Separate Pasts Essay

Separate Pasts takes place during the 1950’s in Melton A. McLaurin’s small hometown, Wade, North Carolina. It is a detailed story of his boyhood in the rural South, which was a time when racism was a daily norm. McLaurin argues that racism existed unchallenged in the rural South. I found that this argument is valid due to the personal experiences that he had to face while growing up in the rural South, which he describes in great detail. McLaurin grew up with the knowledge that whites were treated very differently than blacks and not thinking anything of it. Although blacks and whites were demanded to work together in the village, he noticed that everyone played a different role based off their race. Some of the roles being, blacks always entered through the back doors of homes, hold the door open for the whites, did the laundry for the whites and were responsible for all the labor work for the whites. M cLaurin was not aware of how severe racism was at that time until he experienced it first hand with Bobo. Bobo, who was his first black friend, was not an important part of his life although they grew up together and had known him his whole life. It all started one fall Saturday afternoon when McLaurin, BoBo and six other people, white and black, started playing a pickup game. Pickup games were basketball games played between two integrated teams, regardless of race, based solely upon the skills of the individuals. As the game commenced, the basketball that was being used was known to leak air and had to be re-inflated every thirty minutes. McLaurin, Bobo, and their friend Howard went to the store, the store he worked at, to inflate the ball once they noticed it was no longer able to bounce and interfered with the game. There was a normal procedure that needed to be followed in order to inflate the ball. First, there was a needle that needed to be lubricated by being stuck it into so meone’s mouth or having someone spit on it. Next, the needle would be inserted into the small round valve where the basketball was inflated. By following those two steps it would lead to the third and last step, inflating the basketball. However, this particular time in McLaurin, Bobo and Howard’s case, they ran into a dilemma. The needle could not be inserted into the valve, no matter how many times they tried. The needle was handed over to Bobo for him to apply saliva using his mouth to try and lubricate the needle for it to be pushed into the valve. Still with no luck, McLaurin decided to take the matter into his own hands and put the needle into his mouth, convinced that his spit would get  the needle into the valve allowing them to return to the playing court. After placing the needle into his mouth, a moment of realization hit him. â€Å"A split second after placing the needle in my mouth, I was jolted by one of the most shattering emotional experiences of my young life.† (Page 37) He came to the realization that the same needle he had just placed in his mouth, was in Bobo’s mouth seconds before. â€Å"The needle in my mouth, however, had been purposely drenched with Negro spit, and that substance threatened to defile my entire being†¦It threatened me with germs which, everyone said, were common along with blacks†¦these black germs would ravish my body with unspeakable diseases, diseases from the tropics, Congo illnesses that would rot my limbs, contort my body with pain.† (Page 37) McLaurin felt that Bobo’s saliva, Negros saliva, threatened the concept of what being white meant. The more he thought about the situation, the more he became angry, upset and disgusted with himself. Its extremity caused McLaurin to feel the need to spit and gag in order to throw up any of the black saliva that might still have remained in his body. He felt as if Bobo’s black essence degraded him and made him like Bobo, black, less than human. McLaurin grew up in a village in which race and sex were so interwoven into the facts and fantasies of life, that residents instinctively understood their interrelated roles within the society. â€Å"†¦.Sexual contact between blacks and whites had been an integral part of life in the South from the time the first slaves were introduced into the region.† (Page 65) White women had to be cautious of their dress in the presence of black males because whites people feared black men would be aroused if they were to see a whi te woman in a pair of shorts. White women were also warned to â€Å"watch out for so and so†, or warned to not go places without being accompanied by elders. If a black male was to be attracted to a white woman, whites in spite of conveying the appropriate message automatically said derogatory and racist remarks. McLaurin caught interest in a girl named Charlotte Humphries who had been a schoolmate of his since the first grade. Blue eyes, blonde hair, having the complexion of a white girl, he was impressed and did not think pursuing wanting to date her would be a problem. However, regardless of his feelings, his mother disagreed and insisted that Charlotte would not be a good idea for him. McLaurin’s grandmother began to explain to him that he â€Å"just shouldn’t† pursue her, mentioning that the story behind it all goes  back a long time ago. She explained that Charlotte’s great-grandmother was someone who was a â€Å"mulatto nigra†. Some mulattos pass as white, even t hough they are not, if they are light enough and that is what happened with Charlotte’s great-grandmother. Even though Charlotte was blue eyed blond hair, McLaurin could not pursue her simply because black ancestry was in her blood. He was left â€Å"to ponder who Charlotte should date if she were white, but not white enough.† (Page 75) One summer night, McLaurin along with a gathering of boys under sixteen met in a small vacant lot behind a house where they played a modified version of softball which they played until the batters could no longer see the ball in the red twilight cast by the sun already hidden beneath the horizon. After the game ended, most players went home but McLaurin and some of the other boys decided to go to Noah Bullock’s Store, which was located across the village near the highway. At this store is where McLaurin remembered a â€Å"mean race-baiting incident† (Page 102) a murder he had witnessed a few months earlier. The shooting had occurred one late afternoon between dusk and the evening meal. A couple, Mary Lou Adams and her husband Martin, approached the store. Martin was a withdrawn man who was one of the few blacks whom the white residents feared. Mary Lou shortly realized she was in immediate danger after entering the store and slamming the screen door shut behind her with her husband pursuing her carrying a shotgun. Martin shot and stuck Mary Lou in the chest causing her to collapse on the floor creating dark splotches everyone would be able to gaze at months later. Many of Wade’s citizens saw the crime as â€Å"simply another nigger shooting, exciting but of no real consequence†. The next day, McLaurin and the other boys approached the store and sat on a nearby bench and rehashed the murder, hoping that one of the store’s customers would entertain them with another shooting. When finding out that a customer named Sam was inside the store, their fears rekindled because they had heard stories about Sam killing someone with his bare hands. The boys decided to taunt with Sam by yelling a chant inside the store saying â€Å"Nigger, nigger black as tar, stuck his head in a molasses jar, jar broke, cut his th roat, wet to hell on a Billy goat†, hoping that they could enrage Sam into causing a scene. Once they chanted, they ran for their lives thinking Sam would run after them and hurt them. Sam never chased them, in fact he never even left the stores, leaving the boys with realization that Sam was just a collective  figure of their imagination because he was black. McLaurin felt guilt for â€Å"violating the basic human dignity that my family acknowledged blacks possessed†. But more so because he had hurt Sam with the fact of his race knowing that Sam did not do anything to deserve the racist actions. (Page 109) In 1997, McLaurin lived in Wilmington, North Carolina when he decided to take a trip back to Wade, which eventually turned into an annual event. During his trip he learns that racism is still there even after all these years, just below the surface, in just about everything. â€Å"It’s in you, and it’s in me, and that’s the truth, down there inside us. That’s just the way it is.† (Page 176) Overall, I was highly convinced by Mc Laurin’s personal story where racism is shown to have been and still is a huge problem in the South. Racism began in the early years; people became accustomed to it and has unfortunately continued for many more years. Racism was a very significant theme to the narrative that he was discussing because not only did he experience it first hand, he witnessed his family and friends go through the same thing his entire childhood and adulthood. McLaurin’s argument of racism was presented very effectively with several clear examples throughout the book such as Bobo, Charlotte, and Sam. The historical value of this book is getting a first hand, inside look of how life was in the rural South from a conflicted young white’s point of view showing the segregation and racism of the time and how his implanted views on racism were changed by his positive personal experiences with blacks.

Life of Adele Essay

Better known simply as Adele, is an English singer, songwriter and musician. Adele Laurie Blue Adkins was born in Tottenham, north London, England, to Penny Adkins, an English teenager, and Mark Evans, a Welshman, on 5 May 1988. Evans walked out on Adele when she was two, leaving her 20-year-old mother to raise her single-handedly, for which Adele has still not forgiven him. She began singing at age four and asserts that she became obsessed with voices. Adele has cited the Spice Girls as a major influence in regard to her love and passion for music, stating that â€Å"they made me what I am today. † At the age of nine, Adele and her mother, a furniture-maker and adult learning activities organiser, relocated to Brighton. She remains an ardent fan of her hometown Premier League football club Tottenham Hotspur. At 11, she and her mother moved to Brixton, and then to neighbouring district West Norwood, in south London. West Norwood is the subject for Adele’s first record, â€Å"Hometown Glory†, written when she was 16. After moving to south London, she became interested in R&B artists such as Aaliyah, Destiny’s Child and Mary J. Blige. Adele says that one of the most defining moments in her life was when she watched Pink perform at Brixton Academy. Adele graduated from the BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology in Croydon in May 2006, where she was a classmate of Leona Lewis and Jessie J.  Adele credits the school with nurturing her talent even though at the time she was more interested in going into A&R and hoped to launch other people’s careers. Her debut album, 19, was released in 2008 to much commercial and critical success. Adele released her second album, 21, in early 2011. The album was well received critically and surpassed the success of her debut, earning the singer six Grammy Awards in 2012 including Album of the Year, equalling the record for most Grammy Awards won by a female artist in one night. The success of 21 earned Adele numerous mentions in the Guinness World Records. She is the first artist to sell more than 3 million copies of an album in a year in the UK. With her two albums and the first two singles from 21, â€Å"Rolling in the Deep† and â€Å"Someone Like You†, Adele became the first living artist to achieve the feat of having two top-five hits in both the UK Official Singles Chart and the Official Albums Chart simultaneously since The Beatles in 1964.

Assignment 4UT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Assignment 4UT - Essay Example For instance, the United States exercised imperialism over Latin American states during the reign of President Roosevelt. b. Rationale In the case of the Roosevelt Corollary, President Roosevelt acted in the pretense of limiting foreign involvement in the affairs of the Latin American states. According to Ayers (2009), Roosevelt claimed that mistakes the Latin American country made, would force the United States to exercise international police power. In the Panamanian Revolution, Roosevelt argued that the Colombians refused to take his offer for the canal. Additionally, there had been several other treaties made in the past with the Colombian government that had not been honored. c. Message from the Cartoons President Roosevelt is depicted as an adamant fighter who will stop at nothing to achieve his goal or victory. In relation to the Panamanian Revolution and the Roosevelt Corollary, Roosevelt depicts that he does not appreciate loosing and as such would use any available means to ensure that he succeeds. This is evident by the way he strangles his opponent in the depicted cartoon of him and the rail road trust. d. Events leading to Panamanian Revolution. By showing interest to the offer given by the Panamanian rebels over the Panama Canal, the United States effectively played a big role in enforcing the revolution. By secretly organizing a coup and declaring their independence with the protection of the United States Navy, the Panamanian rebels stole the Panama Canal Zone from the Colombians as claimed by the Republican senator Hayakawa. Question 2 Following the publication of a novel by Upton Sinclair, ’the jungle’, there was uproar by the American people amidst the revelations that the book revealed to the citizens. The massive filth and corruption of the meat packing industry had been exposed with Upton vividly describing how sick cows were slaughtered for beef at the watch of the meat inspector (Ayers, 2009). He also exposed how rats and o ther rodents were packed with regular meat and grinded to make sausages. As a result of this, there was massive demand by the public for reforms in the meat industry. This public outcry for reforms partly contributed to the progressive reform movement that was taking shape at the time. Upton’s article was characteristic of muckraking journalism in the sense that it reported on the wrong doings that was happening in the meat industry. By investigating and revealing the filth and rot that had been entrenched in such a sensitive industry, Upton qualified to be a muckraker. His article didn’t bear any positive news or reports about the happenings in the meat industry but instead condemned the wrong doings. Even the president, Roosevelt, was particularly disturbed by this publication. His immediate action was to send agents to investigate Upton’s claim. Unfortunately, the agents reported back a much worse situation than the one Upton published in his novel. He, there fore, requested the congress to pass a law for regulating food and drug usage and also putting in place a standard for inspection of meat. This was finally achieved in 1906 with the law requiring meat to be packed in a clean environment and meet the stipulated standards. He even invited Upton to statehouse and solicited his advice on ways to improve the inspection process to make them much safer. This system matched his current regulatory system in the sense tha

College education is worth Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

College education is worth - Research Paper Example of all this college education is a worthy investment since it is viewed not only as a challenge that changes one’s life but also an endeavor in today’s society. It is a well known fact that college graduates earn much more money than high school graduates. A research finding by The Hamilton Project in October 2012 confirmed that the gains from college education are much higher than of any other investment such as real estate, bonds and stocks. It was also found out that the returns from college have largely been steady over the past thirty five years, clearly demonstrating that the increasing cost of tuition has been offset by the amplified earning premium for degree holders. Thus in most respects, college education has never been more important. College graduates have always earned more money and find it easier in finding employment than their counterparts who are high school graduates. What however may be less instinctive is the fact that these gaps have been increasing recently. Thus for instance a youthful college graduate took home $4,000 more each year in the 1980s, inflation adjusted, than somebody of similar age who had no college e ducation (this was an average across the whole population and not just those working).This figure has however climbed to $12,000 each year over the past 30 years(Greenstone,Looney,2012). Whereas there is evidence about the lifetime value of increased education, cynics are increasingly pointing to increasing tuition costs to argue that college is not as good of a venture as it once was. It is true that there has been nearly 50% increase in cost of college over the last 3 decades (calculations courtesy of National Center for Education Statistics) which could be overstated. Foremost this increase in tuition does not cater for recent financial aid increases. Therefore, whereas the sticker cost of college may have risen, it is not clear to what scope the cost to students as well as their parents has risen. In fact the actual

In what ways do socio-biological theorists explain criminal behaviour Essay

In what ways do socio-biological theorists explain criminal behaviour - Essay Example Biology does interact with sociological forces that take one to the path of crime. If this concept is perfectly understood, proper steps for effective treatment to offenders can be taken. Genetic variations are conducive to increased violence risk. To be precise men with an extra Y chromosome have a higher propensity for violence—this just one of the findings. Roger Hopkins Burke, in his book â€Å"An introduction to Criminological Theory,† writes, â€Å"Biological positivism behaviour can be explained by a genetic susceptibility triggered by environmental factors.†(p.63) He has discussed the issue in detail in a separate chapter on â€Å"Biological Positivism.†(p .55-72) He further adds that â€Å"Biological positivism suggests a direct link between testosterone and aggression.†(p.67) Adoption and twin studies also relate to biological influences on maladaptive behaviour. The other influencing factors are alcohol syndrome, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder and birth defects. These conditions interact with sociological factors and thus add to the risks of criminal behaviour. The significant factor of criminality is found to be the effects of alcohol. Hormones have a telling effect on the aggression of an individual. Hormonal imbalance results in increased aggression. Childhood trauma and criminal behaviour have close links. With more or less unanimity about the influence of biology on criminal behaviour, it is time to look at the treatment modules of such criminals. A detailed study of biology, genetics and psychology is required to determine treatment of a particular criminal, for both mental health and correctional professionals. â€Å"Biological Positivism reduction in offending behaviors is seen as possible by the use of treatment pro grammes.†(p.71) The opposing viewpoints whether genetics plays the most important role or environmental factors are

Final Exam Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 3

Final Exam - Assignment Example claimed that in his reflections on self, he realized that it was impossible for him to have a unified impression of self without the particular perceptions; Hume argued that when he tries to think about the concept of self, what he stumbles upon are particular perceptions such as heat or cold, love or hate, or pleasure or pain. For this reason, therefore, Hume concluded that there is no self, but what we call self is merely a bundle of sensations In his view of the self, Immanuel Kant refuted Hume’s argument that we cannot have an idea of the self. In his epistemology, Immanuel Kant held that there are two sources of human knowledge. i.e. sensibility and understanding. This view is contrary to Hume’s view; Hume held that sensibility is the only source of human knowledge. For Kant, sensibility gives us objects, while the understanding thinks and reasons about the given objects. In his epistemology, therefore, Kant was of the view that it is indeed possible for us to have knowledge of things which have no direct impressions. For Kant, therefore, by looking for the self I in sense impressions, Hume is looking for the self in the wrong place. For Kant, the self is the entity that unifies human experiences, thus enabling human mind to synthesis sense perceptions. By saying that existence precedes essence, Sartre meant that human beings are the ones who make up, as it were, their essence. For Sartre, human beings are not determined, from the moment of their birth, what they will be in life. For this reason, therefore, Sartre viewed human beings as existing first before they determine what they will be in life. For Sartre, human beings are born with the freedom and the possibility to become whatever they want to become in life, i.e. human beings are born with the freedom and the ability to form their own essence. For Sartre, therefore, existence in human beings precedes essence. This view of human beings, however, makes human beings different from inanimate objects

Brief the case of Holmes v. South Carolina, 547 U.S. 319 (2006) Coursework

Brief the case of Holmes v. South Carolina, 547 U.S. 319 (2006) - Coursework Example However Holmes denied the charges and confessed that the crime was committed by a third party named Jimmy Mc Caw White. Holmes was of the opinion that the police framed him in this crime. Defendant also produces several witnesses who claimed that the third party was found in the premises of the crime scene during the hours of crime. Holmes produced several witnesses to prove that he was innocent in this case and was trapped by the police. He also asserted that the forensic results were manipulated by poor handling by the police officer. Issue: Is Holmes guilty for the death of the old women in South Carolina? Any case in order to be justified needs solid evidence against the person who is guilty. Moreover there is argument from the defendant that police his trying to frame him .Holmes suggested that The crime was committed by a third party and also produced witnesses for the same. The only proof against Holmes was the palm print, fiber of clothing and DNA elements found at the vicini ty and on victim respectively. .It was a known fact that the police officer handling the case dealt with evidence collection in a negligent manner. He collected the samples with bare hand and henceforth the results were not trust worthy. The issue before the court is that, on what basis they can prove the guiltiness of the defendant as to the crime. How can the court claim that Holmes committed the crime on the women? Court draws conclusion based on evidence found at the crime scene .With regard to this case all the forensic evidence provided was unreliable due to the poor handling of samples by the police officer. Rule: According to federal rule of evidence, rule 702 is a key one. Cornell University of law(2010) states that â€Å"If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify theret o in the form of an opinion or otherwise, if (1) the testimony is based upon sufficient facts or data, (2) the testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods, and (3) the witness has applied the principles and methods reliably to the facts of the case†. Analysis: The Federal rule of evidence is crucial here as the whole case is centered around the validity of the forensic evidence found on the vicinity and victim. Once a crime is committed there should be strong evidence against the defendant in order to sentence the defendant. Even though, the evidence is found, the authenticity of it cannot be established due to the manipulation of them by the police officer. . The forensic result of the crime scene was not authentic as the police officer collected the samples without using gloves. This is against the law as samples are not obtained following the principles laid down by the civil procedure. Since the reliability of the evidence is very questionable, the court ca nnot pass any order against Holmes which prove him guilty Conclusion: Since the U.S. Supreme Court was not satisfactory about the credibility of the forensic results, there are no grounds to accuse the defendant of the crime. At the same time the probability of the involvement of the third party was ruled out on the basis of evidence found on the crime scene. Finally it can be concluded that Holmes involvement in the rape and murder could not be established due to lack of genuine evidence. Work cited Law School, Cornell University. (2010, December).

Rousseau, Marx and the Critique of Classical Liberalism Essay

Rousseau, Marx and the Critique of Classical Liberalism - Essay Example Rousseau on the other hand, emphasizes on democratic political interdependence and economic self-sufficiency whereby all human beings are free and also tries to explain the origin of inequalities and how to resolve them. Just like Rousseau, Marx hates inequalities hence much of his work is criticism of the capitalist state and goes beyond political democracy to emancipation of the human race. The paper will discuss Rousseau and Marx approaches to critique of classical liberalism. Classical liberalism puts emphasis on securing the freedom of individual by limiting the power of the state and this freedom is referred as liberty. In this case, ownership of private property is encouraged and protected by the law and exchange of the property with a willing buyer is voluntary. It also advocates for the need to separate the church from the state hence freedom of religion and also free trade. This is in the belief that people have inalienable rights to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness a nd the role of the state is to safeguard these rights (Fremont-Barnes, 225). It is also based on the idea that people aim at maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain and that people engage in labor voluntarily to get a reward or due to fear of hunger. Much emphasis is placed on the individual since the society is a sum of individual members thus discourages formation of unions or group associations (Epstein, 1-12). Contrary to classical liberalism which emphasizes negative freedom whereby others should refrain from interfering with other’s rights, Rousseau views freedom as positive whereby individuals are enabled to realize higher goods. On the discourse on the origin and basis of inequality (1755), Rousseau acknowledges the existence of primitive societies who lived under the natural state and directed to act by their passions and desire. Under the natural state, all men are equal and inequality is brought about by men through civilization (Rousseau 1987, 26). Each society me mber has a task to perform and no one is forced to share tasks with others and the sovereign and the people have same interests. Contrary to classical liberalism, under this democratic government no one is above the law and if a government proves not fit for the society, the society has the right to overthrow it and form a new government. Such was the case with the French revolution which led to overthrow of the monarch. The government envisioned by Rousseau is a direct and not representative democracy where the people are sovereign with a general will and legislative power with the government being distinct from the sovereign (Rousseau 2008, 25). The government neither engages in conquest of its neighbors since it is self-sufficient nor expects to be conquered but instead it expects the neighbors to be of assistance in time of need hence political interdependence (Rousseau 1987, 27). On his second discourse, Rousseau points out two types of inequalities; natural inequality such as age, health and bodily strength; Moral or political inequality which is consented by men such as being more powerful, richer and more honored. He argues that the development of inequalities was as a result of evolution from natural to moral inequality. The formation of language was important in the evolution as it enabled the ideas to be spread widely otherwise in the state of nature, any

Economy of China Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Economy of China - Research Paper Example Contextually, with respect to commercial activities, national limitations are lessening in terms of legitimate administrations where independent federations are performing as the principal power over their respective regions (Kojima, 2002, pp. 1-2). A similar notion can also be held true in the context of China’s relation with major global powers, including the US, UK, and other countries. On political and economic grounds, serious economic conflicts have transpired in recent times between China and other economies, especially those concerning the US in numerous aspects. Besides, the Chinese economy is also facing problems which are likely to have the profound impact on the world economy (Xuetong, 2010, pp. 267-269). Considering these aspects, this essay will review the world politics on international business causing conflicts, majorly between China and US along with other nations. Therefore, the prime focus of the essay will be on the economic problems witnessed by China concerning its relations in the global arena. Stating precisely, the objective of the essay is to evaluate the economic issues currently witnessed by China in the international context from different perspectives. In the global political history, two most apparent changes in power have been identified in the recent occurrences; one being the rise of European economy after ‘Industrial Revolution’ and the other being the rise of the American economy in the post-Civil War era (Zhou, 2008, pp.171). These power moves have resulted in international conflicts with the motive to acquire more authority in the global trade systems. It was during this era that weakening nations became more probable to lose the governing position in the international business system, thereby increasing the gap in relation to international power distribution.  Ã‚  

Linked in Case Essay Example for Free

Linked in Case Essay When attempting to determine the valuation of LinkedIn it helps to understand some of the issues involved. The most accurate way to value a stock’s price is using discounted cash flows. The problem with this approach is that it is nearly impossible to predict with any accuracy what the long-term cash flows are for a given company; especially a company that is young or that might be using an innovative and new business model. Additionally, knowing what long-term cash flows look like requires knowledge of the long-term growth rate, operating margin, weighted average cost of capital, discount rate and reinvestment rate. This makes using discounted cash flows especially difficult young companies. The discounted cash flow, in Exhibit #1 below, shows an imputed value of $109 per share versus the current market price of $246 per share. This calculation is based on an industry average weighted average cost of capital of 10% and a discount rate of 4%. However the key point is that the model assumes that revenues will grow from $972M in 2012 to $4,029M in 2018 or 415%. The fact that the market price is higher than $109 per share indicates that investors believe that the potential for revenue growth is even higher than 415%. Another potential valuation issue relates to LinkedIn’s revenue recognition method. LinkedIn recognizes its Hiring Solutions Revenue from job postings when the posting is displayed or over the contract period, whichever is shorter. This may cause revenues to be overstated in the current year if a contract runs into the next fiscal year. The overstated revenues would be extrapolated and multiplied into the future causing investors to over value the stock. In 2010 Hiring Solutions Revenue accounted for 42% of total revenues. There are many factors that can cause investors to increase or decrease their valuation of a company. One important characteristic that impacts a company’s valuation is competitive advantage. LinkedIn is believed to have high barriers to entry as it takes time for members to build their network which makes members reluctant to start over with a competing product. This creates a low membership turnover environment for LinkedIn. These two characteristics often cause investors to forecast steeper revenue growth rates and thereby assign a higher value to a stock. Another important characteristic that impacts a company’s valuation is gross margin. Companies like LinkedIn that have a high gross margin generate more  cash which causes a higher stock valuation using a discounted cash flow analysis. All things being equal, gross margin percentage should have a direct impact on the price to revenue multiple. As we can see from LinkedIn’s financial statements its gross margin increased from 75% in 2008 to 87% in 2012. EBITDA as a percentage of revenues has a similar effect on the discounted cash flow stock valuation. An increasing EBITDA to revenue ratio over time will cause a larger stock valuation. As we can see from LinkedIn’s financial statements its EBITDA to revenues ration increased from 8.9% in 2008 to 14% in 2012. The rate of growth in sales units is also an important characteristic considered during valuation. Obviously, the faster you are growing, the larger, and larger future revenues and cash flows will be, which has direct implications for a DCF. High growth also implies that a company has tapped into a powerful new market opportunity, where customer demand is seemingly insatiable. This is especially true when the company being valued has a very large customer base. A large customer base makes a company less dependent on any one customer for its revenue. The business model of LinkedIn is based on the revenues per user. Therefore the number of active people on this social network is the crucial factor in the company valuation. Still, the number of new members LinkedIn is adding each year is slowing. Membership increased 36 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, down from 39 percent in prior period and 43 percent in the third quarter. LinkedIn is compensating for the trend by adding mobile and web services to keep users on the site for longer. The disposable income of a company’s customers can also impact its valuation. LinkedIn is sometimes described as Facebook for professionals. One important difference between Facebook and LinkedIn relates the disposable income of its members. Generally, professionals are easier to make money off of than consumers, so LinkedIn will presumably be able to make more money per user than Facebook. LinkedIn is still primarily a U.S. company, so it can presumably expand to Europe, Asia, Latin America, and other regions. However, the revenue per member is still much higher for U.S. members than members outside of the U.S. Competitors and market share also impact valuation. LinkedIns Talent Solutions group continues to win share from Monster.com. Sales increased  90% to $161 million last quarter while sales at Monster fell 10% to $211 million. LinkedIn shows signs of becoming the preferred recruiting tool. Increasingly, users are willing to pay for greater access as indicated by last quarter’s 79% increase in membership revenue which was $59 million. Also, the global expansion has pushed membership over 200 million users, up from 100 million in March 2011. After discussing the various issues and factors effecting the valuation of LinkedIn there are many reasons that I would not buy the stock. I believe that the current market price of $246 per share, which reflects speculated growth rate over 500%, is way too optimistic. Even at the $109 price reflect in the Exhibit #1 discounted cash flow the growth rate would have need to be over 400% which I feel is still too high. LinkedIn acknowledges they have a short operating history in a new and unproven market, which makes it difficult to evaluate future prospects and may increase the risk that it will not be successful. Linked in also acknowledges that even if it can achieve a 400% growth rate that it could still fail in its ability to build the infrastructure to reliably and securely meet this demand. I also do not like the risk of investing in a company like LinkedIn where management holds a controlling interest so that the minority shareholder cannot influence management. LinkedIn also has no plans to pay dividends so investors have no possibility to get any return on investment without selling their stock. Lastly, while LinkedIn is a market leader in professional networking it does have some large competitors including Viadeo, XING, Monster and even Facebook. Some investors worry that if Facebook decided to pursue the professional networking market that it would easily overcome LinkedIn. For these reasons I feel that LinkedIn represents a very high risk investment and many current investors are likely to lose money.

Brady V. Maryland 373 U.S. 83 (1963)

Brady V. Maryland 373 U.S. 83 (1963) The facts of this case is that John Brady and his companion, Donald Boblit are arrested and prosecuted for murder in the first degree. John Brady testified stating that he was involved, but did not do the actual act of killing. Their trials were separated. John Brady and his brother-in-law planned on robbing a bank to help support Brady and his wife, who was pregnant. John Brady and Donald Boblit were out on June 28, 1956 and planned on stealing the getaway car from someone that Brady knew from his childhood. Boblit ended up hitting the man on the head with his shotgun and put him inside the trunk of the stolen car. The man was strangled to death and the issue of who did the actual strangling came about. Needless to say the men never had the chance to rob the bank. They each had their own trial because prior to the trial John Bradys attorney made a request to see Donald Boblits statements that were given to the police. It was found that key pieces were withheld by the prosecution, which showed Boblit admitting to the murder. Boblit made 5 confessions, the first four confessions were him stating that Brady committed the murder and fifth one he had a completely different story. In the fifth confession he stated he was the one that killed the man. Only the first four confessions were turned over to Bradys attorney. John Bradys attorney stated that withholding exculpatory evidence violates due process. Bradys attorney did not notice until he had already been tried, convicted and sentenced. A new separate trial was done for Brady only to question the type of punishment he should receive. Brady was still guilty and hoped he the jury would find him guilty of first degree murder, without capital punishment. (Brady v. Maryland 373 U.S. 83 (1963)) The decision was made that both Mr. Donald Boblit and Mr. John Brady were found guilty of murder in the first degree and they were both sentenced to death. Jury decided that there was no justification or reasoning to killing a man, whether one decided to physically do it or that the other came up with the plan. And even though the original plan was just to rob someone, both actions are felonies. After both men went to prison, Brady received a new lawyer. This lawyer then proceeded to get Brady a new trial. A new trial on whether he was guilty or not, but a trial just for his punishment, which has never happened before. End result was that Brady was moved from death row into general population and the governor granted Brady clemency, and he was eventually released from prison after he served 18 years. (Brady vs Maryland, 2006) Giglio v. United States 405 U.S. 150 (1972) The facts of this case is the petitioner was convicted of forging money orders and petitioner needed to serve a five-year prison sentence. Later on it was discovered that that the witness denied that there were no promises made for leniency. The witness lied on the stand during the cross examination. It was later found that there was a promise not to prosecute the witness. It was then asked for a new trial based upon new evidence, which in return was denied. (Giglio v. United States case brief, 1970) The issue that is clearly stated is that the failure to disclose the promise of leniency and the witness lying, affects the witnesss credibility. The court then decided to reverse and remanded the case for a new trial. (Giglio v. United States case brief, 1970) Resources Brady v. Maryland 373 U.S. 83 (1963). (n.d.). Retrieved March 01, 2017, from https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/373/83/case.html Brady vs Maryland. (2006). Retrieved March 01, 2017, from http://www.ipsn.org/court_cases/brady_v_maryland.htm L. (1970, January 01). Giglio v. United States case brief. Retrieved March 01, 2017, from http://www.lawschoolcasebriefs.net/2013/11/giglio-v-united-states-case-brief.html FindLaws United States Supreme Court case and opinions. (n.d.). Retrieved March 01, 2017, from http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/405/150.html

Hamlet :: essays papers

Hamlet Revenge For Your Father In Shakespeare's tragic epic Hamlet, one man is torn between loyalty of his new king or the revenge of his old king and past on father. Should Hamlet lose everything while his uncle controls what should be his? Many things led to the down fall of Hamlet some of them are the murderous acts of Claudius, the act loyalty to revenge the death of a king and father, and the great depression that Hamlet struggles to control. In Hamlet there are many unfortunate events. The start of the unfortunate event is when the king is brutally murder. Cluadius seemed to bring curse a pawn everyone around him. By the murder of Hamlet's father he was determined to avenge his death. Hamlet now had to avenge the death of his father and end the incestuous acts between a twisted uncle and mother. "He kills Polonius by accident, hoping that in a blind thrust through ther arras he might turn out at last to have dispatched the King..."(Murray pg131) Some may think that Hamlet let his emotions take over his actions in avenging his fathers' death , but Ophelia and Laertes also lots a father and they too acted like out of control. Laertes also look for revenge toward his fathers' killer just like Hamlet. Ophelia the sister of Laertes was unable to get revenge for her father Polonius lost her mind and committed suicide. Hamlet may too gone mad and taken his own life if he was unable to get revenge. The ghost of Hamlet's father give Hamlet the answer of revenge by telling him how the killer is. "The Ghost as a sort of symbol or allegory. Hamlet's character and situation were well conceived to base such a hallucination upon."(Santayana 128) The ghost gave Hamlet a great power inside to avenge his death. The ghost also to Hamlet of how the death of his father caused infinite damnation and led to corruption fo his other and Denmark. "If thou hast nature in thee bear it not, Let not the royal bed of Denmark be A couch for luxury and damned incest"(I.5.81) Hamlet also is under great depression and constant internal struggle. The civilization was also coming down around him. He had no one to trust. Hamlet is expected to go alone the remarriage of his mother, and also after finding out that his fathers' murder was by his own uncle who married his mother and is now the new king of Denmark.

The Kite Runner Essay -- Khaled Hosseini Afghani and Islamic culture

Khaled Hosseini’s best-selling novel, The Kite Runner, is an eye-opening look into Afghani and Islamic culture through the painful memories of an American immigrant, Amir. Hosseini’s novel is rich with beautiful imagery and settings. The book also masterfully tells of disturbing events and very real characters. Perhaps Hosseini’s greatest achievement is his vast and quite effective use of symbolism in The Kite Runner. One such recurring symbol is the pomegranate. The pomegranate’s rich symbolic history from cultures around the world provides many different interpretations as to the various ideas the pomegranate represents. The Kite Runner can be viewed as an analogy for the well-known story of Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden by interpreting the pomegranate as the forbidden fruit. Many people are familiar with the story of Adam and Eve’s fall from paradise in the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament or from the Hebrew Torah. What may be less familiar to people is that a similar story is also found in the Koran. The Koran states, â€Å"‘O Adam! Dwell thou and thy wife in the Garden, and eat ye plentifully there from whatever ye list; but to this tree come not nigh, lest ye become of the transgressors.’ But Satan made them slip from it, and caused their banishment from the place in which they were† (Rodwell 6). The Koran does not explicitly state the type of tree that was forbidden, just as the Book of Genesis only tells of an unnamed forbidden fruit. This forbidden fruit is commonly believed to have been an apple. Many scholars now believe, though, that the forbidden fruit of scripture was actually a pomegranate. The transformation in common culture of pomegranate to apple may have had many causes. Et... ...ions that will lead both countries toward a better future and paradises of their own. Works Cited Freedman, David Noel. The Anchor Bible Dictionary: Volume 2. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc., 1991. Ghauri, Abdus Sattar. â€Å"The Concept of Original Sin.† 13 November 2002. Understanding Islam. 23 February 2008 com/related/text.asp?type=article&aid=178#_ftn2>. Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: Penguin, 2003. Prpic, J. Kaya, and Ainslie E. Ellis. â€Å"Influences in the design of a faculty-wide tutor development program.† HERDSA, 2002. Rieger, Mark. Introduction to Fruit Crops. Birmingham: Food Products Press, n.d. Rodwell, J. M. The Koran. London: Orion Publishing Group Ltd, Orion House, 1909, 1992, 1994. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 4th edition. Houghton Mifflin, 2006.

The Internet Invention Essay -- Essays Papers

The Internet Invention The history of every great invention is based on a lot of pre-history. In the case of the World-Wide Web, there are two lines to be traced: the development of hypertext, or the computer-aided reading of electronic documents, and the development of the Internet protocols which made the global network possib le. The Internet has revolutionized the computer and communications world like nothing before. The invention of the telegraph, telephone, radio, and computer set the stage for this unprecedented integration of capabilities. The Internet is at once a world-wide broadcasting capability, a mechanism for information dissemination, and a medium for collaboration and interaction between individuals and their computers without regard for geographic location. The Internet represents one of the most successful examples of the benefits of sustained investment and commitment to research and development of information infrastructure. Beginning with the early research in packet switching, the government, industry and academia have been partners in evolving and deploying this exciting new technology. Today, terms like "names@computer.org" and "http://www.acm.org" trip lightly off the tongue of the random person on the street. The Internet today is a widespread information infrastructure, the initial prototype of what is often called the National (or Global or Galactic) Information Infrastructure1. Its history is complex and involves many aspects technological, organizational, and community. And its influence reaches not only to the technical fields of computer communications but throughout society as we move toward increasing use of online tools to accomplish electronic commer... ... of the ACM. v40n2 Feb 1997. p.102-108. 6. O'Malley, Michael and Roy Rosenzweig, "Brave New World or Blind Alley? American History of the World Wide Web." Journal of American History 1997 84(1): 132-155. 7. Regoli, Michael. " Webstorians: Historians and the World Wide Web." OAH Newsletter 1995 23(3): 1, 8-9. 8. Rosenzweig, Roy. "Wizards, bureaucrats, warriors, and hackers: Writing the history of the Internet." The American Historical Review. v103n5 Dec 1998. p.1530-1552 9. Silver, David. "Interfacing American Culture: The perils and Potentials of Virtual Exhibitions." American Quarterly 1997 49(4): 825-850. 10. Thompsen, Philip. "Toward a Public Lane on the Information Superhighway: A Media Performance Analysis of the Community-Wide Education and Information Service Initiative." DAI 1998 58(8): 2894-A. DA9806152

How significant is the theme of loneliness in Of Mice and Men? Essay

Loneliness is a state of detachment, separation, and isolation and a feeling of being friendless and forlorn. The book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck picks up this feeling as one of it’s main themes. Several characters from the novel either isolate themselves or are being isolated. The main characters George and Lennie on the other hand have a strong relationship and many others envy them for this but even those two find themselves confronted with loneliness in some way. The two protagonists George and Lennie have a special kind of relationship and this makes them stand out from the others. Many of the other characters are very lonely and even Slim, the most popular worker on the farm, how special and rare George and Lennie’s relationship is. By sharing a dream together they relieve themselves of their loneliness. Both are in some way dependant on each other and that is exactly what many others search for. Crooks comments on his own loneliness by saying that â€Å"a guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody†. Candy and Crooks are two characters, who are excluded because of physical features and they both admire George and Lennie’s friendship. Candy is an old man who lost a hand during his work on the farm. He feels he is excluded from the others and very much holds on too his old dog. After this dog is shot he looses an important part of his life. One could draw some kind of comparison between the relationship of Candy and his dog and George and Lennie. Both of these two have a similar kind of dependency on each other and without each other they no longer have someone or something to look out for. So after Candy has lost his dog he offers George and Lennie his money in order for them to allow him to join them in their dream. This shows how little all of his savings mean to him if he can have just someone around him. Not only Candy though shows his loneliness and has suffered from it. Crooks, the black stable-buck, shares a similar fate to the old Candy. At the time the novel takes place black people were looked down upon and excluded. Crooks clearly suffers under this and although he initially displays aggressiveness, the reader can still sympathize with him because it is rather clear that this origins from his isolation and loneliness. When Lennie enters his bunk house he at first tries to throw him out but then decides to tease Lennie by asking him what would happen when George wouldn’t return. This displays Crook’s curiosity for the type of bond that exists between George and Lennie. Even though he does not believe George’s and Lennie’s dream will ever come true and even though he at first seems rather rejective towards the other characters he decides to ask whether he can join them. Demonstrating his strong longing for companionship. One more character though experiences loneliness even though it is not for the same reasons as for Crooks and Candy. Curley’s wife is excluded for different than Candy and Crooks but experiences the same kind of injustice. As she mentions, she is not very happy with her husband Curley. Therefore she flirts with the other men one the ranch but they try to keep away from her. They are afraid of getting in trouble with Curley and therefore she very much is isolated from everyone on the ranch. In Lennie she finds someone she can tell her feelings to because he cannot care any less about it and does not understand the reasons for her being isolated. This is her downfall but in someway frees both of them from their curse. Curley’s wife dies even though she is married in loneliness. Lennie would without George have no chance in the hard life of that time. In George Lennie not only found a protector but also someone to relieve him from his doom of being lonely. The other men left on the farm are all in some way lonely. Even though they keep contact they do not have anyone to look after or to take care of. Exactly that is where George and Lennie differentiate themselves from the others. All characters in the novel, besides George and Lennie, are in some way lonely, whether it is because some physical feature, their age, their sex or simply because of the circumstances of the time. They all had lost their goals on the way and therefore the connection to the people around them. George and Lennie on the other hand have a bond that connects them on two levels first of all the dependency on each other and second of all their shared dream.

A Multimodal Learning Strategy Essay

How do you learn best? Do you rely on written instructions that outline details or processes? Do you physically test and try something out to see how it works? Do you learn through observation, by seeing someone else demonstrate? Do you rely on diagrams and visual aids to help you understand? If you answered mostly â€Å"yes† to the above questions, chances are, you have a multimodal learning preference. The majority—approximately 60%– of any population, group, or demographic fall into the category of multimodal learning. Multimodal learning takes from each of the four sensory modalities—the VARK learning style—used for learning information. The VARK learning style was developed by New Zealand educator Neil Fleming (1987) as a model that assesses how different people have different learning preferences. VARK is an abbreviation for visual (V), aural (A), read/write (R), and kinesthetic (K)—the four modes of learning strategies that he believed categorized how people learned and gathered knowledge. A multimodal learning strategy is a learning preference that combines two or three out of the four basic learning preferences. Finding out what one’s learning preference is promotes a more effectiveness in learning, as it gears one’s study habits towards their preferred method. Assessing the Method A VARK questionnaire is an effective method in assessing what a person’s learning preference is. A survey of approximately 15 to 16 questions would be given to a group of mixed background profiles, which would later be broken down into categories relating various social categories. The goal of the questionnaire or survey is to come up with a mean score which would be the standard for comparison and action. This score will is used to initiate a joint effort involving varying parties to determine strategies that would enhance learning for the groups (Murphy, Gray, Straja and Bogert, 2004). The VARK Four To better understand what multimodal learning strategies take from, it is important to discuss and differentiate between the four modes of learning strategies (Fleming, 1987). Visual learning styles highly prefer illustrated information over presentations or explanations in word. People who are â€Å"visual† rely heavily on drawings, maps, diagrams, symbols, and the like to gather information and learn. Aural or Auditory learners prefer to gather information that is spoken or heard. These types of learners acquire information best by listening to lectures, talks, discussions—even from e-mails, chats, texts and phone calls. Those with the Read/Write learning style process information best when it is written or displayed as text. The emphasis of this preference not only considers the input (which in this case is reading), it also looks at the output, which is more often than not, also in written form. Kinesthetic learners gain knowledge and information through practice and experience, real or simulated. This â€Å"experiential learning† may involve simulations, demonstrations, case studies and applications. The discussion of each of the four modes of learning preferences gives an idea of how learners with multimodal learning strategies absorb and understand information. Multiple preferences take factors from each of the four learning styles and incorporate them into an interesting formula that varies from user to user. As an example, you may have strong visual and aural preferences, or read/write and kinesthetic. It is also possible for a person to have three strong preferences, while some may also exhibit no particular inclination towards any single preference, and instead would have equal learning strategies in all four (Hong and Milgram, 2000). The multimodal learning style uses at least two types of strategies for learning. Unlike those with single preferences who deduce concepts by using their strategic style, multimodal learners often feel the need to â€Å"counter-check† the facts they obtained from a single set of strategies with the other types of learning styles (Fleming and Bonwell, 2002). Case Study: Myself as a Multimodal Learner I obtained the following scores using the VARK questionnaire found on www. vark-learn. com (Fleming, 2006): V=5, A=1, R=9 and K=7. This shows that I have a multimodal learning preference, with strengths in both Read/Write and Kinesthetic areas. Top R and K scores allow me to learn effectively using a combination of written reference and hands-on experience (Vierheller, 2005). My capacity to gather information would be greatly influenced by references, textbooks, lists, notes and readings. They would likewise be enhanced by using sensory observations, trial and error experiences, and hands-on approaches like computing, field trips and laboratory work. Alternately, I should theoretically be able to produce valuable output by writing information and lists, and by doing a mock-up or by physically recreating experiences and observations. To concur with my test results, I have personally found written information coupled with hands-on testing to be a most effective strategy. Also, while scoring only a 5 on the visual mode, I have always found visual study strategies to be effective in supplementing the information that I am able to collate using my supposed strong styles. The use of pictures, diagrams, charts, symbols and the like provide significant assistance in my personal learning preference. Users like myself, who have a three-dimensional multimodal learning preference have the fortunate advantage of easily adapting to various assessment methods and techniques required. References Fleming, N. (n. d. ) VARK: A Review of Those Who Are Multimodal. Web site: http://www. vark-learn. com/english/page_content/multimodality. html Hong, E. and Milgram, R. (2000). Homework: Motivation and Learning Preference [Electronic version]. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey. Murphy, R. , Gray, S. , Straja, S. , and Bogert, M. (2004). Student Learning Preferences and Teaching Implication. Journal of Dental Education. 68(8). 860-861. Retrieved from www. jdentaled. org.

Nature in Literature Essay

Nature is one of the most powerful forces that has ran through literature throughout human history. Ever since the first recorded dramas and philosophical works, man could not avoid being in contact with the world around him, and so his connection to the earth must inevitably be part of his story. In literature, when nature is addressed, it is often in praise or awe, of its terror or of its beauty. Nature can represent the real and visceral as well as the sublime and the mystic. If one examines the work of the Transcendentalists, the Romantic Poets, and certain novelists, it is evident that the underlying feeling is that Nature provides inspiration and bliss, as well as a much-needed refuge from society. One of the best known schools of thought which dealt with Nature in literature is Transcendentalism. The Transcendentalist movement began in America in the 1800s. Transcendentalists believed that the divine could be reached through nature, by any man. The hallmark work of the movement was Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Nature. The most famous section of the work is when Emerson recalls an experience he had in the woods, and says â€Å"I become a transparent eye-ball. . . . I see all. The currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God. † (Cromphout 210) Emerson tapped into an experience of non-being, connecting on a purely spiritual level through nature, without need of church or religion. Equally famed is Henry David Thoreau’s work Walden. In this classic, Thoreau captures the spirit of nature, solitude, and finding joy in both. As an experiment, Thoreau left society and went to live in a cabin on Walden Pond. In this famous statement, Thoreau sums up the mission of his experiment: â€Å"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. .. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms. † (Thoreau 5)He was making a stand against the materialism and convoluted nature of society- â€Å"Our life is frittered away by detail, simplify, simplify,† he says. For him nature represented the bare essentials- trees, rock, hunger, thirst; the things that lay behind the trappings of society. He took immense joy in the solitude and beauty of his life at Walden Pond. He farmed, observed, and lived in harmony with nature. Walden opened people’s eyes and inspired them, and might be the most classic example of nature in literature. Another Transcendentalist, the most radical and wonderfully incendiary, was Walt Whitman. His most famous work, Leaves of Grass, was written in free verse and was seen as controversial and even obscene by the uptight intellectuals of the day. The essence of his work is a deep oneness with nature, having no shame in being, and joy in what can be seen and felt. In Song of Myself, he says, â€Å"I am satisfied†¦ I see, dance, laugh, sing. † â€Å"The play of shine and shade on the trees as the supple boughs wag†¦ The feeling of health†¦ the full-noon trill†¦ the song of me rising from bed and meeting the sun. † (Whitman 12) For Whitman, nature is all he needs, he takes endless joy in being, tempering the intellect with natural physical pleasures. An equally important school of thought was the Romantic movement in Europe. Romanticism grew out of a rebellion against the Enlightenment and its stark intellectualism. Instead, romanticism revolves around passion, emotion, nature, mystery, turmoil, and all the qualities of life that were not constrained by reason. â€Å"Nature mysticism† was one of the most important aspects of the movement. (Micale 140) The romantics preferred the country and the wilderness to the city, and loved both gentle, pastoral landscapes as well as the turbulent, sublime, dramatic, and exotic. (Micale 150) Of course, literature was at the core of the Romantic movement, and the love of nature is reflected in its works. An excellent example of the â€Å"sublime† side of nature is found in the work of the mysterious literary figure Ossian, who influenced so many of the romantic writers. Ossian was actually the Scottish poet James Macpherson(1736-1796) who wrote a collection of ancient Scottish poems, claiming to be word-of-mouth folk tales, but it is supposed that he wrote them himself. (Simonsuuri 192) The poems involved misty, windblown, rocky landscapes and moonlight, and the romantic images and ideas he brought about captured the imagination of society and of individuals such as Goethe, Napoleon, and Jefferson. (Simonsuuri 287) People were drawn to this exotic, wild side of nature and the worlds that it conjured. An example of the green, pastoral side of nature in romantic literature is found in William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience. In the poem Laughing Song, he says:â€Å"When the green woods laugh with the voice of joyAnd the dimpling stream runs laughing by,When the air does laugh with our merry wit,And the green hill laughs with the noise of it. † (Blake 28) In Songs of Innocence, Blake connects the lovely landscape with youth, joy, and happiness. In his poetry, the countryside represents â€Å"innocence† and all things good, while the city represents â€Å"experience† and disillusionment. In conclusion, nature is one of the strongest forces found in literature. Men have written about the natural world and how it affects them for centuries, and will continue to do so. In Europe, Nature was at the core of the Romantic movement. Their works reflect both the stormy and sublime side of nature as well as the peaceful and pastoral. Either way, the romantics were moved to bliss and rapture by the beauties they saw around them. In America, a similar movement took place with the Transcendentalists, who believed that the unifying spirit in all things could be reached directly through nature. In literature, nature is often perceived with some amount of mysticism. To man, nature represents all that is not machine and society, it represents a state of freedom, passion, and beauty. If one examines the work of the Transcendentalists, the Romantic Poets, and certain novelists, it is evident that the underlying feeling is that Nature provides inspiration and bliss, as well as a much-needed refuge from society. Word count: 1100.

Jay Gatsby

Jay Gatsby Jay Gatsby, the main character in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, is a materialistic man, trying to live out the American Dream in the 1920’s. But, his way of life does not get him the woman of his dreams, and eventually leads to his death. He is an extremely wealthy man, but despite all of his money, is very lonely. Although he never gets the woman he wants, Gatsby was a dreamer. He was motivated to reinvent himself and buy his way through life, with a dream to recreate the past.Jay Gatsby was materialistic from the beginning. From his childhood, to his adult life, he dreamed of being rich. His parents were not wealthy and he grew up in the middle class, but he had always wanted lots of money. Nick Carraway states, â€Å"He was a son of God—a phrase which, if it means anything, it means just that—and he must be about His father’s business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty† (Fitzgerald 104). No matter how he did it, Gatsby was going to be rich.From age seventeen he was determined and he would stick with his goal. According to critic Chikako D. Kumamoto, Gatsby’s â€Å"vast, vulgar, and meretricious† dream was shared by a social climbing. Nick finally figures out Gatsby’s plans with Daisy Buchannan and says, â€Å"He had waited five years and bought a mansion where he dispensed starlight to casual moths—so that he could come over some afternoon to a stranger’s garden† (Fitzgerald 80). Everything Gatsby did was to win back Daisy’s love.Being a materialist caused him to throw outrageous parties in hopes that one day, Daisy would show up to one. He believed that his money was the only way to win her over. Jay Gatsby was clearly a lonely man. He had all the money in the world to buy anything except for the woman of his dreams, Daisy. Throughout the whole novel, The Great Gatsby, he appears to be bored and alone. â€Å"Your place looks like the World’s fair† Nick Carraway says to Gatsby (Fitzgerald 86). Even to his death, no one cared enough about him to come to his funeral.Carraway tells us, â€Å"but neither a wire nor Mr. Wolfshiem arrived; no one arrived except more police and photographers and newspaper men† (Fitzgerald 110). Striving for only two things in his life never made him very popular. He threw extravagant parties, but no one knew who he was or even liked him for that matter. According to critic Brian Sutton, Gatsby goes to spectacular lengths to try to achieve what Nick Carraway calls â€Å"his incorruptible dream† (Fitzgerald 155). But, unfortunately Gatsby never gets the woman he longs for.Nick tells us, â€Å"After his embarrassment and his unreasoning joy he was consumed with wonder at her presence† (Fitzgerald 99). While Gatsby may have loved the real Daisy, the love that survived over time was of his dream-like conception of her. Jay Gatsby lived a life he dreamed of having but, he dreamed of getting Daisy back and never actually did. Nick tells Gatsby, â€Å"You can’t repeat the past† and Gatsby, being the stubborn man he is, says â€Å"Can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can! † (Fitzgerald 117). His dreams got in the way.Critic Brian Sutton states that Gatsby’s chances of winning Daisy were dead. Finding out the way Gatsby got his money ruined everything he could have had with Daisy. Throughout his whole life, Jay Gatsby would do anything to achieve â€Å"his incorruptible dream† (Fitzgerald 155). Daisy’s marriage seems so awful during most of the novel; it is almost like Gatsby is going to make his dreams come true. His efforts are so unimaginable and Daisy appears to be looking for a way out. Because Jay Gatsby is materialistic, lonely, and a dreamer, he is killed.His own attitude caused his death. Living out the American Dream, trying to become wealthy, and striving to win Daisy’s love did not pay off for Gatsby in the end. Works Cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2004. Print. Kumamoto, Chikako. â€Å"Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. † Explicator 60 (Fall 2001): 37-41. Literature Resource Center. Web. 09 Nov. 2012. Sutton, Brian. â€Å"Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. † Explicator 59 (Fall 2000): 37-9. Literature Resource Center. Web. 09 Nov. 2012.

Managerial Work Over the Last Four Decades Essay - 1

Managerial Work Over the Last Four Decades - Essay Example It is only the method of study that differs. The aim of this paper is to highlight and discuss the most important findings from research work and explain why they are important. In doing so, the work of five authors will be evaluated to get an insight into managerial work research over the decades. Fells Michael in his work Fayol stands the test of time gives an in-depth look at the work of four researchers: Henri Fayol (1949), Henry Mintzberg (1973), Kotter (1982) and Hales (1986). He observes that the researchers have different views as to what constitutes the roles of a manager and goes further to explain how the roles enumerated by the researchers are interrelated. One important finding by the author is that though Fayol’s work has been overtaken by other researchers over time, his work still remains relevant today (2000, p 347). Fayol’s research (1949) was based on industrial undertakings and was an interpretation of an earlier work done in 1916 Administration Industrielle et Generale by Constance Storrs. Fayol came up with five elements of management and fourteen principles of management. These principles are supposed to act as guide to execution of the five elements. The five elements include: planning, organising, co-ordinating, commanding and controlling (Fells 200, p. 347-360). These are essentially the roles that managers perform in their day-to-day operations. The fourteen principles enumerated by Fayol include : division of work, authority and responsibility, discipline, unity of command, unity of direction, remuneration, centralisation, span of control, order, equity, stability of tenure of personnel, subordination of individual interests to general interest, initiative and esprit de corps (200 p. 346). These principles according to Fayol guide the manager in conducting his five roles thus are very crucial.

The Constraint of Global Peace and Security by Military Policies durin Assignment

The Constraint of Global Peace and Security by Military Policies during the Cold War - Assignment Example No country is immune from such situation in the future that can lead to a new round of confrontation and arms race, which in turn can cause an irreparable harm to society and to the world at large. It is a common knowledge that war, nuclear weapon, and its tests are destructive in the international conflict solution. However, no matter what, the idea of superiority and supremacy instinctively makes people fighting and trying to win. During the Cold War, our world faced with such situation, when two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union put at stake the further existing of the whole humanity. In the current paper, based on the facts from the analyzed literature, we will try to present objectively the course of a war, understand the reasons that shaped the situation, and draw the appropriate conclusions. In this respect, the main question of the current paper is how the parties of the conflict finally managed to restrain the military tension during the Cold War. After the fall of the Third Reich, there was no power in Europe that was able to oppose the Soviet Union. Therefore, in many Western European countries increased the influence of the left parties (the Labor Party won the elections in Great Britain in 1945) and the positions of the Communists strengthened. The USSR and the USA were the most powerful and influential countries economically, as well as in terms of military power. These countries were divided by the ideological contradiction, specifical communism against capitalism. The latter led to the obvious hostility in the international relations. The internal situation in these countries was characterized by the active impersonating and search of the enemy. The dissidence was also recognized as a form of subversive activity. Such atmosphere was quite a common situation since it was a characterizing feature of the totalitarian regime... In the United States, such internal tension gave birth to McCarthyism, the persecution of the cit izens, who were suspected in anti-American activities (Perry, Chase, Jacob, Jacob and Von Laue, 2012).     

DS proposal Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

DS proposal - Dissertation Example However, some situations have led to lack of the information getting to the target due to lack on internet connection in different places on the earth which are difficult to contain. The proposal targets to be an alternative to the flawy systems of data transmission that have caused delays, loss and less efficiency of the data getting to the target at the right time. In some cases, people have failed to access the digital data that is sent through a VOIP system and therefore, the data they sent remain irrelevant because it does not get the immediate attention from the target receiver. This creates a necessity to come up with system that will ease the transmission of data across the system and ensure that the target receive can get it quickly and be in a position to respond to it to rescue the life of patients. The purpose of the proposal is to develop a system that will help people to transmit data from one point to another and ensure that it will be accessed by the target population at the earliest opportunity by developing a signal system that will help people to receive the information immediately it is sent. To accomplish the requirement of this, the proposal will develop a model that will demonstrate the workability of a signal that will inform the receiver of the data they expect to get immediately they receive. The model will include an system of electronic device that will transmit an electromagnetic waves to the devices they use or mobile devices connected to configured to receive the signal. Project Outline: Assessment of the technology of used in communication I will carry out out a careful analysis of the existing systems in the medical care communication and point out the various areas that have weaknesses which cause them to be inefficient in communication. Seeking the approval to carry out the project from relevant authorities At this level I will visit the ministry of health and elaborate the different challenges they get to communicate and pres ent the project proposal about how the inefficiencies can be reduced and therefore, I will seek their approval to develop a system of communicating effectively. Seeking for funds To accomplish the goals for the project, financial resources will be required to procure the different materials that are required in the implementation and to cater for transport and to pay for some labour at different stages of the implementation. I will look for a sponsor to fund the things that I will require to be able to easily achieve the project. Assembling At this stage, I will assemble different pieces of the system to come up with software, install it in the model devices and configure the devices to ensure transmission of the information is attained. Presentation and demonstration After assembling, I will seek a chance to demonstrate the workability of the system to my supervisor and have his feedback about the system and I will note his recommendations. Improvement of the system After presentat ion to the different groups, I will note their recommendation on the ways to increase effectiveness of the system and

To analyze Michael Sandel's argument in The Case against Perfection Essay

To analyze Michael Sandel's argument in The Case against Perfection and make and argue a claim about it - Essay Example Enhancements are furthermore self-defeating to the human appreciation of natural abilities and the cultivation of talents in his view. Sandel argues that human appreciation of life comes from the fact that there is an unequal, apparently random gift of talents, advantages, and disadvantages in the social context that makes life meaningful through patterns of difference. He holds that inequalities in natural ability and skill that make some unfortunate and others lucky allow people to be compassionate, as there is an equally likely chance that they would have had the same fate. When genetic enhancements diminish the differences in talent, Sandel states that the individual’s success depends solely on whether or not the person has made the right decision ethically, and through this personal â€Å"responsibility expands to daunting proportions.† (Sandel, 87) In criticism, it is difficult to reconcile the arguments of Sandel against genetic engineering when deconstructing th e logic he uses with regard to pharmaceutical medications such as the use of Ritalin to improve academic performance. Since Ritalin does not affect the apparent telos of academic performance and focuses all of one’s learning ability, reducing contingencies unrelated to education or healing the mind of ADD, it is not clear why does Sandel not regard it in the same manner as he does running shoes. Furthermore, in his â€Å"Chariots of Fire† example, even Sandel concedes that finding the exact telos for personal interpretation within a complex system of competing philosophies is sometimes difficult for the individual and subjective. Thus, the telos of an action may be very different in the views of different people. In this example, Sandel is rejecting Ritalin not on the logic of telos as related to healing but on the preservation of inequality as he defines the morality. Because, in his view, only the differences among people allow them to appreciate life, and due to the ambiguity of telos as he defines it with subjective bias and interpretation at its root, Sandel’s argument against genetic engineering is less about telos and perfection and more a case against equality in society when assisted by technology. The logic of this argument is not consistent with the evolutionary changes of human consciousness, nor does it represent the new paradigm of human civilization represented by the Information Age. Sandel titles his book â€Å"The Case Against Perfection† in order to show his stance against the â€Å"Promethean aspiration to remake† human nature. (Sandel, 26) He argues for a concept of the giftedness of life opposed to genetic enhancements by stating that as people begin to enhance themselves to the limits of engineering, the variability in human talents decrease collectively and the playing field is leveled. Though it is important to note that differences between the choices that people make still exist, â€Å"we [would] a ttribute less to chance and more to choice,† and personal responsibility would increase to daunting proportions as people become ethically and morally responsible for every aspect of their lives. (Sandel, 87) Yet even though he fears that genetic enhancements would position too much pressure on the individual’s decisions, Sandel is fully in support of healing the unfortunate. The problem lies in that allowing the healing of the unfortunate implies that same normalization of abilities that enhancement does. Once Tiger Woods has the same perfect eyesight as other golfers

Museums and the Advantage of the Product Differentiation Research Paper

Museums and the Advantage of the Product Differentiation - Research Paper Example â€Å"The British Museum Company Limited was founded in 1973 by the Trustees of the British Museum to advance the educational aims of the Museum. The Company currently engages in a number of activities, including wholesale and retail, publishing, the production of replicas and other merchandise, and licensing. The Museum has expanded its retailing division over the last few years, with the opening of the Great Court at the centre of the Museum offering further opportunities for trading. Having the best-designed shops the company offers several products for the customers from the books Specializing in ancient history, archaeology, art history and ethnography to pocket money priced items. The Company stocks many materials suitable for use in National Curriculum project work. These also include guidebooks to the Museum, postcards, T-shirts, stationery, camera film, stamps, jewellery and inexpensive gifts and the Museum's exclusive collection of replica sculpture, jewellery and fine sil k textiles. The British Museum has a long history of publishing, dating back to the mid 18th century, with the first recorded publication of catalogues to the early collections in 1749. The British Museum Press was founded in 1973 and is the world's leading museum publisher. Around 60 books are published each year in the broad subjects of history, archaeology, ethnography, fine and decorative arts and numismatics for scholars, children and the layman. For a number of years, the Company has been producing replicas and gifts based on objects in the collections of the Museum.

Innovation in the public sector - The extent to which innovation in Literature review

Innovation in the public sector - The extent to which innovation in the public sector affects public service quality - Literature review Example This definition seems straightforward and lucid in its meaning, but it conceals the actual intricacy of this subject, as with majority of the definitions of innovation. It was observed that the innovation process is social, interactive, and extensive; numerous individuals with various resources, competencies, and capabilities have to come together in order to successfully innovate (Leadbeater, 2003). Forty years of studying innovation within the private sector and nearly twenty years of curiosity for the innovation within the public sector has demonstrated that innovation is a complex trend that comes out in the context of many interceding factors, and there exists no universal formula that can be implemented to guarantee its success (Borins, 2001). Why Innovate Within the Public Sector? At least potentially, common to all companies are political motives for innovation (Mintzberg, 1989). However, these political motives are, by nature, less acquiescent to analysis and rational planni ng. When taking into account the more strategic, economic motives, these are ostensibly more pertinent in the private sector than the public. Public companies are not likely to survive within markets where the level of competition is high. Compared to business, public companies generally exist within a more complicated social system, with values and objectives that are more vague and hard to put a figure on (March & Olsen, 1989; Lewis & Hartley, 2001, Denis, Hebert, Langley, Lozeau, & Trottier, 2002). There are also other restraints, including the desire or need to avoid â€Å"rocking the boat† for susceptible service users. On the whole, the risks are usually greater and the motivations to innovate are lower in the public sector than in the private sector. Innovation in the public sector may thus come to be regarded, at least in some situations, as an â€Å"additional burden or optional extra† (Mulgan & Albury, 2003). Then again, there are essential drivers and conten tions in favor of innovating within the public sector. The image and reputation of local and national governments can be enhanced by exploiting innovation in three key approaches. First, currently and in the UK and USA (Moore, 2005) in particular, public companies are attacked on a regular basis for their efficiency levels and service quality. They may be critically compared to private institution working in the same subject areas. Second, administrations are eager to send off a public image that will attract private investments and increase global appeal. One example can be derived from the field of academic research. This impetus is also intensely apparent in the embracing of â€Å"e-government† strategies and/or ICTs by the government and other public companies (McLoughlin et al, 2004). Third, the government must call for votes, and/or be interested in the fulfillment of manifesto obligations or austerely, in marking their identity on the public sector as an outcome of ele ctions or observed changes in public opinion. In a dynamic society, innovation is critical factor in the effectiveness of public service management (Hartley, 2005; Walker, 2004; Mulgan & Albury, 2

Case study of Tata Cross Culture analysis Essay

Case study of Tata Cross Culture analysis - Essay Example Since being advertised in strongly positive terms as cheapest car of the world, it has been the idle gossip around the world (Stokes, Wilson, & Mador, 2010). Significant people of large organisations have been driving in by numbers only to take a look at the most outstanding work of creative engineering in the shape of â€Å"Tata Nano.† Nano is a new form of cars of this century which represents a philosophy of an investor who deliberately decided to go against the prevailing wisdom of other investors of lighter, smaller, cheaper and signify a new age in cheap private transportation and with a possibility of becoming actual, "worldwide deadlock." The word "Nano" is derived from the Greek word ‘Nanos’ which means "small" in the Indic language spoken by the people of India who live in Gujarat in western India which is also the language of the Tata Group’s founders (Stokes, Wilson, & Mador, 2010). In 2003, under the Chairmanship of Mr. Ratan Tata, the project to manufacture a car while keeping the price to one Lac rupees was started. The main aim of this â€Å"Tata Nano plan† was the demand and requirement of many families of India who could not afford 4 wheel cars instead utilized Motorbikes and bicycles for the purpose, and was grounded on the successful project of low cost four wheeled â€Å"Ace truck† by the company in May 2005 (Boone & Kurtz, 2011). Company’s Profile In 1945, Tata Motors was established. ... Among the 3 best companies in the segment of a vehicle carrying passengers, Tata Motors is also included. Tata Motors has manufactured several outstanding cars in utility, compact and medium-size segment. It furnishes its services and products on a worldwide ground. Within India it offers 5 different categories of services and products namely trucks, commercial passenger carriers, passenger cars, defence vehicles, and utility vehicles. Why Tata Nano Is Important The Chairman of Tata Group perceived the thought behind the Tata Nano, when he saw a four member family was travelling via motor scooter in rain. At that time the idea of Nano came in his mind and he desired to manufacture an automobile that could be safe, affordable and could be used in all weather condition (Byron, 2008). (Byron, 2008) This desire of Mr. Ratan Tata emerged as the most inspirational plan of Tata motors till time when the Chairman of Tata Group Mr Ratan Tata stated his thought of Tata Nano to Mr. Ravi Kant, h is managing director. From his managing experience Mr. Ravi Kant had discovered that citizens desire to shift from 2 wheelers vehicle to 4 wheelers vehicles but they have not got enough money for it. Automobile industry of India has an average growth rate of twelve percent for the past decade. Despite that this industry sold only 1.3 million vehicles for passengers in the financial year ending on March 2006. This shows that a billion of peoples of India purchase approximately the equal quantity of cars in a year as three hundred million peoples of US purchase in a period of month. However, this situation could be changed only when the cost of 4 wheels vehicle could be lowered to the extent that

The Celtic Religion Essay Example for Free

The Celtic Religion Essay The Celts were an ancient group of people who populated a substantial area of Europe from the British Isles to Galatia. The Celts are thought to have existed from about 1000BC to the 1st century when they were conquered by the Romans. The Celtic religion was extremely complex and is difficult for modern day man to understand. This essay will discuss the nature and role of religion in the ancient Celtic society. The Celts were polytheistic sharing some beliefs that spanned across all the tribes; however, each tribe had their own beliefs and rituals. The Celts worshiped many gods and goddesses and a lot of the Celtic religion revolved around the worship of natural phenomena including water, sky, mountains, trees and earth. The worship of water deities was common among all Celtic tribes due to their medicinal and healing properties. There have been a number offerings which the Celts made for their gods that have been discovered in rivers, springs and wells. An example of a famous Celtic-healing site linked with water is Bath found in England. Other places where Celts made offerings to their gods were in sacred groves and forest clearings. Animals were revered by the Celts for their special qualities of speed, strength, ferocity and cunning and the gods that were represented were mostly in animal form. Some of the animals important to the Celts included boars, stags, bears, hares, birds and horses. Due to the Celts close connection with nature shrines and altars were built in the forest. These were generally made of wood, evidence for this is found in classical literature. For example, Lucan, a Roman poet, describes an altar in a forest near Marseilles, â€Å"altars were erected on little hillocks and all the trees were purifies with human blood.† This is also evidence of sacrifice, which formed a part of the nature of the Celtic religion. Both humans and animals were sacrificed in honour of their gods. Julius Caesar mentions such sacrifice in The Conquest of Gaul, â€Å"†¦after a victory they sacrifice the captured the animals and collect the rest of the spoil in one spot†. The Druids were Celtic priests who played a major role in the ancient Celtic society and were of a high status among the Celts. Their role was that of priest, scholar and judge. They were in charge of religious activities; they performed rituals and also played the role of a judge. No significant political decision was made without the Druids as there attendance was seen as necessary to obtain the gods favor. When disputes arouse the Druids played the role of a judge whether the issue was between tribes or individuals; whatever the crime being committed was, it was the responsibility of the Druids to arbitrate the problem and decide on the compensation to be paid and received by the parties involved. The Druids also gave rulings on all religious questions and groups of numerous men would go to them for instruction and advice. According to the historian, Diogenes Laà «rtius, it is apparent that the Druids held three truths; the need to honour the gods, to abstain from evil and to show bravery. The Druids spent many years learning the sacred texts and passing them onto their followers. An example of the way in which they taught their followers were at feast and festivals through the bardic tradition of singing and reciting stories of gods and heroes. As can be seen, the Druids played an important role in the lives of the Celtic people. It is evident from looking at the writings of classical authors that Celtic festivals, when held, were grand. They included great feasts, processions, the making of offerings and human and animal sacrifices to their gods. The four main festivals that were held by the Celts were the Samhain, Imbloc, Belteine or Beltane and Lughnasadh. Samhain was believed to be the most important festival and occurred on the first of November, some believe this was the beginning of the Celtic year. This was not only a significant religious festival that included proper ceremonies and sacrifices, but was also a day holding important political and administrative functions. Barry Cunliffe writes in his book The Celtic World, â€Å"During Samhain†¦ the whole tribe presumably assembled for feasting and to ensure, through sacrifice, the continued fertility of the crops and herds.† The Imbloc festival was celebrated on the first of February and meant ‘ewe’s milk’, this name was given for this festival as it marked the birth of the first lambs and commemorates the return of fresh milk. This festival celebrates the return of the cycle of new life to the earth and marks the rebirth of nature and fertility. It is the celebration of bringing nature back to life. The Belteine or Beltane festival took place on the first of May and is the feast of light and marks the season of sunny weather. On this day the Druids light the beacon fires to bring good news of the coming season to the people. The Lughnasadh was a harvest festival that occurred on the first of August and marked the end of summer growth and the beginning of autumn harvest. These four festivals marked the seasons of the year and were major events for the Celtic society. The practice of human sacrifice in honour of their gods was a normal occurrence in Celtic society. Strabo, a Greek geographer, talks about the Celts and human sacrifice in his book Geography, â€Å"They used to strike a human being, whom they have devoted to death, in the back with a sword, and then divine from his death struggle.† The Celts held the belief â€Å"an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth† and also â€Å"a life for a life†. For example when a person was sick, the relatives may make a human sacrifice in order that their kin would be spared. Other reasons the Celts made human sacrifices were to ensure survival of warrior before battle, the prisoners were usually the ones that were sacrificed in this circumstance and in times of need such as famine or plague. Celtic society was heavily influenced by their religious beliefs and practices, this is shown through the connection they felt with nature, the Druids status and power in the society and the festivals that marked their calendar year. Religious matters were never expressed in writing; however, the strong oral tradition of the Celts enabled the passing down of their religious practices. This along with classical literature has provided the future generations with an insight into both the nature and role that religion played in Celtic society.

Conflicting Perspectives Essay Example for Free

Conflicting Perspectives Essay Composers are able to evoke in the audience certain reactions to characters or events in their texts by presenting conflicting perspectives on different issues through the manipulation of the language forms and features of their medium, often communicating their own ideas about issues in question, which results in the creation of meaning within their texts. (?). David Guterson in his 1995 novel Snow Falling on Cedars (Snow) and Henry Bean in his 2001 film The Believer (Believer) demonstrate conscious choices made regarding structure and techniques in the construction of their texts in order to represent conflicting perspectives exploring ideas on racial prejudice and hatred and cultural contrasts and thus engage the audience. Composers can examine racial/religious prejudice brought on by war by using form specific techniques to present conflicting perspectives on the same event, designed to incite certain audience responses. Guterson, in Snow, purposely presents conflicting perspectives between Arthur Chambers and Hatsue and other members of the white community on San Piedro, particularly Etta Heine, in order to draw sympathy for the treatment of the Japanese after Pearl Harbour is bombed. Arthur is empathetic towards them, saying in his local paper the San Piedro Review, â€Å"†¦ those of Japanese descent on this island are not responsible for the tragedy at Pearl Harbour. Make no mistake about it.† The high modality language and short, direct sentences used by Guterson highlights Arthur’s deeply-held opinion of the innocence of the Japanese on the island. In support of Arthur’s argument, Hatsue, through the narrative’s non-linear structure, recalls her pain and confusion at the treatment of her people, saying, â€Å"It just isn’t fair – it’s not fair. How could they do this to us, just like that?† The emotive appeal in addition to Arthur’s article triggers audience support of the Japanese community. Guterson, however, also presents the contrasting racial hatred of the white islanders towards the Japanese. Etta Heine justifies the deportation of the Japanese with blunt, monosyllabic sentences – â€Å"They’re Japs†¦ We’re in a war with them. We can’t have spies around.† The use of the derogative term â€Å"Japs† and the distinct differentiation between â€Å"them†, the Japanese, and â€Å"we†, the white people, illustrates her bigoted hatred of the Japanese. Through the conflicting perspectives of Etta against Arthur and Hatsue, Guterson sways the audience to feel for the ill treatment of the Japanese, and shows them his own opinion on the negative effect of racism in wartime on the perceptions and conduct towards certain groups. Conflicting perspectives are established by Bean in Believer between Daniel, a neo-Nazi who is paradoxically a Jew himself, and a number of Holocaust survivors pertaining to the strength of their actions during WWII which aims to convey a pro-Jewish sentiment to audiences. At a sensitivity training session, Danny is enraged at a Jewish man’s lack of action while watching his son being murdered by a Nazi during the Holocaust. Rapidly cutting over-the-shoulder shots between Danny and the Jews indicate their opposing views. A close-up of Danny when he is asked by the Jews what he would have done in the situation shows his contempt and incredulous disbelief of the Jews’ weakness as he replies â€Å"Not what he did. Just stand there and watch?† Bean immediately employs a close-up reaction shot of the female Jew who rebuts with, â€Å"How do you know? You’ve never been tested like he has. Here in his rich, safe, stupid country it is so easy to imagine oneself a hero.† The personal address through 2nd person and the accumulation of adjectives to build a negative image of America strongly opposes Danny’s prejudiced conviction that Jews are pathetic, and also appeals to audiences the idea that religious prejudice towards Jews is unjustified. As Guterson does in Snow, conflicting perspectives are represented by Bean in order to sway his audience to respond negatively to unfounded sentiments of prejudice. Conflicting perspectives between characters can be used by composers to control the way in which an audience perceives them by exploring the cultural clashes that exist in the text as a reflection of societal (or social?) behaviour. In Snow, Guterson presents conflicting perspectives between Kabuo and the jury during his murder trial. In the opening chapter, a vivid description of Kabuo’s posture and expression is given from the jury’s perspective; he is shown as â€Å"proudly upright†¦ rigid†¦ detached.† This initial portrait portrait of Kabuo makes him suspicious not only to the jury but also to the audience, as Hatsue tells Kabuo using a simile that he â€Å"looks like one of Tojo’s soldiers.† However, Guterson, through the novel’s non-linear structure, refutes this perspective by explaining Kabuo’s behaviour to the audience via a flashback. Through his father’s teachings that â€Å"the greater the composure, the more revealed one was†, the audience learns the reason behind Kabuo’s unemotional stance. Third person omniscient allows the audience to sympathise with Kabuo’s emotive explanation that â€Å"he sat upright in the hope that his desperate composure might reflect the shape of his soul.† Guterson, through conflicting perspectives, influences his audience to understand Kabuo and the impact of contrasting cultural values on the perception of an individual. In Believer, Bean likewise shows contrasting opinions between Danny, who cannot fully repress his secret Jewish identity, and his anti-Semitic ‘skinhead’ friends to create audience sympathy for Danny’s inner struggles with the opposing aspects of his identity. When Danny and his friends break into a synagogue, Daniel shows a surprising respect for his religion which clashes with those of the other neo-Nazis. This directly conflicts with Danny’s character established at the film’s opening, when he violently beats up a Jew for no apparent reason. Wearing a brown shirt symbolising the Nazi SA (brown-shirts), Danny’s dark costuming contrasts with the light coloured one of his Jewish victim, highlighting the evil in his nature. Bean, however, challenges the audience’s view of Danny in order to allow them to understand his conflicting identities. In one frame, Danny is in the foreground walking down an aisle, which is juxtaposed with the othe r Nazis vandalising the synagogue. Their loud, raucous whooping contrasts to that of Danny’s respectful silence, highlighting their different treatments of the Jewish culture. When one of the Nazis tears up a Torah, a sacred Jewish text, after much opposition from Danny, a reaction shot of him shows sadness and pain accompanied by melancholy music, underlining Danny’s unspoken deference for Judaism. Bean’s portrayal of conflicting perspectives on Jewish culture incites the audience to respond more sympathetically towards Danny, and to understand that his veneer is a product of cultural differences in his society. The composers in Snow and Believer have effectively utilised techniques within their medium to represent conflicting perspectives about racial or religious prejudice and cultural differences in order to provoke certain audience responses to the characters, events or situations in their story. This includes reactions of sympathy for a certain perspective or disbelief and even dislike of opposing perspectives. In this way, the composers connect to the audience and generate meaning within their texts. In Snow, Hatsue is confined by the traditions of her culture, as shown when her mother Fujiko says to her â€Å"don’t allow living among the hakujin to become living intertwined with them. Your soul will decay†¦ rot and go sour.† The change in language to refer to the Americans as hakujin and the emotive metaphor of Hatsue’s breakdown of purity highlights Fujiko’s dislike of American culture. This