People who are mentally disabled are now rarely described as "mentally retarded" (sometimes called "M.R.") but may be said to have "special needs". M.R. has been changed to I.D.; Intellectual Disabilities.
People with significant vision loss are called low vision or blind.
People with significant hearing loss are called deaf and/or hard of hearing.
People who cannot speak are no longer called "dumb", they are non vocal. Those who are vocal but cannot communicate fluently are called non verbal.
The overall terms 'handicapped” or 'challenged' are not considered appropriate (there is no distinction between physical or mental, acquired or inborn, because unless you’re the disabled person, it’s your choice to disclose and confirm whether this matters)
Person first language is “ Sarah has physical disabilities”. This is part of the medical model of disability, which suggests disabled people are something to be fixed, even if there is no pathology to suggest “fixing”.
The social model of disability encourages identity first language (Sarah is disabled) and is not just preferred by most of the disabled community but is also part of the social model of disability. The social model of disability invokes (rather than erasing as medical model does) the idea that disability isn’t just about limitations within daily life but also acknowledges that most of what creates disability are the social and infrastructural challenges faced, such as inaccessible housing, sidewalks, elevators.
Some of the new politically correct words are often criticized for being rather ridiculous. Some examples of these are the terms ending in challenged. For example, someone who is very short might be described as "vertically challenged". People also say that things that are obviously bad are called by something else which hides the fact that they are bad. For example, young people who are in trouble with the law, instead of being called "juvenile delinquents" became "children at risk". Some PC terms may be ambiguous i.e. have two possible meanings. "hearing impaired" can also refer to someone who has partial hearing (hard of hearing) and "vision impaired" can also refer to someone who has partial vision.
Mjolnir
In Norse mythology, Mjölnir (Old Norse: "Mjǫllnir" - “Lightning” or “That which smashes”) is the hammer of Thor, the god of thunder and lightning. Forged by the dwarven brothers Brokkr and Eitri, Mjölnir is the most feared weapon in the Nine Realms, capable of leveling entire mountains with only one hit. Mjölnir was also a symbol of both fertility and destruction, and was thought to possess regenerative healing powers.
When thrown, Mjölnir would return to Thor's after hitting its target.
""... He [Thor] would be able to strike as firmly as he wanted, whatever his aim, and the hammer would never fail, and if he threw it at something, it would never miss and never fly so far from his hand that it would not find its way back, and when he wanted, it would be so small that it could be carried inside his tunic.""
Orphan
An orphan is a child who has lost either or both parents. Their parents are either dead or didn't want them. Some orphans end up in a house called an orphanage. This is where children with no parents live. Many children that live in an orphanage get fostered or adopted by a person or a couple.
Sometimes parents get sick and die while their child or children are still young, and if no close relatives take care of them, if they cannot or will not do so, they are normally raised in an orphanage. When several children, brothers or sisters are left orphaned they are normally split up; one child going to one family or one child going to a foster family while another may stay in the orphanage.
Sometimes parents may not have jobs or money and abandon their children because they cannot afford to bring them up. The parents may feel that if someone else brings them up they may have a better future in the long run.
In many poor countries orphans are often seen wondering about begging for money and food; many may not be going to school. Not much organised help exists for them in poor countries.
But in richer countries many organisations and institutions help the orphans and work to help parents when they are sick or very poor so they do not abandon their children. Organisations such as churches and community services assist them.
Many characters of books and movies have been orphans, such as Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Annie, Heidi, Batman, and Harry Potter.
Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District
Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District () is an opera by the Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich. It is one of the most important Russian operas of the 20th century. The words for the opera (the “libretto”) were written by Alexander Preis who based them on a story by the Russian writer Nikolai Leskov. The opera has nothing to do with Shakespeare’s play Macbeth except for the fact that it is about a woman like Lady Macbeth who is tempted to commit a murder.
"Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District" was the second opera that Shostakovich wrote. It was first performed on 22 January 1934 at the Leningrad Maly Theatre. It was very successful and lots of people came to hear it.
However, Shostakovich lived in difficult times. The dictator Josef Stalin was making life very difficult for creative people. He thought that music and all the other arts should praise and glorify their country (the Soviet Union). He did not allow people to express their own personal feelings. Anything that he did not like was called “formalist”. If Stalin did not like someone that person would not be allowed to work. They might even get sent to prison in Siberia where they were treated very badly. Many of them died.
Stalin came to hear a performance of "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District". However, he did not like it, and he left during the performance. A few days later an article was written in the newspaper "Pravda" about the opera. The article heading was: “Chaos instead of music”. It said that the opera was full of horrible music and noisy chords. The opera was not allowed to be performed again in the Soviet Union for almost thirty years.
Shostakovich had to be very careful what he said otherwise he could have been in big trouble. He never spoke in public about music and culture. In 1937 he wrote his Symphony no 5. The music in this symphony was easier to understand than the music he had been writing before which had a lot of atonal music. Shostakovich said that this new symphony of his was “a Soviet artist’s reply to just criticism”. He had to agree to say this so that he would be allowed to carry on composing. Later, in 1962, he made some changes to the opera and called it "Katerina Ismailova". Since his death in 1975 it is usually the original version which is performed.
The opera tells the story of a lonely woman in 19th century Russia, who falls in love with one of her husband's servants and is driven to murder. Some of the music is influenced by Expressionism and verismo. After being condemned by Stalin it was banned in the Soviet Union for almost thirty years.
Katerina is lonely. She is married to a merchant, Zinovy, but they have no children. Her father-in-law Boris is horrible to her and blames her for not having any children. When Zinovy goes away on business Boris forces her to swear to be faithful (not to make love to any other man while her husband is away). However, one of the servants, Sergei, becomes her lover. When Boris finds out he is furious and whips Sergei and locks him up. Katerina poisons Boris with mushrooms. When he dies she gets the key from his pocket and frees Sergei.
Katerina and Sergei go to bed together, but Katerina suffers from the ghost of Boris. When Zinovy comes back Sergei hides, but Zinovy guesses what has happened. Katerina and Sergei kill Zinovy and hide his body in the cellar.