Wednesday, October 30, 2019

A central assumption made in Mean-Variance Analysis and the Capital Assignment - 2

A central assumption made in Mean-Variance Analysis and the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) is that investors prefer to invest in the most efficient portfolios available - Assignment Example An efficient portfolio is a collection of investments that provide the highest expected return at the given level of risk or portfolio that yield the lowest risk at given expected a return. Expected return is the minimum return expected by investors investing in any given asset. The risk occurs due to deviation from the expected return in either case as explained by Markowitz. According to Markowitz Portfolio Theory, individuals who accept to take high return with high-risk cannon diversify further without acceptance of greater risk. On the other hand, individuals will not agree to reduce their return without reduction of risk. This fact explains why low-risk, low-return and high-risk, high-return portfolios are equivalent when it comes to investing. Markowitz (1952: 77) believes that portfolio choice is dependent on maximum discounted risk venture which will give a high return since the future is uncertain and assurance of money back on investment should be assured. The low-risk, low-return investors motivated by low risk in an asset they are investing in will invest more getting quantifiable income. On the other hand, high risk – high return individuals will tend to invest in minimal assets with high risk, but getting a quantifiable return due to their nature of the high return. As argued by Markowitz (1952, p, 77) investors should not just go for high return high-risk investment rather they should focus on the expected return. An investor may go for high-risk, high return bonds, but in case of failure, the return will be greatly reduced. On the other hand, an investor may go for several low-risk, low-return, but the cumulative expected return will be high (hypothesis of the maxim by Markowitz 1952: 78.). According to maxim hypothesis, both diversified and under-diversified assert will have the same cumulative expected return. In the United States, the under-diversified portfolio is greater among young people,

Monday, October 28, 2019

The Last Lovely City Essay Example for Free

The Last Lovely City Essay The Last Lovely City is perhaps one of the masterpieces written by Alice Adams in the whole duration of her writing career. The story comprising 13 stories gradually divided into two parts is manifestation of the author’s deftly limned thus fully realized portrayal of the characters that embody the story so as to give a clearer vision of the emotions that the author wants to reader to absorb from the story. Consequently, Adamss characters become supremely realistic in sense and thus worthy of understanding because they act so intermittently despite superior intellect and experience. Although no concrete explanation can be arrived at by simply looking over the immediate flow of the story, one can perhaps be resolved by running over the idea that, perhaps, Adams would, as much as possible, avoid too much involvement in the story herself. Another aspect is the influence of the real-life scenarios by which Adams may have predicted to be most likely astonishing. That is, one is affected by such trying times in the sense that one reverts to the more negative sides of life, being swallowed by the surmounting conflicts within the feelings of the characters of the events where decisions become distorted. The point of the whole gist of the theme, the tone, and the purpose perhaps is to trigger emotional concern on the dignifying sense of twisted and intertwined individuals which apparently jive along with the situation—scene per scene. It may be taken to assumption the author herself may have had felt the exact experiences conveyed by the story, nevertheless has made critical research and analysis on possible instances that may come up with a realistic story. There are several questions manifested in the flow of the story. The symbolic reverberation with a complicated and not altogether seemly past comprises the story with the conception that a young woman may be engrossed in him: Is she flirting with him, seriously flirting? Well, she could be. Such things do happen, the doctor reminds himself—and she seems to be a very honest young woman, and kind. She could brighten my life, he thinks, and lighten my home, all those rooms with their superb views that seem to have darkened (Adams, 2000). Consequently, Adams doesnt generate heroes and villains. She creates blemished human beings, and the doctors retribution is tinged with rue. Conceivably, the author’s main intent in giving a slight humor and a plausible aura to the character may be collaborated with Hemmingway’s works of love and conflict and humorously enhanced dilemmas. Adamss place in the landscape of late-twentieth-century American literature has been earned not only by the skill and deftness of her prose, but also by her challenge to the hackneyed dismissal of loves redemptive possibilities. She presents a world where the potential for smart and independent women to have their cake and eat it, too, to enjoy professional and romantic success, stubbornly persists even if not often realized. No romanticist—Adams never flinches from describing all the vagaries and disappointments that afflict sexual and platonic relationships, but neither does she ever permit these descriptions to produce a sense of crushing pessimism. Ultimately Alice Adams was that most rare of writers, a staunchly realistic optimist who always retrieved a glimmer of hope from the most adverse of situations. The Last Lovely City—is a manifestation of the good and the bad experiences that the characters have gone through in life as well as with the glitches in it that has been encountered. Given the fact that even in the introductory parts of the story, the tone and the theme is already shown in explicit finesse—with all the evidently magnificent places that has been included in the story—San Francisco, North Carolina, Mexico, Hawaii. The story itself is a point of Adams’ stunning art in portraying passion of love and life has been consistently paid high regard by many that this collection of stories is celebrated worldwide.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Benito Mussolini :: essays research papers

Benito Mussolini was born on July 29, 1883 in Predappio. The son of a blacksmith he was largely self-educated. He became a schoolteacher and a socialist journalist in northern Italy. In 1910 he married Rachele Guidi who bore his five children. Mussolini was jailed in 1911 for his opposition to Italy’s war in Libya. Soon after his release in 1912 he became editor of the socialist newspaper in Milan, "Avanti!". When WWI began in 1914 Mussolini advocated Italy’s entrance into the war on the allied side and was expelled from the socialist party. He then started his own newspaper in Milan, Il Popolo d’Italia (The People of Italy) which later became the origin of the Fascist Movement. In 1916 Mussolini enlisted in the military. After his promotion to sergeant he was wounded and in 1917 he returned to his paper. During the Chaos that Gripped Italy after the war Mussolini’s influence grew swiftly. Mussolini and other war veterans founded Fasci di Combattimento in March of 1919. This Nationalistic antisocialist movement attracted much of the lower middle class and took its name from the Fasces, an ancient symbol of Roman discipline. The Fascist movement grew rapidly in the 1920’s, spreading through the countryside where it’s Black Shirt Militia won support of the land owners and attacked peasant leagues of Socialist Supporters. To take advantage of the opportunity Fascism shed it’s initial Republicanism gaining the support of the King and Army. On October 28, 1922 Mussolini led his Fascist March on Rome. Mussolini was immediately invited to form the Italian Government by King Victor Emmanuel III. Although Mussolini was given extraordinary powers to return order to Italy he governed constitutionally until 1924 after the violence of the 1924 elections resulting in the death of Socialist party deputy Giacomo Mattoetti. Mussolini moved to suspend constitutional government and establish a totalitarian regime. He proceeded in stages to establish a dictatorship by forbidding the parliament to initiate legislation, making him responsible to the king alone. By 1926 he had passed decrees issuing him the force of law, establishing total censorship of the press and suppressing all opposition parties. In 1929 Mussolini made one of his greatest diplomatic triumphs when he concluded the Lateran Treaty between Italy and the Holy See. This settled the 60-year controversy concerning the power of the Pope within the Italian State. In 1933 Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany and was

Thursday, October 24, 2019

A Book Review On: Nothing To Fear By Adam Cohen

Cohen, an editorial writer at The New York Times, makes extensive use of both primary and secondary sources to unmask the clear, compelling story of how the prevailing circumstances of the nation – together with the attitude of its political leaders – reshaped American society in so brief period of time.Franklin Delano Roosevelt faced extraordinary economic challenges when he assumed the presidency of the United States in March 1933.Nothing to fear reveals by Adam Cohen explains in vivid prose of the decisive first 100 days of Franklin delevaro Roosevelt in office at the worst moments of America which coincidentally was the era of great depression. A remarkable, timely and informative blue print for political firststarts, it shows how 5 inner-circle liberals jumpstarted those remarkably historic first 100 days of Roosevelt in office.He and the inner circle members initiated the new deal and launched the delivery of modern America. The book is simply the evaluation of th e watershed in the modern America and it is a reality of the pivotal days in modern America; the crisis-ridden first 100 days of FDR in office .FDR and the inner circle wiped the old order and replaced it with new order i.e. the government acceptance and execution of her responsibilities.At this time in history, , there was 85% drop in stock market,25% of Americans had lost their jobs and banks had gone on holidays to prevent further crises ,farmers were openly angry and hungry men and women were eaten from refuse and garbages.40% of Americans at this point were living on agriculture and   farm income had decreased by 40%.Those who had jobs   were struggling for sustainace on their wages.Those who picked cotton in Arizona were reportedly collecting 30 cents after a week’s job excluding the food and housing payment. The period also witnessed close to 90% of school children being underweight while another percentage being malnourished.Radicalism and â€Å"hunger matchesâ⠂¬  by the jobless were on the increase both in the urban and the sacred rural American farm belt.Rooselvelt on assuming office charted a different pathway from that of his predecessor-Herbert Hoover. Hoover had turned deaf ears to the hues and cries of Americans.His approach was an absolute privatization of all sectors of the economy with no favor to the poor .His wickedness was later revenged by Americans when they made epithet of his name. Hoover lost the 1932 election to Roosevelt and managed to win only 6 states.In his introduction, Cohen tactically gave a summary of the first Hundred Days:While the public story line of the Hundred Days was about how Roosevelt, through his eloquent public statements and legislative initiatives rallied a desperate nation, behind the scenes his advisers were battling over what shape the New Deal would take. Perkins, Wallace, and Hopkins worked with members of Congress, farm leaders, union officials, and other progressives to promote their agenda .Douglas worked with business leaders and other conservatives to pull Roosevelt in the opposite direction. In the first month of the Hundred Days, through the passage of the Economy Act, Douglas’s side prevailed. For the rest of the Hundred Days, Perkins’s side did. While Douglas won the early battles, Perkins, Wallace, and Hopkins won the war.America According to Cohen in the early part of the book, there is a gradual metamorphosis of the great depression into a real and full blown financial and social collapse .After these 100days, FDR had reached a full blown acceptance of responsibilities to the needs and warfare of Americans.He worked with the 5 members of the inner circle to bring transformation to America. He relied on their pieces of advice and preferred if it is conflicting so as to be able to choose the best.   On assuming office, FDR came with few plans to combat the great depression. The inner circle encouraged FDR to embrace activist agendas.FDR was a fi scal conservative as well as a pragmatic politician .For this, he had close relationship with Frances Perkin and Lewis Douglas who were advocate of social warfare programs and cutter of budget respectively. In most cases, Douglas was at odds with other FDR’s members .FDR being not ideological, preferred varieties and a policy that is â€Å"bold, persistent experimental.† He featured in the most feverish and agitated period of America history that brings about the modern America.Nothing to fear is an attention holding, fascinating account of the personal dynamics that realign the catastrophic early period of FDR’s relationship and a character X-ray of one of America’s distinctive leaders in a period of crises. However, Cohen points us to the political blunders of this period over warfare situation, government laws, agricultural policy, and according to him they are still with us till today.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Benefits and Drivers Paper

Benefits and Drivers Paper MGT/445 Organizational Negotiations March 24, 2013 Kudler Fine Foods is a food company that specializes in selling fresh grocery products with simple ingredients used to make gourmet meals. Nearly everything a customer could want would be found within Kudler Fine Foods. Currently Kudler Fine Foods operates from three locations each offering the same service. The company is a privately held, but seeks to offer stock publicly to increase capital. The increase in revenue will allow Kudler Fine Foods to pursue avenues of innovation that can increase profit margins and spark new growth.In this paper Team A will be exploring the internal and external driving factors that influence the innovation at Kudler Fine Foods as well as an overview of how these practices benefit the company. This information is important in ensuring that Kudler Fine Foods will be able to meet their organizational objectives. Kudler Fine Foods’ will continue to make it the companyâ⠂¬â„¢s main priority to provide customer satisfaction with the selection of fresh products. Kudler Fine Food External Drives of InnovationExternal innovation is the comparison of a company’s own to a competitor’s product or service. The external drives of innovation within Kudler Fine Foods are frequent shopper program, website, and catering. Kudler Fine Foods has created a program for their customers where they sign up to receive news about the stores events, featured products, and sales (Apollo Group, Inc. , 2011). With competitors they do not provide such access to information for frequent customers they receive preventing customers from knowing critical news the organization makes presenting.With the Kudler Fine Foods website formatted into a way not only local customers can view, but also customers outside of the counties to view the website. The website has also developed an e-commerce system that will provide the organization with ability to automate all invento ries and ordering systems to track sales and order replacements made (Apollo Group, Inc. , 2011). The last external innovation of Kudler Fine Foods from other organizations is catering the organization provides (Apollo Group, Inc. , 2011). The catering aspect has ot been fully constructed into the business organizational structure, so their approach will stand out from other competitors. Their goal is to provide a link to customers on their website that will allow them to view and order specifics requirements for the event needed to be catered. The website will provide every aspect of what meals, desserts, amount needed, specific arrangements or design the customer desires for the event. With other competitors they require customers to come into the store location to make arrangements, whereas Kudler Fine Foods is providing options for the busy individual to make arrangements via Internet.Internal Drivers of Innovations Internal drivers are events that occur inside the business sect or; the drivers are the success of any organization. The internal drivers of innovation for Kudler Fine Foods are the experienced, helpful, knowledgeable staff, and how they strive to make their customers experience delightful as well as a pleasing shopping outing. The first internal driver is the experience, and this is about Kudler Fine Foods ensuring they provide customers with a good experience to grow the business.To grow the business and to make sure, they have a good experience the employees must be helpful and knowledgeable to their customer base. It is important for management and the staff to focus on the internal drivers that will ensure the success of the organization. According to Kudler Fine Foods mission statement, they shop around the world for the finest products. Kudler’s management team goes through extensive lengths to ensure they have the best products for their customers who aspire to purchase the finest epicurean delights. Innovation, Design, and Creati ve ThinkingThere has been several years’ worth of Survey Results from the Sales and Marketing department at Kudler Fine Foods. From 2011 and 2012, invaluable sources of information directly from the customers telling Kudler Fine Foods exactly the types of changes they would want like to see in the company, and it is always important to give the customer exactly what they are asking for. There are some areas that can be confirmed that Kudler is definitely on the right track, such as the high customer approval on the available store hours and the knowledgeable service staff is consistently high on customers surveyed.Unfortunately, there are other areas where customers are clearly stating that they are unhappy with the price of the merchandise and are not receiving courteous customer service on a consistent basis. Some area surveys will show that customers are satisfied with the decor and product selection at these stores, which are definitely areas of opportunity for improvemen ts to get higher customer satisfaction. Brainstorming with local owners and managers on the survey areas where the ratings are low probably would result in some good ideas or suggestions that could be implemented across the chain.After reviewing the customer’s survey results, it becomes all the more important to focus on increasing efficiency. This can be a cost reduction on the goods sold at Kudler Fine Foods, which seems to be on the top of the list of complaints by current customers over the last several years. Increasing efficiencies could include minimizing food stored and un-sold at each store, finding ways to keep low shelf-life on products in efforts to decrease cost.This might have some impact on the available products but could be weighed as to which products sell the most and lease by using some software programs for point of sale purchases and reports. By analyzing the sales and shelf-life of goods at Kudler Fine Foods, it is possible that product price could be d ropped if fewer products were wasted by going bad and not being sold in-time at some stores. Innovation is a huge factor in determining Kudler’s success. To be competitive in the market, Kudler has to think outside the box.What will get people in the doors and what is going to keep them coming back? In today’s society there are so many options and choices that, one bad experience can cause a customer to never return. Innovation is what is going to keep consumers coming back. Being able to market effectively and get people in the doors is the first step. Keeping them coming back is a whole new challenge in itself. Hiring people with creative thinking, innovation, and good marketing skills will help Kudler Fine Foods stay a step ahead of the rest and keep consumers come back for more.Kudler Fine Foods recognizes the need for innovation and acts upon the creativity of not only their employees but also their customers as well. Kudler ensures that their on-site staff is ope rational, knowledgeable, and experienced, thereby providing support throughout innovations such as website design improvements, new catering concepts, and frequent shopping programs. Customer feedback through surveys, prove that Kudler is providing services that customers appreciate but also have identified areas that may be improved upon.Kudler Fine Foods strives to meet their organizational objectives by continually seeking innovations that will expand their customer base and ensuring that they remain a favorite among the current clientele. ? Reference Apollo Group, Inc. (2011). Kudler Fine Foods. Innovation, Design, and Creativity – Overview. Retrieved from, OI/361 – Innovation, Design, and Creativity for a Competitive Advantage course website. ScandinavianMinds. com. (2009). Innovation: Internal & External. Retrieved from http://www. scandinavianminds. com/innovation-internal-external

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Religion Influence Essays

Religion Influence Essays Religion Influence Essay Religion Influence Essay How does religion influence the way an individual thinks? 2) Why do people, when faced with the same facts, arrive at different moral conclusion? Branden Park J Sem Final Essay A religion is a set of beliefs and practices in reference to a higher divine power that a person follows. Religion is often an important part of the life of its practitioner and therefore one’s thoughts and actions are heavily influenced by it. Religion is a belief system, and it is the basis of what one believes is true or false and on whether something is important or trivial. For example, a conservative Roman Catholic would most likely be against human cloning. In Roman Catholicism, life is regarded as a very important miracle and gift from God, and the creation of human life would be against God’s Will and would offset the balance of nature that God carefully designed. This is opposed to other religions and belief systems such as Scientology or Secular Humanism where the followers of such religions would be more open-minded to issues such as human cloning. A Secular Humanist would argue that the gains human cloning can contribute to the field of medicine would outweigh any moral issue regarding human life and disrupting God’s design of nature. Taking things further we can also consider the conservative followers of Buddhism who have the utmost respect for life in all its forms and who are repulsed by thought of killing any sentient being such as insects and vermin. Followers of Jainism even wear face masks in order to accidentally avoid inhaling and consequently killing insects. This is done because the main doctrine of Jainism is non-violence. It is to be expected that a follower of Jainism would try to avoid aggressions and brutality. Religions affect on human-beings a lot. They influence us in many different ways, and sometimes we have conflicts because of those influences of religions. Some religions tell its believers to not eat meat and only eat vegetables all the time, and the followers of those religions follow the rule obviously. But when other followers of other religions see them not eating meat, they won’t be able to understand, because it doesn’t make any sense for them. So the religions are very affective to our thoughts. But at the same time, it makes our thinking to be concentrated only on that religion. People have different point of views such that when faced with the same facts, it is possible for us to arrive at different moral conclusions, since all of us were grown in different places from different parents. People are brought up in different ways and under a variety of circumstances. There are a number of philosophies, religions and belief systems that people can choose to follow, but this is also a problem, by having many religions ,so that people can choose what to follow, it gives people different teachings and make people to not get along with the followers of other religions. Having a specific system of thought entails corresponding specific behaviors. Religions also has moral codes that come with it The intensity and gravity of an action varies for each person. Similar to how one can find something beautiful and appealing what another person finds ugly and unattractive, what may be moral and acceptable for one person can be immoral and taboo to another. For example for followers of the religion Hinduism and also in many places in India, cattle are sacred. Killing cattle and eating their meat is forbidden and punishable by law. However for people who do not follow the religion Hinduism and who don’t live in India, eating and using products made from cattle is perfectly normal and should not attract extra attention. This is in contrast in India where cattle should always be respected no matter what even if it is inconvenient and impractical already. In fact, there are some special laws and rules in India to protect the welfare of the very important and sacred creatures. The belief of an each human- being brings out a different moral conclusion. They won’t have same thoughts about believing in many gods if person A is a monotheist and person B is a polytheist. For the monotheist, they only believe in one God, whether it is Allah or God, they won’t be able to understand the thoughts of polytheist and they will argue with them that there is only one God, who we have to believe in and depend on for our whole life, if we don’t the God will not save us. But the polytheist will never understand his thoughts because he believes in many gods and he thinks that all the gods exist at the same time. So that, he will start arguing with the monotheist guy that if there is only one god, then it doesn’t make sense, because every people in the world have different point of view of seeing the gods and gods exist to save us and help us in our lives. And many different human beings believe in many different gods, if there is only one god then the people who are believing in other gods have been a fool for there life believing in a not existing god. Therefore, there are many gods exist at the same time. So, in this case they have different view of seeing the existence of many gods, just like this, the belief of a person might bring different answers of course. ‘Do you think cell phones are needed for our lives? Why? ’ Let’s say that this question is given to an 80 years old man, 25 years boy girl, and 40 years old man. It looks like an easy question, but are all the answers will be the same? Of course not. The 80 years old man will say cell phones are not really important for his life, since he doesn’t usually come out from his house, and he doesn’t do any work so he has no one to contact publically. But 25 years old girl will say it is a major necessity of her life, because she needs to contact with her friends all the time and also her boy friend. She needs to contact her professors to ask them questions about her papers, and she needs to call her dad and mom every morning and afternoon. The 40 years old man will say it is really important, because he need it for his business. He needs to contact with his business partners and his boss all the time. And he also needs to bring it with him all the time for an emergency call from his company. As you can see, they have a totally different point of view of looking at the question and they have totally different answers. Some people in the world might have a same opinion in some cases, but not everyone on the earth can have a same opinion. To conclude, what I have discussed in this essay is very complicated thing. It depends on the person, the background and every minor thing around the person might have brought up very different point view of religions, life, and other things. Every single person has a different mind, and the mind bring different moral conclusions. Anyway, I strongly believe that every human being should have different thoughts, different minds, different moral conclusions, different point of view, and different beliefs. Every people look different outside, so we want to know what he thinks inside, and then we can conclude that every one is different inside. This tells us why the God has made us different outside, because if we are the same inside, then we don’t have to look different on the outside as well, so since we are different outside, God made us to have different morality inside. The religions affect us a lot, and I really think that religions are not necessary for our lives, it just disturbs our life and it make us to depend on it in every moment when we feel lonely, sad or happy.

Monday, October 21, 2019

Definition and Examples of Accismus in Rhetoric

Definition and Examples of Accismus in Rhetoric Accismus is a  rhetorical term for coyness: a form of irony in which a person feigns a lack of interest in something that he or she actually desires. Bryan Garner notes that political candidates sometimes engage in something like this tactic by declaring that they would really rather be doing something else than being engaged in public life (Garners Modern English Usage, 2016). EtymologyFrom the Greek, coyness Examples and Observations We spout figures all the time without knowing it. For instance:YOU: Oh, you shouldnt have.If you really mean it, that if they give you one more ugly, ill-fitting sweater youll have to kill them, they you have not used a figure. But if the gift is a new iPad and you can barely keep from running off and playing with it, then your oh-you-shouldnt have constitutes a figure called coyness. Cheapskates who let others pick up the tab tend to use the coyness figure.(Jay Heinrichs, Thank You for Arguing, 2nd ed. Three Rivers Press, 2013)My name is Elizabeth Urello. I currently live in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. I do not desire to be a writer/actor/comic/playwright/household name/superstar-personality, any more than I desire your good opinion. I do not desperately want more friends, and I am not badly in need of dates.(About Elizabeth, at the blog Accismus)Accismus and Courtship in Maya Angelous Heart of a WomanHe raised his voice, Bar, give us another one like that other one, then dropped his voic e. Tell me, why are you all alone? Have the men gone blind?Although I knew it was an expected move in the courting game, flirting made me uncomfortable. Each coy remark made me feel like a liar. I wiggled on the stool and giggled and said, Oh, stop.Thomas was smooth. He led, I followed; at the proper time he withdrew and I pulled forward; by the end of our introductory ceremony, I had given him my address and accepted an invitation to dinner.(Maya Angelou, The Heart of a Woman. Random House, 1981) Julius Caesars Use of Accismus. . . I saw Mark Antony offer him [Julius Caesar] a crownyet twas not a crown neither, twas one of these coronetsand as I told you, he put it by once; but, for all that, to my thinking, he would fain have had it. Then he offered it to him again; then he put it by again; but, to my thinking, he was very loath to lay his fingers off it. And then he offered it the third time; he put it the third time by; and still as he refused it, the rabblement hooted and clapped their chapped hands and threw up their sweaty night-caps.(Casca in Act 1, scene 2 of Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare)Roone Arledges Use of Accismus to Encourage Howard Cosells Departure From ABC SportsIn the weeks following the Holmes-Cobb [boxing] debacle, rumors persisted that [sportscaster Howard Cosell] would change his mind, under pressure from ABC. But, in contrast to previous years, there was no real pressure. To the contrary, ABC was quite happy to leave him be. Had Cosell chosen to return, the executives would have had to accommodate him, something no one was eager to do now. This being the situation, Roone Arledge [president of ABC Sports] could afford to humor him. Ringing up Cosell one day, he said coyly, I understand youre not doing any more professional fights.When Cosell assented, Arledge, even more coyly, asked, Youve read your contract recently?Yes, Cosell said, and I know Im in breach of contract, Roone, and I understand that you have every right to dismiss me from the company.Arledge, biting his lip, assured him, Are you crazy? I think youve done the right thing. Congratulations!Arledge had reason to be complimentary. For him, and all of ABC Sports, the right thing was Cosell so purposefully lifting from them the burden of having to dismiss him.(Mark Ribowsky, Howard Cosell: The Man, the Myth, and the Transformation of American Sports. W.W. Norton, 2011) Demonstrating Humility: The Bishops RitualAppointing a bishop is a tricky business. To be a bishop you have to possess the Christian virtue of humility; however, if you actually are humble youll probably think youre not worthy of being a bishop and turn the job down. Even if you secretly think that youd make a splendid bishop and would look marvellous in a mitre, you cant just come out and say it. It would look bad. So you had to practise a little bit of accismus by announcing in front of the assembled company of churchmen that youd really rather not become a bishop, or, in Latin, Nolo episcopari.When you had solemnly announced this, rather than saying Oh well, thats that, I suppose, the church council would ask you a second time, and for a second time you would humbly reply Nolo episcopari. On the third go, you would say, Oh all right then, go on, or Volo episcopari or some such line of assent. You would thus have displayed your humility and got the job.However, it is dreadfully imp ortant to keep count, as if you said Nolo episcopari a third time it would be assumed that you really meant it and your chances of promotion would be forever scuppered. Its rather like the Rule of the Bellman described by Lewis Carroll in The Hunting of the Snark: What I tell you three times is true.(Mark Forsyth, Horologicon. Icon Books, 2012) A Female Virtue in the Victorian EraThe purer the golden vessel, the more readily is it bent: the higher worth of women is sooner lost than that of men. . . .Nature herself has surrounded these delicate souls with an ever-present, in-born guard, with modesty, both in speaking and hearing. A woman requires no figure of eloquenceherself exceptedso often as that of accismus.** So rhetoricians term the figure by which one speaks, without all longing, of the very objects for which one feels the strongest.(Jean Paul, Levana: Or, The Doctrine of Education, 1848) Pronunciation: ak-SIZ-mus

Sunday, October 20, 2019

When To Use or Omit Subject Pronouns in Spanish

When To Use or Omit Subject Pronouns in Spanish Subject pronouns in Spanish are a lot like medicine - theyre often essential, but their use should be avoided when theyre not necessary. Overuse of subject pronouns - the equivalent of words such as he, she and they - is common among English speakers learning Spanish. Its important to remember that in Spanish the verb forms often make subject pronouns unnecessary, and when thats the case the pronouns shouldnt be used unless theres a reason to. When To Not Use Subject Pronouns Here is a sampling of sentences where pronouns are unnecessary. In all these examples, the context or verb forms make clear who is performing the action of the verb. Voy al supermercado. I am going to the supermarket. (The verb voy can refer only to the person speaking.) ¿Adà ³nde vas? Where are you going? (The verb vas necessarily refers to the person being spoken to.)Roberto no est en casa.  ¿Fue al supermercado? Roberto isnt at home. Did he go to the supermarket? (Standing alone, the second sentence might be unclear about who the subject is. But in context, it is obvious that Roberto is being referred to.)Nieva. It is snowing. (Nevar, the verb for to snow, is used only  in the third-person singular form and doesnt need an accompanying subject.) What Are the Subject Pronouns? Of course, not all sentences will be as clear as those are without explicit reference to the subject. Here are the subject pronouns in Spanish with their English equivalents: yo - Ità º - you (informal or familiar singular)usted - you (formal singular)à ©l, ella - he, shenosotros, nosotras - we (the first form refers to a group of males or males and females, while the second form refers to females only)vosotros, vosotras - you (informal or familiar plural; the first form refers to a group of males or males and females, while the second form refers to females only; this pronoun is seldom used in most parts of Latin America)ustedes - you (formal plural)ellos, ellas - they (the first form refers to a group of males or males and females, while the second form refers to females only) See the lesson on tà º and usted for distinguishing which form of you should be used. Note that there is no pronoun listed for it as a subject; in sentences where wed use the subject it in English, the use of the third-person verb nearly always makes a pronoun unnecessary. When To Use Subject Pronouns To avoid ambiguity: Context doesnt always make clear who the subject is, and some verb forms are ambiguous. Yo tenà ­a un coche. (I had a car. Out of context, tenà ­a could mean I had, you had, he had or she had. If the context makes the subjects clear, the pronouns normally wouldnt be used.) Juan y Marà ­a son alumnos. Él estudia mucho.  (John and Mary are students. He studies a lot. Without the pronoun, it is impossible to tell whom the second sentence refers to.) For emphasis: In English, unlike Spanish, we often use verbal stress to emphasize a pronoun. For example, if a strong emphasis is placed on the I in I am going to the supermarket, the understood meaning of the sentence might be I (and not somebody else) am going to the supermarket or possibly I am going to the supermarket (and Im proud of myself). In Spanish, one could similarly add an emphasis by using the grammatically unnecessary pronoun: Yo voy al supermercado. Similarly, haz tà º lo que tà º quieres could be understood as you do what you want (and see if I care). Change of subject: When contrasting two subjects, the pronouns are frequently used. Yo estudio y à ©l escucha el està ©reo. Im studying and hes listening to the stereo. Nosotros somos pobres, pero à ©l es rico. (Were poor, but hes rich.) Note that in English you might use intonation - putting stress on were and hes - to add emphasis. But such stress in Spanish would be unnecessary, as using the pronouns takes care of adding the emphasis. Usted and ustedes: Even where not strictly necessary, usted and ustedes are sometimes included and can add a degree of politeness.  ¿Cà ³mo est (usted)? How are you? Espero que (ustedes) vayan al cine. I hope you are going to the movies.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam - Term Paper Example With time, the original group split into other factions though all had a common goal: create a separate Tamil state. However, the constitution published in 1972 created a fertile ground for attacks as the Tamil factions saw it as being largely anti-Tamil. This spurred the Tamils into action, and thus joined in the fight. In 1983, countrywide clashes with the Sinhalese that left thousands of Tamils dead saw the rise of the LTTE and the fight against the Sri Lankan government began (Swamy and Narayan 8; McConnell 61).Structure. As noted hereinabove, the LTTE had quite an elaborate command structure with almost all parts of a full government. They had a well organized leadership that was structured along two tiers: the military and the political wings. There was a governing committee whose role was to oversee the running of both wings that was headed by Prabhakaran. This is the body mandated with controlling and directing several of the group’s subdivisions such as the airborne g roup, the navy and the elite fighting wing. They also had a suicide commando unit and an intelligence unit aimed at gathering intelligence (Swamy and Narayan 12). They even had an international secretariat within the governing committee that was in charge of all global networks and communications. There was a truce in 2006 from the government after an onslaught carried out by government military, and this gave them a leeway to increase their strength by recruiting more than 11,000 guerrillas to increase the cadre.

The Economics of the Just Price Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Economics of the Just Price - Essay Example The aspect of determining price fairness has raised questions since the concept was conceived and has been an element of discussion. An economic solution was developed to determine the constituents of fair prices in accordance to some conditions that must be satisfied. These factors are the clear definition of production factors. The presence of perfect competition within the market and the absence of market failures as a result of economies of scale. When these parameters are considered the prices of commodities with only be affected by eh production costs and profits desired; and hence will be fair to both consumer and producer. This determination of the conditions that define fair prices has aided in the understanding of the elements that can be used to determine a fair price. In the ancient times, there were various factors that caused difficulties in determining a fair price and they were summed by the element of capitalism which was characterised by a lack of proper prices for labour, widespread aversion to payment of loans, and failure to incorporate interest payments into production costs.

Friday, October 18, 2019

Antibiotic Sensitivity Testing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Antibiotic Sensitivity Testing - Essay Example The principle of the disc diffusion method is that when a filter disc is impregnated with a chemical that is placed on the agar, the chemical in the agar diffuses around the disc. The solubility of the chemical and its molecular size determines the size of the area if chemical infiltration around the disc. When an organism is placed on the agar around the disc, if it is susceptible to the chemical then there would be no growth around the area where the chemical is diffused and this area is called as the "zone o the inhibition". This inhibition can be measured and compared with a standard control strain and normal tables, Stokes and Kirby-Bauer method respectively. The factors that affect in this method are the concentration of the bacterial inoculums, the depth and types of agar, the incubation conditions and the time of incubation. All this factors should be always taken into account while performing the test. An alternative test that can be performed is the determination of the amount of antibiotic required to either inhibit the growth of organism or to kill the organism which is done by incubating a fixed concentration of the organism in increasing concentrations of antibiotics and checking for growth after 24h of incubation. The as3. Methods. The assigned culture was swabbed onto the agar plate in three directions for maximal coverage. The plates were allowed to settle for 10 mins, followed by impregnating the antibiotic discs by pushing the dispenser over the agar. The antibiotic and the disc code were noted and the plates were kept in incubator at 37C. 4. Results. The results obtained from Test 1 and Test 2 are displayed in Table 1 and 2 respectively. RESULTS: TEST 1 RESULTS: TEST 2 5. Discussion: Antibiotic susceptibility of given strain was determined by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. Disc diffusion method is widely used across the laboratory to determine the effect of any anti- microbial agents like antiseptics, antibiotics, bactericidal or bacteriostatic compound etc. To avoid any lab to lab variation standardized protocol was developed that was recommended by National Committee for Clinical laboratory standards like Meuller-Hilton Agar is used as growth medium; plates will be incubated at 37C for 18-24 hr, while turbidity of bacterial suspension will be set at 0.5 McFarland method or 1.0 OD by spectrophotometer. The biggest advantages of disc diffusion method over other methods are that it is rapid, efficient, cost effective and reliable. While there are certain limitation of this methods like any variation in cell number, incubation time, diffusibility of antibacterial compound, media etc, which leads to very high variation in final results. Similarly, it gives only quantitative idea and determination of bactericidal concentration or MIC need to be back calculated. For pathological determination serum to antibiotic ratio must be taken in to consideration to evaluate effective dose. In this practical, we evaluated three cultures for its Antibiotics susceptibility against various antibiotics. Among these Pseudomonas

Tourism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Tourism - Essay Example However, scholars hold the view that to the profession requires specialised skills and knowledge, continuous education and be good to the society and community. According to Roberts (2007), corporate social responsibility (CSR) entails responsible business conduct causing no harm in the workplace, marketplace, the natural environment as well as the community they operate in. In the tourism sector, it would mean that it is the local, national and global community. CSR is not only vital in promoting business operations but also creates harmony and respect between the business and the community. To the business, CSR looks to ensure that the organisations keep on making profit while ensuring that her future is safe. Tourism industry’s management ought to understand that CSR, reduces general operational costs while improving the firm’s reputation. By extending services to the community, the firm’s dignity rises, resulting to not only a competitive advantage but also access to investment and funding opportunities. Notably, most NGOs prefer funding projects that improve the society’s welfare. Corporate social responsibility in the tourism industry is not a choice; it is a business obligation (Lyn 2009). To the society, CSR increases welfare as well as building a liking for the firm. Going green initiative, maintained by a firm via CSR improves he ecological conditions of the society. The result is reduced health hazards, better working conditions as well as better services and safe products. Involvement in charitable fundraising can improve the society’s education and possibly create equal opportunities. According to Lyn (2009), tourism managers who focus on short-term profits at the expense of the society and the environment are doomed to fail. For sustainability, a business ought to ensure that there is a bottom line that measures environmental, economic and social profits and losses. That goes a long way at maintaining customer

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Chinas Speedy Development in the Past Three Decades Essay

Chinas Speedy Development in the Past Three Decades - Essay Example Domestic policies have seen China’s economic development rise and continue to grow, even as other large world economies experience negative or stagnant growth. These policies opened up China to foreign trade and investment leading to a fast-growing economy in the recent decades; moreover, the domestic policies supported industrialization and structural change stimulates growth. They aim at developing strong and sustained investments that are driven at the very low levels, thus empowering the poor and uplifting their financial status (United Nations, 2012 p. 39). Effective management and proper implementation of the laid down policy frameworks have lead achievement of substantial strides in the developing China’s economy. The formulation of domestic policies established reforms in various sectors of the economy such as agriculture, industry, trade and foreign investment, which has also seen economic growth and human development. Reforms in the agricultural sector alleviated extreme poverty and food shortages; food prices also fell as the agricultural income was on the rise. In the industrial sector, there was large-scale privatization of enterprises owned previously owned by the local government. This encouraged growth of the private sector, and increased their output and increased the revenue to the economy. Initially, China’s economy centrally controlled, vastly inefficient and isolated from the global economy but with reforms to policies on trade and foreign investments, the economy improved to achieve a steady growth rate each year (Sahoo et al, 2010 p. 3).

The Population in the United Kingdom Research Paper

The Population in the United Kingdom - Research Paper Example The frequency and percentage distribution turned that out of 60,975, there were 37,904 frequency or 62.16% lies within 16 to 64 male and 16 - 59 female age group bracket. This means that majority of the total population are not on the retirement age. However, there were 11,509 frequency or 18.87% lies along Under 16 age group bracket, and lastly 11,562 or 18.96% lies on 65m/60f/over age group bracket. This means that only twenty percent were on retiring age in Untied Kingdom and it also reveals that there is almost twenty percent of the United Kingdom population who are young. Figure 1, or the first line graph presented in the appendix, 11728 out of 60975 belong to 45-59 age group bracket. This implies that this population though is quite near the retirement age. This is alarming, and may signal that something must be done in preparation for the coming year. Also, notable is that this is followed by age group bracket of 35-44 with 9248 which is very near the highest age group (45-59). On the other hand, the population distribution from 5-59 is very huge as compared to the age group 60 -94 which is very minimal. This implies that there was an increase in population, but there must be continuity to avoid having periods where most people are within or near to retirement. It can be seen in table 3 the comparison of male and female population in United Kingdom using analysis of variance (ANOVA) that there is a significant difference between the male to the female population in United Kingdom. This is because the result of the "Analysis of Variance" (ANOVA) shows that the computed F (1244.796) is greater than the tabular values of F-statistics (239) at 0.05 degree of freedom (1, 8). This was formulated by simply using 0.05 level of significance, F-statistics, and an Analysis of variance (ANOVA) test, it was established that the df num value is k-1, or 2 -1, or 1 and the df den value is T-k, or 10 - 2, or 8. So, with = 0.05, the critical value of F in this analysis of variance test was F0.05 (1, 8) = 239. Since computed F (FC) is greater than Tabulated F (FT), Ho is rejected. Table 4 in the appendix shows the correlation of the male and female population in United Kingdom using coefficient of determination (R2) which reveals that the resultant R Square 0.993614286 is very close to 1 which means that the correlation is near normal curve distribution, so, it is interpreted as very high correlation. Thus, in percentile (%), 99.3614286 is an indicator of significant relationship between the male and female population in United Kingdom. Finally, the R square of 0.993614286 is very close to the adjusted R square 0.8686121286. This means that the regression model fits the data very well. Furthermore, figure 2 which also in the appendix show the correlation between males and females in 2006. It is been found that this is almost along perfect positive correlation which means the proportionality of the males and females in the United Kingdom 2006 has significant effect on each other. This also means that in every increase in female population there was also an increase in male population. This means that the population by gender is of the same age group distribution in the United Kingdom. Part C These data which was sourced from the National Statistics Office of the United Kingdom

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Chinas Speedy Development in the Past Three Decades Essay

Chinas Speedy Development in the Past Three Decades - Essay Example Domestic policies have seen China’s economic development rise and continue to grow, even as other large world economies experience negative or stagnant growth. These policies opened up China to foreign trade and investment leading to a fast-growing economy in the recent decades; moreover, the domestic policies supported industrialization and structural change stimulates growth. They aim at developing strong and sustained investments that are driven at the very low levels, thus empowering the poor and uplifting their financial status (United Nations, 2012 p. 39). Effective management and proper implementation of the laid down policy frameworks have lead achievement of substantial strides in the developing China’s economy. The formulation of domestic policies established reforms in various sectors of the economy such as agriculture, industry, trade and foreign investment, which has also seen economic growth and human development. Reforms in the agricultural sector alleviated extreme poverty and food shortages; food prices also fell as the agricultural income was on the rise. In the industrial sector, there was large-scale privatization of enterprises owned previously owned by the local government. This encouraged growth of the private sector, and increased their output and increased the revenue to the economy. Initially, China’s economy centrally controlled, vastly inefficient and isolated from the global economy but with reforms to policies on trade and foreign investments, the economy improved to achieve a steady growth rate each year (Sahoo et al, 2010 p. 3).

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Comparative Advantage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Comparative Advantage - Essay Example It is however, critical to note that this advantage is relatively low as compared to other countries. In sectors like Mineral fuels and apparels, US is comparatively at disadvantage as compared to other countries and may be the net importer of goods and services following in both these categories. Finance and insurance sector also seem to lose its competitiveness as compared to other countries such as Japan and Switzerland. The data in table 5.1 indicates that US may not have comparative advantage in different sectors as compared to other countries. This may be owing to different factors including lack of room for economic expansion during recent years. Further, US economy is believed to be transitioning towards service based economy therefore different sectors of the economy may be losing their comparative advantage as other countries may be picking up from where US firms left the competition wide open for other economies. (Jagdish N. Bhagwati, Panagariya, & Srinivasan, 1998) Japan seems to enjoy greater level of comparative advantage in producing vehicles. This suggests that vehicle production in Japan is relatively cheaper as compared to other countries and Japan can enjoy relative comparative advantage in this sector. As compared to US, Japan is far ahead in producing vehicle much efficiently and at lower costs. Japan also seems to enjoy greater level of comparative advantage in producing electronic equipment and enjoys greater advantage over US. This may also indicates that Japan’s economy is still industrial based with strong focus upon maintaining industrial base of the economy through achieving better comparative advantage. A relatively positive comparative advantage is also enjoyed in the finance and insurance sector indicating that financial sector in Japan is relatively more efficient as compared to financial sector of US. This may also be

Monday, October 14, 2019

Macbeth by William Shakespeare Essay Example for Free

Macbeth by William Shakespeare Essay Shakespeare wrote Macbeth between 1603 and 1606 for King James 1st (England) and 6th (Scotland). Its about a tale of royalty treachery heroes and witches. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1 the public were full of tales of witches and evil. Witchcraft was a subject that the English took very seriously. They believed that a witch had a third nipple under her arm. They burned women or threw them in lakes to see if they floated, if they did, they were sentenced to death. It is estimated that in Scotland between 1564 and 1603 eight thousand suspected witches were burned to death. These executions did not cease until the end of the seventeenth century. The sight of witches in an Elizabethan theatre would have been terrifying for the audience. For my English coursework on Macbeth I have chosen to look at act one scene one, two and three. This is due to the simple fact that it is the introduction to the play and indeed it sets the feel to the whole play In Shakespeares play, we open during a thunderstorm; this prepares us for the evil witches. Three witches come onto the stage: When shall we three meet again In thunder, lightning, or in rain? The first witch asks what the setting shall be for their next meeting, thunder, lightning and rain conditions that most people would find frightening and would stay away from. The second witch says that they will meet: When the hurlyburlys done, When the battles lost and won. We then find out that they are going to meet on the heath. They have insight into the future. The witches tell us that they are going to meet Macbeth. We do not know who Macbeth is or why the witches are meeting him, but we think that he must be evil because he is linked with the witches. Their familiars call to them and they disappear chanting: Fair is foul, and foul is fair: This expresses the main themes in the play, the reversal of fortunes, and the fact that appearance can be deceptive. And we later see Macbeth is fair in Duncans eyes but underneath he is foul, he will later betray Duncan. The opening scene is exactly thirteen lines long, thirteen is unlucky and in those times unlucky things were bad. So by this point the audience will have picked up that these are bad people. Scene two opens in a camp near the battlefield; King Duncan, Malcolm and Donalbain, his sons, and Lennox are present. They see a bleeding Captain and ask him how the battle is going. The Captain tells them how well Macbeth fights: For brave Macbeth well he deserves that name- Till he unseamed him from the nave to the chops, And fixed his head upon our battlements. This is portraying a picture of a tall and strong man who is highly regarded by the experienced fighters in the army. Duncan then praises Macbeth by calling him O valiant cousin, worthy gentleman This presents us with a very different view of the main character, a relative of the kings, well brought up, a courtier, but still highly regarded. The Captain then goes on to tell us of how Macbeth and Banquo responded to a fresh attack by the Norweyan lord, Sweno: they Doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe. Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds, Or to memorise another Golgotha, I cannot tell- Macbeth and Banquo had fought back twice as hard as if they meant to kill every man there or to create a new burial ground, he could not tell. This shows how good and strong Macbeth is in battle. The Captain goes and Ross and Angus arrive. They tell Duncan that Bellonas bridegroom had won the battle. Macbeth had won and they were painting him as a god. They also tell Duncan that the Thane of Cawdor was a traitor, Duncan decides to reward Macbeth by giving him the Thane of Cawdors title. This is ironic because Macbeth will become a traitor too. We now have two opinions of Macbeth, one evil Macbeth, linked to the witches, and one good Macbeth, a noble warrior who has fought well in battle to protect his country. The third scene is set on the heath, the witches are there, and telling each other what they have been doing since they last met. The first witch wants to put a spell on a sailor whose wife refused to give her chestnuts. She is going to toss his ship about and make sure that he does not sleep. This is reflected when Macbeth can not sleep later on in the play. The third witch shouts: A drum, a drum! Macbeth doth come. They know that it is Macbeth, this too shows the witches insight. A drum is significant because it is a military symbol. We now meet Macbeth and Banquo. The first words Macbeth say are: So fair and foul a day I have not seen. This reflects the words of the witches: Fair is foul, and foul is fair. Which tells us that he is in tune with them and therefore in tune with evil. It is Macbeth who demands to hear what the witches have to say: Speak, if you can: what are you? They acclaim him: All hail Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis! All hail Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor! All hail Macbeth! That shalt be king hereafter! Macbeth starts and Banquo asks him why. The witches have seen his thoughts and know his ambitions, he is afraid to hear that other people know his desires. Banquo asks them what the future holds for him and the witches reply: Hail! Hail! Hail! Lesser than Macbeth, and greater. Not so happy, yet much happier. Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none: Then they disappear again into the mist. Macbeth is not happy with the information he has received and demands that they stay and tell him how he is to become Thane of Cawdor and the king. The audience will now be itching to see if the latest predictions are true: after all, the previous have all now happened. Ross and Angus arrive on the scene, they have come from the king to award Macbeth with the title of the Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth doesnt know that the Thane has been sentenced to death for betraying the king: The thane of Cawdor lives. why do you dress me In borrowed robes? Banquo is amazed that the witches are right: What, can the devil speak true? Macbeth thinks to himself: Glamis, and thane of Cawdor: The greatest is behind. He thinks that they are evil and will bring about Macbeths downfall: And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, The instruments of darkness tell us truths, Win us with honest trifles, to betrays In deepest consequence. Macbeth thinks about Banquos words and fights with his ambition and decides to let fate take its course: If chance will have me king, why chance may crown me, Without my stir. In any screen version, Macbeth on the Estate, I expect a great warrior, respected by the king and fellow noblemen of Scotland. His best friend, Banquo is always by his side, and both dressed in armour coming from battle, with wounds. Macbeth should be about thirty-five to forty, he should be strong and masculine, as he has the strength to unseam a man: from the nave to the chops. I review now two modern interpretations of the play the first will be, Macbeth on the Estate is set on the Ladywood Estate in Birmingham; this is the first difference between the screen version and the text. We open on a desolate estate, you can hear the wind, it is misty, dull, dark and grey. The high rise flats break the skyline. The ground is covered in mud and rubble, something used to be there but has been destroyed. A character comes on scene, he isnt a witch, he is the Thane of Fife, Macduff. He is wearing a black tracksuit and speaks with a Jamaican accent, his words have rhythm. He tells us that what we are about to see, that Duncan is king and that he has become fat and lazy, he is no longer a good king. He tells us that there had been some problems and Duncan had told Macbeth to sort them out. The screen blacks and we see the title, when we return, we get a view from a smashed window, signifying violence. There is eerie music playing in the background, the estate is empty, abandoned. We get a clip of an alley, there are rats running around in it, this shows disease, dirt and decay. We then get a shot of a building, and a shot of another building with some children playing outside it, some men come along and they run away. The camera moves to the inside of a house, the door is kicked in and the men run into the house. The characters are introduced by freeze-frame the first man, the leader is Macbeth, he is wearing jeans and a dark jumper, this may suggest that he is evil. The other characters are introduced including Duncan, who is not at the battle. He is in a Public House; smoking and drinking, he is wearing a bright shirt, which is not buttoned, he is lazy and immoral, he is not as nice a king as Shakespeares Duncan. This makes Macbeth seem less evil when he kills him. The production is not about good fighting evil, it is about bad fighting worse. Shakespeare meant this as a morality play, however this is not a moral king and I feel that it makes me feel more sympathy for Macbeth when he betrays Duncan. The camera brings us back to the house, they are using pepper spray and baseball bats. The image is extremely violent. The television is switched on and Macbeth is distracted by it. The National Lottery is on, he seems drawn to it and is then disgusted by it and smashes the screen. Upstairs Malcolm and Macduff are fighting when they see the Thane of Cawdor, Malcolm jumps out the window Macduff is pushed down the stairs and they go back to tell Duncan. Macbeth comes up the stairs and gets trapped with Banquo. We go back to the Public House, where Malcolm and Macduff have just arrived Macduff keeps pushing Malcolm away. He tells Duncan of how the battle is progressing. This is the role of the Captain in the play. In the play we dont see the battle, this shows us a more violent side to Macbeth, however it shows him as a warrior, not just a nobleman and a loving husband. We hear that Macbeth has won the battle and all the men are praising him. Duncan decides to reward Macbeth with the title the Thane of Cawdor, he sends men to kill the present Cawdor and deliver the message to Macbeth. We then have another extra scene, they drag Cawdor to a car. Three children, the witches, have just broken the window. Cawdor is shut in the car and Malcolm sets it alight. He takes his punishment and does not attempt to escape. A close up on his face shows his disclaim for the learning Malcolm I think that Macbeth would do the same, they are alike, they are both traitors. The camera then follows the black smoke upwards. The eerie music is still playing in the background. We see Macbeth and Banquo walking past a building, voices start to shout from windows and doorways. The voices get faster and come from all over the building. The camera follows the sound. Macbeth moves to go into the building, he seems drawn to it, Banquo tries to stop him but he walks in. They go up some stairs, Macbeth seems to be following something and leads Banquo under some low gaps in the wall to a room. They go in and the witches are standing there. There are candles and tarot cards in the room. They speak to him and he scorns them. The witches are not as frightening as Shakespeares witches are; they do not have the same effect. A car horn beeps and Banquo leaves, Macbeth lingers, again drawn to the evil, and keeps looking at them, walking backwards through the door. They walk out onto the balcony, Macduff and Ross are waiting in a car below, and they tell Macbeth that he is the new Thane of Cawdor and that the old Thane is dead. They get into the car to go to Duncan. We get a close-up of Macbeth in the car, he looks out of the window and thinks about all that has happened if chance shall have me King, why chance may crown me Without my stir Ross is saying the porters speech; this scene is used after the murder of Duncan in the play. They reach the public house and again Macbeth is the first person to come through the door, he gives Duncan money and then starts a pretend fight with him. Duncan gives him his ring as a reward, he has a tattoo saying love on his hand. I think that this shows that he is close to Macbeth. The scenes in the screen version are not in the same order as in the play. The actors are using Shakespearean language in a modern setting. I do not think that this works well. I think that the Macbeth on the screen reacts well with the witches, he is drawn to them. The screen version of Macbeth is not what I imagined him to be like; he is not a well-built man. Banquo is closer to my image of Macbeth. He does not seem to be in an army, whereas in the play there was a military tie with the drum. The fight seems to be a turf-war over drugs. Duncan is not as moral as Shakespeare made him, he smokes and drinks alcohol, he is not a good king. The setting is different, the scenes are not the same, and the morality aspect has changed. The screen version does not portray Macbeth as the tragic hero. He is not the Macbeth I expected to see. The second screen version I am going to look at is Granada, again I expected to see a great warrior, but now I am more curious after seeing the Macbeth on Macbeth on the estate. The Granada version shows us an even more futuristic view of Macbeth but this time it uses actual warriors instead of vicious gangs of thugs, and they are actually fighting another country. We open on the wasteland with the witches. There are lots of bodies and old rubbish skips it looks as though there has been a battle fought here recently. We get a camera shot of the witches robbing the bodies anybody watching the scene can tell that these people are bad, evil almost as robbing the dead is frowned upon by anyone. The witches are dressed in rags and torn cloths they are grubby, they have rotten teeth and are wearing tacky plastic jewellery, They look like tramps. As they each say their lines we get a close up of each witch. When shall we three meet again I can see a middle aged woman rushing to strip the riches of a dead body, when the witches are all finished talking to each other we see them running away from the bodies and disappearing into thin air. there to meet with Macbeth Clutching watches in their hands. The camera then cuts a close up of Macbeth. This time Macbeth looks like I expected he looks strong, he looks like a warrior and he looks braver than the Macbeth we have seen from Macbeth on the estate. The camera cuts to scene two upon a hill in the country side with Duncan, Malcolm an Donalbain, Malcolms sons and Lennox standing talking, we are not told that is who they are but any one who has seen Macbeth before will know that this is who they are. With an explosion the Captain arrives war torn and bleeding, he staggers up the hill towards the group of man with his rifle slung over his back. His rifle is the currant issue weapon to the British Army so again it shows the modern aspect of the play. The Captain falls to the ground I front of the men, Duncan grabs hold of the Captain and shakes him. I can see that this Duncan is also more healthier than the king from Macbeth on the estate, he demands to know what is happening with the war and what about Macbeth. The Captain tells him that they have won the battle and that Macbeth has unseamed a mans body from his nave to his chops. The group all cheer at this they are all proud of their warrior Macbeth. Duncan then realises the Captain and orders someone to take a look at his wounds. Then with another explosion Angus and Ross appear they give the king the news of the Thane of Cawdors betrayal, king Duncan gives the order of the Thane to be killed and Macbeth to be given his title. They turn and leave down the hillside with their guns slung over their backs. The next scene begins in an original sort of way as Macbeth and Banquo riding down towards the wasteland on scramblers. This indeed is futuristic portrayal of the events, maybe the scramblers are there to represent the horses. They are now walking through the wasteland and spot the witches the viewers can now see that the witches predictions are true. Banquo spots them huddled around a fire and asks Macbeth what they are, Macbeth draws his gun and asks them to speak to him. They tell Macbeth his fortune and make paper crowns to symbolise the king, Macbeth is shocked by this and bites his nails, Banquo is questioning why Macbeth is worried and shocked by what the witches have to say. He then goes on to ask the witches what will become of him he seems happy. The witches then burn the crown in a nearby fire, they disappear in a star-trek like way again. Macbeth breaks out of his trance and calls for the witches to come back. I can see the power on his face he is almost annoyed that they are leaving it shows that he likes what they are saying. Its like saying goodbye to all the things he has ever wished for. Almost as soon as the witches leave there is another gunshot as Ross and Angus arrive, Macbeth is told that he has become the thane, he still seems shaken by the witches and now he seems disturbed. He turns his back on Ross, Banquo and Angus, this is what he will go on to do later on in the play to betray all the ones he knows on his quest to be King. He has his gun pressed against his cheek, he likes the power of the gun it makes him feel power, something that he longs to have, and we can hear his thoughts if chance will have me king, why chance may crown me, without my stir We can see instead of fighting everyone to become king he is waiting for chance to crown him, or make him king. He turns to his comrades and says Till then enough come now friends He calls them friends now but would he be calling them friends if he knew he was going to kill his best friend Banquo Out of the two screen versions I prefer this one it presents the Macbeth I think of when I read Shakespeares Macbeth. It shows good camera work to add to the effects. In this version the scenes are in the same order as the book unlike Macbeth on the estate which muddles them around. I also think the witches are better portrayed as adults they seem more evil robbing the bodies. This Duncan is a good king I think this makes Macbeth seem even worse when he goes to kill him it shows that he is willing to kill good people to get where he wants to be. The war seems to be a proper war over land the way it would have been in Shakespeares time, not over drugs. This Screen version does portray Macbeth as the tragic hero I expected to see after first reading the book. Macbeth in both versions seems in a trance like state while the witches are around I think this is significant because the witches could be setting a spell on him.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Motion of the Earth :: physics earth spin

The Earth spins around an axis. The Earth takes (a bit more than) one day to go around once. This axis is pointing off somewhere in space. This axis (mostly) doesn’t move. At the same time, the Earth is orbiting the Sun. It takes (a bit more than) one year to go around once. The plane of the Earth’s orbit (mostly) doesn’t move. The spin axis of the Earth’s daily rotation is not perpendicular to the plane of the Earth’s orbit.It is tilted (approximately) 23.4 degrees. The angle of tilt (mostly) doesn’t change. Earth does not spin perpendicular to the plane it is tilted, the reason earth is tilted is because it got hit by meteoroids and other stuff when the planets first formed. Also it takes about 24 hours for one period of earth rotate. From that we get sunlight, half of our days. We can calculate easily how fast earth is spinning by 2πR(radius of the earth)/24 hours. but that is just speed of the equator of the earth. We have different spinning speed every different latitude. As we could see from above picture every latitude have different speed of spinning per hour. And speed of the earth spinning could effect on such as water reservoirs.We don't feel that because everything else is moving with us and because the motion is very, very smooth. Changes in the Earth's spin are measured in terms of length of days. A faster spin shortens the length of daylight. "Due to the reservoir effect," (Chao). "the day 40 years ago was longer than today by about 8 millionths of a second." More significant, he said, is the fact that the sporadic spacing of water reservoirs has changed the Earth's axis. Since 1940, water impoundment has pushed the axis of rotation about 60 centimeters away from the North Pole toward western Canada, said by Chao Also it effect on the direction of the wind and movement of the clouds. "Stars and planets form as a result of the gravitational collapse of accreting material. Any net translational motion of that initial material is accelerated as its radius of rotation decreases. Once an initial spin was established for the Earth, the same conservation principle says that its angular momentum will continue unless it can be transferred to another object. With no significant frictional forces to allow that to happen, the Earth can continue to spin indefinitely without any further prodding" said by Paul Walorski.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Capitol Punishment Essay :: essays research papers

An often-heated debate is that of capitol punishment. This is tricky subject though since so many people have troubles deciding for themselves where to draw the line with their morals. Some people say that killing in any form is absolutely wrong. Some people agree that killing is wrong, however, if one person kills another it is what they deserve. Both views are quite respectable. The Old Testament does in fact say â€Å"an eye for an eye.† Thus, the punishment should fit the crime. If a person sees fit to take another person’s life away from them, theirs should also be revoked. People that act and kill like animals should be treaded the same way, and put to sleep like dogs that are vicious. The death penalty does not apply to people. People have hearts and souls and emotion. This penalty only applies to heartless, savage animals. A quote from a famous song is â€Å"a boy who kills has no heart, a boy who kills can not love†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Thus, anyone who has neither heart nor the capability of love should be put to death because they are no use to society. Also, this is only a punishment for those who have murdered. These convicts, though the do not deserve it, are killed in the most humane way possible. They are killed by lethal injection. In the past ten years nearly five hundred men have been executed in the United States. All these were puni shment for murder. The American policy on executions is far more civilized that some other countries, in which death is the punishment for drunk driving or use of illegal drugs. Firing squads, gas chambers, and hangings are pretty much never used any more, however electrocution is still used solely in two states. Those two states do not even give the option of lethal injection. Families often call for the death penalty because their sibling/child had no right to die. Since this person took their life, the family should have the right to lawfully take the murder’s life. However, life in prison is not enough, because they have an opportunity to leave on parole, and the thought of these murderous monsters being released into society again horrifies these families, thus they call for execution. On the other side of the spectrum, killing is immoral and wrong in every way shape or form. How does your point get across not to kill if violence is the solution to your problems?

Friday, October 11, 2019

Japan’s Occupation: An American Operation

The occupation of Japan was, from start to finish, an American operation. General Douglans MacArthur, sole supreme commander of the Allied Power was in charge. The Americans had insufficient men to make a military government of Japan possible; so they decided to act through the existing Japanese gobernment. General MacArthur became, except in name, dictator of Japan. He imposed his will on Japan. Demilitarization was speedily carried out, demobilization of the former imperial forces was completed by early 1946. Japan was extensively fire bomded during the second world war. The stench of sewer gas, rotting garbage, and the acrid smell of ashes and scorched debris pervaded the air. The Japanese people had to live in the damp, and cold of the concrete buildings, because they were the only ones left. Little remained of the vulnerable wooden frame, tile roof dwelling lived in by most Japanese. When the first signs of winter set in, the occupation forces immediately took over all the steam-heated buildings. The Japanese were out in the cold in the first post war winter fuel was very hard to find, a family was considered lucky if they had a small barely glowing charcoal brazier to huddle round. That next summer in random spots new ho uses were built, each house was standardized at 216 square feet, and required 2400 board feet of material in order to be built. A master plan for a modernistic city had been drafted, but it was cast aside because of the lack of time before the next winter. The thousands of people who lived in railroad stations and public parks needed housing. All the Japanese heard was democracy from the Americans. All they cared about was food. General MacArthur asked the government to send food, when they refus ed he sent another telegram that said, Send me food, or send me bullets. † American troops were forbidden to eat local food, as to keep from cutting from cutting into the sparse No food was was brought in expressly for the Japanese durning the first six months after the American presence there. Herbert Hoover, serving as chairman of a special presidential advisory committee, recommended minimum imports to Japan of 870,000 tons of food to be distributed in different urban areas. Fish, the source of so much of the protein in the Japanese diet, were no longer available in adequate quantities because the fishing fleet, particularly the arge vessels, had been badly decimated by the war and because the U. S. S. R. closed off the fishing grounds in the north. The most important aspect of the democratization policy was the adoption of a new constitution and its supporting legislation. When the Japanese government proved too confused or too reluctant to come up with a constitutional reform that satisfied MacArthur, he had his own staff draft a new constitution in February 1946. This, with only minor changes, was then adopted by the Japanese government in the form of an imperial amendment to the 1889 constitution and went into effect n May 3, 1947. The new Constitution was a perfection of the British parliamentary form of government that the Japanese had been moving toward in the 1920s. Supreme political power was assigned to the Diet. Cabinets were made responsible to the Diet by having the prime minister elected by the lower house. The House of Peers was replaced by an elected House of Councillors. The judicial system was made as independent of executive interference as possible, and a newly created supreme court was given the power to review the constitutionality of laws. Local governments were given greatly increased powers. The Emperor was reduced to being a symbol of the unity of the nation. Japanese began to see him in person. He went to hospitals, schools, mines, industrial plants; he broke ground for public buildings and snipped tape at the opening of gates and highways. He was steered here and there, shown things, and kept muttering, â€Å"Ah so, ah so. † People started to call him â€Å"Ah-so-san. Suddenly the puyblic began to take this shy, ill-at-ease man to their hearts. They saw in him something of their own conqured selves, force to do what was alien to them. In 1948, in a newspaper poll, Emperior Hirohito was voted the Civil liberties were emphasized, women were given full equality with men. Article 13 and 19 in the new Constitution, prohibits discrimination in political, economic, and social relations because of race, creed, sex, social status, or family origen. This is one of the most explicitly progressive statements on human rights anywhere in law. Gerneral Douglas MacArthur emerged as a radical feminist because he was â€Å"convinced that the place of women in Japan must be brought to a level consistent with that of women in the western democracies. † So the Japanese women got their equal rights amendment long before a oncerted effort was made to obtain one in America. Compulsory education was extened to nine years, efforts were made to make education more a traning in thinking than in rote memory, and the school system above the six elementary grades was revised to conform to the American pattern. This last mechanical change produced great confusion and dissatisfaction but became so entrenched that it could not be revised even after the Americans departed. Japan's agriculture was the quickest of national activities to recover because of land reform. The Australians came up with the best plan. It was basis was this: There were to be no absentee landlards. A person who actually worked the land could own up to 7. 5 arcers. Anyone living in a village near by could keep 2. 5 acres. Larger plots of land, exceeding these limits, were bought up by the government and sold on easy terms to former tenants. Within two years 2 million tenants became landowners. The American occupation immediately gained not only a large constituency, for the new owners had a vested interest in preserving the change, but also a psychological momentum for other changes they wanted to initiate. The American labor policy in Japan had a double goal: to encourage the growth of democratic unions while keeping them free of communists. Union organization was used as a balance to the power of management. To the surprise of the American authorties, this movement took a decidedly more radical turn. In the desperate economic conditions of early postwar Japan, there was little room for successful bargaining over wages, and many labor unions instead made a bid to take over industry and operate it in their own behalf. Moreover large numbers of workers in Japan were government employees, such as ailroad workers and teachers, whose wages were set not by management but by the government. Direct political action therefore seemed more meani ngful to these people than wage bargaining. The Japanese unions called for a general strike on February 1, 1947. MacArthur warned the union leadership that he would not countenace a nationwide strike. The strike leaders yieled to MacArthur's will. The reafter the political appeal of radical labor action appeared to wane. The Americans wanted to disband the great Zaibatsu trust as a means of reducing Japan's war-making potential. There were about 15 Zaibatsu families such as – Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Yasuda, and Sumitomo. The Zaibatsu controled the industry of Japan. MacArthur's liaison men pressured the Diet into passing the Deconcentration Law in December 1947. In the eyes of most Japanese this law was designed to cripple Japanese business and industry forever. The first step in breaking up the Zaibatsu was to spread their ownership out among the people and to prevent the old owners from ever again exercising control. The stocks of all the key holding companies were to be sold to the public. Friends of the old Zaibatsu bought the stock. In the long run the Zaibatsu were not exactly destroyed, but a few were weakened and others underwent a considerable shuffle. The initial period of the occupation from 1945 to 1948 was marked by reform, the second phase was one of stabilization. Greater attention was given to improvement of the economy. Japan was a heavy expense to the United States. The ordered breakup of the Zaibatsu was slowed down. The union movement continued to grow, to the ult imate benefit of the worker. Unremitting pressure on employers brought swelling wages, which meant the steady expansion of Japan domestic onsumer market. This market was a major reason for Japan's subsequent economic boom. Another boom to the economy was the Korean War which proved to be a blessing in disguise. Japan became the main staging area for military action in Korea and went on a war boom economy with out having to fight in or pay for a war. The treaty of peace with Japan was signed at San Francisco in September 1951 by Japan, the United States, and forty-seven other nations. The Soviet Union refused to sign it. The treaty went into effect in April 1952, officially terminating the United States ilitary occupation and restoring full independence. What is extraordinary in the Occupation and its aftermath was the insignificance of the unpleasant. For the Japanese, the nobility of American ideals and the essential benignity of the American presence assuaged much of the bitterness and anguish of defeat. For the Americans, the joys of promoting peace and democracy triumphed over the attendant fustrations and grievances. Consequently, the Occupation served to lay down a substantial capital of good will on which both America and Japan would draw in the years ahead.

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Are we too dependent on technology? Essay

Our ever-advancing technological world is subjected to both amazement and criticism. Technology has manifested itself into a form like a virus imprinted into us. As a result of which a question is posed to all of society, or those mainly in use of technology, are we too dependent on technology? There are those who believe that technology has taken over our daily lives, those who think that it only stands to benefit us and some who don’t think or care about its effects. The consensus that we are becoming too dependent on technology is one not so unbelievable. We all know for the most part that technology has integrated itself to just about everything that we do. For example, how many times do you check your phone, or go online to check your email or even play a video game. These are common examples of things we do daily without even realizing that these technologies have taken over our lives. Read more: People Have Become Overly Dependent on Technology Technology can be viewed as a beneficiary to our lives rather than monster waiting to bear its fangs. It goes without saying that technology has both greatly improved our lives by making it simpler. Yes, technology has deprived us of some skills such as doing simple chore but the benefits outweigh its cost. For instance, the invention of the phone has revolutionized the way we communicate with others worldwide. Technology is only meant to make our lives easier. Being on the fence is a simple concept to understand, simply just can’t pick a side or don’t. Simply there are those who enjoy the use of technology, those who find it deprives us of mental growth and those who don’t care what happens when it’s used. Though technology can have a strong grip on our lives we aren’t stupefied without it. The matters of whether technology controls us or benefits us shouldn’t make a difference on how we live. We choose to live life like this and may or may not have known what might have happened, but once chosen there is no turning back. Overall, society today has accepted all technologies in one form or another.

Book Reflection : The Book Of Negroes

It's 1802 and Aminata Diallo, now an old woman, sits down to write her life story at the request of the Abolitionists in London. Abducted from her village in West Africa at the age of eleven and marched in a coffle (a string of slaves) for three months before reaching the coast, Aminata survives the voyage to America and ends up sold to an indigo plantation owner in South Carolina. She describes herself as lucky, because compared to the tragic circumstances and end of so many other black slaves, Aminata manages to survive using her wits, her skills as a midwife, her ability to pick up new skills quickly, and her strength of character.She witnesses many horrors and sorrows, and experiences them as well, that make her ponder the human nature and the hypocrisy of religions, even her own. Yet through it all surprisingly she does not succumb to anger or hatred; she wants only to be together with her husband, Chekura, their children, who are all taken from her and her homeland.When Britain surrenders to the rebels they keep their promise to the Black Loyalists – in a way. With a certificate proving they have worked behind British lines for at least a year, they can sign their name in the Book of Negroes and be given passage to a British colony. Most are sent to Nova Scotia, including Aminata. She may have escaped the American slave owners but she hasn't escaped the prejudice, fear and hatred with which the blacks face everywhere they go. The opportunity to return to Africa – the dream she's always had – comes her way, but if she ever wants to see her home village of Bayo again she'll have to make a deal with the devil.out of all the books I have read about slavery this novel is by far the greatest. This book is going straight onto my â€Å"favourites† list. The Book of Negroes is a powerful story on many fronts: it's a very human story, sympathetic, honest, fair to the greys of history, thought-provoking, poignant.One of the beautiful thin gs about this book is how, as a reader, you feel more in tune with the Africans, while the whites seem strange, alien, bewildering, contradictory. I don't mean that Hill paints an uneven picture – far from it, the rendering of history into something visceral, tangible, grants perspective and context. It's not a simple matter of â€Å"white man, bad; black man, victim†. That's what I mean by this book being honest: honest about human nature, about the complexities of history, without making excuses for anyone of any colour. I don't mean that there weren't characters who enrage you, but that they are presented relatively free of the taint of presentism.If you're not familiar with the term, â€Å"presentism† refers to our natural tendency to judge history through the lens of the present, by our own modern standards, rather than acknowledging and positioning things within a historical perspective. Hill has done an admirable job of completely immersing us in the 18th century, creating a protagonist who is a product of the time as much as one of circumstance.Hill has managed to write a convincing, wonderful female protagonist – frankly, not many male writers are this successful. Aminata is unflinchingly honest with herself and others, and by being so thoroughly in her head, she gives us what the Africans needed most during slavery: a voice, the understanding that she's just like us, not some black beast from darkest Africa – heathen, barbarian, uncivilised. As in some other books, the irony comes through clearly: which is the uncivilised race? Who is the barbarian? When Aminata arrives in London, the first thing she sees are the legless beggars on the street, the filth and crowds and pretensions. She doesn't even need to say anything.Another irony is the rebellion in the American colony – Aminata is in New York when things get nasty, and constantly hears the white Americans talking about being slaves to the British, and figh ting for their freedom. Aminata doesn't need to point out anything here, and I don't think I do either.Her own people don't come off smelling of roses either. The book is thoroughly researched and historically accurate, and makes no bones about Africans enslaving each other well before the white people came, and it is  Africans who capture Aminata, kill her parents, torch her village, and sell her to the white slavers. Slavery has a long, long history, and no race, it seems, is exempt. The Egyptians did it, the Chinese, the Japanese, the Israelites were famously enslaved, the Romans are guilty – and what is feudalism if not a form of slavery, which the English and French and others used for a very long time?If nothing else, this book highlights the fact that, no matter what colour you are or what your diet is, we are all human and share this intangible thing called human nature. Cruelty exists everywhere, and cannot be simply attributed to your race, though neither can it b e excused. This is why I insist that the history of black slavery – while it existed predominantly between the British slaving companies and the Americas – is everyone's history. For a comprehensive story covering three different continents and exposing many of the situations black slaves, runaways and freed slaves faced, you can't go wrong with this one.It's also beautifully written. Aminata has a simple, honest style, without embellishment or fanciful detail. She rarely passes judgement, but offers her own thoughts and perspective subtly. She is captured just before reaching puberty and so, ironically, escapes female circumcision, which her people practised (removing the clitoris and part of the labia, and sewing up the vaginal entrance – extraordinarily painful and meant to make a woman â€Å"pure† for her husband – Aminata isn't keen but doesn't judge; I on the other hand believe it is the cruellest form of torture you can do to a woman and the re's no excuse for it. It's an old African tradition, nothing to do with Islam, and still occurs in some places like Ethiopia).There are moments of violence and cruelty, because that was largely the life of the black slaves, but while Aminata doesn't gloss over them, neither does she dwell on them in such detail that you shy away from the book.I was walking one day behind a yoked man who swerved without warning to the left. I had no time to react, and my foot sank into something wet and soft. Something like a twig cracked under my heel. I let out a scream. Under my  foot was the body of a naked, decomposing man. I jumped away and ripped leaves from the nearest branch. In a frenzy, I wiped a mass of wriggling white worms from my ankle. I was shaking and wheezing. Fanta took the leaves and wiped my foot and held me and told me not to be afraid. But my hysteria escalated, even though Fanta barked at me to calm down, and I could not stop screaming. (p41)For all that Aminata and other slaves go through, she deserves the right to tell her whole story and not shy from the unpleasant details, or have her account censored. Remember her audience: white, genteel 19th century English men and women, the Abolitionist committee, the court of law, the common people who can read the newspapers in which parts of her story are published. It is the early 1800s, Regency London – the same time and place in which we love to read carefree romance novels that are free of the taint of black slavery – and the English have no real idea or any sympathy for what the black slaves endured. She argued to be the one to write her own story, by herself, and she refused to let the Abolitionists remove details that â€Å"couldn't be proven†. Even though she is a fictional character in a fictional account, she deserves to be heard by us as well.There's one other thing I just have to mention: the evolution of the African-American dialect. I've come to appreciate it because of this book. I mean, I always understood that it was their way of forming a new identity, one that couldn't be taken away from them, even now. But as they learnt English, as slaves, what would happen if they spoke like their masters? Aminata learns this, she learns the dialect that the slaves speak to each other, and the grammatically stronger but far from perfect English they use with the white people.They needed a way to speak to each other without the whites understanding, yet they all came from different African tribes speaking one of thousands of African languages, or they were born on plantations and don't know any African languages at all, and so they devise their own way of speaking, close to English but entirely of their own creation. After Aminata escapes slavery, she drops this dialect and speaks â€Å"proper† English, but I get the sense it is due to her ability to learn languages quickly and well, and her desire not to be looked down upon,  rather than a form of pretension. It certainly makes her a bit of a curiosity with the white people.The Book of Negroes is a masterpiece of historical literature, capturing the contradictions of the human condition in graceful, honest prose, and gifting us with a new, entirely sympathetic protagonist.