title: Discovery (law)

text: As implemented in 1938, the modern American discovery scheme granted powers directly to private parties and their counsel which are "functionally equivalent" to the power to issue self-executing administrative subpoenas. This is why civil law countries strongly dislike and oppose American discovery: they regard broad discovery in the hands of private parties as destructive of the rule of law because from their perspective, the result amounts to "a private inquisition." Civil law countries see the underlying objectives of discovery as properly monopolized by the state in order to maintain the rule of law: the investigative objective of discovery is the prerogative of the executive branch, and insofar as discovery may be able to facilitate the creation of new rights, that is the prerogative of the legislative branch.


title: Discovery (law)

text: The discovery process in England and Wales is known as 'disclosure'. This process occurs in both civil and criminal cases.


title: Discovery (law)

text: Criminal disclosure is the process by which the Crown, typically through the Crown Prosecution Service, provides the defence with relevant information discovered during the course of a criminal investigation. The disclosure process helps protect the right to a fair trial. Every accused person has a right to a fair trial. This right is a fundamental part of our legal system and is guaranteed by Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).


title: Discovery (law)

text: The test for what information should be provided during disclosure is set by section 3 of the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 (CPIA). This requires the Crown to provide all information which might be reasonably capable of undermining the prosecution case or assisting the defence case. This standard is an ongoing obligation throughout the lifespan of a criminal investigation and trial. While the majority of disclosure will likely take place at the outset of a trial - usually at or before the Pre-trial Preparation Hearing (PTPH), multiple disclosures may occur throughout a case as required.


title: Discovery (law)

text: Detailed guidance on the manner in which disclosure is undertaken is offered by the Code of Practice for the CPIA 1996 and the Attorney General's Disclosure Guidelines.


title: Discovery (law)

text: Third party material is a specific class of material identified by the fact that it originates outside the activity of the criminal inquiry or prosecution. Typically, third party material includes mobile device data; CCTV; and medical, therapeutic or local authority records. This material may reveal important information to the inquiry which may become evidence in the case. Where information from third party sources does not form part of the evidence, it may still need to be disclosed if it meets the disclosure test.


title: Discovery (law)

text: Access to third party material is governed by the Attorney General's Guidelines on Disclosure. These require that third party material must be relevant to a reasonable line of inquiry in order to be obtained. As such, third party material should never be accessed speculatively. It must always be based on a clear set of pre-existing reasons.


title: Discovery (law)

text: Access to third party material, especially in rape and serious sexual assault cases (RASSO), has come under heavy criticism from groups representing victims of these crimes. They argue that requests for material from victims has become excessive and that 'requests often go far beyond simply seeking contemporaneous records, or records known to contain evidence that relates to the incident: indeed, often records are sought which span many years, and in circumstances where the victim/survivor is not aware of any relevant material existing within the records.'


title: Discovery (law)

text: The invasive nature of improper or excessive access to third party material has been accepted by the government in the end-to-end rape review, which sets out actions to be taken to reform the approach of the CPS and police to third party material.


title: Discovery (law)

text: Recent guidance and legal judgments, including the Court of Appeal case of R v Bater-James & Anor [2020] EWCA Crim 790 and the mobile phone extraction report by the Information Commissioner's Office have set out detailed principles for accessing third party material - especially in the case of mobile and digital information. These balance the rights to privacy of victims and witnesses with the right to fair trial for defendants.


title: Discovery (law)

text: The discovery process in the jurisdiction of England and Wales has been known as "disclosure" since the reforms to civil procedure introduced by Lord Justice Woolf in 1999.


title: Discovery (law)

text: For many types of cause of action (but not for example personal injury claims, which have their own additional parts of procedure rules to follow) disclosure is governed by Part 31 of the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR), and its linked Practice Direction (PD) 31B on disclosure of electronic documents, adopted in October 2010. The purpose of the Practice Direction is "to encourage and assist the parties to reach agreement in relation to the disclosure of Electronic Documents in a proportionate and cost-effective manner". As in the United States, certain documents are privileged, such as letters between solicitors and experts.


title: Discovery (law)

text: The usual forms of discovery are general discovery and specific discovery since parties in issue are unlikely to reach agreements as to what ought to be disclosed. This reflects in the current discovery rules which put emphasis on compliance of time limit, rules on service, proper list of documents and rules on privileges set out in Part 31 of CPR and PD 31B. Once a party properly conducts general discovery in accordance with discovery rules and procedures, documents are deemed discoverable, i.e. documents are available for inspection. Inspectionability refers to procedural and legal elements: the former concerns clerical production of documents; the latter concerns the relevance test ("Peruvian Guano v Financiaso Compagneiage" (1881) 10 EWR 125) and linkage test.


title: Discovery (law)

text: A mandatory disclosure pilot was introduced on 1 January 2019 for use in relation to a range of claims handled by the Business and Property Courts, in order to support a more co-operative approach to disclosure, the scope of the documents to be disclosed being "not wider than is reasonable and proportionate ... in order fairly to resolve [the] issues".


title: TRIZ

text: TRIZ (; , ', lit. "theory of inventive problem solving") is “the next evolutionary step in creating an organized and systematic approach to problem solving. The development and improvement of products and technologies according to TRIZ are guided by the objective Laws of Engineering System Evolution. TRIZ Problem Solving Tools and Methods are based on them.” In another description, TRIZ is "a problem-solving, analysis and forecasting tool derived from the study of patterns of invention in the global patent literature". It was developed by the Soviet inventor and science-fiction author Genrich Altshuller (1926-1998) and his colleagues, beginning in 1946. In English the name is typically rendered as the theory of inventive problem solving, and occasionally goes by the English acronym TIPS.


title: TRIZ

text: Following Altshuller's insight, the theory developed on a foundation of extensive research covering hundreds of thousands of inventions across many different fields to produce a theory which defines generalizable patterns in the nature of inventive solutions and the distinguishing characteristics of the problems that these inventions have overcome.


title: TRIZ

text: An important part of the theory has been devoted to revealing patterns of evolution and one of the objectives which have been pursued by leading practitioners of TRIZ has been the development of an algorithmic approach to the invention of new systems, and to the refinement of existing ones.


title: TRIZ

text: TRIZ includes a practical methodology, tool sets, a knowledge base, and model-based technology for generating innovative solutions for problem solving. It is useful for problem formulation, system analysis, failure analysis, and patterns of system evolution. There is a general similarity of purposes and methods with the field of pattern language, a cross discipline practice for explicitly describing and sharing holistic patterns of design.


title: TRIZ

text: TRIZ practitioners apply all these findings in order to create and to improve products, services, and systems.


title: TRIZ

text: TRIZ in its classical form was developed by the Soviet inventor and science fiction writer Genrich Altshuller and his associates. He started developing TRIZ in 1946 while working in the "Inventions Inspection" department of the Caspian Sea flotilla of the Soviet Navy. His job was to help with the initiation of invention proposals, to rectify and document them, and to prepare applications to the patent office. During this time he realized that a problem requires an inventive solution if there is an unresolved contradiction in the sense that improving one parameter impacts negatively on another. He later called these "technical contradictions".


title: TRIZ

text: His work on what later resulted in TRIZ was interrupted in 1950 by his arrest and sentencing to 25 years in the Vorkuta Gulag labor camps. The arrest was partially triggered by letters which he and Raphael Shapiro sent to Stalin, ministers and newspapers about certain decisions made by the Soviet Government, which they believed were erroneous. Altshuller and Shapiro were freed during the Khrushchev Thaw following Stalin's death in 1953 and returned to Baku.


title: TRIZ

text: The first paper on TRIZ titled "On the psychology of inventive creation" was published in 1956 in "Issues in Psychology" (Voprosi Psichologii) journal.


title: TRIZ

text: By 1969, Altshuller had reviewed about 40,000 patent abstracts in order to find out in what way the innovation had taken place and developed the concept of technical contradictions, the concept of ideality of a system, contradiction matrix, and 40 principles of invention. In the years that followed he developed the concepts of physical contradictions, SuField analysis (structural substance-field analysis), standard solutions, several laws of technical systems evolution, and numerous other theoretical and practical approaches.


title: TRIZ

text: Altshuller also observed clever and creative people at work: he uncovered patterns in their thinking, and developed thinking tools and techniques to model this "talented thinking". These tools include Smart Little People and Thinking in Time and Scale (or the Screens of Talented Thought).


title: TRIZ

text: In 1971 Altshuller convinced The Inventors Society to establish in Baku the first TRIZ teaching facility, called the Azerbaijan Public Institute for Inventive Creation and the first TRIZ research lab called The Public Lab for Inventive Creation. Altshuller was appointed the head of the lab by the society. The lab incubated the TRIZ movement and in the years that followed other TRIZ teaching institutes were established in all major cities of the USSR.


title: TRIZ

text: From 1986 Altshuller switched his attention away from technical TRIZ, and started investigating the development of individual creativity. He also developed a version of TRIZ for children, which was trialed in various schools. In 1989 the TRIZ Association was formed, with Altshuller chosen as president.


title: TRIZ

text: Following the end of the Cold War, the waves of emigrants from the former Soviet Union brought TRIZ to other countries and drew attention to it overseas. In 1995 the Altshuller Institute for TRIZ Studies was established in Boston, USA.


title: TRIZ

text: TRIZ presents a systematic approach for understanding and defining challenging problems: difficult problems require an inventive solution, and TRIZ provides a range of strategies and tools for finding these inventive solutions. One of the earliest findings of the massive research on which the theory is based is that the vast majority of problems that require inventive solutions typically reflect a need to overcome a dilemma or a trade-off between two contradictory elements. The central purpose of TRIZ-based analysis is to systematically apply the strategies and tools to find superior solutions that overcome the need for a compromise or trade-off between the two elements.


title: TRIZ

text: By the early 1970s two decades of research covering hundreds of thousands of patents had confirmed Altshuller's initial insight about the patterns of inventive solutions and one of the first analytical tools was published in the form of 40 inventive principles, which could account for virtually all of those patents that presented truly inventive solutions. Following this approach the "Conceptual solution" shown in the diagram can be found by defining the contradiction which needs to be resolved and systematically considering which of the 40 principles may be applied to provide a specific solution which will overcome the "contradiction" in the problem at hand, enabling a solution that is closer to the "ultimate ideal result".


title: TRIZ

text: The combination of all of these concepts together – the analysis of the contradiction, the pursuit of an ideal solution and the search for one or more of the principles which will overcome the contradiction, are the key elements in a process which is designed to help the inventor to engage in the process with purposefulness and focus.


title: TRIZ

text: One of the tools which evolved as an extension of the 40 principles was a contradiction matrix in which the contradictory elements of a problem were categorized according to a list of 39 factors which could impact on each other. The combination of each pairing of these 39 elements is set out in a matrix (for example, the weight of a stationary object, the use of energy by a moving object, the ease of repair etc.) Each of the 39 elements is represented down the rows and across the columns (as the negatively affected element) and based upon the research and analysis of patents: wherever precedent solutions have been found that resolve a conflict between two of the elements, the relevant cells in the matrix typically contain a sub-set of three or four principles that have been applied most frequently in inventive solutions which resolve contradictions between those two elements.


title: TRIZ

text: The main objective of the contradiction matrix was to simplify the process of selecting the most appropriate Principle to resolve a specific contradiction. It was the core of all modifications of ARIZ till 1973. But in 1973, after introducing the concept of physical contradictions and creating SuField analysis, Altshuller realized that the contradiction matrix was comparatively an inefficient tool and stopped working on it. Beginning ARIZ-71c contradiction matrix ceased to be the core of ARIZ and therefore was not a tool for solving inventive problems that Altshuller believed should be pursued.


title: TRIZ

text: Physical contradictions and separation principles as well as SuField analysis, etc. became the core. Despite this, the 40 principles of invention has remained the most popular tool taught in introductory seminars and has consistently attracted the most attention amongst the tens of thousands of individuals who visit TRIZ-focused web sites in a typical month. Therefore, many of those who learn TRIZ or have attended seminars are taught quite wrongly that TRIZ is primarily composed of the 40 principles and contradiction matrix, the truth is ARIZ is the core methodology of TRIZ.


title: TRIZ

text: ARIZ is an algorithmic approach to finding inventive solutions by identifying and resolving contradictions. This includes the "system of inventive standards solutions" which Altshuller used to replace the 40 principles and contradiction matrix, it consists of SuField modeling and the 76 inventive standards. A number of TRIZ-based computer programs have been developed whose purpose is to provide assistance to engineers and inventors in finding inventive solutions for technological problems. Some of these programs are also designed to apply another TRIZ methodology whose purpose is to reveal and forecast emergency situations and to anticipate circumstances which could result in undesirable outcomes.


title: TRIZ

text: One of the important branches of TRIZ is focused on analysing and predicting trends of evolution in the characteristics that existing solutions are likely to develop in successive generations of a system.


title: TRIZ

text: Altshuller has shown that at the heart of some inventive problems lie contradictions (one of the basic TRIZ concepts) between two or more elements, such as, "If we want more acceleration, we need a larger engine; but that will increase the cost of the car," that is, more of something desirable also brings more of something less desirable, or less of something else also desirable.


title: TRIZ

text: These are called "technical contradictions" by Altshuller. He also defined so-called physical or inherent contradictions: More of one thing and less of the same thing may both be desired in the same system. For instance, a higher temperature may be needed to melt a compound more rapidly, but a lower temperature may be needed to achieve a homogeneous mixture.


title: TRIZ

text: An "inventive situation" which challenges us to be inventive, might involve several such contradictions. Conventional solutions typically "trade" one contradictory parameter for another; no special inventiveness is needed for that. Rather, the inventor would develop a creative approach for resolving the contradiction, such as inventing an engine that produces more acceleration without increasing the cost of the engine.


title: TRIZ

text: Altshuller screened patents in order to find out what kind of contradictions were resolved or dissolved by the invention and the way this had been achieved. From this he developed a set of 40 inventive principles and later a matrix of contradictions. Rows of the matrix indicate the 39 system features that one typically wants to improve, such as speed, weight, accuracy of measurement and so on. Columns refer to typical undesired results. Each matrix cell points to principles that have been most frequently used in patents in order to resolve the contradiction.


title: TRIZ

text: For instance, Dolgashev mentions the following contradiction: increasing accuracy of measurement of machined balls while avoiding the use of expensive microscopes and elaborate control equipment. The matrix cell in row "accuracy of measurement" and column "complexity of control" points to several principles, among them the Copying Principle, which states, "Use a simple and inexpensive optical copy with a suitable scale instead of an object that is complex, expensive, fragile or inconvenient to operate." From this general invention principle, the following idea might solve the problem: Taking a high-resolution image of the machined ball. A screen with a grid might provide the required measurement. As mentioned above, Altshuller abandoned this method of defining and solving "technical" contradictions in the mid 1980s and instead used SuField modeling and the 76 inventive standards and a number of other tools included in the algorithm for solving inventive problems, ARIZ.


title: TRIZ

text: Altshuller also studied the way technical systems have been developed and improved over time. From this, he discovered several trends (so called Laws of Technical Systems Evolution) that help engineers predict the most likely improvements that can be made to a given product. The most important of these laws involves the ideality of a system.


title: TRIZ

text: One more technique that is frequently used by inventors involves the analysis of substances, fields and other resources that are currently not being used and that can be found within the system or nearby. TRIZ uses non-standard definitions for substances and fields. Altshuller developed methods to analyze resources; several of his invention principles involve the use of different substances and fields that help resolve contradictions and increase ideality of a technical system. For instance, videotext systems used television signals to transfer data, by taking advantage of the small time segments between TV frames in the signals.


title: TRIZ

text: SuField analysis produces a structural model of the initial technological system, exposes its characteristics, and with the help of special laws, transforms the model of the problem. Through this transformation the structure of the solution that eliminates the shortcomings of the initial problem is revealed. SuField analysis is a special language of formulas with which it is possible to easily describe any technological system in terms of a specific (structural) model. A model produced in this manner is transformed according to special laws and regularities, thereby revealing the structural solution of the problem.


title: TRIZ

text: ARIZ (algorithm of inventive problems solving) is a list of about 85 step-by-step procedures to solve contradictions, where other tools of TRIZ alone (Sufield analysis, 40 inventive principles, etc.) are not sufficient.


title: TRIZ

text: Although TRIZ was developed from the analysis of technical systems, it has been used widely as a method for understanding and solving complex management problems. Examples include finding additional cost savings for the legal department of a local government body: the inventive solution generated was to generate additional revenue [insert reference to cost-cutting in local government case study]. The results of the TRIZ work are expected to generate £1.7 m in profit in the first 5 years.


title: TRIZ

text: Case studies on the use of TRIZ are difficult to acquire as many companies believe TRIZ gives them a competitive advantage and are reluctant to publicise their adoption of the method. However some examples are available: Samsung is the most famous success story, and has invested heavily in embedding TRIZ use throughout the company, right up to and including the CEO; "In 2003 TRIZ led to 50 new patents for Samsung and in 2004 one project alone, a DVD pick-up innovation, saved Samsung over $100 million. TRIZ is now an obligatory skill set if you want to advance within Samsung".


title: TRIZ

text: Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems and GE are all documented users of TRIZ; Mars has documented how applying TRIZ led to a new patent for chocolate packaging.


title: TRIZ

text: TRIZ has also been used successfully by Leafield Engineering, Smart Stabilizer Systems and Buro Happold to solve problems and generate new patents.


title: TRIZ

text: Various promoters of TRIZ reported that car companies Rolls-Royce, Ford, and Daimler-Chrysler, Johnson & Johnson, aeronautics companies Boeing, NASA, technology companies Hewlett Packard, Motorola, General Electric, Xerox, IBM, LG, Samsung, Intel, Procter & Gamble, Expedia and Kodak have used TRIZ methods in some projects.


title: TRIZ

text: The application of TRIZ tools in numerous German industrial companies in the recent decade has followed the principles of the Advanced Innovation Design Approach, which recommends the application of the selected TRIZ tools in the early stage of the innovation process for the identification of customer needs, comprehensive problem definition and ideation, new concept development and optimization.


title: TRIZ

text: The European TRIZ Association, ETRIA, is a nonprofit association based in Germany, founded in 2000. ETRIA considers itself an open community to unite the efforts, suggest opportunities for global standardization, conduct further research and development, and provide mechanisms for the exchange of information and knowledge on TRIZ and TRIZ-based innovation technologies.


title: TRIZ

text: ETRIA is developing a web-based collaborative environment targeting the creation of links between any and all institutions concerned with conceptual questions pertaining to the creation, organization, and efficient processing of innovation knowledge and innovation technologies.


title: TRIZ

text: TRIZ is considered as a cross-disciplinary, generic methodology, but it has not previously been presented in terms of logic or any other formal knowledge representation. Most of the concepts introduced in TRIZ are fuzzy, and most of the techniques are still heuristic and only partially formalized. For further development and conceptual re-organization of the TRIZ knowledge base, ETRIA involves and collaborates with TRIZ experts and professionals from the domains of logic, organization science, informatics and linguistics.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: Wells () is a cathedral city and civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset, located on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills, south-east of Weston-super-Mare, south-west of Bath and south of Bristol. Although the population recorded in the 2011 census was only 10,536, (increased to 12,000 by 2018) and with a built-up area of just , Wells has had city status since medieval times, because of the presence of Wells Cathedral. Often described as England's smallest city, it is actually second smallest to the City of London in area and population, but unlike London it is not part of a larger urban agglomeration.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: Wells takes its name from three wells dedicated to Saint Andrew, one in the market place and two within the grounds of the Bishop's Palace and cathedral. A small Roman settlement surrounded them, which grew in importance and size under the Anglo-Saxons when King Ine of Wessex founded a minster church there in 704. The community became a trading centre based on cloth making and Wells is notable for its 17th-century involvement in both the English Civil War and the Monmouth Rebellion. In the 19th century, transport infrastructure improved with stations on three different railway lines. However, since 1964 the city has been without a railway link.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: much of the employment. The city has a variety of sporting and cultural activities and houses several schools including The Blue School, a state coeducational comprehensive school that was founded in 1641, and the independent Wells Cathedral School, which was founded possibly as early as 909 and is one of the five established musical schools for school-age children in the United Kingdom. Wells's historic architecture has led to the city being used as a shooting location for numerous films and television programmes.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: The city was a Roman settlement that became an important centre under the Anglo-Saxons when King Ine of Wessex founded a minster church in 704. Two hundred years later, in 909, it became the seat of the newly formed bishopric of Wells; but in 1090, the bishop's seat was removed to Bath. The move caused severe arguments between the canons of Wells and the monks of Bath until 1245 when the bishopric was renamed the Diocese of Bath and Wells, to be elected by both religious houses. With the construction of the current cathedral and the bishop's palace in the first half of the 13th century, under the direction of Bishop Reginald and later Bishop Jocelin, a native of the city, Wells became the principal seat of the diocese.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: The 8th-century port at Bleadney on the River Axe enabled goods to be brought to within of Wells. In the Middle Ages overseas trade was carried out from the port of Rackley. In the 14th century a French ship sailed up the river, and by 1388 Thomas Tanner from Wells used Rackley to export cloth and corn to Portugal, and received iron and salt in exchange. Wells had been a centre for cloth making; however, in the 16th and 17th centuries this diminished, but the city retained its important market focus. Wells in the 19th century had the largest cheese market in the west of England.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: Wells was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Welle", from the Old English , not as a town but as four manors with a population of 132, which implies a population of 500–600. Earlier names for the settlement have been identified which include "Fontanetum", in a charter of 725 granted by King Ina to Glastonbury and . ""Tidesput"" or ""Tithesput furlang"" relates to the area east of the bishop's garden in 1245. Wells was part of, and gave its name to, the hundred of Wells Forum.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: Wells had been granted charters to hold markets by Bishop Robert (1136–66) and free burgage tenure was granted by Bishop Reginald (1174–1191). Wells was recognised as a free borough by a Royal charter of King John in 1201. The city remained under episcopal control until its charter of incorporation from Queen Elizabeth I in 1589. City status was most recently confirmed by Queen Elizabeth II by letters patent issued under the Great Seal dated 1 April 1974, which granted city status specifically to the civil parish; on that date major local government reorganisation came into effect, which involved the abolition of the municipal borough of Wells.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: Anne of Denmark, the wife of King James came to Wells on 20 August 1613. She was entertained by a pageant performed by the town's trades and crafts. The blacksmiths presented Vulcan's forge. The butchers made a tableau of "old virgins", with their attires made of cow tails and necklaces made of cow's horns, who were drawn in a chariot by men and boys dressed in ox skins. The mayor, William Bull, held a dinner for members of the queen's household including her four maids of honour. The Venetian ambassador Antonio Foscarini recorded her delight.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: During the English Civil War (1642–1651), at what became known as the "Siege of Wells", the city found itself surrounded by Parliamentarian guns on the Bristol, Glastonbury and Shepton Mallet sides. Col. William Strode had 2,000 men and 150 horse. The Royalists evacuated the city. Parliamentarian troops then used the cathedral to stable their horses and damaged much of the ornate sculpture by using it for firing practice.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: William Penn stayed in Wells shortly before leaving for America (1682), spending a night at The Crown Inn. Here he was briefly arrested for addressing a large crowd in the market place, but released on the intervention of the Bishop of Bath and Wells. During the Monmouth Rebellion (1685) the rebel army attacked the cathedral in an outburst against the established church and damaged the west front. Lead from the roof was used to make bullets, windows were broken, the organ smashed and horses stabled in the nave. Wells was the final location of the Bloody Assizes on 23 September 1685. In a makeshift court lasting only one day, over 500 men were tried and the majority sentenced to death.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: Wells first station, Priory Road, opened in 1859 on the Somerset Central Railway (later the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway, S&DJR) as the terminus of a short branch from Glastonbury. A second railway, the East Somerset, opened a branch line from Witham in 1862 and built Wells East Somerset station to the east of Priory Road. In 1870, the Cheddar Valley line branch of the Bristol & Exeter Railway from Yatton, reached Wells and built a third station at Tucker Street. Matters were simplified when the Great Western Railway acquired the Cheddar Valley and the East Somerset lines and built a link between them that ran through the S&DJR's Priory Road station. In 1878, when through trains began running between Yatton and Witham, the East Somerset station closed, but through trains did not stop at Priory Road until 1934. Priory Road closed to passenger traffic in 1951 when the S&DJR branch line from Glastonbury was shut, though it remained the city's main goods depot. Tucker Street closed in 1963 under the Beeching cuts, which closed the Yatton to Witham line to passengers. Goods traffic to Wells ceased in 1964. Southern Railway West Country class steam locomotive no 34092 was named "City of Wells" at a ceremony at Priory Road station in 1949. It was used to haul the "Golden Arrow" service between London and Dover. It was withdrawn from service in 1964, and rescued from a scrapyard in 1971, and as August 2021 was operational on the East Lancashire Railway.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: During World War II, Stoberry Park in Wells was the location of a prisoner-of-war camp, housing Italian prisoners from the Western Desert Campaign, and later German prisoners after the Battle of Normandy. Penleigh Camp on the Wookey Hole Road was a German working camp.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: Wells City Council is a parish council, with a membership of sixteen councillors, elected from three parish wards. They are (with the number of parish councillors each elects, in brackets): Central (four), St. Thomas' (six) and St. Cuthbert's (six).


title: Wells, Somerset

text: The civil parish of Wells was formed in 1933 upon the merger of Wells St Cuthbert In and Wells St Andrew (the latter being the historic liberty of the cathedral, the bishop's palace, etc., amounting to just ). Wells is the successor parish for Wells Municipal Borough, which existed from the creation of municipal boroughs in 1835 to their abolition in 1974. The parish has held the city status of Wells since 1 April 1974 (previously held by the municipal borough) and the member of the City Council who chairs the council holds the historic office of Mayor of Wells, typically for one year. The current mayor (for the 2020–21 municipal year) is Councillor Philip Welch, who is the 647th Mayor of Wells. He was elected to office on 10 October 2020. Another historic position is that of the Town Crier.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: The City Council has responsibility for local issues, including setting an annual precept (local rate) to cover the council's operating costs and producing annual accounts for public scrutiny. They also evaluate local planning applications and work with the local police, district council officers, and neighbourhood watch groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic. This includes city centre management including CCTV, an alcohol ban and regulating street trading permissions including the two funfairs held in the Market Place in May and November each year and the Wells in Bloom competition. The city council's role also includes initiating projects for the maintenance and repair of city facilities, as well as consulting with the district council on the maintenance, repair, and improvement of highways, drainage, footpaths, public transport, and street cleaning. They are involved in the management of the Community Sports Development Centre at the Blue School, the skateboard park and allotments in the grounds of the Bishop's Palace, Burcott Road and Barnes Close. Conservation matters (including trees and listed buildings) and environmental issues are also the responsibility of the council.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: Wells Town Hall was built in 1778, with the porch and arcade being added in 1861 and the balcony and round windows in 1932. It is a Grade II listed building. It replaced the former on the site of the Market and Assize Hall in the Market Place, and a Canonical House also known as 'The Exchequer', on the authority of an Act of Parliament dated 1779. The building also houses the magistrates courts and other offices. The Assize court last sat here in October 1970.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: Wells elects five councillors to Mendip District Council from the same three wards as are used for the City Council (two are returned from St Cuthbert's, two from St Thomas' and one from Central). The Mendip district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 and the district council is responsible for local planning and building control, local roads, council housing, environmental health, markets and fairs, refuse collection and recycling, cemeteries and crematoria, leisure services, parks, and tourism.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: Wells is an electoral division (with the same boundaries as the civil parish) of Somerset and returns one councillor to Somerset County Council, which is responsible for running the largest and most expensive local services such as education, social services, libraries, main roads, public transport, policing and fire services, trading standards, waste disposal and strategic planning. Wells is part of the UK Parliament constituency of Wells. Since 2015 the Member of Parliament for Wells is James Heappey of the Conservatives.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: The Wells city arms show an ash tree surrounded by three water wells, crested with a gold mural crown, with the Latin motto "Hoc fonte derivata copia" (translated: "the fullness that springs from this well").


title: Wells, Somerset

text: The council formalised twinning links with Paray-le-Monial, France, and Bad Dürkheim, Germany in 1979, then added Fontanellato, Italy in 1983; the Wells Twinning Association and the Mayor of Wells organise the twinning activities.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: , Mary Bignal-Rand, Danny Nightingale, The Rifles and the late Harry Patch have the Freedom of the City. The Somerset Light Infantry received the freedom of the City of Wells following their return from Cyprus in 1956.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: As the seat of an ancient cathedral and diocese, Wells is historically regarded as a city. City status was most recently confirmed by Queen Elizabeth II by letters patent dated 1 April 1974, which granted city status specifically to the civil parish. As the designation is typically awarded to a local council area, this administrative area is then considered to be the formal boundary of the city, including its urban and rural extents. Wells, due to its urban area and wider parish sizes, is near-smallest city on several measures based on 2011 statistics:


title: Wells, Somerset

text: Wells lies at the foot of the southern escarpment of the Mendip Hills where they meet the Somerset Levels. The hills are largely made of carboniferous limestone, which is quarried at several nearby sites. In the 1960s, the tallest mast in the region, the Mendip UHF television transmitter, was installed on Pen Hill above Wells, approximately from the centre of the city.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: Streams passing through caves on the Mendip Hills, including Thrupe Lane Swallet and Viaduct Sink (approximately east of the city), emerge at Saint Andrew's Well in the garden of the Bishop's Palace, from where the water fills the moat around the Palace and then flows into Keward Brook, which carries it for approximately a mile west to the point where the brook joins the River Sheppey in the village of Coxley.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: Along with the rest of South West England, the Mendip Hills have a temperate climate which is generally wetter and milder than the rest of England. The annual mean temperature is about 10 °C (50 °F) with seasonal and diurnal variations, but due to the modifying effect of the sea, the range is less than in most other parts of the United Kingdom. January is the coldest month with mean minimum temperatures between 1 °C (34 °F) and 2 °C (36 °F). July and August are the warmest months in the region with mean daily maxima around 21 °C (70 °F). In general, December is the dullest month and June the sunniest. The south west of England enjoys a favoured location, particularly in summer, when the Azores High extends its influence north-eastwards towards the UK.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: Cloud often forms inland, especially near hills, and reduces exposure to sunshine. The average annual sunshine totals around 1600 hours. Rainfall tends to be associated with Atlantic depressions or with convection. In summer, convection caused by solar surface heating sometimes forms shower clouds and a large proportion of the annual precipitation falls from showers and thunderstorms at this time of year. Average rainfall is around 800–900 mm (31–35 in). About 8–15 days of snowfall is typical. November to March have the highest mean wind speeds, with June to August having the lightest. The predominant wind direction is from the south west.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: The population of the civil parish, recorded in the 2011 census, was 10,536. Of this number 97.5% are ethnically White (with the more specific White British category recorded at 93.5%) and 66.5% described themselves as Christian. The mean average age in 2011 was 41.9 years (the median age being 43). The population recorded for the Wells civil parish in the 2001 census was 10,406.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: Following construction of the A39/A371 bypass, the centre of the city has returned to being that of a quiet market town. It has all the modern conveniences plus shops, hotels and restaurants. Wells is a popular tourist destination, due to its historical sites, its proximity to Bath, Stonehenge and Glastonbury and its closeness to the Somerset coast. Also nearby are Wookey Hole Caves, the Mendip Hills and the Somerset Levels. Somerset cheese, including Cheddar, is made locally. Wells is part of the Wells and Shepton Mallet travel to work area which also includes Glastonbury, Cheddar and surrounding areas.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: The historic part of the city has often been used for filming both documentaries and many period films and television series, including some with very large productions. Recent examples (2014 to 2017) include filming for Series 2 of Poldark (2015 TV series), Dunkirk, Another Mother's Son, Broadchurch, The Levelling, Mum's List and The White Princess (miniseries). In addition to Wells Cathedral, the Bishop's Palace, Wells is particularly popular among productions, with filming at the latter conducted (in 2015–2016) for , Galavant, Terry and Mason's The Great British Food Trip, Escape to the Country and Holiday of My Lifetime, in addition to The White Princess (miniseries).


title: Wells, Somerset

text: Wells is situated at the junction of three numbered routes. The A39 goes north-east to Bath and south-west to Glastonbury and Bridgwater. The A371 goes north-west to Cheddar and Weston-super-Mare, and east to Shepton Mallet. The B3139 goes west to Highbridge, and north-east to Radstock and Trowbridge. The nearest motorway connections are at junction 23 on the M5 via the A39 and at junction 19 of the M4 via the A39, A37 and M32.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: Wells is served by First West of England bus services to Bristol and Bristol Temple Meads station, Bath, Frome, Shepton Mallet, Yeovil, Street and Weston-super-Mare, as well as providing some local service. It is served by Berrys Coaches daily Superfast service to and from London. The bus station is in Princes Road. The Mendip Way and Monarch's Way long-distance footpaths pass through the city, as does National Cycle Route 3.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: Wells had two stations which were closed by the Beeching Axe in the 1960s: Wells (Tucker Street) railway station and Wells (Priory Road) railway station. The nearest railway line today is the East Somerset Railway.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: The Blue School, founded in 1641, is a state coeducational comprehensive school and has been awarded Specialist science college status. It has 1,641 students aged 11–18 of both sexes and all ability levels.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: Wells Cathedral School, founded in 909, is an independent school that has a Christian emphasis and is one of the five established musical schools for school-age children in Britain. The school teaches over 700 pupils between the ages of 3 and 18. The school's boarding houses line the northern parts of the city and the music school retains close links with Wells Cathedral. The primary schools in Wells are Stoberry Park School, St Cuthbert's Church of England Infants School, St Cuthbert's Church of England Junior School and St Joseph and St Teresa Catholic Primary School.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: Wells and Mendip Museum includes many historical artefacts from the city and surrounding Mendip Hills. Wells is part of the West Country Carnival circuit.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: Wells Film Centre shows current releases and, in conjunction with the Wells Film Society shows less well known and historical films. The previous cinema, The Regal in Priory Road, closed in 1993 and is now Kudos Nightclub. It was built in 1935 by ES Roberts from Flemish bond brickwork with Art Deco features. It is a Grade II listed building, and was on the Buildings at Risk Register until its restoration which included the restoration and repair of the stained glass façade. Wells Little Theatre is operated by a voluntary society which started in 1902. In 1969 they took over the old boy's building of Wells Blue School, where they put on a variety of operatic and other productions.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: Milton Lodge is a house overlooking the city. It has a terraced garden, which was laid out in the early 20th century, is listed as Grade II on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: A walled precinct, the Liberty of St Andrew, encloses the twelfth century Cathedral, the Bishop's Palace, Vicar's Close and the residences of the clergy who serve the cathedral. Entrances include the Penniless Porch, The Bishop's Eye and Brown's Gatehouse which were all built around 1450.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: The Church of St Cuthbert has a Somerset stone tower and a carved roof. Originally an Early English building (13th century), it was much altered in the Perpendicular period. The nave's coloured ceiling was repainted in 1963 at the instigation of the then Vicar's wife, Mrs Barnett. Until 1561 the church had a central tower which either collapsed or was removed, and has been replaced with the current tower over the west door. Bells were cast for the tower by Roger Purdy.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: The polychromatic stone Church of St Thomas was built during 1856 and 1857 and extended by Samuel Sanders Teulon in 1864, commemorating the work of Richard Jenkyns the Dean of Wells who had cared for the poor in the east of the city.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: The cathedral is the seat of the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells. Wells has been an ecclesiastical city of importance since at least the early 8th century. Parts of the building date back to the tenth century, and it is a grade I listed building. It is known for its fine fan vaulted ceilings, Lady Chapel and windows, and the scissor arches which support the central tower. The west front is said to be the finest collection of statuary in Europe, retaining almost 300 of its original medieval statues, carved from the cathedral's warm, yellow Doulting stone. The Chapter House, at the top of a flight of stone stairs, leading out from the north transept is an octagonal building with a fan-vaulted ceiling. It is here that the business of running the cathedral is still conducted by the members of the Chapter, the cathedral's ruling body. Wells Cathedral clock is famous for its 24-hour astronomical dial and set of jousting knights that perform every quarter-hour. The cathedral has the heaviest ring of ten bells in the world. The tenor bell weighs just over 56 CWT (6,272 lb, 2,844 kg).


title: Wells, Somerset

text: The Vicars' Close is the oldest residential street in Europe. The Close is tapered by to make it look longer when viewed from the bottom. When viewed from the top, however, it looks shorter. The Old Deanery dates from the 12th century, and St John's Priory from the 14th. The street is owned by Wells Cathedral.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: The Bishop's Palace has been the home of the bishops of the Diocese of Bath and Wells for 800 years. The hall and chapel date from the 14th century. There are of gardens including the springs from which the city takes its name. Visitors can also see the Bishop's private chapel, ruined great hall and the gatehouse with portcullis and drawbridge beside which mute swans ring a bell for food. The Bishop's Barn was built in the 15th century.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: The city has two football clubs, one being Wells City F.C., past winners of the Western League. Belrose FC play their football in the Mid-Somerset Football League at Haybridge Park. Wells Cricket Club runs eight sides across senior, junior and women's cricket; they are based at South Horrington. Wells Wanderers Cricket Club are based in Meare. Rowdens Road Cricket Ground was a first-class venue. No longer a cricket ground, it is now occupied in part by Wells FC.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: Mid-Somerset Hockey Club and Wells City Acorns Hockey Club both play on the Astroturf pitches at the Blue School, where several other sports clubs are based. Wells Leisure Centre has a swimming pool, gymnasium, sports hall, sauna, steam room, relaxation area and solarium. The 18-hole Wells Golf Club is on the outskirts of the city and also has a 24-bay driving range with optional grass tees.


title: Wells, Somerset

text: Elizabeth Goudge used Wells as a basis for the fictional cathedral city of Torminster, in her book "A City of Bells".


title: Wells, Somerset

text: Wells has been used as the setting for several films including: "The Canterbury Tales" (1973), "A Fistful of Fingers" (1994), "The Gathering " (2003), "The Libertine" (2004), "" (2007), and "Hot Fuzz" (2007, as Sandford). The cathedral interior stood in for Southwark Cathedral during filming for the "Doctor Who" episode "The Lazarus Experiment", and was also used as an interior location in the film "Jack the Giant Slayer" (2013), and in 2017 for the film Hellboy. In 2017 the market square and town hall was used for production of the BBC series Poldark.


title: Junot Díaz

text: Junot Díaz (; born December 31, 1968) is a Dominican-American writer, creative writing professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and was fiction editor at "Boston Review". He also serves on the board of advisers for Freedom University, a volunteer organization in Georgia that provides post-secondary instruction to undocumented immigrants. Central to Díaz's work is the immigrant experience, particularly the Latino immigrant experience.


title: Junot Díaz

text: Born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Díaz immigrated with his family to New Jersey when he was six years old. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Rutgers University, and shortly after graduating created the character "Yunior", who served as narrator of several of his later books. After obtaining his MFA from Cornell University, Díaz published his first book, the 1995 short story collection "Drown".


title: Junot Díaz

text: Diaz received the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao", and received a MacArthur Fellowship "Genius Grant" in 2012.


title: Junot Díaz

text: Díaz was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He was the third child among seven siblings. Throughout most of his early childhood, he lived with his mother and grandparents while his father worked in the United States. In December 1974 he immigrated to Parlin, New Jersey, where he was re-united with his father. There he lived less than a mile from what he has described as "one of the largest landfills in New Jersey".


title: Junot Díaz

text: Díaz attended Madison Park Elementary and was a voracious reader, often walking four miles in order to borrow books from his public library. At this time Díaz became fascinated with apocalyptic films and books, especially the work of John Christopher, the original "Planet of the Apes" films, and the BBC mini-series "Edge of Darkness". Growing up Diaz struggled greatly with learning the English language. He comments that it "was a miserable experience" for him, especially since it seemed that all of his other siblings "acquired the language in a matter of months; in some ways it felt overnight". As his school took notice Diaz's family was contacted and he soon was placed in special education to provide him with more resources and opportunities to learn the language.


title: Junot Díaz

text: Díaz graduated from Cedar Ridge High School in 1987 (now called Old Bridge High School) in Old Bridge Township, New Jersey, though he would not begin to write formally until years later.


title: Junot Díaz

text: Díaz attended Kean College in Union, New Jersey, for one year before transferring and ultimately completing his BA at Rutgers University-New Brunswick in 1992, majoring in English; there he was involved in Demarest Hall, a creative-writing, living-learning, residence hall, and in various student organizations. He was exposed to the authors who would motivate him to become a writer: Toni Morrison and Sandra Cisneros. He worked his way through college by delivering pool tables, washing dishes, pumping gas, and working at Raritan River Steel. During an interview conducted in 2010, Díaz reflected on his experience growing up in America and working his way through college:


title: Junot Díaz

text: A pervasive theme in his short story collection "Drown" (1996) is the absence of a father, which reflects Diaz's strained relationship with his own father, with whom he no longer keeps in contact. When Diaz once published an article in a Dominican newspaper condemning the country's treatment of Haitians, his father wrote a letter to the editor saying that the writer of the article should "go back home to Haiti".


title: Junot Díaz

text: After graduating from Rutgers, Díaz worked at Rutgers University Press as an editorial assistant. At this time he also first created the quasi-autobiographical character of Yunior in a story Díaz used as part of his application for his MFA program in the early 1990s. The character would become important to much of his later work including "Drown" and "This Is How You Lose Her" (2012). Yunior would become central to much of Diaz's work, Diaz later explaining how "My idea, ever since "Drown", was to write six or seven books about him that would form one big novel". Díaz earned his MFA from Cornell University in 1995, where he wrote most of his first collection of short stories.


title: Junot Díaz

text: Díaz teaches creative writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as the Rudge and Nancy Allen Professor of Writing and was the fiction editor for "Boston Review". He is active in the Dominican American community and is a founding member of the Voices of Our Nation Arts Foundation, which focuses on writers of color. He was a Millet Writing Fellow at Wesleyan University, in 2009, and participated in Wesleyan's Distinguished Writers Series.


title: Junot Díaz

text: Díaz's short fiction has appeared in "The New Yorker" magazine, which listed him as one of the 20 top writers for the 21st century. He has been published in "Story", "The Paris Review", "Enkare Review" and in the anthologies "The Best American Short Stories" five times (1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2013), The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories (2009), and "African Voices". He is best known for his two major works: the short story collection "Drown" (1996) and the novel "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" (2007). Both were published to critical acclaim and he won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for the latter. Diaz himself has described his writing style as "a disobedient child of New Jersey and the Dominican Republic if that can be possibly imagined with way too much education".


title: Junot Díaz

text: Díaz has received a [Eugene McDermott] Award, a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, a Lila Wallace Reader's Digest Writers Award, the 2002 PEN/Malamud Award, the 2003 US-Japan Creative Artist Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, a fellowship at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University and the Rome Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He was selected as one of the 39 most important Latin American writers under the age of 39 by the Bogotá World Book Capital and the Hay Festival.


title: Junot Díaz

text: The stories in "Drown" focus on the teenage narrator's impoverished, fatherless youth in the Dominican Republic and his struggle adapting to his new life in New Jersey. Reviews were generally strong but not without complaints. Díaz read twice for PRI's "This American Life": "Edison, New Jersey" in 1997 and "How to Date a Brown Girl (Black Girl, White Girl, or Halfie)" in 1998. Díaz also published a Spanish translation of' "Drown", entitled "Negocios". The arrival of his novel ("The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao") in 2007 prompted a noticeable re-appraisal of Díaz's earlier work. "Drown" became widely recognized as an important landmark in contemporary literature—ten years after its initial publication—even by critics who had either entirely ignored the book or had given it poor reviews.


title: Junot Díaz

text: "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" was published in September 2007. "New York Times" critic Michiko Kakutani characterized Díaz's writing in the novel as "a sort of streetwise brand of Spanglish that even the most monolingual reader can easily inhale: lots of flash words and razzle-dazzle talk, lots of body language on the sentences, lots of David Foster Wallace-esque footnotes and asides. And he conjures with seemingly effortless aplomb the two worlds his characters inhabit: the Dominican Republic, the ghost-haunted motherland that shapes their nightmares and their dreams; and America (a.k.a. New Jersey), the land of freedom and hope and not-so-shiny possibilities that they've fled to as part of the great Dominican diaspora. Díaz said about the protagonist of the novel, "Oscar was a composite of all the nerds that I grew up with who didn't have that special reservoir of masculine privilege. Oscar was who I would have been if it had not been for my father or my brother or my own willingness to fight or my own inability to fit into any category easily." He has said that he sees a meaningful and fitting connection between the science fiction and/or epic literary genres and the multi-faceted immigrant experience.


title: Junot Díaz

text: Writing for "Time", critic Lev Grossman said that Díaz's novel was "so astoundingly great that in a fall crowded with heavyweights—Richard Russo, Philip Roth—Díaz is a good bet to run away with the field. You could call "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" ... the saga of an immigrant family, but that wouldn't really be fair. It's an immigrant-family saga for people who don't read immigrant-family sagas." In September 2007, Miramax acquired the rights for a film adaptation of "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao".


title: Junot Díaz

text: In addition to the Pulitzer, "The Brief Wondrous life of Oscar Wao" was awarded the John Sargent Sr. First Novel Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award for Best Novel of 2007 the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards, the 2008 Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Fiction, the 2008 Hurston-Wright Legacy Award, and the Massachusetts Book Awards Fiction Award in 2007. Díaz also won the James Beard Foundation's MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award for his article "He'll Take El Alto", which appeared in "Gourmet", September 2007. The novel was also selected by "Time" and "New York Magazine" as the best novel of 2007. The "St. Louis Post-Dispatch", "Los Angeles Times", "Village Voice", "Christian Science Monitor", "New Statesman", "Washington Post", and "Publishers Weekly" were among the 35 publications that placed the novel on their 'Best of 2007' lists. The novel was the subject of a panel at the 2008 Modern Language Association conference in San Francisco. Stanford University dedicated a symposium to Junot Díaz in 2012, with roundtables of leading US Latino/a Studies scholars commenting on his creative writing and activism.


title: Junot Díaz

text: In February 2010, Díaz's contributions toward encouraging fellow writers were recognized when he was awarded the Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award, alongside Maxine Hong Kingston and poet M.L. Liebler.


title: Junot Díaz

text: In September 2012, he released a collection of short stories entitled "This Is How You Lose Her". The collection was named a finalist for the 2012 National Book Award on October 10, 2012. In his review of the book on online arts and culture journal "Frontier Psychiatrist", Editor-In-Chief Keith Meatto wrote, "While "This is How You Lose Her" will surely advance Diaz's literary career, it may complicate his love life. For the reader, the collection raises the obvious question of what you would do if your lover cheated on you, and implies two no less challenging questions: How do you find love and how do you make it last?"


title: Junot Díaz

text: One reviewer wrote, "The stories in "This Is How You Lose Her", by turns hilarious and devastating, raucous and tender, lay bare the infinite longing and inevitable weaknesses of our all-too-human hearts. They capture the heat of new passion, the recklessness with which we betray what we most treasure, and the torture we go through – "the begging, the crawling over glass, the crying" – to try to mend what we've broken beyond repair. They recall the echoes that intimacy leaves behind, even where we thought we did not care ... Most of all, these stories remind us that the habit of passion always triumphs over experience, and that "love, when it hits us for real, has a half-life of forever".


title: Junot Díaz

text: In 2012, Diaz received a $500,000 MacArthur "Genius grant" award. He said "I think I was speechless for two days" and called it "stupendous" and a "mind-blowing honor".


title: Junot Díaz

text: After "Oscar Wao", Diaz began work on a second novel, a science-fiction epic with the working title "Monstro". Diaz had previously attempted to write a science fiction novel twice prior to "Oscar Wao", with earlier efforts in the genre ""Shadow of the Adept", a far-future novel in the vein of Gene Wolfe's "The Shadow of the Torturer", and "Dark America", an Akira-inspired post-apocalyptic nightmare" remaining incomplete and unpublished. Part of the appeal of science fiction to Diaz, he explained in an interview with Wired, is that science fiction grapples with the idea of power in a manner other genres do not: "I didn't see mainstream, literary, realistic fiction talking about power, talking about dictatorship, talking about the consequences of breeding people, which of course is something that in the Caribbean is never far away." In an interview with "New York Magazine" prior to the release of "This Is How You Lose Her", Diaz revealed that the work-in-progress novel concerns "a 14-year-old 'Dominican York' girl who saves the planet from a full-blown apocalypse". but he also warned that the novel may never be completed: "I'm only at the first part of the novel, so I haven't really gotten down to the eating," he says, "and I've got to eat a couple cities before I think the thing will really get going." As of June 2015, the novel-in-progress appears to be abandoned – in a June 2015 interview for "Words on a Wire", when asked about his progress on "Monstro", Diaz said "Yeah, I'm not writing that book anymore ..."


title: Junot Díaz

text: Diaz's first children's book, "Islandborn", was published March 13, 2018. The story follows an Afro-Latina girl named Lola whose journey takes her back to collect memories of her country of origin, Dominican Republic.


title: Junot Díaz

text: With regard to his own writing, Diaz has said: "There are two types of writers: those who write for other writers, and those who write for readers," and that he prefers to keep his readers in mind when writing, as they'll be more likely to gloss over his mistakes and act as willing participants in a story, rather than actively looking to criticize his writing.


title: Junot Díaz

text: A poll of US critics in January 2015 named Díaz's "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" as "the best novel of the 21st century to date". In February 2017, Diaz was formally inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters.


title: Junot Díaz

text: Díaz has been active in a number of community organizations in New York City, from Pro-Libertad, to the Communist Dominican Workers' Party (Partido de los Trabajadores Dominicanos), and the Unión de Jóvenes Dominicanos ("Dominican Youth Union"). He has been critical of immigration policy in the United States. With fellow author Edwidge Danticat, Díaz published an op-ed piece in "The New York Times" condemning the Dominican government's deportation of Haitians and Haitian Dominicans.


title: Junot Díaz

text: In response to Díaz's criticism, the Consul General of the Dominican Republic in New York called Díaz an "anti-Dominican" and revoked the Order of Merit he had been awarded by the Dominican Republic in 2009.


title: Junot Díaz

text: On May 22, 2010, it was announced that Díaz had been selected to sit on the 20-member Pulitzer Prize board of jurors. Díaz described his appointment, and the fact that he is the first of Latin background to be appointed to the panel, as an "extraordinary honor".


title: Junot Díaz

text: , he is the honorary chairman of the DREAM Project, a non-profit education involvement program in the Dominican Republic.


title: Junot Díaz

text: In May 2018, the author Zinzi Clemmons publicly confronted Díaz, alleging that he had once forcibly cornered and kissed her. Other women, including the writers Carmen Maria Machado and Monica Byrne, responded on Twitter with their own accounts of verbal abuse by Díaz. The author Alisa Valdes wrote a blog post alleging "misogynistic abuse" on the part of Díaz some years prior; she said that she had been rebuked for attacking a fellow Latino author when she had called attention to Díaz's behavior in the past.


title: Junot Díaz

text: Literary and feminist circles were divided between supporters of Díaz and his accusers. The issue of how sexual-harassment claims might be handled differently depending on the race or ethnicity of the accused provoked particular controversy. Several weeks before Clemmons made her allegations, Díaz had published an essay in "The New Yorker", recounting his own experience of being raped at the age of eight, along with its effect on his later life and relationships. He addressed the essay to a reader who had once asked him if he had been abused, writing that the childhood abuse he experienced led him to hurt others in later life. While the essay was widely praised as honest and courageous, others accused Díaz of trying to defuse allegations about his own behavior.


title: Junot Díaz

text: The author Rebecca Walker along with a group of academics, including educators from Harvard and Stanford universities, protested the media response to the accusations in an open letter to "The Chronicle of Higher Education", saying it amounted to "a full-blown media-harassment campaign." While not dismissing the allegations, they cautioned against an "uncritical" and "sensationalist" handling of the issue that they said could reinforce stereotypes of blacks and Latinos as sexual predators. Linda Martín Alcoff, a professor of philosophy at Hunter College, wrote an essay in "The New York Times" placing allegations of sexual assault such as those against Díaz within a larger political context, writing of the need "to develop critiques of the conventions of sexual behavior that produce systemic sexual abuse".


title: Junot Díaz

text: MIT, where Díaz teaches creative writing, later announced that their investigation had not revealed any evidence of wrongdoing. The editors of "Boston Review" also announced that Díaz would stay on at the magazine, writing that the allegations lacked "the kind of severity that animated the #MeToo movement". Both decisions were criticized; the magazine's poetry editors resigned in protest.


title: Junot Díaz

text: Following an initial statement where he wrote of taking "responsibility for my past", Díaz later denied having inappropriately kissed Clemmons; he stated that "people had already moved on to the punishment phase" and that he doubted his denial would be believed at first. "The Boston Globe" later described the case as a "turning point" in public response to the Me Too movement, largely because Díaz faced less institutional backlash than other prominent male figures who had been accused of sexual misconduct and "the deluge of #MeToo stories his accusers predicted" did not materialize. Díaz voluntarily resigned as chair of the Pulitzer Prize board soon after the allegations were made public. After a five-month review by an independent law firm, the board announced it "did not find evidence warranting removal of Professor Diaz".


title: Junot Díaz

text: The Bulwark highlighted that "One of the accusations of verbal abuse, from novelist Carmen Maria Machado, fell apart after the release of an audio recording which showed that Díaz’s perfectly civil, if slightly exasperated, response to Machado’s hostile question was nothing like the terrifyingly aggressive rant she described."


title: Altar

text: An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paganism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, modern paganism, and in certain Islamic communities around Caucasia and Asia Minor. Many historical-medieval faiths also made use of them, including the Roman, Greek, and Norse religions.


title: Altar

text: The modern English word "altar" was derived from Middle English "altar", from Old English "alter", taken from Latin "altare" ("altar"), probably related to "adolere" ("burn"); thus "burning place", influenced by "altus" ("high"). It displaced the native Old English word "wēofod".


title: Altar

text: Altars in the Hebrew Bible were typically made of earth or unwrought stone. Altars were generally erected in conspicuous places. The first altar recorded in the Hebrew Bible is that erected by Noah. Altars were erected by Abraham, by Isaac, by Jacob, and by Moses.


title: Altar

text: After the theophany on Mount Sinai, in the Tabernacle—and afterwards in the Temple—only two altars were used: The Altar of Burnt Offering, and the Altar of Incense, both near where the Ark of the Covenant was located.


title: Altar

text: The remains of three rock-hewn altars were discovered in the Land of Israel: one below Tel Zorah, another at the foot of Sebastia (ancient Samaria), and a third near Shiloh.


title: Altar

text: The word "altar", in Greek ("see":), appears twenty-four times in the New Testament. In Catholic and Orthodox Christian theology, the Eucharist is a re-presentation, in the literal sense of the one sacrifice of Christ on the cross being made "present again". Hence, the table upon which the Eucharist is consecrated is called an altar.


title: Altar

text: The altar plays a central role in the celebration of the Eucharist, which takes place at the altar on which the bread and the wine for consecration are placed. Altars occupy a prominent place in most Christian churches, both Eastern and Western branches. Commonly among these churches, altars are placed for permanent use within designated places of communal worship (often called "sanctuaries"). Less often, though nonetheless notable, altars are set in spaces occupied less regularly, such as outdoors in nature, in cemeteries, in mausoleums/crypts, and family dwellings. Personal altars are those placed in a private bedroom, closet, or other space usually occupied by one person. They are used for practices of piety intended for one person (often referred to as a "private devotion"). They are also found in a minority of Protestant worship places; in Reformed and Anabaptist churches, a table, often called a "Communion table", serves an analogous function.


title: Altar

text: The area around the altar is seen as endowed with greater holiness, and is usually physically distinguished from the rest of the church, whether by a permanent structure such as an iconostasis, a rood screen, altar rails, a curtain that can be closed at more solemn moments of the liturgy (as in the Armenian Apostolic Church and Armenian Catholic Church), or simply by the general architectural layout. The altar is often on a higher elevation than the rest of the church.


title: Altar

text: Churches generally have a single altar, although in the Western branches of Christianity, as a result of the former abandonment of concelebration of Mass, so that priests always celebrated Mass individually, larger churches have had one or more side chapels, each with its own altar. The main altar was also referred to as the "". Since the revival of concelebration in the West, the Roman Missal recommends that in new churches there should be only one altar, "which in the gathering of the faithful will signify the one Christ and the one Eucharist of the Church." This does not exclude altars in distinct side chapels, however, but only separate altars in the main body of the church. But most Western churches of an earlier period, whether Roman Catholic or Anglican, may have a high altar in the main body of the church, with one or more adjoining chapels, each with its own altar, at which the Eucharist may be celebrated on weekdays.


title: Altar

text: Architecturally, there are two types of altars: Those that are attached to the eastern wall of the chancel, and those that are free-standing and can be walked around, for instance when incensing the altar.


title: Altar

text: In the earliest days of the Church, the Eucharist appears to have been celebrated on portable altars set up for the purpose. Some historians hold that, during the persecutions, the Eucharist was celebrated among the tombs in the Catacombs of Rome, using the sarcophagi (see sarcophagus) of martyrs as altars on which to celebrate. Other historians dispute this, but it is thought to be the origin of the tradition of placing relics beneath the altar.


title: Altar

text: When Christianity was legalized under Constantine the Great and Licinius, formal church buildings were built in great numbers, normally with free-standing altars in the middle of the sanctuary, which in all the earliest churches built in Rome was at the west end of the church. "When Christians in fourth-century Rome could first freely begin to build churches, they customarily located the sanctuary towards the west end of the building in imitation of the sanctuary of the Jerusalem Temple. Although in the days of the Jerusalem Temple the High Priest indeed faced east when sacrificing on Yom Kippur, the sanctuary within which he stood was located at the western end of the Temple. The Christian replication of the layout and the orientation of the Jerusalem Temple helped to dramatize the eschatological meaning attached to the sacrificial death of Jesus the High Priest in the Epistle to the Hebrews." The ministers (bishop, priests, deacons, subdeacons, acolytes), celebrated the Eucharist facing east, towards the entrance. Some hold that for the central part of the celebration the congregation faced the same way. After the sixth century the contrary orientation prevailed, with the entrance to the west and the altar at the east end. Then the ministers and congregation all faced east during the whole celebration; and in Western Europe altars began, in the Middle Ages, to be permanently placed against the east wall of the chancel.


title: Altar

text: Most rubrics, even in books of the seventeenth century and later, such as the Pontificale Romanum, continued to envisage the altar as free-standing. The rite of the Dedication of the Church continued to presume that the officiating bishop could circle the altar during the consecration of the church and its altar. Despite this, with the increase in the size and importance of the reredos, most altars were built against the wall or barely separated from it.


title: Altar

text: In almost all cases, the eastward orientation for prayer was maintained, whether the altar was at the west end of the church, as in all the earliest churches in Rome, in which case the priest celebrating Mass faced the congregation and the church entrance, or whether it was at the east end of the church, in which case the priest faced the eastern apse and had his back to the congregation. This diversity was recognized in the rubrics of the Roman Missal from the 1604 typical edition of Pope Clement VIII to the 1962 edition of Pope John XXIII: ""


title: Altar

text: When placed close to a wall or touching it, altars were often surmounted by a reredos or altarpiece. If free-standing, they could be placed, as also in Eastern Christianity, within a ciborium (sometimes called a baldachin).


title: Altar

text: The rules regarding the present-day form of the Roman Rite liturgy declare a free-standing main altar to be "desirable wherever possible". Similarly, in the Anglican Communion, the rubrics of the Book of Common Prayer assumed an altar fixed against the wall, until Prayer Book revision in the twentieth century removed language which assumed any particular form of altar.


title: Altar

text: As well as altars in the structural sense, it became customary in the West to have what in Latin were referred to as (portable altars), more commonly referred to in English as altar stones. When travelling, a priest could take one with him and place it on an ordinary table for saying Mass. They were also inserted into the centre of structural altars especially those made of wood. In that case, it was the altar stone that was considered liturgically to be the altar. The Pontificale Romanum contained a rite for blessing at the same time several of these altar stones. In the East the antimension served and continues to serve the same purpose.


title: Altar

text: The term "movable altar" or "portable altar" is now used of a full-scale structural altar, with or without an inserted altar stone, that can be moved.


title: Altar

text: Movable altars include the free-standing wooden tables without altar stone, placed in the choir away from the east wall, favoured by churches in the Reformed tradition. Altars that not only can be moved but are repeatedly moved are found in low church traditions that do not focus worship on the Eucharist, celebrating it rarely. Both Catholics and Protestants celebrate the Eucharist at such altars outside of churches and chapels, as outdoors or in an auditorium.


title: Altar

text: The Eastern Catholic Churches each follow their own traditions, which in general correspond to those of similar Eastern Orthodox or Oriental Orthodox Churches. All Christian Churches see the altar on which the Eucharist is offered as the "table of the Lord" () mentioned by Saint Paul. The rules indicated here are those of the Latin Church.


title: Altar

text: The Latin Church distinguishes between fixed altars (those attached to the floor) and movable altars (those that can be displaced), and states: "It is desirable that in every church there be a fixed altar, since this more clearly and permanently signifies Christ Jesus, the Living Stone. In other places set aside for sacred celebrations, the altar may be movable."


title: Altar

text: A fixed altar should in general be topped by a slab of natural stone, thus conforming to tradition and to the significance attributed to the altar, but in many places dignified, well-crafted solid wood is permitted; the supports or base of a fixed altar may be of any dignified solid material. A movable altar may be of any noble solid material suitable for liturgical use.


title: Altar

text: This last norm explicitly excludes the practice customary in recent centuries of inserting relics into a specially created cavity within the table of an altar or altar stone. Placing of relics even in the base of a movable altar is also excluded.


title: Altar

text: "In building new churches, it is preferable for a single altar to be erected, one that in the gathering of the faithful will signify the one Christ and the one Eucharist of the Church. In already existing churches, however, when the old altar is so positioned that it makes the people's participation difficult but cannot be moved without damage to artistic value, another fixed altar, skillfully made and properly dedicated, should be erected and the sacred rites celebrated on it alone. In order that the attention of the faithful not be distracted from the new altar the old altar should not be decorated in any special way."


title: Altar

text: The altar, fixed or movable, should as a rule be separate from the wall so as to make it easy to walk around it and to celebrate Mass at it facing the people. It should be positioned so as to be the natural centre of attention of the whole congregation.


title: Altar

text: The altar should be covered by at least one white cloth, and nothing else should be placed upon the altar table other than what is required for the liturgical celebration. Candlesticks and a crucifix, when required, can be either on the altar or near it, and it is desirable that the crucifix remain even outside of liturgical celebrations.


title: Altar

text: A wide variety of altars exist in various Protestant denominations. Some Churches, such as the Lutheran, have altars very similar to Anglican or Catholic ones keeping with their more sacramental understanding of the Lord's Supper. Calvinist churches from Reformed, Baptist, Congregational, and Non-denominational backgrounds instead have a Communion Table adorned with a linen cloth, as well as an open Bible and a pair of candlesticks; it is not referred to as an altar because they do not see Holy Communion as sacrificial in any way. Such a table may be temporary: Moved into place only when there is a Communion Service. Some nondenominational churches have no altar or communion table, even if they retain the practice of the "altar call" that originated in the Methodist Church.


title: Altar

text: Some Methodist and other evangelical churches practice what is referred to as an "altar call", whereby those who wish to make a new spiritual commitment to Jesus Christ are invited to come forward publicly.


title: Altar

text: It is so named because the supplicants, at the end of the sermon, kneel at the altar rails, which are located around the altar within chancel.


title: Altar

text: Those that come forward will often recite a sinner's prayer, which, in evangelical understanding, if truly heart-felt indicates that they are now "saved". They may also be offered religious literature, counselling or other assistance. Many times it is said that those who come forth are going to "be saved". This is a ritual in which the supplicant makes a prayer of penitence (asking for his sins to be forgiven) and faith (called in evangelical Christianity "accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour").


title: Altar

text: Altars in Lutheran churches are often similar to those in Roman Catholic and Anglican churches. Lutherans believe that the altar represents Christ and should only be used to consecrate and distribute the Eucharist. Lutheran altars are commonly made out of granite, but other materials are also used. A crucifix is to be put above the altar. Sometimes relics are also placed around the altar.


title: Altar

text: Altars in the Anglican Communion vary widely. In the Book of Common Prayer, the basis of doctrine and practice for the Church of England, there is no use of the specific word "altar"; the item in question is called the "Lord's Table" or "Holy Table". This remains the official terminology, though common usage may call the communion table an altar.


title: Altar

text: At the time of the Reformation, altars were fixed against the east end of the church, and the priests would celebrate the Mass standing at the front of the altar. Beginning with the rubrics of the Second Prayer Book of Edward VI published in 1552, and through the 1662 "Book of Common Prayer" (which prevailed for almost 300 years and is still in occasional use), the priest is directed to stand "at the north syde of the Table". This was variously interpreted over the years to mean the north side of the front of a fixed communion table, the north end of a fixed table (i.e., facing south), the north side of a free-standing table (presumably facing those intending to receive the Elements who would be sitting in the quire stalls opposite), or at the north end of a free-standing table lengthwise in the chancel, facing a congregation seated in the nave.


title: Altar

text: Often, where a celebrant chose to situate himself was meant to convey his churchmanship (that is, more Reformed or more Catholic). The use of candles or tabernacles was banned by canon law, with the only appointed adornment being a white linen cloth.


title: Altar

text: Beginning with the Oxford Movement in the 19th century, the appearance of Anglican altars took a dramatic turn in many churches. Candles and, in some cases, tabernacles were re‑introduced. In some churches two candles, on each end of the altar, were used; in other cases six—three on either side of a tabernacle, typically surmounted by a crucifix or some other image of Christ.


title: Altar

text: In Anglican practice, conformity to a given standard depends on the ecclesiastical province and/or the liturgical sensibilities of a given parish. In the "Parson's Handbook", an influential manual for priests popular in the early-to-mid-twentieth century, Percy Dearmer recommends that "All altars should be 3 ft. 3 in. high, and "at least" deep enough to take a corporal [the square of linen placed underneath the Communion vessels] 20 in. square, with an inch or two to spare." He also recommends that the altar stand upon three steps for each of the three sacred ministers, and that it be decorated with a silk frontal in the seasonal colour. In some cases, other manuals suggest that a stone be set in the top of wooden altars, in the belief that the custom be maintained of consecrating the bread and wine on a stone surface. In many other Anglican parishes, the custom is considerably less rigorous, especially in those parishes which use free-standing altars. Typically, these altars are made of wood, and may or may not have a solid front, which may or may not be ornamented. In many Anglican parishes, the use of frontals has persisted.


title: Altar

text: When altars are placed away from the wall of the chancel allowing a westward orientation, only two candles are placed on either end of it, since six would obscure the liturgical action, undermining the intent of a westward orientation (i.e., that it be visible to the congregation). In such an arrangement, a tabernacle may stand to one side of or behind the altar, or an aumbry may be used.


title: Altar

text: Sensibilities concerning the sanctity of the altar are widespread in Anglicanism. In some parishes, the notion that the surface of the altar should only be touched by those in holy orders is maintained. In others, there is considerably less strictness about the communion table. Nonetheless, the continued popularity of communion rails in Anglican church construction suggests that a sense of the sanctity of the altar and its surrounding area persists. In most cases, moreover, the practice of allowing only those items that have been blessed to be placed on the altar is maintained (that is, the linen cloth, candles, missal, and the Eucharistic vessels).


title: Altar

text: In Greek the word () can mean an altar of any religion or, in a broader sense, the area surrounding it; that is to say, the entire sanctuary. In an Eastern Orthodox or a Byzantine Rite Eastern Catholic church this sanctuary includes both the area behind the iconostasis, and the soleas (the elevated projection in front of the iconostasis), and the ambo. It is also called the βῆμα (bema). When one enters the sanctuary, one is said to be going into the or . The altar itself in such a church may be referred to as either the "Holy Table" (Greek ) or the "Throne" (chu ).


title: Altar

text: For both Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Eastern Catholics, the Holy Table (altar) is normally free-standing, although in very small sanctuaries it might be placed flush against the back wall for reasons of space. They are typically about one meter high, and although they may be made of stone they are generally built out of wood. The exact dimensions may vary, but it is generally square in plan and in reasonable proportion to the size of the sanctuary. It has five legs: one at each corner plus a central pillar for supporting the relics which are placed in it at its consecration.


title: Altar

text: A plain linen covering (Greek: , Slavonic: ) is bound to the Holy Table with cords; this cover is never removed after the altar is consecrated, and is considered to be the "baptismal garment" of the altar. The linen covering symbolizes the winding sheet in which the body of Christ was wrapped when he was laid in the tomb. Since the altar is never seen uncovered thereafter, the table tends to be constructed more with sturdiness than aesthetics in mind. Above this first cover is a second ornamented altar cloth (), often in a brocade of a liturgical color that may change with the ecclesiastical season. This outer covering usually comes all the way to the floor and represents the glory of God's Throne. In many churches it is the custom for a dust cover to be placed on the Holy Table between services. This is often a simple red cloth, though it may be made of richer stuff. Sometimes it covers only the Gospel Book or the front half of the Holy Table, but it may be large enough to cover the entire Holy Table and everything on it, including candlesticks and the seven-branch candelabra.


title: Altar

text: Atop the altar is the tabernacle (), a miniature shrine sometimes built in the form of a church, inside of which is a small ark containing the reserved sacrament for use in communing the sick. Also kept on the altar is the Gospel Book. Under the Gospel is kept the "antimension", a silken cloth imprinted with an icon of Christ being prepared for burial, which has a relic sewn into it and bears the signature of the bishop. Another, simpler cloth, the , is wrapped around the antimension to protect it, and symbolizes the "napkin" that was tied around the face of Jesus when he was laid in the tomb (forming a companion to the ). The Divine Liturgy must be served on an antimension even if the altar has been consecrated and contains relics. When not in use, the antimension is left in place in the center of the Holy Table and is not removed except for necessity.


title: Altar

text: and nothing which is not itself consecrated or an object of veneration should be placed on it. Objects may also be placed on the altar as part of the process for setting them aside for sacred use. For example, icons are usually blessed by laying them on the Holy Table for a period of time or for a certain number of Divine Liturgies before sprinkling them with holy water, and placing them where they will be venerated. The Epitaphios on Good Friday, and the Cross on the Feasts of the Cross, are also placed on the Holy Table before they are taken to the center of the church to be venerated by the faithful.


title: Altar

text: In place of the outer covering, some altars have a permanent solid cover which may be highly ornamented, richly carved, or even plated in precious metals. A smaller brocade cover is used on top of this if it is desired that the altar decoration reflect the liturgical season.


title: Altar

text: The Holy Table is used as the place of offering in the celebration of the Eucharist, where bread and wine are offered to God the Father and the Holy Spirit is invoked to make his Son Jesus Christ present in the Gifts. It is also the place where the presiding clergy stand at any service, even where no Eucharist is being celebrated and no offering is made other than prayer. When the priest reads the Gospel during Matins (or All-Night Vigil) on Sunday, he reads it standing in front of the Holy Table, because it represents the Tomb of Christ, and the Gospel lessons for Sunday Matins are always one of the Resurrection appearances of Jesus.


title: Altar

text: On the northern side of the sanctuary stands another, smaller altar, known as the Table of Oblation ( or ) at which the Liturgy of Preparation takes place. On it the bread and wine are prepared before the Divine Liturgy. The Prothesis symbolizes the cave of Bethlehem and also the Anointing Stone at which the Body of Christ was prepared after the Deposition from the Cross. The Table of Oblation is also blessed, sprinkled with holy water and vested at the consecration of a church, but there are no relics placed in it. Nothing other than the sacred vessels, veils, etc. which are used in the Liturgy of Preparation may be placed on the Table of Oblation. The Epitaphios and Cross are also placed on the Table of Oblation before the priest and deacon solemnly transfer them to the Holy Table. In addition to the higher clergy, subdeacons are permitted to touch the Table of Oblation, but no one of lesser rank may do so. The "Table of Oblation" is the place where the deacon will consume the remaining Gifts (Body and Blood of Christ) after the Divine Liturgy and perform the ablutions.


title: Altar

text: The Syriac Maronite Church, along with the other Syriac Churches, has freestanding altars in most cases so the priests and deacons can circumambulate the altar during processions and incensations. Traditionally the Maronite liturgy was offered with the priest and people oriented to the East but because of modern latinizations it is common to find Maronite liturgies offered with the priest facing against the people from the opposite side of the altar, in imitation of modern practices in the Latin Church.


title: Altar

text: In the Armenian Rite the altar is placed against the eastern wall of the church, often in an apse. The shape of the altar is usually rectangular, similar to Latin altars, but is unusual in that it will normally have several steps on top of the table, on which are placed the tabernacle, candles, ceremonial fans, a cross, and the Gospel Book. The altar is often located upon a kind of stage above a row of icons.


title: Altar

text: Altars in the Alexandrian (Coptic Orthodox Church) tradition must have a square face upon which to offer the sacrifice. As the standard Coptic liturgy requires the priest to encircle the altar, it is never attached to any wall. Most Coptic altars are located under a baldachin.


title: Altar

text: In Ethiopian Orthodox Church tradition an icon is placed upon but towards the rear of the altar. It is away from the wall as in the Coptic tradition.


title: Altar

text: Altars of East Syriac Rite are similar in appearance to Armenian altars only they are not placed on a stage.


title: Altar

text: A war altar was a mobile altar on which Mass was celebrated before a battle. The ultimate example is the carroccio of the medieval Italian city states, which was a four-wheeled mobile shrine pulled by oxen and sporting a flagpole and a bell. The carroccio also served as the army standard.


title: Altar

text: Altar stones were used by army chaplains of the Latin Church in the period leading up to the 20th century.


title: Altar

text: In Hinduism, altars generally contain pictures or statues of gods and goddesses. Large, ornate altars are found in Hindu temples while smaller altars are found in homes and sometimes also in Hindu-run shops and restaurants. The word for temple is (), the altar as hypostatised temple.


title: Altar

text: In South Indian temples, often each god will have his or her own shrine, each contained in a miniature house (specifically, a "mandir"). These shrines are often scattered around the temple compound, with the three main ones being in the main area. The statue of the god (murti) is placed on a stone pedestal in the shrine, and one or more lamps are hung in the shrine. There is usually a space to put the puja tray (tray with worship offerings). Directly outside the main shrine there will be a statue of the god's vahana or vehicle. The shrines have curtains hung over the entrances, and wooden doors which are shut when the deities are sleeping. Some South Indian temples have one main altar, with several statues placed upon it.


title: Altar

text: North Indian temples generally have one main altar at the front of the temple room. In some temples, the front of the room is separated with walls and several altars are placed in the alcoves. The statues on the altars are usually in pairs, each god with his consort (Radha-Krishna, Sita-Rama, Shiva-Parvati). However, some gods, such as Ganesha and Hanuman, are placed alone. Ritual items such as flowers or lamps may be placed on the altar.


title: Altar

text: Home shrines can be as simple or as elaborate as the householder can afford. Large, ornate shrines can be purchased in India and countries with large Hindu minorities, like Malaysia and Singapore. They are usually made of wood and have tiled floors for statues to be placed upon. Pictures may be hung on the walls of the shrine. The top of the shrine may have a series of levels, like a gopuram tower on a temple. Each Hindu altar will have at least one oil lamp and may contain a tray with puja equipment as well. Hindus with large houses will set aside one room as their puja room, with the altar at one end of it. Some South Indians also place a shrine with pictures of their departed relatives on the right side of the room, and make offerings to them before making offerings to the gods.


title: Altar

text: Taoist altars are erected to honor traditional deities and the spirits of ancestors. Taoist altars may be erected in temples or in private homes. Strict traditions and different sects describe the items offered and the ritual involved in the temples, but folk custom in the homes is much freer.


title: Altar

text: Imperial dynasties built huge altars called () to perform various offering ceremonies called (). The Temple of Heaven in Beijing is one of those.


title: Altar

text: Nearly all forms of Chinese traditional religion involve ()--bowing towards an altar, with a stick of incense in one's hand. (Some schools prescribe the use of three sticks of incense in the hand at one time.) This may be done at home, or in a temple, or outdoors; by an ordinary person, or a professional (such as a Taoist priest); and the altar may feature any number of deities or ancestral tablets. is usually done in accordance with certain dates of the lunar/solar calendar (see Chinese calendar).