Saturday, August 31, 2019

Metaphysical Poets Essay

The term metaphysical poets was coined by the poet and critic Samuel Johnson to describe a loose group of British lyric poets of the 17th century, whose work was characterized by the inventive use of conceits, and by speculation about topics such as love or religion. These poets were not formally affiliated; most of them did not even know or read each other (Wikipedia). Their work is a blend of emotion and intellectual ingenuity, characterized by conceit or â€Å"wit†Ã¢â‚¬â€that is, by the sometimes violent yoking together of apparently unconnected ideas and things so that the reader is startled out of his complacency and forced to think through the argument of the poem. Metaphysical poetry is less concerned with expressing feeling than with analyzing it, with the poet exploring the recesses of his consciousness. The boldness of the literary devices used—especially obliquity, irony, and paradox—is often reinforced by a dramatic directness of language and by rhythms derived from that of living speech. Esteem for Metaphysical poetry never stood higher than in the 1930s and ’40s, largely because of T.S. Eliot’s influential essay â€Å"The Metaphysical Poets† (1921), a review of Herbert J.C. Grierson’s anthology Metaphysical Lyrics & Poems of the Seventeenth Century. In this essay Eliot argued that the works of these men embody a fusion of thought and feeling that later poets were unable to achieve because of a â€Å"dissociation of sensibility,† which resulted in works that were either intellectual or emotional but not both at once. In their own time, however, the epithet â€Å"metaphysical† was used pejoratively: in 1630 the Scottish poet William Drummond of Hawthornden objected to those of his contemporaries who attempted to â€Å"abstra ct poetry to metaphysical ideas and scholastic quiddities.† At the end of the century, John Dryden censured Donne for affecting â€Å"the metaphysics† and for perplexing â€Å"the minds of the fair sex with nice speculations of philosophy when he should engage their hearts . . . with the softnesses of love.† Samuel Johnson, in referring to the learning that their poetry displays, also dubbed them â€Å"the metaphysical poets,† and the term has continued in use ever since. Eliot’s adoption of the label as a term of praise is arguably a better guide to his personal aspirations about his own poetry than to the Metaphysical poets themselves; his use of metaphysical underestimates these poets’ debt to lyrical and socially engaged verse. Nonetheless, the term is useful for identifying the often-intellectual character of their writing (Encyclopedia Britannica). Without doubt Samuel Johnson’s choice of the word metaphysical to describe the followers of Donne was directly influenced by these earlier usages (th e Cleveland passage is quoted in Johnson’s Dictionary of 1755 to illustrate the definition of ‘Metaphysicks’). The category of poetry that indulged in metaphysics was a live one for later seventeenth-century poets, but for them metaphysics was a word used to mark the point at which strongly argued verse bordered on self-parody. There is more value than this, however, in the group name. Even in the earlier seventeenth century members of the core group of metaphysical poets were connected by a number of social, familial, and literary ties. Izaak Walton relates that Donne and George Herbert enjoyed ‘a long and dear friendship, made up by such a Sympathy of inclinations, that they coveted and joyed to be in each others Company’ (Walton, 57–8). Donne addressed poems to Herbert’s mother, Magdalen, and preached her funeral sermon, as well as writing a poem to Herbert’s brother, Edward, Lord Herbert. Herbert of Cherbury in turn read both Donne’s poetry and that of his own brother with care, and was a friend of Thomas Carew and Aurelian Townshend. Henry Wotton was the addressee of epistles in both verse and prose from his close friend John Donne, and at one point intended to write a life of Donne. Henry King (whose father ordained John Donne) was in daily contact with Donne at St Paul’s Cathedral, where the older poet was dean while King was chief residentiary. Donne bequeathed to King a portrait of himself dressed in his winding-sheet. Not surprisingly King’s verse is haunted by that of his friend, from whom he received manuscripts, as well as books and themes for sermons. Later in the century there were other close groupings of poets, who, although not linked by direct personal familiarity with Donne and Herbert, were bound to each other by ties of family, friendship, and literary consanguinity. Thomas Stanley was a cousin of Richard Lovelace and the nephew of William Hammond, and became a friend of John Hall, one of the most underrated of the minor metaphysical poets. Cowley was a friend and eventually elegist of Richard Crashaw. Pockets of metaphysicality also survived in several institutions: it cannot be an accident that Henry King, Abraham Cowley, Thomas Randolph, William Cartwright, and John Dryden all attended Westminster School. But by the later seventeenth century the bonds of friendship and affinity that had linked Donne and Herbert were in the main replaced by looser ties of literary indebtedness. Declaratory utterances to imagined or absent addressees who are summoned into being by the force of the speaker’s eloquence are common among poems by members of these networks, as are works that explore the balance and imbalance between the demands of the body and the spirit. Direct attempts to persuade, either through comparisons or through arguments that self-consciously display their logical elisions, are also among the most evident legacies left by Donne to his poetical heirs. No single one of these elements constitutes a metaphysical style, and it would also be wrong to suppose that all of them must be present in a given poem for it to be regarded as belonging to the tradition. It is also incorrect to believe that a poet who sometimes wrote poems in a metaphysical manner was always and in every poem a metaphysical. The metaphysical style was various. It also changed in response to historical events. Donne’s Poems and Herbert’s The Temple were both posthumously printed in 1633. Those publications immediately extended the literary communities of their authors through time and space, and the fact that both volumes were posthumous had a significant effect on the kind of influence they exerted. Donne and Herbert rapidly became models for imitation, but they could also be regarded as ideal representatives of an age that had passed. Imitation of them could therefore become an act not just of nostalgia, but of politically or theologically motivated nostalgia—as occurs most notably and heavy-handedly in the high Anglican pastiches of Herbert included in The Synagogue by Christopher Harvey, which was regularly bound with The Temple after 1640. In the political and ecclesiastical upheavals of the 1640s the metaphysical style moved on. Imitating Herbert in particular could signal a desire to resist the depredations suffered by the English church during the civil war. Richard Crashaw’s Steps to the Temple (1646) explicitly links itself by its title to Herbert’s volume. The editions of 1646 and 1648 include ‘On Mr. G. Herberts Booke’, which declares ‘Divinest love lyes in this booke’. Henry Vaughan’s preface to the second volume of Silex scintillans (1655) ascribes to Herbert’s influence his conversion from writing secular poems, and he marks the debt by adop ting the titles of several poems by Herbert for his own works. By the second part of Silex these allusions to Herbert carried a political charge, intimating Vaughan’s resistant attitude to the forcible ejection of conservatively minded ministers from churches in his native Wales by commissioners acting under the parliamentary ordinance for the propagation of the gospel. The gradual replacement of networks of closely connected individuals by relationships between dead authors and their readers is perhaps a central reason for the emergence of metaphysics (in the pejorative sense) in later seventeenth-century verse. The two later poets stigmatized by Johnson as ‘metaphysical’, Cleveland and Cowley, knew Donne only as a voice in a book. Efforts to reanimate that voice often show signs of strain. But the move from personal to textual connection between members of the group did not always have undesirable consequences. Andrew Marvell, who ever since John Aubrey’s ‘Brief life’ has tended to be regarded as an isolated figure in the literary landscape, has perhaps the most distinctive poetic voice of any member of the group. By describing pastoral figures with wounded or sullied innocence who argue perplexedly about their own fate and the unattainability of their own desires, Marvell transformed the metaphysical style into an idiom appropriate for a period of political division and national crisis. He was not entirely disconnected from its other practitioners: he was at Trinity College, Cambridge, at the same time as Abraham Cowley, and he wrote a commemorative poem for Henry, Lord Hastings, in Lacrymae musarum (1649), a volume that included poems by Dryden as well as John Hall. He and Hall were both among those who composed dedicatory poems for Richard Lovelace’s Lucasta (1648). Like Cleveland, Marvell owed his reputation in the later part of his career largely to his political and satirical poems, but his posthumously published Miscellaneous Poems (1681) shows that a reader of earlier metaphysical verse who actively responded to his changing times could transform the idiom of his predecessors (Oxford Dictionary of National Biography). Works cited Colin Burrow, ‘Metaphysical poets (act. c.1600–c.1690)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, online edn, Oxford University Press, Feb 2009 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/theme/95605, accessed 5 Aug 2012] Encyclopedia Britannica www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/377915/Metaphysical-poet Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphysical_poets

Friday, August 30, 2019

Diversity in the American Classrooms

The classrooms of the schools in the United States of America, especially for the public ones, may be considered as a box of M&M’s or Skittles, where each student is of different ethnic background and comes from a culture different from the rest. The flooding and diversity of cultures in the classrooms may be due to the fact that the American System of Education seeks to educate the most number of people and to provide Western thoughts and theories. In addition to this, the American System of Education has proven its economic value by giving its graduates the edge among the rest.The excellence exuded by the universities and schools and America can be seen by their continuous grip on the top 10 rankings among the universities of the world. Out of the 10 top universities of the world, six are from the United States. These universities are Harvard University (1), Yale University (2), Princeton University (6), University of Chicago (7), California Institute of Technology (7), and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (10) (â€Å"Top 400 Universities†).As said earlier, the economic value placed for the graduates of these universities is higher than the others and this would be a very strong advantage for the American System of Education. The fact that the best education could be found in the US paves the way for a higher quality in terms of human capital. The labor market of the American country is consequently filled with professionals coupled with the decent opportunities created by the economy. Thus, it can be said that the good education and sterling quality for the tertiary education can be a antecedent factor for a good pool of professionals for the firms.This becomes a factor in reducing the poverty rate for the country. The high demand for the American Education puts much pressure to pursue excellence. America is considered as the land of milk and honey by a lot of people (Soriano). In relation to this, the American dream matches the belief tha t America is the land of milk and honey. The American dream is the pursuit of material prosperity and where life is better and richer according to one’s ability (â€Å"What is the American Dream? †). This has led to the influx of migration to the US by families and the subsequent rise for cultural diversity.This cultural diversity provides a huge benefit for several reasons. First, the classroom diversity enhances the classroom experience for both the students and the teachers. Aside from the day-to-day topics that the teacher or professor discusses and the facts presented by the textbook, the diversity in the classroom serves the purpose of learning through experience. One could learn from the various beliefs, traditions, principles, customs, and languages that the other cultures have (Vortemizzi). In a way, it gives the students learn â€Å"extra things† without the stringent requirements of the educational setting.Their daily interaction with the other cultur es and the high frequency of such would create a higher level of exposure for both cultures. Likewise, the teachers also learn to manage the differences in each classroom and learns how to deal with a diverse group of students to become fully aware of an international setting. Second, the diversity of the classrooms in the American Educational System prepares the students for the international arena. When one achieves to excel and think global, interaction and communication with other cultures is inevitable.The primary problem that is often encountered in international communication is with regard to how messages are perceived by the receiver and is sometimes different from what the sender means. According to Habeck et al. , â€Å"although the words are often the same, the meaning and unspoken assumptions can be very different, leading to misunderstanding and confusion† (86). However, with the exposure that the American classrooms bring to the students of different culture, t he problem would be minimized especially if the atmosphere inside the school is accommodating to the various cultures.Likewise, the teachers and the school administrators would be able to prepare for a varied setting and to be able to compete with the dynamic ways of the education sector. This would mean that there would be more chances that the enrollment rate would be higher since leeway is given for the acceptance of other cultures. The recognition of teachers and administrators of the different cultures provides for â€Å"a comfortable learning situation in which to realize their educational goals and accomplishments† (Connors).Third, this kind of setting teaches the students to become aware of how flexibility, tolerance, respect, and acceptance is important for everyone. This is especially true for the case of young children in the pre-school where they are given the opportunities to be able to understand a different color than they have. This makes them prepared for fur ther challenges and also equips them with the value of acceptance and understanding. With this, the friction is reduced especially when one would enter the workplace.The workplace is considered to be a rather dynamic setting where an international labor market is starting to emerge and the need to deal with different cultures is increasing. There is also the claim that with the acceptance and respect for the different cultures, social stability could be preserved and crime and poverty will be prevented (â€Å"Public Education in the United States†). Likewise, my personal experience with regard to interacting with different cultures and becoming aware that my culture is not the lone culture existing today has provided me with the chance to freely accept the whereabouts of a culturally diverse surrounding.This has also kept me more sensitive and aware of the other cultures and has helped me in the dealings and interactions I made with other people. For instance, my English clas s includes cultures of Asians, Middle East, Europeans, and Hispanic. I am able to adapt to this kind of setting for I am able to interact with them daily and understand their ways. With the foregoing discussion, it can be said that one benefit of the American system of education is its capability to accept various cultures and this provides benefits for both the students, the teachers, and the system itself.Works Cited Connors, Jeanne. â€Å"Cultural Diversity in the Classroom: Reaching out to Native American Students. † Setting the Stage: Opening with Influence. Aug. 1996. Habeck, Max, et al. After the Merger: Seven Rules for Successful Post-merger Integration. Great Britain: Prentice Hall, 2000. â€Å"Public Education in the United States. † Microsoft ® Student 2007 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2006. Soriano, Jaime N. The Land of Milk and Honey? 5 June 2005. Manila Times. 23 March 2008 [http://www. manilatimes.net/national/2005/jun/05/yehey/career/200 50605car6. html]. â€Å"Top 400 Universities. † Quacquarelli Symonds. 23 March 2008 [http://www. topuniversities. com/worlduniversityrankings/results/2007/overall_rankings/top_400_universities/]. Vortemizzi, Julius. Diversity in American Schools. 22 March 2007. Stanza Ltd. 23 March 2008 [http://www. quazen. com/News/Opinions/Diversity-in-American-Schools. 19095]. â€Å"What is the American Dream? † 19 December 2002. The Library of Congress. 23 March 2008 [http://lcweb2. loc. gov/learn/lessons/97/dream/thedream. html].

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Career Of Pedro Almodovar Film Studies Essay

Career Of Pedro Almodovar Film Studies Essay Pedro Almodovar is undeniably one of the great film auteur’s of our age, having defined decade’s worth of Spanish national cinema. As stated by Isabel Cadalso â€Å"By the time Franco’s death released Spain’s seething subculture, Almodovar was at the centre of it.† (Cadalso)His combination of witty, flamboyant and daring scripts, brilliant performative actors and the vibrant setting of Spanish culture in Madrid always manage provide an in depth insight into the turbulent lives of his characters. â€Å"Madrid has figured prominently in Pedro Almodovar’s cinema, gradually coming into focus as the implicit protagonist of nearly every work. In these films, the city is regularly images as a cultural force, producing forms of expression and action that challenge traditional values by tearing down and rebuilding the moral institutions of Spanish life: the family, the church and the law.† (D’Lugo)There are always many layers to Almodov ar’s films, particularly in the setting and social context, usually being Madrid. Throughout his career we can see how they have developed with the changing political climate of Spain as well as his maturing age, with his films being particularly different from the 80’s to the 90’s and onwards. Madrid is a metaphorical subtext in his films in many different ways, be it relating to characters, situations they are in or the political climate. As stated in A Punk called Pedro â€Å"Madrid functions as a ‘character’, breaking down boundaries between the public and the private arenas. Madrid provides a framework for the new interactions between social behaviours and ‘becomes the site of a radical series of social desires.† (Toribio) Madrid is a place for Almodovar’s character’s where â€Å"They are able to seek kindred spirits in an atmosphere that†¦ is socially liberating and the impetus for new artistic creativity.† (Toribio) As the city it changes, adapts and explains much of the action that is not in Almodovar’s films. Early in Almodovar’s career, he directed two fantastic, yet very different films; Labyrinth of Passion and Matador. These films were both critically acclaimed and duly noted for their vibrant display of Madrid as setting and as a representation of the new Spanish culture. As written in Pedro Almodovar: A Spanish Perspective during the 1980’s†Spain was experiencing a fascinating period of giddy and radical changes. It was a country thousands of miles away from the distorted portrait Franco had shown to the rest of the world, a portrait that fit only within the hypocritical moral values of a dictatorship.† (Cadalso)It was during this period that Almodovar thrived and these two films were made. â€Å"Madrid is the realistic, almost unaltered decor in which Pepi, Luci, Bom and Labyrinth of Passion were filmed and in which the characters could mo ve more freely, reflecting the experience of a generation of Spaniards, like Almodovar himself, who could only quench their thirst for creativity in the large urban areas: cityscapes in these early films tend to emphasize the concept of physical movement and social mobility underscored the very word, Movida, ‘movement.'† (Toribio) We can see in Labyrinth of Passion the colourful new wave of Spanish culture, so vibrant and different to anything previously known to Spain. A prime example of this is in El Rastro a Sunday street market of Madrid, which â€Å"was an important showcase for all subcultures, but significantly for the movida, because of its unsanctioned and vaguely transgressive status. It was used as a meeting place and some stalls displayed their fanzines, records of emergent punk groups etc. For this reason it is an apt setting for Labyrinth of Passion (1982), especially the opening scene where it becomes Sexilia’s ‘shopping area’ for sex partners.† (Toribio)We see the completely different society to that of what we would have seen under the Francoist regime, there is liberty and freedom, life and passion, which had not been experienced before, culminating in a paradise of difference. As kinder states â€Å"The tortuously complex plot follows the tangled passions of an ensemble of young Madrilà ¨nes trying to escape the crippling influences of repressive fathers in order to pursue their own pleasure.† (Kinder) The subtext of Madrid is telling us how â€Å"†¦The Castilian director unfolded his passions amid a society that had just started to enjoy its own freedom. His uncontrolled and colourful films found a receptive audience in a population that was eager for spontaneity and light, for new stimuli that could again bring joy to the living. The Mediterranean spirit of freedom had been squeezed for four decades, and suddenly there was Almodovar, who dared to show on screen all the passion that previ ously had been politically impossible for Spanish society or its arts to express.† (Cadalso)We see as Sexilia moves through the city how there are many kindred spirits reciprocating the feeling and the buzz, yet there are also occasionally â€Å"non-movida city people, dressed in drab colours and expressionless, provide a background against which Sexilia, in her colourful attire, is distanced from the Spain they conjure up.† (Toribio)This heightens her difference from traditional Spain and the old regime. â€Å"In hiding the city’s shortcomings Almodovar was able to reveal the mood of the country once more as it progressed through the initial euphoria of democracy into disenchantment.† (Toribio) This shows how Maria fits into the Madrid setting and population easily with the new mentality and expressionism present in the place and her peers.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Finance and Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Finance and Management - Essay Example Product cost involves the determination of the cost incurred in the manufacturing of goods or provision of services. Manufacturing organizations, just as Worplestrop Partnership has to determine their products costs for two reasons. First is for decision-making and for the reason of external reporting. In manufacturing their products, Worplestrop Partnership would incur material costs, labor costs and other overhead costs that are associated with the manufacturing of the products (Hansen, Mowen & Guan, 2009). In determining the product cots for decision purposes, an organization will only use relevant costs to arrive at the cost of a product. This form of costing method is referred to as direct costing method. In this case, only the variable costs will be included since they are the ones that can influence the management decisions. Management has control on the costs and can formulate and implement decisions that can reduce the cost elements and increase the returns of the company (B aginski & Hassell, 2003). On the other hand, Worplestrop Partnership has to determine the product costs for the purposes of external reporting. Here product costs are determined to help arrive at the best price to charge for the manufactured products. All the costs that are incurred by the company including the overhead costs and other fixed costs are apportioned in order to charge them on the consumers’ of the manufacturing company’s products. This form of costing is referred to as absorption costing or total costing in which all costs direct and indirect, sunk, and future costs are used in settling at the selling price of the products. Absorption costing has the advantage of considering all the costs incurred by the business since even the fixed costs are incurred for the purposes of manufacturing (2002). Worplestrop Partnership should therefore calculate the product costs using the two approaches for the realization of the two different objectives i.e. management us e and external decisions. for the purpose of setting the product prices, Worplestrop should use absorption costing because it incorporates all the costs incurred by the business hence elaborate. Apart from the two costing methods, Worplestrop partnership could also use the activity based costing method or throughput method. In activity-based method, the organization will charge the overhead costs to the departments depending on the level of activity and the cost drivers. Here, Worplestrop would determine all the activity that increase the costs and determine the factors that increases the costs of the activities. From there, the management will allocate the overhead costs to the centers. This method will make managers control the costs and eliminate the unnecessary activities that do not add value to the business hence increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the business (Hansen, Mowen & Guan, 2009). The method has widely been used by many organizations despite the fact that it is complex. The last accounting method is the throughput method in which the product price is determined by adding only the material costs used in the manufacturing of the products. All the other costs are expensed and are not included in the calculation of the final price. This method is easy to simple to use. However, the method is not recommended by the generally accepted accounting principles and should therefore not be employed. This

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Living Conditions in Kenya Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Living Conditions in Kenya - Essay Example Social justice theory on the other hand develops the principles that govern the social order of a society. Social Justice refers to the ability that people have, for purposes of realizing their potentials, within the society in which they live (Clayton and Williams, 2004). On this basis, there is a need of establishing institutions that would help the society to lead a better and fulfilling life. The principles established by the theory of social justice are, personal and political liberties, equal opportunities, etc. This paper argues that the living conditions in Kenya are poor, and majority of people are unable to get better services because of inefficiency in the manner in which the national government distributes resources to the grassroots level. Before December 2007, Kenya was categorized as one of the success stories in Africa. This is because the country was experiencing a fledging democracy, and an unprecedented economic growth, which was characterized by a booming tourism industry (Williams, 2012). It is important to understand that the population of the country is approximated at 35.5 million people, with approximately 10 million people living in the urban areas (Oppong and Oppong, 2012). The capital city is in Nairobi, with over three million people residing in it. The 2007 elections in Kenya culminated into an electoral violence that was so severe and deadly. This violence shocked the entire world, and this is because Kenya has been regarded as a symbol of peace and stability within a region that was infested with civil wars and armed conflicts. Kenya faces a series of problems, such as corruption, HIV/AIDS, higher standards of living, poverty, malnutrition and hunger, a poor health sector, tribalism, and poor leader ship and governance (Oppong and Oppong, 2012). These mentioned problems are the main causes that make the living conditions in Kenya to be poor and substandard. For instance, it is

Monday, August 26, 2019

Bank Regulations in Europe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Bank Regulations in Europe - Essay Example There are currently many regulatory transitions underway which will have multifaceted effects on how Banks are run in Europe and the ultimate investments they deem as adequate for progressive growth. The controversy surrounding these regulations stems from past success as well as the impact recent recession ratios have imposed on the market. The question this analysis will attempt to address is whether or not these regulations are necessary for European banks to progress in the years to come. Basel II is the second of the Basel Accords. These are recommendations set by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. The point of these laws is to apply some regulation to the worldwide banking system, an international standard by which all banks may abide. These regulations are an attempt to safeguard the Banking Market against many of the risks banks face yearly. They have seen as a safety net for the international banking market in the case that one major bank collapses. The main focus of the regulations is to reduce the amount of risk all banks take on. Through rigorous risk and capital regulations, Basel II is able to ensure that Banks are not able to take on more risk than they have solvency to maintain. Despite the Basel II regulations and their proven success throughout the past years, recent developments in the global economy have pointed to a need for more strict regulations. This can largely be connected to the massive recession that has occurred over the past two ye ars in the global economy. The nature of the European Banking system and its current need for BeselIII regulations is in reaction to the state of the Economy. The CIA World Factbook notes that the United States of America has the largest economy in the globe. "The recent failure in the U.S. housing and credit markets have resulted in a slowdown in the US economy. 2007 GDP growth was estimated at 2.2% but in 2008 it is projected to be just 0.9%, down from the 10-year average of 2.8% (St Labs, p1)." According to the United States Department of Labor, The Unemployment rate as of September 2009 was 9.8%, which is the result of a progressive growth 8.9% in April 2009. The Banks have followed suit with the housing industry as well as many of the corporations gout This effect in the west has impacted the Europes. University of Maryland economist Peter Morici declares "we are in a depression (Shinkle, p1)." He signifies a recession as an economic decline from which an economy can eventually recover but poses that the state the American economy is in today is much worse and can't be resolved with a quick fix. "My feeling is that if (the president) doesn't fix what's structurally broken, what caused this, we'll be back into this after the federal stimulus has had its effect," says Morici (Shinkle, p1). Many different aspects of the American economy have come under fire as the cause of this financial crisis, most infamous of these methods to date are credit default swap contracts and short selling. The very first credit default swap contract was constructed in 1997 by JP Morgan and it is given credit for what initiated the market to balloon up to a $45 trillion value in 2007 (Pinsent, p1).

Mutual Funds Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Mutual Funds - Essay Example Mutual funds are securities that are registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Broadly speaking, they are composed of stocks, bonds, short-term money market instruments, and other securities that function as a means of hedging against possible declines in a security or investment sector. The main understanding is that this diversified approach will provide the investor an option that protects them against market fluctuations, as when one security drops in value, another will increase. A manager or board of directors oversees these funds. The board hires a fund manager and works to ensure that the mutual fund is managed in the intended interest of the shareholders. This essay examines the advantages, disadvantages, and different types of mutual funds. Advantages There are a great variety of advantages to investing in mutual funds. One of the most prominent such aspects is the increased amount of diversification. In terms of portfolio theory, diversification constit utes perhaps the most overarching concept. Essentially diversification is the gathering together of diverse investment securities as a means of guarding against the failure of one specific sector. While it is possible for investors to diversify their portfolio through a widespread purchase of stocks, such a process is both extensive and also contains liquidity issues. In terms of liquidity, most brokerage firms attach a fee to individual trades, such that an individual attempting to withdraw money from a portfolio of diversified stocks would be required to pay a series of fees; mutual funds offer liquidity in terms of one direct and easily accomplished sale (Pozen, Hamacher, 2011). Another prominent advantage of mutual funds is that they operate in terms of economies of scale. Essentially the equivalent of economies of scale is volume discounts in department stores. In the context of mutual funds, a wide variety of investment funds are collated allowing the fund manager to gain grea ter value per purchase (Pozen, Hamacher, 2011). Divisibility is another prominent advantage to investing in mutual funds. Divisibility can be understood in terms of the purchase of a wide variety of stocks. It’s noted that, â€Å"Smaller denominations of mutual funds provide mutual fund investors the ability to make periodic investments through monthly purchase plans while taking advantage of dollar-cost averaging† ("Advantages of mutual," 2009). Essentially this indicates that through a mutual fund, an individual with modest means is able to invest in a great amount more stocks than they would if they only purchased the securities on their own. This allows for considerably greater amounts of diversification. Another prominent benefit of investing in mutual funds is that they are under professional management. The obvious implications of this are that an experienced and knowledgeable professional will be overseeing the securities and investment strategy. Ultimately, th e cumulative advantage of these benefits makes mutual funds an attractive option for conservative or inexperienced investors. Disadvantages While there are a great variety of advantages to investing in mutual funds, there are also a number of prominent disadvantages. Even as mutual funds offer a generally conservative investment option as compared to stocks, precious metals, or derivatives, there is nonetheless a degree of risk associated. The main understanding in these regards is that even with extensive levels of diversification, macroeconomic elements oftentimes contribute to a large-scale market decline. In these regards, individuals that do not have the financial wealth or patience to out-wait market downturns might find mutual funds an unattractive option

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Purchasing and Buying Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Purchasing and Buying - Essay Example I had other experience though in my life that prepared me to make or buy decision. As a child, I was always interested in business and I created many ways to make small bits of money. My father was instrumental in providing me with an opportunity to understand business and as I continued to learn about business. When I entered the military, I knew I wanted to be a part of the Marine Corps right away. I became a purchasing specialist while living in Virginia and I was able to create 24 Government Purchase card holders. I had to negotiation and execute 1,300 small purchases. The way I did this was through the use of a Request of Quotation. Vendors had to submit this information and I was responsible for making the decision of which ones to purchase. I also learned how to increase revenues by putting together small contracts until we had everything we needed. As an example, I created a net income of $1.2 million for the card holders which made them very happy because I showed them how to save money. I was able to reduce costs again by creating an electronic Point of Sale system. The way that I was able to save money in this situation was to combine three positions into one. This saved 15% in the overall cost. I created a partnership with a local ending institution that gave us good rates and h elped us lower our cost by providing check verification. Since our company did not have to verify checks, I was able to create the opportunity to again save money. Because I continue to educate myself, I have created many skills that provide me with the knowledge that is needed for each of my jobs. I have received many achievements from my military training that has come in the way of various certificates. I also have a specialty in contract law and procurement which broadens my scope of skills and the world. I also have learned that there is more information than I could possibly

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Assessment one - The role of ethics in Journalism Essay

Assessment one - The role of ethics in Journalism - Essay Example Umpteenth number of times the media has been blamed to be inaccurate and biased (â€Å"Ethical Issues in Journalism†). Englehardt and Barney express that utilitarianism â€Å"declares an action, intention or principle should be judged by the overall immediate outcomes† (16). The theory of utilitarianism rests on the principle of utility, where every action is approved or disapproved as per the propensity it seems to have with the purpose of augmenting or diminishing happiness of the part whose interest is in question (Harrison 67). Petrick & Quinn (48) suggest that utilitarianism signifies that the ethical value of an action is dependent on yielding the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Applying this concept to journalism ethics involves the practice of journalism in a technical sense into conflict with the corporate values (Breit 213). Although journalism regards ethical value on the basis of its effect on journalists’ potential to supply information, the media corporation calculates ethical values from the viewpoint of maximizing investor wealth (Breit 213). As per Sta tman, living according to utilitarianism implies â€Å"caring about principles, rules and obligations, not about real human beings† (7). According to Mills, the principle of utilitarianism is that the purpose of ethics is to direct people in performing things that will result in making the world a better place (Smith 47-52). In short, the utilitarians expect people to endeavor to perform in a manner that will yield â€Å"the greatest good for the greatest number† (Smith 47-52). What actually matters is the consequences of our actions and not our motives or intentions (Smith 47-52). However, it is not always possible to determine the consequences of our actions (Smith 47-52). For instance, a reporter may think that a story about teen suicide may enable the schools and the public to understand and

Friday, August 23, 2019

Dentistry Annotated Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Dentistry - Annotated Bibliography Example People were determined as eligible on basis of their dental examination as well as history. Participants were also randomized into two groups into two arms in a design called parallel double blinded. Fifty eight partakers were randomized to study the DHA supplementation. Out of the 55 people who participated 27 of them had been randomly assigned to DHA. The rates of reaction for DHA +ASA were 79%. The data collected was managed using an electronic data capture platform and an analysis done using SAS 9.3. The 3 months randomized trial of using 2000 mg DHA with 81-mg ASA showed a significant improvement on periodontitis. The results clearly showed that DHA supplementation with low ASA dosage is effective in treating periodontitis. Additionally, it is safe and cheap. The article has different tables and graphs and statistics enhanced the validity and reliability of the results. The strengths of the study included verified adherence, consistency in outcomes and control procedures which w ere predominant throughout the study. On the other hand, the weaknesses included lack of proper limitation of measurement. The target audience in this study was medical experts and people suffering from periodontitis. The purpose of the study was to provide another option for treating periodontitis .The study will assist a lot of people in reducing their expenses in treating periodontitis which was previously treated using application of antibiotics and mechanical cleaning. Naqvi, A.Z., Hasturk, H., Mu, L., Phillips, R.S., Davis, R.B., Halem, S†¦ Mukamal, K.J. (2014). Docosahexaenoic Acid and Periodontitis in Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Dental Research, 93(8),

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Black People and Roberta Essay Example for Free

Black People and Roberta Essay In Toni Morrison’s â€Å"Recitatif,† the story is about two girls, Twyla and Roberta. They grow up in an orphanage because their mothers could not care for them. Morrison makes it clear the girls come from different ethnic backgrounds but never states which one is black or white. At one point in the story Twyla comments, â€Å"We looked like salt and pepper. † I grew frustrated with the story and had to read it several times. I could never determine who was black and white and the lesson I learned should have been it doesn’t really matter. The story begins with Twyla’s mother dropping her off at the orphanage. She meets Roberta and they become best friends. The bond they share occurs because they were not considered real orphans. They were abandoned kids unlike the other children whose parents had died. One of the last times the girls see each other was the day of a visitation. On that night, Twyla’s mother was wearing â€Å"those tight green slacks that made her butt stick out. † Many people have labeled blacks as having larger butts. She could have been black, she could have been a heavy white woman with a large butt, or a Hispanic woman like me. But I automatically stereotyped and went with Twyla has to be black. During the visitation Roberta’s mother â€Å"had brought chicken legs. † Twyla notices Roberta does not eat the chicken legs. I always thought black people liked chicken more than white people which means Roberta was white since she did not eat the chicken. Or maybe she just wasn’t hungry. Shortly after that visitation Roberta’s mother came to take her home, leaving the girls devastated. They see each other several times throughout the years. At their first meeting, Roberta was rude and distant because she was high. Roberta tells Twyla she is on the way to see Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix was an infamous black guitarist. I thought at this point Roberta has to be black. However Hendrix’s band was interracial with a diverse audience. Roberta could have been white due to the diverse audience. I am a huge Hendrix fan and I am not black so why would I think Roberta is. Twelve years later they meet again at a grocery store. Roberta married a rich man and was extremely friendly to Twyla. Twyla cannot hold back her emotions and asks Roberta about the last time they saw each other. Roberta shrugs it off, â€Å"Oh, Twyla, you know how it was in those days: black—white. You know how everything was. † I can relate to this. In 1980, the Cuban Mariel Boat Lifts came over bring thousands of Cubans. I am Cuban but I was born here. Kids I had known since kindergarten treated me as if I just come over on the boats. It had a lasting effect on me and matured me beyond my years. The third time they meet is at the school where their children attend. Roberta and other mothers were picketing because they did not want their kids to be segregated. This led to a fight severing any last chance of a friendship for them as it would not be resolved until Twyla and Roberta meet for a final time. As the story ends I do not get a sense of closure. The question of which girl is white or black remains unanswered. It opened my eyes and made me question how prejudice I really am. I try to not stereotype as a result of what I went through as a child but I found myself doing just that. I can understand why Morrison wrote the way she. I am not sure what her goal was overall but to me it seemed as if she were teaching me about prejudices. â€Å"Recitatif† challenged me to not judge either girl by their race but accept them for who they are. In the end, what difference did it really make about the girls’ races? The story is about how their friendship develops and then deteriorates. Nothing more; nothing less.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Leaders and subordinates in Spain Essay Example for Free

Leaders and subordinates in Spain Essay Influenced by its collectivist past, family values, a sense of identity and belonging to a group, are constitutive parts of society in Spain. They care for each other in society like a family. For many Spanish people, the family is effectively a replacement for the state. Generally, Spaniards are very conservative and they will resist making decisions on hazardous matters, particularly if the consequences of their decision would affect other people. Thus, most Spaniards will look for support and approval of family, friends and co-workers before acting on their own. The Spanish believe if you are not a part of a group, neighbourhood, town or business organisation then you are not an integral part of society. This important aspect of the Spanish collectivist culture might restrict business activities and force the outsider and visitors to the country to bear down their outsider status by fitting into a group. However, regarding personal attributes, individualism is highly valued in Spain, along with an emphasis on character and social status. Therefore, personal qualities, appearance, image and personal relationships are extremely substantial elements in modern Spanish culture. Also, personal attributes and character are frequently valued as highly as technical ability, experience or professional competence. While being rather collectivists in their private lives the Spanish show distinct individualism in business context. When doing business in Spain, you will discover that individualism is especially predominant in management, where Spanish managers are less inclined to prefer group decision making and team orientation, as sharing the burden of decision-making is seen as a sign of weakness. Motivation is based on individual rather than collective relationships. The fact that only the individual in highest authority makes the final decision indicates that decision-making can become very slow and tedious, for many levels of management will have to be consulted in order to analyse the proposition. Therefore, it is crucial to maintain a good relationship with these intermediaries in order to succeed. Spain being a feministic society points to a low level of differentiation and discrimination between genders in Spanish society. Machismo is the word for male dominance, and the culture of old men who created it has changed dramatically. Spain has become a very equalitarian society where women are present at universities and work. However, men yet hold the majority of positions within companies. The reason for that is that Spanish men still restrain to treat women as equals in society. Many women in Spain are career oriented and seek high positions in society. Their social and educational status often assigns the role they eventually play in business. Despite the advancement women have made up to date, the change of women trying to achieve higher positions is progressing very slowly, due to the major barrier of it being the mentality of the females themselves. An example for changed/changing attitudes is Soledad Becerril who became not only the first mayoress in the early 90s but also a symbol for many women in Spain of how Spanish females have made progress in the last years. She was also the first woman to become minister in the government, in 1981. And that is very significant of how Spain has changed and how it continues to do so. Furthermore, masculinity and femininity can be referred to the goals that are aimed for in professional life. Spain being a feministic society indicates issues of security of the job, good employer-employee relationship, pleasant cooperation with the colleagues and friendly work environment. Also, Spanish managers tend to pay more attention to consensus and apart from that, they like to rely on their intuition. HAMPDEN-TURNER TROMPENAARS Spaniards tend to particularism rather than universalism. Therefore, at work Spanish seek gratification through personal relationships, especially with their superiors. Charismatic leaders find it easy to put their personal stamp on every area in a business. Most of the time job descriptions in Spain have a different function compared to the job descriptions in other countries. In Spain they seldom serve for selecting an employee, but subsequently they will be tailor-made for the favoured candidate. Spanish culture tolerates even advocates the expression of emotions (affectivity), also in the business environment. The admiration and display of heated, vital and animated expressions are just as common as fluent and dramatic delivery of statements in Spain. People from diffuse cultures carry their status everywhere; your boss remains your boss and will expect the same respect even if you meet him/her at the gym. Spain indicates to be a specific culture, where official relationships are carefully isolated from relationships of other nature. Using the previous example it means that you may show respect to your boss at the office but his status will not follow him outside the office, and he/she may well ask you for advice. This explains the Spanish being paradoxical in their decision making and in their relation to the community. As a consequence of the fact that Spaniards separate work and personal matters, nobody would take work-related criticism personally. Another theory is that people from diffuse cultures prefer to circle around and establish a relationship before any deal is done; those from specific cultures would rather get straight to the point, focus on the deal first and the relationship will flow from that. This definition contradicts the Spanish being a specific society as they need long discussions prior getting down to business and want to know the person they do business with. Therefore, networks are quite important. For Spanish, status is a thing that is given to them because of what they are (ascribed). It does not matter what you do but what or who you are. Ultimately, status and respect are conferred with the aid of family ties and connections. Concepts like bien educado (good education) and enchufado (good connections) distinguish this phenomenon. Achievement-oriented concepts like pay for performance cause for incomprehension in societies like Spain. FUKUYAMA Fukuyama suggests Spain to be a low-trust society where workers are isolated by a series of bureaucratic rules. He describes Spain as a society with strong families and family businesses, a strong state and large foreign owned companies, where hierarchies are necessary in order to force those by distinct rules and measures, who do not act out ethical codes. Evidence of different leadership styles in Spain backs up this theory. A study on Leadership from a Spanish perspectivei drafted by Instituto de Empresa and Deloitte stated that 56% of Spanish Directors prefer a participative leadership style. The report shows that future leaders have to act as coaches, and they must issue their subordinates with the skills and knowhow they need to work efficiently with their teams. However, participative leadership is not the norm among the Spanish directors. Therefore, there is a need for adapting the other styles and make them more participative which requires great commitment from the leaders. The styles least preferred by Spanish senior managers are those based on compulsion with little or no participation of employees and exception-based management where the director only steps in to sort out mistakes. Leaders of relatively new businesses are better at leadership styles, which are based on objectives and development. Where different sectors are concerned, the report unveils how directors in the financial sector tend to use leadership styles that are more direct, transactional and less oriented to learning. While companies in the technology sector give more importance to coaching and vision. MONOCHRONIC vs. POLYCHRONIC Spaniards can be classed as polychronic where nothing seems solid or firm, and there are always changes right up to the very last minute or even in plans for the future. Polychronic cultures are unconventional and flexible with time because it is not seen as a resource or as opportunity cost. Usually start times are flexible and schedules are unrushed. For example, it is not considered to be impolite to keep people waiting, as long as it does not exceed 30 minutes. Since time is also non-linear Spanish tend to manage several tasks at once, often in an unplanned sequence (e. g. salespeople in stores talk to several people at once rather than give only one customer their attention and taking people in turn; a meeting can be interrupted by a phone call; etc.). Another significant cultural difference is the smaller radius of personal space in Spain. Spaniards are most likely not to appologise when bumping into each other or pushing their way through crowds, which can be a shock to visitors from foreign countries. In the business environment, when it comes to forecasting, plans are often based on assumptions, intuition and experience because every day is regarded as unpredictable. Spaniards in the business environment usually make decisions based on judgement, experience and political realities. The supervisory style allows for the rules to be circumvented, whereas style and creativity are highly valued. Titles describe a persons status, which people take pride in, causing great motivation for competition in organisations. Additionally, personal feelings affect the performance. Spanish managers feel that the employees must be watched, thus giving them the total control where also mistakes can be blamed on other people. However, the supervision is based on trust and some power is still delegated. LEADERSHIP STYLE Generally, the leadership style in Spain, in terms of concern for production and concern for people, demonstrates a high concern for people and little concern for production, whereby they try to avoid conflicts and concentrate on being liked, even at the expense of production. Managers in Spain are acquiring some qualities they look up to in other leaders. However, this contradicts with the theory stated above. Nevertheless, evidence suggest that Spanish leaders are still concerned about their leadership style. One of the conclusions of the first study on i Leadership from a Spanish perspectivei drafted by Instituto de Empresa and Deloitte indicated that 75% of Spains directors say that they regularly, or almost always use coaching, a personalised style that focuses on employee development. These leadership criteria are essential when it comes to competitiveness and organisations survival. 41% of directors stated that their preferred style of leadership is contingent reinforcement, which rewards subordinates for their achievements. 37% use the goal-oriented style, based on meeting challenges. Analysing the relations between leaders and subordinates in Spain showed that only 46% of Spanish leaders have a good concept of their subordinates. These leaders tend to use coaching as their preferred style of leadership. 26% of survey participants, however, point out having a quite negative concept of their subordinates. These leaders show a clear inclination to use directive and transactional management styles. Finally, the results of the study show clearly that Spanish development-oriented leaders are also very concerned about developing and educating their subordinates.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Hume On Ideas Of Skepticism Philosophy Essay

Hume On Ideas Of Skepticism Philosophy Essay In the late 1700s, philosopher David Hume was looking to improve the ideas of empiricism created by John Locke and George Berkeley, but he took it to an extreme of radical skepticism. The way in which he attempted to improve Lockes ideas of empiricism was that he would apply scientific methods of observation to the nature of human beings. Hume felt that we should try to observe humans and how they function in the world, primarily because that made the most sense to him. By doing this, he thought that he would be able to uncover the true causes of human belief. He also believed that the real goal of philosophy was to be able to explain why and how we believe the things we do. Hume wrote about his goal in his book, Treatise of Human Nature. David Humes idea of skepticism was set up to contrast with what we considered ordinary claims of knowledge, which is different from Descartes in that Descartes used doubt and skepticism as a way to find out the foundations and roots of knowledge. Hume stated that you can neither inductively or deductively establish knowledge from the external world. When we talk about induction, we are assuming that nature is constant in that what has happened before is more than likely going to happen again. You can compare it to a trend because you know what is going to happen based on prior experience with it. But in this case, we cant use induction because we have no proof of it playing a role in this situation. And deduction cannot work either because the things we know about something might be only a fraction of the information that we might actually be able to learn about these physical objects. Since this is the case, the things we consider to be factual or that exist are not allowed to be ob jects of knowledge. Human belief, according to David Hume contains several different mental elements. He determined that from actual experience, we have impressions which are very vivid, realistic and to the point. He also determined that ideas take the original impressions and attempt to copy them, usually doing a less than savory job in doing so. For instance, looking at an orange, and knowing that it is in fact, the color orange is an impression, but remembering what your first grade teacher looked like is an example of an idea. Hume argued that every idea comes from an impression, and he said that it makes sense for us to ask what the basis of our ideas are by finding out what the impressions were that they came from. He also argued that every one of our ideas and our impressions has the ability to be separated from all the others and when we manage to connect one of our ideas to another idea, this is simply the consequence of how we think. Hume also talked about the difference in two belief types in Enquiry IV. There is what he referred to as relations of ideas, which is the result of our beliefs being associated inside our mind. And then there are matters of fact, which see things that are in existence and take those things and give an explanation and description of those things. Real knowledge is what we assume to be genuine information, and Hume was very much concentrated on explaining where the knowledge came from. Hume felt that in order to be able to learn, we must first realize and accept the fact that the experiences we had in the past have at the very least something to do with what is going on in the present, as well as what it might do to influence the future. But everyone seems to think that our past and present will both resemble what the future will look like. But this isnt self evident. There is always that change and likelihood that things will change in the future, that nature will all of a sudden change and this makes any inferences we have from the past and for the future appear to be uncertain. So keeping this in mind, Hume makes it clear that everything we consider to be absolutely the truth are all non-rational. Hume used an example of this in his story of how the sun rises each day, and although our belief that the sun will rise tomorrow is based on observation of previous sunrises, other than us thinking we know that the rotation of the earth causes the sun rise and set, there is no rational basis for us to know that it will rise again the next day; but for some reason we just believe that it will happen anyway. When Hume talks about belief as it pertains to habit, he says that unjustifiable beliefs with the help of habit or even custom can have an explanation because it has habit or custom. This is how we are able to take from experience and apply it to what we know. But with Humes skepticism we arent allowed to think outside the content of our experiences or our memories, but for some reason we consistently do just that. Since Hume says that unjustifiable beliefs with the help of habit or even custom can have an explanation because it has habit or custom, it in turn can be said that our beliefs, considered to us as facts, come from our sentimental feelings as opposed to actual reason. According to Hume, what we imagine and what we believe are only different in how we interpret them. Hume states that habit and custom are very important to the foundation of natural science. When it comes to necessary connection, Hume states that the way we think we know that events are related is habit or custom that we get from our personal experience. Once we observe how often these particular events happen with one another, we are able to then create ideas, which in turn forces us to expect that particular outcome when these particular events occur. But, the one thing that we are forgetting to mention is the fact that the cause will in some way or fashion produce an effect. But even if we couldnt prove the belief to be true, there has to be a reason for why we think it and believe it to be true. The way in which Hume felt was the best way to prove something to be true was to look for the first sign in which the idea was found. By being able to trace back to where the idea originated, Hume argues that by doing so we will be able to make the connection between the cause and the effect. (He wrote about this in Enquiry VII). Hume also had a lot to say about the self as well. In the Treatise, David Hume discussed how in our self there is also a belief of our reality. Hume asks, From what antecedent impression does the idea of the self arise? Hume makes it very clear that we are never completely aware of ourselves. What I mean by that is that we cant make an impression in relation to the self. The things we experience are individual and separate ideas which are in association with one another based on causality. When talking about the external world, Hume believes that the belief we have about the external world is completely non-rational. (This found in Enquiry XII) This is true because our belief of the external world cannot be supported as matter of fact, nor can it be considered as a relation of ideas. Even though there isnt any way to prove or justify this, belief in the external world cannot be avoided but it is in fact natural. We seem to have a tendency to assume that our ideas are backed up by some form of proof, even though it would appear as though we do not have any proof in doing so. Because of this representationalism no longer exists, and everything that was supposed to act as a middle man between things and those who perceive those things becomes absorbed, which makes all the things other than us completely unnecessary and obsolete. David Hume also talks a lot about Mitigated Skepticism. Mitigated Skepticism basically means unbelief. What it is implies is that sure, we can proclaim that knowledge is impossible; but whether it is or isnt doesnt matter. What we really need to be looking for is just a mental decision or judgment in regards to the question or situation. We really just need something to say in response to it. Hume is a very important figure when it comes to skepticism. One of the best arguments in skepticism was his argument against believing miracles. He claimed that to be a miracle, something must defy all laws of nature. There is so much proof against the existence of a miracle. There are certain laws of nature which the idea of a miracle does not obey. Humes argument for skepticism is not only limited to just miracles. The same principles of his argument can be applied to such things as, channeling, levitation, psychic surgery, and may more. Basically anything that requires us to neglect our experience and not allow ourselves to use it as a guide. That being the case, and there being so many different examples that would fit into this category, there is one that doesnt make it that many people make the mistake of thinking it does. That would be ESP, unless you argue that ESP external to the laws of nature. But since ESP still maintains that it follows the laws of nature that havent be en discovered, Humes argument cant work for it. David Hume makes it clear to us that there are two forms of skepticism. One being antecedent skepticism and the other being consequent skepticism. And for each of these types of skepticism, there are two forms, one being a moderate form and the other being an extreme form. When it comes to skepticism in its extreme form, we can bring in Descartes universal doubt that starts to question beyond what Hume questioned by even challenging all prior opinions and even what our senses tell us. Without at least one principle, theres no way a skeptic can accept this. But for Hume, no first principle can be so self-evident that it can be beyond any doubt. But lets say that there were a first principle, there would be no way that we could proceed after it, and this is because we still doubt ourselves to the point that we can use deductive reasoning. When discussing the Enquiry, David Hume seems to be using consequent skepticism. I say this only because it makes us question our own judgments and conclusions by bringing into question the very grounds for which they lay upon. Hume talks specifically of the testimony of senses that tells us that there is a world that is not only external to us, but also independent of all of our senses. Our instinct is what leads us to think that what we consider to be a depiction of the external world is what our senses inform us of. But our perceptions change, as well as there are cases in which we become completely deceived in the event that we become crazy, or we become possessed by dreams we might have. Once again, experience tends to be the only thing that can fully justify our belief through the external world. But on that same note, even experience does not allow us to go passed any perceptions we are skeptical about. Because of this, Hume says we have no rational justification for our belie f in the external world.

Environmental Impacts of Fossil Fuel Use Essay -- Environmental Issues

Environmental Impacts of Fossil Fuel Use One of the main issues involved with fossil fuels are the environmental impacts that occur from their use. These problems; such as acid rain, oil spills, climate change, global warming, etc., are not only occurring with fossil fuel usage, but are also increasing due to the increase in the use of fossil fuels. This essay will vaguely explain the area of environmental impacts from fossil fuel use, and will attempt to change, or further increase your understanding of the very serious environmental impacts that occur from fossil fuel use. One of the biggest environmental impacts which is steadily increasing in severity due to fossil fuel usage is global warming. Global warming is mainly caused due to the trapping of heat in the atmosphere due to increased amounts of carbon dioxide. Because of the burning of fossil fuels, there has been a twenty five percent increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere over the last 150 years (Clean Energy). This increase over the years has caused the global average surface temperature to raise ...

Monday, August 19, 2019

George bush Essay -- essays research papers

I. INTRODUCTION Bush, George Herbert Walker (1924- ), 41st president of the United States (1989-1993), president at the end of the Cold War between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Bush also organized an unprecedented global alliance against Iraq during the Persian Gulf War of 1991, but he was less successful in dealing with U.S. domestic problems and was defeated after one term by Bill Clinton in the 1992 election. II. EARLY LIFE Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, but grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut. His parents came from wealthy Midwestern families. His father, Prescott Bush, a partner in a leading Wall Street law firm, was a Republican U.S. senator from Connecticut between 1952 and 1963. Senator Bush was a moderate Republican and a supporter of President Dwight David Eisenhower. Senator Bush strongly opposed the party's far right wing, represented in the 1950s by U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin, who led a campaign against Communist subversion in the United States. Bush's mother, Dorothy Walker, the daughter of a Missouri industrialist, encouraged her children to play sports and learn humility and manners. Bush graduated from Phillips Academy at Andover, Massachusetts, in 1942, and joined the United States Navy to fight in World War II. He became a pilot, flying bombing missions against Japan. On one mission his plane was shot down over the Pacific Ocean. Two crewmen died, but Bush survived unharmed and was rescued by a passing submarine within a few hours. Bush returned to the United States in late 1944. Two weeks later, in early 1945, he married Barbara Pierce, a Greenwich woman whose father was a magazine publisher. The couple had six children: sons George, John, Neil, and Marvin, and daughters Robin and Dorothy. Robin died of leukemia at the age of three. Bush entered Yale University in 1945. He majored in economics, became captain of the varsity baseball team, and graduated as a member of Phi Beta Kappa in 1948. He moved his young family to west Texas where, helped by his father's business connections, he went into the oil business, working as an equipment clerk. In 1953 Bush cofounded the Zapata Petroleum Corporation, which drilled for oil in the Permian basin in Texas and elsewhere in the West. The next year, he became president of the Zapata Offshore Company, which specialized in offshore... ...te. The Massachusetts governor proved to be a poor campaigner with a weak grasp for what moved voters. By contrast, Bush skillfully reached out to economic and social conservatives, as well as suburban independents and environmentalists. He criticized Dukakis for his refusal to support the saying of the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States in schools, accused him of supporting temporary releases called furloughs for violent criminals in overcrowded prisons, and pointed to what Bush argued was Dukakis's poor record in cleaning up polluted Boston harbor. While promising not to impose new taxes, to cut the capital gains tax, and to continue the Reagan defense program, Bush also vowed to oppose gun control and to try to overturn the 1973 ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States that affirmed a woman's right to an abortion. Bush won the election easily, attracting 53 percent of the vote and carrying 40 states and 426 electoral votes. He won the entire South, most of the West and made deep inroads in the industrial Midwest. The election left one obstacle for Bush: the Democrats retained solid majorities in both the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

John Donne: A Poet Out of His Time Essay -- Biography Biographies Essa

John Donne: A Poet Out of His Time      Ã‚   "The first poet in the world in some things," applauded Ben Jonson of his friend, John Donne (Donne, John Donne: A Selection of His Poetry 11). In the midst of the stylized and often frivolous verses of the Elizabethan and cavalier poets, John Donne's work emerges as startling, intellectual, and honest to human nature and emotion- classifying him as the first of the modern poets. Through an exploration of Donne's "The Sun Rising" and "The Flea", we shall reveal Donne's innovative style and technique, and how this repels him from the poetic orthodoxy of the seventeenth century and towards the style of the modern age.    0 "Busy old fool, unruly sun,/ Why dost thou thus?" Donne audaciously denounces the sun itself, a heavenly body worshipped through the ages, in his poem, "The Sun Rising". Moreover, Donne employs an interesting conceit: he uses the routine, everyday phenomena of the rising sun as the basis for a love poem, love being extraordinary, new, and often once-in-a-lifetime. Donne goes on dramatically and arrogantly to thre... John Donne: A Poet Out of His Time Essay -- Biography Biographies Essa John Donne: A Poet Out of His Time      Ã‚   "The first poet in the world in some things," applauded Ben Jonson of his friend, John Donne (Donne, John Donne: A Selection of His Poetry 11). In the midst of the stylized and often frivolous verses of the Elizabethan and cavalier poets, John Donne's work emerges as startling, intellectual, and honest to human nature and emotion- classifying him as the first of the modern poets. Through an exploration of Donne's "The Sun Rising" and "The Flea", we shall reveal Donne's innovative style and technique, and how this repels him from the poetic orthodoxy of the seventeenth century and towards the style of the modern age.    0 "Busy old fool, unruly sun,/ Why dost thou thus?" Donne audaciously denounces the sun itself, a heavenly body worshipped through the ages, in his poem, "The Sun Rising". Moreover, Donne employs an interesting conceit: he uses the routine, everyday phenomena of the rising sun as the basis for a love poem, love being extraordinary, new, and often once-in-a-lifetime. Donne goes on dramatically and arrogantly to thre...

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Analyse the sun’s newspaper leading article Essay

The Sun is a tabloid newspaper, which is generally short and easy to read. The word â€Å"spirit† adds evidence that The Sun targets a simple audience, which don’t have to be highly educated. The Sun is aimed at the middle class market (red top). As well as being strictly right-wing politics, the paper also has an untrustworthy reputation, they can also have tendency to exaggerate the truth and even print lies. Papers often exaggerate to make the situation sound more devastating and to have a more dramatic effect on the reader. The Sun gives a graphical view into what happened on September the 11th. The article on the 12th September 2001 is presented quite visually. The paper uses headlines to attract the reader’s attention and to summarise the facts of the article. The main title for the article is â€Å"The Sun Says†. The title is printed in large capital letters, is bold and has white letters printed on a black background. White letters on a black background are used to focus people attention on the title. Bold text is also used to make certain text stand out from the rest. The heading is to summarise the article, which is what â€Å"The sun says†¦ † This short unfinished sentence makes the reader want read on and this creates suspense as well as getting reader interest. This heading is also influencing the reader’s point of view. The main Sub heading is â€Å"All the world must unite to defeat these evil cowards. † This heading is printed in large letters, is bold, underlined, has white letters on a black background and in the centre of the article. The heading is in the centre of the article this is to break up the text and grab people’s attention. The heading is used to give a message, which in this case is everyone, must join together to find out who committed this unprovoked attack. This heading is also exaggerated to creating drama and excitement to stimulate the interest of the reader. Below the sub heading in a picture of some of the people caught up in the accident. This is eye catching and is reinforcing what is being said in the text. The picture is followed by the caption â€Å"Terror victims†¦. New York workers flee the devastation covered in dust yesterday† This caption is to get a certain response from the reader. The writer varies the sentence lengths to make short sentences punchy and hard-hitting on the audience. This simple short sentences â€Å"They must† is the first sentence of the article after the subheading. Short sentences are to emphasise a certain point. The point for this sentence is really the answer to the sub heading before it. This has a dramatic effect on its audience to unite in the â€Å"wake of yesterday’s horrors. † An additional short sentence is â€Å"Not after yesterday. † This is due to the amount of lives that were lost and threat of another attack. This is playing on the audience’s emotions. The writer uses a variety of techniques to help write a powerful article. Emotive language is used to provoke a certain response this can be demonstrated by the phrase â€Å"But the world will never be the same again. † This phrase is used to provoke an emotional response from the audience because the towers will never be rebuilt or be the same again. In order to create emotions, The Sun had to be biased and argue their point in order to get a certain emotion, among the audience. The writer uses the single word â€Å"exactly† which is written in Italic writing. This is to emphasise the word and make it stand out from the rest of the paragraph. The word is also to persuade the audience to adopt their point of view. Bold text stand is used several times throughout the article. Various examples of the bold text are â€Å"It is our duty to support them, both morally and – if necessary – practically† and â€Å"They must be hunted down and killed. † These quote are both subtitles. These subtitles are bold to catch the reader’s attention and make you want to read more. The bold also makes the text stand out from the rest of the paragraph. Both of these sentences give the read a feeling that if there is a war then we should back America. A rhetorical question is often asked for effect, this is to get a reader interested in what is happening. â€Å"Were his words treated as bravado rather that a dire threat? By asking a question the reader is leaving the answer up to the readers imagination and for them to draw their own opinion. In addition, the writer also uses questions from famous people in order to support their view. By quoting the prime minister the writer helps to support this view and it gets the paper politically involved. Tony Blair quoted, â€Å"The terrorists were in human† Journalists often exaggerate the truth to have a greater impact on the reader. For example â€Å"The world will NEVER be the same again. † By exaggerating the story the writer is trying to create a more devastating story. By developing and twisting the story the writer is assuming what has happened, but can’t prove what actually took place. This is called suppression and is created by saying an example of this is â€Å"If they had a nuclear bomb, they would use it. † Exaggeration is also being used to influence the reader’s point of view like in the phrase describing the disaster similar to â€Å"Armageddon, Death Wish and the Towering Inferno. † Writers some times use rhyming phrases in order to create phrases or slogans to keep the suspense of the article. Examples of rhyming phrases in the article include â€Å"George W. Bush will not shirk from using might in the cause of right. † And â€Å"we have won before. We will win again. † By playing on words, using Rhyming phrases and repetition the writer is focusing on a certain point or word. In this case the word is â€Å"we† which is at the end of the article to get across the point that â€Å"we can win†. The Language used in the Sun is informative, angry and sad. The language is a key tool in making a newspaper as affective as possible as it keeps the audience interested. A great example of this is the phrase â€Å"New York workers flee the devastation of yesterday. † This example of sad language is to provoke angry response from the audience. The language is also dramatic an example of this is â€Å"he must be bold†. This is to provoke the response that George Bush must be brave and daring. At the time of the disaster I was at school so I didn’t find out until I got home. When I saw the pictures on the television I felt a great lose for the families and could not belief something like this could happen, it affects everyone. The bottom lines of the article are trying to get people to unite and get everyone to â€Å"pray for America and for us all. † This powerful phrase is supposed to have a lasting affect on the reader and to influence their opinion. The leading article is a story expressing the newspaper’s point of view they are normally hard hitting, powerful and personnel. Some times they are actually written by the editor and they are much more opinionated than other reports. This type newspaper tries to make up people’s minds for them as it is mainly biased.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Meaning of life essay Essay

?â€Å"You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life† (Camus). If you spend your whole life searching for one thing you will waste your life and it will only take a few moments for time to pass you by. The meaning of life is nonexistent and imponderable. ?â€Å"The meaning of life is contained in every single expression of life. It is present in the infinity of forms and phenomena that exist in all of creation† (Jackson). The meaning of life is simply the way you view it. Like religion everyone has different philosophies and opinions and only those who give life a meaning have the true understanding of the meaning of life. My Opinion on the Meaning of Life I believe the meaning of life is to give life a meaning, because there truly is no meaning otherwise. I believe everyone adds their own meaning to life. The meaning of life is never universal, never complex. I believe the meaning of life should be simple and potentially whatever we want it to be. I do what I do because I want to. It’s that simple for me; I do it because it means something to me. â€Å"Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can† (Kaye). I believe this quote is saying that you should give life your all and do whatever it takes to make your life the way you want it. This is saying someone should do what you believe the philosophy of your life is. Many people go about their lives searching for the meaning of life and how it applies to them but in reality they will waste their lives away looking for something that does not exist. â€Å"There is not one big cosmic meaning for all; there is only the meaning we each give to our life, an individual meaning, an individual plot, like an individual novel, a book for each person† (Nin). â€Å" Life has no meaning. Each of us has meaning and we bring it to life. It is a waste to be asking the question when you are the answer† (Campbell). This is saying how we bring the meaning to life and our thoughts and ideas on what we believe life is and should be. I do not believe in the idea of there being one specific meaning but millions for each and every soul around the earth. Various populations will all agree to disagree about their views but in retrospect you realize that everyone is right. Everyone gives their own meaning to the idea. Purposes and meanings will change, but the overall meaning to life, that there is no true meaning, will always stay the same. I believe the meaning of life is to give life a meaning. Works Cited ? â€Å"Albert Camus Quote. † BrainyQuote. Xplore. Web. 23 Mar. 2015. . ?†Anais Nin Quote. † BrainyQuote. Xplore. Web. 23 Mar. 2015. ? â€Å"Danny Kaye Quote. † BrainyQuote. Xplore. Web. 23 Mar. 2015. . ?†Michael Jackson Quote. † BrainyQuote. Xplore. Web. 23 Mar. 2015. .

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Poetic Language Essay

There is no denying that when an author writes a text there is more meaning in it than just the obvious plot, authors constantly litter their texts with themes, double entendre, metaphor etc. all of which can be easily missed by the reader. If one reader was to miss many of these techniques but another was to pickup on most, then surely the latter would have understood the work better, and in the way it was intended, and therefore their interpretation is the more valid of the two. However we could argue that the text was written badly, because certain readers cannot understand it in the way it was intended. All this is just a small part of one of the biggest debates in modern literature and criticism, and that is whether or not it is necessary to know the history and context behind a book to fully understand it. It used to be that a critic would say that the best way to understand a work is to understand each individual author, and the circumstances behind their text, today however the general feeling is that it is best not to cloud the readers judgement with all the facts behind a text. Critics would today say that the best way to read a text is to ignore everything that goes with it and just concentrate on what you, the reader, picks up from it. The reason this debate is so important in relation to this essay is that the amount of information the reader is given about a text will always affect, not only their understanding of it, but also the way in which they understand it. That is to say that if a reader is given a lot of information about a text then it is bound to make them except the book in the way it was intended. If they had not been given that information then it is very likely that they would have interpreted it in a way that was closer and more personal to them (‘interpretation is a function of identity†¦all of us as we read, use literary work to symbolise and finally to replicate ourselves’ – Norman Holland, Introduction to Literature 13). In this example which of the two interpretations is more creditable, should the perfect text be written in such a way as to eliminate any interpretations other than what was intended by the author; or should it be written in a way that leaves the meaning open to debate and therefore have an infinite number of interpretations? Either way once a text has been shown to the public then the author has no control of what the reader will make of it, or how it is interpreted, and so it is left to the reader to make their own judgements and except it in the way that they want to. So is their interpretation incorrect? Obviously there is no way to prove the answer to this question but in this essay I intend to discuss both sides to the argument and draw up a conclusion as to what I think the answer is. The most obvious place to start would be by looking at other people’s interpretations of texts, and some of those interpretations are in films. I realise that film is never the best example to use when discussing literature because the plot and script are very rarely the same as the original. However, in the case of Shakespeare, this is not always true because the text is so well written and so powerful that it would be wrong and completely missing the point of making the film if you were to change it. Also the interpretations in films are usually much more diverse and varied which makes it a good example to look at because if you can find an interpretation which has been recommended to students as one not to use, as valid (‘†¦most candidates appeared to know Macbeth well. Some, however, were handicapped by having seen a film version†¦candidates should remember that it is Shakespeare’s text which is being examined.’ – Holderness, Interpreting Shakespeare 113); then that goes a long way to show that any interpretation is indeed a valid one. In the conclusion of a book called Interpreting Shakespeare on Screen the author sums up how Shakespeare is generally interpreted by the directors: ‘I have considered the ways in which films of Shakespeare’s plays, like literary criticism, produce different views on issues such as violence (by, to a greater extent, pretending it is absent from Shakespeare’s plays); gender (film changes gender roles, producing different Ophilias and Gertrudes†¦); sexuality†¦; race†¦; and finally, nationalism†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Cartmell, Interpreting Shakespeare 109) Cartmell shows us here how every different director has interpreted parts of the same play differently. She makes it clear that she does not agree with everything they have done, however she does recognise them as valid interpretations and has devoted a lot of time and effort to studying these films and producing a book which shows us the different interpretations and techniques used in filming Shakespeare’s plays. I have to agree with Cartmell on the point that to try and say that there is no violence in Shakespeare is ridiculous, all you have to do is look at Macbeth or Hamlet to see that that is wrong. These directors who have chosen to ignore this violence must have interpreted it in a different way, perhaps they saw the violence as justified and so chose to ignore it for that reason. Whatever the reason, is this interpretation as valid as Cartmell’s and mine? I would like to say that it is not but I cannot rule it out without having the other side of the argument put to me, and once an argument has been put forward surely that gives their view some sort of validity. If you have two people who have interpreted a section of prose differently and they can both argue their theory well then who is to say that they are not both valid. On the other hand if you again have two people with different views about a book’s meaning but this time one of them manages to persuade the other that they are wrong and so changes his mind, then would this not mean that the person with the better and stronger argument is the only one with the valid interpretation? After all the dictionary definition of valid is ‘soundly reasoned or having legal force’ and so if someone has an opinion about a text and stands by it but cannot argue the point surely this makes their opinion an invalid one. In An Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory reader-response criticism is summed up in three different ways. Firstly it is said that each individual, when reading, will always respond in a personal way. They will take what is written and match it to the situation they are in or have been in, and so can relate to the text better by doing this. This theory would explain why different people come up with different interpretations, it also suggests that each of those interpretations are valid because if you are relating a text to your personal experiences then it has to be a genuine response. Like every theory though there is always another side to the argument and this is where Stanley Fish’s idea that each reader belongs to a ‘community of readers’ comes in. There is still the idea that the reader relates to the text with their personal experience, and I do not think that many people would dispute that idea, but what Fish says is that the personal side to it is much more generalised. It is more to do with your background and your education, someone from England would interpret a book differently than someone from Africa because their backgrounds are completely different. The third explanation that is given is Wolfgang Iser’s view, which is the one I relate to the most. His theory is that the reader’s imagination is what produces the interpretation. If there is a point in the text which is not fully explained then we, the reader, are left to work it out for ourselves, for example in King Lear when Cordillia tells her father that she loves him ‘according’ to her ‘bond’, the reader is left wondering why she did that and not just make something up to rival her sisters’ answers; was it because she is stubborn or perhaps for moral reasons? The answer that the reader comes up with is their imagination filling in the gap. As Iser said the reader ‘is drawn into the events and made to supply what is meant from what is not said’ (Iser 1995, 24). This is particularly relevant when it comes to explaining interpretation because it is ‘what is not said’ in a text that gets the reader thinking, if a detail is mentioned but not explained then it is left to the reader to make up their own conclusions. Northrop Frye shares the same opinion as Iser, he wrote that reading is ‘like a picnic to which the author brings the words and the reader the meaning’ (Frye, http://www.clas.ufi.edu). Interpretation is a huge part of literature, it is involved in any type of reading that we do and it is completely up to the reader to how that literature is receive. The author, or his input anyway, dies as soon as they let the public see their text which leaves the reader on their own to read between the lines and come up with whatever they like. Having said this it leaves us thinking that if the author leaves the interpretation up to the reader then how can that interpretation be wrong, every author excepts the fact that their book will be taken in a way that wasn’t intended and they will not try to change that because it is all part of literary criticism. An author wouldn’t ever say that someone’s opinion was invalid because valid does not mean it is what was intended it only means that it is justified. One of Iser’s main points whenever he is talking of interpretation is that ‘Every interpretation transposes something into a different register that is not part of the subject matter to be interpreted. Therefore each interpretation is an act of translation, in the course of which something is shifted into what it is not.’ (Iser, http://sun3.lib.uci.edu). What he means is that interpretation might as well mean the same as translation when talking about literature; because the author is not sitting next to the reader and explaining what was actually meant the reader has to do the working out for themselves, which means that they may translate what is written in front of them into ‘what it is not’. The reader is reading things in the text which were not put there deliberately, they are reading not what is said but what has not been said so a large group of people who all read the same text have no chance of all reading the same thing because everybody wi ll have filled in the gaps slightly differently. ‘If the poem has a voice, it is articulated before, and one rearticulates it, reads it with one’s own voice, one has a reading which cannot properly be univocal.’ (John Lye, http://www.brocku.ca/english). This is much the same point as Frye was making with his example of a picnic; the author only produces the words and then it is the reader’s job to find meaning to these words. That almost makes it sound as if the reader has the greater task out of the two and it maybe that they do if once they have read a work and come up with their interpretation (or translation) they are then told that it is not a valid reading of that text. I have said that this topic of interpretation is one of the largest in modern literature and it is very closely linked with an equally large topic, deconstruction. The obvious source to turn to on this is The Critic as Host. In Lye’s commentary of this essay he makes a very good summary of what Miller had written: ‘Deconstruction, Miller seems to be concluding, opens us to the power and the complexities of language, thought, tradition, influence, meaning, to the ambiguities and paradoxes which really constitute what we once mistook for a unified field theory of human knowledge, by providing a form, a way of proceeding, which acknowledges the deep mysteries of meaning and which allows us to free ourselves from the tyrannies of univocal reading.’ (Lye, http://www.brocku.ca/english). There are two parts to this quote that I want to briefly discuss. Firstly, the fact that deconstruction ‘opens us to the power’ of language, thought and meaning. This cannot be said better in any other way, this is exactly what deconstruction does and it is this that leads the readers on to making their own interpretations of a text. Deconstruction makes us, the reader, think and analyse what has been written and from that draw up our conclusion of what was actually meant. The second part I wanted to look at is the fact that deconstruction allows us ‘to free ourselves from the tyrannies of univocal reading.’ Is ‘univocal reading’ actually a tyranny? Miller and Lye obviously think so, and I would agree, if literature was as straight cut as being able to read a book and draw up exactly the same interpretation ass everyone else there would be no need or point to study it. So how does deconstruction free us from this tyranny? The answer is because it forces the reader to think for themselves, to interpret a text in the way they want it interpreted instead of how the author, or even a teacher tells them to interpret it. Deconstruction forces the reader to be open minded about a text; to try and read something almost original into it. Again this all leads to a different interpretation to what others have read. However, the question of whether thinking for oneself, and the new ideas and interpretations that brings is valid or not is still present. When I picked this question I always thought that the only possible answer was that every interpretation is a valid one, that is the opinion that most people hold. However, after exploring the topic I have found a few doubts. Although they come to expect it, is it really fair to take an authors text that they have probably been working on for a matter of years and completely change the meaning of it? Surely what they write is personal to them, not necessarily as an experience they have had but more that they have devoted so much time to their work to a standard that they see as perfection. They then introduce it to the public and a critic misinterprets it and gives it a bad review because they did not like their own translation of what was written. These doubts I have are not strong enough to change my mind, but they are there and should not be ignored. In closing I do believe that everybody is entitled to their own opinion, and literary criticism is exactly that, opinions. There is no way to write a text and ensure that every reader interprets it in the way it was intended. Authors are very interested to learn about different interpretations of their works and I think that it is this acceptance and acknowledgement from them that not proves but should persuade people that any interpretation of any work is a valid one. I will finish with a quote from an interpretation of Miller’s The Critic as Host that sums up what I believe to be the answer to whether all interpretations are valid or not: ‘The root of idea is the word for image. To imagine is to image. All figures are not what they figure. Univocality is impossible. Everything always means something else.'(Lye,http://www.brocku.ca/english).