Justice right and the state Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Justice right and the state - Essay Example Rawls underlines that in violating this basic right a person has failed to do a fundamental duty. Minimax theory means a rule which can be applied to all decisions in order to determine the maximum possible loss. In contrast, maximin theory implies rules which can help a decision-maker to increase the minimum gain. Rawls states that both prniples can be seen as a reasonable conception of justice. He argues that: There is an analogy between the two principles and the maximin rule for choice under uncertainty. . . . The maximin rule tells us to rank alternatives by their worst possible outcomes: we are to adopt the alternative the worst outcome of which is superior to the worst outcome of the others' (Rawls 1971, pp.152-3). For instance, the conditions stipulate that contracting parties follow 'the maximin rule'. Then, they will strive to maximise the supreme welfare level of the least advantaged. The Difference Principle developed by Rawls suggests that it is fundamentally concerned not with absolutes but with relativities (Freeman, 2002). 'The maximin rule' does not demand, as the Difference Principle does, that people must never allow any advance above "the benchmark of equality', save in so far as this advance is 'to the advantage of the least fortunate" (Ralws 2005, p. 153). Still, according to the maximin rule every person can advance but in case others are not deprived their rights. It is important to state that 'disadvantaging' has to be understood as making worse off, not as making worse off just comparatively, and without any modification of further conditions (Freeman, 2002). This discussion leads researchers to one of the things about both the application to maximin in Rawls and the Difference Principle. Rawls wants both of the rulers to be applied always, and without inquiry into the level of the minimum. In real life situation, those solid, ordinary, and not irrational customers suggest by the relative diffidence of the pools element in their regular budgets that up to some acceptable minimum standard of living they maximin; and then, but only then, maximax. Rawls is thinking of all social goods as distributed by some authority (Pogge and Kosch, 2007). Such a distribution, of what is all at bottom property, can only be a zero sum function: if one individual lacks something, then the reason is solely that it has been allocated to someone else. So what an outsider might see as one individual becoming better off at no one else's expense, looks from inside the world of 'justice as fairness' like that individual being needlessly given what might have been i ssued instead to another, and ought to have been (Daniels, 1989). The entire argument in Rawls states that all the goods of every kind which have been, are, or will be produced or discovered within their to them unknown nationwide territory, are now available, free of any prior claims, for distribution at the fair collective judgment of the contractors. The various good or ill deserts of the other several characters must all be grounded upon accidents and contingencies; that is, the contingent facts about what they did or failed to do. All such particular and essentially claims about right and desert are in the broadest sense moral and as such disputatious ("Political Egalitarianism" 2008). This discussion allows me to say that Rawls follows maximin principles in his theory of Justice. He states: "[social

First Day of High School Essay Example for Free

First Day of High School Essay Walking into a brand new school for the first time with a bundle of happiness and a twisted knot in your stomach indicating just how nervous you really are, sure is a way to start your first day of high school. It is natural on the part of every student to remember the first day at school. Recently, I just became a 9th grader. I remember the day as a unclear haze, that resembled a impossible puzzle to complete. The night before was spent with stories of high school back in the last couple decades or so. Ever so often was an, Oh youll blend in, Youve grown so much, and I cannot believe youre already in high school. Eventually the praise died down and it was time to climb into bed. The first thing I came to realize was a large building pacted tightly together within a compound wall. As small as I am, i couldnt not seem to put the puzzle pieces together but luckily a map became my bestfriend. The schedule was confusing at first, since it was a long summertime before I had last read one. Nothing felt stable or ordered, everything seemed like it was going to be chaotic any minute. A few seconds later the bell rang, as I thought to myself how much I did not ever recall a harsh stop and ponder during the summer about miss the bell itself. The pattern went throughout the day as a class began, and after a long period a bell ended the period and began a new class. This went on for what felt like years. I walked through the halls and tried to categorize exactly what type of people I would be dealing with and Ive realized the fact high school is anything but the type of events they describe in movies. Everyone seemed to fit each category perfectly, however it wasnt quite the match. These faces appeared more normal and friendly. I remember my imagination of what high school was like when I was younger. I was just dying to experience all the new and exciting things that awaited me. From sports to boys to all the partying, I just wanted to know what everything was like and now that Im finally here, I feel like I want to go back to when I was younger and not wish to grow up so much. As time goes on you find yourself getting to class earlier and earlier each day. Finding new routes, talking a little more, taking more time between  classes and the tension eases. The days do not get harder, but the work and study habits do. Later days of the school year are always easier then the first few. Some say that high school was the best time of my life, just like others say that high school was the worst time in their lives. To be honest, I am not sure which category I fall into yet. Ive had a good start but I know high school wont be picture perfect for me. The only thing I can say is that I am learning.

The Red Badge of Courage :: essays research papers

The Red Badge of Courage Henry Fleming, also called the youth, is the main character in The Red Badge of Courage. He decided to enlist in the army in hopes of gaining experience and being a part of the war. Although his mother was against him joining the army, Henry wanted the adventure and glory of being part of the war. Henry had many battles to fight within himself. He put off the facade that he was a very confident and strong soldier. But in actuality he was very unsure of himself. He always would question his own masculinity and whether or not he would run or fight in battle when the time came. Henry meets two men in is regiment that he calls the tall soldier and the loud soldier. They all go through the new experience of being in war together.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Later on when they get into battle Henry still has fears of fleeing the battle field. When the time comes to face the enemy Henry ended up running into the woods like many others. After he finds his way back to the regiment he sees what the battle has done to the soldiers. Many of his friends, including the tall soldier, died. Others were wounded. He in a way felt jealous because he didn’t have that wound, â€Å"red badge of courage† that they had to show. Henry continued on in the woods and came across a soldier. He tried to help him but the soldiers wouldn’t let him. In the disagreement the other soldier struck Henry with his gun. Henry went back to his camp and all of the men thought he had been wounded in the battle. He went along with this and many thought of him as brave.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The next day Henry had new insight and was not afraid of the battles.

Justice Essay

Discuss and evaluate the view of the concept of Justice in relation to Othello and two supplementary texts. Justice is to live in a society that is fair to everyone, were everyone’s human rights are met and were everyone has equal opportunity to succeed. The concept of justice is portrayed rather unevenly in Othello and does not prevail as the villain, Iago, is still alive while his ‘victims’ are not. Also in my supplementary texts the balance of justice is uneven. One of my supplementary texts ‘Men of Honour’ is a film about a black sailor, Carl Brashear, trying to become a US Navy Diver but his training officer, Billy Sunday, makes it hard for him because of his colour. In the end of Men of Honour justice does prevail as Carl becomes a navy diver. My other supplementary text the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech is about a man, Martin Luther King, telling the world about the injustices against black people in America and how justice should be achieved. My argument is that justice is not achieved in Othello while it is achieved in ‘Men of Honour’ and it is explained in the ‘I have a Dream’ speech. Othello is written by William Shakespeare in England when Prejudice against women and people of different race was acceptable in society. In Othello racial prejudice, gender injustice and Vigilante injustice are very prominent especially towards the end of the play. Desdemona, Emilia and Bianca are treated like second class citizens because of their gender and Othello feels alienated by white society and feels he is always being judged because of his colour. The setting plays a major role in the balance of injustice throughout the play. In the beginning it is set in Venice which seemingly appears democratic and just with Othello being given a fair trial when they discover he has married Desdemona. This is in stark contrast to Cyprus which is the setting for the majority of the play and appears less civilized and lacking any real legal structures. This change of setting changes the behaviour of some of the characters especially Othello, who appears a noble soldier and good husband in Venice, changes when the setting moves to Cyprus and starts to make rash decisions. These changes in Character add to the injustices dealt with by some of the characters. ‘Men of Honour’ is set in America in the 1960s after WWII and during the Vietnam and Cold Wars. This was a time when coloured people were seen as second class citizens and the Navy was also not ready to accept coloured people into jobs of authority. This is represented by â€Å"Two table spoons of machine oil can contaminate a whole ships fresh water supply, some things just don’t mix†. This was the analogy of black people in the military. Even though there was so much prejudice society was aware of the injustices of coloured people and the need for change and there were even laws against segregation in the military but society was still lagging behind the law. The ‘I Have a Dream’ speech was presented in America in 1963 during the Vietnam and Cold Wars. It was presented in front of 200,000 people on the steps of Lincoln Memorial after a march for American Civil rights. It was a time were black people suffered horrific segregation and had little rights and in many southern states white people could commit crimes against them with little chance of repercussions. But it was also a time for social change and people were ready for a change. Racial injustice is where people of different races are not treated equally to the rest of society. In Othello this racial injustice is very prominent and plays a major role in the play. The black army general, Othello, is the man who feels most of the racial injustice in the play. When Iago and Rodrigo are talking privately they talk of Othello very harshly and make reference to his race regularly, â€Å"thick lips†, â€Å"the moor† and â€Å"black ram† are just some of the words they use to describe him This is also a use of animal imagery in â€Å"black ram† which dehumanises Othello. In the play Othello constantly feels like the outsider and having to constantly prove his worth, this is portrayed by â€Å"My parts, my tile and my perfect soul shall manifest me rightly†. This sense of being the outsider because of race is prominent in my two related texts the ‘Men of Honour’ film and the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. In ‘Men of Honour’ Carl Brashear is a Black Navy man who wishes to become a U. S Navy Diver but because of his colour his trainer, Billy Sunday, makes it nearly impossible for him to become one. His fellow Divers alienate him and insult him in one scene he is spat on and laughed at. â€Å"No offence to the President but I don’t bunk with Niggers†. This shows how he constantly has to prove himself to white society just like Othello and is used to create empathy for Carl. In â€Å"I Have a Dream† the spokes person, Martin Luther King, is trying to persuade the public to judge people on their personality not their race. They will not be judged by the colour of their skin but on the content of their character†. Luther King uses persuasive language to convey the message and have it heard. Likewise Othello feels like he is being judged on his colour and not who he really is â€Å"Speak of me as I am† he uses assertive tone in the verb ‘s peak’ as he is afraid of being judged. Gender injustice is where people are judged on their gender and not treated equally to the other gender and their role in society. In Othello there are many cases of gender injustice and in some cases it is a misunderstanding. Emilia is the woman who is the main victim of gender injustice. Emilia is Iago’s wife and throughout the play she is put down by him and treated like a second class citizen. â€Å"Players your housewifery and housewives in your bed†. This is spoken by Iago and shows his view of women as good for nothing. In ‘Men of Honour’ just like Emilia, Carl is constantly being told that he and his race are good for nothing but cooking in the Navy and will never become a Navy Diver. Bianca, Cassio’s lover, is also a victim and is constantly being called a strumpet and when Cassio is stabbed Iago blames her because no one will believe a woman over a man. Desdemona is another victim of gender injustice as she is not given a fair say by Othello when he suspects her infidelity and kills her. Othello believes that she does not deserve her say and in the end she pays the ultimate price. While Desdemona is pleading with Othello she says â€Å"I never gave him token† but Othello does not give her a chance to explain herself and he judges her without cause. Vigilante Injustice is the act of taking the law into someone’s own hands and acting on something outside the law. In Othello Iago is the main culprit of this as he tries to destroy Othello outside the law. He also tries to convince Rodrigo to help him in his plan of ruining Othello’s life. In ‘Men of Honour’ the commanding officer of the U. S Navy Diving Centre takes the law into his own hands by trying convince Billy Sunday to fail Carl by getting into his head. He says things such as â€Å"Did you know that ordinary house dust is made primarily of human skin, makes you think twice about who you invite into your home†. In Conclusion Othello is not a very just or fair play as throughout the play people are being judged by others because of their gender and race and in the end justice is not achieved. My supplementary texts are also about people being judged and treated unfairly but unlike Othello justice is achieved at the end of my supplementary texts. Othello and my texts also represent the time they were composed, in times when people were judged and treated unfairly because of the colour of their skin or their gender.

Attitudinal Behaviour Essay

Purpose – In order to classify individuals based on their needs, this paper aims to consider both self-stated attitudes and behaviours in a comprehensive range of daily ï ¬ nancial affairs. Furthermore, it aims to study the impacts of socio-demographic variables such as gender, age, and education. Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire was answered by 1,282 respondents in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. Factor analysis revealed ï ¬ ve components. Based on these components a two-step cluster analysis (Ward and K-means analyses) identiï ¬ ed distinct subgroups. Linear regressions were used to investigate the impacts of socio-demographic variables. Findings – Factor analysis revealed ï ¬ ve underlying dimensions of ï ¬ nancial attitudes and behaviour: anxiety, interests in ï ¬ nancial issues, decision styles, need for precautionary savings, and spending tendency. Cluster analysis segmented the respondents into ï ¬ ve subgroups based on these dimensions with an ascending order of speciï ¬ c needs for ï ¬ nancial products. Gender, age, and education were found to have signiï ¬ cant impacts. Research limitations/implications – Real consumption behaviour cannot be observed through the survey, which limits the external validity of the study. Practical implications – The segmentation identiï ¬ es different levels of ï ¬ nancial competence and needs for ï ¬ nancial products. It allows ï ¬ nancial service providers to offer more effective advice and to meet customers on their own level to improve personal ï ¬ nancial management. Originality/value – Attitudes and behaviours in daily ï ¬ nancial affairs are examined to reveal individuals’ ï ¬ nancial competence and consequential product needs. A heterogeneous sample covers a variety of demographic groups. Keywords Personal ï ¬ nance, Savings, Questionnaires, Factor analysis, Cluster analysis, Switzerland Paper type Research paper Introduction Everyone has to manage his or her personal ï ¬ nance in one way or another. Some tend to save a lot, some like to collect information before each purchase, some like to follow their gut feelings. Private investors are not a homogeneous group but rather The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the University Research Priority Program â€Å"Finance and Financial Markets† of the University of Zurich and the National Centre of Competence in Research â€Å"Financial Valuation and Risk Management† (NCCR FINRISK), Project 3, â€Å"Evolution and Foundations of Financial Markets†. In addition, they would like to thank the Swiss ï ¬ nancial company that provided them with client data and the anonymous referee for the helpful comments. International Journal of Bank Marketing Vol. 27 No. 2, 2009 pp. 108-128 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0265-2323 DOI 10.1108/02652320910935607 individuals with various ï ¬ nancial practices combined with different levels of experience, anxiety and interest in ï ¬ nancial matters (Gunnarsson and Wahlund, 1997). In an increasingly competitive marketplace, ï ¬ nancial institutions need to emphasise customer relationships and the retention of existing customers that require an in-depth understanding of their attitudes and behaviours (Harrison and Ansell, 2002). The heterogeneous market is divided into smaller more homogeneous groups to meet speciï ¬ c needs with a corresponding business model (Jenkins and McDonald, 1997). Market segmentation relies, in the ï ¬ nancial industry, largely on socio-demographic information to deï ¬ ne segments for speciï ¬ c services (Harrison, 2000). It is questionable  ¨ as to how appropriate they are (Jorg, 2005), therefore in this study, selected aspects of ï ¬ nancial affairs such as routines and attitudes are gathered to gain insights towards signiï ¬ cant behavioural patt erns. The objective in this research is to examine the extent to which a broad range of private investors can be classiï ¬ ed into a small number of clusters in order to learn about group-speciï ¬ c needs in ï ¬ nancial affairs. More than 1,200 participants in Switzerland have answered our questionnaire with a response rate of 79 per cent. Unlike some other studies in this ï ¬ eld (e.g. Lim and Teo, 1997; Wood and Zaichkowsky, 2004), this survey is not limited to students, but includes a broader range of the public. Instead of focusing solely on savings behaviour (EBRI, 2002; MacFarland et al., 2003), the present study embraces a wider scope of daily ï ¬ nancial concerns. Thereby factor analysis exposes ï ¬ ve underlying dimensions: anxiety, interests in ï ¬ nancial issues, decision styles, need for precautionary savings, and spending tendency. We demonstrate that our respondents can, based on these dimensions, be classiï ¬ ed into ï ¬ ve distinct groups by cluster analysis where from cluster I to V, the need for action for a better handling of ï ¬ nancial matters increases: for example, the â€Å"Gut-feeling followers† show a intuitive way of decision taking, disinterest in ï ¬ nancial subjects and a lack of awareness for the need of provision which make it difï ¬ cult to argue for or to initiate remedial action. Each cluster raises key issues in meeting their needs and allows for guidance to design and adapt instruments to assist in speciï ¬ c ï ¬ nancial requirements. To illustrate how ï ¬ nancial behaviour can be modiï ¬ ed to improve personal ï ¬ nance speciï ¬ cally for each group, examples from the area of retirement savings, an important part of daily ï ¬ nancial management, are chosen (Clark-Murphy and Soutar, 2005). Linear regression further reveals that the clusters highlight socio-demographic characteristics and help generate a better understanding, although one socio-demographic factor alone does not offer enough information to detect cluster membership. The main theoretical contribution of this paper is that we segment the investors based on the revealed dimensions in attitudes (e.g., level of anxiety), together with the self-stated ï ¬ nance-related behavioural pattern (e.g., spending tendency). In this way we could identify the speciï ¬ c needs and provide different services to each subgroup. Theoretical background and literature review Individuals show considerable deviation from the expectation of rational behaviour implied by ï ¬ nancial models (Barberis, 2003). Being conscious of the empirical limitations of the homo economicus model for exploring the behaviour of private individuals, behavioural ï ¬ nance broadens the view by combining knowledge from psychology and economics ( Camerer and Loewenstein, 2004). Our study belongs to this area. However, instead of focusing on particular anomalies and biases that individuals succumb to, such as overconï ¬ dence and procrastination (Biais et al., 2005; O’Donoghue and Rabin, 1998), we broaden the scope under review by studying general patterns when dealing with ï ¬ nancial issues. Market segmentation In the ï ¬ nancial services industry, market segmentation is a common method to understand better and serve the diverse customer base with its wide-ranging needs and various behaviours (Speed and Smith, 1992). Competitive pressures from deregulation of the ï ¬ nancial services market increase the requirement for market orientation and a more intimate knowledge of the market and its segments (Gunnarsson and Wahlund, 1997). Previous research has shown that there are various beneï ¬ ts from taking a segmented approach to the marketplace: a better serving of customer requirements; a tailoring of offerings; and higher customer satisfaction (Harrison and Ansell, 2002). It can increase customer retention and create loyalty and long-term relationships that positively affect performance (Martenson, 2008). Market segmentation aims to recognise patterns of ï ¬ nancial behaviour, identiï ¬ ed by studied segment predictors to group individuals into segments according to their product needs (Harrison, 2000). Yet, marketing in the ï ¬ nancial services industry today is still predominantly based on socio-demographic features like gender and age which are easy to identify and easy to apply in the composition of groups (Machauer and Morgner, 2001). A prediction of needs from socio-demographic characteristics cannot be assumed; therefore these widely used a priori segmentations are under review (Speed and Smith, 1992). In contrast, post hoc methods entail the grouping of respondents according to their responses to particular variables, focusing on customer motivations (i.e. needs/behaviour) that are more likely to result in a service based on individual n eed (Durkin, 2005). In research, behavioural segmentation is increasingly found (Elliott and Glynn, 1998; Soper, 2002), although researchers continue to concentrate on the ï ¬ nancial behaviour of speciï ¬ c groups and selective variables  ¨ (Warneryd, 2001). This study focuses on the general population, giving a more holistic view of personal ï ¬ nancial management activities and taking attitudes and behaviour into account. Individual investors The literature on individual economic behaviour often focuses narrowly on speciï ¬ c  ¨ areas such as risk attitudes (Warneryd, 1999; Wood and Zaichkowsky, 2004) or saving (Normann and Langer, 2002; Thaler and Benartzi, 2004). Other ï ¬ elds of research target investment in securities (Barber and Odean, 2001; Brennan, 1995; Keller and Siegrist, 2006) or focus on speciï ¬ c segments such as occupational groups (e.g., dentists and  ¨ managers (Jorg, 2005)). Speciï ¬ c ï ¬ nancial issues or situations, however, are not indicative of an individual’s behavioural and attitudinal disposition toward ï ¬ nance. Rather an interest in ï ¬ nances or having certain habits related to managing one’s ï ¬ nancial means may indeed be a moderating factor to learn about behaviours and needs (Loix et al., 2005). The attitudes and behaviours toward ï ¬ nances regarded in this study focus on individual ï ¬ nancial management behaviour. It is a topic with important implications that has not been sufï ¬ ciently examined in ï ¬ nancial and economic behavioural studies (Loix et al., 2005). The subject is not covered by the extensive research on individual’s attitudes and habits towards money, as such studies focus on the meaning of money (Lim and Teo, 1997) or basic values concerning money in general as an abstract concept (Raich, 2008), and not on an individuals’ ways of dealing with his or her personal ï ¬ nance. Previous studies of private investors have used mainly behaviour-based criteria or attitudes and do not combine both aspects (Keller and Siegrist, 2006) that are the focus of this study. This study is not product-linked but wider ranging in that it examines the self-stated ï ¬ nancial attitudes and behaviour of individual investors. Attitudes and behaviours A frequently discussed question in research is to what extent attitudes predict behaviour. A direct relationship between attitudes and behaviour has often been found to be weak, but difï ¬ culties in ï ¬ nding a strong relationship might derive from  ¨ differences in deï ¬ nition and measurement (Warneryd, 1999). The more speciï ¬ c the attitude is the better are the chances of ï ¬ nding a substantial correlation with behaviour if behaviour is also deï ¬ ned as a speciï ¬ c act (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980). Therefore, deï ¬ ned questions or attitudes can have predictive power and a higher correlation of attitude to-wards behaviour has been conï ¬ rmed in studies (in a comprehensive  ´ meta-analysis: Glasman and AlbarracÄ ±n, 2006; Tesser and Shaffer, 1990). A further question is the beneï ¬ t of knowledge concerning behaviour. Whilst behaviour changes over time, there is a popular assertion that â€Å"past behaviour is the best predictor of future behaviour† (Ajzen, 1991, p. 202). It is a reï ¬â€šection of these ideas that leads to attitudes and behaviour being explored in this paper. Financial needs segmentation Several typologies concerning the ï ¬ nancial affairs of private investors can be found in the previous literature, but with more speciï ¬ c approaches: se gmentations are based on ï ¬ nancial maturity and knowledge (Harrison, 1994), provision for retirement (Gough and Sozou, 2005) or savings strategies (Gunnarsson and Wahlund, 1997). Loix et al. (2005) come closest to the focus of this study with the question of orientation towards ï ¬ nances but their goal is to develop a measurement scale for individual’s ï ¬ nancial management. In this study, we examine the self-stated ï ¬ nancial attitudes and behaviour through a broader basis and do not restrict ourselves only to questions concerning risk or saving. We apply the methodology of cluster analysis to identify groups of private investors in order to obtain insight into the enforcing or modifying of speciï ¬ c behaviour. Cluster analysis has become a common tool in marketing and is a well-adopted method for market segmentation as well as the applied factor analysis apparent in this paper (Punj and Stewart, 1983). The aim of the present study is to obtain a better understanding of people’s needs in ï ¬ nancial matters to provide adequate services and products. This study, based on ï ¬ nancial service consumers, identiï ¬ es distinct motivational clusters that were independent of the more established socio-demographic segmentation variables used in targeting and communicating by ï ¬ nancial institutions. This study demonstrates that, by segmenting respondents on the basis of a broader range of ï ¬ nancial attitudes and behaviour, a yield of clearly interpretable proï ¬ les can be realised and is helpful to identify those people in most need of professional ï ¬ nancial advice. This research suggests that customer’s ï ¬ nancial proï ¬ les may be useful in predicting their response to new products as well as persuading them to use existing services for the speciï ¬ c beneï ¬ ts they value. Participants and questionnaire The data come from a questionnaire that wa s completed by 1,282 respondents from various regions of the German-speaking part of Switzerland. The respondents were recruited from two sources: 53 per cent of the participants (n  ¼ 680) were clients seeking consulting advice from a Swiss ï ¬ nancial planning company, together with participants in courses in ï ¬ nancial training within the same ï ¬ rm (convenient sample). The second source was employed to avoid a client bias in the study. A total of 602 study subjects (47 per cent of the total study) were identiï ¬ ed through a combination of â€Å"quota[1] and snowball[2] sampling procedures† (Vogt, 2005) so that its composition in terms of sex, age, and other demographic characteristics came close to reï ¬â€šecting the respective proportions in Switzerland. Although not every member of the population is equally likely to be selected, the sample is composed of a wide variety of backgrounds. The diversity came from such groups as participants in a study relating to ï ¬ nancial literacy, and from different sources such as a nursing home, a group of university students, a group of teachers, company employees from four Swiss companies unrelated to the ï ¬ nancial services sector, a group of self-employed people, participants in a course for the unemployed, and a group made up of parents. The questionnaire was designed in German. Participants were ï ¬ rst asked to give their self-assessment by answering 17 questions on their ï ¬ nancial behavioural practice or attitude towards ï ¬ nancial affairs. The response format is a ï ¬ ve-point-Likert-type scale with â€Å"absolutely† and â€Å"not at all† at the two ends of the question spectrum. Subsequently, the questionnaire contains questions concerning socio-demographic variables such as age, gender, career stage, and education[3]. The age of participants ranges from 18 to 84 years old, with 58.9 per cent between 36 and 65 years old (n  ¼ 755). The natural demographic balance of men and women is reï ¬â€šected in the sample with 49.3 per cent men (n  ¼ 632) and 50.7 per cent women (n  ¼ 650). The proportion of people with a university degree or equivalent is 46.6 per cent (n  ¼ 598), whereas 33.8 per cent participants (n  ¼ 433) obtained an apprenticeship (up to ï ¬ ve years). There are 14.5 per cent participants (n  ¼ 186) who have a high school diploma as the highest educational level, whereas 5.1 per cent participants (n  ¼ 65) have only attended secondary school. There are 10.5 per cent (n  ¼ 135) participants who were studying at a university or at another institute of higher education at the time of our survey. Methodology and results Factor analysis As the ï ¬ rst step we conducted an exploratory factor analysis, a principal component analysis, in order to determine the underlying dimensions of the ï ¬ nancial attitudes and behavioural tendencies. The chosen solution with ï ¬ ve principal components was constructed using the varimax rotation technique and can explain 53.3 per cent of the total variance. Different opinions concerning what constitut es a high loading are found in the literature, e.g. 0.3 (Gardner, 2001). Here, the rotated factor loading of 0.5 was chosen as a threshold.

Popular East Asian Cinema The WritePass Journal

Popular East Asian Cinema Introduction Popular East Asian Cinema IntroductionBackgroundTheme‘A Better Tomorrow’ and ‘As Tears Go By’‘Chungking Express’‘Happy Together’StyleThe Names of Wong Kar-Wai’s moviesMusic ‘In the Mood for Love’Fashion Music The scenesConclusionBibliography Books:Related Introduction Wong Kar-Wai breakthroughs the boundaries of genre film, the narrative style and the efficiency requirements of the market. Wong’s movies always based on Wong’s thinking and bring out the signification. Although the movie themes are the popular, but the films are full of vitality and spirited improvisation. I want to have a brief study of Wong Kar-wai’s background and focus on Wong’s theme and style study and analysis from different films such as ‘As Tears Go By’, ‘Chungking Express’, ‘In the Mood For Love’ etc. As ‘In the Mood For Love’ is my favorite movie of Wong Kar-Wai, I want to have a further study of this film and have a deeper understand about the theme, the function of music, Hong Kong people’s living during 60s. Background Wong Kar-Wai was born in Shanghai in 1958 and moved to Hong Kong when he was five years old. These five years in Shanghai had influenced Wong Kar Wai’s creativity in his films such as the scenes, lifestyle and so on. The interview by New York-based Bomb Magazine (Stephen Teo, WONG KAR-WAI P.50) described the creative subconscious of Wong ‘His father was an ex-sailor, who later worked as a nightclub manager, and his mother was a housewife. From what can be discerned in Days of Being Wild and In the Mood for Love, both films that could be described as roughly autobiographical, sense of nightclubs, gossiping housewives playing mahjong and living the life of a sailor drifting from one place to another, are the kinds of experiences of growing up that are etched in Wong’s creative subconscious.’ After the graduation in Hong Kong Polytechnic University, he started working in TVB, Hong Kong’s premier TV station as a production assistant and received the appr eciation from Kam Kwok Leong who is a famous cross-media worker of director, actor and screenwriter in Hong Kong, Wong Kar-Wai accessed a large number of creative opportunities to contributed his ideas to a script. He also worked in different kinds of genres such as comedy, cop thrillers etc. In 1987, Alan Tang Kwong-Wing (famous producer, actor and director in Hong Kong) found Wong’s Talent after he wrote the ‘Flaming Brothers’. After that, Alan Tang sponsored Wong’s first movie – ‘As Tears Go By’, it is also the starting point of Wong’s director career. Alan Tang sponsored Wong once again in 1990 for ‘Days of Being Wild’. ‘Day of Being Wild’ had spent forty million but the box office was only nine million. Although the box office was disappointed, Wong won the Best Director in Hong Kong Film Award in 1991. Theme Hong Kong cinema is very concentrate at entertaining. Scriptwriter will pay more attention to the audiences about their preferences and aesthetic views. Movie’s ornamental is the priority for the success of the commercial movies. Most of the directors are not limited by the country, nationality, history and religion. Therefore, when the directors are choosing the topic, they will mainly focus on the packaging of the movies. Hong Kong cinema can be defined as ‘art with commercial’ or ‘commercial with art’. After the development year by year, Hong Kong movie formulated a fixed narrative style for catering to the audiences. Stephen Teo (2005, P.15) mentioned about the formula of Hong Kong movies ‘The nature of Hong Kong cinema concerns the way the industry follows commercial trends and makes films according to a formula’. Most of the movies will follow the timeline to tell the story, but Wong broke the rule at that time. ‘Days of Being Wild’ is a very good example. He ignored the narrative law of the plot, so he can not only having a wider freedom for the selection of the forms and materials, but also make the film became more artificial as you can see Wong Kar Wai’s elements in the movie. He also breaks the circulation and causal chain of Hong Kong cinema’s narrative structure. In ‘Days of being wild’ is tended to show people’s daily life with uncompleted storyline and transformation. ‘Days of Being Wild’ received the spirit of the new wave of Hong Kong cinema. ‘A Better Tomorrow’ and ‘As Tears Go By’ After five years in 1980, there was a new hot wave of ‘Hero Movie’, which started from John Woo’s ‘A Better Tomorrow’. In ‘Hero Movie’, ‘Hero’ means the leader of triad instead of police. The brotherhood in ‘Hero Movie’ replaced the strangeness plot of gangster film. The scene in ‘A Better Tomorrow’ was happened in Hong Kong in 1986; it is all about a man keeps chasing personal loyalty, self-esteem, self-confidence and status. The society background usually is simple in ‘Hero Movie’; it doesn’t emphasis the contradiction between society and people. In ‘A Better Tomorrow’, it is all about the love between father and son, brotherhood, friendship, relationship, injustice and revenge. It created a fairy story of a real ‘Hero’. Wong’s ‘As Tears Go By’ is the variation of ‘Hero Movie’. The plot of ‘As Tears Go By’ is build-up on the brotherhood of Wah and Fly under the contradiction between police and triad. Merely, Wong moved the spirit of the brotherhood between Mark ‘Gor’ Lee and Sung Tse-Ho to Wah and Fly in ‘As Tears Go By’ who shot by his brother at the end. Wah is not only accomplished the brotherhood but also shows that even ‘Hero’ can’t accomplish great things gloriously. In these two films, ‘A Better Tomorrow’ is full of idealism of justice and ethics. Under the packaging with violence, the world in ‘Hero Movie’ is having a clear definition of good and evil and the desire of justice, such as Mark ‘Gor’ Lee and Sung Tse-Ho are killing the enemies together and died eventually with brotherhood, friendship and relationship. Scriptwriter arranged them died with glory. It tur ns Mark ‘Gor’ Lee becomes the hero in the legend. Merely, the Hero’ in ‘As Tears Go By’ can’t. The dead of Wah and Fly not only breaks the rule of ‘Hero Movie’ and reached the dim of the persist of life but also shows sentiment of anti-heroism. The position of the female role in ‘A Better Tomorrow’ and ‘As Tears Go By’ are having an obvious different. In ‘Hero Movie’, the function of the female is to set off the masculinity and brotherhood. However, the female in ‘As Tears Go By’ doesn’t help a lot to the destiny of the male, but they acted an important role between the developments of the relationships. If ‘Hero Movie’ praised the brotherhood, ‘As Tears Go By’ shows Wong’s persistent of love theme. When the male died, he just laid on the street without glory. Surprisingly, the last thing he was thinking was the kiss scene with his love on the street. It shows a rare but typical romantic scene in ‘Hero Movie’. Under the treatment of romantic style, it is sensitive and imaginative. From ‘As Tears Go By’, we can see Wong’s combined genre and the ambition of the theme vision. ‘Chungking Express’ Chungking Express’ is the third movie of Wong Kar Wai. The conservative atmosphere surrounded the movie market in Hong Kong at that time, but Wong dared to restructure the genre of gangster movie and romantic movie. Generally in gangster films, police are always upright and gangsters are always bad. The dramatic elements are from the justice and interest between police and gangsters. The first part in ‘Chungking Express’ breaks the narrative rule about police chasing the gangster. It is about the relationship of the strangers, Cop 223 and the unnamed female drug dealer; their relationship seems getting start but also will be end soon. In part 2, Wong even cut the part of gangster and make it as a complete romantic story between Cop 633 and Faye. Wong had his own rationale for the emotional relationships in the film (Stephen Teo, Wong Kar-Wai 2005, P.20) ‘It’s very difficult to describe why a man likes a woman, and the deep feelings between two brothers, and so on. They are all very subtle. But I wanted to put forward the proposition that time is the biggest factor. ‘Chungking Express’ proved that Wong is not only live in his own narcissistic, but also the creativity in the movie that Hong Kong people can feel and understand about. It is valuable that Wong’s being loyal to his personal feeling about Hong Kong and the p eople who are living in Hong Kong. The modernity in ‘Chungking Express’ is very strong, it makes people believe that Wong can catch the thought of the adult and teenagers more than other directors. Wong Kar Wai expressed the loneliness and the unstable status of the relationships about the people who live in this city. Wong Kar-Wai said (David Bordwell, Planet Hong Kong Popular Cinema and the Art of Entertainment, 2000, p.283) ‘the two stories are quiet independent. What puts them together is that they are both love stories. I think a lot of city people have a lot of emotions but sometimes they can’t find the people to express them to’. It is the main reason of the success of ‘Chungking Express’. ‘Happy Together’ In 1994, Peter Chan who is a famous director and producer in Hong Kong and Tsui Hark filmed ‘He’s a woman, She’s a man’ and ‘The Lovers’. It started to involve the gay elements in a film, but they didn’t have an in-depth description of homosexual relationship. Following Peter Chan and Tsui Hark, other directors started filming the similar theme. Homosexual movie became a semi-major movie theme in 90s. Comparing with Wong’s ‘Happy Together’, he breakthroughs the bias and negative render in the common homosexual film in Hong Kong. ‘Happy Together’ is about two Hong Kong people living in Argentina and describe their romantic and emotional expression. There are many daily life dialogues and plot design. ‘Happy Together’ ignored the consideration of social dimension by using the location (Argentina) to point out the axis of the relationship between the characters. Comparing with the conservative atmosphere in Hong Kong cinema, Wong Kar Wai keeping his experimental development to the popular Hong Kong movie genre and the vision of the theme. The genre of movies he had breakthrough are ‘Hero Movie’, gangster movie and semi-popular and controversial movie such as homosexual theme. In fact, Wong infused his personal theme – ‘the communication between people and people’ into different movie genres, which are having market value and gimmick. Genre movie is a commercial package, which included the theme, artistic pursuit, modern culture and western culture. Under the commercial package, Wong put his persistent theme of human motion and created his own theme and style in Hong Kong Movie. Style The Names of Wong Kar-Wai’s movies Every Wong’s movies have a clear name to the audiences even his first film (‘As Tears Go By’) doesn’t have a very strong style of Wong compare with the others. Merely, the hidden meaning behind the movie names are hard to understand, it is like we already lost our way when we first look at the movie name. Wong is well known, as he doesn’t prepare a script until the day of shooting. Therefore, it becomes very hard to capture his movies. For example, ‘Chungking Express’ (literal: Chungking Forrest) but you can’t find the trace of forest. ‘2046’ is an enigmatic figure. Wong is not only like start shooting films without complete script but also he has more different style. Wong always creates the name for the movie first, but he doesn’t base on the name to consider the plot. The name of ‘Chungking Express’ is come from the famous building ‘Chungking Mansions’ in Hong Kong. It is because Wong was told by his parent when he was young about Chungking Mansions is a horrible building, people and everything are very complicated. Chungking Mansions become a mysterious symbol in Wong’s heart. ‘Happy Together’ is from the traditional Chinese translation of a novel ‘The Buenos Aires’ Affair’, which is written by Wong’s favorite Argentine writer Manuel Puig. The first appear of ‘2046’ is when Chau Mo-Wan is closing the door, and the number badge on the door is ‘2046’ in   ‘In the Mood of Love’. In 1997, the transfer of sovereignty from United Kingdom to the PRC occurred. Hong Kong under ‘one country, two systems’ will be ended afte r 50years. The year after 50 years is 2046. Wong had given 2046 different significations. In the movie ‘2046’, it represents a fantasy world. Music Wong has a strong and sensitive artistic sense. He is also very good at choosing different genre of music and applying them perfectly to the movie. The background music is just right into the film and staying at audience’s mind. In ‘Days of Being Wild’ and ‘In the Mood of Love’, Wong selected the music with the style of the 60s and 70s such as the song called ‘In the Mood for Love’ from Zhou Xuan was played by the phonograph player machine, the Jazz music ‘Quizas Quizas Quizas’. For matching the theme of martial arts in ‘Ashes of Time’, the music is majestic. Start from the prelude ‘A lonely heart’, it shows the dignified atmosphere and revealed the feeling from the heart of the agent and the other. ‘Chungking Express’, Faye keeps playing the song ‘California Dreaming’ to insinuate her love of California. Wong used ‘California Dreaming’ to tell the desire and the dream of Faye. The theme song ‘Yumeji’s Theme’ is a classic song in ‘In the Mood of Love’. No matter where the melody started, it can spur audience’s emotions. This song appeared seven times by following the slight changes between Chau Mo-Wan and Su Li-zhen. Scenes For a film, the most instant feeling that audience will receive is from the scene. Wong understand that and keeping up trying different kind of scenes. Wong Kar-Wai has a special preference of the small house in Hong Kong which is a special feature of this city. People are staying in a narrow space in most of Wong’s movie; it is the portrait of the crowded community in Hong Kong and the reflection of the world in Hong Kong people’s heart. The characters appeared in Wong’s film, they all had a closed heart such as Chau Mo-wan in ‘In The Mood of Love’, Yuddy in ‘Days of Being Wild’, Ouyang Feng in ‘Ashes of Time’, Lai Yiu-Fai in ‘Happy Together’ and Chau Mo-wan in ‘In the Mood of Love’. Wong Kar-Wai needs to write the script during the daytime, therefore most of the movie scenes occurs at the nighttime. There were also many rain scenes appeared in Wong’s movies.   In ‘Days of Being Wild’, when Lulu knows that Yuddy going to Philippine alone, she walks under the heavy rain. In ‘Chungking Express’, when cop663 is waiting for Faye inside the pub, the rain was pouring. In ‘In the Mood of Love’, Chau Mo-wan and Su-Li-zhen were waiting together when it was raining. ‘In the Mood for Love’ The beginning of ‘In the Mood for Love’, Chau Mo-Wan couple and Su Li-Zhen couple live very closed to each other, they will visit landlord sometimes. Inside the narrow space, people suppose to be closer, such as Mrs Chau and Mr Chan became more intimate (betrayal). However, Chau Mo-Wan and Ms Su started having the alienation to their partners. At the same time, the alienation makes Chau and Ms Su become closer. Wong Kar-Wai deliberately put two families together and then use the feelings between people to people to re-organize and arrange their relationships. Fashion Su Li-Zhen is a typical Chinese woman. She doesn’t have any target in her life that she wants to achieve. Living and her husband are everything. When her husband cheated on her, she didn’t know what she should do. After, she started to put her mind to another man Chau Mo-Wan who also attracted by this enchanting woman. Ms Su in the movie is always wearing colorful Cheongsam, which is not only a traditional Chinese characteristic, but also the performance of Asian womens body beauty. Cheongsam is a specific dress for woman who loves beautyin Hong Kong and China. However, there are other clothing options in 60s, but William Chang and Wong Kar-wai did not choose other costumes for her. Ms Su with Cheongsam is the woman that Chau Mo-Wan loves to see a high class and unique woman. This is the natural development of the movie, which shows that Ms Su is a tradition of oriental, and tempting deviant woman. Cheongsam also leading the path of the film. When we look at Ms Su†™s move, we can see the rhythm of the film. We are not only can hear Nat King Cole’s singing but also we can ‘listen’ Ms Su’s steps. Her pace is a proper way of jazz which is created by her high heels, omega hair style and knee-length cheongsam. We cant see the rhythm if she is wearing a shirt and a throuser. Cheongsam is a representative dress in 60s and Nat King Cole is the popular Jazz singer at that time as well and gather all scenes, props and music, we know this film is exactly about 60s. Moreover, ‘Wonton’ (a traditional dishes in Hong Kong and Shanghai) and Cheongsam are the most representative icons of Shanghai. The sewing in Shanghai is the best all over China. In 60s, most of the trailors are from Shanghai. It is a small build of Shanghai in this Hong Kong movie when Ms Su is wearing a cheongsam and buying some Wonton for her dinner. When we look at Ms Su’s cheongsam, we realised that time is changing: working, buying food, hanging out etc. The timeline in the movie is not by order. These are the fragments of her life, we realised that there is something building up between Chau Mo-Wan and Ms Su. Music The structure of the soundtrack is starts from Chau Mo-Wan’s dialogue and ended by Ms Su’s dialogue which are exactly the same script. Secondly, following by Shigeru Umebayashi’s ‘Yumeji’s Theme’ and the music at the middle of the movie plays by order and prefectly match the film. When you listening the soundtrack, it is like you are watching the movie as well. Mentioned earlier of the ‘Yumeji’s Theme’ which is the spirit of the whole film. It played everytime when the main characters appear, over and over throughout the film. The scene of Chau Mo-Wan was having dinner with Ms Su; the restaurant was playing Nat King Cole’s song. When Ms So told the secret which Chau Mo-Wan already known, the shot moves from right to back sliently and directed to Chau’s face. At the same time, it plays the song ‘Te Quiero Dijiste’. The fast rhythm of the beginning of the song is like telling the Chau’s psych ological reaction. Afterward, Nat King Cole’s music played again and the scene changed to the cigarette on Chau’s hand. There are many detail plot like that in the film including when two main characters were ordering the food in the restaurant. When the camera pan quickly between Chau and Ms So, Nat King Cole’s song still played slowly and brought out the ambiguous between two main characters. Nat King Cole is Wong’s mother’s favourate Jazz singer. Those three songs which used in the movie were the most popular songs at that time. Additionally, ‘In the Mood for Love’ also contained a lot of traditional opera such as Cantonese opera, Shaoxing opera. They are historic and precious. In 50s, there is a statement called ‘Radio Play’. It is not diffcult to see the effection of ‘Radio Play’ in the movie. The sounds were from the past and played through the radio to present. It makes the song become more attractive a nd effective. Galasso Michale, the music director in ‘Chungking Express’ also involved to the production of the soundtrack. He created two songs for ‘In the Mood For Love’ and there are 3 or 4 versions of each song. Matching with Nat King Cole’s Jazz, it achieves an excellent affection. The scenes There is an excellent and significant scene. The scene is about Chau-Mo Wan is pretending he is leaving Ms Su, and Ms Su cried because she is not willing to lost Chau. The scene appeared a set of straight lines, which are the bars, because the camera is reflected through the bars to Chau and Ms Su and it is like they are trapped in a cage, and lost their freedom. It is exactly the same with them situation – a married man and a married woman. Under the conservative society in 60s, they are living with invisible shackles. They lost the freedom to love publicly and they can only live under the pain. On the other hand, Wong used mirrors several times to express the relationship between entity and virtual body. This relationship reflected the other sides of Chau and Ms Su perfectly. When Chau and Ms So were writing the martial art novel in the hotel, the mirror reflected the virtual body of Chau and Ms So. They were have a short-term good time with self-indulgence. However in 60s, people cant be who they want to be or do what they want. Chau and Ms Su can only suppress their emotions. Conclusion Wong Kar-Wai made a great contribution to the Hong Kong movie industry. He changed the traditional narrative approach of Hong Kong movies, adding more personal elements and more in-depth to the local culture and life circumstances. The breakthrough of the ‘Hero Movie’ genre is an important starting point in Wong’s career. He also added the elements of female into the movies. Brotherhood in Wong’s approach, ‘Hero’ can die without glory, but they also have the feeling of love such as the last scene in ‘As Tears Go By’. Afterward, Wong had tried different kind of genre, such as ‘Chungking Express’ and ‘Happy Together’. His work is consistently about a theme: between people and communication. Wong is very well at using the music to express the emotions of the main characters. The music in the movies is not only the background music; it is also an important tool for bringing audiences into the movie and affecting their emotions.   ‘California Dreaming’ in ‘Chungking Express’, the song ‘In the Mood for Love’ which is sing by Zhou Xuan was played by the phonograph player machine and the jazz music ‘Quizas Quizas Quizas’ in ‘In the Mood for Love’ etc. ‘In the Mood for Love’ is the most representative film of Wong Kar-Wai. It presented different areas in 60s including living conditions, thoughts, fashion and daily lifestyle. Cause by the living space in Hong Kong is narrow; it increased the intimacy between the neighbors. They will play mahjong, having dinner together and helping each other. It is a very good reflection of the special living style in Hong Kong. For the fashion, Cheoungsam is fully expressed the beauty of Oriental women and also the best representation of traditional Chinese culture. Under the conservative ideology in 60s, people can’t love the one they want to love; they can only enjoy the time secretly like the scene when Chau Mo-Wan and Su-Li Zhen were writing the martial art novel together. Today, many Hong Kong’s independent art films and you can see Wong’s style even in some commercial movies, but most of them are the simple copy, which are lack of creativities. Wong Kar-Wai’s film may not represent the whole film industry but he did point out the future of the Hong Kong cinema. Bibliography Books: David Bordwell, (2000) PLANT HONG KONG . POPULAR CINEMA AND THE ART OF ENTERTAINMENT. HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS. Stephen Teo, (2005) WONG KAR-WAI. United Kingdom: The Cromwell Press. Stephen Teo, (1997) Hong Kong cinema : the extra dimensions. London: BFI Publishing. Peter Brunette, (2005) CONTEMPORARY FILM DIRECTORS: WONG KAR WAI. United State of America: Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data. Cheuk, P.T. (2009) Hong Kong New Wave Cinema: 1978 – 2000. Bristol: Intellect. Stokes, Lisa Odham; Hoover, Michael (1999) City on fire: Hong Kong cinema. London: Verso. Poshek Fu, David Desser, (2000) Cinema of Hong Kong: History, Arts, Identity. Cambridge: The Cambridge University Press. Laikwan Pang, Day Wong, (2005) Masculinities and Hong Kong cinema. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. Wimal Dissanayake, Dorothy Wong, (2003) Wong Kar-Wai’s Ashes of time. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. Web page: Esolution. ‘In the Mood for Love’ Available at: wkw-inthemoodforlove.com/eng/homepg/homepg.asp (Accessed: 14 April 2011) Robert M. Payne. (2001) Jump Cut Website. Available at: ejumpcut.org/archive/jc44.2001/payne%20for%20site/wongkarwai1.html (Accessed: 14 April 2011) ‘Michael Galasso Music’ Available at: michaelgalasso.com/#home (Accessed: 14 April 2011)

Answers to Questions About Tense

Answers to Questions About Tense Answers to Questions About Tense Answers to Questions About Tense By Mark Nichol A reader submitted three queries about which verb forms to use to indicate various tenses. Here are the questions and my responses. 1. When do you use have with another verb, and when do you omit it? (For example, â€Å"I have said yesterday . . .† vs. â€Å"I said yesterday . . . .†) When do you use had? (â€Å"I had said yesterday . . . .†) â€Å"I have said yesterday . . .† is erroneous. Use have in this type of construction only when you want to emphasize that the action occurred at an unspecified time: â€Å"I have said that I would support the policy.† (This form is called the present perfect tense.) Use had for the past perfect tense, when you want to indicate that something happened before a previous occurrence or a previous time: â€Å"I had said that I would support the policy, but that was before I realized it is unfair.† 2. When should I use would as in â€Å"I would want to eat there,† as opposed to â€Å"I want to eat there†? What is the difference? â€Å"I would want to eat there† implies or precedes a condition: â€Å"I would want to eat there if it weren’t so expensive.† â€Å"I want to eat there,† by contrast, expresses a simple desire. 3. What’s the difference between â€Å"If I can, then I will† and â€Å"If I could, then I would†? â€Å"If I can, then I will† expresses a simple desire to accommodate. â€Å"If I could, then I would† implies that, because of a condition that is unnamed or not yet named, one is unable to accommodate. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Farther vs. FurtherTelling a Good Poem from a Bad OneEach vs. Both

The Letter C in French

The Letter C in French The letter C in French is very similar to how we use it in English. It can be hard or soft depending on the letters that follow it, it can have an accent, and the pronunciation changes when combined with other letters.   This quick French lesson will walk you through the various ways to pronounce the letter C. There are even a few examples to practice along the way. Pronunciation The French letter C  is a lot like the C in English. The sound will change depending on if it is followed by a hard or a soft vowel. The French C  can be pronounced in one of two ways: Soft pronunciation - In front of an E, I, or Y, the C is pronounced like an SHard pronunciation - In front of an A, O, U, or a consonant, C is pronounced like a K When a C is in front of a hard vowel but has to be pronounced as a soft C, the accent cà ©dille - à § - is added to make it soft. Thus, à § is never found in front of an E or I  because those are soft vowels. French Words With 'C' With that introduction, lets practice a few C words in French. Given what you just learned, try to pronounce each of these words on your own. Then, check to see how you did by clicking on the word and listening to the proper pronunciation. Run through this exercise as much as needed to perfect your C sounds and expand your vocabulary. cafà ©Ã‚  (coffee)sucre  (sugar)ceinture  (belt)nià ¨ce  (niece)à §a va?  (how are you?)caleà §on  (mens underwear) Letter Combinations With 'C' The letter C is also used in a few common combinations and the C sound will change. As you learn more French, you will come across these quite often, so its good to practice them. CH  - Pronounced like the English SH or like a K.SC  - In front of a soft vowel, it sounds like an S. In front of a hard vowel or consonant, the S and C are pronounced separately and according to their respective rules.As in  sciences  (science) or escargots  (snails).XC - In front of a soft vowel, it sounds like [ks] or the soft X.  In front of a hard vowel or consonant, the X and C are pronounced individually and according to their traditional rules.As in  excentre (outlying) or express (espresso).

Average Cost Curves Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Average Cost Curves - Case Study Example These critical business decisions will be made with the help of Average Cost Curves. These graphs will convey information about optimum production levels and the most beneficial expansion scheme. Total Average Cost is the average fixed cost plus the average variable cost. The Short Run Average Cost (SRAC) is the average cost of the product when at least one input variable remains fixed. This is usually the building or the plant used in manufacturing. The Long Run Average Cost (LRAC) is the average cost over a longer time period when all input variables have changed. It takes into account new plants, buildings, and large capital investments. Though these curves will vary depending on the individual product and situation, for a successful business they will almost always assume the same general shape. The shape of the SRAC curve and the LRAC curve are influenced by the changing input variables plotted against differing production levels. As Acme begins production, the cost of the first few units is heavily influenced by the fixed costs such as the lease on the building. The graph will start at a high average cost per unit. As they increase production levels, the fixed costs become spread out over more units and the SRAC begins to fall. At this point, the graph will begin to slope downward as the quantity rises. The SRAC will continue to decrease as production increases toward full capacity, as both fixed and variable (due to material volume) cost per unit declines. This period of declining SRAC is known as the economy of scale. When the factory has reached full capacity, its resources are being optimised and the total average cost per unit has reached a minimum. Manufacturing beyond this point will begin to increase the average cost as variable costs rise, and the process will enter a period of diseconomy of scale. Added expenses such as temporary labour, overtime, and additional management are a few of the factors that can contribute to the rising variable cost. Here, the graph turns upward reflecting the higher average cost. As more units are produced, the average cost continues to rise dramatically reflecting the inefficiencies involved with over capacity production. This is known as the law of diminishing returns. A key component and indicator on the graph of the SRAC is the Marginal Cost (MC). This is the total cost of producing the next unit. With an efficient factory running near capacity, this will be at a minimum, and less than the average. However, going beyond this point will cause the marginal cost to spike upward on a steeper slope than the average. When the marginal cost line crosses the average, production is at its most efficient. As marginal costs rise, it pulls the SRAC curve up with it, though at a less responsive rate. Acme could remain profitable in this area of increasing costs and diminishing returns as long as MC is below the selling price. However, to maximise resources it is desirable to keep the SRAC at a minimum. The point at which the marginal cost begins to rise and cross the SRAC is the point at which Acme must consider expanding their production capabilities. Acme has already planned for this expansion. They are no where near market saturation and the product design has a long life ahead of it. Their sales are increasing and they have studied various plans on the

Singapore Tourism Profile Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Singapore Tourism Profile - Research Paper Example This tourism profile will examine certain aspects of Singaporean culture and life that have a direct impact on tourism in Singapore and throughout the region. Role and Significance of Major Cities Singapore is quite unique in that it is a city-state. By definition, this means that it is a one-city country, similar to Vatican City. The only geographical distinction in Singapore is that, over time, they have named a few small town and villages in the remote parts such as Tao Payoh, Ang Mo Kio, and Bedok. The major city of Singapore is the economic hub of Southeast Asia and is one of the prosperous and most expensive cities to live in globally (Henderson 124). Cultural Factors Through the years, Singapore has become a mix of Chinese, Malay, Indian, and British influence. This has created a rich and diverse culture that has evolved over the years into what it is today. Modern day Singapore began largely as a large fishing village under the auspices of the British Empire. The unique aspec t of the Singaporean culture is that many different ethnicities have coexisted alongside each other for so many years that there is little separation along racial lines today (Phua, Berkowitz, & Gagermeir 1255). While there is certainly a class struggle taking place, as in most first world countries, the country is not divided by ethnicity. When visiting Singapore, tourists would be interested know that the family structure is extremely strong. For the most part, Singaporean families are quite small, averaging only one or two children. The exception would be ethnic Malays, who tend to have more children (Phua, Berkowitz, & Gagermeir 1255). The cost of raising a family is extremely expensive on the island, likely accounting for the small family size. Because of this, the family unit is central to the culture. Because of the focus on education, young people are delaying getting married, particularly women, limiting their childbearing years. This has created a potential problem in term s of under population, already represented in the amount of foreign labor that the country depends on to keep advancing. The population growth in Singapore is one of the lowest in the world. While it is difficult to say that any country has truly achieved gender equality, Singapore certainly appears to be headed in that direction, if they have not already arrived. Women currently hold high positions in both the government and private business sectors. Women and men alike have the same rights when it comes to politics, employment, and education (Heng & Low 249). In addition, both men and women have rights to maternity leave, making this a unique part of Asian culture and similar to many countries in the rest. As tourists prepare to travel to the Republic of Singapore, they should note that the many residents are bilingual. Most Singaporeans speak English as their main language, although people from the West will note some variations in word choice and accent. In addition to English, many people will speak Mandarin Chinese, Malay, or Tamil. The educational system in Singapore it structured in English, with a child’s second language being taught as their foreign language. Climate and Topography Singapore itself is only 269 square miles in total. An interesting fact is that this makes the land size only four times bigger than the District of Columbia in the United States. The island is located just to the south of the Malaysian Peninsula, which,

Healthcare system reform Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Healthcare system reform - Essay Example The treatment should focus on relieving the symptoms experienced by the individual, and providing emotional and practical support to the family and carers (Abbey, 2006). Workforce, training and integration of services have been major barriers in the provision of quality end of life care. This has been recognized and general practice and specialist palliative care linkages with residential aged care facilities are being developed (Palliative Care Australia, 2008). The quality of life for individuals with life-limiting illness and their families could be improved by a palliative approach. The aim of palliative approach is to reduce suffering by early identification, assessment and treatment of individuals, with needs in areas such as pain, physical, cultural, psychological, social, and spiritual. The approach could be beneficial in reduction of individuals and families potential distress, by the provision of sufficient information to facilitate the decision making process. The approach is most effective when provided by a multidisciplinary team, and could be provided in a surrounding that the individual is familiar and comfortable in. Advance care planning requires systematic implementation, including communication between individuals, family and care givers. Educational programs for care team and individuals on a regular basis increase the probability of plans being completed and implemented. Comprehensive advance care plans should include re gular assessments and responding to changes in resident’s health (The National Palliative Care Program, 2006). Our vision for the provision of quality care at the end of life is to satisfy the needs of individuals, and commitment to necessary action for achievement of quality care. We plan a service delivery based on needs, supporting the individual’s appropriate choice of place for delivery of service, development of workforce including education and training, greater service integration for continuity of care,

Innovation, Ethics and Sustainability in Engineering Research Paper

Innovation, Ethics and Sustainability in Engineering - Research Paper Example Since engineers are able to do several works, it means that they are able to use numerous materials in a bid to meet their objectives. However, it is of paramount significance to note that the materials that the engineers use are important because without them, they would not be able to accomplish their missions. This means that it is vital to exercise innovation, ethics and sustainability in engineering because without this, development will come to standstill. Introduction Engineering is very diverse because the people who work in the field have the responsibility of doing several essential things. Engineers have the opportunity to do several things, which are: production of food, ensuring quality supply of water, provision of houses, waste management and sanitation, development of energy, building of roads. In addition, they have the right to ensure that there is adequate industrial processing, development of natural resources and ensuring that waste sites are cleaned up. Moreover , they ensure that natural disasters are prevented by discovering and preventing them, reducing natural disasters by restoring rivers, forests, wetlands among others, provision of better industrial processes that will reduce consumption of energy as well as waste production and providing appropriate technology that will increase production of the things that area needed in the society (Pollan, 2007). This shows that engineers are very important in the society because they ensure that life runs smoothly for all the people (Small, 2007). Innovation ensures that engineers are able to come up with ways that will best utilize the available materials. It is of paramount importance to note that materials, when misused, will be depleted and, as a result, the engineers will have nothing to use in their activities. This is the reason why innovation is important for it ensures that new methods of production are implemented which will ensure that sustainability is achieved (Small, 2007). On the other hand, ethics is very important because it guarantees that all laid down rules are followed to the latter. It would be useless to set rules that are not followed by the people whom the rules are meant for. However, sustainability requires engineers to be fully aware of the rules that ought to be followed in their profession. Sustainability cannot be achieved if the professionals do not follow the ethical standards set. However, all that needs to be done, in order to ensure that sustainability is achieved, is just to follow the set ethical standards (Pollan, 2007). Literature review Sustainability involves adhering to three factors which are: social equity, ecological health and economic welfare. Between 1992 and 2002, many accomplishments were achieved in the engineering sector. The World Engineering Partnership for Sustainable Development (WEPSD) was formed with the sole purpose of ensuring that all engineers across the world follow ethical standards that ensure that material s are used sustainably. It is extremely important to note that all engineers across the globe understand that it is unethical to misuse the materials that are provided because there is always a tomorrow (Pollan, 2007). Sustainability does not focus on the needs of the current generations but puts more emphasis on the generations to come. This means that the people have to be responsible for anything that they do because otherwise, they

None 1 Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

None 1 - Case Study Example In this paper, I develop a plan of how to analyze the intelligence problem that has been posed on Federal Republic of Ysla by The Sovereign Autocracy of Penin. Overview of the case The case involves a threat from SAP that is currently at war with the Federal Republic of Ysla. SAP has employed air reconnaissance, special operations, and air bombings against FRY as strategizes for a military attack. FRY’s topography, however, does not favor SAP military and only two targets are vulnerable to SAP’s amphibious offensive, and its naval attacks can only extent to 250 nautical miles. Analytical plan on how SAP military invasion will occur The analysis plan to determining how SAP will launch its attack follows a strategic approach that involves the intelligence cycle. The plan involves identification of the problem statement that defines the question, ‘How will SAP launch its attack on FRY?’ A planning stage then follows the problem statement and involves identific ation of key players to the entire process of protecting the FRY from SAP’s threat and the role of such players. The players in the case are experts in communication technology and communication process, informants, analysts and decision makers. The next stage in the analysis involves collection of data that relates to SAP’s potential mode of attack and explores such information as their potential targets, vulnerability of the targets, and potentials of the enemy’s arsenals to hit the targets from their different bases. The collected information is then analyzed; using i2 Analyst’s Notebook, compiled and communicated to relevant authority (IBM, n.d). The analysis process considers information such as appointment of a marine major to command the Third SAP Corps, SAP government’s directive to ban visits to its coast, and reports that SAP attacks will be made near Eyer. Further information indicates increased shipping near Banes, military movements to wards the northwest, and deployed crafts at Haba. Analyzing these pieces of information using i2 Analyst’s Notebook, whose functional features include visualization of intelligence information, analysis, and communication of the intelligence, identifies SAP’s focus on Port Eyer region with movements closer to the port and a base at Banes. The fact that only Mia and Eyer are vulnerable to SAP, that a marine has been appointed to head the Third SAP Corps, and that SAP’s naval initiatives can reach Eyer from Haba identifies marine, sub-marine or missile offensive as the primary mode of attack. This is because the two SAP bases, especially Haba, are strategic for accessing the FRY’s vulnerable ports through the sea (Clark, 2010; Folker, 2000). Analytical plan on where SAP military will occur The intelligence cycle is similarly applicable in analyzing the situation to determine where SAP attack will occur. The analysis begins by development of the problem stat ement in the form, ‘Where will the attack occur?’ Same parties are used in the intelligence process that identifies relevant information for analysis to identifying area of attack. i2 Analyst’s Notebook is used to locate different possible areas from which attacks can be launched and

Innovation, Ethics and Sustainability in Engineering Research Paper

Innovation, Ethics and Sustainability in Engineering - Research Paper Example Since engineers are able to do several works, it means that they are able to use numerous materials in a bid to meet their objectives. However, it is of paramount significance to note that the materials that the engineers use are important because without them, they would not be able to accomplish their missions. This means that it is vital to exercise innovation, ethics and sustainability in engineering because without this, development will come to standstill. Introduction Engineering is very diverse because the people who work in the field have the responsibility of doing several essential things. Engineers have the opportunity to do several things, which are: production of food, ensuring quality supply of water, provision of houses, waste management and sanitation, development of energy, building of roads. In addition, they have the right to ensure that there is adequate industrial processing, development of natural resources and ensuring that waste sites are cleaned up. Moreover , they ensure that natural disasters are prevented by discovering and preventing them, reducing natural disasters by restoring rivers, forests, wetlands among others, provision of better industrial processes that will reduce consumption of energy as well as waste production and providing appropriate technology that will increase production of the things that area needed in the society (Pollan, 2007). This shows that engineers are very important in the society because they ensure that life runs smoothly for all the people (Small, 2007). Innovation ensures that engineers are able to come up with ways that will best utilize the available materials. It is of paramount importance to note that materials, when misused, will be depleted and, as a result, the engineers will have nothing to use in their activities. This is the reason why innovation is important for it ensures that new methods of production are implemented which will ensure that sustainability is achieved (Small, 2007). On the other hand, ethics is very important because it guarantees that all laid down rules are followed to the latter. It would be useless to set rules that are not followed by the people whom the rules are meant for. However, sustainability requires engineers to be fully aware of the rules that ought to be followed in their profession. Sustainability cannot be achieved if the professionals do not follow the ethical standards set. However, all that needs to be done, in order to ensure that sustainability is achieved, is just to follow the set ethical standards (Pollan, 2007). Literature review Sustainability involves adhering to three factors which are: social equity, ecological health and economic welfare. Between 1992 and 2002, many accomplishments were achieved in the engineering sector. The World Engineering Partnership for Sustainable Development (WEPSD) was formed with the sole purpose of ensuring that all engineers across the world follow ethical standards that ensure that material s are used sustainably. It is extremely important to note that all engineers across the globe understand that it is unethical to misuse the materials that are provided because there is always a tomorrow (Pollan, 2007). Sustainability does not focus on the needs of the current generations but puts more emphasis on the generations to come. This means that the people have to be responsible for anything that they do because otherwise, they

A Real Divide Between the Law and Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

A Real Divide Between the Law and Ethics - Essay Example Virtue ethics does not really provide clear cut criteria for the rightness or wrongness of an act but, it can tell you whether the person is good or bad depending on behavioural manifestations. Moreover, virtue ethics does not address the problem of relativism – one good trait may not be considered as good in another culture. Another theory is utilitarianism. In this theory, the rightness or wrongness of the act is dependent on the entailed consequences of the act (Velasquez, 2006). If there will be many beneficiaries from the act, then the act is good. In other words, if the act will make more people happy, then the act is good. In this sense, as the focus is turned on the consequence of the act, counting how many will be happier or how many will benefit from the act becomes the parameter for the rightness or wrongness of the act. This theory is criticised because it is vague as to what is happiness and how happy will be measured. Moreover, the question of relativism and the danger of the fallacy of the majority become an inherent concern of this theory. Duty-based ethics is the last theory that will be briefly discussed. According to this theory, rightness or wrongness of the act does not depend on its consequence, rather, rightness or wrongness is inherent in the act itself. As such, there are acts that one ought to do and acts which one ought not to do. This theory provides a straightforward directive on what ought to be done. This is because the theory rests on the assumption that all human beings are a rational human agent and as rational agents, they will do the right act and avoid the wrong one.

Ethical Issues Essay Example for Free

Ethical Issues Essay Different people have different understandings of what constitutes ethical behavior. There are laws that help define what is legal and what is not, but the differences between moral ethics are not always clear. These types of moral ethics often lead to ethical dilemmas. According to Trevino Nelson (2007), â€Å"it might surprise many people to learn that there were few laws protecting consumers before the 1960s. At the turn of the last century, consumers didn’t even have the right to sue a manufacturer for defective equipment. † (p. 17) No matter what type of business is run, there are ethical and moral dilemmas attached and in some cases, legal issues arise from unethical-based decisions. Berry`s Bug Blasters is no exception to the rule. Berry`s Bug Blasters is a local company that terminates any type of pest including, armadillos, rodents, and bees. The friendly workers at Berry`s work with their clients to design a customized pest control plan. Berry`s mission statement states that they will use the safest methods for your family, home, and environment. One of the top ethical issues among pest control companies surrounds the controversy of the types of chemicals that are used while executing the termination of pests. Most of the pest control companies are known to use toxic, synthetic, and chemically-based pesticides. These types of pesticides have been known to be the most effective in the extermination of pests. However, they are not safe for people or the environment. The most common chemical used in pest control is Diazinon. Diazinon is used for household pests inside the home, or outside on the lawn. It kills a variety of insects and is classified as an acute and chronic health hazard. Diazinon is very toxic to wildlife and can be fatal if ingested. Recently, EcoSMART pest control was created. The scientists wanted to find a pesticide that will not harm a family. The scientists had a challenge on their hands. They had to discover natural ingredients that: â€Å"effectively kill pests, could be used around the home, family, and pets, and leave no toxic residue or run-off† (Meehan, 2010). The scientists found a way of creating the organic pesticide by using â€Å"essential oils that trees and plants use in nature as insect defense. They found all-natural plant oils which target the octopamine receptors in insects† (Meehan, 2010). The management of Berry`s Bug Blasters faced the ethical decision each time that they make a service call. Should they use chemicals that they know are not good for the environment and could potentially cause an individual a lot of health issues, or should they research and use a much safer chemical that may not be as effective as other pesticides. Other benefits of choosing Berry`s Bug Blasters is they are offering a monthly special to all customers for the first month and offer monthly extermination plans. There are ways to make sure that decisions that are made within a business are ethical. A business-person may ask him or herself how they would feel if his or her actions were publicized throughout the community. If the individual would not mind his or her family, friends, and community learning about the actions, then the decision is most likely ethical. However, if the individual did feel bad about others known the actions, the decision is probably unethical and should be reconsidered. The employees and management of Berry`s Bug Blasters will do whatever is in their power to protect a family as well as the environment. Although new ‘green’ pesticides may not seem as effective as older ones, more laws are coming out that prevent pest control companies in using anything toxic in order to protect the community. Berry`s Bug Blasters will face this ethical dilemma constantly as clients insist on using a chemical that will rid the pests once and for all without a doubt rather than take a risk with something not as strong.

The Meaning Of Life Philosophy Essay

The Meaning Of Life Philosophy Essay The universal question What is the meaning of life? has been asked since the start of civilization. The answer from people in todays society may differ greatly from the answers of those from Roman and Greek civilizations thousand years back. The great philosophers, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and the Roman Stoics have contributed what we believe gives our life value. Each philosopher gives their own perspective of life which raises many questions by many for years. Through the writings of Xenophon and Plato we learn what Socrates visions he had of life. One principle notion from Socrates is that the Meaning of life is through thought. What we can acquire from Socrates is he believed that humans will do what is good to achieve happiness. However it is finding what is the true human good? Through Socrates teachings he wanted those to learn that there was a difference between opinion and knowledge. He believed that through questioning others opinion and showing others their opposition correct began the truth of knowledge. This leads to that truth can be acquired through dialect. Ultimately, Socrates focus is on ones ethics. It is our morals that make life what it is meant to be. He believes that if one does wrong then they do not clearly understand or have not experiences the good of life. There is no clarity to them on the virtues of love, morality, or anything else ethical. However if one never does anything wrong and is always good then they will never have reason to do wrong. Given that Plato was a student of Socrates his teachings and writing intertwine with Socrates. The importance of life to Plate would be best represented in his sixth book the Republic. Plato looks for answers about what is the ideal government, fair individuality, and what is good for the human soul. The Republic looks towards answer of government being based on justice, wisdom, courage, and temperance. Plato believed happiness would be achieved this ideal government which had an abolitions of families and private property. Platos visible and intelligible worlds is the concept of the continuation of discovering truth and knowledge which leads to lifes happiness. In the visible world we can only have an opinion and with the intelligible world we find the knowledge. When that ultimate knowledge is discovered then that one can have good and meaning in their life. Plato wants people to discover the truth beyond their existence. Aristotle thoughts differ greatly from those of Plato and Socrates. His ideas form a naturalist view. The value of life to Aristotle shapes around the thought of the bodys soul, thinking, and ones perception. The individual can take properly take in what they see from the outside world and as well what they seem in themselves. Aristotle disagrees with Platos the Republic in which plurality is what is needed. He claims that Platos theories would not allow happiness do too many flaws. Aristotle believed that the good life was the city-state and it cannot be done alone but only as a community. To Aristotle the worth of life begins with human activity. Happiness can be obtained first though personal experiences. He describes that it is not one thing alone that leads to happiness but multiple things such pleasure and work. However pleasure and work in moderation and not excess. Aristotle emphasizes that lifes meaning lies in our friendship and lovers. Humans are also able to have emotions in their souls like other animals but human differ from that they can control emotions. Since human can control their emotions and desires properly it lead one to moral virtues. The Roman Stoics philosophy revolved around concept of the logos. Everything that surrounded one on earth including God was materialism according to Stoics. Virtus was well respected by Romans and with virtus being acknowledged one could fully accept their lifes situation. There was also no discrimination between male, female, salve, and free as opposed to Plato. The main goal for the Stoic was happiness. Nevertheless this happiness could only be achieved through the quest of virtue. This ideal of living with virtue meant living with reason within logos. It described by the Stoics to preserve happiness if to avoid emotion and passion. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and the Roman Stoics philosophies vary but in many ways conform to each other. Aristotle philosophies of life and writings are most appealing to me. Although I do not agree entirely with everything Aristotle has stated I find he is the most leveled headed philosopher to my standards. Aristotles belief that the individual and the community need to come together in the city-state is a philosophy that I strongly agree with. However, I do not agree with Aristotles soul and body relations. I find that Plato and Socrates to be too extreme especially with Platos the Republic. The philosophers may have shaped many ideals of what is thought to be meaning of life. Theories from Plato to Aristotle to The Stoics have given the individuals over the past thousands years to today food for thought.

The Scarlet Letter: The Response to Sin Essay -- Theme of Sin in The S

We are all sinners. Although one may try hard not to sin, all humans eventually succumb at some time or another to sin. While people may not able to avoid the fate which awaits them, the power of free will allows people to decide how they will respond to sin. While some may respond with guilt and regret, others may react with a sense of redemption and a renewed sense of responsibility. Nathanial Hawthorne, an American author during the 19th century witnessed the power of sin to wreak havoc not only to an individual but a whole community. His novel The Scarlet Letter expresses this very idea by exposing the follies of mankind and the potentially detrimental effects of sin trough Hester Prynne, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth who all affected by sin in different ways. Utilizing powerful symbols and light/dark imagery, Hawthorne conveys to the readers, through these characters, the power of how one’s response to sin can positively change an individual or gradually destroy one by spreading like a contagious disease and ultimately consuming the victim. Through Hester and the symbol of the scarlet letter, Hawthorne reveals how sin can be utilized to change a person for the better, in allowing for responsibility, forgiveness, and a renewed sense of pride. In a Puritan society that strongly condemns adultery one would expect Hester to leave society and never to return again, but that does not happen. Instead, Hester says, â€Å"Here†¦had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment; and so, perchance, the torture of her daily shame would at length purge her soul, and work out another purity than that which she had lost; more saint-like, because the result of martyrdom.† Hes... ...to portray through Dimmesdale and Chillingworth, that without responsibility for wrongful deeds our world will eventually be destroyed just like these two individuals. However, Hawthorne, through the portrayal of Hester, shows that he has not given up on humanity. If our world is going to survive for future generations it has to model itself after Hester’s behavior. Yes, sin is inevitable but we must learn to respond to it with responsibility, forgiveness, and redemption rather than with guilt, revenge, and uncertainty. More importantly we must learn to remain honest and truthful in whatever action we carry out because in the end only God will have the power to grant us the ultimate forgiveness by saving us or damning us to Hell. Work Cited Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "The Scarlet Letter." Nathaniel Hawthorne's Tales. Ed. James McIntosh. New York: Norton, 1987.

In the National Gallery

In the short story In the National Gallery by Doris Lessing we follow a narrator, which gender is unknown for the reader. The story line takes place in the National Gallery – therefore the name of the short story. The narrator’s intention in the gallery is to find a picture big enough to be able to sit in the middle of the room looking at it, which is succeeded. An old man joins the narrator on the bench together with a younger man, also with the intention of looking at the picture.The old man lectures the younger man about Stubbs’ picture which shows that the old man already familiar with the picture, â€Å"How much I would have liked to know as much as he did[†¦]†(p. 2 ll. 15-16) However it does not interest the younger one, and he walks away while looking, â€Å"†¦ a bit rueful, like a pupil chidden by a teacher†(p. 2 ll. 21-22). The narrator makes up a relation between the young and the elderly man, which is shown in the following quot e, â€Å"†¦ as if saying, â€Å"Oh, let’s kiss and make up†Ã¢â‚¬  (p. 2 ll. 29). It shows how the narrator makes up an abnormal relationship between the two of them.As if they are boyfriends. It is not abnormal if they are homosexuals but the abnormal thing about the assumable relationship is the big generation gap. Another example of a big generation gap in the short story is when a group of young French girls steps into the gallery. The narrator mentions how the girls’ entrance creates a contrast to the normality in the National Gallery. In the group there is a sort of leader â€Å"a package to be admired† (p. 3 line 41-42) as the narrator says. The narrator explains to the reader how the old man on the bench is gazing intensely on the leader of the girl group.Of course the reader is not 100% reliable in the things he/she observes, but the old man’s interest in the young girl is patent in a quote, which is when the old man addresses the na rrator, â€Å"†She’s like a girl I was in love with once. (p. 3 ll. 71). He tells the narrator about how the girl from the past walked out on him, and this arouses old, hidden feelings in the old man. Throughout Doris Lessing’s In the National Gallery the reader follows the progress in the short story through a 1st person narrator. He/she acts passively and is just observing throughout the whole short story.The narrator attaches importance to the relationship between the elderly and the young man and also especially the relationship between the elderly man and the young French girl. The only time the narrator acts actively in the short story is when he/she talks to the old man about his first love that the French girl looks like. Because of the 1st person narrator the short story does not necessarily correspond with what is happening in reality. The group of girls and the two men is characters we only hear about through the narrator. It means that what the narra tor tells the reader about the characters is not necessarily true.We experiences them as the narrator do. This is show by this quote, â€Å"In the space of a moment the scene had turned ugly. †(p. ll. 24), this is just the way the narrator experiences the situation, but she/he doesn’t know how the young man and the old man is used to talk with each other and does not now their body language. It is also shown how the narrator is quick to judge in the beginning when the two men are having a discussion. He/she only hears few parts of the conversation between the two, and yet there is an immediately judgment, that the relationship between them are student and teacher, â€Å"A son?A younger brother? Certainly a pupil [†¦] (p. 1 ll. 12). However some of the comments between the two of them, as earlier mentioned creates some a kind of love affair. A 1st person narrator can never be looked at as a trustworthy narrator. Doris Lessing maybe uses this kind of narrator to ma ke her points more indirect and discreet. The short story would have been told in a whole different way, if she had used a third person omniscient point of view. With a first person narrator the reader is forced to think about what the narrator tells us if we want to get a deeper meaning of what is being told.An example of this is in the end of the short story. The group of girls is leaving the National Gallery and the narrator assumes that the old man is following them, â€Å"Slowly, he followed. Oh no, I was thinking [†¦] There was a wildness in the air, unexpressed, and raw, and dangerous. † (p. 5 ll. 151-154). What the narrator experiences in this quote do not correspond with the environment that usually is in a museum. The narrator gets carried away with his/hers lively imaginations since the narrator has these associations.On the other hand, a 1st person narrator gives a subjective, detailed description of the characters. In this short story the narrator for instan ce sympathize with the elderly man but also thinks that it is repulsive that he looks so intensely after the French girl â€Å"The man next to me was staring hard at her(p. 3 ll. 51). Because of the detailed description of the characters, the reader does not need to think about the underlying information about them. But again, a 1st person narrator is unreliable which the reader needs to be attentive about.