basis.


title: Los Angeles Metro Rail

text: Metro's light rail system is the busiest in the United States with average weekday boardings as of . In terms of route length, Metro's light rail system is the second largest in the United States.


title: Los Angeles Metro Rail

text: Half of the Metro Rail's trains and stations are patrolled by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department under a law enforcement contract. The Los Angeles Police Department, and Long Beach Police Department also patrol stations within their respective cities, also under contract. The system is also monitored by security personnel through closed-circuit television cameras in Metro Rail stations and subway cars.


title: Los Angeles Metro Rail

text: In the early 20th century, Southern California had an extensive privately owned rail transit network with over of track, operated by Pacific Electric (Red Cars) and Los Angeles Railway (Yellow Cars). However, from 1927 revenue shortfall caused Pacific Electric to begin replacing lightly used rail lines with buses. In 1958 the remnants of the privately owned rail and bus systems were consolidated into a government agency known as the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority or MTA. By 1963 the remaining rail lines were completely removed and replaced with bus service.


title: Los Angeles Metro Rail

text: In the following decades, growing traffic congestion led to increased public support for rail transit's return. Beginning in the 1970s, a variety of factors, including environmental concerns, an increasing population and the price of gasoline led to calls for mass transit other than buses. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA, now branded as Metro) began construction of the initial lines throughout the 1980s using revenues from a voter-approved increase in sales tax. The Blue (A) Line finally opened on July 14, 1990, some 27 years after the final streetcar line closed. Since that date, the system has been developed to its current size. The following table shows this expansion's timeline:


title: Los Angeles Metro Rail

text: Metro has worked to plan and prioritize project funding and implementation. Metro's 2009 Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) was developed to provide a long-term vision of transportation system development for the next 30 years. Metro worked to update the 2009 LRTP plan citing new housing trends and fiscal changes. Metro released the updated LRTP in 2020.


title: Los Angeles Metro Rail

text: Beginning in 2014, Metro saw its ridership numbers begin to decline. Many explanations exist for the decline, including safety concerns, an increase in ride-hailing service usage, low-income housing opportunities drying up in L.A. because of the increase in rents, and a shortage of housing. Ridership declines also coincide with passage of AB 60, signed into law by Governor Brown in 2013, which provides for issuance of a vehicle operators license regardless of immigration status.


title: Los Angeles Metro Rail

text: The fiscal changes are the passage of Measure R, a countywide incrememental sales tax increase passed by voters in 2008, provides funding for many of the highest priority projects in the LRTP. On November 6, 2012, Metro attempted to pass Measure J, but failed as it did not reach the two-thirds majority needed to pass. In November 2016 election, Metro decided to place another sales tax on the ballot. The voters then approved Measure M, a half-cent permanent sales tax increase, to fund many local projects, including Metro Rail expansion.


title: Los Angeles Metro Rail

text: In 2018, Metro approved renaming its rail lines using a letter-based scheme, similar to those in New York City. Metro recommended the opening of the refurbished A Line in 2019 as a starting point to rename the lines, and then continuing with the opening of the K line, finishing in time for the opening of the Regional Connector in 2022.


title: Los Angeles Metro Rail

text: The following rail projects have been given high priority by Metro. They all appear in the 2009 LRTP constrained plan, and all have funding earmarked from Measure R. With the passage of Measure M in 2016, Metro released an updated Long Range Transportation plan in February 2017, and released a full report in 2020, along with its Twenty-eight by '28 initiative.


title: Los Angeles Metro Rail

text: Metro's Long Range Transportation Plan was published in 2009, and was updated by in 2020. The following proposed line/system expansions do not have funding or high priority in Metro's long-range plans. Some are listed as "strategic unfunded" in the last Long Range Transportation Plan, indicating some possibility they could be constructed should additional funding materialize. Others have been the subject of Metro Board discussion, with the possibility of future feasibility studies. (More information on each project can be found in the references.)


title: Nick Rhodes

text: Nick Rhodes (born Nicholas James Bates, 8 June 1962) is an English keyboardist and producer, best known as a founding member, keyboardist, and only continuous member of the band Duran Duran. He is also informally monikered as "The Controller", after being introduced as such on stage by bandmate Simon Le Bon during the Astronaut album world tours of 2004–2005.


title: Nick Rhodes

text: Rhodes has been involved in several side projects outside of, but related to, Duran Duran: he released albums with Arcadia in 1985 (featuring 3 members of Duran: Rhodes, Simon Le Bon and Roger Taylor), and recorded and performed as The Devils in 2002 with Stephen Duffy, longtime musical friend and the original lead singer of Duran Duran. In March 2013, he released the TV Mania side project with former Duran Duran guitarist, Warren Cuccurullo.


title: Nick Rhodes

text: Nicholas James Bates is the only child of affluent parents who were the owners of a Birmingham toy shop. He attended Woodrush High School in Wythall, north Worcestershire. Bates left school in 1978 at the age of sixteen, and founded Duran Duran with his childhood friend John Taylor (who then played lead guitar) and Taylor's art school friend Stephen Duffy (vocals, bass, guitar). Having considered band names such as 'RAF', 'Arabia', 'Industry' and 'Arcadia', they named their band after "Dr. Durand Durand", Milo O'Shea's character from the sci-fi film "Barbarella" the day after the movie had been broadcast by BBC 1 on 20 October 1978. The three of them made their first recordings on a cassette tape recorder above Bates' parents' toy shop and played their first gig on 5 April 1979 at Birmingham Polytechnic, and were joined by Simon Colley (clarinet and bass) soon after. In June 1979 Duran Duran opened for the band Fashion at the Barbarella's club in Birmingham, but following the departure of Duffy and Colley reformed soon after with vocalist Andy Wickett and drummer Roger Taylor. At this point Bates' stage name was Dior Bates. After several personnel changes Duran Duran finally settled on the line-up including guitarist Andy Taylor and lead singer Simon Le Bon in May 1980 and were eventually signed to EMI.


title: Nick Rhodes

text: Born Nicholas Bates, he decided to change his name for aesthetic reasons. The decision was finally made during Duran Duran’s first official interview when the journalist asked his name and he made a snap decision based upon options he had been considering, he answered Nick Rhodes and never questioned it again.


title: Nick Rhodes

text: As the band coalesced into its final line-up in 1979–80, Duran Duran started playing at a local Birmingham club called "The Rum Runner". The club owners became the band's managers, and Rhodes began working at the club as a disc jockey.


title: Nick Rhodes

text: Rhodes reportedly owns the Duran Duran name; this was mentioned in the Andy Warhol diaries. Warhol told his diarist Pat Hackett that Duran Duran had split up (, Andy Taylor and Roger Taylor left the band, returning in 2001 to reunite and create the Astronaut album) "but Nick owns the name so it's still Duran Duran".


title: Nick Rhodes

text: The band achieved rapid success, and Rhodes was a driving force throughout. An unschooled musician, he experimented with the sounds his analogue synthesisers were capable of, but shied away from the "novelty" sounds of some other early synth bands. The distinctive warble of "Save A Prayer", the keyboard stabs of "A View to a Kill", and the string sounds of "Come Undone" and "Ordinary World" are some of his most recognisable creations, as well as the futuristic oscillating synth that characterised Duran Duran's self-titled first album. He popularised the Crumar Performer on the early records.


title: Nick Rhodes

text: Rhodes was also quick to recognise the potential of the music video, and pushed the band to put more effort into their early videos than seemed warranted at the time (before the advent of MTV). Barely twenty when the band hit major stardom, he cultivated an androgynous and sometimes flamboyant image, wore heavy makeup, and changed his hair colour at whim. By the late 1990s, Rhodes had begun writing lyrics for Duran Duran, as well as music. His digitally altered voice is heard on the title track to the 1997 album "Medazzaland".


title: Nick Rhodes

text: In 2001, the original five members of Duran Duran reunited to record new music; see Duran Duran for details.


title: Nick Rhodes

text: Rhodes studied production techniques while in the studio with Duran Duran, eventually helping to mix several tracks on the "Rio" album, and was a co-producer on many of the band's later albums.


title: Nick Rhodes

text: In early 1983, he discovered the band Kajagoogoo and co-produced their debut single "Too Shy" which became a UK no.1 (prior to any of Duran's singles reaching no.1).


title: Nick Rhodes

text: Rhodes and Warren Cuccurullo wrote and produced three tracks for the Blondie reunion album in 1996; the tracks were not used, but one song called "Pop Trash Movie" was later recorded by Duran Duran for the 2000 album "Pop Trash".


title: Nick Rhodes

text: In 2002, Rhodes co-produced and played additional synthesizers in nine tracks of the album "Welcome to the Monkey House" by The Dandy Warhols. In 2004 he produced British-based pop group Riviera F for their debut EP "International Lover", published on Pop Cult/Tape Modern (Rhodes & Stephen Duffy's label).


title: Nick Rhodes

text: With Le Bon, Rhodes formed the side project Arcadia while Duran Duran was on hiatus in 1985. The band had a moody, keyboard-heavy sound, far more atmospheric than Duran Duran (or the hard rock of the other Duran splinter group of 1985 [John Taylor, and Andy Taylor], Power Station).


title: Nick Rhodes

text: The band scored a major hit with "Election Day" and the band's only album, "So Red the Rose", went platinum in the US but was less successful in their native UK. The band never toured and was dissolved when Duran Duran regrouped in 1986. In 1999, Rhodes reunited with Duran Duran's original vocalist, Stephen Duffy, to create new music based on some of the earliest Duran music the two had written together. The result was the album "Dark Circles," released under the name The Devils. Also in 1999, Rhodes had a small guest appearance (in voice only) as a Canadian bomber pilot in .


title: Nick Rhodes

text: In 2006 Rhodes and John Taylor collaborated on the compilation album "Only After Dark". In 2011 Rhodes along with Andrew Wyatt and Mark Ronson remixed Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus" for the British electronic band's remix compilation "". Also in 2011, Rhodes wrote the afterword to the award-winning '80s 7-inch vinyl cover art book Put the Needle on the Record.


title: Nick Rhodes

text: In March 2013, TV Mania made up of Nick Rhodes and ex-Duran Duran guitarist Warren Cuccurullo, released "Bored with Prozac and the Internet?". Throughout the 1990s, Rhodes worked on this side project with Cuccurullo. To support the launch of the project, Rhodes had an exhibition of his photography, BEI INCUBI (Beautiful Nightmares) at The Vinyl Factory in Chelsea, London on 7 March 2013.


title: Nick Rhodes

text: Rhodes met Julie Anne Friedman (heiress to the Iowan Younkers Department Store fortune) at a yacht party while on an American tour in 1982, and married her on 18 August, 1984. They have one daughter together, Tatjana Lee Orchid (born 23 August 1986). After a brief separation and an attempt to reconcile, they filed for divorce in 1992. Rhodes has had several long relationships with various women but has not remarried.


title: Nick Rhodes

text: Rhodes, as a former art student, became enamoured with the art world early in his career, making friends with pop-art artist Andy Warhol and The Factory crowd, and attending exhibitions worldwide. At the end of 1984, he released his own book of abstract art photographs called "Interference". Many of the photos were displayed at an exhibition at the Hamilton Gallery in London. He continues to showcase photography on occasion, including in British magazines such as "Tatler" and also occasionally appears at the Cannes International Film Festival.


title: Nick Rhodes

text: In November 2011, Rhodes received an Honorary Doctorate of Arts degree from the University of Bedfordshire, for his services to the music industry. Rhodes appears in Burke's Peerage under his second cousin's entry for the family of Lindley-Highfield of Ballumbie Castle, being related to the Highfield family through his paternal grandmother, Irene Lavinia Bates (née Highfield).


title: Nick Rhodes

text: Rhodes is a long-time vegetarian, occasionally a pescatarian. In a 2012 interview at DuranDuran.com he cited Italian, Lebanese and Indian food as his favourites. He moved to central London two years after Duran Duran's success and continues to reside there.


title: The Motorcycle Diaries (film)

text: The Motorcycle Diaries () is a 2004 biopic about the journey and written memoir of the 23-year-old Ernesto Guevara, who would several years later become internationally known as the Marxist guerrilla leader and revolutionary leader Che Guevara. The film recounts the 1952 expedition, initially by motorcycle, across South America by Guevara and his friend Alberto Granado. As well as being a road movie, the film is a coming-of-age film; as the adventure, initially centered on youthful hedonism, unfolds, Guevara discovers himself transformed by his observations on the life of the impoverished indigenous peasantry. Through the characters they encounter on their continental trek, Guevara and Granado witness first hand the injustices that the destitute face and are exposed to people and social classes they would have never encountered otherwise. To their surprise, the road presents to them both a genuine and captivating picture of Latin American identity. As a result, the trip also plants the initial seed of radicalization within Guevara, who would later challenge the continent's endemic economic inequalities and political repression.


title: The Motorcycle Diaries (film)

text: The screenplay is based primarily on Guevara's trip diary of the same name, with additional context supplied by "Traveling with Che Guevara: The Making of a Revolutionary" by Alberto Granado. Guevara is played by Gael García Bernal (who previously played Che in the 2002 miniseries "Fidel"), and Granado by the Argentine actor Rodrigo de la Serna, who incidentally is a second cousin to the real-life Guevara on his maternal side. Directed by Brazilian director Walter Salles and written by Puerto Rican playwright José Rivera, the film was an international co-production among production companies from Argentina, the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Chile, Peru and France. The film's executive producers were Robert Redford, Paul Webster, and Rebecca Yeldham; the producers were Edgard Tenenbaum, Michael Nozik, and Karen Tenkhoff; and the co-producers were Daniel Burman and Diego Dubcovsky.


title: The Motorcycle Diaries (film)

text: In 1952, a semester before Ernesto "Fuser" Guevara is due to complete his medical degree, he and his older friend Alberto Granado, a biochemist, leave Buenos Aires to travel across South America. While there is a goal at the end of their journey - they intend to work in a leper colony in Peru - the main purpose is initially fun and adventure. They desire to see as much of Latin America as they can, more than in just four and a half months, while Granado's purpose is also to bed as many women as will fall for his pickup lines. Their initial method of transport is Granado's dilapidated Norton 500 motorcycle christened "La Poderosa" ("The Mighty One").


title: The Motorcycle Diaries (film)

text: Their planned route is ambitious, bringing them north across the Andes, along the coast of Chile, through the Atacama Desert and into the Peruvian Amazon in order to reach Venezuela just in time for Granado's 30th birthday on 2 April. However, due to "La Poderosa's" breakdown, they are forced to travel at a much slower pace, often walking, and don't make it to Caracas until July.


title: The Motorcycle Diaries (film)

text: During their expedition, Guevara and Granado encounter the poverty of the indigenous peasants, and the movie assumes a greater seriousness once the men gain a better sense of the disparity between the "haves" (to which they belong) and the obviously exploited "have-nots" (who make up the majority of those they encounter) by travelling on foot. In Chile, for instance, they encounter a penniless and persecuted couple forced onto the road because of their communist beliefs. In a fire-lit scene, Guevara and Granado ashamedly admit to the couple that they are not out looking for work as well. The duo then accompanies the couple to the Chuquicamata copper mine, where Guevara becomes angry at the treatment of the workers.


title: The Motorcycle Diaries (film)

text: However, it is a visit to the ancient Incan ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru that solidifies something in Guevara. His musings are then somberly refocused to how an indigenous civilization capable of building such beauty could be destroyed by the creators of the eventually polluted urban decay of nearby Lima.


title: The Motorcycle Diaries (film)

text: Later, in Peru, they volunteer for three weeks at the San Pablo leper colony. There, Guevara observes both literally and metaphorically the division of society, as the staff live on the north side of a river, separated from the deprived lepers living across the river to the south. To demonstrate his solidarity, and his medical belief that leprosy is not contagious, Guevara refuses to wear rubber gloves during his visit as the head nun requires, choosing instead to shake bare hands and interact normally with the surprised leper patients.


title: The Motorcycle Diaries (film)

text: At the end of the film, after his sojourn at the leper colony, Guevara confirms his nascent egalitarian, revolutionary impulses, while making a birthday toast, which is also his first political speech. In it, he invokes a pan-Latin American identity that transcends the arbitrary boundaries of both nation and race. These encounters with social injustice transform the way Guevara sees the world and his purposes in it, and by implication motivates his later political activities as a Marxist revolutionary.


title: The Motorcycle Diaries (film)

text: Guevara makes his symbolic "final journey" at night when, despite the danger and his asthma, he swims across the river that separates the two societies of the leper colony, to spend the night in a leper shack, instead of in the doctors' cabins. Later, as they bid each other farewell at an airport, Granado reveals that his birthday was not 2 April, but rather 8 August, and that the aforementioned goal was simply a motivator: Guevara replies that he knew all along. The film closes with an appearance by the real 82-year-old Alberto Granado, along with pictures from the actual journey and a brief mention of Che Guevara's eventual 1967 CIA-assisted execution in the Bolivian jungle.


title: The Motorcycle Diaries (film)

text: Gael García Bernal agreed to reprise his role as young Che Guevara having previously portrayed him in the television film Fidel (2002 film). To prepare for the role, he went through six months of intense preparation. This groundwork included reading "every biography" about Guevara, traveling to Cuba to speak with Guevara's family, and consulting with Guevara's then still living travel partner Alberto Granado. Despite being in his eighties, Granado was also taken on as an adviser by Salles, and enthusiastically followed the film crew as they retraced his former journey.


title: The Motorcycle Diaries (film)

text: Moreover, García Bernal (who is Mexican) adopted an Argentine accent and spent 14 weeks reading the works of José Martí,


title: The Motorcycle Diaries (film)

text: Karl Marx and Pablo Neruda (Guevara's favorite poet). García Bernal told reporters "I feel a lot of responsibility. I want to do it well because of what Che represents to the world. He is a Romantic. He had a political consciousness that changed Latin America." According to García Bernal, the role crystallized his "own sense of duty" because Guevara "decided to live on the side of the mistreated, to live on the side of the people who have no justice - and no voice." In surmising the similarities between his transformation and Guevara's, García Bernal posits that "my generation is awakening, and we're discovering a world full of incredible injustice."


title: The Motorcycle Diaries (film)

text: Granado later stated that he appreciated the film's effort "to dig beneath the "mythical Che", whose defiant image appears on T-shirts and posters around the world, "to reveal the flawed, flesh-and-blood Ernesto beneath."


title: The Motorcycle Diaries (film)

text: In a journey that lasts eight months, the partners travel over 14,000 kilometers (8,700 miles), from Argentina through Chile, Peru, and Colombia to Venezuela. Key locations along the journey described in the film include: in Argentina: Buenos Aires, Miramar, Villa Gesell, San Martín de los Andes, Lago Frías, Patagonia and Nahuel Huapi Lake; in Chile: Temuco, Los Angeles, Valparaiso, the Atacama desert, and Chuquicamata; in Peru: Cuzco, Machu Picchu, Lima, The San Pablo Leper Colony; as well as Leticia, Colombia and Caracas, Venezuela.


title: The Motorcycle Diaries (film)

text: Reviewer Nick Cowen of "The Daily Telegraph" described the scenery as "visually stunning" while remarking that "the cinematography of fog-cloaked mountains, lush, green forests and sunburnt deserts is breathtakingly beautiful enough to serve as a travel advert for the entire continent."


title: The Motorcycle Diaries (film)

text: "The Observer" reported that shortly after the film's release, tour operators in the region received a surge of inquiries, with some of them even offering Che Guevara-themed trips, where travellers could "follow in the footsteps of the revolutionary icon."


title: The Motorcycle Diaries (film)

text: The crew filmed in the same San Pablo Leper Colony that Guevara himself had visited. According to Bernal, 85% of the people suffering leprosy in the film were actual lepers, with some of them having lived there when Che and Granado worked at the colony. In fact, when Granado returned with the film crew to the leprosarium of San Pablo, he found some of the people he had treated half a century earlier, remarking that "It was wonderful and amazing that they could still remember me." Granado was also pleased that buildings constructed for the scenes shot at the leprosarium were afterwards used by the patients themselves.


title: The Motorcycle Diaries (film)

text: The scene which features Guevara's character swimming across to the other side of the river was filmed during three nights in which Bernal swam across the actual Amazon River.


title: The Motorcycle Diaries (film)

text: The score for "The Motorcycle Diaries" was composed by Gustavo Santaolalla. The film's soundtrack was released on the Deutsche Grammophon label in 2004.


title: The Motorcycle Diaries (film)

text: The film was first presented at the Sundance Film Festival on 15 January 2004. Granado had an invitation to the Sundance premiere, but he was refused an entry Visa by the United States. Later it was featured at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival on 19 May, and Granado was able to attend.


title: The Motorcycle Diaries (film)

text: The film later screened at many other film festivals, including: the Auckland International Film Festival, New Zealand; the Copenhagen International Film Festival, Denmark; the Espoo Film Festival, Finland; the Telluride Film Festival, United States; the Toronto International Film Festival, Canada; the Vancouver International Film Festival, Canada; the Celebrating Literature in Cinema Film Festival Frankfurt, Germany; and the Morelia Film Festival, Mexico.


title: The Motorcycle Diaries (film)

text: "The Motorcycle Diaries" was released to very positive reviews by critics, and received a standing ovation at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. "The New York Times" film critic, A.O. Scott, wrote that "in Mr. Salles's hands what might have been a schematic story of political awakening becomes a lyrical exploration of the sensations and perceptions from which a political understanding of the world emerges." Gregory Weinkauf of the "Dallas Observer" espoused that the film "delivers as both biography and road movie, and proves itself a deceptively humble epic, an illuminating part of the Che legacy." Claudia Puig of "USA Today" postulated that "the movie achieves an impressive blend of emotional resonance and light entertainment" while describing it as "more coming-of-age story than biopic" and "a transformative adventure well worth watching." Keri Petersen of "The Gainesville Sun" referred to the film as "a gorgeous, poetic adventure."


title: The Motorcycle Diaries (film)

text: Paula Nechak of the "Seattle Post-Intelligencer" praised director Salles by remarking that he "presents the evolutionary course of a young man who coincidentally became the dorm-room poster boy for an idealistic generation, and captures the lovely, heart-and-eye-opening ode to youthful possibility with affection and compassion." "Washington Post" critic Desson Thomson lent praise for the film's starring actor by observing that "what Bernal and this well-wrought movie conveys so well is the charisma that would soon become a part of human history, and yes, T-shirts."


title: The Motorcycle Diaries (film)

text: Among the film's few detractors was Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times", who described the film's positive reviews as "a matter of political correctness, I think; it is uncool to be against Che Guevara." Ebert also criticized the film's characterization: "seen simply as a film, "The Motorcycle Diaries" is attenuated and tedious. We understand that Ernesto and Alberto are friends, but that's about all we find out about them; they develop none of the complexities of other on-the-road couples... Nothing is startling or poetic." Jessica Winter of "The Village Voice" also criticized the film's simplistic representation of the peasantry, describing "the young men's encounters with conscience-pricking, generically noble locals" who are occasionally assembled "to face the camera in a still life of heroic, art-directed suffering". The film also received criticism for its positive representation of Guevara as a youthful idealist. Anthony Daniels, an outspoken critic of Guevara's, argued that the film helps to continue his wrongful glorification, noting "The film is thus the cinematic equivalent of the Che Guevara T-shirt; it is morally monstrous and emotionally trivial." Frans Weiser agreed, saying that the film's narrative is dominated by reductive images of Guevara as an idealistic, loveable rogue.


title: The Motorcycle Diaries (film)

text: Online review aggregator Metacritic gives the film a score of 75 out of 100 based on 37 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Meanwhile, Rotten Tomatoes records an 83% approval rating based on 157 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5/10. The website's critical consensus reads, ""The Motorcycle Diaries" is heartfelt and profound in its rendering of the formative experiences that turn Ernesto "Che" Guevara into a famous revolutionary." Furthermore, British historian Alex von Tunzelmann, who reviews films at "The Guardian" for historical accuracy, graded the film an A− in "History", while giving the film a B in "Entertainment". After comparing scenes from the film to the actual diaries, Tunzelmann posited that ""The Motorcycle Diaries" gets a lot right, it's an entertaining and accurate portrayal of the formative youth of a revolutionary icon."


title: Unit testing

text: In computer programming, unit testing is a software testing method by which individual units of source code—sets of one or more computer program modules together with associated control data, usage procedures, and operating procedures—are tested to determine whether they are fit for use.


title: Unit testing

text: Before unit testing, capture and replay testing tools were the norm. In 1997, Kent Beck and Erich Gamma developed and released JUnit, a unit test framework that became popular with Java developers. Google embraced automated testing around 2005–2006.


title: Unit testing

text: Unit tests are typically automated tests written and run by software developers to ensure that a section of an application (known as the "unit") meets its design and behaves as intended. In procedural programming, a unit could be an entire module, but it is more commonly an individual function or procedure. In object-oriented programming, a unit is often an entire interface, such as a class, or an individual method. By writing tests first for the smallest testable units, then the compound behaviors between those, one can build up comprehensive tests for complex applications.


title: Unit testing

text: To isolate issues that may arise, each test case should be tested independently. Substitutes such as method stubs, mock objects, fakes, and test harnesses can be used to assist testing a module in isolation.


title: Unit testing

text: During development, a software developer may code criteria, or results that are known to be good, into the test to verify the unit's correctness. During test case execution, frameworks log tests that fail any criterion and report them in a summary. For this, the most commonly used approach is test - function - expected value.


title: Unit testing

text: Writing and maintaining unit tests can be made faster by using parameterized tests. These allow the execution of one test multiple times with different input sets, thus reducing test code duplication. Unlike traditional unit tests, which are usually closed methods and test invariant conditions, parameterized tests take any set of parameters. Parameterized tests are supported by TestNG, JUnit and its .Net counterpart, XUnit. Suitable parameters for the unit tests may be supplied manually or in some cases are automatically generated by the test framework. In recent years support was added for writing more powerful (unit) tests, leveraging the concept of theories, test cases that execute the same steps, but using test data generated at runtime, unlike regular parameterized tests that use the same execution steps with input sets that are pre-defined.


title: Unit testing

text: The goal of unit testing is to isolate each part of the program and show that the individual parts are correct. A unit test provides a strict, written contract that the piece of code must satisfy. As a result, it affords several benefits.


title: Unit testing

text: Unit testing finds problems early in the development cycle. This includes both bugs in the programmer's implementation and flaws or missing parts of the specification for the unit. The process of writing a thorough set of tests forces the author to think through inputs, outputs, and error conditions, and thus more crisply define the unit's desired behavior. The cost of finding a bug before coding begins or when the code is first written is considerably lower than the cost of detecting, identifying, and correcting the bug later. Bugs in released code may also cause costly problems for the end-users of the software. Code can be impossible or difficult to unit test if poorly written, thus unit testing can force developers to structure functions and objects in better ways.


title: Unit testing

text: In test-driven development (TDD), which is frequently used in both extreme programming and scrum, unit tests are created before the code itself is written. When the tests pass, that code is considered complete. The same unit tests are run against that function frequently as the larger code base is developed either as the code is changed or via an automated process with the build. If the unit tests fail, it is considered to be a bug either in the changed code or the tests themselves. The unit tests then allow the location of the fault or failure to be easily traced. Since the unit tests alert the development team of the problem before handing the code off to testers or clients, potential problems are caught early in the development process.


title: Unit testing

text: Unit testing allows the programmer to refactor code or upgrade system libraries at a later date, and make sure the module still works correctly (e.g., in regression testing). The procedure is to write test cases for all functions and methods so that whenever a change causes a fault, it can be quickly identified. Unit tests detect changes which may break a design contract.


title: Unit testing

text: Unit testing may reduce uncertainty in the units themselves and can be used in a bottom-up testing style approach. By testing the parts of a program first and then testing the sum of its parts, integration testing becomes much easier.


title: Unit testing

text: Unit testing provides a sort of living documentation of the system. Developers looking to learn what functionality is provided by a unit, and how to use it, can look at the unit tests to gain a basic understanding of the unit's interface (API).