Self-directable acts are such that the subject toward whom they are directed may be identical with the subject of the act (as in cases of self-pity, self-hatred, etc).. Non-self-directable acts, on the other hand, such as forgiving or praying, demand an alien subject.
Now some right-wing religious groups say Jews should be allowed to pray - a demand which causes anger and unease in the Muslim world.
At times the whole book seems to mourn, and to gain its power by mourning, the same dead child: relentless lines pray and shout, demanding answers, but find "waterstained stone cupids" and "the black black earth" instead.
On Wednesday, a coalition of Christian ministers held a rally outside City Hall to pray for him and demand that he be treated with "justice, honor and dignity".
If you read these sentences literally, it really says that any student can demand to pray before or during any school event, and over the P.A. system.
And when she demands, "I pray you sir, lend me your dwarf," she injects the line with the urgency of a lost child's cry for help.
That's just a drop in the bucket in current drought news, and it's enough to make one start wishing (or praying) for clouds on demand.
A map of Haiti, imagined as a crying face with a pair of praying hands, it demanded: "Please Help Us".
For nearly two weeks, as she battled for life, first at a hospital in New Delhi and then in Singapore, hundreds of Indians poured onto the streets in angry protests praying for her demanding justice.
